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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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W.
O. McElroy There
is no member of the Jasper county bar who occupies a higher position in the
estimation of the people than does W. 0. McElroy, attorney, whose office is over
the Jasper County Bank. During his
many years of practice he has built up a very large clientele and he occupies a
peculiar position before the people in that he is regarded as an exceedingly
safe counselor in all matters pertaining to legal questions.
It speaks well for any man who may have the confidence of the people to
such an extent that he is regarded as especially adapted to the settlement of
estates and matters of equity. Mr.
McElroy holds this position. His
services are likewise in large demand where the drawing of intricate papers is
involved, in fact, as a lawyer, he is easily the peer of any of his professional
brethren throughout the state, and the honorable distinction already achieved at
the bar is an earnest of the still wider sphere of usefulness that he is
destined to fill, and the higher honors to be achieved in years to come as he is
yet in the prime of manhood and a close observer of the trend of the times and
an intelligent student of the great questions and issues upon which the thought
of the best minds of the world are centered. Mr.
McElroy was born in Fayette County, Ohio, February 2, 1858, of a sterling old
family of the Buckeye state, his parents being Hugh and Martha (Kerr) McElroy,
both natives of Ohio, where they grew to maturity, received their education and
married, and where they began life on a farm, emigrating to Jasper County, Iowa,
when their son, W. 0., of this review, was eleven years of age, locating about
five miles north of Newton. Here
the father continued to reside for forty years, becoming well established and an
influential man in his community, making this his home until his death, December
8, 1908, having attained the advanced age of eighty-nine years.
He lived to see and take part in the wonderful development of the County,
being one of the honored pioneers, and known as an honest, plain, modest,
unassuming gentleman whom to know was to respect. He owned a good farm and was
industrious and thrifty. His wife
passed away in 1880 at the age of fifty-four years.
They were the parents of eight children, six of whom are living:
J.K. makes his home near Waterloo, Iowa; Mrs. Lizzie A. Winstead, of
Circleville, Ohio; Margaret H. Vanatta, of Newton, Iowa; W.
0., of this review; Charles S. is living on the old home farm five miles
north of Newton; Hugh E. lives in Boise, Idaho, where he is practicing law; Mrs.
Agnes McClain died when thirty years of age, in 1876; Mattie died when eighteen
years old.
W.
O. McElroy spent his early life on the home farm where he assisted with the
general work during the crop season, attending the common schools in the winter
time, also took a course at Hazel Dell Academy at Newton. When twenty-one years
old he entered Ames College, taking a course in civil engineering, graduating
there in 1881. For two years
he successfully followed this profession, but having entertained a laudable
ambition to enter the legal profession, he accordingly began the study of law in
1883 with Col. David Ryan, of Newton, and, having made rapid progress, was
admitted to the bar six months later. In
May 1884, he formed a partnership with his preceptor, which continued most
successfully until Colonel Ryan went on the bench in January 1887, at which time
Mr. McElroy formed a partnership with J. A. Kerr, now of Seattle, Washington,
this partnership continuing for three years, Mr. McElroy having been alone most
of the time since, taking a first place among his professional brethren in this
section of the state and figuring prominently in all the local courts, keeping
abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his profession and devoting
his attention almost exclusively to his work. The
domestic life of Mr. McElroy began on September 6, 1888, when he was united in.
marriage with Julia Cavanagh, of Iowa City, a lady of refinement and many
estimable traits and the representative of a prominent family there, being the
daughter of Matthew Cavanaugh, a prominent citizen of Iowa City.
He and Mary Fellows constituted the first class of Cornell College at Mt.
Vernon, Iowa. Mrs. McElroy was
graduated from the State University. This
union has been blessed by the birth of the following children:
Margaret, who is a junior at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Harold
is attending the Iowa State College at Ames; Richard is a junior in the Newton
high school; Carroll, who is now ten years old, is attending the home schools. Mr.
McElroy has, by careful and prudent management and methods of strict integrity,
acquired a handsome competence. He
is a director in the Jasper County Savings Bank, and he has some valuable landed
interests in Idaho. His home on
East Main street, Newton, is a commodious, modern and attractive one where the
many friends of the family frequently gather. Mr.
McElroy has ever kept in touch with the affairs of his city and County and is an
ardent advocate and liberal patron of all worthy enterprises making for their
advancement and prosperity. His activity in behalf of every movement for the
good of his fellow citizens has endeared him to the people among whom the
greater part of his life has been spent, and his popularity is bounded only by
the limits of his acquaintance. He
has served as city solicitor, County Attorney, as a member of the school board
and he has been president of the library board ever since the library was built,
about sixteen years ago, in fact, the city is largely indebted to him for
securing the handsome donation by Andrew Carnegie for the building, and Mr.
McElroy spent a great deal of time in seeing that the building was erected
according to plans and specifications, spending a great deal more time in this
way than one would naturally suppose, but he has the good of the community at
heart and has ever sought to serve the public well.
For nearly twenty years he has been trustee of the Iowa State College at
Ames, and he was chairman of the board for six years.
He has been elected one of the trustees to administer the specific fund
of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars given by G. W. Catt to the State
College at Ames. He is loyal to the
Republican Party, but is not especially active in political affairs.
Fraternally, he stands high in Masonic circles, being a member of the
blue lodge, and having attained the Royal Arch and Knight Templar degrees.
He and his family worship at the Congregational Church. Mr.
McElroy is deeply interested in educational affairs and he was chairman of the
committee on faculty and course of study at the State College at Ames for more
than ten years, this being the most important committee in the college.
Mrs. McElroy has also been active in educational matters, and she was
head of the local high school for five years previous to her marriage. Mr.
McElroy is always master of himself in the trial of cases and is rarely not at
his best, being uniformly courteous and deferential toward the court and
forbearing to his opponents. His
treatment of his case is always full of comprehension and accurate, his analysis
of the facts clear and exhaustive, and he seems to grasp without effort the
relation and dependence of facts, and so groups them as to enable him to throw
their combined force upon the point they tend to prove. He is not only an able
and reliable counselor, with a thorough acquaintance of the principles,
intricacies and complexities of jurisprudence, but his honesty is such that he
has frequently advised against long and expensive litigation, and this, too, at
the loss of liberal fees which otherwise he could have easily earned.
He is a man of the people, cosmopolitan in his ideas and of such sterling
qualities as to render him popular with all classes; however, he is a plain,
straightforward and unassuming citizen who is merely seeking to live a wholesome
life in all its relations, and while benefiting himself, does not neglect his
broader duties to the county, state, nation and his fellow men in general. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 496. |
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