grave import

Obituary

Friends in Burlington had the sad news yesterday morning of the death of Theo; W. Barhydt, one of the city’s pioneer businessmen, who passed away at Delmar, Cal., at 1:15 o’clock Tuesday morning. Details are lacking. The news came from James P. Wilson who was with Mr. and Mrs. Barhydt on an auto tour.
The business history of Burlington contains few names so well known as that of Theodore W. Barhydt. He came to this city in the early days and being possessed of those qualities which make for success, where others see no prospect, he remained here and grew with the town, and according to his ability, added to the welfare and progress of the community. He came of the stock that have always been builders. From the early times, the Hollanders have always had much to contend with, and in the never-ending flight with the elements and the sea and neighbors, who were rapacious or covetous, the Hollanders grow in strength and in the faculties which made for success.
Coming of such strain there is little wonder that the young man, who came here in the early days, and who saw opportunities where others were discouraged, and who made opportunities where others reported “nothing doing,” should in the course of the time win a big position in the financial life of the city. There are those who imagine that the men who came early, simply stumbled into a good thing. There is nothing further from the truth. The men who came here in the early days found conditions that would have discouraged the average man, and that did discourage the average man. But the man above average; the man with the business instinct, plus the imagination, saw a great future in the little town that straggled along the Flint Hills. Mr. Barhydt was an optimist of the fifties and sixties. And it required much more to be an optimist, to foresee a big future for Burlington in those days than it has in later days when such little matters as the preservation of the union and the integrity of the currency have been definitely settled.
Having old habits ingrained, being accustomed to work, and despising men who would not work; knowing the value and the growth of savings, there is little wonder that a hard-working and economical man like Theodore W. Barhydt should have succeeded in Burlington. Many others had better opportunities. They either failed to perceive the opportunities or to make use of them. In his long business career in Burlington, Mr. Barhydt made a clean record. It is not known that he was ever accused of a transaction that was not as clear as the face of day. He was a businessman and he claimed his just dues, but he coveted naught that belonged to others, and he never held a penny that did not rightfully belong to him.
He made a big success in business, as other men have made; first of all, because he had won the confidence of all who did business with him because his word was as good as a government bond. There is no other road to success. All business is built upon confidence, and this man enjoyed to a rare degree the confidence of financiers the country over because they knew that they could bank on Theo W. Barhydt’s statements.
There are many kinds of success. There are many men who pride themselves upon the mark that they have made in life. To have won the implicit confidence of the big financial men of this own community and of the positive of the most excellent qualities.
Theodore W. Baryhydt was born in Newark N. J., of good old Dutch stock, April 10, 1835. He was educated in Schenectady, N. Y., where he was married to Miss Eleanor C. Christiancy, of that city. She also is a daughter of pioneers of the United States, her ancestors having been traced back to 1671, and being at that time men of prominence in the new world.
Mr. and Mrs. Barhydt arrived in Burlington March 24, 1855, and began clerking in the Sweetzer shoe store in the Barret house block, the present (in 1913) site of the Tama Building.
He is survived by his wife.