Hon. Warren Garst
Hon. Warren Garst Senator from the 1st Senatorial
District, is an honor to his position he has been chosen to fill. First of all
be is a man of ability and perfect equipoise. He is a student of public
questions and entertains opinion based upon intelligent and careful thought. He
is judicial in his mode of thought and never arrives at a conclusion until he
has deliberated on the subject matter. And still he has a keen perception and
quick insight into matters requiring immediate act ion. In brief, you will never
catch Senator Garst "napping." neither will he
ever "slop over."
Warren Garst was born in Dayton, Ohio about 1840. His parents moved to
Boone, Iowa while he was still a boy. He spent his boyhood there, and while still a
young man, he worked
two years as a brakeman on the C. & N. W. Railway between Boone and Council
Bluffs, and won the hearts of all the
railroad men who came in contact with him.
In 1874 Senator Garst, still a young
man, came to Coon Rapids and entered into a partnership with his brother in
the mercantile business. The business was then in a fair way to reach prosperity
but with the advent of the present senator, the business grew more rapidly than
before and soon became one of the best in the county. The success of the
brothers is such as industry, ability, and opportunity generally
accomplish. But Senator Garst has had time not only to make his own business
a success but also to take a leading place as a promoter of the public interests
of his town, county and state, he has devoted himself to assisting in building
up the material interests of his town and community and his support to schools
and churches has always been liberal and freely given. He is a republican
every inch of him and always stands ready to give his reasons for being one.
He is conservative by nature and is therefore what is called a safe man to
thrust.
As a member of the state senate he has
been one of the safest men in matters pertaining to business, public taxation
and the moral welfare of the people. He is not trimmer, and his
unquestioned integrity is a guarantee that he will be always found on the right
side of every question.
He was first elected State Senator in 1893
and when his term expired he was re-elected in 1897 by a good majority.
William Gilley
When Mr. Gilley came to Carroll County he did not experience
any trouble in finding breathing space, for room was plenty and the wind
had nothing to stop it from blowing its own sweet will. This was the early
day of 1856 and the total inhabitants of the county numbered about 75. Mr.
Gilley was born in Alleghany county Pennsylvania in 1830. His parents came
to Ohio when he was but three years old. Here he grew to manhood and
married Mess Leah Mohler. They came to the county poor but by good
management soon place themselves in comfortable circumstances. He served
the county as county treasurer from 1869-1873 and then went into the coal and
lumber trade. Mr. and Mrs. Gilley have three living children, Ira M., Ida
S. Tolbridge and Emma I.
Mr. Gilley is a republican in politics and cast his first
vote for General John C. Fremont.
W. E. Guild J. W. Kennebeck
Green Bay Lumber Company
The history of the business interests of Carroll would not be
complete without a mention of the Green Bay Lumber company.
In 1880 this company, then simply a co-partnership of which
Mr. E. C. Finkbine was the head, and doing business at Odebolt and Ida Grove,
came to Carroll and purchased the lumber yard owned by Wm. W. Smith & Co.
The town was small and the county new but the people were rapidly improving
their farms, and the towns were springing up like magic all over the country,
and the new firm did a splendid business. In 1881 a new yard was started
at Manning, as a branch of the one at Carroll, and Mr. W. E. Guild, who had
been employed in the home yard, was made manager. This yard also did a
good business and furnished all the lumber that went to build the new town.
In 1884 the Green Bay Lumber Company was organized into a
corporation under the state laws and Mr. E. C. Finkbine was made president.
The headquarters of the company was located at Carroll. Business
prospered with the company and new yards were being established every few months
at other points and its interests began to assume vast proportions. In
1887 the business had become extended over such a large territory that it was
found necessary to remove the headquarters to a point that would enable them to
have the advantage of road facilities, and Des Moines was chose as the point.
The company how has branches on the Northwestern and its branches the Milwaukee
and its branches, the Rock Island and its branches the C. B. & Q. and its
branches lines. The total number of yards now owned and operated by the
organization number 49 through western Iowa, and it is probably the
largest lumber companies in the state.
A man who has contributed materially to the success of this
great enterprise is the auditor and treasurer, W. E. Guild, who has worked from
the bottom to nearly the top. He began in 1899 as a workman in the yards,
at the place, and by his own exertion and ability has earned the place he how
holds. He has always lived at Carroll since coming here in 1880, and is
numbered among her most respected and influential citizens. Those who know
him concede that he deserves the position he holds and that he is fully capable
to filling it. The officers of the company now are E. C. Finkbine, president; W.
E. Guild, auditor and treasurer; and K. E. Jewett secretary.
J. P Hess
The German Bank of Carroll County
A new financial venture that is in reality the continuation of
an old and well established banking business and a new organization of the
German Bank of Carroll county. For several years up until the first of
January, 1898 this bank is owned by a co-partnership composed of J. P. Hess, Jon
Nockles and Wm. Arts, with J. P. Hess as president. Upon the above date
the partnership was dissolved and the stock was purchased by the following
gentleman: J. P. Hess, Geo. F. Beberger, F. Caspary, J. C. Dlaney, Peter Berger,
Jas. Nurre, B. Brown, Geo. Selzer. J. P. Hess was elected president and
Mr. F. P. Berger a son of M. P. Berger was elected cashier. The capital
stock of the bank is $100,000.00, 75 percent paid up and the balance is the be
paid in as soon as the money is needed for loaning purposes. The
responsibility of the stockholders is over $300,000.00 thus making the bank the
strongest in the county. The German bank of Carroll is one of the oldest
banking institutions in the county. It was organized first in 1870 by W.
T. Winchen. In 1883 it was purchased by A. W. and W. J. Patterson.
Six years later Mr. Hess began the organization of a banking institution that
resulted in the purchase of the German bank by Messrs, J. P. Hess, John Nockels
and Wm. Arts, those men having now sold to the late stockholders mentioned above.
The bank has been made much stronger by the changed and is now in condition to
meet the demands made upon it for years to come. Its directors are all
well know and possess the confidence of the public.
Mr. J. P. Hess,
president of the German Bank of Carroll County, was born in Luxenberg, Germany in
1857. His parents came to America when he was four years of age an settled
at Dubuque, Iowa. Here Mr. Hess was reared and received his education.
He attended the Piohono Institute for two years and then attended the Cornell
College for two years. He then followed teaching for several years.
In 1878 Mr. Hess moved to Carroll county and taught school here until 1882 when
he was elected to the position of Recorder of Deeds of Carroll county. He
was re-elected in 1884 and served a second term. After retiring from this
position where he had given the best of satisfaction, Mr. Hess took the position
of cashier in the Patterson Bros. Bank. He remained with them for about
three years and then in company when Nockels and Arts Bought out his employer.
Mr. Hess has displayed rare judgment and financial ability in
all his career and is recognized as one of the ablest in the county. He
married Miss Elizabeth Hillman of Passaic, New Jersey. In politics he is a
democrat.
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