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S. B. HICKENLOOPER

 

More than sixty years have passed since S. B Hickenlooper came to Iowa.  This state was then a wild district, its land unclaimed, its resources undeveloped.  In the years which have since passed he has not only witnessed a most wonderful transformation but has largely aided in the labors which have transferred the wild tract into a splendid commonwealth.  Now in his declining years he is living retired, enjoying the well-earned rest which is the merited reward of a long and honorable business career.

 

Born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, east of Pittsburgh, on the 2d of October, 1835, he is a son of Thomas Hickenlooper, also a native of Pennsylvania, his birth there occurring in May, 1793.  In that state the father was reared to manhood and he there married Miss Julia Hawkins, who was also born and reared in the Keystone state.  He was a farmer by occupation and engaged in the salt business.  In 1844 he removed westward, settling in Monroe county, Iowa, where he entered a large tract of land, upon which he resided and which he continued to operate up to the time of his death.  He was numbered among the early settlers in that portion of the state and became a well-known and prominent man in the community in which he lived.  His wife survived him for some years, passing away in Taylor county while on a visit.

 

S. E. Hickenlooper is one of a family of eight sons and two daughters born unto Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hickenlooper.  He was a lad of nine years when he came west, living in Illinois for two years, and was thirteen years old when he came to Iowa to join his parents in Monroe county, where he grew to manhood.  The educational advantages which he enjoyed in his youth were largely due to (page 629) his own efforts, for his opportunity to attend school was very limited.  He remained at home until nineteen years of age, when he started out to earn his own livelihood.  He worked in a sawmill in Monroe county for some time, and later was engaged in a flour, grist and sawmill in Taylor county, arriving here in 1857.  He was desirous that his efforts should more directly benefit himself, and so he carefully saved his earnings until he had accumulated sufficient means to purchase a grist and portable sawmill, in the operation of which he continued for several years.  He had previously entered land in Monroe county and later entered another tract in the western part of Taylor county, which he subsequently traded for property in Gay township, which he cultivated and improved and which is still in his possession.  He resided upon this farm for some time, engaged in general agricultural pursuits, and as the years passed he became very successful in this enterprise.  From time to time he purchased more land until he now owns four hundred and forty acres, divided into two well-improved and valuable farms.  Later he removed to Blockton and was associated with Thomas King in the building of the old town of Colfax, near that city.  During his residence there he conducted a general store but later withdrew from commercial activities and returned to the farm, where he continued to reside for several years.  He engaged in general farming and also devoted much time to the raising and feeding of stock, and in both branches of his business he met with a gratifying measure of success, his unremitting industry and capable management being salient elements in his prosperity.  He became well known as a business man and stock feeder all over the county and was ranked among the well-to-do and enterprising farmers of Gay township.  Something of the prosperity which came to him as the result of his many years of earnest labor is indicated in the fact that eventually he was able to retire altogether from active business, his competence being such as to make it possible for him to enjoy in well-earned rest all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.  He removed to Blockton, and purchased the place which is now his place of residence.  He remodeled the house, which is now one of the comfortable and attractive homes of the town, and also set out a small orchard on the place.

 

On the 24th of November, 1859, in Gay township, Mr. Hickenlooper was united in marriage to Miss Ann Eliza King, a daughter of John King, one of the early settlers of that township.  She was born in Lee county, Iowa, but reared in Taylor county, and by her marriage became the mother of nine children, one of whom has passed away.  Those who survive are: Mary I., the wife of Cleveland King, of Oklahoma; Flora, the wife of William Ewart, a resident farmer of Gay township; Thomas Sherman, a resident of Blockton; Nathan O., the postmaster of Blockton for a number of years; George C., a business man of Blockton; Ernest T., engaged in business in Des Moines, Iowa; Maud, who married Professor G. A. Chaney, of the State University of Wisconsin; and Carl B., pursuing a medical course at the St. Joe Medical College.  A daughter, Rosalie D., died in infancy.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Hickenlooper are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is active in the church and Sunday-school work, having charge of a Bible class and serving as superintendent of the Sunday-school at Platteville in Gay township.  His life has at all times been in harmony with his (page 63) professions and his influence for good has been a power in the moral upbuilding and development of the communities in which he has lived.  Fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows lodge of Blockton and for several years served as secretary of the lodge in this city.  In politics he is a republican.  He cast his first ballot for John C. Fremont in 1856, and since that time has supported every presidential nominee for that party.  He has filled several public offices, serving as assessor, justice of the peace and also as township trustee in Gay township for some years.  In this county, where he has resided for more than a half century, he has become widely known as an honorable and upright gentlemen, and that his circle of friends is almost coextensive with the large circle of acquaintances which he has gained throughout the county is indicative of the fact that his salient characteristics are such as have won for him the honor, respect and good will of all with whom he has been associated.