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Annals of Iowa E Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton. James B. Edmonds was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., May 20, 1832; he died in Washington, D. C., December 29, 1900. He was admitted to the bar at Elmira, N. Y., in 1853, and was associated in law partnerships with Hon. John L. Taylor, M. C., and with Gen. B. F. Tracy, late Secretary of the Navy. He came to this State in the late fifties or early sixties and settled in Iowa City, where he became one of our widely known lawyers. His health filing in 1875, he removed to Washington, where he resided until his death. He was one of the District Commissioners - a position of high responsibility - from March 3, 1883, until April 1, 1886. As a mark of respect the flags on all the city buildings were placed at half-mast upon the occasion of his death. Dr. J. M. EMMERT was born in Washington county, Maryland, June 13, 1846; he died at Atlantic, Iowa, July 15, 1909. He was the son of Joshua and Anna G. (Funk) Emmert. He was educated at Mechanicsburg and the Millersville State Normal School of Pennsylvania, and graduated at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1872. He removed to Hamburg, Fremont county, the same year, and on March 16, 1874, removed to Atlantic, Iowa, where his home thereafter remained. He was a delegate to the International Medical Congress in Philadelphia in 1876. He was appointed a member of the State Board of Health in 1892, serving until his resignation in 1898, upon being elected to the State Senate. He was appointed to a membership on the State Board of Parole in 1907, in which office he was serving at the time of his death. He was a successful financier, a loyal, enthusiastic member of the Presbyterian church, and a member of fraternal societies.
was born March 15, 1815, at Tillsleys Banks, Lancashire, England; he died at Des Moines, Iowa, October 31, 1909. He was apprenticed to the Duke of Bridgewater who had large machine shops at Manchester. It was in these shops that the inventor, Stephenson, built his first locomotive, and a portion of the work on it was done by Mr. Entwistle. When Stephenson took the locomotive for its trial trip, he had Mr. Entwistle attend him as fireman. the "Rocket" drew the first train between Manchester and Liverpool, and for two years Mr. Entwistle as engineer, made two round trips daily. He was transferred on his own request to a costing steamer owned by the Duke of Bridgewater, and as its engineer remained in that service until he was twenty-two years of age, when he migrated to America. He ran steamboats on the Hudson river, and on the Great Lakes until 1856, when he came to Des Moines, where his home remained the rest of his life. He made a few trips from Des Moines to Keokuk and return during the navigation of the Des Moines river, but for the most part was engaged as a stationary engineer throughout his active years. |
