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FRANK M. WILLIAMS.
"Williams has it" is the slogan of the business conducted by Frank N. Williams, a general merchant of
Rowley. He is ever alert and energetic, ready for any emergency and always watching for opportunities that will
enable him to honorably promote his business interests. He knows, too, that the way to win trade is to satisfy
his customers and he does this by keeping a large and well selected stock which he sells at reasonable prices.
His store is today one of the leading commercial establishments of the town.
Mr. Williams is a native of Masonvillc, Delaware county, Iowa, born May 16, 1873, his parents being William M.
and Mary E. (Babcock) Williams, the former a native of Wales and the latter of Illinois. The father was but four
years of age when his parents left Wales and came to the new world, settling in Indiana, where he was reared and
educated. When a young man he accompanied his parents on their removal to Buchanan county, where he remained for
some time with his father and mother but went to Delaware county before the outbreak of the Civil war. He filled
the office of sheriff of that county when the county seat was at Delhi. Following the inauguration of hostilities
between the north and the south, he offered his services to the government and enlisted as a member of Company
C, Twenty seventh Iowa Infantry, with which he remained until the close of the war or for a period of three years,
during which he participated in a number of hotly contested engagements that contributed to the success which finally
crowned the Union arms. When the war was over he took up his abode in Masonville, Delaware county, where he engaged
in general merchandising, conducting his store there for several years. He afterward rented land in Buchanan county
and carried on general farming for ten years on that place. Hem next removed to a farm near Brandon, investing
in eighty acres in Jefferson township which he developed and improved, continuing the cultivation of that farm
for many years. At length, however, he retired from active business life and removed to Brandon, where he remained
until his death on the 18th of December, 1900. His widow passed away in 1905.
Frank M. Williams was reared and educated in Buchanan county, Iowa, and remained with his parents until nineteen
years of age, when he secured a clerkship in the employ of John Cline of Brandon, who paid him for the first year
ten dollars per month and his board. He continued in Brandon until October 20, 1903, and gradually worked his way
upward, so that for five years he was there engaged in business on his own account. He left Brandon, however, because
of the illness of his wife, hoping that a change of climate might prove beneficial. Removing to Longmont, Colorado,
he there engaged in the grocery business for six months and for a similar period made his home in Denver. Returning
to Iowa, he settled in Fort Dodge, where he resided for some time, being upon the road as a traveling salesman
during that period.
Mr. Williams was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife on the 21st of September, 1905. He had been married
on the 21st of November, 1895, to Miss Mary E. Jamieson, who was born in Brandon, November 21, 1878, a daughter
of Walter and Martha (Newcomb) Jamieson, who were natives of New York but became pioneer settlers of Buchanan county,
arriving here at a very early day. Her father now makes his home in Brandon but her mother passed away July 21,
1911.
After the death of his first wife Mr. Williams made his headquarters at Mason City, Iowa, until 1910. He was again
married on the 21st of December of that year, his second union being with Bertha E. Gaasch, of Linn county, Iowa,
a daughter of John W. and Mattie (Johnson) Gaasch, the former a native of Dubuque county, Iowa, and the latter
of Benton county. At an early period in the development of Linn county, Mr. and Mrs. Gaasch became residents of
that section and there he carried on farming until his death, which occurred in 1902, he being accidentally killed
by a. horse His widow survives and yet makes her home in Linn county.
Following his marriage Mr. Williams continued upon the road until January, 1912, when he came to Rowley and purchased
the general mercantile business of Van Orsdol & Letts. He today has a fine store and enjoys an extensive patronage.
His business methods are such as commend him to public confidence and support, and the people have come to know
that his slogan, "Williams has it," is no idle boast, for he carries a large and well selected line that
meets the requirements of the general public.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Williams is a Mason, belonging to Holman Lodge, No. 593, and he is also identified
with the Eastern Star. He exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the republican
party and, while well versed concerning the questions and issues of the day and interested in his party's success,
he does not seek nor desire office. His religious faith is that of the Christian church, which numbers him among
its loyal and helpful members.
From:
History of Bachanan County, Iowa
And its People
By Harry Church and Katharyn J. Chappell
Vol II
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Chicago 1914
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