Perrin Family Notes
MRS. SARAH G. PERIN There is probably no woman in Clinton more widely known or is held in higher regard than Mrs. Perin, who has made her home here since pioneer days. She was born in Newark, New Jersey, on the 20th of February, 1812, a daughter of John B. and Nancy (Peck) Nixon. In early life she met and married Noble Perin, a native of New York and a son of John and Rachel (Rice) Perin, who removed to Indiana at an early day. When a young man Noble Perin learned the blacksmith's trade at Connersville, Indiana, where he was married, and in 1837 came to Iowa, which was then a territory, and purchased one hundred and thirty-six acres of land where the city of Clinton now stands. The only families in this locality at that time were the Marlins, Buells, Hogans, Bartletts, Wares, Harrisons, Smiths and Deeds. The Indians were far more numerous than the white settlers, and would beg and steal, but otherwise were not troublesome. Lynx, bears, wolves and deer were often seen, and all kinds of feathered game was plentiful, furnishing many a meal for the early settlers. Mr. And Mrs. Perin came west by steamboat to Clinton, then called New York, bringing with them a small quantity of household goods and one cow. Until a hewed log house could be built for their accommodation they lived with Mr. Bartlett. Their first home was on the site of Young's mills, in Clinton, and they moved in before the floor had been laid. It was a primitive affair with only one door and bunks for beds. Mr. Perins's father arrived here in time to help finish the house. Here the young couple began life in true pioneer style, and experience many of the hardships and privations incident to such a life. It was five years before Mr. Perin could pre-empt his land after locating here. In the spring of 1844 he started to St. Louis to get material for blacksmithing, and was killed at Quincy, Illinois, by the bursting of the boiler on the steamer, Patosic, on which he was a passenger. He was then thirty-seven years of age, being born in 1807. Eight children were born to Mr. And Mrs. Perin, namely: (1) Valeria married Augustus L. Ankeny, and to them were born seven children: Helen Burce, Harry and Belle, all now deceased; Maud, wife of A. Gibbon; Molly, wife of D. Lamb; and Margaret, wife of Charles Bonney. (2) Samuel T. first married Melvina Star, by whom he had six children: Lulu P., Powell, Ellwood, Marian Al, Annie and Noble. For his second wife he married Nellie Berton, and they have seven children: Earl, Edna, Nellie, Bruce, Samuel, Verna and Beatrice. (3) Nancy married Ed Vosburg, and to them were born three children: Emily, Paul and Valeria. (4) Mary married T. W. Miller, and they had nine children, three of whom are deceased, the others are: Sadie Olds, Charles, Harry, Harriett, T. Warren and Robert. (5) A son died in infancy. (6) Elizabeth Jane married W. A. Scott. By his union one child was born, Ellen, now the wife of H. Seaman. (7) Noble is deceased. (8) Rachel. For her second husband Mrs. Perin married Shubel Coy, of Lyons, by whom she had two children: Francis, deceased; and Edgar L. Mr. Coy died at the age of seventy-seven years. Our subject has since resumed the name of Perin. Although now in her ninetieth year she is wonderfully preserved and has a retentive memory, which enables her to relate many interesting incidents of pioneer life when this region was all wild and unimproved. Her circle of friends and acquaintances throughout the county is extensive, and she is held in the highest respect and esteem. Source: The 1901 Biographical Record of Clinton Co., Iowa, Illustrated published: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901.
Obituary: The Clinton Mirror Saturday July 7, 1906 Early Saturday morning, June 30th, at her son's home in Clinton, Mrs. Sarah Gregory Perrin, aged 94 years. After marrying Samuel G. Perrin, in 1837 she came to Iowa, and settled in what was then New York, now Clinton. Mr. Buell, the first settler in the county, had been here two years, some half dozen others were also located when they came, and Mr. Pearce and came family a year later. She was a typical pioneer woman, bearing nobly the hardships of those years, and living to an extraordinary age despite them. Four daughters and two sons survive her - Mrs. Ankeny, Mrs. Scott, Mrs. Vosburg, Mrs. Miller, Edward and Samuel Perrin, the latter of Lakeside, Nebraska. Her funeral was held Sunday evening, with services by Rev. A.M. Billingsley, and interment at Springdale cemetery, grandsons and great-grandsons acting as pall-bearers.
Obituary: The Clinton Herald Monday January 21, 1924 p.6 Valeria M. Ankeny, who died Sunday, January 20, at noon was in point of years combined with length of residence the most notable person in Clinton, perhaps in the state. Born in Indiana in 1832 she came here with her parents in March, 1837, and lived here continuously almost 87 years. Just one week before her death she enjoyed a gathering in honor of her ninety-second birthday, being then perfectly clear in mind and in fair health. Mrs. Ankeny leaves nine grand children and six great-grandchildren. Her sister, Mrs. Nancy Vosburgh, was brought here at the same time but is younger and her other surviving sister, Mrs. Mary Miller, is her junior, while her half-brother, Edwin Perin, was born many years later. There was one cabin on the site of Clinton when Mrs. Ankeny was brought here and her father built the second one a little south of the present Northwestern bridge and there the Perins lived many years. Her residence here was continuous through the 87 years and broken only by such temporary absence as two trips to Europe and one to Mexico. She was married August 14, 1851 to Dr. A.L. Ankeny. Three of her children survive her, Mrs. Welker Given and Mrs. E.A. Young of Clinton and Mrs. Margaret Bonney of Pasadena. Mrs. Ankeny survived her husband over 36 years making her home at 433 Sixth avenue during that time. An earlier home was on the site of the Clinton opera house and another a mile west of Lyons. Mrs. Ankeny remembered well Indians passing up and down the river and once when several appeared threateningly at the Perin cabin, her mother put her out the back window to run and call her father and uncle from the field; which she did in good time. Mrs. Ankeny was for many years a devoted member of St. John's Episcopal church. Funeral Tuesday at 2:30.
"The History of Clinton County Iowa" by L. P. Allen (1879)
Dr. A. L. ANKENY, capitalist; residence, one-half mile west of Lyons, on Section 25; P. O. Clinton; one of the oldest and best known citizens of Lyons and Clinton; he is a native of Jo Daviess Co., Ill.; was born March 13, 1828; son of John and Mary Ankeny, nee Kimmel; his father came to Illinois in 1818, and was one of the earliest settlers of that State; he kept the hotel in Kasakaskia during the first session of the Legislature; he and two of his sons were in the Black Hawk war; they were stationed at White Oak Springs, twelve miles from Galena; Dr. A. L. was the youngest of the family, and recollects many little things that happened during the war; he distinctly remembers the time when the Indian chief Peppernong, chief of the Pottawatomies, came to his father's house at Elkhorn Grove, Ill., at midnight, to warn the family to flee for safety, as the Indians were coming; Dr. Ankeny lived in Jo Daviess Co. untill 14 years of age, then entered school at Mt. Morris, Ogle Co., Ill.; he studied medicine at Elizabethtown, near Galena, and graduated at Rush Medical College, Chicago, in the winter of 1848-49; he came to Iowa and located at Lyons in April, 1850, and engaged in the practice of medicine; he pursued his profession for some years, and since then he has been dealing in real estate. He has been actively identified with the interests and improvements of Lyons and Clinton for the past thirty years. In 1851, Dr. Ankeny married Miss Valeria M. Perrin, a native of Indiana; her parents came here in 1837, and were among the earliest settlers; Dr. and Mrs. Ankeny have six children -- Maud, Harry K., Maggie, B. Frank, Belle, and Mollie.
Wolfe's History of Clinton County 1911 p. 464-466 The history of a county or state, as well as that of a nation, is chiefly a chronicle of the lives and deeds of those who have conferred honor and dignity upon society. The world judges the character of a community by those of its representative citizens and yields its tribute of admiration and respect to those whose works and actions constitute the record of a state's prosperity and pride. Among the prominent citizens of Clinton county, who were well known because of their success in professional, civic and social circles, was the late Dr. A.L. Ankeny, a man in whom there was such a union of sterling characteristics that he easily won and retained the confidence, good will and esteem of all who knew him. Augustus L. Ankeny was born in Brownsville, JoDaviess county, Illinois, March 13, 1828, the son of John and Mary (Kimmel) Ankeny, a prominent pioneer family of Illinois, having located there in 1818. John Ankeny kept the first hotel in Kaskaskia during the first session of the Legislature of that state, that town then being the capital. He and two sons participated in the Black Hawk war of 1832. During that war, Chief Peppernong, of the Pottawatomies, came to the home of John Ankeny at night and warned the family, who were there alone, entreating them to flee for safety. Augustus L. Ankeny, the subject, was then the youngest and a small child. The vicinity of the Ankeny home was at that time overrun with hostile Indians. A.L. Ankeny spent his boyhood days in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, remaining there until he was fourteen years of age. He was an ambitious lad and studied such books as he could obtain, and when he entered Mt. Morris College, in Ogle county, Illinois, he made a splendid record. He turned his attention to the science of medicine, studying at Elizabethtown, near Galena, Illinois, and later entered Rush Medical College at Chicago in the winter of 1848 and 1849, and was graduated from that insititution. He came to Lyons, Iowa, in April, 1850, and was therefore one of the pioneer physicians of Clinton county, and he underwent the usual privations and hardships of the country doctor in the new settlements of the West, traveling on horseback over rough and unfrequented roads. He soon had all the practice he could attend to and took a position in the front rank of practitioners in this locality, which he maintained until his death, on November 24, 1887, his office being at Lyons and Clinton. He was well equipped in every way for his profession and kept well abreast of the times in his calling and was very successful. In 1851 Doctor Ankeny married Valeria M. Perin, the daughter of Noble and Sarah (Nixon) Perin, who were among the very early settlers of Iowa, having come to Clinton from Indiana in March, 1837. Noble Perin's ancestry is traced back to John Perin, who came from England to Braintree, Massachusetts, landing there from the ship "Safety" August 10, 1635, and from that remote day to the present the Perin family has been a prominent one in many walks of life in America. Noble Perin continued to reside in Clinton county until he met death in an explosion of the steamboat "Potosi" at Quincy, Illinos, September 27, 1844. He was a man of many sterling traits and was prominent in the early Mississippi river days. His widow survived over a half century, dying at the remarkable age of ninety-four years in June 1906. She was descended from the famous Nixon family of South Carolina, an early number of which is credited with having been the man who read the Declaration of Independence to the people in Independence Square, Philadelphia, in 1776. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Noble Perin: Sarah Gregory, Valeria M., Samuel Thomson,Nancy E., Mary A., Elizabeth J., Noble and Rachael R. In the third generation descendents are numbered in Iowa among the Millers, Seamans, Lambs, Bonneys, Givens and Vosbughs. A three-column sketch of Mrs. Perin, by Welker Given, was published in the Des Moines Register and Leader, February 18, 1906, from which we quote: "Taking up her home on the banks of the Mississippi near the Iowa end of the Northwestern Railroad bridge, Mrs. Perin, while remaining under the same roof, was in succession a resident of Michigan, Wisconsin Territory, the territory of Iowa and finally the state of Iowa. When she was born, the three future great men of the century, Lincoln, Darwin, Tennyson, were little chaps, three years old. She lived to see them rise to perform their great works and pass away long before. She reads the papers as carefully as she did fifty years ago and with the same glasses used for three decades. Her hearing is perfect, her form full and unbent, her nerves without a tremor, and if all women resembled her, house-maid and cooks would find on one to hire them." She was for sixty-four years a resident of Clinton county.
The Clinton Herald Monday September 27, 1915 p. 8 Mr. B.F. Andeny, born in, and for many years, a resident of Clinton, Iowa, died at the B.F. Ankeny ranch, Mumper, Nebraska, the evening of Friday, September 24th, 1915, after an illness of many months duration. Mr. Ankeny's body, accompanied by his mother, arrived in Clinton, this morning, and the funeral services, private, were held at his mother's residence, No. 433 Sixth avenue, at two-thirty o'clock this afternoon. Mr. Ankeny's youth was spent in Clinton, and his early business years. He was born here March 16th, 1864, and had for many years been in the Cattle Ranch and Mining business in Nebraska and South-West Dakota, where he was associated with local men. He was a member of DeMolay Consistory, and Clinton Lodge B.P.O.E. Interment was had at Springdale cemetery, following the private services at the house, Rev. F.H. Burrell of St. John's Episcopal church officiating. Pallbearers were W.S. Gardner, F.W. Ellis, W.F. Coan, J.Q. Jefferies, S.W.Towle and Chas. E. Smith. Mr. Ankeny had many old-time friends in Clinton, who will remember him pleasantly, and mourn his death in the prime of his manhood. An excerpt from the Omaha Herald reads: "The body of Frank Ankeny, prominent ranchman from near Alliance, who died at his ranch Friday night, will arrive in Omaha this afternoon over the Burlington and will be immediately taken to the Elk's club rooms, where it will lie in state until 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The body will be met at the Omaha station by delegations of both Elks and Masons, in both of which ranks he was highly esteemed. The body will be taken to Clinton, Iowa, for interment, leaving the Elks' club rooms at 5 o'clock to be taken east on the Northwestern train which leaves Omaha at 6 o'clock. The pallbearers will be: Active J.F. Dietz, A.H. Frye, C.V. Bliss, R.F. Marcy, W.H. Schellberg and C.A. Lewis. Honorary - Gould Dietz, R.C.Howe, M.R. Denny, Col. J.C. Sharpe, Ralph Kitchen, T.B. McPherson, Will H. Wood, Fred A. Castle, G.A. Renze, W.E. Wood."
Obituary: The Clinton Herald Monday November 11, 1929 p. 5 Mrs. Mary Miller, 653 Sixth avenue South, passed away Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at her home. Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock at the First M.E. church. Interment will be in Springdale cemetery. Mary A. Perrin was born Sept. 26, 1837, in Clinton, the daughter of Noble and Sarah Nixon Perrin. The family had disembarked at the point that is now Clinton, early in the spring of 1837, coming by boat from the former home in the state of Indiana. She was the first white child born in what is now Clinton county, and was considered one of the first white children born in the state. At the time of her demise she was probably the oldest native resident of Iowa. Owing to its early settlement in the growing community the Perrin family early assumed social prominence and the beautiful young woman of the family were belles of eastern Iowa. Dauguerreotypes of the early days show Mrs. Miller one of the most beautiful and stately belles and her latest pictures prove that the charm remained throughtout her long life. She was married to Thomas Miller who passed away many years ago, and leaves her children, Dr. Harry W. Miller of Clovis, N.M., Miss Harriett Miller of Clinton, Thomas W. Miller of Iowa Falls and Robert L. Miller of Washington, D.C. Dr. Harry Miller and Thomas Miller were with her when the end came. She also leaves a sister, Mrs. Nancy Vosburg, who was 94 years of age October 26, and a half-brother, Edgar Perrin of Clinton. There are also eight grandchildren. Two grandchildren preceded her in death, one, Lance Olds, dying during his period of service in the World War. The sisters and brothers who have preceded her in death are Mrs. Valeria Ankeny, Mrs. Elizabeth Scott, Mrs. Rachel Dutton, Sam Perrin and Noble Perrin. Mrs. Miller's life is a story of the early history, one which she loved to relate. Many were the hours that students of Iowa's colonial history passed in her presence for she was clever in thought, quick of wit and had an admirable memory. Until the very last illness her perceptions were acute and communion with her fraught with much that was very much worth while.
Obituary: The Clinton Herald Friday September 21m 1921 p. 8 Funeral service for the late Mrs. Elizabeth Jane Scott, mother of Mrs. Halleck W. Seaman, will be held at 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon at the home of Mr. Seaman, 542 Fifth avenue, and will be private. Rev. H.E. Horned, pastor of the First Congregational church will officiate and interment will be in Springdale cemetery. Friends are requested not to send flowers. After a brief indisposition, Mrs. Scott passed peacefully away at four o'clock Thursday morning September 8, 1921, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Helen V. Seaman, 542 Fifth avenue, in this city. She was born October 3, 1839 to Noble and Sarah Gregory Perin, in the log cabin that stood on the west bank of the Mississippi river, where the the shore span of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad birdge now rests. Iowa was then a territory. The Perin farm was aferward purchased by the Iowa Land Company and became a part of the town of Clinton, lying south of Eighth avenue. The period of Mrs. Scott's life of more than four score years has been interwoven with that of the development of a great state, and part and parcel of the romance of Clinton the one place above all others she dearly loved. At her next birthday she would have rounded out 82 years. She was the youngest of four living sisters, all of whom were residents of Clinton and preparations were under way at the Seaman home for the yearly reunion of these sisters and old time pioneer ----- on the occasion o fMrs. Scott's birthday. The three surviving sisters are Mrs. Valeria M. Ankeny, Mrs. Mary A. Miller and Mrs. Nancy E. Vosburg. Her descendents are her only child, Helen V., wife of Halleck W. Seaman and her grandson, Dwight S. Seaman. She had been an integral part of the Seaman household since the marriage of her daughter more than thirty years ago, and her life with them has been an unusually happy and useful one. She was familiarly known as "Katsie" a name growing out of the inability of her granson when a baby to pronounce "Scott", and thsi term of enderment has clung to her ever since and has spread among friends outside of the family circle. Mrs. Scott was consistent member and one of the founders of the Congregational church of this city. Her genial presence and helpfulness will be especially missed in this work. She was a general favorite with both young and old people, and her life is a remarkable example of an elderly lady with a heart that was always responsive to the impulses of youth.
1911 Wolfe's History of Clinton: Lamb, James D., 1030 No man has ever lived in Clinton county who left a more indelible imprint of his sterling characteristics upon the hearts of friends and acquaintances than the late James Dwight Lamb, who was summoned to close his earthly accounts and take up his abode "in the windowless palaces of rest" while in the full flush and zenith of his young manhood. His career was one of which any family should be proud, for it showed what right principles, properly directed, could accomplish and how excellent a thing it is to live up to hight ideals. Mr. Lamb was born in Clinton, Iowa, June 25, 1871, and was the second son of the late Artemus Lamb, deceased, who was the founder of the firm of C. Lamb & Sons, one of the largest lumber milling firms in the Mississippi valley and which made the name of Clinton widely known. This family has been prominent in all the relations of life in this locality since the pioneer days. Dwight Lamb, as he was familiary known, enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education, having attended school at Exeter, New Hampshire, and later at Orchard Lake, Michigan. His tastes were for an active business career and while still a young man his father gave him a position in the office of mill D, the Chancy mill of the firm of C. Lamb & Sons. Mr. Lamb learned the business thoroughly and in a few years became manager of this branch of the business, retaining the active control until the close of the mill. Meanwhile he had become interested in machinery. Mechanism was not only his hobby, but became his absorbing passion. Beginning with an interest in the Clinton Separator Works, he developed the business until it grew into the Lamb Boat & Engine Company, of which he was president and promoter. The business of this firm has traveled far and wide; branch offices have been established in Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee and New York City and through them the Lamb engines and his latest model, the torpedo stern launch and cruisers, have been sold in many states of the Union. With the advent of automobiles he took up this branch of mechanism, establishing the first and only garage, for some time, conducted in the city and in this portion of the state. The winter before his death saw the incorporation of the Lamb Automobile Company, with J.D. Lamb as president, and the building of a handsome permanent building for a garage and repair shop. There were other interests in Clinton with which he was more or less actively identified. These interests in Clinton with which he was more or less actively identified. These interests included a directorship in the Peoples Trust and Savings Bank, a directorship in the City National Bank, also in the Iowa & Illinois Railroad Company, of which he was treasurer, and an interest in the Clinton theater. He had a genius for organization and promoting concerns and he was very successful in whatever he turned his attention to, being a man of keen observation, a clear, analytical mind and able, with remarkable accuracy, to forecast the outcome of a present transaction. In social and lodge circles, Mr. Lamb was a prominent figure, being a member of the Wapsipinicon Club, and he was a thirty-second-degree Mason, belonging to the blue lodge, the Royal Arch chapter, the Knights Templar, the DeMolay Consistory and also a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; he was, in addition, a charter member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On October 5, 1892, James D. Lamb was married to Mollie Ankeny, daughter of Mrs. Valeria M. Ankeny and a descendent of two of the first families of the state. To them were born three children, Celeste, Valeria and Artemus, the latter being the only male minor of the name of Lamb. The home life of this paractical millionaire was one of great happiness. He had an ideal home, a beautiful and magnificent residence which he built at Woodlands, attractive, well kept, elegantly furnished and often the scene of hospitality and a favorite mecca for a large circle of admiriing friends and acquaintances. The death of this distinguished citizen was a tragic one, he having been drowned on May 12, 1905, having accidentally fallen off the cruiser "Margaret," a boat which had just been turned out by the Lamb Boat & Engine Works, the accident occuring on her trial trip on the Mississippi rover near Bellevue. His death came as a great shock to the people of Clinton, for he was a man whose personality made itself felt. He was a rich man, but not one of the idle rich, his wealth being turned to good account. He was an extensive manufacturer, and interested citizen in everything that redounded to the welfare of Clinton, and he was never too busy to listen to or assist in promoting some public measure benefit. His place in the industrial world of Clinton and eastern Iowa will be a very hard one to fill. He can be seen by mortal eyes no longer, but - thanks for the assurance of hope - upon the great ocean of eternity, his life, not in the embrace of sleep or in the apparent selfishness of rest, will be in activity of service in a higher and nobler sphere. And so another active, earnest, intellect is stilled; another toiling life ended. Helpless, we pause at its close, and then attempt to tell the story of the years of labor, ambition and success which marked an eventful career. Those left behind can only cherish his memory and emulate his virtues.
Obituary: The Clinton Daily Herald May 13, 1905 A wave of suppressed horror swept over the entire city last evening when the first news reached here of the drowning off the cruiser Margaret of James Dwight Lamb. Although the details of the disaster did not reach Clinton until some hours after the casualty, the news traveled from one end of the city to the other with incredible swiftness. Mr. Lamb had joined the party taken out by John H. Bradley of Dubuque in his new boat which had just been turned out from the docks of the Lamb Boat and Engine Works, a finished product. A detailed description of the craft, of which the makers were pardonable proud appeared in the Herald of Friday's issue. J.F. Pethybridge, who was on the board and one of the witnesses to the tragedy, says that the accident occurred while the boat was running northward about five and one half miles south of Bellevue. The particular spot is nearly a mile north of the mouth of the Maquoketa river and at the second signal light north of Sun Prairie. Mr. Lamb had been piloting the boat all the afternoon, the Margaret having left Clinton at 9 o'clock in the morning and stopping at Sabula for dinner. It was about half past four o'clock. He had given the wheel on the upper deck over to his pilot, Clyde Welch, the regular man who goes with him on his trial cruises. Mr. Lamb descended to the lower deck for just a minute or two, returned to the upper pilot house and asked the pilot which point he steered for at that place. The pilot showed him, and he responded that he steered for the same place. He then picked up an armed camp chair which was placed near the wheel and walked to one side evidently intending to sit near the railing. The chair must have tipped when he attempted to sit in it, for the pilot thought he heard him say "Clyde, I am going," he turned and Mr. Lamb was out of sight. The boat was immediately reversed, put about and Mr. Lamb was seen to rise for a second only at the surface of the water, lying on one side and partly out of the water. The chair floated not far away form him, but he was fully 100 feet away from the boat which had been going up stream at a rapid rate, while the force of the rapid current had carried him down stream. For some little time the watchers looked about and then started for Bellevue where every boat and clamdigger available were sent back to continue the search. The men dragged the river at this point and below until two o'clock this morning, when darkness put a stop to their operations. At daybreak work was resumed. The rivermen at Bellevue are confident that they will find the body which was lost in a depth of about twenty-five feet of water, and about a mile below there is a pocket over forty feet deep, which they will search. The Artemus Gates left Clinton at 8 o'clock last evening and reached the scene of the disaster about midnight. Then the Chaperon and Summer Girl appeared on the scene and their crew was added to the searching force. This morning the Gates returned to Clinton at an early hour, bringing the Summer Girl, leaving the Chaperon below Bellevue. Garrett Lamb, who had started for the northwest, was recalled and came down on a special from north of Minneapolis, returning via the river to the other boats of the fleet. Lafayette Lamb, who had started with him, also returned to the city. James Dwight Lamb was born in the city of Clinton June 25, 1871, and was the second son of the late Artemus Lamb and a grandson of Chancy Lamb, deceased, who was the founder of the firm of C. Lamb & Sons, one of the largest lumber milling firms in the Mississippi valley and which made the name of Clinton widely known. As he was familiarly known, Dwight Lamb attended school at Exeter, N.H., and later at Orchard Lake, Mich. His tastes were for an active business career and while still a young man his father gave him a position in the office of Mill D, the Chancy Mill of the firm of C. Lamb & Sons. Mr. Lamb learned the business thoroughly and in a few years became manager of this branch of the business retaining this active control until the close of the mill. Meanwhile he had become interested in machinery. Mechanism was not only his hobby but became his absorbing passion. Beginning with an interest in the Clinton Separator Works, he developed the business until it grew into the Lamb Boat and Engine company of which he was president and promoter. The business of this firm has traveled far and wide; branch offices have been established in Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee and New York City and through them the Lamb engines and his latest model the torpedo stern launch and cruisers have been sold in many states in the Union. With the advent of automobiles, he took up this branch of mechanism establishing the first and only garage conducted in the city and in this portion of the state. The winter just passed saw the incorporation of the Lamb Automobile Company with J.D. Lamb as president and the building of a handsome permanent building for a garage and repair shop. There were other interests in the city with which he was more or less actively identified. These interests include a directorship in the Peoples Trust and Savings bank, a directorship in the City National bank, also in the I. & I. railway, of which he was treasurer, and interest in the Clinton theatre and an interest in the Cromwell Hotel company. In social and lodge circles Mr. Lamb was a member of the Wapsipinicon club and a 32nd degree Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge, the Royal Arch chapter, the Knights Templar, the DeMolay consistory and also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He was in addition a charter member of the B.P.O.E. On the fifth day of October 1892, J.D. Lamb was married to Miss Mollie Ankeny and a descendent of two of the first families of the state. To them have been born three children, Celeste, Valeria and Artemus, and this little heir of less than four months of age is the only male minor of the name of Lamb. The home life of this practical millionaire was one of great happiness. Within the last decade a beautiful residence on the wooded heights west of the city had been prepared for them, and at Woodlands was an ideal home. To this home has come a sorrow crushing and overwhelming. Of the family of Artemus Lamb, there are now left his widow, one son, Garrett E. Lamb and two daughters, Mrs. Marvin J. Gates and Mrs. Russell B. McCoy. To them all the silent sympathy of the entire community has gone out in this terrible and crushing bereavement. Throughout this city today there are none but expressions of sorrow and sincere regret at the untimely taking from its midst of one of its sterling citizens. J.D. Lamb was a man whose personality made itself felt. He was a rich man, but not one of the idle rich, his wealth was turned to good account. He was a manufacturer, an interested citizen in everything that redounded to the welfare of this city and he was never too busy to listen to or assist in promoting some public measure benefit. Down at the Lamb Boat and Engine works, the hum of busy wheels was stilled this morning and strong workmen walked about with sobs and shaking their sturdy shoulders and tears falling unchecked from their eyes. That was a testimonial that a manufacturer seldom receives from the men whom he employs. "He was the salt of the earth," said a business man from Davenport, who had come to Clinton to see Mr. Lamb on business this morning. "His place in the industrial work of this city will be a hard one to fill." And all of this tribute comes to a young man who not yet attained the fullness of 34 years of life. There was so much of good possible in his future that Clinton mourns for him sincerely and deeply.
The Clinton Herald May 15, 1905 p. 3 This afternoon at half past two o'clock private funeral services for the late James Dwight Lamb were conducted at the home at Woodlands. A former rector of St. John's Episcopal church, the Rev. C.A. Riley, of Madison, Wisconsin, assisted by the Rev. Allen Judd, priest in charge at St. John's conducted the simple but beautiful and impressive Episcopal burial rites. Then the cortege wended its way slowly down the hills and on to God's acre, where the final resting place was chosen by his father and grandfather before him. At noon the principal business houses of the city closed their doors, the banks of the city also closed, many of the offices until after the hour of interment. This was done in respect to Mr. Lamb's memory. Today in Clinton is as Saturday, one of general depression. Throughout the city the feeling of loss is intensified, and the mourning for one of its leading citizens is deep and sincere. This morning from ten until twelve o'clock all friends of the family and the employees and business associates of Mr. Lamb were received at the house and given an opportunity to pay their last tribute to his memory. The men from the Lamb Boat and Engine Works went in a body to show their sympathy and respect to his memory. Mr. Lamb's body was recovered from the Mississippi river by Ellinghouse Bros. of Bellevue. It was taken from the water, 1,000 feet below where the accident had occurred and had rested in twenty feet of water. This was at 4:40 p.m. Saturday and Mr. Lamb's watch which had stopped at 4:41 o'clock showed that twenty-four hours lacking one minute had elapsed. The remains were taken upon the steamer Chaperon which with Garrett E. Lamb on board had remained at the place and brought at once to this city. They were viewed by Coroner Hullinger and this morning an inquest was held at which time all the formalities of the law were met.
Clinton Herald Saturday April 19, 1980 p. 1 & 10 Former 26 room home at 453 Woodlands Drive destroyed by fire A landmark home in Clinton was heavily damaged Friday evening when fire raged through the three-story dwelling once known as "Woodlands." The cause of the blaze has not been determined, but Clinton Fire Marshall Cliff Peters said he has contacted the State Fire Marshall's office and the state official will join him today in continuing the investigation. The fire apparently started on the north side of the first floor of the home at 453 Woodlands Drive and spread through the structure, ultimately destroying the third floor. Fire Chief Gary Thomas said the age of the structure was a contributing factor in the rapid spread of the fire. "In a house that old, with a false ceiling, it was difficult to stop - once it got up there, it could go down anywhere," he said. The house originally was located on the northwest corner of 6th Avenue South and South 5th Street. In 1902, Dwight Lamb moved the 26-room house to its current location. Crowe Brothers, Chicago house-moving specialists, used horses and a winch to pull the house on maple rollers. During the moving process, electrical lines had to be removed and trees trimmed to allow for the passage of the house. Three months were needed to move the house the 11 bolocks from its downtown location to 7th Avenue North and up the 80-foot hill. In getting the house up the incline, 72 hand-operated jacks and eight carloads of lumber were used to lift the 300-ton house. When the house was moved, the furnishings were left in the structure. One local history buff tells a story of a vase with a flower in it being placed on a table. The vase remained upright during the moving process. Lamb was a member of a prominent Clinton family which established one of the largest lumber milling firms in the Mississippi Valley and made the name of Clinton widely known. After Lamb's death in 1905, his widow married E.A. Young. Their daughter Molly and her husband Dr. Jerome Burke occupied the house until 1945 when it was purchased by the late I.H. Carnes and his wife, Vincy. Mrs. Carnes, after hearing of the fire Friday night, said she"felt as if someone had died." "We loved it - it was just the perfect place," she said. The Carnes developed the 18 acres of land surrounding the home into the Woodlands subdivision. In 1952 the home was sold to Edwin Zastrow. For a short time, the building was converted into apartments, but for the last several years, it has been a single-family dwelling. The current owner of the home, James "Kelly" Smith, is a former employee of Chemplex, but now lives in the Chicago area. After the call was received by the Clinton Fire Department at 5:02 p.m., all off-duty firefighters and the 4-11 auxiliary unit were called in to help. The biggest problem facing firefighters was a shortage of sufficient water pressure from the hydrants in the area to ensure a strong enough stream of water to squelch the blaze. Assistant Fire Chief Robert Mathiesen said water had to be taken by a pumper truck "sitting at the hydrants" and relayed throught the pumper up the hill to the trucks at the fire scene. Thoms said their efforts were delayed briefly because firefighters were told there was an individual inside the house when they arrived and a search of the premises had to be made. Fire department engineer Ralph Thomson said when the search was being conducted there was little smoke the house, but when firefighters reached the attic door, they were faced with a wall of flame. Fire officials said they would not rule out the possibility of arson. A juvenile male was taken into custody at the scene, but it was not known at press time if there was any connection between the arrest and the fire.
Obituary: The Clinton Herald Friday November 13, 1931 p. 5 Edward A. Young, son of the late William J. and Esther Young, pioneer residents of Clinton, passed away Thursday evening at the home of his brother, C.H. Young, 327 Seventh avenue, south, long the family residence. Private funeral services are to be held at the house at 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon. The body will be laid to rest in the Young family mausoleum in Springdale Cemetery. Mr. Young succumbed to an illness which had its inception in Chicago in March, 1930. In June of that year he was brought to the home of his brother here and had been recuperating. A relapse, suffered Tuesday of this week, however, was so severe that it failed to respond to medical attention. A native of Clinton, Mr. Young had been active in Clinton business interests throughout the years of his majority. At the time of his demise, he was president of the Clinton National bank, vice president of the Clinton Savings bank, treasurer of the Clinton Street Railway Co., vice president of W.J. Young & Co., founded by his father in the summer of 1858 and which became one of Clinton's largest and most prominent lumber industries. He also had various other business connections and interests. Possessed of a pleasing, affable disposition, a keen consciousness of fair-dealing in business and of kindliness in public contacts, he surrounded himself with a wide circle of sincere friends, who today expressed profound sorrow over his passing. One of his delights was found in travel and as a result he had visited practically every country in the known world. He found some of his greatest happiness in discussing his trips with friends who were likewise interested in world travel. His love for association with his fellow men was reflected in his club and fraternal connections, which included membership in the Wapsipinicon club, the Clinton Country club and the Clinton lodge, 199, B.P.O. Elks, in Clinton and the Chicago club in Chicago. Left to mourn his passing are his wife, nee Molly Ankeny; his daughter, Mrs. Jerome C. Burke, now of Kansas City, Mo.; two sisters, Mrs. Esther Young Burgesser of Chicago and Mrs. Mary Y. Hancock of Clinton; and two brothers, William J. Young, Jr. of Tucson, Ariz., and C.H. Young of Clinton. W.J. Young passed away in 1896 and Mrs. W.J. Young, in 1925. A sister, Miss Jane Young, died in 1905. Pallbearers for the funeral tomorrow will be selected from banking and other business institutions with which the deceased was connected. The family today requested that flowers be omitted.
The Clinton Herald Five charter member of Clinton chapter, 124, Daughters of the American Revolution, were honored -- at the chapter's golden anniversary celebration and formal tea held in the home of Miss Letitia --- Reading left to right and seated are Mrs. H.W. Seaman, Mrs. G.W. Allen and Mrs. C.D. May; Mrs. A.C. Smith and Miss Shoecraft. Mrs. C.F. Tucker, also a charter member, was absent from --.
Obituary: The Clinton Herald Monday January 21, 1952 p. 9 Mrs. Halleck Wager Seamen, 88, of 516 Fifth avenue, South, a member of one of Clinton's oldest families, died at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in Jane Lamb hospital. She had been ill for three weeks. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the family home. Rev. Verne A. Spindell will officiate. Burial will be in the Seaman-Kerr family lot in Springdale cemetery. The body will be taken from Bragonier-Fay chapel to the family home at 4 o'clock this afternoon. Friends may call at the home. Mrs. Seaman was active in community affairs. She was a charter member of Clinton chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, having been instrumental in organizing the Clinton unit; chairman of the committee for the memorial War I and a member of the Jane Lamb hospital board of trustees for 45 years. For 25 years she served as chairman of the hospital board of trustees and was an honorary member of the board at the time of her death. Mrs. Seaman was a life-long member of the Congregational church and served in various offices of the church. She was a member of Plymouth circle. She was born Helen Valeria Scott, Nov. 13, 1863 in Clinton. He parents were Elizabeth Jane Perrin and Walter Arnold Scott. Her mother was the daughter of Sam Perrin who brought his family to Clinton by steamboat from Ohio. Mr. Perrin built his home, a log cabin, on the banks of the river at the present site of the Chicago and North Western railroad bridge. Mrs. Seaman's aunt, Mary Perrin Miller, was the first white child born in Clinton county. Mrs. Seaman was a graduate of Clinton high school, Ferry Hall at Lake Forest, Ill. and of Iowa State Teachers college at Cedar Falls. She taught school in Clinton for two years preceding her marriage. She was married Dec. 28, 1887 to Halleck Wager Seaman in Clinton. Mr. and Mrs. Seaman celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1937. He died in December, 1941. Mrs. Seaman is survived by one son, Dwight Scott Seaman of Clinton, with whom she made her home; four cousins, Mrs. E.A. Young of Beverly Hills, Calif., Miss Harriette Miller of Hollywood, Calif., Dr. Hal Miller of Clovis, N.M., and Mrs. Harry S. Baldwin of Clinton. She was preceded in death by her husband and one daughter, Mildred A. Seaman, who died at the age of 12.
The Clinton Daily Herald April 23, 1901 H.W. Seaman was an east-bound passenger this morning on the Northwestern.
The Clinton Herald Wednesday April 30, 1930 p. 5 H.W. Seaman has returned to his home in Fifth avenue South after having been in Jane Lamb hospital for a number of weeks.
Obituary: The Clinton Herald Monday December 15, 1941 p. 12 Seaman, Waterways Pioneer, Dies at 81 Death End Varied and Active Career of Late Resident of Clinton Halleck W. Seaman, 81, one of the nation's outstanding advocates of inland waterways development, died at 8 o'clock this morning in his home, 516 Fifth avenue South, after a general decline in health over a period of several months. Death of Mr. Seaman removes from Clinton one of its most colorful and enterprising figures. No person in the city's history worked harder than he for the greater development of Clinton and its resources. Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the family home. Burial will be in Springdale. In connection with the services in the home, the Rose Croix funeral service will be conducted by Delphic chapter, Knights Rose Croix of DeMolay consistory, A.A.S.R. Masons, with E.H. Stephens acting wise master. Mr. Seaman was born Sept. 26, 1860, in Clinton, the son of Richard S. and Emma Carter Seaman. Because his life closely paralleled the city's growth, he had a rich background of historical information pertaining to it. Mr. Seaman was educated in the Clinton public schools, was graduated from Clinton High school and received his degree in civil engineering at the State University of Iowa in 1882. His marriage to Miss Helen Valeria Scott took place Dec. 28, 1887. He is survived by Mrs. Seaman, a son, Dwight S. Seaman, and a sister, Mrs. I.K. Kerr, Calgary, Alb., Canada. Preceding him in death were his parents; two brothers, Sherman Seaman and Preston Seaman, and a daughter who died in 1902 at the age of 11. After serving as a civil engineer in the extension westward of the Chicago and North Western and the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul railroads, Mr. Seaman engaged in the study of law in the office of Judge George B. Young in Clinton and was admitted to the Iowa state bar in 1887, his interest in the practice of law continuing to the end. In addition to his other interests, Mr. Seaman found time to devote his abilities to Clinton business and civic life. He served many years as a vice president of the City National bank, 15 years as a member of the Clinton district board of education, was a co-organizer and past chairman of the board of Clinton park commissioners and had been a member of the city council. While chairman of the park board he was a moving force behind purchase of the land now occupied by Riverview park and during his term the original River Front park, between Fourth and Sixth avenues South, was built. While a member of the city council he advocated Clinton's first paid fire department. Mr. Seaman was secretary of the Iowa World's fair commission when that exposition was held in 1893 in Chicago. He also was affiliated with the Inland Waterways Corp., and in 1940 was made a life member of the Mississippi Valley association. Mr. Seaman was president of the American Mining Congress two years and was regarded as a national authority on mines and mining. He also was a life member of the Union League club of Chicago and lived there 20 years while he maintained a Chicago office. When the country entered into an era of railroad expansion in the late Nineteenth and the early years of the Twentieth century, it found Mr. Seaman in the midst of the construction program. He was active in the development of the Ozark and Cherokee Central, the Muskogee Southern, Lorain and West Virginia, Tremont and Gulf, Minneapolis and Rainy River, Manistee and Grand Rapids, Gary and Southern Traction Co., Groveton Lupkin and Northern and the Davenport, Rock Island and North Western railways. He also participated as a civil engineer in the construction of many other lines in the middle west and southwest. Mr. Seaman's anecdotes of experiences in railroad construction were highly interesting and gave the listener a deep insight into that stage of the nation's period of growth. In later years Mr. Seaman turned his attention to the development of the nation's inland waterways and through him many writings and extensive knowledge of the subject came to be regarded as an outstanding American authority. Long an advocate of a controlled nine-foot channel on the Upper Mississippi river, he lived to see its completion and utilization as an important part of the nation's transportation system. Many of the predictions made by Mr. Seaman regarding development of the Mississippi and the traffic it would carry came to pass two or three years before his death. He was a member of the executive committee of Mississippi Valley association and of the Upper Mississippi Waterways association. He was editorial advisor and honorary member of Clinton chapter of the Citizens' Historical society and also was a member of the Iowa State Historical society. Mr. Seaman was the oldest past master of Emulation lodge, 255, A.F. & A.M., and also was a member of DeMolay consistory, A.A.S.R. Masons, and the Clinton Engineers' club. Highly regarded because of his fund of authoritative information concerning the Mississippi river from its so-called "palmy days" to the present, Mr. Seaman frequently was called upon for advice by the Rock Island district of U.S. army engineers and members of that staff frequently were guests in his hospitable home. No gathering of waterways boosters was complete without him. He gave addresses at the dedication of Dam 11 at Dubuque, Dam 12 at Bellevue and Dam 13 at Clinton and participated in dedication ceremonies at other points. After construction of Lock and Dam 13 was begun in 1935, Mr. Seaman was the guest of honor at a dinner given by friends in the Clinton Country club in recognition of the work he had done in behalf of the project. Likewise, when a dedicatory dinner was held last spring after the new Clinton municipal river terminal was placed in service, Mr. Seaman was accorded a place of honor on the program and was lauded by officials of the Inland Waterways Corp., who were present. Although his life was crammed with activity and his interests were astonishingly wide, Mr. Seaman always claimed his hobbies were "good government and the building-up of the Mississippi river as a transportation agency."
The Clinton Herald Wednesday December 17, 1941 p. 5 Funeral services were held at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon in the family home for Halleck W. Seaman, 81, 516 Fifth avenue, South, who died Monday. The Rev. Robert A. Bentley, pastor of the First Congregational church, conducted the services and was assisted by the Rev. H.E. Harned. Rose Croix services were in charge of Delphic chapter Knights Rose Croix, A.A.S.R. Masons with E.H. Stephens acting as wise master. Burial was in Springdale cemetery. Active pallbearers were M.L. Sutton, Donald Allison, A.G. Crawford, L.L. Peterson, T.V. Murphy, Lee F. White, Floyd S. Magee and Homer I. Smith. Honorary pallbearers were C.P. Chase, Eugene Adams of Dubuque, A.H. Morrell, A.B. Rathbun, A.C. Root, L.J. Schuster, R.S. Whitley, A.P. Barker, O.P. Petty, James McG. Leslie, J.C. Goodwin, J.N. Movlan of Chicago, R.S. Walters
The Clinton Herald Friday January 11, 1963 p. 11 Dwight S. Seaman, 73, founder of the Clinton Wire Cloth Co., died at 6:30 a.m. today at Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Minn. Mr. Seaman, who lived at 516 5th Ave. S., had been ill for about six weeks. Dwight Scott Seaman was born Aug. 30, 1889 in Clinton, the son of Halleck W. and Helen Valeria Scott Seaman. He attended Clinton public schools and the Chicago Latin School. In 1912 and 1913, he was associated with the American Wire Fabrics Co. at Niles, Mich., later transferring to the Mount Wolf, Pa. plant where he was superintendent. He assumed the duties of office manager and cashier of the Clinton plant of American Wire Fabrics in 1915 and remained in this post until 1920 when he organized the Clinton Wire Cloth Co. He was married March 23, 1934 to Alma Allison in Morrison, Ill. A veteran of World War I, he was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He also was a member of the Clinton Manufacturers and Shippers Association and had served as a city councilman and chairman of the Police and Fire Commission. Seaman was a past director of the Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Clinton Skeet and Gun Club and a member and past president of the Eastern Iowa Sportsmen's Association. He also was a member of the Clinton Country Club, the Odeon Club, the Ship's Wheel club of Moline, Ill. and was affiliated with Lodge 199, B.P.O.E., and the Masonic order. The body will be returned to the Bragonier-Fay chapel where friends may call after noon Saturday. SS Death Index DWIGHT SEAMAN 30 Aug 1889 Jan 1963 (Iowa) (none specified) 480-05-5627 Iowa
