CRAIG L. WRIGHT.

Craig L. Wright, lawyer and a counselor of the Republican party of Iowa, has been an influential factor in his profession and in public life, especially in political circles, since he took up his abode in early manhood in Sioux City to find in the growing west the coveted opportunities for business advancement and success. Much greater credit is commonly awarded to those who have risen from the depths of poverty through stern adversity to the highest place of honor among men, than to those to whom fortune has been kinder, who were born of honorable ancestry and reared in the lap of luxury. The rare example of sons of great men rising as high or higher than their fathers seems to support the notion that there is in this country a sort of hereditary bar to such distinction. This class of young men are not rated by their associates, but in comparison with their distinguished ancestors, and often to bear an illustrious name is to invite the shafts of jealousy and envy. As a western editor has expressed it: "If any section of a house still honored rises to greatness he will have achieved it. He will not be born to it or find it thrust upon him, and he must be very great indeed to overcome the disadvantage of standing in the shadow of the colossal dead." And yet, an honorable ancestry is a precious heritage, a supreme help to the aspiring young man. Of this Craig L Wright can boast and yet his position of eminence at the bar and in the public life of Iowa is due to his own inherent force of character, his strong purpose, his unwearied industry and the exercise of his native talents, for he has won his prominence in a calling and along lines where distinction must be gained by individual merit and close personal application.

The family of which he is a representative was established in Pennsylvania in 1720 by an emigrant from Wales, whose descendants lived in the Keystone state for several generations. John Wright, the grandfather of Craig L Wright, was born in Pennsylvania and was a mason by trade. In early life he married Miss Rachel Seaman and his death occurred in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1825. His widow survived him for many years and lived in Iowa in its territorial days, her last years being spent in Keosauqua, where her death occurred in 1850. Hon. George G. Wright, the father of Craig L. Wright, was born in Bloomington, Monroe county, Indiana, March 4, 1820, and died at the age of seventy-six years. His preliminary education was supplemented by a course of study in the University of Indiana, in which he was graduated when in his twentieth year. He read law with his brother Joseph Wright, who afterward became governor of Indiana. He resided in his native state until the early '40s, when he came to Iowa, settling in Keosauqua, where he resided until the early '60s. He then became a resident of Des Moines, but prior to this time he had attained prominence in connection with public affairs in his adopted state. A lawyer by profession,

he was elected judge of the supreme court of Iowa in 1855, and served upon the bench for fifteen years or until 1870, and at different times served as chief justice of the state. On his retirement from the bench he was chosen to the office of United States senator, where he served for a term of six years and then declined a second nomination. On the bench he won marked distinction. A man of unimpeachable character, of unusual intellectual endowment, with a thorough knowledge of the law, patience, urbanity and industry, he took to the bench the very highest qualifications for this responsible office in the state government, and his record as a judge was in harmony with his record as a man and lawyer, distinguished by unswerving integrity and a masterful grasp of every problem which presented itself for solution. He was the best known of the older statesmen of Iowa and his influence was a potent element in shaping the policy of the commonwealth, in promoting its substantial development and in upholding its intellectual and legal status. He took a deep and commendable interest in Iowa's progress along other lines outside the strict path of the law and was president of the State Agricultural Society for several terms, laboring earnestly in its behalf in early days. His early political allegiance was given to the Whig party, and he was the Whig candidate for congress when his district comprised the whole southern half of the state. His election as chief justice of Iowa occurred in January, 1855, when he was not yet thirty-five years of age.

Judge Wright was married in Van Buren county, Iowa, October 10, 1843, to Miss Hannah M. Dibble, daughter of Thomas and Ruth (Gates) Dibble. Mrs. Wright was born in Saratoga county, New York, near the celebrated springs, and came to Iowa with her parents in 1839. She was a representative of an old New England family that was established in Connecticut during the colonial epoch of our country's history and from the Charter Oak state representatives of the name removed to New York early in the eighteenth century. Her death occurred in June, 1898, when she was seventy-four years of age. Judge and Mrs. Wright have five children: Carroll, who is an attorney for the Rock Island Railroad Company at Des Moines; Craig L.; Mrs. Frank H. Peavey, who died in Minneapolis in August, 1903; Mrs. E. H. Stone, of Sioux City, and George G., who is a broker in Des Moines, Iowa.

Craig L. Wright was born in Keosauqua, Iowa, December 5, 1846, and attended the public schools there until his fifteenth year, when he entered the college department of the State University, in which he was graduated four years later. The following year he received his diploma from the law department of the same institution at Des Moines and he was a law student in the office of Withrow & Wright at Des Moines until his admission to the bar in 1868. Immediately afterward he came to Sioux City, believing that this new but rapidly developing town afforded a good field for professional success. He entered into partnership with William L. Joy, under the firm style of Joy & Wright, a relation that was maintained until 1884. During the succeeding three years A. L. Hudson was connected with them and at the end of that time Mr. Wright withdrew and practiced alone until 1800, when the law firm of Wright & Hubbard was formed, his partner being Senator E. H. Hubbard. Between the years 1890 and 1896 George A. Yeoman and T. W. Bevington were also associated with Mr. Wright in law practice. In 1806 A. F. Call was associated with them under the firm style of Wright, Call & Hubbard, and since the withdrawal of Mr. Hubbard from the firm in 1902 the business style has been Wright & Call. In the early history of the bar of Sioux City its attorneys attended court at Vermilion, Elk Point, Yankton, Cherokee and in Monona, Harrison, O'Brien, Osceola and Sioux counties, Mr. Wright having considerable law business at all these points. He has never engaged to

any great extent in the practice of criminal law, but has devoted his energies to other departments of jurisprudence and has gained fame as a counselor. He has given much of his time to the preparation of law briefs for the appellate court and his been regarded as a deep and thorough student of the law and one who has comprehensive and accurate knowledge of many of its branches. His practice has been of a varied character in civil law, sometimes acting as the counselor and advocate of corporations and again as their opponent. During the days of Sioux City's rapid growth, when it was undergoing what is known in modern parlance as a "boom," Mr. Wright was the counselor who assisted in organizing the corporations which did business here, probably doing more of such legal work than any other lawyer. Among the many which, as attorney, Mr. Wright organized were the old Sioux City Cable Railroad Company that built its line on Jackson street, the elevated road operated under the name of the Sioux City Rapid Transit Company, the Union Stockyards Company, the Sioux City & Northern Railroad Company, the Terminal Railroad & Warehouse Company, the Pacific Short Line, and the Northern Land Company. He has ever had a distinctively representative clientage. He is felicitous and clear in argument, thoroughly in earnest, full of the vigor of conviction, never abusive of adversaries, imbued with highest courtesy and yet one of the most able practitioners at the Iowa bar, an opponent whom the weaker lawyer dreads to meet and whom the stronger representative of the profession regards as a foe far whom he must put forth his best preparation.

In politics Mr. Wright has held much the same position that he has held in the law. He has been the manager and adviser and while his plans have shaped many campaigns and he has always been closely identified with politics, laboring earnestly and unceasingly far the interests of his friends, he has never sought or desired political honors or emoluments for himself. The only political position he has ever filled was that of city attorney, in which office he served in 1870 and 1871.

In 1873 Mr. Wright was married to Miss Kate P. Van Dyke, the wedding being celebrated at Keokuk. Two children have been born unto them: Wilfred L., who is now manager of the New York office of the Bethlehem Steel Works of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and Mary L., who is now a student in an eastern college. In business circles and in public life Mr. Wright is rather austere in manner, there being about him a dignity which forbids familiar approach. In private life, however, he is described as a most companionable gentleman, genial, society-laving and a prince of story tellers. His attention from early manhood, however, has been directed to his profession and he is at home in all departments of the law, from the minutiae in practice to the greater topic wherein are involved the consideration of the ethics and philosophy of jurisprudence and the higher concern of public pal icy, but he is not learned in the law alone, for he has studied long and carefully the subjects that are to the statesman and the man of affairs of the greatest import -- the questions of finance, political economy, sociology -- and has kept abreast of the best thinking men of the age.

Lewis B. Jenness, the popular postmaster of Danbury and editor and proprietor of The Danbury Review, is a native of this section of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Monona county on the 23d of December, 1871. He is a son of M. J. P. and Rachel (Wilcox) Jenness. Far forty years the father has engaged in auctioneering and has cried more sales than any other man in northwestern Iowa.

The elementary education of Lewis B. Jenness was obtained in the common schools near

10
his boyhood home and was supplemented by a normal course. On the 30th of September, 1894, Mr. Jenness was united in marriage to Miss Maud C. Adams, a, native of Vermont, and they have become the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter, namely: Joyce, born July 6, 1896; John C., born January 28, 1899; and Randolph, born November 16, 1901.

Fraternally Mr. Jenness is a member of the Masonic order, being made a Mason in 1901, and also belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge and encampment. In politics he is an ardent Republican and has taken quite an active interest in public affairs. On the 1st of July, 1901, he was appointed postmaster of Danbury, which office is of the fourth class, and he has since acceptably filled that position. He is progressive and public-spirited and both personally and through the columns of his paper does all in his power to advance the interests of his town and county.

WILLIAM M. STEVENS.

William M. Stevens, the superintendent of the public schools of Sioux City, has for a number of years been identified with educational interests here and to his zeal, enterprise and ability is largely attributable the high standing of the schools at the present day. Education is the basis of industrial success, for without the hand disciplined to execute and the mind trained to plan and direct the industrial organization the modern commonwealth could not exist. The state recognizes this not only in its watchful care and endowment of its common schools, but in the higher institutions of learning that have been established for both mental and manual culture, and there is no greater work to which the individual may direct his labors than that of teaching, whether it be from the schoolroom, the pulpit or the lecture platform. The career of Professor Stevens as an educator has been one of continuous and consecutive advancement and each forward step has opened to him a wider field of labor and broader scope for the exercise of his native talents and acquired ability.

Professor Stevens was born in the town of Sutton, New Hampshire, November 27, 1852, and at an early age he entered the preparatory department of the New London Literary & Scientific Institution, where on the completion of a regular course he was graduated with valedictorian honors in the class of 1874. That was then one of the best educational institutions of New England. He thoroughly prepared himself for his life work of teaching by studying with such well known educators as Dr. Harris, Dr. G. Stanley Hall, Madam Krause, Colonel F. W. Parker and others who have won note in the field of educational labor. While pursuing his own course he engaged in teaching in graded schools during the winter months. Following the completion of his college work he pursued special courses in the sciences at the School of Technology in Boston, studying philosophy under Dr. W. T. Harris, the history of education and psychology under Dr. G. Stanley Hall and kindergarten methods under Madam Krause, of New York. He also studied pedagogy and psychology under Colonel Parker, of Chicago. Since that time he has filled various positions as principal of large grammar schools and high schools and each change that he has made has indicated promotion and advancement. In the fall of 1874 he was elected principal of the high school of Hancock, New Hampshire, and superintendent of the town schools and on his retirement from that position a local paper commented as follows: "We regret to say our highly respected principal, W. M. Stevens, has been called to Manchester, New Hampshire, as the principal of the West Manchester schools." His success during the five years in which he filled the lat-

13

ter position is best told in the words of the Manchester Union: "We were shown to the different rooms and in each the brightest looking pupils were seen, their smiling faces attesting the popularity of their principal, W. 11. Stevens, who, we are sorry to say, is about to enter a much larger field of educational work in Quincy, Massachusetts." Concerning his work in the latter place, report for 1882 or 1883 contains the following: "Mr. Stevens has accepted a position in Somerville, Massachusetts, at an advance of sixty per cent on his present salary. His work in Quincy has been highly acceptable and wholly satisfactory to all connected with the schools and to the citizens." At each transition stage in his career Professor Stevens has taken up his work with renewed courage, zeal and energy, and often the difficulties of his different positions have seemed to serve as an impetus for renewed effort. On leaving Somerville, he accepted the superintendency of the schools on Staten Island, New Yark, where again he was given a largely increased salary and again he won the favorable comment of the press, the Staten Island Star saying: "Superintendent W. M. Stevens is beyond all doubt the man for the place. Understanding thoroughly the system he was brought here to introduce, his eminent executive ability enables him to demonstrate every department of school work efficiently and impartially."

Business interests brought Professor Stevens to Sioux City in 1886 and here he has been well known as a factor in educational circles and his efforts have been far reaching and beneficial in the promotion of the school interests. In 1889 he was chosen a member of the board of directors of the city schools and acted in that capacity until 1892. He served as principal of the Armstrong school for four years and was then principal of the Hopkins and Smith schools for three years, while in January, 1901, he entered upon the duties of superintendent of the Sioux City public schools, in which capacity he has since been retained.

Professor Stevens was married July 22, 1878, to Miss Fannie Townsend, a daughter of Samuel Townsend, of New Hampshire, who is a farmer and stock-raiser. They have three children: Clyde, Ruth and Earl, who are attending the public schools of Sioux City, Clyde being now a student in the high school. Professor Stevens and his wife hold membership in the Unitarian church and he has membership relations with the Masonic fraternity, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Modern Brotherhood and the Fraternal Union. His political allegiance has been given to the Republican party and he feels a public-spirited interest in the welfare and progress of city, state and nation. In the line of his profession he is connected with the National Teachers) Association and he is a member of the executive council of the Iowa State Teachers' Association. He has fully kept in touch with the best thinking men of the age in the line of his profession and also along lines of thought touching the general interests of society. He is a recognized factor in the higher social circles in Sioux City and is a man of broad culture and scholarly attainments who has, moreover, an abiding charity and deep sympathy that have gained him the respect and confidence of his fellow men.

In the year 1886 James Baynam became a resident of Woodbury county and is now engaged in general farming on section 22, Union township, where he owns and operates eighty acres of land, pleasantly located within two miles of Correctionville. Among the adopted sons of Iowa that England has furnished to the new world he is numbered, his birth having occurred in Monmouthshire on the 15th of June, 1857. He spent the first fifteen years of

Mardos Memorial Library

More Historical Books online

This nonprofit research site is an independent affiliate of the American History and Genealogy Project (AHGP),, and proud to be hosted by USGenNet, a nonprofit historical and genealogical Safe-Site Server™ solely supported by tax-deductible contributions. No claim is made to the copyrights of individual submitters, and this site complies fully with USGenNet's Nonprofit Conditions of Use

Copyright © 2000 - 2002 D. J. Coover All Rights Reserved Webmaster: D. J. Coover - ustphistor@usgennet.org