Wapello County IA Archives Biographies.....Hackworth, James T. 1839 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 June 28, 2013, 11:25 pm

Source: See Below
Author: S. J. Clarke, Publisher

JAMES T. HACKWORTH.

The leaders are few. The great majority lack either the initiative which brings
leadership, or the determination that enables them to overcome difficulties and
use their opportunities to the best advantage. James T. Hackworth, however, was
early imbued with the laudable ambition of attaining success and making his work
count as a factor in business progress. Advantages that others have passed
heedlessly by he has improved, and in the utilization of his opportunities he
has reached a prominent position in business circles. No record of Wapello
county would be complete without extended reference to him. His birth occurred
in Adams county, Ohio, January 12, 1839. His father, George D. Hackworth, was
born in Virginia in 1810 and in August, 1845, cast in his lot with the pioneer
settlers of this county, establishing his home in Center township, where he
lived upon a farm until 1857. He then removed to Ottumwa, where he served for
several years as county surveyor and was also county auditor for two years. In
1873 he removed to Kansas and his last days were spent in Cowley county, where
he departed this life in March, 1878. He left a widow and four children, two of
whom have passed away since his death. His wife bore the maiden name of Clarissa
Morris and was born in Ohio in 1814. They became the parents of seven children,
but three had departed this life prior to the father’s demise. America Ann, the
eldest, became the wife of Charles M. Kellogg, and died, leaving one child.
Ellen M. married George W. Bowen and passed away in Ottumwa, leaving a family.
James T. is the elder son. Mary J. became the wife of Robert Porter and died,
leaving five children. George J. is also deceased. Barbara L. is a resident of
Quincy, Kansas. Emily H. married Robert Painter and died, leaving a family.

James T. Hackworth was a little lad of but six years when the family came to
Wapello county, where he has since made his home, covering a period of almost
seven decades. He attended the common schools and afterward entered the Iowa
Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant, from which he was graduated with the
class of 1860. Deciding to make the practice of law his life work, he began
reading law under the direction of Professor Henry Ambler, of the Iowa Wesleyan
University, during his college course at Mount Pleasant, and was admitted to the
bar in 1861. For ten years he engaged in the practice of law in Ottumwa,
entering upon the active work of the profession after filling the office of
county surveyor for a year. In 1863 he was appointed assistant assessor of
United States internal revenue for Wapello county and acted in that capacity for
three and half years during the period of the Civil war. In 1872 he joined Allen
Johnston, A. G. Harrow and J. G. Hutchison in organizing the Johnston Ruffler
Company. In 1877 Captain Hutchison withdrew and W. T. Major became a partner in
the business. On its organization Mr. Hackworth was elected president and so
continued for twenty-six years. This company was extensively engaged in the
manufacture of sewing machine attachments and during a part of its history
employed as many as five hundred hands in the factory. Mr. Hackworth also
assisted in the organization of the Ottumwa Iron Works, which was formed in 1880
and is an outgrowth of the Johnston Ruffler Company, having been promoted by the
partners of the former concern. Mr. Hackworth remains as vice president of the
latter company, which controls one of the important industrial enterprises of
the city. He has also figured actively in connection with the Dain Manufacturing
Company. The business of that corporation was brought to Ottumwa through the
efforts of twenty men, among whom was J. T. Hackworth, who became vice president
of the company and so continued until its consolidation with the Deere Company
of Moline, Illinois, in the year 1911. This by no means covers the extent of his
activity along business lines, however. He has figured most prominently in
financial circles and is today president of the Ottumwa National Bank, of which
A. G. Harrow is vice president and R. W. Funk cashier. This bank is capitalized
for one hundred thousand dollars and has a surplus of one hundred and ten
thousand dollars.

Mr. Hackworth is also president of the Wapello County Savings Bank, capitalized
for fifty thousand dollars and with a surplus of twenty-five thousand dollars.
He is likewise president of the Batavia Savings Bank, the Blakesburg Savings
Bank and the Union Trust & Savings Bank at Farmington. He is also treasurer of
the Hardsocg Wonder Drill Company, is a director of the Ottumwa Savings Bank and
is the owner of a large amount of real estate, consisting mainly of business
houses located on Main street in Ottumwa. His property holdings and his business
interests are the visible evidence of a life of well directed energy and thrift
and have brought him to his present enviable position of leadership in Wapello
county.

On the 21st of August, 1866, Mr. Hackworth was united in marriage to Miss Sue C.
Kisinger and they make their home at the corner of Court street and Pennsylvania
avenue in Ottumwa, where they have resided for more than thirty years. He
belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and has been a member of the official
board of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Ottumwa for a half century and
is now president of its board of trustees. He has also been president of the
board of trustees of the Ottumwa Public Library since its organization and which
now has between thirty and forty thousand volumes on its shelves, and is an
influential part of the educational system of the city.

There are indeed few who can boast of having witnessed the growth and
transformation of Ottumwa and Wapello county through almost seventy years as Mr.
Hackworth has done. He has lived to see wild lands converted into rich and
productive farms, has seen towns and villages spring up and become thriving
cities and centers of trade and has been an interested witness of the moral and
intellectual progress, which has kept pace with the material advancement of the
community. He has not only been a witness, however, but has been a most active
participant in all that has wrought for beneficial change and, while promoting
his individual success, has contributed in very large measure to the general
prosperity of city and county. His intense and well directed activities have
found their just reward, and the honor and integrity of his business methods
have given him firm hold upon the respect and confidence of the people. His
fellow townsmen say that too much cannot be said in praise of Mr. Hackworth as a
promoter of the business interests of the city, county and state. They recognize
what he has done for Ottumwa and appreciate his efforts in its behalf—efforts
that have at all times been resultant. He seems to see from the beginning the
possibilities for any undertaking and is never satisfied until the utmost limit
for successful accomplishment has been reached. He takes keen pleasure in
solving complex industrial, commercial or financial problems and his is largely
the joy of success in doing what he undertakes rather than in gaining material
prosperity. Moreover, his efforts have always been of a character that have
contributed largely to the material welfare of the community and thus his
lifework has come to constitute a most important chapter in the history of his
city and county.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY IOWA
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1914


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