SIDEROAD: Lewis Lichty, Servant of the People of Waterloo

This is a continuation of information related to the renown Lichty family of Waterloo, Iowa. My 2GAunt Mary Madora "Dora" Smith married Benjamin Franklin Lichty.

Lewis Lichty, son of Jacob Lichty (brother of Abram through whom BF Lichty is related) and Catherine Hunter, was the second of nine children. He was born 29 Feb 1828 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

Lewis came to Waterloo when it was a village, still not even spread to the east bank of the Cedar River. That was in the early 1860s. He married his wife Henrietta C "Etta" Bennett in 1862 at Winchester, West Virginia. According to family accounts, the couple had difficulty leaving West Virginia due to the Civil War, but eventually reached Somerset County, where they resided for many years. She died in 1873 in Waterloo after giving birth to three children, a son and two daughters. Lewis spent the next 37 years a widower, but maintained a home for his children until his daughters married, then he moved in with his son Harry.

His early years in Waterloo found him practicing law. His brother, who later moved to Michigan and died before Lewis, was a practicing physician in Waterloo for several years. In 1868, the Waterloo municipal organization was established and Lewis was named its first solicitor. The next year, he was named Clerk and he served in that role until 1873. In 1873, he was elected Waterloo's second mayor and remained so until 1876. In 1874, he was also trustee of the Fourth Ward, and in 1878, was chosen at the regular election for trustee. He served as mayor again from 1882-1884.

Once Waterloo established their own independent school district in 1866, Lewis served as its first vice president, and later spent 30 years as the secretary.

In 1878, he was one of those responsible for the creation of the Waterloo Building & Loan Association and served as its first secretary. He was active in its management until 1898, having to give up the more difficult duties of secretary to serve as president.

Active in the community, he participated in Masonic work until his death. He was a charter member of Lodge No 25. He died, after a lifetime of service, on 06 Feb 1911.

His son, Harry, would pick up his mantle, serving as president of the Library Board, referee in probate for Black Hawk County from 1933 until 1945. He was a past president of the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. He was member of the Elks Club, director of the Waterloo Building and Loan Association, and a director of the Waterloo Dairy Cattle Congress.

Harry graduated from the University of Iowa in 1891 with a BA. He was born 29 Dec 1869 in Waterloo. He married Annie M Buren at Princeton, Mo. on 07 June 1893. Lichty owned and managed the Waterloo Concrete Co, which became the Construction Machinery Co, and was sold. He also was one of those responsible for the platting of the Highland Addition in Waterloo and was associated with the Sedgwick-Lichty Abstract Co. He died of a heart ailment on 26 May 1946.

SIDEROAD: Gabriel Bickley Lichty, MD, Abortionist

I'm always interested in learning about the families my family married into. A case in point is Mary Madora "Dora" Smith Lichty, who married Benjamin Franklin Lichty of Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

The Lichty family hailed from Switzerland in the early 1700s. The Lichty's settled in Somerset County, Pennsylvania and many remained there even as factions of the family broke off and moved to Iowa.

Joseph Jacob Lichty (1758-1847)  was also born in Switzerland. He married Frances Veronica Forney (1773-1844). They would both remain in Somerset County. Several of their 14 children moved to Black Hawk County and would become scions of the city of Waterloo, taking leadership roles, as captains of industry, doctors, lawyers, politicians, and farmers with vast amounts of property. They were incredibly industrious, to say the least, and very integral to the history of Waterloo.

Abram had a son, Elias, who was the father of "my" Lichty (B.F. Lichty). Abram died in Black Hawk County in 1882, his wife Elizabeth Meyers, having died in Somerset County in 1864.

Abram's brother, Jacob, had nine children. Included in that batch of kids was Lewis Lichty, former early mayor of Waterloo. I'll cover him in a different post. Others moved on to Creston, Iowa, where they too, would be movers and shakers in the community.

Abram's brother, Daniel, married Sarah Cobaugh. They in turn had three children, including George Cobaugh Lichty, who then with wife Sarah Casebeer had nine children, one of whom was Allen George. Allen and his wife, Josie Bickley, daughter of Dr. G G Bickley (talk about a bunch of doctors in that bunch - the family was very prominent), had three kids and the baby was Gabriel Bickley Lichty, the subject of this post.

I'm always interested in people who are given all of life's advantages and through dumb luck, bad decisions, or any combination of both, end up losing it all. G. Bickley Lichty is a case in point. There would be no redemption for Bickley, who seemed to keep making the same mistakes.

Bickley was born on 07 Mar 1903 in Black Hawk County. He was a stellar student and was named class valedictorian of his Class of 1920 of West High School in Waterloo. The athletic Bickley, who was a excellent pole vaulter, would graduate and go on to the University of Iowa, where he would receive a bachelor of science degree.  From there, he went on to the University of Minnesota Medical School and the took an internship in Madison, Wisconsin at the Wisconsin General Hospital.

The only blip on the radar had occurred when he was 18 and had purportedly been driving on the wrong side of the road at a high rate of speed in his father's car, when it struck 18-year-old Alfred Miller on his motorcycle, destroying the motorcycle and severely injuring Alfred. Allen and Bickley were sued for $10,000 by Miller and his mother. The outcome of that suit is not known.

Things were all set up for him and upon his return to Waterloo, he joined the practice of his uncle,
second generation doctor GG Bickely, Jr., in January of 1928.  The Bickley practice was well-established. Bickley Lichty enjoyed some renown and was often called upon to testify on medical matters in the courts.

Finally established, Bickley married Miss Hilda Faye Ellis, daughter of Mr & Mrs WN Ellis of 1210 7th St West in Clarksville, Iowa on Friday, August 30, 1929.

His career hummed along, but his health was precarious. Bickley was diabetic and his eyesight began to fail. In 1948, his second wife, Pearl F Metcalf, whom he's married in 1939, divorced him. In 1949, the dark turn of events began that would shape the remainder of Bickley's life.

On November 17, 1949, Bickley was arrested for "attempting to produce an abortion." The County Attorney, Blair Wood, made it his business to pursue the matter to its conclusion. When four witnesses disappeared, he spent plenty of man-hours tracking his witnesses down and placing two of them in custody as material witnesses, of the other two, one was hunted to ground in Washington DC and one in Chicago. Though the case was delayed twice, it was finally adjudicated with a surprise change of plea to guilty. Bickley acknowledged he had performed countless abortions in the past. Despite Bickley's growing blindness and health issues related to diabetes, the judge gave him the maximum, a five-year sentence and $1,000 fine.

Bickley was out of jail on appeal and then entered the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison in

June of 1950. He would serve 13 months before he was released on parole. He was by now nearly completely blind and no longer had his medical license. The authorities were still watching him.

On January 3, 1954, a married couple from Wisconsin entered the home of Dr. Lichty and upon their departure, they were grabbed and interrogated by authorities who then, with search warrant, entered Lichty's home and arrested him, confiscating the $500 the couple had paid him for an abortion and the doctor's medical instruments. Later, the wife was put into a local hospital and the husband was held by police as a material witness. Authorities found that Dr Lichty was using the kitchen table for procedures and we can surmise this was not the only illegal surgical procedure he'd done.

He again pleaded guilty and was out on appeal under bond when he died in a Waterloo hospital from complications of diabetes and pneumonia. He was in a diabetic coma for several days prior to his death. Had he survived, he most likely would have begun serving his second 5-year term in prison and had to pay, this time, a $500 fine. His body was cremated in Cedar Rapids and a small service was held.


WEST HIGH ATHLETES WILL FOREGO FUDGE N EVERYTHING TO GET IN SHAPE FOR TRACK EVENTS, Waterloo Evening Courier; Friday, March 19, 1920, Waterloo, Iowa
HONOR STUDENTS AT WEST HIGH SELECTED BY FACULTY TODAY,Waterloo Evening Courier; Wednesday, April 28, 1920, Waterloo, Iowa
$10,00 BALM ASKED FOR BOY IN AUTO SUIT, Waterloo Evening Courier;Thursday, April 27, 1922, Waterloo, Iowa
Dr G BICKLEY LICHTY, Waterloo Evening Courier; Friday, January 13, 1928, Waterloo, Iowa
DOCTORS CALLED AS WITNESSES IN PERMIT HEARING, Waterloo Evening Courier;
Friday, March 9, 1928, Waterloo, Iowa
BICKLEY REUNION TO BE AT BYRNES PARK ON AUG 15, Waterloo Evening Courier;
Thursday, July 26, 1928, Waterloo, Iowa
MISS HILDA ELLIS BECOMES BIRD OF DR BICKLEY LICHTY, Waterloo Evening Courier;
Saturday, August 31, 1929, Waterloo, Iowa
WATERLOO MAN IS ARRESTED ON ABORTION COUNT, Mason City Globe Gazette; Thursday, November 17, 1949, Mason City, Iowa
LICHTY ARRAIGNMENT POSTPONED TO FEB 1, Waterloo Daily Courier; Tuesday, December 20, 1949, Waterloo, Iowa
PLEADS INNOCENT TO CHARGE OF ABORTION, Fairfield Daily Ledger; Wednesday, February 1, 1950, Fairfield, Iowa
SEARCH CONTINUES FOR WITNESSES IN DR LICHTY CASE, Cedar Rapids Gazette;
Monday, March 27, 1950, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
WATERLOO DOCTOR ON TRIAL IN MAY, Mason City Globe Gazette; Monday, April 17, 1950, Mason City, Iowa
DOCTOR GETS FIVE YEARS FOR ABORTION, Ottumwa Daily Courier; Thursday, April 27, 1950, Ottumwa, Iowa
STARTS FIVE YEAR TERM, Mount Pleasant Mt Pleasant News; Monday, June 5, 1950, Mount Pleasant, Iowa
DR LICHTY IS PAROLED FROM FT MADISON, Waterloo Daily Courier; Monday, July 23, 1951, Waterloo, Iowa
LICHTY HELD ON ABORTION CHARGE, Waterloo Daily Courier; Monday, January 4, 1954, Waterloo, Iowa
GABRIEL LICHTY, FORMER WATERLOO DOCTOR, DIES, Cedar Rapids Gazette; Sunday, April 25, 1954, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
PNEUMONIA FATAL TO DR LICHTY, Waterloo Daily Courier; Sunday, April 25, 1954, Waterloo, Iowa
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATORS, Waterloo Daily Courier; Wednesday, May 19, 1954, Waterloo, Iowa

The Cappoens/LeRoy Line: Leo Linsey

Leo Lee Linsey was born the oldest child of Florence Miller and Charles Lindsey (later Linsey) on 18 Jun 1904 in Benton County, Iowa. Florence was a farmer's daughter, having been raised in the rural Benton County area prior to her marriage. They resided at 410 11th Ave in Vinton, Iowa.  They would have two other surviving children; Lucille and Charles, Jr. who went by "Junior" his entire life.

Charles was a working man, working various jobs and spent the last 12 years of his life working on a section gang for the railroad.

Leo would grow up to be a pressman, but also was a sales delivery man for a company for a while. He spent his longest working stint with a printing company in Waverly, Iowa until his retirement. On 12 Apr 1930, he married Hazel Batchelder in Vinton. She was the daughter of Lottie Berry and Lester Batchelder. From this point, things get dodgy. They filed for divorce in 1935, each slinging accusations at each other which made the paper in great detail and the wife requesting Leo be institutionalized (mostly likely for alcoholism). Eventually, the request for commitment was dropped, a demand was made by the court that they stop slinging mud, custody was awarded permanently to Hazel's mother of the son. Leo had very little contact with his son from then on. That son had a successful life and looks back very fondly on his grandparents who raised him. Hazel and Leo were divorced at last in 1936 for the 1st time.

But, lo and behold, come just months after the protracted legal battle, they announced their intention to marry again. I'm guessing this engagement was on and off until they finally remarried on 12 Dec 1936. They separated within months, but did not divorce immediately.

By 1937, Leo was living and working in Waterloo, Iowa. He began cohabitating with Verlie Smith Michaelsen sometime that year. Both were still married. Verlie's husband finally filed and was granted a divorce in 1941 and he remarried in April 1942. It is presumed that Leo's divorce from Hazel was finally finalized sometime prior to her marriage to Jack Ritzman in the mid-1940s. 

Verlie's relationship with her first husband, Ted Michaelsen, was marred by spousal violence and alcoholism. It was also the depression and things were very dire financially for her. Verlie had four children by her first marriage. Many children ended up in orphanages during this time as many did not have the means to even feed the children. Three of the children of this union were adopted by various family members after stays of various lengths in the Bremer Lutheran Children's Home, and the youngest was adopted to a well-to-do Lutheran couple. Two girls were adopted by a paternal aunt and uncle and the oldest was adopted by a maternal aunt and uncle. After extensive conversations with the children of the first marriage, one can only presume that while difficult for all involved, the children ended up in safer, more stable environments. All but one of the children of that marriage maintained a relationship with Verlie her entire life.

Leo and Verlie had three sons between 1939 and 1944. The couple did not marry until 1965, when they drove up to Minnesota and tied the knot 12 Jul 1965 in Fillmore. Leo reportedly wanted to ensure that Verlie was able to get his Social Security. They generally lived on the edge financially their whole lives. Near the end of Leo's life, which had ritually involved stopping off at the tavern after work and after getting a paycheck, he and Verlie separated. Their decree of separate maintenance appeared in the Marriage Dissolutions column in the Waterloo Courier in 1975 and terms were, "She gets household goods and furniture, he pays debts incurred during their marriage." He died on 04 Feb 1980 in Waterloo of a heart attack. His final years were spent with his companion, Elsie Stoner. Verlie lived on until Nov 1986 and died at Ravenswood Care Center in Waterloo. 

I have incredibly fond memories of both of my grandparents. Leo was quiet and smoked stinky green cigars outside. He affectionately called me his "Little Kraut" because I was born in Germany. He mostly liked to sit back in his recliner and watch Lawrence Welk on Saturday nights. Grandma made the best fried chicken dinners and a had a little candy dish on her buffet waiting for all of us when we came for Sunday dinner after church. She was the typical grandma, baking and cooking her way into each of our heart's.

It's much easier to step back and look at their lives from a dispassionate perspective now, with them both gone for over 30 years. They made a lot of probably not so good choices in their lives, but managed to have a bunch of kids between them that did what America is great for -  providing opportunity for each to find their own success and doing it better in the next generation.

Hollar Out: The Tragic Tale of Grant Hollar

Grant Hollar had a temper

ZACHARIAH HOLLER > JOHANNES HOLLER > GEORGE ELAM HOLLER m. Lucy
Robertson > JOHN B HOLLAR m. Harriet Shinn > ALONZO GRANVILLE "GRANT" HOLLAR

When Lucy Holler, widow of George, her daughter and son-in-law Sarah and David Owens, daughter and son-in-law Edna and William Wheeler, and son John B Hollar headed to Iowa from Indiana, they were joining a small farming community of like-minded Baptists in what would become Poyner Township in Black Hawk County Iowa. You can read the tale here.

As time went on, most of them moved on to other parts. John B. Holler, who was born in Washington County Indiana, in about 1834, moved along with is wife Harriet Shinn (married, 1857 in Black Hawk County) and their four young children to near Monticello, Jones County, Iowa, about an hour's drive today east of Black Hawk County some time before the 1885 Iowa Census and after the 1880 US Federal Census. There, the lived until before the 1900 census, where they farmed in Delaware County. By 1907, they had moved to Waterloo, back in Black Hawk County, in their retirement.

Their son Alonzo Granville "Grant" Hollar seemed to have quite a time of things his entire life, In 1889, he was arrested for assault that damaged dignity more than anything. See article above.

In 1890, he married Miss Bessie Belle Brush, daughter of Adam and Rosa (Forsythe) Brush in
Monticello. Three months later, their son George Alonzo Hollar was born. It looks like it was rocky from the get-go, as demand marriages seemed to be so often. By 1895, their child George, was living with JB and Hattie Hollar. And, it appears that Grant had a wicked-awful temper. The young Hollar couple had separated and violence again erupted. In 1895, he was arrested and sent to Anamosa jail to await trial for attempted murder - of his young wife. (See article)

Finally, a divorce was granted to Mrs Hollar in mid-December 1895. Their child remained with the elder Hollars and would do so for the remainder of his youth. Bessie married Walter Flansburg September 5, 1896. They would have two children and be divorced prior to 1920. Mrs Flansburg lived with her son Elery Flansburg in Illinois until her death in 1959. Mr. Flansburg would die destitute in the IOOF Home in Mason City, Iowa in 1961. No mention of Walter's children with Bessie is made in his obit and no mention of her son George Hollar is mentioned in her obituary, nor the earlier marriage.

Grant, it seems, was not destined for long or happy life. Just months after his divorce and two months before his wife remarried, he would be killed in a train accident, the blame for which was placed on him by the coroner's jury.

Young George Alonzo would live a long life, married in 1925 to his wife and had no children. He died in 1972 in Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa after many years as a businessman and grocer. His wife Florence Bennett died in 1977.