The biographical record of Webster County, Iowa .. online

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THK'NEW YORK

1 IJBLIC LIBRARY

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Biography is the only true History. — Emerson.

f. people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors

will nevei achieve anything worthy to be remembered with

pride by remote generations. — Macaulay.




■ * •



PREFACB.




HE trreatest of English historians, Macaulay, and one of the most
brilliant writers of the present century, has said: "The history of a
country is best told in a record of the lives of its people." In con-
lormity with this idea, the Biographical Record has been prepared.
Instead of going to musty records, and taking therefrom dry statistical
matter that can be appreciated by but few, our corps of writers have
gone to the people, the men and women who h.ive, by their enterprise
and industry, brought this county to a rank second to none among
those comprising this great and noble State, and from their lips have the story of their life
struggles. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelligent
public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation
of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industry and
economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for securing
an education, have become learned men and women, with an influence extending throughout
the length and breadth of the land. It tells of men who have risen from the lower walks of
life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in
every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and records how that success has usuallv
crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very manj', who, not seeking the applause of the
world, have pursued the " even tenor of their way," content to have it said of them, as Christ
said of the woman performing a deed of mercy — ^" They nave done what they could." It
tells how many, in the pride and strength of young manhood, left tiie plow and the anvil, the
lawyer's office and the counting-room, left every trade and profession, and at their country's
call went forth valiantly " to do or die," and how through their efforts the Union was
restored and peace once more reigned in the land. In the life of every man and of every
woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after.

Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sacred treasure, from
the fact that it contains so much that would never find its way into public records, and which
would otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work
and every opportunity possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what has
been written ; and the publishers flatter themselves that thev give to their readers a work with
few errors of consequence. In addition to biographical sketches, portr.iits of a number of
representative citizens are given.

The faces of some, and biographical sketches of many, will be missed in this volume _
For this the publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some
refused to give the information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indifferent.
Occasionally some member of the family would oppose the enterprise, and on account of such
opposition the support of the interested one would be withheld. In a few instances men
never could be found, though repeated calls were made at their residence or place of business.



Mav, 1902.



The S. y. Clarke Publishi.ng Co.



^t/5



ai^



CONTENTS



'^^<^^<^^<^^'^g?'^^^^'^^'^i^'^E^'^^<^i5=






GENERAL INDEX.



Table of Contents,
Introductory,



3
11



Compendium of National Biography, - 13
Compendium of Local Biography, - 223



INDEX TO FART I.



Compendium of National Biography.



Biographical Sketches of National Celebrities.



page

Abbott, Lyman 144

Adams, Charles Kendall 143

Adams, John 25

Adam*, John Quincy 61

Agassiz, Louis J. R 137

Alg-er, Russell A 173

Allison, William B 131

AUston, Washington 190

Altgeld, John Peter 140

Andrews, Elisha B 184

Anthony, Susan B 62

Armour, Philip D 62

Arnold, Benedict 84

Arthur, Chester Allen 168

Astnr, John Jacob 139

Audubon, John James 166

Bailey, James Montgomery... 177

Bancroft, George 74

Barnard, Frederick A. P 179

Barnum, Phineas T 41

Barrett, Lawrence 156

Barton, Clara 209

Bayard, Thomas Francis 200

Beard, William H 196

Beauregard, Pierre G. T 203

Heecher, Henry Ward 26

Bell, Alexander Graham 96

Bennett, James Gordon 206

Benton, Thomas Hart 53

Bergh, Henry 160

Bierstadt, Albert 197

Billings, Josh 166

Blaine, James Gillespie 22

Bland, Richard Parks 106



page

Boone, Daniel 36

Booth, Edwin 51

Booth, Junius Brutus 177

Brice, Calvin S 181

Brooks, Phillips 130

Brown, John 51

Brown, Charles Farrar 91

Brush, Charles Francis 153

Bryan, William Jennings 158

Bryant, William CuUen 44

Buchanan, Franklm 105

Buchanan, James 128

Buckner, Simon Bolivar 188

Burdette, Robert J 103

Burr, Aaron Ill

Butler, Benjamin Franklin. .. . 24

Calhoun, John Caldwell 23

Cameron, James Donald 141

Cameron, Simon 141

Cammack, Addison 197

Campbell, Alexander 180

Carlisle, John G 133

Carnegie, Andrew 73

Carpenter, Matthew Hale 178

Carson, Christopher (Kit). . .. 86

Cass, Lewis 110

Cha«e, Salmon Portland 65

Childs, George W 83

Choate, Rufus 207

Chaflin, Horace Brigham 107

Clay, Henry 21

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne. . 86

Cleveland, Grover 174

Clews, Henry 153



page.

Clinton, DeWitt 110

Colfax, Schuyler, 139

Conklin, Alfred 32

Conklin, Roscoe 32

Cooley, Thomas Mclntyre.... 140

Cooper, James Fenimore 58

Cooper, Peter 37

Copely, John Singleton 191

Corbin, Austin 205

Corcoran, W.W 196

Cornell, Ezra. 161

Cramp, William 189

Crockett, David 76

Cullom, Shelby Moore 116

Curtis, George William 144

Cushman, Charlotte 107

Custer, George A . .- 95

Dana, Charles A 88

"Danbury News Man" 177

Davenport, P'anny.. 106

Davis, Jefferson 24

Dejss, Eugene V 132

Decatur, Stephen 101

Deering, William 198

Depew, Chauncey Mitchell... 209

Dickinson, Anna 103

Dickinson, Don M 139

Dingley, Nelson, Jr 215

Donnelly, Ignatius 161

Douglas, Stephen Arnold 53

Douglass, Frederick 43

Dow, Neal 108

Draper, John William 184



TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART I



PAGE

Drexel, Anthony Joseph 124

Dupont, Henry 198

Edison, Thomas Alva 55

Edmunds, George F 201

Ellsworth, Oliver 168

Emerson, Ralph Waldo 57

Ericsson, John 127

Evarts, William Maxvv'ell 89

Farragut, David Glascoe 80

Field, Cyrus West 173

Field, David Dudley 126

Field. Marshall 59

Field, Stephen Johnson 216

Fillmore, Millard 113

Foote, Andrew Hull 176

Foraker, Joseph B 143

Forrest, Edwin 92

Franklin, Benjamin 18

Fremont, John Charles 29

Fuller, Melville Weston 168

Fulton, Robert 62

Gage, Lyman J 71

Gatlatin, Aloert 112

Garfield, James A ' 163

Garrett, John Work • 200

Garrison, William Lloyd 60

Gates, Horatio . 70

Gatlmg, Richard Jordan 116

( ieorge, Henry 203

Gibbons, Cardinal James 209

Gilmore, Patrick Sarsfield 77

Girard, Stephen 137

Gough, John B 131

Gould, Jay 52

Gordon, John B 215

Grant, Ulysses S 155

Gray, Asa 88

Gray, Elisha 149

Greeley, Adolphus W 142

Greeley, Horace 20

Greene, Nathaniel 69

Gresham, Walter Quintin 183

Hale, Edward Everett 79

Hall, Charles Francis 167

Hamilton, Alexander 31

Hamlin, Hannibal 214

Hampton, Wade 192

Hancock, Winfield Scott 146

Hanna, Marcus Alonzo 169

Harris, Isham G 214

Harrison, William Henry 87

Harrison, Benjamin 182

Harvard, John 129

Havemeyer, John Craig 182

Hawthorne, Nathaniel 135

Hayes, Rutherford Birchard.. . 157
Hendricks, Thomas Andrew. . 212

Henry, Joseph 105

Henrv, ' Patrick 83

Hill, David Bennett 90

Hobart, Garrett A 213

Holmes, Oliver Wendell 206

Hooker, Joseph 52

Howe, Elias 130

Howells, William Uean 104



PAGE

Houston, Sam 120

Hughes, Archbishop John.. .. . 157

Hughitt, Marvin 159

Hull, Isaac 169

Huntington, Collis Potter... ... . 94

Ingalls, John James 114

IngersoU, Robert G 85

Irving, Washington 33

Jackson, Andrew 71

Jackson, " Stonewall " 67

Jackson, Thomas Jonathan 67

Jay, John 39

Jefferson, Joseph 47

Jefferson, Thomas 34

Johnson, Andrew 145

Johnson, Eastman 202

Johnston, Joseph Eccleston... . 85

Jones, James K 171

Jones. John Paul .97

Jones, Samuel Porter 115

Kane, Elisha Kent 125

Kearney, I'hilip 210

Kenton, Simon 188

Knox, John Jay 134

Lamar, Lucius Q. C 201

Landon, Melville D 109

Lee, Robert Edward 38

Lewis, Charles B 193

Lincoln, Abraham 135

Livermore, Mary Ashton 131

Locke, David Ross 172

Logan, John A 26

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 37

Longstreet, James 66

Lowell, James Russell 104

Mackay, John William 148

Madison, James 42

Marshall, John 156

Mather, Cotton 164

Mather, Increase 163

Maxim, Hiram S 194

McClellan, George Brinton.. . . 47

McCormick, Cyrus Hall 172

McDonough, Com. Thomas.. . 167

McKinley, William 217

Meade, George Gordon 75

Medill, Joseph 159

Miles, Nelson A 176

Miller, Cincinnatus Heine 218

Miller, Joaquin 218

Mills, Roger Quarles 211

Monroe, James 64

Moody, Dwight L 207

Moran, Thomas 98

Morgan, John Pierpont 208

Morgan, John T 216

Morris, Robert 165

Morse, Samuel F. B 124

Morton, Levi P 142

Morton, Oliver Perrv ... 215

Motley, John Lathro'p 130

"Nye, Bill!' 59

Nye, Edgar Wilson 69



PAGE

O'Conor, Charles 187

Olney, Richard 133

Paine. Thomas 147

Palmer, John M 195

Parkhurst, Charles Henry 160

'â–  Partington, Mrs." 202

Peabody, George 170

Peck, George W 187

Peffer, William A 164

Perkins, Eli 109

Perry, Oliver Hazard 97

Phillips, Wendell 30

Pierce, Franklin 122

Pingree, Hazen S 212

Plant, Henry B 192

Poe, Edgar Allen 69

PolUT^ames Knox 102

Porter, David Dixon 68

Porter, Noah 93

Prentice, George Denison.. . . 119

Prescott, William Hickling 96

Pullman, George Mortimer.... 121

Quad, M 193

Quay Matthews 171

Randolph, Edmund 136

Read, Thomas Buchanan 132

Reed, Thomas Brackett 208

Reid, Whitelaw 149

Roach, John 190

Rockefeller, John Davison.... 195

Root, George Frederick 218

Rothermel, Peter F 113

Rutledge, John 67

.Saee, Russell 211

Schofield, John McAllister 199

Schurz, Carl 201

Scott, Thomas Alexander 204

Scott, Winfield 79

Seward, William Henry .... 44

Sharon, William 165

Shaw, Henry W 166

Sheridan, Phillip Henry 40

.Sherman, Charles R 87

Sherman, John 86

Shillaber, Benjamin Penhallow 202
Sherman, William Tecumseh.. 30

.Smith, Edmund Kirby 114

Sousa, John Philip 60

Spreckels, Claus 1.59

Stanford, Leland 101

Stanton, Edwin McMastcrs . 179

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 126

Stephens, Alexander Hamilton 32

Stephenson, Adlai F.wing... . 141

Stewart, Alexander T 58

Stewart, William Morris 213

Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth

Beecher 66

Stuart, James E. B 122

Sumner, Charles 84

Talmage, Thomas DeWitt . . 60

Taney, Roger Broc'.'- 129

Taylor, Zacliarv 108

Teller, Henry j\l 127



TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART I



PAGE

Tesla, Nikola 193

Thomas, George H 73

Thomas, Theodore 172

Thurman, Allen G 90

Thurston, John M 166

Tilden, Samuel J 48

Tillman, Benjamm Ryan 119

Toombs, Robert ^ 205

"Twain, Mark" 86

Tyler, John 93

Van Buren, Martin 78

Vanderbilt, Cornelius 35

Vail, Alfred 154

Vest, George Graham 214



PAGE

Vilas, William Freeman 140

Voorhees, Daniel Wolsey 95

Waite, Morrison Remich 125

Wallace, Lewis 199

Wallack, Lester 121

Wallack, John Lester 121

Wanaraaker, John 89

Ward, " Artemus " 91

Washburne, Elihu Benjamin. . 189

Washington, George 17

W'alson, Thomas E 178

Watterson, Henry 76

Weaver, James B 123

Webster, Daniel 19



PAGE

Webster, Noah 49

Weed, Thurlow 91

West, Benjamin 115

Whipple, Henry Benjamin. .. . 161

White, Stephen \' 162

Whitelield, George 150

Whitman, Walt 197

Whitney, Eli 12(1

Whitney, William Collins 92

Whittier, John Greenleaf 67

Willard, Frances E 133

Wilson, William L 180

Winchell, Alexander 175

Windoiii, William 138



PORTRAITS OF NATIONAL CELEBRITIES.



PAGI-.

Alger, Russell A 16

Allison, William B 99

Anthony, Susan B 63

Armour, Philip D 151

Arthur, Chester A 81

ISarnum, Phineas T 117

Beecher, Henry Ward 27

Blaine, James G 151

Booth, Edwin 63

Bryan, Wm. J 63

Bryant, William Cullen 185

Buchanan, James 81

Buckner, Simon B 16

Butler Benjamin F 151

Carlisle, John G 151

Chase, Salmon P 16

Childs, George W 99

Clay, Henry 81

Cleveland, Grover 45

Cooper, Peter 99

Dann, Charles A 151

Depew, Chauncey M 117

Douglass, Fred 63

Emerson, Ralph Waldo 27

Evarts, William M 99

Farragut, Com. D. G 185

Field, Cyrus W 63



PAGE

Field, Marshall 117

Franklin, Benjamin 63

Fremont, Gen. John C 16

Gage, Lyman J 161

Garfield, James A 45

Garrison, William Lloyd 63

George, Henry 117

Gould, lay 99

Grant.Gen. U. S 185

Greeley, Horace 81

Hampton, Wade 16

Hancock, Gen. Winfield S 185

Hanna. MarkA 117

Harrison, Benjamin 81

Hayes, R. B 45

Hendricks, Thomas A 81

Holmes, Oliver W 151

Hooker, Gen. Joseph 16

Ingersoll, Robert G 117

Irving, Washington 27

Jackson, Andrew 45

Jefferson, Thomas 46

Johnston, Gen. J.E 16

Lee, Gen. Robert E 186

Lincoln, Abraham 81

Logan, Gen. John A 16

Longfellow, Henry W 185



PAGE

Longstrei't, Gen. James 16

Lowell, James Russell 27

McKinley, William 45

Morse, S. F. B 185

Phillips, Wendell 27

Porter, Com. D. D 185

Pullman, George M 117

Quay, M. S 99

Reed, Thomas B 151

Sage, Russell 117

Scott, Gen. Winfield 185

Seward, William H 45

Sherman, John 99

Sherman, Gen. W. T. 151

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 27

Stowe, Harriet Beecher 27

Sumner, Charles 45

Talmage, T. DeWitt 63

Teller, Henry M 99

Thurman, Allen G 81

Tilden, Samuel J 117

Van Buren, Martin 81

Vanderbilt, Commodore 99

Webster, Daniel 27

Whittier, John G 21

Washington, George 45

Watterson, Henry 63



INDKX.



Allen. M.

Anderson,

Anderson,

Anderson,

Anderson.

Anderson.

Anderson,

Anderson.

Anderson,

Andrews. M. H

Andrews. Mary

Arenl. .\ndrew...,

Arnold, Christopher



PAGE

H 67.S

Abe 630

A. G •■•■• ^9

Andrew 00-



E. L

Johan

J. A

H. F

M. F., D. D.



H.



453
353
610
504
603
6g2
614
267
436



Bailev, M. J 4ii

Baldwin, H. 5^»

Bass. James 575

Bell. Isaac 330

Bilstad. T. S 454

Black. B. F 509

blain, R. W 3^9

Bloomberg. John i' 600

Brakkc. J. P 429

Burnett. Cyrus 304

Burns. John 704

B ver. .\nton 499



Danieb
Uaniel:
Daniel
Daniel
Daniel
Daniel



Daniel.
D. D.
D. M.
J. E.



PACK

. . 298
. . 667
. . 546
. . 672



Sarah E i72

VV. W 651

Danielson. Mrs. Hattie 500

Dayton. Frank 078

Dodge. G. A. â–  â–  â– 
Dolliver. J. P. . • ■
Donahoe. Thomas
Douglass. A. C.



Dowd. F. A
Dowd. W. V
Drake, F. B
Duncombe, J
Dutchcr, \V.



F.
H.



519
238
438
483
274
244
430
250
^o6



PAGE

Gustafson. G. .\ 588

Guthrie. J. M 73t

Hamilton. J. L 702

Hannon. Andrew 577

Hannon. J. L 514

Hannon. Nicholas 520

Hannan. Robert 522



Hanson, .\niund. . .
Hardine. \V. K. ..
Hart. G. D.. M. D.

Hart. N. H

Hart. L. W

Hastings. L. G. . . .

Havler. Henry

Hedlund. J. L. .. .



Heileman,
Easley. F. L ^^8 | Heukamp,



Erickson. C. E.
Erickson. Louis
Ewing. W. S. .



707

3421

608



Cahil



'Ihomas 324



Carpenter. C. C 230}

Carr. Henry 357 [

Carver. W. F.. M. D 412 |

Chinburg. S. I.. D. D. S 328

Christenson. Carl 005

Christen-on. Rev. J. A 314

Churchill. C. H.. M. D 447

Churchill. E. A 47i

Coffin. L. S Hi

Colburn. E. E 683

Colbv. Charles 292

Colby. W. H. H. & Brother. . . . ^8

Conklin. J. E 526

Coomber. George 440

Coonev. John 725

Corey. Silas 544

Cram. John ofcS

Crandall. W. B 553

Crimins. Timothy 312

Crouse. A. J 623

Daniels, .\lfred .;8o

Daniels. C. N 629



Fallon. Henrv 540

Fallon. John 3i9

Fawkes. Francis 402

Fidilick. Frank 403

Findlav. J. L 708

Flattery. Robert ^72

Flickinger. Christian 020

Flower. G. W 390

Freed. G. A 663



398

242

484

636

652

279

38&'

696

ricffner. Shnniel 404

Charles 586

L. H . ' 482

Herrington. S. W 513

Hill. Daniel 552

Holmstrom. J. P -^p

Houge. A. M 360

Houge. C. J 568

Hower. .Andrew 443

Huglin. Charles 7lo

Hunter. R. P 464

Hutchison. William 2.-/



Frosland. L. K.



417



Gabrielson. C. .A

Gabrielson, John

Gabrielson, G. A

Gabrielson. Victor

Garmoe. Isaac

Gates. C. L

Gill. J. B

Girdey. Sherman

Girdey. Henry

Goodrich. W. C

Grabenhorst. H. C

Grabenhorst. W. H 302

Granger. C. L 3^8

Grayson. Beniamin 3.^2

Grebner. Frederick 7I2

Grosenbaugh. August .' ' '

Guild. C. A 284



634
665
564

.S2.=
257
396
.^85
727
516
418
723



lies. Van

Ingalls. J. B....
Tnsalls. T. B....
Intermill. Jacob.



724

415
416
621



Jaques. Theodore 636.

Johnson. A. B 59j

Andrew 6q6

673



Johnson.
Johnson.
Johnson.
Johnson.
Johnson



August. .

Augustus

J. P

Swan. . . .



2-^5

647
625
S05



Jones. Benjamin

Karcher. Phillio 3c8

Keefer. Hiram 37/

Kelly. J. H 389

Kinney. J. L • -j

Knudson. Christopher 53°

Koll. John. Jr 320

Koll. John. Sr 296

Kruckman. F. -A 5dO



INDEX.



PAGE

Kusterer, J. F 379

Larson. Bertel 472

Larson, George 325

Larson, P. L 388

Lemon, G. C 670

Le Valley, S. E 6ig

Linn, Peter 687

Lilyard. J. P ' 649

Loehr. A. J 428

Long, Lemuel 380

Looby, John 371

Low, E. E 424

Lnnd. R. S 587

Luiiflblad, C. A 715

Lungren. C. 1 61 r

Mack, H. J 602

Manchester,, W. V 538

Mapes, Perry 343

.Marsh. George 260

.Marsh. G. W 268

Marsh. James 455

.Mar^h, W. T 5^5

McBane, .A.ngus 308

.McCarville. T. A... 426

.McDonald. Michael 4.39

McGuire. Franklin 282

McGnire, VV. R . 301

McMahon, George 282

Meservey. S. T 365

Mescrvev. vV. N 303

Mitchell W. L 55'7

.Mortimer, R. T 530

.Midroney, J. M 359

M unn, William 402

.Muslnirger, George 354

Nelson, Elias my

Nelson, H. E.. M. D 606

Nelson, J. 384

Ncndeck, L. W 320

Nicholson, W. L.. M. D 266

Ni.xon, J. A 570

Oldheime, Jonas 604

Olney, F. E., M. D 694

Olney, S. B., M. D 693

O'Loiighlin. John 371



PAGE

Palmer, A. E 492

Payne. C. H 337

Payne. F. E : . 520

Pearsons. G. R 480

Peterson, B. E 265

Peterson. D. A 671

Peterson. F. G 401

Peterson. Rasmus 565

Petersori. Thomas 508

Pingel. Charles 31 ?

Porter, E. D 650

Powers. J. E ; . . 291

Prall. A. A., M. D 695

Pratt, C. S 680

Putzkc, .\ugust 613

Putzke, Fred 730

Quick, Richard 470

Rasmussen, N. C 728

Redman. John â–  594

Reed, O. L , 648

Remington, Rev. C. H 281

Reynolds. A. S. R .^8

Reynolds. C. H 521

Rhoades. A J 664

Rhoades. G. F 659

Richey. S. B 490

Risk, David '. .' 351 .

Rolfe, E. A 709

Roscoe. J. R 237

Ro.se. H., M, D ,. 713

Ryan, Rev. Father ,396

Sanborn. H. W 259

Sayles. James 49'

Scallv. Patrick 328

Schill, C. J....... .363

!3;'hmoker, Chri.-tian 306

Schrader. Carl 668

Schram, William 477

Scleichhardt, G. C 437

Scott, .\. W 703

Scott. F. T 721

Sheerer. Henrv 295

Sheldon. O. A 614

Sheldon, Ole 612

Smith, L. V 6q8



PAGE

Snyder, Godfrey 714

S0I.S0, CM 461

Sommerville, Thomas 711

Sorber, E. W 4/8

Southard, .\lbert 642

Sperry, W. F 6i5

Spirek, Anton 573

Stegner, Martin 555

Stevens, Charles 596

Stine, A. L 366

Stine. J. D... 278

Stromberg. A 729

Suer, Bernard 632

Swanson, C. A 674

Tapper, C. M 593

Taylor. Erwin » 448

Thissell, J. F 283

Thomas, Z, W 446

Tomlinson, C. S 609

Toohey, James 697

Urelius. J. P 469

Vandevender. D. W 633

Vandevender, J. H 258

Vandevender. John 566

Van Osdoll. \V. J 327

Vinsand, A. A -: . 691

Waterbury. C. D 706

Weaver, W. R 532

Weiss, F. E 387

Welch. James 529

Welch. J. W 58s

Weller, D. A 307

Widick, Henry 444

Widick. W. H 687

Wilkinson, .A. A 456

Willey, Henry 579

Wdliamson, Ole 297

Wood. â–  Oliver 510

Woodard. D. D 710

Woodard, Mrs. Ella 554

Wooddle, E. L 620

Wrede, William 657

Yimgclas. G. F 688

Zuerrer, Rev. E 558



r^^^^^




i^^^^S^:^^



COMFENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY



OF



Celebrated Americans



'^^'^^'^i^'^g?










n



G



WASHINGTON,



|EOi^GE

f the first president of the Unit-

I ed States, called the "Father

»< »">« 7' y n^KH^ of his Country," was one of



^•5f»^ the most celebrated characters



K



in history,
ruary 22,



He was born Feb-
1732, in Washing-



ton Parish, Westmoreland county, Virginia.
His father, Augustine Washington, first
married Jane Butler, who bore him four
children, and March -, 1730, he married
Mary Ball. Of six children by his second
marriage, George was the eldest.

Little is known of the early years of
Washington, beyond the fact that the house
in which he was born was burned during his
early childhood, and that his father there-
upon moved to another farm, inherited from
his paternal ancestors, situated in Stafford
county, on the north bank of the Rappahan-
nock, and died there in 1743. From earliest
childhood George developed a noble charac-
ter. His education was somewhat defective,
being confined to the elementary branches
taught him by his mother and at a neighbor-
ing school. On leaving school he resided
some time at Mount Vernon with his half



brother, Lawrence, who acted as his guar-
dian. George's inclinations were for a sea-
faring career, and a midshipman's warrant
was procured for him; but through the oppo-
sition of his mother the project was aban-
doned, and at the age of si.xteen he was
appointed surveyor to the immense estates
of the eccentric Lord Fairfax. Three years
were passed by Washington in a rough fron-
tier life, gaining experience which afterwards
proved very esie-itial to him. In 1751,
when the Virginia militia were put under
training with a view to active service against
France, Washington, though only nineteen
years of age, was appointed adjutant, with
the rank of major. In 1752 Lawrence
\\'ashington died, leaving his large property
to an infant daughter. In his will George
was named One of the executors an-d as an
eventual heir to Mount Vernon, and by the
death of the infant niece, soon succeeded to
that estate. In 1753 George was commis-
sioned adjutant-general of the Virginia
militia, and performed important work at
the outbreak of the French and Indian
war, was rapidly promoted, and at the close of
that war we find him commander-in-chief of



OopjTlsht 1897, by Geo. A. Ogle k Co.



IS



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.



all the forces raised in Virginia. A cessation
of Indian hostilities on the frontier having
followed the expulsion of the French from
the Ohio, he resigned his commission as
commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces,
and then proceeded to Williamsburg to take
his seat in the Virginia Assembly, of which
he had been elected a member.

January 17, 1759, Washington married
Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Curtis, a young
and beautiful widow of great wealth, and
devoted himself for the ensuing fifteen years
to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, inter-
rupted only by the annual attendance in
winter upon the colonial legislature at
"Williamsburg, until summoned by his coun-
try to enter upon that other arena in which
his fame was to become world-wide. The
war for independence called Washington
into service again, and he was made com-
mander-in-chief of the colonial forces, and
was the most gallant and conspicuous fignre
in that bloody struggle, serving until Eng-
land acknowledged the independence of
each of the thirteen States, and negotiated
with them jointly, as separate sovereignties.
December 4, 1783, the great commander
took leave of his officers in most affection-
ate and patriotic terms, and went to An-
napolis, Maryland, where the congress of
the States was in session, and to that body,
when peace and order prevailed everywhere,
resigned his commission and retired to
Mount Vernon.

It was in 1789 that Washington was
called to the chief magistracy of the na-
tion. The inauguration took place April
30, in the presence of an immense multi-
tude which had assembled to witness the new
and imposing ceremony. In the manifold de-
tails of his civil administration Washington
proved himself fully equal to the requirements
of his position. In 1792, at the second presi-



dential election, Washington was desirous