The Lamb Family of Clinton County, Iowa

Honored and respected by all, there was no one in Clinton county who occupied a more enviable position in commercial and financial circles than.Chancy Lamb, not alone on account of the brilliant success he achieved, but also on account of the honorable straightforward business policy he ever followed. Integrity, activity and energy were the crowning points of his success, and his connection with various business enterprises and industries were of decided advantage to his section of the state, promoting its material welfare in no uncertain manner.

Mr. Lamb was born in Ticonderoga. Essex county, New York, January 4, 181 6, and was a son of Alpheus and Maria (Bailey) Lamb, natives of Connecticut and New York, respectively. On his father's farm he passed his boyhood youth, and received his education in the schools of the neighborhood, which he attended until fourteen ) ears of age, when he commenced his sawmill career. He early had a desire to try his fortune in the great west, and in June, 1844, with his wife and family, removed to Illinois and located in York, Carroll county. As they were also desirous of identifying themselves with the west his parents accompanied him on the journey. Their children were Merrette N., Emily, Lucy, Garrett and Chancy.

On taking up his residence in Illinois, our subject's cash capital consisted of twenty-five cents. He pre-empted a tract of land and rented an adjoining place which had been somewhat improved, and as a farmer he began his business career. Not being entirely satisfied with results he returned to New York at the end of seven years, and was there employed on a salary to manage a lumber business, working by the day or year, and occasionally taking contracts to saw lumber by the thousand feet.

In the meantime Mr. Lamb has retained possession of the two hundred and eighty acres of land which he had purchased in Illinois. Hearing glowing accounts of the state of Iowa, he resolved to give the west another trial with the hope of bettering his financial condition and establishing a permanent location. With this end in view he came to Clinton in 1856 and started in business with a capital of less than three thousand dollars. Purchasing an old sawmill which stood on the bank of the Mississippi river where the railroad bridge now crosses it, he put it in running order and had begun business with a fair prospect of success when the building was de-

IO stroyed by fire in 1858. With characteristic energy, however, he at once re-built what was known as mill B, but that was also burned October 14, 1876. In 1868 he built the stone mill which was designated as mill A, and also purchased and remodeled a mill at Chancy, afterward known as mill D, which was also destroyed by fire January 4, 1877, but with the same persistency as before Mr. Lamb caused its reconstruction, and also acquired what is known as mill C, just below it on the Mississippi river. Two years later, May 22, 1879, he lost, by the ravages of the same element, a fine brick office, a large amount of lumber and several dwelling houses and barns. Nothing daunted, however, he continued business here uninterruptedly up to the time of his death, and his labors were at length crowned with success. He had large interests in various mills at Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Barronett, Shell Lake and White River, Wisconsin. It is estimated that his loss by fire alone in early years aggregated three hundred thousand dollars. In addition to his extensive milling transactions Mr. Lamb was largely interested in pine lands, which was a source of supply for their mills. He was also a stockholder and director of the Clinton National Bank; was president of the Clinton Water Works Company, and interested in the gas company. He did much toward building up the city of his adoption, and in Clinton alone gave employment to over nine hundred men.

On the 17th of November, 1839, Mr. Lamb was united in marriage with Miss Jane Bevier, who was born in Brad forel. Steuben county, New York, March 10, 1820, and was a daughter of David and Sarah (Geer) Bevier. David Bevier was born in Ulster county, New York, and his wife, Sarah Geer, in Norwich, Connecticut. On the removal of her parents to the Empire state, they settled at Bradford, then called Jersey Hollow, where the father, who was a farmer by occupation, died in 1829, and the mother in 1847. Her father served seven years during the Revolutionary war, in the Third Ulster County, New York Regiment, and also took part in the war of 1812. He was a man of great courage and bravery, and was an honored and respected citizen of the community in which he resided. His children were Mrs. Mary W. Gannon; Charles; Mrs. Elizabeth H. Switzer; William; George; Mrs. Sarah A. Whitehead; Mrs. Jane Lamb; Mrs. Phoebe Reeder. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lamb were born four children: Artemus; Augusta, wife of Edward Ware; Lafayette; and Emma E., wife of William E. Young. The sons are both represented elsewhere in this volume.

During the Civil war Mr. Lamb was a stanch supporter of the Union cause, and was active in encouraging enlistments and in every way strengthening the arm of the government. After the battle of Fort Donelson, in company with Dr. A. L. Ankeny, he made a trip to Mound City on the Ohio river, from which place they started home with thirty-one wounded soldiers, bringing many to Clinton, where they rendered them such aid as was possible, being assisted in these Christian duties by their families until the recovery of the soldiers. At another time during the war they went to Memphis on the same humane and patriotic errand, but much to their regret succeeded in bringing home only a few soldiers.-it this time, circumstances preventing the transportation of a large number. Such acts as these can be better appreciated than described but they show the fine qualities of a noble nature of one who took great delight in aiding those in need. The Republican party always found in Mr. Lamb a stanch supporter in its principles, and he took an active interest in all enterprises which he believed calculated to advance the moral, social or material welfare of his city and county. He died July 12, 1897. an(l 'n ms death the community realized that it had lost a public benefactor. His career was such as to warrant the trust and confidence of the business world, for he conducted all transactions on the strictest principles of honor and integrity, and his devotion to the public good was unquestioned, arising from a sincere interest in the welfare of his fellow men. He was a man of the times, broad-minded public-spirited and progressive, and it is but just and merited praise to say of him that as a business man he ranked among the ablest; as a citizen he was honorable, prompt and true to every engagement; and as a man he held the honor and esteem of his fellow citizens.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Environment is said to be the making of a man's character for good or evil. So is reflected upon a community, be it Targe or small, the life of an individual. If the man is broad-minded, progressive and ambitious, there must follow an upbuilding that will outlast the mortal career. Artemus Lamb, who died April 23, 1901, left an ineffaceable record of good upon Clinton, Iowa, a city that owes much to the stalwart Lamb family.

Artemus Lamb was the oldest son of Chancy and Jane (Bevier) Lamb and was born September 11, 1840, in Bradford. Steuben county. New York, where his father ran a sawmill. His education was gained in the public schools, mostly at Big Flats, Chemung county, New York. When sixteen years old he went to Clinton with his father and ever after made that city his home. From boyhood he worked with his father and was his constant associate and helpmate. He had a mechanical bent, which he cultivated for many years, together with practical experience in sawmilling, and he assisted largely in bringing about the high efficiency of the mills controlled by the Lambs.

Before he had reached manhood Mr. Lamb entered the service of his father, who conducted several manufacturing enterprises in Clinton. He was taken into partnership by the senior Mr. Laml) in 1864, when the firm of C. Lamb & Son was formed. From that time on the operations of the concern were broadened rapidly. In 1868 the firm built a large mill structure of stone.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

After a man has won his laurels in the business world, it is not easy for him to drop most of the perplexing cares and devote the balance of his days to the enjoyment of what has been so honestly earned, as is shown by the larger number of men of rank who work on until death overtakes them. But to enjoy life rationally, imbibing of the pleasures and comforts wealth commands, is but an evidence of a broadness of character such as that of Lafayette Lamb, of Clinton, Iowa.

Mr. Lamb is the fourth child and second son of Chancy and Jane (Bevier) Lamb, and was born February 26, 1846. in Carroll county. Illinois, sixteen miles from Clinton, Iowa. When he was five years old his father moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where the family remained one year. and then went to Big Flats, Chemung county, New York, the father there superintending the milling operations of J. C. Cameron & Company. In those days traveling was a hardship and the migration from Illinois to the Keystone state was made by going down the Mississippi river to Cairo, from there to Pittsburg by water, and then to Harrisburg, going over the mountains by stage, traveling part of the way by canal and a short distance by railroad. The child was a pupil in the public schools of Big Flats and practically all of his elementary training was obtained there.

When Lafayette Lamb was ten years old his father moved the family to Fulton, Illinois, and in the following year, 1857, established a home in Clinton, Iowa, which from that time on was the permanent residence of the Lambs. The head of the family bought a small sawmill and lumber yard in the town, and Lafayette, though only a boy, was called upon to assist in the operation of the mill. His task was to raise the logs upon a rotary carriage as they were hauled into the mill, the work in that day being carried on with a lever. The lad's schooling was of necessity restricted, and it was only hen the river froze and the mill ceased operations that he went to school, returning to the mill when sawing could be done. Upon the plant being enlarged and a shingle mill being added, Mr. Lamb made shingles for his father for five years. His first experience in the lumber yard was in 1862, when he started tallying, and after a year spent in familiarizing himself with the grades, he became a retail salesman tor his father.

From 1862 to about 1864 the elder Lamb was also engaged in the grist mill business, in which Lafayette assisted him. The money stringencies during the Civil war compelled the lumber manufacturers to trade lumber for whatever the farmer raised that was marketable, and the product of the Lambs' sawmill was given in exchange for grain, which was ground in the grist mill and sold at wholesale to retailers. Shortly after his experience in the retail yard. Lafayette Lamb had charge of the grist mill and continued in that capacity until the mill was sold and a sawmill built on its site.

So Aaried and thorough had been his training that Mr. Lamb when twenty-two years old was made foreman under S. B. Gardiner for C. Lamb & Son. his eldest brother, Artemus. having been admitted to the firm in 1864. In 1872 he took charge of the boats furnishing the logs to the Lamb mills and had active charge of the logging when the first steamboat ever employed on the Mississippi for owing log rafts was put into service. This vessel was the "James Means," and was the forerunner of a Aalual)le fleet of steamboats operated by the firm. For ten years Lafayette supervised this branch of the business, although when his father and brother were away at times he had general charge of the firm's affairs. He became a member of the firm of C. Lamb & Sons in 1874, and when the business was incorporated, four years later, he was made vice-president of the company.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

GARRETT EUGENE LAMB.

Iowa has been especially honored in the character and career of her public and professional men. In every county there are to be found, rising above their fellows, individuals born to leadership in the various vocations and professions, men who dominate by natural endowment and force of character. Such men are by no means rare and it is always profitable to study their lives and hold up their achievements as incentives to greater activity and higher excellence on the part of others just entering upon their first struggles with the world. These reflections are suggested by the career of one who has forged his way to the front ranks and who by a strong inherent force and innate ability, directed by intelligence and judgment of a high order, stands today among the successful men of Clinton county and eastern Iowa.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JAMES DWIGHT LAMB.

The name of Lamb is so well known in Clinton and eastern Iowa that a representative of the eastern lumber firm of C. Lamb & Sons needs no introduction to the readers of this volume, and he who forms the sub-

Subject of this review holds the responsible position of superintendent of the yard. He was born in Clinton, June 25, 1871, a son of the late Artemus Lamb, whose sketch is given above. He pursued his preliminary education in the schools of this city and later continued his studies in Exeter, New Hampshire. In his youth he became familiar with the lumber business, spending considerable time in the yards, and since 1890 he has held his present important position with the firm of C. Lamb & Sons, and also has charge of the Chancy mills. The magnitude of the trade renders his duties no sinecure; in fact, in the successful control of the yards and mill there is demanded excellent business and executive ability, careful foresight and keen discrimination, — qualities which Mr. Lamb possesses in an adequate degree. He is a director of the People's Trust and Savings Bank, also a director of the Shell Lake Lumber Company, and president and director of the Clinton Separator and Engine Works, a new institution giving employment to forty skilled mechanics, and also otherwise a prominent factor in financial circles. On the 5th of October, 1892, Mr. Lamb was united in marriage to Miss Mollie Ankeny, of Clinton, and they now have an interesting little daughter, Celeste. In his fraternal relations Mr. Lamb is a prominent Mason. In addition to the degrees of the blue lodge, he has taken those of the commandery and of the consistory of Clinton, and is likewise a member of the Mystic Shrine, and of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.