Des Moines County IA Archives Biographies.....Harper, Thomas Guy 1853 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 11, 2007, 11:04 pm

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896)

HON. THOMAS GUY HARPER, State Senator of Iowa and a member of the well-known
firm of Mohland & Harper, of Burlington, has attained an enviable position in
the ranks of the legal fraternity. No field of human endeavor is more open to a
successful career than that of the law, yet no calling requires more earnest
application and persistent effort in attaining success. He who would attain
prominence in this line must have been endowed with a native force of character
and applied himself to careful and conscientious study and preparation. This Mr.
Harper has done, and to-day he stands as one of the able representatives of the
bar of Iowa.

   He was born in Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, January 13, 1853, and traces his
ancestry back to an old Virginian family. The paternal grandfather, Hugh Harper,
was a native of Virginia, and in his physical and mental constitution were the
elements of the Irish, Welsh and Scotch character,-a combination that produces
great strength. For many years he followed school-teaching, and in that calling
was successful. His country found him loyal during the war of 1812, when he
served in the American army. Personally he was a tall man, of fine physique and
commanding presence, yet possessed a very genial disposition. He was a versatile
writer, and deeply interested in all that pertained to the promotion of
Christianity. His death occurred at the very advanced age of ninety-nine years.
   Parker B. Harper, the father of our subject, was one of a family of ten
children and was born in Virginia. When a young man he removed from that State
to Ohio, where he married Miss Nancy Grieve, a native of the Buckeye State. Her
father, Archibald Grieve, was a native of Scotland, and in that country was a
silk worker, but after coming to America followed the occupation of farming. He
died in Xenia, Ohio, when about fifty-five years of age. The father of our
subject was a contractor and builder, and continued his residence in Ohio until
1857, when he removed with his family to Illinois, locating in Mercer county,
near Keithsburg. There he lived until the breaking out of the war, when he
entered the service, as a member of a construction corps, serving with the rank
of Captain until the preservation of the Union was an assured fact. When his
services were no longer needed, he returned to Warren county, Illinois, where he
had located his family, just before entering the army, and resumed his former
vocation. From that time until his death he continued his residence in Monmouth,
one of the honored citizens of that place. At one time he served as Elder of the
United Presbyterian Church, to which his wife also belongs, and was honored with
a number of local political offices. He passed away in January, 1892, at the age
of seventy-eight years, but his widow is still living, at the old home in Monmouth.

   This worthy couple were the parents of ten children, five sons and five
daughters, of whom seven are now living, namely: Maggie, wife of Captain R. A.
Hawk, of Monmouth, Illinois; Jennie, wife of James Milton, an attorney of
Oklahoma; James M., of Monmouth; Sarah; Thomas Guy; Mattie, wife of William
Baker, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Charles A., also of Monmouth.

   Senator Harper of this review was a child of only four years when brought by
his parents to Illinois, in which his home continued until he was nineteen years
of age; and he acquired his early education in the schools of Monmouth, while
during vacations he assisted his father in the factory. At the age of nineteen
he went to Xenia, Ohio, and entered the Galloway School, now the theological
department of Monmouth College, at which he was graduated in the class of 1874.
Returning to his home, he entered the Weir Plow Factory and worked through the
winter season, while in the summer he read law in the office of Judge Norcross.
After thorough preparation he was admitted to the bar, on the 8th of July, 1880.
Thus thoroughly equipped by study and technical training, he at once entered
upon the practice of his profession in Roseville, Illinois, where he remained
for two years. On the expiration of that period he came to Burlington, under
contract with the Burlington Insurance Company as their attorney, and had charge
of all their legal business for ten years. He is especially capable as a
corporation lawyer, and to that branch of the business has devoted much of his
time. He is, however, thoroughly well versed in all departments of the law, and
since 1892 has engaged in general practice, retaining a distinctively
representative clientage, which is constantly increasing in extent.

   On the 6th of July, 1882, Mr. Harper was united in marriage with Miss Minnie
Lee, daughter of John and Mary (Gordley) Lee. They now have a family of three
children,- Beryl Lee, Edna Nellie and one who died in infancy. The parents are
members of the Congregational Church, and have a beautiful and commodious frame
residence, located at No. 252 South Central avenue. In addition to this property
Mr. Harper owns some realty in Illinois and Missouri, and is acting as general
counsel for the Iowa Merchants' Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In his social
relations he is an Odd Fellow, and an interested and zealous worker in that
order, of which he has been a member for twenty-one years, and has filled all
the offices in the local lodge. In politics he is a supporter of the principles
of Democracy and has served as a member of the City Council, representing the
Fourth ward. In 1893 he was elected State Senator for four years, and is now
acceptably serving in the upper house of Iowa's General Assembly. He was the
choice of his party for the office of Judge of the Supreme Court of Iowa in
1895, but Iowa being strongly Republican he was defeated at the polls. 


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA

ILLUSTRATED

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants."'—MACAULAY.

"Biography is by nature the must universally profitable, universally pleasant,
of all things."—CARLYLE

"History is only biography on a large scale"—LAMARTINE.

CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1896


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