Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
BISSELL, Frederick Ezekiel
BISSELL, Frederick Ezekiel. (Dubuque, IA, Jan. 24, 1878-Dubuque, IA, Dec. 16, 1958). President, H. B. GLOVER COMPANY. One of Dubuque's many civic-minded citizens, Bissell, the father of Richard BISSELL served as president of the board of education and FINLEY HOSPITAL. One of the original members of the Planning and Zoning Commission (1929), Bissell was a founder and director of the Dubuque Humane Society (1901), member of the LINWOOD CEMETERY Association, charter member of the Rotary, and a national councilor of the Boys' Club of America. Bissell served as secretary of the first Park Committee that, around 1900, had the function of raising money to purchase land for playground and picnic areas.
Bissell helped bring the game of golf to Dubuque and possibly Iowa in the late 1800s. Collecting one dollar from each of fifty friends, he established the groundwork for the DUBUQUE GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB in 1898. Bissell and his friends laid out the path of the first two fairways with hand mowers.