Iowa has been specially honored in the characters and careers of her public and professional men. In every locality are found individuals born to leadership in the various vocations and professions, men who dominate not alone by superior intelligence and natural endowment but by a force of character which gives them an unquestioned place in the front ranks of the citizenship of their communities, where they exert a large and definite influence in a beneficent direction. In this class stands Harry E. Narey, of Spirit Lake, who is accorded a place in the forefront of the successful lawyers of Iowa. He was born on the 4th of May, 1885, in the city in which he now lives, and is a son of Peter and Emma (Meguire) Narey, the father a native of Huntington Canal, Quebec, Canada, and the mother of Portland Maine. Their marriage occurred in Osage, Iowa, whither they had come, he as a lad of sixteen or eighteen years and she in girlhood with her parents. Peter Narey became a traveling salesman for a boot and shoe house, which vocation he followed for a number of years and in 1880 he moved to Spirit Lake. For several years after coming to this place he continued as a commercial traveler but was later elected sheriff, in which office he served several years. Afterwards he was appointed a deputy revenue collector, with headquarters in Sioux City, serving int ht capacity for ten or twelve years. His death occurred in Spirit Lake, March 19, 1914, at the age of sixty-nine years. He is survived by his widow, who is now seventy-three years old.
Harry E. Narey attended the Spirit Lake public schools, and Grinnell College, where he took the liberal arts course, and then entered the law school of Iowa Stare University, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1907. The same year he opened a law office in Spirit Lake and has been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession to the present time. During the intervening years he has been identified, as counsel, with most of the important cases in the courts of this section of the state and has gained an enviable reputation as a safe and sound counselor. As a practitioner he has been straightforward and honorable in his methods, employing none of the tricks of the pettifogger, and his zeal for a client never leads him to urge an argument which is not in harmony with the law. In discussions of the principles of law, he is noted for clearness of statement and candor, seeking to impress the jury and court by weight of facts in his favor and by clear, logical argument.
In 1913 Mr. Narey was married to Miss Esther Bergman, of Spirit Lake, and to them has been born a son, Peter B. Mrs. Narey is a daughter of A. F. and Mary (Kingman) Bergman. Her mother, who came here in 1861 from Conneaut, Ohio. He homesteaded a tract of land at Spirit Lake and later acquired much other land, a portion being sold for the site of the state home for Knights Templar. A. F. Bergman came to Dickinson county from Hanover, Germany, and became a member of the firm of Johnson & Bergman, merchants at Spirit Lake. He served eight years as postmaster of Spirit Lake and was later for twenty-five years express agent at that place. He is now living retired on the old Kingman homestead at Spirit Lake. Mrs. Narey was educated at Grinnell College and Drake University, finishing her kindergarten training in the latter institution. She then taught two years in Sioux City, one year at Boise, Idaho, and for years at Spirit Lake. She is a member of Twilight Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star; Calvary Shrine No. 18, Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem; Daughters of the American Revolution; the P. E. O. and the L. B. U., and is a member of the State Federation Committee of Federated Clubs, of which she is chairman. She is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church and is active in the club, civic and social life of Spirit Lake. Mr. Narey is a member of the Iowa State Bar Association, and of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He belongs to Twilight Lodge, No. 329, A. F. & A. M.; Spirit Lake Chapter, No. 132, R. A. M.; Esdraelan Commandery, No. 52, K. T. and Abu-Bekr Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is deeply interested in everything pertaining to the progress and upbuilding of Spirit Lake and vicinity and gives his earnest support to all movements for the material, civic or moral betterment of the people. Because of his splendid record as a lawyer, his fine public spirit and his forceful personality, he stands deservedly high in public esteem and confidence.