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Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
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Larkin
E. Zachary The
pursuits of life are as varied
as are the tastes and capabilities of men, and it is an interesting and
useful study to observe the degree of their assimilation.
The confidence of the public in any business enterprise must be measured
by its tangible attitude toward that enterprise.
Measured in that way the banking house of L. E. Zachary, of Prairie City,
Iowa, has a strong and unassailable hold upon the business and financial men of
that city. Mr. Zachary, who is
without doubt the wealthiest man in Jasper County, was born in the grand old
mother of states, Virginia, his birth occurring in Madison County, November 20,
1818. The ancestors of this family
came originally from France, and settled in this country at a period antedating
the Revolutionary War. The
grandfather of our subject was a native of North Carolina and was at one time an
extensive slave owner in the south. He was a soldier in the Revolution and
fought bravely for in dependence. William
Zachary, father of our subject, was born in the Old Dominion and was a Sergeant
of artillery in the War of 1812. He
married Miss Frances Deer, also a native of Virginia, but of German extraction;
she was the daughter of Morton Deer, who was also a revolutionary soldier, and
who was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. The father of our subject died about 1820, and the mother
subsequently married a man by the name of John Skinner, and lived in her native
state until her death in 1856. Our
subject was the only child, and was but two years of age when his father died.
When he reached the age of fourteen he was bound out to learn a trade.
This was to toke him four years and he was to have six months' schooling.
He
learned the painter's trade, after which he started out for himself, he first
went to Highland County, Ohio, and was there married to Miss Eliza Blee, whose
father was born on the Emerald Isle. Mr. Blee came to America at an early date
and settled in Pennsylvania, but subsequently moved to Highland County, Ohio,
where he was among the pioneers. After
his marriage Mr. Zachary followed his trade in Ohio until the spring of 1850,
when he started with his family in a one-horse rig for Iowa, having at that time
about $80 in money. All his
household effects were brought in the one-horse rig, and he first settled in
Fayette, Polk County, where he worked at painting when he could find anything to
do, for the settlers in those days had but little use for painters. After being
there one year, the high water of the spring of 1851 washed his cabin away, and
he was obliged to look for a new home. He bought a claim in Jasper County, south
of what is now Prairie City, for which he went in debt, and the neighbors helped
him build a log cabin. After this was completed, he had only a small amount to
support his family on until he could earn more. Working
at his trade when he could get anything to do, but not depending on this alone,
he began improving his land and finally got a start. He could look ahead and see
that land would be valuable some day and every cent that he could spare went
into cheap land. Thus was laid the
foundation of his subsequent prosperity. He
now the owner of three thousand acres of excellent land.
In 1876 he moved from his farm to Prairie City and established the
banking house of which he is now the head.
This has had a prosperous history from the beginning, and the wealthy men
of this county know that when their money enters his bank it is in safe hands.
Many have left their money with him without interest when they could get
good interest at other banks, but security was what they wanted principally. Mr.
Zachary's has been a most remarkable career. Coming into the new state with
limited means and meeting with misfortune from the start, he displayed the
energy and perseverance for which he has since been noted, and by his push and
remarkable foresight has amassed a quarter of a million dollars. He is no ordinary businessman.
All his life he has been a Democrat, but has never aspired to or accepted
any office. He is a prominent Mason and is a Knight Templar in that order.
To his marriage were born seven children, as follows; R. B., in the
clothing business at Colfax; James, farmer; Edward, also a farmer; Martha C.,
the widow of Hartwell Hayes, Emily F., single and at home, Eliza Jane, the wife
of H. Cochran, who is Vice-President of the bank, and William, the eldest, a
farmer. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA, Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, IL, 1894, p. 245. |
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