In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1905) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
From Biographical review of Des Moines County, Iowa (1905), Portrait and biographical album of Des Moines County, Iowa, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county .. (1888)
IMEON RUSSELL, one of the time-honored residents of Burlington, Iowa, and the seventh son of Christopher and Jane (Bowman) Russell, who were natives of Pickering, Yorkshire, England, was born in New Castle County, Delaware, Jan. 25, 1825. Here he passed the first sixteen years of his life on a farm. In 1841 he went to Maysville, Ky., where he learned the trade of a bricklayer. Returning to Wilmington, Del., in 1845, he worked at his trade at that place until 1849, when he went to Cincinnati, Ohio. After one j'ear's residence there he went to Maysville, Ky. In the spring of 1851 he decided to come West, and those Burhngton as the scene of his future home. His residence is on North Seventh street, where he has lived for thirty-four years.
The marriage of Simeon Russell and Elizabeth Whitaker took place at the residence of her parents in Henry County, Iowa, on Sept. 19, 1854. Mrs. Russell came to America with her parents, George and Jane (Wood) Whitaker, from Leeds, Yorkshire, England, in 1849, and to Burlington March 3,
Seven children have graced the union of this worthy couple: Angela W., who died in 1856, aged one year; George S., residing at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he is employed as Car Accountant by the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad; Emma J. resides at home; William C. is employed as operator and ticket agent for the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railroad at Burlington; Clara E. and S Lillian are employed as teachers in the cit schools, the former at North Oak School and the latter at South Hill School; and John B., who died in 1872. aged thirteen months. His children received good education in the public schools, four having graduated from the Burlington High School.
Since coming to Burlington Mr. Russell has erected many of the finest buildings in town. He worked on the North Hill School, which was the first brick school-house in Burlington. He built the Germania, South Boundary, and Prospect Hill Schools. In 1855 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was erected under his guidance and management, and St. Paul Church during the following year. Many of the leading business houses of the city were built by him, and in no direction can one look without seeing grand buildings which stand as testimonials of his skill and lal)or. Among the other buildings erected by him and his partner, Frank Orm, is the elegant and substantial German Bank Block, built in 1885.
Politically, Mr. Russell is a Democrat, and though
M75 never soliciting public office, his skill won for him the position of City Building Commissioner during the years of 1885 and 188G. Mr. Russell, wife and family attend the First Baptist Church in Burlington, of which Mrs. Russell has been a member since February, 1854.
Mr. and Mrs. George Whitaker, father and mother of Mrs. Russell, came from England to America in 1849, and resided in Iowa till the time of his death, which occurred March 26, 1887, at the age of seventy-eight years. By his death the State lost one of its best citizens, and the family a kind and loving father. Four weeks later, April 23, 1887, the mother, broken down by her grief, was also called to her final rest, she, too, being seventy-eight years of age when her death occurred. Six children of a family of nine were left to mourn this double affliction.
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As printed in Portrait and biographical album of Des Moines County, Iowa, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county .. (1888). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
SIMEON RUSSELL.
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The greatest results of life are usually obtained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense and ])perseverance. The every-day life, with its cares, necessities, and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring e.xpeiience of the best kind, and its most beaten paths provide a true worker with abundant scope for effort and for sclf-imprcjvement. It was along such lines that.Mr. Russell won a place of ])prominence in business circles. It is, therefore, with ])pleasure that we present to our readers his life history, for he well deserves mention among the representative men that in the past days or at the present time have been closely connected with the business development of Des Moines county.
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Mr. Russell spent his boyhood days with his father on the farm, attending school at the Richardson district school. Cut his school days were of short duration, and his education has been largely derived from extensive reading and the daily experiences of life. Being blessed with an extraordinary memory, he ])OS- sesses a rare mind equaled by few.
In 1 84 1 he went to Maysville, Mason county, Ky., and though l)Ut sixteen years of age, he began to learn the trade of a bricklayer. lie spent four years in learning this trade with his oldest brother, at whose home he resided. In the fall of 1845, he returned to Delaware, where he worked at his trade till March 3, 1849, when lie went to Cincinnati, Ohio..Vfter a year's residence there, he went again to Maysville, Ky., and in the spring of 185 1 he decided to come West, and those lUirlinglon as the scene of his future home.
-At this time the North Hill school, which was the first public schoolhouse in Burlington, was under erection, and it was upon this building that Mr. Russell did his first day's work in Burlington; and two days after he began to work his employer recognized his ability as a skilled mechanic by paying him twenty-
As printed in Biographical review of Des Moines County, Iowa (1905). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops around 1905. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.