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Q's
HENRY A. QUINN. The important lumber industry of the great
Hawkeye State has a worthy and prominent representative in the
person of Henry A. Quinn, one of the old and honored residents of
Council Bluffs, and president of the H. A. Quinn Lumber Company,
Inc. Mr. Quinn has been identified with the lumber business since
1882 and has been connected as employee or owner with large yards in
the State of Iowa, but since January 1, 1898, has made his home at
Council Bluffs, of which city he is now a prominent citizen.
Mr. Quinn was born at Rockville, Maryland, July 1, 1859, and is a
son of Bernard F. and Rebecca (Dielman) Quinn. Bernard F. Quinn was
born in New Jersey, but as a youth went to Emmitsburg, Maryland,
where he was educated at Mount St. Mary's College, and subsequently
became a professor of Latin and Greek, following the profession of
an educator for many years. He was a Democrat in politics and he and
his wife, a native of Emmitsburg, Maryland, belonged to the Catholic
Church. They had a family of six children, Henry A. being the
eldest, and one is deceased.
Henry A. Quinn attended the public schools of Baltimore, Maryland,
and began his independent career when still a lad, by delivering
bundles for a store during vacation periods. Subsequently he served
an apprenticeship to the trade of printer at Littlestown,
Pennsylvania, and worked at this occupation from 1879 until 1882 at
Emmitsburg, his status being that of manager of a newspaper, which
meant that he had charge of the details, of very department of the
business. In 1882 Mr. Quinn gave up the printing business and came
to Odebolt, Sac County, Iowa, where he secured employment doing
general work in a lumber yard, but later went to Schaller, Iowa, in
the same county, where from September, 1882, he was in charge of a
lumber company until 1885. In that year, after a vacation, he
returned to Odebolt, continuing there until 1888, but in the
meantime spent much time traveling around the country looking for a
suitable place to go into business with the president of the company
for which he was working. In 1888 he bought the yards at Manilla,
Iowa, and Buck Grove, Iowa, in the name of H. A. Quinn & Company,
with S. H. Bowman, of Minneapolis, as partner. He remained at
Manilla until 1890, in the meantime purchasing another yard at
Logan, this state, where he remained one year, and then for the next
seven years was located in business at Woodbine, Iowa. Later he
bought yards at Little Sioux, Malvern and Weston, Iowa, this putting
him in control of six yards, and January 1, 1898, settled
permanently at Council Bluffs, where he bought the yard of L. Hammer
Lumber Company, doing a general lumber business. Mr. Quinn is
president of this concern: E. A. Moore is vice president; H. A.
Quinn, Jr., treasurer; and B. M. Pemple, secretary. Mr. Quinn
devotes his entire time to the lumber business. However, he is more
than a mere business grind and enjoys the companionship of his
fellows, being a member of Council Bluffs Lodge No. 531, B. P. O.
Elks; and the Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor
commander and formerly a member of the Grand Lodge. Politically he
is a Republican, but does not take an active part in politics,
although he is a good citizen of public spirit.
In the summer of 1889 Mr. Quinn was united in marriage with Miss
Jennie M. Arnold, of Jones County, Iowa, a daughter of William F.
Arnold, who early came to Iowa in a covered wagon and spent the
remainder of his life in carpentry and cabinet-making. Three
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Quinn: Orpha A., the wife of
Wallace B. Graham, of Ottumwa, Iowa, who is identified with a
general chain store business; Elizabeth M., who is unmarried and
lives with her parents; and Henry A., Jr., treasurer of the H. A.
Quinn Lumber Company, who married Miss Adele Plumer.
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