[Illustration: The Kenyon home
1229 2nd Avenue North]
The Kenyon name was associated with this large two-story residence at
1229 2nd Ave. N. from the early 1900s until 1938. Built in 1901, it was
acquired in 1902 by Mrs. Harriett A. Kenyon, widow of the Rev. Fergus L.
Kenyon, an early-day minister of the First Presbyterian Church here.
Mrs. Kenyon deeded the house in 1909 to her daughter, Miss Charlotte
Kenyon, a well-known Fort Dodge music teacher. Following her death the
property was transferred in 1937 to her brother, A. M. Kenyon, Fort
Dodge Serum Company executive. Elmo Hoffman, local realtor, purchased
the home in 1938. Both he and Mrs. Hoffman (Goldie) are deceased and the
property is now owned by the Hoffman’s daughter, Miss Vanna Hoffman.
The Hoffmans remodeled the home which now has a large apartment on the
first floor which they occupied and two smaller apartments on the second
floor.
The Rev. and Mrs. Kenyon were parents of three sons and a daughter. They
were William S. Kenyon, for many years a United States Senator from Iowa
and later a U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge; A. M. (Dick) Kenyon,
associated with the serum company for many years; F. A. Kenyon, a banker
at Washta; and Miss Charlotte Kenyon.
The Rev. Mr. Kenyon came to Fort Dodge in 1885 and served the
Presbyterian Church here until the following year. He then founded the
Fort Dodge Collegiate Institute which later became Buena Vista College.
The school was moved from Fort Dodge to Hawarden and then to its present
location in Storm Lake where it is now Buena Vista College, operated by
the Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Mr. Kenyon died in 1902.
William S. Kenyon was a prominent attorney here for many years, was
Webster County attorney and district court judge. In 1911 he was elected
U. S. senator from Iowa and served until 1922 when he resigned from the
Senate and was named a federal Circuit Court judge. He maintained an
office in the federal building here during his years as a judge and when
in Fort Dodge lived with his sister in the home at 1229 2nd Ave. N. In
1929 during his judicial career Kenyon was named a member of President
Herbert Hoover’s Law Enforcement Commission. Judge Kenyon died in 1933
at age 64.
A. M. Kenyon was secretary of the Fort Dodge Serum Company (now the Fort
Dodge Laboratories) for 28 years until his retirement in 1946. Two of
his sons reside here now—Robert P. Kenyon and Bruce Kenyon; a third son
Fergus Kenyon, lives in Lewiston, Idaho.