There is no happier hour in the life of the conscientious and circumspect biographer than one which affords him the occasion for picturing in words the record of a virile, useful, energetic and honorable person. There is always a fascinating something about such a person, whether old or young, which forcibly appeals to the pen, and brings forth latent thought and effort which are too often permitted to be dormant-lethargic, as it were.
The mere conviction of a man’s astuteness and sterling worth is all sufficient to inspire one with a desire to write endless pages of eulogies concerning him: but alas! the write:-never did nor never will live who can fittingly portray the virtues, services and patriotism of an upright, thrifty and substantial citizen. And so, in our simple way, with the advance knowledge that our language is wholly inadequate to suitably elucidate the many redeeming traits of our friend, but with the realization that our efforts will be appreciated in the same felicitous spirit in which it is imparted, we summon the temerity to place before the reader Mr. Henry B. Hub-bard, as he is, and has always been.
Mr. Hubbard is a product of the Buckeye State. He was born at New Matamoras, Ohio, September 30, 1863, being a son of W. A. and Anna Hubbard. His father was a native of Ohio, his mother, who before her marriage was Miss Anna Goldsmith, was also an Ohioan by birth.
In 1868, when Mr. Hubbard was five years of age, his parents migrated westward, arriving in Edgington Township, near Taylor Ridge. Henry B. Hubbard is an exemplary specimen of what an enterprising and practical man may accomplish. Up-to-date, well educated, of unusual business acumen and logical on all matters pertaining to his office and the people who have twice elected him, he does not hesitate to again go before his constituents and request approval of his acts and methods, and neither is he timorous in his solicitation of public sanction for his con-duct of their affairs.
He was married in the year of 1888, his wife being Miss Etta Gemmill, of Shannon, Illinois. They have been blessed with three children, Clifford, Lois and Marian.
Mr. Hubbard is an active and earnest worker in the Mystic Shriners, Kaaba Temple of Davenport, and he is a member of long standing in the Modern Woodmen of America. He also is numbered among the Fraternal Tribunes and numerous other societies which are well and popularly known. He first attracted general public notice in the year of 1898, when he was elected County Clerk of Rock Island County by a plurality of about 1,800 votes over his opponent. Four years later he was chosen his own successor, and was elected again in 1906, and the people have been given no reason upon which to base a complaint against his official standardship since the hour he assumed the duties which fell to his lot.
Mr. Hubbard has been a hard worker all his life, and consequently has learned that labor is the only true nobility, whether one’s efforts is confined to manual or official labor, or to the control of vast industries. A child of our free institutions, he is naturally of a companionable and pleasing disposition-a happy faculty, and a priceless asset to any man. He is one who sees things clearly, and acts with a celerity that is amazing when the question of equity is at stake. He has a comprehensive mind, a droll sense of humor that is pleasing to hear, and is with all a man of rank and file, a sincere believer in the doctrines expressed by Abraham Lincoln, is a patriot of the first water, and represents a true type of American manhood and sturdiness.
In the councils of his party, and in the minds of his adherents, Mr. Hubbard commands a position equal to that of any one. In the eye of the public, his re-election be-speaks the trust imposed in him.
Since his incumbence the office of the County Clerk has undergone many changes which are of material benefit to taxpayers and the public generally. Old systems have been simplified, red tape has become a non-entity, and practical methods of business in the interest of speed and convenience have superseded ancient and out-of-date routine.