A Narrative History of The People of Iowa with SPECIAL TREATMENT OF THEIR CHIEF ENTERPRISES IN EDUCATION, RELIGION, VALOR, INDUSTRY, BUSINESS, ETC. by EDGAR RUBEY HARLAN, LL. B., A. M. Curator of the Historical, Memorial and Art Department of Iowa Volume IV THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Inc. Chicago and New York 1931 HON. MILLARD FILLMORE ROHRER, president of the Rohrer Park Improvement Company, district agent of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia, president of the board of park commissioners of Council Bluffs, former mayor of the city, is a man whose kindly sympathy and cheerfulness under all circumstances have won for him the title of the "City's Sunshine Man." He was born on the old family farm at Rohrersville, Washington County, Maryland, August 30, 1850. This homestead lies near the battlefield of Atietam, where one of the bitterest conflicts of the war between the states was waged, September 17, 1862, when he was twelve years old. However, he had come into contact with public events through the exciting incidents relative to the visit of John Brown to Harper's Ferry, and the subsequent capture and execution of that unwisely advised resident of Kansas. The little nine-year-old lad knew more of the matter than would have been likely because of the fact that his home was only eight miles away from Harper's Ferry, then in Virginia, now West Virginia. In fact the location was such as to bring the family into much of the contested ground over which the great armies of the North and South fought their way during the more than four years of conflict, and in a way these momentous events developed the boy named for one of the presidents of the United States. They developed his mental faculties, but they did not overshadow them, for he has ever moved through life a man who never speaks ill of anyone, and who looks at life through his own cherry interpretation of it. The atmosphere of his childhood home was such as to lead him to adopt such a policy, for he has said of himself: "Whatever reputation I may have established thus far by looking only on the bright side of everything in the work and thinking only of the best in every man, woman and child, is due to my father and mother, who taught me the philosophy of sunshine." A beautiful recollection for a man to carry through life of those who gave him being! As the battle of Antietam was raging stretcher bearers began to carry the wounded and dying from the field of carnage, and the Rohrer house, barn, woodshed, and even grounds were utilized for hospital purposes, and little twelve-year-old Millard Fillmore began his work for humanity by ministering to the soldiers, no difference being made to the color of the uniform they wore. While the lad was taught cheerfulness and kindness to others, he was also instructed in the necessity of being useful, and the first money ever earned by him was gained by selling the daily newspapers and pictorials to the wounded soldiers and attendants of the two large army hospitals known as the Smoketown and Locust Spring ones. Remaining at home until he was twenty years old, as the '70s began their decade, he felt that he must seek a broader field for his expanding abilities, and so went on the road as a commercial traveler, but in that occupation did not find the calling he could enjoy. Therefore, in the fall of 1870, he went to Avalon, Livingston County, Missouri, and that winter taught school. In the spring he established what later became the family homestead for his family, a tract of 280 acres, which he helped to plant for the summer season. It was not his intention to become a farmer, simply to found a substantial home, and in 1871 he began representing the milling company of Snively & Hedges at Wathena, Kansas, the first railway station west of Saint Joseph, Missouri. The atmosphere of the then rapidly growing town and the enterprise of its people led him to resign his position, settle permanently in their midst, and become clerk of the Biggs House. Later he held positions with the post-office and bookstore of Brackett & Goulden, and still later he was deputy sheriff under Sheriff George Doughty. Still later, when J. M. Palmer opened the first frame hotel and depot on the present site of the assistant, and the manner in which he discharged his duties and his diligent ways and unfailing courtesy attracted the attention of railroad officials and he was appointed agent for the Burlington & Missouri Railroad in Nebraska, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad's bill clerk in Council Bluffs, and in his dual capacity his time was fully occupied until 1875, when he and former Congressman Thomas Bowman established a fire insurance agency. During the period he was connected with the railroad service he acted for The Nonpareil as railroad reporter, and because of his work and the high regard in which he was held, in 1888 he was elected an honorary member of the Council Bluffs Press Club, and highly prizes his card, which he still holds. So interested did he become in the insurance business that after January 1, 1878, he was the sole proprietor, and in 1881 he branched out and became a member of the commercial storage and agricultural implement firm of Bowman, Rohrer & Company, and continued with it until the business was sold January 1, 1885. About that time Mr. Rohrer accepted the general agency for the Mutual life Insurance Company of New York, and later became district agent for the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia. He is also one of the leading realtors of Council Bluffs, and a stockholder and director of the Council Bluffs Savings Bank. In 1908 he laid out the residential district known as Rohrer Park, and about the same time Council Bluffs received a magnificent gift from Mrs. Rohrer, who bestowed upon the city and it's people Lincoln Park. To Be Continued. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa History Project _http://iagenweb.org/history/_ (http://iagenweb.org/history/) Scott County, Iowa _http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm_ (http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/index.htm) **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1219957551x1201325337/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID %3D62%26bcd%3DfebemailfooterNO62)