Family Card - Person Sheet
NameHenry L. Stout 
9
9Birth1814, Ringoes, NJ28
Death17 Jul 1900, Dubuque, Iowa28
FatherOscar Stout
MotherElizabeth Ann Benham
Misc. Notes
Lumber baron guided operations from Iowa
By John Russell
Dunn Co. News
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Richard Stout, born and raised in Nottinghamshire, England, was very young when he caught the eye of an equally young lady, a fact that disturbed his father, John, who thought his son was being involved with a girl “below his rank.”
Richard left home and joined the navy for seven years. Upon his discharge from service at New Amsterdam (today’s New York City), he learned that a ship had been beached on a New Jersey shore and the crew, along with many passengers, were killed by Indians attacking the disabled craft.
One bright young lady, Penelope Van Princes, whose husband was one of the fatal victims of the attack, was able to escape and hide in the hollow trunk of a tree. Her hiding place was discovered by a dog that was with an Indian passing by. She was captured, but taken into the nearby encampment where her wounds were treated.
Upon her recovery, she was taken to New York City and turned over to the Dutch settlers. It wasn’t long before the handsome Richard Stout met and married Penelope, a union that resulted in the birth of seven sons and three daughters.
One of the sons, David, began the branch of the Stout family that included Nathan Stout, the father of William, the grandfather of Henry Lane Stout and of Henry’s younger brother, Zephaniah.
Gone west
Henry Stout, born in Ringoes, N.J. in 1814, was 16 years old when he left the family farm to work in the carpenter’s trade in Philadelphia. Six years later, now 22 years old and with less than $100 in his pocket, he went to seek his fortune in Wisconsin Territory and the growing city of Dubuque in 1836, 10 years before Iowa became a state.
He found work again in the building trades and became active in the lead mining in the area earning enough for a comfortable living and a slowly growing savings account in a local bank.
Then young Henry met Miss Evaline Deming and after a brief courtship, the couple was married on Oct. 28, 1845. And so began the “wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Stout, which began auspiciously, was rewarded with happiness and prosperity.”
To that union
Three years later, on Sept. 25, 1848, James Huff Stout was born, followed by a daughter, Jennie, on Dec. 2, 1850. By this time Henry, his wife, and the children were living comfortably, and in 1853, Mr. Stout bought an interest in the Knapp & Tainter lumber operation in Menomonie.
In that year Zephaniah came west to join his brother, Henry, at Dubuque. Four years later he left Dubuque to settle in Independence, Iowa. In the meantime, on March 27, 1854, a boy, Frank, was born. On Aug. 2, 1858, Fannie was the last child to be born in the Henry Stout family.
During the next 46 years — until his death at his home in Dubuque on July 17, 1900 — Henry served five consecutive terms as the mayor of Dubuque. He had served terms as alderman and was instrumental in the establishment of the Finley Hospital.
He was the vice-president of the city’s Commercial National Bank and was responsible for the establishment of the YMCA in Dubuque, in the building that is now called the Henry Stout Senior Apartments. He was on the board of directors on virtually every railroad company that served the city and reorganized the Dubuque & Dakota Railroad Co.
Multiple interests
Henry had a great interest in trotters and established, with his son, Frank, the Highland Stock Farm on the outskirts of the city
Stout and a partner laid out the town plat of Allison in Butler County, was instrumental in building a three-story hotel in the city, and was responsible for the extension of the railroad line from Dubuque to the city of Allison and on to nearby Bristow, Iowa, the birthplace of my mother, Doris Jones Russell.
Henry Stout was the only founder of the giant Knapp, Stout & Co. Company who never moved to Menomonie. John H. Knapp, William Wilson and Andrew Tainter all established homes within a city block from the mill complex.
His son, James Stout, did establish his residence in Menomonie in 1889, first on Ninth Street, across the street from Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, then later on the site of the Wilson estate overlooking the watermill and dam.
Henry did come to Menomonie on business and for board meetings, first by steamboat up the Mississippi, later by railroad from the 1870s until his death. It was primarily Stout’s skillful money management that helped the Knapp, Stout & Company ride out the depression years of the lumber industry.
He was noted for his “brains, energy, perseverance, steadfastness of purpose, and business ability.” That was one of the prime reasons that the company became the largest white pine logging/lumber company in the world by the 1870s.
Next week, we will focus on Henry Stout’s youngest son, Frank D. Stout.
John Russell, a local photographer and Dunn County resident, writes a weekly column for The Dunn County News. He is curator emeritus of the Dunn County Historical Society.
28
By John Russell
Dunn Co. News
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Richard Stout, born and raised in Nottinghamshire, England, was very young when he caught the eye of an equally young lady, a fact that disturbed his father, John, who thought his son was being involved with a girl “below his rank.”
Richard left home and joined the navy for seven years. Upon his discharge from service at New Amsterdam (today’s New York City), he learned that a ship had been beached on a New Jersey shore and the crew, along with many passengers, were killed by Indians attacking the disabled craft.
One bright young lady, Penelope Van Princes, whose husband was one of the fatal victims of the attack, was able to escape and hide in the hollow trunk of a tree. Her hiding place was discovered by a dog that was with an Indian passing by. She was captured, but taken into the nearby encampment where her wounds were treated.
Upon her recovery, she was taken to New York City and turned over to the Dutch settlers. It wasn’t long before the handsome Richard Stout met and married Penelope, a union that resulted in the birth of seven sons and three daughters.
One of the sons, David, began the branch of the Stout family that included Nathan Stout, the father of William, the grandfather of Henry Lane Stout and of Henry’s younger brother, Zephaniah.
Gone west
Henry Stout, born in Ringoes, N.J. in 1814, was 16 years old when he left the family farm to work in the carpenter’s trade in Philadelphia. Six years later, now 22 years old and with less than $100 in his pocket, he went to seek his fortune in Wisconsin Territory and the growing city of Dubuque in 1836, 10 years before Iowa became a state.
He found work again in the building trades and became active in the lead mining in the area earning enough for a comfortable living and a slowly growing savings account in a local bank.
Then young Henry met Miss Evaline Deming and after a brief courtship, the couple was married on Oct. 28, 1845. And so began the “wedded life of Mr. and Mrs. Stout, which began auspiciously, was rewarded with happiness and prosperity.”
To that union
Three years later, on Sept. 25, 1848, James Huff Stout was born, followed by a daughter, Jennie, on Dec. 2, 1850. By this time Henry, his wife, and the children were living comfortably, and in 1853, Mr. Stout bought an interest in the Knapp & Tainter lumber operation in Menomonie.
In that year Zephaniah came west to join his brother, Henry, at Dubuque. Four years later he left Dubuque to settle in Independence, Iowa. In the meantime, on March 27, 1854, a boy, Frank, was born. On Aug. 2, 1858, Fannie was the last child to be born in the Henry Stout family.
During the next 46 years — until his death at his home in Dubuque on July 17, 1900 — Henry served five consecutive terms as the mayor of Dubuque. He had served terms as alderman and was instrumental in the establishment of the Finley Hospital.
He was the vice-president of the city’s Commercial National Bank and was responsible for the establishment of the YMCA in Dubuque, in the building that is now called the Henry Stout Senior Apartments. He was on the board of directors on virtually every railroad company that served the city and reorganized the Dubuque & Dakota Railroad Co.
Multiple interests
Henry had a great interest in trotters and established, with his son, Frank, the Highland Stock Farm on the outskirts of the city
Stout and a partner laid out the town plat of Allison in Butler County, was instrumental in building a three-story hotel in the city, and was responsible for the extension of the railroad line from Dubuque to the city of Allison and on to nearby Bristow, Iowa, the birthplace of my mother, Doris Jones Russell.
Henry Stout was the only founder of the giant Knapp, Stout & Co. Company who never moved to Menomonie. John H. Knapp, William Wilson and Andrew Tainter all established homes within a city block from the mill complex.
His son, James Stout, did establish his residence in Menomonie in 1889, first on Ninth Street, across the street from Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, then later on the site of the Wilson estate overlooking the watermill and dam.
Henry did come to Menomonie on business and for board meetings, first by steamboat up the Mississippi, later by railroad from the 1870s until his death. It was primarily Stout’s skillful money management that helped the Knapp, Stout & Company ride out the depression years of the lumber industry.
He was noted for his “brains, energy, perseverance, steadfastness of purpose, and business ability.” That was one of the prime reasons that the company became the largest white pine logging/lumber company in the world by the 1870s.
Next week, we will focus on Henry Stout’s youngest son, Frank D. Stout.
John Russell, a local photographer and Dunn County resident, writes a weekly column for The Dunn County News. He is curator emeritus of the Dunn County Historical Society.
28