History of Lamoni, (Decatur County) Iowa United States of America

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Delos Fremont Nicholson, cashier of the State bank at Lamoni, is a man of great energy and business sagacity, and entirely through his own efforts has already amassed a very comfortable fortune. His ancestors were of the thrifty New England type, his great-great-grandfather, Joshua Nicholson, having come from England in 1740 to settle in Philadelphia. His grandfather, Joshua Nicholson, was one of the early pioneers of western New York, and died in 1865 at the age of 87. Mr. Nicholson's father, Charles Nicholson, was born in 1819 in Duchess county, N. Y. He was a great lover of books, and dealt in them for over forty years. He was liberal in religion, and a republican in politics. He died in 1883. Mr. Nicholson's mother, Fanny S. Cady, was born in 1828, in Oneida county, N. Y. Her parents were also pioneers of that state, her father, Philip Cady, having moved from Vermont to New York, with his family, in 1830.

D. F. Nicholson was born December 11, 1855, in Hector, Schuyler county, N. Y., near the banks of Seneca lake. He spent his youth on a farm, and until he was 15 attended school at the little red schoolhouse on the bill. At 15 he came west with his parents, who settled on a small farm near Sandwich, Ill. Here the opportunities for securing an education were more favorable, and he made good use of them, walking two miles to town during the winter to attend the Sandwich high school, where he made rapid progress. He afterwards attended the Classical seminary at Paw Paw, and then began teaching in the district schools, but soon advanced, teaching a year in the public schools of Paw Paw and a year in the Paw Paw seminary, and then became principal of the Sandwich high school, where he had been a student four years previous. Though successful as a teacher, he resigned in 1880 in order to engage in more remunerative employment, and accepted a position with the D. M. Osborne Machine company, taking charge of a branch agricultural implement house at Salt Lake City. He remained with this company five years, receiving an increase in salary each year, and successfully managing their business throughout Utah, Idaho and Montana. While in Salt Lake City he was appointed territorial treasurer of Utah in 1882 by Governor Murray, but the Mormon legislature did not permit him to accept the office on account of his not being a polygamist. During his residence in the west Mr. Nicholson acted as reporter and correspondent for several newspapers, and his descriptions of the Rocky Mountain country, which appeared in eastern periodicals, were read with much interest. In 1885 he came to Lamoni, Iowa, and for three years successfully conducted a hard ware business. In 1888 he sold out at a good profit, and in company with Robert Winning, a capitalist from St Joseph, Mo., he organized the first bank of Lamoni, which was soon incorporated as the Lamoni State bank, with Mr Nicholson as cashier and manager. Lamoni was then a village of but 400 inhabitants, but it has grown rapidly, and its population is now about five times that number. During this period he bought and sold many farms, and also a large tract of land adjoining the town which he laid off in half-acre lots. In this way he rapidly increased his income and wealth, until now he owns the controlling interest in the bank, besides hundreds of acres of valuable farming land, and an elegant home in Lamoni.

Mr. Nicholson has always been a republican in politics, and has held numerous local offices. He is a pioneer member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Lamoni, and is also a Modern Woodman. He is secretary of the board of trustees of Graceland college, and has served several years as city alderman. He was brought up a Methodist, but has since become a member of the church of Latter Day Saints.

He was married March 6, 1878, to Miss Minnie Blair, daughter of Elder William and Elizabeth Blair, of Sandwich, Ill. They have four children: Harry Carl, born in 1879, who is now attending Graceland college; Todd Blair, born in 1883; Ray Kessler, born in 1886, and Gracia, born in 1896.

This ends the first twenty years of Mr. Nicholson's married life, and he is now just in his prime. Commencing as a poor farmer's boy, he educated himself and has reaped the fruits of his labors, being a self-made man in every respect, and has much to expect from the future.

SOURCE: Biographies and Portraits of the Progressive Men of Iowa published by Conway and Shaw, Des Moines: 1899.

History of Lamoni, (Decatur County) Iowa

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