Andreas Atlas Index

A. T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875.
Published by Andreas Atlas Corp., Chicago.

H

Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton.

William H. Hartman

There are but few newspaper men in the state who have so long and faithfully occupied one editorial chair as has William H. Hartman, the founder and one of the present editors and proprietors of the Waterloo Courier.  He is a native Pennsylvanian, having been born at Allentown, in that state, August 27, 1838.  When he was two years of age his parents removed to Tiffin, Ohio, where he lived until he was fourteen, receiving what educational advantages the common schools of Ohio afforded at that time.  In 1850 he came to Iowa with his parents, who located at Anamosa.  Soon after they arrived in Iowa, the Anamosa News, the first paper ever published in Jones County, was established, and young William was employed as junior devil, rolling the first edition ever published in that county.  He remained in that office for several years, and then, starting on a tramp, he worked in Delhi, Dubuque, Tiffin (Ohio), and other places, arriving at Waterloo in March, 1858, finding employment for the first four or five months in the office of the Iowa State Register and Waterloo Herald.  He then went to Cedar Falls, and attempted to instil new life into the Banner, which had previously suspended.  After working hard for several months, he became convinced that it was not a paying institution, and in company with George D. Ingersoll purchased the office, removed it to Waterloo, and, January 18, 1859,issued the first number of the Waterloo Courier, which, after passing through many struggles in its early existence, has now become one of the best paying newspaper offices in the interior of the state, and is blessed with a liberal and constantly increasing patronage.

Politically, Mr. Hartman has always been an earnest, able defender of the Republican party and its principles, personally and through the columns of the Courier rendering material aid to the party in the county.  In March, 1873, he was appointed and commissioned postmaster at Waterloo, and has since performed the duties of that responsible office to the general satisfaction of the public, not excepting those on the east side, who were bitterly opposed to his appointment.  

CHARLES M. HOLLIS was born in Randolph , Norfolk County , Mass. , August 1, 1837 , and was the oldest child of Minot Hollis and Mary B. Foss, his wife, who died at the age of thirty-two. His father was born February 6, 1806 , and was the son of Ambrose Hollis, born in 1780. The Hollis family came to Plymouth Colony from England at an early day, and the subject of this sketch is a lineal descendant of that Colonel Cecil Hollis, who was a compatriot with Hampden, and was one of the famous five whom King Charles I ejected from the House of Commons, an act which resulted in the beheading of the king and the establishment of the Protectorate of Cromwell.

In 1856, Mr. Hollis entered Middlebury College and graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1860, and in 1863 the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by his alma mater. During college vacations he taught schools in Massachusetts , Vermont and New York , and immediately after graduating, commenced the study of law with A. B. Waldo, of Port Henry, New York . In the Spring of 1861, he located in Cedar Rapids , Iowa , and continuing his legal study with E. U. Bates; was in January, 1862 admitted to practice. In the Spring of the same year he took charge of the Cedar Valley (now Cedar Rapids ) Times as editor and publisher, and conducted it until February, 1863. As a journalist he soon acquired an enviable reputation, and during his administration the Times was placed on a secure foundation.

In the Spring of 1866, he removed to Marion , Iowa , where he has since resided, and is now permanently located in the practice of his profession, and is carrying on an extensive real estate business.

In November, 1862, he married Sarah Stephens, by whom he had two children, Minnie S. and Fred W., both surviving. Having lost his first wife, he married in January, 1873, Elizabeth C., daughter of Rev. J. V. DeWitt, who is a grand nephew of Gov. DeWitt Clinton, of New York . By this second marriage he has had two children. Birdie L., who died in infancy, and Nellie May still surviving.

As a man of business, Mr. Hollis has been very successful, and is in the enjoyment of the substantial rewards of well directed efforts. Possessed of a literary taste and a cultivated mind, and having a large library, he devotes much of his leisure time to his books. He is one of those men whom misfortune can not dishearten, and who quickly build new castles on the ashes of old hopes. His fondness for the domestic pleasures of the fireside, combined with his tase for literature, render him independent of the great outside world.

Well established in business and resting content in a beautiful home, he enjoys the good of life philosophically, and disdains the bubbles which attract the multitude.

John Hopley

Among the enterprising and wide-awake business men of Iowa , Mr. John Hopley, of Cass County , deserves mention. He was born in the Village of Over , Cheshire , England , March 10, 1831 . In April, 1849, he came to America , landing in June of that year, at Burlington , Iowa , via New Orleans . He worked by the month for a period of four years, when he returned to England and remained one year, and in the meantime married the eldest daughter of Mr. John Barnes, of Newton Bank, near Fordham, Cheshire . Returning again to America , he arrived in Lee County, Iowa, where he worked by the month till he earned money enough to buy a small farm.

Mrs. Hopley died in 1862. He then moved west to Cass County . In 1864 he married the eldest daughter of Mr. Perry Disbrow, his present wife. Purchasing a stock farm near Atlantic , Mr. Hopley has since been engaged quite extensively and successfully in raising and shipping cattle and hogs. He is one of the energetic, self-reliant, and enterprising men of Cass County , and by dint of his own indefatigable exertions, has made a place of influence and standing for himself among his fellow citizens.