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Biographies and Portraits of the Progressive Men of
Iowa B Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton. Bartow, George L., of Sigourney, was born on a farm in Jefferson county, Iowa, in 1860, where he lived until he was 18 years old. His father's name was George P. Bartow, a native of Ohio, coming to this state in 1851, where he grew to manhood. He was married in 1856 to Susan Baker, a native of Ohio, who came to Iowa with her parents in 1853 and settled on a farm in Jefferson county. She is still living in the town of Richland, Iowa. After receiving an academic education, Mr. Bartow took up the study of medicine, graduating from Scuder's Eclectic school of medicine in Cincinnati, Ohio, which profession he followed until his death, October 28, 1888. He was in good financial circumstances at the time of his death, owning 500 acres of land in Jefferson county, and considerable town property. George began his education as most boys do on a farm, working in the summer and attending school in the winter. In 1883 he entered the Pleasant Plain academy, graduating from that institution in 1886 after completing a three-years' course. After leaving the academy he taught school for fourteen terms, being principal of the Richland and Martinsburg schools. In 1887 he was appointed postmaster of the town of Richland by President Arthur, holding the office for one year. He was appointed railway postal clerk on the Cedar Rapids & Kansas City railway postal route by President Cleveland, which position he held until the first of January, 1890. He then resigned from the mail service to become county superintendent of schools of Keokuk county, to which office he had been elected at the previous election. This position he held four years, being re-elected in 1892. After leaving this office he again entered school work, being principal of the Thornburg schools for some time. He then became editor and proprietor of the Sigourney Review, the official paper of Keokuk county. He was married to Miss Belle Pfaff, of Sigourney, April 10, 1890. She was one of the primary teachers in the Sigourney schools. They have two children, Vora S., born July 20, 1892 and Vera A., born January 22, 1894. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Bartow was admitted to the bar may 12, 1897, and is now a member of the law firm of Gambell & Bartow, Sigourney, Mr. Gambell being county attorney of Keokuk county. BEAL, ALBERT R., M. D., of Watertown , Illinois , formerly of Washta , Iowa , is a son of the noted Colonel Beal, who was for nine years auditor of Cherokee County . Colonel Beal was an officer in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and his company saw severe service in the Civil War. Since the war the colonel has spent most of his time on the farm, except the years he was county auditor as before mentioned. The mother of Dr. Beal was a member of the Drum family of Rock Island , Illinois , being a neice of Adjutant General Drum , U. S. A. , now retired. Dr. Beal was born in Rock Island County , Illinois , July 3, 1867 . He attended the common schools until he was fifteen years of age, when he entered Port Byron Academy , but about six months thereafter his parents came to Iowa and he, of course, accompanied them. He then worked for some time upon his father's farm near Meriden . In 1883 his mother was removed by death, leaving one son and three daughters, of which one son and one daughter, Miss Mary, still survive. In 1885 his father was elected auditor of Cherokee County , and removed to Cherokee, at which time the doctor was placed in the high school there, from which he graduated in 1886. Later he attended Western College at Toledo for two years, but was compelled to leave school before graduation because of his father's failing health. Besides acting as his father's deputy, he served as bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Cherokee, which last named position he filled for some time. In 1889 he began the study of medicine, and shortly thereafter entered the medical department of the State University , where he spent two years. Following his second course in that institution he went to the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, as surgeon for a mining company there, but returned in one year to attend Rush Medical College , at Chicago . Following his graduation from "Rush" in 1893, he practiced his profession in Cripple Creek , Colorado , but finally located at Washta, where he enjoyed a large and growing practice. Politically the doctor is a republican, but he finds little time to take an active art in the campaign made by his party. He is a member of the Masons, Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America. He was also city health officer, and physician to several life insurance companies. He is a member of the Presbyterian church. The doctor was married to Miss Ida M. Freeman of Milwaukee on April 2, 1895 . She is a daughter of the late Lieutenant W. W. Freeman, who served in the state legislature of Wisconsin in 1870, and was postmaster of Menasha during Hayes' administration. They have one daughter, Elizabeth, born in 1897. The doctor removed to his present location in 1897 and has acquired a good practice and is rapidly gaining an advanced position in his profession. BEAL, LUCIUS WELLS, of Cherokee, is of New England ancestry. His parents were pioneers in the very early days of the new west and he was the first white child born in Zuma township, Rock Island County , Illinois , the date of his birth being January 20, 1838 . His father, Daniel N. Beal, was left an orphan when he was a small boy, one of a large family and without means of support. He was bound out to service to Leonard Johnson, a brother of Oliver Johnson, at one time associate editor of the New York Independent, in Vermont until he was nineteen, when with $40 in his pocket he started westward to seek his fortune. He made his journey largely on foot. Working a day or month as he could secure employment, he saved in two years $200 and with this he returned to his native town, Peacham, Caledonia County , Vermont , to claim the girl he left behind. Her name was Betsey Spencer. They were married September 18, 1836 , and proceeded at once to their new home, via stage coach, canal, lake and river, reaching at last Rock Island , where they pre-empted land and built a log cabin in which was born the subject of this sketch. His father was a citizen of wealth and influence, noted for his honest and faithful performance of all duties entrusted to him. They celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary in Moline , Illinois , September 18, 1896 . Mr. Beal's early schooling was obtained in the subscription schools held in private houses or log cabins until he was fifteen, when he was sent to Rock Island . The next year he entered the preparatory department of Lombard University at Galesburg , Illinois , where he attended four years, spending his vacations in work upon his father's farm. His first money was earned by dropping corn at twenty-five cents a day. His education closed with a year at Peacham Academy , Vermont . In 1861 Mr. Beal enlisted in Capt. Graham's cavalry at Moline and was mustered into United States service at Quincy , Illinois , for three years. He was made sergeant, went to Ft. Leavenworth and to Lexington , Missouri , took part in the siege and was captured with the First Illinois cavalry and Mulligan's regiment September 20, 1861 , at once paroled and let go. The company was mustered out of United States service at St. Louis , October 10, 1861 . Mr. Beal again enlisted August 2, 1862 , at Port Byron, Illinois , in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Infantry. He became captain of Company E. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel August 12, 1864 , to colonel, May 11, 1865 . He took part in the capture of Little Rock and Clarendon, also the siege of Vicksburg . He was provost marshal of Jackson , Tennessee , in May and June, 1863, and of Du Vals Bluff, Arkansas , in 1864. He was mustered out of service as lieutenant colonel, July 12, 1865 , not having been mustered as colonel. He is a republican and has a large influence in local politics. He was auditor of Cherokee County from 1886 to 1895. Mr. Beal was a member of the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, serving on several of the most important committees. He came to Iowa in 1882 and purchased 220 acres of land and has now one of the finest farms in Iowa . Mr. Beal is a member of the G. A. R. and was past commander of Custer Post No. 25. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Cherokee Lodge No. 167, and has held the office of chancellor commander. He is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Beal was married December 10, 1863 , to Lizzie S. Drum, a niece of Gen. R. C. Drum. They had five children: Albert R., born July 3, 1867 , who is now engaged in the practice of medicine in Watertown , Illinois ; Lucy W., born December 5, 1870 , and married A. L. Funk of Cherokee. She died March 28,, 1892 . Edna G., died at the age of seventeen. Mae S. was born December 11, 1875 , and Daniel N., died in infancy. Mrs. Beal died December 9, 1883 . Mr. Beal was married again March 30, 1887 , to Mrs. Corelia A. Biddle of Cherokee, daughter of David and Effie Holly, late of Dixon , Illinois. Bloodgood, Freeman H., B. S., county superintendent of schools of Fayette county, lives in West Union, and was born in Linn county, Iowa, in 1867. He has the reputation of being an active and progressive educational man who has kept up with the times. He attended a graded rural school in Linn county until he was 13 years old, when his parents moved to Huron, S. d., and he went to school there until 1885, working on a farm between times, thus getting physical strength as well as mental culture. In 1885 he entered Upper Iowa University, from which he graduated in 1890 with a creditable record. He was a member of the Zethegathian Literary society, and gained a high reputation for oratory. He represented the college in the state contest in 1890. Immediately upon his graduation he was elected to the principalship of the Fayette public schools, which he filled satisfactorily for two years, and then resigned to enter Harvard university for post graduate work. He returned to Fayette in the fall of 1893, and was elected county superintendent as a republican. December 19, 1893, Mr. Bloodgood was married to Miss Ethel Hulbert, a charming and accomplished lady, one of his classmates in college and a resident of Fayette. They have since lived in West Union. Mr. Bloodgood is now serving his third term as county superintendent. He believes in encouraging teachers to cherish the ambition to be professional educators instead of making teaching a mere makeshift. The schools of Fayette county have been given a close supervision and have been much improved by this energetic young man. He has demonstrated the results of his work at the State Teachers' association in Des Moines, where Fayette county for three consecutive years, beginning in 1895, won a prize for the greatest number of miles traveled by teachers in attending the association. In December, 1898, he was chosen president of the Iowa State Teachers' association at Des Moines, and has unanimously been chosen as city superintendent of the Vinton schools for the year beginning September, 1899. He is universally recognized among educational workers as a man of ideas, who has something to say and knows how to say it. He takes a leading part in the several educational associations to which he belongs, and was elected president of the Northeastern Teachers' association in 1895, and president of the Iowa County Superintendents' association in Des Moines in 1897. Oratorical ability and the genius for teaching combined cause him to be in general demand as a lecturer and institute instructor. In these capacities Mr. Bloodgood has been employed in various counties in the state, and also in cities outside the state. His success in educational work and the other qualities which make a popular man have often suggested the fact that he is available for the office of state superintendent of public instruction. Addenda Bloodgood, Freeman H., city superintendent of schools, East Waterloo (see [above]), served as city superintendent in Vinton after retiring from the county superintendency of Fayette county at the end of 1899 after serving three terms. His promotion in the educational world was rapid, for in the summer of 1900 he was elected city superintendent in East waterloo and is now serving in that capacity. Bonson,
Robert, is
a lawyer from Dubuque, who represented his district in the senate of
the Twenty-sixth General
Assembly. He is of English
parentage. His father,
Richard Bonson, was born in Yorkshire County, England, in 1814, and
came to Iowa as a boy, settling in Dubuque in 1833, where he engaged
in the lead smelting business
and acquired some property. He
was a member of the Iowa
legislature, serving in the House of Representatives of
the Fourth and Fifth General Assemblies, from 1852 to 1856.
He died in 1883. Senator
Bonson's mother was born in Manchester, England.
She is still living.
Senator Robert Bonson was born at Dubuque,
January 5, 1868. He graduated
from the common and high schools of the city, and in 1886 entered
the collegiate department of the State University, where he studied
until the junior year, when he entered the law department, graduating
therefrom in 1890. He took
an active interest in Irving Institute,
a literary society of the university, and in his junior year was
its president. He was also prominent in college athletics.
After graduating, he practiced law for a year in Dubuque, and then
took a post graduate course
at the Columbia Law School of the City of New York, graduating
therefrom in 1892. He then
resumed his practice at Dubuque, and
is now the senior member of the firm of Bonson & Bonson, his partner
being Mr. W. W. Bonson.
Senator Bonson has been an active worker
in politics. In 1895 he
was elected to the senate
of the Iowa legislature from Dubuque County to fill
the vacancy caused by the death of Isaac W. Baldwin, and was the youngest
member of the senate. His
popularity with the people was attested
by his majority at the polls, running 700 votes ahead of the state
ticket and over 200 ahead of any other candidate in the county, and
carrying every township in the county save one.
In the senate he was
a member of the following committees:
Judiciary, cities and towns, banks,
educational institutions, suppression of intemperance, engrossed bills
and charitable institutions. He
took a very active part in codifying
the laws relating to cities under special charter, and many important reforms in the municipal law for special chartered
cities of particular interest
to the City of Dubuque are due to his efforts.
He was an active
worker in behalf of the present manufacturing bill and for high license. Independent and fearless in his political
beliefs, he could not reconcile
his views with those of his party, as expressed in the Chicago platform
of 1896, and believing that the money plank of that platform was
radical and unsound, he took an active interest in the national democratic movement, and was a delegate to the sound money convention
at Des Moines and represented
the Third congressional district of Iowa as a delegate
in the national convention at Indianapolis which nominated Palmer
and Buckner. Mr. Bonson belongs to but one society
- the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, being a charter member of Dubuque lodge.
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