A. K. Davis

This gentleman, who is now spending the closing years of a long and useful life free from business cares at his pleasant home in Marion, was for over thirty years prominently identified with railroad contracting, and was also engaged in mercantile pursuits in Marion for a time, but is now living retired. He was born in York county, Maine, on the 30th of July, 1829, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Durgin) Davis, both natives of Newfield, that state. Throughout life the father followed the occupation of farming and continued to make his home in the old Pine Tree state until called to his final rest in August, 1852, at the age of fifty-two years and five months. He was widely and favorably known and was a worthy representative of an old Maine family. His father, Daniel Davis, served as a private in the Revolutionary war for several years. The mother of our subject died at the home of her son Thomas M. in Missouri, in 1871, at the age of sixty-five years. Of the ten children of the family our subject is second in order of birth. The others who are still living are Thomas M., of Missouri; and Osborn, of the state of Washington.

During his early life A. K. Davis pursued his studies in the district schools of Maine, and aided in the work of the farm until after reaching manhood. Coming west in 1856, he located on a farm in Clinton county, Iowa, which he operated for several years. At the same time he also engaged in railroad construction in Illinois, and later rented his farm and gave his entire time and attention to the latter business. He helped build the Chicago & Northwestern road; the Sioux City road in 1867; and in 1870 built the first thirty miles of the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota Railroad, now a part of the St. Paul system. Later in 1870 he built the first ten miles of the Iowa Midland, from Clinton to Lyons; and a part of the road from Ottowa to Hedrick in 1882, employing many operatives. In 1887 he built a part of the branch of the B. & M. road in Cheyenne and Rawlins counties, Kansas, but since then has largely lived retired. In 1875 he removed to Marion and has since made this place his home. He first engaged in the hardware business, in which he continued for four years, when he sold out, and has practically since lived retired.

Mr. Davis was married in 1857, the lady of his choice being Miss Octavia Challies, also a native of York county, Maine, and a daughter of Sumner and Susan Challies, life-long residents of that state. The father, who was a farmer and miller by occupation, died in 1871, aged sixty-four years, and the mother passed away in 1895, aged ninety-seven. They had seven children, of whom only two now survive, these being Mrs. Davis, and Albion, a resident of Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have two children: Arathusa S., at home; and Tuillar J., a sketch of whom appears on another page of this volume. He married Nellie Elliott of Marion, and they have four children, Laverna, Esther, Priscilla and T. J. Elliott.

Just across the line in Greenfield township, Jones county, Iowa, in a quiet cottage behind an evergreen grove, we find the subject of this biography, who is now living a retired life. He was born in County Donegal, Ireland, December 23, 1843, a son of George and Susannah (Fisher) Davis, natives of the same county, where they continued to make their home until their emigration to America in October, 1854. The family took passage at Londonderry, Ireland, on the sailing vessel Creole, and were upon the water for twelve weeks, during which time they encountered some terrific storms and it was supposed that the vessel would go down. In fact the vessel was reported lost. They lost two passengers, but the others landed safely in Philadelphia. The Davis family settled in that city, where the father of our subject died in April, 1856. In the fall of the same year the mother and children came to Iowa and took up their residence in Jones county, where she made her home for many years, dying there in 1895, aged eighty-six years. Her remains were interred in the Linn Grove cemetery. She was a devout member of the Presbyterian church, to which her husband also belonged.

Of the eleven children born to this worthy couple nine are still living, namely: James, a retired farmer and veteran of the Civil war, wedded Mary Ann Clark and resides in Mt. Vernon, Iowa; Thomas F. married Jane Kepler, and is also a retired farmer of Mt. Vernon; William married Ruth Fisher and is living retired in Cedar Rapids; Martha was the wife of John McPherson, of Jones county, Iowa, who is now deceased; Ruth is the wife of John W. Fink, of Lisbon; George W., our subject, is next in order of birth; Belle is the wife of Daniel Connor, who lives near Mechanicsville, Cedar county, Iowa; Jane is the wife of John F. Oldham, of Pierre, Oklahoma; and John A. wedded Jude Chapman, who was born in the old court house at Marion, and resides in Dorchester, Nebraska.

Mr. Davis of this review attended the national schools of Ireland until the family came to the United States, and for one year pursued his studies in the schools of Philadelphia. He then worked in a cotton and woolen factory for the same length of time. When the family came to Iowa in 1856, he found employment with Samuel Pfoutz, two and one-half miles north of Lisbon, where he worked for his board and clothes until the following spring, and then went to Linn Grove, where he worked for Abner Lacock for forty dollars per year and his clothes, remaining with him two years. The following year he was in the employ of Ed Clark, and then returned to his former employer, for whom he worked until the Civil war broke out.

In July, 1861, at the age of seventeen years, Mr. Davis offered his services to the government, joining the boys in blue of Company I, Second Iowa Veteran Volunteer Cavalry, under command of Captain D. E. Coon, of Mason City, Iowa. Owing to the age of our subject he was obliged to tell a patriotic fib in order to be mustered in. After being mustered into the United States service at Davenport, the regiment was sent to Benton Barrack, St. Louis, in December, 1861, where they remained until February, 1862. While here they were on scout duty and sixty of the members died from measles. They were then ordered to Island No. 10, under command of General John Pope, which they assisted in capturing and they were the first troops on the Kentucky side of the river. There were captured six thousand prisoners, one million five hundred thousand dollars worth of stores, and the Second Iowa captured a rebel flag on which was the inscription "Mississippi Devils, presented by the ladies." After the defeat at Shiloh they were sent up the Tennessee river to Pittsburg Landing, where they were placed under the command of General Hallick, who was advancing on Corinth, and they made the charge on the rebel army at that place under General Hatch, May 9, 1862. The opposing force was so great that they were driven back, but saved Paine's division. They were the first troops to enter Corinth after the evacuation of the city, May 19. At twelve o'clock one night that summer they made the first cavalry raid of the war, under Colonel Washington L. Elliott, who was a graduate of West Point and had served seventeen years in the regular army. They also took part in the battle of Booneville, where Sheridan with the Second Iowa and Second Michigan Cavalry defeated eight thousand rebels, and was there made brigadier general. After this engagement the Second Iowa Cavalry moved back to Rienzi, and our subject was detailed as orderly for General Sheridan, having previously been messenger boy for General Elliott and General Granger, being chosen out of twenty-seven hundred men in his command, which was quite an honor. Three months later he rejoined his command, and on the 5th of September they broke camp at Rienza and returned to Corinth, where General Rosecrans was then in command. They next went to Payton's Mills in pursuit of General Faulkner, where they participated in the battle at that place, and then moved back to Iuka to support the Fifth Iowa Infantry. There they stood to horse all night in a drenching rain. About midnight General Rosecrans called a council of brigade commanders, and gave the command to move at daybreak, the infantry with bayonets fixed and the cavalry with drawn sabers, not a shot to be fired. It was expected that General Grant would support them. The rebels retreated during the night, and the Union troops followed them twenty miles and made a stand at two o'clock next day. After this engagement Generals Price and Van Dorn united their armies and moved north. The result was the two days battle at Corinth on October 1 and 2, 1862, and the rebels were defeated. Here Mr. Davis was wounded in the ankle and sent to the Keokuk, Iowa, hospital, where he remained thirty days. Deserting the hospital, he went down the Mississippi river on a steamer to Vicksburg, and rejoined his regiment, which formed Grant's advance guard on Vicksburg at Grant Junction. They were next in an engagement with Colonel Faulkner at Holly Springs, November 29, and captured thirty horses and sixty men. On the 2d of December they crossed the Tallahatchee river and moved on Springdale, Mississippi, and from there went to Water Valley, where they lost three men and six horses. They next proceeded to Oxford, Mississippi. After landing at Ponnetock they went back to Holly Springs, and retreated northward December 22, as Colonel Van Dorn had burned the supplies. The brigade to which our subject belonged returned to Coffeeville, participating in the battle there, after which they commenced destroying the Mississippi Central Railroad, being the rear guard of General Grant's army. They retreated as far as the Tallahatchee river and then went into winter quarters at La Grange, Tennessee, where they built log houses. In the spring of 1863 they went to Waterford, Mississippi, where they were surrounded by the Texas Legion, but were rescued by citizens who notified the brigade and they escaped back to La Grange. In March our subject's regiment marched three hundred and sixty miles, and were placed under the command of General B. H. Grierson, who started to cut the railroad communication of the rebels. On the 21st of April they went to Palalto, and from there to Columbus. Mr. Davis' regiment returned to La Grange, where they remained all summer. On the 5th of June they went on a raid down the Mississippi river and nine days later marched into Panola, Mississippi, where they burned fifteen million dollars worth of property. On the 1st of July they were ordered to Jackson, and after taking part in the battle at that place returned to La Grange. Later they captured six locomotives and twenty-five cars at Granada, which town the rebels surrendered August 27, 1863. Two months were then spent in camp at Memphis, Tennessee, and in November went to Colliersville, taking part in an engagement at that place, defeating the rebels under General Gorge. They went to Oxford, Mississippi, December 4, and subsequently took part in the battle at Moscow, where their commander, General Hatch, was shot through the right lung. Here the rebels numbered five thousand and the Union forces only thirteen hundred. Marching back to La Grange, a distance of about thirty-five miles they broke camp January 1, 1864, and two days later reached Memphis, where they slept that night on the frozen ground. They remained there until February 5, when they joined General W. S. Smith at Germantown, Tennessee, and started to join General Sherman's command at Meridian, it being their intention to form a large cavalry force to march through the Confederacy, but they were met and defeated by the rebels. they were soon in a part of the Confederacy which was still rich with provisions. At West Point, Mississippi, February 21, General Smith ordered a retreat to Okolona, and the fighting became severe, the rebels having eight thousand soldiers and the Union troops numbering only four thousand. As Mr. Davis' time had expired he re-enlisted in the same regiment at Germantown, being determined to see the end of the war. He then returned to Davenport by way of St. Louis and was given a thirty-day furlough. He rejoined his command May 15 at Davenport, Iowa, and returned to St. Louis, where they received new equipment, whence they went to Memphis. They were then armed with the Spencer seven-shot carbines. They took part in the battle of Tupalo under General A. J. Smith and Brigadier-General B. H. Grierson and several skirmishes, and then returned to Memphis, where they remained until the 2nd of August, and from there went to Grand Junction and Waterford to rebuild the railroad to Oxford, Mississippi. After their return to Memphis they were ordered to join General Sherman on his march to the sea. At Clifton, however, the order was countermanded, and they were ordered to report to General Thomas, who was sent to repell General Hood, and joined his forces near Columbia, Tennessee. General Hood advanced on Nashville with forty-five thousand infantry, fifteen thousand cavalry and ninety pieces of artillery, while the Union forces had only four thousand cavalry in his front, and a small army of infantry and artillery. Our subject's regiment on its retreat to Nashville took part in the engagements at Campbellville, Linnville, Mt. Carmel, Duck River, Shelbyville, Pike, and Franklin, on the 29th of November, when the rebels lost five generals and six thousand troops. The cavalry forces retreated across the Cumberland river to Edgefield, where the mercury was ten degrees below zero, with no wood. On December 2 they recrossed to Nashville, and for three days camped in two feet of mud. On the morning of December 15 the battle of Nashville was opened and our subject's regiment captured a fort which Hood had left fifteen minutes previous with the instructions to hold the fort at all hazards, and later captured another fort. On the 25th of December General Spaulding of the Twelfth Tennessee, called for two hundred volunteers to follow Hood and harass the rear of his army, and Mr. Davis was among the number to respond and go with Major Horton, of the Second Iowa Cavalry. On the 1st of January 1865, the regiment was ordered to Huntsville, and later to Eastport, Mississippi. It was very cold fording the rivers and the troops suffered severely. They went into winter quarters at Gravelly Springs, Alabama. On the 11th of April they received news of General Lee's surrender, and five days later came the sad news of President Lincoln's assassination. Mr. Davis was finally mustered out September 17, 1865, at Selma, Alabama, and returned to Davenport, where he was honorably discharged October 9, 1865. During the entire time he was in the service he was never reprimanded by an officer, and was offered a commission in a colored regiment at Memphis, Tennessee, but declined, as he did not want to leave his comrades.

In October, of the same year, we again find him a resident of Linn county, where he worked by the month one year. In 1867 he bought the farm which he now occupies, it being at that time, however, an eighty acre tract of unbroken prarie land in Greenfield township, Jones county, which he at once proceeded to place under cultivation. He has added to his landed possessions until he now has three hundred and sixty five acres of very valuable and productive land, on which he has erected two good houses and three immense barns, together with other outbuildings. He raises Durham cattle and Poland China hogs, and also a high grade of horses. He not only feeds all of the grain raised on his own land to his stock, but one year was forced to buy ten thousand bushels for the same purpose.

At Anamosa, Iowa, September 16, 1868, Mr. Davis married Miss Anis Jones, who was born in Indiana September 2, 1850, and came to Iowa in 1863 with her parents, Thomas and Jane Jones, who were reared and married in Lawrence county, Indiana. The family settled in Jones county, Iowa, where Mr. Jones died in May, 1880, his remains being interred at Walnut Grove. He had nine children, namely: Elmira, wife of Riley Jones, of Wall Lake, Calhoun county, Iowa; Mary, a resident of Doniphan, Nebraska, who first married Joseph McDowell and second Ephraim Jones; Henry, who married Jane Barnett, now deceased, and resides in Montezuma, Iowa; Cenith, wife of Amerson Johnson, of Jefferson, Iowa; Anis, wife of our subject; Manford, who married Martha De Walt and lives at Grand Junction, Iowa; Millie, wife of John Young, of Laporte City, Iowa; Amy, who died at the age of twenty-four years; and Della, wife of Frank Griffith, of Grand Junction, Iowa.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Davis were born six children, as follows: (1) Thomas U., born September 13, 1869, assists his father in the operation of the home farm. (2) Harry E., born November 14, 1870, in Jones county, was educated in the district schools, and now conducts a part of the old homestead farm. He was married, at Climax, Michigan, December 19, 1900 to Hattie E. Card, who was born at that place December 13, 1871, and is the oldest in a family of four children, her parents being Daniel W. and Rose (Eldred) Card, natives of New York. Harry E. and his wife attend the Reformed church of Lisbon. (3) Lottie Jane, born September 20, 1872, is the wife of Philip Mohn, a farmer of Greenfield township, Jones county, Iowa, and they have two children, Ora R. and Conrad D. (4) George, born December 20, 1874, married Mina Weston and lives in Greenfield township, Jones county, (5) Ira L., born November 3, 1876, is also a resident of that township on a part of our subject's farm. He married Ida Abel and they have one son, Harold. (6) Ora May, born August 29, 1883, is at home with her father. The mother of these children, who was a most estimable woman, died September 4, 1898, and was laid to rest in the Lisbon cemetery.

Religiously Mr. Davis holds membership in the Reformed church, and socially is a member of John A. Buck Post, No. 140, G.A.R., of which he is past commander, and Franklin Lodge, Iowa Legion of Honor, of Lisbon. As a Republican he has always taken an active part in local politics; has filled a number of township offices, including that of road supervisor and presidnt of the school board; while serving in tht capacity he raised the first flag on the school house that was ever raised in Greenfield township, and has been the candidate of his party for the legislature. He was one of the charter members of the Farmers Institute at Lisbon and served as president for two terms. He also bought the first toll of barbed wire that was ever sold in Lisbon, for which he paid seventeen cents per pound. He is one of the most prominent and influential men of his community, and is held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. At the reunion of the Grand Army of the Republic at Washington, D. C., in 1892, he commanded a platoon as the parade passed down Pennsylkvania avenue, in which marched three congressmen.

In proportion to its population, Linn county has within its borders as large a number of prominent business and professional men as any county in the state, and among the representative business men none stand higher in the estimation of the public than the subject of this sketch, who is the manager and proprietor of the T. J. Davis Lumber Co., and vice president of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Marion. He was born in York county, Main, July 26, 1864, and is the son of Albion K. and Octavia (Challis) Davis, both of whom were natives of the same state.

In his native state Albion K. Davis was first engaged in agricultural pursuits, and later was manager of a saw and grist mill, at which occupation he continued until his removal to Clinton county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and for five years was engaged in farming. Selling his farm, he then returned to Maine, and as is generally the case with those who once coming west and partaking of its spirit, he was not content, and so he came again to Iowa, and for ten years was engaged as a railroad contractor, his first work being in the construction of the Sabula, Ackley & Dakota Railroad, which was then principally owned and controlled by Alexander Mitchell and S. S. Merrill, afterwards long connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and who succeeded in building up that system. The portion constructed by Mr. Davis is now known as the Savannah and Marion division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. After the close of his ten years in railroad building, he went into the mercantile business at Marion, Iowa, in which line he continued for many years. He is now, at the age of seventy-two years, living a retired life in the city of Marion, and with his wife and daughter, Artheusa, attend the Congregational church, of which they are each members. Fratermally he is a thirty-second-degree Mason. During almost his entire life he has been a hard working and industrious man, and it was not until he was seventy-one years old did he lay aside business cares.

The subject of this sketch was the youngest of two children, and in the public schools of Marion received his education. Leaving school at the age of sixteen years, he went into the First National Bank of the late R. D. Stevens, in the spring of 1881, and there remained six years, serving in various capacities, and getting a thorough knowledge of the banking business. From the bank he went into the grocery business with W. J. Collar, and under the firm name of Collar & Davis the business was continued for two years. Selling his interest in the grocery store, Mr. Davis then embarked in the lumber trade as a member of the Elliott & Davis Lumber Co., his partner being Johnston Elliott, his father-in-law. That business relation was continued for five years when Mr. Elliott sold his interest and Mr. Fulkerson became a partner, and the business was continued under the firm name of the Davis & Fulkerson Lumber Co. Three years later Mr. Fulkerson retired and Mr. Davis became sole proprietor, the business being continued under the name of the T. J. Davis Lumber Co.

In 1894, the Farmers and Merchants Bank was organized, Mr. Davis being one of the principal men in its formation. For two years he gave much of his time to the active management of the bank, and is now serving as vice-president. He is the largest stockholder in the bank, which is one of the best in Linn County. At the time the bank was organized a Building and Loan Association was also incorporated, and for the first two years Mr. Davis was its president, since which time he has served as treasurer. He is also treasurer of the local telephone company, which has been in existence for three years.

On the 14th of December, 1887, Mr. Davis was united in marriage with Miss Nellie Elliott, a native of New York, and daughter of Johnston Elliott, Jr., and by this union four children have been born - Laverna E., aged twelve, Esther P., aged ten, Priscilla M., aged seven, and J. Elliott, aged one. The prents are members of the Congregational church, in which Mr. Davis has served at different times in various official positions.

Fraternally Mr. Davis is a Mason of high degree, and is now serving as worshipful master of the blue lodge, of Marion. He has at different times served his lodge as delegate to the Grand Lodge of the state and is now a member of the Finance Committee, of the Grand Lodge. Since its organization in 1894, he has been secretary of the Masonic Temple Assocition. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Dows, Col. William G.

One of the truly representative citizens of Linn county is the subject of this sketch, who has ably served his district in the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth General Assemblies of the state and who has an honorable record in the Spanish American war. He is a native of the Hawkeye state, born in Clayton county, August 12, 1864, and is a son of Hon. S. L. Dows, who is represented on another page of this volume.

Col. Dows received his primary education in the public schools, after which he was a student in Coe College, Cedar Rapids, for a time, and then entered Shattuck School, at Faribault, Minnesota, taking the English course. On the completion of his college life, he entered the office of his father in a clerical capacity, and being later admitted as a partner in the business, he has remained with him ever since.

On the 9th of October, 1890, Col. Dows was united in marriage with Miss Margaret B. Cook, daughter of J. S. Cook, deceased, who is represented on another page of this volume. By this union two children have been born - Sutherland Cook, born July 3, 1891, and Margaret Henrietta, July 6, 1895.

In 1883, Col. Dows became identified with the Iowa National Guards, enlisting as a private, since which time he has filled nearly every position in the organization up to and including colonel of the regiment - the First Regiment Iowa National Guards. When the war with Spain commenced he offered his services to the government and April 26, 1898, at Des Moines, Iowa, he was mustered in as colonel of the Forty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. During his term of service he served with his regiment the greater part of the time in Cuba, and his regiment was one of the last to leave the island. After his regiment had been mustered out he was appointed into the army by the President for service in the Philippines against the insurgents, but on account of his extensive business interests he was obliged to decline the same. For some years Col. Dows has been very active in politics, and has exerted a wide and beneficial influence in the councils of his party. At present he is serving as chairman of the Linn county central committee. In 1897 he was elected representative from his district and re-elected in 1899. His ability was at once recognized by his associates in the legislature, and during his service he has been upon most of the important committees, serving as chairman of the appropriation committee, and a member of the ways and means committee, printing and building and building and loans.

In the various fraternal societies the Colonel has been somewhat interested, being a member of Mt. Hermon Lodge, No. 263, A.F. & A.M., Trowel Chapter, No. 49, R.A.M., Apollo Commandery, No. 26, D. T., El Kahir Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Cedar Rapids Lodge, No. 141, I.O.O.F., the naval and military order of the Spanish-American war, and of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Col. Dows is one of the most popular men in Linn county, and stands high in social, business and political circles. He is one of the foremost younger men of the state of Iowa, and his influence for good is felt in various ways. Quick to discern the good in every enterprise projected, he is ever willing to aid anything meritorious calculated to advance the interest of Cedar Rapids and Linn county, as well as the state at large.

Dows, Hon. Stephen L.

The Dows family, from which Stephen Leland Dows descended, originally spelled the name Dowse. They were among the early settlers in Massachusetts, coming from England only a few years after the Plymouth colony arrived. They located near Boston. The great-grandfather of Stephen L. resided in Charleston at the outbreak of the Revolution, and at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill his property was destroyed. He is one of the brave men who aided in gaining our independence. Thomas Dows, the eccentric and celebrated bibliopolist, of Cambridgeport, was a great-uncle of Stephen. He was a self-made man, largely self educated, and collected one of the largest libraries in the United States, giving it, at his demise, to the Massachusetts Historical Society. According to the conditions of the gift, this library is kept in a fire-proof building, and no book is allowed to go out of the building. He left property set aside especially for the endowment of the Dows course of lectures, which is given annually at Cambridge, the best talent in the country being employed for that course. In the town of Sherborn he caused a town hall to be erected at his expense, on which he placed an astronomical clock.

The paternal grandmother of Stephen L. was a Leland, a family equally as distinguised as the Dows family. The pedigree of the family is traced back distinctly to John Leland, born in London, England, in 1512, an accomplished scholar flourishing during the reign of Henry VIII. Among his descendants in the old world were Rev. John and Thomas Leland, eminent authors of the eighteenth century. Henry Leland, the progenitor of all who bear the name except by adoption, in this country, is supposed to have emigrated to the United States about 1652, and settled in what afterwards became the town of Sherborn, Massachusetts. His children, who lived to grow up, were Experience, Hope Still, Ebenezer and Eleazer, from whom has spring a numerous family, many members of which are quite distinguished, as American biographical history shows. All left issue but Eleazer. Amond the prominent men in this family was "Elder" John Leland, many years a resident of Cheshire, Massachusetts. He lived a short time in Virginia, and in 1789, in a Baptist general conference, he boldly denounced slavery as a "violent deprivation of rights of nature." The prominent professional men and eminent scholars of this name are numbered by the hundred. There are eleven generations of the Leland family in this country.

Stephen Leland Dows was born in New York city, on the 9th of October, 1832, his parents being Adam Dows, a merchant in early life, and Maria Lundy, a daughter of Captain Lundy, of New York city. His grandfather, James Dows, was a soldier in the war of 1812-15, and was killed at the battle of Ottawa while on picket duty.

At fourteen years of age the subject of this sketch went into a machine shop at Troy, New York, where his parents then lived. At the end of two years he left the city of Troy, and started westward with a cash capital of seven dollars and fifty cents, and a pass to Buffalo on a line boat. He landed in Milwaukee with seventy-five cents in his pocket; after a little delay proceeded to Green Bay; where he spent one year in lumbering; then went to Lake Superior, and was one of the first winterers in the then new town of Marquette; worked there in the first machine shop built, and ran the first engine ever started there; at the end of two years returned to Green Bay, acting as engineer until the spring of 1853, when he went to Muskegon, Michigan, and superintended a lumbering establishment.

In 1855 the health of Mr. Dows failed, and he came to Cedar Rapids and became engineer and superintendent of the Variety Manufacturing Works. In company with other men connected with these works, in 1860, he conveyed a quartz mill to Gold Hill, in the Rocky Mountains, and with two young men returned overland the next winter, driving a pair of mules from Denver to Omaha in seventeen days, and having on one occasion a narrow escape from Indians, being saved from robbery, and perhaps murder, by the coolness and self-possession of Mr. Dows.

After superintending the Variety Works another season, in August, 1862, he went into the army as first lieutenant of Company I, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry; in a short time was promoted to acting brigade quartermaster of the First Brigade, second division, army of the frontier; from exposure and overwork became disabled, and was obliged to leave the service in one year.

Since 1863, Mr. Dows has been engaged in public works and manufacturers. He has been a successful and an extensive railroad contractor, building more miles of railroad than any other man in the state of Iowa. He was one of the men instrumental in building the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad, and was instrumental in bringing the Illinois Central into Cedar Rapids. He started, in connection with Mr. J. H. Shaver, an extensive cracker factory in Cedar Rapids, which they operated for many years, but which has since gone into the trust, and is now called Continental Biscuit Company. Mr. Dows owns a large share of this property. He built, with Dr. J. F. Ely, the Dows and Ely Block, better known as the old postoffice block, at the corner of Second avenue and Second street. This was for years the finest building in this city. Mr. Dows has other property in the city and outside of it, and has always been a great encourager of manufacturing and other industries tending to advance the material interests of Cedar Rapids, and in this work probably no man has done more than he. In 1875, Mr. Dows was elected state senator to represent Linn county, and in the sessions of the General Assembly held in 1876 and 1878, he was chairman of the committee on public buildings and on a number of other commettees including railroads, manufacturers, appropriations, penitentiary. In 1878, he was chairman of the committee appointed to visit the penitentiary at Fort Madison. His practical turn of mind, his solid good sense, his sound judgment and great industry made him a valuable legislator. On matters pertaining to the mechanical arts he was regarded as the nestor of the upper house. He has always been a Republican from the organization of the party.

Mr. Dows is a member of the Second Presbyterian church of Cedar Rapids, and has been an elder of the same for over thirty years. For many years he was superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is a man of benevolent disposition, very generous to the poor, dispensing his charities in a most sacred manner.

On the 31st of October, 1855, Mr. Dows was united in marriage with Henrietta W. Safely, daughter of Thomas Safely, of Waterford, New York, and by this union six children were born: Minnie Maria died at the age of fifteen years. Elizabeth is the wife of Thompson McClintock, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Elma is the wife of Benjamin Thaw, of the same city. William G. is represented on another page of this work. Stephen Leland, Jr., died July 5, 1899, at the age of thirty-two years. Henrietta is the wife of James E. Blake, of Cedar Rapids. Mrs. Dows passed to her reward August 7, 1893, and her remains were interred in Oak Hill cemetery. She was a noble Christian woman and thoroughly devoted to the interests of her family. Like her husband, she was very social, abounding in hospitality, and many of the poor families in Cedar Rapids have reason to bless her memory and mourn her loss.

Mr. Dows is purely a self-made man. Cast upon his own resources at an early age, he educated himself, developed into a skilled mechanic, and later in life into an eminently successful railroad contractor, and a legislator with few peers in the commonwealth. He has been unusually successful in business, but at the present time he is living retired, although he retains his interests in several business enterprises, and is a stockholder and director in several banks.

This well-known railroad man who has been in the employ of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad since coming to Cedar Rapids in 1881, was born on the 20th of April, 1853, in Meadville, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, of which county his parents, James W. and Harriet E. (Littlefield) Durlin, were also natives. The town of Meadville was named for the mother's grandparents, and her Grandmother Meade was the first white child born in the county. Mrs. Durlin's father and mother lived to be ninety-seven and ninety-four years respectiely. Our subject's paternal grandmother was connected with the Lee family, to which the famous Confederate general of that name belonged.

In early life James W. Durlin, the father of our subject, was a pattern maker, draftsman and engine builder, and he also ran boats on the Erie canal for a time. In 1857 he came to Iowa and took up his residence in Anamosa, Jones county, where he conducted a grocery store until the Civil war broke out. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Thirty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the service until Lee's surrender. Soon after his return home he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he engaged in business as a contractor and builder until 1879, when he commenced teaming across the plains. He died in Huron, South Dakota, in 1899, at the age of seventy-four. They were the parents of six sons and three daughters, of whom two daughters are now deceased. The others are Eugene, Frank, Willard W., Charles, Emmett and Fred, all railroad engineers with the exception of the youngest, who is a conductor; and Mary, the surviving daughter. They were educated in the schools of Council Bluffs and Creston, Iowa. Their parents both received collegiate educations, and their mother taught in a college for a time.

During his boyhood and youth Willard W. Durlin attended the common schools of Anamosa, and remained at home until sixteen years of age, when he began his railroad career at Council Bluffs as wiper on engines of the St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad, taking care of engines for two years. For a time he was employed as fireman and later as brakeman. After spending two years at Ottumwa, Iowa, he removed to Creston and found permanent employment, working as fireman on the Burlington & Missouri Railroad, now a part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy system. In 1874 he was given an engine, and continued in the employ of that road until coming to Cedar Rapids in 1881, when he entered the service of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad as engineer. He was first given a freight run, but for the past sixteen years has been running specials and passenger trains on the northern dividion of the road, being engineer on the fast mail and passenger train since 1895, running to Albert Lea, Minnesota each day. As a railroad man he has been very fortunate and successful, but has met with some accidents, his train going through the bridge at Cedar Falls in 1888, and being wrecked at Waterloo in 1899.

At Ottumwa, Iowa, May 13, 1872, Mr. Durlin married Miss Eliza A. Corrick, who was born in Bloomfield, Davis county, Iowa, in 1854 and was living in Ottumwa at the time of her marriage. Both her parents are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Durlin have one daughter, Florence Mae, who was graduated at the high school of Cedar Rapids in 1892, and engaged in teaching physical culture for five years. The family are prominent members of the Universalist Church, of which Mrs. Durlin is one of the officers and the daughter is organist. Fraternally Mr. Durlin affiliates with the Independent Order of Foresters of America, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and the blue lodge of Masonry. In politics he is independent, but takes a deep and commendable interest in public affairs, and gives his support to every enterprise for the public good.

Enoch B. Dye

One of the representative farmers and honored citizens of Marion township, is Enoch B. Dye, who was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, May 31, 1829, a son of William and Susanna (Crothers) Dye, the former a native of Washington county, that state, the latter of Big Beaver, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. The father, who was a carpenter by trade, died in Pennsylvania in 1831. He assisted in constructing the first bridge across the Allegheny river. The mother departed this life in October, 1890. For her second husband she married Dr. Elijah W. Lake, of Loudonville, Ohio, and in 1853 they came to Iowa City, Johnson county, Iowa. He died in Marion. More extended mention is made of Dr. Lake in the sketch of George W. Lake on another page of this volume.

There were only two children born to William and Susanna (Crothers) Dye, these being Enoch B., our subject and William McEntire. The latter was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, January 26, 1831, and was reared in Mansfield, Ohio, from which state he was appointed to West Point. He entered the military academy as cadet, July 1, 1849, and on his graduation, July 1, 1853, was appointed to West Point. He entered the military academy as cadet, July 1, 1849, and on his graduation, July 1, 1853, was appointed second lieutenant. He was then on duty at Fort Columbus, New York; Benicia and Fort Reading, California; Fort Davis and San Antonio, Texas, until the war broke out. On the 14th of May, 1861, he was commissioned captain of the Eighth United States Infantry, and on the 25th of August, 1862, was made colonel of the Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He participated in many engagements, and was mustered out of the volunteer service at the close of the war, July 8, 1865. He was commissioned major in the Fourth United States Infantry, January 14, 1866, and was in the recruiting service until sent to Plattsburg Barracks, New York, where he remained until February 18, 1867. He was a member of the examining board of New York City until April 15, 1868, when he was ordered to the frontier, and was on duty at Forts Larrimie and Fetterman until February 4, _____. On the 30th of the following September he received an honorable discharge, and for the following three years was engaged in farming near Marion, Iowa. In 1873 he went to Egypt, having been recommended by General Sherman, who was traveling in that country and had been asked by the Egyptian government to recommend some officer for service. General Dye took part in the Abyssinian campaign in 1876, and was wounded in the battle of Gura. After five years spent in Egypt he returned to New York, June 30, 1878, and in 1880 published a book on "Egypt and Abyssinia." He was superintendent of the metropolitan police of the District of Columbia from 1883 to 1886, and for the following two years was chief of the army and navy division of the pension bureau and of its special examination division. In 1888 he went to Korea to become military advisor and instructor in the service of the King of Korea. The Korean government wished to reorganize the army and they asked the United States legation to recommend some American officers to them. The legation referred it to the state department at Washington, which in turn referred it to the war department, and the war department to the commander-in-chief of the army, who was General Sheridan. He offered the place to General Dye, who was a classmate of his at West Point, having graduated in the same year. He was also a cousin of General Dye. General Dye accepted, and held the position until the spring of 1896, during which time he rose rapidly in the esteem of the king. As vice-minister of war and commander of the Korean army he worked a revolution in that military body and put it on a scale of excellence it had never known. He introduced modern guns and equipment, and revised American tactics to fit Korean needs. Through all the serious political disturbances which occurred in that country he remained the confidential advisor and trusted friend of the king. When treachery threatened the king's life General Dye lived in a house adjoining the royal palace and was believed and trusted. When Japan swooped down upon the helpless country he was practically a prisoner with the king in the royal palace. He was never permitted to take advantage of a month's leave of absence according to contract on account of the political condition of the country, although the condition of his health demanded a vacation. He therefore remained in Korea continuously for more than eleven years, sacrificing his health, and without reaping such reward as the faithful might expect. When the Russians came into power General Dye's military service ended, but he remained in Seoul engaged in other public work. While there he had all kinds of fruit trees shipped to that country and instructed the natives in the raising of fruit, etc. He was ill for some time, and on the 5th of May, 1899, started for home by way of Japan and Hawaii, arriving in San Francisco June 27, and remaining there until July 11, when he proceeded to his home in Muskegon, Michigan. There he passed away on the 13th of November following. He was married February 18, 1864, to Miss Ellen A. Rucker, daughter of Judge Rucker, of Chicago, and to them were born three children: J. Henry, who was with his father in Korea for three years and a half as civil engineer, and is now living in Muskegon, Michigan; Mrs. S. E. Baylis, of Chicago; and Annette M., a teacher in the Muskegon high school.

Enoch B. Dye was educated in the schools of Mansfield, Ohio, and for a time was engaged in teaching in the country and city schools for several yers. He also engaged in bookkeeping to some extent. In 1858 he removed to Iowa City, Johnson county, Iowa, and took charge of the Tremont House, which he conducted until it was destroyed by fire the following year. He next taught school in Crawford and Morrow counties, Ohio, until 1867, when he came to Marion, and for several years successfully followed that profession in this city. He is now engaged in farming in Marion township, and for the past five years has devoted considerable attention to his inventions, having several different patents, such as car couplers, fire and burglar alarms, etc.

On the 23rd of June, 1857, in Washington, Pennsylvania, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Dye and Miss Malvina K. Dye, of that place, a daughter of David and Sarah Dye. The father was a tailor by trade, died in 1887, and the mother also died the same year. The children born to our subject and his wife are Sarah, wife of George Collins, of Belle Plain, Iowa; William L., a mason of Calhoun county, Iowa; John D. McC., who is engaged in farming on his father's farm in Marion township; George W. R., a carpenter and builder of Marion; and Joseph Milton, an attorney of Swea, Iowa.