The Other Harriman “Boys”

Dr. O. B. Harriman, a local pioneer doctor was the first owner of the Harriman-Nielsen House. His two brothers, Walter and Henry, who also lived in Hampton. These two men likewise had a significant impact on the growing town of Hampton and warrant their own article.

The father of these men, John, was born in 1808 in Henniker, New Hampshire, and married Jane Colby in 1835. They had the following children: Oscar Byron (O.B.), 1836; Edward, 1838; Walter Franklin, 1841; Henry, 1844; Clara, 1846; and Charlotte, 1848.

In 1860 the family, with the exception of Oscar, moved to Rockford, Iowa. In the fall of 1864, Edward developed pneumonia; his fiancé came from New England and was married to him a matter of hours before he died. At that time, the cemetery in Rockford was on very low ground. His parents did not think it a suitable burial place. John bought a large tract of land high on the bluff where Edward was buried. The land was donated by the family and became the Rockford City Cemetery. John and Jane are also buried there.

Walter Franklin Harriman was a student until the age of nineteen. He attended public school and then the New London Literary and Scientific Institute. When his family moved to Iowa, Walter taught school, worked on his parents’ farm and read law in a law office in Charles City. In 1864, he married Ella Phylana Mitchell in Osage who was a school teacher; their first son, John W., was born in January 1866.

Walter was admitted to the Iowa bar in Charles City in 1869. The young family moved to Blair City, Cherokee County, Iowa, to set up a law practice. He discovered the small town had three lawyers and little need for his services. Being an enterprising young man, he purchased the general store, which was more profitable for him than the practice of law. After the railroad was built through Cherokee, Walter moved his grocery store to Main Street in November 1870 and became one of the earliest merchants in Cherokee.

Their second son, Wilbert, was born December 4, 1871. Walter was elected Superintendent of Schools for Cherokee County and served in that office from 1873 to 1875. He invested in land including a 720-acre tract immediately west of Cherokee. He planted 10 acres of trees there, creating one of the earliest artificial groves in Cherokee County.

In 1876, Walter sold most of his real estate holdings in Cherokee County and moved to Hampton. He practiced law in the Harriman & Luke Law Firm until 1888. Walter became known as a leading attorney in Franklin County.

Walter and Ella had a third son, Charles Byron, born in 1882. Walter was very active on the political scene; he was a member of the town council, served as mayor and for a time was the Franklin County Attorney. He was elected State Representative to the 24th and 25th General Assemblies of Iowa. In 1895, he was elected to the Iowa Senate and served two terms. While in the legislature, he wrote a bill creating a state Department of Agriculture in Iowa. He was a candidate for governor in 1901.

Additionally, he was a member of the Iowa State Fair Board for several years and served as president of the Iowa State Fair. Thanks to Walter’s work, the Livestock Pavilion was built on the State Fair Grounds in 1903! He was also President of the Iowa Agricultural Society of a number of years. He was a member of the Masonic order and belonged to Hampton’s Anchor Lodge No. 191.

Although Walter was very successful in his public life, his family experienced more than their share of sorrow. John and Ella’s first two sons became physicians and were leaders in their profession. Unfortunately, both sons passed away five years apart, both at the age of 38.

John was a professor of anatomy at the University of Iowa. He died in January of 1904, three weeks after appendix surgery when peritonitis set in. (The antibiotics that would have saved his life were not available until 1945.)

Wilbert died in 1909, two years after being infected with syphilis from treating a patient with the disease. In those early days, doctors were at risk of catching infectious diseases from their patients. Wilbert was a professor of pathology and a college surgeon at Iowa State. He is buried in the Iowa State College Cemetery in Ames, Iowa. When his sons died leaving wives and small children, Walter supported their families financially.

Shortly after their second son’s death, Walter, Ella, and Charles moved to the warmer climate in Palacios, Texas. According to his obituary from Texas, Walter became an extensive property holder and built one of the first fine homes in Palacios. Walter died there on July 15, 1927.

Henry A. Harriman, John and Jane’s fourth son, moved with his family to Rockford, Iowa, at the age of 16. He attended school there and in Fayette. He moved to Hampton in 1870 and on November 2, 1870, was married to Helen Mandana Smith. He was admitted to the Iowa bar and served his county as clerk of the courts from 1879 to 1881. He was made vice-president of the First National Bank when it was first organized. Over his lifetime, he experienced almost every trade from farming to banking and real estate. He died June 12, 1901, in Hampton when he was only 56. Henry and Helen had three children: Fred, Timothy, and Maude.

After his death, his widow Helen donated 10 acres of land on the north side of Hampton for a park we all know as Harriman Park. A newspaper article from October 12, 1939, describes the donation of the stone entrance to Harriman Park by Mrs. Maude Clock of Long Beach, California, in memory of her parents, Henry and Helen, pioneer residents of Hampton. The stone entrance is the one you enter through still today.

Sadly, many of us know the name of Fred Harriman as the first automobile fatality in the state of Iowa on September 29, 1905. Fred was a lawyer, a banker, and very involved in his community.

As this story about the Harriman brothers ends, a quote from Henry’s Franklin County Recorder obituary, rings true and could be said about Oscar, Walter, or Henry: “His name will live in the history of his county and state and add luster to the already honored name of Harriman.”

Henry A. Harriman

Henry A. Harriman

Walter Harriman for Governor 1901