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HON. JAMES PATTON FLICK

 

Hon. James Patton Flick has been a resident of Taylor county from the age of sixteen years and is now well known as a member of the firm of Flick & Flick, attorneys at law of Bedford.  He has also gained distinction in other lines, having long been a prominent figure in political circles and the public has attested its faith in his ability and patriotic devotion to the general good by electing him as representative from this district to the state legislature and to congress.  A native of Pennsylvania, he was born in Alleghany county, August 28, 1845, and in the paternal line comes of Holland lineage, the original American ancestors of the family having arrived in this country prior to the Revolutionary war.  Joseph Flick, the grandfather, was a native of Virginia, whence he removed to Pennsylvania.  He made farming his life work, served as a soldier in the War of 1812 and died in Butler county, Pennsylvania, at an advanced age, as did also his wife.  They reared a large family, including John Flick, the father of James P. Flick.  His birth occurred in Pennsylvania and in early life he became a tanner.  In 1852 he removed westward to Iowa, settling within four miles of Ottumwa, where he engaged in farming.  In 1857 he arrived in Taylor county, where he purchased a tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he added from time to time until his landed possessions aggregated between eight and nine hundred acres.  He married Margaret Patton, also a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of James Patton, who was born in the north of Ireland and was of Scotch descent.  Coming to America, he settled in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, where he followed the occupation of farming.  He died there in middle life, while his wife, Mrs. Mary (Murray) Patton, lived to the very advanced age of ninety-one years.  They, too, had a large family, including Mrs. Margaret Flick.  John Flick died in Bedford, Iowa, when about seventy-six years of age, and his wife passed away five years before.  They were originally Presbyterians but afterward united with the Methodist church and were earnest Christian people.  At the time of the Civil war he served as captain of Company B, Ninth Iowa Cavalry, and died as a result of wounds sustained in that struggle.  Unto him and his wife were born four sons and three daughters, (page 373) of whom two sons survive: James P.; and William H., a farmer of Blockton, Iowa.

 

Hon. James P. Flick was only seven years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Iowa, and from the age of eleven he has lived in Taylor county.  Here he was reared on the farm and attended the district schools, and after his marriage he engaged in farming for a year.  He then took up the study of law under R. B. Kinsell in Bedford, and was admitted to the bar in 1870.  Since that time he has practiced continuously in this city with growing success and his ability and the nature of the legal interests entrusted to him places him in the front rank among the members of the bar in this part of the state.

 

On the 31st day of October, 1865, Mr. Flick was united in marriage to Miss Amanda King, a daughter of John and Sarah (Hankins) King.  They became the parents of two sons and four daughters.  Florence, the eldest, is now the wife of Albert L. Cochrane, and they reside in Denver, Colorado with their two children, Albert Bruce and Nellie.  Cora is the wife of Charles B. Bell, a resident of Bedford, Iowa, and they have two children, Maud and Beatrice.  Maud is the wife of R. V. Lucas of Bedford and they have three children, James, Cora and Lucile.  Nellie is a stenographer.  Donald Cameron, who was a soldier in the Philippine campaign, belonged to Company I, Fifty-first Iowa Infantry, and lived in Denver.  He died at the age of twenty-six years at Bedford, Iowa.  Bruce J., the youngest of the family, after being graduated from the Bedford high school, attended the State University at Iowa City, also the law department of Drake University, and studied law under his father in his office in Bedford.  He was admitted to the bar in 1903 and since that time has been successfully practicing with his father.  He married Alice Josephine Dunning.  The mother of these children, Mrs. Amanda Flick, died April 10, 1882.  She was born at West Point, Lee county, Iowa, her parents having been early settlers of that locality.  For his second wife Mr. Flick chose Mrs. Mary A. Griffin, the widow of Joshua Griffin and a daughter of Henry Sadlier.

 

Mr. Flick belongs to Taylor Lodge, No. 156, A. F. & A. M. and advancing in Masonry, became a member of Triangle Chapter, No. 68, R. A. M. and Creston Commandery, No. 29, K. T.  He is also entitled to wear the Grand Army button and holds membership in Sedgwick Post.  In 1862 when a young man of but seventeen years, he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in Company K, Fourth Iowa Infantry, with which he served until September, 1864.  He was a non-commissioned officer and took part in all of the engagements in which his regiment participated except the battles of Pea Ridge and Bentonville.  After the war he returned home and was elected county recorder.  It was while filling that position for two years that he studied law and afterward entered upon the active practice of his profession, continuing in that field of labor up to the time of his demise.  He has not only been active in the interpretation of the law before the courts but also in framing the legislation of the state and nation.  He was elected to the seventeenth general assembly of Iowa, where he served for one term and then refused a renomination.  Subsequently he was appointed by Governor Geer to succeed Smith McPherson as district attorney of the third judicial district and filled out that term one year.  He was then elected for the (page 374) succeeding term of four years, after which the office was abolished by the legislature.  He was also elected in the eighth congressional district to the fifty-first and fifty-second congresses and proved an able working member of that body, being connected with not a little constructive legislation.  Since that time he has given attention to the practice of law.  Faultless in honor, fearless in conduct and stainless in reputation, his record in public and private life is alike about reproach, commending him to the confidence, respect and honor of all with whom he is brought in contact.