Hon. Maurice F. Condon

CONDON, DORSEY, KELSON

Posted By: Volunteer (email)
Date: 5/22/2004 at 14:53:09

Harlan, Edgar Rubey. A Narrative History of the People of Iowa. Vol IV. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1931

p. 32

HON. MAURICE F. CONDON, of New Hampton has his first claim to distinction as an Iowa citizen in the capacity of a very able and successful lawyer. He has had numerous other important relationships with his home locality, having a political office several times, is a former county attorney and has also been active in banking and is vice president of the new First National Bank of New Hampton.

Mr. Condon was born in Chickasaw County, Iowa, September 4, 1873. His parents, Maurice and Elizabeth (Dorsey) Condon, were natives of Ireland. His father came to America when a young man, bringing with him his mother. After living four years at Hartford, Connecticut, he moved west to Racine, Wisconsin, where he married Elizabeth Dorsey. She had come to this country at the age of eleven years, in company with a brother and sister. Maurice and Elizabeth Condon were married about 1880 and not long afterward they sought a home in the new region of Chickasaw County, Iowa, settling on a farm in Washington Township. There the father became an industrious and respected farmer and lived in that community until his death in 1894, his wife passed away in 1913.

Maurice F. Condon grew up on a farm and had the advantages of the district schools. During 1891-92 he was a student in the Decorah Institute and during the next four years employed his time and talents as a teacher in rural districts in Chickasaw and Howard counties. He secured some additional equipment for a business career by attending New Hampton Business College and then became a stenographer in the law office of Springer & Clary. During the two and a half years he was with this firm he read law, and completed his professional preparation in the University of Iowa, where he took his LL. B. degree in 1899. Having qualified for the bar he was admitted as a new member of the firm for whom he had worked as a stenographer. The partnership of Springer, Clary & Condon was subsequently dissolved as the result of one member and the election to political office of another.

Mr. Condon in 1906 was elected county attorney and served four years. During that time he acted as cashier of the Darrow Trust & Savings Bank, of which he was one of the organizers. Later he became identified with the new First National Bank.

Mr. Condon for a time served as mayor of New Hampton and was on the city council ten years. It was during this time that the city undertook a general paving program. He has been a leader in the Democratic party of Chickasaw County, serving as chairman of the county committee, and has been a delegate to many county, district, and state conventions. He is a former grand knight of the Knights of Columbus, member of the B.P.O. Elks and Country Club.

Mr. Condon married in 1914, Miss Ida Kelson, daughter of Ole and Belle Kelson, of New Hampton. She was educated in Decorah and in the Convervatory of Music at Minneapolis and was a teacher of music.