Epler Cadwell Mills (1893-1984)

 From the 1931-32 Illinois Blue Book.

   The Illinois General Assembly has had its fair share of oddly named individuals serve amongst its ranks over the past two centuries, and following on the heels of the September 11th profile on DeGoy Bowman Ellis (a state representative from Kane County) another interestingly named Illinois legislator receives a profile--Epler Cadwell Mills of Cass County. A two-term member of the state senate, Mills had earlier distinguished himself during the First World War and was first elected to the Illinois senate at age 27.

  Born in Virginia, Illinois on March 16, 1893, Epler C. Mills was the son of local attorney Richard Watson Mills and his second wife Nellie Epler and was bestowed the odd first name "Epler" as it was his mother's maiden name. He attended schools in the Virginia, Illinois area and also studied at the Montclair Academy in Montclair, New Jersey. He continued his education at the University of Illinois Law School and later graduated from there with his Bachelor of Laws degree.

  Following his graduation Mills began the study of law and continued his studies until the beginning of American involvement in WWI. In May 1917 he signed on for military service and in the following month married Helen Odiorne (1895-1984) and later had two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth (1922-2012). Mills began his military training at the Fort Sheridan Training Camp in Lake County, Illinois and after being commissioned was assigned to the Co. H., 19th U.S. Infantry. He served with this outfit for the duration of the war and eventually rose to the rank of Second Lieutenant, being stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He resigned from the Army in January 1919 and after returning home returned to studying law.

   In 1920 the then 27-year-old Mills was nominated for a seat in the Illinois State Senate and in November of that year defeated Democratic incumbent Walter Manny by a vote of 22, 432 to 15, 718. Taking his seat in January of the new year, the freshman senator was named to seats on the committees on Agriculture and Live Stock, Appropriations, Civil Service, and Dairying during his first term.

  

A youthful-looking Epler C. Mills, from the 1921-22 Illinois State Blue Book.

   Epler C. Mills represented Cass County in the Senate for a four-year term (1921-1925) but wasn't a candidate for reelection in 1925. He was elected to a second term in the Senate in November 1928 and served another four years in office. During this session of the Senate Mills served on 22 different committees, which are listed as follows: Agriculture, Livestock and Dairying; Apportionment; Appropriations; Canals and Waterways; Civil Service; Community Welfare, Corporations and Industrial Affairs, Criminal Procedure, Efficiency and Economy, Elections, Fees and Salaries, Forestry, Fish and Game, Harbors, Insurance, Judiciary, License and Miscellany,  Military Affairs, Municipalities, Parks, Boulevards and Playgrounds, Public Utilities, Railroads, and Roads and Highway Transportation.

  After leaving the senate in January 1933, Mills returned to his hometown of Virginia to practice law with his brother Myron. In 1934 Mills mounted a candidacy for the Republican nomination for U.S. Representative from Illinois, and during the April primary placed a distant fifth behind winning nominee C. Wayland Brooks, who had garnered 479, 479 votes. Following his primary loss, Epler Mills continued practicing law for forty more years and was also affiliated with numerous fraternal clubs in Illinois, being a member of the Masonic Order, the Modern Woodmen, the Hamilton Club of Chicago, and the American Legion. 

  Epler C. Mills died in Illinois on June 5, 1984, at age 91, and was shortly thereafter interred at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Helen Odiorne Mills survived her husband by only a few weeks, dying on July 3rd of 1984 at age 89, and was buried alongside her husband at the Oak Ridge Cemetery. One of the most prominent cemeteries in Illinois, Oak Ridge is also the burial location of former Illinois senator Shelby M. Cullom, Illinois Governor Ninian Edwards, American labor leader John Llewellyn Lewis, President Abraham Lincoln, and oddly named Springfield mayor Rheuna Drake Lawrence, profiled here back in March of 2012.

Epler C. Mills, from the 1922-1923 Illinois Blue Book.

DeGoy Bowman Ellis (1876-1949)

DeGoy Bowman Ellis, from the 1915-16 Illinois Blue Book.

   A three-term member of the Illinois state House of Representatives, DeGoy Bowman Ellis was a prominent figure in the city of Elgin, being a successful attorney and past master in chancery of the city court of Elgin. Born on November 27, 1876, in Boone County, Illinois, Ellis was the only child born to William DeGoy (1845-1935) and Sophia Bowman Ellis (1846-1906). He inherited his unusual first name from his father and attended the Belvidere High School in Belvidere, Illinois, later graduating from Dixon College in 1897. Ellis continued his schooling at the Illinois Law School and after graduating in 1899 relocated to Elgin to open a law practice, "giving special attention to insurance and corporate law."
  In 1903 Ellis won election as city attorney for Elgin and served in this capacity until 1905. He married in 1904 to Ms. Ina Ames (1879-1964) and later became the father to two children, Eloise (1906-1961) and DeGoy Bowman Ellis Jr. (1908-1929). Shortly after leaving the office of Elgin city attorney, Ellis was named as master-in-chancery of the Elgin court system, holding this post from 1906-1914. In 1910 he established the law firm of Ellis and Western and four years later became a Republican candidate for a seat in the Illinois State House of Representatives.
  In November 1914 Ellis won election to the house with a vote of 11,939 and after taking his seat in January 1915 was named to a seat on the house committee on Fees and Salaries. He was subsequently reelected to the Illinois legislature in 1916 and 1918 and during these later terms served as Chairman of the Judicial Department and Practice Committees. Ellis wasn't a candidate for a fourth term in 1920 and after his term returned to his law practice in Elgin.

                                       Ellis' official legislative portrait from the 1919-20 Illinois Blue Book.

   After his service in the legislature, Ellis continued with his work as an attorney in Elgin and in 1920 took on an important position in the Illinois State Bar Association, being a member of the Law Reform committee for the 1920-21 year. In 1925-26 Ellis held a seat on the Association's Enforcement of Criminal Law Committee, and three years after concluding his work on the above committee experienced personal tragedy with the sudden death of his only son, DeGoy Bowman Ellis Jr.
  DeGoy Jr. was a standout track athlete at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin, and is recorded as holding the school's broad jump record at 22 feet 2 inches. Ellis was active in several other campus activities, winning "letters in basketball and swimming" in addition to success in academics. Ellis's bright future ended in tragedy on September 20, 1929, when he succumbed to injuries he had sustained in a car accident a few days prior. A substantial write up on the loss of the popular college student appeared in the September 20, 1929 edition of the Lawrentian and is shown below.

   Despite the loss of their only son, DeGoy and Ina Ellis pressed on, and in June of the following year honored their son's memory with the DeGoy B. Ellis Jr. Memorial Award, a bronze plaque to be given out annually to the high point winner on the Lawrence College track squad. 
  During the latter period of his life, DeGoy Ellis Sr. continued to be a prominent fixture in Illinois law circles, being a special master in chancery for the U.S. District Court of Illinois' Northern District from 1942-1949 and was a past director of the Fraternal Reserve Life Association. On January 16, 1949, DeGoy B. Ellis died at age 72 at the St. Joseph's Hospital in Elgin. He was buried in the same plot as his son in the Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin and was survived by his daughter Eloise and wife Marian, who were interred here in 1961 and 1964 following their respective deaths.

DeGoy Ellis, from the 1917-1918 Illinois Blue Book.

Oval Pirkey (1861-1923), Oval Sethal Hatler (1892-1956)

From Shuck's History of the Bench and Bar of California, 1901.

   Certainly, one of the funniest named jurists ever to be elected to office in the United States, Judge Oval Pirkey of California held a seat on the Superior Court of Glenn County during the early years of the 20th century. He was born in Alexandria, Tennessee on February 22, 1861, and inherited his odd name courtesy of his father, also named Oval Pirkey. Pirkey sR. (1833-1912) was a prominent figure in educational circles, being a professor at the Christian University in Canton, Missouri, and former president of both the Lawrence College in Tennessee and the Abingdon College in Illinois. He married in 1859 to Sallie McClelland and later had several children, of which Oval Pirkey II was the second born. Young Oval attended college at the Christian University in Canton, Missouri, and graduated from here in the class of 1883. 
  Pirkey embarked upon a career in law after the completion of his schooling and was admitted to the Washington Territorial Bar in 1885. He later moved to California to continue his law practice and married here in 1900 to Marion Moore Rice (1871-1948), and the couple is recorded as having at least one son, Oval Jr. (1901-1986) who was later involved in vaudeville. In 1898 Pirkey won election to the Superior Court of Glenn County, California, and took his seat on the bench in 1899. 
  His service on the court lasted only a few years (1899-1905) but was not without controversy. In 1903 Pirkey became the judge in the case of Swan vs. Talbot in Willows, California. During the trial proceedings, attorneys for the defense leveled charges of bias against Judge Pirkey, which he vehemently denied. Pirkey went as far as to file affidavits denying all of the charges, as did attorneys for the plaintiff, who noted that Judge Pirkey had never appeared biased or had shown favoritism during past cases. An article on the brouhaha concerning the trial appeared in the June 6, 1903 edition of the San Francisco Call and is shown below.

   In the 1904 election season, Pirkey was defeated for re-election to the Superior Court, losing to Democratic candidate William Finch by a vote of 875 to 623. Following his loss, Pirkey removed to Washington and resided there for the remainder of his life. Although a resident of Washington, notice is given as to his practicing law in Portland, Oregon, and serving as city librarian in Vancouver, Washington, later being succeeded in that office by his wife Marion. Pirkey died at the St. Joseph's Hospital in Vancouver County on August 29, 1923, at age 62 and was later buried at the Blaine Cemetery in Blaine, Whatcom County, Washington. Marion Rice Pirkey survived her husband by many years, dying in Washington in 1948 at age 77. A burial location for her is unknown at this time.

Judge Oval Pirkey, from the Glenn County Superior Court website.

From the Havre Daily News, October 29, 1951.

  Longtime Havre, Montana resident Oval Sethal Hatler is another "Oval" who ran for public office, in his case serving multiple terms as mayor of Havre. A yardmaster for the Great Northern Railway and a former Havre city alderman, Hatler died in office in 1956 after undoing an operation at a Seattle, Washington hospital. The son of Leonard Pendleton and Lydia Jane (Elsea) Hatler, Oval Sethal Hatler was born in Moberly, Missouri on February 17, 1892.

  Hatler removed with his family to Havre, Montana in 1902 and in 1907 began work with the Great Northern Railway, in the road and freight service. By 1913 he had worked his way to the post of switchman and in 1924 succeeded to the post of yardmaster, which he would continue to hold during his tenure as mayor. In June 1915 Hatler married Mary Garnet Dry (1894-1995), and the couple's near four-decade marriage saw the births of six children, Caleb (1914-1967), Jeanette (1915-2001), Francis Oval (1917-2008), Mary Louise (birthdate unknown), Carol Lynn (birthdate unknown) and Kenneth (1924-1990).

   Oval S. Hatler first entered Havre politics late in his life, winning election to the Havre city council in 1947. He was reelected in 1949 and became president of the council in 1950 in the wake of the resignation of Mayor Harry Soderberg. With Soderberg's resignation, Hatler became acting mayor of Havre, and in 1951 was elected to a term in his own right, garnering 1, 173 votes in the April 3rd city election. In total Hatler would serve three terms as mayor (1950-56) and during this time the city built new sewer and water lines and "lights were added to the newly developed south and west sections of the city".

  In early 1956 Hatler traveled to Seattle, Washington to undergo an unspecified operation and on March 9, 1956, died in that city while recuperating. He was later returned to Havre for burial at the Highland Cemetery. Hatler was survived by all his children and his wife Garnet, who lived to become a centenarian, dying shortly before her 101st birthday on August 8, 1995.

Vendome Pierce Ticknor (1902-1985)

Mayor V.P. Ticknor cutting the ribbon at a furniture store opening in Corinth, 1953.

   Following the September 7th write-up on Geneva, New York mayor Castner E. Rapalee we continue our stay in the Empire State to profile another interestingly named mayor, Mr. Vendome Pierce Ticknor of Corinth, New York. Ticknor served as Mayor of this Saratoga County town for ten years and despite my best attempts at doing so, little information could be found on him. The above picture of Mayor Ticknor was located in a 1953 edition of the Saratoga, New York Saratogian, one of four small portraits of him that I've been able to locate. All of these pictures are (unfortunately) of very low quality and when scanned online lost most of their resolution. 
   Vendome P. Ticknor was born in the city of Manitowoc, Wisconsin on September 27, 1902, one of eight children born to Frank Barton and Elizabeth Genevieve Haggerty Ticknor. It can be safely said that interesting names ran in the Ticknor family, as the 1919 history of The Ticknor Family in America notes that three of Vendome's siblings were bestowed the names Laviere Barton (1899-1977), Exter Lionel (born 1906) and Naopia Ruth (1908-1990). An alternate spelling of Ticknor's middle name is given as "Perce", although this is presumed to be a spelling error. Vendome attended Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids and graduated from that school in the class of 1920. 
   Following his graduation, Ticknor married his first wife Ruth Van Sickle, and later had one daughter, Fern (born ca. 1922), according to a listing on the Rootsweb genealogical website. Following Ruth Van Sickle's death in 1935 Ticknor married Helen Hayes (1905-1999) in Mackeyville, Pennsylvania, and had two sons, Donald and Arthur Robert. Ticknor's eldest son Donald (1941-1959) was tragically killed in a car accident in Corinth when he was just eighteen years old. 
   Vendome Ticknor removed from Wisconsin to Corinth sometime in the 1920s and later became an employee of the International Paper Company for over forty years, and was eventually promoted to mill superintendent. He first became active in Corinth village politics in the early 1940s when he was elected as a village trustee, and as such was a member of the Corinth village board. He served as a trustee until 1949 and in November of that year was elected as Mayor of Corinth. He succeeded outgoing mayor Victor Parmenter, who had declined to run for another term. Ticknor's decade-long tenure as Mayor saw him take part in numerous civic activities and programs within the town, including declaring the last week of January 1952 as "National VFW Week" in Corinth. In addition to this, Ticknor later served as marshal of the first division in the Corinth Labor Day Parade held every year.
   Ticknor resigned as mayor in February 1960 due to what the Saratoga Springs Saratogan called "business pressures" and later returned to his work as a day superintendent at the International Paper Co. He retired in 1964 and in the following year became a candidate for village assessor. He was successful in his candidacy, defeating Democratic nominee Joseph St. John by a vote of 1,12 to 675. 

Vendome Ticknor shortly after his election as Corinth mayor in 1950.

    In addition to his political activities in Corinth, Ticknor was a prominent local mason, being a longstanding member of the Corinth Lodge #987 of Free and Accepted Masons, and served as secretary of that lodge from 1974-75. Ticknor is also listed in his obituary as being a past trustee of the Corinth Rural Cemetery Association. Little information could be found on Ticknor's later life, although it is known that he passed away at a hospital in Glens Falls, New York on November 25, 1985, at age 83. His wife Helen survived him by fourteen years, dying at age 94 in December 1999 at a nursing facility in Wheeling, West Virginia. Both were interred at the Corinth Rural Cemetery following their deaths.

Castner Emmet Rapalee (1884-1976)

From the Geneva Daily Press, November 5, 1947.

    A distinguished business and political figure in the city of Geneva, New York, Castner Emmet Rapalee served as Mayor of that city for one term beginning in the late 1940s. In its century-plus history, this moderately sized city in the Finger Lakes region has elected over thirty persons as its head, and of those individuals, the name of Castner Emmet Rapalee is by far the most interesting.

   Castner E. Rapalee was the son of Hugh and Eva Rapalee and was born in the town of Bath, New York on December 29, 1884. He relocated with his family to the towns of Dundee and Gorham, New York as a child and attended school in both villages, later studying at the Barclay's Business Institute in Geneva. Following the completion of his education, Rapalee settled in Geneva in 1900 and in that year became employed at the Phillips and Clark Stone Co. for a short time. He married in 1908 to Lancaster, Pennsylvania native Elizabeth Williams and later had one son, Castner E. Rapalee Jr. (1910-1975).

  Rapalee later left the employ of the Phillips and Clark Stone Co. and joined another coke distributor, the Empire Coke Co. He was connected with this company for over thirty years and eventually became its sales manager for a number of years. A notice for the Empire Coke Co. and Mr. Rapalee appeared in the April 4, 1921 edition of the Geneva Daily Times and is shown below.

   Castner Rapalee left the Empire Coke Co. in 1934 to stake his own claim in the fuel business, founding the Rapalee Coal and Fuel Corp. He operated this business until it was sold in 1945, whereafter he began a lengthy career as a real estate broker. Through his many business dealings throughout the 1920s, 30s, and 40s Rapalee garnered a reputation as one of Geneva's most prominent business leaders and proved to be a man of many hats when it came to his involvement in Geneva civic affairs. Rapalee was a former President of the Geneva Real Estate Board, a director of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, a past director and president of the Geneva Industries Inc., as well as a member of the Geneva Board of Public Works from 1928 to 1933. Following his service on the Board of Public Works, Rapalee was elected as Ontario County Supervisor in 1938 and subsequently held this post until 1942.

   As a popular citizen in Geneva, Rapalee's prominence eventually led to his nomination as the Republican candidate for Mayor in 1947. Rapalee became a candidate for that office in mid-1947 and in the lead-up to election day was quoted by the Geneva Daily Times as promising "businesslike methods in City Hall" and made note that he would take "no dictation from any group or individual". His reputation as a distinguished local businessman obviously resonated with voters, as he emerged victorious on election day 1947, besting incumbent four-term Mayor Charles F. Nieder by a vote of 3, 840 to 2, 586.

   Rapalee's term as Mayor lasted from 1948 to 1950 and near the conclusion of his term received praise from Geneva finance committee chairman Franklin Toole, who noted that the average citizen "would never know the full extent of Mayor Rapalee's contribution to the operation of our city."Rapalee had chosen not to be a candidate for reelection during the 1949 election year, and on December 31, 1949 (Rapalee's last official day in office) his name appeared in the following humorous newspaper snippet in the Geneva Daily Times, under the title "Ex-Mayor Wants Job". It obviously shows that Rapalee left the mayor's office with his sense of humor intact!

  Throughout the latter part of his life, Castner Rapalee held memberships in several local fraternal organizations, including the presidency of the Geneva Shrine Club, and was a longstanding member of both the Geneva Elks and Moose Clubs. He was also a distinguished Mason, being a member of the St. Paul Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons and the Geneva Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. Rapalee celebrated his 90th birthday in 1974 and died at age 91 on February 6, 1976, at the Geneva General Hospital. He had outlived both his wife and son and following funeral arrangements was interred at the Glenwood Cemetery in Geneva.

Rapalee in his later years, from the March 27, 1969 Geneva Daily Times.

Rapalee's obituary from the Syracuse Herald American, February 8, 1976.

Ranslure Weld Clarke (1816-1899)

From the Annals of Brattleboro, 1681-1895.

   A native of Massachusetts, Ranslure Weld Clarke later migrated to Windham County, Vermont and for many years was connected with public affairs in that county, being a banker, attorney, state senator, and judge during his residency. Born in Williamstown, Massachusetts on January 27, 1816, Ranslure was the son of Elam and Cynthia Lewis Clarke. His education took place in schools local to Williamstown and also studied at both the Black River Academy and the Orange County Grammar School. Clarke would graduate from Dartmouth College in the class of 1845 and in that same year returned to the Black River Academy to serve as Principal.

   While serving at the Black River Academy Clark began pursuing the study of law with future Vermont Governor Peter Thacher Washburn, and after leaving the position of principal continued his studies with Jonathan Dorr Bradley in Brattleboro. Clarke was admitted to the Vermont bar in 1846 and three years later married to Lucy Chandler Wilder (1826-1864), with whom he had one daughter, Mary Clark Acker (born 1857). Lucy Wilder Clarke died in 1864 and Ranslure remarried in 1868 to Lucy's sister Susan (1835-1886), later having a son, Francis.

   Following his first marriage Clarke established a law practice in Brattleboro and within a short period had become involved in Republican political circles in the area. The party later nominated Clarke to be Windham County Attorney, and he was elected to that office in 1852, 1853, and 1854. Clarke continued his political ascent through the latter part of the decade, being selected as a delegate to the 1857 Vermont Constitutional Convention and in 1858 was elected by the citizens of Windham County to represent them in the State Senate. He was reelected to the Senate the following year and after leaving the Senate became register of probate for Marlboro, Vermont, holding this post from 1861-1862.

   In 1862 Clarke resigned as register of probate to aid in the war effort, becoming an assistant Quartermaster of Volunteers. During a portion of his military service, Clarke was stationed in Brattleboro and is recorded by his Vermont Phoenix obituary as having "bought 4,000 horses for the government" to be used during wartime. He was promoted to major in March 1865 and was honorably discharged from service on October 25th of that year, having attained the rank of Colonel. 

   Shortly after leaving the military Clarke returned to practicing law in Brattleboro and in 1867 formed a partnership with another oddly named man, Kittredge Haskins (1836-1909). Mr. Haskins later went on to distinction as a state representative and senator and served as a U.S. Representative from Vermont from 1901-1909. In 1868 Clarke served as a Republican Presidential elector and two years later Haskins and Clarke's law firm was dissolved, as Clarke had been appointed as the Postmaster for Brattleboro. He served in that capacity until 1879, and around that time began a lengthy connection with the Brattleboro Savings Bank, serving as its President for a number of years.

   Shortly after the conclusion of his tenure as Brattleboro postmaster, Ranslure Clarke was elected as assistant judge of Windham County in 1882. He served on the bench until December 1892 and moved from Vermont in 1893 to reside with his daughter and her husband (New York State Assemblyman Milo Acker) at their home in Hornell, New York. Ranslure Clarke died in Hornell on January 15, 1899, at age 82 and was returned to Vermont for burial at the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Brattleboro. His January 20, 1899 obituary in the Brattleboro Phoenix memorialized Clarke as having "possessed a striking personal presence and bearing" and "a had a courtly manner of the old school".              

                    From the Barre Evening Telegram, January 17, 1899.                  

Galius Lawton Zwick (1876-1961)

From the 1923-24 Official Manual of Missouri.

   A  practicing attorney for over sixty years, Buchanan County, Missouri resident Galius Lawton Zwick was for many decades one of that county's foremost citizens, being involved in many aspects of public life in the city of St. Joseph. I first located Mr. Zwick's name courtesy of the Who Was Who In America 1961-1968 edition several years ago, and in all that time further information on him has proven to be scant. However, in February of last year I stumbled across a 1923-24 edition of the Official Manual of Missouri, and buried in that work was a complete listing of delegates to the State Constitutional Convention which had been held the previous year. Mr. Zwick happened to have served as one of those delegates, and after some searching, I was rewarded with the above portrait of Mr. Zwick, the first of which I've seen.

   Blessed with a curious name, Zwick also lucked into being a centennial baby, being born July 4th, 1876 in Macon City, Missouri. A son of George Wellington and Mary Elizabeth Cantwell Zwick, Galius attended the University of Missouri and graduated with his bachelor of laws degree in the class of 1897. He was admitted to the bar in 1899 and shortly thereafter established his law practice in the city of St. Joseph. In November 1902 Zwick made his first foray into local politics, being the unsuccessful Republican candidate for City Attorney of St. Joseph. Several years later he became a member of the St. Joseph Police Board and would serve as its president from 1908-1910. Zwick married on April 25, 1914, to Helen Elizabeth Cook and had two daughters, Helen Virginia Fleeman (1916-2003) and Mary Gale Zwick Holland (1919-1998).

Galius Zwick, from the 1899 Savitar Yearbook.

   Zwick continued to serve on the St, Joseph Police Board until 1917 and was also a curator of the University of Missouri from 1911 through 1917. During the First World War Zwick held the position of chairman of the local draft board for St. Joseph and in 1922 was elected as a delegate to the Missouri State Constitutional Convention of 1922-23, representing Missouri's second district. Throughout the convention proceedings, Zwick held a seat on the committees on Judiciary and Education. 

   Following the conclusion of his service as a delegate, Zwick returned to the practice of law. In 1924 he was appointed by Governor Arthur Mastick Hyde to a vacancy on the Sixth District Circuit Court of Missouri. This vacancy had been caused by the resignation of Judge Thomas Buford Allen and Zwick served out the remainder of Allen's term. Zwick ran for a term of his own on the court in November 1924 but was ultimately defeated, losing to Democrat Samuel Wilcox by a vote of 15,612 to 18,915. A result from that year's contest appeared in the 1925-26 Official Manual of Missouri and is shown below.

   Despite his losing candidacy, Galius Lawton Zwick continued to serve the Buchanan County area for many decades afterward, including a stint as President of the St. Joseph Safety Board from 1935-38. He was also a longstanding member of the St. Joseph Library Board and in 1940 was part of the Missouri delegation to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia that nominated Wendell Wilkie for the Presidency. Late in his life, Zwick served as President of the Missouri State Historical Society, serving a one-year term in 1947. He died in St. Joseph on September 22, 1961, at age 85 and was survived by his wife and two daughters. Zwick's death certificate  (filed in October 1961) notes that he succumbed to a "cerebral vascular accident" and was interred at the Memorial Park Cemetery in St. Joseph.

From the September 22, 1961 edition of the Joplin News Herald.

Flagget Henry Trabbic (1866-1919)

From a campaign card in the possession of Mrs. Judy Carr.

   A resident of distinction in Monroe County, Michigan, Flagget Henry Trabbic lived to the age of just 53, and during that short lifespan rose to become one of the aforementioned county's most honored sons, being at various times a farmer, stock-raiser, town supervisor and state representative. Despite his prominence in 19th and early 20th century Michigan, Mr. Trabbic is all but forgotten today, and it is that point that makes me proud to know that there are existing historical and genealogical societies that dedicate much effort to keeping records on the lives of long deceased figures like the man profiled today.

   The following write-up on Flagget Trabbic's came about with the help of the Genealogical Society of Monroe County President Loretta Dunham, who received an e-mail from me a few weeks ago asking for help in tracking down a portrait of Mr. Trabbic. I received an e-mail shortly thereafter from Loretta, who related in her message that there was a GSMC member who was a Trabbic descendant, and with luck, she might have a picture of him. A short while afterward I received a kind e-mail from one Judy Carr, who noted that Flagget Trabbic was her great-great uncle! After relating that I had been unable to locate a portrait of Mr. Trabbic, Judy e-mailed me the above portrait, part of a campaign card dated 1910 that Trabbic used when he ran for register of deeds in Monroe County. The full card is shown below, and this marks the first time I've seen a picture of this elusive Michigan native since locating his name nearly a year ago. I can't thank Judy enough for her help with locating the picture, as well as relating new information on Flagget that I'd previously been unaware of.

   The story of this oddly named legislator begins with his birth in Erie Township, Michigan on February 10, 1866. Flagget H. Trabbic was one of eight children born to Guytani Peter Trabbic (1821-1903) and his second wife Caroline Knaggs (1830-1881). Peter Trabbic, as most references list him, was born near Genoa, Italy in 1821 and immigrated to the United States in the early 1830s. Over the course of his life, he became one of Monroe County's prominent landowners, "owning over 700 acres of Michigan's best soil, all located in Erie and Bedford townships." As Judy Carr related during our correspondence, the Trabbic family name was originally spelled as "Trebbeco", as per old family records, and "the name Flagget was not uncommon amongst the French Canadians" that had settled in the Monroe County area during the first half of the 19th century. Peter Trabbic was also politically active, serving as Erie Township supervisor on two occasions.

  Flagget Trabbic received his education in schools local to Erie township and later attended the St. Mary's Institute in Dayton, Ohio. Following the completion of his schooling, Trabbic returned to Erie to take over the day-to-day operations of the family's 700-acre farm. For many years afterward he was engaged in farming and in June 1892 married Ms. Mattie Lehr (1867-1957), mentioned by the 1913 History of Monroe County as a "musician of talent." The couple would later have two children, a son who died in infancy in 1893 and a daughter Gladys, who died aged one in 1902.

  Trabbic first became active in local political affairs in 1893, when he was elected as Erie township supervisor. He served in this capacity for three years, and during his last year in office served as president of the board of supervisors of Monroe County. He was returned to the office of supervisor a decade later but resigned when he was elected to the legislature. Trabbic became a candidate for the Michigan State House of Representatives in 1906 and in November of that year won the election, defeating Republican Lucien B. Smith by a vote of 3,269 to 3,007. His election as Monroe County's representative in the legislature was later encapsulated by the History of Monroe County in the following passage:

"The citizens of Monroe County were fully aware of the possibilities for either good or evil when they sent Mr. Trabbic to the legislature as their representative, but new absolutely from their lifelong acquaintance with the man that nothing but the strictest justice would ever issue from his hands. They were not mistaken; he preformed his duty to the entire satisfaction of his constituents, and also of his state, which is proud to acknowledge him as one of her sons."

From the 1907 Michigan State Legislative Manual.

   Taking his seat in January 1907, Trabbic served one term as a representative, 1907-1909. Despite serving only one term in the house Mr. Trabbic proved to be a very capable first-term legislator, introducing several bills during his term. Amongst these pieces of legislation was a bill "to establish a township system for maintaining, repairing and cleaning out established ditches, drains, and water-courses in the county of Monroe" and also introduced a petition brought about by Monroe County residents "asking for the passage of a bill to regulate the practice of optometry." In addition to the above Trabbic held a seat on the house committees on Game Laws, Industrial Home for Girls, and Mines and Minerals, during his term. Late in his service Trabbic became a booster for the establishment of a monument to Col. George Custer in Monroe County, and "was instrumental in gaining an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars" to fund the project through.

  After a successful first term in the legislature, Trabbic ran for reelection in November 1907 but was defeated by Republican candidate C. Wesley Kemmerling by a vote of 4,018 to 3,655. Following his defeat, Trabbic continued to take an active role in Monroe County political affairs, being the Democratic candidate for Register of Deeds in 1910.

Trabbic's campaign card, from the collection of Judy Carr.

   Little could be found in regards to Trabbic's final years, although notice is given as to his opening a garage in Erie township in 1917. He was the proprietor of this garage for only a few years, as he contracted pneumonia and later pyelitis (an inflammation of the kidney area in the pelvic region) and died aged 53 on April 4, 1919. Trabbic was later interred at the St. Joseph Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan, and was survived by his wife Mattie (also interred at St. Joseph), who died at age 90 in 1957. 

Hanny Clyde Harvley (1887-1946)

From the History of South Carolina, Volume IV, 1920.

  Today's write-up takes us to Greenville, South Carolina, and Hanny Clyde Harvley, a three-term mayor of that city. Despite serving three terms in office, little could be found on Harvely's life, apart from a biographical notice and portrait in the 1920 edition of the History of South Carolina. H. Clyde Harvley (as most sources list him) was born in Modoc, South Carolina December 17, 1887, a son of Jesse Kendrick and Ida Nancy Adkins Harvley. He attended the Coronaca High School and married on March 24, 1906, to Ms. Blanche Barber (1882-1845) and later had three children, Helen (1908-1997), John (1909-1976), and Hanny Clyde Jr. (1910-1977).

  Following his marriage Harvley was engaged in the railroad business for several years, working as a telegraph operator and station agent. In March 1913 he became a "local representative" for the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway and was eventually transferred to Greenville. The 1920 History of South Carolina notes that within some months of relocation Harvley "manifested an interest in politics and public affairs that attracted notice to him." 

  In 1915 Harvley was elected to the Greenville City Council, and during his two years of service here accomplished much good for his new city of residence, helping to push legislation to establish a sinking fund for Greenville to help reduce the city's debt. He is also "given credit for inaugurating the great beautiful white way of Greenville, considered to be the last word in street lighting and the best to be found anywhere in the South." Harvley's ability and ambition as a councilman eventually culminated in his election as Mayor of Greenville in 1917, "being one of the youngest men in the country to fill the mayor's chair in a city the size of Greenville". Harvley's three terms as mayor (1917-1923) brought about changes in the city, being the "first mayor of Greenville to open a municipal coal and wood yard" and "brought about the municipal ownership of the water works", which were also enlarged during his term.

  Both before and after his service as mayor Harvley was affiliated with many local fraternal organizations, holding memberships in the Greenwood Blue Lodge #91 of Free and Accepted Masons, the Cyrus Chapter #22 of the Royal Arch Masons, the Improved Order of Red Men, the United Order of American Mechanics, the Hejaz Temple of the Mystic Shrine and the Poinsett Club. 

  On February 13, 1945, H.C. Harvely's wife of nearly forty years died age sixty-two. A little less than a year after his wife's death, Harvely himself succumbed to an unknown illness on February 4, 1946, at age fifty-nine. Both were later buried at the Springwood Cemetery in Greenville, which is also the resting place of Harvely's mother and two of his children.

Harvely as he looked during his later years, from the greenvillesc.gov website.

Steele Lemoyne Moorhead (1852-1948)

From the August 15, 1900 edition of the Morning Oregonian.

   Oregon political figure Steele Lemoyne Moorhead receives a write-up today, and although he was born a Pennsylvanian, Moorhead became a notable figure in Lane County, Oregon, making a name for himself as a newspaper publisher, city recorder, mayor, and state legislator. During a long life that extended 95 years, Moorhead resided in several different states, and during that time left an imprint in each of them.

  Steele Lemoyne Moorhead's birth occurred in the small town of Indiana, Pennsylvania on May 11, 1852, a son of Joseph McCloud and Margaret MacFarland Moorhead. The Moorhead family later removed from Pennsylvania to Missouri, where Steele began learning the trade of printing at the Atchison County Journal in the village of Rockport. Moorhead rose to become both business manager and editor of the Journal for several years and married in Missouri to May Rebecca Bonham (1864-1930) with whom he would later have the following children: Harriett May (1885-1977), Josephine Bird (1886-), Bishop Thompson (1892-1959), Steele Lemoyne Jr. (1898-1975) and Verneita (born June 1902).

   In 1888 the Moorhead family relocated to Ness City, Kansas, where Steele founded the Ness City Times. He managed the affairs of this paper for three years until removing once again, this time to Junction City, Oregon. Within a short time, Moorhead had established roots in the community and founded the Junction City Times, the first newspaper to be published in the city. In 1892 he won election as recorder for Junction City and in the following year was elected as the city's Mayor "with only three votes against him, and one of those his own." Prior to his tenure as mayor, Moorhead had served as a Junction City Councilman and school director, his dates of service in those offices being unknown at this time.

   Moorhead served a one-year term as Junction City mayor and continued his political ascent in 1894 when he was elected as a Republican to the Oregon State House of Representatives. As one of Lane County's legislators, Moorhead is recorded by the 1895 Official Directory of Oregon as being "a jolly good fellow, ''all wool and 60 inches wide"", and helped to introduce two important pieces of legislation, the first being a measure "providing for a majority verdict of nine on juries in civil cases" as well as a bill "to prevent corporations (especially railroads) from blacklisting employees." Moorhead chaired the house committee on Mileage and Per Diem and was later appointed as chairman of a special committee that was to revise, correct and publish the Oregon Legislature's 18th Biennial Session Journal and Calender. After the conclusion of his term, Moorhead continued to serve the Oregon legislature in a slightly different fashion, holding the post of Chief Clerk of the Oregon Senate for a decade.

   In addition to his involvement in politics and journalism, Moorhead maintained memberships in many local fraternal organizations, being a longstanding member of the Junction City Lodge #58 of Free and Accepted Masons, as well as the Knights of Pythias. While Steele Moorhead gained a reputation as one of Junction City's premier citizens, May Rebecca Moorhead also made a name for herself in local women's groups, being elected as President of the Women's Improvement Club of Junction City in November 1914. A portrait/article on her election appeared in the November 8, 1914 edition of the Morning Oregonian and is shown below.

May Rebecca Moorhead as she appeared in the Nov. 8, 1914 Morning Oregonian.

   After many years of residence in Junction City, the Moorhead family removed to Washington in late 1915, where Steele "assumed the business and editorial management of the Mount St. Helens Mist." After some years of being connected with this paper, Moorhead purchased the Cowlitz County Advocate and resided with his family in the city of Castle Rock. 

  In 1930 May Rebecca Moorhead died in Castle Rock at age 66 and sometime afterward Steele Moorhead moved back to Oregon, settling in Marion County. A 1940 census listing notes that at age 88, Moorhead was residing with his daughter Josephine and her husband Frank Lilburn. Steele Lemoyne Moorhead celebrated his 90th birthday in 1942 and died six years later on February 15, 1948, three months short of his 96th birthday. He and his wife were interred at the Rest Lawn Memorial Park in Junction City, Oregon following their deaths, as were Hattie Moorhead and Steele L. Moorhead Jr. after their respective deaths in 1977 and 1975.

Bottolf Bottolfson (1892-1976)

From the February 16, 1927 edition of the Moorhead Daily News.

   Hailing from Clay County in Minnesota, Dr. Bottolf T. Bottolfson was a prominent public figure in the city of Moorehead for over five decades, being a reputable ophthalmologist and two-term mayor of that city. First elected in the late 1920s Bottolfson was reelected as mayor over thirty years later in November 1961 and served another two-year term.

  Born on December 10, 1892, in Moorehead, Bottolf Thomas Bottolfson was one of four children born to Ole (1859-1915) and Randina Brandon Bottolfson (1860-1944), both natives of Norway. Bottolf began pursuing the study of medicine as a young man and went on to attend the University of Minnesota. During his time here he was a member of the Phi Beta Phi fraternity, the Glee Club, and was the president of the Sophomore Medics. Following his graduation in 1916, Bottolfson married Ms. Jeannette Elizabeth Peterson (1898-1991) and they are recorded as being childless.

                        Bottolf T. Bottolfson's college portrait, from the 1916 Gopher Yearbook.

   Despite having a slim amount of information available on his life online, B.T. Bottolfson was a practicing physician in Moorehead for many decades and was a member of the staff of St. Ansgar's Hospital in Moorhead. In addition to practicing medicine, Bottolfson was involved in other aspects of public life in Clay County. In 1921 Dr. Bottolfson was elected as the President of the Clay-Becker County Medical Society for that year and was later returned to head the society in 1931. Bottolfson also held the position of president of the Moorhead chapter of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association during the mid-1930s.

   As a prominent county figure Dr. Bottolfson was highly regarded throughout Moorhead and elsewhere in the Clay County vicinity, and with his considerable reputation came calls for him to run for public office. In 1929 he was nominated by the local Democratic party for Mayor of Moorhead and in February's election defeated Leo H. Wright by a vote of 1,555 to 714. That year's election was recorded by the Moorhead Daily News as bringing about a record turnout for voting in the city, with 2,295 votes being cast in total (this includes other candidates and ballot measures.) 

  In 1929 Bottolfson ran for reelection against Republican candidate Herman C. Nordlie. In February of that year, Nordlie defeated Bottolfson by "a majority of 91" and took office as Moorhead's new mayor, serving until 1931. Despite his loss at the polls Bottolfson continued to be an esteemed member of the Clay County medical community, and in 1931 was awarded a fellowship in the American College of Surgeons, and in October 1931 visited New York City to "officially receive the honor" at a convocation at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

   Several years after leaving the mayor's office Bottolfson became affiliated with the St. Luke's and St. John's Hospital in Fargo, North Dakota and in mid-1937 both he and his wife left the United States to visit Europe and Asia for medical work. As the State College Spectrum noted in its January 28, 1938 edition, Bottolfson and his wife spent a good majority of their time in India, where he performed "561 eye operations in one week" and later handled "22 cataract operations." This same paper also notes that Bottolfson had been "one of two surgeons chosen to receive this special training" and after returning to the United States in 1938 gave a lecture on his work in India at a meeting of the North Dakota Agricultural College's Zoology Club. 

   In 1961 Bottolf Bottolfson ran once again for mayor, thirty-two years after the completion of his first term. The Moorhead Daily News noted that he ran "on a campaign against construction of a sewage lagoon" that had been proposed to be built, and defeated three challengers, including Robert Schutte, who had been backed by outgoing Moorhead Mayor Ingemund Theodore Stenerson (1899-1989). On election day in November 1961, it was Bottolfson who won out, garnering 2,555 votes to Schutte's 1,332.

  Bottolfson's second mayoral term lasted from 1962-1964 and he later retired from practicing medicine in 1970 at age 78. He had been a practicing physician for over fifty years and passed away on March 27, 1976, at age 84. He was survived by his wife Jeanette, who died in 1991 at age 93, and both were interred at the Prairie Home Cemetery in Moorehead.