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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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ALVIN
C. GATES Alvin C. Gates, who was born in Ashland, Ohio. October
14, 1855, is the son of E. N. and Sarah (Cunningham) Gates, the father being a
native of Vermont and the mother of Ohio. It was in the year 1840 that the
father came to Ashland, Ohio, and engaged in the practice of law. Here he met
and married his wife and here he resided until 1857, when he came to Geneseo,
Illinois, again engaging in the law business.
Mr. Gates' reason for stopping at this point was that he might wait until
the railroad should have been built farther west. Before leaving Ohio, the father had, in
1854, journeyed to Jasper County, Iowa, and entered something over four thousand
acres of land from the government, paying the regulation government price of one
dollar and a half per acre for it. It
was situated in different parts of the county.
It was this wise and far-seeing move on the part of the father, which
laid the foundation of the Gates fortune, which is considerable. In June 1860, the father finally came to Jasper
County, settling in Newton. A year
later he moved out on one of his big farms a mile and a half northeast of
Newton. After this, although he
still practiced law to some extent, he practically gave up his profession,
giving his attention to his vast farming interests. E. N. Gates was one of the able lawyers of his time.
He was also a brilliant and forceful orator and a man of fine public
spirit. During the war he was
commander of the board of enrollment for the sixth congressional district of
Iowa, acting as attorney and settling all legal questions. On account of this
position he was ever afterwards called "Judge" Gates.
He was very prominent in the state Grange of his time.
He died in Newton in December 1882, at the age of sixty-eight years. Alvin C. Gates, the subject of this sketch, is one of
six children, all boys, of whom but two are living. Three died in infancy; Sumner E., who died in Jasper County
in 1900, was born in Ohio and at his death was a farmer of considerable means;
Lorin A., who was born in Illinois, in 1858, resides in Newton, was formerly
engaged in the mercantile business, but is now engaged in oil operations in
Kansas. Alvin Gates attended law school at Iowa
City .in 1876-77 and graduated from that school, afterwards opening a law office
in Newton, where he engaged in the general practice of law for four years.
Disliking the work, he purchased a livery stable in Newton, which he
conducted for three years. He was then appointed deputy sheriff under I. L. Patten,
which office he filled for three years. Next
he was elected city clerk and superintendent of the Newton light and water
plant, which position he held seventeen years.
During the latter part of that time Mr. Gates and George Parsons
organized the G. W. Parsons Company, of which Mr. Gates is secretary and
treasurer. This company
manufactured heavy excavating machinery, selling their products all over the
United States and in foreign countries. He
is also vice-president of the One Minute Manufacturing Company, known all over
the United States. Mr. Gates also has other interests of importance, owning some
valuable lands. He is a member of Newton Lodge No. 59, Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, also Gebal Chapter No. 12, Royal Arch Masons, and Oriental Commandery
No. 22, Knights Templar, also Za-Ga-Zig Temple, Ancient Arabian Order of Nobles
of the Mystic Shrine, at Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Gates is also a member of Des
Moines Lodge No. 98, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On December 5, 1877 Mr. Gates was married to Jennie,
daughter of Ephraim and Martha (Harvin) Bennett, both natives of Iowa.
Mrs. Gates is one of three children, two of whom are dead, Adam and
David. Mrs. Gates was born January 23, 1860, and is a woman of rare culture and
refinement. She is also prominent
socially, being a member of the local chapter of the P. E. 0.
She is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star.
To this couple have been born four children, one only surviving at this
writing: Grace and Glen, twins, born 1879; Grace died in 1880 and Glen in 1889;
Earl, born in Newton in 1889, resides in Newton.
He is shipping clerk for the Parsons Company.
He was recently united in marriage with Catherine Wilson, of Newton;
Harry Dale, born in 1893, died in Newton in 1894. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 508. |
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