Mr. Pierre Bousquet

Although Pierre Henri Bousquet was not a member of the library board, he was incredibly important in the foundation of the Carnegie-Viersen Library in Pella. Bousquet, with his wife Sara Scholte, housed the predecessor to the Carnegie-Viersen in his home.[1] The library was in two front rooms of the home and contained 1500 volumes.[2]

Pierre, who was born in the Netherlands on 23 December 1935,[3] emigrated to Pella in 1849.[4] He was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1862 and worked as a lawyer and banker in Pella.[5] He served the library board in this capacity when they were sued by architect George Pas.[6] He also worked with Robert Rose Beard and David Singer Huber to propose the library to the city council,[7] and was the notary on the deed of sale for the land the library would be built on.[8]

Bousquet married Sara Schotte on 21 January 1864 in Pella.[9] They had two children, Anna and Sara, before Sara’s death on 14 January 1876.[10] He married his second wife, Emma, in 1880.[11] She gave birth to a daughter, Emma, in 1881.[12] The elder Emma Bousquet would later serve as the secretary of the library board.[13]

Pierre and Emma remained married until his death on 14 February 1908.[14] He is buried in Pella’s Oak Wood Cemetery.[15]

-Russell Buchanan

 

[1] City of Pella, “History of the Pella Public Library”, Pella Iowa – Official Website, Pella, IA., http://ia-pella.civicplus.com/index.aspx?NID=415, (accessed 14 March 2019)

[2] “Free Public Library Application”, Pella, Iowa.

[3] Ancestry.com. U.S. Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

[4] G.A. Stout, Souvenir History of Pella, Iowa, (Pella, Iowa, The Booster Press, 1922), 55.

[5] The Bench and Bar of Iowa, Illustrated with Steel and Copper Engravings, American Biographical Publishing Company, 1901, 474.

[6] Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Free Public Library, Pella, Iowa, 12 July 1906.

[7] Meeting Minutes: Pella, Iowa City Council, 2 May 1905.

[8] Marion County, Iowa, Deed Book F, 519.

[9] Ancestry.com. U.S., Newspaper Extractions from the Northeast, 1704-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

[10] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

[11] Year: 1900; Census Place: Lake Prairie, Marion, Iowa; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0049; FHL microfilm: 1240447.

[12] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

[13] First Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Free Public Library, Pella, Iowa, 27 July 1905.

[14] Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

[15] Ibid.