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    CHARLES A. BLOSSOM, president of the Citizen's Natonal Bank of Belle Plaine, has spent thirty years as a progressive factor in the finances of Iowa, and no one has a more intimate and practical knowledge of its history, condition and needs. When only eighteen years of age he started as a bookkeeper in the First National Bank of that city, and obtained a wide experience as a banker in other sections of the state before he returned to Belle Plaine as the organizer of the institution of which he is now the head. The Citizens' National Bank is a United States depository and fuly covers all the departments of the business, being strong and up to date in every particular.

    President Blossom was born in Rutland county, Vermont, on the 5th of August, 1861, an dis a son of William and Mary J. (Lamb) Blossom, both also natives of that state. Three children were born to them, Mr. Blossom having ne living sister, Ella, now Mrs. Miller, of Belle Plaine. The father left his Vermnt farm for Iowa in 1870, first locating at Tama City for a short time and then moving to Belle Plaine, where for some years he conducted a hotel in connection with his farm. The father died in 1902, aged eight-eight years, and the mother passed away in February, 1907, when seventy-three.

    The early boyhood of Mr. Blossom was spent on the home farm near Belle Plaine, and he obtainedhis education at that place and the academy at Blairstown. After leaving the latter he spent a short time at home, and then (in 1882, when eighteen years of age) secured a position as bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Belle Plaine. Holding that position for ten months, he went to Hubbard, Iowa, and for three years filled a similar position in the bank of that city. In 1885 he established the Bank of Shaler in the Iowa town by that name, acted as its cashier for a year, and in 1886 purchased the BAnk of Gladbrook, Tama county, and was president and cashier of that institution for six years. This brings Mr. Blossom to 1892, when he returned to Belle Plaine and assisted in the organization of the Citizens' National Bank, of which he was cashier for five years and has been president for the past twelve. Necessarily, its fine standing is due far more to his activities, ability and substantial influence than to any other personal force. His buisness and financial leadership has been strongly supplemented by his prominence as a Mason, as he has been identified for years with Hope Lodge, Mount Hobart Chapter, St. Bernard Commandery and the Shrine, at Cedar Rapids. Both he and his wife are memebers of the Congregational church of Belle Plaine. On September 1, 1885, his marriage occurred to Miss Clara B. Reed, a naitve of Illinois, but reared here

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in Belle Plaine, born November 29, 1863, and who has become the mother of Warren R., living at home, teller in the Citizens' National Bank; Charles A., Jr., deceased; and Louisa, also with her parents.

    JOHN R. ROZEMA was prominently identified for a number of years with the educational life of Benton county, and he is now serving as the cashier of the Farmers Savings Bank of Keystone. He was born in Ottawa county, Michigan, September 17, 1866, to the marriage union of Henry and Zwaantje (Nyenhuis), Rozema, both of whom were born in Holland, the father in 1822 and the mother in 1834. Henry Rozema came from his native Holland to Michigan when about thirty-five years of age, and he died at Fremont of that state at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Mrs. Rozema was one of the original settlers of the Dutch colony that located in Ottawa county, Michigan, in 1846. They settled amid the dense timber there, and had to cut down the trees to make room for their little log cabin homes. She is still livilng at Fremont.

    John H. Rozema, one of their nine children, six of whom are living, was reared as a farmer lad, attending first the district schools, then Hope College at Holland, Michigan, and entering the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor he graduated from its law department in 1893. During the year following his graduation he taught school in Michigan and coming to Benton county in 1894 he taught at different points here until in 1901 he took charge of the Keystone school, a poition he continued to fill until in March of 1906 he retired from educational work to become the cashier of the Farmers Savings Bank of Keystone. He is a stockholder in the Keystone Mercantile Company, and is serving as a justice of the peace.

    On the 25th of September, 190, Mr. Rozema married Miss Mae Stedman, who was born in Vinton, Iowa, a daughter of E. B. and Lucy Stedman. Mr. Rozema is a member of Keystone Lodge, No. 135, I. O.O. F., of HOpe Lodge, No. 375, A. F. & A. M., at Belle Plaine, an din politics he has bee a life-long Democrat, always taking an active part in political work, but always favoring the best man regardless of party ties.

    PAUL CORRELL, president of the State Bank of Vinton, has been a prominent factor in the business affairs of Benton county, Iowa, since he established himself at the head of a general merchandise store in Vinton some fifty years ago.

    Mr. Correll was born in 1828 in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, where he received a common school education and where

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he spent the first twenty-five years of his life. When he started out for himself he left home with scant means, indeed, not sufficient for expense money. At Easton, Pennsylvania, he found work in a store, and clerked there five years, until 1853, when he came west as far as Chicago. There he was employed as clerk in Potter Palmer's store, and at the end of five years of service, when he resigned, he was at the head of the retail department. From Chicago he came in 1860 to Vinton, Iowa, to take possession of a general store which had already been rented for him. He carried a stock of dry goods, boots and shoes, and sold in one year no less than sixty-five thousand dollars worth of goods, which in those days in a small town and a new country was considered an immense business. Closing out the mercantile business, he turned his attention to farming and dealing in stock, buying, feeding and shipping. He had land in Big Grove and Taylor townships, at one time owning and operating about a thousand acres, and this business he continued for a number of years. Of late years, however, banking has clailmed his attention, and he has disposed of his land holdings, also his real estate in Vinton, and has given a large amount of property to his nephews and nieces here and in Pennsylvania.

   Mr. Correll has been a loyal Republican from the time he voted for John C. Fremont up to the present. He has never missed a national election and rarely has been absent from the polls at county and state elections. When a young man, in Pennsylvania, he joined the Reformed church. As showing something of the public spirit and generous natiure of Mr. Correll, we record that the court house clock and bell, placed in their position at a cost of two thousand dollars, were a gift from him.

    JOHN E. MARIETTA, head of the loans and insurance firm of Marietta & Bickel, is the dean of this business in Benton county, having been successfully established in the business long before any of his present competitors began business. He has been engaged in placing loans, chiefly on real estate, since October 1, 1875, and to the present writing o fthe total volume of this business aggregates over twelve million dollars, all of which he has negotiated without a single foreclosure or the loss of a cent of principal or interest. This is a business record that speaks for itself. For the most part he represents the money of eastern investors, though he handles large amounts for relatives and friends. He also represents the Connecticut Mutual LIfe Insurance Company. For the first five years he was in partnership with J. P. Johnson, under the name of Johnson & Marietta, was then in business alone

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until June, 1899, when W. E. Bickel became his partner, and the firm has since been Marietta & Bickel.

    Mr. Marietta is one of the direcotrates of or otherwise identified with various business enterprises of Benton county. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Vinton Public Library. He is secretary and treasurer of the Methodist church, having been secretary for about thirty years and treasurer also for a long time. In civic affairs he has likewise performed a large share of duties, always keeping political allegiance with the Republican party. At one time he was deput county treasurer and auditor. During the ten years he was in the city council he was active in securing water works and other public improvements.

    Mr. Marietta's was born in Wayne county, Ohio, January 13, 1852. He belongs to an historic family of Ohio. His great-grandfather, Jacob Marietta, a naitve of Germany, was one of the first settlers of southeastern Ohio, and Marietta, the oldest town of the state, was named in his honor. The grandfather's name was John Msarietta, and all the family were farmers on a large scale in that part of Ohio.

    Mr. Marietta's parents were David and Anna (Ralphschneider) Marietta, both being of German lineage, and it is said that their parents were unable to speak the English language. David Marietta was one of the most esteemed citizens and business men of Benton county. He was a successful farmer in Wayne county, Ohio, for a number of years, and in January, 1869, moved to a farm near Vinton. Some years later he took up his residence in Vinton and was there engaged wiht his brother, J. H. Marietta, in the livery busienss. His tragic death by drowning, May 15, 1888, removed one of the ablest men of this community, and for the first time in the history of the twon the busines houses were closed during his funeral. He was then sixty-six years of age. He had been a member of the Methodist church all his active life, but never belonged to secret socity nor accepted political office. His first wife, Ann Marietta, was a native of Stark county, Ohio, and she died when her son John E., was twelve years old. Of their children, two of the older daughters, Mary and Maria, both married, died in Ohio. Dr. George A., who was a graduate of the University of Michigan, died in Clarion, Iowa, May 14, 1899. The five children now living are: Mrs. E. J. Tillinghast, Of Clarion; D. S., of Atwood, Kansas; H. R., of Oberlin, Kansas; W. H. of Hendley, Nebraska; and John E. David Marietta married for his second wife Ann R. Tryon, who still lives in Vinton. They had one daughter, now Mrs. Anna Barkdoll, of this county.

    John E. Marietta was reared in Ohio and for two years was a

student in Oberlin College. He had no capital when he began business, but his integrity and ability have gained him a large degree of material success. He is a member of the lodge and encampment of Odd Fellows and of the different Masonic bodies, including the Shrine, his wife being a member of the Eastern Star. His home is a fine residence which he built on East Jefferson street, and he has always voted in the First ward.

    He married, at Vinton, September 11, 1878, Miss Alice C. Barger. She was born in Indiana and was brought to Benton county as a child, but after her parents died she was reared by an aunt. Her father was James Barger. Mr. and Mrs. Marietta have two children, Zoe, who graduated at the Vinton High School and was a student in Cornell College (Iowa), is the wife of C. H. DeAcres, a successful merchant of Cedar Rapids. He was the youngest member of Company G, recruited at Vinton, in the Spanish-American war, and served as bugler. He is now a lieutenant in Colonel Allen's Fifty-third Regiment, I. N. G. Farley, who was five years younger than her sister Zoe, died of the measles at the age of seven. She was a very bright child and could write legibly when three years old.