Buena Vista County >> 1909 Index

Past and Present of Buena Vista County, Iowa
by C. H. Wegerslev and Thomas Walpole. Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1909.

B

Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton.

Judge ARTHUR D. BAILIE

The legal profession demands not only a high order of ability but a rare combination of talent, learning, tact, patience and industry. The successful lawyer and the competent judge must be a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly familiar with the law and practice, of comprehensive general information, possessed of an analytical mind and the self-control that will enable him to lose his individuality, his personal feelings, his prejudices and his peculiarities of disposition in the dignity, impartiality and equity of the office to which life, property, right and liberty must look for protection. Possessing these qualities Judge Arthur D. Bailie justly merits the high honor which was conferred upon him by his elevation to the district bench and that he has proved an able and competent judge is indicated by the fact that he is now serving for the third term.

Judge Bailie was born in Mason , Illinois , July 1, 1857. His father, Andrew Bailie, is a native of Cincinnati , Ohio , and still resides at Mason , Illinois. He is of Scotch ancestry and a son of Robert Bailie, who was a farmer by occupation. Andrew Bailie, however, put aside the work of the fields and became a contractor and builder. He removed from Ohio to Illinois about 1853 or 1854, settling in Effingham county, where he worked at his trade. He became prosperous and was identified with many of the important building operations of that locality. At the time of the Civil war, however, he put aside all business and personal considerations and enlisted in defense of the Union cause, joining Company E of the Fifty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for more than three years. He enlisted at Mason and saw much active service at the front. He still carries a bullet in his right arm, having been wounded in the battle of Stone River. His injuries necessitated his remaining in the hospital for some time, after which he rejoined his regiment. Later he was captured and was incarcerated in Libby prison for three months, after which he was exchanged and returned to his regiment. His life has been one of activity and honor winning for him the unqualified respect and confidence his fellow citizens. His political allegiance has been given to the republican party since its organization and he has filled a number of local offices. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic lodge, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee. He married Miss Sarah Winterringer, who was born in Knox county, Ohio , and was of Dutch descent. She, too, was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and died in that faith February 2, 1894. They were the parents of four children, of whom one died in infancy. The daughters are: Eva, the wife of Charles Sisson, now agent for the Illinois Central Railroad Company at Mason , Illinois ; and Gertrude, who is also living in Mason.

Judge Bailie, the only son of the family, obtained his education in the public schools of Mason and at Normal , Illinois. He also attended a private school for a limited period and later became a teacher in the district schools of his native state. He regarded this, however, merely as an initial step to other professional labor and began reading law in the office of Wood Brothers, attorneys of Effingham , Illinois , with whom he remained for three years. He was admitted to the bar at Mount Vernon , Illinois , in July, 1881, and in October of that year entered upon active practice at Storm Lake , Iowa , continuing a leading member of the bar until elected to the bench of the district court. He was first appointed to the position by Governor Leslie M. Shaw to fill a vacancy and on the 26th of June, 1908 , was renominated for a third term. His decisions indicate strong mentality, careful analysis, a thorough knowledge of the law and an unbiased judgment, and these qualities combined with the readiness with which he grasps the points in an argument make him one of the most capable jurists that has sat upon the district bench in Iowa.

On the 9th of November, 1882 , Judge Bailie was united in marriage to Miss May Mills, who was born in Charleston , Illinois , March 26, 1859. Their second child died in infancy and they now have a daughter, Ethelyn, and a son, Robert. The parents are members of the Presbyterian church, in which Judge Bailie is serving as a trustee. He also belongs to the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternities and in the former has attended the Knight Templar degree. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he served for several terms as mayor of Storm Lake , giving to the city a businesslike and progressive administration. He also filled the office of county attorney and was formerly active in the work of the party, serving for some time as chairman of the county central committee but since his election to the bench he has withdrawn from participation in political work, allowing nothing to interfere with the capable and unbiased performance of his duty. He stands as one of the eminent members of the bar in his section of the state and is no less honored for his personal worth than his professional acquirements.

As a farmer boy, Alfred R. Biddle spent the days of his boyhood and youth and attended the country schools.  He was identified with the work of the fields in Illinois until 1880, and in the spring of 1881 he came to Iowa, settling in Storm Lake, where he engaged in the machinery business.  He was afterward upon the road for about ten years as a machinery salesman, and in that connection gained a wide and favorable acquaintance.  When he left the road he became the proprietor and host of the Columbia Hotel, and is still conducting the establishment, which he has made a popular hostelry.

In 1876 Mr. Biddle was married to Miss Lillie J. Jones, who was born in Illinois and died in 1888, at the age of thirty-five years, leaving three children:  Bertha F., the wife of Curtis Bethard, of Storm Lake, who is pilot on the steamer running to the casino; and Eva M., and Ethel P., both now  deceased.  In March, 1893, Mr. Dibble was again married, his second union being with Lyda E. Hancock.  Her death occurred in November, 1906.  There was one child of this marriage, Jennie Mabel, born in 1894.

Mr. Biddle is a member of the Baptist church and of the Odd Fellows society.  He exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the democratic party and has done effective work for the city's substantial improvement in his faithful service as alderman for the past fifteen years.  He was elected chief of the Storm Lake Fire Department in 1882 and has since acted in that capacity, being perhaps, today the oldest fire chief in point of continuous service in the United States.  What he has done in behalf of the city has been for its good and upbuilding and his labors have been eminently practical and helpful.  He has a wide acquaintance in the community and among the traveling public, and a genial disposition and cordial address are qualities which have won him popularity and high regard.

Knud C. Bodholt is an energetic and progressive farmer of Newell township, deriving a good annual income from a farm of one hundred and sixty-four acres situated on section 7. The place is neat and attractive in its appearance and the improvements on the property are in keeping with the ideas of a model farm of the twentieth century.

Mr. Bodholt was born in North Schleswig, Germany, June 24, 1857, a son of Claus and Karen (Johansen) Bodholt, who were likewise of the same country. The father was a blacksmith and farmer and lived a useful and industrious life, remaining a resident of his native land until called to the home beyond. He was one of a family of three sons, the others being Nels and Chris Bodholt, and their parents, spending their entire lives in Schleswig, died there when well advanced in years. The death of Claus Bodholt occurred in 1906, when he was about eighty years of age. He had for several years survived his wife, who died at the age of seventy. She was a daughter of Peter and Maria Johansen, the former a tailor by trade. He died in Schleswig when more than eighty years of age, while his wife was more than seventy years at the time of her death. Their family numbered five children, including Mrs. Bodholt, who by her marriage became the mother of three sons and three daughters: Metta; Peter; Maria, the wife of the editor of the Danish newspaper, at Cedar Falls, Iowa; Knud C.; Annie, the wife of Hannah Grau, and Hans, who died at the age of eighteen years.

Knud C. Bodholt was reared in Schleswig, which was then a part of Denmark but is now a province of Germany. He acquired his education in the public schools there and also attended an agricultural college near Copenhagen, where he studied agriculture, becoming familiar not only with the practical side of the question but also with the business in its scientific phase. According to the laws of his native land, he also joined the regular army and passed through the military school. In 1879 he came to America, for the reports which he heard concerning the business conditions in the new world led him to believe that he might more rapidly acquire a competence on this side of the Atlantic. Accordingly he located near Cedar Falls, Iowa, where he lived for twelve or thirteen years, being there engaged in the occupation of farming. In 1892 he arrived in Buena Vista county, having the previous year purchased one hundred and sixty-four acres of good land, which he has since cultivated. The farm is now well improved, being equipped with all the conveniences and accessories of model farm property. The buildings are kept in good repair and the place is divided into fields of convenient size, by fences that never show an indication of dilapidation. The spirit of industry, which has always characterized Mr. Bodholt, is manifest in every department of the farm.

On the 10th of October, 1884, Mr. Bodholt was married to Hannah Nelson, a daughter of Christopher and Mathina (Nelson) Hanson. Mrs. Bodholt was born in Moen, Denmark. Her parents came to this country and settled in Indianapolis, where her father died in 1891, at the age of seventy-five years, while his wife passed away in 1906, at the age of eighty-four years. They were the parents of five children, Karen, Kersten, Austine, Bolstine and Hannah. The last named becoming Mrs. Bodholt and unto her marriage were born seven children: Mathina, the wife of George Nicholaisen, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and they have two children, Ernest and Victor; Clarence, who is an auctioneer; Carrie, Amanda, Hans, Adelia and Albert are all yet at home. The parents hold membership in the Lutheran church and are well known in the community as people of genuine worth, their many good qualities gaining from them the esteem, confidence and good will of all who know them. Mr. Bodholt may justly be called a self-made man for he well deserves all the praise the term implies. He had few advantages in his youth, but he possessed what is worth more than capital - energy and a resolute will. With these qualities he came to the new world, resolved to win success and as the years have passed he has worked on with the result that he has prospered, owing all to his good management and unfaltering diligence. In all his business affairs he has been strictly reliable and his example as a trustworthy energetic business man is one which may well be followed.

Peter C. Bodholdt, who residence in Buena Vista county dates from 1879, owns and cultivates a tract of land on section 12, Providence township.  His original holdings in this county were one hundred and sixty acres and that he has prospered as the years have gone by is indicated in the fact that he today owns about seven hundred and twenty acres. His fields are carefully tilled and in addition to raising the crops best adapted to the soil and climate he is also quite extensively engaged in raising cattle.

Mr. Bodholdt was born in the province of North Schleswig, Germany, January 3, 1853. That district, however, was formerly a part of Demark. and his grandfather, Knud Bodholdt, spent his entire life in Denmark.  Between the ages of eighteen and thirty-six years he served in the Danish army and both he and his wife died in middle life. They had three sons: Nels C., Claus and Christen. Claus Bodholdt, father of our subject, was born in North Denmark, and having arrived at years of maturity he married Karen Johansen, who died in Denmark when about eighty-five years of age, while his wife passed away in middle life.  Their family included Johan, Maren, Karen, Elizabeth and Bodelstine.

In early manhood Claus Bodholdt learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed for many years. He was an energetic man who made good use of his opportunities and enjoyed the respect of those with whom he was associated in his native country. He died in Schleswig in April, 1903, at the age of seventy-nine years, having for several years survived his wife. Their family numbered three sons and three daughters: Metta Maria, the wife of Hans Hansen, of Schleswig; Peter C.; Maria Christine, the wife of Martin Holtz, of Cedar Falls, Iowa; Knud C., who is mentioned elsewhere in this review; Hans C., who as a twin brother of Knud, and is now deceased; and Anna C., the wife of Hans Grau.

Peter C. Bodholdt spent the first eighteen years of his life in the land of his nativity and there learned and followed the blacksmith's trade.  He determined to come to America for he realized that the advantages of the new world were superior to those furnished in his native country and, ambitious to succeed, he crossed the Atlantic to America in 1871, settling in Jackson county, Iowa. A few weeks later he removed to Clinton county, where he followed his trade and then went to Black hawk county, where he resided for five years. In 1879 he arrived in Buena Vista county, which was then comparatively new and unimproved. In the thirty years of his residence here he has lived to see many changes and his labors have been an element in the development which this part of the state has enjoyed. He at first purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Providence township, which he improved and as he has prospered in his undertakings he has extended the boundaries of his farm until he now owns seven hundred and twenty acres. He is therefore one of the extensive farmers of the county and his property is valuable owing to the many modern accessories and equipments he has placed thereon. He pays considerable attention to fattening stock, feeding all of his corn and also purchasing a considerable amount for that purpose.  He is one of the largest stock shippers of this locality and the extent of his business makes him one of the most prosperous residents here.

In 1879 Mr. Bodholdt was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Naeve, who was born near Davenport in Scott county, Iowa, where her parents, Nicholas and Louisa (Honike) Naeve, located on their emigration from Germany in 1848, being natives of South Schleswig. Her father was a cooper by trade and followed that pursuit in early life but later purchased a farm and devoted his attention to its cultivation. His wife died in 1901, at the age of fifty-six years, but he is still living.  His parents, Henry and Louisa Naeve, also came to America and died near Muscatine, Iowa. Mrs. Bodholdt's maternal grandparents were Henry and Lizzie Honike, who came to the new world about 1848 and died at an old age. Mrs. Bodholdt is one of a family of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, one of whom, William, is now deceased. Those living are: Henry; Mary E.; Louisa; Fred; Christ; Nicholas; John; Annie, the wife of Peter Ehlers; Lena, the wife of Peter Schroeder; and Albert.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bodholdt has been blessed with ten children: Hans C., who is cultivating one of his father's farm, married Mettie Sorensen and they have one daughter, Sine; Emil N., who also follows farming, married Amelia Peterson, and they have a daughter, Esther; Carrie E. is the wife of A. Peterson and has one daughter, Mabel; Lizzie is the wife of Albert H. Peterson; Annie and Mettie are both at home; Lena died at the age of three years; Ida, Lena and Askel are all yet with their parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Bodholdt hold membership in the Lutheran church. His political support is given to the democratic party and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called him to public office. He has served as school director, as assessor and trustee, and in these various positions he has discharged his duties with promptness and fidelity. He is well known in Buena Vista county, where he has now made his home for almost three decades. During this period the country has largely emerged from pioneer conditions and taken on all of the evidences of a modern progressive civilization. Mr. Bodholdt has assisted materially in the advancement of the county, his large holdings indicating most clearly that his life has been a very busy, active and useful one. In all of his dealings he has been thoroughly reliable, and his energy and integrity are perhaps his most salient characteristics.