YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 05423 7012 ¦ ¦mm: if Mil : ; , : 1 This book was digitized by Microsoft Corporation in cooperation with Yale University Library, 2008. You may not reproduce this digitized copy of the book for any purpose other than for scholarship, research, educational, or, in limited quantity, personal use. You may not distribute or provide access to this digitized copy (or modified or partial versions of it) for commercial purposes. ti >ti c ti O o Biographical History OF FREMONT and MILLS COUNTIES IOWA Compendium of National Biography ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO The Lewis Publishing Company 1901 Biography is the only true History. — Emerson. A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote generations. — Macaulay. -» %-w9 PREFACE. UT of the depths of his mature wisdom Carlyle wrote", " History is the essence of innumerable biographies1.1' Believing this to be the fact, there is no; rieceSsity'Of advancing any further reason for the compilation' elf such a work as this, if reliable history is to be thle ultimate object. The section of Iowa comprised within the limits of this volume has sus tained within its confines men who have been prominent in the history of the State, and even the nation, for half a century. The annals teem with the records of strong and noble manhood, and, as Sumner has said, "the true grandeur of nations is in those qualities which constitute the greatness of the individual." The final causes which shape the fortunes of the individuals and the destinies of States are often the same. They are usually remote and obscure, and their influence scarcely perceived until manifestly declared by results. That nation is the greatest which produces the greatest and most manly men and faithful women; and the intrinsic safety of a community depends not so much upon that true and normal development from the deep resources of which proceeds methods as upon all that is precious and per manent in life. But such a result may not consciously be contemplated by the actors in the great social drama. Pursuing each his personal good by exalted means, they work out as a logical result. The elements of success in life consist in both innate capacity and deter mination to excel. Where either is wanting, failure is amost certain in the outcome. The study of a successful life, therefore, serves both as a source of information and as a stimulus and encouragement to those who have the capacity. As an important lesson in this connection we may appropriately quote Longfellow, who said : " We judge ourselves by what we feel capa ble of doing, while we judge others by what they have already done." A faithful personal history is an illustration of the truth of this observation. PRE FA CE. In this biographical history the editorial staff, as well as the publishers, have fully realized the magnitude of the task. In the collection of the ma terial there has been a constant aim to discriminate carefully in regard to the selection of subjects. Those who have been prominent factors in the public, social and industrial development of the counties have been given due recog nition as far as it has been possible to secure the requisite data. Names worthy of perpetuation here, it is true, have in several instances been omitted, either on account of the apathy of those concerned or the inability of the compilers to secure the information necessary for a symmetrical sketch; but even more pains have been taken to secpre accuracy than were promised in the prospectus. Works of this nature, therefore, are more reliable and com plete than are the "standard" histories of a country. THE PUBLISHERS. CONTENTS GENERAL INDEX. Table of Contents, Introductory, - 3 11 Compendium of National Biography, - 13 Compendium of Local Biography, - 223 INDEX TO PART I. Compendium of National Biography. Biographical Sketches of National Celebrities. page Abbott, Lyman 144 Adams, Charles Kendall 143 Adams, John 25 Adams, John Quincy 61 Agassiz, Louis J. R 137 Alger, Russell A 173 Allison, William B 131 Allston, Washington 190 Altgeld, John Peter 140 Andrews, Elisha B 184 Anthony, Susan B 62 Armour, Philip D 62 Arnold, Benedict 84 Arthur, Chester Allen 168 Astor, John Jacob 139 Audubon, John James 166 Bailey, James Montgomery. . . 177 Bancroft, George 74 Barnard, Frederick A. P 179 Barnum, Phineas T 41 Barrett, Lawrence 156 Barton, Clara 209 Bayard, Thomas Francis 200 Beard, William H 196 Beauregard, Pierre G. T 203 Beecher, Henry Ward 26 Bell, Alexander Graham 96 Bennett, James Gordon 206 Benton, Thomas Hart 53 Bergh, Henry 160 Bierstadt, Albert 197 Billings, Josh 166 Blaine, James Gillespie 22 Bland, Richard Parks 106 page Boone, Daniel 36 Booth, Edwin 51 Booth, Junius Brutus 177 Brice, Calvin S 181 Brooks, Phillips 130 Brown, John 51 Brown, Charles Farrar 91 Brush, Charles Francis 153 ^ryan, William Jennings 158 Bryant, William Cullen 44 Buchanan, Franklin 105 Buchanan, James 128 Buckner, Simon Bolivar 188 Burdette, Robert J 103 Burr, Aaron Ill Butler, Benjamin Franklin 24 Calhoun, John Caldwell 23 Cameron, James Donald 141 Cameron, Simon 141 Cammack, Addison 197 Campbell, Alexander 180 Carlisle, John G 133 Carnegie, Andrew 73 Carpenter, Matthew Hale 178 Carson, Christopher (Kit) 86 Cass, Lewis 110 Chase, Salmon Portland 65 Childs, George W 83 Choate, Rufus 207 Claflin, Horace Brigham 107 Clay, Henry 21 Clemens, Samuel Langhorne.. 86 Cleveland, Grover 174 Clews, Henry 153 page Clinton.DeWitt 110 Colfax, Schuyler 139 Conkling, Alfred 32 Conkling, Roscoe 32 Cooley, Thomas Mclntyre 140 Cooper, James Fenimore 58 Cooper, Peter 37 Copely, John Singleton 191 Corbin, Austin 205 Corcoran, W. W 196 Cornell, Ezra 161 Cramp, William 189 Crockett, David 76 Cullom, Shelby Moore 116 Curtis, George William 144 Cushman, Charlotte 107 Custer, George A 95 Dana, Charles A 88 " Danbury News Man " 177 Davenport, Fanny 106 Davis, Jefferson 24 Debs, Eugene V 132 Decatur, Stephen 101 Deering, William 198 Depew, Chauncey Mitchell 209 Dickinson, Anna 103 Dickinson, Don M 139 Dingley, Nelson, Jr 215 Donnelly, Ignatius 161 Douglas, Stephen Arnold 53 Douglass, Frederick » 43 Dow, Neal 108 Draper, John William 184 TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART I. PAGE Drexel, Anthony Joseph 124 Dupont, Henry 198 Edison, Thomas Alva . , . , -55 Edmunds, George Ft 201 Ellsworth, Oliver ¦' 168 Emerson, JRaJph Waldo 57 EricssoS'rrjpKeS^r-i , 1.27 Evarts, William Maxwell 89 Farragut, David GlaseoeV. .'. . . &0 Field, Cyrus West 173 Field, David Dudley 126 Field, Marshall 59 Field, Stephen Johnson 216 Fillmore, Millard.; 113 Foote, Andrew Hull 176 Foraker, Joseph B 143 Forrest, Edwin 92 Franklin, Benjamin 18 Fremont, John Charles 29 Fuller, Melville Weston 168 Fulton, Robert 62 Gage, Lyman J _ 71 Gallatin, Albert.-. 112 Garfield, James A 163 Garrett, John Work 200 Garrison,, William Lloyd., 50 Gates, Horatio . .- 70 Gatling, Richard Jordan 116 George, Henry_ 203 Gibbons, Cardinal James 209 Gilmore, Patrick Sarsfield 77 Girard, Stephen - 137 Gough, John B 131 Gould, Jay 52 Gordon, John B 215 Grant, Ulysses S 155 Gray, Asa 88 Gray, Elisha 149 Greeley, Adolphus W 142 Greeley, Horace. 20 Greene, Nathaniel 69 Gresham, Walter Quintin 183 Hale, Edward Everett 79 Hall, Charles Francis 167 Hamilton, Alexander 31 Hamlin, Hannibal 214 Hampton, Wade 192 Hancock, Winfield Scott 146 Hanna, Marcus Alonzo 169 Harris, Isham G 214 Harrison, William Henry 87 Harrison, Benjamin 182 Harvard, John 129 Havemeyer, John Craig 182 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 135 Hayes, Rutherford Birchard... 157 Hendricks, Thomas Andrew. . 212 Henry, Joseph 105 Henry, Patrick 83 Hill.David Bennett 90 Hobart, Garrett A 213 Holmes, Oliver Wendell 206 Hooker, Joseph 52 Howe, Elias 130 Howells, William Dean 104 ' PAGE Houston, Sam 120 Hughes, Archbishop John 157 Hughitt, Marvin 159 Hull, Isaac........ :.. 169 Huntington, Collis Potter 94 Ingalls, John James T14 .Ingersoll, Robert G M Irving, Washington 33 Jackson, Andrew.. 71 Jackson, " Stonewall " 67 Jackson> Thomas Jonathan 67 Jay, John 39 Jefferson, Joseph 47 Jefferson, Thomas 34- Johnson, Andrew ....:......... 145 Johnson, Eastman 202 Johnston, Joseph Eccleston... . 85 Jones, James K 171 Jones, John Paul ..,.., 97 Jones.Samuel Porter :.. 115 Kane, Elisha Kent.. V". 125 Kearney, Philip. 210 Kenton, Simon 188 Knox, John Jay 134 Lamar, Lucius Q. C : 201 Landon, Melville D 109 Lee, Robert Edward 38 Lewis, Charles. B 193 Lincoln, Abraham 135 Livermore, Mary Ashton 131 Locke, David Ross 172 Logan, John A 26 Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 37 Longstreet, James 56 Lowell, James Russell 104 Mackay, John William 148 Madison, James 42 Marshall, John 156 Mather, Cotton 164 Mather, Increase 163 Maxim, Hiram S 194 McClellan, George Brinton 47 McCormick, Cyrus Hall 172 McDonough, Com. Thomas.. . 167 McKinley, William 217 Meade, George Gordon 75 Medill, Joseph 159 Miles, Nelson A 176 Miller, Cincinnatus Heine 218 Miller, Joaquin 218 Mills, Roger Quarles 211 Monroe, James 54 Moody, Dwight L. 207 Moran, Thomas 98 Morgan, John Pierpont 208 Morgan, John T 216 Morris, Robert 165 Morse, Samuel F. B 124 Morton, Levi P 142 Morton, Oliver Perry 215 Motley, John Lathrop 130 "Nye, Bill" 59 Nye, Edgar Wilson 59 page O'Conor, Charles 187 Olney, Richard 133 Paine, Thomas 147 Palmer, John M 195 Parkhurst,.Charles Henry 160 "" Partington; JVte^'. ,-,, 202 Peabody, Geerfer: 170 Peck, George W 187 Peffer, William A 164 Perkins, Eli 109 Perry, Oliver Hazard 97 Phillips, Wendell 30 Pierce, Franklin 122 Pingree, Hazen S 212 Plant, Henry B 192 Poe, Edgar Allen 69 Polk, James Knox 102 Porter, David Dixon 68 Porter, Noah 93 Prentice, George Denison.. . . 119 Prescott, William Hickling 96 Pullman, George Mortimer.. .. 121 Quad, M: 193 Quay MatthewS 171 Randolph, Edmund 136 Read, Thomas Buchanan 132 Reed, Thomas Brackett 208 Reid, Whitelaw 149 Roach, John 190 Rockefeller, John Davison 195 Root, George Frederick 218 Rothermel, Peter F 113 Rutledge, John 57 Sage, Russell 211 Schofield, John McAllister 199 Schurz, Carl 201 Scott, Thomas Alexander 204 Scott, Winfield 79 Seward, William Henry 44 Sharon, William 165 Shaw, Henry W 166 Sheridan, Phillip Henry 40 Sherman, Charles R 87 Sherman, John 86 Shillaber, Benjamin Penhal low 202 Sherman, William Tecumseh.. 30 Smith, Edmund Kirby 114 Sousa, John Philip 60 Spreckels, Claus. . . .'. 159 Stanford, Leland 101 Stanton, Edwin McMasters. . . 179 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 126 Stephens, Alexander Hamilton 32 Stephenson, Adlai Ewing... . 141 Stewart, Alexander T 58 Stewart, William Morris 213 Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth Beecher 66 Stuart, James E. B 122 Sumner, Charles 34 Talmage, Thomas DeWitt 60 Taney, Roger Brooke 129 Taylor, Zachary 108 Teller, Henrv M 127 TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART I. page Tesla, Nikola 193 Thomas, George H 73 Thomas, Theodore 172 Thurman, Allen G 90 Thurston, John M 166 Tilden, Samuel J 48 Tillman, Benjamin Ryan 119 Toombs, Robert 205 "Twain, Mark" 86 Tyler, John 93 Van Buren, Martin 78 Vanderbilt, Cornelius 35 Vail, Alfred 154 Vest, George Graham 214 page Vilas, William Freeman 140 Voorhees, Daniel Wolsey 95 Waite, Morrison Remich 125 Wallace, Lewis 199 Wallack, Lester 121 Wallack, John Lester. 121 Wanamaker, John 89 Ward, "Artemus " 91 Washburne, Elihu Benjamin. . 189 Washington, George 17 Watson, Thomas E 178 Watterson, Henry 76 Weaver, James B 123 Webster, Daniel 19 page Webster, Noah 49 Weed, Thurlow 91 West, Benjamin 115 Whipple, Henry Benjamin 161 White, Stephen V 162 Whitefield, George 150 Whitman, Walt 197 Whitney, Eli 120 Whitney, William Collins 92 Whittier, John Greenleaf 67 Willard, Frances E 133 Wilson, William L 180 Winchell, Alexander 175 Windom, William 138 PORTRAITS OF NATIONAL CELEBRITIES. PAGE Alger, Russell A 16 Allison, William B '99, Anthony, Susan B , . . . 63 Armour, Philip D 151 Arthur, Chester A 81 Barnum, Phineas T - 117 Beecher, Henry Ward 27 Blaine, James G 151 Booth, Edwin 63 Bryan, Wm. J '...„,-.-.- 63 Bryant, William Cullen 185 Buchanan, James 81 Buckner, Simon B 16 Butler Benjamin F 151 Carlisle, John G 151 Chase, Salmon P 16 Childs, George W 99 Clay, Henry 81 Cleveland, Grover 45 Cooper, Peter 99 Dana, Charles A 151 Depew, Chauncey M 117 Douglass, Fred 63 Emerson, Ralph Waldo 27 Evarts, William M 99 Farragut, Com. D.' G 185 Field, Cyrus W 63 PAGE Field, Marshall 117 Franklin, Benjamin - 63 "Fremont, Gen. John C ^ . 16 Gage, Lyman ]....:... '. 151 Garfield, James A "4.5 Garrison, William Lloyd 63 George, Henry 117 Gould, Jay : 99 Grant, Gen. U. S .- 185 Greeley, Horace 81 Hampton, Wade 16 Hancock, Gen. Winfield S 185 Hanna, Mark A 117 Harrison, Benjamin 81 Hayes, R. B 45 Hendricks, Thomas A 81 Holmes, Oliver W 151 Hooker, Gen. Joseph 16 Ingersoll, Robert G 117 Irving, Washington 27 Jackson, Andrew 45 Jefferson, Thomas 45 Johnston, Gen. J. E 16 Lee, Gen. Robert E 185 Lincoln, Abraham 81 Logan, Gen. John A 16 Longfellow, Henry W 185 PAGE Longstreet, Gen. James 16 Lowell, James Russell 27 McKinley, William 45 Morse, S. F. B 185 Phillips, Wendell 27 Porter, Com. D. D 185 Pullman, George M 117 Quay, M. S 99 Reed, Thomas B 151 Sage,- -Russell 117 Scott, Gen. Winfield 185 Seward, William H 45 Sherman, John 99 Sherman, Gen. W. T. 151 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 27 Stowe, Harriet Beecher 27 Sumner, Charles 45 Talmage, T. DeWitt 63 Teller, Henry M 99 Thurman, Allen G 81 Tilden, Samuel J 117 Van Buren, Martin 81 Vanderbilt, Commodore 99 Webster, Daniel 27 Whittier, John G 2*> Washington, George 45 Watterson, Henry 63 ^2 ^^fc te^ "==4j5^=" s^ CONTENTS. PART II. Abshire, Isaac, 391. Adams, Samuel H., 495. Adkins, Robert M., 607. Aistrope, Thomas M.,546. Aitken, David, 617. Allis, Otis E., 488. Allis, Samuel, 483. Anderson, August, 397. Angus, William, 552. Anthony, James M.>, 353. B Bada, Richard F., 455. Badham, Amazon, 385. Bagley, A. G, 447. Bagley, Mary A., 302. Barnes, James E., 601. Baylor, Ransdell, 516. Bellatti, James L., 537. Berkheimer, Andrew, 498. Black, Charles W., 330. Bobbitt, Alfred R., 512. Bogan, William L., 415. Bowen, Henry, 526. Bradley, Robert J., 382. Brandt, J. B., 337. Bricknell, William W., 394. Bright, J. H„ 347. Brown, Nathan, 426. Brown, Walter S., 564. Bruen, Charles E., 376. Buffington, Francis M., 379. Butterfield, C. D., 431. Carter, James W., 398. Cavender, Bard I., 368. Chambers,, Lansford, 492. Chantry, Allen J., 350. Cheney, Horace B., 359. Clark, Lebbeus, 337. Clark, Robert J., 502. Cook, Amos E., 541. Cook, George R., 503. Cooley, M. F„ 300. Cooper, John, 278. Cowger, E. F., 280. Cox, Jonathan U., 559. Cox, Richard A., 460. Crabb, Frederick, 384. Creamer, William W., 445. Criswell, James S., 452. D Dalrymple, A. O., 341. Darling, George W., 595. Dashner, Francis H., 264. Davis, Stephen D., 442. Davis, William T., 374. Dean, Benjamin B., 576. Dean, L. P., 478. Dean, Seth, 342. DeLashmutt, W. C, 362. DeSelm, David T., 519. Doyle, William H., 569. Dunagan, Benjamin F., 329. Dye, H. C, 377. Dvson, John, 482. Dyson, William, 490. Eaton, William, 614. Edgerton, O. A., 331. Estes, Edward C, 437. Estes, Francis M., 549. Estes, George H., 608. Estes, Robert L., 535. Evans, Marion L., 336. Evernham, Henry, Jr., 528. Fickel, Eli, 263. Field, Nelson C, 474. Fisher, Austin G, 611. Flanagan, John G., 392. Foster, David L., 570. Fowler, Sidney, 474. Francis, James S., 256. Fugitt, William C, 312. Galbraith, James F., 511. Galbraith, Samuel, 500. Gaston, Alexander C, 477. Gaston, Ozro C, 465. Gaylord, William W., 410. Genung, Lewis T., 269. Gillilland, E., 378. Gillilland, Shirley, 545. Goode, Elisheba T., 420. Goodfellow, James K. P., 418. Gordon, Mike, 505. Goy, John, 464. Green, Henry A., 388. Greenwood, Charles G, 462. Greenwood, Winfield S., 324. H Hale, Charles P., 582. Hale, Iohn, 390. Hall, William, 327. Hatten, George T., 403. Hawley, Elijah R., 559. Hawley, H. E., 266. Haynie, Paul, 561. Heinsheimer, David L., 517. Hiatt, Fred, 255. Holcombe, Samuel A., 428. Honeyman, John, 406. Houtz, William B., 594. Howard, Samson, 600. Hughes, Richard C, 589. Hutchings, Samuel B., 284. Hydringer, Andrew, 566. TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART IL. J Jackson, James C, 568. Johnson, Thomas J., 416. Johnson, William R., 466. Johnston, John H., 407. Johnston, William C, 261. Jolly, Arnold, 286. Jones, Graham F., 446. K Kayton, Thomas P., 571. Kellogg, Harriet M., 305. Kelly, John J., 480. Keyser, Christopher, 372. Kilmartin, Partick, 421. Kimberlin, Sherman B., 580. Kinney, Charles P., 361. Kochersperger, Jacob, 504. Kruse, John D., 241. Kuhl, Henry, 255. L Leeka, William, 298. Lewis, Winfield S., 523. Lindsay, Richard P-, 247. Linville, Lewis G, 352. Loveland, F., 377. Lundeen, Carl, 413. M Magel, Charles, 314. Magel, Conrad, 258. Magel, Henry S., 250. Magel, Mary D., 250. Magel, Theodore, 250. Malcom, Albert G, 308. Mann, Archibald, 556. Mann, Martha M., 558. Marsh, Oscar H., 618. Martin, Fred H„ 520. Martin, James F., 363. Martin, James L.,553. Martin, Milton J., 422. Mason, Lynn K., 536. Mass, John J., 510. Matthews, William H., 293. McCartney, Herman, 532. McClain, Arthur, 497. McClenahan, Augustus, 476. McCoy, Casper O., 592. McCoy, James J., 381. McDonald, James H., 465. McGee, James, 399. Mclntire, Joseph A., 319. McKown, John B., 356. McMullin, Louis D., 373. McNew, Zedekiah, 320. Merritt, Rufus L., 481, Metelman, A. F., 354. Mickelwait, Wilbur W., 322. Miller, G. B., 451. Miller, Joseph M., 583. Mogridge, George, 514. Morgan, T. O, 386. Morgan, William H., 369. Morgan, William W., 489. Muffley, Daniel C, 328. Munsmger, Albert J., 380. Munsinger, Charles, 384. N Neeley, Grant, 542. Nelson, Mortimer W., 242. Nims, D. B., 496. Nims, John W., 577. Nipp, Henry, 599. Norcutt, William H., 277. Notson, Lee, 409. O Oaks, Charles C, 402. Ogden,. Charles N., 575. O'Neal, John T., 453, Otis, George T., 340. Otte, Jesse, 555. Paddock, John D., 367. Parker, John, 338. Parkhurst, E. N., 562. Paul, Daniel McF., 586. Pay ne,' Moses U., 606. Penn, Alphonso V., 418. Phipps, Charles M., 588. Plumer, Cris, 4C4. Potter, Clayton C, 543. Powell, Francis M., 274. Pullman, George, 245. R Rankin, William S., 578. Reeves, B. P., 366. Rew, George T., 506. Rhode, Daniel T., 310. Rhode, Seymore T., 317. Ricketts, Samuel P., 253. Robbins, Frank, 290. Robbins, H. C, 282. Robbins, Joseph D.,395. Robinson, Lewis S., 602. Rodman, Leroy C, 457. Roenfeld, C. F.,596. Saar, H. E., 401. Salmons, Randolph, 249. Salyers, Samuel S., 498. Sandiland, David, 522. Schafer, Luther A., 524. Schoening, Fred H., 605. Schoening, Henry E., 621. Searles, John W., 358 Sheldon, Walter B., 246. Shepard, Richard P., 459. Shockley, John C, 530. Shull, Lott H., 335. "~^ Skerritt, John T., 593. Smith, Charles T., 565. Smith, Isaac, 603. Smith, James, 556. Smith, R. C, 469. « Stephenson, Michael A., 554. Stewart, Thomas R., 422. Stiles, Leander, 291. Stone, John Y., 221. Story, David M., 295. Stroud, Alexander, 467. Stubbs, Benjamin F., 411. Stubbs, John H., 509. Summers, Harvey W., 364. Summers, James N., 615. Summers, Milton S., 434. Strahan, James M., 266. Swain, J. J., 438. Swarts, William C, 472. Tabor College, 589. Tate, Rufus S.> 479. Taylor, John, 551. Titteringt'on, Thomas, 598. Tubbs, L. W., 306, Tubbs, William L., 585, U Utterback, J. H., 333. Van Kirk, John, 389. Vansant, William W., 287. Vaughan, H. W., 432. Vestal, Romulus S., 457. Viner, Joseph B., 581. W Wall, William R., 275. Warner, William W., 344. Washburn, Albert B., 529. Waterman, George M., 572. Wearin, Adelbert J., 450. Wearin, Josiah, 538. Wearin, Otha, 458. White, Walter B., 534. Williams, Leroy E., 573. Williams, Marshall J., 248. Wilkins, William A., 501. Wilson, James J., 521. Wing, O. S., 370. Winkler, Alpheus H., 346. Wood, Harry E., 424. Woodrow, E. R. C, 609. Woodrow, Edwin G., 611. Wortman, J. M., 620. Zuck, Jonathan S., 272. IFrrR©DUeT0RY 'TirirLrirx'xriririrtrsTirirL^ W%A^WWW\iWV« ^xS^^^ET^C^^^^Wi l>rj£sB55^1iliil=l3 1 § 811$ I^IIkIW'vSiw^mI HE greatest of English historians, Macaulay, and one of the most brilliant writers and profound thinkers of the present century, has said: "The history of a country is best told in a record of the lives of its people." This is a fact which is becoming more and more recognized as our people advance in education and intelli gence, and our own great Emerson, whose name stands at the head of American writers of his day, in carrying forward and emphasizing the great fact expressed by Macaulay, says: "Biog raphy is the only true history." It was for the purpose of gathering and preserving this biographical matter in enduring form that the design for this volume originated. COMPENDIUM OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY. Regarding the fore part of this volume, "Part I," which is devoted to a "Com pendium of National Biography," but little need be said. The lives of the great men and celebrities of America are so inaccessible to the general public, and are so often in demand without being accessible, that it has been deemed wise to gather together a vast number of the biographies of our nation's greatest men and include them in this work as a fitting preface to the life histories and biographies of the local parties which follow and embrace the latter part of the volume. It is not given to all men to become great in a national sense, but the life history of those whd do, makes up the history of our nation, and as such the history of their lives should be in every home and library as a means of reference and education. compendium of local biography. That portion of the volume devoted to a "Compendium of Local Biography," or "Part II," is of the greatest value, and its value will increase as the years go by. In this department of local biography is carried out the object which led to the com pilation of this work, in gathering together and placing in enduring form, before it becomes too late, the life history of those who have helped to build up this region and who have taken part in the progress and development in business, political, social, and agricultural affairs. The rank that any county holds amonj; xcz sister counties depends largely upon the achievements of its citizens. Some add to its rep utation by efficient public service, some by increasing its manufacturing or commercial INTR OB UC TOR T. interests, and some by adding to the general wealth and prosperity in cultivating and improving its lands. To give a faithful account of the lives of old settlers and rep resentative citizens of this region is to write its history in the truest sense. Each year, as it rolls its endless way along the mighty pathway of time, is thinning the ranks of those hardy pioneers and old settlers whose lives are so thoroughly identi fied with this region. The relentless hand of death, pursuing its remorseless and unceasing avocation, is cutting down, one by one, those whose life histories should be preserved as a part of the history of the growth and development of this region. The necessity for the collection and preservation of this matter, before it becomes too late, is the object of this work. Instead of going to musty records and taking therefrom dry statistical matter and official generalities, which can be appreciated by but few, our corps of writers have gone direct to the people, to the men and women who have by their enterprise and industry, brought about the development found in this region, and from their lips have written the story of their life struggles. No more interesting or instructive mat ter could be presented to an intelligent public. In this department, devoted to Local Biography, will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industry and economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for securing an education, have become learned men and women, with an influence widely extended. It tells of men who have risen from the lower walks of life to eminence, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and records how success has usually crowned their efforts. It tells, also, of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the world, have pursued "the even tenor of their way," content to have it said of them as Christ said of the woman performing a deed of mercy, — "they have done what they could." It tells how many, in the pride and strength of young manhood, left the plow and the anvil, the lawyer's office and the counting room, left every trade and profession, and at their country's call went forth valiantly "to do or die," for the cause and principles they held so dear. In the life of every man and of every woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after. Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sacred treas ure, from the fact that it contains so much that would never find its way into pub lic records, and which would otherwise be inaccessible and lost forever. Great care has been taken in the compilation of this work, and every opportunity for revision possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what has been written, and the publishers feel warranted in saying that they give to their readers a work with very few, if any, errors of consequence. In closing this brief introductory the memorable words of Carlyle fittingly express the hope, aim, and desire of the publishers in the compilation of this volume: "Let the record be made of the men and things of to-day, lest they pass out of memory to-morrow and are lost. Then perpetuate them, not upon wood or stone that crum bles to dust, but chronicled in picture and in words that endure forever." ^^<^^> COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY OF Celebrated Americans wwww ^Uiibxlivl/ilnliiiiffc— * — i «G Hi 6 — $L EORGE WASHINGTON, the first president of the Unit ed States, called the "Father of his1 Country," was one of the most celebrated characters in history. He was born Feb ruary 22, 1732, in Washing ton Parish, Westmoreland county, Virginia. His father, Augustine Washington, first married Jane Butler, who bore him four children, and March 6, 1730. he .married Mary Ball. Of six children by his second marriage, George was the eldest. Little is known of the early years of Washington, beyond the fact that the house in which he was born was burned during his early childhood, and that his father there upon moved to another farm, inherited from his paternal ancestors, situated in Stafford county, on the north bank of the Rappahan nock, and died there in 1743- From earliest childhood George developed a noble charac ter. His education was somewhat defective, being confined to the elementary branches taught him by his mother and at a neighbor ing school. On leaving school he resided some time at Mount Vernon with his half Gapjright 1807, bj Geo. A. Ogle & Co. brother, Lawrence, who acted as bis guar dian. George's inclinations were for a sea faring career, and a midshipman's warrant was procured for him; but through the oppo sition of his mother the project was aban doned, and at the age of sixteen he was appointed surveyor to the immense estates of the eccentric Lord Fairfax. Three years were passed by Washington in a rough fron tier life, gaining experience which afterwards proved very essential to him. In 1751, when the . Virginia militia were put under training with a view to active service against France, Washington, though only nineteen years of age, was appointed adjutant, with the rank of major. In 1752 Lawrence Washington died, leaving his large property to an infant daughter. In his will George was named one of the executors and as an eventual heir to Mount Vernon, and by the death of the infant niece, soon succeeded to that estate. In 1753 George was commis sioned adjutant-general of the Virginia militia, and performed important work at the outbreak of the French and Indian' war, was rapidly promoted, and at the close of that war we find him commander-in-chief of 18 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. all the forces raised in Virginia. A cessation of Indian hostilities on the frontier having followed the expulsion of the French from the Ohio, he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, and then proceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in the Virginia Assembly, of which he had been elected a member. January 17, 1759, Washington married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Curtis, a young and beautiful widow of great wealth, and devoted himself for the ensuing fifteen years to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, inter rupted only by the annual attendance in winter upon the colonial legislature at Williamsburg, until summoned by his coun try to enter upon that other arena in which his fame was to become world-wide. The war for independence called Washington into service again, and he was made com mander-in-chief of the colonial forces, and was the most gallant and conspicuous figure in that bloody struggle, serving until Eng land acknowledged the independence of each of the thirteen States, and negotiated with them jointly, as separate sovereignties. December 4, 1783, the great commander took leave of his officers in most affection ate and patriotic terms, and went to An napolis, Maryland, where the congress of the States was in session, and to that body, when peace and order prevailed everywhere, resigned his commission and retired to Mount Vernon. It was in 1789 that Washington was called to the chief magistracy of the na tion. The inauguration took place April 30, in the presence of an immense multi tude which had assembled to witness the new and imposing ceremony. In the manifold de tails of his civil administration Washington proved himself fully equal to the requirements of his position. In 1792, at the second presi dential election, Washington was desirous to retire; but he yielded to the general wish of the country, and was again chosen presi dent. At the third election, in 1796,. he was again most urgently entreated to con sent to remain in the executive chair. This he positively refused, and after March 4, 1797, he again retired to Mount Vernon for peace, quiet, and repose. Of the call again made on this illustrious chief to quit his repose at Mount Ver non and take command of all the United States forces, with rank of lieutenant-gen eral, when war was threatened with France in 1798, nothing need here be stated, ex cept to note the fact as an unmistakable testimonial of the high regard in which he was still held by his countrymen of all shades of political opinion. He patriotic ally accepted this trust, but a treaty of peace put a stop to all action under it. He again retired to Mount Vernon, where he died December 14, 1799, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His remains were depos ited in a family vault on the banks of the Potomac, at Mount Vernon, where they still lie entombed. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, an eminent American statesman and scientist, was born of poor parentage, January 17, 1706, in Boston, Massachusetts. He was appren ticed to his brother James to learn the print er's trade to prevent his running away and going to sea, and also because of the numer ous family his parents had to support (there being seventeen children, Benjamin being the fifteenth). He was a great reader, and soon developed a taste for writing, and pre pared a number of articles and had them published in the paper without his brother's knowledge, and when the authorship be came known it resulted in difficulty for tae COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. rt young apprentice, although his articles had been received with favor by the public. James was afterwards thrown into prison for political reasons, and young Benjamin con ducted the paper alone during the time. In 1823, however, he determined to endure his bonds no longer, and ran away, going to Philadelphia, where he arrived with only three pence as his store of wealth. With these he purchased three rolls, and ate them as he walked along the streets. He soon found employment as a journeyman printer. Two years later he was sent to England by the governor of Pennsylvania, and was promised the public printing, but did not get it. On his return to Philadelphia he estab lished the "Pennsylvania Gazette," and soon found himself a person of great popu larity in the province, his ability as a writer, philosopher, and politician having reached the neighboring colonies. He rapidly grew in prominence, founded the Philadelphia Li brary in 1842, and two years later the American Philosophical Society and the University of Pennsylvania. He was made Fellow of the Royal Society in London in 1775. His world-famous investigations in electricity and lightning began in 1746. He became postmaster-general of the colonies in 1753, having devised an inter-colonial postal system. He advocated the rights of the colonies at all times, and procured the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. He was elected to the Continental congress of 1775, and in 1776 was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, being one of the commit tee appointed to draft that paper. He rep resented the new nation in the courts of Europe, especially at Paris, where his simple dignity and homely wisdom won him the admiration of the court and the favor of the people. He was governor of Pennsylvania four years; was also a member of the con vention in 1787 that drafted the constitution of the United States. His writings upon political topics, anti- slavery, finance, and economics, stamp him as one of the greatest statesmen of his time, while his "Autobiography" and "Poor Richard's Almanac " give him precedence in the literary field. In early life he was an avowed skeptic in religious matters, but later in life his utterances on this subject were less extreme, though he never ex pressed approval of any sect or creed. He died in Philadelphia April 17, 1790. DANIEL WEBSTER.— Of world wide reputation for statesmanship, diplo macy, and oratory, there is perhaps no more prominent figure in the history of our coun try in the interval between 181 5 and 1861, than Daniel Webster. He was born at Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire,. January 18, 1782, and was the second sort of Ebenezer and Abigail (Eastman) Webster. He enjoyed but limited educational advan tages in childhood, but spent a few months in 1797, at Phillip Exeter Academy. He completed his preparation for college in the family of Rev. Samuel Wood, at Boscawen, and entered Dartmouth College in the fall of 1797. He supported himself most of the time during these years by teaching school and graduated in 1801, having the credit of being" the foremost scholar of his class. He entered the law office of Hon. Thomas W. Thompson, at Salisbury. In 1802 he con tinued his legal studies at Fryeburg, Maine, where he was principal of the academy and copyist in .the office of the register of deeds. In the office of Christopher Gore, at Boston, he completed his studies in 1804-5, an<3 was admitted to the bar in the latter year, and at Boscawen and at Ports mouth soon rose to eminence in his profes- 20 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. sion. He became known as a federalist but did not court political honors; but, at tracting attention by his eloquence in oppos ing the war with England, he was elected to congress in 1812. During the special session of May, 18 13, he was appointed on the committee on foreign affairs and made his maiden speech June 10, 18 13. Through out this session (as afterwards) he showed his mastery of the great economic questions of the day. He was re-elected in 18 14. In 1 8 16 he removed to Boston and for seven years devoted himself to his profession, earning by his arguments in the celebrated "Dartmouth College Case" rank among the most distinguished jurists ofthe country. In 1820 Mr. Webster was chosen a member of the state convention of Massachusetts, to revise the constitution. The same year he delivered the famous discourse on the " Pil grim fathers," which laid the foundation for his fame as an orator. Declining a nomi nation for United States senator, in 1822 he was elected to the lower house of congress and was re-elected in 1824 and 1826, but in 1827 was transferred to the senate. He retained his seat in the latter chamber until 1 841. During this time his voice was ever lifted in defence of the national life and honor and although politically opposed to him he gave his support to the administra tion of President Jackson in the latter's con test with nullification. Through all these years he was ever found upon the' side of right and justice and his speeches upon all the great questions of the day have be come household words in almost every family. In 1841 Mr. Webster was appointed secretary of state by President Harrison and was continued in the same office by President Tyler. While an incumbent of this office he showed consummate ability as a diplomat in the negotiation of the "Ash burton treaty "of August 9, 1849, which settled many points of dispute between the United States and England. In May, 1843, he resigned his post and resumed his pro fession, and in December, 1845, took his place again in the senate. He contributed in an unofficial way to the solution of the Oregon question with Great Britain in 1847. He was disappointed in 1848 in not receiv ing the nomination for the presidency. He became secretary of state under President Fillmore in 1850 and in dealing with all the complicated questions of the day showed, a wonderful mastery of the arts of diplomacy. Being hurt in an accident he retired to his home at Marshfield, where he died Octo ber 24, 1852. HORACE GREELEY.— As journalist, author, statesman and political leader, there is none more widely known than the man whose name heads this article. He was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, Feb ruary 3, 181 1, and was reared upon a farm. At an early age he evinced a remarkable intelligence and love of learning, and at the age of ten had read every book he could borrow for miles around. About 1821 the family removed to Westhaven, Vermont, and for some years young Greeley assisted in carrying on the farm. In 1826 he entered the office of a weekly newspaper at East Poultney, Vermont, where he remained about four years. On the discontinuance of this paper he followed his father's family to Erie county, Pennsylvania, whither they had moved, and for a time worked at the printer's trade in that neigh borhood. In 183 1 Horace went to New York City, and for a time found employ ment as journeyman printer. January, 1833, in partnership with Francis Story, he published the Morning Post, .the first penny COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 21 paper ever printed. This proved a failure and was discontinued after three weeks. The business of job printing was carried on, however, until the death of Mr. Story in July following. In company with Jonas Winchester, March 22, 1834, Mr. Greeley commenced the publication of the New Yorker, a weekly paper of a high character. For financial reasons, at the same time, Greeley wrote leaders for other papers, and, in 1838, took editorial charge of the feffer- sonian, a Whig paper published at Albany. In 1840, on the discontinuance of that sheet, he devoted his energies to the Log Cabin, a campaign paper in the interests of the Whig party. Inthe fall of 1841 the latter paper was consolidated with the New Yorker, un der the name of the Tribune, the first num ber of which was issued April 10, 184 1. At the head of this paper Mr. Greeley remained until the day of his death. In 1848 Horace Greeley was elected to the national house of representatives to fill a vacancy, and was a member of that body until March 4, 1849. In 185 1 he went to Europe and served as a juror at the World's Fair at the Crystal Palace, Lon don. In 1855, he made a second visit to the old world. In 1859 he crossed the plains and received a public reception at San Francisco and Sacramento. He was a member of the Republican national con vention, at Chicago in 1 860, and assisted in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President. The same year he was a presi dential elector for the state of New York, and a delegate to the Loyalist convention at Philadelphia. At the close of the war, in 1865, Mr. Greeley became a strong advocate of uni versal amnesty and complete pacification, and in pursuance of this consented to be come one of the bondsmen for. Jefferson Davis, who was imprisoned for treason. In 1867 he was a delegate to the New York state convention for the revision of the constitution. In 1870 he was defeated for congress in the Sixth New York district. At the Liberal convention, which met in Cincinnati, in May, 1872, on the fifth ballot Horace Greeley was nominated for presi dent and July following was nominated for the same office by the Democratic conven tion at Baltimore. He was defeated by a large majority. The large amount of work done by him during the campaign, together with the loss of his wife about the same time, undermined his strong constitution, and he was seized with inflammation of the brain, and died November 29, 1872. In addition to his journalistic work, Mr. Greeley was the author of several meritori ous works, among which were : ' ' Hints toward reform," "Glances at Europe," ' ' History of the struggle for slavery exten sion," "Overland journey to San Francis co," "The American conflict," and " Rec ollections of a busy life." HENRY CLAY.— In writing of this em inent American, Horace Greeley once said: "He was a matchless party chief, an admirable orator, a skillful legislator, wield ing unequaled influence, not only over his- friends, but even over those of his political antagonists who were subjected to the magic of his conversation and manners. " A law yer, legislator, orator, and statesman, few men in history have wielded greater influ ence, or occupied so prominent a place in the hearts of the generation in which they lived. Henry Clay was born near Richmond, in Hanover county, Virginia, April 12, 1777, the son of a poor Baptist preacher who died -when Henry was but five years 22 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. old. The mother married again about ten years later and removed to Kentucky leav ing Henry a clerk in a store at Richmond. Soon afterward Henry Clay secured a posi tion as copyist in the office of the clerk of the high court of chancery, and four years later entered the law office of Robert Brooke, then attorney general and later governor of his native state. In 1797 Henry Clay was licensed as a lawyer and followed his mother to Kentucky, opening an office at Lexington and soon built up a profitable practice. Soon afterward Kentucky, in separating from Virginia, called a state convention for the purpose of framing a constitution, and Clay at that time took a prominent part, publicly urging the adoption of a clause providing for the abolition of slavery, but in this he was overruled, as he was fifty years later, when in the height of his fame he again ad vised the same course when the state con stitution was revised in 1850. Young Clay took a very active and conspicuous part in the presidential campaign in 1800, favoring the election of Jefferson; and in 1803 was chosen to represent Fayette county in the state Tegislature. In 1806 General John Adair, then United States senator from Kentucky, resigned and Henry Clay was elected to fill the vacancy by the legislature and served through one session in which he at once assumed a prominent place. In 1807 he was again a representative in the legislature and was elected speaker of the house. At this time originated his trouble with Humphrey Marshall. Clay proposed that each member clothe himself and family wholly in American fabrics, which Marshall characterized as the " language of a dema gogue." This led to a duel in which both parties were slightly injured. In 1809 Henry Clay was again elected to fill a va cancy in the United States senate, and two years later elected representative in the low er house of congress, being chosen speaker of the house. About this time war was de clared against Great Britain, and Clay took a prominent public place during this strug gle and was later one of the commissioners sent to Europe by President Madison to ne gotiate peace, returning in September, 18 15, having been re-elected speaker of the house during his absence, and was re-elect ed unanimously. He was afterward re elected to congress and then became secre tary of state under John Quincy Adams. In 1 83 1 he was again elected senator from Kentucky and remained in the senate most of the time until his death. Henry Clay was three times a candidate for the presidency, and once very nearly elected. He was the unanimous choice of the Whig party in 1 844 for the presidency, and a great effort was made to elect him but without success, his opponent, James K. Polk, carrying both Pennsylvania and New York by a very slender margin, while either of them alone would have elected Clay. Henry Clay died at Washington June 29, 1852. TAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE was one 1775, and after serving on several com mittees was appointed to draught a Declara tion of Independence, which he did, some corrections being suggested by Dr. Franklin and John Adams. This document was pre sented to congress June 28, 1776, and after six days' debate was passed and was signed. In the following September Mr. Jefferson resumed his seat in the Virginia legislature, and gave much time to the adapting of laws of that state to the new condition of things. He drew up the law, the first ever passed by a legislature or adopted by a government, which secured perfect religious freedom. June 1, 1779, he succeeded Patrick Henry as governor of Virginia, an office which, after co-operating with Washington in de fending the country, he resigned two years later. One of his own estates was ravaged by the British, and his house at Monticello was held by Tarleton for several days, and Jefferson narrowly escaped capture. After the death of his wife, in 1782, he accepted the position of plenipotentiary to France, which he had declined in 1776. Before leaving he served a short time in congress at Annapolis, and succeeded in carrying a bill for establishing our present decimal sys tem of currency, one of his most useful pub lic services. He remained in an official ca pacity until'October, 1789, and was a most active and vigilant minister. Besides the onerous duties of his office, during this time, he published " Notes on Virginia," sent to the United .States seeds, shrubs and plants, forwarded literary and scientific news and gave useful advice to some of the leaders of the French Revolution. Mr. Jefferson landed in Virginia. Novem ber 18, 1789, having obtained a leave of absence from his post, and shortly after ac cepted Washington's offer of the portfolio of the department of state in his cabinet. He entered upon the duties of his office in March, 1791, and held it until January 1, 1794, when he tendered his resignation. About this time he and Alexander Hamilton became decided and aggressive political op ponents, Jefferson being in warm sympathy with the people in the French revolution and strongly democratic in his feelings, while Hamilton took the opposite side. In 1796 Jefferson was elected vice-president of the United States. In 1800 he was elected to the presidency and was inaugurated March 4, 1801. During his administration, which lasted for eight years, he having been re-elected in 1804, he waged a successful war against the Tripolitan pirates; purchased Louisiana of Napoleon; reduced the public debt, and was the originator of many wise measures. Declining a nomination for a third term he returned to Monticello, where he died July 4, 1826, but a few hours before the death of his friend, John Adams. Mr. Jefferson was married January 1, 1772, to Mrs. Martha Skelton, a young, beautiful, and wealthy widow, who died September 6, 1782, leaving three children, three more having died previous to her demise. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, known as "Commodore" Vanderbilt, was the founder of what constitutes the present im mense fortune of the Vanderbilt family. He was born May 27, 1794, at Port Richmond, Staten Island, Richmond county, New York, and we find him at sixteen years run ning a small vessel between his home and New York City. The fortifications of Sta ten and Long Islands were just in course of 36 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. construction; and he carried the laborers from New York to the fortifications in his ' ' perianger, " as it was called, in the day, and at night carried supplies to the fort on the Hudson. Later he removed to New York, where he added to his little fleet. At the age of twenty-three he was free from debt and was worth $9,000, and in 1817, with a partner he built the first steamboat that was run between New York and New .Brunswick, New Jersey, and became her captain at a salary of $1,000 a year. The next year he took command of a larger and better boat and by 1824 he was in complete control of the Gibbon's Line, as it was called, which he had brought up to a point where it paid $40,000 a year. Commodore Vanderbilt acquired the ferry between New York and Elizabethport, New Jersey, on a fourteen years' lease and conducted this on a paying basis. He severed his connections with Gibbons in 1829 and engaged in business alone and for twenty years he was the leading steamboat man in the country, building and operating steamboats on the Hudson River, Long Island Sound, on the Delaware River and the route to Boston, and he had the monopoly of trade on these routes. In 1850 he determined to broaden his field of operation and accordingly built the steamship Prometheus and sailed for the Isthmus of Darien, where he desired to make a personal investigation of the pros pects of the American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company, in which he had pur chased a controlling interest. Commodore Vanderbilt planned, as a result of this visit, a transit route from Greytown on the At lantic coast to San Juan del Sud on the Pa cific coast, which was a saving of 700 miles over the old route. In 185 1 he placed three steamers on the Atlantic side and four on the Pacific side to accommodate the enor mous traffic occasioned by the discovery of gold in California. The following year three more vessels were added to his fleet and a branch line established from New Orleans to Greytown. In 1853 the Com modore sold out hisNicarauguaTransit Com pany, which had netted him $i,ooo,ooO' and built the renowned steam yacht, the "North Star." He continued in the ship ping business nine years longer and accu mulated some $10,000,000. In 1861 he presented to the government his magnifi cent steamer " Vanderbilt, " which had cost him $800,000 and for which he received the thanks of congress. In 1844 he became interested in the railroad business which he followed in later years and became one of the greatest railroad magnates of his time. He founded the Vanderbilt University at a cost of $1,000,000. He died January 4, 1877, leaving a fortune estimated at over $100,000,000 to his children. DANIEL BOONE was one of the most famous of the many American scouts, pioneers and hunters which the early settle ment of the western states brought into prominence. Daniel Boone was born Feb ruary 11, 1735, in Bucks county, Pennsyl vania, but while yet a young man removed to North Carolina, where he was married. In 1769, with five companions, he pene trated into the forests and wilds of Kentucky — then uninhabited by white men. He had frequent conflicts with the Indians and was captured by them but escaped and continued to hunt in and explore that region for over a year, when, in 1 771, he returned to his home. In the summer of 1773, he removed with his own and five other families into what was then the wilderness of Kentucky, and to defend his colony against the savages, he built, in 1775, a fort at Boonesborough, COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 37 on the Kentucky river. This fort was at tacked by the Indians several times in 1777, but they were repulsed. The following year, however, Boone was surprised and captured by them. They took him to De troit and treated him with leniency, but he soon escaped and returned to his fort which he defended with success against four hun dred and fifty Indians in August, 1778. His son, Enoch Boone, was the first white male child born in the state of Kentucky. In 1795 Daniel Boone removed with his family to Missouri, locating about forty-five miles west of the present site of St. Louis, where he found fresh fields for his favorite pursuits — adventure, hunting, and pioneer life. His death occurred September 20, 1820. HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFEL LOW, said to have been America's greatest "poet of the people," was born at Portland, Maine, February 27, 1807. He entered Bowdoin College at the age of four teen, and graduated in 1825. During his college days he distinguished himself in mod ern languages, and wrote several short poems, one of the best known of which was the "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns." After his graduation he entered the law office of his father, but the following year was offered the professorship of modern languages at Bowdoin, with the privilege of three years study in Europe to perfect himself in French, Spanish, Italian and German. After the three years were passed he returned to the United States and entered upon his profes sorship in 1829. His first volume was a small essay on the "Moral and Devotional Poetry of Spain" in 1833. In 1835 he pub lished some prose sketches of travel under the title of ' ' Outre Mer, a Pilgrimage be yond the Sea." In 1835 he was elected to the chair of modern languages and literature at Harvard University and spent a year in Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, culti vating a knowledge of early Scandinavian literature and entered upon his professor' ship in 1836. Mr. Longfellow published in 1839 " Hyperion, a Romance," and "Voices of the Night, " and his first volume of original verse comprising the selected poems of twenty years work, procured him immediate recognition as a poet. ' ' Ballads and other poems" appeared in 1842, the "Spanish Student" a drama in three acts, in 1843, "The Belfry of Bruges " in 1846, "Evan geline, a Tale of Acadia," in 1847, which was considered his master piece. In 1845 he published a large volume of the ' ' Poets and Poetry of Europe," 1849 " Kavanagh, a Tale," "The Seaside and Fireside "in 1850, "The Golden Legend "in 1851, "The Song of Hiawatha " in 1855, "The Court ship of Miles Standish " in 1858, " Tales of a Wayside Inn " in 1863; "Flower de Luce" in 1866;" "New England Tragedies" in 1869; "Tbe Divine Tragedy" in 1871; "Three Books of Song" in 1872; "The Hanging of the Crane " in 1874. He also published a masterly translation of Dante in 1867-70 and the " Morituri Salutamus," a poem read at the fiftieth anniversary of his class at Bowdoin College. Prof. Long fellow resigned his chair at Harvard Univer sity in 1854, but continued to reside at Cam bridge. Some of his poetical works have been translated into many languages, and their popularity rivals that of the best mod ern English poetry. He died March 24, 1882, but has left an imperishable fame as one of the foremost of American poets. PETER COOPER was in three partic ulars — as a capitalist and manufacturer, as an inventor, and as a philanthropist — connected intimately with some of the most 38 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. important and useful accessions to the in dustrial arts of America, its progress in in vention and the promotion of educational and benevolent institutions intended for the benefit of people, at large. He was born in New York city, February 12, 1791. His life was one of labpr and struggle, as it was with most of America's successful men. In early boyhood he commenced to help his father as a manufacturer of hats. He at tended school only for half of each day for a single year, and beyond this his acquisi tions were all his own. When seventeen years old he was placed with John Wood ward to learn the trade of coach-making and served his apprenticeship so satisfactorily that his master offered to set him up in busi ness, but this he declined because of the debt and obligation it would involve. The foundation of Mr. Cooper's fortune was laid in the invention of an improvement an machines for shearing cloth. This was largely called into use during the war of .18 12 with England when all importations of cloth from that country were stopped. The machines lost their value, however, on the declaration of peace. Mr. Cooper then turned his shop into the manufacture of cabinet ware. He afterwards went into the grocery business in New York and finally he engaged in the manufacture of glue and isin glass which he carried on for more than fifty years. In 1830 he erected iron works in Canton, near Baltimore. Subsequently he erected a rolling and a wire mill in the city of New York, in which he first success fully applied anthracite to the puddling of iron. In these works, he was the first to roll wrought-iron beams for fire-proof build ings. These works grew to be very exten sive, including mines, blast furnaces, etc. While in Baltimore Mr. Cooper built in X830, after his own designs, the first loco motive engine ever constructed on this con tinent and it was successfully operated on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He also took a great interest and invested large cap ital in the extension of the electric telegraph, also in the laying of the first Atlantic cable; besides interesting himself largely in the New York state canals. But the most cherished object of Mr. Cooper's life was the establishment of an institution for the instruction of the industrial classes, which he carried out on a magnificent scale in New York city, where the "Cooper Union" ranks among the most important institu tions. In May, 1876, the Independent party nominated Mr. Cooper for president of the United States, and at the election following he received nearly 100,000 votes. His death occurred April 4, 1883. GENERAL ROBERT EDWARD LEE, one of the most conspicuous Confeder ate generals during the Civil war, and one of the ablest military commanders of mod ern times, was born at Stratford House, Westmoreland county, Virginia, January 19, 1807. In 1825 he entered the West Point academy and was graduated second in his class in 1829, and attached to the army as second lieutenant of engineers. For a number of years he was thus engaged in en gineering work, aiding in establishing the boundary line between Ohio and Michigan, and superintended various river and harbor improvements, becoming captain of engi neers in 1838. He first saw field service in the Mexican war, and under General Scott performed valuable and efficient service. In that brilliant campaign he was conspicu ous for professional ability as well as gallant and meritorious conduct, winning in quick succession the brevets of major, lieutenant- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 39 colonel, and colonel for his part in the bat tles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cherubusco, •Chapultepec, and in the capture of the city Mexico. At the close of that war he re sumed his engineering work in connection with defences along the Atlantic coast, and from 1852 to 1855 was superintendent of the Military Academy, a position which he gave up to become lieutenant-colonel of the Second Cavalry. For several years there after he served on the Texas border, but happening to be near Washington at the time of John Brown's raid, October 17 to 25, 1859, Colonel Lee was placed in com mand of the Federal forces employed in its repression. He soon returned to his regi ment in Texas where he remained the greater part of i860, and March 16, 1861, became colonel of his regiment by regular promotion. Three weeks later, April 25, he resigned upon the .secession of Virginia, went at once to Richmond and tendered his services to the governor of that state, being by acclamation appointed commander-in- chief of its military and naval forces, with the rank of major-general. He at once set to work to organize and develop the defensive resources of his state and within a month directed the occupation in force of Manassas Junction. Meanwhile Virginia having entered the confederacy and Richmond become the capitol, Lee became one of the foremost of its military officers and was closely connected with Jefferson Davis in planning the moves of that tragic time. Lee participated in many of the hardest fought battles of the war among which were Fair Oaks, White Lake Swamps, Cold Harbor, and the Chickahominy, Ma nassas, Cedar Run, Antietam, Fredericks burg, Chancellorsville, Malvern Hill, Get tysburg, the battles of the Wilderness cam paign, all the campaigns about Richmond, Petersburg, Five Forks, and others. Lee's surrender at Appomatox brought the war to a close. It is said of General Lee that but few commanders in history have been so quick to detect the purposes of an opponent or so quick to act upon it. Never surpassed, if ever equaled; in the art of winning the passionate, personal love and admiration of his troops, he acquired and held an influ ence over his army to the very last, founded upon a supreme trust in his judgment, pre science and skill, coupled with his cool, stable, equable courage. A great writer has said of him: "As regards the proper meas ure of General Lee's rank among the sol diers of history, seeing what he wrought with such resources as he had, under all the disadvantages that ever attended his oper ations, it is impossible to measure what he might have achieved in campaigns and bat tles with resources at his own disposition equal to those against which he invariably contended." Left at the close of the war without es tate or profession, he accepted the presi dency of Washington College at Lexington, Virginia, where he died October 12, 1870. JOHN JAY, first chief-justice of the United States, was born in New York, December 12, 1745. He took up the study of law, graduated from King's College (Columbia College), and was admitted to the bar in 1768. He was chosen a member of the committee of New York citizens to protest against the enforcement by the British government of the Boston Port Bill, was elected to the Continental congress which met in 1774, and was author of the addresses to the people of Great Britian and of Canada adopted by that and the suc ceeding congress. He was chosen to the provincial assembly of his own state, and 40 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. resigned from the Continental congress to serve in that body, wrote most of its public papers, including the constitution of the new state, and was then made chief-justice. He was again chosen as a member of the Con tinental congress in 1778, and became presi dent of that body. He was sent to Spain as minister in 1780, and his services there resulted in substantial and moral aid for the struggling colonists. Jay, Franklin, and Adams negotiated the treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1782, and Jay was ap pointed secretary of foreign affairs in 1784, and held the position until the adoption of the Federal constitution. During this time he had contributed strong articles to the "Federalist" in favor of the adoption of the constitution, and was largely instru mental in securing the ratification of that instrument by his state. He was appointed by Washington as first chief-justice of the United States in 1789. In this high capac ity the great interstate and international questions that arose for immediate settle ment came before him for treatment. In 1794, at a time when the people in gratitude for the aid that France had ex tended to us, were clamoring for the privilege of going to the aid of that nation in her struggle with Great Britain and her own op pressors, John Jay was sent to England as special envoy to negotiate a treaty with that power. The instrument known as " Jay's Treaty " was the result, and while in many of its features it favored our nation, yet the neutrality clause in it so angered the masses that it was denounced throughout the entire country, and John Jay was burned in effigy in the city of New York. The treaty was finally ratified by Washington, and approved, in August, 1795. Having been elected governor of his state for three consecutive terms, he then retired from active life, declining an appointment as chief-justice of the supreme court, made by John Adams and confirmed by the senate. He died in New York in 1829. PHILLIP HENRY SHERIDAN was one of the greatest American cavalry generals. He was born March 6, 1831, at Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, and was ap pointed to the United States Military Acad emy at West Point, from which he graduat ed and was assigned to the First Infantry as brevet second lieutenant July 1, 1853. After serving in Texas, on the Pacific coast, in Washington and Oregon territories until the fall of 1 86 1, he was recalled to the states and assigned to the army of south west Missouri as chief quartermaster from the duties of which he was soon relieved. After the battle of Pea Ridge, he was quar termaster in the Corinth campaign, and on May 25 he was appointed colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry. On July 1, in command of a cavalry brigade, he defeated a superior force of the enemy and was com missioned brigadier-general of volunteers. General Sheridan was then transferred to the army of the Ohio, and commanded a division in the battle of Perrysville and also did good service at the battle of Murfrees boro, where he was commissioned major- general of volunteers. He fought with great gallantry at Chickamauga, after which Rosecrans was succeeded by General Grant, under whom Sheridan fought the battle of Chattanooga and won additional renown. Upon the promotion of Grant to lieutenant- general, he applied for the transfer of Gen eral Sheridan to the east, and appointed him chief of cavalry in the army of the Potomac. During the campaign of 1864 the cavalry covered the front and flanks of the infantry until May 8, when it was witiv COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 41 ¦drawn and General Sheridan started on a raid against the Confederate lines of com munication with Richmond and on May '25 he rejoined the army, having destroyed con siderable of the confederate stores and de feated their cavalry under General Stuart at Yellow Tavern. The outer line of defences around Richmond were taken, but the sec ond line was too strong to be taken by as sault, and accordingly Sheridan crossed the Chickahominy at Meadow Bridge, reaching james River May 14, and thence by White House and Hanover Court House back to the army. The cavalry occupied Cold Harbor May 3 1 , which they held until the arrival of the infantry. On General Sheri dan's next raid he routed Wade Hampton's cavalry, and August 7 was assigned to the command of the Middle Military division, and during the campaign of the Shenan doah Valley he performed the unheard of feat of " destroying an entire army." He was appointed brigadier-general of the reg ular army and for his victory at Cedar Creek he was promoted to the rank of major-gen eral. General Sheridan started out Febru ary 27, 1865, with ten thousand cavalry and destroyed the Virginia Central Railroad and the James River Canal and joined the army again at Petersburg March 27. He commanded at the battle of Five Forks, the decisive victory which compelled Lee to evacuate Petersburg. On April 9, Lee tried to break through Sheridan's dismounted command but when the General drew aside his cavalry and disclosed the deep lines of infantry the attempt was abandoned. Gen eral Sheridan mounted his men and was about to charge when a white flag was flown at the head of Lee's column which betokened the surrender of the army. After the war Gen eral Sheridan had command of the army of the southwest, of the gulf and the depart ment of Missouri until he was appointed lieutenant-general and assigned to the di vision of Missouri with headquarters at Chi cago, and assumed supreme command of the army November 1, 1883, which post he held until his death, August 5, 1888. PHINEAS T. BARNUM, the greatest showman the world has ever seen, was born at Danbury, Connecticut, July 5, 18 10. At the age of eighteen years he began busi ness on his own account. He opened a re tail fruit and confectionery house, including a barrel of ale, in one part of an old car riage house. He spent fifty dollars in fitting up the store and the stock cost him seventy dollars. Three years later he put in a full stock, such as is generally carried in a country store, and the same year he started a Democratic newspaper, known as the "Herald of Freedom." He soon found himself in jail under a sixty days' sentence for libel. During the winter of 1834-5 he went to New York and began soliciting busi ness for several Chatham street houses. In 1835 he embarked in the show business at Niblo's Garden, having purchased the cele brated " Joice Heth" for one thousand dol lars. He afterward engaged the celebrated athlete, Sig. Vivalia, and Barnum made his ' ' first appearance on any stage, " acting as a "super" to Sig. Vivalia on his opening night. He became ticket seller, secretary and treasurer of Aaron Turner's circus in 1836 and traveled with it about the country. His next venture was the purchase of a steamboat on the Mississippi, and engaged a theatrical company to show in the princi pal towns along that river. In 1-840 he opened Vaux Hall Garden, New. York, with variety performances, and introduced the celebrated jig dancer, John Diamond, to the public. The next year he quit ' the show 42 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. business and settled down in New York as agent of Sear's Pictorial Illustration of the Bible, but a few months later again leased Vaux Hall. In September of the same year he again left the business, and became ' ' puff " writer for the Bowery Amphitheater. In December he bought the Scudder Museum, and a year later introduced the celebrated Tom Thumb to the world, taking him to England in 1 844, and remaining there three years. He then returned to New York, and in 1849, through James Hall Wilson, he en gaged the ' ' Swedish Nightingale, " Jenny Lind, to come to this country and make a tour under his management. He also had sent the Swiss Bell Ringers to America in 1844. He became owner of the Baltimore Museum and the Lyceum and Museum at Philadelphia. In 1850 he brought a dozen elephants from Ceylon to make a tour of this country, and in 185 1 sent the " Bateman Children" to London. During 185 1 and 1852 he traveled as a temperance lecturer, and became president of a bank at Pequon- nock, Connecticut. In 1852 he started a weekly pictorial paper known as the " Illus trated News." In 1865 his Museum was destroyed by fire, and he immediately leased the Winter Garden Theatre, where he played his company until he opened his own Museum. This was destroyed by fire in 1868, and he then purchased an interest in the George Wood Museum. After dipping into politics to some ex tent, he began his career as a really great showman in 1871. Three years later he erected an immense circular building in New York, in which he produced his panoramas. He has frequently appeared as a lecturer, some times on temperance, and some times on other topics, among which were ' ' Hum bugs of the World," "Struggles and Triumphs," etc. He was owner of the im mense menagerie and circus known as the "Greatest Show on Earth," and his fame extended throughout Europe and America. He died in 1891. JAMES MADISON, the fourth president of the United States, 1809-17, was born at Port Conway, Prince George coun ty, Virginia, March 16, 1751. He was the son of a wealthy planter, who lived on a fine estate called " Montpelier," which was but twenty-five miles from Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Madison was the eldest of a family of seven children, all of whom attained maturity. He received his- early education at home under a private tutor, and consecrated himself with unusual vigor to study. At a very early age he was a proficient scholar in Latin, Greek, French and Spanish, and in 1769 he entered Prince ton College, New Jersey. He graduated in 1 77 1, but remained for several months after his graduation to pursue a course of study under the guidance of Dr. Witherspoon. He permanently injured his health at this. time and returned to Virginia in 1772, and' for two years he was immersed in the study of law, and at the same time made extend ed researches in theology, general literature, and philosophical studies. He then directed his full attention to the impending struggle of the colonies for independence, and also took a prominent part in the religious con troversy at that time regarding so called persecution of other religious denominations by the Church of England. Mr. Madison was elected to the Virginia assembly in 1776 and in November, 1777, he was chosen a member of the council of state. He took his seat in the continental congress in March, 1780. He was made chairman of the committee on foreign relations, and drafted an able memoranda for the use of COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 43 the American ministers to the French and Spanish governments, that established the claims of the republic to the territories be tween the Alleghany Mountains and the Mississippi River. He acted as chairman of the ways and means committee in 1783 and as a member of the Virginia legislature in 1784-86 he rendered important services to the state. Mr- Madison represented Vir- giana in the national constitutional conven tion at Philadelphia in 1787, and was one of the chief framers of the constitution. He was a member of the first four congresses, 1789-97, and gradually became identified with the anti-federalist or republican party of which he eventually became the leader. He remained in private life during the ad ministration of John Adams, and was secre tary of state under President Jefferson. Mr. Madison administered the affairs of that post with such great ability that he was the natural successor of the chief magistrate and was chosen president by an electoral vote of 122 to 53. He was inaugurated March 4, 1809, at that critical period in our history when the feelings of the people were embittered with those of England, and his first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels, which finally resulted in the declaration of war, June 18, 1812. In the autumn of that year President Madison was re-elected by a vote of 128 to 89, and conducted the war for three years with varying success and defeat in Canada, by glorious victories at sea, and by the battle of New Orleans that was fought after the treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent, December 24, 1814. During this war the national capitol at Washington was burned, and many valuable papers were destroyed, but the declaration of independence was saved to the country by the bravery and courage of Mr. Madi son's illustrious wife. A commercial treaty was negotiated with Great Britain in 181 5, and in April, 18 16, a national bank was in corporated by congress. Mr. Madison was succeeded, March 4, 18 17, by James Monroe, and retired into private life on his estate at Montpelier, where he died June 28, 1836. FREDERICK DOUGLASS, a noted American character, was a protege of the great abolitionist, William Lloyd Garri son, by whom he was aided in gaining his education. Mr. Douglass was born in Tuck- ahoe county, Maryland, in February, 181 7, his mother being a negro woman and his father a white man. He was born in slav ery and belonged to a man by the name of Lloyd, under which name he went until he ran away from his master and changed it to Douglass. At the age of ten years he was sent to Baltimore where he learned to read and write, and later his owner allowed him to hire out his own time for three dollars a week in a shipyard. In September, 1838, he fled from Baltimore and made his way to New York, and from thence went to New Bedford, Massachusetts. Here he was mar ried and supported himself and family by working at the wharves and in various work shops. In the summer of 1841 he attended an anti-slavery convention at Nantucket, and made a speech which was so well re ceived that he was offered the agency of the Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society. In this capacity he traveled through the New En gland states, and about the same time he published his first book called ' ' Narrative of my Experience in Slavery. " Mr. DougT lass went to England in 1845 and lectured on slavery to large and enthusiastic audi ences in all the large towns of the country, and his friends made up a purse of seven, hundred and fifty dollars and purchased his freedom in due form of law. 44 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. Mr. Douglass applied himself to the de livery of lyceum lectures after the abolition of slavery, and in 1.870 he became the editor of the " New National Era " in Washington. In 1 871 he was appointed assistant secretary of the commission to San Domingo and on his return he was appointed one of the ter ritorial council for the District of Colorado by President Grant. He was elected presi dential elector-at-large for the state of New York and was appointed to carry the elect oral vote to Washington. He was also United States marshal for the District of Columbia in 1 876, and later was recorder of deeds for the same, from which position he was removed by President Cleveland in 1886. In the fall of that year he visited England to inform the friends that he had made while, there, of the progress of the colored race in America, and on his return he was appointed minister to Hayti, by President Harrisdn in 1889. His career as a benefactor , of his race was closed by his death in February, 1895, near Washington. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.— The ear for rhythm and the talent for graceful expression are the gifts of nature, and they were plentifully endowed on the above named poet. The principal charac teristic of his poetry is the thoughtfulness and intellectual process by which his ideas ripened in his mind, as all his poems are bright, clear and sweet. Mr. Bryant was 'born November 3, 1794, at Cummington, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, and was educated, at Williams College, from which he graduated, having; entered it in 1810. He took up the study of law, and in 181 5 was admitted to the bar, but after practicing successfully for ten years at Plainfield and Great Barrington, he removed to New York in 1825. The following year he became the editor of the ' ' Evening Post, " which he edited until his death, and under his di rection . this paper maintained, through a long series of years, a high standing by the boldness of its protests against slavery be fore the war, by its vigorous support of the government during the war, and by the fidelity and ability of its advocacy of the Democratic freedom in trade. Mr. Bry ant visited Europe in 1834, 1845, 1849 and 1857, and presented to the literary world the fruit of his travels in the series of "Let ters of a Traveler," and "Letters from Spain and Other Countries." In the world of literature he is known chiefly as a poet, and here Mr. Bryant's name is illustrious, both at home and abroad. He contributed verses to the "Country Gazette " before he was ten years of age, and at the age of nine teen he wrote ' ' Thanatopsis, " the most im pressive and widely known of his poems. The later outgrowth of his genius was his translation of Homer's "Iliad" in 1870 and the "Odyssey" in 1871. He also made several speeches and addresses which have been collected in a comprehensive vol ume called " Orations arid Addresses." He was honored in many ways by his fellow citizens, who delighted to pay tributes of respect to his literary eminence, the breadth of his public spirit, the faithfulness of his service, and the worth of his private char acter. Mr. Bryant died in New York City June 12, 1878. WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD, the secretary of state during one of the most critical times in the history of our country, and the right hand man of Presi dent Lincoln, ranks among the greatest statesmen America has produced. Mr. Seward was born May 16, 1 801, at Florida, Orange county, New York, and with such COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 47 facilities as the place afforded he fitted him self for a college course. He attended Union College at Schenectady, New York, at the age of fifteen, and took his degree in the regular course, with signs of promise in 1820, after which he diligently addressed himself to the study of law under competent instructors, and started in the practice of his profession in 1823. Mr. Seward entered the political arena and in 1828 we find him presiding over a convention in New York, its purpose being the nomination of John Quincy Adams for a second term. He was married in 1824 and in -1830 was elected to the state senate. From 1838 to 1842 he was governor of the state of New York. Mr. Seward's next im portant position was that of United States senator from New York. W. H. Seward was chosen by President Lincoln to fill the important office of the secretary of state, and by his firmness and diplomacy in the face of difficulties, he aided in piloting the Union through that period of strife, and won an everlasting fame. This .great statesman died at Auburn, New York, October 1,0, 1872, in the seventy-second year of his eventful life. JOSEPH JEFFERSON, a name as dear as it is familiar to the theater-going world in America, suggests first of all a fun- loving, drink-loving, mellow voiced, good- natured Dutchman, and the name of "Rip Van Winkle " suggests the pleasant features of Joe Jefferson, so intimately are play and player associated in the minds of those who have had the good fortune to shed tears of laughter and sympathy as a tribute to the greatness of his art. Joseph Jefferson was born in Philadelphia, February 20, 1829. His genius was an inheritance, if there be .such, as his great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson, was a manager and actor in Eng land. ' His grandfather, Joseph Jefferson, was the most popular comedian of the New York stage in his time, and his father, Jos eph Jefferson, the second, was a good actor also, but the third Joseph Jefferson out shone them alL At the age of three years Joseph Jeffer son came on the stage as the child in "Pi zarro," and his training was upon the stage from childhood. Later on he lived and acted in Chicago, Mobile, and Texas. After repeated misfortunes he returned to New Orleans from Texas, and his brother-in-law, Charles Burke, gave him money to reach Philadelphia, where he joined the Burton theater company. Here his genius soon as serted itself, and his future became promis ing and brilliant. His engagements through out the United States and Australia were generally successful, and when he went to England in 1865 Mr. Boucicault consented to make some important changes in his dramatization of Irving's story of Rip Van Winkle, and Mr. Jefferson at once placed it in the front rank as a comedy. He made a fortune out of it, and played nothing else for many years. In later years, however, Mr. Jefferson acquitted himself of the charge of being a one-part actor, and the parts of "Bob Acres," "Caleb Plummer" and "Golightly " all testify to the versatility of his genius. GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN, a no,ted American general, was born ih Philadelphia, December 3, 1826. He graduated from the University of Pennsyl vania, and in 1846 from West Point, and was breveted second lieutenant of engineers. He was with Scott in the Mexican war, taking part in all the engagements 4vom Vera Cruz to the final capture of the Mexir 48 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. can capital, and was breveted first lieuten ant and captain for gallantry displayed on various occasions. In 1857 he resigned his commission and accepted the position of chief engineer in the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad, and became presi dent of the St. Louis & Cincinnati Railroad Company. He was commissioned major- general by the state of Ohio in 1861, placed in command of the department of the Ohio, and organized the first volunteers called for from that state. In May he was appointed major-general in the United States army, and ordered to disperse the confederates overrunning West Virginia. He accomplished this task promptly, and received the thanks of congress. After the first disaster at Bull Run he was placed in command of the department of Wash ington, and a few weeks later of the Army of the Potomac. Upon retirement of General Scott the command of the en tire United States army devolved upon Mc Clellan, but he was relieved of it within a few months. In March, 1862, after elabor ate preparation, he moved upon Manassas, only to find it deserted by the Confederate army, which had been withdrawn to im pregnable defenses prepared nearer Rich mond. He then embarked his armies for Fortress Monroe and after a long delay at Yorktown, began the disastrous Peninsular campaign, which resulted in the Army of the Potomac being cooped up on the James River below Richmond. His forces were then called to the support of General Pope, near Washington, and he was left without an army. After Pope's defeat McClellan was •placed in command of the troops for the de fense of the capital, and after a thorough or ganization he followed Lee into Maryland and the battles of Antietam and South Moun tain ensued. The delay which followed caused general dissatisfaction, and he was re lieved of his command, and retired from active service. In 1864 McClellan was nominated for the presidency by the Democrats, and over whelmingly defeated by Lincoln, three states only casting their electoral votes for McClellan. On election day he resigned his commission and a few months later went to Europe where he spent several years. He wrote a number of military text- books and reports. His death occurred October 29, 1885. SAMUEL J. TILDEN. — Among the great statesmen whose names adorn the pages of American history may be found that of the subject of this sketch. Known as a lawyer of highest ability, his greatest claim to immortality will ever lie in his successful battle against the corrupt rings of his native state and the elevation of the standard of official life. Samuel J. Tilden was born in New Leb anon, New York, February 9, 18 14. He pursued his academic studies at Yale Col lege and the University of New York, tak ing the course of law at the latter. He was admitted to the bar in 1841. His rare ability as a thinker and writer upon public topics attracted the attention of President Van Buren, of whose policy and adminis tration he became an active and efficient champion. He made for himself a high place in his profession and amassed quite a fortune as the result of his industry and judgment. During the days of his greatest professional labor he was ever one of the leaders and trusted counsellors of the Demo cratic party. He was a member of the conventions to revise the state constitution, both in 1846 and 1867, and served two- terms in the lower branch of the state leg- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 49' islatur'e. He was one of the controlling spirits in the overthrow of the notorious "Tweed ring" and the reformation of the government of the city of New York. In 1874 he was elected governor of the state of New York. While in this position he assailed corruption in high places, success fully battling with the iniquitous "canal ring " and crushed its sway over all depart ments of the government. Recognizing his character and executive ability Mr. Tilden was nominated for president by the na tional Democratic convention in 1876. At the election he received a much larger popu lar vote than his opponent, and 184 uncon tested electoral votes. There being some electoral votes contested, a commission ap pointed by congress decided in favor of the Republican electors and Mr. Hayes, the can didate of that party was declared elected. In 1880, the Democratic party, feeling that Mr. Tilden had been lawfully elected to the presidency tendered the nomination for the same office to Mr. Tilden) but he declined, retiring from all public functions, owing to failing health. He died August 4, 1886. By will he bequeathed several millions of dollars toward the founding of public libra ries in New York City, Yonkers, etc. NOAH WEBSTER.— As a scholar, law yer, author and journalist, there is no one who stands on a higher plane, or whose reputation is better established than the honored gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He was a native of West Hartford, Connecticut, and was born October 17, 1758. He came of an old New England family, his mother being a descendant of Governor William Bradford, of the Ply mouth colony. After acquiring a solid edu cation in early life Dr. Webster entered Yale College, from which he graduated in 1778. For a while he taught school in Hartford, at the same time studying law, and was admitted to the bar in 1781. He taught a classical school at Goshen, Orange county, New York, in 1782-83, and while there prepared his spelling book, grammar and reader, which was issued under the title- of "A Grammatical Institute of the English Language," in three parts, — so successful a work that up to 1876 something like forty million of the spelling books had been sold. In 1786 he delivered a course of lec tures on the English language in the seaboard cities and the following year taught an academy at Philadelphia. From December 17, 1787, until November, 1788, he edited^ the "American Magazine," a periodical that proved unsuccessful. In 1789-93 he prac ticed law in Hartford having in the former year married the daughter of William Green leaf, of Boston. He returned to New York. and November, 1793, founded a daily paper, the "Minerva," to which was soon added a semi-weekly edition under the name of the " Herald. " The former is still in existence under the name of the " Commercial Adver tiser." In this paper, over the signature of ' ' Curtius , " he published a lengthy and schol arly defense of "John Jay's treaty." In 1798, Dr. Webster moved to New- Haven and in 1807 commenced the prepar ation of his great work, the ' ' American Dic tionary of the English Language," which was not completed and published until 1828. He made his home in Amherst, Massachu setts, for the ten years succeeding 18 12, and was instrumental in the establishment of Amherst College, of which institution he was- the first president of the board of trustees. During 1824-5 he resided in Europe, pursu ing his philological studies in Paris. He completed his dictionary from the libraries- of Cambridge University , in 1825, and de- 50 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. voted his leisure for the remainder of his life to the revision of that and his school books. Dr. Webster was a member of the legis latures of both Connecticut and Massachu setts, was judge of one of the courts of the former state and was identified with nearly all the literary and scientific societies in the neighborhood of Amherst College. He died in New Haven, May 28, 1843. Among the more prominent works ema nating from the fecund pen of Dr. Noah Webster besides those mentioned above are the following: "Sketches of American Policy," "Winthrop's Journal," " A Brief History of Epidemics," " Rights of Neutral Nations in time of War," "A Philosophical and Practical Grammar of the English Lan guage," "Dissertations on the English Language," "A Collection of Essays," "The Revolution in France," "Political Progress of Britain," "Origin, History, and Connection of the Languages of Western Asia and of Europe," and many others. WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, the great anti-slavery pioneer and leader, was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, December 12, 1804. He was apprenticed to the printing business, and in 1828 was in duced to take charge of the "Journal of the Times" at Bennington, Vermont. While supporting John Quincy Adams for the presi dency he took occasion in that paper to give expression of his views on slavery. These articles attracted notice, and a Quaker named Lundy, editor of the "Genius of Emancipation," published in Baltimore, in duced him to enter a partnership with him for the conduct «• of his paper. It soon transpired that the views of the partners were not in harmony, Lundy favoring grad ual emancipation, while Garrison favored immediate freedom. In 1850 Mr. Garrison was thrown into prison for libel, not being able to pay a fine of fifty dollars and costs: In his cell he wrote a number of poems which stirred the entire north, and a mer chant, Mr. Tappan, of New York, paid his fine and liberated him, after seven weeks of confinement. He at once began a lecture tour of the northern cities, denouncing slavery as a sin before God, and demanding its immediate abolition in the name of re ligion and humanity. He opposed the col onization scheme of President Monroe and other leaders, and declared the right of every slave to immediate freedom. In 1 83 1 he formed a partnership with Isaac Knapp, and began the publication of the "Liberator" at Boston. The "imme diate abolition " idea began to gather power in the north, while the south became alarmed at the bold utterance of this jour nal. The mayor of Boston was besought by southern influence to interfere, and upon investigation, reported upon the insignifi^ cance, obscurity, and poverty of the editor and his staff, which report was widely published throughout the country. Re wards were offered by the southern states for his arrest and conviction. Later Garri son brought from England, where an eman cipation measure had just been passed, some of the great advocates to work for the cause in this country. In 1835 a mob broke into his office, broke up a meeting of women, dragged Garrison through the street with a rope around his body, and his life was saved only by the interference of the police, who lodged him in jail. Garrison declined to sit in the World's Anti-Slavery convention at London in 1840, because that body had refused women representa tion. He opposed the formation of apo litical party with emancipation as its basis. COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 51 He favored a dissolution of the union, and declared the constitution which bound the free states to the slave states ' ' A covenant with death and an agreement with hell." In 1 843 he became president of the Amer ican Anti-Slavery society, which position he held until 1865, when slavery was no more. During all this time the " Liberator" had continued to promulgate anti-slavery doc trines, but in 1865 Garrison resigned his position, and declared his work was com pleted. He died May 24, 1879. JOHN BROWN ("Brown of Ossawato mie"), a noted character in American history, wasbornatTorrington, Connecticut, May 9, 1800. In his childhood he removed to Ohio, where he learned the tanner's trade. He married there, and in 1855 set tled in Kansas. He lived at the village of Ossawatomie in that state, and there began his fight against slavery. He advocated im mediate emancipation, and held that the negroes of the slave states merely waited for a leader in an insurrection that would re sult in their freedom. He attended the convention called at Chatham, Canada, in 1859, and was the leading spirit in organiz ing a raid upon the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. His plans were well laid, and carried out in great secrecy. He rented a farm house near Harper's Ferry in the summer of 1859, and on October 16th of that year, with about twenty follow ers, he surprised and captured the United States arsenal, with all its supplies and arms. To his surprise, the negroes did not come to his support, and the next day he was attacked by the Virginia state militia, wounded and captured. He was tried in the courts of the state, convicted, and was hanged at Charlestown, December 2, 1859. The raid and its results had a tremendous effect, and hastened the culmination of the troubles between the north and south. The south had the advantage in discussing this event, claiming that the sentiment which inspired this act of violence was shared by the anti-slavery element of the country. EDWIN BOOTH had no peer upon the American stage during, his long career as a star actor. He was the son of a famous actor, Junius Brutus Booth, and was born in 1833 at his father's home at Belair, neaf Baltimore. At the age of sixteen he made his first appearance on the stage, at the Boston Museum, in a minor part in " Richard III." It was while playing in California in 1851 that an eminent critic called general atten tion to the young actor's unusual talent. However, it was not until 1863, at the great Shakspearian revival at the Winter Garden Theatre, New York, that the brilliancy of his career began. His Hamlet held the boards for 100 nights in succession, and from that time forth Booth's reputation was established. In 1868 he. opened his own theatre (Booth's Theater) in New York. Mr. Booth never succeeded as a manager, however, but as an actor he was undoubted ly the most popular man on the American stage, and perhaps the most eminent one in the world. In England he also won the greatest applause. Mr. Booth's work was confined mostly to Shakspearean roles, and his art was- characterized by intellectual acuteness, fervor, and poetic feeling. His Hamlet, Richard II, Richard III, and Richelieu gave play to his greatest powers. In 1865., when his brother, John Wilkes Booth, enacted his great crime, Edwin Booth re solved to retire from the stage, but was pur- suaded to reconsider that decision. The odium did not in any way attach to the 52 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. :great actor, and his popularity was not affected. In all his work Mr. Booth clung -closely to the legitimate and the traditional in drama, making no experiments, and offer ing little encouragement to new dramatic authors. His death occurred in New York, June 7, 1894. JOSEPH HOOKER, a noted American officer, was born at Hadley, Massachu setts, November 13, 18 14. He graduated from West Point Military Academy in 1837, and was appointed lieutenant of artillery. He served in Florida in the Seminole war, and in garrison until the outbreak of the Mexican war. During the latter he saw service as a staff officer and was breveted captain, major and lieutenant-colonel for gallantry at Monterey, National Bridge and Chapultepec. Resigning his commission in 1833 he took up farming in California, which he followed until 1861. During this time he acted as superintendent of military roads in Oregon. At the outbreak of the Rebel lion Hooker tendered his services to the government, and, May 17, 1861, was ap pointed brigadier-general of volunteers. He served in the defence of Washington and on the lower Potomac until his appointment to the command of a division in the Third Corps, in March, 1862. For gallant con duct at the siege of Yorktown and in the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Fra- zier's Farm and Malvern Hill he was made major-general. At the head of his division he participated in the battles of Manassas and Chantilly. September 6, 1862, he was placed at the head of the First Corps, and in the battles of South Mountain and An tietam acted with his usual gallantry, being wounded in the latter engagement. On re joining the army in November he Was made brigadier-general in the regular army. On General Burnside attaining the command of the Army of the Potomac General Hooker was placed in command of the center grand division, consisting of the Second and Fifth Corps. At the head of these gallant men he participated in the battle of Fred ericksburg, December 13, 1862. In Janu ary, 1863, General Hooker assumed com mand of the Army of the Potomac, and in May following fought the battle of Chan cellorsville. At the time of the invasion of Pennsylvania, owing to a dispute with Gen eral Halleck, Hooker requested to be re lieved of his command, and June 28 was succeeded by George G. Meade. In Sep tember, 1863, General Hooker was given command of the Twentieth Corps and trans ferred to the Army of the Cumberland, and distinguished himself at the battles of Look out Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Ring gold. In the Atlanta campaign he saw almost daily service and merited his well- known nickname of "Fighting Joe." July 30, 1864, at his own request, he was re lieved of his command. He subsequently was in command of several military depart ments in the north, and in October, 1868, was retired with the full rank of major-gen eral. He died October 3 1 , 1879. JAY GOULD, one of the greatest finan ciers that the world has ever produced. was born May 27, 1836, at Roxbury, Dela ware county, New York. He spent his early years on his father's farm and at the age of fourteen entered Hobart Academy, New York, and kept books for the village black smith. He acquired a taste for mathematics and surveying and on leaving school found employment in making the surveyor's map of Ulster county. He surveyed very exten sively in the state and accumulated five thou sand dollars as the fruits of his labor. He COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 53 was then stricken with typhoid fever but re covered and made the acquaintance of one Zadock Pratt, who sent him into the west ern part of the state to locate a site for a tannery. He chose a fine hemlock grove, built a sawmill and blacksmith shop and was soon doing a large lumber business with Mr. Pratt. Mr. Gould soon secured control of the entire plant, which he sold out just before the panic of 1857 and in this year he became the largest stockholderinthe Strouds- burg, Pennsylvania, bank. Shortly after the crisis he bought the bonds of the Rutland & Washington Railroad at ten cents on the dollar, and put all his money into railroad securities. For a long time he conducted this road which he consolidated with the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad. In 1859 he removed to New York and became a heavy investor in Erie Railroad stocks, en tered that company and was president until its reorganization in 1872. In December, 1880, Mr. Gould was in control of ten thou sand miles, of railroad. In 1887 he pur chased the controlling interest in the St. Louis & San Francisco Railroad Co., and was a joint owner with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Co. of the western portion of the Southern Pacific line. Other lines soon came under his control, aggregat ing thousand of miles, and he soon was rec ognized as one of the world's greatest rail road magnates. He continued to hold his place as one of the master financiers of the century until the time of his death which occurred December 2, 1892. THOMAS HART BENTON, a very prominent United States senator and statesman, was born at Hillsborough, North Carolina, March 14, 1782. He removed to Tennessee in early life, studied law, and be gan to practice at Nashville about 18 10. During the war of 1812-1815 he served as colonel of a Tennessee regiment under Gen eral Andrew Jackson. In 1 8 1 5 he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and in 1820 was chosen United States senator for that state. Having been re-elected in 1826, he sup ported President Jackson in his opposition to the United States bank and advocated a gold and silver currency, thus gaining the name of " Old Bullion," by which he was familiarly known. For many years he was the most prominent man in Missouri, and, took rank among the greatest statesmen of his day. He was a member of the senate for thirty years and opposed the extreme states' rights policy of John C. Calhoun. In 1852 he was elected to the house of rep resentatives in which he opposed the repeal of the Missouri compromise. He was op^ posed by a powerful party of States' Rights Democrats in Missouri, who defeated him as a candidate for governor of that state in 1856. Colonel Benton published a considerable work in two volumes in 1854-56, entitled • ' Thirty Years' View, or a History of the Working of the American Government for Thirty Years, 1820-50." He died April 10, 1858. STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS.— One of the most prominent figures in politic al circles during the intensely exciting days that preceded the war, and a leader of the Union branch of the Democratic party was the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He was born at Brandon, Rutland coun-', ty, Vermont, April 23, 1813, of poor but respectable parentage. His father, a prac ticing physician, died while our subject was but • an infant, and his mother, with two small children and but small means, could give him but the rudiments of an education. 54 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. At the age of fifteen young Douglas engaged at work in the cabinet making business to raise funds to carry him through college. After a few years of labor he was enabled to pursue an academical course, first at Bran don, and later at Canandaigua, New York. In the latter place he remained until 1833, taking up the study of law. Before he was twenty, however, his funds running low, he abandoned all further attempts at educa tion, determining to enter at once the battle of life. After some wanderings through the western states he took up his residence at Jacksonville, Illinois, where, after teaching school for three months, he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in 1834. Within a year from that time, so rapidly'had he risen in his profession, he was chosen attorney general of the state, and warmly espoused the principles of the Democratic party. He soon became one of the most popular orators in Illinois. It was at this time he gained tbe name of the "Little Giant." In 1835 he resigned the position of attorney general having been elected to the legislature. In 1841 he was chosen judge of the supreme court of Illinois which he resigned two years later to take a seat in congress. It was during this period of his life, while a member of the lower house, that he established his reputation and took the side of those who contended that con gress had no constitutional right to restrict the extension of slavery further than the agreement between the states made in 1820. This, in spite of his being opposed to slav ery, and only on grounds which he believed to be right, favored what was called the Missouri compromise. In 1847 Mr. Doug las was chosen United States senator for six years, and greatly distinguished himself. In 1852 he was re-elected to the same office. During this latter term, under his leader ship, the " Kansas-Nebraska bill " was car ried in the senate. In 1858,. nothwith- standing the fierce contest made by his able competitor for the position, Abraham Lin coln, and with the administration of Bu chanan arrayed against him, Mr. Douglas was re-elected senator. After the trouble in the Charleston convention, when by the withdrawal of several state delegates with out a nomination, the Union Democrats, in convention at Baltimore, in i860, nomi nated Mr. Douglas as their candidate for presidency. The results of this election are well known and the great events of 186.1 coming on, Mr. Douglas was spared their full development, dying at Chicago, Illinois, June 3, 1 86 1, after a short illness. His last words to his children were, ' ' to obey the laws and support the constitution of the United States." JAMES MONROE, fifth president of the United States, was born in Westmore land county, Virginia, April 28, 1758. At the age of sixteen he entered William and Mary College, but two years later the Declaration of Independence having been adopted, he left college and hastened to New York where he joined Washington's army as a military cadet. At the battle of Trenton Monroe per formed gallant service and received a wound in the shoulder, and was promoted to a captaincy. He acted as aide to Lord Ster ling at the battles of Brandywine, German- town and Monmouth. Washington then sent him to Virginia to raise a new regiment of which he was to be colonel. The ex hausted condition of Virginia made this im possible, but he received his commission. He next entered the law office of Thomas Jefferson to study law, as there Was no open ing for him as an officer in the army. In COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 55 1782 he was elected to the Virginia assem bly, and the next year he was elected to the Continental congress. Realizing the inade quacy of the old articles of confederation, he advocated the calling of a convention to consider their revision, and introduced in congress a resolution empowering congress to regulate trade, lay import duties, etc. This resolution was referred to a committee, of which he was chairman, and the report led to the Annapolis convention, which called a general convention to meet at Phila delphia in 1787, when the constitution was drafted. Mr. Monroe began the practice of law at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was soon after elected to the legislature, and ap pointed as one of the committee to pass upon the adoption of the constitution. He Opposed it, as giving too much power to the central government. He was elected to the United States senate in 1789, where he allied himself with the Anti-Federalists or ' ' Republicans, " as they were sometimes called. Although his views as to neutrality between France and England were directly opposed to those of the president, yet Wash ington appointed him minister to France. His popularity in France was so great that the antagonism of England and her friends in this country brought about his recall. He then became governor of Virginia. He was sent as envoy to France in 1802; minister to England in 1803; and envoy to Spain in 1805. The next year he returned to his estate in Virginia, and with an ample in heritance enjoyed a few years of repose. He was again called to be governor of Virginia, and was then appointed secretary of state by President Madison. The war with Eng land soon resulted, and 'when the capital was burned by the British, Mr. Monroe be came secretary of war also, and planned the measures for the defense of New Orleans. The treasury being exhausted and credit gone, he pledged his own estate, and thereby made possible the victory of Jackson at New Orleans. In 1 8 17 Mr. Monroe became president of the United States, having been a candi date of the "Republican" party, which at that time had begun to be called the ' ' Demo cratic" party. In 1820 he was re-elected, having two hundred and thirty-one electoral votes out of two hundred and thirty-two. His administration is known as the "Era of good-feeling," and party lines were almost wiped out. The slavery question began to assume importance at this time, and the; Missouri Compromise was passed. The: famous ' ' Monroe Doctrine " originated in a. great state paper of President Monroe upon the rumored interference of the Holy Alli ance to prevent the formation of free repub lics in South America. President Monroe acknowledged their independence, and pro mulgated his great "Doctrine," which has been held in reverence since. Mr. Monroe's- death occurred in New York on July 4, 1831- THOMAS ALVA EDISON, the master wizard of electrical science and whose name is synonymous with the subjugation of electricity to the service of man, was born in 1 847 at Milan, Ohio, and it was at Port Huron, Michigan, whither his parents had moved in 1854, that his self-education began — for he never attended school for more than two months. He eagerly de voured every book he could lay his hands on and is said to have read through an encyclo pedia without missing a word. At thirteen he began his working life as a trainboy upon the Grand Trunk Railway between Port Huron and Detroit. Much of his time was now spent in Detroit, where he found increased facilities for reading at the public libraries.. 56 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. He was not content to be a newsboy, so he got together three hundred pounds of type and started the issue of the " Grand Trunk Herald." It was only a small amateur weekly, printed on one side, the impression being made from the type by hand. Chemi cal research was his next undertaking and a laboratory, was added to his movable pub lishing house, which, by the way, was an old freight car. One day, however, as he Was experimenting with some phosphorus, it ignited and the irate conductor threw the young seeker after the truth, chemicals and all, from the train. His office and laboratory were then removed to the cellar of his fa ther's house. As he grew to manhood he decided to become an operator. He won his opportunity by saving the life of a child, Whose father was an old operator, and out of gratitude he gave Mr. Edison lessons in teleg raphy. Five months later he was compe tent to fill a position in the railroad office at Port Huron. Hence he peregrinated to Stratford, Ontario, and thence successively to Adrian, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Cin cinnati, Memphis, Louisville and Boston, gradually becoming an expert operator and gaining experience that enabled him to evolve many ingenious ideas for the im provement of telegraphic appliances. At Memphis he constructed an automatic re peater, which enabled Louisville and New Orleans to communicate direct, and received nothing more than the thanks of his em ployers. Mr. Edison came to New York in 1 870 in search of an opening more suitable to his capabilities and ambitions. He hap pened to be in the office of the Laws Gold Reporting Company when one of the in struments got out of order, and even the inventor of the system could not make it work. Edison requested to be allowed to attempt the task, and in a few minutes he had overcome the difficulty and secured an advantageous engagement. For several years he had a contract with the Western Union and the Gold Stock companies, whereby he received a large salary, besides a special price for all telegraphic improve ments he could suggest. Later, as the head of the Edison General Electric com pany, with its numerous subordinate organ izations and connections all over the civil ized world, he became several times a millionaire. Mr. Edison invented the pho nograph and kinetograph which bear his name, the carbon telephone, the tasimeter, and the duplex and quadruplex systems of telegraphy. JAMES LONGSTREET, one of the most conspicuous of the Confederate generals during the Civil war, was born in 1 820, in South Carolina, but was early taken by his parents to Alabama where he grew to man hood and received his early education. He graduated at the United States military academy in 1842, entering the army as lieutenant and spent a few years in the fron tier service. When the Mexican war broke out he was called to the front and partici pated in all the principal battles of that war up to the storming of Chapultepec, where he received severe wounds. For gallant conduct at Contreras, Cherubusco, and Mo lino del Rey he received the brevets of cap tain and major. After the close of the Mexican war Longstreet served as adjutant and captain on frontier service in Texas un til 1858 when he was transferred to the staff as paymaster with rank of major. In June, 1 86 1, he resigned to join the Confederacy and immediately went to the front, com manding a brigade at Bull Run the follow ing month. Promoted to be major-general in 1862 he thereafter bore a conspicuous COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 5v «part and rendered valuable service to the Confederate cause.' He participated in many of the most severe battles of the Civil war including Bull Run (first and second), Seven Pjnes, Gaines' Mill, Fraziers Farm, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Frederickburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, the Wilderness, Petersburg and most of the fighting about Richmond. When the war closed General Long- street accepted the result, renewed his alle giance to the government, and thereafter labored earnestly to obliterate all traces of war and promote an era of good feeling be tween all sections of the country. He took up his residence in New Orleans, and took an active interest and prominent part in public affairs, served as surveyor of that port for several years; was commissioner of ¦engineers for Louisiana, served four years as school commissioner, etc. In 1875 he was appointed supervisor of internal revenue and settled in Georgia. After that time he served four years as United States minister to Turkey, and also for a number of years was United States marshal of Georgia, be sides having held other important official positions. JOHN RUTLEDGE, the second chief- justice of the United States, was born at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1739. He was a son of John Rutledge, who had left Ireland for America about five years prior to the birth of our subject, and a brother of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. John Rut ledge received his legal education at the Temple, London, after which he returned to Charleston and soon won distinction at the bar. He was elected to the old Colonial congress in 1765 to protest against the -"Stamp Act," and was a member of the South Carolina convention of 1774, and of the Continental congress of that and the succeeding year. In 1776 he was chairman of the committee that draughted the con stitution of his state, and was president of the congress of that state. He was not pleased with the State constitution, how ever, and resigned. .In 1779 he was again chosen governor of the state, and granted extraordinary powers, and he at once took the field to repel the British. He joined the army of General Gates in 1782, and the same year was elected to congress. He was a member of the constitutional ¦ con vention which framed our present constitu tion. In 1789 he was appointed an associate justice of the first supreme court of the United States. He resigned to accept the position of chief-justice of his own state. Upon the resignation of Judge Jay7 he was appointed chief-justice of the United States in 1795. The appointment was never con firmed, for, after presiding at one session, his mind became deranged, and he was suc ceeded by Judge Ellsworth. He died at Charleston, July 23, 1800. RALPH WALDO EMERSON was one of the. most noted, literary men of his time. He was born in Boston, Massachu setts, May 25, 1803. He had a minister for an ancestor, either on the paternal or ma ternal side, in every generation for eight generations back. His father, Rev. Will iam Emerson, was a native of Concord, Massachusetts, born May 6, 1769, graduated at Harvard, in 1789, became a Unitarian minister; was a fine writer and one of the best orators of his day; died in 181 1. Ralph Waldo Emerson was fitted for college at the public schools of Boston, and graduatedat Harvard College in 1821, win ning about this time several prizes for es- 58 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. says. For five years he taught school in Boston; in 1826 was licensed to preach, and in 1829 was ordained as a colleague to Rev. Henry Ware of the Second Unitarian church in Boston. In 1832 he resigned, making the announcement in a sermon of his un willingness longer to administer the rite of vhe Lord's Supper, after which he spent about a year in Europe. Upon his return he began his career as a lecturer before the Boston Mechanics Institute, his subject be ing "Water." His early lectures on " Italy" and "Relation of Man to the Globe " also attracted considerable attention; as did also his biographical lectures on Michael Angelo, Milton, Luther, George Fox, and Edmund Burke. After that time he gave many courses of lectures in Boston and became one of the best known lecturers in America. But very'few men have rendered such con tinued service in this field. He lectured for forty successive seasons before the Salem, Massachusetts, Lyceum and also made re peated lecturing tours in this country and in England. In 1835 Mr. Emerson took up his residence at Concord, Massachusetts, where he continued to make his home until his death which occurred April 27, 1882. Mr. Emerson's literary work covered a wide scope. He wrote and published many works, essays and poems, which rank high among the works of American literary men. A few of the many which he produced are the following: "Nature;" "The Method of Nature;" " Man Thinking;" "The Dial;" "Essays;" "Poems;" "English Traits;" "The Conduct of Life;" "May-Day and other Poems " and " Society and Solitude;" besides many others. He was a prominent member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, of the American Philosophical Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society and other kindred associations. ALEXANDER T. STEWART, one of the famous merchant princes of New York, was born near the city of Belfast, Ire land, in 1803, and before he was eight years of age was left an orphan without any near relatives, save an aged grandfather. The grandfather being a pious Methodist wanted to make a minister of young Stewart, and accordingly put him in a school with that end in view and he graduated at Trinity Col lege, in Dublin. When scarcely twenty years of age he came to New York. His- first employment was that of a teacher, but accident soon made him a merchant. En tering into business relations with an ex perienced man of his acquaintance he soon found himself with the rent of a store on his hands and alone in a new enterprise. Mr. Stewart's business grew rapidly in all directions, but its founder had executive- ability sufficient for any and all emergencies, and in time his house became one of the greatest mercantile establishments of mod ern times, and the name of Stewart famous. Mr. Stewart's death occurred April 10,. 1876. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER. — Im speaking of this noted American nov elist, William Cullen Bryant said: " He wrote for mankind at large, hence it is that he has earned a fame wider than any Amer ican author of modern times. ' The crea tions of his genius shall survive through centuries to come, and only perish with our language." Another eminent writer (Pres cott) said of Cooper: " In his productions every American must take an honest pride; for surely no one has succeeded like Cooper in the portraiture of American character, or has given such glowing and eminently truth ful pictures of American scenery." James Fenimore Cooper was born Sep- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 59 tember 15, 1789, at Burlington, New Jer sey, and was a son of Judge William Cooper. About a year after the birth of our subject the family removed to Otsego county, New York, and founded the town called ' ' Coop- erstown." James Fenimore Cooper spent his childhood there and in 1802 entered Yale College, and four years later became a midshipman in the United States navy. In 181 1 he was married, quit the seafaring life, and began devoting more or less time to lit erary pursuits. His first work was ' ' Pre caution," a novel published in 1819, and three years later he produced ' ' The Spy, a Tale of Neutral Ground," which met with great favor and was a universal success. This was followed by many other works, among which may be mentioned the follow ing: "The Pioneers," "The Pilot," "Last of the Mohicans," "The Prairie," "The Red Rover," "The Manikins," "Home ward Bound," "Home as Found," "History -of the United States Navy," "The Path finder," "Wing and Wing," "Afloat and Ashore," "The Chain-Bearer," "Oak- Openings," etc. J. Fenimore Cooper died at Cooperstown, New York, September 14, 1851. MARSHALL FIELD, one of the mer chant princes of America, ranks among the most successful business men of the cen tury. He was born in 1835 at Conway, Massachusetts. He spent his early life on a farm and secured a fair education in the common schools, supplementing this with a course at the Conway Academy. His natural bent ran in the channels of commer cial life, and at the age of seventeen he was given a position in a store at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Field remained there four years and removed to Chicago in 1856. He began his career in Chicago as a clerk in the wholesale dry goods house of Cooley, Wadsworth •& Company, which later be came Cooley, Farwell & Company, and still later John V. Farwell & Company. He remained with them four years and exhibit ed marked ability, in recognition of which he was given a partnership. In 1865 Mr. Field and L. Z. Leiter, who was also a member of the firm, withdrew and formed the firm of Field, Palmer & Leiter, the third partner being Potter Palmer, and they continued in business until 1867, when Mr. Palmer retired and the firm became Field, Leiter & Company. They ran under the latter name until 1881, when Mr. Leiter re tired and the house has since continued un der the name of Marshall Field & Company. The phenomenal success accredited to the house is largely due to the marked ability of Mr. Field, the house had become one of the foremost in the west, with an annual- sale of $8,000,000 in 1870. The total loss of the firm during the Chicago fire was $3,500,000 of which $2,500,000 was re covered through the insurance companies. It rapidly recovered from the effects of this and to-day the annual sales amount to over $40,000,000. Mr. Field's real estate hold ings amounted to $10,000,000. He was one of the heaviest subscribers to the Bap tist University fund although he is a Presby terian, and gave $1,000,000 for the endow ment of the Field Columbian Museum — one of the greatest institutions of the kind in the world. EDGAR WILSON NYE, who won an im mense popularity under the pen name of " Bill Nye," was one of the most eccen tric humorists of his day. He was born Au gust 25, 1850, at Shirley, Piscataqua coun ty, Maine, "at a very early age" as he ex presses it. He took an academic course in COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. River Falls, Wisconsin, from whence, after his graduation, he re-moved to Wyoming Territory. He studied law and was ad mitted to the bar in 1876. He began when quite young to contribute humorous-sketches to the newspapers, became connected with various western journals and achieved a brilliant success as a humorist. Mr. Nye settled later in New York City where he devoted his time to writing funny articles for the big newspaper syndicates. He wrote for publication in book form the following : "Bill Nye and the Boomerang," "The Forty Liars," "Baled Hay," "Bill Nye's Blossom Rock," "Remarks," etc. His death occurred February 21, 1896, at Ashe- ville, North Carolina. THOMAS DE WITT TALMAGE, one of the most celebrated American preach ers, was born January 7, 1832, and was the youngest of twelve children. He made his preliminary studies at the grammar school in New Brunswick, New Jersey. At the age of eighteen he joined the church and entered the University of the City of New York, and graduated in May, 1853. The exercises were held in Niblo's Garden and his speech aroused the audience to a high pitch of en thusiasm. At the close of his college duties he imagined himself interested in the law and for three years studied law. Dr. Tal- mage then perceived his mistake and pre pared himself for the ministry at the Reformed Dutch Church Theological Semi nary at New Brunswick, New Jersey. Just after his ordination the young minister re ceived two calls, one from Piermont, New York, and the other from Belleville, New Jersey. Dr. Talmage accepted the latter and for three years filled that charge, when he was called to Syracuse, New York. Here it was that his sermons first drew large crowds of people to his church, and from thence dates his, popularity. Afterward he became the pastor of the Second Reformed Dutch church, of Philadelphia, remaining seven years, during which period he first entered upon the lecture platform and laid the foundation for his future reputation. At the end of this time he received three calls, one from Chicago,, one from San Francisco, and one from the Central Presbyterian church of Brooklyn, which latter at that time consisted of only nineteen members, with a congregation of about thirty-five. This church offered him a salary of seven thousand dollars and he accepted the call. He soon induced the trustees to sell the old church and build a new one. They did so- and erected the Brooklyn Tabernacle, but it burned down shortly after it was finished. By prompt sympathy and general liberality a new church was built and formally opened in February, 1874. It contained seats for four thousand, six hundred and fifty, but if necessary seven thousand could be accom modated. In October, 1878, his salary was raised from seven thousand dollars to twelve thousand dollars, and in the autumn of 1889 the second tabernacle was destroyed by fire. A third tabernacle was built and it was for mally dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1891. JOHN PHILIP SOUSA, conceded as U being one of the greatest band leaders in the world, won his fame while leader of the United States Marine Band at Washing ton, District of Columbia. He was not originally a band player but was a violinist, and at the age of seventeen he was conduc tor of an opera company, a profession which he followed for several years, until he was offered the leadership of the Marine Band at Washington. The proposition was re pugnant to him at first but he accepted the COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 61 offer and then ensued ten years of brilliant success with that organization. When he first took the Marine Band he began to gather the national airs of all the nations that have representatives in Washington, and compiled a comprehensive volume in cluding nearly all the national songs of the different nations. He composed a number of marches, waltzes and two-steps, promi nent among which are the "Washington Post," "Directorate," "King Cotton," "High School Cadets," "Belle of Chica go," "Liberty Bell March," "Manhattan Beach," " On Parade. March," " Thunderer March," "Gladiator March," " El Capitan March," etc. He became a very extensive composer of this class of music. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, sixth president of the United States, was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, July n, 1767, the son of John Adams. At the age of eleven he was sent to school at Paris, and two years later to Leyden, where he entered that great university. He returned to the United States in 1785, and graduated from Harvard in 1788. He then studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1791. His practice brought no income the first two years, but he won distinction in literary fields, and was appointed minister to The Hague in 1794. He married in 1797, and went as minister to Berlin the same year, serving until 1801, when Jefferson became president. He was elected to the senate in 1 803 by the Federalists, but was condemned by that party for advocating the Embargo Act and other Anti-Federalist measures. He was appointed as professor of rhetoric at ' Harvard in 1805, and in 1809 was sent as minister to Russia. He assisted in negotiat ing the treaty of peace with England in 1 8 14, and became minister to that power the next year. He served during Monroe's administration two terms as secretary of state, during which rtime party lines were obliterated, and in 1824 four candidates for president appeared, all of whom were iden tified to some extent with the new " Demo cratic" party. Mr. Adams received 84 elec toral votes, Jackson 99, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. As no candidate had a majority of all votes, the election went to the house of representatives, which elected Mr. Adams. As Clay had thrown his influence to Mr. Adams, Clay became secretary of state, and this caused bitter feeling on the part of the Jackson Democrats, who were joined by Mr. Crawford and his following, and op posed every measure of the administration. In the election of 1828 Jackson was elected over Mr. Adams by a great majority. Mr. Adams entered the lower house of congress in 1830, elected from the district in which he was born and continued to rep7 resent it for seventeen years. He was known as " the old man eloquent," and his work in congress was independent of party. He opposed slavery extension and insisted upon presenting to congress, one at a time, the hundreds of petitions against the slave power. One of these petitions, presented in 1842, was signed by forty-five citizens of Massachusetts, and prayed congress for a peaceful dissolution of the Union. His enemies seized upon this as an opportunity to crush their powerful foe, and in a caucus meeting determined upon his expulsion from congress. Finding they would not be able to command enough votes for this, they de cided upon a course that would bring equal disgrace. They formulated a resolution to the effect that while he merited expulsion, the house would, in great mercy, substitute its severest censure. When it was read in the house the old man, then in his seventy-fifth 62 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. year, arose and demanded that the first para graph of the Declaration of Independence be read as his defense. It embraced the famous sentence, ' ' that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, etc., etc." After eleven days of hard fight ing his opponents were defeated. On Febru ary 21, 1848, he rose to address the speaker on the Oregon question, when he suddenly fell from a stroke of paralysis. He died soon after in the rotunda of the capitol, where he had been conveyed by his col leagues. SUSAN B. ANTHONY was one of the most famous women of America. She was born at South Adams, Massachusetts, February 15, 1820, the daughter of a Quaker. She received a good education and became a school teacher, following that profession for fifteen years in New York. Beginning with about 1852 she became the active leader of the woman's rights move ment and won a wide reputation for her zeal and ability. She also distinguished herself for her zeal and eloquence in the temperance, and anti-slavery causes, and became a conspicuous figure during the war. After the close of the war she gave most of her labors to the cause of woman's suffrage. PHILIP D. ARMOUR, one of the most conspicuous figures in the mercantile history of America, was born May 16, 1832, on a farm at Stockbridge, Madison county, New York, and received his early education in the common schools of that county. He was apprenticed to a farmer and worked faithfully and well, being very ambitious and desiring to start out for himself. At the age of twenty he secured a release from his indentures and set out overland for the gold fields of California. After a great deal of hard work he accumulated a little money and then came east ahd settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He went into the grain receiving and warehouse busi ness and was fairly successful, and later on he formed a partnership with John Plankin- ton in the pork packing line, the style of the firm being Plankinton & Armour. Mr. Ar mour made his first great "deal" in selling ; pork "short" on the New York market in the anticipation of the fall of the Confed eracy, and Mr. Armour is said to have made through this deal a million dollars. He then established packing houses in Chicago and Kansas City, and in 1875 he removed to Chicago. He increased his business by add ing to it the shipment of dressed beef to the European markets, and many other lines of trade and manufacturing, and it rapidly assumed vast proportions, employing an army of men in different lines of the busi ness. Mr. Armour successfully conducted a great many speculative deals in pork and grain of immense proportions and also erected many large warehouses for the storage of grain. He became one of the representative business men of Chicago, where he became closely identified with all enterprises of a public nature, but his fame as a great busi ness man extended to all parts of the world. He founded the ' 'Armour Institute " at Chi cago and also contributed largely to benevo lent and charitable institutions. ROBERT FULTON.— Although Fulton is best known as the inventor of the first successful steamboat, yet his claims to distinction do not rest alone upon that, for. he was an inventor along other lines, a painter and an author. He was born at Little Britain, Lancaster county, Pennsyr- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 65 vania, in 1765, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. At the age of seventeen he removed to Phila delphia, and there and in New York en gaged in miniature painting with success both from a pecuniary and artistic point of view. With the results of his labors he pur chased a farm for the support of his mother. He went to London and studied under the great painter, Benjamin West, and all through life retained his fondness for art and gave evidence of much ability in that line. While in England he was brought in contact with the Duke of Bridgewater, the father of the English canal system; Lord Stanhope, an eminent mechanician, and James Watt, the inventor of the steam en gine. Their influence turned his mind to its true field of labor, that of mechanical in vention. Machines for flax spinning, marble sawing, rope making, and for remov ing earth from excavations, are among his earliest ventures. His "Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation," issued in 1796, and a series of essays on canals were soon followed by an English patent for canal improvements. In 1797 he went to Paris, where he resided until 1806, and there invented a submarine torpedo boat for maritime defense, but which was rejected by the governments of France, England and the United States. In 1 803 he offered to con struct for the Emperor Napoleon a steam- "boat that would assist in carrying out the plan of invading Great Britain then medi tated by that great captain. In pursuance he constructed his first steamboat on the Seine, but it did not prove a full success and the idea was abandoned by the French government. By the aid of Livingston, then United States minister to France, Fulton purchased, in 1806, an engine which he brought to this country. After studying the defects of his own and other attempts in this line he built and launched in 1807 the Clermont, the first successful steamboat. This craft only attained a speed of five miles an hour while going up North river. His first patent not fully covering his in vention, Fulton was engaged in many law suits for infringement. He constructed many steamboats, ferryboats, etc., among these being the United States steamer " Fulton the First," built in 18 14, the first war steamer ever built. This craft never attained any great speed owing to some de fects in construction and accidentally blew up in 1829. Fulton died in New York, Feb ruary 21, 181 5. SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, sixth chief-justice of the United States, and one of the most eminent of American jurists, was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, Jan uary 13, 1808. At the age of nine he was left in poverty by the death of his father, but means were found to educate him. He was sent to his uncle, a bishop, who con ducted an academy near Columbus, Ohio, and here young Chase worked on the farm and attended school. At the age of fifteen he returned to his native state and entered Dartmouth College, from which he gradu ated in 1 826. He then went to Washington, and engaged in teaching school, and study ing law under the instruction of William Wirt. He was licensed to practice in 1829, and went to Cincinnati, where he had a hard struggle for several years following. He had in the meantime prepared notes on the statutes of Ohio, which, when published, brought him into prominence locally. He was soon after appointed solicitor of the United States Bank. In 1837 he appeared as counsel for a fugitive slave woman, Ma tilda, and sought by all the powers of his learning and eloquence to prevent her owner 66 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. from reclaiming her. He acted in many other cases, and devolved the trite expres sion, "Slavery is sectional, freedom is nar tional. " He was employed to defend Van Zandt before the supreme court of the United States in 1846, which was one of the most noted cases connected with the great strug gle against slavery. By this time Mr. Chase had become the recognized leader of that element known as " free-soilers." He was elected to the United States senate in 1 84.9, and was chosen governor of Ohio in 1855, and re-elected in 1857. He was chosen, to the United States senate from Ohio in 1861, but was made secretary of the treasury by Lincoln and accepted. He inaugurated a financial system to replenish the exhausted treasury and meet the demands of the great est war in history and at the same time to revive the industries of the country. One of the measures which afterward called for his judicial attention was the issuance of currency notes which were made a legal tender in payment of debts. When this question came before him as chief-justice of the United States he reversed his former action and declared the measure unconstitu tional. The national banking system, by which all notes issued were to be based on funded government bonds of equal or greater amounts, had its direct origin with Mr. Chase. Mr. Chase resigned the treasury port folio in 1864, and was appointed the same year as chief-justice of the United States supreme court. The great questions that came up before him at this crisis in the life of the nation were no less than those which confronted the first chief -justice at the for mation of our government. Reconstruction, private, state and national, interests, the constitutionality of the acts of congress passed in times of great excitement, the construction and interpretation to be placed upon the several amendments to the- national constitution, — these were among the vital questions requiring prompt decision. He received a paralytic stroke in, 1870, which impaired his health, though his mental powers were not affected. He continued to preside at the opening terms for two years following and died May 7," 1873. HARRIET ELIZABETH BEECHER STOWE, a celebrated American writ er, was born June 14, 1 8 12, at Litchfield, Connecticut. She was a daughter of Lyman. Beecher and a sister of Henry Ward Beecher, two noted divines; was carefully educated, and taught school for several years at Hart ford, Connecticut. In 1832 Miss Beecher married Professor Stowe, then of Lane Semi nary, Cincinnati, Ohio, and afterwards at. Bowdoin College and Andover Seminary. Mrs. Stowe published in 1849 "The May flower, or sketches of the descendants of the Pilgrims," and in 185 1 commenced in the ' ' National Era " of Washington , a serial story which was published separately in 1852 under the title of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." This book attained almost unparalleled success both at home and abroad, and within ten years- it had been translated in almost every lan guage of the civilized world. Mrs. Stowe pub lished in 1853 a "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" in which the data that she used was published and its truthfulness was corroborated. In 1853 she accompanied her husband and brother to Europe, and on her return pub lished ' ' Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands " in 1854. Mrs. Stowe was for some time one ofthe editors of the "Atlantic Monthly" and the " Hearth and Home," for which she had written a number of articles. Among these, also published separately, are " Dred, a tale of the Great Dismal Swamp " (later published under the title of "Nina COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 67 Gordon"); "The Minister's Wooing;" "The Pearl of Orr's Island;" "Agnes of Sorrento;" "Oldtown Folks;" "My Wife and I;" "Bible .Heroines," and "A Dog's Mission." Mrs. Stowe's death occurred July i, 1896, at Hartford, Connecticut. THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON, bet ter known as "Stonewall" Jackson, was one of the most noted of the Confeder ate generals of the Civil war. He was a soldier by nature, an incomparable lieuten ant, sure to execute any operation entrusted to him with marvellous precision, judgment and courage, and all his individual cam paigns and combats bore the stamp of a masterly capacity for war. He was born January 21, 1824, at Clarksburg, Harrison county, West Virginia. He was early in life imbued with the desire to be a soldier and it is said walked from the mountains of Virginia to Washington, secured the aid of his congressman, and was appointed cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point from which he was graduated in 1 846. Attached to the army as brevet sec ond lieutenant of the First Artillery, his first service was as a subaltern with Magruder's battery of light artillery in the Mexican war. He participated at the reduction of Vera Cruz, and was noticed for gallantry in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Moline del Rey, Chapultepec, and the capture of the city of Mexico, receiving the brevets of captain for conduct at Contreras and Cher- ubusco and of major at Chapultepec. In the meantime he had been advanced by regular promotion to be first lieutenant in 1847. In 1852, the war having closed, he resigned and became professor of natural and experimental philosophy and artillery instructor at the Virginia State Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia, where he remained until Virginia declared for seces sion, he becoming chiefly noted for intense religious sentiment coupled with personal eccentricities. Upon the breaking out of the war he was made colonel and placed in command of a force sent to sieze Harper's Ferry, which he accomplished May 3, 1861. Relieved by General J. E. Johnston, May 23, he took command of the brigade of Valley Virginians, whom he moulded into that brave corps, baptized at the first Manassas, and ever after famous as the " Stonewall Brigade." After this "Stone wall " Jackson was made a major-general, in 1 86 1, and participated until his death in all the famous campaigns about Richmond and in Virginia, and was a conspicuous fig-« ure in the memorable battles of that time. May 2, 1863, at Chancellorsville, he was wounded severely by his own troops, two balls shattering his left arm and another passing through the palm of his right hand. The left arm was amputated, but pneumonia intervened, and, weakened by the great loss of blood, he died May 10, 1863. The more his operations in the Shenandoah valley in 1 862 are studied the more striking must the merits of this great soldier appear. JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER.— Near to the heart of the people of the Anglo-Saxon race will ever lie the verses of this, the "Quaker Poet." The author of "Barclay of Ury," "Maud Muller" and "Barbara Frietchie," always pure, fervid and direct, will be remembered when many a more ambitious writer has been forgotten. John G. Whittier was born at Haver hill, Massachusetts, December 7, 1807, of Quaker parentage. He had but a common- school education and passed his boyhood days upon a farm. In early life he learned the trade of shoemaker. At the age of 68 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. eighteen he began to write verses for the Haverhill '' Gazette." He spent two years after that at the Haverhill academy, after which, in 1829, he became editor of the "American Manufacturer," at Boston. In 1830 he succeeded George D. Prentice as editor of the "New England Weekly Re view," but the following year returned to Haverhill and engaged in farming. In 1832 and in 1836 he edited the " Gazette." In 1835 he was elected a member of the legis lature, serving two years. In 1836 he became secretary of the Anti -slavery Society of Phil adelphia. In 1838 and 1839 he edited the " Pennsylvania Freeman," but in the latter year the office was sacked and burned by a mob. In 1 840 Whittier settled at Ames bury, Massachusetts. In 1847 he became corresponding editor of the "National Era," an anti-slavery paper published at Washing ton, and contributed to its columns many of his anti-slavery and other favorite lyrics. Mr. Whittier lived for many years in retire ment of Quaker simplicity, publishing several volumes of poetry which have raised him to a high place among American authors and brought to him the love and admiration of his countrymen. In the electoral colleges of i860 and 1864 Whittier was a member. Much of his time after 1876 was spent at Oak Knoll, Danvers, Massachusetts, but still retained his residence at Amesbury. He never married. His death occurred Sep tember 7, 1892. The more prominent prose writings of John G. Whittier are as follows: "Legends of New England," "Justice and Expediency, or Slavery Considered with a View to Its Abo lition," "The Stranger in Lowell," "Super- naturalism in New England," " Leaves from Margaret Smith's Journal," "Old Portraits and Modern Sketches" and " Literary Sketches." DAVID DIXON PORTER, illustrious as admiral of the United States navy, and famous as one of the most able naval offi cers of America, was born in Pennsylvania, June 8, 1 8 14. His father was also a naval officer of distinction, who left the service of the United States to become commander of the naval forces of Mexico during the war between that country and Spain, and through this fact David Dixon Porter was appointed a, midshipman in the Mexican navy. Two years later David D. Porter joined the United States navy as midship man, rose in rank and eighteen years later as a lieutenant he is found actively engaged in all the operations of our navy along the east coast of Mexico. When the Civil war broke out Porter, then a commander, was dispatched in the Powhattan to the relief of Fort Pickens, Florida. This duty accom plished, he fitted out a mortar flotilla for the reduction of the forts guarding the ap proaches to New Orleans, which it was con sidered of vital importance for the govern ment to get possession of. After the fall of New Orleans the mortar flotilla was actively engaged at Vicksburg, and in the fall of 1862 Porter was made a rear-admiral and placed in command of all the naval forces on the western rivers above New Orleans. The ability of the man was now con spicuously manifested, not only in the bat tles in which he was engaged, but also in the creation of a formidable fleet out of river steamboats, which he covered with such plating as they would bear. In 1864 he was transferred to the Atlantic coast to command the naval forces destined(to oper ate against the defences of Wilmington, North Carolina, and on Jan. 15, 1865, the fall of Fort Fisher was hailed by the country as a glorious termination of his arduous war service. In 1 866 he was made vice-admiral COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 6^ and appointed superintendent of the Naval Academy. On the death of Farragut, in 1870, he succeeded that able man as ad miral of the navy. His death occurred at Washington, February 13, 1891. NATHANIEL GREENE was one of the best known of the distinguished gen erals who led the Continental soldiery against the hosts of Great Britain during the Revolutionary war. He was the son of Quaker parents, and was born at War wick, Rhode Island, May 27, 1742. In youth he acquired a good education, chiefly by his own efforts, as he was a tireless reader. In 1770 he was elected a member of the Assembly of his native state. The news of the battle of Lexington stirred his blood, and he offered his services to the government of the colonies, receiving the rank of brigadier-general and the com mand of the troops from Rhode Island. He led them to the camp at Cambridge, and for thus violating the tenets of their faith, he was cast out of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. He soon won the es teem of General Washington. In August, 1776, Congress promoted Greene to the rank cf major-general, and in the battles of Trenton and Princeton he led a division. At the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777, he greatly distinguished himself, pro tecting the retreat of the Continentals by his firm stand. At the battle of German- town, October 4, the same year, he com manded the left wing of the army with credit. In March, 1778, he reluctantly ac cepted the office of quartermaster-general, but only with the understanding that his rank in the army would not be affected and that in action he should retain his command. On the bloody field of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, he commanded the right wing, as he did at the battle of Tiverton Heights. He was in command of the army in 1780, dur ing the absence of Washington, and was president of the court-martial that tried and condemned Major Andre. After General Gates' defeat at Camden, North Carolina, in the summer of 1 780, General Greene was ap pointed to the command of the southern army. He sent out a force under General Morgan who defeated General Tarleton at Cowpens, January 17, 1781. On joining his lieuten ant, in February, he found himself out num bered by the British and retreated in good order to Virginia, but being reinforced re turned to North Carolina where he fought the battle of Guilford, and a few days later compelled the retreat of Lord Cornwallis. The British were followed by Greene part of the way, when the American army marched into South Carolina. After vary ing success he fought the battle of Eutaw Springs, September 8, 1781. For the latter battle and its glorious consequences, which virtually closed the war in the Carolinas, Greene received a medal from Congress and many valuable grants of land from the colonies of North and South Carolina and Georgia. On the return of peace, after a year spent in Rhode Island, General Greene took up his residence on his estate near Savannah, Georgia, where he died June 19, 1786. EDGAR ALLEN POE.— Among the many great literary men whom this country has produced, there is perhaps no name more widely known than that of Ed gar Allen Poe. He was born at Boston, Massachusetts, February 19, 1809. His parents were David and Elizabeth (Arnold) Poe, both actors, the mother said to have been the natural daughter of Benedict Ar nold. The parents died while Edgar was 70 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. still a child and he was adopted by John Allen, a wealthy and influential resident of Richmond, Virginia. Edgar was sent to school at Stoke, Newington, England, where he remained until he was thirteen years old; was prepared for college by pri vate tutors, and in 1826 entered the Virginia University at Charlottesville. He made rapid progress in his studies, and was dis tinguished for his scholarship, but was ex pelled, within a year for gambling, after which for several years he resided with his benefactor at Richmond. He then went to Baltimore, and in 1829 published a 71 -page pamphlet called "AI Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems," which, however, at tracted no attention and contained nothing of particular merit. In 1830 he was ad mitted as a cadet at West Point, but was expelled about a year later for irregulari ties. Returning to the home of Mr. Allen he remained for some time, and finally quarrelled with his benefactor and enlisted as a private soldier in the U. S. army, but remained only a short time. Soon after this, in 1833, Poe won several prizes for literary work, and as a result secured the position of editor of the ' ' Southern Liter ary Messenger," at Richmond, Virginia. Here he married his cousin, Virginia ¦Clemm, who clung to him with fond devo tion through all the many trials that came to them until her death in January, 1848. Poe remained with the "Messenger" for several years, writing meanwhile many tales, reviews, essays and poems. He aft erward earned a precarious living by his pen in New York for a time; in 1839 be came editor of "Burton's Gentleman's Magazine" ; in 1840 to 1842 was editor of ' ' Graham's Magazine, " and drifted around from one place to another, returning to New York in 1844. In 1845 his best known production, "The Raven, " appeared in the "Whig Review," and gained him a reputation which is now almost world-wide. He then acted as editor and contributor on various magazines and periodicals until the death of his faithful wife in 1848. In the summer of 1849 he was engaged to be mar ried to a lady of fortune in Richmond, Vir ginia, and the day set for the wedding. He started for New York to make prepara tions for the event, but, it is said, began drinking, was attacked with dilirium tre mens in Baltimore and was removed to a hospital, where he died, October 7, 1849. The works of Edgar Allen Poe have been repeatedly published since his death, both in Europe and America, and have attained an immense popularity. HORATIO GATES, one of the prom inent figures in the American war for Independence, was not a native of the col onies but was born in England in 1728. In early life he entered the British army and attained the rank of major. At the capture of Martinico he was aide to General Monk- ton and after the peace of Aix la Chapelle, in 1748, he was among the first troops that landed at Halifax. He was with Braddock at his defeat in 1755, and was there severe ly wounded. At the conclusion of the French and Indian war Gates purchased an estate in Virginia, and, resigning from the British army, settled down to life as a planter. On the breaking out of the Rev olutionary war he entered the service of the colonies and was made adjutant-general of the Continental forces with the rank of brigadier-general. He accompanied Wash ington when he assumed the command of the army. In June, 1776, he was appoint ed to the command of the army of Canada, but was superseded in May of the following COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 71 year by General Schuyler. In August, 1777, however, the command of that army was restored to General Gates and Septem ber 19 he fought the battle of Bemis Heights. October 7, the same year, he won the battle of Stillwater, or Saratoga, and October 17 received the surrender of General Burgoyne and his army, the pivotal point of the war. This gave him a brilliant reputation. June 13, 1780, General Gates was appointed to the command of the southern military division, and August 16 of that year suffered defeat at the hands of Lord Cornwallis, at Camden, North Car olina. In December following he was superseded in the command by General Nathaniel Greene. On the signing of the peace treaty Gen eral Gates retired to his plantation in Berkeley county, Virginia, where he lived until 1790, when, emancipating all his slaves, he removed to New. York City, where he resided until his death, April 10, 1806. LYMAN J. GAGE.— When President Mc Kinley selected Lyman J. Gage as sec retary of the treasury he chose one of the most eminent financiers of the century. Mr. Gage was born June 28, 1836, at De Ruy- ter, Madison county, New York, and was of English descent. He went to Rome, New York, with his parents when he was ten years old, and received his early education in the Rome Academy. Mr. Gage gradu ated from the same, and his first position was that of a clerk in the post office. When he was fifteen years of age he was detailed as mail agent on the Rome & Watertown R. R. until the postmaster-general appointed regular agents for the route. In 1854, when he was in his eighteenth year, he entered the Oneida Central Bank at Rome as a junior clerk at a salary of one hundred dol lars per year. Being unable at the end of one year and a half's service to obtain an increase in salary he determined to seek a wider field of labor. Mr. Gage set out in the fall of 1855 and arrived in Chicago, Illinois, on October 3, and soon obtained a situation in Nathan Cobb's lumber yard and planing mill. He remained there three years as a bookkeeper, teamster, etc., and left on account of change in the management. But not being able to find anything else to do he accepted the position of night watchman in the place for a period of six weeks. He then became a bookkeeper for the Mer chants Saving, Loan and Trust Company at a salary of five hundred dollars per year. He rapidly advanced in the service of this company and in 1868 he was made cashier. Mr. Gage was next offered the position of cashier of the First National Bank and ac cepted the offer. He became the president of the First National Bank of Chicago Jan uary 24, 1 89 1, and in 1897 he was appointed secretary of the treasury. His ability as a financier and the prominent part he'took in the discussion of financial affairs while presi dent of the great Chicago bank gave him a national reputation. ANDREW JACKSON, the seventh pres ident of the United States, was born at the Waxhaw settlement, Union county, North Carolina, March 15, 1767. His parents were Scotch-Irish, natives of Carr ickfergus, who came to this country in 1665 and settled on Twelve-Mile creek, a trib utary of the Catawba. His father, who was a poor farm laborer, died shortly be fore Andrew's birth, when the mother re moved to Waxhaw, where some relatives lived. Andrew's education was very limited, he showing no aptitude for study. In 1780 when but thirteen years of age, he and hfe 72 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. brother Robert volunteered to serve in the American partisan troops under General Sumter, and witnessed the defeat at Hang ing Rock. The following year the boys were both taken prisoners by the enemy and endured brutal treatment from the British officers while confined at Camden. They both took the small pox, when the mother procured their exchange but Robert died shortly after. The mother died in Charleston of ship fever, the same year. Young Jackson, now in destitute cir cumstances,' worked for about six months in a saddler's shop, and then turned school master, although but little fitted for the position. He now began to think of a pro fession and at Salisbury, North Carolina, entered upon the study of law, but from all accounts gave but little attention to his books, being one of the most roistering, rollicking fellows in that town, indulging in many of the vices of his time. In 1786 he was admitted to the bar and in 1788 re moved to Nashville, then in North Carolina, with the appointment of public prosecutor, then an office of little honor or emolument, but requiring much nerve, for which young Jackson was already noted. Two years later, when Tennessee became a territory he was appointed by Washington to the position of United States attorney for that district. In 1791 he married Mrs. Rachel Robards, a daughter of Colonel John Don elson, who was supposed at the time to have been divorced from her former hus band that year by act of legislature of Vir ginia, but two years later, on finding that this divorce was not legal, and a new bill of separation being granted by the courts of Kentucky, they were remarried in 1793. This was used as a handle by his oppo nents in the political campaign afterwards. Jackson was untiring in his efforts as United States attorney and obtained much influence. He was chosen a member of the Constitu tional Convention of 1796, when Tennessee became a state and was its first represent ative in congress. In 1797 he was chosen United States senator, but resigned the fol lowing year to accept a seat on the supreme court of Tennessee which he held until 1804. He was elected major-general of the militia of that state in 1801. In 1804, being unsuccessful in obtaining the govern orship of Louisiana, the new territory, he retired from public life to the Hermitage, his plantation. On the outbreak of the war with Great Britain in 1812 he tendered his services to the government and went to New Orleans with the Tennessee troops in January, 181 3. In March of that year he . was ordered to disband his troops, but later marched against the Cherokee Indians, de feating them at Talladega, Emuckfaw and Tallapoosa. Having now a national reputation, he was appointed major-general in the United States army and was sent against the British in Florida. He con ducted the defence of Mobile and seized Pensacola. He then went with his troops to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he gained the famous victory of January 8, 18 15. In 18 17-18 he conducted a war against the Seminoles, and in 1821 was made governor of the new territory of Florida. In 1823 he was elected United States senator, but in 1 824 was the contestant with J. Q. Adams for the presidency. Four years later he was elected president, and served two terms. In 1832 he took vigorous action against the nullifiers of South Carolina, and the next year removed the public money from the Unjted States bank. During his second term the national debt was extinguished. At the close of his administration he retired to the Hermitage, where he died June 8, 1845. COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 73 ANDREW CARNEGIE, the largest manu facturer of pig-iron, steel rails and coke in the world, well deserves a place among America's celebrated men. He was born November 25, 1835, at Dunfermline, Scotland, and emigrated to the United States with his father in 1845, settling in Pittsburg. Two years later Mr. Carnegie began his business career by attending a small station ary engine. This work did not suit him and he became a telegraph messenger with the Atlantic and Ohio Co., and later he became an operator, and was one of the first to read telegraphic signals by sound. Mr. Carnegie was afterward sent to the Pittsburg office of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., as clerk to the superintendent and manager ofthe telegraph lines. While in this position he made the acquaintance of Mr. Woodruff, the inventor of the sleeping-car. Mr. Carnegie immediately became interested and was one of the organizers of the company for its con struction after the railroad had adopted it, and the success of this venture gave him the nucleus of his wealth. He was promoted to the superintendency of the Pittsburg division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and about this time was one of the syndicate that purchased the Storey farm on Oil Creek which cost forty thousand dollars and in one year it yielded over one million dollars in cash dividends. Mr. Carnegie later was as sociated with others in establishing a rolling- mill, and from this has grown the most ex tensive and complete system of iron and steel industries ever controlled by one indi vidual, embracing the Edgar Thomson Steel Works; Pittsburg Bessemer Steel Works; Lucy Furnaces; Union Iron Mills; Union Mill; Keystone Bridge Works; Hart man Steel Works; Frick Coke Co. ; Scotia Ore Mines. Besides directing his immense iron industries he owned eighteen English newspapers which he ran in the interest of the Radicals. He has also devoted large sums of money to benevolent and educational purposes. In 1879 he erected commodious swimming baths for the people of Dunferm line, Scotland, and in the following year gave forty thousand dollars for a free library. Mr. Carnegie gave fifty thousand dollars to Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1884 to found what is now called ' ' Carnegie Lab oratory, " and in 1885 gave five hundred thousand dollars to Pittsburg for a public library. He also gave two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a music hall and library in Allegheny City in 1886, and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to Edinburgh, Scot land, for a free library. He also established free libraries at Braddock, Pennsylvania, and other places for the benefit of his em ployes. He also .published the following works, "An American Four-in-hand in Britain;" "Round the World;" "Trium phant Democracy; or Fifty Years' March of the Republic." GEORGE H. THOMAS, the " Rock of Chickamauga," one of the best known commanders during the late Civil war, was born in Southampton county, Virginia, July 31, 1 8 16, his parents being of Welsh and French origin respectively. In 1836 young Thomas was appointed a cadet at the Mili tary Academy, at West Point, from which he graduated in 1 840, and was promoted to the office of second lieutenant in the Third Artillery. Shortly after, with his company, he went to Florida, where he served for two years against the Seminole Indians. In 1 84 1 he was brevetted first lieutenant for gallant conduct. Pie remained in garrison in the south and southwest until 1845, at which date with the regiment he joined the army under General Taylor, and participat- 74 . COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. ed in the defense of Fort Brown, the storm ing of Monterey and the battle of Buena Vista. After the latter event he remained in garrison, now brevetted major, until the close of the Mexican war. After a year spent in Florida, Captain Thomas was or dered to West Point, where he served as in structor until 1854. He then was trans ferred to California. In May, 1855, Thom as was appointed major of "the Second Cav alry, with whom he spent five years in Texas. Although a southern man, and surrounded •by brother officers who all were afterwards in the Confederate service, Major Thomas never swerved from his allegiance to the government. A. S. Johnston was the col onel of the regiment, R. E. Lee the lieuten ant-colonel, and W. J. Hardee, senior ma jor, while among the younger officers were Hood, Fitz Hugh Lee, Van Dorn and Kirby Smith. When these officers left the regi ment to take up arms for the Confederate cause he remained with it, and April 17th, 1 86 1, crossed the Potomac into his native state, at its head. After taking an active part in the opening scenes of the war on the Poto mac and Shenandoah, in August, 1861, he was promoted to be brigadier-general and transferred to the Army of the Cumberland. January 19-20, 1862, Thomas defeated Crittenden at Mill Springs, and this brought him into notice and laid the foundation of his fame. He continued in command of his division until September 20, 1862, except during the Corinth campaign when he com manded the right wing of the Army of the Tennessee. He was in command of the latter at the battle of Perryville, also, Octo ber 8, 1862. On the division of the Army of the Cum berland into corps, January 9, 1863, Gen eral Thomas was assigned to the command ofthe Fourteenth, and at the battle of Chick amauga, after the retreat of Rosecrans, firmly held his own against the hosts of Gen eral Bragg. A history of his services from that on would be a history of the war in the southwest. On September 27, 1864, Gen eral Thomas was given command in Ten nessee, and after organizing his army, de feated General Hood in the battle of Nash ville, December 15 and 16, 1864. Much complaint was made before this on account of what they termed Thomas' slowness, and he was about to be superseded because he would not strike until he got ready, but when the blow was struck General Grant was the first to place on record this vindica tion of Thomas' judgment. He received a vote of thanks from Congress, and from the legislature of Tennessee a gold medal. Af ter the close of the war General Thomas had command of several of the military di visions, and died at San Francisco, Cali fornia, March 28, 1870. GEORGE BANCROFT, one of the most eminent American historians, was a native of Massachusetts, born at Worcester, October 3, 1800, and a son of Aaron Bancroft, D. D. The father, Aaron Ban croft, was born at Reading, Massachusetts, November 10, 1755. He graduated at Harvard in 1 778, became a minister, and for half a century was rated as one of the ablest preachers in New England. He was also a prolific writer and published a number of works among which was ' ' Life of George Washington." ' Aaron Bancroft died August 19, 1839. The subject of our present biography, George Bancroft, graduated at Harvard in 1817, and the following year entered the University of Gottingen, where he studied history and philology under the most emi nent teachers, and in 1820 received the de- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 75 gree of doctor of philosophy at Gottingen. Upon his return home he published a volume of poems, and later a translation of Heeren's "Reflections on the Politics of Ancient Greece." In 1834 he produced the first ^volume of his " History of the United States," this being followed by other vol umes at different intervals later. This was his greatest work and ranks as the highest authority, taking its place among the great est of American productions. George Bancroft was appointed secretary of the navy by President Polk in 1845, but resigned in 1 846 and became minister pleni potentiary to England. In 1849 he retired from public life and took up his residence at Washington, D. C. In 1867 he was ap pointed United States minister to the court of Berlin and negotiated the treaty by which Ger mans coming to the United States were re leased from their allegiance to the govern ment of their native land. In 1871 he was minister plenipotentiary to the German em pire and served until 1874. The death of -George Bancroft occurred January 17, 1891. GEORGE GORDON MEADE, a fa mous Union general, was born at Cadiz, Spain, December 30, 1815, his father being United States naval agent at that port. After receiving a good education he entered the West Point Military Academy in 1831. From here he was . graduated June 30, 1835, and received the rank of second lieutenant of artillery. He par ticipated in the Seminole war, but resigned from the army in October, 1836. He en tered upon the profession of civil engineer, which he followed for several years, part of the time in the service of the government in making surveys of the mouth of the Missis sippi river. His report and results of some experiments made by him in this service gained Meade much credit. He alsu was employed in surveying the boundary line of Texas and the northeastern boundary line between the United States and Canada. In 1842 he was reappointed in the army to the position of second lieutenant of engineers. During the Mexican war he served with dis tinction on the staff of General Taylor in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma and the storming of Monterey. He received his brevet of first lieutenant for the latter action. In 1851 he was made full first lieutenant in his corps; a captain in 1856, and major soon after. At the close of the war with Mexico he was employed in light house construction and in geodetic surveys until the breaking out of the Rebellion, in which he • gained . great reputation. In August, 1 86 1, he was made brigadier-general of volunteers and placed in command of the second brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves, a division of the First Corps in the Army of the Potomac. In the campaign of 1862, under McClellan, Meade took an active part, being present at the battles of Mechan icsville, Gaines' Mill and Glendale, in the latter of which he was severely wounded. On rejoining his command he was given a division and distinguished himself at its head in the battles of South Mountain and Antie tam. During the latter, on the wounding of General Hooker, Meade was placed in command of the corps and was himself slightly wounded. For services he was promoted, November, 1862, to the rank of major-general of volunteers. On the recovery of General Hooker General Meade returned to his division and in December, 1862, at Fredericksburg, led an attack which penetrated Lee's right line and swept to his rear. Being outnumbered and un supported, he finally was driven back. The same month Meade was assigned to the 76 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. command of the Fifth Corps, and at Chan cellorsville in May, 1863, his sagacity and ability so struck General Hooker that when the latter asked to be relieved of the com mand, in June of the same year, he nomi nated Meade as his successor. June 28, 1863, President Lincoln commissioned Gen eral Meade commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac, then scattered and moving hastily through Pennsylvania to the great and decisive battlefield at Gettysburg, at which he was in full command. With the victory on those July days the name of Meade will ever be associated. From that time until the close of the war he com manded the Army of the Potomac. In 1864 General Grant, being placed at the head of all the armies, took up his quarters with the Army of the Potomac. From that time until -the surrender of Lee at Appo- matox Meade's ability shone conspicuously, and his tact in the delicate position in lead ing his army under the eye of his superior officer commanded the respect and esteem of General Grant. For services Meade was promoted to the rank of major-general, and on the close of hostilities, in July, 1865, was assigned to the command of the military division of the Atlantic, with headquarters at Philadelphia. This post he held, with the exception of a short period on detached duty in Georgia, until his death, which took place November 6, 1872. DAVID CROCKETT was a noted hunter and scout, and also one of the earliest of American humorists. He was born Au gust 17, 1786, in Tennessee, and was one of the most prominent men of his locality, serving as representative in congress from 1827 until 1 83 1. He attracted consider able notice while a member of congress and was closely associated with General Jack son, of whom he was a personal friend. He went to Texas and enlisted in the Texan army at the time of the revolt of Texas against Mexico and gained a wide reputa tion as a scout. He was one of the famous one hundred and forty men under Colonel W. B. Travis who were besieged in Fort Alamo, near San Antonio, Texas, by Gen eral Santa Anna with some five thousand Mexicans on February 23, 1836. The fort was defended for ten days, frequent assaults being repelled with great slaughter, over one thousand Mexicans being killed or wounded, while not a man in the fort was injured. Finally, on March 6, three as saults were made, and in the hand-to-hand fight that followed the last, the Texans were wofully outnumbered and overpowered. They fought desperately with clubbed mus kets till only six were left alive, including W. B. Travis, David Crockett and James Bowie. These surrendered under promise of protection; but when they were brought before Santa Anna he ordered them all to be cut to pieces. HENRY WATTERSON, one of the most conspicuous figures in the history of American journalism, was born at Wash ington, District of Columbia, February 16, 1 840. His boyhood days were mostly spent in the city of his birth, where his father, Harvey M. Watterson, was editor of the "Union," a well known journal. Owing to a weakness of the eyes, which interfered with a systematic course of study, young Watterson was educated almost en tirely at home. A successful college career was out of the question, but he acquired a good knowledge of music, literature and art from private tutors, but the most valuable part of the training he received was by as sociating with his father and the throng of COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 77 public men whom he met in Washington in the stirring days immediately preceding the Civil war. He began his journalistic career at an early age as dramatic and musical critic, and in 1858, became editor of the "Democratic Review" and at the same time contributed to the ' ' States, " a journal of liberal opinions published in Washington. In this he remained until the breaking out of the war, when the " States," opposing the administration, was •suppressed, and young Watterson removed to Tennessee. He next appears as editor of the Nashville "Republican Banner," the most influential paper in the state at that time. After the occupation of Nashville by the Federal troops, Watterson served as a volunteer staff officer in the Confederate service until the close of the war, with the exception of a year spent in editing the Chattanooga "Rebel." On the close of the war he returned to Nashville and re sumed his connection with the "Banner." After a trip to Europe he assumed control of the Louisville "Journal," which he soon combined with the "Courier" and the "Democrat" of that place, founding the well-known "Courier-Journal," the first number of which appeared November 8, 1868. Mr. Watterson also represented his -district in congress for several years. PATRICK SARSFIELD GILMORE, one of the most successful and widely known bandmasters and musicians of the last half century in America, was born in Ballygar, Ireland, on Christmas day, 1829. He attended a public school until appren ticed to a wholesale merchant at Athlone, of the brass band of which town he soon became a member. His passion for music conflicting with the duties of a mercantile life, his position as clerk was exchanged for that of musical instructor to the young sons of his employer. At the age of nineteen he sailed for America and two days after his arrival in Boston was put in charge of the band instrument department- of a prominent music house. In the interests of the pub lications of this house he organized a minstrel company known as "Ord way's Eolians," with which he first achieved success as a cornet soloist. Later on he was called the best E-flat cornetist in the United States. He became leader, successively, of the Suf folk, Boston Brigade and Salem bands. During his connection with the latter he inaugurated the famous Fourth of July con certs on Boston Common, since adopted as a regular programme for the celebration of Independence Day. In 1858 Mr. Gilmore founded the organization famous thereafter as Gilmore' s Band. At the outbreak of the Civil war this band was attached to the Twenty-Fourth , Massachusetts Infantry. Later, when the economical policy of dis pensing with music had proved a mistake, Gilmore was entrusted with the re-organiza tion of state military bands, and upon his arrival at New Orleans with his own band was made bandmaster-general by General Banks. On the inauguration of Governor Hahn, later on, in Lafayette square, New Orleans, ten thousand children, mostly of Confederate parents, rose to the baton of Gilmore and, accompanied by six hundred instruments, thirty-six guns and the united fire of three regiments of infantry, sang the Star-Spangled Banner, America and other patriotic Union airs. In June, 1867, Mr. Gilmore conceived a national musical festi val, which was denounced as a chimerical undertaking, but he succeeded and June 15, 1869, stepped upon the stage of the Boston Colosseum, a vast structure erected for the occasion, and in the presence of over fifty 78 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY: thousand people lifted his baton over an orchestra of one thousand and a chorus of ten thousand. On the 17th of June, 1872, he opened a still greater festival in Boston,- when, in addition to an orchestra of two thousand and a chorus of twenty thousand, were present the Band of the Grenadier Guards, of London, of the Garde Repub licans, of Paris, of Kaiser Franz, of Berlin, and one from Dublin, Ireland, together with Johann Strauss, Franz Abt and many other soloists, vocal and instrumental. Gilmore's death occurred September 24, 1892. MARTIN VAN BUREN was the eighth president of the United States, 1837 to 1 841. He was of Dutch extraction, and his ancestors were among the earliest set tlers on the banks of the Hudson. He was born December 5, 1782, at Kinderhook, New York. Mr. Van Buren took up the study of law at the age of fourteen and took an active part in political matters before he had attained his majority. He commenced the practice of law in 1803 at his native town, and in 1809 he removed to Hudson, Columbia county, New York, where he spent seven years gaining strength and wis dom from his contentions at the bar with some of the ablest men of the profession. Mr. Van Buren was elected to the state senate, and from 18 15 until 18 19 he was at torney-general of the state. He was re elected to the senate in 18 16, and in 18 18 he was one of the famous .clique of politi cians known as the "Albany regency." Mr. Van Buren was a member of the con vention for the revision of the state consti tution, in 1821. In the same year he was elected to the United States senate and served his term in a manner that caused his re-election to that body in 1827, but re signed the following year as he had been elected governor of New York. Mr. Van Buren was appointed by President Jackson as secretary of state in March, 1829, but resigned in 1 83 1, and during the recess of congress he was appointed minister to England. The senate, however, when it convened in December refused to ratify the appointment. In May, 1832, he was nominated by the' Democrats as their candidate for vice-presi dent on the ticket with Andrew Jackson,. and he was elected in the following Novem ber. He received the nomination to suc ceed President Jackson in 1836, as the Democratic candidate, and in the electoral college he received one hundred and seventy votes out of two hundred and eighty-three, and was inaugurated March 4, 1837. His administration was begun at a time of great business depression, and unparalled financial distress, which caused the suspension of specie payments by the banks. Nearly every bank in the country was forced to suspend specie payment, and no less than two hundred and fifty-four business houses failed in New York in one week. The President urged the adoption of the inde pendent treasury idea, which passed through the senate twice but each time it was de feated in the house. However the measure ultimately became a law near the close of President Van Buren's term of office. An other important measure that was passed was the pre-emption law that gave the act ual settlers preference in the purchase of public lands. The question of slavery had begun to assume great preponderance dur ing this administration, and a great conflict was tided over by the passage o"f a resolu tion that prohibited petitions or papers that in any way related to slavery to be acted upon. In the Democratic convention of 1840 President Van Buren secured the nomination for re-election on that ticket COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 79 without opposition, but in the election he only received the votes of seven states, his opponent, W. H. Harrison, being elected president. In 1848 Mr. Van Buren was the candidate of the " Free-Soilers," but was unsuccessful. After this he retired from public life and spent the remainder of his life on his estate at Kinderhook, where he died July 24, 1862. WINFIELD SCOTT, a distinguished American general, was born June 13, 1786, near Petersburg, Dinwiddie county, Virginia, and was educated at the William and Mary College. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, and in 1808 he accepted an appointment as captain of light artillery, and was ordered to New Orleans. In June, 18 1 2, he was promoted to be lieutenant- colonel, and on application was sent to the frontier, and reported to General Smyth, near Buffalo. He was made adjutant-gen eral with the rank of a colonel, in March, 1 8 1 3, and the same month attained the colo nelcy of his regiment. He participated in the principal battles of the war and was wounded many times, and at the close of the war he was voted a gold medal by con gress for his services. He was a writer of considerable merit on military topics, and he gave to the military science, "General Regulations of the Army " and " System of Infantry and Rifle Practice." He took a prominent part in the Black Hawk war, and at the beginning of the Mexican war he was appointed to take the command of the army. Gen. Scott immediately assembled his troops at Lobos Island from which he moved by transports to Vera Cruz, which he took March 29, 1847, and rapidly fol lowed up his first success. He fought the battles of Cerro Gordo and Jalapa, both of which he won, and proceeded to Pueblo where he was preceded by Worth's division which had taken the town and waited for the coming of Scott. The army was forced to wait here for supplies, and August 7th, General Scott started on his victorious march to the city of Mexico with ten thou sand, seven hundred and thirty-eight men. The battles of Contreras, Cherubusco and San Antonio were fought August 19-20, and on the 24th an armistice was agreed upon, but as the commissioners could not agree on the terms of settlement, the fight ing was renewed at Molino Del Rey, and the Heights of Chapultepec were carried by the victorious army of General Scott. He gave the enemy no respite, however, and vigorously followed up his advantages. On September 14, he entered the City of Mexico and dictated the terms of surrender in the very heart of the Mexican Republic. General Scott was offered the presidency of the Mexican Republic, but declined. Con gress extended him a vote of thanks and ordered a gold medal be struck in honor of his generalship and bravery. He was can didate for the presidency on the Whig plat= form but was defeated. He was honored by having the title of lieutenant-general con ferred upon him in 1 8 5 5 . At the beginning of the Civil war he was too infirm to take charge of the army, but did signal service in be half of the government. He retired from the service November 1, 1861, and in 1864 he published his "Autobiography." Gen eral Scott died at West Point, May 29, 1866. EDWARD EVERETT HALE for many years occupied a high place among the most honored of America's citizens. As a preacher he ranks among the foremost in the New England states, but to the gen eral public he is best known through his writings. Born in Boston, Mass., April 3, COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 1822, a descendant of one of the most prominent New England families, he enjoyed in his youth many of the advantages denied the majority of boys. He received his pre paratory schooling at the Boston Latin School, after which he finished his studies at Harvard where he was graduated with high honors in 1839. Having studied theology at home, Mr. Hale embraced the ministry and in 1846 became pastor of a Unitarian church in Worcester, Massachusetts, a post which he occupied about ten years. Pie then, in 1856, became pastor of the South Congregational church in Boston, over which he presided many years. Mr. Hale also found time to write a great many literary works of a high class. Among many other well-known productions 3f his are " The Rosary," " Margaret Per- cival in America," "Sketches of Christian .iistory," "Kansas and Nebraska," " Let- ;ers on Irish Emigration," " Ninety Days' Worth of Europe," "If, Yes, and Perhaps," "Ingham Papers," "Reformation," "Level Best and Other Stories, " ' ' Ups and Downs, " "Christmas Eve and Christmas Day," " In His Name," "Our New Crusade," "Work- ingmen's Homes," " Boys' Heroes," etc., etc., besides many others which might be mentioned. One of his works, "In His Name," has earned itself enduring fame by the good deeds it has called forth. The numerous associations known as ' 'The King's Daughters," which has accomplished much good, owe their existence to the story men tioned. DAVID GLASCOE FARRAGUT stands pre-eminent as one of the greatest na val officers of the world. He was born at Campbell's Station, East Tennessee, July 5, 1 80 1, and entered the navy of the United States as a midshipman. He had the good fortune to serve under Captain David Por ter, who commanded the " Essex," and by whom he was taught the ideas of devotion to duty from which he never swerved dur ing all his career. In 1823 Mr. Farragut took part in a severe fight, the result of which was the suppression of piracy in the West Indies. He then entered upon the regular duties of his profession which was only broken into by a year's residence with Charles Folsom, our consul at Tunis, who was afterwards a distinguished professor at Harvard. Mr. Farragut was one of the best linguists in the navy. He had risen through the different grades of the service until the war of 1861-65 found him a captain resid ing at Norfolk, Virginia. He removed with his family to Hastings, on the Hudson, and hastened to offer his services to the Federal government, and as the capture of New Orleans had been resolved upon, Farragut was chosen to command the expedition. His force consisted of the West Gulf block ading squadron and Porter's mortar flotilla. In January, 1862, he hoisted his pennant at the mizzen peak of the ' ' Hartford " at Hampton roads, set sail from thence on the 3rd of February and reached Ship Island on the 20th of the same month. A council of war was held on the 20th of April, in which it was decided that whatever was to be done must be done quickly. The signal was made from the flagship and accordingly the fleet weighed anchor at 1:55 on the morning of April 24th, and at 3:30 the whole force was under way. The history of this brilliant strug gle is well known, and the glory of it made Far ragut a hero and also made him rear admir al. In the summer of 1 862 he ran the batteries at Vicksburg, and on March 14, 1863, he passed through the fearful and destructive fire from Port Hudson, and opened up c6m- munication with Flag-officer Porter, who COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 88 had control of the upper Mississippi. On May 24th he commenced active operations against that fort in conjunction with the army and it fell on July 9th. Mr. Farragut filled the measure of his fame on the 5th of Au gust, 1864, by his great victory, the capture of Mobile Bay and the destruction of the Confederate fleet, including the formidable ram Tennessee. For this victory the rank of admiral was given to Mr. Farragut. He •died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Au gust 4, 1870. GEORGE W. CHILDS, a philanthropist whose remarkable personality stood for the best and highest type of American citizenship, and whose whole life was an object lesson in noble living, was born in 1829 at Baltimore, Maryland, of humble parents, and spent his early life in unremit ting toil. He was a self-made man in the fullest sense of the word, and gained his great wealth by his own efforts. He was a man of very great influence, and this, in conjunction with his wealth, would have been, in the hands of other men, a means of getting them political preferment, but Mr. Childs steadily declined any suggestions that would bring him to figure prominently in public affairs. He did not choose to found a financial dynasty, but devoted all his powers to the helping of • others, with the most enlightened beneficence and broadest sympathy. Mr. Childs once remarked that his greatest pleasure in life was in doing good to others. He always despised mean ness, and one of his objects of life was to prove that a man could be liberal and suc cessful at the same time. Upon these lines Mr. Childs made a name for himself as the director of one of the representative news papers of America, "The Philadelphia Pub lic Ledger," which was owned jointly by himself and the Drexel estate, and which he edited for thirty years. He acquired con trol of the paper at a time when it was be ing published at a heavy loss, set it upon a firm basis of prosperity, and he made it more than a money- making machine — he made it respected as an exponent of the best side of journalism, and it stands as a monument to his sound judgment and up right business principles. Mr. Childs' char itable repute brought him many applications for assistance, and he never refused to help any one that was deserving of aid; and not only did he help those who asked, but he would by careful inquiry find those who needed aid but were' too proud to solicit it. He was a considerable employer of labor, and his liberality was almost unparalleled. The death of this great and good man oc curred February 3d, 1894. PATRICK HENRY won his way to un, dying fame in the annals of the early history of the United States by introducing into the house of burgesses his famous reso lution against the Stamp Act, which he car ried through, after a stormy debate, by a majority of one. At this time he exclaimed ' ' Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Crom well and George III " (here he was inter rupted by cries of " treason ") " may profit by their example. If this be treason make the most of it." Patrick Henry was born at Studley, Hanover county, Virginia, May 29, 1736, and was a son of Colonel John Henry, a magistrate and school teacher of Aberdeen, Scotland, and a nephew of Robertson, the historian. He received his education from his father, and was married at the age of eighteen. He was twice bankrupted before he had reached his twenty-fourth year, when after six weeks of study he was admitted to 84 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. the bar. He worked for three years with out a case and finally was applauded for his plea for the people's rights and gained im mense popularity. After his famous Stamp Act resolution he was the leader of the pa triots in Virginia. In 1769 he was admitted to practice in the general courts and speed ily won a fortune by his distinguished ability as a speaker. He was the first speaker of the General Congress at Philadelphia in 1774. He was for a time a colonel of militia in 1775, and from 1776 to 1779 and 1 78 1 to 1786 he was governor of Virginia. For a number of years he retired from pub lic life and was tendered and declined a number of important political offices, and in March, 1789, he was elected state senator but did not take his seat on account of his death which occurred at Red Hill, Charlotte county, Virginia, June 6, 1799. BENEDICT ARNOLD, an American general and traitor of the Revolution ary war, is one of the noted characters in American history. He was born in Nor wich, Connecticut, January 3, 1740. He ran away and enlisted in the army when young, but deserted in a short time. He then became a merchant at New Haven, Connecticut, but failed. In 1775 he was commissioned colonel in the Massachusetts militia, and in the autumn of that year was placed in command of one thousand men for the invasion of Canada. He marched his army through the forests of Maine and joined General Montgomery before Quebec. Their combined forces attacked that city on December 31, 1775, and Montgomery was killed, and Arnold, severely wounded, was compelled to retreat and endure a rigorous winter a few miles from the city, where they were at the mercy of the Canadian troops had they cared to attack them. On his re turn he was raised to the rank of brigadier- general. He was given command of a small flotilla * on Lake Champlain, with which he encountered an immense force, and though defeated, performed many deeds of valor. He resented the action of congress in pro moting a number of his fellow officers and neglecting himself. In 1 777 he was made major-general, and under General Gates at Bemis Heights fought valiantly. For some reason General Gates found fault with his conduct and ordered him under arrest, and he was kept in his tent until the battle of Stillwater was waxing hot, when Arnold mounted his horse and rode to the front of his old troop, gave command to charge, and rode like a mad man into the thickest of the fight and was not overtaken by Gates' courier until he had routed the enemy and fell wounded. Upon his recovery he was made general, and was placed in command at Philadelphia. Here he married, and his, acts of rapacity soon resulted in a court- martial. He was sentenced to be repri manded by the commander-in-chief, and though Washington performed this duty with utmost delicacy and consideration, it was never forgiven. Arnold obtained com mand at West Point, the most important post held by the Americans, in 1780, and immediately offered to surrender it to Sir- Henry Clinton, British commander at New York. Major Andre was sent to arrange. details with Arnold, but on his return trip- to New York he was captured by Americans, the plot was detected, and Andre suffered. the death penalty as a spy. Arnold es caped, and was paid about $40,000 by the British for his treason and was made briga dier-general. He afterward commanded an expedition that plundered a portion of Vir- ¦ ginia, and another that burned New Lon don, Connecticut, and captured Fort Trum- COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 85 bull, the commandant of which Arnold mur dered with the sword he had just surren dered. He passed the latter part of his life in England, universally despised, and died in London June 14, 1801. ROBERT G. INGERSOLL, one of the most brilliant orators that America has produced, also a lawyer of considerable merit, won most of his fame as a lecturer. Mr. Ingersoll was born August 24, 1833, at Dryden, Gates county, New York, and received his education in the common schools. He went west at the age of twelve, and for a short time he attended an academy in Tennessee, and also taught school in that state. He began the practice of law in the southern part of Illinois in 1854. Colonel Ingersoll's principal fame was made in the lecture room by his lectures in.which he ridiculed religious faith and creeds and criti cised the Bible and the Christian religion. He was the orator of the day in the Decora tion Day celebration in the city of New York in 1882 and his oration was widely com mended. He first attracted political notice in the convention at Cincinnati in 1876 by his brilliant eulogy on James G. Blaine. He practiced law in Peoria, Illinois, for a num ber of years, but later located in the city of New York. He published the follow ing: "The Gods and other Lectures;" "The Ghosts;" "Some Mistakes of Moses;" "What Shall I Do To Be Saved;" "Inter views on Talmage and Presbyterian Cate chism ;" The "North American Review Controversy;" "Prose Poems;" "A Vision of War ; " etc. JOSEPH ECCLESTON JOHNSTON, a noted general in the Confederate army, was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, in 1807. He graduated from West Point and entered the army in 1829. For a num ber of years his chief service was garrison duty. He saw active service, however, in the Seminole war in Florida, part of the time as a staff officer of General Scott. He resigned his commission in 1837, but re turned to the army a year later, and was brevetted captain for gallant services in Florida. He was made first lieutenant of topographical engineers, and was engaged in river and harbor improvements and also in the survey of the Texas boundary and the northern boundary of the United States until the beginning of the war with Mexico. He was at the siege of Vera Cruz, and at the battle of Cerro Gordo was wounded while reconnoitering the enemy's position, after which he was brevetted major and colonel. He was in all the battles about the city of Mexico, and was again wounded in the final assault upon that city. After the Mexican war closed he returned to duty as captain of topographical engineers, but in 1855 he was made lieutenant-colonel of cavalry and did frontier duty, and was ap pointed inspector-general of the expedition to Utah. In i860 he was appointed quar termaster-general with rank of brigadier- general. At the outbreak of hostilities in 1 86 1 he resigned his commission and re ceived the appointment of major-general of the Confederate army. He held Harper's Ferry, and later fought General Patterson about Winchester. At the battle of Bull Run he declined command in favor of Beau regard, and acted under that general's direc tions. He commanded the Confederates in the famous Peninsular campaign, and was severely wounded, at Fair Oaks and was succeeded in command by General Lee. Upon his recovery he was made lieutenant- general and assigned to the command of the southwestern department. He attempted 86 COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. to raise the siege of Vicksburg, and was finally defeated at Jackson, Mississippi. Having been made a general he succeeded General Bragg in command of the army of Tennessee and was ordered to check General Sherman's advance upon Atlanta. Not daring to risk a battle with the overwhelm ing forces of Sherman, he slowly retreated toward Atlanta, and was relieved of com mand by President Davis and succeeded by General Hood. Hood utterly destroyed his own army by three furious attacks upon Sherman. Johnston was restored to com mand in the Carolinas, and again faced Sherman, but was defeated in several en gagements and continued a slow retreat toward Richmond. Hearing of Lee's sur render, he communicated with General Sherman, and finally surrendered his army at Durham, North Carolina, April 26, 1865. General Johnston was elected a member of the forty-sixth congress and was ap pointed United States railroad commis sioner in 1885. His death occurred March 21, 1 891. SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS, known throughout the civilized world as "Mark Twain," is recognized as one of the greatest humorists America has pro duced. He was born in Monroe county, Missouri, November 30, 1 8 3 5 . He spent his boyhood days in his native state and many of his earlier experiences are related in vari ous forms in his later writings. One of his early acquaintances, Capt. Isaiah Sellers, at an early day furnished river news for the New Orleans " Picayune," using the nom- de-plume of "Mark Twain." Sellers died in 1863 and Clemens took up his nom-de- plume and made it famous throughout the world by his literary work. In 1 862 Mr. Glemens became a journalist at Virginia, Nevada, and afterward followed the same pro fession at San Francisco and Buffalo, New York. He accumulated a fortune from the sale of his many publications, but in later years engaged in business enterprises, partic ularly the manufacture of a typesetting ma chine, which dissipated his fortune and re duced him almost to poverty, but with resolute heart he at once again took up his pen and engaged in literary work in the effort to regain his lost ground. Among the best known of his works may be mentioned the fol lowing : ' ' The Jumping Frog, " " Tom Saw yer," "Roughingit," "Innocents Abroad," "Huckleberry Finn," "Gilded. Age," "Prince and Pauper," "Million Pound Bank Note," "A Yankee in King Arthur's Court," etc. CHRISTOPHER CARSON, better known as "Kit Carson;" was an Amer ican trapper and scout who gained a wide reputation for his frontier work. He was a native of Kentucky, born December 24th, 1 809. He grew to manhood there, devel oping a natural inclination for adventure in the pioneer experiences in his native state. When yet a young man he became quite well known on the frontier. He served as a guide to Gen. Fremont in his Rocky Mountain explorations and enlisted in the army. He was an officer in the United States service in both the Mexican war and the great Civil war, and in the latter received a brevet of brigadier-general for meritorious service. His death occurred May 23, 1868. JOHN SHERMAN.— Statesman, politi- n wagon. On his return the spreading columns of the enemy in the rear very nearly captured him and the precious wagon, but by a quick dash to the right he brought the wagon through to the needy soldiers ; but the borrowed horse was killed before the act was accomplished. Thenceforth during the battle Lieutenant Stone performed his duties on another bor rowed horse, and, as General Belknap truly says in his letter, no duties are more con stant, more exacting or more perilous in bat tle than those of an aid-de-camp on the bri gade or division staff. All that long after noon the battle raged. After it was over Colonel Hall, in his report to his supe rior officer, expressed the highest apprecia tion of Lieutenant Stone's help, conduct and services in the awful struggle. The Iowa brigade went ¦ in fourteen hundred strong and came out eight hundred. Though the command won a splendid vic tory, it lost — for a little while — some ground in the progress of the battle by moving to the right for a better position for defense. In doing this the headquarters of the brigade commander fell, for a time, within the Con federate lines. Colonel Hall had bought a bottle of champagne at St. Louis, which he kept in the chest, with the frequently avowed intention of drinking when Atlanta fell. The day following the battle a flag of truce came in from the Confederate general in front of that part of the line for permission to get the Confederate dead within our lines to bury them. The request was acceded to and Lieutenant Stone, as member of the staff, was one of the officers sent to supervise the affair. A strip of ground between the two lines, one hundred feet wide, was established with a Confederate guard along their side and a federal guard along the Union side. The dead of each side were brought in by the other and deposited here to be received. In this strip Lieutenant Stone met General Govan of the Confederate army, who had BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 231 commanded one of the brigades that had charged the Iowa brigade so. fiercely the day before. In the conversation of an hour they had there during the pendency of the truce they talked about the battle. General Govan told Lieutenant, Stone that he had captured .some officer's headquarters the day before and had found a bottle of champagne in the mess chest. Lieutenant Stone then told him Colonel Hall had been keeping that wine to ¦drink when the city of Atlanta was captured. The Confederate general smiled and politely said he regretted that the colonel must be disappointed, for he and his staff had drank the champagne the night before. The cham pagne was not all the Confederates got in the brief space of time they were in posses sion of the headquarters. An officer's sixty- dollar overcoat, which Lieutenant Stone had bought in St. Louis, was taken, though it was in July and the weather was very warm. The mess chest remained, but its contents were gone. But we cannot follow these events in detail. Six days later another se vere battle was fought by the survivors on the right of the line,' known as the battle of the 28th of July, or Ezra Church, under the eye of Major General O. O. Howard, who had taken command of tbe Army of the Tennessee some days after the death of General McPherson. Thenceforth the siege of Atlanta pro- gresed, the Iowa brigade doing its full share. In the latter part of August, Sherman swung the left of his army, which included the bri gade, far around to his right toward Jones boro and thus forced Hood with his army out of Atlanta. The brigade had short rest. In a very few weeks the indomitable Hood was marching around and in the rear of Sherman. The Union army followed, but could not overtake him. The pursuit of Hood was attended by many annoyances. Among them was a serious one in Snake Creek Gap, in the mountains near Resaca. The gap is a gorge or very small valley, with but little more than enough room for the wagon road. On each side was heavy timber. Through the whole length of the twelve or thirteen miles, the Confederates, after passing through had felled large trees across the narrow roadway. It took a long time for a large force to clear them out, Before start ing on that pursuit General Sherman had is sued a stringent order limiting wagon trans portation, and prohibiting from the trains all carriages, buggies, carts and wagons picked up along the line. On the day the gap was being cleared of trees, General Sherman was sitting on a log beside the road near the head of the Iowa brigade, which had stopped, waiting on the work in front. There was a train of army wagons also wait ing ahead of the brigade. General Sherman^ on looking ahead, saw a small country wagon drawn by a pair of broken down horses, with a cow tied behind it, and a soldier servant in charge of it. General Sherman had the man brought to him and demanded to know whose wagon that was. He was told that it belonged to a colonel of the Sixteenth Army Corps, all of whose per sonal luggage and camp equipment were in the wagon. General Sherman then said to the man, "I'll have you shot." Then turning to Belknap the general said loudly, "General Belknap, I want you to put this man iu charge of your provost guard and have him shot to-morrrow morning at sun-up." Gen eral Belknap scrutinized Sherman's face long and well with a very earnest and serious countenance before he caught the correct ex- 232 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. pression. The man suffered great mental agony all that night, but was turned loose very happy at sun-up. After giving this order to General Belknap, General Sherman told the soldiers near by to "go through" the wagon and take everything they wanted and to destroy the rest. In less than a minute there was a Sixteenth Corps colonel without baggage and without camp equi page. General Sherman was an iron dis ciplinarian, and he could make people very unhappy at times, but he possessed a kind and generous heart. Though he loved his officers and men he sometimes chastened them. Leaving Hood to be attended to by Gen eral Thomas at Nashville, Sherman slowly returned to Atlanta, tearing up the railroads as he went. He then destroyed the city, so it could not be used as a base of supplies for a pursuing army, and started on his ever memorable march to the sea. His army ate all the food that was in a belt of fifty miles to Savannah, Georgia, and destroyed all the railroads in that area. The march was comparatively easy and in1 the main agree able. There was little fighting on the route, but as the command approached the city of Savannah many men were killed or horribly mangled, or both, by torpedoes ^buried near the surface in the roads, railroads and paths, and at all places where men were likely to march. The Iowa men had never met this kind of warfare before. General Sherman, who was with them at the time of the events about to be stated, was in a towering rage. He told General Blair, who commanded the Seventeenth Corps, that he might put a number of prisoners equal to the number of Union soldiers thus killed or mangled into the station building on the railroad east of Savannah and burn them. Blair, of course, would not have executed the order, and General Sherman's rage gradually re laxed. But the next morning it rose again. The Iowa brigade was in front, marching toward the city preceded by the First Ala bama Union Cavalry, or a portion of it. The road was wide and smooth. All of a sudden there was an explosion beneath the adjutant of this cavalry regiment whose horse was killed and the officer's leg torn off by the fragments of a torpedo shell. Sherman was just ahead of this Iowa brigade He moved up to the scene of the catastrophe, followed by the Iowa command. He was white with rage and horror. Just then a woman, vicious and ferocious, came out of a good farm house near by and tauntingly exclaimed to Sherman, "I could have told you that tor pedo was there; my husband helped put it in there last night, and there are more of them." General Sherman then ordered up a lot of prisoners from the rear of the brig ade and, ordering the soldiers to get a proper distance away, directed the prisoners with picks and spades to find the other torpedoes. They protested and then refused. The general ordered that a platoon of soldiers be brought out to fire upon them. They then yielded and began scratching with their fingers in a most delicate and careful manner, to find the torpedoes barely below the surface of the road. They found four, each being about eighteen inches long and eight inches in diameter with a percussion or friction fuse barely beneath the dust in the road. When a horse with an iron shoe, or a man with a solid tack-heel shoe stepped upon it there was almost sure tc be an explosion carrying death to those near by. The wicked and exulting woman BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 233 was given but a few minutes to get her household goods out of the house when it was ordered burned, because it had harbored the torpedo assassins of the night before. Lieutenant Stone witnessed these events, ex cept the exjMosion of the torpedo that mor tally wounded the Alabama adjutant. This cavalry regiment had been recruited and or ganized from the Union men of Alabama by Colonel Spencer, a former Iowa man, who -was afterwards a United States senator from Alabama in the reconstruction days. General Sherman in his memoirs, in giving an account of this incident, seems to have forgotten the finding of the other torpedoes in the road, but the fact is well attested. It was not a big event to General Sherman, and in his busy life might easily be for gotten. One day as the brigade was closing up before the works in front of the city, it halted about noon, two regiments being on each side of the main road, one in front of the other. General Belknap and Lieutenant Stone were at the roadside between. The men were snatching the opportunity to take a quick lunch, and all near the road were under a heavy artillery fire from the en emy's forts. Charles Hoag, who was either the sergeant major or principal musician of the Sixteenth Iowa, was sitting on the ground facing the rear and eating his short ration. He was struck squarely in the back of the head with a solid common shot and his brains scattered upon the persons of General Belknap and Lieutenant Stone and others who were within a few feet of him! The headless body was a weird and ghastly spectacle even to hardened soldiers familiar with scenes of blood and death. After arriving in front of Savannah, the soldiers had nothing to eat for a week but rice, which they had to thresh from straw the best they could. But after Fort Mc Allister was taken, at the mouth of the Ogechee river, by General Hazen's division of the Fifteenth Corps, ship-loads of pro visions came up Ossabaw Sound and sup plied the hungry veterans. Lieutenant Stone's period of enlistment had expired some time before the march to the sea, but he voluntarily remained in the army until the end of that great event. In the latter part of December, near Savannah, he was discharged, after serving nearly three months over time. He, with other dis charged soldiers, embarked in an old coast vessel for Hilton Head, South Carolina, which they reached next day, but were nearly shipwrecked on the way by reason of a terri ble storm at sea and the weakness of the ship. At Hilton Head they embarked for New York on the steamship Arrago, a stanch ves sel commanded by Captain Gadsden, and in eight clays they were in New York. On the voyage the crew of the ship picked up sixty-five survivors, who had escaped in boats from the steamer North American, which had left New Orleans three or four weeks before, loaded with nearly five hun dred souls, mainly discharged Union sol diers. The ship was fatally injured in a storm and sank with all on board save the sixty-five who were in the boats. One of them was a lady school-teacher from the state of New York. Her brother, a Union soldier, was ill in New Orleans. She re solved to go after him. For some reason she had to get permission from General John A. Dix, who commanded at New York. The conceited martinets about his headquarters would not let her see him. 234 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. She tried for three clays, and then, desperate, forcibly pushed herself forward into Gen eral Dix's presence. He received her kindly and gave her permission and transportation, for she had little money. She went to New Orleans', got her sick brother, and with him embarked on the doomed North American. When it was known the ship would sink the ¦captain ordered her into a boat. She re fused to go without her brother. The cap tain said her brother could not go, but with hundreds of others must perish. She clung to her brother and declared she would perish with him, The captain at last ordered the crew to place both brother and sister in the boat, which was done. In this way they -escaped the death that overtook those who went clown with the ship. There were hun- -dreds of discharged Union officers on the Arrago and they made up a purse of over a thousand dollars for the penniless but "heroic girl. Immediately on coming out of the army .".Mr. Stone resumed the study of law. Dur ing the lulls in campaigns he had, in camp -and garrison, kept up a systematic course of study in language, mathematics, history and general literature, and to some extent of the law. He mastered many of the text-books of the schools as effectually as if he had studied at college. On his return he went into the law office of Hon. William Hale, an able lawyer of Glenwood, who died in 1885, while he was governor of the territory cf Wyoming. Mr. Stone was admitted to the bar in the latter part of 1865 at Glen wood, by Judge Day of the district court, the same man whom, dangerously wounded, Corporal Stone had assisted at Shiloh. In 1867 he was taken into a law partnership with Mr. Hale, which continued till Hale was appointed to the governorship of Wyo ming in 1882, by President Arthur. They had a large business and before many years were regarded as one of the strongest firms of the state. In 1874 S. V., Proudfit was associated with the firm, thereafter known as Hale, Stone & Proudfit. Mr. Proudfit remained in the firm until 1881, when he was appointed to a position in one of the departments at Washington. He has long been in the law office of the interior depart-* ment, and at this writing is assistant attor-. ney-general in that department, a position earned by his intrinsic merits and ability. In 1884 Mr. Shirley Gillilland, a brilliant young lawyer, was associated with Mr. Stone under the firm name of Stone & Gillilland. This firm was dissolved soon after Mr. Stone was elected attorney-general, some years later. Without removing from his home and practice in Glenwood, Mr. Stone formed a law partnership with Jacob Sims, at Council Bluffs, in 1886, under the firm name of Stone & Sims. Mr. Sims was and still is one of the ablest lawyers at the Iowa bar. This relation continued till soon after Mr. Stone became attorney-general. About 1890 he and T. C- Dawson formed a law partnership at Council Bluffs, under the name of Stone & Dawson. In 1897 Mr. Dawson was appointed by the president as secretary of the United States legation at Rio Janeiro, a position he still holds. About the ist of January, 1898, Mr. Stone formed a law partnership with Emmet Tinley. at Council Bluffs, which is still existing. Mr. Tinley is a young man of much ability and high character, and the firm has a large and increasing practice. During the past twenty-five years Mr. Stone has been engaged in many large and BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 235 important cases and has had conspicuous success in achieving many notable victories. Pie maintains his practice at Glenwood, where he lives, but spends much time at his office in Council Bluffs, which can be reached iu forty minutes after he starts from his home. His investigation of a case is search ing and thorough, and in his preparations for trial he is industrious and exhaustive, though he possesses tremendous instanta neous power of thought and action, and can readjust or wholly change his line of battle on the trial as readily as a great military tactician can on the field of battle. A distinguished judge of the state, be fore whom he has long practiced, writes of him as follows : "To hear Mr. Stone in court upon some important legal question one would conclude that his understanding is pre-eminently a legal one. His arguments have the vivid freshness and yirility which frequently char acterize new investigation, and at the same time are supported by such careful analysis and profound knowledge of legal principles as to show that his researches have not been confined to the narrow scope of that par ticular case, but have covered the wide field of legal learning. "In the last twenty-five years legal litera ture has increased tenfold, which makes it possible for the ordinary lawyer, in most instances, to support his contention with the decisions of some court, when he would be powerless if called upon to sustain his posi tion by original thought and research; but it can be truthfully said of Mr. Stone that if all of the books were burned, the decisions of the courts blotted out, he would still be an eminent lawyer, — one of the few whose task would be to rebuild the fabric of the law and write its history. 14 "Many years ago an eminent judge told the writer that in his opinion Mr. Stone had the strongest grasp of legal questions of any lawyer in his district. "From his boyhood Mr. Stone has been recognized as an eloquent and very effective public speaker. He has great power in an alyzing complicated and apparently contra dictory states of facts. "An eminent judge said to the writer that Mr. Stone was the only lawyer who had ever led him to change his conclusion after he had fully made up his mind upon the facts in a case, and that he did this by his keen anal ysis of the facts. To this power of analysis is added the beauty and fervor of a poetic imagination and of strong emotion. His speeches are arguments, based on fact and reason, frequently interspersed with out bursts of the finest oratory. He is a reasoner and logician first; closely following this he is an orator of high rank. "Mr. Stone has been very successful be fore juries and as a trial lawyer, and has won a wide reputation as an eloquent and very convincing public speaker. In great cases he has always succeeded in the end. "For more than one-third of a century upon the stump and in the councils of his party he has been an earnest and powerful advocate of the equal rights of all men be fore the law; of the protection of Ameri can labor, and of honest money ; one of the sowers of the good seed from which not only Americans but all men are now reap ing a bountiful harvest. Long service has not weakened his excellent natural powers as a lawyer and speaker, but has added to them strength and wisdom, — the gifts of long years of experience and thought." Lieutenant Stone has always been a Re publican in politics. Even before the Civil 236 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. war when a mere boy he made speeches in the neighborhood on Silver creek. He cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, at Marietta, Georgia, when his regiment was in camp preparatory to the march to the sea. In 1867, when but twenty-four years of ag;e, he was elected a member of the house of representatives from Mills county to the Iowa general assembly. He was the young est member of that body and was re-elected in 1869. In 1 87 1 he was elected to the Iowa senate from Pottawattamie, Mills and Mont gomery counties as its youngest member. He served four years in the senate, which included the period of the making of the code of 1873, in which he took an active part. In 1875 ne was returned to the house from Mills county, was a candidate for speaker, but was defeated by Hon. John H. Gear, of Burlington. He.then became chair man of the judiciary committee, and the unquestioned leader of the house. He was re-elected to the house in 1877, and in Janu ary, 1878, was made speaker without op position from either party. In this capacity he gave great satisfaction and ruled over the house with firmness and justice. He was then and is yet regarded as one of the ablest parliamentarians in the country. Be fore he became speaker he had been chair man of many important committees and had served upon others. He secured the passage of many important measures, among them the first law in Iowa to regulate insurance companies. He introduced and over great opposition secured the passage of a bill for establishing the Institution for Feeble Mind ed Children at Glenwood, his home city. This was in 1876. He carried it easily through the house of which he was a mem ber, but when it went to the senate it was de feated, lacking three votes. With his usual energy he went about the work of resurrect ing and passing it. With the assistance of his friends in the house and senate, of whom he always had many, the vote was reconsid ered two days later and the bill passed. This institution has now grown to be one of the greatest in the country, and is conceded on all sides to be one of the most meritorious. When Mr. Stone was pressing the bill in the general assembly few people had any confi de nee in its merits and it was supported more through personal friendship for him than from any other motive. But they have long since seen his judgment vindicated. He was the first man that ever carried through an Iowa legislative body a bill providing for the appointment and then the election of commissioners to regulate the railways of the state and vesting them with power to fix railway freight charges. This measure he prepared, introduced and carried through the Iowa senate in 1874. Though the meas ure was defeated in the house, part of the principles of it were carried through four years later when he was speaker of the house. In 1888 all the principles of Mr. Stone's measure became engrafted into Iowa law. They have given complete satisfaction to the people of the state and even railway com panies now recognize their justness and merit, and are content with them. We cannot follow the record of this active man through his legislative career. During the course of twelve years, from 1868 to 1880, he was a leading factor in Iowa legislation. No important measure was enacted that had not received his care ful consideration and his views of public law and policy have been impressed upon the statutes of the state. In 1876 Mr. Stone was elected as a dele gate at large to the Republican national con- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 237 vention at Cincinnati, which nominated Rutherford B. Hayes. Mr. Stone supported the nomination of Hon. James G. Blaine for president. The names of great men like James G. Blaine, Roscoe Conkling and Oliver P. Morton were before the convention. Hon. Robert G. Ingersoll, one of the great •orators of the world of any time, made the presentation address in behalf of Mr. Blaine. In immediate effect and startling power the speech was never excelled since the world began. It is doubtful if in these respects it was ever approached. If the vote could have been taken at its close there would have been no doubt of the nomination of Blaine, but by the rules of the convention that could not be clone, and intervening time and things turned the attention of the delegates. Mr. Stone was here elected as the Iov/u member of the Republican national commit tee, and, by Zachariah Chandler, its chair man, was appointed on the executive com mittee. He was thus an active factor in the management of the campaign. The struggle ended in such doubt that congress appointed an electoral commission to decide who had won the presidency. At the Republican national convention in Chicago, in 1880, Mr. Stone, as a member of the national committee, took an exceedingly active part. There had long been a conflict among leading Republicans over what was known as the "unit rule," by which was , meant that if a majority of a state convention or of a state delegation should be favorable to a candidate the majority could cast the vote of the whole delegation ; and thus dele gates elected from districts who might be for some other candidates could have no voice for their preference. The question had long been one of contention. It was determined by the faction to which Mr. Stone belonged to bring the matter to an issue and settle it forever, if possible. New York, Pennsyl vania and Illinois had large delegations, the majority of each being against Blaine, but there being also a very large minority of each for him. The members of the national committee who- were most active against the unit rule were Senator Chaffee, of Colorado; William E. Chandler— since senator — from New Hampshire; Representative, now Sen ator, Aldrich, of Rhode Island; Stephen B. Elkins, of Arizona, now senator of West Virginia ; and John Y. Stone, of Iowa. The most active against them were Senator Don Cameron, of Pennsylvania — then chairman of the committee after the death of Zacha riah Chandler; Chauncey I. Filley, of Mis souri ; George C. Gorham, of California ; and Powell Clayton, of Arkansas. The fight was long and bitter. Thirteen or fourteen of the committee were in favor of the unit rule and a larger number against it, but the minority almost made up in boldness, cour age and audacity what they lacked in num bers. The point was over the selection by the committee of a man for temporary chair man who would hold to unit rule or against it. The chairman of the committee finally refused to put questions proposed by mem bers of the majority. He refused to allow an appeal from his decision. After several ineffectual efforts a recess was taken and the members of each faction assembled by them selves. In the majority faction a resolution was introduced by Mr. Elkins and unani mously adopted to remove Mr. Cameron as chairman of the committee and elect Will iam E. Chandler. Mr. Aldrich was selected as leader to carry this daring though neces sary scheme into effect. Motions were pre pared and the precise lines of action agreed 238 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. upon. It was expected there would be resist ance, more or less forcible, to the removal of Chairman Cameron, and preparations were made to meet that. But the expected con flict did not come about. Chicago was full of the spirit of the controversy and the ex citement was great, for upon the result de pended the nomination for the presidency. If the unit rule prevailed Grant would be nominated. If it failed probably Blaine would.be, though it was not certain. After the secret proceedings above mentioned the committee began to reassemble. In the meantime it had leaked out that the major ity had resolved to remove the chairman of the committee. This broke clown the unit- rule entrenchment. The minority gave up the fight they had so audaciously kept up be fore. But here entered upon the scene a new feature. Thomas C. Platt was the New York member of the committee, but he now for the time being gave place to Chester A. Arthur, who at that moment had no concep tion of the fact that he would in a few days be nominated for vice president. He was a diplomatist and gentleman, and he was ever magnificent. He came to the majority with an olive branch. He carried the scroll of submission. Mr. Arthur captivated the victors. He stated that his faction would give up the unit rule, but in the interest of harmony he urged that some man be selected who was satisfactory to all, and who would still hold against the unit rule. This was agreed to and Senator George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, a grand old man even then, was unanimously agreed to as temporary chairman. And thus one of the most troublesome and dangerous questions that ever came up in the Republican party was finally settled. A few clays later James A. Garfield was nominated for president, and Chester A. Arthur for vice-president. In but little over a year the captivating peace maker in the committee was president of the United States. This was probably the most interesting convention ever held in America. Roscoe Conkling, John A. Logan, Benjamin Harrison, James A. Garfield, William Mc Kinley and many other great men were del egates. In 1884 Mr. Stone was again a delegate at large from Iowa to the national Republi can convention held that year in Chicago. He was the chairman of the Iowa delegation and was an active participator in the debates and proceedings of the convention. He was, with the others of the delegation and most of his party in the state, for the nomination of Mr. Blaine. He was efficient and active in the secret meetings and work of the friends of that illustrious man, who had the great satisfaction of seeing him there triumphantly nominated. In 1888 Mr. Stone was nominated and elected on the Republican ticket as attorney- general of the state. He was re-elected in 1890 and again in 1892. He was the first attorney-general in the state to receive three terms, though he did not solicit or desire the last. During his incumbency of that office many questions wholly new to the jurisprudence of the country arose. The railway statutes of 1888 came up for judi cial interpretation. Scores of suits in both federal and state courts were instituted under tliese laws. Many of them involved the con • stitutional power of the state to enact such statutes. The powers of the state railway commission had to be considered and deter mined, and during the six years Mr. Stone was obliged to constantly meet the BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 239 greatest railway lawyers of the country in these courts on these important questions. The work of the office increased four-fold The best test of his ability to perform these complicated and laborious duties is found in the fact that none but words of praise were ever elicited for his conspicuous services. Before the close of his last term as at torney-general he was elected by the house of representatives as one of the code com missioners to revise the Iowa code. This extensive and laborious undertaking was completed by the commission in the latter part of 1895, and the work thus wrought, together with the revisions of it made by the general assembly at its special session in 1897, constitutes the present code of Iowa laws. This was the second code he helped to make. In 1894 he was a candidate for United States senator, but was defeated in the cau cus by Ex-Governor John H. Gear, his old- time antagonist for the speakership. In 1880 he was a candidate for the nom ination for congress at the Republican con vention at Council Bluffs. There were foui candidates, Mr. Stone, Colonel W. F. Sapp, then congressman, Colonel W. P. Hepburn and Major A. R. Anderson, all prominent men of the state. The convention was in session six- days and ballotted hundreds of times. On the last ballot Colonel W. P. Hepburn was nominated. He has, in a changed district, been in congress ever since, save during the four years he was solicitor of the treasury department during the ad ministration of President Harrison. Mr. Stone would undoubtedly have been sent to congress at different times, from the new district of 1882, if he had consented; but he has uniformly declined to be considered in- that connection. The intensity of his political aspirations has been greatly modi fied in his later years, though he is as earnest and active as ever in conventions and cam paigns in support pf his party and party friends. But his friends have noticed that while he has steadfastly refused to be con sidered for governor or representative in congress, he has never been heard to say he would refuse an elect-ion to the United States senate, where his many friends hope to see him yet. There arose in Iowa long ago many seri ous controversies among the people along the Des Moines river as to the title to lands along that stream claimed by early settlers on them under acts of congress. The old Des Moines Railroad & Navigation Com pany got title from the state through an old contract with certain state commissioners. The title to about three hundred thousand acres was involved in the controversy between the settlers and this company and its grantees. Some early decisions of cases between claimants through the dif ferent sources of title were in favor of the company and persons to whom it had sold some of the lands. Settlers were being evict ed, much distress was occasioned and great excitement arose and some serious personal conflicts followed, and many were threat ened. In 1889 Governor Larrabee requested Mr. Stone, then attorney general of the state, to go to Washington and endeavor to get the attorney general of the United States to institute a suit, on behalf of the government, to forever settle these disputed titles. After protracted arguments by Mr. Stone and Sen ator Allison of Iowa, who freely assisted him, on the part of the settlers, and eminent 240 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. lawyers on behalf of the company, the attor ney general of the United States made the order directing the suit to be brought. Mr. Stone was appointed by the attorney gen eral as special attorney on the part of the govjernment to institute and conduct the cause. It was argued by Mr. Stone for the United States before Judge Shiras, United States judge at Fort Dodge, in 1890. The cause was decided against the government and appealed to the supreme court. Mr. Stone was again appointed as special attor ney to prepare and prosecute the appeal. He and the attorney general of the United States argued the cause in the supreme court. That court adhered' to the declara tions of the early cases, and decided that, in view of the long period of time that had elapsed during which the old cases had been relied upon as the law of the matter, it would not overturn the previously an nounced doctrines. The result of the suit, however, had the effect to induce congress to make an appropriation partially compen sating the settlers for their losses. In the spring of 1884 Mr. Stone com menced the work of planting an apple or chard a mile west of Glenwood. By the spring of 1892 he had purchased eight hun dred acres of land in one body, on which he had in the meantime planted over one hun dred thousand trees and seveny-five thousand grape vines. In the enterprise he invested all the money he had ever earned and saved and all he could borrow. The expense of the operation and maintenance of the orchard was afterward very great. But up to this writing there has been no crop of apples in this country since 1891, though all the trees have long since been of bearing age. Such' a condition had never been known before the orchard was planted. On this ac count Mr. Stone was obliged to let go much of it. He began this great under taking from both sentimental and prac tical motives and from a desire to benefit the locality where, and the people among whom, he had so long lived. Though he has thus far gained nociiing for himself in the enterprise, it has been of incalculable benefit lo them. The price of land in that county and around it quickly went up ten to thirty dollars per acre, from which it has not receded. Mr. Stone does not doubt that the orchard will yet prove immensely profit able, and though it may not help him he is gratified to believe it will greatly help others. In addition to his other studies during the war Mr. Stone learned to read well the French language, though, for want of a teacher, not to speak it. He obtained Jomini's and Schalk's works on the art of war and mastered them. He thus became well informed on the theories and principles of this great art and acquired a technical knowledge of the rules of grand strategy and grand tactics and the principles of mili tary logistics. In an experience of more than three years of service in large armies under illustrious commanders in a great war over a large territory, he continuously saw these great rules and principles put in practice. Since the war he has been a constant stu dent of language, literature, philosophy, science and history and few university grad uates, who have been so long engaged in the active duties of an arduous profession are better scholars.' The character of his mind is such that he is a profound, analytical and constructive thinker, and a clear, logical, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 241 forcible and" elegant writer. Since he re tired from the attorney generalship he has devoted his time to his private practice with unabated energy, and few professional or business men work and study as many hours of the day and night. John Y. Stone was married at Glenwood, January 8, 1868, to Miss Harriet Solomon. On that clay he started to Des Moines to at tend his first legislative session, taking his young wife with him for the winter. The name of Mrs. Stone's father was Joel Solo mon. He was clerk of the circuit court in Fulton county, Illinois, when Stephen A. Douglas was judge of that circuit, and he was a warm personal and political friend of that distinguished man. Mr. and Mrs Stone have but one child living, John Clar ence Stone. He was born in 1871 and in 1S94 was married to Miss Jessie DeLash- mutt, daughter of W. C. Delashinutt, one of the most prominent men in the county. They have two children, boys, one named John Ernest and the other William Law rence, the former after his paternal and the latter after his maternal grandfather. JOHN D. KRUSE. An industrious and energetic career has brought to John D. Kruse creditable suc cess, making him one of the substantial farmers of Mills county. He was born in Holstein, Germany, and his parents, Hans and Katrina (Miller) Kruse, were also na tives of the fatherland. Our subject and his brother Henry came to America in 1858, taking up their abode in Oak township, Mills county, Iowa, and three years later, in 1861, they sent for their parents, who also crossed the Atlantic to the new world and became residents of Oak township, where they spent their remaining days, the father dying when eighty-two years of age, while the mother passed away at the age of eighty- three. Of their six children John D. Kruse is the second in order' of birth. After coming to the United States he spent three years in working for others and then with the cap-. Hal he had acquired he began buying land and devoted his energies to its improvement and cultivation. As a companion and help mate on life's journey he chose Miss Katrina Schroeder, a daughter of Henry and Mar- guerita Schroeder. Their marriage was celebrated October 29, 1861, and they be came the parents of six children, four, of whom are yet living, namely : Lena, now the wife of Matt Patterson, a resident .of South Omaha; Charlie, who resides in Sil ver City, Mills county, and is engaged in the stock business; Lewis, who is employed in a store in Emerson, Nebraska ; and Henry, who is located in Mineola, where he is ex tensively engaged in dealing in stock. Those who have passed away are William, who died at the age of eighteen years, and Au gnst, who died at the age of twelve years. The mother of these children passed away in 1875, and for five years Mr. Kruse re mained single. He was again married, on Chirstmas day of 1880, his second union being with Mrs. Jena Domand. By her first husband she had three children : Otto, who resides in Wayne county, Nebraska, where he is engaged in farming; Theodore; and Martha. By the second marriage there are three children, Metha, Herman and John. In 1896 Mr. .Kruse lost his second wife, who died on the 28th of February of that year, at the age of fifty-three. Since first purchasing a tract of land 242 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. John D. Kruse has carried on agricultural pursuits, and as his financial resources have increased he has added to his possessions until he has owned nine hundred acres of fine farming land. He has engaged in the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to this climate and to the raising of stock, and both have brought to him an excellent income. He has made liberal provision for all his children, and those who are married he has settled upon good farms or else established them in business. He has earned the dis tinction of being what the world calls a self- made man. He has met difficulties and ob stacles in his career, but has steadily ad vanced on the road to progress, for the trials which he has encountered have seemed to serve as an impetus for renewed effort. In politics he is independent. He and his fam ily are members of the German Lutheran church at Mineola, and are people of sterling worth, enjoying the confidence and high re gard of many friends. Mr. Kruse has never had cause to regret his determination to come to America, for he found in the new world the opportunity he sought and is to day one of the substantial and valued farm er.' of Mills county. MORTIMER W. NELSON. A varied career has been that of Mr. Nelson, who from a very early period in his boyhood days has been dependent upon his own resources for a living. He is numbered among the veterans of the Civil war, has faced the hardships and trials of life, has been connected with various business' and military concerns, and now, in the evening of life, is enjoying a well earned rest at his home in Randolph, Iowa, where he is num bered among the representative citizens. He was born near Hillsboro, in Mont gomery county, Illinois, July 21, 1831, and was reared upon a farm. His parents were Robert C. and. Elizabeth A. (Shull) Nelson, and the paternal grandfather of our subject was John R. Nelson, a native of Scotland and a member of the distinguished family of Nelsons living in Knoxville, Tennessee. Robert C. Nelson was born and reared in that city, acquiring a liberal education. He prepared for the practice of law and ,was admitted to the bar. A broad-minded, in telligent man, he also successfully engaged in teaching school, and he was called upon to fill a number of positions of public honor and trust. After his removal to Illinois he occupied the position of county clerk in Montgomery county and filled a number of minor offices. Prominent and influential in public affairs, he left the impress of his individuality for good upon the public life of the community with which he was asso ciated. In his political preferences in early life he was what was known as a member of the Brownlow faction of the Tennessee and trust. After his removal to Illinois he became the owner of a farm, which he im proved, making it his home for a number of years. Finally, however, he became dis sipated through his political work, became involved in financial trouble and lost his property, leaving his wife and two little sons without means of support. He then accept ed a position as clerk on a steamboat ply ing between New Orleans and St. Louis, and after a number of years he went to Jackson county, Illinois, where he died in 1866. His family had had no correspondence with him for a number of years and the only knowl- MORTIMER W. NELSON BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 243 edge they had of him was obtained through our subject's correspondence with a brother of his father, who knew of his place of resi dence. Robert C. Nelson had two brothers in Tennessee : David, a prominent attorney at Jaw in Knoxville ; and Matthew, who also made his home in that city. The mother of our subject was born in Wayne county, Tennessee. After the father left home the mother kept her children with her, supporting them by working at the loom. In 1845 sne removed to Van Buren county, Iowa, locating in Keosauqua, where she remained for a number of years. While there he was again married, becoming the wife of a Mr. Richardson, and from, that date her sons were obliged to provide for their own support, receiving no further in dulgence or kindness from the mother. Later she and Mr. Richardson separated and she removed to Fort Scott, Kansas, where her death occurred. Of the Methodist church she was a consistent and worthy member. Mortimer W. Nelson was only two years old when his father left home. He was still very young when he began to earn his own livelihood. He received very limited edu cational privileges and his life has ever been one of industry and labor. He accompanied his mother on her removal to Iowa and was reared in Van Buren county. When sixteen years of age he entered upon an apprentice ship to learn the blacksmith's trade, and after mastering that business he was enabled to gain a good living for himself. About 1850 he joined Ned Buntline's expedition to invade Cuba. Mr, Buntline was to follow Crittenden and Lopez, of Kentucky, who had gone 'to Cuba with a force of fifty men. Ned Buntline then raised a company of about two hundred and fifty filibusters and with his force made his way to New Or leans, where intelligence was received of the shooting of Crittenden and Lopez, and the expedition was therefore abandoned. From New -Orleans many of the company returned to their homes, but Mr. Nelson, of this re view, went to Texas, where he spent five years, following the blacksmith's trade and also speculated to some extent. In that way he made some money, gaining the nucleus of his present possessions. Returning to his native county in Octo ber, 1856, Mr. Nelson was united in mar riage to Miss Parlina Mitchell, and unto them was born a son, John H. Nelson. Our subject remained in Illinois until 1 861, when he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting with the Union army. While he was at the front he lost his wife. Mr. Nel son's mother then took care of his child, rearing him to manhood and when last heard from he was in Texas. In May, 1861, Mr. Nelson was enrolled as a member of the First Illinois Cavalry, which was assigned to the western depart ment of the army. He was detailed to act as wagon-master and was superintendent of all transportation for that division. At Lexington, Kentucky, seven companies of the regiment were captured, but were paroled on the ground and sent to St. Louis. Three days later Secretary Stanton, of the war de partment, ordered all to report at Benton Barracks for duty. The men responded and the regiment was re-organized, with their old colonel, John Marshall, of Coles county, Illinois, in command. The companies were then placed at different points to guard and protect supplies and other transportation. Mr. Nelson served in that way until July 14, 1862, when he was mustered out in ac- 244 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. cordance with the act which prevented him from being exchanged. He received an hon orable discharge, and the 13th of August of the same year he re-enlisted, becoming a member of the Fortieth Iowa Infantry. With that regiment he also remained in the western department and saw much hard service. He was made sergeant of his com pany and participated in many battles and engagements, including the siege of Vicks burg. At Paducah, Kentucky, he was pro moted to the rank of color-bearer and there after was in all the battles in which his regi ment took part. At the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, in 1864, he was wounded in the left shoulder by a minie ball, and was thus disabled for further duty in the field and was granted a furlough. His arm and hand were so crippled by the gunshot wound that he was never again able to work at the blacksmith's trade. The government now grants him a pension of twelve dollars a month; but this is certainly inadequate to the injury he sustained and the disability which has since followed. He served his country long and faithfully, doing every thing in his power to uphold the cause of the Union. While at the front his loyalty and bravery were above question, and he was never known to neglect a duty whether on the firing line or on the tented field. No soldier who wore the blue has a better rec ord, and his military service is one of which he has every reason to be proud. After returning to Illinois Mr. Nelson was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Elizabeth Williams, who was born in Ohio, December 14, 1842, a daughter of Thomas Pulling, a native of England. He was a farmer and butcher and died in Illinois. In his family were the following named: Charles; George; Benjamin; Adam, who was killed in the war of the rebellion; Thomas; Mary; Catherine; Elizabeth, the wife of Mr. Nelson; Mary, Emily, Joanna and Ann. With the exception of Thomas and Ann, all are yet living. By her former marriage Mrs. Williams had one daughter, Alpha, who was reared and educated by our subject and is now the wife of F. Walker. Mr. Nelson continued farming in Illinois until 1882, when he came to Fremont coun ty. Here he carried on agricultural, pur suits for five years and then purchased a comfortable home in Randolph, where he has since remained, practically living retired from the active duties of business. He has, however, served as assessor for twelve years, and has been re-elected for three years more. He has also been street commis sioner and tax collector and has filled all the offices with credit to' himself and satis faction to his constituents. He was nom inated on the Republican ticket for the office of sheriff, but as the county is largely Demo cratic he failed of election. He has, how ever, never been an aspirant for political honors, and the offices which he has filled have come to him in recognition of his ability rather than from his seeking. On questions of state and national importance he votes with the Republican; party ; but at local elec tions, where no political issue is involved, he casts his ballot irrespective of party ties. Both he and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church and Mr. Nelson is a licensed minister thereof. He has been very active in both church and Sunday-school work and has aided in organizing a num ber of Sunday-schools in the county. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 245 GEORGE PULLMAN. The value of character was demonstrat ed in the life of the late George Pullman, o'f Ingraham township, Mills county, Iowa, who left to his descendants a priceless legacy in a good name. Mr. Pullman was born in the province of Darmstadt, Germany, November 24, 1834, and died September 6, 1898, aged sixty-four years, ten months and twenty- three clays. He was educated in his native city and at the age of eighteen came to America and joined his two sisters who had previously located in Philadelphia, Pennsyl vania, and who took a special interest in him because he was the youngest of six children and the only son in their family. He learned wagon and carriage making in Philadelphia, and worked at that trade until 1856. He went from Philadelphia to Chi cago and from Chicago to Muscatine, Iowa, where he was married, January 4, 1856, to Elizabeth Hettinger, a native of Darmstadt, Germany, born October 3, 1838, and a daughter of George and Margaret (Buck) Hettinger, who made the voyage from Ger many to the United States in a sailing ves sel in 1848, the passage consuming thirty- six days. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Pull man began life as tenant farmers at Musca tine. Fourteen years later, on September 1, 1870, they set out for Ingraham township, Mills county, Iowa, by wagon, driving through in thirteen clays and arriving Sep tember 13th. They settled on one hundred and sixty acres of new prairie land for which Mr. Pullman paid ten dollars an acre and which is now worth sixty-five dollars an acre. Later, from time to time, he bought other land until he owned six hundred acres, most of it in one body, and for one eighty- acre tract he paid twenty-nine dollars an acre. He gave attention to general farming, but made a specialty of raising hogs and cattle, feeding his own crops largrly, ex cept wheat and barley, of which he raised good quantities and for which he received the highest market priae. The Pullman farm is one of the best and most productive in the county. ' The present residence of the family was built in 1892 and the barns, granaries and other out-buildings were erected earlier, according to necessity and opportunity. Mrs. Pullman is one of a family of ten children, of whom seven grew to manhood and womanhood and of whom Mrs. Pull man and four of her brothers are living. John Hettinger is a salesman at Silver City, Iowa. William is a farmer near Silver City, Iowa. Another brother is a hotel- keeper at Silver City, Iowa, and the eldest is a farmer at Humboldt, Kansas. Mir. and Mrs. Pullman had fourteen children, who were born at the dates mentioned. George Pullman, at Muscatine, April, 1857; William, 1858; Margaret, who was born in i860 and married Frank Plummer; Sophja, who was born in 1861 and married Will iam Mosley; Mary, born in 1862; Philip, in 1864; John, who was born in 1866 and lives at Silver City, Iowa; Henry A., born in 1868; Charles, in 1871 ; Edward, in 1872, Lizzie, who was born in 1874 and is the wife of Davis Greenwood, of Silver City, Iowa; Frank, born in 1876; Albert, in 1878; and James, in 1880. Eight grandsons and eight granddaughters of Mr. and Mrs. Pull man are living. The family are members of the Lutheran church, of which Mr. Pullman was a liberal supporter, and was interested also in public education and served his fellow 246 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. townsmen as school director and was many times elected trustee of his township on the Democratic ticket. All of his children re ceived a good common-school education and three of his sons were graduated' from the Gem City Business College, at Quincy, Illi nois. WALTER B. SHELDON, Walter B. Sheldon is one of the most extensive landowners of Fremont county and for thirty-six years he has resided at his present place of residence in Benton town ship. He is truly a self-made man, having worked his way steadily upward from an humble position in life to one of affluence, and his life record contains many lessons that may well be emulated. Mr. Sheldon was born October 27, 1818, in Watertown, Jefferson county, New York, and is a representative of one of the old and well known families of the Empire state. His grandfather followed farming there. His father, William Sheldon, was born in Jefferson county, in 1793, and after arriving at years of maturity married Miss Sela Bross, of Watertown. Their marriage oc curred about 18 12, and they became the par ents of the following children : Mrs. Eliza Rogers, a widow who has six children and resides in Benton township; Walter B., of this review; Mrs. Artie Gates, of Benton township, who is the widow of a soldier and has one daughter; Amelia, wife of E. R. Hawley, of Percival; and Josiah B., a fruit farmer and capitalist of Texas, who has a wife and one son. The father of this family died in 1835, at the age of forty-eight years, and the mother was again married, becoming the wife of Alpheus Wilson. After his death she remained a widow for many years, mak ing her home with her son, Walter. She died in 1875, at the age of seventy-eight years. Mr. Sheldon, whose name introduces this record, was" reared to farm life and obtained his education before he was seventeen years of age. At his father's death he was left in charge of the farm of ninety acres, and upon him devolved the responsibility of caring for the family. Eight years later he sold that farm preparatory to removing west. He was married at Sackett's Harbor, New York, on the ist of June, 1845, to Miss Sarah Hawley. She is a sister of Elijah R. Haw ley and is the fourth in order of birth in the family of five children. She was born in 1 8 19, and she and her brother Elijah are the only ones of the family now living. Her parents were farming people and commanded the respect of all who knew them. Her mother was a member of the Baptist church, and her father served as a trustee in that church. Mr. Sheldon's maternal grandfa ther served as a captain in. the war of 1812. Our subject and his wife resided in the east until the fall of 1864 — the year of their arrival in Iowa. Mr. Sheldon secured one hundred and sixty acres of improved land, for which he paid fifteen hundred dollars. Since that time he has purchased other lands and he now owns thirteen hundred acres on the river bottom, while his son Charles has one thousand acres, all in this township with the exception of four hundred acres in Mills county, where the father and two sons have five hundred acres. Since arriving in Iowa Mr. Sheldon has carried on general farming and the breeding of and dealing in live-stock. He keeps on hand good grades of horses and cattle and everything about his place is neat BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 247 and thrifty in appearance. For thirty-six years he has resided on his present farm and has erected there one of the finest residences in the locality, and also has built near his home a large house for his son, William H. Sheldon. Unto our subject and his wife have been born seven sons : Charles, a resident of Fre mont county ; Clark, who is living in Benton township; William, who died at the age of two and a half months; William H., who re sides on the old homestead; Till W., who is also on the home farm ; Eddy W., a resident of Percival; and Jay H., who died at the age of two years. The members of the Sheldon household during" the past eight years have been our subject, his wife and Mrs. Pamelia Ward, who was born in the town of Pamelia, Jefferson county, New York, a daughter of Marseen and Catherine (Grems) Ward. Ten children were born unto Mr. and Mrs. Ward, of whom five were married, while three are yet living. Mrs. Ward has been a member of the family for fifty years. She is not a relative by the tie of blood, but the family entertain the greatest love and respect for her. Although well provided for she is still actively at work and is a most estimable lady. Upon the farm Mr. Sheldon and his sons have forty-five acres set in apple trees, which orchard brings to them an excellent income in good fruit seasons. This orchard and the large maple trees which adorn the lawn were planted by Mr. Sheldon and will stand as a monument to his memory long after he is sleeping beneath the sod. In busi ness he has prospered, owing to his well di rected his efforts. He had no inheritance and no influential friends to aid him, but steadily he has worked his way upward, improving his opportunities and annually augmenting his capital by his perseverance and diligence. He is a Master Mason of thirty years' stand ing and in politics he is a Democrat, but has never sought or desired the honors and emoluments of public office. Plis wife and one of his sons are members of the Baptist church, and he has contributed to its support and assisted in building the house of worship. He withholds his co-operation from no move ment or measure calculated to prove of public good, and all who know him esteem him for his genuine worth. RICHARD P. LINDSAY. Among those who have become promi nently identified with the business interests of Sidney, Iowa, is Richard P. Lindsay, the subject of this review. He was born in Ful ton county, Illinois, in i860, a son of Elisha and Elizabeth (Pennington) Lindsay, the former of whom was born near Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1816, and is still living, residing with a daughter at Creston, Iowa. The mother of our subject was born in Ohio, and her death occurred in this county. The early life of our subject was passed on a farm, coming to Fremont county with his relatives in 1877, and he continued an agricultural life for some years. He then entered public life as a clerk in several mer cantile establishments, finally becoming mes senger and baggageman on the Sidney brarfch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, continuing that active life for nine years. Seven years ago Mr. Lindsay, formed a partnership with his brother-in- law, R. S. Tate (whose sketch appears in this work), opening up a grocery business which 248 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. has been most successfully conducted ever since. The marriage of Mr. Lindsay was cele brated in Sidney in 1889, by Rev. R. C. Hughes, now the president of Tabor College (a sketch of which appears elsewhere), when Miss Kate Argyle became his wife. She was a daughter of Archibald and Harriet (Bowman) Argyle, the latter of whom is still living in this city. Mr. Argyle was a native of Virginia, who came to Fremont county about 1856, engaged in conducting a store and became a prominent citizen. He was the first recorder of the county, and when his death occurred in 1866 he was sin cerely mourned by all of the .old residents. Socially Mr. Lindsay has connected him self with the orders of K. of P. and M. W., in both of which he is very popular. He has been a prominent politician and has re ceived recognition from his party, being- elected to the office of county recorder, No vember 6, 1900. For three years he efficient ly represented the city in the council and is justly regarded as one of the representative men of this section. Both he and his most estimable wife are members of the Presbyte rian church. MARSHALL J. WILLIAMS. A very wealthy landholder and promi nent farmer of Mills county, Iowa, is Mar shall J. Williams, the subect of this sketch. He is the son of Dr. S. W. Williams and was born in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, July 4, 1864. His father, Dr. Williams, was a native of Ashtabula county, Ohio, and be came a prominent citizen of Iowa, well and favorably known in his profession, and es pecially beloved in his family. His educa tional advantages in early life were very limited, but he applied himself to his books whenever opportunity offered, the result be ing that he acquired a fund of varied in formation which enabled him to take an equal position in life with those who had been more favored by fortune. When but fourteen years of age he went to Cape Girardeau county, Missouri, and engaged as a clerk in a mercantile business, remain ing in this position for about seven years, quietly preparing all this time to enter the profession of medicine. Dr. Williams attended a course of lec tures at the Louisville Medical College and then commenced to practice at his former home, shortly afterward returning to, the college, where he finished the course and graduated at the head of his class, in 1851. Removing to Council Bluffs, Iowa, he en gaged in practice in' connection with Dr. P. J. McMahan, a prominent physician of that place. He became very successful and was valued highly by the residents of Coun cil Bluffs. He possessed those noble traits of character which the world loves to find in a physician, kindness, courtesy and sympa thy. He was ever ready to respond to the call of the sick, making no distinction be tween the rich and the poor. Owing to failing health Dr. Williams retired from practice in 1865, and located on a farm near Glenwood, Iowa. He was called upon very often to consult- with brother physicians, but aside from this duty he en tirely laid away his medical paraphernalia, realizing that work in that line was at the expense of his own health. He became closely identified with all of the progressive measures intended to promote the growth of Mills county. For several years he was a BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 249 member of the various county boards, and at one time was a candidate for representa tive. He labored to promote the interests of the Congregational church, of which he was a trustee. The death of Dr. Williams occurred June 8, 1880, at the age of fifty- seven. He had married Janet Grierson, in 1856, and three children were born of this union: Rowena; Sarah E., who married James Record; and Marshall J., our subject. The mother of these children died January 31, 1886. Our subject was placed in a very trying and responsible position at the time of his father's death. He was but sixteen years old, and the care of the large estate fell upon his young shoulders; but he faced the re sponsibility and overcame the many diffi culties. He took a trip to California, but with that exception has spent his life on his own land. He is the owner of three hundred and thirty acres, and a half interest in two hundred and seventy acres, both in Oak township, and eight hundred and eighty acres in Pottawattamie county. He has car ried on farming in connection with stock- raising, in both of which he has been very successful. He has never had a case of dis ease among his hogs, which are of Poland China and Berkshire breeds. Their pens and yards are kept clean and disinfected, and probably this precaution explains the vigorous health of his stock. Among his cattle the same conditions prevail. He has made a scientific study of the science of breeding and the care of stock, and considers regular feeding a great factor in successful management of such a business. His prefer ence in cattle is for the Hereford and Dur ham breeds, of which he owns a great number. The marriage of Mr. Williams took place March 24, 1887, to Miss Gertrude L. Star- buck, a daughter of Elisha Starbuck, a na tive of Ohio, and now engaged in the prac tice of law at Glenwood, Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams has been born one child, viz. : Clifford Starbuck Williams, August 11, 1 89 1. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are among the representative people of Mills county. They are highly esteemed and well-known residents, and their hospitable home is familiar to their many friends. In politics Mr. Williams is a Democrat, but has never sought office, although he has been made chairman of the central com mittee for many years and at present is township trustee. RANDOLPH SALMONS. The successful and prominent agricul turists of Deer Creek township, Mills coun ty, Iowa, are well represented by Randolph Salmons the subject of this sketch. He was born in this county, in 1857, a son of James and Sarah (Silkett) Salmons, the former of whom was born in Kentucky and died in this county, in 1879; the latter was born in Vir ginia, but her last clays were spent in Mills county. They lived good and respected lives, and in their death the family and com munity lost worthy people. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Randolph Salmons, who came to Amer ica from England and died in Indiana. Two brothers of our subject's mother, George and Jacob, were soldiers in the Union army dur ing the Civil war, and George died in the service, one brother of our subject's father also serving through that war. 250 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. The parents of our subject came to Iowa in 185 1 and located in Mills county, where they engaged in farming. Here Mr. Sal mons was reared and obtained his education, and is now one of the best known and weal thiest of the farmers near the town of Em erson. His fine farm comprises two hun dred and forty acres, which are well culti vated, improved in modern ways, and Mr. Salmons has demonstrated that he knows how to make agriculture a very satisfactory business. Mr. Salmons was married in this coun ty, to Miss Euphie H. McMullen, a daughter of L. D. McMullen, of Indian Creek town ship. Three children have been born to this union — Jessie Blanche, Iva Iowa and Goldie Alice. Socially Mr. Salmons is a popular member of the I. O. O. F., the Mod ern Woodmen and A. F. & A. M., and is a prominent and active Republican. The fam ily attend the United Brethren church, in which they are highly esteemed for many ex-, cellent traits of character. MRS. MARY D. MAGEL. Mrs. Mary D. Magel, the widow of the late Theodore Magel and one of the highly respected citizens of Fremont county, was born in Peoria county, Illinois, January 13, 1857, and is a daughter of Henry P. and Mary L. (Heaton) Brown. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother of Peoria, Illinois, in which latter place they were married. The grandfather, Christian Brown, was also a resident of Pennsylvania and followed farming. Emigrating west ward he became one of the pioneer settlers of Peoria county, Illinois, there making his jhome throughout the remainder of his days. His religious faith was in harmony with the' Presbyterian church. His children were : Elizabeth, the wife of J. Fisher ; John, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Henry P., the father of Mrs. Magel; Mary, the wife of C. L. Stoner; Christian, a me chanic; Aaron, and Reuben, who follow agricultural pursuits; and Salinda, wife of H. Pearce. Henry Brown, the father of Mrs. Magel, was a cooper by trade, but devoted much of his life to farming. He was reared and mar ried in Peoria county, Illinois, and then took up his.abode on a farm, .where he remained until 1866, when he removed to Iowa, lo cating in Prairie township, Fremont county. There he purchased a tract of raw prairie land, which he transformed into a good farm. It was located in the valley of the Nishnabotna river, and upon it he made substantial improvements, and it became his permanent home. He was very systematic in all his work and was an energetic and en terprising man who acquired a handsome property. The poor and needy found in him a friend who freely assisted them, and among those who knew him best he was held in highest regard because of his noble traits of character. In his political views he was a stalwart Democrat, but never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office. He died February 25, 1887, and his wife, who still survives him, is hale and hearty. She has since married John B. Furbush, a native of New York, who for many years has resided in Sidney, engaged in various business pursuits, but at the present time he is living retired from active Labor, hav ing no business cares save the management of his property interests. His wife was a daughter of Henry J. and Deborah (Griffin) THEODORE MAGEL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 251 Heaton, both of whom were natives of New- York city, where they were married and where the father followed the carpenter's trade. In the pioneer days of Illinois they lo cated in Peoria county, where Mr. Heaton purchased land and improved a farm in con nection with the work of his trade. He was also an inventor of note and invented the first corn-sheller. His business ability and keen sagacity enabled him to acquire a valu able property and his real estate in Peoria was extensive. He also owned a number of farms. His wife died in Peoria, in 1849, after which he sold his property in that city and in 1866 came to Fremont county, where he purchased land and improved a farm. He also bought farm land in Ne braska and the labor and improvement which he put upon it made it very valuable. His investments were judiciously placed and his business judgment was rarely at fault. In his political views he was an earnest Demo crat, who always kept well informed on the issues of the day and had a broad general knowledge of all questions of public interest. In the evening of life he sold his homestead and found a good home among" his children. Returning to Peoria to visit a daughter, he there died, January 10, 1889. Both he and his wife were attendants of the Episcopal church. Their children were: Mary L., who became the mother of Mrs. Magel ; Margaretta, the wife of J. Armstrong; Richard, who married and followed farm ing in Fremont county, and there died in July, 1885, leaving a wife and four chil dren; William Y., who also was a farmer of Fremont county and died in 1888, leaving a wife and two children; Harriet S., now the wife of William G: Randall, an attorney 15 at law of Chicago, Illinois ; and Henry, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had four children: Mary D., the subject of this review; Nettie, who died at the age of twen ty-one years; William H., who died at the age of twenty-seven, leaving a widow to mourn his loss ; and Mrs. Emma L. Maxted. The mother was a member of the Episcopal church. Mary D. Brown was born in Peoria county, Illinois, and with her parents came to Fremont county, where on the 24th of April, 1878, was celebrated her marriage to Theodore Magel. He was born in Des Moines county, Iowa, near the city of Bur lington, and belonged to an ljonored pioneer family of the state. His parents, Sibert and Mary (Lee) Magel, were natives of Ger many, and on the same vessel they crossed the Atlantic to America, locating in Iowa, in 1833. In this state they were afterward married. Among tbe pioneers they resided, experiencing the usual hardships which fall to the lot of frontiersmen. Burlington was little more than a steamboat landing, con taining only a few houses and no market. Mr." Magel secured a claim three miles from Burlington and after some time established a good home there. He worked at any em ployment that he could secure that would bring him some ready money, and when not thus engaged his time and attention were given to reclaiming the wild land and trans forming it into a productive farm. When the land was placed upon " the- market he had to borrow money at fifty per cent interest in order to pay for his farm; but he worked hard and soon cleared his place of all in debtedness. He found in his wife a faithful- companion and helpmeet on life's journey, and as the years passed he prospered and 252 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. purchased other lands, becoming the owner of various farms which he improved. He also bought and sold city property and be came a money-lender. Prosperity crowned his efforts and he entered claims in various localities, his realty possessions becoming extensive. He aided in erecting the first mill in Des Moines county and witnessed the development of the county into one of the most progressive and prosperous sec tions of the state, bearing his part in its advancement. He never sold his first pur chase, keeping that as the homestead and thereon all of the children were born and reared. Death came to him on the 9th of August, 1897, and his wife passed away De cember 5. 1896. Two of her brothers, Con rad and William, came from Germany to America and followed farming in Iowa, but Mr. Magel had no relatives on this side oi the Atlantic. Through life they were earnest adherents of the Lutheran church, in which they had been reared. They had ten chil dren : Elizabeth, now the wife of W. Hill- gartner; William and Henry, who reside in Des Moines> county; Charles and Con rad, who are prominent farmers of Fremont county; Peter, who makes his home near Burlington; Mary, the wife of J. Schafer, of Burlington; Margaret, the wife of H. Steyh, who is also living in the same city; Theodore S., who became the husband ot Mrs. Magel; and Benjamin, also of Des Moines county. The family was a well known and prominent one and the various members are now well, Located in life. Theodore Magel was reared in Des Moines county, where he was early trained to habits of industry and economy, and in the public schools he acquired his educa tion. Two of his brothers, Charles and Conrad Magel, came to Fremont county in 1870 and later Theodore established himself there. He secured a tract of land upon which he made permanent improvements and in this county he was married, after which he turned his attention to farming and stock-raising. His progressive methods and practical work were indicated in his business career, making him one of the leading agriculturturists in the communi ty. He was a well known and prosper ous farmer of Prairie township when his death, occurred. He was accidentally killed by an unruly horse, January 25, 1896, leaving a wife and five interesting children besides many friends to mourn his loss. In his political views he had been a Democrat and in religious faith was a Lutheran. His life was in harmony with his professions and all who knew him respected him for his sterling worth. Mr. and Mrs. Magel be came the parents of six children: Henry S., born May 11, 1879; Nettie, August 13, 1880; Edith L., September 28, 1882; Lucy, born November 17, 1884, and died August 20, 1886; Cara B., born September 9, 1890; and Paul, June 6, 1893. The devoted mother keeps her children together and su perintends the management of the home place. She is a most estimable woman, possesses excellent business ability and en joys the high regard of many warm friends. While the family bear the loss of a loving and devoted husband and father, they have every reason to be proud of the untarnished name which he left them. The Magels have ever been prominent people in Fremont county since they joined the first set tlers here, and the present representatives of the name here ar no exception to the rule. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 253 SAMUEL P. RICKETTS. Samuel P, Ricketts, who is engaged in farming on section 12, Benton township, Fremont county, -was born on the 28th of March, 1851, in Lorain county, Ohio, and is a representative of one of the old families of the south. His paternal grandfather was a native of Baltimore, but died before the birth of his son, Richard R. Ricketts, the father of our subject. He had one brother, who became the father of General Ricketts, a distinguished officer of the Civil war. Richard R. Ricketts was born in Baltimore on the 6th of February, 1802, and when he was six years of age his mother died. He then went to live with his uncle, -who had charge of the estate and remained with him until eighteen years of age, when he left Baltimore, his cash capital being a twenty- dollar gold coin. He' started on foot to Kentucky and resided for some time in the vicinity of Maysville and Bowling Green. He served a five-years apprenticeship at the cabinet trade, following that pursuit both in Kentucky and New Orleans. At the time of the cholera scourge in the latter city he was the only white man left in the shop. For four years he remained there and then returned to Kentucky, where he was married to Miss Betsey Platte, of New Haven, Connecticut. She was born January 7, 1 81 6, and was a daughter of Alanson Platte, a farmer of New York, who resided for three years west of Buffalo and in Lorain county, Ohio, prior to 1840. Mrs. Ricketts was engaged in teaching in Kentucky at the time she became acquainted with her future husband. They were married in the Blue Grass state and soon afterward went to Ohio, locating on a farm of eighty acres, which was given them by her father. Un til the summer of 1855 they remained upon that land and then drove across the coun try in a double-seated buggy to Fremont county, Iowa, that vehicle being the first of the kind ever seen in this locality. Hav ing sold their property in Ohio Mr. Ricketts purchased nine head of horses, driving three double teams to Iowa. He possessed a very comfortable competence for those times, hav ing twenty-five hundred dollars, and a por tion of this money he invested in a tract of one hundred and eighty-two acres of land. His brother-in-law, L. W. Platte, had come to this state several years before and had made arrangements for the transfer of the property of which the father of our subject became the owner. The house was a cotton- wood shanty and only twenty acres of the land had been cleared. This work was clone in 1842, being the first clearing in that por tion of the county. For two years after his arrival in Iowa Richard Ricketts re mained in his cottonwood home and then built a part of the present residence, erect ing" a structure sixteen by twenty-four feet, of logs hewed by McKinney Lambert. The frame part of the house was erected in 1869 and the log structure was then weather- boarded. Mr. Ricketts provided well for his family and at his death owned his fertile farm, which was well improved and well stocked. He had six children, of whom four are living, namely : Charlotte Elizabeth, the wife of George Lehman, of Columbus, Nebraska, by whom she had eight children, of whom four are living; Richard R-, who died in 1857, when about thirteen years of age; Mary H., who died December 28, i860, at the age of thirteen years; Samuel, of this 254 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. review; A. E., who is living on the south half of the home farm, on one hundred and sixty acres, with his wife and nine children; and Myra Grace, the wife of Tames H. Cope land, of Benton township, by whom she has two children. The mother died April 28, 1894, in her seventy-eighth year, and was laid at rest by the side of her husband in the Blanchard burial ground. He was a Baptist in his religious faith and she a Con- gregationalist, and both were consistent Christian people whose teachings and ad monitions did much to shape the career of their children. Samuel P. Ricketts, a well-known and esteemed farmer of Benton township, ac companied his parents on their emigration to Iowa and in the district schools here ac- . quired his education. He displayed a special aptitude for mathematics and always stood well in every study to which he gave his at tention. With the exception of four years spent upon other farms in the neighborhood he has always resided on the' homestead. He was married in 1876, on his twenty- fifth birthday, to Miss Mahala Clift, of Kentucky, who was born October 14, 1854, and is a daughter of John D. Clift. By this marriage there were eleven children, five sons and six daughters, but they lost an infant son. Those still living are as follows: Roscoe R., born December 24, 1876, is living in Nebraska City where he follows carpentering; Ida C. is with her parents; Augusta C. is the wife of Robert Acord, of Benton township, Fremont coun ty, by whom she has two children, — Walter R., a young man of twenty years, and George R., now eighteen years old, assisting i:">. the cultivation of the home farm; Eliza beth is with her parents ; Nellie M. is attend ing school; Grace L., Clara L. and Richard Henry, aged respectively eleven, nine and four yea'rs, are with their parents. The son who died in infancy was named Carl. Mr. Ricketts is a member of the Masonic Order and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.. In politics he is a stalwart Repub lican and has served as assessor for two terms, and as school director and road super visor. His wife is a member of the Con gregational church. They are people of the highest worth, well known as honored rep resentatives of the pioneer life. Mr. Ricketts carries on general farming and raises about seven thousand bushels of corn annually. He also keeps a few head of cattle and he has on hand from six' to twelve head of horses. His father was a fine work man in the cabinet manufacture and house- finishing in the early days, when the large black-walnut trees were peeled and placed on high skidways, where they were sawed into thick planks by two men, one under the log and the other on top, — which method ii called whipsawing. Timber was abund ant at that time, so that little veneering was used, but Mr. Ricketts was especially expert in executing that line of work. When the family first came to Iowa deer roamed over the prairie and through the forests and wild turkeys would frequently come into their yard. On one occasion a wild-cat made its way down the mud-and-stick chimney and into the cottonwood shanty in which they lived. Several times the mysterious visitor appeared at night and robbed them of poul try, although a watch dog Was on guard. Finally Mr. Ricketts remained awake one night and struck a light just in time to see BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. - 255 the animal make its escape. The cat per sisted in its visits for some time and he was unable to capture it. The name of Ricketts is inseparably in terwoven with the pioneer history of the county and from the earliest development of this portion of the state the members of the family have borne their part in the work of public progress and improvement. FRED HIATT. A successful and enterprising agricultur ist of Fremont county, Iowa, located near the prosperous town of Sidney, is Fred Hiatt, who was born in Fremont county, in 1872, a son of Reuben and Martha Ann (Kauble) Hiatt, the former of whom was born in Illinois and died in Fremont county in 1897. The father was a very prominent man, being one of the first settlers of the county, coming here in 1851. Mrs. Hiatt was born in Indiana, in 1830, of German descent, a daughter of David and Mary (Kratzer) Kauble, and married Mr. Hiatt in Missouri. She still survives. The paternal ancestry of our subject can be clearly traced to Page Proctor Hiatt, the great-grandfa ther, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The paternal grandparents were Jesse and Mary (Proctor) Hiatt, the latter born in Madison county, Kentucky, the former in South Carolina, from which state he emi grated at a very early day to Peoria, Illinois, where he was one of the oldest settlers, and from there entered the army in the war of 1812. Our subject received his education in Sid ney, Iowa, passing through the high school at that place, and then engaged in farming. He has a fine tract of valuable land, compris ing ninety acres, upon which he carries on general farming and stock-raising, being particularly successful. The marriage of our subject took place November 7, 1894, to Miss Olivia Alexan der, who was born in Missouri, a daughter of Aaron and Martha (Stokes) Alexander, the former of whom died in Missouri, the latter now being Mrs. Henry Keyser, of this place. One interesting little daughter, Belma Fern, just three years old, has been added to the family. In national affairs our subject is always found voting with the Democratic party, but in local matters he casts his ballot for the man he deems best for the position, regard less of general politics. He has been called upon to serve the township in some of the local offices, and has been a very efficient road supervisor for several terms. He is a valued member of the Methodist church at Sidney, while Mrs. Hiatt is connected with the Christian church. Both possess the es teem of the community and are regarded as among the most respected residents of the county. HENRY KUHL. German industry and thrift has had much to do with making the prairies of the west the garden spot of the world. Iowa has ben efited materially by this good element in our population, and Mills county has its quota of German and German-American citizens,, who have been successful personally and have been influential for the general prosperity of the people among whom they have cast their lot. One of the best known farmers of German birth in Ingraham township is Henry Kuhl, whose farm is in section 25. 256 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Henry Kuhl was born in northern Ger many, May 5, 1857, a son of Peter Kuhl, a farmer, and was reared to the work of the farm. His father, who was born in 181 7, is now living in Ingraham township, aged eighty-three. He married Anna Steffen in 1841, and of their ten children they reared five sons and three daughters. The first of the family who came to America was Anna, the wife of Hentz Snecklot, who came in the spring of 1864 and lives in Nebraska. In the following fall Hans Kuhl came, accom panied by his sister Maggie, who is now the wife of James Kay, of Oak township, Mills county. John is a prosperous Nebraska farmer. Klaus Kuhl, another brother of Henry Kuhl, came three years later. In the spring of 1873 Katie, another sister, came, and she is now Mrs. John Helkan, of Scott county, Iowa; and Henry, the subject of this sketch, came in the fall of the same year. William came about 1878 and Peter and Anna (Steffen) Kuhl in the spring of 1880. When Henry Kuhl came to America he was between sixteen and seventeen years old. He joined his brothers and sisters who had come to Scott county, Iowa, and worked there on farms until his parents arrived early in 1880, with Ferdinand, his youngest brother. In 1884 he bought his first farm of two hundred and forty acres, on which he had located the year before as a tenant, at the beginning of his married life. He paid thirty-seven dollars an acre for the place and began with a debt upon him of seven thousand dollars, but applied himself so dil igently to the task he had assumed that he overcame all obstacles and not only paid for the farm but made money on it and sold it in 1900 at sixty-four dollars an acre. He then bought three hundred and fifty-three acres south of Silver City at fifty-two dollars an acre, and in the fall of the same year he bought eighty acres more. He owns also twenty acres of timber Land. Beginning without cash capital, he has made a marked success in life and now ranks as one of the heavy farmers and prominent stockmen of his township. He breeds shorthorns, of which he has about fifty head1 ot registered stock, and forty-three of which he purchased at one hundred and thirty-five dollars a head. He keeps also- sixty head of grade stock, raises about forty calves each year, and has sold one yearling bull and two heifers at two hundred dollars each. Mr. Kuhl was married August 20, 1883, to Johanna Bickel, of Mills county, a daugh ter of Fred Bickel, of Germany, and they have had children as follows : William, now fifteen years old; Lennie, fourteen; Ferdi nand, thirteen; Fritz, eleven; Lizzie, nine; Rudolph, five; and Emil. Mr. Kuhl's*father and mother celebrated their golden wedding in 1 89 1. His mother soon afterward fell and broke her hip and the accident resulted in her death, in the spring of 1892, when she was seventy-five years old. His father, in fair health, has his home with his son, Henry. Mr. Kuhl was reared in the Lutheran faith and he is independent in politics. JAMES SIMEON FRANCIS. The subject of this personal narrative is one of the successful and progressive farm ers of Mills county, his home being in Silver Creek township. He has made his special field of industry an eminent success, and is highly esteemed and respected by all who know him. Mr. Francis was born in Kalamazoo county, Michigan, on the 24th of January, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 257 1838, a son of Lymon and Rachel (Fuller) Francis, both natives of New York. His paternal grandparents, Simeon Francis and wife, spent their entire lives in the Empire state, and the maternal grandparents, Abial and Dezier (Stephens) Fuller, were also residents of New York, though the former was born in Massachusetts. The father of our subject was a farmer and carpenter and devoted his later years to wagon-making. He also was a shoemaker throughout the greater part of his life. In 1835 he removed with his family to Mich igan, where he made his home until 1851, and then went to Illinois, but three years later came to Iowa, locating in Benton coun ty, where his last clays were spent. His death occurred when he was a little past sixty-eight years of age. His wife had died in the spring of 185 1, when more than forty-three years of age. In their family were twelve children, six of whom are still living. During his minority James Simeon Fran cis remained with his father, and although he commenced life for himself at the age of twenty-one he continued under the parental roof until his marriage. In the meantime, however, he was in the service of his coun try for three years during the Rebellion. On the 6th of August, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volun-" teer Infantry, under Captain William Gas ton, who in turn was succeeded by the fol lowing: J. A. Shutts, John A. Palmer and William McGuire. Mr. Francis participated in every battle and skirmish in which the regiment took part with exception of the time he was confined in the hospital. For three months he was in the hospital at Jef ferson Barracks, and was then transferred to the hospital at Quincy, Illinois, where he remained for five months. At the close of the war he was mustered out at Savannah, Georgia, and discharged at Davenport, Iowa, August 12, 1865. His health being per manently impaired he now receives a pension from the government. In March, 1866, Mr. Francis was united in marriage with Miss Mary Hawley, also a native of Kalamazoo county, Michigan. The parents of Mrs. Francis were Sheldon and Eliza (Hawey) Hawley, both na tives of New York. They. died in Benton county, Iowa, the father at sixty-eight years of age, and the mother at the age of seventy- six years and nine months. To' Mr. and Mrs. Francis have been born five children, four of whom are still living, namely : Frank D., who is married and has one son and one daughter; William E., who married Miss Lizzie Jackson, of Silver Creek town ship, December 19, 1900, and resides near his father; Delia E., who is married and has one daughter; and Iva E., at home. All have received good educational advantages and are now residents of Iowa. As previously stated, Mr. Francis began his business career at the age of twenty-one, and was successfully engaged in farming in Benton county for several years, owning and operating- a well improved place of eighty acres. In 1883, however, he removed to Mills county, and purchased the Davis farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Silver Creek township. Under his careful super vision it is made to yield a bountiful return for the care and labor bestowed upon it, and is to-day 'one of the most desirable places of its size in the locality. Since attaining his majority Mr. Francis has affiliated with the Republican party, and 258 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in i860. While a resident of Ben ton county he served as township trustee, and has ever taken a commendable interest in public affairs. He and his family attend the Christian church at "Malvern, and are people of the highest respectability. CONRAD MAGEL. The Magels are numbered among the pioneer families of Iowa. In the early days when Iowa was still under territorial gov ernment the parents of our subject took up their abode within its borders, and in Des Moines county, near the city of' Burlington, on the 22d of November, 1847, Conrad Ma gel was born, a son of Sibert and Mary (Lee) Magel. The parents were both natives of Germany and on the same vessel they crosed the Atlantic to the new world and were married in Iowa. They belonged to prominent families in the fatherland and be came frontier settlers in the new world. It was in the year 1833 that Sibert Magel cast in his lot, with the pioneer settlers west of the Mississippi. He left his home full of hope, true-hearted and determined to make the best of his op portunities in the land of the free; and though he had no capital to assist him his resolute spirit, energy, perseverance and economy have enabled him to advance stead ily toward success. Although he met man) hardships and trials, he was not discouraged but worked hard to carry out his earnest purpose to gain an honest living and provide a good home for his family. His labors were crowned with prosperity, and when he was called to the home beyond he left a very large estate. Near Burlington, which was then a col lection of cheap houses, constituting a small hamlet, he located a claim and began im proving it. He also worked at other em ployments that would bring to him some ready money. When he married he found an able assistant in his wife and together they labored to establish a home. When the Land was put upon the market he attend ed the sale, and though he had not been able to save enough to purchase his claim, he found a friend who lent him the money, on which he paid fifty per cent interest un til he was out of debt. From the claim he developed an excellent homestead, upon which he remained throughout the re mainder of his days, passing away on the 9th of August, 1897. His wife preceded him to the home beyond, being called to her final rest December 5, 1896. Through out their lives they were consistent members of the Lutheran church, in which they had been reared.. He was a very important factor in the development and improvement of the section of the state in which he lived, and while promoting his individual, pros perity also added to the general prosperity. He possessed superior business and executive ability and was an excellent financier, so that he was enabled to carry forward to success ful completion whatever he undertook. He dealt quite extensively in real estate, pur chasing and selling much farm land and city property. He was one of the leaders in ali movements calculated to promote the im provement and upbuilding of Burlington, and at the time of his death his realty possessions in that city were extensive and important. When he came to Iowa there were no mills in Des Moines county, and he aided in erecting the first one within its CONRAD MAGEL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 259 border's. . He lived to see the county settled up by progressive and prominent people, and every line of business, agricultural, com mercial and professional represented there. Towns and villages sprang up and Burling ton developed frorn a few cabins to a city of splendid proportions and importance. Mr. Magel withheld his support from no movement or measure calculated to prove of general good, and just a year before his death gave one thousand dollars to the Burlington Hospital. He also reared a large and interesting family who are now well established in life, carrying forward the work he inaugurated. Elizabeth is the widow of William Hilgartner; William and Henry are living in Des Moines county; Charles is a prominent farmer and stock- raiser of Fremont county; Conrad, the sub ject of this review; Peter is living near 'Burlington; Mary is the wife of J. Schafer, of Burlington; Margaret is the wife of H. Steyh, also of that city; Theodore S., who was a prominent farmer, died January 23, 1895, being killed by a horse, and left a wife and five children; and Benjamin, who is living in Des Moines county, where he is a prominent and influential man. Conrad Magel acquired his education in the country schools near his home and was reared to habits of industry and economy on the home farm. When twenty-two years of age he left the parental roof and went out into the world to fight life's battles, and in 1869 came to Fremont county with his brother Charles on a prospecting tour. They also visited Nebraska, making the western trip in order to look after lands entered by their father. Returning home they completed arrangements to take up the work of cultivating the Iowa land and in 1870 located permanently in Fremont coun ty. They had means to prosecute the work, erected a house on the prairie, which they began breaking and soon were busily en gaged in farming. A man was employed to assist in the work of the farm, while his wife did the housekeeping, for both Mr. Magel and his brother were unmarried at the time. The location of the farm was most favorable, being in the valley of the Nishnabo-tna river and extended back to the bluffs, the rising ground affording an excellent building site, upon which the brothers erected their house. At the time there were no farms near, and they could ride in any direction without hindrance. There were no fences in the locality and so they had to fence their entire property with out the assistance of division fences. Their first crop was sod corn and soon their land was placed under a high state of cultivation and brought to them an excellent return, The brothers continued the business together until 1880, when they married and their property interests were divided by mutual consent, Charles retaining the first improve ments, while Conrad Magel purchased an adjoining farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he took up his abode. The work of improvement had been carried forward there to only a very slight degree, but with characteristic energy he labored early and late, and, being successful, he added from time to time to his property until he now owns nine hundred and twenty acres of land in this county and valuable tract in Nebraska. He has made many ex cellent improvements, including the erection of a fine two-story residence and supplied with all modern conveniences. A large barn furnishes shelter for grain and stock 26o BI0GRAPHICx4L HISTORY. and other substantial outbuildings have been erected. The home is seen through the vista of forest and ornamental trees, which have been planted by Mr. Magel, and an excel lent orchard yields its fruit in season, and the place, pleasantly located five miles east of Sidney, is one of the finest country seats in the county. Mr. Magel also has business property in Malvern, is a stock holder in the Sidney Bank and lends money on security, but devotes the greater part of his attention to the management of his farming and stock-raising interests. He is an extensive feeder and shipper of cattle and hogs and in all lines of his business he is meeting with creditable success. His in vestments have been judiciously made and his enterprise and sound judgment have con tinually added to his income. In 1880 Mr. Magel was united in mar riage to Miss Mary E. Newlon, who was born in Fulton county, Illinois, July 30, ¦1855. She is a lady of energy and culture, belonging to one of the honored early fam ilies of Illinois, her parents being William H. and Margaret (Schafer) Newlon. Her. mother was a widow at the time she mar ried Mr. Newlon and was a daughter of Jacob Linkenfelter, of Pennsylvania, and was of German descent, and at an early day emigrated westward, taking up his abode in Fulton county, Illinois, where he followed farming. His children were : James, of Washington, D. C. ; William, of Altoona, Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Margaret Newlon ; and Mrs. Jane Feathers. After attaining womanhood Margaret Linkenfelter gave her hand in marriage to Jacob Schafer, a native of Germany, who crossed the At lantic to America in early manhood with his father and family. They located in Penn sylvania and after a number of years re moved to Fulton county, Illinois, where his father followed agricultural pursuits. Jacob Schafer learned the tailor's trade and was engaged in that line in Pennsylvania, but in Illinois he turned his attention to farm ing. He died in 1852, in the faith of the Lutheran church, in which he was an earnest worker. He left to his wife and four children a good farm. His children were: L. D., now a merchant of Sidney, Iowa; Henry E., who was an insurance agent in Chicago and died in 1898; L. A., a prom inent agriculturist of Fremont county ; and Louisa, the deceased wife of D. Morehead. A few years after the death of her first husband Mrs. Schafer became the wife of William H. Newlon. They subsequently sold the homestead and lived in Fremont county, where they purchased a farm, upon which they lived until old age, when they sold that property and took up their abode in Sidney, where they lived until called to the home beyond. Mrs. Newlon died in February, 1897, and Mr. Newlon in March of the same year. He was a plain, unas suming but honest farmer, and both he and his wife were consistent members of the Methodist church. He had one brother, Hardy, who is now living in Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Newlon had but three children, namely : Mrs. Magel ; Edward F., of Ne braska; and D. C, a carpenter of Sidney. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Magel has been blessed with four children: Sibert W., settled on a farm in Fremont county; Mar garet, who died at the age of nineteen years and was deeply mourned by her family- and friends; and Frank and James G, who are yet with their parents. Both Mr. and Mrs. Magel were reared in the Lutheran faith, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 261 to which he still adheres, but his wife now belongs to the Methodist church. In his po litical affiliations he was a Democrat until 1896, when he joined the ranks of the Re publican party, of which he is now an earnest advocate. His worth is widely acknowl edged and his life record furnishes an ex ample that may well be emulated, for through an honorable career he has gained a handsome competence and at the same time has kept untarnished the family, name. WILLIAM C. JOHNSTON. Mr. Johnston has a remarkable record, and from the study of his life history one may learn valuable lessons. The spirit of self-help is the source of all genuine worth in the individual and is the means of bring ing to man success when he has no advant ages of wealth or influence to aid him. It illustrates in no uncertain manner what it is possible to accomplish when perseverance and determination form the keynote to a man's life. Depending on his own resources, looking for no outside aid or support, he has risen from comparative obscurity to a place of prominence both in the commercial and political world., The town of Randolph owes much to him on account of his connec tion with her business interests, and in the early days of his residence in Fremont coun ty he was a prominent factor in agricultural circles. Mr. Johnston was born near Que bec, Canada, September 22, 1851. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Johnston, Sr., was a farmer and died in Ireland, his native land. All of his children remained in that country with the exception of his two sons, John and Joseph, who crossed the Atlantic to Canada. The former followed farming and reared his family in the English prov ince, and all of his children have now passed away. Joseph Johnston, Jr., the father of our subject, was born in county Monaghan, Ire land, and when twenty years of age came to the new world, takings up his abode in Can ada, where he followed any pursuit that would yield him an honest living. He de voted much of his time to the work of a farm hand and saved as much of his earnings as possible. Ten years later he married Miss Mary Ann Lackey, a native of the- south of Ireland, born in Westmeath, whence she came to America in early life; but in the meantime Mr. Johnston had purchased a tract of land, on which the young couple began their domestic life. A small home was erected upon the place and a portion of the land had been cleared, but much of it- was covered with timber and it required hard labor to clear, develop and improve it. How ever, with characteristic energy the father- resolutely set to the task and there remained until after the birth of all of his ten chil dren. In 1854 he sold the property and re moved to Illinois, taking up his abode in Mercer county, where he purchased a large farm of fine land, becoming one of the lead ing and influential agriculturists of that community. He carried on general farm ing and stock-raising and his labors were attended with prosperity. His business ca reer was also characterized by honest deal ings and his name became the synonym for integrity in business transactions. He was a man rather under medium size, but was quite athletic and strong. While living in Canada he was an officer in the militia. He continued to make his home on his Illinois- farm until his death, which occurred March 262 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 30, 1865, when he was seventy-two years of age. He was a broad-minded and intelli gent man, possessing good business qualifi cations, whereby he acquired a very desir able estate. He was of a social nature, yet was quiet in demeanor and never aspired to public office or notoriety. The people of the community found him a good neighbor and the poor and needy an assisting friend. He was hopeful in his views of life, did all he could to better the condition of the human race and his own sterling integrity and honor left a strong impress for good upon all with whom he came in contact. His widow still survives him at the ripe old age of ninety- four years, having been born June 23, 1807. She is a large, woman, of strong constitution, and has done her share of hard work in the world. After her children were born and married she sold the old homestead and came to Fremont county, Iowa, in 1877, ni order to be near her children, who were living in this locality. Here she purchased a small farm, which she afterward sold, and erected a comfortable residence in Randolph, which has since been her place of abode. She yet supervises the work of her own home, and now in the full enjoyment of a well-spent life she is surrounded by many of her chil dren, who are prominent citizens of the com munity and do honor to her name. She, too, is a member of the Episcopal church. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Johnston were born the following named : John, a leading business man of Randolph ; Joseph, who is living in Rock Island, Illinois; James, who became a resident of Madison, Nebraska; Elizabeth, wife of William Jingles, a farmer of Fre mont county; Mary Ann, wife of James Dickman, of Rock Island, Illinois; Isabel, wife of J. Allely, a prominent agriculturist of Fremont county ; Frank, who died at Omaha, Nebraska, in 1891, leaving a family of five children; Jennie, wife of M. Allely, an agriculturist of Fremont county; Will iam C. of this review; and Isaac, who died in Omaha, leaving two children. William C. Johnston was only three years of age when, in 1854, his parents re moved from their Canada home to Mercer county, Illinois, where he was reared to manhood. He acquired a common-school education, remaining under the parental roof until 1875, assisting in the work of the home farm. He was then married, after which he located upon a farm and raised one crop in the Prairie state. In 1876 he came to Iowa, establishing a home in Fre mont county. He had but a small amount of money at the time, and is practically a self-made man. He first purchased a tract of raw land from the government, making arrangements to pay for the same at a future date. His earnest labor and his excellent management enabled him to meet the pay ments at the required time, and his unflag ging energy and honorable dealing brought to him continued success as the years passed by. He now owns three hundred and twenty acres for meadow and for pasturage pur poses. Upon the place is a commodious home, substantial barn, good orchard and all other modern improvements which con stitute the model farm of the twentieth cen tury. He carried on general farming and also did some trading, but fed much of the products of his farm to his stock. Of late years he has rented his land, having in 1886 removed from the farm to Randolph, where he has a commodious residence, — one of the most attractive homes of the city. He has since been numbered among the leading BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 263 business men of the place. He engages in trading" and also owns and conducts a large livery business, having two extensive barns. He has a block of eleven lots and also con siderable improved property which he rents, including the Grand Hotel. He likewise rents a block of land adjoining the stock yards and on it he has a fine race track. Residence property in Omaha also belongs to him and brings a good rental, thus materi ally increasing his income. He is widely recognized as a progressive and prominent business man and an excellent financier, occupying a leading position in commercial circles and commanding the confidence and respect of all who know him. Mr. Johnston was united in marriage to Miss Ruth I. Hasbrook, who was born in Mercer county, Illinois, December 3, 1856, and is a lady of intelligence and culture, belonging to one of the early families of that locality. Her parents, Thomas and Louisa (Wood) Hasbrook, were natives of Ger many, and the former was a farmer by oc cupation. He removed to Texas and served in the Confederate army at the time of the Civil war. After the close of hostilities he started to return to Illinois, but died in his wagon while on the trip. The family con tinued on their way to the Prairie state, where they remained until after the children were grown when the mother made her home with her sons and daughters. Her death occurred in Nebraska. She was twice married, her first husband having been a Mr. Tennie. By that marriage she had three children, namely: Mrs. Emma Hasbrook; Mrs. Fannie Pierce; and Permilia, wife of W. Whan. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hasbrook were born five children : Mary, wife of W. Huett; Effie, wife of J. Clark; Kate, wife of J. Weaver; Ruth, the wife of our subject; and Minnie, wife of H. Jackson. The mother of this family was a member of the Baptist church. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Johnston was blessed with eight children : Joseph T., who was born January 6, 1876; William T., born August 19, 1877; Leonard O., born March 9, 1880; Jennie Isabel, born Decem ber 1, 1885; Gertrude R., born April 4, 1888; Edith May, born June 20, 1890; Eva B., born June 11, 1893; and Ida Jessamine, born August 24, 1898. Mr. Johnston is an influential member of the Democratic party in Fremont county, and exerts his influence with telling effect in support of its prin ciples. He served in the office of postmaster of Randolph for four years in a manner en tirely satisfactory to the people of the com munity, but has ever been very modest in his demands, not asking for political reward for his services, which were given to the party because he believed in its principles as most conductive to good government. His life is that of a thorough-going business man. He is .particularly prompt in keeping his business engagements and expects the same consideration of others. Many of his associates testify in strong terms to his kind ness of heart, finding in him not only a safe advisor, but also one whose counsel is not that of words alone. ELI FICKEL. Among those farmers who have made comfortable homes and gained much of this world's desirable goods by the efforts of their own hands, is Eli Fickel, the subject of this sketch, who resides upon one of the .264 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. finest farms in Mills county, Iowa. He was born in Perry county, Ohio, November 13. 1830, a son of John and Rachel Fickel, the former of whom was born in Perry county, but (lied in Putnam county, Ohio, aged sev enty-two. The latter was born in Balti more, Maryland, and died in Mills county, Iowa, in her ninety-fifth year. Her parents were Peter and Mary Barnett, who were born in Baltimore, but died in Ohio. Our subject was reared to farm life and had few educational advantages. Until twenty-one years of age he remained with his parents, but was married about that time to Catherine Madden, who died, leaving him one son. He had settled on a farm in Putnam county and it was not until after his second, marriage, with Martha J. Mad den, a cousin of his first wife, that he came to his 'present home. Mr. Fickel here owns two hundred and eighty acres of fine land, beginning with eighty acres, and has earned this large and productive estate by his own labor. He has engagd in farming and stock-raising, being very successful in both lines. Of the eleven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Fickel, seven still survive. Two of those who died left children. The young est child died when only a few weeks old. Mr. Fickel is a member of the Democratic party, thoroughly believing in its principles. He cast his first vote for Franklin Pierce and ever since has supported the candidates oi his party. For years Mr. Fickel has been one of the efficient members of the school board, taking great interest in educational matters. Mrs. Fickel died at the age of forty-five. During life she had been, with her husband, a consistent member of the Methodist church. Mr. Fickel is active in Sunday-school work, being superintendent, and is highly esteemed by the residents ot Malvern and vicinity. FRANCIS H. DASHNER. The life history of Mr. Dashner, if written in detail, would form a volume con taining many exciting and intensely inter esting chapters. The old adage, "truth is stranger than fiction," is verified in his career. ' He has visited many ports of the civilized globe, has lived the wild life of a miner in the west and has followed the quiet pursuits of the farm in the Missouri valley. It was on the Atlantic seaboard that his birth occurred, for he is a native of Jefferson county, New York, born February 28, 1827. The family is of French lineage. His grand father and his father were both soldiers in the war of 181 2 and were wounded in the battle of Sackett's Harbor. The latter bore the name of Francis Dashner and married Maggie July. In their family were three children, of whom our subject was the sec ond in order of birth. He started out in life for himself at the age of nine years and has since made his own way in the world. Leaving his parental home, he went to Carthage, New York, and entered the em ploy of a man engaged in the manufacture of cheese-boxes. A year and a half later his mother and sister induced him to return home, but he remained only for a short time, going thence to Pamelia Corners, in Jef ferson county, New York, where he spent six weeks. On the expiration of that period he journeyed to Watertown, New York, and in the vicinity of that place worked for two years on a dairy farm. He was employed BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 265 in that locality during the greater part of the time until he had attained the age of nine teen years, when he became a representative of marine life, sailing on the different Amer ican lakes and seas for six years. During that period he was twice shipwrecked, once on a South Manitou island, when the vessel, the J. Y. Scammon, was lost; and again on the Big Sodus Reef, in Lake Ontario, the date of the latter being December 10, 1854. During his six years of seafaring life he was on all the principal lakes in North America, and he crossed the ocean to Queenstown, and also visited many other foreign ports. At length Mr. Dashner abandoned the water, taking up his abode in Ogdensburg, New York, where he was engaged in busi ness for two years. He next moved to Knox county, Illinois, where he began farm ing, but after two years passed in the Prairie state he removed to Idaho, where he fol lowed ranching and mining for about three years. He was very successful in his un dertakings, making much money there, but while returning to the east he was robbed, in Denver, of a large sum and was severely wounded in his struggles with the bandits. The next spring, 1855, he came to Mills- county, Iowa, where he has since resided, either in Lyons or in Platteville township. On the 1 6th of October of that year he was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Gonsollay, a daughter of Benjamin and Eliza (Brow- er) Gonsollay, natives of Illinois. Twelve children were born unto them, as follows : Cora May, who died June 27, 1894, at the age of twenty-six years; Maggie Zelpha, who died on the 4th of May, 1896, at the age of twenty-seven years; Clara Frances, now the wife of Frank Johnson, a resident of St. Edwards, Nebraska; Francis Eugene, who is living upon the home farm; Lillie Luella, who died January 23, 1898, at thts age of twenty-five years; Stella Elounant, who departed this life on the 7th of June, 1896, at the age of nineteen years; Sabra Victoria, who died September 25, 1899, at the age of twenty; Emily Lenora, whose death occurred September 25, 1899; Clifford Clifton, who passed away at the age of six teen years on the 30th of October, 1896; Clay Henry, who is living at home and as sists in the operation of his father's farm; Clara Pearl, who died in 1899; and Earl De- ville, at home. The mother of this family passed away on the 16th of August, 1894, when forty-seven years of age, and the father was afterward again married, on the 13th of January, 1897, his second union being with Mrs. Angeline Pfifer, a daughter of Elija and Frances (Nix) Dalton, natives of Ken tucky. Her father died in St. Joseph, Mis souri, in 1885, at the age of sixty-five years. For many years he conducted a hotel in Lenox, Missouri, and in 1851 he came to Mills county, Iowa, locating in Oak town ship. His wife survived him for about ten years, passing away at her home in Oak township, in 1895, when seventy-nine years ¦of age. Since coming to Iowa Mr. Dashner has constantly and successfully engaged in farm ing, and is one of the most enterprising and progressive agriculturists of the entire coun ty. He to-day owns three hundred and forty acres of land and is engaged in rais ing stock and fruit, having over eleven hun dred fruit trees. His methods of cultivating his farm are progressive and practical and bring to him an excellent income. Mr. Dashner has had an eventful life, yet, alto gether his career has been a successful one, 266 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. although he has met with many financial losses. He was twice robbed and1 has had many misfortunes, the greatest of which has been the loss of his children. He is a man of kind impulses, large-hearted and generous, and he possesses the friendship and esteem of all who know him. H. E. HAWLEY. Among the leading and prominent citi zens of Sidney, Iowa, is -Mr. Hawley, who is now so capably and satisfactorily serving aa the treasurer of Fremont county. For sev eral years he has been prominently identi- ,fied with public affairs, and is a recognized leader in the ranks of the Republican party. Mr. Hawley was born in Jefferson coun ty, New York, on the 6th of August, 1849, and in 1864 came to this county with his parents, E. R. and Amelia Hawley, who were natives of Connecticut and New York, respectively. His early life was passed upon a farm, and his education was obtained in the public schools of Tabor, and in a busi ness college at Burlington, Iowa. For some time he was engaged in the general merchan dise business at Percival, this county, and was residing there when he first became identified with public affairs. His first offi cial position was that of township clerk, ta which he was elected about 1881. Later he became prominently connected with county affairs, and was elected auditor in 1885 and treasurer in 1898. The latter office he is still filling in a most creditable manner, and is one of the most popular officials of the county. His political support has always been given the Republican party since he cast his first vote for U. S. Grant in 1872. Fraternally he is connected with the I11-- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and relig iously is a member of the Congregational church. The marriage of Mr. Hawley took place October 20, 1875, with Flora Wad- hams. Of this union there have been born seven children — Gertrude, Grace, Floyd, Edith, Ethel, Winnefred and Herman. Floy is the deputy county treasurer. JAMES M. STRAHAN. The history of mankind is replete with illustrations of the fact that it is only under pressure of adversity and the stimulus of opposition that the best and strongest in men are brought out and developed. Per haps the history of no people so forcibly impresses one with this truth as the annals of our own republic. If anything can in spire the youth of our country to persistent, honest -and laudable endeavor .it should be the life record of such men as he of whom we write. The example of the illustrious- few of our countrymen who have risen from obscurity to the highest position in the gift of the nation often serves to awe our young men rather than inspire them to emulation, because they reason that only a few can ever attain such eminence; but the history of such men as Mr. Strahan proves conclu sively that with a reasonable amount of mental and physical power success is bound eventually to crown the endeavor of those who have the ambition to put forth their best efforts and the will and manliness to persevere therein. Certainly he deserves mention among the most prominent citizens of Mills county, having had a marked in fluence upon the business life and the sub- (fyljDu^y Ur ^SZZcJ^ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 267 stantial development of this portion of the state. His wide acquaintance will render his history one of special interest to many of our readers, and therefore we gladly give it a place in. this volume. Mr. Strahan is a native of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Putnam county on the 17th of November, 1829. His fa ther, James Strahan, was born in Pennsyl vania, August 6, 1 78 1, and emigrated to the Hoosier state during the pioneer epoch of its development. He became identified with the farming interests of Putnam coun ty, where he carried on agricultural pur suits until his demise. In June, 1813, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Ramsey, also a native of Pennsylvania, born December 16, 1793. They became the parents of seven children. The father died in Putnam county, Indiana, in September, 1835, and the mother, long surviving him, passed away in Davis county, Iowa, Octo ber 7, 1857. The subject of this review spent the first six years of his life in his native state, and then accompanied his parents on their, removal to Illinois, being identified with the farming interests of that commonwealth until 1850, when he went to California, re maining for three years on the Pacific coast. He then returned to Illinois, but in 1854 made a second trip to California, taking with him a drove of cattle across the plains. For a year he again remained in the land of gold and then retraced his steps to the Mississippi valley, but this time he located on the west side of the Father of Waters, becoming a resident of Marion county, Iowa, residing there until 1864, when he sold his land and removed to Lucas county, Iowa. In 1866 he removed to Henderson county, Illinois, and in 1869 he returned to Marion county, Iowa. There he resided until 1870, which year witnessed his arri val in Mills county, where for almost a third oi a century he has made his home. Since that time he has been a very prominent fac tor in the business interests which have con tributed not alone to his individual pros-i perity, but have also promoted the general welfare of the community. Entering into partnership with John Evans, they engaged in farming and feeding cattle for the mar ket, carrying on the latter branch of their business on a very extensive scale, selling from two hundred to a thousand head of cattle annually. In 1873, in company with others, Mr. Strahan laid out that part of Malvern known as Strahan's addition into lots for building purposes. The town of Strahan, in Deer Creek township, has been named in his honor. His first home in Mills coun ty was an old frame residence, but in 188 1 he replaced it with one of the finest houses in the county. He first purchased eleven hundred acres of land, but is now the owner of fifteen hundred acres in Mills county and two thousand acres in Wayne county. His operations in land have been very ex tensive and they bring to him a splendid income. Not only have his stock-raising interests assumed large proportions, but he has also dealt largely in grain, making enormous profits. A man of resourceful business ability, his efforts have by no means been confined to one line, but have been extended to many fields of endeavor and have always been attended by success, for he is a man of sound business judgment, rarely if ever at fault in an opinion on business matters. 16 268 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. His name figures conspicuously on the pages of the pioneer history of Mills county. He was one of tbe organizers of the First Na tional Bank, became its first president and has since occupied that position. His splen did executive ability, keen sagacity and strong purpose enabling him to place the in stitution upon a sound financial basis that has made it one of the leading moneyed institutions of the county. Its first cashier was L. Bentley, and the present cashier is J. J. Wilson, who has occupied the position for about ten years. Mr. Strahan is also the president of the First National Bank of Wayne county. He also has a private bank at Malvern, which is conducted under the firm name of Strahan & Christy. The fam ily is a prominent one in connection with financial interests. His son, Frank E. Stra han, is the vice-president of the First Na tional Bank at Wayne, Nebraska, while Otis, another son, is assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Malvern. Few men have a more comprehensive, accurate and reliable knowledge of the banking busi ness than has Mr. Strahan, who is widely recognized as one of the leading financiers of this portion of the west. He is a man of keen discernment and excellent execu tive ability. He carries; forward to success ful completion whatever he undertakes and his perseverance and determined' purpose have been important factors in his splendid success. Mr. Strahan has been twice married. On the 3d of January, 1856, he led to the marriage altar Miss Frances C; Davis, of Henderson county, Illinois. Her father, Abner Davis, served in the war of 1812, and the farm upon which he made his home was granted him in recognition of the aid which he rendered his country at that time. Five children, two sons and three daughters, were born of this marriage, namely : Otis A., who married Ida Morris and has two children; Lucy, who is the wife of D. A. Jones and has five children; Luella, who is the wife of. June Conger, and they have five children; Francis E., who married Lu ella Larison, and they have had six chil dren, of whom three are now living; and Rosetta, who is the wife of John Larison. The mother of these children died August 30, 1885, and in 1889 Mr. Strahan was again married, his second union being with Mary W. (Wheeler) Guilford, a daughter of William and Phebe Diana (Makyes) Wheeler. Her paternal grandparents were William R. and Hila (Curtiss) Wheeler, Connecticut people. The latter died in Michigan. The grandfather was born October 16, 1782, and died in Connecti cut in the thirty-ninth year of his age. The Wheelers were from Denmark, and a very prominent family there. Mrs. Stra han was one of a family of fourteen chil dren, ten of whom reached mature years, while the mother, who was born in Onon daga county, New York, died at the ad vanced age of' eighty-one years. By her former marriage Mrs. Strahan had four children, of whom two are living: Jessie, now the wife of Alonzo Ring; and Lizzie, the wife of J. E. Cleaver, by whom she has three children. They also lost two daugh ters : Ella, who became the wife of F. B. Rumsey, of Kansas, and died at the age of twenty-nine years, Leaving a daughter. Charta became the wife of M. P. Steele, and died at the age of twenty-eight years, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 269 leaving one son, while one child, died at the same time, occasioned by a gasoline explo sion, March 6, 1899. Mr. and Mrs. Strahan are prominent and influential members of the Baptist church, in which he has held membership since 1871. He has served as trustee and steward and has contributed liberally to its work, doing all in his power for its ad vancement. The cause of temperance finds in him a warm friend, and he now affiliates with the Prohibition party, having cast his first vote in support of its candidates when he deposited his ballot for Governor St. John, of Kansas. Prior to that he was a Democrat in his political affiliations. Mr. Strahan is a most progressive and public- spirited citizen, and his wife is also noted for her generosity. They contribute very liberally to all worthy enterprises calculated to prove of public benefit, giving their active co-operation to every measure intended for the public good. They are people of the highest worth of character and their lives are in harmony with honorable principles. Regarded as a citizen, Mr. Strahan belongs to that public-spirited, useful and helpful type of men whose ambitions and desires are centered and directed in those channels through which flow the greatest and most permanent good to the greatest number, and it is therefore consistent with the purpose and plan of this work that his record be given among those of the representative men of the state. HON. LEWIS T. GENUNG. Whatever else may be said of the legal fraternity, it cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent actors in public affairs than any other class of the community. This is but the natural result of the causes which are manifest and re quire no explanation. The ability and train ing which qualify one to practice law also qualify him in many respects for duties which lie outside the strict path of his pro-. fession and which touch the general inter ests of society. Holding marked precedence among the members of the bar of Mills county, stands Hon. Lewis T. Genung, who is a recognized leader of the Democratic party in this section of the state, and as a man prominent in public affairs, actively co operating in many movements which have sen cured substantial advancement for the county. Mr. Genung was born September 21, 1841, in Port Byron, Illinois. His father, John W. Genung, was born in France and came to the United States early in life. He died at his Illinois home when the sub ject of this review was but three years of age. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Henderson, and was a native of Newtown, Maryland. She, too, died in Port Byron, and is survived by four of her five children. Lewis T. Genung was reared upon a farm and in his native village, and from early boyhood has been forced to depend upon his own resources and labors for a livelihood. He was permitted to attend school for only a few weeks, but he has developed1 his latent talents and im proved his opportunities until to-day he is classed among the men of strong mind and scholarly attainments. Reading, experience and observation have added continually to his knowledge. He was first employed by the day and month. He remained at home at intervals until about eighteen years of 270 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. age, but provided for his own support by working in the neighborhood. He then left home to accept a position as a farm hand, being employed in that capacity by the month. He applied himself diligently to the work entrusted to him and thus had the con fidence and good will of his employers. He watched with interest the progress of events at the south prior to the Civil war, and believing in the injustice of slavery and unconstitutionality of secession,' he resolved that if the south attempted to overthrow tlie Union he would strike a blow in its de fense. In the first year of the war he en listed under Captain Beardsley, later Major Beardsley, as a member of the Thirteenth Illinois Infantry. The company did not leave the state for several months, and as a part of the regiment was ctit off Mr. Gen ung was transferred to Company H, of the Fifty-first Illinois Infantry, under Captain J. T. Whitson. He thus served from Au gust, 1 86 1, until the close of hostilities, for in February, 1864, he re-enlisted in the vet eran corps. At the battle of Franklin he was wounded by a bayonet thrust, was cap tured and placed in Cahaba prison, in Ala bama, where he was incarcerated until the war was ended, when he received an hon orable discharge there on the 13th of June, 1865. Previous to the time he was wound ed by the bayonet he had sustained a wound while guarding one of General Rosecrans' wagon trains on the Secorn river, October 16, 1863. He was an aggressive soldier, whose patriotic loyalty was above question and he was ever found at his post of duty, whether on the picket line or on the firing line. When engaged in battle he was al ways in the thickest of the fight, being brave and fearless. At Chickamauga all of the members of his company were killed save six, he being among the few who escaped. He reported each day for duty except when his wounds forced him to remain in the hos pital. He participated in many of tbe im portant engagements in the war, including' the battles of Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, the first battle of Corinth, Stone River, Chickamauga, and all the battles from Chattanooga to Jonesboro under Sher man, and at the battle of Franklin, Ten- - nessee. While held as a captive he was made the sheriff of the prison. He has a most enviable war record, and his most bitter political enemies never hesitate to give him credit for his honorable history as a. soldier. He knew not what it was to fear or falter when his country called, and his fellow men, who know of his military service, esteem and respect him for what he did for his coun- try, although they may be opposed to him in political belief. In Neola, on the 4th' of July, 1899, he delivered a splendid ora tion on the war, vividly portraying to his hearers the condition of affairs at the time and showing that the Civil war was the greatest that has ever occurred in the world. When the stars and stripes floated over the defunct capital of the southern Confed eracy, ahd the men of both the north and south returned to their homes to take up the pursuits of civil life, Mr. Genung made his way to Illinois, and there, soon after ward, was united in marriage to Miss Clara E. Prouden, a native of Illinois and a rela tive of President William McKinley. She died in Dakota only a few months later. About the time of his marriage Mr. Genung became interested in land speculation and railroad work in connection with the Union Pacific railroad.. Traveling through Ne- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 271 braska, he recognized" the splendid opportu nities offered for making motley. A clear brain, shrewd business tact and an honora ble business insight enabled him to place his capital in judicious investments which brought to him a good financial return. He traveled not only to the end of the railroad, but even beyond the line into Colorado, and obtained a contract for supplying ties. He was associated with a partner on an equal basis to - furnish ties for the construction of.the original Colorado Central Railroad. In 1869 he left that state and came to Iowa, arriving in Mills county on the 23d of June, 1870. Here he located near White Cloud, and subsequently removed to the vicinity of Hastings. Although he carried on business along "various lines, it was his desire to engage in the practice of law. He was never a student in a public or private law school, but mastered the principles of jurisprudence unaided. He would often ride horseback to the county seat to borrow law books, which he read and1 mentally digested, thus- t gaining a knowledge of the fundamental principles of the profession. His army wounds forbade him to engage in hard work, and it was therefore fortunate that he desired to take up the legal practice. He was admitted to the bar in the year 1875, and for twenty-four years he was a leading, prominent and successful lawyer of Hast ings. His counsel was sought by. young and old, rich and poor; and his standing as an adviser was very high. He carefully weighed all the points presented to him, and his opinions were sound and unbiased. Never has he undertaken the conduct of a case simply to secure the fee, but because he had faith in the justice of the suit. About the ist of July, 1900, he removed to the county seat, Glenwood, and is there con trolling an extensive and important client age. His success in the profession affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He is a strong advocate before the jury and concise in his appeals to the court. His pleas have been characterized by a terse and decisiye logic and a lucid presenta tion rather than by flights of oratory, and his power is the greater before court or jury from the fact that it is recognized that his aim is ever to secure justice and not to en shroud the cause in a sentimental garb or illusion which will thwart the principles of right and equity involved. While in Hastings Mr. Genung became recognized as a leader in the Democratic ranks. His fitness for leadership has been demonstrated on many occasions, and it was this which led to his election to the position of mayor of the city on the independent ticket. In this county, which is usually strongly Republican, he was twice elected county attorney, and served for four years. He was also the attorney for the board of supervisors. He has never been a dictator, but his capable management of campaign work and his practical methods commend him to those who are endeavoring to secure party success. For nearly a quarter of a century he has stood as one of the most prominent and influential men in Demo cratic circles of Mills county. He has been a delegate at large to various conventions, and was an alternate to the national Demo cratic convention held at Kansas City in. 1900, when Bryan and Stephenson were nominated. Mr. Genung was the second time mar ried, in .1872, Miss Julia Anderson becoming 272 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. his wife. Seven children have been born unto them,: Clinton, the eldest, is a repre sentative citizen of Mills county. He served for four years as postmaster at Hastings, under President Cleveland, and resigned that office in order to become the deputy county treasurer in 1897-8. Bert is mar ried and manages the old home farm. Clar ence also aids in the operation of the home farm. Clyde is a student in a law school. Norman, Ethel and Georgia are all at home. The children are well known for their strong mentality, which has been developed through good educational privileges; and in social circles, where intelligence, culture and character are received as passports into good society, they hold an enviable position. The family belong to the Methodist Epis copal church, and Mr. Genung is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Hastings. Well does he deserve his place as a leading resident of Mills county. He holds distinctive precedence as an eminent lawyer, as a valiant and patriotic soldier, and as a man of affairs who has wielded a wide influence. A strong mentality, an in vincible courage, a most determined indi viduality have so entered into his make-up as to render him a natural leader of men and a director of opinion. REV. JONATHAN S. ZUCK. Rev. Jonathan S. Zuck, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and the pro prietor of Pleasant View Farm and Fruit Land in Madison township, Fremont county, is widely and -favorably known in south western Iowa and northwestern Missouri. He was born in Carroll county, Missouri, January 19, 1852, and is of German lineage, his paternal grandfather, Christian Zuck, having been a native of Germany. Having crossed the Atlantic to America, he took up his abode in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and in 183 1 he removed with his wife and children to Washtenaw county, Michigan, - then a wild and unsettled region. Washington Lafayette Zuck, the father of our subject, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, in 1826, but was reared in Michigan, amid the wild scenes of frontier life, for he was but five years of age when the family went to that state. His youth was passed on the home farm there until 1846, when he went to Carroll county, Mis souri, and in 185 1 he became a resident of Atchison county, that state, being one of the- first settlers of Buchanan township. He was actively identified with the work of de velopment and progress and was classed among those whose efforts laid the founda tion of the present prosperity and advance+ ment of the county. Upon the farm which he developed and made his home he remained until within a short time prior to. his death. His last days, however, were spent in Ham burg, where he died in 1898, at the age o£ seventy-five years. He was first married in 1848 to Miss Abigail Wolsey, a daughter of Zephaniah Wolsey, of Tennessee. Her death occurred in 1874. By that marriage there were twelve children, ten of whom are now living, namely : Albert ; Jonathan S., of this review; James, Fannie, Susan, Abigail, Lewis, Charles, Oliver and James. George W. and an infant unnamed are de ceased. After the death of his first wife the father was again married, in 1876, his second union being with Mrs. Eleanor Jane Brown, by whom he had seven children: Mary, Eri, Arthur, Lincoln, Delia, Neville BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 273 and Emma. Washington Lafayette Zuck was a prominent and progressive farmer and stock-raiser and acquired an estate of seventeen hundred acres of farm land, to gether with other property. He and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and his life was at all times honorable and upright, manifesting qualities wdrthy of emulation. Rev. Jonathan S. Zuck was reared on the old homestead farm in Atchison county, and practical experience soon made him fa miliar with the work of field and meadow. He attended the public schools and has even been a student. Possessing an observing eye and a 'retentive memory, he has added greatly to his knowledge, which has also been supplemented by extensive reading and study. Much time has been given to the study of the Bible and few men have a more extensive knowledge of the good book. He was married at the age of twentyrone to Miss Ada Egbert, a representative of a good family, and to him she has been a faithful wife. She was born in Atchison county, Missouri, and was there reared and educat ed. Her father, William Egbert, was a na tive of Kentucky, but was married in Mis souri to Elizabeth Lemon, whose birth oc curred in Sumner county, Tennessee, whence her people removed to Adams county, Illi-t nois. In 1854 William Egbert removed with his wife and children to Atchison coun ty, where he spent his remaining clays, dy-i ing at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. Farming was his life occupation and through that channel he provided for his family. In political affiliations he was a Republican, and was a member of the Christian church. His widow is now living with her daughter, Mrs. Zuck, at the age of eighty-three years. She has three children yet living, namely: Christopher, Samuel and Ada, while one son, William, died at the age of thirty years. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Zuck resided on a farm of one hundred and seven acres in Atchison county, Missouri, but in 1 89 1 sold that property and purchased the Pleasant View Farm, — one of the best in Madison township, Fremont county. It had been well improved by John Burkheimer and is a tract of two hundred and ninety acres, whereon is an attractive residence surrounded by pines, evergreen and forest trees and flowering shrubs. Through the vista of the trees the house is seen, forming an attractive feature of the landscape. It stands on an eminence which commands a splendid view of the surrounding country for miles. An orchard contains twenty va rieties of the best winter fruits, and all kinds of small fruits are also raised. Barns and sheds afford ample shelter for grain and stock; feed lots, pastures, meadows and richly cultivated fields are features of this farm, which in its neat and thrifty appear ance indicates the careful supervision of the owner. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Zuck has been blessed with seven children, namely : William Ernest, who married Nellie Brown and resides near his father's home; Harry L., a student in Indianola College, of Iowa; Lyman L., Mabel E., Luke Talmage, Nel lie and Bessie A., who are still under the pa rental roof. In politics Mr. Zuck was formerly a Re publican, but now is a stanch Prohibitionist, giving his earnest support to the principles of that party. For two years he served as a justice of the peace. Since 1872 he has been a local minister in the Methodist Epis- 274 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. copal church and is most zealous in the work of the church and Sunday-school. He does everything" in his power to promote the cause of religion, temperance and good morals, teaching both by precept and exam ple. His home is celebrated for its hospi tality and he is recognized as a man of broad humanitarian spirit, faithful in friend ship and loyal to every duty in all the rela tions of life. FRANCIS M. POWELL, M. D. The exemplification of the text, "Inas much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have clone it unto me," is certainly found in the life record of Dr. F. M. Powell, the superin tendent of the State Institution for Feeble Minded, at Glenwood. The misanthrope to-day has no place in the world. Never before in the history of the race has man had such a just appreciation of the ethical relations, — of his duty to his fellow man, — and his value in the world is reckoned not by what he has accomplished, but by what he has done for others. The far- reaching influence of the labors of Dr. Powell is incalculable, but hundreds of homes hold him in grateful remembrance for what he has done for their unfortunate little ones. A man of broad humanitarian spirit and wide sympathy, he devotes his life to the benefit and assistance of some of the world's unfortunate children, and has built up an institution at Glenwood which is indeed a credit to the state and its people. The Doctor was born in Ohio, in 1848, a son of William Powell, a native of Vir ginia, whose parents were James and Ellen Powell, who were of Welsh descent. Throughout his life William Powell car ried on agricultural pursuits, but also de voted his time to the intellectual and moral improvement of the race, following school- teaching through a considerable period, while for fifteen years he preached the "glad tidings of great joy" as a minister of the Christian church. He died in Virginia, at the ripe old age of seventy-six years. His wife, Mrs. Melissa Powell, was born in Ohio, and died in Wisconsin when about forty-eight years of age. She became the mother of six children, the Doctor and his sister, Mrs. Ida M. Ward, of San Francis co, being now the only surviving members of the family. The Doctor spent the first ten or twelve years of his life under the parental roof and then went to Wisconsin, where he be gan earning his own livelihood. He was employed as a farm hand, in a store, and afterward in a printing office, and at the age of seventeen engaged in teaching in an old log school-house in Vernon county, Wis consin, where many of his scholars were older than he. At the age of nineteen he began the study of medicine, which he con tinued, as opportunity offered, for several years, throughout that period being asso ciated with a young medical practitioner. He also taught at intervals for ten years, and thus provided for his support while continuing his professional studies. Enter ing the Starling College of Medicine, at Columbus, Ohio, he was graduated with the class of 1875, and immediately afterward entered upon the practical work of his pro fession at Hastings, Iowa, to which he has since devoted his energies. In September, 1873, Dr. Powell was united in marriage with Miss Louise M. ^^n^ 2fr<& ctOoi/m^l-2. 7?2. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 275 Newton, a native of Ohio, and unto them have been born five children, four of whom are yet living: Ida M., now the wife of E. E. Black, by whom she has one daugh ter; Velura M., who is now a student in the medical department of the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor; O. W., who is engaged in the lumber business in the state of Washington; and Fred M., now a prac tical engineer. After his graduation Dr. Powell came to Mills county, Iowa, where he has since remained. His marked skill in the line of his chosen profession soon won him recog nition in a constantly increasing patronage, and in 1882 his ability secured for him the appointment to the position of superintend ent of the State Institution for Feeble Minded Children, at Glenwood, a position which he has retained since that time. There are now nearly one thousand inmates in the institution. The almost phenomenal devel opment of the school is due almost entirely to Dr. Powell and his excellent wife, who has indeed been a helpmeet to him in his work. Everything about the place is char acterized by order, neatness and cleanliness. Amusements and recreations of various kinds contribute to the happiness of the children, while the utmost attention is given to sanitary and healthful regulations. The institution and its work is certainly most praiseworthy, its value incalculable and its influence far reaching". The Doctor's strong ly sympathetic nature, kindly and genial manner, combined with his excellent busi ness ability and executive force, well qualify him for the position in which he has been tbe incumbent for almost two decades, and the citizens of the state have every reason to feel grateful to him for what he has ac complished in behalf of one class of its un fortunate citizens. In his political views the Doctor is a stalwart Republican, having unswervingly supported that party since casting his first presidential vote for General U. S. Grant, in 1872. His wife holds membership in the Christian church in Glenwood, and he is a member of the Masonic lodge of Glen wood, and of Ivanhoe Commandery, K. T., ¦of Council Bluffs. He also belongs to the State Medical Society and to the National Organization of Organized Charities. He is also active and prominent in horticultural circles, was president of the State Horti cultural Society for two consecutive terms, and his knowledge of that great branch of science is comprehensive, accurate and prac tical. Still an active factor in the world's great work, he is in touch with the great universal movement of progress and help fulness, which is one of the signs of the times and indicates the onward march of truth and the right. WILLIAM R. WALL, M. D. Many years have passed since Dr. William R. Wall arrived in Iowa, and he is justly numbered among Her honored pioneers and representative citizens. He has .been prominently identified with her business interests as a member of the med ical profession. His is an honorable record of a conscientious man, who by his upright life has won the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact. He has rounded the psalmist's span of three score years and ten, and, though the passing of years has whitened his hair, he has the vigor of a much younger man, and in spirit 276 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. and enterprise seems yet in his prime. Old age is not necessarily a synonym of weak ness or inactivity, and it need not suggest, as a matter of course, want of occupation, of helplesness. There is an old age that is a benediction to all that comes in contact with it, that gives out richness from its stores of learning and experience and grows stronger intellectually and morally as the yea'rs pass. Such is the life of Dr. Wall, an encouragement to his associates and an example worthy of emulation to the young. Dr. Wall was born February 28, 1826, in Knoxville, Tennessee, and is a son of William and Jane (Wolfe) Wall, the lat ter a niece of General Wolfe, who fell at Quebec in the French and Indian war. Her father was a second cousin of George Washington and was a man of brave mili tary spirit, who, when the country became involved in war with England, aided the colonists in their struggle for independ ence. He joined the American army, and the sword which he carried throughout the period of hostilities is now in the posses sion of Dr. Wall, of this review, and was carried by him in the Civil war. The fam ily has always been noted for its military spirit. Through every war in which the country has been engaged it has furnished many representatives, who by their valor and loyalty have upheld the flag of the nation, battling earnestly for its principles and its rights. The grandfather was one of two brothers who settled in New York at a very early day. The maternal grand father of the Doctor emigrated from Lon don to South Carolina and then to Ten-' nessee, and was there extensively engaged in mining, in which pursuit he attained wealth, becoming one of the leading and substantial citizens of his adopted state. William Wall, the father of our subject,. resided for many years in Tennessee, his death occurring in Knoxville when he was thirty-five years of age. His widow passed away in Palestine, Indiana, at the age of eighty-four. Dr. Wall, whose name introduces this sketch, was reared in the Hoosier, state, and pursued his education in Indianapolis,. where he was a classmate of General Lew Wallace and a son of Governor Noble. He was a young man of twenty-one years when he first became connected with mili tary affairs. With the blood of Revolution ary ancestors in his composition, his patri+ otic spirit was aroused at the trouble be tween the United States and Mexico, and on the 1 2th of April, 1847, he enlisted for service in the Mexican war under Lieu tenant Snyder. For two years he remained in the army and was then mustered out at Covington, Kentucky, in 1849. Again he- served his country when the sectional dif ferences between the north and the south involved the nation in civil war. Believ ing firmly in the cause of the Union, he resolved to aid in establishing the suprem acy of the government at Washington, and therefore "donned the blue," enlisting April 17, 1 86 1, as a member of the Eighth In-t diana Infantry, with which he went to the front as 'a private. There his fidelity to duty, his meritorious service and the read iness with which he mastered military tactics and discipline caused his promotion. He served three months and then went home and helped to organize, in 1862, six cavalry regiments. First he was a captain, then a major and lieutenant colonel, and at Nashville, Tennessee, he finally was bre- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 277 vetted a brigadier general. He commanded the Ninth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer, Cavalry, at Nashville, Franklin, and then brought the regiment home, and was with it mustered out at Indianapolis, at the close of the war. The Doctor is a natural sol dier and commander, and it is said that when the Spanish-American war broke out he was as eager to go to the front as any of the young men. He possesses that qual ity of mind so necessary to. a soldier of grasping a situation at a- glance and decid ing at once and correctly what to do. Dr. Wall prepared for practice as a member of the medical fraternity in Chica go and Cincinnati, and for thirty years he has resided in Mills county, Iowa. Although he is now seventy-four years of age, he is still an active representative of the profes sion and has attained a wide fame as a spe cialist in the treatment of cancers. As his financial resources have increased he has made judicious investments in real estate and is to-day the owner of three hundred and fifty acres of valuable land, which brings to him an excellent income. He votes the Republican ticket, having been a stal- ' wart advocate of the party since its organi zation. He is in hearty sympathy with its principles of protection to American indus tries, of a gold' standard and expansion, believing that the stars and stripes wher ever they have been planted should be up held. He is a man of kindly nature, of gen erous impulses, liberal in his dealings, and at all times honorable in every relation of life. Much might be said in terms of lauda tion, but to those who know Dr. Wall it is unnecessary. He is a man of broad general information and ripe scholarship, who has labored earnestly in the paths of his profes sion; and, whether his work has resulted in pecuniary benefit or not, no trust reposed in him has ever been slighted. A ripe old age, crowned with the efforts of his former toil and honored with the esteem of his fel low men, — this in brief is the record of William R. Wall. December 10, 1849, he married Miss- Elvira Scott. His second wife was a Miss Allis, and his -present wife was Louisa Lacey. WILLIAM H. NORCUTT. Among the practitioners at the bar of Fremont county is William H. Norcutt, of Sidney, who is now serving as the county attorney and is well qualified for the im portant duties which devolve upon him. He is numbered among Iowa's native sons, his birth having" occurred in Grinnell, Powe shiek county, on the 2d of October, 1866. His father, A. H. Norcutt, was a native of Massachusetts and a graduate of Yale Col lege. He became a successful teacher, fol lowing that profession for years, and in the war of the Rebellion served as ' a soldier. His father was also a soldier, in the Illinois Gray Beard Regiment. He was a native of Massachusetts, representing one of the old and honored New England families, of Scotch lineage, and died at the age of sev enty-eight years; and his wife passed away at the age of ninety-one years, while the maternal grandfather of our subject reached the advanced age of ninety-seven, and his wife was called to her final rest at the age of sixty-eight. A. H. Norcutt was reared in the east, but in ante-bellum days they removed westward to Illinois, and when the country became involved in hostilities over 278 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. the question of secession he joined the Twelfth Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, loyally defending the Union on the battle fields of the south. When the supremacy of the northern arms was established he returned to his home in the Prairie state, and afterward removed to Iowa, settling near Grinnell. Subsequently he became a resident of Adams county, Iowa, where he is now living at the ripe old age of seventy years. He married Lucy A. Boils, who was born in Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of ten children, of whom nine are yet living, namely : Henry H. ; M. F. ; R. C; Mrs. Henrietta Wright; William H. ; S. B. ; Mrs. Lucinda Strain; D. M. ; Quincy, who died in childhood ; and Mary, a popular and successful teacher of Adams county, Iowa. The father of these children was a stalwart supporter of the Republican party for a number of years, but in 1876 voted for Peter Cooper and has since been a third- party man. He and his wife hold member ship in the Methodist Episcopal church and his sterling worth and high moral character have gained him the regard and confidence of all those with whom he is associated. William H. Norcutt, whose name forms the caption of this article, spent his youth upon his father's farm, and at the age of fifteen began earning his own livelihood by working as a farm-hand. The public schools afforded him his educational privileges, and, being a close student, he acquired knowledge sufficient to enable him to engage in teach ing. He afterward attended' the Villisca high school, under the tutelage of Professor J. A. McLean, now of Tarkio, Missouri. He became a student of law in the office and under the direction of the law firm of Bryant & Bryant, of Griswold, Iowa, and was admitted to the bar in 1898, since which time he has practiced1 in Fremont county. He possesses a studious nature, — an element that is very essential to the successful lawyer, who, no matter how broad his knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, must study carefully each case, weigh the evidence and determine upon the points of the lav-/ applicable thereto. He has already gained a distinctively representative clientage and is rapidly working his way to the front among the leading members of the bar of southwestern Iowa. .In politics he is a stalwart Populist, zeal ous in his advocacy of the principles of the party and often speaking on campaign sub jects. He was recommended as the best man for the nomination as county attorney, and to that office was elected over L. A. Hill, a capable lawyer and the incumbent at the time of the election. Mr. Norcutt, how ever, received a majority of sixty votes, a fact which indicates his personal popularity as well as the confidence reposed in him. He is discharging the duties of his office in a most capable manner, showing that the trust of his fellow townsmen was not misplaced. Mr. Norcutt is a man of fine physique and is a robust athlete. He has been actively interested in base and foot-ball, playing in many teams. His manner is cordial and genial, winning him confidence, and wher ever he is known he is held in high esteem, being a popular resident of the community. HON. JOHN COOPER. Hon. John Cooper is a prominent and influential citizen and well-known early set tler of Fremont county, where for more than half a century he has made his home, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 279 having located there in 1850. He was born October 13, 1820, in Mason county, state of Kentucky, and belongs to one of the old and prominent families of that state. The county was noted for its brave men, the unfailing courtesy of its citizens, for its fine horses and its good marksmanship. His father, Thomas Cooper, was born in New Jersey and his ancestors were prominent in peace, and patriotic in war. His parents were of English birth and he was a cousin of Peter Cooper, the noted financier, who was a candidate for president of the United States on the Greenback ticket in 1876. When a young man Thomas Cooper went to Ohio, where he was married to Susan Middleton, a native of that state, his par ents having emigrated from the Mohawk valley in New York, where his ancestors had located at an early period in the devel opment of that portion of the country. Some of the representatives of- the family served in the early wars of the United States. For a number of years Thomas Cooper aiid his wife resided in Mason county, Kentucky. They had the following children, four sons and four daughters, namely : William, now deceased; John, of this review; Eliza Ann, who also has passed away; Mary Ann. who is living in Kansas City, Missouri; James, deceased; Martha, who makes her home in Virginia; George, who has passed away; and George. In 1835 the parents removed with the family to Clay county, Missouri, taking up their abode near Kansas City. That sec tion of the country was then undeveloped, and Indians roamed at will over the prairies and wild beasts and wild game could be shot near the pioneers' cabins. Mr. Cooper built a log house and upon the farm which he developed both he and his wife spent their, last days. He was born in 1795 and died at the age of fifty-eight years, while his wife, whose birth occurred in 1796, died at the' age of fifty-seven years. Through out his business career the father carried on farming", making that the means for the support of his family. In politics he was a Jacksonian Democrat, and in religious be lief both he and his wife were Baptists. John Cooper, whose name introduces this record, was reared in > Kentucky until fifteen years of age and acquired his educa tion in the public schools. In 1835 he ac companied his parents on their removal to Clay comity, Missouri, and amidst the wild scenes of frontier life was reared to man hood. In 1850 he married Miss America Bruce, who has been to him a faithful com panion and helpmeet on the journey of life for more than half a century, sharing with him in the joys and sorrows, adversity and prosperity which checkers the life of all. She was born in Kentucky and was reared in that state and in Indiana. Her parents were Singleton and Louisa (Farris) Bruce, na tives of Kentucky, whence they removed to Indiana and subsequently came to Fre mont county, Iowa, casting their lot among the pioneer settlersJiere. They had six chil dren. When Mr. Cooper came to this por tion of the country it was included within the boundaries of Holt county, Missouri, and there he made choice of a location and began the development of a farm. He has voted both as a citizen of Missouri and Iowa and yet has never changed his place of resi dence. When he took up his abode here there was a log cabin upon the place, but otherwise no improvements. He at once began to break the prairie and to-day he is 28o BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. the owner of a very valuable farm of two hundred and twenty acres, constituting one of the best country seats in Madison town ship. His home overlooks the entire Nish- nabotna valley. - It is surrounded by a fine grove of walnut and elm trees, in the branches of which the squirrels play, while bees also have their home in the big trees; and though they gather the honey he does not allow the trees to be cut down nor the squirrels to be shot. The farm is well im proved, good out-buildings have been erects ed, the pastures rival the blue-grass region of Kentucky, the orchard contains fine va rieties of fruits, and everything upon the place is neat and thrifty in appearance, show ing that the owner is very systematic in his work and that his methods are at once prac i tical and profitable. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have been born two children : William Bruce, who is now living in Hamburg; and Mrs. Hattie Fletcher, who died, leaving four children, three of whom are now married and have ¦children of their own. One of the number, John Fletcher, with his wife resides on the old Cooper homestead and assists in the operation and management of the farm. In former years Mr. Cooper was a strong advocate of the Greenback party and an ar dent admirer of his cousm, Peter Cooper, who was the originator of that political or ganization. He was nominated and elected to the state legislature in 1873, an& took his seat in the general assembly the following year, serving there with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He is now a "silver" Democrat and a warm per sonal friend and admirer of William Jen nings Bryan. For forty-five years he has been a Mason in good standing, having been initiated into the order at Rockport, Missouri. He now 'belongs to Riverton Chapter, R. A. M. Mr. Cooper is six feet in height and used to weigh two hundred pounds. He is genial in manner and kindly in disposition, is very hospitable and the latch-string of his home always hangs out. His business integrity is unquestioned and his word is as good as any bond. He has been identified with the county from the pio neer epoch of its development when he had to go eighty miles to mill. Long since, however, good markets have been estab lished nearer home, towns and villages have sprung up and the county has become the place of habitation for a prosperous and progressive people. E. F. COWGER, M. D. In the subject of this review we have one who has attained distinction in the line of his profession and has been an earnest and discriminating student and holds a position of due relative precedence among the medi cal fraternity of Fremont county. He is the pioneer representative of his profession in Riverton, where he arrived on the 17th of September, 1873. Since that time he has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine and now has a large patronage. The Doctor was born on the 30th of August, 1843, the year in which occurred the birth of President McKinley. He is a son of Rev. James Cowger, who was born in Highland county, Ohio, a grandson of George Cowger and a great-grandson of Gustave Cowger, who was of German-Rus sian parentage, their ancestors having been active in the wars of Russia and Germany one hundred and fifty years ago. The mo- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 281 ther of our subject bore the maiden name of Susan Carver, and was a native of Ohio. Her father, Adrian Garver, was of Irish lineage. James Cowger and his wife Susan- came to the territory of Iowa in 1845. With the exception of a few settlements along the Mississippi the state was almost entirely uninhabited. There was not a single rail way line within its borders or west of the river, and the wonderful work of progress which has since transformed the county, and seems almost phenomenal, was then a labor of the future. The father took up his abode in Van Buren county, Iowa, near Keosauqua, and in addition to the develop ment of his farm he engaged in preaching the gospel in the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church, riding the circuit in the wilds of the Hawkeye state. In 1859-60 he accepted of a church of this denomination in Glenwood, Mills county, this state. He was a very sincere and active worker in the cause of the ministry and did everything in his power to secure the advancement of Christian principles among the people. He died at the age of fifty-four years, and his wife, who survived him some time, passed away in Riverton, Iowa, at the age of sixty- nine, having spent her last days there in the home of her son, the subject of this sketch. She was a good Christian woman, greatly beloved for her kindness of heart. Mr. Cow ger had three children, namely: E. F., of this review; D. L., who is living near Downs, in Mitchell county, Kansas; and W. A., of Riverton township, Fremont county, Iowa. The Doctor was reared in Iowa, acquir ing his education in the public schools of th^ state. On the 25th of July, 1862, he offered his services to the government as a defender of the Union, enlisting in Company D, Nineteenth Iowa Infantry, with which he was connected until honorably discharged, on the 6th of July, 1865. He served under General Blunt on the frontier of Missouri for nine months, and in 1863 participated in the siege of Vicksburg, after which his regiment was attached to the Department of the Gulf and was stationed at Browns ville, Texas, for six months. Dr. Cowger was eventually commissioned second lieuten ant of the Eighty-first United States Col ored Infantry and served until November, 1866, with credit and honor. During that time he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. On leaving the military service of his country Dr. Cowger returned to Abingdon, Jefferson county, Iowa, and began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. R. J. Mohr, a prominent and well-known phy sician, who had served as a surgeon in the Tenth Iowa Infantry. Dr. Cowger is also a graduate of the Keokuk Medical College, of Keokuk, Iowa, and of the Ens worth Medical College, of Missouri. Well equipped for the practice of his chosen pro fession, he came to Riverton in 1873 and has since been classed among the leading practitioners in this part of the county. He has ever been a close student and is con stantly adding to his professional knowl edge by reading, study and careful thought. On the ioth of August, 1865, Dr. Cow ger was united in marriage to Miss, Susan Cline, who was born in Fayette, Ohio, a daughter of James Cline, who resides in Abingdon, Iowa, at the age of ninety years. The Doctor has five children : - R. J., who ig a druggist by profession, but is now living on a farm in Fremont county; Mrs. Mary E. Mawhor, of Riverton ; Anna L., who is en- 282 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. gaged in clerking in the store owned by Kidd & Company; Ernest E., who was born in 1878 and served in the Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry during the war with Spain and in the Philippines until honorably discharged; and Susie M., at home. In his political views the Doctor is a stalwart Democrat and ranks as one of the leading members of the party in this sec tion of the state. He has often delivered addresses to further the interest in the cause and is recognized as a good stump orator. He served as county coroner, but has never sought or desired other official preferment. Socially he is connected' with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias fraternity, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Grand Army of the Republic, and Masonic fraternity. The success which attends his efforts is but a natural sequence, for his position soon be came assured because he was an able physi cian, a man of sterling integrity and one who devoted himself to his profession and to the interests and welfare of those to whom he ministered, as indeed he yet does. He is a physician of great fraternal delicacy, and no man ever observed more closely the eth ics of the unwritten code or showed more careful courtesy to his brother practitioners than does Dr. Cowger. H. C. ROBBINS. H. C. Robbins, who is classed among the well-known and energetic farmers of Mills county, was born in Athens county, Ohio, on the 9th of November, 1843, his parents being Joseph J. and Harriet (Coe) Robbins. The paternal grandfather of our subject was one of the heroes of the Revo lution and participated in the battle of Lex ington. He was one of the original minute men who watched for the British at the opening engagement of the war, and on many a battle-field displayed his loyalty to the cause of liberty and fought for the in dependence of the nation. Among the an cestors of our subject were , those who served in the war of 18 12, including Cap tain Nathan Robbins. Joseph J. Robbins was born in Massachusetts in the year 1803, and became a successful business man, following merchandising for a numv ber of years. When about eighteen or twenty years of age he removed to Ohio, becoming one of the pioneer settlers of that state. He was employed by the month for a time and afterward removed to an other county in Ohio, where he devoted his energies to mercantile pursuits. He was married on the 31st of May, 1828, when in his twenty-sixth year, to Miss Harriet Coe, who was a native of Connecticut. His death occurred in Athens county, Ohio, December 20, 1873, and his wife passed away in the same county, at the ripe old age of eighty-nine -years. This worthy couple were the parents of eleven children, five of whom are yet living. Mr. Robbins, of this review, was edu cated in the village school, and after put ting aside his text books he was employed in his father's store for four years. At the time of the Civil war he enlisted, in 1862, as a member of Company A, Ninety- second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Elmer Golden. He was first in camp at Marietta, Ohio, for a month, and then went to the front, where he was on duty every clay, receiving an honorable discharge at Columbus, Ohio, at the close ?%aw 4. fdJl .y *xsUt* BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 307 The Judge spent the first eleven years •of his life in New York and then accom panied his parents on their removal to the Western Reserve, in Ohio. Much of his youth was spent upon a farm, where he as sisted in the labors of field and meadow, his character developing naturally and strongly amid the untrammeled life of the country. His education was acquired in the city schools of Sandusky, and at the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to learn the miller's trade. Six years later he went to Michigan, where he engaged in the mill ing business until 1849, when,^ attracted by the discovery of gold in California, he made his way to the Pacific slope, acting as the captain of a company of miners who jour neyed westward in search of fortune. The strength of his character was soon manifest, and his ability for leadership was quickly recognized in the community, where men of sterling worth by right take their place at the head of affairs. He entered political life there, and in 185 1 was elected a member of the first legislature of Cali fornia. In the summer of that year he was employed by the governor of the state to locate a road from the headwaters of the Sacramento to the Willamette valley of Oregon, an enterprise which claimed his attention until - the spring of 1852. He spent the succeeding winter in the Sand wich islands, which, almost a half century later, were to become the property of the United States. On his return Judge Tubbs again took up his abode in Michigan and engaged in the milling business until the spring of 1856, when he came to Iowa, locating on the present site of the town of Malvern. Here, too he took leadership, and in 1858 was elected by a popular vote to the office of udge of the probate court for Mills coun ty, a position which he filled with marked ability and fidelity until the office was abol ished. He was one of the first two men ever elected on the Republican ticket in Mills county. Throughout the years that have since passed he has had considerable influ ence in public affairs, yet has never been an aspirant for office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business interests, which constantly grew in volume and im portance. In May, 1861, imbued with the martial spirit of the time, he organized the first cavalry company ever formed in the state and- Was elected its captain. The or ganization was formed for state protection and was known as the Mills County min ute men. A peculiar fact connected there with is that this company has never been mustered out. In 1869 Judge Tubbs sold his Malvern farm and located in Emerson. However, he continued his active connection with ag ricultural interests, and under his super vision large tracts of land were cultivated and improved. He became one of the most extensive land-owners in this section of the state, his property comprising thirty-two hundred acres in Mills county. He also had much valuable town property and twelve hundred and eighty acres of land in Texas. As his financial resources increased he made judicious investments in real es tate and derived therefrom a handsome in« come as the land increased in value and productiveness, owing to the continued growth of the county and to the cultivation which was bestowed upon the fields. He also dealt largely in stock, and in the vari ous branches of his business gained that 3o8 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. prosperity which always rewards persever ing effort when guided by keen business discrimination. On the ist of October, 1853, in Kala mazoo, Michigan, Judge Tubbs was united in marriage to Miss Sybil J. Wheeler, who was born October 13, 1836, and is a daugh ter of William Wheeler. By the marriage of Judge and Mrs. Tubbs eight children were born, of whom six are now living, namely: AA'illiam L., Mary D., Hattie M., Volna V., Bertha E. and Ray B. The fam ily is one of prominence in the community, enjoying the high regard of many friends who delight in the generous hospitality of the Tubbs home. Socially the Judge wag connected with the Masonic lodge of Em erson and served as its first master. He joined the craft in Michigan in 1853, and in his life exemplified its benevolent teach ings. He was a man of true worth, hon orable in all his life's relations, straight forward in business and faithful in friend ship. He was entirely free from ostenta-r tion and commanded the respect and con fidence of all, enjoying the warm friend-* ship of a large majority of the best citizens of Mills county. His death took place February 28, 1901, at his home in Emer son, which gave occasion to the public to renew in their memories his many excellent qualities and exemplary character. ALBERT G. MALCOM. The name of Malcom has long figured on the pages of the history of Fremont coun ty, for the family to which our subject be longs was established in this locality when it was a wild western district, situated on the borders of civilization. His birth occurred February 2, i860, on the old family home stead where he yet resides, and he was reared to the honest toil of the farm. His parents, McCoy and Sarah (Jones) Malcom, were married in Indiana, of which state the father was a .native, while the mother was born in Ohio. They began their domestic life upon a farm in the Hoosier state and there resided until 1856, when they came to Fremont county, settling on land which Mr. Malcom entered from the government, thus securing a tract of eighty acres on section 28, Prairie township, in the Nishnabotna valley. At that time there were but few permanent settlers in the county and the country was wild and unimproved. Broad stretches of land were still unclaimed ; wild game was plentiful ; and various kinds of wild beasts roamed through the forests or over the prairie at will. Mr. Malcom was an excellent shot and his trusty rifle secured to the family much venison and other meat. He built a cabin upon his claim, fenced his farm with rails, and with characteristic en ergy began to plow and plant his fields from which he soon gathered 'rich harvests. When he first came to the county, in order to get some corn for meal, he rented a piece of land across the river from his home and there raised a crop. The following" winter he and his thirteen-year-old son took' an ox team and went to the field for a load of corn. The place was situated about four or five miles from the house. They had com pleted the task of gathering the corn when a blizzard set in. They started for home and crossed the river on the ice, but the storm raged so violently and the snow be came so blinding that the oxen refused to proceed. So Mr. Malcom unhitched them and let them seek shelter as they wished, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 309 while he and his son started for the house; but the boy soon became exhausted. Pro tecting him as well as he could, Mr. Malcom then had to leave him in order to go for help. The neighbors came to his assistance and they started to carry the boy home ; but he was so badly frozen that he died on the way, and Mr. Malcom also suffered so great ly from that stormy that he was unable to work for a year following, and never fully recovered ! Such were some of the trials which the early settlers had to encounter in opening up this region to civilization. In those early days people had to go long dis tances to mill, mostly to Council Bluffs, but Mr. Malcom found a home market through selling his products to emigrants. Soon the country began to be settled and he lived to see the vast prairies transformed into beau tiful homes and farms, the white houses standing in the midst of green fields and forming a very attractive landscape. In politics he was a Democrat, but never aspired to office. Of the Christian church he was a worthy and consistent member and died in that faith April 26, 1893, at the age of seventy-five years. His wife yet sur vives him and is now residing in Sidney. Two of her brothers, William and1 John Jones, came to Iowa, but both returned to Indiana. Mrs. Malcom preserved her health and strength to a remarkable degree, car ing for her home until her death, February 14, '1901. She spent the evening of life among friends and children and looked back over the past without regret and forward to the future without fear, for her life had been in harmony with her religious belief, as a member of the Christian Church. She had seven children: Sarah, now the wife of M. Smith; Robert, whose death is referred to above; James, who died, leaving a wife and four children; John and Isaac, who are farmers of Fremont county; Albert G., of this review ; and George, also an agriculturist of Fremont county. Born and- reared on the old family home stead, where he yet lives, the place is en deared to Albert G. Malcom through the as sociations of his boyhood, as well as those of later years. He remained under the pa rental roof, caring for his parents in the evening of life. In 1880 he was married to Miss Martha Hiskey, and brought his bride to the old home. For a year he carried on farming there and then removed, to another farm, which was their place of residence for seven years; but on the expiration of that period they returned to the old home stead, where they have since remained. For twenty years Mr. Malcom has engaged in general farming and to some extent has raised and dealt in stock. He also operated a corn-sheller for fifteen years and has been content to carry forward the work inaug urated by his father, whereby he has devel oped a very fine farm that yields to hum an excellent return for his, labors. Mrs. Malcom is a lady of intelligence and culture and also represents one of the early families of Fremont county. She was born in Madison county, Iowa, December 17, 1 86 1, and is a daughter of Jacob and Arminda (Cornwell) Hiskey, both of whom were natives of Ohio, in which state their marriage occurred. They afterward came to Iowa and the father, who had previously followed carpentering, turned his attention to the farm, entering land from the govern ment. He improved the place and made it his home for a number of years, after which he removed to- Nebraska, where he died July 3io BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. io, 1869. He was a consistent and worthy member of the United Brethren church, and in his political views he was a stalwart Re publican, but was never an aspirant for the honors of office. His wife passed away in Nebraska, February 7, 1892. Her mother was Lydia Shafer Cornwell, of Ohio, who had three children : Mrs. Hiskey, and Isaac and James, both of Ohio. The children of the Hiskey family are : Franklin, Albert and Allen, all of whom are living in Nebraska; Mrs. Martha A. Malcom; Wilbret, who is living in Nebraska; Caroline, now the wife of B. Stockton; and Margaret, the wife of F. Huffman. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Malcom has been blessed with five children, namely: Ethel, born August 17, 1882; Walter, born January 10, 1884; Orville, born April 11, 1886; Cora, born September 28, 1889; and Clyde, born August 17, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Malcom are well-known1 people of the com munity in which they reside and have gained many friends by reason of their excellent qualities. He belongs to the Modern AVood- men at Sidney, but gives little time to out side interests, his attention being devoted untiringly to his farm work, whereby he is enabled to surround his family with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. Mrs. Malcom is a member of the Royal Neighbors, of Farragut, Iowa. DANIEL T. RHODE. Among the agriculturists and- stock-deal ers of Green township who successfully carry on the business to which they give their attention! is numbered Mr. Rhode, whose name introduces this record. He was born in AA'arren county, Indiana, December 18, 1838. His father, John Rhode, was a na tive of Ohio, born in the western part of that state in 181 7. When a boy he went to Indiana and afterward to Arkansas, where he remained for four years, after which he returned to the old home in the Hoosier state. He was of German lineage, for the great-grandfather of our subject came to the new world from Germany. The grandparents of our subject were Jonathan and Harriet (Rosencrans) Rhode. The latter died in Arkansas about 1842, -and the grandfather subsequently returned to In diana, where his death occurred about 1845, having reached an advanced age when called to the home beyond. They reared five sons and two daughters, who have families. Two uncles and two aunts of our subject lived and died in Indiana, while John, Daniel and Joe Rhode all came to Iowa, John and Jo seph having arrived in the state in 1851, while Daniel preceded them, having removed from Arkansas to Iowa im 1847. He was among the early settlers in the vicinity of Hamburg and before 1851 he came to Fre mont county and filed claims to a large tract of land, thus becoming the owner of eighteen hundred acres. He was one of the wealthy men in the county, for his time. He entered nearly all of the land at one dol lar and a quarter per acre and took an active part in reclaiming the primitive prairie for purposes of civilization, his improvement of his property promoting the general prosper ity as well as his individual success. On coming from Arkansas he drove one hun dred head of steers to Iowa, where he sold them to the Mormons who were en route to Utah. The purchase price was about eight dollars per head and he sold them at from eighty to one hundred dollars per yoke, thus BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 3" realizing a handsome profit. The Rhode brothers were prominently known in , Fre mont county as leading business men and the nanie has been inseparably connected with the history of this portion of the state. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Polly Cobb and was born in Law rence county, Indiana, in which state she gave her hand in marriage to John Rhode. Our subject was their first child and at the time of his birth the father was but twenty-one years of age. In their family were four children, the second being Eliza beth, the wife of Josiah Eggleston, who is living at Puget Sound, Washington, and has three children. Hannah is the wife of Mr. Buffington, a farmer of Nebraska, living in the Niobrara river country. Her first husband was Mr. Tarpening and she has three children. The fourth member of the Rhode family was a son who died in infancy. The mother died in Indiana, about 1825, and the father was again married, in Law rence county, that state, his second union being with Miss Martha Scott, by whom he had eight children, five sons and three daughters. The eldest, Joseph, died at the age of fifteen years, and with the excep tion of two others all were married. Great changes have come since John Rhode and his brother Joseph traveled to Iowa in the true emigrant style, with two large covered wagons, each drawn by four yoke of oxen, and two two-horse wagons, while each of the brothers also had five cows. As they crossed Illinois in the spring their wagons often got stuck in the mud, at which times they would double the teams and thus extricate the wagons. They were two months in making the journey and ar rived in Fremont county in July or August, The two brothers located near their brother Daniel, and the father of our subject paid six hundred dollars to John Hughes for his timber claim. He secured timber land, which everybody considered the most desirable, the prairies being regarded as comparatively worthless, as there was not timber to fence them. Then, too, on the prairies it was so cold and bleak that the settlers feared that they might freeze to death. Several of the pioneers did die upon those broad open stretches of country. About six years be fore his death John Rhode buried his sec ond wife. He passed away about 1896, upon the farm where he located in 1852, liv ing then in a log cabin. About 1857, how ever, he had erected the present large frame house. At one time he was the owner of eight hundred acres of land and at his death he was still in possession of three hundred acres having given the remainder to his children, to Whom he either donated land or money. Daniel T. Rhode, whose name begins this record, was reared upon his father's farm. He was thirteen years of age when he came to Iowa, and here he remained un til the ist of May, 1859. He was of the number who started for Pike's Peak, on the discovery of gold there, but after spending one summer in that country he returned home. AVhile en route he saw a number of buffaloes and killed three in one place. He remained with his parents until the spring of 1862, when he returned Pike's Peak, Colorado, remaining for eighteen months, during which time he worked on the stage route, building log houses and barns. He then went to Idaho, where he engaged in mining gold for three months, and then re turned with ten thousand dollars of the 312 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. precious metal. In one clay he secured gold to the value of fifteen hundred and twelve dollars, having in one pan eighty-two dollars. This fortunate find came to him just at the right moment, for he and his partner were almost destitute of funds when they discov ered the mine, in what was known as Stink ing AA^ater Gulch. They accidentally dis covered the gold by digging at the side of a boulder, and Mr. Rhode still has in his pos session nuggets which he found and which are worth from fifty to one hundred and twenty-seven dollars. When twenty-nine years of age, on the 2 1 st of March, 1868, Mr. Rhode was united in marriage to Miss Sarah C. Taliaferro, who was born in Missouri, a daughter of James and Catherine (Holland) Taliaferro, the former a native of Missouri and of French ancestry, while the latter was a na tive of Ohio. Unto our subject and his wife have been born eleven children, three of whom died in childhood. The others are : Dora, the wife of Charles Delaney, by whom she has two children ; Clara May, who is the wife of George Plank, and has two children, both of whom are now in Oregon ; Wilbert, who died at the age of twenty-six years ; Alonzo, who is a farmer of this neighbor hood and has a wife and one son; Maggie, the wife of Alonzo Kempton, also a resi dent farmer of Green township; Curtis, a young man of twenty-one, now in Oregon ; Albert, who died at the age of fourteen years; Pearl, Richard and Daniel, aged re spectively, seventeen, fourteen and nine years f and Ruby, who died at the age of four years. Mr. Rhode is six feet in height and weighs two hundred and fifty-three pounds, .and we seldom meet a man of greater strength or endurance. Of strong domestic tastes, his greatest enjoyment conies to him through his associations of home. He is to-day the owner of four hundred and eighty- acres of land, of which one hundred and fifty is timber. He also has ten acres and a good residence in Tabor. He has recently purchased two thousand acres in Kansas, upon which he has placed his son Alanizo. He carries on general farming and in addi tion successfully follows stock-raising, keep ing on hand twenty-four horses, while an- ually he feeds and sells one hundred head of shorthorn cattle. He has the most of his land seeded down and has grown from six to seven thousand bushels of corn in a year. His fine timber is largely black wal nut. Fine modern improvements may be seen on his place, including his mammoth barn, which is forty by seventy-two feet, with sixteen-foot posts. It is all built of hewed frame timbers from his woods and has an eight-foot basement. Everything about the place is neat and thrifty and up to date. In his political views Mr. Rhpde is a Republican, having supported the party since casting his first presidential ballot for Abra ham Lincoln. He has served as school di rector and road commissioner, but has never been an aspirant for office, preferring to de vote his time and energies to his business affairs, in which he has met with creditable success. WILLIAM C. FUGITT. William C. Fugitt, who since pioneer days has been a resident of Fremont coun ty, was born on the old family homestead in Madison township, July 26, 1854. His BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 3'3 father, Townsend F. Fugitt, was one of the prominent early settlers of this portion of the state, coming here in 1848, when this part of Iowa was first opened up to civili zation. He was born in Platte county, Mis souri, in 1824, and his father, Hiram Fu gitt, was one of the pioneer settlers of the Platte purchase, where he established his home about 1822. He was born in Ken tucky and was of French extraction. His wife, Martha, was also a native of that state and represented a good family there. They were married in Missouri, and the grandmother of our subject died in Clay county, while Hiram Fugitt passed to his final rest in 1873, at the age of seventy- seven years, while living on the old home stead. Townsend F. Fugitt was reared in Clay •county, Missouri, amid the wild scenes of the frontier. Indians still lived in the neigh borhood and all kinds -of wild game could be found. In 1848 Mr. Fugitt came to Fremont county and secured a claim of gov ernment land. He married Eliza McKis- sick, a young woman who had been the housekeeper for his brother Jacob, one of the first settlers of the county, living at McKis- sick's Grove. She was born in Missouri and was a daughter of William and Eliza McKissick. With characteristic energy Townsend Fugitt gave his attention to the cultivation and improvement of his land, and developed one of the best farms in the township. Upon it he erected a fine resi dence, substantial barns and made many other improvements. His blue-grass pas tures rivaled those of Kentucky, and every thing about his place was neat, thrifty and attractive in appearance. He became the owner of four hundred acres of land, and in addition to the cultivation of the fields engaged extensively and successfully in the raising of horses and cattle. He took quite an active interest in public affairs and was a wide-awake, enterprising citizen who with held his support from no measure which he believed would prove of general good. His political support was given at different times to the Democracy and to the Greenback party, and for years he was very active in " political circles, doing all in his power to secure the adoption of the principles in which he believed. He was one of the early Masons of the county and his life exempli fied the beneficent spirit of the fraternity. In personal appearance he was striking, be ing six feet in height and weighing two hundred and fifteen pounds. His manner was always cordial, genial and unaffected, and the latch-string of his home always hung out, hospitality being extended to. the weary and the hungry as well as to the im mediate friends of the family. His life was permeated by his Christian belief as a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church and his word was ever as good as his bond. Both he and his wife were loved by all who knew them. This worthy couple were the parents of nine children, four sons and five daughters, of whom five are yet living, namely: AArill- iam C. ; Sally, the wife of John McClellan, of Shenandoah, Iowa; Ed H., of Hamburg; and Effie and John, who reside in Broken Bow, Nebraska. Those who have passed away are Henry Clay-, who died at the age of sixteen years; Mrs. Nancy Nelson, who died in Shenandoah, Iowa; Martha, who died on the old homestead; and Mrs. Betty Finnell, whose death ocurred in Atchison county, Missouri. The mother passed away 3'4 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. at the age of forty-eight years and the fa ther died at the age of sixty-four. William C. Fugitt spent the days of his childhood and youth on the old family home stead and in early boyhood took his place in the fields to assist in their cultivation. The habits of industry which he then formed have been a salient feature in his success in later life. He acquired his education: in the public schools and continued at home until twenty-three years of age', when he began farming on his own account on a tract of wild land in the eastern part of Madison township. There he opened up a fine, farm of two hundred and forty acres, while he still owns. At the age of twenty-six he se cured a companion and helpmate on life's journey by his marriage to Miss Martha Ackerman, who was born, reared and ed ucated in Fremont county, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. Ackerman, of Madison township. Four children were born of their union, of whom two are yet living : Ernest, now nineteen' years of age, and Pearl, the wife of J. S. Johnson, of Fremont county. One daughter, Goldy Ethelyn, died at the age of twelve years. The mother of these children was called to her final rest on the 19th of May, 1893, at the age of thirty-two. years. She was a consistent member of the Cumberland Presbyterian: church and had a large circle of warm friends who deeply mourned her loss. On the ist of November, 1894, Mr. Fugitt was united in marriage to Florence Mary Harris, whose birth oc curred May 6, 1870. She was born in Maine, but was 'reared and educated in Fre mont county, and is a. daughter of A. F. Harris, who came Lo this county in 1872. In the east he engaged in merchandising. He married Ellen E. Poor, also a native of the Pine Tree state, and unto them were born seven children, but only two are now living — Thomas H. and Mrs. Fugitt. The father is a member of the Christian church, the mother of the Unitarian church. By the second, marriage of Mr. Fugitt there' are" two children — Ellen May and Oliver Townsend. Mr. Fugitt owns and operates a fine farm of sixty-two acres adjoining Riverton. His home is built iu a modern style of architect-' ure, furnished in good taste and stands in the midst of a well-kept lawn. He also owns his farm of two hundred and forty acres in Madison township, and this is well improved with substantial buildings, and everything about the place is kept in good condition. In his political views he is a Democrat, strongly supporting Bryan. For a number of years he has served on the school board, and the cause of education, temperance and religion find in him a warm friend. For a number of years he served as an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and is deeply interested in all that pertains to the welfare, of his community and to the uplift ing of man. Both he and -his wife are hon ored and respected by all who know them. CHARLES MAGEL. Charles Magel is a self-made man who, without any extraordinary family or pe cuniary advantages at the commencement of life, has battled earnestly and energetically, and by indomitable courage and integrity has achieved both character and fortune. By sheer force of will and untiring effort he has worked his way upward and is now one of. the substantial farmers and stock-dealers of Fremont county. He claims Iowa as the CHARLES MAGEL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 3iS state of his nativity, his birth having oc curred in Des Moines comity, March 16, 1846. His parents, Sibert and Mary (Lee) Magel, were both natives of Germany and in early life came to the United States. The father located in Iowa in 1833 and the par ents were married in this state. Both were descendants of influential families, repre senting important farming interests in Ger many. On reaching Iowa the father found a wild, open country, only a few settlements having been made, the work of improvement and cultivation being scarcely begun. Like many pioneers, he had very limited capital, but was hopeful and not afraid to work, and his energy and financial ability enabled him to advance steadily on the road to prosperity. He secured a claim and when he could not find profitable labor in the service of others he gave his time to the cultivation of his land, making good improvements upon it as the years passed. He completed the ar rangements for a home by his marriage, and both he and his wife labored earnestly and underwent many deprivations and hard ships incident to pioneer life in order to gain a good start in the world. At that time Burlington contained but a few cheap houses and was" too small to be called even a village; but the steamers made a landing there. When the government survey was completed and the land was placed upon the market, Mr. Magel attended the sale and purchased his claim. He had not been able to save enough to make the entire pay ment, but found a friend who lent him the money, for which he paid fifty per cent in terest until his indebtedness was discharged. His first farm was located about six miles from Burlington and he made it a highly 19 improved property. As claims were estab lished he placed his crops on sale and suc cess followed his efforts. About 1850 he moved within three miles of Burlington. He made many substantial improvements upon the homestead and there reared his children, spending his remaining days upon the old farm, where he passed away on the 9th of August, 1897. His wife preceded him to the home beyond, dying on the 5th of December, 1896. Both had been reared in the Lutheran church and held member ship therein throughout their lives. Mr. Magel was known as a very promi nent and influential citizen of Des Moines county, proving a very important factor in the work of improvement and upbuilding there. After placing his home farm in good condition he purchased land and improved other farms, which he sold, becoming quite an extensive real-estate dealer. He also aided materially in the development of Burlington, building houses and dealing in property in that city. At the time of his death he owned some very valuable real estate there. He lent money and all of his efforts in a business way were crowned with success. He was an excellent financier, en ergetic, determined and persevering, and those qualities enabled him to advance stead ily on the progressive path of prosperity. He was an intelligent, broad-minded man, of sterling integrity and honor, and among all by whom he was known he commanded uniform confidence and respect. He had no near relatives in this country, but his wife had two brothers, Conrad and William Lee, both of whom were farmers and are now deceased. Sibert and Mary (Lee) Magel were the parents of ten children : Elizabeth, the de- 316 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. ceased wife of W. Hillgartner ; William and Henry, who are living in Des Moines coun ty ; Charles, of this review ; Conrad,; a prom inent farmer of Fremont county; Peter, who makes - his home near Burlington ; Mary, the wife of J. Schafer, of Burlington; Margaret, wife of H. Steyh, of the same city; Theodore S., who became a promi nent citizen of Fremont county, where he followed farming until he was accidentally killed by a horse February 23, 1895, leav ing a wife and five interesting children; and Benjamin, of Des Moines county. The family is an influential one, the members being leading citizens of the various com munities in which they reside. Charles Magel remained under the pa rental roof throughout the period of his minority, and practical training at farm work well fitted him for agricultural pur suit when he entered upon his business ca reer. In 1869 he and his brother Conrad made a prospecting tour to Fremont coun ty in order to look after some Land which his father had entered. They returned by way of Nebraska, and in the spring of 1870 again came to Fremont county and began the improvement of the father's land. They broke the wild prairie, erected a house and employed a . man and his wife to care for the home and assist in the work of the fields. They got a good start at farming and stock- raising and soon took their place among the substantial agriculturists of this portion of the state. In 1880 Charles Magel was married and by mutual agreement a division of the property was then made. Our sub ject, obtained possession of the improved por tion of the land and Conrad purchased a claim adjoining, upon which were some poor improvements. Both became substan tial residents and their homes are still with in sight of each other. They have reared Large families and have well improved farms in the valley of the Nishnabotna river. Mr. Magel of this review owns nearly one thousand acres of land, all under a high state of cultivation, while well kept fences divide it into fields for the raising of grain or into meadows and grazing pastures. His residence is a modern, two-story house, built in a modern style of architecture and supplied with all the late conveniences. There is also a large barn and outbuildings and the home is surrounded by a beautiful grove of ornamental and1 forest trees. A large orchard yields its fruits in season, the fields are well tilled and in the pastures are found excellent grades of cattle and hogs. The farm is conveniently located five miles east of Sidney,, and Mr. Magel is success fully carrying on farming and stock-raising. He also lends money to his neighbors and friends, on good security, and has become one of the leading and prominent business men of his section of the state. He is wide ly and favorably known, commanding the confidence and respect of those with whom he is associated. An excellent business man and financier, he has labored not only for his own advancement but is also enterpris ing and public-spirited and gives his support to many measures for the general good. The lady who bears the name of Mrs. Magel was in her maidenhood Miss Lizzie Schultize, who was born in Des Moines, Iowa, September 19, 1858, a daughter of AVilliam and Margaret (Kitzer) Schultize, both of whom were natives of Germany and became early settlers of Iowa. Her fa ther purchased land and improved a farm, and later, attracted by the discovery of gold BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 3i7 in California, he crossed the plains to the Pacific coast, where he engaged in mining for five years. Returning then to the Mis sissippi valley, he resumed farming, which he carried on until 1864, when death ended his labors. His wife still survives and re sides on the old homestead. Both were worthy and exemplary members of the Lu theran church. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Schul tize were born four children: Henry, who is living in Fremont county; Lizzie, now Mrs. Magel; John, of Des Moines county, and Mary, the wife of William Diehl. After the death of her first husband Mrs. Schultize became the wife of N. Helt, also a native of the fatherland, and they had seven chil dren : Kate ; Anna, the deceased wife " of William Brown; Christina, the wife of I. Avery; Emma, the wife of H. Kingsolver; George, a farmer; Julia, the wife of E. Baumgardner; and William, who is yet at home. Tbe marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Magel has been blessed with six interesting chil dren : William C, George, Lee, Lulu, Grover, and Freddie, all still with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Magel are earnest members •of the Methodist church. He was reared in the faith of the Democracy but is now a "Republican. He, however, does not seek ¦office, preferring to give his attention to his farm work, which has brought to him an -excellent financial return, so that he is now numbered among those who may well be proud - of their success, as it has come to him through his own labors, his keen en terprise and his perseverance. SEYMORE T. RHODE. The history of Randolph would be in complete without the mention of Seymore 'T. Rhode, who is a representative of an honored pioneer family and is one of the most prominent and influential business men of the town, being the senior member of the firm of S. T. Rhode & Company. His birth occurred on the 23d of June, 1852, in the county which is still his home, his parents being Joseph and Elizabeth (Gray) Rhode, both of whom were natives of War ren county, Indiana, in which place they were reared and married. The paternal grandfather, Jonathan Rhode, was born in Ohio and was of German descent, his fa ther having come from Germany to' America. He located first in South Carolina, wliere he served under General Marion in the com missary department in the Revolution. He was a farmer, operating his plantation by the aid of the slaves that he owned, but be coming disgusted with the slave traffic he disposed of his interests in the south and went to Ohio. Jonathan Rhode, the grandfather of our subject, was reared to agricultural pursuits in the Buckeye state, and at an early period in the development of Indiana he became a resident of that state, where he carried on farming. He married and became the fa ther of seven children, namely : Daniel A. ; Elsa, the wife of William Cobb; and John, both of whom were agriculturists; Joseph, the father of our subject; Hannah, the wife of R. McCord; Caleb, and Seymour. The parents were both members of the Society of Friends, and the kindly spirit so char acteristic of that sect was exemplified in their lives. Joseph Rhode, the father of our sub ject, was married in Indiana and there began farming, and subsequently he and1 his fam ily accompanied his father's family on their removal to northwest Arkansas, in 1840. A few years later, however, they returned to 3i8 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Indiana and in 1851 they came to Fremont county, Iowa, where Joseph Rhode entered land from the government, developing and improving the farm upon which he remained throughout the remainder of his days. He became an extensive agriculturist and stock- raiser and dealer, being one of the leaders in this line of business in the community. In politics he was a stalwart Republican and was recognized as one of the leaders of the party in his portion of the state, his in fluence being used with telling effect in sup port of the principles in which he believed. He took a deep interest in the war, but ill health prevented him from going to the front. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, frequently called him to public office and he was chosen to repre sent Fremont county in the state legislature. He also served as a member of the county board for a number of years and filled many minor offices, exercising his official prerog atives in support of every measure which he believed would contribute to the general good. He was instrumental in. securing the passage of the act for an assessment upon vacant lands owned by speculators. Of strong mentality, he viewed each question that came up for consideration, not only from the standpoint of to-day but of the future as well, desiring that all his official acts should prove of not only immediate good, but of continued benefit. He was lib eral, charitable, enterprising and public-spir ited, and his life — in purpose and in act — commanded the confidence and genuine re gard of all with whom he was associated. He died1 January 17, 1886, and the com munity thereby lost one of its most valued citizens, his neighbors a faithful friend and his family a considerate father. His wife had passed away many years before, her death occurring in 1863. She was a daugh ter of John Gray, who settled in Lawrence county, Indiana, in the pioneer days. His father was killed at the battle of King's Mountain in the Revolutionary war. The Gray family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and John Gray died in Lawrence county, leaving ten children, namely : William, Jacob, Lidia, Dorothea, Wesley, Ephraim, James, Mrs. Elizabeth Rhode and Hamilton. Unto Joseph and Elizabeth (Gray) Rhode were born ten children : Mary, who became the wife of L. O. Baker and died in 1880; Harriet, the wife of S. P. McCor mick; Dorothea S., who became Mrs. Reed and died im 1882; John, who died in child hood'; Mrs. Martha F. Loveland; Seymore T., of this review; Mrs. Esther R. Hurst; Sarah, who is the widow of Dr. William Matthews, and is living in Colorado; Charles H., of Cass county, Iowa; and Elizabeth A., of California. After the death of his first wife Joseph Rhode, the father of our sub ject, married Mrs. West, a widow and a daughter of Deacon Kinney, of Ohio. Their children were Edith, who became the wife of A. A. Failing, and Mrs. Lucy Stevens. Their mother having passed away, Mr. Rhode married Mrs. Snow, a widow and a daughter of D. M. Paul, of Thurman, Iowa. Two children graced this marriage, Guy and Ray, who are living on the old homestead with their mother. Seymore T. Rhode has spent his entire life in Fremont county. He remained un der the parental roof throughout the period of his minority and acquired a common- school education. He afterward rented a farm for two years and then purchased a half interest in a drug store at Tabor, con- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 3i9 ducting the enterprise for eighteen months, when he sold out and became an equal part ner in a hardware and grocery store of that place. Again, after two years, he sold out and then came to Randolph, where he spent a year and a half as a salesman in a gen eral store, owned by Mr. Barbour. On the expiration of that period he went to Silver City, Mills county, Iowa, where he followed clerking for a year and a half in a hardware and grocery store. He was married in 1880, and the following year he came to Randolph, where he purchased an interest, with Mr. Ashbaugh, in a hardware and implement business. The following year that association was discontinued and Mr. Rhode entered into partnership with Isaac Johnson, in the conduct of a hardware, lumber and agri cultural implement business, which they car ried on until 1893, when Mr. Rhode pur chased Mr. Johnson's interest and incor porated the business under the style of S. T. Rhode & Company. The firm now buys and ships grain and does a general trading busi ness of considerable volume. On the 24th of October, 1880, Mr. Rhode was united in marriage to Miss Vio let Alensworth, who was born in Ohio, Feb ruary 17, 1854, a daughter of John and Mary Alehsworth, who came to Mills coun ty, Iowa, in 1875. Her father was a farmer, but after coming to this state retired from active business and died in Mills county in 1879. His wife, who was a consistent mem ber of the Methodist church, survived him until 1893. The father was twice married and the children of the first union were William, James, Anna, Kate and Rebecca; while of the second marriage the following were born : Albert, who is now an engineer in Nebraska; Violet; Lewis, a farmer of Mills county; Estella, the wife of W. Adam- son ; and Emma, the wife of S. H. Earl. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rhode have been born six children; Elsie, born February 20, 1881 ; Ethel, born July 6, 1883; Joseph, born Au gust 8, 1886; John, born March 22, 1888; Edward, born June 28, 1892; and Doro thea, born September 22, 1896. Mrs. Rhode is a consistent and worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church ; while socially Mr. Rhode is a Mason, be longing to both the blue lodge and the chap ter. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, unwavering in his allegiance to the party, but he has never sought office. His atten tion has been exclusively given to his busi ness affairs, and through the legitimate chan nels of trade he has acquired a handsome competence. There are no startling or excit ing chapters in his life record., but his history is that of a man who has ever been faithful to his duty, to his family, to his neighbor and to his country. JOSEPH A. McINTIRE. The efficient postmaster at Sidney, who in the discharge of his duties has manifested a most business-like spirit, is Joseph A. Mc lntire, who was born in Keokuk county, Iowa, August 25, 1848. His father, Alex ander Mclntire, was a native of Fairfield county, Ohio, whence he removed to Indi ana and subsequently to Iowa, locating in this state in its territorial days. He mar ried Lovina Hiatt; who was born about twelve miles from Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1826. Their wedding was celebrated in 1846, and their marriage was blessed with six children, of whom four sons and a daughter reached mature years, namely ; Jo- 320 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. seph A. ; Martin L., a farmer who resides in Marion county, Iowa; Harvey, a resident farmer of Brooks county, Kansas; Malon L., who also resides in that county and possesses considerable musical talent, being the author of a number of musical compositions of note; and Olive M., the wife of Dayton Greeson, who resides at Pleasant Plain, Jef ferson county, Iowa. All are married and have families. The father died in April, 1855, at the age of thirty-one years. The mother remained a widow for many years and died in Brooks county, Kansas, July, 9, 1900, when nearly seventy-four years of age. Joseph A. Mclntire pursued a two-years course of study in the Central University, of Iowa, and engaged in teaching at the age of twenty-one. He successfully followed that profession for many years, being an instructor in vocal and instrumental music, giving lessons on the piano. He possesses a remarkably sweet and clear tenor voice and has been the leader of many choirs. His services are always in demand at local en tertainments and he has done much to pro mote the musical taste and culture of the town in which he resides. In the fall of 1878 Mr. Mclntire was united in marriage to Miss Susan A. Strawn, of Kirkville, Iowa, a daughter of Nelson and Elizabeth (Rhodes) Strawn, all of Ohio. Four children were born unto them, but the eldest, a daughter, died in infancy, and Bertha died at the age of nine years. AA^alter Ray was graduated in the high school in Sidney, and in 1900 matricu lated in Grinnell College, in Grinnell, Iowa. He served in Company E, of the Fifty-first Iowa Infantry, in the Philippines, for more than a year and participated in fifteen en gagements. He made an excellent record as a soldier and is a good student, being particularly proficient in mathematics. Elsie May, the youngest of the family, is now a young lady of fifteen years, attending the schools of Sidney. Ira his political views Mr. Mclntire is a stalwart Republican, unswerving in his sup port of the principles of the party. For two years he served as the postmaster of Sidney, under President Harrison, and since July, 1897, he has been the postmaster under President McKinley's administration. He is. a very efficient, faithful and accommodating officer, always found at his post of duty, and even those of different political belief com mend him for his fidelity and trustworthi ness in office. For eleven years he has made his home in Sidney, at his present place of residence. Holding membership in the Bap tist church, he has served as one of its dea cons. He has also served as the leader of the choir for a number of years and takes- an active part in church work. As a citizen he is public spirited and progressive. ZEDEKIAH McNEW. One of the well-known citizens and early- settlers of Iowa and an honored veteran of the Civil war is Zedekiah McNew, a native. of North Carolina, born January 7, 1845. His father, William McNew, was of Scotch- Irish lineage and was reared and educated on the Emerald Isle. When a young man he decided to try his fortune in America and, crossing the Atlantic to the United States, located in North Carolina. In Kentucky he was united in marriage to Lucinda Will iams, who was born in that state, and was of AA^elsh ancestry. Her father was a sol- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 321 dier in the war of 181 2 and fought, with General Andrew Jackson at New Orleans, where the American loss was so small that the engagement became known as the "tear less" battle. It was indeed a signal victory for the American army. In 1854 William McNew removed with his family to Iowa, locating in Lucas county, north of Sheridan. This state was then upon the wild western frontier. No rail roads had been built and the most far- sighted could not have dreamed of the won derful changes which were soon to occur and transform this portion of the country into one of the leading commonwealths of the Union. Unto Mr. and Mrs. McNew were born six children, of whom four are living, namely : Mary, of Peoria, Illinois ; Zedekiah; Columbus, who makes his home at Riverton, Iowa; and William, of Mary- ville, Missouri. Two sons loyally served their country in the Civil war and one of them was Carlton, of the Thirty-fourth Illi nois Infantry, who was killed at the battle of Arkansas Post, thus giving his life in: de fense of his country. The other member of the family was Mrs. Angeline Atkin son, who died in Cuba, Illinois. Her hus band was a soldier in the Civil war and is now deceased. The father of these children was a Protestant in religious training. He died in 1849, an'd the mother died twelve years ago, aged seventy-seven years. Zedekiah McNew was reared on the home farm in Iowa and assisted in the work of cultivating and developing the fields until the 1 2th of August, 1863, when, in response to the President's call for aid, he offered his services to the government and was as signed to Company D, of the Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg, under General Grant, and took part in the battle of Arkansas Post, where his brother was killed, and in the bat tles of Black River bridge, Fort Gaines, Fort Morgan, Fort Blakely and the Red River expedition. For a time he was sta tioned at Houston, Texas, and after the close of the war was honorably discharged from the service at Davenport, Iowa. He was ever found true and loyal to the banner under which he enlisted and was a brave and faithful soldier. Mr. McNew resided in Worth county, Missouri, until 1870, and for some time was employed by T. O. Mor gan, one of the prominent agriculturists of Fremont county. He made his first purchase of land twenty-one years ago, becoming the owner of fifty acres, which has been trans formed into highly cultivated fields. There is a new modern cottage upon the place, good barns and outbuildings and an orchard containing all kinds of fruit. The farm is conveniently located about a mile from Hamburg and thus the accessories of city life are easily attained. In 1874 Mr. McNew was united in mar riage to Mrs. Sarah Mathews, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Channing Cowles, who became ra. pioneer settler of Fremont county in 1847 and died here in 1891. Mrs. McNew passed away in 1896, at the age of fifty-two years. By her first marriage she had two children : John C. Mathews and Ada, who is the wife of John Crone. They were reared by Mr. McNew. On the 29th of April, 1900, our subject was again married, his second union being with Mrs. A. Donnell, a lady of intelligence and good family. She holds membership in the Baptist church and enjoys the warm regard of many friends. In his political views Mr. 322 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. McNew is a free-silver Democrat, believ ing in the principles of Democracy as pre sented by W. J. Bryan. Socially he is con nected with Hamburg Post, No. 210, G. A. R., of which he is a charter member. His life has been well spent, characterized by in dustry, honesty and fidelity to duty, and in the community where he makes his home he is widely and. favorably known. WILBUR W. MICKELWAIT. Fortunate is the man who has back of him an ancestry honorable and distin guished; and of the families from which he is descended Mr. Mickelwait has every rea son to be proud, for among them are num bered men who have become prominent in the early - annals of the country. They have acted an important part in the events which have framed our colonial history, and have been honored pioneers, carrying into the newly settled regions the works and customs pf civilization. His ancestors were distinguished early settlers of Virginia, Kern tucky and of Ohio and at a later date mem bers of the family have been prominent in molding the destiny of the great common wealth in which our subject now resides. Not only has he seen southwestern Iowa grow from a wild country with only a few white inhabitants to a rich agricultural country, containing thousands of good homes and scores of growing towns, in habited by an industrious, prosperous, en lightened and progressive people, but also he has participated in and assisted the heavy and wearisome work of development which was necessary to produce a change so com plete as to be popularly referred to as mag ical. Among the native sons of Mills county is numbered Wilbur W. Mickelwait, who was born on the old family homestead 'where he yet resides. It is a magnificent estate of six hundred and forty acres' and is situated two miles west from Hillsdale. It is a monument to. the enterprising and progressive spirit of the pioneers who be came possessors of the land at an early day and transformed it into a valuable estate. There the subject of this review first opened his eyes to the light of day August 16, 1864. His father, Hon. James Mickelwait, was a native of England, born in York, and when only four or five years of age was brought to the United States. He was a son of Willoughby and Susannah (Woods) Mick elwait, both of whom were natives of Eng land, whence they came with their family to the new world. In 185 1 he cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Mills county, Iowa, and secured his present family home stead, which was then a tract of wild land, upon which not a furrow had been turned . or an improvement made. As the years passed he wrought great transformation in the appearance of his land, for under the pro cesses of cultivation the wild prairie was changed into blossoming fields, giving prom ise of abundant harvests. All modern acces sories and improvements were added to the farm, which is now one of the best in the entire state. Mr. Mickelwait was a man of marked in dividuality and strong character and was recognized as a leader of public thought and movement. He was known as one of the distinguished residents of southwestern Iowa, and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, had at different peri ods called him to fill minor local offices of Qf Qf. ^McAlf^aJfr BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 323 trust. Higher honors, however, awaited him and in 1874 he was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, becoming a member of the fifteenth general assembly of Iowa. He was a man ef sound judgment whose opinions were relied upon in all mat ters of public importance, and his loyalty and fidelity to the best interests of his county, state and nation was ever above question. He died February 9, 1892. James Mickelwait was united in ma nage to Miss Sarah A. Bayles, a representa tive of an eminent Ohio family whose ances tors are famous for the prominent part they took in reclaiming the wilderness of Ken tucky and the western reserve of Ohio for the purpose of civilization. Her father was Joseph Bayles, a native of Virginia who when about ten or twelve years of age be came a resident of Ohio, living among its early settlers engaged in the work of carry ing civilization into the wild districts of the then far west. He remained in the Buckeye state until 1845, when he removed to Iowa, where his last days were passed. He died at an advanced age, his birth having taken place in 1760. His wife, who bore the name of. Anne Arrow Smith, was born in Maryland, in 1766, and died in Lee county, Iowa. She, too, represented a family dis tinguished in colonial history. The mater nal great-grandmother of our subject was Miss Kenton, a sister of the famous General Simon Kenton, who was born in Virginia in 1755, and his name figures conspicuously in the annals of Kentucky as an associate of Daniel Boone and George Rogers Clark in the Indian wars which occurred in that state and gave to that portion of the country the name of the "dark and bloody ground." Simon Kenton also took an active -part in conquering the wilderness, making it habit able for the white race and was a loyal sol dier in the war of 1812. The histories of Ohio have much to say concerning General Kenton's capture by the Indians, his daring exploit in escaping by running the gauntlet and of his numerous other deeds of bravery. He had the faculty of making friends with the Indians and on one occasion defended them against an attack of the white people of Urbana, Ohio, in which town he was then living. By his foresight in this matter he saved the white settlers from massacre by the red men, for the revengeful spirit of the Indians would have led to a massacre in the natural course of events if the white men had been allowed to carry out their designs against the red race. General Kenton died in 1836, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Some of the oldest residents of Ur bana still remember him as one of the brav est soldiers of the times. The Kentons lived in Kentucky throughout the stirring scenes connected with the establishment of the first settlements of the white race there, and em igrated from Kentucky to Ohio in the year 1801. In this state they encountered sim ilar experiences, and the work which they did in carrying civilization forward into the wilds of the west cannot be estimated, but humanity certainly owes them a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid. The Bayles family was also prominent as pioneer settlers. David Bayles, the ma ternal great-grandfather of our subject, was born in England and died in Ohio, in 1836, at the age of seventy-five years. His people settled originally in Virginia. William Bayles, a cousin of Mrs. Mickelwait, was killed at the battle of Buena Vista in the Mexican war. Two of her brothers were • 324 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. soldiers in the Civil war, loyally defending their country at the time when the Union was threatened by the rebellion of the south. One of these is Mason Bayles, now a resi dent of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and the other is Jesse W. Bayles, who makes his home in California. Mrs. Mickelwait is still living at the old homestead in Mills county, at the age of seventy-three years, and is a very in teresting woman, conversing entertainingly upon many events connected with pioneer life in the states where she has resided. She had three children : AA^ilbur W., of this re view ; Mrs. Lizzie M. Coates, of Mills county, and James M., living in El Paso, Texas. Mr. Mickelwait, whose name introduces this record, has spent his entire life on the old family homestead and early became fa miliar with the labors of the farm in its vari ous departments. He is practical and pro gressive in his farming methods and is a wide-awake, enterprising business man, con ducting one of the largest and finest farms in the entire state. Every thing about the place is neat and thrifty in appearance, bear ing testimony of his careful supervision.- The fields are highly cultivated and he makes a specialty of the raising of highbred cattle and hogs. He is also extensively engaged in dairying, and in both branches of his busi ness is meeting with success, owing to his well directed efforts, sound business judg- and honorable dealing. At Omaha at the the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in 1898, he received a diploma and bronze medal for scoring over ninety-five points in butter- making. He is also the vice-president of the State Bank at Tabor, Iowa, and a di rector in the State Bank at Macedonia. The lady who bears the name of Mrs. Mickelwait and presides with graceful hos pitality over their pleasant home, was in her maidenhood Miss May Pitzer. She was; born in Nebraska, in 1867. They have four children: Nellie B., Mabel C, Claude B. and Edna. The parents hold membership in the Hillsdale Methodist church, contributing lib erally to its support, and take an active part in its work. Mr. Mickelwait is a Prohibi tionist in politics and is now serving as a school director, and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend. His co-opera tion is heartily given to every movement calculated to prove a benefit along material, social, intellectual and moral lines, and he is justly numbered among the most valued and respected citizens of the community. WINFIELD S. GREENWOOD. Throughout his life Winfield S. Green wood has resided in Fremont county and represents one of the pioneer families. Peo ple of the twentieth century can scarcely realize. the struggles and dangers which at tended the early settlers, the heroism and self-sacrifice of lives passed upon the borders of civilization, the hardships endured, the difficulties overcome. These tales of the early days read almost like a romance to us. To the pioneer of the early days, far removed from the privileges and conven iences of city or town, the struggle for exist ence was a stern and hard one, and these men and women must have possessed in domitable energies and sterling worth of character, as well as marked physical cour age, when they thus voluntarily selected such a life and successfully fought its battles un der such circumstances as prevailed in the northwest. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 325- Mr. Greenwood is numbered among the representatives of the agricultural interests of Fremont county, takes an active interest in public affairs and ranks among the lead ing and influential citizens of this portion of the state. His fellow townsmen have indi cated their confidence and trust reposed in him by electing him county commissioner, and to those who are familiar with his up right life it is needless to say that his duties have been performed in a capable and effi cient manner. He was born in this county October 29, 1848, his parents being Thomas and Eliza (Brubaker) Greenwood, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, in which state they were married. Afterward they removed to Missouri, locating in Da viess county, that state, in 1843. While a resident there the father engaged in freight ing across the plains to Fort Kearney, and about 1846 he brought his family to ¦ Fre mont county, being one of the first settlers in this portion of the state. He entered a claim from the government, and as soon as the land was placed on the market he im proved a farm near the town of Thurman, and also did some freighting after coming to Iowa, but ultimately put aside all busi ness cares in order that he might devote his entire attention to agricultural pursuits. As a citizen he was recognized as one who ex erted a strong influence for good in public affairs. For a number of years he filled the office of county judge when much of the business of the county devolved upon that official. He was a school-teacher and also examined other teachers. In politics he was a Whig, supporting the party until its disso lution when he joined the ranks of the new Republican party. He gave earnest con sideration, to every question which came up for settlement, keeping well informed on the issues of the day. Broad-minded and ener getic, he was well fitted for leadership and left the impress of his individuality on the development and improvement of the coun ty. When he first came to Iowa Indians were still numerous in this portion of the state, game was very plentiful and wild beasts roamed over the country. The pio neers had to go long distances to mill and sometimes had to substitute potatoes and hominy for bread. Marketing was done on. the Missouri river and hogs were taken to St. Joseph and Council Bluffs for sale, but emigrants consumed much of the products that were raised in this locality. The early settlers experienced all of the hardships and trials of frontier life, but uncomplainingly bore them all im order to secure a good home. Mr. Greenwood was particularly helpful to. the new comers, giving them information concerning land values and favorable loca tions. His home was often opened as a place of entertainment for those who vis ited the neighborhood and the household was ever celebrated for its gracious hospital ity. Mr. Greenwood commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens in an unusual degree and- was very widely known thoughout the western portion of the state. Both he and his wife were consistent mem bers of the Presbyterian church, and their Christian principles permeated their lives and prompted their kindly treatment of their fellow men. Mr. Greenwood remained upon the old homestead until his death, which oc curred in 1885, but his wife survived him until 1894. AVhen he passed away he was the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land and for many years he had been enabled to surround his family with 326 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. many comforts, which he secured through his honest and indefatigable labor. The children born unto this worthy couple were as follows : John, who was ac cidentally shot; Clarinda, who became Mrs. George B. Leggett ; William, who died while serving his country in the Civil war as a member of the First Nebraska Regiment; Joseph, who was a member of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, and after his discharge, on account of disability, returned to his home, and soon after died; W. S., of this review; Walter, a merchant who died in Kansas City, leaving a wife and one son; and Thomas, who died, leaving one daughter, his wife having preceded him to the invisible world. Winfield S. Greenwood was born and reared in Fremont county and thus far has always lived within its borders. He re mained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority, and at the age of twenty-three years he was married and be gan farming on his own account. He has since resided on one or two other farms and in 1882 removed to his present place of resi dence. At that time it had a log house upon it, but he has since erected a commodious two-story frame residence and made other substantial improvements, planted an or chard, set out a grove of ornamental and forest trees and now has a beautiful place of four hundred and twenty acres lying in the valley of the Nishnabotna river. It is a most desirable property, the fields being un der a high state of cultivation, while 'in the pastures are seen fine grades of stock. At an early clay he fed cattle on quite an ex tensive scale, but has since abandoned that part of his work. The lady who bears the name of Mrs. Greenwood was in her maidenhood Miss Flora* J. Holloway, a representative of an honored pioneer family of Iowa. She was born February 14, 1850, in Holt county, Missouri, a daughter of William J. and Elizabeth (Allison) Holloway, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Vir ginia. They became pioneers of Fremont county, Iowa, where the father entered and improved a large tract of land, becoming an extensive farmer and stock-feeder, being a leader in that line in an early day. He was widely recognized as a most prominent busi ness man of the county and when engaged in shipping stock to Chicago he was killed by the cars near Ottumwa, Iowa, about 1 88 1. His ability as a financier and his capable management brought to him a high degree of success, while in trade circles he sustained an unassailable reputation by rea son Of his well-known honesty. He never wavered in his support of the Republican party and its principles, yet never sought office. After the death of his first wife he again married. The children by the first union were: Mrs. Greenwood; John M., Jo seph W. and Humphrey N., who followed farming; Mrs. Elizabeth Roberts; and Thomas S. and Elmer, who are also well- . known agriculturists. For his second wife Mr. Holloway married Mrs. Hoop, a widow. They had two children, one of whom died in infancy, while the other is Charles, a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood have had five children : William, who died at the age of twenty-six years ; Raymond E. ; May, the wife of F. AVoodard ; and Clara and Bessie, who are at home. In Liis political views Mr. Greenwood has always been a supporter of the Republican party and takes an active interest in the BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 327 growth and success of his party, yet has been modest in his demands for official honors. Unsolicited- he received the nomination1 for county commissioner, and to that office is again elected for the second time, while ..t this writing he is serving as chairman of the board. He lives in a strong Democratic county and his election is all the more flat tering as it indicates unmistakably his abil ity and the confidence and regard accorded him by his fellow townsmen. WILLIAM HALL. William Hall, whose record as a brave and gallant soldier is equaled by his credita ble career as a citizen and business man, has been a resident of Fremont county, for the past thirty years. He is a native of Eng land, having been born in Northamptonshire, on the 4th of July, 1839. His father, Luke Hall, was born March 16, 18 18, in the same county, and when he had attained adult age he wedded Miss Mary Ann Barrett, who also was born in the same locality, representing a good family there. She died at the age of twenty-six years, leaving one son, William, whose name introduces this record. He was thirteen years of age when he accompanied his father on the voyage across the Atlantic to the new world. They took passage at Liverpool on a sailing vessel, and after a stormy voyage of six weeks arrived at New York, the year of the cholera epidemic. They then removed to the Mississippi valley, set tling in Aurora, Kane county, Illinois, where the father secured employment of the Chi cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com pany, working on the road from Aurora to Mendota. Subsequently he went to Bristol, Illinois, and afterward came to Iowa, where he was employed on the Burlington road, being in the service of the railroad company for twenty-five years. Through a considera ble period he resided in Lancaster county, Nebraska, engaged in farming. In 1892 he came to Fremont county to make his home with his son William, and with him resided until 1896, when he was called to his final rest. He was very industrious, energetic, resolute and honest. His political support was given the Republican party, in religious belief he was connected with the Church of England, and socially he was identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Having spent the first thirteen years of his life in the land of his birth William Hall then came to the new world with his father. He had attended school in England, and after reaching this country he began earning his own livelihood in the service of the Chi cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com pany. During the Civil war he responded to President Lincoln's call for aid, enlisting on the 15th of November, 1861, under the command of Colonel H. T. Reid, who was wounded at Shiloh, and was then succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Dewey. Mr. Hall participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth, the siege of Vicksburg and the Aferidian raid, and was honorably discharged Decem ber 31, 1863, after which he veteranized and was under the " command of General Sher man. During his second term of enlistment he was in the battles of Resaca, New Hope Church and Burnt Hickory. He drove a government team from Atlanta to Savannah, and at length took passage on a vessel to Beaufort, South 'Carolina, thence he went to Pocotalico, Columbia, Raleigh, North Caro lina, Richmond and thence to Washington, D. C, where he participated in the grand 328 BI0GRAPHICx4L HISTORY. review. He was honorably discharged July 24, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky, and was paid off at Davenport, Iowa. Mr. Hall then returned to Des Moines county, Iowa, and was employed for three years as a farmer in that county, thence went to Henry county, Iowa, where he was em ployed on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. In 1870 he came to Farragut, in the employ of that road as section foreman, with which he was connected until 1887, when he removed to his present farm, com prising eighty acres of good land. It has since been his home and gives evidence in its thrifty appearance of the care and supervis ion which he bestows upon it. The fields are kept in good condition and everything about the place is attractive by reason of the orderly condition and excellent business methods whicli are followed. On the 30th of January, 1866, in Des Moines county, Iowa, Mr. Hall was united in marriage to Miss Theressa A. Denny, who has belen to him a good wife and faithful companion on life's journey. She was born in Washington county, Indiana, September 7, 1844, and was reared in that state. Her father died in Indiana, but her mother de parted this life in Henry county, Iowa. Six children have been born unto Mr. and Mrs. Hall, namely : Fanny Ellen, now the wife of P. Greenlee, of Holt county, Missouri; Will iam Luke, of Crete, Nebraska; Robert J., who is living in Kansas ; George W., also a resident of Holt county, Missouri; Charles F., who died at the age of two years; and Rachel E., who completes the family. Mrs. Hall is a member of the Christian church and Mr Hall belongs to Ransom Post, No. 379, G. A. R., at Farragut, taking a very ac tive part in its work and serving for some time as the officer of the day. He is a pop ular man by reason of his genial manner and pleasant address, combined with the utmost reliability. DANIEL C. MUFFLEY. Daniel C. Muffley, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Mills county, was born on the 3d of February, 1850, in De kalb county, Missouri, his parents being George Muffley, who was a native of Penn sylvania, and Mary Ann (nee Laymon), who was a native of Kentucky. The family is of German lineage and is noted for lon gevity. The maternal grandmother died at the age of one hundred and six years in Buchanan county, Missouri. Mrs. Laymon, the maternal grandmother, and Mrs. Muf fley, the paternal grandmother, both died on the same day. " George Muffley, the father of our subject, removed from Buchanan coun ty, Missouri, in 1849, and the following year took up his abode in Daviess county. He was a cooper and wagon-maker by trade, following those pursuits throughout the greater part of his life. He died in March, 1855, at the age of forty years, and his wife passed away in Mills county, in 1873, at the age of fifty years having made her home with her son Daniel, after her husband's death. They were the parents of seven children, of whom our subject is the fourth in order of birth. His brother, Joseph Mad ison Muffley, was a soldier in the Civil war, was wounded at the battle of Shiloh, was taken prisoner and died four days after his capture. Mr. Muffley, whose name forms the caption of this article, started out in life for himself at an early age and has since been BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 329 dependent upon his own resources for a living. He came to Mills county in the fall of 1868 and for about four years was a resident of Center township. He then went to the Pacific coast, resided for about four years in Oregon: and then again became a resident of Center township in 1879. On the 14th of March of the following year he was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Wright, a daughter of Alexander Wright, a native of Ohio. Five children have been born unto them — George D., Joseph E., Effie May, John and Frank. In 1880 Mr. Muffley removed to John son county, Nebraska, but the same year re turned to Center township, and on the nth of March, 1882, became a resident of Rattles township. After two years he removed to Pottawattamie county, Iowa. Three years subsequently and for the fourth time he re turned to Center township, where he con tinued to reside for fourteen years, when he stock, and in cultivating his fields, both Platteville township, where he has resided since the ist of March, 1900. He owns two hundred and eighteen acres of land and is extensively engaged in buying and selling stock, and is cultivating his fields, both branches of his business proving to him a profitable source of income. He is a most energetic farmer, diligence and enterprise being numbered among his most marked characteristics. He votes with the Repub lican party, but has never been an aspirant ^ for office, preferring to give his attention . to his business affairs. BENJAMIN F. DUNAGAN. A prominent citizen and successful farmer of Mills county, Iowa, is Benjamin F. Dunagan, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Missouri, in SqDtember, 1850, a son of John and Margaret E. (Gallaher) Dunagan, the former of whom was a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and died in Mis souri when our subject was a child of nine months. John Dunagan was a son of Nich olas Dunagan, a gallant soldier in the war of 1812, being noted in his locality as a dar ing antagonist, being a very strong man and exceedingly brave. Our subject has few relatives living, an aunt, Mrs. E. Witt, a res ident of Mills county, and one brother, Will iam A. Dunagan, who is a farmer in this county. Four sisters died in Missouri, and one, Mrs. T. M. Britt, the wife of a very prominent farmer, died in this county in 1895. The mother of our subject was born and married in Tennessee, but is now de ceased, dying in Mills county. She was a daughter of William Gallaher, a miller by occupation and a well known resident of Tennessee. Mr. Dunagan, of our sketch, came to Mills county with his grandfather in 1852; hence he is one of the very oldest residents. He was educated in this county and has been a witness to its wonderful development. He is pleasantly located upon a fine farm three miles from the town of Hillsdale and en gages most successfully in general farming. His land shows much cultivation and all of his surroundings are in keeping. Our subject married Sarah A. Martin, a daughter of Benjamin C. Martin, who still resides in this county. The family of Mr. Dunagan consists of Lemuel F., a farmer residing in the neighborhood, Mar tha, Clara, Millard C. and Clarence E. The family is one of the most highly regarded in the Methodist church of Hillsdale, where they are consistent members. In politics Mr. 33Q BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Dunagan is a Republican and has held the office of trustee of Center township for six years, efficiently performing the duties of the office. Socially he is connected with the. I. O. O. F. organization and is a man of such superiority of character that his friends are many. HON. CHARLES W. BLACK. Hon. Charles W. Black resides at Mal vern, Iowa surrounded by the comfort that earnest labor has brought him. His has been a busy, active and useful career, and his close attention to agricultural pursuits has brought to him a handsome competence, his pleasant home with its attractive surroundings being a visible evidence of what he has accom plished. His father, William Black, was. a native of Scotland, born in Strathaven, March 9, 181 7, and in the spring of 1838 came to the United States. He took pas sage on an old sailing vessel at Glasgow and was forty-eight days upon the water. That summer was spent in and around Rochester, New York, and in the fall he went to Ohio, where he was residing at the time of his death, which occurred in May, 1900. In 1 87 1, however, he came to Malvern, where for fifteen years he was engaged in the hard ware business. He married Miss Martha Reed, who was born near Zanesville, Ohio, March 9, 1821, and died in Malvern, Iowa, at the age of sixty-four years. Her father shouldered his musket as a representative of the Protestant side of the Irish Rebellion, when only sixteen years of age. Mr. Black of this review, was born near Brownsville, Ohio, September 27, 1843, and was reared to agricultural pursuits like the average farmer boy. When the country became involved in civil war he resolved to enlist as a soldier for the Union, and at the age of seventeen responded to the first call for three-months volunteers, but was not mustered into service. On the ist of August, 1 86 1, he re-enlisted for three years' service as a member of Company G, Thirty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This regiment had more names on its roll than any other Ohio regiment that went forth to defend the Union. He veteranized on the 17th of De cember, 1863, at Vicksburg, again enlisting for three years. He was in the service al together for about four years, being mus tered out after the close of the war at Louis ville, Kentucky, on the 20th of July, 1865. He entered the army from patriotic motives and was always found at his post of duty, valiantly defending the old flag and the cause it represented. He participated in all of the engagements in which his company took part, but fortunately was never injured, nor did he lose a day from illness or other cause. Returning to his home after the war, Mr. Black felt the need of a better education than he had previously acquired, and for two winters attended college, while devoting the summer months to work on the farm. In the spring of 1867 he removed to Tonica, Illinois, where he engaged in farming on rented land for a short time, and later bought a small place. He continued his residence there until the spring of 1872, when he came to Mills county, Iowa, and bought one hun dred and sixty acres of land, two and a half miles north of Malvern, which he converted into a fine stock farm by adding to the orig inal purchase. He continues actively engaged in agricultural pursuits, although now resid ing in Malvern. &£*f ft/2£~~4. 'd^lsTsT^^' ¦aJL (L>, $Ss£a^&£ . BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 331 On the 9th of September, 1867, Mr. Black was united in marriage to Miss Mar tha Landes, who died in Malvern, in 1872, at the age of twenty-seven years. By that union were born two children, Marion and Mar garet. Mr. Black was married January 14, 1875, in Mills county, his second union being with Miss Hannah B. Evans. She was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and completed her literary education in the Western High School of Baltimore. Her father, William M. Evans, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1813, and died in Mills county, Iowa, in 1885. He married Sarah A. Van Kirk, whose birth oc curred in Washington county, in 181 2, and who passed away in Mills county, in 1882, the family having come to the latter county in 1873. Mr. Black is liberal, public-spirited and progressive and in his political views is an out and out Republican. He filled several local offices in the township where he re sided, and in 1899 was elected to the state legislature, in which he faithfuly represents Jiis district. He is chairman of the commit tee on the Home for Feeble-Minded Chil dren, and is a member of other important committees. His wise counsel is sought on many matters of interest to the county and state, and it is to such men as he that is due the credit of our wise and beneficent legisla tion. Since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, he has taken an active interest in public affairs, and has supported those enterprises which he believes calculated to advance the public welfare. He was one of the organizers, and is still a prominent member of Milton Summers Post, No. 204, G. A. R., of Malvern, of which he was the first commander. Religiously he and his so family are members of the Presbyterian church, and are prominent in the community, where they reside. O. A. EDGERTON. O. A. Edgerton, a member of the board of county commissioners of Fremont county, whose success in business and fidelity to the duties of citizenship class him among the representative residents of southwestern Iowa, was born near Des Moines, this state, on the ist of June, i860. His father, Owen Edgerton, was a prominent and well known early settler of this state. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, and belonged to a good Quaker family noted for energy, hon esty and piety. The days of his boyhood and youth were passed near Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, upon a farm, and in the public schools near his home he ac quired1 his education. During the early period of settlement in central Iowa he came -to this state, and in 1867 took up his abode in Fremont county. He had wedded Miss Mary Rich and found in her a most capable assistant and compan ion for the journey of life. She was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, and her father also was connected1 with the Society of Friends and died in Indiana. Upon ar riving in Fremont county Owen Edgerton made the third settlement in Locust Grove township. All was new and primitive; na ture had bountifully provided for those who wished to secure homes, but to the settlers re mained the arduous task of developing the land and making it productive through cul tivation. In 1869 he sold his first farm and came to the homestead in Madison township. Devoting considerable attention to stock- raising, he found that he greatly augmented 332 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. his income thereby., and through his well directed efforts he became one of the sub stantial citizens of this portion of the state. . That he was universally esteemed is indi cated by the fact that he was known through out the county as Uncle Owen. He possessed a sunny, genial disposition, a jovial manner and pleasing address, and these qualities won him many friends. In public affairs he was a prominent factor and was regarded as one of the reliable and trustworthy citizens of his community. Having been initiated into the mysteries of Masonry, he advanced through the various degrees and became a Knight Templar. He was reared in the faith of tht •Society of Friends and was a firm believer in the Creator and the Gospel. . To his family he was a loving and tender husband and father, to his neighbors a faithful friend, and when death came to him a large majority of citizens in this county felt a personal loss. He passed away at the age of sixty-four, leaving behind him an untarnished name. Mrs. Edgerton still survives her husband and is living with her son Owen A., who sup plies her with all the comforts and conve niences of life. She is now seventy-eight years of age, well preserved in mind and body and is a worthy Christian woman, holding membership in the church of the Seventh Day Adventists. Mr. Edgerton has had seven children : Eliza, the wife of H. Means, of Riverton township, Fremont county; William, at home; John M., who is engaged in cattle-raising at Guide Rock, Nebraska; Mary M., now the wife of E. P. Blaisdell, of Missouri Valley, Iowa; Owen A., of this review ; Eli, who died' at the age of twenty years ; and an infant who died at the age of four months. Owen A. Edgerton spent the days of his youth on the home farm, working in field and meadow or in the pastures caring for the stock. He procured his education in Bloomfield, Iowa, and in other schools, and in 1879 went to Nebraska with a herd of cattle, engaging in business there while yet in his 'teens. He has always been a man of marked energy, careful in forming his plans yet determined in their execution, and his success is attributable to his own labors. The homestead farm upon which he resides is one of the best and most valuable in the town ship, being improved with a fine residence, barns and all modern accessories and con veniences, including the latest improved ma chinery. He also has eighteen hundred acres of land in Webster county, Nebraska, and a farm in Jewell county, Kansas, where he keeps large herds of cattle and other stock. He has been extremely prosperous in his stock-raising intrests, for he is an excellent judge of stock and is perfectly familiar with the best methods of caring for them so as to produce a healthful growth and keep them in good condition. Mr. Edgerton was married in Madison, Nebraska, on the 8th of January, 1886, to Miss Victoria Payne, a cultured lady, born in Sullivan county, Missouri, a daughter of John Payne, a prominent and well known cit izen of that county, who was born in Ken tucky. Her father served as a member of the county board for a number df years in a most creditable manner, being elected to that office on the Democratic ticket. Mrs. Edgerton acquired her education in Fremont county and in Omaha, Nebraska, and by her marriage she has become the mother of two sons — Cliarles Owen, who is now fifteen years of age, and John Glenn, who is in his twelfth year. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 333 For a number 'of years Mr. Edgerton was a Republican in his political affiliations, but like many progressive citizens he advo cated the free-silver platform advanced by the Democratic party in 1896 and has since supported Bryan. He is now filling the office of county commissioner and labors earnestly and indefatigably for the best development of the county along material lines of prog ress. Socially he is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge and chapter, and his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He stands six feet in height and weighs two hundred pounds. He easily wins friends, and moreover he has the happy faculty of retaining them as the years pass by. Among the popular residents of the county he is numbered. J. H. UTTERBACK. When the tocsin of war sounded and Iowa sent her brave men to the front to aid in the preservation of the Union J. H. Utter- back was among the number who donned the blue and followed the old flag upon southern battle-fields. He has been a resident of Fre mont* county since 1853, and in the long years which have since passed he has shown his fidelity to the duties of citizenship not only in times of war but also in times of peace. He was born in Piatt county, Illi nois, fifty miles east of Springfield, on the 1 2th of February, 1847, and is a representa tive of one of the patriotic families of the Prairie state. The family is of German Lineage, the great-grandfather of our subject having been bom in Germany, whence he came to America, establishing the name on the soil of the new world. Thompson Ut- terback, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Culpeper Court House, in Culpe per county, Virginia, and later, seeking a home in the Mississippi valley, took up his abode in Iowa, his last days being spent in Lucas county, near Chariton. His wife, died in Indiana. Her son, James Utterback, the father of our subject, was born ere their removal from Culpeper Court House. He was, however, largely reared in Montgomery county, In diana, where he assisted in farming and pur sued his education in a log schoolhouse, which was seated with slab benches and sup plied with such primitive furniture as was common -in that time. He was married in the Hoosier state to Miss Martha Monroe, who was born in Ohio and reared in Indiana, a daughter of Jesse and Sarah Monroe, of Ohio. Her mother died in Piatt county, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. James Utterback resided upon a farm in Piatt county until 1853, whence they went to St. Louis, Mis souri, by rail and thence came up the Mis souri river by steamer to Sidney Landings stopping in Atchison county, Missouri, whence the journey was completed by team to Madison township, Fremont county, Iowa. Securing, a tract of land the father began the development of a farm, making a good home, whereon he spent his remaining days. His wife passed away at the age of sixty- seven, loved by all who knew her, and the father attained the advanced age of eighty- one years. In politics he was a Republican, and in religious belief was a Cumberland Presbyterian. The cause of Christianity and temperance found in him a warm friend. and advocate, and he labored earnestly to support the interests which he believed would prove of benefit to his fellow men. He in structed his children in lessons of honesty, 334 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. industry and sobriety and left to them the priceless heritage of an untarnished name. Mr. Utterback had six children : Mrs. Sarah Trout, of Cherry Vale, Montgomery county, Kansas; Mrs. Verrinda, of Riverton town ship, Fremont county, now deceased; Mar tha, the widow of William Meek, of River ton township; W. T., who died in Madison township, Fremont county, in 1861; Mrs. Ruth McKissick; and Mrs. Eliza McKis- sick, who died in Fremont county. J. H. Utterback was a little lad of six summers when he accompanied his parents from Illinois to Iowa. They located upon the farm where he was reared and -early in structed in the work of clearing and devel oping of the fields.. He pursued his educa tion in the best schools of his county, contin uing his studies until sixteen years of age, when, in 1863, his patriotic spirit aroused, he enlisted in the Forty-sixth Iowa Infantry as a member of Company B, under the com mand of Captain James H. Tilton, serving with his regiment until honorably discharged at the close of the war. He was with the Army of the Tennessee and participated in several engagements with General Quan- trell's troops. After the war he returned to his home and began farming. Thirty-five years ago he came to his present farm, now comprising two hundred and ten acres of valuable land. Only a few acres had been broken at the time, but with characteristic energy he began the further improvement of the place and his labors have resulted in making it one of the most desirable farms of this part of Iowa. His home is a substantial and commodious residence, surrounded by a grove of trees; there is a good orchard; sub stantial barns and outbuildings ; and in the pastures are found high grades of stock; while the cultivated fields return golden har vests for the care and labor which Mr. Utter back bestows upon them. Our subject was united in marriage, in Atchison county, Missouri, to Miss Mary Allison, a daughter of William and Sophia (Washam) Allison, natives of Virginia. The father is now in this county, but the mother passed away in Missouri. The mar riage of Mr. and Mrs. Utterback has been blessed with seven children : William T., a mail clerk in the government service, now located at Omaha, previous to which time he was a successful and popular teacher for a number of years and for a similar period served as the principal of the Long Island schools in Nebraska; J. R., who has also de voted his life to educational work and farm ing, served as the principal of the city schools in Table Rock, Nebraska, and is now filling the position of county superintendent of schools in Pawnee county ; Mrs. Sophia Em ily Zimmerman, living in Madison township, Fremont county; James, who makes his home in Prairie township of the same coun ty; Simpson, who is living on section 27, Riverton township; Mollie, who is the wife of H. Yates, of Riverton township; and Myrtle, who is the wife of Forest Dresher. Mr. Utterback has given his children excel lent educational privileges, that they may thus be well fitted for the practical and re sponsible duties of life In politics he is a Democrat and for two years he served as justice of the peace, dis charging his duty with marked impartiality. He has also been a member of tlie school board and belongs to Farragut Post, G. A. R. He is identified with that class of rep resentative American citizen who co-operate in every movement to promote progress and BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 335 advancment and his labors in behalf of the best interests of Fremont county have been continuous and beneficial. LOTT H. SHULL. Lott H. Shull, who carries on farming in Riverton township, was born November 7, 1862, in Northumberland county, Penn sylvania, and represents one of the old fam ilies of that locality of German lineage. His father. Daniel Shull, was born in Northum berland county, August 18, 1832, and, like his people was noted for his industry and honesty. He was reared upon a farm and after attaining to man's estate, was married on the 22d of August, T858, to Caroline S. Smith, also a native of' Northumberland county, born February 21, 1836. Her fa ther, Morris Smith, was a native of New- Jersey, and a son of Ulet Smith, who also was born in that state, where Morris Smith was reared and educated. In. early manhood he removed to Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, where he married Susanna Sober, a native of that county. Her father was a native of New Jersey. Morris and Susan Smith became the parents of six chil dren, namely : Samuel, deceased ; Coleman Smith, a prominent citizen of Riverton ; Isaac, also a well known resident of that place; Mrs: Caroline S, Shull, now deceased; Isabel, who died in early womanhood; and Morris, who died in childhood. The father was a miller by trade, and followed that occupation during life. He died in North umberland county, Pensylvania, at the age of thirty-nine years, honored and respected by all who knew hini. His wife passed away in Riverton, Iowa, when she had attained the venerable age of eighty-seven years. He was a Presbyterian in early life, but after coming to this state joined the Methodist Episcopal church. Daniel Shull and his wife resided in: the old home county in Pennsylvania until 1872, and then started westward, taking up their abode in Fremont county, Iowa, where the father of our subject purchased eighty acres of land. He was both a carpenter and farmer and successfully carried on business here, becoming the owner of four hundred acres of valuable land in this county, to gether with eight hundred acres near Stutt gart, Arkansas. In all his business dealings he bore a reputation for integrity that was above question. Although not a member of the church, he aided in its support and was interested in all that pertains to the moral, intellectual and material welfare of the community. In his youth lessons of in dustry were instilled into his mind and they characterized his entire career. All that he secured in life was due entirely to his own ef forts, his diligence and enterprise enabling him to advance steadily on the road to pros perity. He died September 12, 1900, at the age of sixty-eight years, and many friends throughout the community deeply mourned his loss. His wife passed away in 1892, at the age of fifty-six years, dying in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which she held membership. Her many es timable qualities won for her warm friend ship. In the family of this worthy couple were four children, all born in Pennsylvania, namely : Lott H. ; Isabel, the wife of George Magaw, of Riverton township ; Coleman, who died at the age of four years ; and Eddie, who died at the age of nine months. After the family came to the west two other chil- 336 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. dren were born : Grace, who died at the age of one year, and one who died in infancy. Lott H. Shull is therefore the only sur viving son: of the family and has but one sister. He was a youth of ten summers when he accompanied his parents to Iowa and here upon the home farm he was reared. Wliile he enjoyed good advantages he was also instructed in the work of the home farm and aided in the cultivation of the fields un til he had attained his majority. He then chose as a companion and helpmate on life's journey Miss Sidney Vaught, of Columbus, Nebraska, their marriage being celebrated on the 6th_of February, 1884. She has been to her husband an excellent helpmate and faithful wife. Her birth occurred in Vir ginia, on the nth of October, 1866, and when only about two and a half years old she was brought to Iowa by her parents, Stephen and Mary A. Vaught, the former now a resident of Genoa, Nebraska. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Vaught were born eight chil dren, namely : Vinah ; Nancy ; Virginia ; Sid ney, Mrs. Shull; Elbert; James Lee, who died at the age of three years ; John and Mil lie. Four children graced the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shull, namely : .Kimber C, who was born May 25, 1886; Bernal E., born April 16, 1888; Hazel B., who was born Jan uary 21, 1890; and Vera S., born November 12. 1893. After his marriage Mr. Shull located upon a farm of eighty acres. He afterward fell heir to a good estate left by his father, comprising two hundred and forty acres of land in Fremont county and four hundred acres in Arkansas. He is an enterprising, wide-awake agriculturist who successfully cultivates his fields and engages in stock- raising. His time and attention are untir ingly given to his business duties and his. labors have been crowned with a good finan cial return. He exercises his right of fran chise in: support of the men and measures of the Democracy, but has never sought of fice. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Shull is celebrated for its hospitality and throughout the community they have a wide circle of friends who entertain for them a high re gard. MARION L. EVANS. One of the most prominent residents of Emerson, Mills county, Iowa, is Marion L. Evans, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Henderson county, Illinois, June 30, 1858, a son of John and Sarah Y. Evans. The father, John Evans, Jr., was one of the old and prominent settlers of Mills county, although he now resides in Illinois. He still owns large tracts of land and great herds of stock in Iowa, and although advanced in years he makes. many flying trips to this sec tion to superintend them. In December, 1892, he took the best train load of fine stock to the stock yards at Chicago that was ever shipped to that point, a record having been kept. Mr. Evans, the subject of this sketch, was reared and educated in the common schools of his native county and at Mon mouth College, same state, and came to Mills county, Iowa, in 1879. In connection with his father he carries on an extensive stock business, recently shipping a lot of cattle worth forty-three thousand , dollars. They are probably the largest buyers and shippers of live stock in this section of the state. Mr. Evans is also the president of the Farmers' Bank of Emerson. Socially he BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 337 is connected with the Benevolent and Pro tective Order of Elks and Knight Templar and Scottish rite Masonry, in which organ ization he takes an active interest. June 28, 1883, he was united in marriage with Miss Hattie M. Tubbs, a daughter of the late Judge L. W. Tubbs, and his interest ing family now comprises six children — Edith L., John L., Frank N., Marion L., Jr., Volney and Kenneth. J. B. BRANDT. Among the German-American citizens of Mills county who, loyal to the interests of their adopted land, are numbered among the representative men in this section of Iowa, is found J.'B. Brandt, who was born in Schles- wig, Germany, on the 15th of March, 1857, his parents being Jurgen and Anna (Miller) Brandt. In, the year 1868 the father came to America, acompanied by his family, and took up his abode in Oak township, Mills county. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that pursuit for many years, but finally became extensively interested in farm ing and stock-raising. His was an active, industrious and upright career, crowned with a richly merited degree of success, and won the confidence and warm regard of all with whom business or social relations brought him in contact. He has attained the ripe old age of eighty-four years, while his wife is now eighty years of age. Mr. Brandt of this sketch is the youngest in a family of ten children, six of whom are yet living. He was eleven years of age when he left the fatherland and with his parents came to the new world, continuing his education in the schools of Mills county. Fie remained under the parental roof throughout the period of his minority, and in 1882 started out upon an independent business career. Farming has been his chief ocupation, and he has successfully followed it, becoming the owner of a desirable prop erty. His business methods are such as to commend him to the confidence of all, for he is reliable in all his dealings. Upon his place are found al the modern accessories and improvements usualy seen upon a model farm, and a glance will indicate to the passer by his careful supervision of the land which he operates. In 1882 Mr. Brandt was united in mar riage to Miss Mary Green, a daughter of Charles and Julia Green, and a niece of Chris Plummer. They have six children, namely : Carl, Albert, John, Martha, Paul and Julia. In his political views Mr. Brandt is a Demo crat, giving an earnest support to the men and measures of the party, and is now serv ing as one of the trustees of Oak township. The family belong to the German Lutheran church. LEBBEUS CLARK. Lebbeus Clark, who follows agricultural pursuits in Indian creek township, was born in Pennsylvania in 1843. His father, Leb beus Clark, Sr., was a native of the same state and died in Lee county, Iowa. His brothers and sisters were Abner, Ezekiel, Silas, John, Levi and Mrs. Lydia Reeves. With the exception of the last named, who is now a resident of Salem, Iowa, all are deceased. When he had arrived at years of maturity the father of our subject wedded Mary Evans, who was born in Pennsylvania and died in Clarinda, Iowa. Their children were: Joseph E., who died at Mount Pleas- 338 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. ant, Iowa, in 1900; Isaac and Abner, de ceased ; Mrs. Martha Clark, who is living in Clarinda, this state; Mrs. Nancy Linley, whose home is in Oskaloosa; Mrs. Emaline V\rolf, a resident of Lawrence, Kansas; Mrs. Sarah McCorkle, a widow living in Fort Madison, Iowa; Mrs. Jennie Mercer, also of Oskaloosa ; and Mary Hathaway, living in Kansas. The boyhood days of Lebbeus Clark were quietly passed. He remained in Pennsyl vania until 1856, when he accompanied hia parents on their removal to Lee county, Iowa, where the father spent his remaining days. Mr. Clark, of this review, however. came with the family to Mills county and located on a farm in Silver Creek township sixteen years ago, which he occupied eleveri years. For five years he then resided upon a rented farm conveniently located three miles north of Hastings. In the fall of 1900 he purchased a farm of one hundred and eighty-seven acres three miles west of Mal vern and two and a half miles east of Hills dale. He was well qualified for the practi-i cal duties of business life by fair educational privileges, having attended the district schools in his youth, while in the year 1850 he was a student in Professor Howe's Acad emy, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. His busi ness affairs have ever been conducted with strict regard for honorable principles and straightforward dealing, and his labors have resulted in bringing him a very desirable competence. Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Anna Mary Pease, a daughter of James B. and Elizabeth (McCollough) Pease, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. Her father is still living in Fort Madison, Iowa, but her mother died in Lee county, this state. She was of Scotch lineage. Mr. and Mrs. Pease became residents of Iowa in 1852, and here reared their five children, namely : Mrs. Clark; Mrs. Fanny Evans, of Malvern; Gas ton, who died while a soldier in the Civil war; John, who is living in Lee county; and Lizzie, who died at the age of four years. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Clark has been blessed with thirteen children, and the family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death. In order of birth they are as follows: James P. and Willis G., who are residents of Mills county; LeRoy A., who is living in Harrison county; Samuel, John R., Abner, Fred and Harry, all residents of Mills county ; Mrs. Mary Boggess, a resident of Henderson, Iowa; Fanny, Sadie, Alice and Helen, who are still under the parental roof. Abner is a graduate of the high school in Henderson and the younger children are being well educated in the excellent country schools. In his political views Mr. Clark is a stal wart Republican and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, yet has never sought or desired public office. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church in Malvern, and both are held in the highest regard throughout the community. Mr. Clark is spoken of by his neighbors as a, kind and generous husband and father and a loyal citizen, fair and just in his dealings, genial in disposition and courteous in manner. HON. JOHN PARKER. The keynote to the success of men like John Parker, a prominent farmer and stock man of Ingraham township, Mills county, Iowa, is industry. Other characteristics aid Q(yUvL Ouas/Ic^ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 339 such men in woddly advancement, but hard work, early and late, is what wins the battle. Mr. Parker is one of those enterprising Eng lishmen who have clone so much to develop the agricultural interests of their parts of the state. He was born in Linconshire, in 1837, one of the eleven children of George and Elizabeth (Beet) Parker. His father was born December 24, 1812; his mother on Christmas Day, 181 3, and they were married in 1833. Mr. Parker was an agricultural laborer and he taught his sons how to farm and encouraged them to- work hard. Some of his children died - in infancy, some in youth, and five were reared to manhood. His son George went to Ohio in 1854, and settled in Wyandot county. From there he came to Iowa in 1867, accompanied by his brother, John Parker, the subject of this sketch. George Parker was born in Sep tember, 1835, became a prosperous farmer and a local official and died in Anderson township, Mills county, in 1890, leaving a good property to his eight children. Jameq and John Parker came over together from England in 1857, on a sailing vessel which consumed five weeks in making the journey from Liverpool to New York. James is a well-to-do farmer with a large family, and lives near Hastings, Mills county. Henry Parker is a farmer and breeder of Poland China hogs and owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Pottawattamie county. He also has a family. Joseph Parker, likewise a man of family, is a farmer near Oakland, Pottawattamie county. The mother of these children died in England. in 1866, as the re sult of a fall, and the father came to Iowa at about the age of seventy years and lived in a house built for him by John Parker on the latter's farm until he died in 1895, leaving a widow. He was a Wesleyan minister, a zeal ous preacher of the gospel, a self-educated man, of mental ability and moral worth, who was highly esteemed by all who knew him. John Parker was educated in the common schools until he was about ten years old, when he began to work on the farm. From the age of fourteen to the age of twenty he worked by the month and by the year. In 1857, when he was twenty years old and had saved sixty dollars with which to pay his passage and expenses, he and his brother James joined their brother George in Wyan dot county, Ohio. In 1867, as has been stated, John and George came to Iowa, where they were tenant farmers for about four years. In 1871, John Parker bought forty acres of new prairie land and five acres of timber, for which he paid sixteen dollars an acre. On this property he erected his first house, which in 1882 gave place to his pres ent residence. By four subsequent pur chases he has increased his holdings to two hundred and eighty-five acres of fertile up land rolling prairie, one hundred and twenty acres of which is devoted to corn, yielding an average of from fifty to fifty-five bushels an acre. He has preserved the fertility of his land by strict attention to rotation of crops. He'sells some corn but feeds most of his crop on the farm. His stock consists principally of cattle and hogs and he milks from twelve to fifteen shorthorn cows, keeps a blooded bull and raises calves. He breeds about seventy-five Poland China hogs for the market each year and keeps ten horses and raises colts. Mr. Parker is a Republican and has rep resented his district two terms in the . state legislature, his service ending January, 1900. He was for three years one of the com- 340 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. missioners of Mills county and has several times been trustee of his township and has been school trustee and has held other minor offices. While a member of the legislature he took an active part in the state legislation and was one of the leading members of the house. He is prominent in state and local politics, ever taking an active interest in the affairs of his party. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for thirty years, and his wife since her early girlhood. He has held every office in the church except that of minister, and has been Sunday-school superintendent many years. He is an Odd Fellow. Mr. Parker was married in Ohio, Septem ber 19, 1861, to Miss Mary Johnson, who was born in Morrow county, Ohio, in 1841, a daughter of John and Lucy (Alger) John son, natives of Vermont, who came early to Ohio, where they were well-to-do farmers, and reared ten of their eleven children, five of whom are living, as follows : Mrs. Ara-> bella Strickler, a widow who lives at Column bus, Ohio, and has three children ; Andrew J. Johnson who has nine children and lives in Shenandoah, Iowa; Amanda, who married Alpheus Miller, of Ohio, and has three chil dren. William Henry Harrison Washburn, Mrs. Parker's half-brother, is a son of her mother by a former marriage. John John son, Mrs. Parker's father, died at the age - of fifty. Her mother married a third time and died in 1869, aged sixty- two years. Her father and mother are both buried in Mor row county, Ohio. John and Mary (Parker) Johnson have had ten children, all of whom are living: Elizabeth W. married William _H. Salzers, a Mills county farmer, and has two daugh ters ; Alice Jane married William Tucker, of Saline county, Nebraska, and has a son and three daughters; Cora A. married Richard Tucker, of Saline county, Nebraska, and has a son and five daughters; Emma L. married J. E. Johnson, of Mills county, Iowa, and has one son and three daughters ; Ida J. married G. W. Phelps, of Fillmore county, Ne braska ; Harry Grant, a farmer in Mills county, married Miss Nellie Jackson; Rosa, who is the wife of D. N. Salzers, of Mills county, has one daughter; Howard Roy, a farmer on a part of his father's land, mar ried Maggie Crow, who has borne him a son ; and Sanford J. is a member of his father's household and he and John Guy Parker are students and the latter will soon enter Simp son College. GEORGE T. OTIS. George T. Otis was born June 2, 1842, on Dutch Creek, Ohio. His father. AA'illiani Otis, was a native of New York and was a wagon-maker by trade. Emigrating west ward, he took up his abode in Ohio, locating in the town of Lowell, in the year 181 5. Be was married in that state to Sabrina Rice, and in 1857 he came to Glenwood, where he spent his remaining days, passing away at the age of seventy-nine. His family is one noted for longevity, and the maternal grandmother of our subject lived to be over ninety years of age. George T. Otis was with one exception the youngest in a family of seven children, six of whom are yet living. He assisted his father in wagon-making and started" out in life for himself at the age of nineteen. As a companion and helpmate he chose Miss Flor ence Yockey, a daughter of Henry Yockey^ who was a native of Pennsylvania and also BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 34i a wagon-maker by trade. Her father re moved to Ohio at an early period in the de-* velopment of that state, and about 1865 he came to Glenwood, where he has since fol lowed his chosen occupation. The mar riage of Mr. and Mrs. Otis was celebrated on the ist of December, 1867, and has been blessed with four children, three sons and a daughter, all at home, namely: Carl H., George D., Delia and Howard. For a quarter of a century Mr. Otis was engaged in the livery business, with excel lent success, but in 1892 he sold that enter prise and removed to Oregon, hoping there-i by to benefit his wife's health. For a year they traveled through the western country and then returned home. Mrs. Otis was spared to him for a number of years follow ing, but died in February, 1900, at the age of fifty-one. Our subject first visited the northwest in 1862, when he went to Mon tana, where he was engaged in mining until 1866, and then returned to Mills county. During the greater part of the time through the past third of a century he has resided in Glenwood. Few men in Mills county are more widely known or more highly re spected. He is always ready and willing to accommodate his friends and customers in any way within his power, is whole-souled and generous, and his many admirable qual ities have won for him high regard. A. O. DALRYMPLE.. A. O. Dalrymple is the proprietor of the Valley Farm in Riverton township, Fremont county, . and is one of the well known and enterprising citizens of the community. He was born in AA^arren county, New Jersey, near the city of AVashington, on the 17th of March, 1857, and belongs to one of the good families of that county, which was also the birthplace of his parents. His grand father, David Dalrymple, was a soldier in the war of 1812 and was of Scotch lineage. His father, James Dalrymple, was a tailor, blacksmith and farmer. He was industrious, honest and loved by all, and his death oc curred when he was sixty-five years of age. In polities he was first a Whig and later a Republican and loyally espoused the cause of the party during the Civil war, being a firm adherent of Lincoln and his policy. He witnessed the starting of the first loco motive ever put in motion in this country. He died within a mile and a half of his birthplace in Warren county, New Jersey. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eleanor Deremmer, was also a native of Warren county and was reared and educated there, her ancestry being Scotch-Irish. She died in that county, twenty-two years ago; in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which she was a worthy member. She was loved and revered by all who knew her for her many excellent qualities. In the family of this worthy couple were fourteen children, nine of whom reached mature years, namely: John, who is living on the old family homestead in Warren county, New Jersey; George B., who is a resident of the same county; Peter, of Montana, New Jersey ; Mrs. Hattie Anderson, of Stewarts- ville, that state; A. O., of this review; Mrs. Emeline Stecker, of Easton, Pennsylvania, now deceased; Henry, who died in Philips- burg, New Jersey ; Caleb, who died in Rox- burg, Warren county, same state; and Ben jamin, who died in Orefield, Pennsylania. A. O. Dalrymple spent his boyhood days in the manner usual to farmer lads of the 342 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. period. In the winter season he pursued his education in the public schools, and with the coming of spring he took his place in the fields to assist in the operation of the home farm, aiding in the work until after the crops are garnered in the autumn. In 1878 he em igrated westward and landed in Atkinson, Illinois, with but forty cents in his pockets. He secured employment on a farm near Ke- wanee, Henry county, that state. The year 1882 witnessed his arrival in Fremont coun ty, and he located first in Fisher town ship, but soon came to the Valley farm, which he owns and which is one of the most desirable farming properties in this portion of the state. On the place he has an excellent residence, which was erected in 1894, and is built in a modern style of architecture, with bay windows, and is attractive in appear ance and convenient in arrangement. He owns one hundred and five acres of rich land and has one of the best herds of Poland China swine in the county. He raises only high-grade animals and has some of the best representatives of the breed that can be found. This is his specialty in stock-raising and it has proved a profitable source of in come, for the size and excellent condition of his hogs enables him to command for them a ready sale on the markets. Mr. Dalrymple completed his arrange ments for a home in 1882 by his marriage to Miss Julia Sausaman, who was born in Ke- wanee. Illinois, and was reared and educated there. Her people were from Pennsylvania. Her father has now passed away but her mother is still living near Kewanee. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs.. Dalrymple has been blessed with five children, namely : Hat- tie, Joanna, Leo'iia, Chester and Luella. For many years Mr. Dalrymple gave his support to the Populist party, but in 1896 supported Bryan. In 1900, however, he voted for McKinley. He is a man six feet in height, weighing one hundred and eighty-five pounds. His manner is entirely free from ostentation or display and his genuine worth gained for him the confidence and regard of all those with whom he is -associated. His business success is due to earnest purpose and well-directed labor, for without capital he started upon his business career and annually added to his possessions until he is now one of the subtantial agriculturists of this county. SETH DEAN. We are now permitted to touch briefly upon the life history of one who has retained a personal association with the affairs of Mills county for many years, having served as county surveyor for a quarter of a cen tury, and one whose ancestral line traces hack to the colonial epoch. His life has been one of honest and earnest endeavor, and he has gained the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come in contact either in business or social circles. Mr. Dean, was born in Lyons township, Mills county, on the 20th of October, 185 1, his parents being William E. and Susan (Briggs) Dean, natives of the Green Moun tain' state. On the paternal side his great grandfather, Seth Dean, fought for Ameri can independence in the Revolutionary war, and at the close of his third term of enlist ment, with his papers (real Continental mon ey), he secured a grant of land in Windsor county, Vermont, where he spent the re mainder of his life. He wedded first Mary Bicknell, and after her death he married BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 343 Ruth Wight, of Hardwich, Massachusetts, where his birth also occurred. Their son Seth, the third of a family of four sons, and the grandfather of our subject, was born on the old homestead in Barnard, Vermont, served as a private in the Plattsburg, New York, campaign in the war of 1812, and afterward throughout life followed farming in that state, "lying there at the age of forty- nine years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Martha French, lived to the ad vanced age of eighty-two years. Our sub ject's maternal grandparents were Benjamin and Susana (Crowell) Briggs, residents first of Vermont, removing to Huron county, Ohio, in 1836, and residing there the re mainder of their lives, while his great-grand parents were Ephraim and Rhoda (Whit- comb) Briggs, natives of Massachusetts. Ephraim Briggs also was a Revolutionary soldier, and participated in the battle of Lex ington, under command of Captain Knowl ton, afterward colonel. When mustered out at the close of three-years service he was a commissioned officer of the Massachusetts Continental Line. William E. Dean, the father of our sub ject, was one of the pioneers of Mills county, Iowa, having located here in 1849. He was a farmer by occupation and spent forty-four years upon one farm in this county. His death occurred at the homestead in Lyons township, when he was seventy-three years of age. In early life he was an old-line AVhig, but on the inception of the Republican party in 1854 he joined its ranks and assist ed in its organization in Mills county. He took a prominent and active part in public affairs; served as the first coroner of the county; and filled, at different times, all the local township offices. He was also the first drainage commissioner of the county, and by virtue of this office had charge of the public sale of the government swamp land in Mills county. He assisted in the building of many of the early schools and churches of this locality and always bore his part in the work of development and progress. His wife Susan died on the farm March 31, 1872, at the age of fifty years. She was the moth er of six children, four of whom are still living. Later he married Eliza J. Briggs, a sister of the first wife, who also died at the family home, December 25, 1893. Seth Dean, whose name introduces this review, is almost wholly self-educated, his early school privileges being limited. The rudimentary branches of learning he ac= quired at home and in the public schools of the township; and for about nine weeks he attended Tabor College in Fremont coun ty. A good mathematician, he loved figures from early boyhood and displayed great apti tude for his present vocation, that of survey or. He bought and borrowed books on civil engineering, thus educating himself, and is to-day one of the best in his line in the state. In 1 874 he went to Kansas, where he worked on a farm -for a short time. Returning home in December of the same year he taught school through the winter months. In the fall of 1875 he was a candidate for county surveyor, but was defeated. He opened an office in Glenwood in the spring of 1876 and engaged in private practice. Being elected to office in 1877 he has since filled this office with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned. Mr. Dean is not wholly unknown in his profession outside of his own county. -He was elected a member of the Civil Engineers' Club of the North west, at Chicago, in March,. 1877, and upon 344 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. the reorganization of the club as the West ern Society of Engineers in 1883 he be came a charter member of that body, hold ing membership therein until 1895. He was elected a senior member of the Michi gan Engineering Society in January, 1888, and a non-resident active member of the New England Water Works Association in December of the same year. Mr. Dean was also a charter member and assisted at the "bornin' :" of the Iowa Sureyors' Associa tion at Des Moines in February, 1885, and at the annual meeting in 1886 was elected the president of the association. This body united with the Iowa Civil Engineers' So ciety in 1887, the new organization taking the name of the Iowa Society of Civil En gineers and Surveyors. At this meeting Mr. Dean was unanimously elected the secretary, which office he held for ten consecutive years, retiring voluntarily at that time, but still re--/ taining an active membership. He was elected a member of the Ameri can Association for the Advancement of Science in 1885, with which organization he is still affiliated. He also served as a volunteer observer in the United States weather bureau, and in the Iowa weather -service from January, 1877, to 1895. On the 9th of April, 1879, Mr. Dean was xmited in marriage with Miss Annah Baxter, who was born in Weyauwega, Wis consin, where she was reared and edu cated, removing with her parents to Glen wood in the spring of 1875. Her parents were Duncan Baxter and Clarissa (Cham bers) Baxter, both natives of Remsen, Oneida county, New York. They were married in April, 1848, and in 1855 re moved to AA^eyauwega, Waupaca county, Wisconsin, and in 1875 to Glenwood, Iowa. where they both died. Her paternal grand parents were John and (Coley) Bax ter, of Remsen, Oneida county, New York, and the maternal grandparents were Will iam and Clarissa (Cundal) .Chambers, ot Remsen, Oneida county, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Dean have one son, Henry H., a youth of fifteen who is at home. In his political affiliations Mr. Dean is a Republican, but receives the support of his friends from all political parties. He cast his first presidential vote for General U. S. 'Grant in 1872. AVith the Masonic fraternity he also holds membership, and he and his family are active and prominent members of the Glenwood Baptist church. WILLIAM W, WARNER. Far distant from the present place of his abode is the birthplace of William W. Warner, who is numbered among the native sons of Pennsylvania, born in Jefferson county, that state, on the 6th of March, 1848. He is classed among the leading -and repre sentative farmers and stock-raisers of south western Iowa, and the prosperity which he is enjoying is well merited, for his career has been an active, useful and honorable one. His parents, Isaac and Polly (Bowers). Warner, were both natives of Pennsylvania and were of German lineage. The father was a farmer by occupation and remained in the Keystone state until after all his children were born. In 1867 he went with his fam ily to Illinois, locating in Fulton county, where he engaged in the operation of rented land until 1878 when he came to Fremont county and continued farming on rented property. In 1888 he was called to his final rest, at the age of sixty-seven years. He BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 345 lived a quiet, unassuming life, devoting his time to the acquirement of a good living for himself and family. He gave his polit ical support to the Democracy but never sought public office. His wife died in Illi nois. They were consistent members of the Lutheran church and in that faith they reared their family of nine children, namely : Catherine J., now Mrs. Vail; William W. ; Philip B., of Nebraska; Anna, the wife of W. Teach; Samuel, of the Indian Territory; Sarah, the wife of G. W. Kline; Margaret, the wife of E. Childers; Mary, the wife of E. Grous; and Elrna, who is living in the Indian Territory. William W. Warner spent the greater part of his youth in Pennsylvania and ac companied his parents on their removal to Illinois, remaining at their home until his marriage, which occurred in the Prairie state. Soon afterward he came to Iowa and in 1879 took up his abode in Fremont county, where he engaged in the operation' of rented land for three years. He then purchased a tract of primeval prairie — one hundred and sixty acres — but has since added to the property until his homestead farm now comprises two hundred and forty acres. He began life here with very limited capital and found it ¦difficult to get a start. The land had to be fenced and broken ready for cultivation, but soon he placed it under cultivation and the rich fields yield to him a golden tribute for the care and labor he bestows upon them. For many years the place has been self-sup porting, and the excellent improvements and buildings found thereon indicate his active and useful career and stand as monuments to his enterprise and progressive spirit. The land is all under fence and is divided into good fields for cultivation and grazing. In connection with the production of the cereal3 best adapted to this climate he has raised and handled stock for a number of years, feed ing catle and hogs, which he has shipped to market. He possesses excellent business and executive ability, is a capable financier and above all is industrious and energetic, so that he is now rated among the substantial farmers of the county. In 1879 Mr. Warner was united in mar riage to Miss Charlotte Tygart, who was born in Kansas, April 20, 1857, a daughter of Thomas and Charlotte (Priddy) Tygart the former a native of Indiana and the lat ter of Ohio. Their marriage was celebrated in the Hoosier state, where they remained until all of their children were born, with the exception of Mrs. Warner. The father there followed farming, and on leaving Indiana he removed to Pottawatomie county, Kansas, subsequently taking up his abode in Leaven worth, where he engaged in driving a hack. Both he and his wife died there in 1865. The most of their children were grown at that time, but Mrs. Warner was only seven years of age. She returned to Illinois and found a good home with a sister, with whom she remained until her marriage, when she became a faithful companion and helpmate to Mr. Warner. Together they have traveled the journey of life, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its adversity and pros perity, and now they have a good home and many warm friends. Her mother was a consistent member of the Baptist church and her father was a faithful follower of the In dependent Order of Odd Fellows. That worthy couple had ten children, namely: Eliza, the wife of J. Nealis, of Kansas ; John, now deceased ; Rhoda, the wife of A. Maize ; Jane, the wife of Joseph Graham; Elizabeth, 346 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. who became the wife of R. Meader and after-, ward married J. Childers; Hannah, the wife of J. Gaunt ; Columbus, Thomas and Sarah F., all deceased; and Charlotte, who is the youngest of the family. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. AVarner is blessed with one son, George AV., who was born November 30, 1879. The greatest grief that has ever come to them has been through the loss of their second child, Clarence E., who was born February 22, 1881, and died in June, 1882. Mrs. Warner holds membership in the Christian church and takes a deep interest in its work. Mr. Warner gives his politi cal support to the Democracy and for some years has been in hearty sympathy with the reform movement along political lines. He has filled the office of township trustee for a number of years, has also served as consta ble and has filled other local offices, to which he has been called by his fellow citizens who recognize his worth and ability. He is truly a self-made man, and as the architect of his own fortune he has builded wisely and well, rearing the superstructure of his pros perity upon the sure foundation stone of honesty, industry, diligence and unfailing perseverance. ALPHEUS H. WINKLER. Among the most progressive and enter prising business men of Mills county none stand higher in public esteem than higher in public esteem than Alpheus H. Winkler, of Glenwood. He was born in Holt county, Missouri, December 8, 1855, and is of Eng lish and German descent. According to tradi tion his great-great-grandfather was reared by King William, III, of England, being ed ucated by that monarch for the ministry. His father, AA'yatt T. Winkler, was a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and a son of AAnlliam and Margaret AVinkler. The grandfather was born in Germany and when a young man came to the United States, lo cating on a farm in Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying there at the age of eighty-four years. He was a highly educated man, and prior to his emi gration to the new world, took part in the German wars. In early days he was noted as a log"-roller, being a mail of great strength, and at the age of eighty-two could throw the best wrestler in#his county, that being quite a pastime in those days. He devoted his life to farming and was also a tax collector. About 1849, when a single man, Wyatt T. Winkler, the father of our subject, left Pennsylvania and removed to Glasgow, Mis- , souri, where he operated a ferry and also conducted a general store until 1861, when he removed to "Holt county, Missouri, and thence to eastern Kansas. There he also engaged in merchandising and farming, and continued to make his home in that state until called from this life June 18, 1885, at the age of fifty-eight years. He was one of the old free-state Democrats, and was a man highly respected by all who knew him. He wedded Miss Mary J. Thrailkill, a native of Missouri, who is now living on a farm in Oklahoma. By this union were born ten children, all of whom are still Liv ing. Mrs. Winkler's grandparents were William and Polly (Ish) Thrailkill. Will iam Thrailkill was born in Tennessee and died in California, and his wife was born in Scotland and died in Missouri. Reared on his father's farm and in the village where his father was engaged in business, Alpheus ^2>5^^^2^^ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 347 H. Winkler was principally educated in the district schools, but he attended high school for a time, and in 1882 was graduated at Bryant's Commercial College, of St. Joseph, Missouri. He was 'married on the 22d of October, 1885, to Miss Margaret Culwell, a native of Nemaha county, Nebraska, and they have become the parents of three chil dren: Ada M., Albert H. and Ethel May, all born in Hiawatha, Kansas. Henry Culwell, the father of Mrs. Wink ler, was born in Tennessee, of which state his parents, Samuel H. and Margaret (Mayber ry) Culwell, were also natives, while the latter was a daughter of James Mayberry. Samuel H. Culwell died in Nebraska at the age of sixty-eight years, and his wife passed away in the same state at the age of sixty- nine. The Culwells followed agricultural pursuits principally and were also business men. In 1855, in company with his parents and the four other children of the family, Henry Culwell removed to Illinois, and in the spring of 1857 went to Nemaha county, Nebraska, where he made his home until coming to Glenwood, Iowa, in May, 1900. In connection with our subject he is now running the electric light plant at this place. On the 20th of December, 1864, he was unit ed in marriage with Miss Catherine Mayes, and to them were born four children, one of whom is now deceased. Mrs. Culwell was one of a family of fourteen children, whose parents were Joel and Martha Mayes, na tives of Missouri and Tennessee, respective ly. The former died in Nemaha county, Nebraska, at the age of forty-nine, the lat ter in Jackson county, Missouri, at the age of seventy-one years. After his marriage Mr. Winkler made his home in Hiawatha, Kansas, until 1895, 21 when he came to Glenwood, Mills county, Iowa, where he has been a reputable busi ness man of high standing ever since. He has large farming interests both here and in Nebraska, and also owns several hundred acres of valuable coal and iron lands in Ten nessee. He is quite extensively engaged in the real estate and loan business, and also conducts the electric light plant at Glenwood, which he purchased iii 1899. By putting in new machinery he now has one of the most modern plants in this part of the country. He is recognized as one of the leading and successful real estate nien in southwestern Iowa. Since casting his first presidential vote for Grover Cleveland Mr. Winkler has been an ardent Democrat, and fraternally is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his family attend the Methodist Episcopal church, and they are recognized as valua ble and prominent additions to the commer cial and social circles of their adopted home. Thoroughly up-to-date and progressive Mr. Winkler is a man of excellent business and executive ability, whose sound judgment, unflagging enterprise' and capable_manage- ment have brought to him well-merited suc cess. In manner he is pleasant and cordial, which, combined with his sterling worth, makes him one of the popular citizens of the community. J. H. BRIGHT. The broad prairies and the rich valley lands of Iowa offer splendid inducements to the agriculturist, and thus was attracted tq the state a contented, intelligent and prosper-^ ous farming people, who laid broad and deep the foundation for the present progress and 348 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. development of the county. Among the early settlers where the parents of our sub ject, Mahlon and Eliza (Abel) Bright. The father was a native of Virginia and was of Irish descent. In the Old Dominion he was reared to manhood and in Pennsyb vania he was married to Miss Eliza Abel, who was born in the Keystone state, where they began their domestic life, remaining there until 1855, when they came to Iowa, locating in Lee county. After renting a farm for two years the father purchased a small tract of land in Henry county, upon which he remained for a quarter of a century, but in 1 883 he sold that property and came to Fremont county, where he became the owner of a small tract of land upon which he remained until after the death of his wife, in February, 1892. He afterward found a good home with his son, J. H., with whom he lived until his own demise, February 27, 1893. His life was one of in dustry and ' activity, devoted to his business interests. In his political views he was a Whig and on the dissolution of that party he became a Republican, on which ticket he was elected a constable of Henry county, serving in that capacity for ten years, with marked fidelity. However, he never sought public office, contented to live the quiet life of a representative agriculturist. A man five feet, eight inches in height, he was of a rather stout build, of a social nature and of a charitable disposition, the poor and needy finding in him a warm friend. His genial manner won for him the high regard of neighbors and friends, for he always man ifested sterling traits of character, being a devoted and exemplary member of the Pres byterian church. He had only one brother, Eugenius Bright, who is yet living in Vir ginia. His wife was the youngest of three children, her brothers being James:, who died in Iowa; and Allen, who resides in Wayne county, this state. Unto the parents of our subject were born five children: Delia, of Burlington, Iowa, who married a Mr. Bradd, and after his death became Mrs. Bird ; Lebbeus, who married Amanda Olin- ger, of Fremont county; J. H., of this re view; Aaron, who is living in Page county, Iowa; and Mrs. Alice Pizett. J. H. Bright was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1846, and pur sued his education in the old log school- house near his home. When nine years of age he accompanied his parents to Iowa and was reared to manhood in this state. His training at farm labor was not meager and the habits of industry and energy which he formed in youth have since been salient features in his success. He remained under the parental roof until 1864, when, at the age of eighteen years, he responded to the country's call for men, enlisting in the Union army for three years' service as a member of Company K, Fourth Iowa Cavalry. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and he joined the command at Memphis, that state, at once entering upon active and arduous service. The first bat tle in which Mr. Bright engaged was at Guntown, Mississippi, on the 7th of June, 1864. He was afterward taken severely- ill and placed in the field hospital. Soon the surgeon in Charge noticed his condition and advised and secured for him a thirty-days' furlough. He was then sent home and upon his recovery and the expiration of his leave of absence he again joined his command at Memphis. The regiment soon went into winter quarters at Louisville, Kentucky, and BIOGRAPLIICAL HISTORY. 349 in March, 1865, proceeded to Gravel Spring, Alabama, and thence took part in the Wil son raid in that state and Georgia. Mr. Bright participated in the engagement at Selma, Alabama, and with his command proceeded to Columbus, Georgia, where at night they stormed and captured the city. From there they continued on their way to Macon, Georgia, where they were at the time of Lee's surrender. They were then marched to Atlanta, where they were mus tered out and received transportation to Davenport, Iowa, being honorably dis charged and paid off in the latter city. On returning home Mr. Bright resumed work on his father's farm and afterward engaged in breaking prairie, which pursuit he followed for four years, thus gaining a start in life. His labors, earnestly pros ecuted, have enabled him to accumulate a large estate. In 1873 he was married and for two years resided upon rented land, after which he purchased a small tract in Taylor county, Iowa, but never made any improve ments on it. Subsequently he sold the land and purchased two lots in Shenandoah, erect ing thereon a house, which continued to be his place of abode for two years. On the expiration of that period he sold that prop erty and bought one hundred and twenty acres of land, which he yet owns. With characteristic energy he began its develop ment and has prosecuted his work with vigor. As time has passed he has extended his pos sessions, purchasing a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which his home now stands, and adding to this from time to time until he now owns fourteen hundred acres of valuable land, much of which is in the Nishnabotna valley. He has given his undivided attention to farming and stock- raising and for nineteen years has been an extensive breeder and shipper of cattle and hogs. His home is a two-story, frame resi dence, large and attractive in appearance and commanding an excellent view of his own well-tilled fields and of the beautiful valley. Upon the place are two large barns and many substantial outbuildings, together with a bearing apple orchard and1 a peach orchard of over four thousand, trees. Beauti ful and extensive groves surround his home and every accessory seen upon a model coun try seat is there found. The residence is situated three and a half miles west of Shen andoah and is connected to the city by tele phone. His is indeed a model and up-to-date home and indicates in an unmistakable man ner the progressive spirit of the owner. Mr. Bright was united in marriage to Miss Mary Beshears, a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Iowa. She was born in this state January 6, 1855, a daughter of Joel and Helen (Scott) Be shears, who were natives of Lou'isanna. They came to Iowa when but few families resided within the territory and were among the earliest pioneers of this portion of the coun try. The father made a good farm, accum ulated a large estate and left to each of his children land for a homestead. After many years he removed to Missouri, where his last days were spent. His widow still survives him and is now living with a son in South Dakota. Their children were : Mary, now Mrs. Bright; Mrs. Anna Johnson; and Charles, who for many years has success fully engaged in farming in South Dakota. After the death of her first husband the mother became the wife of a Mr. Carroll, who is now deceased, and by their union she had one son, Scott Carroll. Unto Mr. and 350 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Mrs. Bright have been born seven children : Nellie, a successful school-teacher now em ployed in the line of her profession near Denver, Colorado; Jesse D., of Shenandoah; Pearl B., the wife of L. R. Walker, a farm er of Fremont county ; Effie A. ; Anna Myrtle ; Roy E. and Glenn E. — all at home. On the 24th of September, 1891, the wife and mother was called to the home beyond, leaving her family and many friends to mourn her loss. Mr. Bright was reared in the political faith of the Republican party and has ' al ways been a stalwart advocate-of its prin ciples. He has served as justice of the peace and in other local offices, but does not seek public preferment, his time being fully oc cupied by his business affairs. His has been a most energetic and useful career. His close application, his unfaltering purpose and his straightforward business methods have enabled him to work his way steadily upward to a prominent position among the substantial residents of the community and now he stands upon the plane of affluence, being able to surround his family with all the comforts and many of the luxuries which go to make life worth the living. ALLEN J. CHANTRY. Among the leading representative citi zens of southwestern Lowa is Captain Allen J Chantry, of Mills county. His father, Thomas Chantry, a son of David and Eliz abeth (Reed) Chantry, of Lincolnshire, England, was born at the latter place in February, 1795, and in 18 16, at the age of twenty-one years, came to the United States, locating first at Philadelphia. After ward he traveled considerably through west ern territory and finally settled on a farm in Chester county, Pennsylvania, where, in the year 1822, he was married to Hannah Passmore, whose parents, Thomas and Eliz abeth (Dickinson) Passmore, were also na tives of that part of the Keystone state and lived within hearing of the artillery at the battle of Brandywine'during the Revolution ary war, and some of our subject's ances tors were among those who fought for Amer ican independence. Thomas and Hannah Chantry lived in Chester and Lancaster counties until the spring of 1837, when they emigrated to Iowa territory and settled in Van Buren county, where, on June 13, 1841, Captain Allen J. Chantry was born, and therefore takes rank among the earliest natives of Iowa, a distinction of which he has always been proud. In 1846 the parents removed to Henry county, same state, settling near the town of Salem, and afterward, in 1855, removed to Guthrie county, where the pre vious year his father had entered (bought of the government) a large tract of land, which he improved and upon which he made his home the remainder of his life, dying in the fall of 1864 at the age of sixty-nine years, and where also the mother afterward lived until 1892, when she died, at the age of eighty-seven years. Both the father and mother of Captain Chantry were leading and devout members of the religious society of Friends, both having enjoyed the advan tages of an excellent education. On their removal to Iowa (then an unsettled terri tory) they found themselves with their young children without the advantages of public schools ; and in order to assist men- children in laying a foundation for a good practical education they instituted a family BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 35i school, of which the mother assumed chief charge, and for years the spinning-wheel and the loom and other household duties would have to yield an hour each day for recitation and books. At length time brought the subscription schools, soon to be followed by the beneficent public school sys tem. After attending public school two or three short terms the subject of our sketch, during the last two years of his minority, taught school in winter and worked on the farm in the summer until he enlisted in the service of his country, August 11, 1862, for a "period of three years or during" the Civil war, and was assigned with the company to which he belonged to the Twenty-ninth Regiment, Iowa Infantry, then being or ganized at Camp Dodge, near Council Bluffs, Iowa, from companies from counties in the southwestern part of the state. On Novem ber 15 he was commissioned second lieu tenant of Company K by Governor Kirk wood, and was subsequently promoted to be first lieutenant and captain of his company. He was on every campaign and in every action in which his regiment took part in a little over three years of very active service. He was severely wounded in the left shoulder at Terre Noir creek, Arkansas, April 2, 1864, while commanding the rear guard of Gen eral Steele's supply train, which was furious ly attacked by an- overwhelming force of Confederate cavalry under the command of that intrepid fighter, General Jo Shelby ; but they remained on the field and by maneuver ing and hard fighting by one of the bravest and best companies in the service succeeded in holding the enemy in Check for over an hour and until reinforcements arrived, and- a supply train worth over one-half million dollars was saved for this service, which cost his company eighteen men in killed and wounded. Lieutenant Chantry and his com pany received the compliments and thanks of Major General Steele. Thirteen days thereafter he was again wounded by a Con federate sharpshooter While commanding the advancing skirmish line in an action near Camden, Arkansas, but continued on the field until the action was over and Camden was captured. Lieutenant Chantry participated with his regiment in all its future operations at Mo bile, Alabama, and in the Army of the Rio Grande on the southwestern border of Texas during the spring and summer of 1865, and at the close of the war when his regiment was ordered to New Orleans for muster out he was offered the position of A. A. I. G. on General Slack's staff, and Major General Steele offered him a lieutenant-colonel's com mission in the "standing army of the Rio Grande" if he would remain with the army and accept said staff appointment, but he de clined, as the war was now considered over, and he was mustered out with his regiment at New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 10, 1865, and honorably discharged with it at Davenport, Iowa, August 24, 1865, and im mediately resumed the active duties of civil life. ¦ He bought a tract of unimproved land in the valley of the Nishnabotna, in the northwest part of Page county, erected a house thereon and on the 16th day of No vember, 1865, was married, at the age of twenty-four, to Miss Harriett A. Rains, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Hieronymus) Rains, of Mills county. Her parents were natives of North Carolina and Kentucky, respectively. Mr. Chantry settled im- 352 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. mediately after his marriage on the new home in course of improvement, improved his place and farmed in summer and taught school in winter for ten or twelve years, until duties of home and care and feeding of stock demanded all his time and attention. During his seventeen years residence in Page county he served two terms as member of the county board of supervisors, and in the fall of 1873 was elected by the Repub lican party as a representative in the state legislature from Page county and served in the fifteenth general assembly of Iowa. In the spring of 1882 in order to secure better educational advantages for his young family, he rented his farm in Page county, then consisting of four hundred and twenty acres, and removed to Malvern, in Mills county, where during the previous winter he had bought a farm, to which, with a fine herd of shorthorn cattle, he now gave his personal attention. In 1887 he was unanimously nominated by the Republican county con vention and the same fall elected a repre sentative in the legislature from Mills coun ty, and again nominated and elected in 1889 and served in the house in the twenty- second and twenty-third general assemblies, and during the summer of 1891 was unani mously nominated as a Republican candi date for state senator for the district com posed of the counties of Mills and Mont gomery, and was elected and served in the state senate in the twenty-fourth and twenty- fifth general assemblies of Iowa. More recently he has been connected with the banking business for several years ; was a director and the last two years of his con nection was the president of the Farmers' National Bank of Malvern, but in 1897 he sold his interest in the bank and has since (up to the present time, March 4, 1901) de voted his time and attention to his farming and stock interests and to the education of his children, now consisting of five sons and two daughters — three of the former are now married and settled, the others still re maining at home. At a reunion of the Twenty-ninth Regi ment, Iowa Infantry, held after the close of the war it was decided to keep up the regimental organization. The colonel, Thomas H. Benton, Jr., having previously died Captain Chantry was elected by his late comrades ih arms as its colonel. He is also a charter member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, as well as a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities. LEWIS G. LINVILLE. Lewis G. Linville is one of the native sons of Mills county, his birth having oc curred in Center township on the nth of June, 1866, within half a mile of his pres ent home. His grandfather, James Linville, was a native of Tennessee and a farmer by occupation. He married Miss Sarah Burris, a native of Tennessee, who died at the old homestead about five years ago. Her father was William Burris and her people were farmers. Mrs. Linville was a most lovable old lady, possessed of those characteristics which ever win the respect and admiration of the young. His father, George H. Linville, was born near Sparta, Tennessee, in 18 18, and was a farmer by occupation. In 1854 he re moved to Mills county, Iowa, where he se cured *a tract of wild land which he trans formed into what is now known as the Lin- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 353 ville homestead, and continued its cultiva tion and improvement until his death, which occurred on the 5th of January, 1900. He was a highly respected citizen, widely known for his sterling worth of character. Before coming to Iowa he had lived at different points in Missouri. Unto the parents of our subject were born the following chil dren : Granville P., now a resident of Wi nona county, Iowa; Margaret Splawn, who is living in Silverdale, Kansas ; Mrs. Esther A. Estes, whose home is near Glenwood; Mrs. Mary J. Dye, deceased; Mrs. Nancy C. Wright, who is also living near Glen wood ; Mrs. Sallie Bohart, a resident of Chi cago; and Mrs. Martha A. Kelly, whose home is in Macedonia, Iowa. Creditable portraits of the father and grandfather adorn the home of our subject. These men were of fine old southern stock and the pictures show them to have been people of strong character and marked individuality. Mr. Linville, whose name introduces this record, has spent his entire life in the county of his nativity and received excellent edu cational privileges, attending the graded and high schools of Glenwood. He has given his energies to agricultural pursuits and is to-day operating a fine farm, whose well- tilled fields yield to him a good return. All modern accessories and improvements are there found and the place indicates the care ful supervision of the owner, who is known as a very practical yet very progressive ag riculturist. Mr. Linville was united in marriage to IWss Elizabeth A. Tipton, who was born on a farm in Illinois and is a daughter of S. A. and Sarah A. Tipton, who came to Iowa about 1 87 1. Unto Mr. and Mrs Linville have been born three interesting children, namely : Fannie Pearl, Williard St. Clair and George Lewis. It is the intention of the parents that good educational privileges shall fit them for life's practical duties. Mr. and1 Mrs. Linville attend the Christian church of Glenwood and their many excel lent characteristics and sterling worth have won for them a large circle of warm friends m Mills county. In his political affiliations Mr. Linville is a Democrat and at the present time is holding the office of township trustee of Cen ter township, to which he was elected by a majority of twelve, although in the last presidential election the township went Re publican by a majority of fifty. This sh6ws a gain of sixty-two for Mr. Linville, which is an excellent demonstration of his pop ularity and genuine worth as a citizen. His fellow townsmen have confidence in his abil ity, and to. those who know him it is need less to say that no trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed. JAMES M. ANTHONY. James M. Anthony, who is carrying on agricultural pursuits in Mills county, was born in Missouri fifty-one years ago, his birth having occurred in Cedar county, that state. His paternal grandfather, Nicholas Anthony, was a native of Pennsylvania and came to Mills county, Iowa, about the mid dle of the nineteenth century. Here he spent his remaining days and was identified with the early development of the county. The paternal great-grandfather was one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war, and earn estly fought in defense of the nation. Jacob Anthony, the father of our subject, was born in Ohio, whence he removed to 354 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Cedar county, Missouri, coming to the Hawkeye state when the subject of this re view was only one year old. Here he pre empted land and began the development of the farm upon which our subject has since resided. The father carried on agricultural pursuits throughout his life and died at the age of forty-five years. His wife bore the maiden name of Susan Land, and she, too, was a native of the Buckeye state. When the Anthony familv was established in Mills county the Mormons were very numerous here, having camped on the land which is now within the borders of our subject's farm. Soon afterward, however, the followers of Brigham Young left for Salt Lake City. In the Anthony family were four sons : J. W., a resident of Iowa; M. N. ; Anthony, living in Randolph, Iowa; and J. S., who makes his home in Glenwood. There were two brothers, Jonathan N. and William A., who were killed in the Civil war while aid ing in the defense of the Union, both being twenty years of age at the time of their death. Another brother, J. AV. Anthony, is now blind as the result of injuries sustained in battle while fighting for his country. This was certainly a great sacrifice for one family to make. James M. Anthony, whose name intro duces this record, was reared upon the wild western frontier and early became familiar with all the hardships and trials that fall to the lot of the pioneer. He improved such educational advantages as the common schools of the day afforded and worked in the field through the summer months, fol lowing the plow, planting the grain and har vesting the crops, thus gaining that prac tical experience which has made "him a suc cessful farmer. Mr. Anthony was married to Miss Amelia Schade, a daughter of Conrad. Schade. She was born in Germany and is a representative of a fine old German fam ily, well known and1 highly respected in Mills county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Anthony have been born four children] namely : Car rie, Mabel, Charles -M. and Clifford. Mr. Anthony owns a beautiful farm of one hun dred and forty-two acres and gives his en tire attention to the cultivation of his land and to fancy dairying, both branches of his business yielding to him good success. This farm is pleasantly located three miles south east of Glenwood, the county seat of Mills county. In politics he is a stanch Repub lican, who has given an unwavering support to the principles of the party since cast ing his first presidential vote for Ulysses S. Grant in 1864. He was a trustee of Center township for nine years and for five years has been the township clerk, discharging his duties with marked fidelity and ability. He was census enumerator of the twelfth census for Center township. All who know him respect him, for in every relation of life he h true and faithful, and in Mills county he. has many warm friends. A. F. METELMAN. A. F. Metelman, the president of the Metelman & Frazer Bank, of Sidney, Iowa, is recognized as one of the leading and influ ential men of that place. The welfare and the upbuilding of a community is largely due to the enterprising representatives of com merce, men of resolute purpose and indomi table energy, and to this class the subject of this sketch belongs. He is also numbered among the pioneer settlers in this portion of A. F. METELMAN BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 355 the state, dating his residence in Fremont county from 1856. Mr. Metelman was born in the duchy of Mecklenburg, Germany, June 30, 1833, and is a son of J. C. Metelman, who was an in dustrious farmer of that country. He had eight children, but the subject of this review is the only one who ever came to America. The public schools of the Fatherland af forded him his educational privileges and he remained in Germany until nineteen years of age, when he resolved to investigate the favorable reports which he had heard con cerning the opportunities afforded to young men in the new world. Accordingly he bade adieu to friends and family and secured pas-. sage on the ship Washington, which sailed from Hamburg and dropped anchor in the harbor of New York city on the ist of September, 1852. He did not long remain in the east but made his way westward to Cleveland, Ohio, where he secured a clerk ship in a dry-goods establishment. He re tained that position for eighteen months and then went to Detroit, Michigan, whence he proceeded to Louisville, Kentucky, which was his place of abode until he came to Sid ney, in the year 1856. During the most of the time previous Mr. Metelman had earned a livelihood by acting as a salesman in various stores, but when he arrived in Fremont county he se cured a clerkship with the firm of Tootle & Armstrong, then proprietors of the leading mercantile establishment here. He contin ued with the company as long as it remained in business. His success in the business world secured- to him the capital which enabled him to embark in business upon his own account in 1862, when he became the silent member of the firm of Reed, Arm strong & Company. He continued an active factor in the conduct of the concern until 1867, when he purchased his partners' inter ests, carrying on the business alone until 1876, when the firm name was changed to A. F. Metelman & Company, through the ad mission of John T. Hodges to a partnership. This relationship was maintained until 1882, when Mr. Metelman sold out to the firm of Hodges & Goy. His career as a merchant was attended with a high degree of success. But at length he withdrew from this store to enter upon active connection with banking interests, as a member of the firm of Brown, Metelman & Company, proprietors of a banking house in Sidney. This was the oldest institution of the kind in the place, having been organized in 1875, by Henry Brown, A. F. Metelman and W. T. Frazer. The bank was capitalized at twenty-five thou sand dollars and business was soon begun, the three partners retaining their interests until 1882, when Mr. Brown passed away. After his death the present business style of Metelman & Frazer was assumed, and were succeeded October 1, 1900, by the Na tional. Bank of Sidney: A. F. Metelman, president, and W. T. Frazer cashier. The capital stock has been increased to sixty thou sand dollars and the individual estate of each member of the firm is made responsible for the liabilities of the bank. Such is the confidence of the public in the integrity and honor of the interested principals that de positors feel that they have absolute immu nity from loss with such security. In 1868, in Prairie City, Illinois, Mr. Metelman was united in marriage to Miss Mary D. Brown, a daughter of Martin Brown, a prominent farmer of that locality, and unto them have been born two children ; 356 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Ella, who was born in 1869 and is the wife of Albert Wildberger, of Sidney; and Charles A., who was born in 1878 and is yet at home. Mr. Metelman's religious views are largely in accord with the teachings of the Presbyterian church, but he is not a mem7 ber of any church organization or fraternity. In politics he is a stalwart Republican. He has indeed been an important factor in the business development of Sidney and his name is so inseparably connected with its history that no account of the town would be com plete without mention of his career. JOHN B. McKOWN. John B. McKown is one of the public officials of Hastings, holding the position of postmaster, and his fidelity in office is as marked as was his loyalty when, at the time of the Civil war, he defended the stars and stripes on the battle-fields of the south. His wide acquaintance will render his history one of particular interest to the readers of this volume. Therefore it is with pleasure we present his record among those of other representative men of southwestern Iowa. Mr. McKown was born in Elizabeth, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, in 1842. His father, James McKown, is also a na tive of the Keystone state, but the paternal grandfather, James McKown, was born in Ireland. On crossing the Atlantic to Amer ica he made his way direct to Chester coun ty, Pennsylvania, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and spent his remaining" days in the Keystone state. His wife was also a native of the Emerald Isle, where they were married, and she, too, died in Penn sylvania. James McKnown was born on the 24th of August, 1808, and in his early life learned the tailor's trade. He married Miss Maria Bryce, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1797, her parents, however, being natives of Scotland. In order to support his family Mr. McKown continued to work at his trade, and one of his best-remembered busi ness transactions was the making of a suit of clothes for James G. Blaine, who was then a young man residing in Allegheny county, where he was married. At one time he belonged to the Pennsylvania militia. His wife prepared food for the American soldiers in the war of 181 2, her people be ing innkeepers in Pennsylvania at an early day. Unto Mr. and Mrs. McKown were born the following named : James, now deceased ; Margaret, the deceased wife of the Rev. Joseph White, a United Presbyterian minis ter, who also has. passed away; Mattie J., who has long been a missionary in the ed ucational department of the United Presby terian church in Egypt; Mrs. Sarah M. Wright, who is living with her husband in Mahaska county, Iowa; and Mrs. Trapena Taggart, a widow now living in Denver, Colorado. With their family the parents came to Iowa in 1854, locating on a farm in Lee county, whence they subsequently re moved to Monmouth, Illinois. Later, how ever, they returned to the Hawkeye state, taking up their abode in Marion county, in the spring of 1862, there continuing until 1872, when they located in Decatur county. After two years, however, they came to Mills county, in 1875, settling on a farm in Indian Creek township. The father died in Kan sas in 1884, while the mother died in Emer son, Iowa, in 1877. John B. McKown, whose name intro duces this record, was twelve years of age BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 357 when the family came to this state. He ac companied his parents on their various re movals and while living in Monmouth, Illi nois, he responded to his country's call for aid, enlisting as a member of Company C, n Eighty-third Illinois Infantry, on the 22d of July, 1862. He went to the front under Captain L. B. Cutter and Colonel A. C. Harding, the troops proceeding to Fort, Hineman, Kentucky, on the Tennessee river, and the first important engagement in which he participated was at Fort Donelson. Sub sequently he was with his company in guer rilla service through Kentucky and Tennes see, being thus engaged until the cessation of hostilities. In that manner of warfare his regiment had frequent conflicts with General Joe Wheeler's men and the troops under other noted southern leaders, and the service which fell to the lot of the Eighty-third Illinois was of a very arduous nature. At Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. .McKown was mustered out, on the 24th of June, 1865, and on the 6th of July of that year he re ceived an honorable discharge. Joining his family in Iowa, Mr. Mc Kown has for some time been engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was connected with commercial interests in Emerson, being em ployed as a salesman in a dry-goods store at that place for twelve years. In public af fairs Mr. McKown has been prominent, for his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called him. to office. . He served for several terms as the town recorder of Emerson, for two years as township clerk and for a number of years was a member of the school board. On the ist of January, 1898, he was appointed post master at Hastings and his administration of the affairs of the office has been commend able and satisfactory. In politics he has been a stalwart Republican, casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. In his social relations he is identified with Milton A. Summers Post, G. A. R., of Malvern, and he and his wife attend the Hastings Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. McKown was married in 1868 to Miss Margaret Carter, a daughter of Henry and Fannie Carter, an old and prominent family of southwestern Iowa. Her people came to this state from Connecticut in 1856 and were therefore pioneers. The marriage of our subject and his wife was celebrated1 in Knoxville, Mills county, Iowa, and unto them have been born the following children : Ronald K. ; Fannie M.. now the wife of T. G.- Fewson, of Pueblo, Colorado; Arthur C, also of Pueblo; and Merle C, James H., Ha C, Ada G., Frank H. and Flora H., the last two being twins, are still with their parents. Mr. McKown is a man of genial dis position and kindly nature, and manifests thoughtful consideration for others. He finds his greatest happiness by his own fire side in the midst of his family and counts no sacrifice or effort too great that will en hance their happiness or promote the welfare of his wife and children. In his business affairs he has been successful, his careful management, sound judgment and untiring effort bringing to him creditable prosperity. He indeed deserves mention among the prominent people of Hastings and should find a place in the history of the men of business enterprise in the great west whose force of character, intelligence, integrity and control of circumstances have contributed in such an eminent degree to the solid growth and progress of the entire country. His life 358 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. has been manly, his actions sincere, his man ner unaffected and his example well worthy of emulation. JOHN W. SEARLES. John AVilliam Searles, wlio is occupying the position of conductor on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and maintains his residence at Sidney, was born in Clark county, Ohio, February 20, 1839. His father t George Searles, was born in Ohio, in 18 18, while the grandfather was a native of New York and was a shoemaker by trade. He also followed farming to some extent and reared a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, all of whom are now deceased with the exception of the father -of our subject. The latter married Miss Susan Lowe in 1838. Unto them were born seven children, six of whom reached the age of maturity, namely: John William; Mrs. Elizabeth Gregory, a widow living in west ern Nebraska; Mary, the wife of Robert Hanna, of Nebraska ; Elida, the wife of John Snider, of Chicago; George, who died of dis ease in the army soon after going to the front, having with patriotic spirit offered his services to the government and laid down his life on the altar of his country; and Nel son, a locomotive engineer residing in Lin coln, Nebraska. The mother died October 3, 1872, at the age of fifty-two years. The father has since married again and is now living in Fairfield, Iowa, at the age of eighty- two years, in the enjoyment of good health, although he has advanced so far on life's journey. He came to Iowa from Ohio in 1853 and settled in Brighton, Washington county. John Wiliam Searles, whose name intro duces this review, spent the first fourteen years of his life in the state of his nativity. His educational privileges were limited, but his training in farm labor was not meager. He was early set to work to follow the plow and assist in the other labors of the farm. He remained at home until he had attained his majority after which he married, on the 31st of October, 1861, in Winterset, Madi son county, Iowa, Miss Martha Jane Cooper, a native of Bainbridge, Putnam county, In diana, who was born June 3, 1844. She is the daughter of J. W, and Rachel (Graves) Cooper, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Tennessee. Her parents came to Iowa in 1854, in a covered wagon, bring ing their children with them, and here spent their remaining days, Mr. Cooper devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits. He died July 26, 1875, at the age of sixty-six years, his birth having occurred in 1809, while his wife, who was born April 3, 181 1, died January 20, 1878. Their remains now rest in the cemetery at Winterset. Mr. and Mrs. Searles resided in Fairfield, Iowa, until 1864, the subject of this review being employed in a grain elevator. He then removed with his family to Burlington, Iowa, and began work on the Chicago, Bur lington & Quincy Railroad as a' brakeman, but within a year he was promoted to the position of conductor of an accommodation train, running from Burlington west seven ty-five miles to Ottumwa. In 1869 the road was opened to Council Bluffs and Mr. Searles took one of the heavy passenger trains across" the state, continuing that run until 1877. For a year and a half afterward he was engaged in no active business, and on the ist of October, 1879, he ran tlie first train out of Sidney, and for the past twenty-one JOHN W. SEARLES BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 359 years he has been a conductor on the daily passenger train from Sidney to Carson, Iowa, making a daily run of. one hundred and six miles. No higher testimonial of faithful service could be given than the fact of his long retention in the position. He is a courteous and obliging railroad official and has won many friends among the patrons on the line. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Searles have been born three children : Charles M., the eldest, now living in Brooklyn, New York, is- the claim agent for the Highland Street Rail road. He is married and has a son and daughter. Grace M., is the wife of W. H. Webster, of this city, and has five children. Harry P., is a railroad man living in Col orado, and has a wife and two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. Searles purchased his fine, large residence in 1895. He also owns a farm in Kansas and a house in Sid ney which he rents. Mr. and Mrs. Searles have some interesting grandchildren with them to occupy their spacious residence which is one of the pleasant homes in Sid ney, surrounded by an extensive and well shaded lawn and conveniently situated near the business center of the town. Socially Mr. Searles is a Master Mason and he also belongs to the Order of Railway Conductors of which he was master for two years. In politics he is a Democrat and he and his wife are members of the Baptist church, their lives being in harmony with their profes sions. Their home is celebrated for its gra cious hospitality and their circle of. friends is only limited by their circle of acquaint ances. Mr. Searles deserves great credit for what he has achieved in life. He has worked his way upward entirely unaided by influential friends, by inheritance or by cir- ( cumstances. The difficulties and obstacles in his path have been overcome by deter mined purpose and indefatigable energy, and the economy which he practiced in former years enabled him to make judicious invest ments that now return to him a good income. His life stands an exemplification of what may be accomplished through laudable ambi tion and resolute will, and in the history of his adopted county he certainly deserves honorable mention. HORACE B. CHENEY. Among the leading citizens of Emerson none are more deserving of representation in this volume than Horace B. Cheney, who for many years has been connected with the agricultural interests of Mills county, and who has, through his well-directed efforts, gained a handsome competence that numbers him among the most substantial men of his community. Keen discrimination, unflag ging industry and resolute purpose are num bered among his salient characteristics, and thus he has won that prosperity which is the merited reward of honest effort. Mr. Cheney was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, in 1849, and traces his an cestry back to his paternal great-grandfa ther, a native of Scotland, who emigrated to this country in colonial days and served with distinction as a soldier throughout the Revolutionary war, from the beginning until the surrender at Yorktown. During the bat tle of Bunker Hill he fought the enemy hand to hand with a sword. He was a large and powerful man, of magnificent physique, ex emplifying the plain, simple, hardy life of the Scotchman, and these characteristics have descended to our subject, who "is also a 360 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. strong, large man of fine proportions. His paternal grandfather, Hurd Cheney, was born in Vermont and died in Wyoming, where he was conducting an overland freighting business with our subject's fa ther, Milton Cheney. The latter was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, in 1825, and is still living at Ulysses, Butler county, Nebraska. He married Lucinda Osborne, also a native of the Empire state and a ¦daughter of Gilbert and Patty (Giddings) Osborne. Her death occurred in Emerson, Iowa. A romantic feature in the ancestry of our subject and his wife is that his ma ternal great-grandfather, Rev. Harris Gid dings, a Methodist minister, was also her paternal grandfather. One member of their family is the celebrated statesman, Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, famous as one of the first abolitionists, who died while a mem ber of the United States senate. The gen eral occupation of both Mr. and Mrs. Cheney's families has been farming. In 185 1, at the age of two years, Mr. Cheney was brought by his parents to' Iowa, and after spending one year in Pottawatta mie county came to Mills county, where he has since made his home. He was reared on a farm and principally educated in the public schools of Glenwood. In his native county lie married Miss Julia A. Giddings, who was born not far from his birthplace, and is a daughter of Smith and Susan ( S til- well) Giddings, and a granddaughter of Rev. Harris and Mercy (Wright) Giddings. Her maternal grandfather was Vincent S til- well. Her uncle, Calvin Giddings, now de ceased, was a very wealthy sheep-raiser of Ohio, of almost national renown. He had sheep all over that state. Smith Giddings, Mrs. Cheney's brother, entered the Union army at the age of seventeen years, enlist ing in Stephenson county, Illinois, in the Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After his enlistment he was hurried direct to the siege of Vicksburg, and was in active service throughout the remainder of the war. He had many narrow escapes, having a hole shot through his hat and also the sole of his shoe and a part of his clothing shot away. He came out of the service un scathed, but, as fate would have it, accident ally shot and killed himself a short time after his return home from the war. Mr. and Mrs. Cheney are the parents of three children, namely : Mrs. Eurana L. Patrick, who is a graduate of the Western Normal College, at Shenandoah, Iowa, and is now living on a farm in Mills county; Howard G., who resides on a farm south of Emer son; and Harold, at home with his parents. In his farming operations Mr. Cheney has been remarkably successful and is now the owner of nine hundred and sixty acres of valuable land, four hundred and sixty acres of which are in this county, the re mainder in Nebraska. He has also given considerable attention to the raising of fine stock, and this branch of his business he has found very profitable. He now makes his home in Emerson, where he owns a fine modern residence, and from that place directs his farming operations. Mr. Cheney is an exceptionally strong man, both1 morally and physically, of high principles, and has much latent force and determination. One cannot help but be favorably impressed with his strength of character even at the first meet ing, for he is a stanch, true and manly man. He affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and attends the Baptist church, of which his wife is an earnest member. Politically he BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 361 is a Democrat and a stanch advocate of its principles, being a particular admirer of Will iam . J. Bryan. For six years he was one of the three composing the board of super visors of Mills county, and was called upon numerous times to exercise his excellent business judgment in county affairs of great magnitude, including lawsuits where thou sands of dollars were involved. He is a man of much prominence in his community and is very popular and influential. CHARLES P. KINNEY. Charles P. Kinney, who, February 1, 1 90 1, retired from the office of county au ditor with a most creditable record as a trust worthy official and- is living in Glenwood, was born near Yellow Springs, in Greene county, Ohio, on the 27th of December, 1856. His paternal grandfather was John Kinney and he married Betsy Shaner, who died in 1823. After her demise he was again married, in the year 1825, his second union being with Margaret Brown. Both he and his second wife died in the year 1864. He was a farmer by occupation and was of German lineage. His son, Aaron Kinney, the father of our subject, was born March 2, 1821, in the state of Ohio, and throughout his entire business life carried on agricultural pursuits. He was identified with farming interests until 1889, when he retired to the town of Emerson, Iowa, where he spent his remaining days in quiet, passing away on the..25th of November, 1899. He was a very industrious man, honest and upright, and was held in the highest respect by all who knew him. His nature was quiet and unassuming and he preferred that others rather than himself should occupy positions of public prominence. He married Sarah Jane Foresman, who was born March 2, 1826, in Greene county, Ohio, a daughter of Hugh and Mary (Quinn) Foresman. Her parents resided at a point on the Sus quehanna river in Pennsylvania in their early married life, but later removed to Greene county, Ohio, where they died at a good old age. The marriage of Aaron Kinney and Sarah J. Foresman occurred on the 28th of March, 1849, and they became the parents of nine sons, seven of whom are yet living. The mother also survives her husband and resides in Enierson, Iowa. She possesses a strong Christian character, holding mem bership in the Presbyterian church, and has taken an active part in those matters which have had for their object the good of the community in which she has lived. She is of Irish lineage. Charles Phillip Kinney, whose name in troduces this record, attended the country schools until thirteen years of age and from that time until the age of sixteen pursued his studies only through the winter season. He was afterward a student in the private school under the supervision of Samuel Howe, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and during the winter of 1871-2 and for a short time in the year 1877 he was a student at Tabor (Iowa) College. To his training in the last two schools he owes much of what he has accomplished in life, for the discipline which he there received was such as to fit him for practical duties in the business world He remained on the home farm and as sisted his father in its operation until twen ty-three years of age,- when he engaged in buying and shipping grain at Imogene, with the firm of J. M. Strahan & Company, dur ing tbe fall, winter and spring of 1879-80. 362 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. He was afterward with the firm of Burr & Randolph at Strahan, Mills county, Iowa, in the same line of business from the fall of 1880 until the spring of 1882, when he entered into partnership with E. C. Kayton, at Strahan. They became dealers in grain, coal and farm implements and also con ducted a grocery store, their business rela tions being maintained from the autumn of 1882 until the spring of 1885. Mr. Kinney then resumed agricultural pursuits, con tinuing the operation of his farm until the fall of 1894, when he was elected the auditor of Mills county. He entered upon the duties of the office on the ist of January, 1895, and continued to serve in that capacity until the ist of February, 1901, when he retired, having the commendation of all concerned by reason of his unquestioned fidelity to duty. On the 20th of March, 1884, Mr. Kin ney was united in marriage to Miss May Augusta Shay, a daughter of Richard H. Shay, of Strahan, Iowa. Her great-grand father, David Shay, of New Jersey, was a soldier in the war of 181 2 and her paternal grandparents had nine sons and six daugh ters, of whom three of the sons served in the Civil war. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kinney has been blessed with four children : Everett C, Adina G., Clara M. and Harry Paul. Mr. and Mrs. Kinney hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is a valued representative of several fra ternal organizations, including the Independ ent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of Amer ica. Although reared in the Democratic faith, he has always been a Republican and is recognized as a most stalwart advocate of its principles and one of the leaders of the party in his community. Public-spirited and progressive,- he withholds his support from no movement or measure that has for its object the general good. Through all life's relations he has commanded the uniform re gard and confidence of his fellow men, and as one of the representative citizens of Mills county he well deserves honorable mention in this volume. W. C. DeLASHMUTT. This gentleman, who follows farming near Glenwood in Mills county, is numbered among Iowa's native sons, for his birth oc curred in Mahaska county, on the 3d of March, 1844, his parents being Peter Lind-. say and Esther (Hunt) DeLashmutt, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Illinois. The father was a farmer by occu pation and in 1838 he emigrated westward, taking up his abode in Burlington, Iowa, where he married Miss Hunt. They after-. ward removed to Jefferson county, this state, and about two years later went to Ma haska county, taking up their abode there in 1842. In 1849 Mr- De Lashmutt went to California and in 1859 to Colorado, but dur ing the greater part of the period between 1842 and I860 he was a resident of Ma haska county. In the latter year he came to Mills county, where he died on tlie nth of March, 1897, at the age of eighty-one years. With one exception W. C. DeLashmutt is the eldest of the family of nine childreny eight of whom are now living. He started out in life upon his own account in 1864, going to Montana, where he remained for almost a year, buying and selling cattle. He afterward engaged in freighting and between the years 1865 and 1867 visited Denver and MR. AND MRS. W. C. DE LASHMUTT BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 363 other points in the west. In 1868 he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Gilli- land, who died in September, 1885, at the age of thirty-five years. By this marriage there were five children, of whom four are living, viz. : Lulu M., now Mrs. C. E. Dean, living in Glenwood, Iowa; Jessie L., now the wife of Clarence Stone; William Lynn; and Er nest W. Ola is the name of the one who is deceased. In January, 1892, Mr. De Lash- mutt was united in marriage with Mrs. Nan nie B. Hess, who had had oiie daughter by her former marriage, namely, Mildred, now Mrs. W. M. Estes. Since his marriage Mr. De Lashmutt has carried on farming and stock-raising in Mills county, with the exception of the periods of his service in public office. In 1887 he was elected the sheriff of the county and served in that capacity for four years. In 1894 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners and was made its chairman. Having been county commissioner for six years, he retired from office in January, 1901. His public duties have been discharged with marked fidelity and promptness. He to-day owns seven hun dred and twenty acres of rich farming land in Mills county, and in connection with its cultivation he has been a very successful stock-raiser and feeder. Few men in Mills county have as many warm friends as the subject of this review. They are limited only by the circle of his acquaintance. Mr. De Lashmutt is a man of splendid character. If to love one's neighbor as one's self is the es sence of all true religion, then he comes very near the fulfillment of the law in perfect measure. He is not only just but is also kind and considerate, and his example is in deed worthy to be followed. 22 JAMES F. MARTIN. Occupying a prominent position in com mercial circles in Hastings is James F. Mar tin, the well known and popular proprietor of a dry-goods store at that place. He was born in New York, in 1845, and is a s,on of Fred and Naoma (Dunster) Martin. The father was a native of England and engaged in the cultivation of flowers as a life pur suit and died in Oneida county, New York, ac the age of seventy-six years. His wife, who also was born in England, in which! country they were married, has likewise de parted this life. In their family were two daughters, Mrs. Jane Harmon and Mrs. Esther Smith, both of whom are residents of Utica, New York. James F. Martin, their only son, was reared and educated in the Empire state. When nineteen years of age he responded to his country's call, enlisting in June, 1864, as a member of Company I, of the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh New York In fantry, at Waterville. He was mustered in at Utica under Captain Briggs and Colonel Brown. He joined his regiment at Baltii more, from whichplace the troops proceeded to Fort Pulaski, there spending the winter in guarding Rebel officers. Just before Charleston was captured they were ordered to that point and were on their way there when the city fell. On the next day they were placed in transports and taken to Georgetown, and1 after spending a month or two there proceeded to Florence, South Carolina. In the meantime Mr. Martin par ticipated in the battles of Sumterville, Bow- ington Mills, Cedar Creek and several minor engagements, and suffered innumerable hard ships, even wading waist deep through 364 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. tangled swamps. Humorous incidents, how ever, sometimes occurred to relieve the strain and to vary the monotony. When the war was ended and the country no longed needed his services he received an honorable dis charge, being mustered out at Syracuse, New York, in July, 1865. Returning to the Empire state Mr. Mar tin there continued to reside until 1873, when he came to Iowa and purchased land in Indian Creek township, Mills county. Here he turned his attention to farming and dur ing the winter months he was employed in stores in Glendale and Hastings, but with the return of spring he again assumed his agricultural labors. During this time he was employed by Mr. Heinsheimer, an ex tensive merchant of Glenwood. In 1876 he accepted a position in Hastings in a general store owned by E. P. Bosbyshell & Com pany, the store occupying the Location near where our subject now carries on business. Later Mr. Bosbyshell sold the store, Mr. Martin continuing with the successor for a year, and in 1893 he began business on his own account. He is now the proprietor of the largest and best equipped dry-goods establishment in the eastern half of Mills county, carrying an extensive stock suited to the demands of both town and country. By diligence, enterprise, honorable dealing and an earnest desire to please his customers he has secured a large patronage, which is con stantly increasing and which brings to him a very gratifying income. He is also the owner of his original farm, to which he has added until lie now owns two hundred and forty acres of rich land well improved. It is pleasantly situated a little to the north of east of Hastings and thereon are found substantial buildings and good grades of stock. Mr. Martin has been twice married. In the Empire state in 1877 he was joined in wedlock to Miss Hattie W. Springer. His present wife bore the maiden name of Hattie Birdsall. Their marriage was celebrated in 1895, in Mills county, and Mrs. Martin is a representative of one of the prominent families in this locality. Our subject now has two children, — Fred J. and Mabel. He and his wife hold membership in the Meth odist church in Hastings and take an active interest in its work and growth. In poli tics he has always been a Republican and has been honored with a number of local offices. He has served on the school board for several years and has been a member of the city council, being re-elected to that po sition in the spring of 1900. Fraternally he is identified with the Odd Fellows society. • He is a man of quiet disposition and modest demeanor who is enterprising and public- spirited. At the early age of nine years he started out in life on his own account, and his history illustrates in an excellent man ner what it is possible to accomplish when perseverance and determination form the keynote to a man's life. His record is one of which he may be justly proud. Success is not measured by the heights which one may chance to occupy, but by the distance between the starting point and the altitude he has reached ; therefore Mr. Martin has gained a most brilliant success, — a just re ward of meritorious, honorable effort which commands the respect and admiration of all. HARVEY W. SUMMERS. Harvey W. Summers is one of the most extensive landowners and successful farm ers of Mills county, and has justly earned the distinction of being what the public cells BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 365 a self-made man. He was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, on the 4th of July, 1826, his parents being- John and Emily (Wood- row) Summers. The father was a native of North Carolina and with his three broth ers and their mother went to Ohio at a very •early day, the father of our subject having day, the father of our subject having died died in North Carolina. The family is an old and prominent one of the south. After re siding in the Buckeye state for some time the Summers family removed to Illinois and there the mother of our subject died. After arriving at years of maturity John Sum mers married Emily Woodrow, a daughter of Richard Woodrow, who was of Irish lineage, the name being originally spelled Withrow. John Summers followed farm ing in Tazewell county, Illinois, and died in that state at the age of seventy-two years. His wife's death also occurred there. They were the parents of five children, of whom two are yet living, the brother of our sub ject being William G., who follows farm ing near Malvern, Iowa. Mr. Summers of this review was reared in the old family homestead in Tazewell county, Illinois, where he remained until twenty-nine years of age. He began his education in the old-time log schoolhouse, the school being conducted on the subscrip tion plan. At the age of twenty-four he left the old homestead and began life for himself. He was married on the 24th of February, 1850, to Miss Hannah F. Jen nings, who was born in Harvey county, Vir ginia, on the 2d of June, 1832, a daughter of William and Eliza (Dray) Jennings. Her father was a native of Ireland. His wife was born in Virginia and died in Illinois, whither the family removed at an early day. The grandmother of Mrs. Summers, Agnes Mansfield, was born in Virginia and died in Missouri. In September, 1854, Harvey W. Sum mers, accompanied by his brothers, James and Milton, came to Mills county, Iowa, and entered a large tract of land from the gov ernment, Mr. Summers of this review tak ing up his abode on section 4 in White Cloud township. Here he has resided for forty- five years. His first home was only sixteen by twenty-two feet, but he afterward made additions to it and the family resided therein until 1862, when he erected his present fine residence which now adjoins his farm. On the 24th of September, 1855, the family came with him to his new home. As the years passed he added to his property and now owns two thousand acres of the rich lands of Iowa and is numbered among the wealthy and enterprising agriculturists of this por tion of the state. About 1868 he began shipping stock and has since made it a part of his business, carrying on that enterprise quite extensively. He has raised, bought and sold large amounts of stock and has thus added materially to his income. He follows very progressive methods of farming, keeps his land in good condition through the rota tion of crops and has upon his place the latest improved machinery. Everything upon the farm is neat and thrifty in appear ance and indicates his careful supervision. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Summers haye been born five children, of whom three are yet living: Willard Leslie, who is married and has three children; Laura A., who is mar ried and has two children; and Edward L., who also is married and has two children; John died at the age of twenty-two years, being injured in the accident of the railroad 366 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. bridge at St. Charles, Missouri, going down under a stock train. He was rescued and lived only a few days; William C, the other member of the family, died when only eleven months old. In his political views Harvey W. Sum mers is a stanch Republican. He cast his first presidential vote_ for Zachary Taylor in 1848, and on the organization of the Republican party he joined its ranks and has since been one of its stalwart advocates. He holds membership in the Baptist church and has lived an upright, honorable life. For forty-six years he has been a resident of Mills county and is therefore numbered among its honored pioneers. He and his wife saw the first interment made in the cemetery at Malvern and his brother's wife was the second person to be ,Jaid at rest in that city of the dead. Great changes have occurred since the family came to Iowa, and in the work of progress and development Mr. Summers has ever borne his part, doing whatever he could to promote the material, educational and moral interests and welfare of the com munity. He has ever lived so as to win the respect and ' confidence of his fellow men, and all who know him esteem him for his sterling traits of character. B. P. REEVES. One of the intelligent, enterprising and progressive farmers of AVashington town ship, Fremont county, is B. P. Reeves, who has made his home in this locality since 1872. He was born in Howard county, Mis souri, near Fayette, October 8, 1857, and is a son of Colonel Benjamin Reeves, a leading and influential citizen of Fremont county, who has been actively identified with the interests here for twenty-eight years. He married Martha Patton, a lady of intelli gence and culture, whose people were long residents of Howard county, Missouri. B. P. Reeves is the eldest son of their family of five children. He was reared in Howard county, Missouri, until fifteen years of age, when he came with his parents to Fremont county, where he has since re mained. His youthful labors were practical, for he early became familiar with the work of field and meadow and was taught the value of industry and honesty in the affairs of life. He pursued his education both in Missouri and in this state. As a companion and helpmeet on life's journey he chose Miss .Cora Hatten, a daughter of J. R. Hatten, one of the well-known pioneer settlers of Fremont county, now living in Hamburg. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Reeves have been born two sons: Bruce H., who was born in June, 1887, and Myron, whose birth occurred in June, 1889. In 1898 Mr. Reeves purchased his pres ent farm in Washington township, compris ing one hundred and twenty acres of very productive land, and the fields yield to him a golden return for the care and labor he bestows upon them. His home is a pleasant one, and the outbuildings upon the place include a substantial barn, good sheds and cribs ; the rich pasture lands provide ex cellent feeding places for the stock through the summer and the fields give promise of abundant harvests, while the orchard yields its fruits in the season. Mr. Reeves carries on farming quite extensively, for in addi tion to his own land he cultivates a portion of the Carpenter farm. His political support is given to the Republican party and of its BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 367 principles he is a zealous and earnest ad vocate. He belongs to Hamburg Lodge, No. 217, K. of P., and to Hamburg Lodge, 187, I. O. O. F. His manner is genial and cordial and he enjoys the respect of all with whom he is associated. JOHN D. PADDOCK. John D. Paddock, who is now occupying the position of postmaster in Malvern, is one whose name is inseparably connected with the history of Mills county. He built the first house in Malvern and has been largely instrumental in promoting the growth, development and progress of the city. His influence in its public affairs can scarcely be estimated, but it has always been on the side of advancement along material, intellectual and moral lines. Mr. Paddock is a native of Steuben coun ty, New" York, born June 17, 1842, of the marriage of Captain John H. and Nancy (Armstrong) Paddock. The father was also a native of the Empire state and was a farmer by occupation. At the first call for troops to aid in crushing out the Re bellion in its infancy, he offered his services to the government and was made captain of Company I, of the Fifteenth Illinois In fantry, in which he served for one year. His father, Philip Paddock, was a na tive of New York and there spent his entire life; but Captain Paddock left New York for the west in the year 1844. Accom panied by his family, he journeyed to Mich igan and for a brief period resided near Adrian, in that state. In 1846 he took up his abode in McHenry county, Illinois, where he was living at the time of the inauguration , of hostilities between the north and the south. Thus it was that he became a member of an Illinois regiment. When his services at the front were con cluded he returned to his farm in McHenry county and throughout the period of his active business career he devoted his en ergies to agricultural pursuits. He is still living in McHenry county, one of the ven erable and respected citizens of the commu nity. In early manhood he married Miss Nancy Armstrong, also a native of New York, and a daughter of Andrew Armstrong, who was born on the green isle of Erin. She died in McHenry county, Illinois, at the age of thirty-four years, leaving four chil dren, all. of whom are yet living. John D. Paddock, whose name introduces this record, was but four years of age when his family became residents of Illinois. He remained under the parental rogi until his fourteenth year, when he started out in life for himself as a teacher, a profession which he followed for three years in Illinois. Aside from the educational advantages afforded by the common schools he had the privilege of continuing his own studies in the Elgin Seminary and in Bryant & Stratton's Com mercial College in Chicago, being graduated in the last named institution with the class of 1863. While in that school Mr. Paddock responded to his country's call. He was a cripple and twice offered his services to the government when he was not accepted, but in 1863 he joined Company F, of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Illinois Infan try, for one-hundred-days' service. The regiment was sent to Tennessee to relieve the regulars and remained at the front for six months, when he was mustered out on account of the expiration of his term of service. 368 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. On his return from the war Mr. Pad dock located in Chicago, as a bookkeeper, in the employ of the firm of Copples & Marsten, with whom he remained for six years. In August, 1869, he came to Mills county, Iowa, locating in the village of Mil ton, now known as Malvern. He purchased the lumber and erected the first building in the town. Under General Grant's admin istration he was made its first postmaster. In the first store erected he and his brother, Charles H. Paddock, opened a stock of gen eral merchandise and conducted the store together until 1895. When the express com pany established an office in Malvern Mr. Paddock was appointed its first agent. He became the first postmaster in January, 1870, and was reappointed by General Grant in 1874, serving until 1876, when he resigned. Once more he was appointed to the office, in 1898, by President McKinley, and is now the incumbent, discharging his duties in a manner highly satisfactory to all concerned. He is prompt, energetic, capable and re liable, and his business and political records are alike above reproach. Mr. Paddock was married on the ist of March, 1869, to Miss Helen McRae, a native of Woodstock, Mc Henry county, Illinois. They have no chil dren of their own, but have reared an adopted son, Charles S. Roe, who. was the son of the Rev. J. W. Roe, a former pastor, of the Baptist church in Malvern. Charles S. Roe on arriving at his majority married, but has lost his wife, who died leaving a little daugh ter. He is now traveling. Mr. Paddock and his wife are prominent members of the Baptist church, taking an active part in its work and doing all in their power for the advancement of the cause. He is now serving as a deacon, while his wife filles the position of church treas urer. Of the Masonic fraternity of Malvern he is a charter member, and also belongs to Milton Summers Post, No. 224, G. A. R. The cause of education finds in him a warm friend. He aided in organizing the school district, was its secretary and has done ca pable service as a member of the school board. No- movement for the public good- lias sought his aid and co-operation in vain. He belongs to- the class of representative American citizens who have the good of the county, state and nation at heart and whose patriotism is above question. BARD I. CAVENDER. We are now permitted to touch briefly upon the life history of one who has re tained a personal association with the affairs of Fremont county for some years, and is now efficiently serving as county recorder. He is a native of the Hoosier state, his birth having occurred in Dubois county, In diana, on the 15th of October, i860. He was reared upon a farm and at the age of fourteen years began earning his own live lihood by working for neighboring farmers by the day or month. His early education was obtained in the country schools near his boyhood home. On leaving the parental" roof at the age of twenty years, Mr. Cavender went to Page county, Iowa, where he taught school one term, and later followed the same profession in Taylor county, this state, and also in Mis souri and Nebraska. In March, 1884, he was married in Clarinda, Iowa, to Miss Florence Stotler, who was born in Tippe canoe county, Indiana, but was reared and educated in Page county, Iowa. In 1867 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 369 she came with her parents to Iowa, the family locating in Page county. Her father en gaged in farming, and is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Cavender have one child, Frank W., born in Imogene, this county. Mr. Cavender first became connected with commercial life as a clerk in a drug store in Missouri, where he became thor oughly familiar with the business, and later was similarly employed at Blanchard and Imogene, Iowa. At the latter place he con ducted a drug store of his own for five years, and on disposing of the same he engaged in clerking at Randolph, this county, until elected county recorder in 1896, So accept ably did he fill the office that he was re elected two years later, but has refused to become a candidate for a third term, it be ing his intention on retiring from office to remove to Hamburg, to become the editor of the Fremont Democrat. His duties have been faithfully and conscientiously performed, and he has proved a most popular official. In 1899 Mr. Cavender was chairman of the Democratic county committee, and has taken a. very active and prominent part in political affairs. He cast his first presiden tial vote for James G. Blaine, in 1884. For four years he served as justice of the peace in Monroe township, this county, and was twice the mayor of Randolph, being elected on a non-partisan ticket, without opposi tion, which fact plainly indicates his per sonal popularity and the confidence and trust reposed in him by his fellow citizens. For a time he was a member of the school board in Sidney, where he has made his home since serving as the county recorder. Socially he is a member of the orders, of Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and Freemasons of Sidney ; the chapter, R. A. M., at Riverton ; and the council at Hamburg. Religiously he is a member of the Baptist church, while his wife is a Presbyterian in religious belief. WILLIAM H. MORGAN. On the roster of the county officials of Mills county appears the name of AVilliam H. Morgan, who is filling the office of sheriff and is proving most competent and faithful in the discharge of his duty. Such an officer is a safeguard to the law-abiding citizens and is an object of terror to those not amenable to the rules which govern the conduct of man in his relations with his fellow men. Mr. Morgan is a native of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Johnson county, near Iowa City, on the ist of July, 1868, his parents being James and Jane Morgan. The father was born in Pennsylvania and came to this state in 1846. Subsequently he removed to Oxford, Nebraska, where he died at the age of sixty-four years. He was a physician and became the owner of considerable land, also had other investments and business interests. His wife died in Emerson, when the subject of this review- was five years of age, and he and his brother lived with an aunt until he was about sixteen years of age. His educational privileges were those afforded by the schools of Emer son, Mills county, but in the bioader school of experience he has learned many valuable lessons which have made him well qualified for the duties of citizenship and for the re sponsibilities of business life. At the age of seventeen Mr. Morgan started on an extensive tour of the west and was for some time in the mines on the Pacific coast. He was also employed on a farm in California. Later he returned to 37o BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Glenwood and secured a position as a farm hand with General Stone. While thus em ployed he assisted in planting the greater part of the large orchard on that celebrated farm and continued his service there until 1896. In that year he was made deputy sheriff under Hon. AA^. L. Tubbs, and served in that capacity until elected sheriff of the county in 1899. He has always been a Re publican since casting his first presidential vote for General Harrison, and it was on that ticket that he was chosen to the office. He has ever taken a deep interest in the political issues of the day and in the suc cess of his party, doing all in his power to promote its growth and secure the adop tion of its principles. He has long been rec ognized as an active leader in local politics. On the 25th of June, 1889, Mr. Mor gan was united in marriage to Miss Maude L. White, a daughter of Hon. R. C. White, the present postmaster of Glenwood. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan now have one son, Guy, who was born March 4, 1890, on the Gen eral Stone farm where our subject was work ing. Mr. Morgan is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge and is also a mem ber of the State and International Associa tions of Sheriffs. Iii the discharge of his duties he is entirely fearless and shows neither partiality nor favor. His reliability and promptness have won him the high commendation of the better class of citi zens of Mills county and he is justly num bered among her representative citizens. O. S. WING. Indians roamed over the prairies, game abounded in the forests and the wild land was in its primitive condition at the time Mr. Wing came to Fremont county. Forty- five years have since passed, and the changes which have occurred have made a trans formation seeming almost phenomenal, yet it has been accomplished through the self- sacrificing efforts of the pioneers who re claimed the wild land for the purposes of civilization, and through the work of later arrivals who have continued to develop and improve the country, — noble and brave men and women who cheerfully bore the hard ships and trials incident to pioneer life/ in order to secure good homes on the western prairies. Mr. Wing also bore his part in the -public progress and gave his support to all movements calculated to prove of general good. In his youth he was a Green Mountain boy, for his birth occurred near Montpelier, Vermont, on the 31st of October, 1833. In the same neighborhood lived the parents of Admiral George Dewey. The father of our subject was Sidney Wing, also a native of Vermont, and the grandfather was one of the early settlers of that state. Sidney Wing served as captain of the state militia, a rifle company, and was a man of promi nence in the community, exerting a strong influence in public affairs. He maJrried Miss Mary Brooks, also a native of Ver mont and a daughter of Lemuel Brooks, of Connecticut, and belonged to one of the old families of that state. Unto Captain Wing and his wife were born ten children, three of whom are yet living. He was a farmer by occupation and in his political belief was an ardent Whig. The family attended and1 held membership in the Congregational church, and wherever they were known they were held in high esteem for their many ex cellencies of character. The father died O. S. WING BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 37i in Vermont, at the age of fifty-five years, and the mother spent her last days in Iowa, . where she passed away at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Upon the old family farmstead in Ver mont, O. S. Wing was reared, and early be came familiar with the labors of field and meadow. He was taught the value of indus try and economy in the practical affairs of life and he was actuated by those precepts throughout his entire career. He pursued bis education at Montpelier, where he was a schoolmate of Admiral Dewey. Subsequent ly he served a four-years apprenticeship in the carpenter's and cabinet-maker's trades and became an excellent workman in those lines. The knowledge of those industries has been of much benefit to him in his later career, enabling him to keep everything about his place in excellent condition. In 1855 Mr. Wing emigrated westward, making his way by rail to Chicago, Illinois, and thence to Burlington, Iowa, where he purchased a team and traveled across the country to Fremont county. In Nebraska City, Nebraska, he worked at his trade for about two years and in the winter season conducted his wagon shop. The Indians roamed at large over this section of the country, having not then been re moved to the western reservation. Deer was so plentiful that a quarter of venison could be purchased for twenty-five cents. Subsequently Mr. Wing engaged in freight ing goods westward to government forts, to the mountains, to Denver and other west ern points. He owned the outfit which he employed and usually sold his teams and wagons in the west at the conclusion of the trip, and on returning home would again purchase teams and wagons and load them up for another journey. Freighting proved to him a profitable venture in those early days before the era of railroads, and after accumulating some capital, in the early '60s he purchased one hundred and sixty acres - of land. This was the nucleus of his pres ent fine farm. As the years have passed he has added to his property until he now owns two thousand acres in Fremont county and in Atchison county, Missouri, and also has good farms in Phillips county, Kansas, and a farm of over two hundred and seventy- five acres in Harlan county, Nebraska. His land is all well improved and the home place is a most desirable property. It is improved with a large, and attractive residence, in the rear of which stand good barns and outbuildings ; well kept fences di vide the place into fields of convenient size; there are large pasture lands, upon which stock of good grade feeds, equaling the blue-grass region of Kentucky; an orchard yields its fruits in season and the fine brick residence is surrounded by forest trees ; so that altogether this is one of the finest coun try seats in Fremont county. In addition to general farming Mr. Wing engages in the raising of stock and has found it a profitable source of income. In 1865 occurred the marriage of O. S. Wing and Catherine O'Neal, a representa tive of one of the honored pioneer families of Fremont county, and prior to their mar riage one of the successful and popular teach ers of this portion of the state. Her fa ther, Elliott O'Neal, was born in Virginia and married Ann Morgan, a sister of T. O. Morgan, a leading agriculturist of Fremont county. They had but two children, Mrs. Wing and John Thomas, the latter now de ceased. The parents both died in 1891 and 372 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. were buried in one grave, the father being seventy-eight years of age at the time of his demise, while the mother had reached the age of sixty-eight years, when she was called to her. final rest. They were people of the highest respectability, loved and esteemed by all who knew them. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Wing has been blessed with three children : Nettie, wife of George Lusby, of Madison township, Fremont county; Levi E. ; and John M., who is living in Harlan county, Nebraska. In his political views Mr. Wing is a Democrat, but has never sought or desired1 office. He was a delegate to the farmers' congress at Fort Worth, Texas, and has been a prominent factor in promoting the agricultural interests of the community. His success is indicated by the fact that although he began life empty-handed he is to-day one of the heaviest tax payers of the entire county. He holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has a high regard of his brethren of the fiaternity and the friendship of many of the best citizens of Fremont county. Im proving his opportunities and making the most of his advantages, he has advanced steadily step by step to a prominent posi tion in the financial world and at the same time has made an honorable record. CHRISTOPHER KEYSER. Christopher Keyser is living a retired life on his large farm on section thirty, in Benton township, Fremont county. He was born in Campbell county, West Virginia, February io, 1832. His father is an oc togenarian and is identified with agricultural pursuits in Sidney township, Fremont coun ty. ' Henry Keyser was reared to farm life in West Virginia until sixteen years of age, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Missouri in 1848, making the journey by way of the water route. In the family were six sons, and one daughter was born to them in Missouri. The father purchased a farm in that state and Christo pher continued to aid in its cultivation until he had attained his nineteenth year, when, in the fall of 1889. he left home and came to Iowa, one hundred miles north of his Missouri home. He worked by the month, hunted, fished and trapped, having become familiar with those lines of work in Vir ginia. He continued to reside in this locality with his uncles until his father sold his Mis-* souri property and removed to Fremont county, following his two sons, Christopher and his younger brother, Samuel, who had previously come to Iowa, but- the latter is now a resident of Kansas. Mr. Keyser, of this review, was married on the ioth of October, 1851, to Olivia L. Lambert, of Benton township, Fremont county, who was born in Kentucky, July 13, 1837, and was then fifteen years of age. Their union has been blessed with the fol lowing children, of whom nine are now liv ing: Elizabeth, wife of S. S. Orr, an ex tensive farmer of this locality; S. J., a farmer and business man of Percival, who is married and has eight children and has lost two; Abigail, who died at the age of thirteen' years ; Elvira, who became the wife of Paul Hineline and died leaving four chil dren ; Emma, who died at the age of eight een years; C. C, a farmer of Benton town ship, who is married ; Eddie, who is living on his farm in Benton township and has five children ; AAr. AV., who resides on a part of BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 373- his father's farm and is married and has one daughter; Emma, who died at the age of eighteen years; Louisa, wife of Ambrose Parkerson, a merchant of Percival, by whom she has one son; Hannah J., wife of Will iam Wood, of Benton township, and they have four children; Maggie, wife of Bert O'Connor, who operates a part of his fa ther's farm and by whom she has one son; and Freddie, who is at home unmarried and assists in the operation of the home farm and also carries on business in Per cival. Mr. Keyser is the owner of one thousand acres of the rich bottom land of Fremont county, worth not less than forty dollars per acre, and he keeps stock enough to con sume all of the products of the farm, car rying on that line of business on an extensive scale. He raises fine red polled cattle, hav ing a number of thoroughbreds. He also has good grades of horses, mules and jacks to the number of two hundred and has a valuable flock of Shropshire sheep. He has about five hundred acres planted to corn, yielding twenty thousand bushels, and this he feeds to his stock; He is a most enter prising, progressive . and practical farmer, and his business has brought to him very gratifying success. He was a man of great strength and endurance and has been active ly concerned in the control of his farm un til recent years, when rheumatism forced him to relegate the more arduous duties of farm life to others. In 1897 he erected his present large and commodious residence, which stands within twenty rods of the old home in which his marriage was celebrated. He is a Republican in politics and has been township trustee. His wife is a member of the Methodist church. They were the first white people married in the county, Rev. John Todd performing the ceremony. From. the period of early pioneer development they have been witnesses of the growth and progress of this portion of the state and have done all in their power to promote its advancement. As highly esteemed people and worthy early settlers they well deserve representation in this volume. LOUIS D. McMULLIN. A well known and highly esteemed cit izen of Indian Creek township, Mills coun ty, Iowa, is Louis D. McMullin, the sub ject of this review. He was born in 1830, in Ohio, but was reared in that part of Virginia now known as West Virginia, hav ing been taken there a child of seven years. He was a son of James and Mary (Vears) McMullin, the latter a daughter of Elisha. Vears, of German ancestry, but a native of Pennsylvania. Her birth was in Ohio and she died in Illinois. The paternal grand father was a native of Ireland who immi grated to this country and became a soldier in the Revolutionary war, dying in that. service. James McMullin was born in Ohio, but his death took place in AVest Virginia. The members of the family of Mr. and Mrs. McMullin were, — William; Minerva J., de ceased ; Mrs. Diantha Wagoner, living in California; James, who died in Ottumwa, Iowa; and our subject. In 1852 our subject left West Virginia with his mother and located in Henderson county, Illinois, where he engaged in farm ing and was a brick-mason and contractor from his twenty-second year until about six years ago, putting up many of the best brick buildings in this part of Iowa. He 374 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. and his partner built the first business house in Red Oak. He was a good workman, hav ing learned the trade in AArest Virginia, but farming seemed to be a more secure way ot existence and this business he adopted as his life work when he came to Mills coun- ty in 1866. He had seen a year's service in the army, having enlisted in Company G, Thirtieth Illinois Infantry, under Colonel Shedd, early in 1864, and this regiment was ordered to Nathville, where it was destined to be connected with some of the severest fighting of the year. Mr. McMullin took part in the destruction of Atlanta and all of the fighting in that vicinity, enduring many privations and bravely doing his duty to his country. He was mustered out in Springfield, in July, 1865, and the next year came to his present home in the great state of Iowa. Mr. McMullin has been very successful in his farming and now owns one hundred and twenty acres of some of the most pro ductive land in Mills county. His improve ments rank well with those of his neighbors and his residence offers every comfort of life to his interesting family. The marriage of our subject was to Miss\ Mary Catherine Davis, a daughter of James R. and Hannah (McCullough) Davis, of Scotch and Dutch ancestry. The children 0 this marriage are: Frank E., James Will iam, Harry C, deceased, Edwin S., .Mrs. Clara E. Pratt, Mrs. Mary J. Ruby, Mrs. Euphie H. Salmons, Mrs. Myrtle L. Silkett, Fannie A. and Mrs. Eldra Floy Young. The family life of Mr. and Mrs. McMullin: is a most pleasant one and all are connected with the Cumberland Presbyterian church where they are much esteemed. In politics Mr. McMullin is a Republi- y can, although he does not like any departure from the old principles of the party. . In the township he has been called upon to serve as school director for many years. His connection with the Masonic order dates back fifty years, making him one of the old est members in the county. The family is one of the most highly regarded in this sec tion, and Mr. McMullin is justly considered a representative man in Indian Creek town ship. WILLIAM T. DAVIS. While the disposition to do honor to those who have served well their race or nation is prevalent among all enlightened people and is of great value everywhere and under all forms of government, it is particu larly fostered in this country, where no man is born to public office or to public honor, or comes to either by inheritance, but where all men are equal before the law, where the race for distinction is ever on the road of public usefulness and is open to every one who choses to enter, however humble and obscure he may be, and where the advan tageous circumstances of family wealth count in the vast majority of cases for but little or nothing. That Mr. Davis has won honors and public recognition is due entire ly to his merit. He is familiarly known throughout the county as "Our Bill," a term which indicates the warm place he holds in the affection of the people. He was born in Mount Pleasant, Indiana, May 14, 185 1, and is a son of Harrison Davis, who was a native of Ohio and was of English and Welsh Lineage. The grand father of our subject was born in the east, but, emigrating to Ohio, he there reared his WILLIAM T. DAVIS BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 375 family. Harrison Davis spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the state of his nativity, and after arriving at years of ma turity lie wedded Lovina Dawson, who be longed to a good family of that locality. Emigrating westward, they took up their abode in Atchison county, Missouri, on the state line separating Fremont county from Missouri. In that locality the father passed away. The mother, who was a member ot the Methodist Episcopal church, has also passed away. At the death of her first hus band she was left with the care of six chil dren. In i860 she again married and re moved to Saunders county, Nebraska, where she died in 1863. William T. Davis was a Lad of only twelve summers when thus left an orphan, without means of support. He immediately began to earn his own living by herding cattle on the 'prairies and driving teams across the plains. His youth was a period of hardships and trials, but "it developed the elemental strength of his character; and the self-reliance and independence which he then manifested has been of great importance in his business career in later life. In 1866 he came to Hamburg, Fremont county, and has since been an active factor in business affairs and in the material development of this sec tion of the state. When he was but four teen years of age he suffered an attack of sciatic rheumatism, which left him a cripple for life. When he was again able to work, his stock in trade consisted of a saw and buck; but he possessed a hopeful heart, a cheerful disposition and willing hands, and those served as a foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of a successful career. He engaged in sawing wood, and received in exchange for his labors books, clothes and other necessaries. He engaged in doing chores for his board and attended school. He thus managed to obtain a liberal common-school education, to. which he has added as the years have passed, augmenting his knowledge by practical experience. He possesses an observing eye, a retentive mem ory and reading and observation have there fore largely increased his learning. He is indeed a self-made man in the highest and best sense of the term. He has won his lau rels alone and unaided, under adverse cir cumstances which would utterly have dis heartened many a man of less resolute spir^ it. With characteristic energy, however, he has worked his way steadily upward, and is a well-known factor in business circles and in public and political life. Making judi cious investments of his capital in real es tate, he has become the owner of valuable farming land and other realty. He has a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres, which is well improved with a good house, barns, sheds, cribs and all the latest improved machinery. There are good feed lots, rich pastures and highly cultivated fields, in which wheat, corn and other cereals are raised. Stock of good grades is found in the pastures and everything about the place indicates the supervision and direction of a progressive and wide-awake owner. He directs the work of the farm from his town residence, a telephone line connecting his Hamburg home with the farm house. He makes a specialty of Aberdeen Angus cat tle or black polled, as they are often called. For twenty-seven years the home of Mr. Davis has been presided over by the lady whom, in 1873, he made his wife. She was Miss Elizabeth Jane Tarr, of Fremont coun ty. They have an adopted daughter, Ger- 376 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. trude. Mr. Davis began his political ca reer as a member of the city council of Ham burg, where he displayed such ability in the control of municipal matters that he was called to the school board, and the educa tional facilities of the city have been greatly advanced through his efforts. He served the county for two successive terms as sher iff, being elected by the highest majority ever given a candidate on the ticket, and he was one of the most capable and efficient officers that ever served in the position. He refused a third term, and on his retirement from office he became connected with the clothing trade. For the past six years he has conducted in Hamburg one of the larg est clothing houses in southwestern Iowa. At the same time he has maintained an act ive interest in politics, and on the death ot Hon. E. W. Curry he was elected his suc cessor, as a member of the Democratic state central committee. In 1897 he was elect ed to represent his district in the legisla ture at Des Moines, and was re-elected in 1899. He has been a life-long member of the Democratic party and has a personal ac quaintance with William Jennings Bryan, of whom he is an ardent admirer. In 1900 he served as a delegate to the National Demo cratic Convention in Kansas City and aid ed in nominating Mr. Bryan for the presi dency. He was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church and both he and his wife holds membership in the church of that denomination in Hamburg. He takes an active interest in its work and is very charitable, withholding not the hand of aid from any needy person. Many have reason to bless him for assistance during the Thanksgiving or the Christmas season, but his benefactions are entirely unostentatious. He is an exemplary member of the Odd Fel lows lodge in Hamburg and has for two years represented Fremont county in the grand lodge. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity. Mr. Davis is a fine specimen of man hood, being six feet, two and a quarter in ches in height and weighing two hundred and fifty pounds. He is straight and erect, having a military appearance, and he never fails to attract attention in any assemblage. He is indeed one of the county's most popu lar men, having a wide acquaintance and be ing held in the highest esteem by all who know him. He always has a hearty greet ing and cordial handshake for those he meets, is frank and approachable and takes keen delight in pleasant companionship. CHARLES E. BRUEN. A prominent capitalist and agriculturist of Mills county, Iowa, is Charles E. Bruen, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Henderson county, Illinois, September 1, 1858, and was a son of John and Sarah (Sharpless) Bruen. The father died at Mon mouth, Illinois, in 1886, at the age of fifty- eight years, and the mother died in Illinois, near Gladstone, in 1865. Mr. Bruen attend ed the public schools at Monmouth, the academy for five years and Monmouth Col lege two years, this being supplemented by one year at a business college in Pough- keepsie, New York. The first business venture of our subject was when he engaged in farming in Mills county for two years on rented land, later bought fourteen hundred acres; and also owns, near Oakland, four hundred and forty acres and also has a large ranch in Ne- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 177 braska, which is devoted exclusively to the raising of stock, the land in Nebraska amounting to nine thousand acres. Mr. Bruen was married January 8, 1884, to Miss Nancy A. James, a daughter ot James and Margaret (Lewis) James, natives of Wales, who came to the United States about 1865, locating first in Utica county, New York. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bruen are, — Edna M., Lucille and Marjorie. In politics our subject is now a stanch Republican and has been, since 1896. He cast his first vote for General Hancock. He has too busy a life to fill any office, but he is a politician from principle, believing that every man should do his duty at the polls. The family connection is with the Baptist ¦church, while he is socially a member of the Elks and Modern Woodmen, in both of these organizations being esteemed highly. Mr. Bruen has taken an active interest in the development of Mills county, always assist ing in those measures which he could see would be of benefit. F. LOVELAND. The subject of this brief sketch is en gaged in the clothing business at Sidney, Fremont county. At all times since he has attained the age of accountability he has la bored earnestly and effectively to promote the welfare of his community, and no trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed. He has always resided in Fremont county, where he was born on the 27th of October, 1867, a son of Darwin Loveland, who was probably born about 1834, and married Miss Adelia Cowles. At his parental home Mr. Loveland of this review spent the days of his childhood, being carefully reared, and upon his young mind were impressed lessons of industry and honesty which have colored his later career. He is indebted to the public-school system of Hamburg for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. Entering upon his busi ness career he became connected with mer cantile interests in Hamburg, and for four teen years was in a dry-goods store in that place. In 1898 he was elected to the office of county clerk of Fremont county for two years and filled the position so capably that in 1900 he was again made a candidate of the Republican party. On the 2d of September, 1891, in Ham burg, Mr. Loveland was united in marriage to Miss Madge A. Burkholder, and they have had two sons, — Gilbert F. and Harry G. Mrs. Loveland pursued her education in Hamburg and afterward engaged in teach ing in that town and in Sidney, successfully following that profession for a number ot years. She is a lady of superior education and culture and exerts a strong influence in social circles. In his fraternal relations Mr. Loveland is a Knight of Pythias. He has a large circle of acquaintances in his native county, and that many of his warmest friends are numbered among those who have known him from boyhood is an indication of his 'upright career. H. C. DYE. Numbered among the prominent busi ness men of Tabor, H. C. Dye is now occu pying the responsible position of cashier in the State Bank. He has spent his entire life in this portion of Iowa, his birth hav ing occurred near Glenwood, in Mills coun ty, on the 19th of November, 1868. His 378 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. parents, Sylvester and Mary Jane (Lin- velle) Dye, were residents of Pottawattamie county, Iowa, where the father is still liv ing. The paternal grandfather of our sub ject was Henry Dye, a native of Ohio, who removed to Lee county, Iowa, where he fol lowed farming for a number of years, his death there occurring in 1899, when he was eighty-two years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Michelwait, was a native of England. The maternal grandfather of our subject was George H. Linvelle, a native of Tennessee. He mar ried Sarah Burris, who was born in Mary- ville, Missouri, and was a representative of a long-lived race. Mr. Linvelle carried on agricultural pursuits as a means of liveli hood and died in 1899, at the age of seventy- eight years, while his wife passed away in 1888, at the age of seventy- four years. Sylvester Dye was born in Lee county, this state, and was engaged in farming until 1 88 1, when he turned his attention to mer chandising, carrying on business in Mace donia. His wife passed away December 28, 1887. At the time of the Civil war the Dye family was represented among the loyal defenders of the Union by the father of our subject, who enlisted at Fort Madison as a member of Company E, of the Nine teenth Iowa Infantry. He spent much of the time in Texas, being always found at his post of duty, ably defending the 6l,d flag and the cause it represented. H. C. Dye, whose name forms the caption of this review, attended the common schools in his early life, there becoming familiar with the branches of English usually taught in such institutions. He afterward spent three years and three months as a student in Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa, and when twenty-one years of age he started out in life on his own account and has since depended entirely upon his own efforts. For two years he was a clerk in the treasurer's office at Council Bluffs, and also filled the office of deputy treasurer there for four years. In 1896 he came to Tabor and assumed the duties of cashier of the State Bank, in which position he has since remained. He is well qualified for the position which he ably fills, being a popular officer, for his genial manner and obliging disposition, as well as his busi ness qualifications, have made him a valued representative of the institution with which he has now been connected for four years. He is also treasurer of the Tabor & North ern Railroad Company and is treasurer of the Tabor College. In December, 1894, Mr. Dye was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Grass, a daugh ter of Frank and Mary (Covalt) Grass, who were natives of Canada and Virginia, re spectively, the former born near Montreal, and are now living in Council Bluffs. Mr. and Mrs. Dye have two children, a son and a daughter. Socially he is connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Council Bluffs, and the Knights of Pythias lodge, of Tabor. In politics he is a Democrat and in religious belief is a Con gregationalism holding membership with the church in Tabor. He possesses the true western spirit of progress and enterprise, and belongs to that class of citizens who, while promoting their individual success, also con tribute to the general welfare. E. GILLILLAND. A prominent and substantial farmer of Mills county, Iowa, now living a comfort able retired life, is E. Gillilland, the subject E. GILLILLAND BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 379 of this sketch. He was born in Barren county, Kentucky, May 6, 1814, and was a son of John and Sarah (McCurry) Gillil land, both of whom were natives of David son county, North Carolina. John Gillil land removed to Indiana at an early age and is still remembered in his part of the state as an athlete and brave and successful hunter. At the time of his settlement in Indiana the country was yet a wilderness, peopled with Indians and filled with wild beasts, and his life was one of adventure, it often being imperiled'. Our subject can relate many thrilling incidents in his father's career, up on several occasions the killing of Indians being necessary for self-protection. His physical strength and stature were beyond what was possessed by the majority of men and our subject has inherited a great many of his father's characteristics. One of the most important events in the life of our subject and one that deserves prominence in a sketch of his life, was his marriage to Miss Fanny Wright, February 15, 1835. These worthy people were reared in the same neighborhood, and have passed more than sixty-six years together as man and wife. In 1857 Mr. Gillilland built the present comfortable residence and here the most of their lives have been passed. Of a family of nine children born to them, five survive, these being, — Reuben, a resident of Idaho; Amanda, a resident of Iowa; Anna, a resident of Gray's Harbor, Wash ington; Shirley, an attorney, a resident of Glenwood, Iowa; and Emma, a resident of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Sarah Ann, Lemuel, Cyrena and John W. are deceased. Our subject owns a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres of land, which is exceedingly productive, having been brought to an ex- 23 cellent state of cultivation. He has been an industrious man all his life, beginning his agricultural labors hoeing corn in Indiana, when but eight years of age. He has served his fellow citizens upon the county board for several years, but has never aspired to office. He has been a consistent member of the Methodist church for many years, where he is beloved and valued. Eighty-seven years have passed over the honored head of our subject, leaving him a fine example of temperate, upright living", he never having been addicted to either drink or tobacco in any form. He retains his eyesight and is able to thread a needle and sight a gun as well as he did ai youth. His sweet-faced companion has also borne her years well, be ing active and healthy, although also ad vanced along the path of life. If the friends and well-wishers of this admirable couple could be gathered together, it would be one of the largest congregations ever assembled iu Mills county, so universal is the feeling of esteem. FRANCIS M. BUFFINGTON. Since 1854 this gentleman has been a resident of Mills county and has therefore witnessed the greater part of its development from the period when its wild lands were still in their primitive condition, many acres being yet in the possession of the govern ment. There came to the west men and women of strong purpose to claim the rich gifts of nature and to aid in laying the foundation for the present advancement in Mills and other counties of the great west ern empire. The parents of our subject were among the number that came, with their 38o BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. families forty-six years ago and throughout the intervening period Francis M. Buffing- ton has been a representative of the agri cultural class. Splendid success has been achieved by him and to-day he is the owner of one thousand acres of valuable land. He was born March 12, 1835, m Meigs county, Ohio, a son of Hezekiah and Eliza beth (Barringer) Buffington. The family is of English lineage and was founded in America by three brothers, who located in Virginia, one of whom was the great-grand father of our subject. The grandfather was born in the Old Dominion and married a lady who was a native of Maryland. Heze kiah Buffington, the father, was born in Ohio and in 1837 removed from the Buck eye state to Adams county, Illinois, where he remained until 1854, when he came to Mills county, Iowa, here spending his re maining days. His death occurred in 1864. His wife was a native of Pennsylvania and died in 1897. Francins M. Buffington was the fourth in order of birth in their family of ten chil dren, seven of whom are yet living. He was but two years of age when his parents left Ohio and was about twenty years of age when they came to Iowa. After arriving at years of maturity he was married, on the- 16th of May, 1861, to Miss Sarah Byers, a daughter of William and Nancy Byers, na tives of Ohio, whence they came to Mills county in 1856. Six children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Buffington, but only two are now living: Carrie, the wife of Oliver Hammers, a resident of Center town ship, Mills county; and Effie, the wife of Richard Jackson, of Oak township, Mills county. Those who have passed1 away are John, who died in February, 1898, at the age of thirty-two; Jennie E., Francis M. and Clark. Mr. Buffington is to-day the owner of one thousand acres of land in Center and. Oak townships, and also has other town property and other interests, owning forty shares in the Mills County Bank. Industry and careful management have been the salient points in his career and he has won his success along the lines of the old-time trite maxims : "Honesty is the best policy," and, "There is no excellence without labor." He votes with the Republican party and is a public-spirited and progressive citizen and gives hearty support and co-operation to all movements which he believes will prove of public benefit. ALBERT J. MUNSINGER. Albert J. Munsinger is numbered among the native sons of Mills county, his birth hav ing occurred near the city of Tabor, Iowa, on the 4th of May, 1861. His parents, Jo seph and Martha (Stany) Munsinger, were both natives of Ohio, but in the year 1852 they emigrated westward, taking up their abode in Tabor, where they have since re sided. Under the parental roof their son Albert J. spent the days of his childhood, and the common schools of Tabor afford ed him his early educational privileges. He was graduated in the high school at the age of eiyhteen years and then entered the sci entific course in Tabor College, where he was graduated in the class of 1885. After leaving that institution he engaged in teach ing for two years, being employed in that way at Strahan and on the Missouri bot toms. He now devotes his energies to agri cultural pursuits, having followed farming BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 38i since 1887, and since September, 1900, has been in the clothing and furnishing goods business in Tabor. On the 24th of March, 1897, Mr. Mun singer was united in marriage to Miss Cora Shell, and they now have three children, Blake and the -twins, Clyde and Hazel. They hold membership in the Congrega tional church, and in his political views Mr. Munsinger in a Republican. He takes an active interest in the work of the county and has been honored with offices, holding every township position except that of trus tee. He was assessor for four years, was justice of the peace for four years and was township clerk for two years, and in these -offices discharged his duties with promptness and fidelity that won him the commendation of all concerned. JAMES J. McCOY. Almost every state in the Union has senr some of its sons to Iowa, and the character istics of the different sections of the coun try have combined here in forming a spirit of enterprise and progress that has builded up a commonwealth of large proportions, while the work that it has accomplished has excited the admiration of the nation. Mr. McCoy is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in the Keystone state, in 1854. His father, Robert McCoy, spent his early life in the east and was there mar ried to Miss Phcebe Anne Jester, a native of Pennsylvania, in which state their mar riage was celebrated. Five children were born of their marriage, namely: J. E. and W. E., who are residents of Mills county; Emma and Sarah who are at home with -their father; and James J., of this review. The year 1856 witnessed the arrival of the fam ily in Iowa, and the father bought the land upon which he now resides. It was then a wild tract on which not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made, but to-day it is a fine and valuable farm, pleasantly lo cated about one mile east of Glenwood. There the father is still living and is one of the highly respected and honored pioneers of the community. He had one brother, James McCoy, who was a gallant soldier in the Civil war. He enlisted in Pennsyl vania and participated in the battle of Gettysburg, the most hotly contested and memorable engagement of the war. Mr. McCoy, whose name introduces this review, was only two years of age when brought by his father to Iowa, and in the dis trict schools near his home he was educated. Upon a farm he was reared, early taking his place in the fields behind the plow. Prac tical experience thus fitted him for carrying ' on agricultural pursuits on his own account and to-day he owns, occupies and cultivates a farm three miles southwest of Hillsville. Mr. McCoy was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Schappell, who was born in New York state, a daughter of Andrew Schappell, who was born in Germany and from the fatherland crossed the Atlantic to New York, and is still living, his home be ing in Glenwood, Iowa. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Christina Slomp, is now deceased. She, too, was born in Germany, her birthplace being in the northern por tion of the country. Andrew Schappell first opened his eyes to the light of day in Worms, one of the most historic places in the father land, prominent on account of the Reforma tion which was there inaugurated by Martin Luther, "who gave to the world its Protestant 382 BIOGRAPHIC AL HISTORY. religion. Mr. Schappell had two brothers who were soldiers in Blucher's army and were both killed at the battle of Waterloo. Unto the marriage of Mr. aud Mrs. McCoy have been born five children : Maggie, now the wife of Lucas Reasner, a member of a very prominent family of Mills county; Mrs. Annie Wiles, whose husband is a representa tive of one of the old families of that lo cality; Nellie, Rhoda and Jennie, who are intelligent and ambitious girls, in whose edu cation the parents take a deep interest, being- determined that good advantages in that di rection shall fit them for life in later years. In his political affiliations Mr. McCoy is a Democrat and holds membership with the Odd Fellows' lodge of Hillsville. His wife belongs to the Baptist church, attend ing the services of that denomination in Glenwood. Mr. and Mrs. McCoy occupy a pleasant home and he devotes his time and attention to farming, being a worthy rep resentative of the agricultural interests of Mills county. ROBERT J. BRADLEY. One of the most energetic and enter prising men of Percival is Robert J. Brad ley, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, Tuly 31, 1829. His father, Edward Bradley, was a native of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, born in 1781, and prior to 1825 he crossed the Atlantic to America, locating _ in New Brunswick, in the British possessions there. Prior to the great fire he had taken up his abode in the new world and was an eye witness of the awful conflagration of 1825, known as the great Marimichi fire, which originated in the forest and was appalling in its destructiveness. Soon afterward Mr. Bradley removed with his wife to Boston. He was married to Miss Sarah Newton, of Guisboro, Nova Scotia, whose father served as an artilleryman under King George and was stationed at Quebec during the war of the Revolution but subsequentlv removed to Guisboro. He was commander of one of the vessels at the time of the capture of Quebec. The father of our subject was a man of high scholarly attainments. He had ac quired a collegiate education in Edinburgh, had prepared for the ministry, preaching the gospel in the Presbyterian church, and was also a life-long teacher, and through a long and active career he devoted his en ergies toward the improvement of the in tellectual and moral condition of the people among whom he lived. After residing in the United States for some time he returned to New Brunswick, where he died in 1841, having survived his wife a number of years, her death occurring in 1834. She left six children, three sons and three daughters : Louisa, who became the wife of Neil Mc- Nutt, died in the fall of 1899, at the age of seventy-four, leaving one son and two grandchildren; Maria A. is the widow of Robert Barbour, of New Brunswick, and ten of her thirteen children are still living; Robert J. is the third of the family ; AArilliam H. died in St. Stephens, New Brunswick, at the age of twenty-nine years; Gilbert S. died in New Brunswick, at the age of twen ty-eight; and Sarah became Mrs. Goodwin, of New Brunswick, and now has six chil dren. Robert J. Bradley, whose name intro duces this record, lost his mother when he was five years of age. He did not live at home until he was ten years of age, after BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 383 which he spent one year with his family. On the expiration of that period he secured a position as an errand boy in the town of Bathurst, New Brunswick, receiving two dollars per month in compensation for his services, through a period of eight months. At the age of seventeen he apprenticed him self to learn the tanner's and currier's trade in New Brunswick, serving for a term of four years, during which time he received ten dollars per month. He subsequently worked as a journeyman currier for three years, and at the age of twenty-four he ac cepted a position as finisher of morocco in Providence, Rhode Island, where he re mained for two years. -Subsequently he en gaged in the daguerreotype business, hav ing a photographic car on wheels. In this way he traveled through Rhode Island and Connecticut, and at Willimantic he sold the enterprise preparatory to going to the west. At the age of twenty-eight years he made his way to Detroit, Michigan, where he pur chased an ambrotype outfit and with this traveled through the Wolverine state. Iu 1859 he located his art gallery in Coldwater, Michigan, where he carried on business un til 1861.- In that year Mr. Bradley put aside ali personal interests and responded to Presi dent Lincoln's call for troops, enlisting as a member of Company A, of the First Mich igan Battery of Light Artillery. He re mained in the service for two years and was mustered out as third sergeant. In 1863 he returned to Coldwater, where for a year he remained as a convalescent, it requiring that time for him to recover from his army experiences. In March, 1864, Mr. Bradley went to Salt Lake, where he followed the currier's trade until December, 1864, and then made his way to Omaha, Nebraska, where he entered the service of the Creigh- tons as a teamster on the plains, for the United States government, driving a four- mule team to Laramie and Kearney. This work he continued until May, 1866, receiv ing thirty-five dollars per month and his ex penses. He was next engaged in the con struction of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Burlington Railroad, driving a team until the winter of 1866-7, which he spent in Eureka, Iowa. He afterward worked on the rail road for two seasons and in 1869 he re moved to Benton township, becoming one of the pioneer settlers of this locality. He began farming as a tenant, but afterward purchased eight lots and erected a house in 1872. In the flood of 1881 he suffered a heavy loss occasioned by the water and, like many others, he went to Kansas, where he engaged in: railroad building. On again coming to Iowa Mr. Bradley located in Percival and opened a little stock of groceries in his present store. His trade grew and he enlarged his facilities to meet the growing demand. He sold all of his town lots with the exception of the one upon which stands his store building. Here lie is successfully carrying on business, his well directed efforts bringing to him a good re turn. In March, 1900, his niece, Mrs. Sarah Peterson, and her son, a lad of fourteen years, came to Percival to keep house for Mr. Bradley and are now living with him. In his political views- he is a stalwart. Re publican and has served as road supervisor and constable. He was reared a Scotch Presbyterian, but does not hold member ship in the church. Socially he is a Master Mason. His has been a somewhat varied experience and now he is successfully en- 384 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. gaged in the conduct of a mercantile busi ness in Percival, where he is widely and fa vorably known. FREDERICK CRABB. A prominent, well-known and enterpris ing farmer and stock-raiser of Fremont county, Iowa, is Frederick Crabb, the sub ject of this sketch. He is a southerner by birth, both he and his father, George Crabb, having been born in Maryland, the former in 1837. The mother of our subject, Mary (Reck) Crabb, was born in Pennsylvania of Dutch ancestry, and died in Maryland, where she married and passed the greater portion of her life. George Crabb was well and favorably known in his locality and was a distinguished soldier in the war of 1812, holding the position of captain at the close of the war. In 1867 our subject moved to eastern Iowa but located in Sidney in 1872, where he became the popular and genial host of the Cromwell House, then the leading hotel in the town, remaining in that connection until eleven years ago, since' which time he has been settled upon a fine farm a short distance northwest of Sidney. - The marriage of our subject was cele brated in 1869, when he wedded Miss Mar garet Van Scyoc, a native of Pennsylvania. She was a daughter of John and Julia (Winters) Scyoc, the former of whom died four years ago, in Sidney ; the latter, who was born in Maryland, also passed her last years in this place. Isaac Scyoc, a brother of Mrs. Crabb, was a soldier in the Union army and served gallantly during the Civil war. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Crabb; Birdie, a charming young- lady, a graduate of the Sidney high school ; and John, an educated1 and enterprising young man who displays traits of character which promise success for him in the fu ture. In politics our subject is an advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, be lieving them to be the best for the country. With 'his estimable wife he is a regular at tendant at the Methodist church of Sidney, where he is most highly regarded. CHARLES MUNSINGER. We are now permitted to touch briefly upon the life history of one who has re tained a personal association with the affairs of the state of Iowa for a number of years, whose connection therewith covers much of the period of development and progress of Mills county. His life has been one of in terest and earnest endeavor and due success has not been denied him. He has reached the venerable age of eighty years but time rests lightly upon him, and though eight decades have passed since first his eyes opened to the light of day, he is still hale and hearty, a type of the active old age, which, like fruit, grows better as time passes. Mr. Munsinger is a native of Muhl- bach, Germany, bom December 17, 1820, his parents being Chris and Eve (Kirk) Munsinger. The father was a wealthy farm er and came to America in 1824, locating first in New York, whence he removed to Lorain county, Ohio. There he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, but was deceived in the property, as he found in the following spring that the land was en tirely covered with water and was worthless for farming purposes. He had made a small BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 3B5 payment on the place, but concluded to abandon it His next venture in the pur chase of a farm was also rather unfortunate, as he found soon after the contract had been made that there was a mortgage of five hun dred dollars against the place. He then went to work in a ship-yard and made enough money to clear off the indebtedness, after which he sold the property and bought a farm in the southern part of Lorain coun ty. Some time later he made a trip to Ger many for the purpose of looking after a dowry interest in the estate. Returning to America, the family accompanied him on his removal to Mills county, Iowa. Here the parents spent their remaining days, the fa ther dying at the age of sixty-two years, the mother in April, 1878, when eighty-nine years of age. On coming to Iowa with the family, Charles Munsinger took up his abode upon the farm which he has since occupied. He was married on the 23d of October, 1849, to Miss Electa Northrop, a daughter of John Wesley and Almira (Knight) Northrop, na. tives of New York. Throughout the period of his active business career Mr. Munsinger has been continuously engaged in agricult ural pursuits, and his life has been one of in dustry and usefulness. He started out for himself with very limited " capital, but has prospered in his undertakings, his unflag ging perseverance and energy enabling him to continually add to his capital. He has met with two very serious accidents on the farm which have disabled him to a consid erable extent, but at the age of eighty years he is still active and aside from his farm ing operations he represents five different insurance companies, among which are the North British, the Continental and the "Hart ford. His life shows forth the power of in dustry in gaining success, and his example should serve as a source of encouragement to others. Since becoming an American citi zen he has always voted the Republican tick et, supporting each presidential nominee of the party. He is a member of the Congre gational church, and Christian principles have permeated his life, making his career an honorable one which has gained for him the unqualified regard of his fellow men. AMAZON BADHAM. The subject of the present sketch, Ama zon Badham, bears a well-known and much respected name, as he was the son of one of the pioneers of the state, one of the first settlers of Mills county. Amazon Badham was born on the farm which he now owns, January 22, 1853, and was the son of Sam uel Badham, who was born in Hereford shire, England, in 181 5. He married Mary Bishop before leaving England to try his fortune across the ocean. After a long and tiresome trip in a sailing vessel the little En glish family reached the promised land, and soon located in Hancock county, Illinois; Here they remained for three years, when re moval was made into the wilds of Iowa, the home selected being at Trader's Point, on a stream of water. The only neighbor in the section was a man by the name of Wat- son, who had located in Pottawattamie county. Privations were expected and brave ly endured; but when Mr. Samuel Badham died, May 20, 1868, his wild prairie farm had become a valuable piece of property, worth twenty-five dollars an acre, and he also possessed a thousand dollars' worth of other property. All this had been accu- 386 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. initiated by the time he was fifty-three years old, giving one a sure basis upon which to estimate his character. He was energetic, persevering and laborious ; was a man of judgment, having been long in the offices of school and township, and a veteran of the Mexican war, his wife receiving a pension for the same, he having served fifteen months. Mr. Badham voted the Republican ticket and took a vital interest in the affairs of the nation. In religious life he was a mem ber of Latter Day Saints church. Before leaving Illinois his wife died, and about 1845 he married Mary Richards, the mother of Amazon Badham and a native of Highand county, Ohio, and they had a number of children, viz.: Milvern, an infant; Frances, who became the wife of AVilliam Gaylord and died at Shenandoah, Iowa, leaving two children; our subject; Violet, who became the wife of AArilliam James and died at Pleasant Hill, Missouri, January, 1877, leaving three children ; Juan, who died at the age of two years ; and Mary, who married Charles AA'ilson and died in western Nebras ka, leaving two children. The mother of our subject died April 2, 1898, at the age of seventy-seven, lamented by all with' whom she had been associated. Although the parents of Mr. Amazon Badham were obliged to endure many hard ships, they succeeded in giving him a very- fair education, which he put to practical use, teaching a short time both before and after marriage. On May 30, 1875, he led to the altar Miss Melvina Peck, of Glenwood, a daughter of Hezekiah and Jemima (Smoot) Peck, and seven children have been born to them, whose intelligence and superior at tractions naturally cause a pardonable pride. Mable Mercy is the wife of Archie Ander son, at Macedonia, Iowa, and has one son, Paul ; Clara Alice is the wife of Joseph Rob erts, at Tabor, Iowa, and has one daughter, Christine; Luella, who died at the age of six; Edith Grace;- Ella Delphine; Myrpn Verne; and George AValter, a lad of eight years ; and last but by no means least, the pet of the family, Melvina Gail, just seven months old when she was taken away by- death. Mr. Badham has one hundred and twen ty acres in his farm, upon which he carries on extensive operations, making corn his greatest crop, as he finds that cereal pays him best. He also has from sixty to eighty head of Poland China hogs, and of high- grade cattle from sixteen to twenty head. Like his respected father, Mr. Badham votes the Republican, ticket, remembering the pride with which his parents remem bered his vote for Abraham Lincoln. In the affairs of his district he is always in terested, serving constantly as a school direc tor. In religious matters he adheres to the beliefs of the church of the Latter Day Saints. Socially his family is prominent and enjoys the esteem and kind feeling of the whole neighborhood, and he takes the place of a son, of the early pioneer. T. O. MORGAN. Among the honored pioneers of Fre mont county is numbered Mr. Morgan, whose residence in this portion of the state covers a period of more than half a century. The traveler to-day as he views the country covered with farms, thriving villages, the many cities and commercial concerns, the schools and churches, indicating the mental and moral development of the people, can T. O. MORGAN BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 387 scarcely realize that a few decades ago this was an unsettled region, its lands in their primitive condition and the work of pro gress and improvement scarcely begun. The most far-sighted could not have dreamed that within a comparatively brief period the comity would be crossed and re-crossed with a network of railroads connecting it with all parts of the country, that telegraph and telephone lines would be covering the country, and that all of the comforts and conveniences known to the older east would here find a place; but a brave band of pio neers took up the work of development and progress here and the progressive Fremont county of to-day is the result. With the work of advancement Mr. Morgan has been actively identified through more than fifty years. He was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, near the capital city of Springfield, December 16, 1833. His father, Evan Morgan, was a native of Ohio, and a son of Thomas Morgan, who was of Scotch descent and spent his last days in Illinois. Evan Morgan was reared to man hood in Ohio, and on emigrating westward cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers of the Prairie state. He married Elizabeth Ditson, who was born in New York and was a representative of one of the old New Eng land families. She proved to him a faithful companion and helpmeet on life's journey. When the Indians rose up against the white settlers in Illinois in the Black Hawk war, the father of our subject took up arms and served as a soldier. He died in early man hood, leaving a widow and four children, namely: Lyman, who died at the age . of twenty-one; Thomas- O., of this review; Mrs. Anna O'Neal, of Fremont county; and Mrs. Jane Wolf, who died in this coun ty. After the death of her first husband the mother became the wife of M. K. Skid- more, and in 1849 they came to Fremont county, bringing with them her children. Mr. Morgan of this review, was but fifteen years of age at the time the re-' moval was made. Hjis early life was a period of industry, for in his youth he be gan work by the month, receiving from six to seven and a half dollars per month in compensation for. his services. He en gaged in breaking prairie with an ox team and in hauling brick and farm produce to Council Bluffs for the Mormons and for emigrant parties en route for Colorado. In this way he got a start in life. As a companion and helpmeet on the journey of life he chose Miss Eliza Simmons, their marriage being celebrated on March 17', 1857, since which time they have traveled life's journey happily together. She was born in Ohio, a daughter of a widow, Mrs. Sarah Simmons. At the time of his mar riage Mr. Morgan took up his abode on the Bartlett farm, which he operated for two years and then purchased forty acres of land, which was the first property he ever owned. He lived in Madison township and successfully engaged in farming and stock- raising until 1899, when he purchased the Woods farm, just west of Hamburg — one of the best farming properties in the county. It is improved with a substantial and at tractive residence and with all modern con veniences. As the years have passed and his financial resources have increased, Mr. Morgan has extended his realty possessions until the aggregate is nearly forty-nine hun dred acres. He is indeed a self-made man, for, depending upon no outside aid or in fluence, he has steadily worked his way up- 388 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. ward, prompted by a laudable ambition, earnest purpose and unfailing perseverance. To provide for his family has been an added incentive, for unto Mr. and Mrs. Morgan have been born eight children, namely : Sarah Elizabeth, now the wife of John Finell, of Fremont county; Lina A., who is the widow -John West and resides with her parents; Martha J., the wife of Fountain Finell, of the same county; John E., who is the president of the Hamburg Banking Company; Thomas A., who resides in Mad ison township, Fremont county; Marcena, of the same county; Charles E., who is liv ing in Hamburg; and Fannie A., who is with her parents. The children have been provided with good educational privileges, fitting them for life's practical duties. The daughters are ladies of refinement and the sons are intelligent and enterprising busi ness men, occupying inportant positions in trade circles. In his political belief Mr. Morgan is a Democrat, but has never sought or desired office, preferring to give his entire attention to his business affairs. He belongs to that class of representative American citizens who, while promoting individual success, also contributed to the general welfare by hearty co-operation with all measures for the public good. He is a man of unques tioned integrity, his word being as good as his bond, and among the honored pioneers of southwestern Iowa he well deserves mention. HENRY A. GREEN. One of the most prosperous farmers of Mills county, Iowa, and a veteran of the Civil war, is Henry A. Green, the subject of this sketch. He is a son of Jurgren and Dora (Goldstedt) Green, both of Germany, where they both died. They had a family of eleven children, our subject being the third in order of birth. Like so many of his coun ¦ trymen, Mr. Green early cherished a desire to emigrate to America, carrying this out in 1858. He made the voyage in three weeks and made his first home in Davenport, Iowa, where many of his old neighbors had located, six months later coming to Mills county, by way of St. Louis, Missouri. Fanning was the choice of our subject as a means of livelihood, and he had no dif ficulty in securing employment, although wages were very small. However, he pos sessed the thrifty ways of his native land, practiced strict economy, and before very many months had passed he was able to see his savings increasing in a satisfactory way, and finally bought with them a small tract of land. To ride over Mr. Green's finely cultivated farm of four hundred and eighty-six acres and to note the substantial improvements, together with his cattle and stock, is a valuable lesson for any young man who starts out in life with small means. It shows the reward of steady, plodding in dustry, and must be an encouraging ex ample. On September n, 1864, our subject en listed in the Union- army, entering the Thir teenth Iowa Infantry in Company F. and went from Davenport with his regiment to Marshall, Tennessee, where he took part in the great battle between Generals Hood and Thomas. He became so ill soon after this engagement that it was found necessary to send him to a hospital, and two months were passed in the army hospital at Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was transferred to AA^elling- ton, North Carolina, and from thence to BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 389 Raleigh, and finally to Washington city, where he took part in the grand review. He was discharged at Davenport, Iowa, August 1, 1865. /" The marriage of Mr. Green and Mrs. / Christianna Frohardt took place about thir- l ty-five^ years ago, and seven children have \ been born in their family, all of them still living. They are : Gustave Otto, who is married and lives on a fine farm in Harri son county, Iowa; Christoph; Wilhelemina>/''was his last work. who is now Mrs. William Weedman and re sides on a farm in Harrison county, this state; and Charles, Louis, Sarah and Will iam. In politics Mr. Green is a Democrat and ably upholds the principles of that party. Both he and his wife are valued members of the German Lutheran church, where they are highly esteemed for their many fine traits of character. Mr. Green has been a very suc cessful farmer, and no one in this part of the county knows more about stock and cattle-breeding than he does. JOHN VAN KIRK. Old Pennsylvania families, such as have given strength to American character throughout the west, produced the subject of this sketch, a prominent, retired farmer of Silver City, Mills county, Iowa, who has for many years been a leading dealer there in live stock and lands. John Van Kirk was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1835, a son of Hamilton and Eliza (Snodgrass) Van Kirk. Hamilton Van Kirk was born in Pennsylvania about 1800 and died in Mills county, Iowa, in 1885. He was a son of John Van Kirk, who was born in Philadel phia about 1775 and died in Pennsylvania about 1838, leaving one son, Hamilton Van Kirk, and three daughters. He was a stone and brick mason and contractor and builder, prospered well at his business and became the owner of about five hundred acres in Washington county, Pennsylvania. Many stone and brick buildings erected by him are still standing there, including his own large two and one-half story brick residence, which John Van Kirk was the first born of Hamilton and Eliza (Snodgrass) Van Kirk's four children. Samuel died at the age of four years. Sarah Mary died in her thir tieth year. Mrs. Van Kirk, the mother of these children, survived her husband some years and they and their daughter are buried in the cemetery at Silver City, Iowa. John Van Kirk obtained a fair, common-school education and was thoroughly instructed by his father in everything pertaining to farm ing. He remained at home with his father until his marriage, which occurred when he was about twenty-one years of age. A year later, in the fall of 1857, he came to Iowa to look at a thousand acres of land for which he had made an exchange, and in 1869 he became a resident of Mills county, where he settled permanently with his family. He bought the old stage station farm, consist ing of a half section, partially improved, but some fifty acres of it timber land, at fourteen dollars per acre. Since then he has bought and sold lands extensively, and at this time he owns twelve hundred and twen ty acres, mostly in a body. He early turned his attention to stock and fed the first lot of cattle in his vicinity. In those days he fed about one hundred head, but more re-t cently he and his sons have fed about two 390 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. thousand head each year. Formerly he bred short-horns and black polled Angus cattle, but his sons now buy up cattle wherever they are able to buy good cattle to advantage. He and his sons are all settled in their own homes at Silver City and they are among the prominent men of the town. Mr. Van Kirk is a Democrat, but voted for AVilliam McKinley in 1900, because of a sense of his duty to his country and his fel low citizens as he understood it. Too busy to give much attention to public affairs, he has held aloof from public office and man aged to escape service on the grand- jury. Mr. Van Kirk was married May 15,1856, to Miss Anne Van Kirk, whose grandfather was a half-brother of his own grandfather Van Kirk. They have had eight children, only three of whom grew up, namely : E.H., who is married and has four children; M. J., who became a resident of Silver City and died January 15, 1901, leaving a young daughter; and Anne Laura, who is the wife of A\ralter Hostetter, and has a' daughter. JOHN HALE. John Hale, the proprietor of the Hale fruit farm in Washington township, Fre mont county, has occupied this place since 1895. He was born in Monroe county, Ohio, August 14, 1840, a son of Levi Hale, whose birth occurred near Little Washing ton, AVashington county, Pennsylvania, The grandfather, O. N. Hale, was of Ger man descent and was born in Switzerland, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Mowder, was a native of Scotland, and both died in Athens county, Ohio. Levi Hale, the father, was reared upon an Ohio farm and after attaining man's estate he married Sarah Johnson, who was born in Monroe county, a daughter of Joseph and Rosa Johnson. He was a native of Ire land and her parents were from Scotland, so that the blood of four nations — the Swiss, the German, the Irish and the Scotch — flowed in the veins of John Hale. The fa ther became a well-known agriculturist and followed agricultural pursuits in order to provide for his family. He died in Craw ford, Illinois, at the age of fifty-six years, and his wife passed away in Athens county, Ohio,* at the ripe old age of eighty-three years. They were the parents of nine chil dren, six sons and three daughters, namely: Simeon, who was a soldier in the Civil war and is now living in the Buckeye state; Jo seph, who also served with the "boys in blue" and now makes his home in Illinois; Owen, who was a member of the Union army and is located in Tarkio, Missouri; AVilliam, deceased; John, who likewise aided his country in the Civil war; Fred, who has passed away; Rosa, who is living in West Virginia; Christina, a resident of the same state; and Sarah, now deceased, John Hale was reared in Athens county, Ohio, upon the home farm and acquired his education in the public schools. He after ward secured a situation on a steamer on the Ohio river, being employed in that ca pacity until after the inauguration of the Civil war, when, at the President's call for aid to suppress the rebellion, he enlisted as a member of Company I, Twenty-first Illi nois Infantry. This was General Grant's regiment. He served for four years , and was in the Army of the Tennessee, with the Twentieth Corps, First Division and First Brigade. He was for some time under command of General Rosecrans. At the - >O3 70V) § >5 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 39i battle of Chickamauga he was taken pris oner and held as such for seventeen months, being incarcerated at Belle Isle, Libby prison in Richmond, Danville, Anderson ville, Charleston, Florence, Wilmington and Goldsboro. He was many times transferred and experienced all the hardships incident to southern prison life. A part of the time he was engaged in out-door work, having charge of sixty other prisoners, who were employed in cutting wood in Florence. At length, after almost a year and a half spent in captivity, he was paroled for exchange and went to Wilmington and thence to An napolis, Maryland, after which he was sent to his home and later received an honora ble discharge, having spent four years as a defender of his country. His was a most honorable military record, one of which he has every reason to be proud. In 1865 Mr. Hale removed to Atchison county, Missouri, locating in the western portion and there remained through three decades. In 1895 he came to his present farm in Fremont county, comprising one hundred and twenty acres in Washington township.. This is all planted in fruit of every variety that can be cultivated in this climate, and the fruits of Hale farm are of such excellent size, quality and flavor that they find a ready sale on the market and command the best prices. He has made a close study of horticulture, understands the needs of the various kinds of fruit which he cultivates, and his opinions on the subject are widely accepted as authority. Mr. Hale was married in Atchison county, Missouri, to Miss Sarah York, who was born in Crawford county, Illinois,, a daughter of Ezekiel and Elizabeth (Easton) York, of Kentucky. They became the par ents of five children, of whom three are yet living: Charles, Owen and William. Mrs. Hale died in 1881, and the following year Mr. Hale married Elvira Miller, who was born in Athens county, Ohio, a daughter of James and Susan (Townsend) Miller, also of that county. Two children grace the second marriage1 — Orpha May and Ew ing Everett. Mr. Hale and his wife hold membership in the Christian church of Hamburg. In politics he is a Republican, earnest in his advocacy of the principles of the party, and socially he is connected with Jerusalem Lodge, No. 253, A. F. & A. M., and with the Grand Army of the Republic. As a cit izen he is as true and loyal to-day as when he followed the old flag upon the battle fields of the south. ISAAC ABSHIRE. One of the most progressive and suc cessful young agriculturists of Fremont county, Iowa, is Isaac Abshire, the subject of the present review. He was born within a mile of his present home, north' of Sid ney, in 1879, a son of David and Susan (Palmer) Abshire. The former was a very prominent farmer of this locality. He went to California during the gold excite ment, in 1849, from his home in Tennessee, but came back in 1850 and Located in Fre mont county, where his death occurred in January, 1888, at the age of sixty-six. Mrs. Abshire was born in Indiana and was a daughter of Hiram Palmer, who was born in Ohio, but died in Missouri, and a grand daughter of John Palmer, whose birth took place in Virginia, and his death in Ohio. The maternal grandmother of our sub- 392 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. ject was Eleanor (Hampton) Palmer, and was born in North Carolina, a daughter ot Oliver and Betsey (Bryan) Hampton, the father of Oliver having been Ephraim Hampton, who came to America from Eng land. The maternal great-great-grandfa ther was Samuel Bryan, who fought as a Tory soldier in the Revolutionary war; and the wife of the great Daniel Boone was a daughter of Joseph Bryan, a great-uncle of our subject's mother. The family history is very interesting and future generations will be glad to have it preserved, for a noble lineage is more to be desired than an accu mulation of wealth. Our subject was educated in Sidney, graduating at the excellent high school of this place, and immediately took charge of the farm. He is one of the energetic, pro gressive and industrious young men who are willing to adopt modern methods in their business, and who study farming in a man ner as careful and scientific as in any other branch of industrial life. Success has at tended his efforts, and he is regarded as one of the rising men of the township. Like his father, he votes with the Democratic party, believing its principles to be right. JONH G. FLANAGAN. The subject of this sketch traces his lin eage to an old Irish family, several members of which have become prominent in various lines of activity. John Flanagan, his grand > father, was born and reared in Ireland^ where his eldest son, Peter, was born about 1819. About 1825 he came to America, where he died in middle life, leaving a widow and two sons and a daughter. He located in Maryland, where he engaged in freighting, driving six-horse teams employed in that service. His three children all married and have families, and all came west. Peter, his oldest son, was born in Ireland, became a farmer in Nebraska and died there in 1896, aged about seventy-seven years. His daugh ter Catherine, known in the family as "Aunt Catherine," married James Davis, who be came a farmer in Nebraska, where she died at an advanced age, leaving one daughter. His younger son John, father of John G. Flanagan, was born in Maryland, January, 1827, and died in December, 1898, and his wife, Mary 'A. Piles, was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, August 28, 183 1, and married Mr. Flanagan in her native state, March 20, 1 85 1. She was the daughter of James Piles, who married a Miss English, and lived one year afterward in Guernsey county, Ohio, and then moved to Montgomery county, In diana, where they remained between three and four years. After a short stay at Pot tawattamie county, Iowa, they removed in 1856 to Atchison county, Missouri, and there ^ohn G. Flanagan, the subject of this sketch, was born November 9, 1857. Soon after that event they returned to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, where, in March, 1863, they bought and settled on four hundred acres of land, acquired at four. dollars an acre, but they had to go in debt for most of it. There stood on their property a small frame house which is a part of the more pretentious res idence standing there at this time. Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan reared their family there and lived there until the spring of 1887, when they moved to Malvern, where they lived re tired from active life until they died, Mrs. Flanagan in December, 1896, and Mr. Flana gan just three years later. They were laid to rest in East Liberty cemetery, They had BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 393 ele-ven children, concerning whom some in formation will be afforded in the following statements: Sarah, born pril 16, 1852, married Thomas McCoy, and has ten chil dren. She lives in Kansas. Charles T. has traveled extensively in the west since 1883 and is living in California, unmarried. Thomas B. was born in Indiana, January 18, 1856. John G. is the immediate subject of this sketch. Emma, born November 11, (/1859, is the wife of Edwin Morse and lives in Nebraska. She has had four children, two of whom are dead. Amanda J., born in Mills - county, Iowa, September 13, 1861, is the widow of John Nickerson and lives at Mal vern, Iowa. Walter A. was born July 23, 1863, and died November 23, 1868. Wil- mie was born April 23, 1865, and died April 16, 1866. Frank was born March 19, 1867, and when a young man went to California, where he was married in 1899. Edward Martin was born November 11, 1868, and died March 20, 1888. Lee Webster was born May 30, 1871, and died November 5, 1878. John G. Flanagan received a common- school education and was reared to farm life. He worked on his father's farm until the spring of 1883 and then went to Central Kansas, where he was married, March 31, 1886, to Miss Blanche E. Crawford, born in Lorain county, Ohio, August 23, 1865, a daughter of John W. and Sarah J. (Rob ertson) Crawford. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were natives of Ohio. They went to Kan sas in 1 88 1 and there Mr. Crawford died at the age 6f forty-four years, leaving a widow, three daughters and two sons. The eldest son, Bert Crawford, of Oklahoma, is mar ried and has five children. Ida M. is the wife of W. B. Essick, of Ellsworth, Kansas. Maud A., Mrs. Flanagan's twin sister, mar ried Edwin Walker, has four sons and lives in Kansas. Charles C. is living in Kansas, unmarried. Mrs. Crawford, mother of these children, is residing in Ellsworth, Kansas. Mrs. Flanagan removed with her parents to Kansas and at sixteen years of age she began teaching school in Ellsworth county, which profession she followed for six years. Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan have had three children, •"Roy A., the eldest, was born February 4, 1882, in Ellsworth, Kansas, and is now in school. Ella Maud, also in school, was born April 29, 1889, in Mills county, Iowa. Neva May was born March 7, 1895, and died Feb ruary 5, 1897. In December, 1888, Mr. Flanagan re turned from Kansas to his old home, accom panied by his family, and has since been farming on the Flanagan homestead, which he bought for ten thousand dollars. He has com|e to the front as a stock-farmer and raises and fattens beef cattle, which he sells at Omaha and Chicago, shipping about twelve car-loads per year; and he raises and sells also about two hundred fat swine each year. He raises some colts and keeps about twenty horses. He began handling sheep in 1900 by purchasing two hundred and fifty head. He does general farming, selling such of his products as are not re quired for his stock. He cuts about one hundred tons of hay each year and has about one hundred and twenty-five acres planted to corn, and in addition to his own large crop is usually obliged to buy more corn for feed ing. Politically Mr. Flanagan is a Democrat and he has served his fellow townsmen as justice of the peace two terms. He was elected assessor in 1898 and still holds that 394 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. office, and wields considerable influence in the councils of his party. His judgment in business affairs is excellent and he is re garded as one of the foremost stockmen in his part of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Flana gan are both young appearing and are active socially. Their domestic life is a happy one and their geniality and generous hospitality have won them hosts of friends. AVILLIAM AV. BRICKNELL. No finer stock can be found in Mills county than that raised on the Bricknell farm, of which the subject of this review is the owner. Mr. Bricknell is a venerable gentleman of eighty-one years but is still actively connected with business affairs, and his record should put to shame many a man of younger years who, growing weary of the struggles of business life, would rele gate to others the burdens that he should bear. Veneration and respect are accorded our subject, who well deserves the high re gard uniformly given him, for his career has ever been an upright one, characterized by true fidelity to duty. His birthplace is across the water, for he is a native of Devonshire, England, where he was born on the 2d of September, 1819 but since 1865 he has resided in Mills county. His father, John Bricknell, was one of the yeomanry of England and for a long period held the important posit'on of superintendent for an aunt of Queen Vic toria, thus becoming a member of the royal household. His property holdings were at one time very extensive, and his wealth was great; but he met with heavy losses and in his later life was a laboring man. His wife bore the maiden name of Hanna Watkins, and they became the parents of five sons and a daughter, but AVilliam W. of this re view is the only one now living. In the year 1858 AVilliam AV. Bricknell crossed the Atlantic to the new world, believ-v ing that he might better his financial condi tion in a country where opportunities were greater and where no hindrance of caste was placed in the way of individual advance ment. The voyage to the United States was made on the sailing vessel Amazon, which carried nine hundred passengers and reached the American port one month after leaving the EngHsh harbor. In 1859 Mr. Brick nell was married to Miss Sarah Savidge, a daughter of AA'illiam Savidge, a butcher by; trade, who died in early manhood. On com ing to the new world our subject took up his abode in Lorain county, Ohio, near Oberlin, where he worked by the day and month for seven years, being employed at farm labor. In May, 1865, he came to Tabor, Iowa, with his wife and one son, their only daugh ter having died previously. Mr. Bricknell purchased eighty acres of land for foui hundred dollars and the remainder of his capita] was loaned out at interest. All that he had saved was from his earnings, for he never inherited a dollar. His present farm comprises two hundred acres of upland prairie and timber and extends for a mile to the north. It is one of the "best and most fertile tracts of land in the township and is well adapted for grazing or stock-raising, having upon it timber, water and good drainage. His son William is associated with him in business. He was born in Ohio, forty-four years ago, and is now one of the energetic and enterprising men of Mills county. He relieves his father of much care, largely attending to the active WILLIAM W. BRICKNELL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 395 management of the farm and marketing of the stock, which is sold mostly in Chica go. In May, 1898, Mr. Bricknell was called upon to mourn the loss of his .wife, who died at the age of seventy years, in the faith of the Congregational church, of which she was a consistent member. Since that time the father and son have lived alone. They formerly engaged in raising corn, on an extensive scale, but now purchase several thousand bushels of corn annually, while most of their land is in grass, — all save a fifty-acre tract of timber. They buy man)', head of cattle to feed for the market and breed high-grade shorthorn cattle, having a fine registered bull which weighs two thousand pounds. While perhaps othei stock-raisers of the county carry on the business on a more extensive scale there- are none who take finer stock to market than do the Bricknells. One lot of three car-loads weighed from fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds, each averaging seven hundred and twenty pounds. They raise annually from twenty to thirty head and ship twice each year. They also keep from one to two hundred head of well-bred Po land China and Chester White hogs. One Chester White was a mammoth hog at five years, weighing twelve hundred pounds, alive. Their stock always commands the highest market prices, owing to their fine grade and excellent condition. The farm is well improved, is attractive in appearance and indicates the careful su pervision of the progressive owners. The present residence was erected in 1882 and stands on a beautiful building site amid the trees, many of which were planted by Mr. Bricknell and will stand as monuments long after he has been laid to rest. The business 24 methods of father and son are beyond ques tion and the name is synonymous with hon orable dealing. In the evening of life Mr. Bricknell can look back over the past with out regret and forward to the future without fear, for he has accomplished much that is commendable and has ever enjoyed the high est esteem of his fellowmen. JOSEPH DEFOREST ROBBINS. One of the most highly esteemed resi dents and successful agriculturists of Mills county, Iowa, is Joseph Deforest Robbins, whose acres of beautiful bottom farm lands extend for many miles through Anderson township. He was born at Valparaiso, Por ter county, Indiana, December 4, 1854, and is a son of Samuel Putnam Robbins, a name sake of Gen. Putnam, of Revolutionary fame. His father was born near Boston, Massa chusetts, on March 26, 1809, a son of Sam uel Robbins, also of Massachusetts, who lo cated at Nelsonville, Ohio, in 1819, estab lishing there a tannery and gristmill. His wife was a great-granddaughter of Israel Putnam. These grandparents of our subject passed the remainder of their lives at Nel sonville, rearing six children, all of whom, with their parents, have passed away. Sam uel Putnam Robbins was married to Caro^ line Coe, June 18, 1837, in Athens county, Ohio. She was a native of that county, born September 6, 181 5, a daughter of Jo siah and Mary Ann Coe, the youngest of thirteen children. Her death occurred Oc tober 19, 1898, her husband having died on April 8, 1889. Samuel Putnam Robbins was a pioneer in Indiana, reaching that state from Ohio when twenty-six years of age, and owning 396 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. at that time a pair of oxen, a saddle pony and a cash capital of three hundred dollars. He filed upon a quarter-section of govern ment land in Porter county, and that land is still owned by one of his sons, always re maining free from mortgage. At one time he owned eighteen hundred acres of land in Indiana and engaged largely in agriculture, and later became a railroad contractor, con structing at one time eleven, miles of road. He was made county commissioner, which position he filled for twelve years, giving perfect satisfaction. In his political faith he held with the Republican party. He and his good wife left an estimable family, some of them still living, owners of large farms. Amos K. was born in 1841 and died at the age of thirty-eight. He had married Laura V. Stafford and had one daughter; Andrew died at the age of one year; Lyman died in infancy; Levi is a resident of Woodson county, Kansas, owning there two thousand acres of land and has eight children ; James (now deceased) owned seven hundred acres of Indiana farm land; and Lewis is an In diana farmer on thirteen hundred acres. Our subject enjoyed exceptional educa tional advantages, attending the normal school at Valparaiso, where he received a diploma in the commercial course. He early engaged in farming and when nine teen years old received a guarantee deed for a one-half interest in" nine hundred and thirty acres of land in Porter county, with his brother Lewis. In 1881 he married Miss Henrietta Gaylord, who was born in Porter county, a daughter of Charles Hen ry and Theodosia (Sayles) Gaylord, both of whom were natives of New York. Mr. Gaylord was a soldier in the Civil war, and died in a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of forty-four, April 14, 1865, the day upon which occurred that horrible crime, the assassination of Abraham • Lincoln. Mrs. Gaylord survived him until 1874, dy ing at the age of fifty-one, and was laid at rest in the church-yard at McCool, Indiana. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gaylord were : Elizabeth D., who died at the age of thir ty-one; Emily J., the wife of James B. Rob bins (deceased) ; she died at the age of thir ty-seven, leaving three children; Charles, who died in infancy; Ina A., the wife of L. W. Miller, a farmer of this county; and Mrs. Robbins, the wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins began domestic life in Woodson county, Kansas, where Mr. Robbins removed in 1880 and bought two hundred and forty acres of land and es tablished a cattle ranch. In the fall of 1882 he left Kansas and returned to Indiana, re maining there until February, 1883, when he came to his present location, buying one thousand and fifteem acres of land, paying for the same fifty-three thousand, five hun dred dollars. Only eighteen acres were im proved. In 1893 Mr. Robbins invested in a half-section of wild land in Dawson county, Nebraska, realizing that that land will soon more than double its value. Mr. Robbins makes a specialty of fine stock, breeding registered stock, raising Aberdeen Angus cattle and Poland China hogs. His first experiment with this fine stock was made in 1887, through imported animals, and he now owns six hundred head and ships from one car-load to two hundred and sixty-nine head per year, shipping to Chicago and Omaha. In 1894-5 Mr. Robbins erected his fine residence, the most complete and imposing in all this neighborhood. It is a beautiful BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 397 modern residence, supplied with all mod ern conveniences, and as elegantly appoint ed within as it it imposing without. Its location is particularly fine, overlooking the beautiful surrounding landscape for many miles. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins have three chil dren : Ina May, born September 23, 1883. who has spent two years at Simpson Col lege, Illinois; Lewis Leroy, born June 14, 1887, a bright, manly little gentleman; and Fern Lynette, born June 9th, 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are most valued members of the Methodist church, of twelve years' standing, in which Mr. Robbins has accept ably filled many official positions. AUGUST ANDERSON. Among the enterprising agriculturists of Green township, Fremont county, is Au gust Anderson, who resides on section 11. He is a native of Sweden and has been a resident of this country since 1881. Upon his present farm he has resided since 1894 and to-day he has a well developed 'property. He spent the days of his childhood and youth in his native land, where he was trained to habits of industry and economy. Before leaving Sweden he was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Hanson, and their second child died in that country ere their emigration to the new world. In the year 1881 Mr. Anderson resolved to try his fortune in America, for he had heard favora ble reports of the opportunities here offered. Accordingly he crossed the briny deep tq the new world and made his way to Iowa, since which time he has been identified with its agricultural interests. Making prepara. tion for a home, he sent for his family, who joined him six months after his arrival in the new world. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are the parents of four children who are yet living : August John, a farmer of Fremont county, who is married and has one son ; Elmer, a commer cial agent for the Home Stock Food Com pany; and Delia and Axel, twins, who are still with their parents. The children were provided with excellent educational privi leges, all having been students in the pub lic schools of Tabor, and thus they were fit-. ted to meet the practical and responsible du ¦ ties of life. The daughter possesses a deci ded musical talent. Fourteen years afterhis arrival in this country, Mr.Anderson's father died, February 27, 1901, at his home in Fre mont county, which with his wife (who sur vives) had been his residence for some time. There are three other sons and two daugh ters, and all are married and have children. One brother, Peter Anderson, is a farmer near Council Bluffs, Iowa, and has eleven children. Throughout his entire career, Mr. Ander son has carried on agricultural pursuits. In 1894 he located upon his present farm of two hundred acres, which he has managed with success continuously since. He had previ ously rented land and by its successful man. agement had added continually to his capital until he was enabled to purchase land of his own. In 1890 he bought his present farm of two hundred acres, paying for it twenty. seven dollars and fifty cents per acre. There were only poor buildings upon the place, and it bore little resemblance to the farm which one sees there to-day. In 1894 Mr. Ander son removed to the land which he had pur chased and erected his fine residence, at a cost of five thousand dollars. It is one of 398 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. the best country homes in the entire county, a large, commodious structure, built in the modern style of architecture and supplied with all the improvements and conveniences. It stands upon a natural building site and commands a splendid view of the surround ing country and the beautiful landscape that spreads out before it. Upon the house has been built a cupola, from which one has a most extensive view, showing forth the fields of grain, verdant meadows and fine. stretches of timber land. As time has passed Mr. Anderson has added to his property. In the fall of 1900, however, he sold one farm of one hundred and sixty acres, but has made a contract for a farm for his son. In addition to the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to the climate, he is engaged extensively in stock-raising and feeds about one hundred head of beef cattle annually, and also has a large number of hogs. He also has some excellent horses of a high grade — some fine driving stock in which his son takes much pride. Upon the place is a young apple orchard, which he planted five years ago and which is now in excellent condition. Everything about the place is neat. The fences and buildings are kept in good repair and a spirit of thrift and enter prise pervades the place. Mr. Anderson certainly deserves great credit for what he has accomplished. He had neither influential friends nor wealth as he started upon his business career, but was de pendent entirely upon lr's own efforts and resources. He has made-the most of his opportunities and Avorked his way steadily upward, overcoming all the difficulties and obstacles in his path by a determined pur pose and resolute will. His unfailing indus try has been a most potent and forceful ele ment in his prosperity and it is certainly a basis for success. In the county of his adoption Mr. Anderson enjoys the respect and confidence of all with whom he is asso ciated and his worth as a man and a citizen is widely acknowledged. In politics he is a Democrat. JAMES W. CARTER. The true western spirit of enterprise and progress is exemplified' in the life of James W. Carter, one of the most active, enterpris ing and successful agriculturists of Mills county. He was born in this county in 186 1 and is a representative of one of the old fam ilies of Tennessee. His father, John Carter, was a native of that state and in 1852 came to Mills county, Iowa, by the way of Mis souri. In Glenwood he married Miss Mar garet Williams, whose people were from In diana. On both sides they were representa tives of fhe agricultural interests. At the time of the Civil war John Carter responded to his country's call for aid, enlisting at Glen wood as a member of Company B, Twenty* ninth Iowa Infantry. The eldest brother of James W., Stephen A. Carter, was also a Union soldier, and Mr. Williams, the ma ternal grandfather, of our subject, was one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war. The brothers and sisters of J..W. Carter were as follows: Stephen and E. Benjamin, who are living in Kansas; David A., a resident of Whiting,' Iowa; Mrs. Patronilla Mickel wait, of Ord, Nebraska; Mrs. Mary Puffer, of California; Mrs. Sarah Anderson, of Ma con, Illinois; Mrs. Kate Noah and Mrs. Jane McCammon, both of Kansas. James W. Carter has spent his entire life in Mills county. In his youth he wa3 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 399 acorded excellent educational privileges, attending the graded and high schools in Glenwood, the normal school at Peru, Ne braska, and the Omaha Commercial College. After putting aside his text-books he en^ gaged in teaching school at Weeping Water, Nebraska, and his scholarship is indicated by the fact that he holds a state certificate. He was successful as an educator, but abandoned that work in order to engage in commercial interests in Glenwood. There he engaged in business until 1897, when he removed to his present farm, which is pleasantly located near Hillsdale. It is one of the most at tractive and desirable country seats in the state. The residence is a large, spacious and costly one, with fine interior and exterior finishings, for the furnishings are modern and tasteful. There is a telephone connec tion with the city and numerous other mod ern conveniences and requisites equal to any city home. The farm comprises three hun dred and seventy acres of rich, arable land, much of which is under a high state of cul tivation, and Mr. Carter is extensively en gaged in the breeding of fine stock. He feeds all of his grain and in his meadows are found some splendid specimens of cattle, horses and hogs. He married Miss Emma Buffingtonj a daughter of B. F. Buffiington, an old and honored citizen of the county, who came to Iowa from Ohio. Her mother bore the maid en name of Nancy Ayers and her ancestors were residents of New Jersey. The families which Mrs. Carter represents were loyal to the colonies during the war of the Reyolu- tion and furnished some of their members to aid in establishing the independence of the nation. Mr. and Mrs. Buffington were mar ried in Ohio and they became the parents of four children : Mrs. Carter,' Mrs. Lizzie Bo- gard, who is living in Glenwood ; Mrs. Mary Craven, who resides in Seattle, Washington ; -and Charles, who makes his home in Glen wood. The marriage of our subject and his wife has been blessed with two interesting little sons, Clarence B. and Edwin Ayers, aged respectively six and three years. Since casting his first presidential vote for James A. Garfield, Mr. Carter has sup ported the men and measures of the Republi-. can party. For four years he filled the office of city recorder of Glenwood and for one term was alderman from the first ward there. He is at present a township trustee of Cen ter township, and his public service has won for him high commendation, as he is a ca pable and reliable officer. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist church and take an active interest in its work and upbuilding. - Their home is noted for its gracious hospitality, which is enjoyed by a very large circle of friends. Mr. Carter is an enterprising business man whose dili-t gence, keen discrimination and capable man agement have enabled him to advance stead ily on the high road to prosperity. JAMES McGEE. Those who have never been called upon to face the necessity of making a home in a new country can scarcely understand the trials and privations which the early pioneers encountered in their struggles with wild na ture. The history of the subject of our sketch and a description of his present pro ductive farm would be incomplete without reference to his parents, William and Jane (Harper) McGee, who were among the pio- 400 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. neers of Indiana. They possessed the stal wart frames and sturdy will that made of their children the first pioneers of a land still farther west. James McGee was born in West Vir ginia, June 28, 1825, his father, William, having been born in Kentucky, in 1792 and his mother in Virginia, where their marriage took place, in 1820. In 1830 they emigrat ed to Indiana, settling in the dense woods on the Wabash river. Here Mr. McGee took up and cleared one hundred and twenty acres of government land, laboring as only a man of stalwart frame and perfect health could do, being ably assisted by a faithful and de voted wife. She was noted for her capable management of her household, not only car ing for it and her family, in the wilderness, but proving in every way a real and true helpmate for her- husband, and her descend ants honor her memory. Six sons and four daughters came to them, six of the family still living, all in Iowa, with the exception of one son, who is in California. AVilliam McGee died in Fountain county, Indiana, in 1850, the mother of our subject surviv ing until 1891. dying in Shenandoah, Fre mont county, Iowa. James McGee, the subject of this memoir, had very little chance for schooling, but has proven that success does not always depend upon education. He has accumulated prop erty, is one of the solid men of his neighbor hood, and has gained the respect of all by those sterling qualities which enabled him to overcome the disadvantages of early life. When twenty-one years of age he was a flat- boatman on the Wabash river, living at home. In 1850, when twenty-five years of age, he removed to Iowa, where he has lived ever since. The next year after his removal to Iowa, he wished to obtain a horse and some money that he had left in Indiana, and started on the long tramp of six hundred miles, making it in twelve arid1' one-half days ! Buying another horse and wagon, he returned to Iowa, where he had built a house of logs, and had at that time fifteen dollars with which to begin housekeeping. Fortunately for Mr. McGee, he had mar ried a heroic woman who cheerfully endured the privations of their life, assisted him in every way by her advice and example, and still lives to tell of those days. For eight years she cooked the family meals without a stove, sometimes out of doors, and for two years after building their cabin they had no brick chimney. The first summer a child was born, adding to the cares of Mrs. McGee, and when the daughter was but about two years old the twins came, making her duties heavy indeed, as she was obliged to do all of her own work, the near est neighbor being two miles away. Wild animals wandered even to the door of their * cabin, but through it all she preserved the patience and sweet disposition which have made her beloved by all those who come within her acquaintance. The name of this admirable woman was Lydia A. Davis, born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, April 10, 1827. She was the daughter of John and Mary (Reed) Davis, who had moved from Kentucky in 1836 to Missouri, and thence to Hancock county, Illinois, where the mother died in 1844. Then Mr. Davis moved to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, at which place James McGee first met this lady who became his wife, they being mar ried in Council Bluffs, in 1852. She had been bereft of her mother at the age of sev enteen years and upon her . shoulders was BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 401 thrown the care of twin boys five years old, and an infant. Her father later removed to AA^isconsin, where he died at the age of eighty-four years. When Mr. and Mrs. McGee started out in life he was often obliged to work fot- fifty cents a day to provide for the necessi ties of his growing family; but labor brought its own reward and a proud day it was when they became the possessors of the first one hundred acres of land. They have now four hundred and thirty acres of well stocked and finely cultivated land and three pairs of .horses, while for the past twenty- eight years they have resided in their com fortable residence in section 1, in Ander son township. The family of Mr. and Mrs. McGee was a large one, consisting of fourteen mem bers, twelve of whom are still living : Mary, the wife of Charles Russell, a farmer of Hall county, Nebraska, has six children; Luther and Lucy, twins, the former of whom is a farmer in Monroe county, Iowa, and has five children, and the latter died, a young mother, leaving an infant; AVilliam and Henry, twins, the former deceased - at the age of nineteen and the latter a farmer of Monona county, with seven children; Almira, the widow of Edgar Helm, of Page county, Iowa, has three children; Jane, the widow of Julian Parmly, living at home with her parents; Addie, the wife of Rob ert Harding, has seven children; John, a farmer in Nebraska county, Nebraska, has four children; Charles, a tenant farmer at his parental home, has one son; Maggie, the widow of John Royal ; Andrew, a farm er in Pottawattamie county, has one daugh ter; Bertha, the wife of Frank Sliter, of AA^oodbury county, Iowa, has two sons; and Delia, the wife of Asa Williamson, lives near Emerson, but they have no children. There are two great-grandchildren in the family, and a pleasant sight it must be to see this aged couple with all of their de scendants about them. Mr. McGee is a stanch Republican, and, remembering how he has^ borne his part through life, one may judge that he has firm convictions. H. E. SAAR. H. E. Saar is a western man by birth, training and preference, and possesses the true western spirit of progress and indomi table energy. To-day he stands among the successful self-made men whose lives illus trate what may be accomplished through determined purpose and honorable effort in a land that offers excellent possibilities to energetic and ambitious men. Mr. Saar was born in Oak township, Mills county, March 20, 1866. His father, Henry Saar, followed the occupation of a baker in Germany — his native land — and in 1840 came to America, believing that he might bentfit his financial condition in the new world. During the first winter after his arrival he remained in Cincinnati, Ohio, and then removed to Jefferson county, Missouri, where he followed agricultural pursuits. In April, 1845, ne was united in marriage to Sophia Plumer, and the subject of this review is the youngest of their eight chil dren, six of whom are now living, and, hav ing married, are settled near the old home stead. Under the parental roof H. E. Saar was reared, and in the public schools of the neighborhood he acquired his education, 402 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. while in the fields he received practical train ing at farm work. He began life for him self at the age of twenty-six ahd has since been extensively engaged in farming and stock-raising, his efforts' being attended with a high degree of success. Close at tention to business, unfaltering diligence and strong determination have enabled him to conquer all the difficulties and obstacles in his path and work his way steadily up ward. To-day he is the owner of twelve hundred and eighty acres of rich farming land and is largely engaged in raising and feeding stock. He has recently- built near the old home a modern residence, contain ing ten rooms, heated by a furnace and supplied with all the latest improved con veniences which add to the comforts and joys of life. On the 20th of December, 1893, Mr. Saar was united in marriage to Miss Min nie, a daughter of John and Angelina Fei- fer, residents of Oak township, Mills coun ty, and natives of Iowa. -They now have three children, Lester, Edna and Clifford. Their pleasant home is celebrated for its gracious hospitality, which is enjoyed by their many friends. Although a very en ergetic business man, Mr. Saar possesses a liberal and generous nature and contributes of his means to the support of many move ments for the public good. He votes with the Democracy, but has never sought or de> sired office, preferring to give his time and attention to the work of the farm. CHARLES C. OAKS, The reputation of Mills county, Iowa, for the possession of fine farms, can not be successfully disputed. Among these is that of Charles C. Oaks, the subject of this sketch, who is located on section 35, in An derson township. He owns large tracts, upon which he employs tenants, as farmers, giving the most of his attention to the breeding of horses, mules, cattle and- Poland China hogs, which he ships and sells iu great numbers. Charles C. Oaks was born in Warren county, Illinois, April 1-9, 1847. He was the son of Seth Oaks, of Vermont, who was born in 181 5 and1 died in Warren county, Illinois, -in 1875. Our subject lost his mother when he was but twelve years of age and his father married a second time, ad ding five more children fo the five already gathered around the hearth. Four children of the immediate family of our - subject are still living: A. D. Oaks; S. M. Oaks, Ada L., the wife of G. W. Tinkane; while a sister, Fanny E., married John Bell and died in this county, at the age of twenty- seven, leaving one son, C. W. Bell. Of the second family of children all are living, and are these: W. E. Oaks, of California; J. M. Oak's, of Kirkwood; W. E. Oaks; F. M. Oaks ; and Lydia B., the wife of Alvin Creamer. Our subject was reared on the farm of his father, although not to the drudgery, as his parent was the owner of some two thousand acres and engaged in Stock-breed ing and dealing in stock to an extensive de gree. He had reached Illinois when settlers were few and at that time was without means, but energy and thrift had enabled him to accumulate a large acreage of val uable land and much stock. Mr. Oaks, the 'senior, died in 1875, and Charl.es C. re mained at home to assist in the settling up of the large estate, valued at $150,000. He had received a good education and had comt 404 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. removed from Pennsylvania to Shelby coun ty, and then to Sidney, Iowa, where Mr. Linn was born. His wife was a native of Baltimore, and her family own land on which a part of that city is built. Her fa ther, Mr. Chillcoate, was an Englishman, and Mrs. Hatten's paternal, grandfather, James Linn, was of English descent. Her uncle, Jacob Linn, was a Union soldier in the Civil war, belonging to the Eighth Penn sylvania Infantry, a man of strong religious convictions who lived up to Christian prin ciples under all the adverse influences of army life. Another uncle, the Rev. Hugh Linn, was an eminent minister of the Meth odist church, long connected with the Penn sylvania conference, and his death was wide ly and deeply mourned throughout that por tion of the country. Both of these uncles reared families whose members are respect ed representatives of society, successful busi ness people and earnest Christians. A few years after the arrival of James R. and Sarah Linn in Sidney, Iowa, they removed to Pierce City, Missouri, where the father is still living, although the mother has passed away. Theirs, too, was a Chris tian family, and its representatives were found to be earnest Christian workers ;- do ing all in their power to uplift their fellow men and to bring to those with whom they were associated a cognizance of the needs of the human soul. Reared amid the refin ing influences of a good Christian home, Mrs. Hatten is widely known as a lady of intelligence and culture, and many excellent characteristics. By her marriage she has become the mother of one son, Charles Mearl, an exceptionally bright, interesting and well educated youth of fourteen years. He will undoubtedly make his mark in the world. The Hatten family is one widely and favorably known in this locality. Tn his po litical views Mr. Hatten is a Democrat, and in March, 1896, he entered upon the duties of the office of mayor of Sidney, to which he had been elected, filling that position in a most creditable manner for one year. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias frater nity and is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, while his wife is a member of the Methodist church. In man ner Mr. Hatten is pleasant and genial, in his business dealings reliable, and in all the re lations of life true to duty, and these quali ties have made him very popular, so that he enjoys the highest regard of the major ity of the citizens of Sidney. CRIS PLUMER. Among the foreign nations that have furnished citizens to the new world, Ger many stands prominent, by reason of the industrious and thrifty class which she has sent to American shores. Practical, peace able, contented and energetic, the sons of Germany have made the best of their op-* portunities, have readily adapted them selves to new customs and surroundings and have made marked advancement. in the business life. The western cities have been settled by many of the best and most en terprising representatives of the Father land, who, on coming to the arena of larger opportunities where there is fertile soil and congenial climate, have developed a* pro gressive spirit and unfaltering energy that is peculiarly western. Among the number BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 405. is Cris Plumer, who was born in Drephols, Germany, October 7, 1838. His father, John Henry Plumer, was a farmer by occupation and came to America in 1840, locating first in Jefferson City, Mis souri. There he took out naturalization papers in order to become a citizen of his recently adopted land. After spending about eleven years in Jefferson City he came to Mills county, Iowa, in 1851, locating in Oak township, where he purchased and im proved a government claim, for which he paid one dollar and a quarter per acre. His attention was then given to farming and stock-raising, in which he was very success ful. In his family were five children : Hen ry, the eldest, resides in Pottawattamie county, as does also William Plumer, both residents of Lewis township. One of the daughters of' the family is Mrs. Henry E. Saar, of Oak township. Frederick Wil- helm died August 4, 1899; and Margaret Caroline died at the time of the terrible epidemic of cholera at St Louis, Missouri. Her daughter, Julia Bower, was reared by Mr. Plumer, of this review, and is now the wife of Carl Green, a resident of Lewis township, Pottawattamie county, Iowa. Cris Plumer, whose name begins this sketch, was only two years old when brought by his parents to the new world. On at taining his majority he started out in life on his own account, and is strictly a self- made man, for all that he has acquired is the merited reward of his own effort. His possessions indicate his success — the re sult of an industrious and well-ordered life. He is now the owner of five hundred acres of rich farming land, divided into highly cultivated fields, meadows, pastures and timber tracts. He is largely engaged in raising and feeding stock, and finds that a profitable source of income. In the year i860 Mr. Plumer was united in marriage to Miss Anna Schoning, a daughter of Henry Frederick Schoning, a resident of Oak township, Mills county. Nine children were born unto them, of whom five are yet living : Mary Louise, Gustoph Christian, Charley Christoph, Ella Sophia Caroline and Ferdinand. The mother died in 1879, and Mr. Plumer was again mar ried on the 2d of March, 1882, to Mrs. Sarah Teressa Askwig, a "daughter of P. G. Dunn, a resident of Mills county. Mr. Plu- mer's youngest son, Charley, resides at home and is actively engaged in managing the farm work. He seems to have inherited the sterling qualities and business ability of his father, who has long been numbered among the leading and progressive agricul turists of the community. The son is now serving his third term as township clerk. He was first appointed to the office and has since been twice elected. Practical and en ergetic, he is a young man who undoubted ly has before him a successful future. Mr. Plumer, of this review, is one of the leading Democrats of his township and is influential in all matters of church and so ciety. He and his family hold membership in the German Lutheran church. Their home is pleasantly located seven miles from Glem wood and eleven miles from Council Bluffs, and is celebrated for its gracious hospitali ty. A resolute purpose, a laudable ambi tion and unflagging industry have been the salient features in the career of Mr. Plu mer, and his example should well serve as a source of encouragement and inspiration to others who are forced to begin life as he did, without financial aid. 406 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. JOHN HONEYMAN. John Honeyman, who for many years was identified with the agricultural inter ests of Mills county, was of Scotch birth. He was born in the county of Fife, Scot land, in the year 1842, his parents being John and Margaret (Blythe) Honeyman, The father was born in the county of Fife, in 1797, and spent his entire life in his native land, passing away on the 29th of December, 1864, in the house which had been built by his great-grandfather. He was a mason by trade and became a con tractor and builder along that line. His wife, who was born in Scotland, March 20, 1804, also died in the land of hills and heather. Their marriage was Celebrated June 7, 1830. John Honeyman, whose name intro duces this record, was educated in the higli schools of his native country and when fifteen years of age entered .the service of the Commercial Bank, of Scotland, remain ing with that institution until 1872, when, believing that he might better his financial condition in the new world, he sailed for America. Landing in New York, he did not tarry long in the eastern metropolis but journeyed westward to Detroit and thence to Chicago, remaining a short time in that city. In June, 1873, he came to Mills coun ty and located on the farm which he made his home until his death, with the exception of brief intervals spent in other lines of business elsewhere. Mr. Honeyman was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Gregg Miles, a native of Scotland, who died June 8, 1874. He then returned to his native country, but after a short time again came to America, and in September, 1874, took charge of a bank, im plement house and grain elevator in Emer son, where he remained for one year. He then went to Ashkum, Illinois, where he had charge of a grain business for a year, when he again came to Mills county. In 1876 he had charge of an elevator in Emer son and at one time in the period of eight days raised twenty-six thousand nine hun dred and sixteen bushels of corn measured as shelled, and at the same time there were two other firms in Emerson engaged in buying corn. On leaving Emerson he re turned to his farm, which comprised two hundred and thirteen acres of rich land in Indian Creek township, and throughout his remaining days he gave his attention to the cultivation and development of his land, winning thereby creditable success. In March, 1876, Mr. Honeyman again married, his -second union being with Miss Ella Viola, a daughter of Milton Cheney, formerly of Mills county. 'Her family came to Iowa from Stephenson county, Illi nois,- in the year 1852. A location was first made in Pottawattamie county, but after a year they came to Mills county, locating near Glenwood. In 1862 they went to Utah territory and resided for a short time near Salt Lake City, but in 1863 they 'returned to Mills county, and the father again pur chased the farm which he had sold on his removal to the west. Mrs. Honeyman has three brothers, Horace B., Elihu and Gilbert, who are farmers in Indian Creek township. She was born near Glenwood after the family came to Iowa and pursued her edu cation in the district schools. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Honeyman were born eight chil dren, seven sons and one daughter, as fol lows: John; Milton C. ; Arthur B. ; Alex. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 407 Stuart; James D. ; Robert R. ; Ella V. ; and Warren Lee. The subject of this review had a wide acquaintance throughout Mills coun ty and was a popular citizen, his many ex cellent qualities gaining for him the high regard of all with whom he came in con tact. He died December 29, 1897, and the community thereby lost one of its valued and respected citizens, — a man whom to know was to honor. Mrs. Honeyman still sur vives her husband and is a most estimable woman. She holds membership in the Presbyterian church, also belongs to the Ladies' Aid Association and is active in missionary work and in other departments of church activity. Her life is in harmony with her professions and in many ways is well worthy of emulation. In politics Mr. Honeyman was a Republican and took an active part in the Republican politics of Mills county. He was a leader of men, ever loyal to his friends and ever true to his word. JOHN H. JOHNSTON. John H. Johnston is a well known factor in commercial interests in Randolph, where he is a member of the firm of S. T. Rhode & Company, extensive dealers in lumber, hard ware, agricultural implements and wind pumps. He was born near Quebec, Canada, on the 19th of August, 183 1, and is of Irish lineage, his career exhibiting many of the sterling traits of the Irish race. His par ents, Joseph and Mary- A. (Lackey) John ston, were both natives of the Emerald Isle, the former having been born in county Mon- aghan, in the northern part of the island, while the later was born in the southern por tion, in county Westmeath. Both became residents of Canada in early life. Their parents were farming people of the old coun- try, and James Lackey, the maternal grand father of our subject, served for many years in the British army, being stationed for a part of the time in Canada. Joseph John ston, the paternal grandfather, was a farmer of Ireland and there spent his entire life. His children were all reared on the green isle and all remained residents of that country save two sons, John and Joseph, who crossed the briny deep to Canada. The former was married there and reared a family, all of whom have now passed away. Joseph Johnston, Sr., was educated in Ireland and remained in that country until twenty years of age, when he sought a home in the new world. At farm and other labor he was employed until he could secure a home of his own. After having resided in Can ada for about ten years he was married and located upon land which he had previously purchased and which was improved with a small clearing and a little home. . The place was a timber tract, however, and earnesi labor was required in order to clear and cul tivate it, but his efforts resulted in the de-* velopment of an excellent farm, upon which he remained until 1854^ — the year of his re moval to Mercer county, Illinois. There he again purchased a large farm, and was a well known representative of agricultural pursuits in that community until March 26, 1865, when he was called to his final rest. He carried on general farming and stock- raising, and his honest dealing and indefat-i igable energy enabled him to acquire a hand-. some competence. While residing in Canada he served as an officer in the militia, but in Illinois was content to quietly perforin the duties of a private citizen without seeking official honors of any kind. Both he and his 408 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. wife were members of the Episcopal church. His death occurred at the age of seventy- two and his widow still survives him, al though she has passed the ninety-four mile stone on life's journey. After the marriage of her children and the death of her husband, the old homestead in Mercer county, Illinois, was sold, and since 1877 she has been a res ident of Fremont county. Here she pur chased a small farm-, but afterward disposed of that and now occupies a comfortable dwelling in Randolph, which is numbered among her property possessions. Hers has been a useful career, characterized by earn est Christian principles and by unwavering fidelity to the duties of a wife and mother. She has reared a family of children who do honor to her name and of whom the follow ing is the record : John is the eldest ; Jo seph resides in the city of Rock Island, Illi nois; James makes his home in Kingfisher, Oklahoma; Mrs. Elizabeth Jingles is living on a farm in Fremont county ; Mary is the wife of James Dickman, of Rock Island; Is abella married J. Allely; Frank died in Omaha, Nebraska, leaving five children ; Jen nie is the wife of M. Allely, of Fremont county; William is a prominent business man of Randolph ; and Isaac died in Omaha, Nebraska, leaving four children, two now living. The boyhood days of John H. Johnston were quietly passed under the parental roof. He received a good, practical education in the common schools of Canada, and when twenty-three years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Illinois, where he assisted in the development of his father's farm. He afterward rented land and en-> gaged in farming on his own account, also. working at the carpenter's trade. In 1856 he was married and two years later he re moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he followed carpentering and for four years was an overseer on a sugar plantation. Re turning to the" Crescent city, he was then en gaged in ship-carpentering and was also em ployed in a sugar refinery. During the wan of the rebellien the Confederates compelled him to join the home guards. He had to drill in the evening twice each week, but he managed" to keep out of all battles, and when Farragut reached that portion of the country his compulsory military service was ended. He continued to work at his trade until 1883, when he came to Fremont county, Iowa, and purchased a farm, which he ope rated for two years. He then rented his place and came to Randolph and here re sumed work at carpentering. At first he lived in a rented house, but afterward erect ed a commodious residence, which has since been, his home. Selling his farm, he invest ed the proceeds in business here and is now a member of the firm of S. T. Rhode & Company, dealers in lumber, hardware and agricultural implements. They have an ex tensive trade, which is constantly increas-. ing, and they enjoy an unassailable reputa tion for honesty in business circles. Mr. Johnston also owns the brick bank building of the town, and is now comfortably situ ated in good financial circumstances. He also owns some vacant lots in Omaha. Mr. Johnston was first married in Illi nois, in 1856, the lady of his choice being Miss Ann J. Mains, who was born in Balti more and went to Illinois during her girl hood with her parents, Hugh and Jennie Mains, both of whom were natives of Ire land. The father devoted his attention to BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 409 agricultural pursuits, and he and his wife died in Mercer county, Illinois. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Johnston were born two children. Joseph E., who was reared by his grand mother in Illinois, came to Fremont county,- was here married, and then purchased and; operated a farm. In 1883.be left the coun ty and his present place of residence is un known. Elizabeth, the younger child, is the wife of Burdick Wood, a farmer of Illi nois. Mr. Johnston was again married, in New Orleans, January 18, 1864, his second union being with Mary A. McPeake, who was born in Coleraine, Ireland, April 30, 1 84 1, and during her childhood came to the United States with her parents, John and Lithgo McPeake, who took up their abode in New Orleans. Her father was a shoe maker and long followed that trade. Both parents died in 1858, of yellow fever. They were members of the Episcopal church, and had ten children : Samuel, who died in New Orleans ; * William, of Philadelphia ; John, of New York; Martha, who became the wife of R. W. Phillips and died in Mis sissippi; Mrs. Johnston; Thomas B., of New Orleans; Charles and Robert, both deceased; Matilda, who has passed away; and Sally, who married but is now deceased. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Johnston were born nine children: Mary, who was born July 9, 1865, and died August 27, 1872; John R., who was born May 19, 1867, and died August 1, 1872; Sarah J., who was born December 30, 1868, and is the wife of Frank Mozack; James D., who was born July 31, 1871, and died on the 5th of July, 1872; William M., who was born August 13, 1873, and died August 10, 1878; Martha L, who was born December 17, 1875, and died June 22, 1876; Emily, born August 15, 1879; Francis I., born May 19, 1882; and Alice A., who was born June 23, 1884, the only child of the family who is a native of Fre mont county. Both parents were reared in the Epis copal faith and are yet adherents of that denomination. While at New Orleans Mr. Johnston belonged to the Ship Carpenters' Association, also to the Protestant Benevo lent Association. In politics he has always been a stalwart Democrat, but has never been an aspirant for office. Mr. Johnston's actions have during his life been such as to distinctively entitle him to a place in this publication, and although his career has not been filled with thrilling incidents, proba bly no biography published in this book can serve as a better illustration to young men of the power of honesty and integrity in LEE NOTSON. In this age of intellectual activity, when success in the business world depends not upon mere physical prowess but upon men tal activity, upon an ability to master the principles and details of any enterprise and guide its course away from the rocks ot disaster to the safe harbor of success, the work of the educator has become of even greater importance than ever before. Oc cupying a prominent rank among the edu cators of this section of the state is Pro fessor Lee Notson, the well-known county- superintendent of Fremont county. A native of Iowa, he was born in De catur county, September 14. 1871, a son of Robert P. S. and Nancy Louisa (Ed- miston) Notson. He was brought by his parents to Fremont county in 1874. Re- 4io BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. ceiving a good practical education in the schools of Shenandoah, Iowa, Fremont and Lincoln, Nebraska, he is well fitted for his chosen profession. When only twenty-two years of age he received the nomination on the Populist ticket for county superintend ent of public schools, and two years later his name was again placed upon the Demo cratic ticket as a candidate for the same office. Both times he was defeated, but at the age of twenty-six years he was elected to that position, and re-elected two years later, being the present incumbent. He has ever been an advocate of progress and re form, and has made many needed changes in the public-school system since he came into office. His first presidential vote was cast for Grover Cleveland in 1892, and he has always affiliated with the Democracy. November 28, 1897, Mr. Notson was united in marriage with Mary J. Rosseau, a native of this county and a daughter of Samuel T. and Luraney A. (Watts) Ros seau. Of this union there has been born one child, Leah G, born April 22, 1900. WILLIAM W. GAYLORD. AA'illiam AVallace Gaylord, who carries on agricultural pursuits in Green township, Fremont county, was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, September 30, 1832. His father, E. B. Gaylord, was a native of Massachusetts, born near Amherst College, on the 6th of September, 1806, and was a son of Elijah Gaylord, whose father came from England to America and was of French lineage. The grandmother of our subject was also of tbe same nationality. Elijah Gaylord was twice married and by the first union had two sons and a daughter, E. B. Gaylord being the second in order- of birth. The mother died in early woman hood and by his second marraige Mr. Gay lord had five children. As a means of liveli hood he followed carpentering and farming and died about 1834, at the age of sixty- eight years. Having arrived at years of maturity the father of our subject was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Frederickson, a native of Massachusetts, in which state her parents were married. Mr. and Mrs. Gaylord had ten children, eight of whom reached years of maturity, while three sons and three daughters are yet living. The parents came to Fremont- county in 1846 and located in Sidney township, before the town of Sidney was established. From Illi nois they journeyed westward by team, hav ing two covered wagons drawn by three yoke of oxen. They made the trip in regu lar emigrant style, being two months upon the way. After camping for two months on Little Mosquito creek they came to Fre mont county, taking up their abode five miles south of the home' of our subject. There the father built a rude log cabin,i6xi6 feet, with puncheon floor, clay fire-place and mud-and-stick chimney. He secured a claim of one hundred and sixty acres and made his home thereon for two years, after which he sold that property and came to the farm upon which our subject now re sides, entering from the government a half- section of land, for which he paid one dol lar and a quarter per acre. Throughout his remaining clays he was connected with tbe business interests of Fremont county, being well known as an enterprising agri culturist. He died September 27, 1873, and his wife, surviving him about ten years, passed away on the 27th of December, 1883. WILLIAM W. GAYLORD BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 411 AVilliam Wallace Gaylord was reared in a village in Hancock county, Illinois, be tween the ages of six and fourteen -years, the family having emigrated westward to that place about 1838. He received but limited educational privileges and remained at home until twenty-two years of age. His father was a shoemaker and he followed that pur suit to some extent. Later he worked at carpentering, having special ability in that line. He early manifested a marked me chanical genius and his very efficient ser vices enabled him always to command good positions in the line of his trade. Through out the years of his business career he always followed carpentering to a greater or less extent. On the ist of October, 1855, Mr. Gay lord was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Johnson, of Knox county, Illinois. Unto them were born four children : Edith, now the wife of Charles Prathen, of Oklahoma, by whom she has four children; Hattie, who was born in 1858, and became the wife of William Dawson, after which she mar ried R. B- Tucker, and died March 6, 1890. leaving four children; William W., who re sides upon the home farm, and who married Miss Laura A. Gray, of Thurman, by whom he has a little daughter. Ruby Mirth; and A. D., of Shenandoah, Iowa, who is mar ried and has three children. The mother was only sixteen years of age at the time of her marriage - and she died in early womanhood. Two of her children died in infancy. After the death of his first wife Mr. Gaylord was again married, his second union being with Miss Frances Badham. They became the parents of five children, but three died in infancy and those yet living are Leonora, who engaged in teaching 25 in Shenandoah, and Alma, a farmer of Green township, Fremont county, who is married and has one son. In 1879 Mr. Gay lord was again called upon to mourn the loss of his wife. In his political affiliations he is a Demo crat and has filled a number of public offices, discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity. He has served as constable, road supervisor and school trustee. He is a mem ber of the Church of Latter Day Saints and has served as one of its elders. For twelve years he was connected with business affairs as a coal and wood dealer in Shenandoah. He is now devoting his energies to agricul tural pursuits in Green township. In 1892 he sold his eighty-acre farm in this neigh borhood, which was a part of the old home stead, and is the only portion which has passed from the possession of the family. Honorable dealing has ever won for him the respect and confidence of his fellow men and his sterling worth has gained for him the high regard of many with whom he has been associated. He has a wide acquaint ance in Fremont county and his circle of friends is extensive. BENJAMIN F. STUBBS. Benjamin F. Stubbs, who follows farm ing on section 15, Green township, Fremont county, was born in Decatur, Indiana, Sep tember 2, 1838, and traces his ancestry back to England, where occurred the birth of his paternal grandfather, the Rev. William Stubbs. He became a minister of the Uni ted Brethren church and labored most of his life in Indiana. He reared ten children, three sons and seven daughters, all of whom are married and have families, while one 412 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. uncle and three aunts are still living, the former being Josiah, a mechanic, who is Living at an advanced age in Kansas. The grandparents both died in the Hoosier state, the grandfather in 1849, when about sev enty years of age, while his widow, sur-i riving him until about 1855, had almost reached her four-score years when called to the home beyond. Jesse Stubbs, the father of our subject, was born in Preble county, Ohio, Decem ber 10, 18 12, and was reared amidst the re* fining influences of a good Christian home. In the year 1836 he married Miss Isabella Soladay, who was born in that state about 18 10. They spent their entire married life in Union and Decatur counties, Indiana, and the father followed carpentering and building in order to provide for the sup port of his wife and five children, three sons and two daughters : William Harrison, the eldest of the children, received excellent educational privileges and became a very successful school-teacher ; he died at the age of fifty-nine years, in Edgar county, Illi nois, leaving an only daughter, Mrs. Julia Hickland, a widow residing in Illinois ; Benjamin Franklin, of this review, second of the family; Mary Elizabeth, who is the wife of Harrison Miller, of Douglas coun ty, Missouri, now having a large family; Sylvester A., of Edgar county, Illinois, who is an invalid and a pensioner of the Civil war: he has one daughter living; and An- geline, who became the wife of Benjamin Hornidy and both are now deceased, leav ing five children. Mrs. Stubbs, the mother of our subject, passed away in 1866, at the age of sixty-five years, and now sleeps by the side of her husband in Vermilion cem etery. In the subscription schools, common at that time, Benjamin F. Stubbs acquired his education, his privileges being rather lim ited. His training at farm labor, however, was not meager, for as soon as he was old enough to handle the plow he took his place in the fields and was thus engaged in the work of plowing, planting and harvesting until the farm work of the year was over. He did not leave home until twenty-three years of age and gave his assistance to his parents. Early in 1865 he enlisted as -a member of Company I, of the. Fifty-first Illinois Infantry, and served until the fall of that year. The regiment went to Texas after Kirby Smith. He escaped the mis siles of death and the experiences in the hospitals and prisons, and after receiving an honorable discharge was mustered out at' Camp Erwire, Texas. He now receives a pension from the government in recogni tion of his services. In December, i860, Mr. Stubbs was united in wedlock to Miss Hettie Cassle, who was born in Edgar county, Illinois, on January 23, 1842, a daughter of Hiram and Lodemah (Cusick) Cassle. In 1870 they left their Illinois liome and in October of that year came to Iowa, driving across the country with a team of horses and a covered wagon. At night they camped out along the wayside, and had a tedious journey of five weeks in stormy weather and over bad roads. Mr. Stubbs had operated rented land in Illinois, and after coming to Fre mont county he purchased eighty acres of river-bottom land at twenty-five dollars per acre, near the town of Percival, Benton township, and there he carried on agricul tural pursuits for a quarter of a century. As the years passed his financial resources, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 4i3 steadily increased, owing to his well-directed efforts. On the 28th of March, 1900, Mr. Stubbs was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on that date, leaving two sons and two daughters : Lodema Isa- belle, the wife of L. P. Hummel and with their daughter residing upon the old home farm; John H., also a farmer of this coun ty; Will H., who owns and operates a farm of one hundred and thirty-eight acres, which he purchased in 1897, and who was mar ried March 16, 1892, to Miss Ida Braden; She was born in Lebanon, Ohio, a daugh ter of M. H. and Sarah Ann (Spencer) Braden. Her mother died in February, 1868, at th eage of thirty-three years, leav ing four children, namely: Court, who is living- in Elliott, Iowa; Carrie, the wife of Walter Jackson, of Malvern, Iowa; Mrs. Stubbs; and Grant, who makes his home in Coburg. Mr. Braden, after the death of his first wife, married Mrs. Joe Fulkreth, a widow, who has been a most worthy wife and kind step-mother. Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs have no children. Myrtle, the fourth mem ber of his father's family, is now the wife of John Broderich, of Fairfield, Nebraska. The last named is a graduate of the Lin coln Normal School. The children were all provided with good educational privileges and all have been successful teachers. Mr. Stubbs and his wife and children have all held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. Suice the death of his wife he has made his home with his son Will H., who is carrying on general farm ing on the splendid farm on section 15, Green township. He makes' a specialty of the raising of corn and hogs, and annually grows about three thousand bushels of corn and sells annually about one hundred and fifty head of Poland China hogs. Mr. Stubbs has enjoyed a successful business career, his energy and enterprise bringing to him creditable success. He has ever been found true to his duties of citizenship and to the trust reposed in him. „ CARL LUNDEEN. To a student of biography there is noth ing more interesting than to examine the life history of a self-made man, and to de tect the elements of character which have enabled him to pass on the highway of life many of the campanions of his youth who at the outset of their careers were more ad vantageously equipped or endowed. The subject of this review has through his own exertions attained an honorable position and marked prestige among the representative men of the west, and with signal consisten cy it may be said that he is the architect of his own fortunes, and one whose success amply justifies the application of the some what hackneyed but most expressive title, "a self-made man." Mr. Lundeen resides on section 11, Green township, Fremont county. He was born in Sweden on the 6th of August, 1850, and when only five years of age lost his fa ther, Carl Lundeen, Sr., who was a govt ernment tailor. His paternal grandfather) was Andrew Anderson, who long served as a soldier and died about 1861. The father had four sisters, but no brothers. The sub ject of this review has but' one brother, Fred Lundeen, who resides in Nebraska and has large mining interests in the west. The subject of this review spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the land of his 414 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. nativity and then determined to seek a home and fortune beyond the Atlantic where greater opportunities were afforded to the young men of- determination and ambition. In September, 1872, he sailed for the new world, arriving in Tabor without capital save his strong right arm and determined purpose. He began working by the month and was thus employed for two years, after which he purchased a team of horses and a wagon and began farming on his own ac count on rented land, and thus, with the capital which he had acquired through his own efforts, he purchased eighty acres in Green towship, Fremont county, making a payment of five hundred dollars upon the place, which was sold to him for nineteen hundred dollars. His economy and indus try soon enabled him to meet the other pay ments, and after three years he purchased a tract of one hundred and forty acres ad ditional. Soon, however, he sold his first farm of one hundred acres at a handsome profit, and upon his remaining tract of one hundred and twenty acres he resided until 1 89 1, when he took up his abode at the present home, where he has one hundred and forty acres, which he had purchased the previous year, paying thirty-five hun dred dollars for one hundred and ten acres. In 1896 he gave 'forty dollars per acre for a tract of thirty acres. He does not owe a single cent upon his fine property and never has he had to have any one endorse his paper, for his honesty and integrity are proverbial among those who know him. His attention has been given to the raising of corn and feeding of cattle. He has one hundred and seventy-five acres planted to corn and buys annually from eight to ten thousand bushels. He feeds from eight to ten car-loads of beef each year and has bred some twenty-five calves, but buys most of his stock. He is particu larly successful in the raising of hogs and annually sells from one hundred and fifty to two hundred head, receiving therefor the highest market price, as they are always of the best grade and in good condition. When twenty-four years of age Mr. Lundeen was united in marriage, on the 6th of July, 1874, to Miss Clara Peterson, whom he had known in Sweden and who came with her parents to America at the same time Mr. Lundeen crossed the Atlan tic. They now have two sons and three daughters, namely : Milda, at home ; Logne, who assists in the cultivation of the home farm; Anna, a teacher; Willard, who has completed a college course and is his father's assistant; and Romie, who is a member of the class of 1903 in Tabor College. All of the children have been provided with a col lege education, and the family is one of cul ture and refinement as well as prominence. The daughters are members of the Congre gational church, to the support of which Mr. Lundeen contributes liberally. Mr. Lundeen exercises his right of fran chise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party. He has steadily refused to accept office, preferring that his attention shall be given to his business af fairs. Mr. Lundeen came to this country a poor young man, but to-day he stands among the substantial citizens of Fremont county. His word is as good as his bond and his industry has been the salient fea ture in his prosperity, enabling him to rise from a humble position to one of affluence. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 4i5 WILLIAM' L. BOGAN, M. D. William L. Bogan, whose success as a physician is due to the fact that he is well prepared by comprehensive learning for his profession and applies himself most closely to the discharge of his duties, is numbered among the pioneer representatives of the medical fraternity in Fremont county, where he has made his home since 1872. Integ rity, activity and energy have been the crowning points of success, and his life history most happily illustrates what may be accomplished by faithful and continued effort in carrying out an honest purpose. Dr. Bogan was born in Warrick county, Indiana, near the Ohio river, March 28, 1832. His father, Samuel Bogan, was a thrifty and prosperous farmer of that locali ty, but was born near Wheeling, West Vir ginia, and .was a son of Levi Bogan, who served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war and frequently related incidents of that struggle to his little grandson, AVilliam Levi Bogan. These details the Doctor has never forgotten, and his accounts of the war which brought independence to the na tion are therefore authentic. Samuel Bo gan was married in Indiana, to Miss Cath erine Clark, who proved to him a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey. She was a daughter of William Clark, a native of South Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Bogan became the parents of three children : Mary De Forrest, who is living in Mountain View, California; William Levi; and Sam uel, deceased. The father died at the age of twenty-eight years, and the mother was married twice. Her second husband was a Mr. Pluck, and unto them were born two children : Patrick, who has now passed away; and Ann, the wife of Dr. W. W. Daily. After the death of her second husband the mother married Henry Shrode, of Warrick county, Indiana. Her death occurred at the age of ninety-two years, in San Jose, Cali fornia. Dr. Bogan, of this review, spent the days of his childhood and youth in Indiana, and after acquiring an academic education he entered Asbury University, where he completed his literary course. He studied medicine under J. R. Tillman, of Warrick county, Indiana, and was graduated in the medical department of the Iowa State Uni versity, at Keokuk, Iowa, with the class of 1856, winning high honors. Opening an office in Lynnville, Indiana, he was success fully engaged in practice until the inaugu ration of the Civil war, when he raised a company, which joined the Ninety-first In diana Infantry and of which he was elected captain. He served for a time in active field duty and later was assigned to the po-t sition of assistant surgeon. Subsequently, however, he rejoined his regiment on the field, but ultimately was obliged to tender his resignation on account of paralysis^ from which he suffered in 1864 and from which he never fully recovered. Returning to his home in Indiana, he resumed the practice of medicine there and remained in the state of his nativity until 1868, when he removed to MontevaUo, Vernon county, Missouri, where he engaged in practice for four years. On the expiration of that pe riod he came to Hamburg, where he has since resided, and soon he took front rank among the practitioners of Fremont county, a position which he has since maintained. The Doctor was married in Dubois coun ty, Indiana, in 1858, to Miss Syrenia M. 416 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Aust, a lady of superior culture and refine ment, who to him has been a faithful wife and helpmate on life's journey. She is a daughter of Frederick and Matilda (Allen) Aust, both of whom were natives of Ten nessee, but, having removed to the Hoosier state, they reared their family there. Unto the Doctor and his wife have been born seven children, namely: C. P., an influen tial business man of Omaha, Nebraska; William S., who is engaged in the confec tionery business in Hamburg; Mrs. Matil da Catherine Taylor, who is living on Mc- Kissick's Island, Nebraska; Mrs. Bertha May Sturgeon, of Hamburg, Iowa, whose husband is engaged in general merchandis ing; Mrs. Mary Louise Green, of Ham burg; Nellie A., the wife of Paul Dean, a railroad agent at Hamburg; and James W., who is engaged in the livery business in Hamburg. The Doctor gives his political support to the men and measures of the Republican party and believes most firmly in its prin"-< cipies. He once became a candidate for representative, and, though he met defeat on account of the great Democratic strength in this locality, he succeeded in reducing the usual Democratic majority of four hun dred anti seventeen. Such a defeat amount ed almost to a victory and plainly indicates Dr. Bogan's personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. s Prominent in Masonic circles, he was made a Mason in Booneville, Indi ana, and he now belongs to the blue lodge, council and chapter, to Bruce Command- ery, of Red Oak, Iowa, and to Moilah Temi pie of the' Mystic Shrine, in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is a worthy follower of the ancient fraternity, taking an active part in its work and upbuilding, and many times he has been called to office by his brethren. In the council he has served as thrice illus trious master, and in the chapter as high priest. The beneficent principles of the fra-; ternity are exemplified in his life and have, gained for him the high regard not only of his brethren of the order but of those outside the craft. THOMAS J. JOHNSON. Thomas J. Johnson is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war who upon the field of battle wore the blue and loyally aided in the defense of the Union. He is now a representative of the farming inter ests of Mills Gounty, Iowa, and is a citizen of worth, enjoying the high regard of many friends. He was born on the 6th of June, 1827, in Montgomery county, Kentucky, and is a son of Hugh and Sarah (Knox) Johnson, both of whom were natives of the same state. He is of Scotch and German lineage and is descended from good old Revolutionary stock, for in both branches- of the family are found those who aided the colonies in their struggle for independence. Hugh Johnson, the paternal grandfather, was a native of North Carolina, and at an early day in the development of Kentucky removed to the "dark and bloody ground," where he served as a soldier under General AVing. He also aided in opening up that state to civilization and in performing the arduous task of laying the foundation for its future prosperity and progress. Both he and his wife lived to an advanced old age. On the maternal side the ancestry of the family can be traced back to George Knox, the great-grandfather of our subject, who BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 4i7 served as chief of artillery with George Washington throughout the Revolutionary war. He lived to be a very old man. The father of our subject died in Kentucky, at the age of seventy-three years, and the mother passed away in the same state, after attaining the very advanced age of eighty years. She was an own cousin of Mrs. Jefferson Davis. Thomas J. Johnson spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the Blue Grass state, remaining in his parents' home and assisting in the work of the farm. On attaining his majority he began farming on his own ac count, and his practical experience in that line well fitted him for the duties which thus devolved upon him. After renting land for some time he purchased a farm with his savings of former years, and as a companion and helpmeet on life's journey he chose Miss Mary Hall, their marriage being celebrated on the 18th of October, 1843. The lady was a daughter of Brazer and Sarah (Hammonds) Hall, both of whom were natives of Alabama. Her pa ternal grandfather was Major Hall, who won his title by his service in the war of the Revolution. Her maternal grandfather was also a soldier in the struggle for inde pendence, and both lived to a ripe old age. Mr. Johnson continued his farming operations in Kentucky until the time of the Civil war, when he aided in the preservation of the Union which his ancestors had as sisted in establishing. At the beginning of the trouble "he gave his influence on the side of the national government at Wash ington, and throughout the period of hos tilities he served with the Twenty-fourth Kentucky Regiment of Infantry, being mus tered in at Lexington. He participated in many of the most hotly-contested engage-- ments of the war. He was severely wound ed in the siege of Knoxville, a large buck shot and three other shots were imbedded in his hip and carried away a large portion of the pelvic bone. He was afterward wounded by the concussion of a cannon- ball and had to' remain in the hospital for about six months before he was able to take up his duties. In 1865 he was mustered out, and with a very creditable war record he returned to his home. In 1883 Mr. Johnson came with his fam ily to Iowa, taking up his abode in Mills county, where he has since made his home. He has valuable farming interests, being to-day the owner of two hundred and twen ty-one acres of rich land, which is under a high state of cultivation, the productive soil yielding excellent harvests. Upon the place are all the modern accessories and conveniences of the model farm of the twentieth century, and the neat and thrifty appearance indicates the careful supervision of an enterprising owner. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson has been blessed with seven children, and with the excep tion of Sarah, the fourth in order of birth, all are yet living, the others being Henry, who has been engaged in running the home farm; Alice, now the wife of John Allen; Hugh, who is at home; Elizabeth, the wife of Philip Allen; Lucy, now the wife of J. C. Buckingham ; Clara, who married Ed Da Lashmutt; and AV M., who completes the family. Mr. Johnson has given his children good educational privileges, thus fitting them for life's practical and responsible du ties. The cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend, and he has done effect ive service in its behalf while serving as 4i8 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. school director. He filled that position for a number of years and is now school treas urer. He belongs to the Masonic frater nity, and in his political affiliations he is a Republican, exercising his right of franchise in support of the men and measures*of that party. His has been a busy and useful life, and at all times he has been found as true to the duties of citizenship as when he fol lowed the old flag upon. the battle-fields of the south. ALPHONSO V PENN. Among the prominent business men of Sidney, Iowa, is Alphonso V. Penn, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1851, and is the son of Dr. John M. and Emily (Ricky) Penn, the latter still a resident of Sidney, Iowa. Dr. Penn came from Penn sylvania ancestors, as did his wife, they both coming from that state in 1856 and lo cating in Fremont county, Iowa. Dr. Penn was a very prominent physician of Sid ney until the loss of his eyesight in 1876. He was a son of a man of education, having read medicine at AVaynesburg, Pennsyl vania, and the misfortune which fell upon him was felt keenly by his patients as well as by himself. He opened the Penn drug store in 1862 and now this is one of the institutions of the city. The death of Dr. Penn occurred in 1896, when he passed our of life, regretted by a very large circle of friends. Our subject studied pharmacy and since 1884 has owned and conducted the store established by his lamented father. He was reared and educated in Sidney and has watched its wonderful growth with a great deal of interest. The marriage of Mr. Penn took place in this city, in 1874, to Miss Zinzie Gray, the daughter of John B. Gray. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Penn, the eldest, named May, dying in 1900; a son, Valdez Penn, born in 1887, still surviving. Our subject is a staunch Democrat, prominent in the affairs of the party, and is the chairman of the Democratic central committee, of Fremont county. He is now acceptably filling the office of school direc tor. Socially he is connected with the K. of P. and Mrs. Penn is a valued member of the Baptist church. They belong to the class of the most respected residents of Sid ney. JAMES K. P. GOODFELLOW. Farming and stock-raising form an im* portant element in the business activity of Fremont county, and of this line James K. P. Goodfellow is a prominent "representa tive. He is a successful man whose deter mined purpose has overcome all obstacles and difficulties in his path, enabling him to advance steadily on the high road to suc cess. He was born in Wooster, Ohio, Au gust 26, 1844, and is of Irish lineage, for his paternal grandfather, William Rufus Goodfellow, was a native of the Emerald Isle. He married a Miss Allison, became a Pennsylvania farmer and subsequently re moved to Ohio, locating in Wayne county; near Wooster, where he reared his family of three sons and three daughters of whom one daughter is still living. The grand father died in 1866, when eighty years of age. His son, Matthew A. Goodfellow, ALPHONSO V. PENN BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 419 was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, but was reared in Ohio. He mar ried Drucilla Culbertson, who was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, but their marriage was celebrated in the Buck eye state, where their eleven children were born. Eight of the number reached years of maturity, and those still living are Hugh C, a leading commercial traveler who re sides in Chicago and has a wife and one son; Drucilla L., the widow of Edgar Miles, of Denison, Iowa; and James K. P., of this review. The mother passed away in 1853, while the father's death occurred in south ern Illinois in 1881. He was for some years a resident of Monroe county, Iowa, and for one term represented his district in the state legislature, having been elected to that office on the Democratic ticket. At his parental home James K. P. Good fellow was reared, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors of the farm. Iu March, 1862, when but seventeen years of age, he offered his services to the govern ment as a soldier of the Union army, en listing at St. Louis in the Fifth Missouri Cavalry for three years. He served for three years and one month, and returned to his home before he had attained his ma jority. He was on active duty in Missouri and Arkansas, and manifested loyalty and bravery equal to that of the veteran of twice his years. After his return from the front he spent three years as a student in Tabor College, and was successfully engaged in teaching for several terms in Mills county, Iowa. On the 6th of August, 1869, Mr. Good fellow was united in marriage to Miss Alice M. Hurlbutt, who resided in Mills county, near Tabor, but was born in Ohio. Her parents were R. H. and Arvilla (Mead) Hurlbutt, both natives of Ohio, whence they came to Iowa in 1853. Mrs. Good fellow was one of four children and was educated in Tabor College. By her mar riage she became the mother of ten chil dren, of whom two died in infancy, the re maining eight being as follows : Frederick H., a stockman of western Nebraska, who has a wife and one son; Hugh C, now a student of Tabor College; Ralph A, who is engaged in the stock business with his bro ther in Nebraska; Eunice M., who is pur suing the study of piano and violin music; and James, Elsie A., Fanchon and Robert, aged respectively fourteen, ten, seven and three years. For twenty years Mr. Goodfellow has engaged in feeding stock, fattening over five hundred head of good cattle last year and also shipping several car-loads of hogs, and in connection with his two sons he owns about four thousand acres of land in Ne braska, where they have over six hundred head of cattle and one hundred head of graded Norman horses. Now, the winter of 1 900- 1, our subject is feeding two hundred head of cattle near Tabor, and is recognized as one of the successful stockmen of south western Iowa. He is an excellent judge of stock, which enables him to make judicious investments; and as his methods of feeding are of the best he commands a ready sale and good prices on the markets. In 1896 he came to Tabor in order to provide better educational privileges for his children. In politics he is a stanch Repub lican, and socially he is connected with Mil ton Summers Post, G. A. R., of Malvern, thus maintaining pleasant relations with his old army comrades. His business ability, 420 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. keen insight and sagacity and his unfalter ing perseverance have enabled him to make steady progress on the high road to pros perity, and he is now accounted one of the substantial citizens of the community. MRS. ELISHEBA T. GOODE. Mrs. Elisheba T. Goode resides on a farm on section 32, Rawles township, Mills county, and is the widow of John Goode, who died on the homestead farm here on the 1 6th of January, 1889, at the age ot seventy-two years and ten months. He was born in Northamptonshire, England, and was a mason by trade, serving an ap prenticeship of seven years to that occupa tion. He acquired a common-school edu cation and throughout his life was a well- informed man, keeping in touch with the questions and issues of the day through reading, while experience and observation has added to his knowledge. Ere he left his native land he married Miss Elisheba Thompson, who also was born in North amptonshire, in 1815. After their marriage Mr. Goode engaged in contracting in his na tive county for a time and afterward re moved to London, where he followed the same business for eleven years or until 1852, when he determined to seek a home in the new world and thus test the various reports he had heard of the opportunities afforded in the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Goode sailed from Eng land and after ten weeks spent upon the broad Atlantic arrived at New York, whence they made their way to Cuyahoga county, Ohio. There Mr. Goode followed his trade in Cleveland, and he also owned a small farm in the Buckeye state, which he sold in 1867 prior to his removal to Iowa. On the 1 2th of April of that year he arrived in Tabor, where he remained for two years, during which time he erected the first brick residence in the town. He came to the old homestead farm thirty-one years ago and purchased ninety acres of land, for which he paid five dollars per. acre. To do- this he had to incur an indebtedness, but soon it was all cleared away and by additional pur chase he secured ninety-three acres, paying fourteen dollars per acre for a tract of forty- acres and eighteen dollars for another tract of forty acres. From that time until his death he devoted his attention to agricult ural pursuits, and the farm yielded to him a good return. He placed his fields under a high state of cultivation and added many substantial improvements to the place, which became one of the attractive properties of the community. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Goode have been born thirteen children, of whom six sons and five daughters reached mature years, namely: Lucy, the wife of Guideme Tracy, of Elkhart, . Indiana ; Charlotte AAreather- head, who is living in Tabor; John T., a merchant of Sidney, Iowa; Anna, the wife of Freeman Jones, of Tabor; Joseph, who resides on the old homestead ; Phillipi, the widow of S. P. Graves, of Omaha, and the mother of nine children; Edward, a farmer of Green township, Fremont county, by whom she has four children; William, who also resides upon a part of the old home stead and has a wife and three children; Frank, who is married and resides upon the old home farm ; Charles, who is married, has three children and is living on the old home stead ; and Flora, the wife of W. W. Thorn ton, of Nebraska, by whom she has eight BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 42 1 children. There are forty-eight grandchil dren and nine great-grandchildren. Of this family John Goode served in the Civil war and has been in public office. Joseph, who owns forty acres of the old homestead, was always associated with his father in busi ness. He learned the mason's trade with him and together they worked twenty years at that occupation. Joseph Goode married Caroline Hershey, who was born at Great Salt Lake, Utah, and is a daughter of Henry Hershey, of Glenwood, Iowa. They now have two children : Lucy M. and Ruby A., aged respectively twelve and two years. ' At the time of the Civil war Mr. Goode, of this review, enlisted from Cleveland, Ohio, in the Squirrel Hunters' Regiment at the time of Morgan's raid. In his political views he- was a stalwart Republican, always voting for the men and measures of the party, while socially he was connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was a member of the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ,- and a man faithful to every duty and rela tion of life. His widow is an estimable lady and still survives him, and thougli now eighty-five years of age she still retains hei faculties unimpaired and is a bright and en tertaining conversationalist. PATRICK KILMARTIN. Patrick Kilmartin, who follows general farming in Mills county, was born in Con- naught, in the county of Roscommon, Ire land, his parents being John and Ann ( Mar tin) Kilmartin. In 1850 the parents emi* grated with their family to the new world reaching the shores of America on the ist of June. Taking up their abode in Albany, New York, they there remained for about. seventeen years, removing on the ist of April, 1867, to Mills county, Iowa. They established their home in Lyons township,. where the parents spent their remaining days, the father's death ocurring on the 19th of" April, 1884, when he was seventy-two years- of age, while the mother passed away May 10, 1891, at the age of sixty-five. At an early age Patrick Kilmartin started. out in business life for himself. He has al ways followed farming and stock-raising,, and in this has been very successful. In 1 87 1 he took up his abode at his present location, where he owns two hundred and forty acres of fine farming land, much of which is under a high state of cultivation. He is also engaged in feeding and raising stock and this branch of his business brings to him a good return. He is a good judge of stock, and in all of his work he is progres sive, enterprising and energetic, and thus prosperity attends his labors. In November, 1874, Mr. Kilmartin was united in marriage to Miss Martha A. AArolf, a daughter of William and Mary (McPher- ron) Wolf, both of whom were natives of" Tennessee, the former of Scotch-Irish de? scent, while the latter was of German lin eage. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kilmartin have been born eleven children, six living, name ly : Anna E., William G, Mary G., Alfred P., Joseph E., and Florence. Mr. Kilmartin and his family are members of the Catholic church at Malvern. He votes the Republi can ticket and keeps well informed on the issues of the clay, although he never seeks or desires office, preferring that his time may be given in an undivided manner to his busi ness affairs, for it is along that line that hg. is working his way steadily upward and pro- 422 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. viding for his family the comforts and com veniences which go to make life worth tha living. He is very highly esteemed, is libi eral in all. his dealings, generous in disposi tion and ever ready to assist or encourage any public enterprise. Upon such men de pend the advancement of all movements in tended for the general good and the benefit of the community. MILTON J. MARTIN. An old resident and prominent farmer of Mills county, Iowa, who has been estab lished here since 1853, is Milton J. Martin, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Jackson county, Ohio, August 2, 1828, and was a son of William and Jane (McClin-) tock Martin, natives of Virginia. The pa ternal grandfather was George I. Martin, his ancestry being English-Scotch, and it was with him that our subject grew to man hood. The maternal grandparents were William and Agnes (Hanna) McClintock, natives of Virginia, who came to Wapello county, Iowa, at an early day and there founded a family which is respected through out the state. Our subject was deprived of his father when he was but a small boy, and in his grandfather's home he was reared and sent to school. Until 1848 he remained in Ohio, coming then to Wapello county, Iowa, and in this section of the state he lived until 1853, when he removed to Glen wood, Mills county, and entered his farm of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Platteville township in 1854. Our subject was married in 1854 to Miss Elizabeth Parnell, a daughter of William Parnell, a native of Pennsylvania, who lived to the advanced age of ninety-five. Mr. Martin has one sister, Mrs. Cynthia Gib bons,' who is a resident - of Des Moines, Iowa. He is a leading and valued member of the Methodist church, to which he has been a liberal and willing contributor, and was the founder of the neat little chapel which bears his name. This was erected in 1888 and is located near his home. Mr. Martin has engaged extensively in general farming and in the raising of stock, becoming one of the substantial citizens of Mills county, but he will be best remembered on account of his personal character. His benevolence is known far and wide, the re cipients of his charity numbering many who would have suffered had he not come to their rescue in true Christian spirit. He has been an industrious man all his life, but has never forgotten that it is more blessed to give than receive and. has willing ly divided his substance with those in mis fortune. He has been a true Republican all his life, casting his first presidental vote, as a Whig, for William Henry Harrison. THOMAS R. STEWART. One of the prominent and successful farmers and stockmen of Anderson town ship, Mills county, Iowa, is Thomas- R. Stewart, whose well-cultivated farms and fine stock give evidence of great prosperity. Mr. Stewart was reared in Illinois and came to Warren county, Iowa, about 1872, his elder brothers, Robert and John, having located here a few years previously. His parents, Robert and Elizabeth Stewart, were born in county Antrim, Ireland, and married there. Mr. Stewart, the father of Thomas R., decided to find a new home for his fam- .Jlrlj. J&d- cA^cLXli^yiJ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 423 ily across the ocean, and sailed for America in 1847. With many other emigrants he took passage in a large vessel named the Prince James, and, although they had a very rough voyage, finally reached New York, having been thirteen weeks on the ocean. During this time there had been forty-two deaths among the passengers. The next year Mrs. Stewart followed her husband, bringing two children with her, leaving one little grave in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart located in Liv ingston county, New York, he engaging as a farm hand, but in the spring of 1856 he moved to Peoria county, Illinois, where he bought a small piece of new land, which he started to improve; but he was killed in ex cavating a well in the fall of 1859, and thus died when only thirty-six years of age. Mrs. Stewart was thus left with four chil dren, the oldest, Robert, only sixteen years old. However, she was a woman of great force of character and resolved to do her best, gave her children a fair education and struggled hard, to keep her fam'liy together. The boys worked out on farms and assisted their mother in every possible way, grow ing up fine specimens of the hardy stock from which they sprung. John Stewart learned the carpenter's trade and was the first one to leave home, going south in 1865. He had volunteered in 1862, but being a minor, his mother objected to his going into the army. In 1868 John came to Des Moines, Iowa, where he worked at his trade for some time and then went to Cen tral City, Colorado, since which time his principal occupation has been mining. For eight years he lived on the Pacific coast, in Oregon and Washington, but returned to Iowa in the fall of 1884, where" he remained for two years engaged in farming, and then went to Nebraska, where he purchased two hundred acres of land in AA'ebster county. Three years later he sold this farm and went south again to Montgomery, Alabama, and in that locality, in partnership with P. P. Johnson, engaged in the cultivation of a cotton plantation of five hundred and twen ty acres. Two years later he came back and remained on the farm of his brother Thomas, and' then, feeling again the desire for change, went to old Mexico, where he took up mining claims and spent two sum mers in gold-mining in the state of Sonora. In the spring of 1900 he went to Nome city, Alaska, where he has mining claims, from which place he returned home in Oc tober, 1900. He and his wife are making their home with their son, a merchant of Henderson. Mrs. Stewart's second son to leave home was Robert, who came to Iowa in 1868, locating in Warren county, where he bought one hundred and twenty acres of new land, paying ten dollars per acre. He is an able farmer in Montgomery county and has a large family. The only daughter, Mary Elizabeth, married Floyd Shinn, a prosper ous farmer of Montgomery county, and has two sons and one daughter. Thomas R. Stewart remained in War ren county one year and then bought one hundred and twenty acres of land in Mont gomery county, for which he paid ten dol lars an acre, that same land now being val ued at fifty-five dollars an acre. Mr. Stew art still holds this land, having it under the care of a tenant. For five years Mr. Stewart was engaged in mining for gold and silver in Colorado, but not finding this satisfac tory he returned to his farm in 1874. In 424 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 1878 Mr. Stewart purchased two hundred and forty acres of land in Montgomery county, settling there and engaging in farm ing upon a large scale. His next purchase was three hundred and twenty acres in Mills county, in 1883, for which he paid forty dollars per acre, and this was followed by a further purchase of an adjoining tract of one hundred and seventy-five acres in the same county, for which he paid the same price per acre. Mr. Stewart has improved this property, erecting a handsome house and barn, with all necessary buildings for .stock, and the land has been fenced with wire and is under a fine state of cultivation. Mr. Stewart keeps a hundred head of cattle, four hundred Poland China hogs and twen ty-eight horses. About three hundred and twenty acres are planted to corn, one hun dred and fifty to wheat, Mr. Stewart feed ing much of his abundant crop to his stock. The marriage of our subject took place in Iowa in 1878, when Miss Augusta Shinn became his wife. She was the daughter of L. D. and Emily (Woods) Shinn, natives -of Virginia. Mr. Shinn now resides in Red Oak, but Mrs. Shinn died in 1888, having been the mother of five children. Mr. Shinn was a major in the army during the Civil war and two sons accompanied him, but only one returned, the other giving up his life for his country. Mrs. Stewart wals taken from her family in 1888, leaving three children to the bereaved father : Pearl, now a young lady and the pleasant and capable housekeeper for her father : she graduated at Shenandoah College in 1897, is a fine scholar and accomplished musician; Stella May, also a graduate of the Henderson high school and proficient in music : she graduated at the same college as did her sister, belonging to the class of 1900; and Augusta, now attending the Henderson high school. These young ladies, under the care of their faithful and devoted grand mother, have developed many lovely traits of character and have made a pleasant home for their father, who takes a pardonable pride in them. Although a prominent and progressive man, Mr. Stewart has declined all public office, consenting only to fill the position of school director, being much interested in educational matters. In politics he affiliates with the Democratic party. HARRY E. WOOD. Harry E. Wood is numbered among the native sons of Fremont county, where his birth occurred April 22, 1864. He repre sents one of the honored pioneer families that has been identified with the farming interests of this portion of the state from an early epoch in its deelopment. He is a son Elijah and Julia (Snelling) Wood, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Virginia, their marriage having been cele brated in the Buckeye state. Robert AAfood, the grandfather of our subject, was of Irish lineage, and became one of the pioneers of Ohio, erecting a log cabin where the city of Cincinnati now stands. He removed his family into it and while living on the wild western frontier was killed by the Indians. At his death he left two children, Mrs. Wat kins and Elijah. The latter was reared in Ohio and learned the miller's trade, which he followed for many years. At an early date he removed from that state to Burlington, Iowa, where he conducted'a hotel, being numbered among BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 425 the business men of that city for some time. Subsequently he cast in his lot with he pio neer settlers of Fremont county and a num ber of years later purchased a farm north of Sidney, while afterward he became the owner of the old Dean mill in Mills county. There he purchased grain and carried on his mill, which is operated by water power. The dam, however, washed out and gave him con siderable trouble, so that the enterprise did not prove a success. After ten years passed there he exchanged the mill property for a farm in Mills county and took up his abode there, making it his home for eight years, after which he sold out about 1885 and re moved to California. In the Golden state he engaged in farming for two years and then returned to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, locating on a farm belonging to his sons. Afterward he and his wife went to Oklahoma, where he died on the 18th of September, 1898. In his political views he was a stalwart Republican and for a number of years he held the office of justice of the peace. He was enterprising and public- spirited, and in every community in which he resided he gained the respect and confi dence of those with whom he was associated and won many friends. By all who knew him his death was deeply mourned. Since her husband's demise Mrs. Wood has 're turned to Fremont county and finds a good home among her children, spending much of her time with her son Harry E. Like her husband, she holds membership in the Cumberland Presbyterian church and is a most estimable lady. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wood were born eleven children, namely: James, who died in California; Sarah, the wife of Joseph AVilson ; Robert, who is liv ing in Oregon ; Samuel, a merchant of Car son, Iowa; Fanny, the wife of C. McLveel , William H., a druggist of Perkins, Okla homa; Emma V., who died in California; AA'esley, who lives in Knox county, Nebras ka; Charles, of Iowa; Frank, whose home is in Council Bluffs, Iowa ; and Harry E. , of this review. Harry E. Wood was reared to farm life and acquired his education in the common schools. He accompanied his parents on their various removals until they started for California, at which time he remained in Mills county and engaged in farming. When nineteen years of age he went west and spent two years in Nebraska and South Dakota, being employed on a cattle ranch. He then returned to Fremont county. At the time of his marriage he took up his abode upon the farm which is yet his home, and in connection with general farming he feeds and handles cattle and hogs. He has also acted as agent for the Des Moines Life In surance Company, but the greater part of his attention has been given to his farming, and he is particularly well known as a dealer in cattle. In 1895 Mr. AAfood was united in mar riage to Mrs. Maggie J. Heaton, a widow, who was born in Bond county, Illinois, Jan uary 23, 1853, and is a daughter of Jona than and Margaret (Hand) Gaby, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Indiana, their marriage being cele brated in the Hoosier state. The father was of German lineage and died in St. Louis, Missouri, while his wife passed away in Illi nois. He was an architect and ¦ carpenter, following those callings through his busi ness career. Mrs. Gaby held membership 426 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. in the Methodist Episcopal church, and like her husband was highly esteemed by many friends. This worthy couple had six chil dren: Mrs. Elizabeth H. Carpenter; Will iam, who is living in Salt. Lake City, Utah; Sarah C, now the wife of J. Baker; Jona than, who is living in Illinois ; Maggie J. ; and Edward, also a resident of Salt Lake City. Mrs. Wood came to this county in 1859 and made her home with an aunt until 1872, when she gave ' her hand in marriage to William Y. Heaton, of Illinois, who came to Fremont county with his father. At the time of her marriage they located upon a farm and afterward came to the farm upon which Mrs. Wood is now living. Mr, Heaton was a leading and influential agri culturist in the community and in connec tion with the cultivation of the fields he en gaged in raising stock, making a specialty of fine horses. In his political views he was a Democrat and held some minor offices. His death occurred in 1889, and to his fam ily he left an untarnished name and a good estate. There were two children: Henry J., who was born January 28, 1873; and Hattie R., born March 14, 1876, and is the wife of Eber G. Haning. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have an interesting little daughter, Leah M., who was born January 6, 1896. Mrs. AAfood holds membership in the Presbyterian church and is widely known in Fremont county, where her circle of friends is very extensive. Iu his political views Mr. Wood was formerly a Democrat, but in 1900 he supported the Republican party. His fellow townsmen have called upon him to serve in local offices and in all he has discharged his duties with prompt ness and fidelity. He is one of the enterpris ing and energetic agriculturists of the com munity, whose labors, well directed by sound judgment, are bringing to him a good profit. NATHAN BROWN. During his early boyhood, Nathan Brown came to Fremont county and is now numbered among the old settlers, for when he arrived. here the county was in its prim itive stages of development. He was born in Cedar county, Missouri, in 1846, a son of L. D. Brown, who was born in Ohio and in early manhood went to Indiana, in which state he was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Beson, who was born in Ohio. In 1850 they removed to Nebraska .City, Ne braska, and in that locality the father se cured a claim. The Indians were still numer ous and game of all kinds was abundant. The country was a tract of raw prairie and the work of progress and improvement seemed scarcely begun, for at that time there was not a single railroad in the state of Iowa. Shortly after his arrival in the west the father took up his abode in Wash ington township, Fremont county, where he has since lived, being now eighty-one years of age. He owns a farm Jnear Harmony and is regarded as one of the venerable- and useful citizens of the community, . receiving the respect which should ever be accorded to old age. In his family were five chil dren : James, who served as a soldier in the Civil war and is now living in Kansas City, Missouri; Nathan; Mrs. Jane Slusher; Ed ward, who is living in Washington town ship; and Mason. The mother of these children died at the age of sixty-two years, and her death was mourned by many friends, NATHAN BROWN Aged 19, while serving in Company A, First Nebraska Regiment. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 427 for she possessed those sterling qualities of character which everywhere awaken respect and regard. Nathan Brown was only five years of age when he became a resident of Fremont county, and upon the old homestead farm he was reared. As soon as old enough to handle the plow he took his place in the fields and assisted in every department of the farm work, thus gaining that practical knowledge which enabled him to profitably carry on business for himself along the same line. His educational privileges were those afforded by the common schools. In 1864 he responded to the country's call, enlisting when eighteen years of age as a member of Company A, First Nebraska Cavalry, un der Colonel R. R. Livingston and Major Thomas Majors. The company was com manded by Captain E. P. Gillett, while General Thayer was in command of. the division. He was a brilliant and gallant officer and later became a politician of note. The regiment saw active duty on the fron tier, waging war against the Indians on the plains. That command was in several en gagements and lost a number of its men in battle. They were on the march from Ne braska City to Colorado, Wyoming" and other points of the far west and were con stantly on the alert to prevent the uprising of the Indians against the people on the frontier. In 1866 Mr. Brown was honora bly discharged, after two years' service, and was mustered out at Omaha, Nebraska, after which he returned to his old home and resumed the quiet pursuits of the farm. At the age of twenty-two, in 1868, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Burrows, who was born in Union county, Ohio, near Marysville, in 1849, a daughter 26 of AVilliam E. Burrows, a native of Massa chusetts. Her mother was in her maiden hood Miss Pamelia Burrows. She was born in New York and was a second cousin of her husband. Her death occurred in Kan sas when she was sixty-two years of age, and her husband passed away in Hamburg, at the ripe old1 age of eighty-four years. By occupation he was a shoemaker and fol lowed that pursuit through a long period. He, too, served his country at the time of the Civil war, enlisting in the One Hun dred and Twenty-first Ohio Infantry. He afterward became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, gave his political support to the Republican party and held membership in the Christian church. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Burrows were born eleven children, five sons and six daughters, and three of the sons aided in the defense of the Union when rebellion in the south threat ened its destruction. Franklin and Horace were members of the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Infantry, and the latter laid clown his life on the altar of his coun try, while Leonard defended the starry ban ner as a member of the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Ohio Infantry. Other chil dren of the family are Frances, Harriet, Caroline and Mrs. Brown. The marriage of our subject and his wife has been blessed with eleven children, as follows : Lola, the wife of Charles McCracken, of Washing ton township, Fremont county; Mrs. Daisy Thorp, of Hamburg; Emma; Edward; Lillie, the wife of George Baker; Earl, Fay, Harry, Tracy, Kenneth and Gladys. The family reside upon a good farm of sixty acres of rich bottom land and Mr. Brown is recognized as an enterprising and suc cessful agriculturist. 428 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. In early days he had an excellent reputa tion for his skill as a hunter and many a game bird has fallen before the discharge of his trusty rifle. He maintains pleasant relationship with his old .army comrades through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, and he also belongs to Ham burg Lodge, I. O. O. F., while his wife is connected with the order of Rebekah. Dur ing his long residence in Iowa he has wit nessed the great transformation which has changed this section of the state from a wild region into one of the best counties of the commonwealth, and in this development he feels just pride. He has ever borne his -part in the work of public improvement, giving his active co-operation to many measures for the general good. SAMUEL A. HOLCOMBE. Among the representatives of agricult ural interests in Mills county is Samuel A. Holcombe, whose well developed farm in Center township stands as a monument to his enterprise and capable labors. He is numbered among the soldier boys of the Civil war, and since putting aside the uni form of blue he has been found as true and faithful to his duties of citizenship as when he followed the stars and stripes on the battle-fields of the south. Samuel A. Holcombe was born in Herki mer county, New York, in 1847, and is a representative of one of the old families of Massachusetts. The Holcombes originated in Devonshire, England. One of the an cestors was a crusader and a knight, and re ceived large grants of land from the king of England, in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The name is composed of two Saxon words, — "holt" and "combe." The first representa tive of the family to seek a home in the new world came in 1630. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Bethuel Hol combe, who was born in Granville, Massa chusetts, on the 9th of September, 1763, while his wife, Desire Holcombe, was a na tive of Southwark, Massachusetts, born iu 1767. He served as an officer in the Co lonial army in the war of the Revolution. The grandparents had ten children,, among whom was the Rev. Chester Holcombe. The others were : Hosea, who was born in 1 787 ; Cynthia, who was born in 1789; Clarissa, who was born in 1791'; Clarissa, the second, born in 1794; Silas, born in 1796; Edmond, born in 1800; Martin, born in 1802; Al mond, born in 1806; and Amanda, born in 1809. The Rev. Chester Holcombe was born in Herkimer county, New York, and be came a Presbyterian minister, devoting his entire life to the work of the gospel. He was twice married. He first wedded Cath erine Beebe, who was born in 1800, and they became the parents of the following children : Edward Seymour, Charles Wilson, Edwin Clark, Andrus Hart, Julia Elvira, Henry Martin, Harmon Walton and Catherine Bee be. All were natives of the Empire state, having been born in Oswego, Oneida and Herkimer counties. Of these, five of the sons, Edward, Andrus, Charles, Henry and Harmon, were soldiers in the Civil war and won distinction by reason of their. valor at the battle of Gettysburg. Harmon was struck by a piece of a shell, which was de flected by a Testament in his blouse pocket. He was not injured but the force of the blow knocked him temporarily senseless and he was carried off the field as dead. After BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 429 the death of his first wife the Rev. Chester Holcombe married Miss Lucy Tompkins, who was born in Massachusetts and prior to her marriage was a successful teacher in the Female Seminary at Clinton, New York. The children of this marriage are : Chester, Gilbert T. and Samuel A. The father died in Wayne county, New York, in 1865, and the mother passed away in the Empire state in 1861. Their son Chester was born in Winfield, Herkimer county, in 1842, and is a very distinguished man, a diplomat and an author, whose opinions on Chinese matters are re garded as authority. He prepared for college in the old academies in Webster and Sodus and was graduated in Union College in a class of one hundred and fifty-six. He ranked third in scholarship, won the much-coveted Phi Beta Kappa prize, and was graduated at the earliest age of any alum nus of that institution. After studying for the ministry he was ordained to preach the gospel in the Presbyterian church. During the war he went to the south as a teacher, but on account of ill health was forced to discontinue that work, and sailed for China as a missionary under the auspices of the American board. Soon after his arrival there Dr. S. Wells Williams, author of "The Middle Kingdom," and secretary of the American legation at Peking, resigned and induced Mr. Holcombe to accept the posi tion of secretary, in which capacity he served until 1884. Since that time he has made various visits to China, going to the em pire on commercial and financial business for people in this country. He is the author of a work entitled "The Real Chinaman," a fascinating and valuable treatise oil the educational, social and commercial relations of the Chinese. It was issued in a fine vol ume two years ago by Dodd, Mead & Com ¦ pany, and has had a large sale. Recently Chester Holcombe has completed another work which was published by the same house, in October, 1900, and is devoted more especially to the treatment of the govern mental matters of the Chinese in China, military and otherwise. He is a constant contributor to the newspapers, magazines and periodicals, his articles being eagerly read. He has filled all the different posts in our diplomatic service in China. As a member of the commission for that purpose he assisted in the negotiations of two treaties between the United States and China. As sociated with Admiral Shufeldt he also ne gotiated the treaty between the United States and Corea. In 1884 he was appointed to represent our government at the capital of the United States of Columbia, but declined, the ap pointment. He was twice offered a decora tion of high order by the emperer of China, but declined the honor. Mr. Holcombe spent some time in Japan in the early part of 1895, in connection with the negotiation of a treaty of peace be tween that empire and China. In 1896, at the request of the Chinese government, he prepared in detail, in English and Chinese, the papers for a loan of one hundred mil lion dollars. He also developed in both these languages the detailed plans for about three thousand miles of double track railway, in volving an estimate cost of two hundred and forty million dollars, a scheme for raising the necessary funds, and the establishment of schools for the instruction of Chinese in railway construction and management. His- health gave way under the intense nervous 430 BIOGRAPHICxIL HISTORY. strain, and he was obliged to return to the United States. He has spent nearly his entire life in the capital of the Chinese empire and has the reputation of being the best foreign speaker of that most difficult language. He has pre pared several books in the Chinese tongue, his first volume in English, being "The Real Chinaman." Mr. Holcombe is a man of broad culture. He is a deep thinker, keen in his perceptions, positive in his beliefs. His magazine articles are sought for by the best publications. His literary style shows that he is a master of pure English in the very best sense, both the diction and subject matter of his work being of the very best. As a speaker he is equally interesting and is much sought after- He delivered a lecture on China to the students of Union College and during a recent campaign he made several political speeches' which were models of convincing argument. He is an American of Ameri cans, a stanch Republican, progressive, broad-minded, and interested in charities at home and abroad. He is especially interest ed in foreign missionary work, being one of the directors of the American board. He has a broad acquaintance with promi nent men in this and other countries. He is on terms of friendship with Earl Li Hung Chang and nearly all of the prominent Chinese statesmen, and was a special friend of General Grant. As United States min ister, he accompanied him and his party through China on the General's famous tour of the world, and entertained him for several weeks in the legation at Peking. Gilbert T. Holcombe, the second brother of our subject, is a graduate of Union Col lege and he, too, studied for the ministry. He was pastor of the Congregational church at Glenwood, Iowa, for three years and also visited China, but only remained a short time. He is now and has been for several years connected in an important official re lation with the Children's Home Society, with headquarters in St. Louis. Samuel A. Holcombe, whose name intro duces this record, has a high-school and an academic education, acquired by means of the excellent facilities afforded in his native state. At the age of seventeen years he re sponded to his country's call for aid, en listing in September, 1864, at Rochester, New York', as a member of the Eighteenth New York Independent Battery, and with that command he went to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he remained until Febru ary, 1865, when they were sent to Dauphin Island, on Mobile Bay, and participated in the capture of the city of Mobile. The only real battle in which he took part was at Fort Blakely, one of the outworks of Mo bile, in April, 1865. The war having ceased, he returned home and was mustered out of the service. Since 1882 Mr.. .Hol combe has been a resident of Iowa. He carries on general farming and his labors bring to him a good income. He was mar ried at Downers Grove, Illinois, in Decem ber, 1875, to Mrs. Margaret L. Dunham, a widow, who was born in New York city. Her family name was Brunt and her father was a contractor of New York city. Mrs. Holcombe was called to her final rest iu 1888, leaving no children. In his political affiliations the subject of this review is a stanch Republican who keeps well informed on the issues of the day and gives an unfaltering support to his party, yet has never been a politician in the BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 43i sense of an office seeker, though he served for one term as township trustee, but has ¦always preferred to give his time and en ergies to his business affairs. He is a mem ber of the Grange and also holds member ship in the Congregational church at Tabor, Iowa. C. D. BUTTERFIELD. It would be difficult to find one who more fully and ably typifies the western spirit of progress and enterprise than C. D. But- terfield, the cashier of the Farmers' and Merchants' State Bank, of Hamburg, Iowa. A man of marked ability, his success in business has been uniform and rapid, and he has contributed a due quota toward the material prosperity of the city in which he makes his home. He is widely and favor ably known here, and the history of his ca reer will undoubtedly be read with interest by many of his friends. Mr. Butterfield was born in the beauti ful village of Hiawatha, in Brown county, Kansas, on the 20th of September, 1869, and is a son of John B. Butterfield, a well- known business man of Hamburg, who was born in Maine and was reared in the east, where he acquired his education. After at taining his majority he came to the Missis sippi valley, taking up his abode in Brown county, Kansas, where he met and married Miss Elizabeth Paschall, of Hiawatha. She is a native of Ohio and spent her girlhood clays in that state and in Kansas. During the early boyhood of their. son, C. D., Mr. and Mrs. Butterfield came to Hamburg, where they .have since resided, the year of their arrival being 1876. A well known business man here, the father is connected with the firm of H. G. Butterfield & Com pany, and is accorded a prominent position in commercial circles. The children of the family are: C. D., of this review; Alpha, deceased; and Harry G., also a well-known business man of the town. C. D. Butterfield was a youth of only seven summers when brought by his parents to Hamburg, and therefore the greater part of his life has been spent in this city. He attended its schools and enjoys the sports in which boys of the period indulged,. After attaining man's estate he took his place iu the business world and is now regarded as an intelligent and reliable business man of marked ability, industry and perseverance, and to-day he occupies the responsible po sition of cashier of the Farmers' and Mer chants' Bank, which was organized in 1882 and reorganized as a state bank in 1896. Lt is one of the solid financial institutions of the county and is well conducted along safe and reliable business lines. Those in control have ever adhered to a conservative policy, yet this has not barred out progress - iveness, and the business of the bank has constantly increased until a very satisfactory dividend is annually declared. Mr. Butter field makes a popular cashier, for his man ner is genial, his courtesy unfailing and at the same time he is prompt, energetic and notably reliable in business transac tions. Mr. Butterfield was united in marriage to Miss Alice Birkhimer, and their pleasant home in Hamburg is noted for its gracious hospitality. Politically Mr. Butterfield is a Republican and has frequently been chosen to act as a delegate to county, congressional and state conventions, for his opinions carry weight in public councils. The cause of 43^ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. his party is dear to his heart, for he believes that it contains the best elements of good government and his is a true and loyal Amer ican spirit. Socially he is connected with Jerusalem Lodge, No. 257, F. & A. M. He likewise belongs to the chapter, council and commandery at Red Oak, Iowa, to Moilah Temple, of St. Joseph, Missouri, and to the Knights of Pythias fraternity. In pri vate and public life he is ever courteous and manly, inflexible in his integrity and has the warm regard of many friends. H. W. VAUGHAN. H. W. Vaughan, who follows farming in Fremont county, Iowa, was born in Branch county, Michigan, November 19, 1852, and the work of the home farm early became familiar to him, while in the district schools he acquired his education. His parents were Isaac and Mary Baker ( Vail ) Vaughan, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, their marriage, however, be ing celebrated in Michigan. The paternal grandfather, Abram Vaughan, was a native of England and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. When a young man he became a sailor and followed the sea for a number of years. After the close of hos tilities which brought independence to the nation he was married and located upon a farm in Pennsylvania, where he remained for a number of years. He subsequently removed to Cattaraugus county, New York, where he spent his remaining days. His children were Miller, Florence, Isaac, George, Elias, John, Ara, Lois and Paulina. Ara is still living, a resident of California, but the others have passed away. .Isaac Vaughan, the father of our sub ject, spent his boyhood days in Cattaraugus county, New York, and when a young man emigrated westward to Michigan, where he was employed in a mill. After a few years he married and turned his attention to farm ¦ ing. He first wedded Miss Louani Potter, and unto them was born a son, Bartlett, who now resides in Shenandoah, Iowa. After the death of his first wife Mr. Vaughan was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Mary Vail. He continued farm ing in Michigan, where all of his children were born, and in 1865 he came with his family to Iowa, locating in Fremont coun ty, where for a few years -he cultivated rented land. He then purchased a tract of unimproved prairie, which he transformed into rich and fertile fields, continuing the cultivation of that farm throughout his re maining clays. His strict honesty in busi ness affairs, his steady habits and his genu ine worth commended him to the confi dence and regard of all. In business life he was industrious and energetic. He kept well informed on the issues and questions of the day and was a thorough Bible student. He investigated all the questions bearing on religion and became a leading Spiritualist, lecturing to some extent on the subject. He spent many years in preparing for a higher positipn after death and died in the full assurance of the faith that his loved ones would join him in the spirit land in that "great mansion above not made by hands, eternal in the heavens." He passed away November 21, 1890. The mother of our subject was a widow at the time of her marriage to Mr. Vaughan. By her first marriage she had one son, -Isaac Vail, who now runs the homestead farm in Fre mont county, where the mother is still liv- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 433 ing in the enjoyment of good health, al though now well advanced in years. She is a daughter of William Baker, of New York, who traveled on foot from the Empire state to Michigan, where he afterward purchased land in the midst of the heavy forest, de veloping aii excellent farm. He was of Pennsylvania Dutch descent, a man of steady habits, of unflagging industry and of marked energy. He remained at the old homestead in Michigan until his children were married and had left home and his wife had passed away. He then sold his property in the Wolverine state and came to Iowa, spending his last clays in Ham burg. His children were John, Catherine, Henry, Mary, who became the mother of our subject, George and Rosanna. Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan "had three children, H. W. ; Josephine, now the wife of William Jones, of Walnut township; and Florence, a sou who died at the age of eight months. H. W. Vaughan was a youth of thirteen years when he .came with his parents to Fremont county, where he was reared to manhood, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof. He enjoyed the educa tional privileges afforded by the common schools and he early became familiar with the duties and labors of field and meadow, so that by practical experience he was well fitted for business life when he began farm ing on his own account. Purchasing land prior to his marriage, he erected a house thereon and at the time of his marriage took up his abode upon his farm. It was a tract of original prairie when it came into his possession, but he at once began the work of ploughing and planting and soon gathered rich harvests. He has since made many valuable improvements, including the erection of a commodious residence upon a natural building site, commanding a view of the Nishnabotna valley and his own well developed fields. He has an extensive barn and good out-buildings for the shelter of grain, machinery and stock, a bearing or chard and all the accessories which go to make a model farm of the twentieth cen tury. The place is pleasantly located five miles north of Farragut, and thus a good market is furnished for his grain and stock. He became widely acknowledged as a repre sentative agriculturist of the county, and in business circles he sustains an unassailable reputation for straightforward dealing. In December, 1876, occurred the mar riage of Mr. Vaughan and Miss Alice Sayre, who was born in Linn county, Iowa, February 1, 1857, a daughter of AAdliam Sayre, one' of the early settlers of the com munity and an honored veteran of the Civil war. He was a native of Ohio and in early manhood wedded Mary J. Straine, a native of Indiana. Removing to Iowa, they were residents of this state for a number of years and then returned to Indiana, where, in 1 86 1, the father enlisted for -service in the war of the Rebellion. He earnestly fought for the maintenance of the Union and ex perienced many of the hardships and rigors of war. At length he sustained a severe wound, from the effects of which he died in the hospital in 1864. His wife died in 1868, in Darlington, Indiana. He was a blacksmith by trade and followed that pursuit in con nection with farming. Both he and his wife were consistent and worthy members of the Christian church. They reared three chil dren: Alice, now Mrs. Vaughan; Charles, of Fremont county ; and George, who is living in California. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs.^ 434 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Vaughan has been blessed with six interest ing children, namely : C. Lewis, Edna Elva, Effie Mable, George C, Homer R. and Perry G. ; and the family circle yet remains un broken. Mrs. Vaughan is a consistent Methodist, holding membership in the church in Farmer City. Mr. Vaughan is a Mason in good standing and in his po litical affiliations he is a Democrat. On that ticket he has been elected to some of the township offices and has ever discharged his • duties with promptness and fidelity. MILTON S. SUMMERS. Milton S. Summers is numbered among the heroes of the Civil war and gave his life as a ransom for his country. He was born in Tazewell county, Illinois, November 20, 1828, being a son of John and Emily (AAdodrow) Summers. On the paternal side he was descended from one of the old families of North Carolina, while on the maternal side the ancestry can be traced back to Richard AArithrow, a native of Ire land, who became the founder of the family in America. As the years have passed the name has undergone a change to its present form of Woodrow. The parents of our subject emigrated westward, becoming resi dents of Illinois, and there they spent their remaining days. On the old home farm there Milton S. Summers was reared, aiding in- the labors of field and meadow through the summer months, while in the winter season he pur sued his studies in the old-time schools which were conducted on the subscription plan and which were held in log buildings. He was taught the value of industry and honesty in the affairs of life. ' After his death his obituary notice appeared in the Tazewell Register, published in the vicinity of his old home in Illinois, in which was the fol lowing: "The virtuous traits which adorn and endear character were instinctive with him from early boyhood, and impelled him under many disadvantages to habits of in dustry and propriety, which culminated in making an honored and useful man. Es pecially was his energy conspicuous in ac quiring a decent education at a time and in a locality when and where means for edu cation were limited and the student had to rely very much upon self- application. "We first became acquainted with him in the autumn of 1845, in his nineteenth year, when he came into our school at the 'Wood- row settlement' as a scholar — from the corn gathering. Although unrestrained, — the master of his own inclinations, — he took few hours for pleasure, but rather divided his time assiduously between hard labor, hard study and hard works of charity. Many families still remember him as the minister ing angel of those clays, supplying them with needed food and fuel ; plain but genuine and unaffected charity and a disposition with heart and hand prodigal to give where was real need or suffering, were leading traits of his character; and we are told, by those who know, that the disposition continued to the last, went with him to the wilds of Iowa and made him the benefactor of the poor there. His diligence at his books, and his obedience and attention to our com mands, made him one of our favorites, while his constant good nature, frankness and kindness endeared him to his companions. We never loved a young man more sin cerely." With his brothers, Harvey W. and James MILTON S. SUMMERS BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 435 N., Milton S. Summers removed from Illi nois in the fall of 1854, and came to Iowa, believing that better opportunities were af forded to young men in this state, which was not then so thickly settled as the states east of the Mississippi. They took up their abode in Mills county, Iowa, and entered a large tract of land from the government and began the development of the farm. Milton S. Summers was united in mar riage to Miss Llewellen Welsh, a native of Kentucky. Her surviving friends in this vicinity speak of her as a woman of high birth ; of an exceedingly amiable and lovable disposition; devoted, tender and true. The faithful and intelligent performance of every known duty was a very prominent trait of her character and this trait was transmitted, a precious inheritance, to her only child, Mrs. I. J. Swain. In true pioneer style Mr. and Mrs. Summers began life in Iowa, hoping here to secure a good home which should be their place of abode for many years to come, but the country became in volved in civil war, the slavery question of the south had aroused the country, and many of the southern states threatened to secede.. When Fort Sumter was fired upon brave men from all sections of the north responded to the president's call for aid and enlisted under the stars and stripes as defenders of the Union. Among the number was Milton Summers,, who, prompted by a spirit of patriotism, left his home and joined the Fifth Iowa Cavalry at the three-years call. He enlisted in 1861 and with his regiment went ti the front, participating in all of its engagements until his death. Speaking of his army experiences the same paper from which we have before quoted said: "Lieutenant Summers rallied for his country immediately after the fall of Sumter, and has ever since been con stantly on the field of duty. Although not so prominent as many of the host who have sealed with their lives their devotion to their country, this terrible rebellion has not im molated a nobler or better youth. He was a stranger to fear, and conscious that when ever he met the foe it would be to con quer or to die. From the time that we learned that he had enlisted we have watched the army reports, apprehensive of his fate. Mark tha fatal realization ! Read the rec ord that gives his name to immortality. On the 25th of August, 1862, the enemy made a desperate charge upon Fort Donelson with a force far outnumbering the garrison, but were gallantly repulsed. We continue the account in the words of Rev. A. L. Mc- Kinney, chaplain of the Seventy-first Regi ment Ohio Infantry : 'As soon as the Rebels were known to be in force in our immediate vicinity a telegram was sent to Colonel W. W. Lowe, commanding the post of Fort Henry and Heiman, and to whose command we are temporarily attached, informing him of the danger and asking reinforcements. He promptly responded "to our call by im mediately marching at the head of six com panies of cavalry and one field-piece. They arrived here at about half past six o'clock in the afternoon. The enemy had been routed and were retreating up the river. At daylight next morning, — the 26th, — Colonel Lowe, at the head of four companies — being less than one hundred and thirty men — of the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, started in pursuit of the enemy, overtaking them at Cumberland Iron AVorks, about seven miles from here. A sharp engagement followed. The Rebels, about five or six hundred strong, 436 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. were posted in a deep ravine bordering on the road, along a cornfield fence and behind houses. Their position was one of great natural strength. The enemy's battery be came annoying, and Colonel Lowe ordered Lieutenant Summers, with his company (B), to charge it. The order was obeyed in gal lant style. He at the head of his company charged through a terrible fire of the con cealed foe, scattering the Rebel cavalry, up setting and' breaking the cannon, so as to render it useless. The charges of the cavalry were most daring and heroic — at least a score of horses went down with it. From fifteen to twenty of our men were killed and wounded; among them was the gallant Lieutenant Summers, who wa,s mortally wounded. The loss of the enemy is not known. Colonel Lowe's forces, both men and horses, being jaded and suffering . for food, returned to this post, after having waited more than an hour for the enemy to make an attack. AVe captured a number of guns and among them some of those the Rebels took from our bovs at Clarkville.' This charge of the brave Summers is not exceeded by any in the annals of the war for desperate daring. An eye witness states" that Summers, rushing on in advance, en countered a six-pound field-piece which was pouring destruction upon his men. Un mindful of his own safety, and thinking only of theirs, he killed four of the enemy with his own hands upon the spot, and seizing the field piece by the wheels upset it as stated above. "The noble hero lived till the next day. The remainder of his story is soon told; brought home for burial, on Thursday, the nth inst, the concourse of friends and neighbors who had known hirn so long and well bore him through the beautiful grove which had been the playground of his school days, up to the old graveyard and laid him down beside his mother, who. had been rest ing there more than twenty years. The ceremonies, which were such as appealed to the heart, rather than ostentatious, were con ducted by Judge Harriott. Dr. Robert Gib son delievered a very touching and eloquent eulogy, brief but truly appropriate, and was followed by remarks from Messrs. James Haines and "Merrill C. Young, eulogistic of the brave martyr. "His commanding officer, writing a letter to his bereaved father, speaks like a soldier iu brief but eloquent words and testifies as to his worth. He says that his remaining companions in arms all mourn his loss with the same sincerity as do his friends at home ; that he was beloved by both officers and men ; that he was always faithful in the discharge of his duties; that a braver man never lived; and that, though -dead in the flesh, he still lives in the spirit among them. "The testimonials could not be otherwise and at the same time be true — for it was the cardinal ambition of life with our brave friend, in all things and at all times, to act well his part. Hence he says of himself, writing to his uncle, Samuel Woodrow, Esq., — his last letter, — 'That I am in for the war, and have taken a through ticket. I have aimed to do my duty, both as a sol dier and an officer; consequently I have the confidence of my superior officers and the love and respect of my men. I feel that my connections will never be disgraced by me. I expect to do my duty regardless of con sequences, and if I live to get home,' well BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 437 and good ; if I should not I have the glorious and happy consolation of dying in defense of my country.' "He so died, and has left his family and friends a name, not a disgrace, but a name of honor, which shall be imperishable as long as the history o"f Donelson shall hold a page in human annals." EDWARD C. ESTES. The broad prairies and rich pasture lands of Iowa afford an excellent opportunity to the stock-raiser, and the industry has be come one of importance in the state, con tributing in large measure to the general prosperity of the people. Among the rep resentatives of this line of business is Ed ward C. Estes, who to-day is a successful stock-farmer, carrying on the enterprise on an extensive scale. His farm is in sections 19 and 20, Rawles township, and the im provements upon the place are such as fa cilitates his business affairs. Mr. Estes was born at his present abode, on the ist of February, 1870. His paternal grandfather, Littleton Estes, was a native of Virginia, and by trade was a ship car penter and builder. For many years he was a resident of Kentucky and lived to an ad vanced age. In his. family were four sons and two daughters who reached mature years. Among the number was Richard C. Estes, the father of our subject, who was born on the 14th of February, 181 1, at Cross Plains, Kentucky, about eight miles from Lexington. When he had reached years of maturity he was married, and after the death of the first wife he wedded Miss Elizabeth Harrison, who was born in Indi ana. She was at one time a student under a teacher who had been an instructor of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. and Mrs. Estes were married in In diana, on the 22d of February, 1848, and about 1850 they emigrated westward from Missouri, by way of the Ohio and Missis sippi rivers. They drove across the coun try to Mills county, Iowa, where the father secured a claim of three hundred acres of land. As the years passed he added to his property until he was at one time the owner of twelve hundred acres of valuable land. His success was certainly very creditable, for he started out in life as a poor fisherman and woodchopper in Kentucky, and for some years he followed those pursuits. Finally, however, he gained some capital, and mak ing judicious investments of this in land throughout the period, of his career as an agriculturist, he continually added to his property until he became a man of wealth His death occurred in 1887, when he was seventy-six years of age, and his wife passed away in 1891, at the age of sixty-four years. He had twelye children, of whom three died in infancy, and of the nine who reached mature years all are yet living with the exception of William, the half brother of our subject. The others are Pamelia, the wife of H. Delavan, of Rawles town ship, Mills county; Margaret, the wife of H. H. Delavan; Mrs. Nancy Browning, of Harrison county, Iowa; Mrs. Martha Ro= land, of Arkansas; G. AV., who is living near Glenwood, Iowa ; Mrs. Virginia Seeger, of Mills county; Mrs. Anna Seeger, of Rawles township ; Mrs. Julia McClure, of the same township; and Edward C. John Estes, who was the eldest brother of Richard C. Estes, served in the war 01 1 81 2, enlisting at Lexington, Kentucky. 438 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. He was in the battle with Richard M. Johnson, his cousin, when the Indian chief, Tecumseh, was killed, — shot by Johnson, who was foremost in the charge. When the Indians rallied he met the chief in a hand- to-hand contest. John Estes was engaged in taking flatboats on the Mississippi river to New Orleans, whence he would return on foot to his Kentucky home. Those were the days when Kentucky was called the dark and bloody ground on account of the atrocious cruelty and deeds of violence com mitted by the Indians. Mr. Estes, of this review, has often heard his father relate the story concerning the finding of a corpse of an . Indian which had been' placed in a rough box that was by chains fastened iu the crotch of a tree, where it was left for several years. The place was one and a half miles from the Estes farm. The Indian was undoubtedly a chief, thus elevated so that he could see the game as it passed over the happy hunting-ground. Edward C. Estes, whose name intro duces this record, acquiring his education in the district schools. He was the youngest of his father's family and was reared to farm life. He has always resided in Mills county and is well known among its people. In the year 1891 he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie McClure, who was born in Scott township, Fremont county, Iowa, and is a daughter of J. B. McClure. Their union has been blessed with four children: Lucy L. and Gilbert, who are aged re spectively nine and six years and are now attending school ; Goldie, who is four years old ; and Edward M., the baby, born in No vember, 1900. Mr. Estes owns a farm of three hundred and eighty-five acres, which was originally a part of the old homestead. He makes a specialty of raising stock and fruit. His apple orchard comprises eighty acres and the fine' fruits there produced find a ready sale upon the market and command the best prices. In his pastures may be seen one hundred head of good cattJe and he an nually sells from one hundred to one hun dred and twenty-five Poland China hogs. His farm is well arranged for the conduct of his business and everything is carried on along progressive lines. The neat, thrifty appearance of the place indicates his care ful and energetic spirit. In his political views he is a Democrat and he has held the office of justice of the peace, but has never sought or desired the rewards of office. He and his. wife hold membership in the Christian church, contributing liberally to its support and taking an active interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community. Mr. Estes is a splendid type of the stalwart Kentuckian, standing six feet and four inches in height, while his weight is one hundred and eighty pounds. He is built on the broad-gauge plan, phys ically, mentally, morally and socially. He keeps thoroughly informed concerning the questions of general interest, both politically and otherwise, and is a. splendid example of an enterprising agriculturist, widely known for his sterling worth and upright character, as well as for his success in business af fairs. Mrs. Estes is a most estimable lady and they both have the warm regard of a large circle of friends. J. J. SWAIN. J. J. Swain, the well known and pop ular secretary of the Mills County Fair As sociation, was born in Dane county, Wis- REV. ELISHA R. SWAIN BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 439 cousin, on the 8th of March, 1849, and is a son of Rev. E. R. and E. S. (Cady) Swain, the former a native of Vermont, the latter of New York. The Rev. Elisha R. Swain was born in Reading, Windsor county, Vermont, February 16, 1801. His mother bore the maiden name of Hannah Ransom, and it was for her father, Elisha Ransom, a Baptist minister, that the Rev. E. R. Swain was named. His maternal grand mother bore the name of Hannah Grow, and the name of Hannah seems to have been a favorite one as it was borne by the grandmother, the mother, the sister and one of the daughters of the Rev. Swain. The brothers and sisters of the Rev. Swain were as follows : Hannah, born at AAfoodstock, Vermont, August 30, 1802; Aaron, born February 19, 1804; Sally, born in Plym outh, Chenango county, New York, No vember 5, 1805; a son who was born on the 24th of May, 1807, and died on the 26th of the same month; Oliver, born Au gust 31, 1808; and John F., born May 6, 1810. The father of this family, John F. Swainfdied May 3, 181 1. The mother attempted to keep the family together, but found this impossible and soon the chil dren were scattered. She afterward mar ried Elisha Morton, but the children still remained separated and were not brought together again until this was made possi ble through the efforts of Elisha R. Swain, the eldest of the family. After his father's death he went to live with his grandfather and uncle, both of whom bore the name of Elisha Ransom. He was not kindly treated there, however, and this largely caused him to lose ambi tion and energy, but later these were again aroused and he entered upon a work whose influence was far-reaching. He remained with his maternal grandfather until he was fourteen years of age, when he went to a place about eighteen miles from his home, to learn the trade of chair-making and house painting. But after two years thus passed his employer failed, so that the Rev. Swain, being thrown out of employment, entered the employ of his uncle James, and with him the next year went to Homer, Cort land county, New York, where he remained for one year. In his nineteenth year he took up his abode upon the place which had been left by his father, and gathered all the children of the family there, with the exception of the youngest brother, John, who lived with his uncle, Elisha Swain, about a mile and a half away. They ex perienced some rather hard times in at tempting to gain a living, but were happy in being once more united. When about twenty or twenty-one years of age Elisha R. Swain was married to Laura Mead, the wedding being cele brated December 27, "1821. The lady was born December 27, 1803, and was there fore married on the eighteenth anniversary of her birth. They lived happily together for about' sixteen years, when Mrs. Swain was called to her final rest, leaving to her husband the care of four daughters and a son, the last named being only about six months old. He only survived his mother fifteen clays. The children were : Mary, who was born in Plymouth; Eliza, who died from scalding when about two years of age; Clarissa and Helen Eliza, both of whom were natives of Plymouth, Chenan go county; and Ransom, who died only fifteen days after his mother, on the 17th of November, 1837. The eldest ' daughter, 440 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Mary, also passed away on the last day of December of the same year. In the meantime, while residing in North Norwich, New York, Elisha R. Swain had been converted and joined the North Norwich Baptist church in 1829. For some time he felt that he was called to the ministry before he finally decided to devote his life to the work, but at length he was ordained at Clymer church, Har mony Association, of New York, in 1833. In 1840 he removed to Busti, Chautauqua county, New York, and became pastor of the church there, remaining for six years. A publication which appeared in 1878 said that "his pastorate was the longest in the church and the most splendid record in its history." In the six years one hundred and thirty persons were baptized and the mem bership increased from eighty-four to two hundred and twenty- three. In 1842, dur ing the pastorate of Rev. Swain, a revival meeting was held and the church recorded seventy-nine baptisms. Temperance and virtue pervaded the community and the in fluence of the church became marked on all classes. Soon after the Rev. Swain moved to that place the church built a parsonage and its work prospered in every depart ment. He was much beloved for his fer vent piety, social qualities and entertaining preaching, and long afterward the church invited him to become their pastor again. On the 8th of May, 1839, Elisha R. Swain was again married, his second union being with Betsy R. Kinne, who had been a friend and schoolmate of his first wife. On the 28th of April they removed to Busti, Chautauqua county, New York, and there on the 23d of May, 1841, Mr. Swain was again bereft by the death of his wife, who left a son, Dwight Kinne, then only six teen days old, who died on the 22c! of June, 1842. On the 8th of November, of the same year, Mr. Swain wedded Emma Sophronia AVinn. She was a widow at the time and her maiden name was Emma S. Cady. Her father, Sylvester Cady, was born in the northwest part of New York, March 25, 1777, and married Abigail Ad ams, who was also a native of the Empire state, born May 27, 1782. They were married January 6, 1805, and Mrs. Swain was their second child, her birth occurring January 26, 1808. Her mother was famil iarly known as Nabby and was named for the wife of John. Adams, to whose family she belonged, although the exact relation ship with her and the two presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, has never been traced. By the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Swain the following children were born : James Ransom, born in Busti, New York, May 25, 1843; John Bunyan, born in Busti, Sqrtember 27, 1844; Delia Ma ria, born in Windsor, Dane county, Wis consin, January 9, 1847, the first white child born in the township; Ira Joy, born March 8, 1849; and Aaron Cady, born Oc tober 2, 185 1. In 1846, on account of failing health, Mr. Swain removed to Wis consin, then a territory. He left his New York home on the 30th of June, and on the 25th of September took up his abode in what afterward became Windsor, Dane county. He there gathered together the few scattered Baptists on the frontier and organized the Windsor Baptist church, which at first had but eight members. He also organized a church in the adjoining town of Bristol and to these churches and to those of several other localities he BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 441 preached the gospel of Christ until 1867. While in Wisconsin the people of his pas torate raised money enough, within a few dollars, for him to purchase forty acres of land and that constituted his first home in the west. Previous to this he had en tered eighty acres and finally purchased forty acres additional so that he was the owner of a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, which was located twelve miles northeast of Madison, Wisconsin. On reaching Iowa Rev. Swain gath ered together a number of Baptists and organized a church near Osage, in -Floyd county. In August, 1867, he settled (in what is now Peoples township, in Boone county, where he remained, until he was called to the home prepared for the right eous. In 1868 he organized the Spring Valley Baptist church in Dallas county, and wajs largely instrumental in the or ganization of tbe Peoples. Baptist church, of which he was a member at the time of his death. He passed away April 7, 1886, at the age of eighty-five years, one month and twenty-one days. Although he lost several children, he reared and educated a noble family of four sons and one daugh ter, all of whom are faithful adherents of the Baptist church. The day of his de mise, while working in the garden, he fell suddenly to the ground, prostrated with heart disease, and death came to him with in ten minutes. He closely followed the teachings of the beloved apostle, being em phatically a peace-maker. The whole com munity in which he lived for so many years joined in cherishing his memory as one who was a true and faithful preacher of the gos pel of Jesus Christ, and who lived as he preached. Of his wife, Emma S. Swain, it may be said, as the Psalmist wrote of old : "Her children rise up and call her blessed." No better estimate of character can be given than the child's of the mother, and one of Mrs. Swain's daughters said of her : "I can not write anything nicer than what you wrote in your letter about our mother, her gentle disposition, her sweet, confiding na ture, her high intellectual development and the Christian graces that shone through all her life, making her memory sacred to her loving children, and blessed by the commu nities where she dwelt, and led her gently and peacefully into the Light and Life be yond. In a few words, nothing could be better to say : it would take a whole volume to say all that might be told of her beauti ful life,— her patience under grievous trials and disappointments, her cheerful accept ance of whatever her lot in life might be, and her devotion to the interests of the church. Her last written words were a prayer that 'everything might be removed that hindered her from communion with God. Alas for us ! the prayer was quick ly answered, and the 'tabernacle of clay' that held the sweet spirit was taken away, and she was free from earth." The surviving children of the Rev. Swain are as follows: James R., who was married May 18, 1867, to Mary Almira Lewis, at Booneboro, Iowa; John Bunyan, who was married in Windsor, Dane coun ty, Wisconsin, in 1866, to Miss Frances Julia Wheaton; Delia Maria, who on the. 9th of June, 1870, became the wife of Will iam Ringland, in Peoples township, Boone county; I. J., of this review; and Aaron Cady, who married Effie Benson, near Union, Hardin county, Iowa. 442 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. The first twelve years of his life I. J. Swain spent upon a farm, and then attend ed school at Beaver Dam, AAAisconsin, for six years, at the end of which period he came with his parents to Iowa. On the 3d of May, 1870, he took up his residence in the village of Malvern, Mills county, where he was engaged in the lumber busi ness for five years, and then located on the farm in AVhite Cloud township where he now resides, it being the homestead of his father-in-law. The same year he purchased a hardware store at Malvern, which he con ducted eighteen months, but since that time has devoted his energies to agricultural pur suits and has met with marked success in his undertakings. On the 23d of December, 1875, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Swain and Miss Hannah A. Summers, who was born on the farm- where they now live, and was the only child of Milton Summers, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Mil ton Summers Post, G. A. R., of Malvern, was named in his honor. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Swain have been born six children, as follows: Clarence E., Dwight M., Alton J., Milton S., E. Ransom and James N. All are receiving the best educational ad vantages that the schools of this section afford. The family is one of culture and refinement, and is quite prominent in the best social circles of the community. They hold membership in the Baptist church. Mr. Swain is one of the most active members of the Mills County Fair Associa tion, of which he has been secretary for twelve years or more. By his ballot he supports the men and measures of the Re publican party and cast his first presidential vote for Gen. U. S. Grant in 1872. He has creditably filled many local offices of honor and trust, such as township trustee, clerk and member of the school board, and is one of the most public-spirited and progressive men of his community. He is a whole- souled, genial gentleman who makes many friends and is quite popular socially. Fra ternally he is an honored member- of the Masonic lodge of Malvern. STEPHEN D. DAVIS. While "the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong," the in variable law of destiny accords to tireless energy, industry and ability a successful ca reer. The truth of this assertion is abund antly verified in the life of Mr. Davis. In financial circles he has worked his way up ward from an humble position to one of affluence and is to-day numbered' among the prosperous stockmen and farmers of Mills county, his labors having brought to him a splendid return. Stephen D. Davis was born October 25, 1820, in Jackson county, Ohio, a son of Levi and Mary (Rudyard) Davis. The pa ternal grandparents of our subject were Robert and Nancy Davis. Robert Davis was a native of North Carolina and spent his entire life in that state, by occupation being a gunsmith. The maternal grandfa ther of our subject was Isaiah Rudyard, an old sea captain. Levi Davis, the father of Stephen D. Davis, was a native, of North Carolina and was a farmer by occupation. In early life he was a member of the stand ing army for a time. At a period in the pioneer development of Ohio he came with his wife and children to the Buckeye state, the year of their emigration being about , & CZW^-^, MRS. STEPHEN D. DAVIS BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 443 1806. His last days were spent in Jackson county, Ohio. His wife, who also was a native of North Carolina, was again mar ried, after her husband's death, and re moved to Mills county, Iowa, a few years before her son Stephen became a resident of the county. Her remaining days were spent at her home here. Levi and Mary Davis were the parents of nine children, three sons and six daughters.. Most of them were farming people, were married and have chil dren and grandchildren. Stephen D. Davis spent the years of his minority in Jackson county, Ohio. His ed ucational privileges were extremely mea ger. He pursued his studies in an old-time log school-house, with its primitive furnish ings and greased-paper windows. The methods of teaching also were rather crude and the school was supported by the sub scription plan. But he made the most of his opportunities through life and by ob servation and experience gained much val uable knowledge. In his boyhood he dis played considerable musical ability and per formed upon the fife. His father employed a poor old Dutch Revolutionary soldier who played the drum, While young Stephen played upon the fife. He also played the fife at the time when recruits were being solicited for the Mexican war and also for the Civil war. He first came to Iowa in 1855, making the journey in a spring wagon. He was accompanied by his brother Robert and to gether they made the trip to the Hawkeye state to see the country and buy some land. In the fall of the year Mr. Davis removed' to Iowa. Starting from Portsmouth, Ohio, he proceeded by boat down tfie Ohio and up the Mississippi river to Keokuk, where 27 he hired a man to bring him and his family across the country — a distance of eighty miles — to the home of his brother-in-law, David Rickabaugh. Here he purchased a yoke of oxen and with that outfit traveled to his destination. He first located a few miles south of the present site of Red Oak, in Montgomery county, but after a few months came to Mills county. At the time of his marriage he had one hundred and twenty acres of poor land, a horse and a cow, but no money. In thir teen years from that time he was the owner of five hundred and seventy acres of land, entirely free from indebtedness. On con> ing to Mills county he located in Indian Creek township, near where the town of Emerson now stands, and after residing about one year at that place he took up his abode in Spring Valley, White Cloud town ship, in March, 1857. Here he purchased a farm of four hundred acres on section 29 and to this he has added until he now has nineteen hundred and sixty acres. His place is known as the Spring Valley Stock Farm on account of the fine spring which has a flow of about thirty gallons per min ute. He has constructed a fine fish pond, which is supplied with water from this spring and contains an abundance of fish. He has made ditches one mile in length and has otherwise improved his property until it is most valuable. Mr. Davis is one one of the most extensive farmers and stock men of Mills county. He has ever prose cuted his work along well-defined lines of labor, has followed progressive methods, and his enterprise and industry have ena bled him to continually add to his prop erty. In addition to the home place he has a farm of one hundred and sixty acres near 444 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Council Bluffs, one of one hundred and fifty-seven acres near Whiting, Iowa, and another of three hundred and twenty acres east of Onawa, Iowa. At one time, he owned twenty thousand acres of land in Kansas, and he now has eleven hundred and twenty acres in that state, together with thirteen hundred acres in Texas, and six hundred and forty acres in South Dakota. He is at all times just, and probity is num bered among his chief characteristics. Mr. Davis is a man of resourceful busi ness ability, and in addition to the cultiva tion of his fields he has engaged in the stock business on a large scale. He keeps excellent grades of horses and cattle and these find a ready sale upon the markets. Mr. Davis is also a prominent factor in banking circles. He is interested in the First National Bank of Malvern, of which he is the vice-president. He is also finan cially interested in the First National Bank of Tabor, of which he was president for a. year or two and is still a stockholder in the institution. He is also a stockholder in a bank in Athena, Oregon, and in one at Colton, Washington. ' On the 7th of April, 1842, Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Mary Par ker, a native of Virginia, born September 17, 1 82 1, and a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Parker. Her father died in Jack son county, Ohio, and her mother died in the home of our subject after living with him for a quarter of a century. Mr. Davis and his wife traveled life's journey together for fifty-three years, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity. Mrs. Davis was a most esti mable woman. Never throughout the long- years of her married life was she known to speak a cross word, no matter how great her worries or how tired she might be. She possessed a calm and even temperament un der perfect control, and her devotion to her family was beautiful to see. She was a great Bible student, spending much time and thought over the holy scriptures and thus becoming familiar with the lessons of the Master and His apostle. Her knowl edge of holy writ thus became extensive and her interpretation of it was seen in her . daily life, in her kindliness, her love, her charity and her forbearance. Hers was in deed a beautiful Christian spirit, so in har mony with the teachings of the Christ that her influence was very marked among those who knew her. Ten children were born unto our subject and his wife : Marion T., Tacy L., Minerva A., Charles F. and six now deceased. The mother's death occurred August 31, 1895, at the age of seventy- three years, eleven months and fourteen days, and throughout the entire communi ty her loss was deeply felt. She was a kind neighbor, a faithful friend and enjoyed the respect and confidence of all who knew her. In his political views Mr. Davis has ' been a stalwart Republican from the year i860, previous to which time he voted with the Democracy. Mrs. Davis was reared in the Baptist faith, and her earnest Christian example left a deep impression upon her children. As a citizen Mr. Davis is public- spirited, giving an earnest co-operation to all movements for the general good. His life has certainly been a success. His en tire career is illustrative of the fact that certain actions are followed by certain re sults; and his determined purpose, guided by sound business judgment, has enabled BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 445 him to advance steadily toward the goal of success; and his methods will stand the closest investigation. He has certainly mer ited the distinction of being what the world calls a self-made man. This is the only title which the American republic confers upon its citizens, and it is one which may be proudly worn. Entering upon his business career without the aid of wealth or influ ential friends, he has advanced steadily, step by step, to a position of prominence in financial circles. As the years have passed he has added to his property and "wealth through earnest labor, close appli cation and sound judgment. Of such a record he may be justly proud, and so his history should be a source of inspiration and encouragement to others. WILLIAM W. CREAMER. William Wallace Creamer, the subject •of the present sketch, is a prominent busi ness man of Henderson, Mills county, Iowa, conducting there a general store for the sale ¦of robes, harness and saddlery. The birth of Mr. Creamer took place • in Dade county, Missouri, May 14, 1849. His father was John Creamer, a native ot Fayette county, Ohio, born there. in 181 8, dying on his farm four miles from Hastings, Mills county, Iowa, in 1881. The grand father of our subject was a resident of Ohio, -where he had engaged in teaching and farm ing and lived to be an octogenarian, leav ing a family of eight children, two of whom are still surviving, Henry Creamer, a resi dent of Tennessee, and Cyrus Creamer, liv ing in Nebraska. The mother of our im mediate subject was Elizabeth (McMillan) -Creamer, a native of Ohio. ' She was the daughter of a farmer who later engaged in carpenter work, becoming still later a builder and contractor. Many structures are standing testifying to his skill, in this county, in Pottawattamie and in Fremont counties; and the famous barn near Cres cent City, now owned by Solomon McMil lan, was erected by him, in 1875. Our sub ject's mother survived her husband two years, her death taking place in 1883. They had a large number of children, the sur vivors being: J. J. Creamer, of Cedar coun ty, Nebraska, who has one child; C. L. Creamer, of Elmwood, Cass county, Ne braska, who has five children; John E. Creamer, of Wickersham, state of Wash ington; Cynthia, the wife of B. F. Herbert, of Pottawattamie county, Iowa, who has a family of three children; and our subject, who was the second child. The burial- place of the parents, whose memory is tender ly cherished, is in East Liberty, Silver Creek township. The Methodist church at this place was erected by Mr. Creamer's fa ther, the church being of that denomina tion of which the family were devoted members. The father was an active man all his life, cared well for his family, and as a pioneer of 185 1 built up his home at Malvern when there was no railroad and the site of Council Bluffs and Omaha con sisted of but four log houses. William Wallace Creamer was educated in the district school and remained at home until the age -of twenty-seven, at which time he married Miss Anna P. Thompson, a na tive of Canada, who came to Iowa in her early years. She was the daughter of Gavin Thompson, who was born in Scot land, in 1816, and died December 12, 1882. His wife, Jane Mint 3 Thompson, was born 446 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. January 4, 18 14, and lived until June 21, 1884, leaving three sons and four daugh ters. Mr. and Mrs. Creamer have but one child, Ralph E., who was born May n, 1879. He is a bright young man, a gradu ate of the Henderson public school and at present successfully acting as a salesman in a business house of Villisca, Iowa. For some years Mr. Creamer engaged in farming, but in 1886 he became a sales man for the firm of Shaffer & Sons, contin uing with them for more than three years. In 1887 he bought the stock of his present business and since that time has continued in this line, successfully pursuing it, his methods pleasing his patrons. He disposed of his farm in 1893, bought his home and since that time has made Henderson his place of residence. Politically Mr. Creamer affiliates with the Republican party, and socially he belongs to the I. O. O. F. For fifteen years he has given his services as school director, so efficiently discharging the duties that his neighbors can not spare him. GRAHAM F. JONES. Among the prominent men and veteran soldiers of Mills county, Iowa, is Graham F. Jones, who was born in Ohio in 1837, a son of John and Margaret (Herin) Jones, the former a native of Pennsylvania, who removed to Ohio about 1820, the latter the daughter of a native of Ireland, who settled in Pennsylvania when the Indian tribes still possessed much of the country. A brothel of Mrs. Jones, named John Herin, was cap tured by the Indians but was finally recap tured by a band of settlers, his brother Jo seph being the captain of the party. The wild life of the Indian seemed to have pleased John Herin, however, for he re turned to the tribe of his own accord and finally became their chief when they migrat ed to the Red river country, and died among them. Later Joseph Herin and his compan ions were captured and all were killed ex cept him and one other, and they would probably have shared the same fate had they not been rescued by a French woman who 'ransomed them. Joseph then went into the war of 1 81 2 and served with distinction, later settling in Pennsylvania, where he made a name in commercial circles, became a Mason of high degree, and finally, after an adventerous life, lost it in a duel with a Frenchman,, over some trivial disagreement. The brothers and sisters of our subject are either known or remembered in many sections of the country. They were : Ed ward, who was a soldier under Sherman iu the great inarch to the sea and died from wounds received in his country's service; Mrs. Elizabeth Ellis, deceased, who Lost her husband in the Civil war, he being killed at Winchester; Mrs. Martha Johnson, de ceased; James, a soldier in the Civil war, deceased ; John and Mary, who died when children; Joseph, who was a soldier of the Civil war, became blind, but notwithstand ing this affliction studied medicine and is now one of the leading physicians of Fort AVayne, Indiana, with a large practice ; Mrs. Ellen Matson ; Mrs. Dorcas Smith, deceased ; Nathaniel, a soldier in the Civil war, resid ing in Kenton, Ohio; and John Alexander, a soldier in the Civil war, who has only recently had a ball taken out of , his shoulder blade, and resides in Missouri. Our subject was reared in Ohio, where he received his education and employed his BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 447 time on a farm until he enlisted in the army for a three-months service, during the Civil war. He has the distinction of having placed his name at the head of the list on the roll of Company G, Fourth Ohio Infantry, Cap tain Grubb, and accompanied the regiment, under Colonel Robinson, to Camp Denni son. On June 3d of the same year he re- enlisted for a service of three years and was sent to Virginia, into General Rosecrans' division and saw a great deal of the hard fighting in that state and on the Potomac, later being transferred to General Shields' command. Our subject recalls with vivid ness the battles of Rich Mountain, Laurel Hill, Fort Republic, Fredericksburg, and those in the vicinity of Harpers Ferry, where he helped to build the bridge across the Po tomac. He was also in the battles of Blue's Gap, AVinchester, Malvern Hill, Martins burg and the seven days of fighting around Richmond. He had gone into the cavalry service and after an experience like the fore going, without injury, suffered from the fall of his wounded horse and was thus in capacitated from further service and was honorably discharged, having made a record of the greatest bravery. Our subject was married in 1870, to Miss Sarah Melissa Kimmey, who was born in Ohio, and the children of Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the following: George B., Mrs. Hessie El well, Robert, Mrs. Gretta Dosh and. Grace. Mr. Jones, with his family, came to Mills county from Ohio in 1875. soon after being anpointed superintendent of the county infirmary, which position he held for two years, faithfully performing the obligations of his office. At that time he bought his present nice farm, one and three-fourths miles from Hillsdale, and has resided there in comfort ever since. He has a good orchard, etc. Socially he is connected with the I. O. O. F. organization and is an active member of the lodge in Hillsdale. Both he and his excellent wife are mem bers of the Methodist church, where they are regarded with the highest esteem, and no record of the prominent residents of Mills county, Iowa, would be complete with out mention of them. A. G. BAGLEY. A. G. Bagley has spent the greater part of his life in Fremont county, whither he came with his parents when fourteen years of age. That was in the year 1859, and the work of progress and development seemed scarcely begun in this district, which was then situated on the wild western frontier. The Bagleys ably assisted in laying the foundation for the present prosperity and development of the county and the name has ever been a synonym for all that is com mendable in citizenship and in private life. He of whom we write is recognized as one of the leading agriculturists in the vicinity of Randolph. He is descended from old New England stock and was born in Cuya hoga county, Ohio, April 26, 1844, his par ents being Russia and Rebecca (Newell) Bagley. Russia Bagley was born in Vermont and when a young man emigrated westward to Ohio, where he found and married Miss Newell, who was a native of Connecticut and with her parents removed to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in the pioneer epoch of its his tory. At that time Cleveland was a small village, containing only a few houses, and Indians were still very numerous in the 448 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. country. There were no mills in that part of the state and the pioneer settlers had to pound their wheat and corn in mortars in order to make breadstuff's. The ladies of the household would exchange a pound of butter for a pound of salt. Many difficulties and hardships were endure.d in opening up the region to civilization, but there were also many pleasures known only to pioneer life. The husbands and fathers entered their land from the government and improved farms. The Bagleys and Newells were well known and honored people and were actively identified with the work of progress and im provement there. The father of our sub ject served through the war of 1812, and in recognition of the aid which he rendered his government he was given a land war rant, which he sold. He was the second in order of birth in a family of five children, the others being George, a physician, who died in Ohio; Nathaniel, an agriculturist of Putnam coun ty, Ohio ; Parley, who died in Vermont ; and Ruth, who- also passed away. Russia Bagley's wife, Mrs. Rebecca Bagley, was the second in order of birth in a family of six children, the others being Polly, now Mrs. Edgel; Mrs. Adelia Colby; John, who died in Bu chanan county, Iowa; Mrs. Almira Baker, of Fremont county; and George, who is a farmer and broom manufacturer. After the marriage of Russia Bagley and Rebecca Newell they located upon his farm in Ohio, where they resided for many years, after which that property was exchanged for four hundred acres of land in Fremont county. Mr. Bagley had not seen the land at the time the trade was made, and when he came to the west he found that it was wet and not very profitable ; but it has since been drained and has been transformed into a very desirable property. In 1859 he removed his family to Iowa, making the journey on steamboat by way of the Ohio and Missis- . sippi rivers. He located upon a portion of his land west of the Nishnabotna river, not far distant from Randolph, and there he im proved a farm, making it his place of abode for many years, when he settled on another tract of land on Deer creek. There he again developed a good farm, making it the permanent place of his residence until he -was called to his final rest, on the 8th of November, 1885, when ninety^four years of age. He had enjoyed excellent health up to the time of his demise, and only a few days before his death he had walked to tne polls. where he cast his vote for the Republican candidate. He was a strong, athletic man, of brave and fearless nature, always "ener getic and industrious. When sixty years of age he could cut four cords of wood in a day, and by his hard labor and honest deal ing he acquired a comfortable competence for the evening of life. He never aspired to the honors or emoluments of public office, but served as a justice of the peace for a number of years. His life was the quiet, hon est one of the farmer and at all times he commanded the confidence and respect of those with whom he was associated. His wife survived him and spent her last days in the home of her children, dying at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Clark, December 26, 1894, when ninety-three years of age. Her husband had been previously married before they were wedded, his first union being with a Miss Teuman, by whom he had six children, as follows : Helen, who became Mrs. Marble and died in Chicago, Illinois; Lemath, who became Mrs. Link BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 449 and died in Kentucky ; Mrs. Margaret Robe ; William and Joseph, who died in Ohio ; and Lucina, who is living in Missouri. The children born unto Mr. and Mrs. Bagley were: P. M., a prominent farmer and cap italist, who died in Fremont County; 'Mary, now deceased, who was married in Ohio to O. A. Clark, who entered the army at the time of the Civil war and while he was at the front she came to her parents in Fremont county, where her husband joined her after the close of hostilities, becoming a prominent farmer of this locality; Christiana, who is also deceased; Amy, the wife of William Rusl ; A. G., of this review ; Fanny, the wife of David Shultz, a farmer of Mills county; and Alvaretta, who died in child hood. Of the Methodist church the par ents were consistent and faithful members, and into the minds of their children they early instilled lessons of industry and hon esty. Throughout his career the father was a sturdy farmer of sterling integrity and honor. A. G. Bagley spent the first fourteen years of "his life in his native state and then accompanied his parents to Iowa, remaining in their home until after he had attained his majority. He assisted in the work of improving and developing the farm and also spent some time in schools, but his studies were interrupted by his ill health. He suf fered greatly from chills and fever. At the time of the Civil war, believing that a change of climate would benefit his health, he made arangements to accompany the Rev. Moses Payne, who was engaged in freighting for the government, to New Mex ico with ox teams. With other equipments they took a coffin, for it was feared that Mr. Bagley would not survive the trip and arrangements were therefore made for the burial. The coffin was put in the wagon which he drove and he sat on it, slept by it and sometimes in it during the trip to Mexico, but it was never brought into use for him, as his health improved ; but the parson sold the coffin while they were in the south. Returning home, he resumed farm ing, and in 1869 he completed his arrange ments for a home of his own by his mar riage to. Miss Elizabeth AArittenmyer. They located upon a farm in Fremont county, there residing until 1883, when they removed to a farm in Nebraska. Subsequently Mr. Bagley engaged in merchandising and in selling farm machinery. In 1885 he re turned to Fremont county, locating in Tabor, having traded his NebrasKa land foi a large stock of merchandise. He handled farm machinery and agricultural imple ments, engaging in that line of business until 1888, when he again went to Nebraska, where he followed farming and stock-raising until 1893. In that year he became a resi dent of northwestern Canada, where he car ried on the same line of business until June, 1899, when he once more took up his abode in Fremont county, his home being upon a fine farm in Nishnabotna valley. His resi dence adjoins the corporation limits of Ran dolph. He is now conducting general farm ing and stock-raising and has a very valuable and desirable place, in which no modern ac cessory or convenience is lacking. His home, recently erected, is a two-story frame dwel ling, built in a modern architectural style, and in the rear are found large barns and substantial outbuildings. Mrs. Bagley, who for a third of a cen tury has been a faithful companion and help mate to her husband on life's journey, is a 45° BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. ' lady of intelligence and culture, belonging to one of the honored early families of this state. She was born in Illinois, July'n, 185 1, a daughter of Andrew J. and Martha (Hooper) Wittenmyer, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Adams county, Ohio, where they were married. They were of German and Scotch descent. They removed to Illinois and after a num ber of years, in 1868, came to Fremont county, where the father purchased and im proved a farm, upon which he continued through a long period. In the evening, of life he removed to Nebraska, where both he and his wife died, the latter on the 14th of February, 1893, and tne former on the 27th of April, 1894. They were earnest and loyal members of the Methodist church, and in his political faith Mr. AVittenmyer was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. Their marriage was blessed with seven children, namely : Frank, a resident farmer of Fre mont county ; Mrs. Elizabeth Bagley ; Jo seph, who is employed as a smelter by a gold-mining company ; Carrie, the wife ot James Henry ; Anna, the wife of Joseph Henry ; William, of South Dakota : and Em ma, the wife of E. Asman. Seven children grace the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bagley; Hattie F., now the wife of Dr. James Richardson, of northwestern Canada; Mel vin, who is living in the same locality; Syl via, the wife of AV. Froste, of Canada ; Ra phael, who also is living in the British prOv ince; Theressa, who makes her home with her sister in Canada ; Verda, who is with her parents; and Claude, who was born Sep tember 30, 1887, and is still under the pa rental roof. Mr. Bagley exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and meas ures of the Republican party, but office- holdings have no attraction for him. He devotes his time and energies untiringly to his business affairs, in which he has pros pered. His capable management and keen discrimination have been active factors in his continued success, and to-day, as the re sult of his own well-directed efforts, he is classed among the successful citizens of Fre mont county. ADELBERT J. WEARIN. This gentleman is entitled to distinc tion as one of the most progressive and enterprising men of southwestern Iowa, and has for many years been identified with the interests of Mills county. Upon the com mercial activity of a community depends its prosperity and the men who are recog nized as leading citizens are those who con trol extensive business enterprises. Mr. Wearin is a man of broad capabilities who carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. He was born in' Porter county,' Indiana, about forty-five miles- southeast of Chica go, and is a son of Josiah C. and Olive AVearin, who are represented on another page of this volume. As he never left the parental roof our subject affirms that he still resides at home. He is the only son in a family of seven children, and is prac tically self-educated, though he attended the district schools to some extent, at the same time herding cattle on the prairie and bringing them home at night. His first busi ness experience aside from farming was in a bank at Hastings, which he and H. B. Gray established in 1890 and conducted about five years. He then came to Mal vern and opened a bank at this place, which he carried on until July 1, 1900, when he 4P* BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 4Si sold out. Although practically retired from business, he still looks after his large estate, landed interests, live stock, etc., and is ex ceedingly busy for a retired man, being like P. T. Barnum, too progressive and up- to-date to cast aside all business cares. On the 1 8th of September, 1885, Mr. Wearin was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Foster, a native of southern Illi nois, and a daughter of AVilliam AA^. and Ruth (Marion) Foster, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Kentucky. The Fosters were of Scotch-Irish descent, and William W. Foster was an uncompromis ing Democrat. He died in Illinois in De cember, 1899, and his wife passed away in that state at the age of forty-two years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wearin were born two children, but one died in infancy. The living is Josiah F., a very bright young man, who was born on the 30th of Septem ber, 1887, on the old AVearin homestead in Indian Creek township, Mills county, near the village of Hastings. For the purpose of giving his son the benefit of the excel lent schools of Malvern, Mr. Wearin re moved to that place, and has erected there a handsome residence only three or four miles from the old homestead, where his mother still lives and which he still regards as home. He is a man of strong convic tions and many sterling qualities, and in short is a man among men. Since casting his first vote for Horatio Seymour in 1868 he has affiliated with the Democratic party and has done all in his power to advance its interests and insure its success. He and his family hold membership in the Presby terian church, and occupy an enviable po sition in the best social circles of the com munity. G. B. MILLER. Among the native sons of Mills county, Iowa, is numbered G. B. Miller, who was born about seven miles south of his pres ent home in Center township. He is now thirty-five years of age and throughout this period has been identified with the interests of his native locality. His father; Isaac Miller, was born in Tennessee. He had two brothers who were killed in battle in the Civil war. He belonged to a family of eleven children, namely : Alfred, Pleasant, Gavin, Jacob, Rufus, Frederick, John, Lucy, Elizabeth, Rachel and Cynthia. Reared to the occupation of a farmer, Isaac Miller has followed agricultural pursuits as a life work and in that line of endeavor has met with gratifying success. He came to Mills coun ty, Iowa, from Tennessee about 1852 and has since made his home in this locality, being now a resident of Fremont, Nebraska, and having attained the ripe old age of sev enty-five years. He married Miss Martha McPherron, a native of Tennessee, in which state their wedding was celebrated. They made the journey to Iowa with a team of oxen, traveling across the country in true pioneer style, for that was before the era of railroad building in this secton of the state. The father entered a tract of land in Mills county and with characteristic en ergy began the cultivation of the fields, planting crops which in the course of time brought to him good harvests. The mother of our subject is now deceased. G. B. Miller pursued his education in the common schools and was thus fitted for practical and responsible duties of life. He early became familiar with the work of the home farm and his training in that direction 452 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. well qualified him to_ carry on business on his own account. He to-day owns one hun dred and sixty acres of the rich and pro ductive land in Center township, where he carries on general farming. His place is improved with all the modern accessories and conveniences and he has one of the most beautiful- and imposing homes in the coun ty, being equalled by but few city residences. He has telephone connection with the out side world and has numerous other modern conveniences which make it an ideal abode. The lady who presides over this pleas ant home was, in her maidenhood, Miss Eva Mickelwait, a representative of one of the prominent and honored families of this coun ty. In 1889 she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Miller and their marriage has been blessed with two sons, Dale and Kyle. In his social relations Mr. Miller is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias, belonging to the local lodges of these orders in Glenwood. Nothing has swerved him from his allegiance to the Republican party and he does all in his power to promote its upbuilding and suc cess. He has held the office of township trustee in Center township. He is a wide awake and progressive young man, broad- minded, courteous and genial in disposition, and with a large circle of friends he is very popular. JAMES S. CRISWELL. Among the prominent citizens and influ ential men of Mills county, Iowa, is James S. Criswell, the subject of this sketch, who is also an honored veteran of the Civil war. Mr. Criswell was born ' in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1837, a son of Robert and Mary (AVise) Criswell, the former of whom passed his whole life in York county, but the latter died in Columbia, Pennsylvania. They reared the following children : Henry, who was a soldier in the Civil war, and is- now deceased; Robert F., who lives at Wheeling, West Virginia; William P., who died in Mills county; George B., who was a soldier in the Civil war, dying while in the service; Mrs. Mary A. Brooks, who re sides in Kansas ; and Margaret J. Lehman, who resides in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Our subject and wife were reared and educated in York county, and were married there December 15, 1864. They came to Mills county, Iowa, in 1871, and moved to their present comfortable home in 1873. Mr. Criswell owns a fine farm of two hun dred and forty acres, in Deer Creek town ship, which he has improved and cultivated until it is one of the most attractive and productive in the whole neighborhood. He has displayed judgment and ability in the management of it, with the result that now he has a competency and can enjoy a life of ease. The wife of our subject is a lady of edu-t cation and refinement, who bore the maiden name of Mary J. McKinley, and was a daughter of Stephen and Jennie (Arm strong) McKinley, who were born and died in York county, Pennsylvania. The mater nal grandparents of Mrs. Criswell were born in the north of Ireland. The paternal grand father was William McKinley, the greati grandfather was David McKinley, who waj also the great-grandfather of AVilliam Mc Kinley, the president of the United States. The 'children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cris-r well are Jennie C, Mrs. Abbie L. Bellwood, Robert W., Stephen, Mrs.. Mattie Eacrett, S. Agnes, Mae L. and Charles P. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 453 In 1 86 1 Mr. Criswell enlisted for army service from York county, Pennsylvania, in Company H, Seventy-sixth Regiment, Keystone Zouaves, under Captain Hamil ton and Colonel John M. Powers. The regiment was stationed at Camp Cameron, near Harrisburg, and from there, was sent to Baltimore and thence to Fortress Mon roe. The next removal was by transport to Port Royal, South Carolina, in Decem ber, 1 86 1, and from that time until his dis charge, in 1863, on account of disabilities, our subject saw severe and constant service among the islands along the coast of North and South Carolina, taking part in a num ber of fights and skirmishes. The discharge of Mr. Criswell was given him at Botney Bay island, South Carolina, from which place he was sent for a time to an army hospital, finally reaching his home, which was near that part of the state of Pennsylvania invaded by General Lee's army. While the battle of Gettysburg was in progress the sound of the artillery was plainly heard at his place. Some time after his return Mr. Criswell was sent for to join a military band doing duty for the Veteran Reserve Corps, stationed then at Washing ton. He is a musician of ability, and while performing this part of a soldier's duty he had the pleasure of attending the ball at the second inauguration of President Lin coln, this being followed by the sad duty of assisting in the funeral dirge at the bur ial of the martyred president. His band was the one selected for the second post of honor in the procession from the White House to the Capitol. Mr. Criswell is an ardent Republican and particularly active and useful in hia party. He has efficiently filled the position of township trustee for several terms, ren dering satisfaction to all concerned. Both he and his estimable wife are consistent members of the Methodist church at Stra+ han, in which he takes a deep interest, com tributing liberally to its support. Our sub-. ject is socially connected with the Milton Summers Post, G. A. R., at Malvern. Mr. Criswell engages in general farming, but does not pursue this to the exclusion of the enjoyments of travel and other avenues of culture and education. He has seen many changes since his location in Mills county, and has borne his part in its development, being an intelligent and liberal-minded citizen. JOHN T. O'NEAL. John Thomas O'Neal, .now deceased, was numbered among the respected and well-known farmers of Madison township, Fremont county, where he died on the 20th of September, 1899. In his death the com munity lost one of its valued citizens, his neighbors a faithful friend and his family a loving husband and, father. He was born January 27, 1850, in this township, on the farm of his father, now the James Utterback place. Before coming to. Fremont county the parents of our subject lived for a time in Buchanan county, Missouri. His father was a native of Virginia, became one of the first settlers of this part of Fremont county, and died at the ripe old age of sev-. enty-eight years, loved by all who knew him for his many good qualities and kind ness of heart. He married Delilah Ann- Morgan, who was a sister of T. O. Morgan, a prominent citizen of Illinois, and she passed away at the age of sixty-eight years*, 454 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. She was an earnest Christian woman, hold-i ing membership in the Baptist church, and was beloved by all. Both parents died in the year 1891, and were buried in one grave. They had two children: Mrs. Catherine Wing and John Thomas. The son was reared upon the old home stead farm and was early taught the value of industry and honesty in the affairs of life. The public schools afforded him his mental training and he remained with his parents until his marriage, which occurred on the 23d of March, 1879, the lady of his choice being Luanda Copeland, whose intel ligence and culture made her a most conn panionable and estimable wife. She was born in southern Illinois, April 7, 1858, a daughter of Richard Copeland, a native of Tennessee and a son of Mark Copeland, who also was born ih that state. After ar riving at years of maturity Richard Cope* land married Sarah Poston, who was born in Tennessee. At the time of the Civil war he joined the Union army and died in the service at Vicksburg, leaving a widow and six children to mourn his Loss. The record of his sons and daughters is as follows : Mark, who is living in Hamburg, Iowa; Tennessee, the wife of S. Beason, of Nebraska City, Nebraska; Henry, who is living in New York City; Harriet, who was the wife of Jefferson Watterson and died in Hamburg, Iowa, at the age of thirty-seven ; Mrs. J. T. O'Neal; and John, of Omaha, Nebraska. The mother and children came to Iowa in 1865, locating in Montgomery county, where she had a brother, Newton Poston. She took up her abode there that he might advise and assist her with her family. After two years, however, she went to Clarinda, Iowa, where she obtained a situation as weaver in a woolen factory and thus supported her children . Subsequently she became the wife of Eli Hiatt and removed to Hamburg, where she died at the age of sixty-seven years. She was a member of the Baptist church and lived a consistent Christian life. She experienced many troubles and trials and saw much sorrow, but she performed the part of a noble mother toward her children, and her kindness of heart won her the re spect of ah who knew her. Her daughter, Mrs. Lucinda O'Neal, was reared in Illinois and Iowa, and acquired hei education in the latter state. At the age of nineteen years she gave her hand in mar riage to John T. O'Neal, and for two years thereafter they resided on the old homestead, and then came to the farm on which Mrs. O'Neal still lives. He was a very indus trious and energetic man and was an excel lent judge of stock, and by his farming and stock-raising interests he made considerable money. He became well-to-do and left a valuable property of three hundred and forty acres, on which are a modern residence, that was erected at a cost of twenty-five hundred dollars, good barns, sheds and cribs; and everything about the place is kept in excel lent shape, the fields being highly cultivated and yielding a good return for the labors of the owner. The home of Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal was blessed with four children : John Carleton, Ralph Ivan, Nellie C, and Ruth Irene, aged respectively twenty-one, four teen, eleven and seven years. They lost their second child, Elliot H., who died at the age of five years. In his" political views Mr. O'Neal was a Democrat, but never sought or desired office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business affairs, in which he met with BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 455 gratifying success. His personal appearance was pleasing.. He was five feet, ten inches in height and weighed one hundred and sev enty-five pounds. His manners were cor dial and genial and he was a popular man, well known for his many excellent qualities and for his free hospitality. He died in September, 1899, at the age of forty-nine years, leaving many friends as well as his family to" mourn his loss. Mrs. O'Neal is still living on the home place, where she is surrounded1 with all of the comforts of life. She is a member of the Baptist church and is doing the utmost in her power to. fill both the mother's and father's places in her house hold. Her excellent qualities and strong characteristics are many and her life is wor thy of emulation. RICHARD F. BADA. Probably there has seldom been so sure and complete a return made for honest toii and persevering endeavor, as that given the subject of the present sketch, who has en countered and overcome almost insurmount able difficulties in his pursuit of a compet ence for his declining years. Richard F. Bada was born in Prussia, January 5, 1849, and, lost his father when but two years of age. -His mother was left with the care of six children, one a son, being by the first marriage of his father. Some time later Mrs. Bada married a Mr. Shultz,'a Prussian, who died in that country, leaving one son. Mrs. Shultz. then married her present hus band, August- Waemka, a blacksmith by trade who served an apprenticeship in his own country and found plenty of work when he first came to Anderson and Silver Creek townships, for proficient workmen in that line were not numerous. The family of which Mr. Waemka became the father by marriage, came to America in 1856, ou a sailing vessel to New York, passing seven long weeks on the ocean. The children were : Amelia, who later contracted two marriages but died in 1879, leaving four children; Richard, the subject of this sketch; Paulina, the wife of Henry AVise, of this county, now the mother of five children ; and Adolph Shultz, now a Nebraska farmer and the father, of four children. Being in hum ble circumstances in a strange land and un derstanding nothing of the language of the people, no d'oubt life often presented to the family grave puzzles to be solved; but a forty-acre homestead was secured, economy was practiced, charcoal was burned for fuel, and the time ultimately came when Mr. Waemka had a farm of one hundred and twenty acres which he traded for two hun dred and forty acres west of Oakland, which he now owns. For the past fifteen years he and his admirable wife have lived at Oak land on their income, no necessity for labor continuing. Mr. Bada's brother, August was a blacksmith, having learned his trade, in Ber lin. He served in the German army and is now a successful farmer in Nebraska. He has a family of seven children. Our sub ject's step-brother is a prosperous farmer in Marshall county, Illinois, his farm of three hundred and twenty acres being worth over one hundred dollars per acre. There he lives with a worthy wife and family. Richard Bada had no educational eel- vantages and can scarcely read and write, entering his contest with the world thus han dicapped. He was reared to the hardest kind of farm labor, and evidently found it 456 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. sometimes distasteful, for at the age of sev enteen he left the shelter of the home roof. However, mother love brought him back .and he continued un,til almost of legal age when he set out to see what he could make for himself, ignorant of books, the world's ways and without means. However, Mr. Bada must have possessed strength of char acter, firmness of will and habits of thrift, capital in themselves. Farm hands were al ways in demand and thus he soon obtained employment, working by the month or by the year, and by the time he was twenty- three years old he was able to purchase his first eighty acres of land, in Anderson town ship, paying for this five dollars per acre, -one hundred dollars being paid down. This land he broke, fenced fifty-five acres, raised upon it a crop of wheat and then of corn, and two years later sold it to his brother for thirty dollars an acre. This certainly must have been very encouraging, and his next purchase was of two hundred and forty acres of wild prairie land for which he paid six teen dollars per acre, but he was obliged to contract a debt for all of it except one thou sand dollars, which he paid. This land is a part of his twenty-two hundred and six acres of farm land which he now owns in this county and which he has divided into twelve farms. In Kansas, Mr. Bada owns three thousand and forty acres, all being wild ex cept three hundred acres which he has had broken. This land is his latest purchase, made in the spring of 1900. Mr. Bada was married October 2, 1876, to Miss Emma Ehlers, who was born on the borders of Denmark, October 1, 1859. She was brought to America when but eight years old by her mother and step-father, Fred Hammer, and well remembers the long trip of five weeks on the sailing vessel. Mr. and Mrs. Hammer are living in Mineola, Iowa. Mrs.- Bacla's step-brothers and step sisters are : John ; Lewis, deceased ; and Adelia, the wife of Joseph Trail, of Mine ola, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Bada are justly proud of their own bright and intelligent children, who can look with pride also upon the suc cessful career of their parents. In the family are seven children : Ar- timus R., born June 29, 1879; Albert W., bom September 4, 1880; George H., born October 25, 1881 ; Clara A., born October 16, 1884; Anna A., born October 30, 1886; Mary J., who was born April 27, 1889, and died April 11, 1896; and Lena M., born No vember 11, 1893. The sons are intelligent young men and the second named is now in charge of the Kansas ranch. He is a graduate of the high school at Silver City and is his father's bookkeeper. The daugh ters, Clara and Anna, are both in school. Mr. Bada's life reads almost like a romance, so successful has he been in carry ing out his plans, despite discouragements. He is one of the largest land-holders and stock-raisers in Mills county. He breeds horses, cattle and hogs extensively, has over six hundred head of cattle and forty-three horses, and breeds as many as four hundred hogs per year, feeding and shipping two hundred and eighty head of cattle. Mr. Bada rents the most of his farms, and owns his residence in Silver City, also owning five other lots and houses. The farm pre sents a beautiful appearance fenced with wire and hedge, much of this work being clone by himself. His home is still one of industry, although the time for any necessity has long passed. In politics Mr. Bada is one BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 457 of the stanch Republicans who are ready and willing to uphold their principles in the face of all opposition. Justly is he regarded as one of the representative men of Mills county, Iowa. LEROY C. RODMAN. A native of Illinois, Leroy C. Rodman was born in Henderson county, that state, on the 2d of July, 1842, his parents being AVilliam H. and Sarah (Salter) Rodman, natives of Franklin county, Kentucky, whence they removed to Peoria county, Illi nois, in 1833. After two years there passed they went to Henderson county, where the father carried on farming and stock-raising on an extensive scale. His business was profitable, bringing to him a very gratifying income, and he continued his labors there until called to his final rest on the nth of May, i860, when he was sixty years of age. His wife survived him for seventeen years, and passed away in 1877, at the age of sev enty-five. The Rodmans were of German and Irish lineage. Under the parental roof Leroy C. Rod man spent the days of his childhood and youth, working in the fields and meadows as the crops were gathered and the hay cut. In the winter months he pursued his edu cation in the public schools and thus his time was passed until he had attained his majority, when he began farming on his own account. ' The pursuit to which he was reared he has made his life work. He entered upon his business career with a very limited capital, and the first land which he owned was a tract of forty acres. By in dustry and good management his capital was increased, and proportionately his land ed possessions were extended until he to day owns a fine farm of two hundred acres in Rawles township, Mills county, supplied with all modern conveniences, the latest im proved machinery, good outbuildings and a comfortable residence. On the 14th of November, 1867, Mr. Rodman was joined in wedlock to Miss Martha Mackey, a daughter of James and Eliza (Beal) Mackey, natives of Indiana, whence they removed to Missouri in an early day. They were also among the. first emi grants from Missouri to Oregon. The father died in Mills county, at the age of fifty-two years, . and the mother passed away on the 14th of April, 1897, at the age of seventy- two. Mr. and Mrs. Rodman became the par ents of seven children, namely: Eliza, AArill- iam H., James Luther, Effie, Rosa, Melvina and LeroyT. The family are well known in Mills county, and the members of the house hold enjoy the warm regard of many friends and occupy an enviable position in social cir cles of the community. Mr. Rodman is widely recognized as a man of sterling worth, and any one may be glad to claim' him as a friend. ROMULUS S. VESTAL. One of the prominent residents of Mill* county, Iowa, living in Deer 'Creek township, is Romulus S. Vestal, the subject of this, sketch. He was born in Yadkin county, North Carolina; on the • Yadkin river, in 1844, a son of Daniel and Nancy (Davis) Vestal, the former of whom was born and died in North Carolina, and the latter also passed away in that state. The grandfather of our subject was David Vestal, who mar ried Mary Pickett, both of whom were born 458 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. in America. Their ancestors came from England. Our subject's family engaged in farming, in North Carolina, and he was reared on a farm, attending the schools of the Yadkin district. When the war broke out between the states the members of our subject's fami ly were obliged to endure persecution. They were of the religious denomination known as Quakers, who bear testimony against slavery and war and through their peculiar ways of thinking often came into conflict with the opinions of their neighbors; hence, about 1864 our subject, with about one hun dred and forty-five others, left the old home and started for Indiana, where there are large bodies of Quakers. Some forty-four of this number, our subject among them, were captured and taken as prisoners to Pe tersburg, but Mr. Vestal effected his escape and made his way to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he had an uncle, coming to Mills coun ty, Iowa, in 1870. He settled first in Rawels township, but in 1874 he removed to his present farm. This consists of one hun dred and sixty acres of cultivated land, and he very successfully conducts a business of farming and stock-raising. Mr. Vestal married Margaret E. Mackey, a daughter of Simoil and Eunice (Hobson) Mackey, natives of North Carolina, her birth having taken place in Missouri. Mrs. Mackey was of English descent, and her fa ther of Scotch-Irish blood. Her grandfather was Robert Mackey. Mrs. Vestal's oldest brother, Christopher Mackey, was a soldier in the Civil war, and died in Helena, Ar kansas, while in the service. Mr. and Mrs. Vestal were married in Andrews county, Missouri, near St. Joseph, and these children have been born to them ; Ida May, who is the wife of Charles AV. Salyers; Mrs. Mary -I. Criswell; Charles S< Vestal and AArood M. Vestal. In politics Mr. Vestal is a Republican and at present is one of the three members of the efficient board, of supervisors of Mills county, filling the office with judgment and dignity. Both Mr. and Mrs. Vestal are connected with religious denominations, the latter being. a valued member of the Meth odist church, of Strahan, the former of the Christian church, at Malvern. Socially Mr. Vestal is a Mason, having lately taken some of the degrees. The family is one that com mands the respect and esteem of the whole community. OTHA WEARIN. A prominent farmer of Indian Creek township, Mills county, Iowa, is Otha Wearin, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Harrison county, Virginia, March 22, 1826, and is a son of Michael and Mary (Coe) AVearin, the former of whom was born in 1791, in Virginia, and died in 1887 at the home of his son in Mills county. The mother of our subject was born in Ohio, and died at the age of forty, leaving a family of nine children, four of whom are still surviving. The family removed from Virginia to Athens county, Ohio, thence to La Porte, Indiana, and in 1856 to Mills county, Iowa. Our subject remained at home with his parents until he was twenty years old, in the fall of that year accompanying his brother Josiah to Indiana. There they worked for their uncle, P. Robbins, for two years, and in the winter seasons attending school at Michigan City. Otha Wearin left Indi- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 459 ana in the fall of 1854 and came to Mills county, walking most of the way, thus showing the determination to overcome ob stacle; which has marked his after-life. After reaching Iowa Mr. Wearin took up government land, and the first winter chopped wood and -sold it in Glenwood, thus paying his board. In the spring of 1855 he and his brother rented land and later took up three thousand acres. Until 1858 the brothers lived together, but sep arated at the time of our subject's mar riage, December 23, 1859, to Miss Martha Workman, who was born in Indiana im 1832, and died here when about thirty years of age. She was the mother of four chil dren : Charles O., Joseph A., William Hen ry and Mary V. After his marriage our subject located upon this place, his first residence being a little box-house, sixteen by eighteen feet in dimensions, and lived there until 1882, when the present comfortable residence was built. At the age of twenty Mr. Wearin owned nothing but .a saddle and bridle. He now possesses seven hundred acres of land here, and about two thousand in Ne braska. In politics Mr. Wearin has always voted the Democratic ticket, casting his first bal lot in 1848 for Lewis Cass. However, in local issues he reserves the right to vote for the one he considers the best man for the office. About the time of his wife's death he retired from active work, but still looks after his interests in a quiet way. The family is one of the most respected in the neighborhood, and its members are at tendants at church and interested in any educational movements in the community. Mr. Wearin is a man who commands the respect and esteem which he receives, on ac count of his high character and record of honest and dignified living. RICHARD P. SHEPARD. For many years Mr. Shepard has been actively identified with agricultural interests. He was born in Kentucky in 1-841. His grandfather, Henry Shepard, lived and died in that state, which was also the birthplace of James Shepard, the father of our subject. The latter wedded Miss Mary Biven, a na tive of Kentucky, although her father was born in Maryland, representing one of the old families of that commonwealth. He re moved, however, to Kentucky, where he spent the residue of his life. By the mar riage of James Shepard and Mary Biven three sons were born, namely, Richard P., Henry and James. Henry is now a resident of Center township, Mills county, while James is living in Indiana. James enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining a com pany which was raised in Mills county. The command joined Sully's expedition and was engaged in fighting the Indians in Dakota and Montana for two years. The father died in Kentucky in early manhood and the mother afterward removed to Indiana, where she remained until called to the home beyond. Mr. Shepard of this review was but six- ten years of age when he came from his native state to Mills county, Iowa. After ward, however, he removed to Indiana, where he engaged in farming for twenty- three years, but on the expiration of that period he again came to this state and has since continuously resided in Mills county. His farm is located three miles southwest of Glenwood. His diligence, energy and 28. 460 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. ability led him to be classed among the most progressive agriculturists of his community. His efforts, directed along the lines of hon orable business methods, brought to him a comfortable competence. In Indiana Mr. Shepard was united in marriage to Miss Ella Miner, a native of Ohio and a daugh ter of Thomas and Mary Miner. The fol lowing children were born of their union, namely: AVillard, Thomas, Walter, Lou, Charles, John, deceased, Richard, Clarence, Oscar and May. The mother died about twelve years ago, her death being mourned by all who knew her. The sons of the fam ily are young men of sterling worth, highly respected in the county. Richard has served as the county recorder for two years, his term expiring in the fall of 1900. He joined the volunteer army at the time of the break ing out of the Spanish war and was wounded at the battle of El Caney, July 1, 1898. John enlisted in the regular army at Fort Crook, Nebraska, in 1898, and served throughout the war in Cuba, being on the firing line in the engagements at El Caney and Santiago. Soon afterward he became ill and was sent to the hospital on Long Island, but recovered and rejoined his regiment, with which he went to the Philippines, and served with dis tinction during his term of three years, when he was honorably discharged, reaching home on the 5th of March, 1900. Later he was taken ill, as a result of the hardships suffered . in the tropics, and died on the 27th of April, 1900, at the age of twenty-six. He was one of the popular and highly esteemed young men of the community and his death was the occasion of deep regret throughout the entire county. He possessed many noble qualities, consideration and kindness as well a bravery being numbered among his charac teristics. Mr. Shepard's family is one of which he has every reason to be proud, and the members of the household occupy an en viable position in the social circles in which they move. RICHARD A. COX. It would be difficult to find one who has a wider acquaintance in Fremont county, or is more favorably known than Richard- A. Cox, who is affectionately and familiarly called "Uncle Dick." He was born in Estill county, Kentucky, February 12, 1830, a son of James and Sarah (Noland) Cox, who were also natives of the same state. The grandfather, John Cox, accompanied Lord Baltimore to the city of Baltimore, Mary land, and served in the war of 1812. His wife. bore the maiden name of Lucy R. Rich ardson. The Cox family is of Irish and English descent. James Cox, the father of our subject, remained in Kentucky until 1834., when he removed to Jackson county, Missouri, and after a short time he went south to New Orleans, there spending two years. On the expiration of that period he returned northward, locating at Peoria, Ill inois, where the succeeding two years were passed, after which he spent a similar period near St. Louis, Missouri, and then again be came a resident of Jackson county, that state. In 1846 he enlisted in the army and partici pated in the Mexican war, dying while in the service. His death occurred in the land of Montezuma, when he was forty-six years of age. His wife, long surviving him, died in 1884 and was laid to rest in Inde pendence, Missouri. Richard A, Cox was only fourteen years of age when he started out in life on his own BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 461 account. Since that time he has been de pendent entirely upon his own efforts and certainly deserves great credit for the suc cess he has achieved.. He has met with many difficulties and obstacles, but by deter mined purpose he has steadily worked his way upward. For a year and a half he was •employed at the blacksmith's trade and in 1848 he went to Mexico where he remained for five months, after which he returned to Jackson, Missouri. In the spring of 1849, during the memorable gold excitement id California, he made his way to the Pacific coast where he was engaged in mining, which occupation he followed with varying success for ten years. One instance in his mining experience illustrates the enticing prospects with which the miners met. When with his partner one afternoon they accidentally came across what seemed to be a solid mass of gold just a few inches below the top of the ground. As they took away the earth more and more it seemed that they had made the richest find in the country. Night coming on, they threw back the dirt and staked out their claim, put up notices of their ownership and departed for camp. Mr. Cox thought smilingly that they were the richest men in all the world. Sleep scarcely visited his eyes through the long night. His mind was in an excited and feverish condition, busy with many plans of how he would spend his money. Hardships and toil were no longer to' be a 'portion of his lot. Long before dawn he and his partner left camp and were traveling back to their mine of gold. Soon after, their arrival there a crowd began to gather, the news of their find having rapidly spread throughout the adjoining camps. All was excitement and as the gold was again reached it appeared to be almost a solid mass of the precious metal. Mr. Cox was offered a big price for his share, but he replied that he was going to load the Nancy Young, go to New York and buy the city, but as the work was carried on they found that the entire amount of gold was only about five hundred dollars. After spending much time and money in digging and in trying to find other veins, they abandoned their claim entirely. Mr. Cox remained near- the coast for nearly twenty years, but finally located in Missouri where he engaged in farming. Coming to Fremont county in 1887, here hei also engaged in farming for about two years and then became the proprietor of a hotel in Tabor, conducting the enterprise until Au gust, 1900, when he turned over the business to his son-in-law, Frank N. Cook. In 1864 Mr. Cox was united in mar riage to Miss Mary E. McClure, a daughter of Elisha and Nancy E. McClure, who were natives of Kentucky and removed from Har din county, that state, to Davis county, Illi nois. Her father died in 1864 at the age of sixty-four years, but the mother is still living at the age of eighty-one years and now makes her home in Harrison county, Missouri. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cox have been born two children: Sarah Viola, who was married in August, 1889, to Frank N. Cook, by whom she has a son and daughter, Ray and Hazel ; and Susan E., who in September, 1895, became the wife of R. C. Laird and resides. on a farm near Tabor. They, too, have two children, Edna Viola and Mary Eleda. Mr. and Mrs. Cox hold membership in the Chris tian church and are people of the highest re spectability, their circle of friends being limited only by their circle of acquaintances. Mr. Cox now owns considerable property 462 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. and is in very comfortable circumstances. Uncle Dick, as he is known by almost all, has a wide acquaintance among the traveling men who visit Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri, and they took great delight in being entertained at the Tabor House when the subject of this review wras its proprietor. He is a man of genial nature, courteous and social disposition, a good conversationalist and an inimitable story-teller. One evening at his hotel a company of strolling minstrels was doing some clog dancing on the newly painted porch of the hotel. The proprietor was hugely enjoying the performance when some one remarked to him that it would ruin his paint. "Dad burn it," said Uncle Dick, "I'll build a new one," and the dance went on. It is not only his love of fun that has made him popular, for he is a man of genu ine worth, honorable in business and faithful to every trust reposed in him. In politics he is a stalwart Democrat. He is one of the characters that brings into life much of its sunshine, and all who are in his company for a short time go away cheered and with a brighter outlook for the future. CHARLES G. GREENWOOD. There is in Iowa a sturdy class of busi ness men, who, notwithstanding a familiar ity with the vicissitudes of financial and com mercial ventures, have always paid one hun dred cents on the dollar, and stand a wall of probity and security against general business calamity by serving as an example to less able men and standing firmly in the path of more unscrupulous ones. Of this class is Charles G. Greenwood, of Silver City, Iowa, a prominent banker and lumber merchant. Charles G. Greenwood was born at Guil ford, Piscataquis county, Maine, May 24, 1836 — a day notable in history as that upon which Queen Victoria, of England, was born. His father, Horace Greenwood, was born in Hebron, Maine, in 1810, and died in Wood ford county, Illinois, in 1861. His grandfa ther, Alexander Greenwood, was well known in Maine as a surveyor, and was killed in the prime of life by a falling tree while engaged in the work of his profession. His wife prior to her marriage was a Miss Bcrce, and (\ she also lived and died in Maine. They reared a large family which included Horace Greenwood, his brothers Otis and Alexander, and several daughters. Alexander died when a young man. Otis became a farmer and went to the western reserve in Ohio, thence to Illinois and afterward to Michigan. Hor ace Greenwood married Cordelia Gower, a native of Industry, Maine, and a daughter of James Henry and Susan (Norton) Gower, the latter a relative of Nordica, the famous operatic singe'r. Mrs. Greenwood was born in 181 1, and was married at the age of nineteen. Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood became well-to-do farmers in Piscataquis county, Maine, where their five children were born in the order in which they are here mentioned : Citoyenne, who is the widow of James Foss, lives at Minneapolis, Minne sota and has one son living. Charles G. is the immediate subject of this sketch. Borre- dell, widow of Moses Buch, is the mother of eight children and lives at Cheboygan, Mich igan. Horace A. is a land owner and spec ulator at Wymore, Nebraska, and has two daughters. C. Davis died at the age of six teen years, in Illinois, where the family re moved in 1857. The mother of these chil dren survived her husband thirty years and died at Wymore, Nebraska, in 1891, aged BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 463 eighty-three. She was a woman of great .energy and enterprise, which were not dim med by the approach of old age. When she was seventy-five years old, she went to Col orado and proved up a pre-emption on three hundred and twenty acres of land under the provision of the homestead law. The prop erty she secured included a tree claim, and sheanaintained a legal residence there for the prescribed period and made the necessary amount of improvements, visiting her chil dren from time to time as opportunity offered. Charles G. Grenwood received his pri mary education hi the public schools in Maine and was for a time a student at an academy there. He came to Illinois in the fall of-1857 and that winter entered the AVis- consis State University as a sophomore and was there associated with Senator William F. Vilas who was graduated in that institu tion. He began teaching school at the age of eighteen years and afterward taught three winter terms in Illinois, when he was a man of family and a school director. He was married January 17, 1-861, to Apphia Trask, a native of Maine, who at the age of fifteen had gone to Illinois with her parents, Eben G. Trask and his wife who was a member of the family of Emery, Both are now de ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Trask reared three sons and two daughters, all of whom are living except the eldest, Wayland Trask, who enlisted as an orderly for service in the Civil war, rose to the rank of first lieutenant and afterward became a captain in the, regular army of the United States. Mr. Greenwood came from. Illinois to Iowa in 1880, and located at Silver City, Mills county, where he engaged in the lum ber and grain trade. For a short time his brother Horace was his partner, but after that he conducted an individual enterprise until 1889, when his son, C. D. Greenwood, arrived at his majority and acquired an in terest in his father's business. For two years the younger Greenwood was engaged in the same line of business at Malvern, Mills county. He married Miss Lizzie Pullman, and has a son named C. G. Greenwood. There were also four daughters born to Charles G. and Apphia (Trask) Greenwood: Grace, the eldest, married George W. Haw ley, and has a son and has lost a daughter by death. She lives at Hunnewell, Missouri. Sarepta is the wife of Moris Kehoe, of Silver City, Iowa, and has a son and daughter. Cora is the wife of G. A. Spellbring, of Ster ling", Nebraska, and has a son and a daugh ter. Ada, who is a member of her father's household, was educated at Tabor College, in Iowa, and is an accomplished pianist. For the past five years Mr. Greenwood has been interested in gold mining at Cripple Creek, Colorado. He was one of the incor* porators of the Silver City State Bank, or ganized in 1883, and has been its president continuously since that time. He is the owner of real estate in the Missouri valley and at Alvin, Texas, and" of farm land in Kansas, Texas and Iowa. He is a leading dumber dealer in his part of the state and his. lumber yard is one of the largest and best stocked for many miles around. He began life poor and has made a notable success in an honest, straightforward way that com mends his example to the emulation of all ambitious young business men. Standing five feet, eleven inches high and weighing two hundred and fifteen pounds, he is a note worthy figure in any crowd, but his manner? is quiet and retiring and he is not given to 464 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. unnecessary talk. A well posted, practical business man of sound judgment and well balanced mind, he is equally well informed on questions of national importance and is a prominent Republican, who held the office of justice of the peace thirteen years in a Demo cratic township in Illinois, and in the same township was several times elected to the office of township supervisor. He has been three times elected a member of the city council of Silver City. Mrs. Greenwood is a member of the Baptist church in which her father was a regularly ordained preacher laboring in the ministry in Maine, Illinois and Iowa. JOHN GOY. A well-known and prominent business man of Sidney, Iowa, is John Goy, the sub ject of this sketch, who is a member of the firm of Hodges & Goy, merchants and deal ers in 'clothing and general merchandise. Mr. Goy was born near Lincoln, England, in 1 85 1. His father was William Goy, a na tive of the same place, who now resides in Fremont county on a farm. He was a son of Richard Goy, who lived and died in his native land. The mother of our subject was Demarius (Asmon) Goy, who was born in England and died at the family homested near Tabor, Iowa, several years ago. The parents of Air. Goy came to the United States when he was six months old, making the journey in a sailing vessel and were upon the ocean six weeks. They first located in Ohio, but later came to Fremont county, Iowa. Our subject was educated in the public schools of this county and remained with his parents until he was about twenty-one, coming to Sidney in 1873. He engaged as a clerk in the store of which he is now part owner. At this time his employer was A. F. Metalman, a banker of the town. In 1881 Mr. Goy formed a partnership with Mr. Hodges, who had been in the employ of 'Mr. Metalman since 1870, and bought out the business. Since that time the firm has had a very prosperous existence, the proprietors just having built a fine brick structure, and now carry as fine and varied a line of gen eral merchandise and clothing as can be found in the cities. One pleasant feature in connection with the establishment is its roominess, giving most desirable opportuni ties for the display of goods. The arrange ment is artistic and the whole place of busi ness is one that does credit to the town of Sidney. The marriage of Mr. Goy took place in 1879, to Miss Anna Cowles, a daughter of Giles and Lydia (Dovener) Cowles, both boi'n in Ohio. The former died in Sidney, the latter is still living. Giles Cowles came to Fremont county in 1856, taught school for five years and was made county super intendent for one term, also most acceptably filling the office, of county treasurer for two terms, and was urged to accept another term, but declined. For several years he then en gaged in the • mercantile business. Perry Cowles, a son, now deceased, was the clerk of the county court for two terms, was coun ty recorder and at the time of his death was a merchant. Three other children of Mr. Cowles still survive — Mrs. Sarah Samuels, AAresley and Mrs. Goy. Mr. Goy has one brother, W. R. Goy, and one sister, Mrs. Ann Omer. The. children of Mr. and Mrs. Goy are : Raymond M., Giles D. and Carl. B. In politics Mr. Goy is a stanch Repub^ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 465 lican, upholding the principles of the party in a manly spirit. Both he and his esti mable wife are valued members of the Pres byterian church and are among the most highly esteemed residents of the town of Sidney. OZRO C. GASTON. Ozro C. Gaston, a well-known resident of Fremont county, was born im Tabor, Iowa, February 10, 1863. The public schools afforded him his early educational privileges and he later pursued a partial course in Tabor College. Subsequently he engaged in teaching for six months, in 1883- 4, and then took up the study of stenography which he pursued without the aid of a teach • er. In 1885 he accepted a position in Coun cil Bluffs as an amanuensis and later was employed in a similar capacity in Omaha. In September, 1886, he was appointed dep uty reporter for Judge Mohaly and remained with his until April 21, 1887, when he was appointed official reporter in the thirteenth judicial district of Nebraska. On the 1 2th of October, of that year, Mr. Gaston was united in marriage to Miss May A. Fetter, a daughter of J. L. and Mary (Jones) Fetter, of Oakland, Iowa. He then located at McCook, Nebraska, and there re sided until 1888, when he entered into part nership with C. A. Potter, one of the oldest stenographic reporters of the state. This relationship was maintained until 1889. On the 3rd of September of that year Mr. Gas- • ton was appointed, by Judge Thornell, to the position of reporter for the fifteenth judicial district of Iowa, and has since resided" in Tabor. He is particularly proficient in his line, is extremely accurate in his work and has the broad knowledge and sound judg ment which enable him to make his services especially valuable. He was largely instru mental in organizing the state association of stenographers in Iowa and the National As sociation selected him to act as organizer for the middle west. In this capacity he has worked in thirteen different states. In Au gust, 1889, he was elected first vice-president of the National Stenographers' Association, which has continually grown . in strength, now numbering six hundred members. Ad mission to the organization is only secured by the most capable representatives of the profession. At the time the World's Con gress was held at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 he prepared and read a paper on the subject of his profession and its possibilities. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gaston have been born three sons: George C, Ozro F. and Robert H. Mrs. Gaston is a lady of high literary and artistic taste. She is a member of the Ladies' Union and was the organizer of the AVoman's Club in Tabor. The latter is devoted to the study of classical authors and different topics of literary interest, while the Ladies' Union gives its time to church work. Mr. Gaston is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, belonging to St. Albans Lodge No. 17, of Council Bluffs, and is also a member of the Congregational church. james h. Mcdonald. One of the most prominent and respected citizens of Sidney, Iowa, is James H. Mc Donald, the subject of this review, who owns and conducts the Fremont County Bank. He was born in Canada, in 1853, a son of 466 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Harlem and Sarah J. (Baldwin) McDonald. Our subject's ancestors were Scotch, but his grandfather, John McDonald, was a native of Connecticut , whose death occurred in Oneida county, New York, whither he had removed, and where his son Harlem was born. The latter became a manufacturer of threshing machines, first in New York and later in Canada, as he removed to Toronto when a young man. About 1858 he removed to Kilbourn, AA'isconsin, where he lived many years and where his wife died. He spent his last days with a daughter in Omaha, Nebraska. Our subject left his home to face the world alone at the age of sixteen. He hau received the best education possible to be ob tained in the public schools, limited means preventing any hope of a more extended opportunity. His first occupation was in a printing office in Michigan, but it probably was not very remunerative, for when he reached Malvern, on his way to Fremont county, Iowa, where he hoped to better his fortunes, he had just enough money to buy his breakfast. It is inspiring to read of the success of those who have earned it by un aided effort, and the life of Mr. McDonald furnishes an example to others of what per sistent perseverance will accomplish. He en tered a printing office in Sidney, in the mean time employing his spare moments and nights in study, this resulting in sufficient preparation for the position of teacher. For three years he successfully followed this profession, still toiling at his books and strengthening himself by associating with educated people, until he was able to enter the- law office of W. S. Long, later that of Judge Sawyer, where he finished the course. Mr. McDonald has never engaged in the practice of law, but considers it indispensable in his banking business, which includes a complete and exhaustive abstract depart ment, also loans and insurance. He estab lished this business in 1876 and by the same persistence that characterized his earlier ef forts he has made it a success. He pos sesses the confidence of the community and is one of the representative men of the county. In 1880 Mr. McDonald was married to Miss Willie E. Gray, the daughter of John B. Gray, who was the county recorder of Fremont county for some time. His family consists of Edna P., Herbert H., Ollie and Carl H., both deceased, and Louise. In politics Mr. McDonald is a Repub lican, his judgment of national affairs car rying with it much weight. Both he and his estimable wife are consistent members of the Presbyterian church, to which he has been a liberal contributor and supporter. AVILLIAM R. JOHNSON. William Riley Johnson, who is now efficiently serving as trustee of Silver Creek township, is one of the most practical and enterprising agriculturists of Mills coun ty, where he owns - and operates a valuable and highly improved farm. His posses sions have all been acquired through his own well-directed efforts, and as the result of his consecutive endeavor he has won a place among the substantial citizens of the community. Mr. Johnson was born in Pettis county, Missouri, August 31, 1833, his parents be ing William M. and Sarah (Long) John son, natives of Kentucky and Maryland, respectively. In 1856 the family came to ^ /^JU^> moved to Illinois, becoming one of the pio neers of the Prairie state. Upon a tract of unimproved land in Warren county, which his wife had inherited, he and. his family lo cated and with characteristic energy he be gan its cultivation and improvement. LateK he exchanged that farm for a tract' of coal land and thereon he opened coal mines, which he operated for a number of years, devoting his energies to that industry until his labors were ended in death in 1859. A quiet, unas suming man, he worked hard and by his un faltering industry and honorable dealings he managed to accumulate a comfortable com petence. He never aspired to public office, being content to perform the duties of cit izenship without' official reward. After his death the widowed mother sold her home and coal mines in Illinois and removed to Iowa, locating in Fremont county. Her children were all grown and in their homes she re sided. Some time afterward she went to Illinois to visit a daughter who was living in that state, and there the death of Mrs. Smith occurred. The parents of our subject had six children, of whom he is the eldest. The others are Isabel, now Mrs. Barnard; Mrs. Mary Pettit; John, who served through the war of the Rebellion; Charles and Orin, who also "wore the blue" in defense of the Union. The four sons of the family were in the service of their country at the time of the Civil war. Each one returned home in safety, although they had sustained slight wounds. R. C. Smith spent his early boyhood days upon his father's farm, and to the public- school system of Illinois is indebted for the educational privileges which he' enjoyed. When sixteen years of age he was appren ticed to the blacksmith's trade, serving for a term of three years, and afterward he fol lowed that calling for some time. At tha time of his marriage, however, he began farming in collection with his blacksmithing and folowed the dual pursuit until i86ij when, feeling that his country needed his services, he enlisted as a member of Company I, Fiftieth Illinois Infantry. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee and he was at the front under Colonel Bain and General John A. Logan. As a member of the Fifteenth Army Corps he went to the front and did guard duty in the winter of 1861-2 on the Hanibal & St. Joseph Rail road. With his regiment he participated in the campaign of Missouri, after which the command was transferred to Tennessee and participated in the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, and they then went to Nash* ville and Clarksville and took part in many engagements under General Grant in his BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 47i campaign doing much hard service. At length the regiment arirved at Paducah, Ken- tuck)'. After serving at the front for two years Mr. Smith was granted a furlough, or) account of physical disability, and returned to his home. When his leave of absence had expired he was still' unable to do field serv ice and his furlough was therefore extended. But he did not recover his health as he had hoped to do, and therefore was honorably discharged. Two years passed before he was able to engage in any work; and even now, almost forty years after the war, he yet feels the effects of his army experience and the ill health incurred thereby. When again strong enough to take up the active duties of life, Mr. Smith resumed farming and blacksmithing. In 185 1 he had married Miss Loretta Myers, and in October, 1872, he brought his family to Fremont county, Iowa, where he purchased the farm upon which he yet resides. The land had been broken, and a small house, then in a rather dilapidated condition, had been built, but the place was unfenced and the work of cultivation had been carried forward to only. a slight degree. Mr. Smith paid twenty-five dollars per acre for his land. The first work which claimed his attention in Iowa was the erection of a blacksmith shop, and soon he was busily engaged at his trade, while his two sons took charge of the farm, which they improved under his direction. The home therefore soon became self-supporting and has been so ever since. For a number of years Mr. Smith was the leading blacksmith in his locality, his patronage coming to him from a wide extent of territory. His expert work secured him the continued trade of all with whom he once had dealings, and until a few years since he followed black- smithing ; and at the present time he does his own work in that line. He has made per manent and substantial improvements on his place which add both to its value and attrac tive appearance. He remodeled and enlarged the house, erected an extensive barn and com modious outbuildings, planted an orchard and grove, and everything is kept in excel lent condition. The place is pleasantly lo cated about three miles south of Randolph. By his honorable business methods and un faltering perseverance Mr. Smith has ac quired a comfortable competence for the evening of life, and at the same time he has won that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches. Mrs. Smith has been to her husband a faithful companion and helpmeet on the jour ney of life. She was born November 22, 1837, in the town of Monmouth, Illinois, and represents one of the honored early families of Warren county, that state. Her parents George and Anna (Goody) Myers, were both natives of Ohio and were there married, after which they sought a home in what was then a wild and unimproved district. Lo cating in Monmouth, Illinois, the father there conducted a general mercantile establishment for a number of years and also had charge of a stage coach line. Subsequently he turned his atehtion to farming and became an extensive dealer and shipper of fat cattle., About 1865 he sold his property in the Prairie state and came to Iowa, locating near Shenandoah, where he purchased a large tract of land. Still later he engaged in merchandising in Manti, where he remained for three years, when he removed to- Mis souri and resumed his agricultural labors, continuing the work of the fields and at the same time handling stock. His next place of 47- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. abode was in Kansas, but he ultimately re turned to Manti, Iowa, where he died in 1888. He was a man of excellent business ability, strong purpose and energy^ and was charitable and public-spirited. His standard of integrity and honor^was very high and his life was in harmony therewith. His children, were : Sarah, who became Mrs. M. Ware; William; Mrs. Matilda Speck; Nancy, the wife of D. Myers; Lor etta, the honored wife of Mr. Smith; and John. Twelve children came to add hap piness and brightness to the .home of our sub ject and his wife, but they lost their first born, AVilliam, who died in infancy. The others are : Alonzo, who is living in the state of Washington; George, a farmer of Iowa; Mrs. Margaret Jenkins; Louisa, the wife of William Kline-; Mrs. Mary Pippitt; Harvey, an agriculturist; Ida, the wife of William Wilson; Isabel, at home; Guy and Elliott, both of whom follow farming in this state; and Richard, who is yet with his parents. Mrs. Smith is a faithful and earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Smith maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in Randolph Post, G. A. R. His career has ever been characterized by fidelity to duty in every relation, whether upon the field of battle, in the home or in business life, and his history illustrates the power of industry and honesty in gaining success. WILLIAM C. SWARTS. The people of Indiana are enterprising and progressive and have made it one of the great states of the Union, and Indianans who have located elsewhere have most of them made their marks in the business com munity and taken the lead in public affairs. One of the prominent Indianians of Mills county, Iowa, is William C. Swarts, a pros perous stock farmer who for the past seven teen years has lived at Silver City. William C. Swarts was born in Allen county, Indiana, October 11, 1849, a son of George Swarts, who was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, November 26, 1826, and passed his younger days there, removing to Erie county, New York, and thence after seven years to Wayne county, Ohio. Peter Swarts, the father of George Swarts, and grandfather of William C. Swarts, was born in Pennsylvania in 1796 and died in 1880. His wife was Susan Dolph and they had five children, of whom three sons and a daughter are living. One of these, George Swarts, the father of William C. Swarts, lives in Mills county. Another, known as "Aunt Mary" Boles, is living, widowed, in Hemphill county, Texas. His wife died at the age of forty-three in Wayne county, Ohio, and he married again and had five chil dren by his second marriage. In 1849, when he was twenty-three years old, George Swarts married Margaret Johnson, who died in 1868, nineteen years later, leaving five daughters and one son, William C. Swarts, the. subject of this sketch. February 22, 1870, he married Amanda (Johnson) Don er, a sister of his first wife, who bore him one daughter, who was named Kate, and who is the wife of E. H. Scott, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Mr. Swarts began life poor, but pros pered abundantly and became an extensive land owner and bought and sold many farms, and at this time he owns three hundred and sixty-five acres, comprising two farms. He is a Mason and in politics is independent. He has filled the offices of township trustee BIOGRAPLIICAL HISTORY. 473 of Ingraham township and mayor of Silver City. William C. Swarts was older than his five sisters. He passed his younger days in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan and his ed ucational advantages were limited. At the age of twenty he left home and hired out on a wood job in Indiana and earned fifty dollars during his first two weeks' service. Later he settled on a small farm of eighty acres, which he paid for in work before he was married. The success which attended his first business ventures did not desert him in after years, and he has been prosperous to the present time. He lived on his first farm from 1873 to 1876, and improved it greatly and sold it to advantage preparatory to mov ing to Mills county, Iowa. Since he first located in Mills county he has moved four times and has owned several different farms. He came to his present farm, which ad joins Silver City on the south, in 1895. I* consists of three hundred and sixty-five acres, well improved and well equipped for stock farming. For twelve years prior to. ' coming to this place, he owned .and lived on a farm of two hundred and seventy-six acres north of Silver City, which he bought for ten thousand dollars and sold twelve years after for twenty-five thousand dollars. He has always been a stock-raiser, and while dealing principally in cattle has handled horses and hogs somewhat extensively. During the past twenty-four years he has made a specialty of feeding beef cattle, and until 1894 shipped more fat stock than any one else in the county, often handling forty to fifty thousand dollars' worth a month. Owing to failing health, he partially retired from business in the year mentioned, but has now two hundred and fifty head of cattle and about fifty head . of horses and mules. He has bred many horses and some valuable ones. He raises one hundred acres of corn and fifty acres of small grain, and buys corn and hay for his stock. His home farm orig inally consisted of five hundred and twenty- five acres, of which he sold one hundred and sixty acres, and he owns a section of land in Nebraska, which is cultivated by ten ants but the stock on which is his, and there is no time when he does not have on hand two to three hundred head of cattle. He built the fine residence on his former farm north of Silver City in 1894, and his pres ent modern residence, the best in the vicin ity, two years later. Mr. Swarts is a Master Mason, a Re publican and a supporter of the Christian church, of which his wife is a member. He has steadfastly refused to accept any public office, but exerts a recognized influence iu city and township affairs. He was married in 1873, in Porter county, Indiana, to Sarah Jane Isminger, a native of that county, and a daughter of John and Catharine (Koutz) Isminger, natives of Ohio. Frank Swarts, their eldest son, was born November 9,1875, and came with his parents to Mills county, Iowa. He is a pharmacist and has a wife and one little daughter. Edward, their next son in order of birth, is a member of their household, as are also Mark, Jim, Mabel and Mae. Maud died when fifteen months old. Mabel and Mae are twins and were born November 26, 1888, on the anniversary of the birth of their grandfather Swarts. They do not resemble each other in personal appearance as some twins do, but are bright interesting girls, with a decided talent for 474 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. music ; and Mae is a star in social entertain ments both as a vocalist and as an elocu tionist. SIDNEY FOWLER. Sidney Fowler is a prominent Mason of 'Hamburg, Iowa, and a well-known railroad man, having been in railroad service in. this portion of the state for a quarter of a cen tury. A native of Illinois, he was born in ' Schuyler county, February 3, 1849, his par ents being Josiah and Misniah (Dunning) Fowler, both of whom were natives of Ken tucky. The father belonged to one of the old families of that state, while the mother's people were from South Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler became well-known residents of Schuyler county, Illinois, and as people of sterling worth they are held in high esteem. The father gave his time and attention to agricultural pursuits and in that manner provided a livelihood for his famliy. His death occurred in 1876, and his wife passed away in 1865. Sidney Fowler, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared in Illinois and in Kansas. When twenty years of age he entered the railroad service, with which he has been connected for thirty years, this long period being characterized by the utmost fidelity to duty. He is well known in rail road circles in southwestern Iowa and north western Missouri, and for eighteen years has been the foreman on section 29 of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad at Hamburg, Iowa. During this time he has never met with an accident, ow ing to his capable management, his close ap plication and his thorough understanding of the work entrusted. to him. In the year 1875 Mr. Fowler was united in marriage, in Doniphan, Kansas, to Miss Martha Hughes, who to him has been a faith ful companion on the journey of life. She is a native of Missouri but was reared and educated in Miami county, Kansas, her par ents being William and Martha (Terry) Hughes. The father is still living in south ern Missouri, but the mother died at the age of sixty-two years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Fowler have been born two children, — Roy Eddie and Nondas Frances, aged respective ¦ ly thirteen and seven years. Mr. Fowler ex ercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democracy, and for eight years has served as a council man of Hamburg county. He keeps well informed on the issues of the day and is thus enabled to support his political position by intelligent argument. He is well known and deservedly prominent in Masonic circles, 'for his life exemplifies the beneficent principles of the fraternity. He is now serving as the master of Jerusalem Lodge, No: 253, F. & A. M., of Hamburg, with which he has been identified for thirteen years. He was made a Master Mason iu Rushville, Missouri, in 1880. He also be longs to Olive Council, has taken the chap-. ter degrees, and both he and his wife are members of the Order of the Easter Star. NELSON CURTIS FIELD. In the promotion and conservation of advancement in all the normal lines of hu man progress and civilization there is no factor which has exercised a more potent influence than the press, which is both the director and the mirror of public opinion. Glenwood has been signally favored in the QfjjU^ C^^J-J BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 475 character of its newspapers, which have been vital, enthusiastic and progressive, ever aiming to advance the interests of this favored section of the Union, to aid in lay ing fast and sure the foundations of an en lightened commonwealth, to further the ends of justice and to uphold the banner of Iowa. In a compilation of this nature then it is clearly incumbent that due recognition be accorded the newspaper press of the state. One of the capable representatives of the press in Mill's county is Nelson Cur tis Field. A native son of the Hawkeye state, he has always been closely identified with its interests and has labored earnestly for its welfare along many lines. He was born in Pottawattamie county, April 13, 1868, a son of Arminius J. and Amelia (Sellers) Field. His boyhood days were spent upon his father's farm, and while he worked in the fields in- the summer months, aiding in plowing, planting and harvesting, in the winter season he improved the opportuni ties for education afforded by the common schools. Desirous of enjoying more ad vanced privileges, he continued farm work until he had earned money sufficient to en able him to enter school elsewhere. He matriculated in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and was graduated in the literary department with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, being the youngest mem ber of the class of 1890, numbering one hundred and fifty graduates in the literary department. He afterward engaged in school-teaching for a, year,. and then turned his attention to journalistic work, in 1891 establishing the Mills County Tribune, of which he has since been the editor and pro prietor, conducting the paper with continu- 29 - ' ous success up to the present time. He be gan the publication of this journal in con nection with N. T. Bradway, who soon withdrew from the firm, however, being succeeded by F. M. Buffington, who retired from the business in 1895, leaving Mr. Field the sole owner. This journal is cred itable to the city and county in which it is published, and is an excellent news organ and advertising medium. Its circulation is constantly increasing and its business af fairs are in a prosperous condition. Since the first year in which he attend ed college Mr. Field has given his political support to the Democracy. Believing firm ly in its principles, he strongly supports its doctrines and upholds its banners. He was made a candidate for state senator on the Democratic ticket in the senatorial district composed of Mills and Montgomery coun ties, but was defeated on account of the: overwhelming Republican majority in the district. He began business about nine years ago with no capital, but through his paper and other judicious investments he has become one of the most substantial citi zens of the community and to-day owns seven fine farms, aggregating one thousand and fifteen acres, besides a large amount of town property which brings to him a good income. All that he has acquired is the re ward of his well-directed labors guided by sound business judgment, and his life stands an exemplification of what may be accomplished through determined purpose. Mr. Field is a member of the Congre gational church. On the 7th of January, 1890, he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Buffington, a member of one of the oldest and most influential families in Mills county, but their happy married life was of 476 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. short duration, for Mrs. Field passed away in the following May. One of Mr. Field's contemporaries in the journalistic field has given us the following pen picture : "Mr. Field is an exceptionally bright and brainy young man, of scrupulously clean and tem perate habits. He makes a success of what ever he undertakes. He is universally ac knowledged to be one of the brightest and ablest newspaper men in the state, and now that he enters the political field, we predict for him a successful career." Another" journalist said : "Mr. Field is a man of marked individuality, of strong purpose and remarkable energy." AUGUSTUS McCLENAHAN. Among the prominent and successful farmers of Mills county, Iowa, who enjoys the esteem and confidence of his fellow citi zens must be named the subject of the pres ent review, Augustus McClenahan, who re sides upon section n, Anderson township. He was born at Trader's Point, Iowa, Au gust 1 8, 1848. He was the son of Robert McClenahan, who was born in Kentucky, in 1807, and died at Trader's Point, Iowa, on December 10, 1852. While still a very young man Robert McClenahan took up his residence in Stark county, Ohio, teaching school there, also in central Illinois, and after his removal to Iowa. In Ohio he made the acquaintance of, and married, Lucy A. Rich ards, of Stark county, a daughter of Au gustus Richards, and his wife, who belonged to the old Doggett family of Virginia. 'Mr. and Mrs. McClenahan came to Iowa in 1846 and were among the very first settlers ot Mills county, where they reared their, fam ily: Mary Ellen, the wife of Daniel Hougas; Frances Elizabeth, the wife of G. F. Schenck, of Montgomery county; and our subject. The father lived until death at Trader's Point, after which the mother mar ried Jeremiah Bunker and bore him one daughter," now Mrs. Gifford, a resident of Carson, Iowa. Mr. Bunker died in Ne braska, and she survived many years, pass ing away in June, 1897. Brought up on a farm and accustomed to agriculture, our subject has made a suc cess of his life work. His educational ad vantages, like those of many others of his day, were limited, but native good sense and a sterling character have supplied all de ficiencies. It was on the 23d of October, 1872, that he was married to Miss Mary I. Schenck, a native of Indiana, who was born in 1850 and was a daughter of James M. and Alzina (Fisher) Schenck, both of whom are deceased. Our subject remained on the farm where his mother had settled in 1855, also becoming the possessor of a land warrant of eighty acres from his grandfather Richards, who had been a soldier of the war of 1812. He now has a finely stocked and well cultivated farm of three hundred and twenty-six acres with eight acres of timber land additional. He raises corn, wheat, oats, but principally corn, some years harvesting from six to eight thousand bushels in all. He also raises Poland China hogs and breeds colts, and owns some twenty horses. The children of Mr. and Mrs. McClena han have grown up around their hearth to be the comfort of their declining years. The oldest child was an infant that died when but five months old ; Maud is the wife of R. E. Stone and has a little son, Sylvan; Pearl May is a teacher and lives at home; BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY - 477 Robert Vernon and Lucy Edna, twins, are ¦eighteen years old and live at home ; Edna is a graduate of the Henderson high school ; Ralph W. ; and Inez, a bright little ten-year- old school, girl. Pearl May was graduated at Shenandoah College and taught her first term of school in the Henderson high school, remaining a year. She is accomplished in music, and the musical talent seems' to have been given to the whole family. As a Republican Mr. McClenahan has always done his whole political duty, and his neighbors have honored him with their confidence, appointing him . school, director for twenty-five years. He was made treas- tirer before he was twenty-one years old. Few homes are more happily placed than that of our genial subject and his excellent wife. Generous and liberal-minded, Mr. McClenahan makes friends in every direc tion, and is much interested in making his children happy by providing them with edu cational advantages. A new library is being .added to the other comforts of the home. ALEXANDER C. GASTON. Alexander C. Gaston, a well-known rep resentative of commercial interests in Tabor, was born in Oberlin, Ohio, on the 16th of February, 1838. He represented one of the old families of Massachusetts. As the name indicates the family is of French lineage three brothers having been driven from France during the time of the Huguenot massacre. One became a resident of North Carolina, a second of Connecticut and the third, a bachelor, died in Ireland, leaving a -fine estate, but the fortune was claimed by the crown. Alexander Gaston, the grand father of our subject, removed from the old Bay state to Ithaca, New York, at an early day, and his death occurred when he was seventy-three years of age. His wife bore the maiden name of Lydia Belcher, and died in 1850, at the age of fifty-five years. They were farming people and were well known for their sterling worth. George B. Gaston the father of our subject, was born near Ithaca, New York. He was one of the founders of the Tabor College, and died in Tabor, in 1873. Mr. Gaston, whose name introduces this record, pursued his education in the common district schools and also studied geometry for one term. In addition to this he devoted some time to the mastery of the Greek language. When twenty-one years of age he started out to make his own way in the world, his destination being Pike's Peak, which was then the scene of mining excite ment. He and his companions traveled for three days and got as far as Salt creek, when the party formed a new decision and preced ed to Fort Laramie, where they divided. Mr. Gaston and one of his companions, however, returned to Iowa, taking up their- abode in Fremont county. Becoming idem titled with its farming interests, he was for a long time engaged in the tilling of the soil, transforming the wild land into pro ductive fields which brought to him a good financial return for his labor. Through a long period Mr. Gaston continued farming, but in February, 1900, he established a gro cery store in Tabor, and is there engaged in business at the present time. He has already secured a large patronage and is finding in the new venture a profitable source of in come. On the 27th of March, 1862, Mr. Gaston was united in marriage to Miss Mary F- 478 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Jones, a daughter of Solomon and Esther (Eslerbrook) Jones. They became the par ents of eight children, six of whom are liv ing, as follows : Ozroc, who is a stenographer for Judge Thornell and resides in Tabor; Cora Ellen, now the wife of AA'aldo G. Rice, a resident of Cedar county, Nebraska ; Etta Maria, at home; Abbie Marie, wife of Henry O. Sheldon, who is living in Laurel, Ne braska; Myron Clinton, who is also under the parental roof; and Alonzo A., who is now attending school. Mr. Gaston has served as county trustee for three terms, dis charging his duties in a manner to promote the best interests of the community. He is a trustee of Tabor College and is a mem ber of the Congregational church. Public progress and local improvement are causes both dear to his heart, and he withholds his support from no measure or movement that is calculated to advance the general welfare. His history is that of one who has demonstrated the truth oi the old ad age that success is not a matter of genius but results from earnest labor, and his in dustry and unflagging determination have enabled him to win a creditable standing among the substantial citizens of his adopted county. L. P. DEAN. L. P. Dean, who is the station agent at Hamburg for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, has filled the position for nine years and is a most capable and courte ous representative of the company, with which he has been identified for seventeen years. His life record began in Frederick county, Maryland, in 1865, and he belongs to one of the old, well known and promi nent families of that portion of his native state. His father, W. H. R. Dean, is an honored citizen of Hamburg, where he is now engaged in the real-estate business. A native of Maryland, he was reared and edu cated there and in the year 1869 emigrated westward with his family, taking up his abode near St. Joseph, Missouri, where he resided for a number of years. L. P. Dean, of this review, was reared in northwestern Missouri, and to the public - school system of the state is indebted for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. He has also added to his fund of practical knowl edge through experience in the business world and in reading in leisure hours. Learning telegraphy, he entered the railroad service and has been stationed at various places, between St. Joseph and Kansas City. He was at Barnard, Missouri, in charge of the station there for some time, and in 1891 was promoted to the position which he yet occupies. His connection with the railroad service covers almost two decades, a fact which indicates unmistakably that he has been loyal to the trusts reposed in him and prompt and faithful in the discharge of his duties, for extensive corporations do not re tain in their employ men who are unworthy or incompetent. For nine years he has been in Hamburg, and is accounted a most popu lar representative of the road, being always accommodating, courteous and obliging. In October, 1900, Mr. Dean was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Bogan, a daugh ter of Dr. Bogan, a prominent and well- known physician of Hamburg. Their pleas ant home is celebrated for its hospitality, and to -them a cordial welcome is extended in many of the best homes in the city. In his political views Mr. Dean is a Republican, BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 479 but seeks not the honors or emoluments of public office. He was made a Mason in White Hill Lodge, No. 302, F. & A. M., at Barnard, Missouri, and has since taken the degrees of the chapter and council. He also belongs to Bruce Commandery, No. 34, K. T., of Red Oak, Iowa, and to Moilah Temple of the Mystic Shrine, in St. Joseph, Mis souri. He is classed among the intelligent and enterprising citizens of Hamburg, and his genial disposition and friendly tempera ment have won him the warm regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact. RUFUS S. TATE. Rufus S. Tate, formerly the sheriff of Fremont county, Iowa, and a prominent resi dent of Sidney, is a recognized leader of the Democratic party in this section, his large acquaintance and unbounded popularity giv ing him an influential, following, while his shrewd judgment of men and affairs makes his counsel of value in all important move ments. A native of Iowa, Mr. Tate was born in Monroe county, on the 7th of February, 1856, and is a son of John' and Elizabeth .(Elswick.) Tate, both natives of Indiana. His paternal grandfather was James Tate, while his maternal grandparents were An drew and Elizabeth Elswick. The former lived in Kentucky for a time, then moved to Indiana, and from there to Iowa, in 1851. They were of Scotch descent. Throughout life the father of our subject followed ag ricultural pursuits, and died in, Monroe coun ty, this state, in 1873, at the age of forty- nine years, and his wife passed away at the same place in 1859, at the age of twenty- five. To them were born two children, but Rufus is the only representative of the fam ily now living. Our subject was left an orphan at an early age, and since eighteen years old has made his own way in the world unaided. He is practically self-educated, and has ob tained a good fund of general information, which has well fitted him for life's respon sible duties. In 1883 he removed to Fre mont county, where he made his home for some time. On the 1 2th of January, 1892, Mr. Tate was united in marriage with Miss Anna Belle Argyle, a native of Iowa and a daugh ter of Archibald and Harriet (Bowman) Argyle. Her father, who- was a merchant by occupation, was born in Virginia, in 1804, and died in Sidney, Iowa, in 1866. After his marriage Mr. Tate located in Sidney, where two children have been born in his family, namely: Stewart A. and Harriet J. The family have a pleasant home erected by our subject in 1900, and are people of prominence in social circles. Religiously Mrs. Tate is a member of the Presbyterian church. Since locating in Sidney, Mr.* Tate has taken a very important part in public affairs, and is one of the most influential men in the Democratic party, for whose interests he has worked untiringly. Since casting his first presidential vote for General Hancock he has never failed in his allegiance to that party and has never failed to support its candidates each election clay. For four years he served as deputy sheriff of the county, and was then elected sheriff for a term of two years, in the fall of 1892. In 1896 he was re elected to the same office, his second term expiring on the ist of January, 1899. His official duties were , discharged with a 480 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. promptness and fidelity worthy of the high est commendation. He is now serving as councilman of Sidney, having been elected to that office in 1900. Mr. Tate is emphat ically a man of enterprise, positive charac ter, indomitable energy and liberal views, and is thoroughly identified with the growth and prosperity of his city and county. Fra ternally he is an honored member of the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Wood men of America. JOHN J. KELLY. John J. Kelly, a well and favorably known resident of Mills county, was born in Ohio, in 1853, and represents one of the ¦old families of the state. His grandfather, Efisha Kelly, was also a native of Ohio and had seven children, namely : Isaac ; Elisha, deceased; Mrs. Hannah Fitzwilliams, who also passed away; Mrs. Mary Dill, deceased ; Mrs. Vashti Drake, who makes her home in -Bainbridge, Ohio; and Mrs. Emma Cheno- with and Mrs. Maggie Cook, both of whom are deceased. The first named, the Rev. Isaac Kelly, is the father of our subject. He was born iu Ohio, in 181 6, and is still living, his home being in Pomona, California, where he and his wife have resided for several years. He married Ruth Smith, who was born in Ohio and is a daughter of John J. Smith, who served in the war of 181 2 and died in Mis souri. Rev. Mr. Kelly is a Methodist preacher, having for many years been a member of the ministry of that church. He was one of the old-time circuit-riders both in Ohio and Iowa and is recognized as one of the leading divines of the west. He is es pecially well known in this state, , where he is widely remembered as a patriarchial preacher of eloquence and strength and ot exceptional purity of character. He removed from Ohio to Mills county, Iowa, with his family, arriving at his destination on the 3d of March 1853. Here he secured ex tensive landed possessions and the large body of fine farming land adjoining Hillsdale on the north, the major part of which is still in his possession, the other being now owned by his son, John J. Kelly and other mem bers of the family. All the children were reared upon the farm, although the father devoted the most of his time and attention to proclaiming the gospel among the pioneers of Iowa. Lewis Edward, the eldest son in the family, is now a physician, engaged in practice in Oakland, California. At the time of the Civil, war he joined the "boys in blue," enlisting from Mills county in the Fifteenth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers. He saw very hard service and was severely wounded on several occasions. At Pittsburg Land ing he was laid out for dead, with his knap sack upon his breast. Although only six teen years of age at the time of his enlist ment, he was absolutely without fear and displayed a valor equal to that of many veterans more than twice his years. The other members of the family of Rev. Isaac Kelly are : Mrs. Demaris E. Lewis, who re sides in Bartlett, Iowa; Mrs. Alice Pitzer, of Pomona, California; James Quinn, a farmer of Mills county; Willis M., who is living in Los Angeles; Elmer Ellsworth, a practicing physician located at San Francis.- co; Effie May,' who is living with her parents in Pomona, California, and is successfully engaged in teaching; Winfield Scott, a Methodist minister, now acting as the pastor BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 481 of a church of his denomination in Cali fornia; and Pearl, who is now Mrs. Dr. Schutz, of Long Beach, California. John J. Kelly, whose name introduces this sketch, was brought to Mills county, Iowa, during his early infancy and has here spent his entire life. He was reared amid the wild scenes of the frontier and was early trained to the work of the home farm, as sisting in the cultivation of the fields from the time of early spring-planting until the crops were harvested in the autumn. He still lives upon a portion of the old homestead, his residence being pleasantly located only a quarter of a mile north of the town of Hillsdale. As a companion and helpmate on life's journey, he chose Miss Laura Alice Sawyer, their marriage being celebrated in 1885. The Lady is a daughter of Nicholas Sawyer, who was born in Tennessee, his people having removed to the north on ac count of their Union sentiments, and all of his brothers served as soldiers with the northern army in the Civil war. One of the brothers was captured by Rebels, drawn into a creek and there shot down! Nicholas Sawyer was prevented from enlisting by physical disability. At an early period in the development of Mills county he cast in his lot with the pioneer settlers and is still living here, his home adjoining Hillsdale on the northwest. He has now reached the ^ripe old age of seventy-nine years and is one of the honored early settlers of the com munity. He married Miss Minerva Jane Skaggs, who also was born in Tennessee and is still traveling life's journey by his side as a devoted wife and companion. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer were born the follow ing named : Laura Alice, now the honored wife of our subject; Alonzo S.; Eli M. ; John; Mrs. Stella McConaha; AVilliam and James. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kelly has been blessed with three children : Clifford Nicholas, Bernice May and Ethel Laura. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kelly hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church at Hills dale and are earnest Christian people, doing all in their power to promote the welfare of the church. Socially Mr. Kelly is an Odd Fellow. He is now serving as a township school director and for ten years has filled the office of school treasurer. He is one of the most prominent Prohibitionists in Iowa. Believing firmly in the cause of temperance, he labors untiringly to secure the adoption of its principles. He is a man who esteems character above all else, and his life is a typical example of those whose ideals embrace uprightness, integrity and moral courage. He has clear, strong and decided views on all public questions and the religious fervor of his nature is ma:: if est in a career over which there falls no shadow of wrong or suspicion of e-\ il. RUFUS L. MERRITT. Among the progressive and prom inent farmers of Mills county, Iowa, is Ru fus L. Merritt, the subject of this biographic al sketch. He was born in North Caro lina, February 15, 1835, and was a son of Benjamin Franklin and Edna (Combs)' Merritt, both natives of North Carolina. The Merritt family is a long-lived race, the paternal grandfather attaining a great age. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and held the rank of captain in the war of 1812. In 1842 the family removed to Ken tucky, where they remained until 1849, when 482 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. the surviving members came to Lyons town ship, Mills county, Iowa, where the father died at the age of forty-nine. The vener ated and beloved mother is still living at the advanced age of ninety-four. She is the most honored member of her son's family, and although somewhat of a cripple from an accident which occurred sixteen years ago, she enjoys a quiet life, in her favored corner, surrounded with all the care and comfort that loving hands can bestow. It will be a sad day when she is missed from the rocking chair where she has passed so many years, and the old Bible will be treasured because she has read its pages so long. Mrs. Merritt was the fourth in order of birth, in a family of eight children, and is now the only living member. Her father died when she was but six years old, and when she came to Mills county in 1849, m company with her hus band, there was not a single house on the whole Missouri bottom. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Merritt have all passed away with the exception of our subject. Rufus L. Merritt was married June 15, 1854, to Miss Nancy Grizzle, a daughter of AVilliam and Rachel (Berger) Grizzle, natives of Tennessee, and they have had four children, — Edna B., now Mrs. Sheldon Hub bard, of Sarpy county, Nebraska; Mary Elizabeth, now Mrs. AA^illiam Snuffin, of Glenwood, Iowa; John L. and George A., residents of Lyons township. Mr. Merritt is a large land owner, his farm of two hundred and forty acres being well situated and very productive. He has introduced many orogressive methods of farming which have displayed his good judgment and have served to make his land still more valuable. Personally he is pop ular in his community and possesses the es teem of all with whom business or social life throws him into contact. JOHN DYSON. For twenty-eight years John Dyson has been a resident of Mills county and through out this period he has been particularly active in advancing the agricultural interests of the community. The broad prairies of the Hawkeye state afford an excellent oppor tunity to the farmer ^ and by improving the possibilities that surrounded him Mr. Dyson has advanced to a very creditable position in the great department of business upon which the world's wealth depends, — that of agri culture. He is of English birth, the place of his nativity being in Yorkshire, while his natal day was July 10, 1830. His par ents, AVilliam and Hannah (Parkin) Dyson, were also natives of Yorkshire and there they spent their entire lives. The father had passed the sixtieth milestone on life's jour ney when called to his final rest, and the mother had reached the advanced age of one hundred and one years and six months. They were the parents of ten children, two of whom are yet living. Mr. Dyson of this review pursued his education in the public schools of his native country, but his privileges were limited, owing to the fact that at the age of thirteen years he started out in life to provide for his own support by working as a farm hand by the year. He remained in England until 1853, when, believing he could better his financial condition in the new world, he ar ranged to become a resident of America. He crossed the broad Atlantic and made his j-O^&^z^ ©25& subject was born in' Ohio, and died there when about thirty- three years old, leaving six children, who in turn married and had families of their own. The paternal grandfather was Ar thur McClain, and his wife was a native of Pennsylvania, who passed her last days in Knox county, Ohio. The maternal grandparents of our subject were John and Ann Stephenson, the former of whom was born in Ireland, and came to America when he was about fourteen years old. This was a pioneer family in Ohio. In 1 866, our subject was married to Miss Caroline Murray, a daughter of Alex ander and Mary A. (AA'yman) Murray, the former of whom was born in Schenec tady, New York, in 1805, and died in Liv ingston county, in that state, in 1861, having been engaged in farming all his life. The mother of Mrs. McClain was born in Gene see county, same state, four of her family of five children surviving. Mrs. McClain's paternal grandparents were James and Nel lie (Thompson) Murray, natives of New York, who lived and died there, and her maternal grandparents were AVarren and Caroline (Roe) Wyman, the former a na tive of Vermont, who died in New York, the latter a native of New York, who spent her whole life there. Both of these families are old and prominent, having descendants in many states of the Union. The children born to our subject and wife are: Rev. Albert M., a Presbyterian minister and superintendent of the Nez Perce Indians in Idaho and has two chil dren : John Henry, who has one daughter ; Carl A., a school-teacher in this township; Marian F., who is attending- school in Oma ha, Nebraska; and Lulu M., a student of the Emerson school. All of these children have been well educated, Mr. McClain tak ing a deep interest in educational matters in his district. On September 18, 1861, Mr. McClain enlisted in the Union army and gave faithful service to his country until October 27, 1864, when he was mustered out. His serv ice was for three years, when he answered the call that was made for three hundred thousand men and entered Company K, Thirty-seventh Indiana Volunteers, under Captain John McKee, who lost his life at the battle of Stone River. Under Captain John B. Reeve, our subject accompanied his regiment through many serious engage ments, was captured by the enemy at Pulas ki, Tennessee, and paroled, later was taken sick and obliged to soend some time in the military hospitals at Nashville and Murfrees boro. Mr. McClain was present at the bat tle of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Kenesaw and almost all the important battles of the Army of the Cumberland. For one and hundred twenty days our subject was continually engaged, 498 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. finally reaching Atlanta with his regiment. The first time that our subject voted the Republican ticket was in the first campaign of Abraham Lincoln, since which time lie has never wavered in his allegiance to that party. He is a charter member of the G. A. R. post at Emerson, in which he takes an active interest. Few men have seen more of the horrors of war than our subject, and few veterans can show a better' record. His devotion to his country was sincere, and when sick in the hospital and offered a furlough he would not accept it, hoping sooner thereby to be able to return to the battle-field. Mr. Mc Clain possesses- tlie esteem and conldence of his fellow-citizens and may be considered a representative man of Indian Creek town ship. SAMUEL S. SALYERS. Samuel S. Salyers, a farmer, was born October 24, 1831, in Jefferson county, In diana. The paternal grandparents of our subject were Jerry and Mary Salyers, both of North Carolina, whence they removed to Kentucky, where they passed the residue of their lives. His maternal grandparents emigrated from Switzerland to the new world, taking up their abode in Kentucky, where they died well advanced in years. The father of our subject, Samuel S. Sal yers, Sr., was born in North Carolina and died in Marion county, Iowa, at the age of seventy-five years. He married Miss Marga ret Sidner, who was born in Switzerland, of German parentage, and passed away in Marion county, Iowa, when sixty-five years of age. She was the mother of eleven chil dren, three of whom are living. Mr. Salyers of this review remained in his native county until twenty-five years of age. He then removed to Marion county,' Iowa, in 1856, and engaged in farming un til 1 86 1, when he went to Monroe county. On the 15th of August, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, Thirty-fourth Iowa Volun teer Infantry, and while in the service he participated in the following battles : Chick asaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, the siege of Vicksburg, Yazoo City, Graham Plantation, Fort Gaines, Fort Morgan and Fort Blake ly, being mustered out at Devenport, Iowa, August 16, 1865. He returned to Monroe county, where he remained until 1870, when he came to Mills , county, and in 1 874 lo cated on section 13, AVhite Cloud township, where he now resides. Mr. Salyers was married, May 26, 1853, to Melissa Z. Copeland, a native of Indiana. There were born to them five children, of whom four are now living, — George M., James M., AVilliam S. and Robert F. Mr. Salyers has lived in Iowa forty-four years. In politics his parents were Democrats, but he first voted the Know Nothing ticket and has been a prominent Republican ever since. .ANDREW BERKHEIMER. Among the honored and highly respected citizens of Mills county, who have for many years been identified with its agricultural in terests and have met with success in their chosen calling is Andrew Berkheimer. He was born in York county, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of March, 1832, his parents be ing George and Lydia Berkheimer. They also were natives of the Keystone state, where they spent their entire lives, the fa ther dying when about seventy years of age, MR. AND MRS. ANDREW BERKHEIMER BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 499 and his wife passing away at the age of sixty-seven. They were farming people and enjoyed the high regard of all who knew them, owing to their many excellencies of character. Our subject was reared in the manner of most farmer boys of his day, aiding in the cultivation of the fields and other farm work, and attending the district schools near his boyhood home. In 1849, at the age of seventeen yrears Mr. Berkheimer left the pa ternal roof and went to Michigan, driving a team from his old home 1 i St. Joseph county, that state. In the same year he lo cated in Kalamazoo county, where he made his home for four years, being engaged in agricultural pursuits. He then made a tour through the west, visiting Illinois and Iowa, but returned to Michigan, and did not locate permanently in this state until 1858, when he took up his residence in Mills county. He purchased sixty acres of wild land in Silver Creek township, and to its improve ment and cultivation he at once turned his attention. His first home here was a frame house, fourteen by sixteen feet, where he lived until 1865, .when he built his present comfortable residence. He hauled the lum ber for the first house in Milton, now Mal vern, built for J. D. Paddock, the present postmaster of that place. Mr. Berkheinier has one of the best orchards in this section of the state, and his well improved and high ly cultivated farm is one of the most desir able places of its size in Mills county. At Kalamazoo, Michigan, on the 17th of September, 1855, Mr. Berkheimer was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Oman, who was born in Pennsylvania, and is a daughter of Peter and Sarah (Cunningham) .. Oman, who with their family removed from Pennsylvania to Michigan at a very early day, Mrs. Berkheimer crossing the Alle ghany mountains on foot. Her father was born in the Keystone state and died in Mich igan, at a very advanced age, — eighty-one years ; and his wife, who was a native of New Jersey, passed away in Michigan, at the age of seventy-five. Mr. and Mrs. Berk heimer became the parents of fourteen chil dren, eight of whom are yet living and are now married. They also have twelve grand children. Their living children are : Ches ter, who married Mary Oney; Sarah, now the wife of Henry Donner ; George, who married Maude Elwood ; Clara, now the wife of J. D. Barrick; Oscar, who mar ried Gertrude McMillen; Louis, who mar ried Albia Byers; Maggie, who married P. M. Cadwell; and Andrew, who married Carrie Byers. Since coming to Iowa Mr. Berkheimer has been a stanch supporter of the men and measures of the Republican party, and has even taken a deep and commendable interest in public affairs. He is a man of recognized ability and stands high in the community where he has long made his home. Those who know him best are numbered among ' his warmest friends, and he is justly de serving of the high regard in which he is held. He and his wife are active members of the Baptist church, in which he has served as deacon for a quarter of a century. He liberally aided in building the house of wor ship for that denomination in Malvern. The first meeting was held in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad depot, Mr. Berkheimer arranging some boxes obtained from the stores for use as a pulpit. When Milton-Malvern was being laid out there was no place in the town where the men 500 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. could board, so Mr. Berkheimer had to board them, also the depot agent. In sur veying for the town he hauled the stakes around for staking off the lots. He has clone everything in his power to promote the work of the church and his influence has been widely felt for good in his community. In his business affairs he has been particularly successful and though he started out in life empty-handed he now controls a good in come, which he has won through earnest and indefatigable effort. His life illustrates the possibilities of labor, when guided by sound judgment, in conquering and adverse fate. From a humble financial position he has worked his way to a place of prominence among the substantial citizens of his adopted county and in its history he well deserves mention. SAMUEL GALBRAITH. Samuel Galbraith, who is identified with the farming interests of Henderson county, Illinois, was born on the 6th day of No vember, 1824, in Kingston, east Tennessee, a son of Thomas and Margaret Galbraith. The family is of Scotch descent. The father was a farmer by occupation and carried on that business in Tennessee until 1829, when with his family he removed to Illinois, locating first in Morgan county. The following year, however, he "removed to Adams county, that state, and in 1834 took up his abode in what is now Hender son county, Illinois. In the latter place the subject of this review spent the greater part of his youth. He was early inured to the arduous labors of developing a frontier farm. He acquired a limited education in the district schools of the neighborhood, and after putting aside his text-books he engaged in chopping and making rails, for every farm had to be fenced in order to pro tect the crops against the horses, hogs, sheep and cattle. Mr. Galbraith early be came familiar with the work of the field and meadow, assisting in the cultivation of the fields from the time of the early spring planting until the harvests were gathered in the late fall. Throughout his business career he has been engaged in agri cultural pusuits. He went to Henderson county, Illinois, in 1834 and now resides near Gladstone, Illinois, where he has a good farm. He has placed this under a high state of cultivation, has added many improve ments and derives from the place a good income. On the 28th of June, 1849, Mr. Gal braith was united in marriage to Miss Sa rah Evans, who was born in Indiana, June 13, 1830. Their marriage has been blessed with the following children : Amanda, born April 20, 1850; James F., born September 12, 1851; Minerva, born October 12, 1853; Mary, born August 8, 1855 ; John, who was born January 9, 1857, and died on the 24th of December, of that year; Evaline, born October 18, 1858; Margaret J., born January 9, 1861 ; George M., born October 7, 1862; AVilliam T., born December 5, 1864; Charles E., born. December 5, 1866; Clyde E., born January 15, 1869; and Myrtle S., born October 15, 1876, and died November 1, 1877. Mr. Galbraith has long been a supporter of tfie Democracy and cast his last presi dential vote for AVilliam Jennings Bryan. He has, however, never been an aspirant for political honors, preferring to give his time and attention to the business affairs BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 501 whereby he has gained a comfortable com petence. Socially he was connected with the Masonic fraternity, having been made a Master Mason in Fortitude Lodge, No. 638, F. & A. M., in 1868. For a number of years he served as its treasurer and enjoys the high regard of the brethren of the frater nity. He is widely known as a reliable busi ness man and citizen of sterling worth. K WILLIAM" A. WILKINS. One of the prosperous young farmers of Mills county, Iowa, is the subject of this sketch, who was born in Washington county, Iowa, November 8, 1873, and is a son of B. F. and Mary J. (Moore) Wilkins. His father was born in Roane county, Tennessee, January 6, 1847, the latter in the same coun ty, July 6, 1852, and they were married in August, 1870. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Elisha AA'ilkins, who emigrated from Tennessee to Washington county, Iowa, in 1865, bringing with him his wife, six sons and three daughters. One son is now a Methodist minister in Birming ham, Iowa, another, for many years a prac ticing physician in Oskaloosa,. this state, moving in 1893 to Colorado for his health, where he had vast interests in the sheep business. While there he was a surgeon for the Burlington & Missouri River Rail road, and also elected to the legislature in 1894, returning to his old home in Wash ington county, Iowa, where he died in 1897. The paternal grandmother of Mr. Wilkins was Nancy Burnet, a native of Tennessee, -born in 1823; hence she is nine years the junior of her husband, who bears his years as well as -she does hers, both being active in mind and body. The grandfather being one of the few pensioners of the Black Hawk war. Our subject is the second in number in a family of six children, these being : Dwight E., a resident contractor of Council Bluffs; cur subject; R. H., a civU engineer residing with his wife at the home of W. A. ; Fred, an official of the Union Pacific Railroad; Claira Idell and Earl. Mr. B. F. Wilkins resides in Council Bluffs, but is a commercial traveler in the nursery business. Our sub ject was educated in the public schools and academies of AArashington county, Iowa, and at the age of twenty left home to fight the battles of the world for himself. Going to Fremont, Nebraska, he entered the commis sion house of Kirschbraun & Sons, where he remained for two years, and then spent two years representing them on the road. Fol lowing this initial capacity he traveled for one and one-half years representing Edward Lytle, of Omaha, Nebraska, closing his en gagement only on account of the failure of the firm. He is now engaged in farming on a tract of one hundred acres one and one-half miles from Silver City, Iowa, owned by his father-in-law, renting also fifty acres, upon all of which he carries on a general farming business, also raising fine cattle, hogs, and horses and making hogs a spec ialty ; and he is making a success of the new venture. Mr. Wilkins was married, March 30,. 1898, to Miss Birdie Huffaker, the beauti ful and accomplished daughter of H. H. Huffaker, of Silver City, Iowa. She is the only daughter in that family and is a well- educated lady of great ability, painting in oil and proficient on the piano. She was born: in Silver City, in 1880, and educated in St. Francis Academy in Council Bluffs, Iowa. 502 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. One little son has come into this family, born December 26, 1898; and it is needless to say he is the idol of his grandfather. Mr. Huffaker, the father of Mrs. Wilkins, came to this county in an early day from Illinois and now possesses many broad acres of fertile land. In politics Mr. Wilkins is a Republican and boldly upholds the principles of the party. He has no desire for office, his busi ness and delightful home giving him suffi cient use for his time. The substantial resi dence of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins was erected for them by the generosity of Mr. Huffaker. They resided at the old farm nearly sixteen months and came to their place in July, 1899. A fine new barn is in course of erec tion, and there seems to be no reasonable doubt that prosperity will continue to smile upon this most worthy young couple. ROBERT J. CLARK. Robert J. Clark, who carries on general farming and stock-raising in Sidney town ship, Fremont county, was one of the worthy citizens that Ohio furnished to the Hawk- eye state. He was born in Ross county, Ohio, February 7, 1859, and is a son of George C. and Ann B. (Murray) Clark. The father was born in the same house in which occurred the birth of our subject, his natal clay being September 26, 1827. Thom as Clark, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Sherman Valley, Pennsyl vania, born in 1782. Emigrating westward, he located in Ohio, in 1810, taking up his abode in the midst of a heavy forest, where he developed a farm and reared his family. He married Eleanor Black, of Pennsyl vania, and they had a family of two sons and six daughters, of whom two daughters yet survive, namely : Susanna, who is now the widow Murray, of Highland county, Ohio; and Mrs. Nancy Ellen Fernow, who is also a widow and resides in Marion, Lynn county, Iowa. The grandfather of our sub ject served as a first lieutenant in the war of 1812. In religious faith he was a Pres byterian and was well known as a minister of the gospel in that denomination. He passed away in Ross county, Ohio, in 1846, and was laid to rest in the cemetery in Greenfield, in Highland county. George Clark, "the father of our sub ject, was reared on the old family home stead, where he remained until he was forty years of age. His educational privileges were limited, for the country was new and unsettled and the work of development was scarcely begun. On the ist of March, 1854, he was united in marriage to Miss Ann B. Murray, who was born in Ross county, Ohio, on the 12th of December, 1832, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Stew art) Murray, of Kentucky. They, too, were farming people. Unto the grandparents of our subject were born five daughters and three sons. Those living are : Elizabeth J., who resides in Greenfield, Ohio ; and Mar garet, who is now Mrs. Smalley, a -widow, living at Stockton, Kansas, where she has a family of children. In January, 1868, George C. Clark, the father of our sub ject, removed from Ohio to Iowa, arriv ing in Fremont county in January. In March of that year he purchased two hun dred and forty acres of land, for which he paid thirty dollars per acre, and took up his. abode on his new farm. He sold his two- hundred acre farm in Ohio for fifty dollars per acre, and was thus enabled to meet BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 503 the payments on the new place. He has al ways carried on agricultural pursuits, mak ing a specialty of the raising of grain and hogs. Enterprising and wide-awake, his diligence and perseverance have brought to him a very gratifying degree of prosperity. Unto him and his wife have been born the following named : Elizabeth Mary, who was born in 1855, became the wife of Milton Murphy, a farmer of Sidney township, Fre mont county, and died November 14, 1891, at the age of thirty-six years, leaving two of their four children; Robert J. is the next of the family; and Eleanor Myrtle, born in 1865, died June 16, 1884, while pur suing a course of music in Tabor, where she was stricken with typhoid fever. She was especially gifted in the art of music, and gave great promise of future develop ment along that line. Robert J. Clark, whose name forms the caption of this article, pursued his education for one term in the schools of Ohio and then came to Iowa, where he continued his studies in the district schools and later spent four terms in Tabor College. Throughout his entire life he has remained on the old homestead, assisting his father in the culti vation and development of the land, and during the past eleven years he has been extensively engaged in the stock ' business, feeding cattle and hogs for the market. He has his stock on the north eighty acres of the farm and keeps a splendid gracie of Hereford cattle. He also buys other cattle, which he feeds for the market, shipping from one to five car-loads of cattle and sev eral car-loads of Poland China hogs each year. He is a young man of marked energy, keen business ability and resolute will and his honorable dealing has ever won him the respect and trust of all with whom he has come in contact. Both Mr. Clark and his father are stal wart Republicans in their political faith, but have never held or desired office. The parents and their sons are also Presbyterians, and the father was an elder for some years in the church in which they hold member ship. Both George Clark and his wife are active workers in the church and are people whose many excellent characteristics have gained for them high regard. In 1890 their present residence was erected, and in March, 1 89 1, they removed from the old home in to the new. The family is one of promi nence in the community and the name is in separably interwoven with the history of agricultural interests in southwestern Iowa. The success which has attended the efforts of father and son is the merited reward of earnest labor. GEORGE R. COOK. George R. Cook is a prosperous young farmer of Indian Creek township, Mills county, where he owns eighty acres of land. His possessions have been acquired entirely through his own efforts and his success would be creditable to a man many years his senior. He was born in Mills county in 1 861, his parents being William G. and Elizabeth (Cox) Cook. The father was a native of Chautauqua county, New York, and represented one of the old families of the Empire state, whose people followed agri cultural pursuits. His father, Daniel Cook, removed from New York to Valparaiso, In diana, and there spent his remaining days. A number of years afterward he went from that state to Missouri and in 1858 came to :5°4 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Mills county, Iowa. His children were Remington, George, Edward, Mrs. Dora Kee and Nicy, the wife of A. J. AA'earin. AA'illiam G. Cook accompanied his par ents on their removal to the Mississippi val ley and in Missouri was joined in wedlock to Miss Elizabeth Cox, a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Fillingham) Cox, both of whom were natives of North Carolina. They removed to southern Indiana about 1840, .and there the mother of our subject was born. Later her parents went to Missouri, where she was reared, remaining under the parental roof until she gave her hand in mar riage to AArilliam G. Cook. Her father was a soldier in the Mexican war and three of her brothers, Alfred, Daniel and George, were Union soldiers in fhe Civil war, the last named having been killed in the service. In 1858 AArilliam G. Cook came with his family to Mills county, Iowa, where he pur chased land, afterward adding to his posses sions until he became one of the most exten sive realty holders in this portion of the -state. He died about eight years ago at the age of fifty-six, but his widow is still living and now makes her home in Hastings. Their children are Daniel M., who is living •with her mother; and George R. of this re view: The last named, having spent most of his life in Mills county, has long been ac quainted with the history of its progress and development and has ever borne his part in the work of advancement and improvement. If it were possible tfj look into the past, we would find him, after the manner of most farmer boys of the period, pursuing his edu cation in the district schools throughout the winter months, while in the summer he as sisted in the work of cultivating the home ¦farm. In early life he started out for him self. In the fall of 1861 his parents went with their family to Missouri and thence to Indiana, returning, to Mills county in the fall of 1869, where the father purchased land. About ten years ago our subject lo cated on his present fine farm of eighty acres. His fields are well tilled and promise golden harvests. He also engages in stock- raising and this branch of his business like wise proves a profitable source of income. He has substantial buildings upon his place and all modern accessories and conveniences, indicating his energetic nature and his dili gence. On the 29th of January, 1885, as a com panion and helpmate on life's journey. Mr. Cook chose Miss Nevada Smith, a daughter of James F. and Sarah (Cooper) Smith, both natives of Laporte county, Indiana, where their marriage was celebrated. They emigrated to Iowa twenty-three years ago and are prominent people in Pottawattamie county. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Cook has been blessed with five children, namely : Bertha, Marion, George, Clara and Ruth. Mr. Cook is an Odd Fellow in his social relations, a Democrat in political faith, and for seven years has served as school director. He is a young man with steadiness of purpose, enterprising spirit and sterling worth, and is generally admired and respected for his many excellencies of char acter. JACOB KOCHERSPERGER. One of the farmers of Mills county, Iowa, is Jacob Kochersperger. His career is a striking example of the triumph of en ergy over adverse circumstances, of indomit able will over disheartening poverty, and of BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 505 success at last, gained through legitimate channels. Our subject was born in the state of New York, in 1841, a son of Martin and Margaret (Plow) Kochersperger, both of whom were born and died in New York. He was reared on a farm, his school op portunities being of the most meager descrip tion, and when he came to Mills county, Iowa, in 1870, he was a poor man, who had seen little of life but toil and self-denial. Locating at his present home, in Deer Creek township, Mr. Kochersperger applied himself with all the energy of his nature, and in a short time success crowned his efforts. He endured hardships cheerfully for he soon saw it would only be temporary, and now after thirty years, he owns seven hundred and twenty acres of as fertile land as can be found in the state of Iowa. Mr. Kochersperger married Anna M. Shindler, a daughter of Richard Shindler, a native of New York, and the children born of this union are Mrs. Minnie E. Northrop, Edwin M., Frank G, and Hattie Belle. In politics our subject is a stanch Republican, and has efficiently served as road supervisor, school director and as township trustee, in all relations of life proving himself a sub stantial, respected and self-respecting citizen. He has worked his way upward by his own efforts and well deserves the esteem in which he is held. MIKE GORDON. Few men starting out in life as did Mike Gordon have won a more pronounced suc cess, for though he entered upon his business career empty-handed, he is to-day the owner •of fourteen hundred acres of valuable land in southwestern Missouri and makes his home upon the Gordon farm, situated in Washington township, Fremont county. A native of the Emerald Isle, he was born in AA^exford, in 1838. The ancestry of the family can be traced back for one hundred and fifty years. The Gordons were orig inally from the Highlands of Scotland, but tribal wars and religious persecutions drove them from Scotland to Ireland, where they found a new home and greater liberty. Mark and Ellen (AA-'icken) Gordon, the parents of our subject, were both natives of AArexford and were reared and educated there. After their marriage they reared their children there and in their native city spent their en tire lives. Mike Gordon, who was one of a family of six children, was reared upon the old home farm and into his mind lessons of in dustry, economy and honesty were early in stilled. He received a good fundamental ed ucation and remained in the Emerald Isle until after his marriage, which was cele brated in 1864, when he was twenty-six years of age, Miss Catherine Doyle becom ing his wife. She, too, was born and reared in county Wexford, Ireland, and belonged to one of the old families there. For thirty- six years they have traveled life's journey. together. In 1865 they determined to seek a fortune in the new world, and, bidding good bye to relatives and friends, they sailed for Quebec, Canada, whence they afterward went to Oneida county, New York. For three years Mr. Gordon worked on a farm in that locality, and then, at the de sire of friends and relatives in Iowa, he came to Fremont county and for two and a half years worked on the Kansas City & Omaha Railroad, receiving good wages, and on the expiration of that period he purchased 506 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. one hundred acres of wild land and turned his attention to farming, which pursuit he has since followed. That he had faith in a prosperous future for Fremont county is shown by the fact that he has made ex tensive investments in real estate and is to day the owner of fourteen hundred acres of as good land as can be found in this sec tion of the country. Upon the home farm, which he purchased in 1888, there stands a fine residence, erected in modern style of 'architecture and giving indication of the cul tivated taste and refinement of the family. It is surrounded by a well-kept lawn and in the rear are extensive barns and other out buildings; there is an abundant supply of water for the use of the household and for the stock and he is extensively engaged in stock-raising, feeding about one hundred and twenty-five head of cattle annually. He is systematic and progressive in all that he does, and his well-directed efforts have been attended with a high degree of success. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have been born four children, — Mark, Walter, Ellen and Herbert, — all of whom are still with their parents. The sons have been provided with educational privileges at Hamburg, and the daughter has pursued her studies in Ne braska City and in St. Joseph, Missouri. The family is one of prominence and the home is celebrated for its gracious hospital ity, which is enjoyed by a large circle of friends of the Gordons. Mr. Gordon is a splendid type of the progressive, enterpris ing, Irish-American citizen, his good judg ment in business affairs and his unfaltering energy having enabled him to work his way upward until prosperity has crowned his ef forts. Wit and humor, his genial manner and a social disposition have made him pop ular and a general favorite in society. He is six feet in height, weighs two hundred and seventy-five pounds and is well propor tioned. There is much in his history that is worthy of emulation, indicating the possi bilities that lie before young men of de termined purpose and resolute will. GEORGE T. REW. The record of George T. Rew is one which contains many valuable lessons, show ing the possibilities of accomplishment that lie before men of determined and earnest purpose. He has met with a high degree of success. Success is not measured by the height which one may already have, but by the distance between the starting ppint and the altitude he has gained, and therefore Mr. Rew has won a most brilliant success, a just reward of earnest and honorable effort which commands the respect and admiration of all. He is an example of the boys who educate themselves and secure their own start in life, — determined, self-reliant boys, willing to work for advantages which other boys in herit, destined by sheer force of character to succeed in the face of all obstacles and1 to push to the front in one important branch oi: industry or another. As a man his busi ness ability has enabled him to advance' steadily on the high road to success, and to-day he stands among the most prominent stock dealers in Iowa, having extensive farm ing interests. Mr. Rew is of English birth, a native of Devonshire, England, where he was born on the 13th of August, 1851. His father, John Rew, was born in the same locality June 21, 1824, and is still living there. The grandfather of our subject was Thomas Rew, yL^ 07€fca^ ^ vxjsus- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 507 a tenant farmer of Devonshire, who reared five sons and five daughters. After arriving at years of maturity John Rew was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth AA'ilson, who was also a native of Devonshire and died in middle life, leaving three sons, — John, George T. and Thomas. John and Thomas Rew still reside in Devonshire, being well- to-do citizens of their native county. George T. Rew, now actively connected with the farming and stock-raising inter ests of Ingraham township, Mills county, pursued his preliminary education in the vil lage schools and afterward spent one year in college. He was reared to the practical work of the farm, early becoming familiar with its labors in every department. AVhen twenty years of age he came to America in company with his elder brother, John, and they landed in New York city June 11, 1851, together with two other English farmer boys whom they met on the voyage. Pro ceeding westward to Cleveland, Ohio, they spent a short time in that city and afterward went to Burlington, Iowa, where they re mained for two years, working by the month as farm hands. On the 24th of September, 1873, the brothers purchased three hundred and twenty acres of prairie land and fifteen acres of timber land, the latter being in Mud Creek Grove. For this they contracted to pay thirteen dollars per acre. They had to incur a large indebtedness in order to make the purchase, but they went to work with a will and their earnest labor and un flagging diligence won for them prosperity. Eventually they received funds from home with which to pay off their indebtedness. Meantime they acquired much other land, and at the expiration of ten years,, when John Rew returned to England, they were 31 the owners of about one thousand acres, in which he retained an interest, and he still owns four hundred and eighty acres in An derson, of which George T. Rew has charge. In 1874 Mr. Rew of this review was married and took up his abode upon a part of his original farm. He extended the boun daries of the place until it now comprises five hundred and sixty acres, and thereon he resided until 1895, when he removed to his farm of three hunred and forty acres near Silver City, there remaining until 1900, when he returned to the former place. He i.-j now the owner of two very valuable prop erties, the Spring Valley Stock Farm, com prising three hundred and forty acres, and the Maple Grove Stock Farm, of fifteen hundred acres. During the early years of His connection with farming interests of Iowa he engaged in the raising of various crops adapted to this climate, but in later years he has given his time largely to stock- farming, raising cattle, horses and hogs, but makes a specialty of the first named. He has a very fine herd of thoroughbred Here ford cattle, numbering from two to three hundred head. He established this herd November 5, 1891, and in the breeding and raising of. Herefords he has been very suc cessful, having some very fine stock. He began with four cows and one bull, the for mer from such famous sires as Anxiety 4th and Grove 3d ; and since then strains from the famous Lord AVilton, Archibald, St. Louis, Romeo, Lord Derby, Hesiod 29th, and more directly in this herd Lord Bran don, Earl of Shadeland 30th, the AVorld's Fair champion at Chicago, for his get; Lord Merlin, now at the head of this herd, which bull was sired by the noted Captain Grove 2d, for many years at the head of C. G. 508 BIOGRAPLIICxiL HISTORY. Comstock's herd ; Hilarity, a son of the cele brated Corrector; Lord Laurel, from the famous Beau Brummel, Jr. ; Glenwood, a .son of the great Mercury; Bowman's Pro lific, of the Lord Wilton strain, of extra ordinary good qualities, and in fact, from nearly all the leading sires, as opportunity offered. Mr. Rew refuses to fix any price for his best cows. By purchasing no sires but those of individual merit he has developed a herd equal to any in the state. He has done much to improve the grade of stock raised in his portion of Iowa and in consequence his labors have been of great benefit to the state ; for as the grade of stock is improved its ' market value naturally increases and the farmers therefore receive higher prices. He feeds and disposes each year of about two thousand head of cattle for market, ship ping to Chicago about one hundred car loads. Not only does he feed the grain which he raises but annually buys from one hun dred to one hundred -and fifty thousand bushels of corn, thereby providing an ex cellent market for the products of the farms ii: the neighborhood. He has become widely known as one of the most successful stock men of Iowa, and his business each year .amounts to many thousands of dollars. One reason of his success is the personal super vision which he gives to his farming and stock-raising interests. He has made a close study of the question of caring for stock, knows their needs and provides for them such shelter and feed as will conduce to the best results among the herd. In 1874 Mr. Rew was united in marriage to Miss Phebe A. Miller, who was born in Indiana and is a daughter of Johnson and Elizabeth (Kisling) Miller. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rew have been born nine children, but only one is now living, Elizabeth M., who is the wife of James Burgoin, a farmer of Ingraham township, Mills county, by whom she has one son, born February 25, 1901. The other members of the family of Mr, and Mrs. Rew died in infancy and early childhood, with the exception of John E. and Clifford W., both of whom passed away when about eleven years of age. In his po litical views Mr. Rew is a Democrat, be lieving in the principles of the party; but at local elections, where no national issue is involved, he often casts his ballot regard less of party affiliations, considering only the capability of the candidates. He has never sought or desired official honors for. himself and has never served in office, save that of trustee of his school district. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he serves as one of the officers. They have a very pleasant home, which was erected in 1886. It is built in modern style of archi tecture and is supplied with all of the con veniences and accessories which add to the comfort of life. Such in brief is the career of one of the valued adopted citizens of the republic. Com ing to this country as a young man with out capital, he has improved his opportuni ties, and by diligence, perseverance and un faltering industry he has advanced steadily on the high road to success. He owes his prosperity entirely to his own efforts, and his close application as the years have rolled by have won for him rank among the lead ing and prosperous stock-raisers of the state of Iowa. BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 509 JOHN H. STUBBS. John H. Stubbs, who is numbered among the agriculturists and stock-raisers of Benton township, Fremont county, is a native of Illinois, his birth having occurred in Edgar county, on the 18th of December, 1863. The grandfather of our subject, Jesse Stubbs, was. born in northern Ohio, in 1812, and died in Vermlillion, Edgar coun ty, Illinois, in 1883. He was a carpenter, contractor and architect, and spent the greater part of his life in Indiana, but his last days were passed in Illinois. He was twice married and had five children — three sons and two daughters — by the first union. His business affairs were capably con ducted and brought to him a comfortable competence. B. F. Stubbs, the father of our subject, was born in Indiana, Septem ber 2, 1839, and having arrived at years of maturity he wedded Hettie Cassle, of Ed gar county, Illinois, a daughter of Hiram and Lodemah (Cussi'c) Cassle. The par ents of our subject, were married in Edgar county, Illinois, December 20, i860, and there resided until 1870, when they- came to Fremont county, Iowa, taking up their abode near ' Percival. The father rented land for five years and then purchased a tract of eighty acres, in the fall of 1875. In the following spring he took up his abode thereon. In his early life Mr. Stubbs had learned the carpenter's trade t>f his father, but after his marriage he turned his attention to farming, which he made his life work. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs were born four children, two daughters and two sons. Lodemah Isabel is the wife ¦of L. P. Hummel and resides on the old farm near Percival. They have one daugh ter. John H. is the next of the family. William H. resides on his farm near Tabor and has a wife but no children., M. Myr tle is the wife of John Broderick, of Fair field, Clay county, Nebraska. The children were provided with excellent educational privileges and all have been successful teachers. Myrtle is a graduate of the Lin coln Normal College, wherein she pursued the scientific course, and at the age of sev enteen she began teaching, following that profession for seven or eight years. At the time of the Civil war, in 1864, Mr. Stubbs, the father of his family, en tered the volunteer service from Edgar coun ty, Illinois, as a member of Company C, Fifty-first Illinois Infantry. He is now a pensioner under the law, receiving eight dollars per month. On the 27th of March, 1900, he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died at the age of fifty- eight years, two months and four days. She was not only a noble and devoted wife and mother, but was an active member of the Presbyterian church in early life, and after coining to Iowa became an earnest worker in the Methodist church. Her children rise up and call her blessed, and all who know her respect her for her many estimable char acteristics. John H. Stubbs, the subject of this re view, remained under the parental roof un til twenty-seven years of age, when he wa9 married, on the nth of February, 1891, to Miss M. Jane Furman. She was born in the town of Shamokin, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, November 23, 1865, and ivas a daughter of Moore and Nancy Ann (Lytle) Furman, who are now living in Riverton, Iowa. For six consecutive years before her marriage Mrs. Stubbs sue- 5*° BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. cessfully engaged in teaching, not missing a single term. Mr. Stubbs also taught for three terms. After their marriage the young- couple began their domestic life on the farm of five hundred acres which has since been their home, and he has very success fully continued the cultivation of the soil. He purchased a farm valued at five thou sand five hundred dollars, located two and a quarter miles north of Percival, and has operated that land in connection with his home farm. On three hundred or three hundred and fifty acres he has grown from ten to fifteen thousand bushels of corn each year, and has fed about one-half of this to his stock. He raises Angus polled cattle and Poland China hogs, and he has raised registered stock of both. He has sold this year fifty head of Angus polled cattle of his own raising and has purchased others. He raises Poland China hogs of the finest grade and annually sells two car-loads, which he has bred and raised. He has not only made a success financially, but has the well-earned reputation of being one of the leading stockbreeders and raisers of his township. He sustains an unassailable rep utation for probity in business, and his well- directed efforts have brought to him very creditable success. In the fall of 1900 he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres a mile east of Riverton and expects to take up his abode thereon in the spring of 1 90 1. His has been a busy, useful, active life, in which fidelity to duty, honorable business efforts and unflagging industry have brought to him a very creditable suc cess. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs have been born four children: Walter C, who was born November 16, 1891 ; William E., born March 26, 1893; John Harold, who was born August 19, 1897, and died at the age of two years, six months and sixteen days; and Edna Lucile, born February 20, 1899. In his political affiliations Mr. Stubbs is a stalwart Republican, but has never sought or desired the emoluments of public office. Socially he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, Both he and his wife are Meth odists. JOHN J. MASS. Germany has furnished to the United States an element in its citizenship which haslieen potent in its tendency for progress and. prosperity. German thrift has brought success in every community in which it has been planted, and Iowa is justly proud of her honest and industrious citizens of that nationality. Mills county has a fair pro portion of such, and among the most prom inent of the class is John J. Mass, the well- known stockman of Ingraham township, the owner of four hundred and eighty acres on sections 8 and 9. John J. Mass was born at Swansen, Ger many, December 7, 1849, a son of Caz Mass and his wife, who was Katie Quorman, and came alone to America in 1870, at the age of twenty-one years. He made his way di rectly to Pottawattamie county, Iowa, where he had a cousin and where he arrived July 2d. Four years later his father and mother and brothers and sisters came. The family originally consisted of nine children, of whom John J. Mass was the first born. Mr. Mass located at Silver City and three of his sons and five of his daughters, each mar ried and with a family, are settled near by. John J. Mass received a good education BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 5n in his native land and has acquired a good knowledge of English since he came to America. When he arrived at Council Bluffs, on his way to his cousins, he had fifteen dollars in money, which he spent for a suit of what he called -American clothes, discarding the outfit he had worn from the fatherland. His father was a cooper in Ger many and, though he was the owner of three- acres of land, was in humble circumstances and was not able to start him out in better shape financially. He had devoted his time from his fifteenth to his twen ty-first year to learning the blacksmith's trade, and during that time he had saved only thirty-seven dollars, with which small capital he had come to America, not only to better his fortunes, but to avoid con scription in the German army. He be gan his active career in Iowa, working by the month as a farm hand, and his first landed possession was eighty acres of wild and unbroken prairie, to which he added by subsequent purchases until he owned two hundred and sixty acres in Pottawattamie county, where he farmed successfully until 1887, when he' came to Silver City, Mills county, and conducted a meat market for four years. Meantime, in the fall of 1881, he bought his farm of four- hundred and eighty acres, now worth sixty-five dollars an acre, in Ingraham township. He owns al together four hundred and eighty acres of good farm land, giving personal attention to his Mills county farm and having tenants on his two farms in Pottawattamie county. He has become prominent as a stock farmer and gives special attention to th#e breeding of cattle, horses, mules and hogs. He breeds Herefords of pure blood and keeps from sixty to two hundred head on hands most of the time. He usually keeps from sixty to seventy-five cows and raises their calves, and from twenty-five to sixty head of horses and mules are to be found on his farm at almost any time. Of hogs he sells from one hundred to two hundred and fifty a year, raising Poland Chinas for the market. He feeds all his crops, except wheat, to his stock and buys some feed each year. His farm is well supplied with barns, stables and granaries and other outbuildings. His resi dence was destroyed by fire in 1899 and his present commodious brick and frame house was built immediately afterward. Politically Mr. Mass is a Democrat and he has filled the office of road supervisor in his township for four years. He and his family are members of the Lutheran church. He was married May 8, 1876, to Sophia Voss, a native of Holstein, Germany, and a daughter of Louis and Sophia (Lowe) Voss, who came to America at the age of eleven years with her parents, who are farmers in Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Mass have had nine children, eight of whom are living: William, aged twenty; Sarah, aged eight een; Otto, aged sixteen; Ella, who is a woman grown at thirteen years; Lena, aged eleven; Laura, aged nine; Mary, aged six; and Bertha, who, is one of the brightest two-year-old children in the county. Mr. Mass is a man of public spirit, who has given the same attention to official duties as to his private business, and has demon strated his good citizenship in many ways. JAMES F. GALBRAITH. For more than a quarter of a century James F. Galbraith has been a resident of Mills county, actively identified with its ag- 512 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. ricultural interests, but has now put aside the more arduous cares and duties of the farm and resides in Emerson, there enjoying in business retirement the fruits of his for mer toil. His life has certainly been a busy and useful one, and to no outside aid or in fluence may be attributed his prosperity, save that he received one thousand dollars. Otherwise all that he possesses he owes to his own carefully planned and executed efforts. Mr. Galbraith is a native of the neigh boring state of Illinois, his birth having oc curred there, in Henderson county, on the 1 2th of September, 1851. His father, Sam uel Galbraith, was born in Tennessee and about 1834 drove from that state across the country to Illinois, taking up his abode in Henderson county, where he reared his fam ily. His son James spent his youthful days at the old homestead under his parents' care and guidance, and enjoyed the educational privileges afforded by the schools of the neighborhood. He was twenty-two years of age when he came to Iowa, — Mills county being his destination. Here he began life on his own account and has found that the Storehouse of prosperity yields its treasures in return for unfaltering industry. He first located in Anderson township, but after two years purchased one hundred and thirty- seven and a half acres of land in Indian Creek township, whereon he has since made his home. The work of the fields he has dili gently prosecuted, plowing and planting, and when the summer sun had ripened the grain he garnered the harvests which were then placed upon the market, bringing him a good financial return. On the 19th of September, 1877, Mr. Galbraith was united in marriage to Miss Albina McGrew, a native of Ohio, and they now have three children: Ida M., Charles O. and Harry LeRoy, all with their parents. In the political affairs of the community Mr. Galbraith takes considerable interest and does whatever lies in his power to promote the cause of the Democracy, with which he has been allied since attaining his majority, when he cast his first presidential vote for Seymour. He has served as road super visor, but has not coveted office as a reward for party allegiance. He is a member of the Christian church, to which the family also belongs, and in its work he takes a deep in terest, contributing liberally to its support, and aiding in the advancement of the cause. His business dealings have ever been char acterized by the strictest honesty and his Christian principles have ever permeated the discharge of his duties in both public and private life. ALFRED R. BOBBITT. A prominent citizen, old settler and suc cessful farmer and stock-raiser of Sidney township, Fremont county, Iowa, is Alfred R. Bobbitt, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Kentucky December 9, 1832, and is a son of- James and Margaret (Mann) Bobbitt, both natives of Kentucky, the for mer born September 3, 1798, and died Feb ruary 23, 1866, and the latter, born October 16, 1800, died November 18, 1873. They were married in 1821. James Bobbitt was a son of Randolph Bobbitt, who was born in Virginia, but died in Kentucky. James Bob bitt was the father of eleven children, our subject being the sixth of the fanrily, the record being: Nancy Ann, who is the. wife of John Baylor; Martha Ellen, who died BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 5i3 in the fall of 1895; Lucinda, who died in infancy; Ezra, who died in infancy; our subject ; Eliza, who was the wife of A. C. Bonwell, and died in this township; Samuel J., who died in Indiana; Matilda, who was the wife of T. P. Martin, and died near Thurman, in 1863; Joseph, who died when sixty-four; Mary, who is the wife of T. C. Hatton, resides near Sidney; and Benjamin C. -C, who was a soldier in the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, enlisting in 1862, and served three years, and now resides in Sidney, retired from business. The parents of our subject emigrated to Iowa in 1849 from Marion county, Indiana, leaving there in the manner of emigrants, with covered wagons, drawn by two-horse teams, their journey occupying the time from the 15th of September to the mid dle of November. They came with limit ed means, their money amounting to only fifty dollars, although one hundred dol lars was still owing them from the sale ¦of goods in Indiana. They settled on a government claim, and when it was resur- veyed and came into the market Mr. Bob bitt bought one hundred and sixty acres, at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, this tract still belonging to the family. Our subject had but meager school ad vantages. He was taken from Kentucky to Marion county, Indiana, in 1833, when two years old. His recollection of his early school-house with its primitive furniture is still very easily recalled. But little chance was given him to take advantage of the few opportunities offered. When he accompanied his family to Iowa, a boy of seventeen, his money was less than fifty cents. Until mar riage he remained at home assisting his fa ther, the care of the land and stock requir ing hard and persevering work. The marriage of Mr. Bobbitt took place on, June 21, 1855, to Miss Sarah E. Pugh, a daughter of John and Sarah (Guard) Pugh. She was born in Ohio November 17, 1833, and came to Iowa with her parents in 1854. They engaged in farming and were respected in the community at the time of their demise, she at the age of seventy-three, he when he was seventy-five years old. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bobbitt are Orren, who lives at home ; Emma, who is the wife of Albert Gore and resides in Billings, Mon tana; Emmit, who is a farmer in the vi cinity ; Clay, who is a Presbyterian minister in Pottawattamie county, Iowa; Jane, who is the wife of Max M. Snodgrass, a farmer of this township; Frank, who is a farmer of this township; Richard, a farmer in this township; Elma, who is the wife of M. P. Server, a commercial traveler for Fairbanks, Morse & Company; Alma, wbo is the wife of Hume Merchant, and resides at Knox, Iowa; and Alba, who died at the age of five and one-half months. The three last named were triplets. The large and productive farm of Mr. Bobbitt consists of four hundred and ninety acres of fine land, upon which he conducts general farming, growing corn, wheat, hay and oats, and also breeds stock of all kinds, — horses, mules and many shorthorn cattle, — this strain of cattle meeting with his high est approval. In 1856 he built his first house, but in 1872 it was burned with all its contents, -and he then erected his present comfortable brick residence and two good barns. Peace and plenty reign on this place, and Mr. Bobbitt is highly regarded by all his neighbors, he being, with one exception, the oldest settler in the vicinity. For many years our subject has been an 5'4 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. influential and representative man in the township. He is a Democrat in his political opinions and has served acceptably as town ship trustee and as county commissioner. Socially he has long been connected with the Masonic fraternity, being a Royal Arch Ma son, while three of his sons are Master Ma sons. He is a charter member of the Cum berland Presbyterian church, the only one now living in this neighborhood, with which religious denomination his wife and family are also connected. The family is well and favorably known through a wide section of country, and possesses the esteem which honest living and capable public service de serve. GEORGE MOGRIDGE, M. D. An example of a self-made American citizen and an exemplification of the progress that an ambitious foreigner can make in this country of unbounded opportunities, is shown in the case of Dr. George Mogridge, of Glenwood, Iowa, one of the leading Eng lish-American residents of Iowa. His suc cess is due to his own energy and the high ideal which his lofty and laudable ambi tion places before him. Success in any walk of life is an indication of earnest endeavor and perserving effort, — characteristics that Dr. Mogridge possesses in an eminent de gree. He was born in Salford, England, June 3, 1856. The Mogridge family is of French origin. The ancestors were Huguenots who were, ejected from France or were forced to leave there on account of religious persecutions. They settled in London and engaged in the early silk-weaving industries in that city. John Mogridge, the grandfa ther of our subject, was born in London, and married a Miss Blackmore, whose par ents were allied with the Society of Friends. She also was a native of London, and both she and her husband died in the world's metropolis. He was a silk-weaver by trade, following his vocation throughout life. Their son, Edwin Mogridge, was born in London, England, in 1824, and by occupa tion was a furrier in his early years, and later a dry-salter. He spent his entire life in his native land, his death occurring in Manchester in 1876. He married Hannah Chapman, a daughter of George Chapman, who served for forty years in the British army, in the Second Dragoon Guards, and during this long period of service he saw active service in many parts of the British dominion. He was a member of the York Lodge, A. F. & A. M., the most ancient Masonic lodge in the world. He died in Manchester, England, and his wife's death occurred in Norwich. Their Yorkshire an cestry can be traced back through many gen erations. Their daughter Hannah was mar ried to Edwin Mogridge, in 1853, in the his toric church of St. Nicholas, Cole Abbey, in London. She was born in Norwich, Eng land, her death occurring when she" was six ty-three years of age. Dr. George Mogridge was their only child. That he was surrounded by tender care in his youth is indicated by the manner in which he cherishes tlie memory of his parents. He obtained his early education in the common schools of Manchester, and when fourteen years of age his father died and it then became necessary that he should provide for his own support. Accordingly he entered the service of a law firm. Dur ing the earlier years that he was in their BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 5'5 employ he supplemented his education by attending evening classes at the Mechanics' Institute and other evening schools in Man chester. At the age of twenty-four, in 1880, he came to the United States, believing that he might have better opportunities in the new world. He made his way direct to Cass county, Iowa, where he worked by the clay or month, principally following ag ricultural pursuits, yet scorning no employ ment that would yield him an honorable liv ing. He desired, however, to make the practice of medicine his life work, and ulti mately, as the result of his industry and economy, he was enabled to matriculate in the Omaha Medical College, in which insti tution he was graduated with the class of 1 894. Prior to that time he had become con nected with the State Institution for Feeble Minded Children. His first employment there was in having charge of a class of children. His observation and experience there fitted him somewhat for the profes sion which he wished to follow as a life work, and as soon as he found opportunity he took up his studies in the Omaha Medical College, where he remained until his grad uation in 1894. After receiving his diploma he was made chief assistant to Dr. Powell, who stands at the head of the institution, and has since filled that important position in a most capable and worthy manner. His knowledge of medicine is comprehensive and accurate and he displays marked ability in applying its principles to the needs of those who are under his care. He has that broad humanitarian spirit without which the physi cian can never be successful. He is most patient and painstaking in his care of the unfortunate ones who come under his care and supervision, and his work has been at tended with most excellent results. ¦On the 7th of May, 1895, Mr. Mogridge was united in marriage to Miss Lillian E. Robinson, who was born in Livingston county, New York, a daughter of Martin V. and Almira Robinson, natives of New York state. He died in Dixon, Illinois, in 1894; his wife had previously died in War saw, New York. In his political affiliations Dr. Mogridge lias been a Republican since coming to the United States, his first vote having been cast for Benjamin Harrison. He is a member of various societies, including the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternities. He is also identified with the Modern AAtood- men of America, and in the line of his pro fession is connected with the Medical So ciety of Southwestern Iowa, the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the Society of Med ical Officers of Institutions for Feeble Minded Persons, and also a member of the National Conference of Charities and Cor rections and of the Iowa State Conference of Charities and Corrections. He is-likewise a lecturer on mental diseases of children in the Omaha Medical College. He and his wife hold membership in the Episcopal church, take an active part in its work and co-operate heartily with all lines of church activity. He is serving both as warden and lay reader in the church. The Doctor's record is one worthy of the highest commendation. Less than ten years ago he worked upon a farm in Mills county, to-day he is the second officer in one of the leading eleemosynary institution of the state, and, as he is a representative of a profession where advancement depends upon individual merit, it is evident that he possesses su- 5-6 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. perior ability and that he is devoting him self entirely to his chosen calling. It is perfectly characteristic of the man that his religious life is simple, sincere and yet un demonstrative, but the depth of his con victions shows itself in his daily walk. With the passing years his circle of friends is con stantly growing, and is limited only by the circle of his acquaintances. As a citizen he is most loyal and patriotic, — a thorough American, although an adopted son, — up holding with ardor the principles and insti tutions of republican government. His fel low townsmen respect him for his genuine worth and admire him for what he has ac complished, and throughout the community he is spoken of in terms of the highest com mendation. RANSDELL BAYLOR. A prominent and influential agricult urist and stock-raiser of Scott township, Fremont county, Iowa, is Ransdell Baylor, the subject of this review. He was born April 8,» 1850, and now resides at his old home, endeared to him by a thousand recol lections. He was a son of John and Nancy (Bobbitt) Baylor, who emigrated from Ken tucky to Indiana, and were married at Pleas ant View, Marion county, in 1843. The grandfather of our subject, Isaac Baylor, had come to Iowa and located near Sidney, in 1 85 1, where he died in 1854, aged sixty- two, his wife having died several years prior to this. In 1849 Jonn Baylor and family came to Fremont county, Iowa, bought a small tract of land at first and worked hard. At the time of his death, on September 21, 1 87 1, he owned eleven hundred and twenty acres of land in this township, together with a quarter-section of land adjoining Sidney, and also owned more cattle and stock than almost any other farmer in this district at that time. He was born in Campbell coun ty, Kentucky, in 1820, was reared and died in the faith of the Baptist church and was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends. The mother of our subject was born in 1822 and died November 21, 1880. She had been the faithful mother of the following children : Caroline, who was born in Indi ana and is the wife of A. M. Chesney, of Tacoma, AA'ashington ; Ransdell, who is the subject of this sketch; Wallace, who resides in Valley Falls, Kansas, and now lives re tired; Senah, who is the widow of R. Keenan", of Des Moines; Clara, who is the wife of Dr. E. A. Campbell, and died at Willow Springs, Missouri; and Kate L., who is the wife of E. W. Brooks, of Des Moines. Our subject had good educational ad vantages in his youth, supplemented later by two years at Tabor College, following which came his marriage, on August 31, 1883, to Miss Carrie O. Blymyer, who was born in Atchison county, Kansas, Decem ber 1, 1859, the accomplished daughter of John C. and Harriet C. (Bowman) Blym yer, their only child. Mr. Blymer died in 1 85 1, at the early age of twenty-eight, and Mrs. Blymyer married Archibald Argyle, but is now again a widow, with two daughters: Belle, who is the wife of R. S. Tate, in Sidney, Iowa; and Kate R., who is the wife of R. P. Lindsey and resides in Sidney. Mrs. Argyle is a well preserved lady, bearing her sixty-seven years easily, and enjoys life surrounded by devoted de scendants. The only child of our subject BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 5i7 and wife is Fahy Blymyer, who was born on June 8, 1884, and is a student in Thurman, a bright young man, who will graduate at the early age of seventeen. The farm which Mr. Baylor owns and cultivates comprises four hundred and fif teen acres, which he divides by planting one hundred acres to corn, realizing fifty bushels to the acre, and other grains in proportion, breeding a good deal of stock and many cattle, the latter being shorthorns. He keeps from seventy-five to one hundred head at one time, breeding from registered males, and has twenty head of horses, working four double teams. He utilizes the Poland China stock for his hogs, and considers that far superior to any other in this locality. This farm is one of the finest in Fremont county, on account of the productiveness of the land, the excellence of the improvements and the fine stock of all kinds it affords for the market. Mr. Baylor has been long prominently identified with the Democratic party and has faithfully served as a township trustee and school director. He was the choice of his party for the state legislature in 1895, but was defeated' on account of his party being in the "minority, although his vote was very flattering. At the age of twenty-one he was made a member of the Masonic order and now belongs to the chapter. Socially he is very popular in the community, where he and his ancestry have lived so long. The refined and educated wife of Mr. Baylor is one of the intelligent leaders of modern life in Thurman. The beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. Baylor is one of the most at tractive in the county. Mrs. Baylor has given it the appropriate name of Sycamore Place, from an imposing avenue of syca more trees planted by her husband. The residence was erected by the father of our subject in 1861, and is most beautifully lo cated on the side of a bluff, the view taking in many miles of surrounding country. DAVID L. HEINSHEIMER. The world instinctively pays deference to the man whose success has been worthily achieved, who has attained wealth by hon orable business methods, acquired the high est reputation in his chosen calling by merit, and whose social prominence is not the less the result of an irreproachable life than of recognized natural gifts. Of America is a self-made man a product and the record of accomplishment in this individual sense is the record which the true and loyal Amer ican holds in deepest regard and highest honor. In tracing the career of the subject of this review we are enabled to gain a rec ognition of this sort of a record, for he is a man of strong mentality and one who by his own unaided efforts has advanced steadily to a position foremost among the leading business men of southern Iowa. He stands at the. head of the firm of D. L. Heinsheimer & Company, of Glenwood, pro prietors of what is doubtless the largest dry- goods and clothing house in this portion of the state. Mr. Heinsheimer was born in Baden, Germany, March 19, 1847. His parents were Leopold and Jeanette (Bierman) Heinsheimer, natives of Baden. They came to America when the subject of this review was six years of age, sailing from Havre, France, in the year 1853, and reaching" the harbor of New York after twenty-one days spent upon the broad Atlantic. The father 5 18 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. was a baker by trade and followed that pur suit in the new world for about eight years. They took up their abode in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Mr. Heinsheimer engaged in the baking business, providing for his family in that way. He died in Cincinnati, at the age of fifty years, and his wife there passed away at the age of forty. They were the parents of seven children, five of whom are now living. Mr. Heinsheimer of this review pursued his education in 'the schools of Cincinnati until i860, when at the age of fourteen years he came to Mills •county, Iowa, and when seventeen years of age he secured a clerk ship with D. P. Foster, a merchant of Glen wood, which position he creditably filled for about three years, or until 1872, when his ability and business capacity secured" for him a partnership in the enterprise. His. em ployer recognizing his worth gave him a share in the business aiid the relation be tween them was thus maintained until 1875, when Mr. Heinsheimer embarked in business alone in Glenwood. He established a dry- gtfods and clothing house and was sole pro prietor until 1878, when his brother Albert was admitted to the business under the firm name of D. L. Heinsheimer & Brother. Under that name the store was successfully conducted until 1894, when a stock company was organized, with our subject as president. He has since remained at the head of the D. L. Heinsheimer Company and is the leading spirit in the management of the extensive dry-goods and clothing house controlled by the corporation. They carry a very large stock of all grades of goods and their pat ronage is steadily increasing, for the firm enjoys an unassailable reputation in trade circles. Mr. Heinsheimer is a man of re sourceful business ability whose efforts have not been confined to one line, but have been extended into several fields of endeavor. He is the president of the Mills County National Bank, a position he has occupied for four years. He has been connected with the in stitution since 1882 and has been an active factor in its successful conduct. The other officers are A. D. French, cashier, and F. M. Buffington, vice-president, the latter a prominent farmer of Oak township. Our subject is also the owner of extensive prop erty interests, having farming lands and city property which he rents. On the 20th of September, 1870, Mr. Heinsheimer was united in marriage to- Miss Sarah Pettinger, of Glenwood, who was born in England and was a daughter of Richard Pettinger. Her father was born in -..Eng land, is a farmer by occupation and is now residing in this county, at the age of sev enty-eight years. Her mother passed away in England. They were the parents of but one child, Mrs. Sarah Heinsheimer, and by a second marriage the father had another daughter — Mrs. Sarah Stewart. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Heinsheimer have been born six children, of whom five are yet living, as follows : Mrs. Carrie Shoninger, who has one child ; Edward R. ; Jeanette M. ; Lester D. ; and Theresa. All were born in Glenwood. In his political views Mr. Heinsheimer is a Republican, having given his unfaltering support to the principles of the party since casting his first presidential vote for U. S. Grant. He served as one of the presidential electors for McKinley in 1896 and was a delegate to the national convention in 1892 when General Harrison was nominated as the presidential candidate. He takes a deep BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 5i9 interest in the cause of his party and does everything in his power to promote its growth and success. Education also finds in him a warm friend and for eighteen years he has capably served on the school board, acting as president for half of the time. Since attaining his majority he has been a member of the Masonic fraternity and in his life exemplifies its benevolent spirit. As a citizen he takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community and his financial aid has been of great bene fit to Glenwood. He regards this as a pub lic duty and as a privilege, and seeks no- official return therefor. With his own hand Mr. Heinsheimer has shaped his destiny. The common testimony of him is that he is a man of the strictest integrity, — a quality of the human mind that we could scarcely overestimate in business and many relations of life; a man who sees much sooner than he speaks; a man who is careful, prudent and honest ; a man therefore favored not by chance but-by the due exercise of his own good qualities. DAVID T. DeSELM. Among those whose lives are devoted to educational labors and who have won an enviable reputation in Fremont county is David T. DeSelm, who is now engaged in teaching in Percival. He was born in Cam bridge, Guernsey county, Ohio, on the 12th of June, 1862, and is of French lineage, his paternal grandfather having been born near Rouen, France, whence he came to America about 1800, with his wife and three children. He was a farmer in comfortable circumstances, carefully conducting his busi ness affairs so that they brought to him a good financial return. The family was in creased until it numbered eight children, five sons and three daughters. John DeSelm, the father of our subject, was the fourth child and the second son. All were married and reared large families. John DeSelm- was a native of .Pennsylvania, born near Harrisburg" in 1806. In that state he was reared to manhood and there wedded Miss Mary Hedges, whose birth occurred near Richmond in 1826. She was a daughter of Joseph Hedges, of England, who emigrated to the new world and became the owner of a large plantation and a number of slaves in Virginia. Believing, however, that the practices of slavery were not right, he freed his negroes and removed from the Old Do minion to Ohio, in which state the parents of our subject were married in 1849. Five children were born of this union, namely : Marcia, the wife of J. T. Boothe, of Tus carawas county, Ohio, by whom he has five children; John B., who died at the age of six years; Nelson A., who died at the age of four years; Henry L., who died on the old homestead farm at the age of twenty-one and a half years ; and David T. DeSelm. The last named was educated in his na tive town, Cambridge, and manifested special aptitude in" his studies. He is a gentleman of strong mentality and thus well qualified for the profession of teaching. He taught his first school in 1886, among the sand hills of Merrick county, Nebraska, fourteen miles from a post-office. There he resided at the time of the great blizzard which swept over the northwest in January, 1886,. and which is now memorable in history. He supple mented his common-school education by a normal course, also by collegiate work, and at the present time is pursuing a course in 520 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. the correspondence school of Chicago, Illi nois. His connection with educational work as a teacher covers a period of twelve years, seven of which have been passed in Fremont county. He was the principal of the graded schools at Palmer, Nebraska, and was a grade teacher in Central City, Nebraska. He was also the principal of the Imogene school in Fremont county, and came to Per cival in August, 1897, having been a teacher in the schools here for some years. He has taught in the Kellogg district and is now teaching in the Ricketts district. He is also a well-known breeder of fine chickens. On the 30th of August, 1899, Mr. De Selm was united in marriage to Miss Mattie Elder, who was born in Fremont county, Iowa, and is a daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth (Bryant) Elder. Her father was a native of Ireland, her mother of Kentucky, and they were farming people who became residents of Knox, Fremont county, Iowa. They had eight children: Mary, the wife of C. L. Bishop; Frances, who became the wife of W. T. Lyon and died at the age of twenty-five, leaving three children. Sam uel, who is living on the old home farm in Sidney township where his parents settled in 1877. Jane, the wife of John Proctor, who resides in Sidney; John, who died in 1886; Emma, who died November 8, 1900, at the age of thirty-seven years; Miranda, who is living in Sidney; and Mrs. DeSelm. The last named was educated in Sidney and for three years was successfully engaged in teaching. The father died in 1894, at the age of sixty-six years, and the mother is still living on the old homestead. Mrs. De Selm was particularly successful in school teaching and is equally proficient as the manager of her household She is admired for her grace and beauty of person and char acter, and the DeSelm home is celebrated for its gracious hospitality. In his fraternal relations Mr. DeSelm is a- Master Mason and a Knight of Pythias. In politics he is a Democrat and in religious belief is a Cum berland Presbyterian, holding membership in one of the churches of that denomination. His labors in educational circles have been attended with gratifying success. Many men of broad knowledge and strong men tality do not make competent teachers, but he has the ability to impart clearly and con cisely to others the knowledge he has ac quired. He is also an excellent disciplinarian and under his guidance the schools of Per cival and vicinity have made marked ad vancement and are a credit to the community. FRED H. MARTIN. Fred H. Martin, a prominent and enter prising young farmer who is meeting with creditable success in his agricultural labors, represents one of the pioneer families of Fremont county, his parents having come to this section of the state at a very early period in its development. He was born in Sidney township, Fremont county, in the year 1872, a son of A. S. and Harriet (Phipps) Martin. The father is a native of Ohio, born in Athens county, on the 2d of November, 1833. He was only four years of age when, in 1837, he was taken to Illi nois, the family locating in Coles county. In 1853, near Carmago, he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Phipps, a native of Putnam county, Indiana, whence her fa ther removed with his family to Carmago. In i860 A. S. Martin and his wife came to Fremont county, casting in their lot with BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 521 the early settlers who were engaged in opening up this region to civilization. They reared a family of thirteen children and are now residing in Colorado. On the old family homestead Mr. Martin of this review spent the days of his child hood and youth. As soon as old enough to handle the plow he began work in the fields and his labors proved an important factor in the cultivation and development of the land. The public schools of the neighborhood afforded him his educational privileges and he remained with his parents until his mar riage, which was celebrated in 1893, Miss Eva Lena Young becoming his wife. She is a daughter of Robert S. and Emma (Rob bins) Young, the latter now deceased. Her father was a soldier in the Civil war, par ticipating in many engagements, and pass ing" through many thrilling experiences. On three different occasions he was taken pris oner, and at one time he aided a fellow pris oner to escape by giving him his three days' rations, and thus he was forced to go with out food for that length of time. Two of his brothers, James and John Young, to gether with a cousin, Colonel Palmer, were also in the army. The latter was a gallant officer and is now a railroad commissioner. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Martin is bright ened and blessed by the presence of two little sons, Lyle and Lyman. Mr. Martin owns and operates a farm of eighty acres. His land is under a high state of cultivation and the place is improved with all modern accessories and conven iences, including the best machinery, good fences, substantial buildings and high grades of stock. Careful consideration of the po litical issues before the country has led Mr. Martin to give his support to the men and measures of the Democracy, for he believes the principles of that party contain the best elements of good government. He and his wife enjoy the esteem and good will of the entire community and well deserve mention in this volume. JAMES J. WILSON. James J. Wilson, the well-known and popular cashier of the First National Bank of Malvern, Iowa, was born in Monmouth, Illinois, on the 17th of November, 1856, his parents being John G. and Melvina (Skin ner) Wilson, natives of Ohio. The father died at Monmouth, Illinois, in 1885, at the age of fifty-nine. The mother is still, living in Monmouth with her daughter, Mrs. Car rie Ritchey. After completing his education in the school of his native city Mr. AVilson was employed as a bookkeeper for about ten years, and was also engaged in farming upon his own land for a time. In 1888 he came to Malvern and accepted the position of bookkeeper in the First National Bank. In 1893 he was promoted to cashier, which re sponsible position he has since efficiently filled. He has gained a wide reputation as a most capable financier, and to his business ability and sound 'judgment the bank owes much of its success. On the 29th o'f November, 1884, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Anna Berigan, a daughter of Abraham and Bridget Berigan. By this union have been born two children, Robert H. and Carrie, the birth of both having occurred in Mal vern. The family are communicants of the .Catholic church and are quite prominent socially. 522 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. Politically Mr. Wilson has been identi fied with the Democratic party since cast ing his first presidential vote for General Hancock, and socially he has affiliated with the Knights of Pythias for several years. He is one of the most prominent and pro gressive business men of Malvern, and well merits the high regard in which he is uni formly held. DAVID SANDILAND. Upon a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, located on section 4, Indian Creek township, Mills county, resides David Sandiland, a well-known and enterprising farmer, who was born in Franklin county, New York, October 5, 1847, and is of Scotch lineage. His father, James Sandiland, was born in Scotland, December 19, 1813, and was the son of David and Catherine (Bailey) Sandiland, who came from the country of hills and heather to America in 1837. They located in lower Canada and there spent 'their remaining days, the father passing away when sixty-eight years of age, while the mother died at the age of ninety. James Sandiland left home in 1834, traveled over Upper Canada, and in 1836 came to the United States, taking up his abode in New York, where he remained until his removal to the west, arriving in Detroit on the day after Van Buren's election. In 1838 he became a resident of Illinois, where he en gaged in the manufacture of brick. Subsequently, however, he returned to the old home, where he remained until 1843, and he was married there to Miss Janette Pringle, who was also born in Scotland, a daughter of John and Janette Harriatt Prin gle. Her parents came to the United States with their family about the time the Sandi land family crossed the Atlantic and they, too, located in Canada, where the maternal grandparents of our subject died at a very advanced age. Mrs. James Sandiland de parted this life while living near the present home df our subject, when sixty-eight years of age. She was the mother of seven chil dren, four of whom are yet living. After his marriage James Sandiland took up his abode in Franklin county, New York, and in 1857 came to Blackhawk county, Iowa. He developed fine farms in both counties and is now spending the evening of life in the enjoyment of honored retirement from labor in Emerson.- In taking up the personal history of David Sandiland we present to our readers , the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in Mills county. On his father's farm he was reared, and as soon as old enough to handle a plow he took his place in the fields, turning the furrows in many an acre. AVhen the summer's sun had ripened the grain he harvested the crops and in the winter season he pursued his educa tion in the neighboring schools. In August, 1880, he chpse as a companion and helpmeet on life's journey Miss Emma Greiner. They lost one daughter, Ina, who died at the age of eleven years, and now have four living children: Libbie M., G. Earle, Florence and Clarence. Mrs. Sandiland is a daugh ter- of John J. and Henrietta (Lieber) Greiner, both of whom were natives of Ger many and came to the United States in early life, locating in New York, where they spent the remainder of their days, the father dying at the age of eighty-one and the mother when seventy-four years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Sandiland began their do- BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 5^3 mestic life upon their present farm, com prising two hundred and forty acres of the rich land of Mills county. He had purchased the land the year previously and it was par tially improved, but with characteristic en ergy he has continued its cultivation and de velopment, and now the rich fields bring to him an excellent return. He has also been engaged in the stock business for many years. He sustained an enviable reputation in busi ness circles by reason of his fair dealing and none dispute that his success is well merited. He takes an active interest in local politics and has been a Republican since casting his first presidential vote for Gen eral Grant. He has filled several local of fices in the township and has been the sec retary of the school board for nearly thirty years. The family are members of the Pres byterian church, and the cause of educa tion finds in him a warm friend. He with holds his aid and co-operation from no movement or measure calculated to prove of public, benefit. WINFIELD S. LEWIS. The profession of the law when clothed with its true dignity and purity and strength must rank first among the callings of men, for law rules the universe. The work of the legal profession is to formulate, to har monize, to regulate, to adjust, to administer those rules and principles that underlie and permeate all government and society and control the various relations of men. As thus viewed there attaches to the legal pro fession a nobleness that cannot but be re flected in the life of the true lawyer, who, rising to the responsibilities of his profes sion, and honest in the pursuit of his pur- 3~2 pose, embraces the richness of learning, the profoundness of wisdom, the firmness of in tegrity and the purity of morals, together with the graces of modesty, courtesy and the general amenities of life. Of such a type Judge Winfield Scott Lewis is a representa tive. For sixteen years he has practiced law in Mills county, having throughout this period been a member of the Glenwood bar. The Judge is numbered among the na tive sons of this county, his birth having here occurred on the 8th of November, 1853. His father, Daniel J. Lewis, was a native of Kentucky, and married Harriet Holston, who was. born in Virginia. They were farm ing people and came to Iowa during its ter ritorial days, arriving here in 1844. They settled near Burlington at a place known as Flint Hill, and in August, 1850, came to Mills county, where they were among the honored pioneers. They cast in their lot with the early settlers, and the father under took the task of transforming a tract of the wild prairie into a finely developed farm. He vigorously and successfully prosecuted his work, becoming one of the substantial citizens of the community. Their home was about eight miles east of Glenwood, and there they resided throughout their remaining clays, the father dying at the advanced age of ninety-two years, while the mother passed away at the age of eighty-one. They had eight children, five of whom are now living. Amid the wild scenes of frontier life in Mills county Judge Lewis was reared, and in the work of the farm he assisted, per forming his share in the labors of field and meadow. Fie attended the district schools until seventeen years of age and then en tered Tabor College, where he was a student for two years. Subsequently he matriculated 524 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. in the law department of Iowa College, among his classmates being several who have later attained fame in connection with juris prudence. He was a member of the class of 1874 and immediately after his graduation he returned to his native county and began practice in Malvern, where he remained un til 1890, when he came to Glenwood, the county seat. Here he has since enjoyed a distinctively representative clientage. He throws himself easily and naturally into the argument with marked self possession and deliberation. There is no straining after ef fect, but a precision and clearness in his statement, and acuteness and strength in his argument which exhibit a mind trained in the severest school of investigation and to which the closest reasoning has become habit ual. He has a large practice and is retained as counsel or advocate on nearly every im portant case tried in the courts of his district. About the time he began practice Judge Lewis was united in marriage to one of his schoolmates of early days, — Miss Mary L. AVitt, who was born in Colorado, a daugh ter of Enoch Witt. Four children have been born unto them: Ulysses G., who is now managing his father's farm ; Roy, Laura and Walter, at home. The eldest son married Tillie Green and they have a son and daugh ter, Edwin M. and AVilma. The children have been provided with good educational privileges and theirs is a bright and happy family, the members of the household oc cupying an enviable position in social circles where true worth and intelligence are re ceived as the passports into good society. The Judge has long been recognized as a leader in political circles and is a prom inent Republican whose views carry weight in the councils of his party. From 1879 un til 1 88 1 he represented his district in the state legislature of Iowa and served as speaker pro tem. He was a valued member of the house, giving , an earnest support to many worthy measures, and among those whose passage he secured and which have had far-reaching influence of a beneficial nature is the insurance law. In May, 1894, he was appointed judge of the nine counties of this district and served until January, 1895, as the successor of H. E. Deemer, who resigned to take a place upon the su preme bench of the state. The decisions of Judge Lewis were models of judicial sound ness, perspicuity and force, and won the ap proval of the members of the bar. He is one of the charter members of the Benev olent & Protective Order of Elks, of Coun cil Bluffs, and his wife is a member of the Baptist church. The life of the Judge has been one of unusual activity and has not been without its desirable results. By ca pable business management, indefatigable energy and perseverance he has won a hand some competence, and now enjoys an em viable reputation at the bar and in the field of politics. LUTHER A. SCHAFER. Of the farming and stock-dealing inter ests of Fremont county Luther A. Schafer is a widely known representative. He owns a valuable farm of one hundred* and sixty acres, all of ¦ which is under a high state of cultivation. His home, an attractive resi dence, stands in the midst of well-tilled fields and is surrounded by a beautiful grove of trees. A large barn' and substantial out buildings add to the value and attractive ap pearance of the place, and an orchard and BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 525 all modern accessories and conveniences are numbered among the improvements which constitute the Schafer farm, one of the most desirable in this portion of the state. Mr. Schafer was born in Fulton county, Illinois, February 12, 1851, and the common schools afforded him his educational priv ileges. His boyhood days were spent under the parental roof, his parents being Jacob and Margaret (Linkenfelter) Schafer, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Pennsylvania, in which state they were married. Jacob Schafer was reared in the fatherland, and after attain ing to man's estate accompanied his parents and their family to the new world, a settle ment being made in the Keystone state, where they resided for many years. Subse quently, however, they removed to Illinois, locating in Fulton county. In early life Jacob Schafer learned the tailor's trade, which he followed in Pennsylvania, but after coming to the Mississippi valley he pur chased an Illinois farm and to it devoted his energies, making it a, very valuable and de sirable tract. He was not only a progres sive and energetic business man but1 was also an earnest and faithful worker in the Lu theran church, in which he held membership. In 1852, three years after taking up his abode in Illinois, he was called to his final rest, and at his death he left a wife and four children. The mother kept her family together and after a time was again married, becoming the wife of William Newlon, who took a deep interest in rearing the children, prov ing a good father to them. In 1873 Mrs. Newlon sold her farm in Illinois and the family came to Iowa, settling in Fremont county, where a farm was purchased. Thereon Mr. and Mrs. Newlon resided for many years, but in the evening of life re moved to Sidney, where they spent their last days in retirement. They were separated but a short time in death, Mrs. Newlon pass ing away in February, 1897, while her hus band died in March of the same year. They were faithful and devoted members of the Methodist church, and their fidelity to duty in all life's relations won them the respect and confidence of those with whom they were associated. In'the Schafer family were four children : L. D., who is now engaged in merchandising in Sidney; Henry E., an insurance agent of Chicago, in which city he died in 1898; Luther A., of this review; and Louisa, the deceased wife of D. Moor- house. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Newlon were born three children : Mary, the wife of Con rad Magel ; Edward, of Nebraska ; and Charles, who is living in Sidney. Luther A. Schafer spent the first twenty years of his life in the state of his nativity and then came to Fremont county, where he purchased a tract of unimproved land. He then returned to Illinois, remaining in that state until he came with his mother and her family to Iowa. After he had spent two years in this state he again went to Illinois to claim his bride, his marriage being cele brated in 1877 and Miss Lavina J. Mitchell becoming his wife. The young couple took up their abode on the land which he had purchased and on which he had built a small house. He continued the work of improv ing and developing his farm and he is to day the owner of a very fine property, the quarter-section being under a high state of cultivation. He remodeled and enlarged the first house, planted an orchard and grove around his home and has a place whose neat 526 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. and thrifty appearance indicates his careful supervision and gives evidence of his prac tical handiwork. The farm is pleasantly located three and a half miles northwest of Farragut, so that it is comparatively easy for him to enjoy the advantages of town life. He also owns an interest in a plat of land containing a number of acres adjoining the city of Omaha and which will soon be made into an addition. Farming, however, has commanded the greater part of his at tention and at one time" he fed considerable cattle, but now raises only stock enough for use upon the home place. Mrs. Schafer was born in Illinois March 19, 1854, and is a lady of intelligence and culture. Her parents, Joseph and Janet (Pogsley) Mitchell, were both natives of Ohio, but were married in Illinois and set tled in Clinton county, where they still re side on the old homestead, at a ripe old age. Her father is a successful farmer, widely and favorably known as a man of sterling integrity and honor. He and his wife now enjoy the evening of a well-spent life and are recognized as people of the highest respectability, Mrs. Mitchell being now a member of the Baptist church. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell were the parents of eleven children : Albert, a farmer of Fremont coun ty; Nancy, the wife of AArilliam May; La vina J., the honored wife of our subject; Thirza, now Mrs. Haskins; Charles and George W., who are fanners of Fremont county; Mrs. Bessie Keefauver, Mrs. Luly Ellis, Mrs. Adda Skinner and Mrs. Adell Spenny. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell has been blessed with three children : -An drew, who was born October 13, 1878 ; Edna, who was born October 29, 1882, and is a competent and well-qualified school-teacher; and Berga, born August 11, 1885. The parents hold membership in the Christian church, take an active part in its work and do all in their power to promote its progress. Mr. Schafer is also a member of the Ma sonic fraternity, belonging to Farragut Lodge, No. 379. Although his life has not been filled with exciting incidents, he has ever been found true to duty and his fidelity to the right has won him the good will of all with whom he has been associated. CAPTAIN HENRY BOWEN. Among the brave defenders of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war was Captain Henry Bowen, who is now living a retired life in Sidney, Iowa. He was born in Pennsylvania May 25, 1834, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Price) Bowen, na tives of Wales, where their marriage was celebrated. The Bowen family was orig inally from old Brittany. At an early day the parents of our subject and also the ma ternal grandparents, Rees and Anna Price, emigrated from Wales to America and took up their residence in Pennsylvania, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Be fore the railroads were built Mr. Price en gaged in teaming, and also exchanged gro ceries for farm produce, which he sold to the city markets. He accumulated consid erable property and was living retired as far back as our subject can remember. He died in 1857. The Captain's father, who was a contractor in railroad and canal work, and also engaged in mining, died in Pennsyl vania, in 1845, at the ageof forty-five years, and the mother passed away in the* same state, in 1862, at the age of fifty-seven. Of BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 527 their eight children three are still living. Our subject's brother, J. P. Bowen, has been superintendent of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal Company for many years, and William is also interested in coal mining in Pennsylvania. Three of the sons were among "the boys in blue" during the Re bellion, and J. P. would have entered the service, but the coal company, deeming his services as superintendent too valuable, sent a substitute for him. Members of this family are noted for their honesty and in dustry. Captain Bowen was reared in a village and was educated in its public schools. Leaving his old home in Pennsylvania he came to Fremont county, Iowa, in 1858, and worked at the carpenter's trade here for about four years, though his first labor was the inside finishing of a building across the line in Missouri. In the fall of i860 he was elected sheriff of the county, but soon after ward entered the army . as the captain of Company E, Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, which company he organized. While in camp at Council Bluffs the regi ment was re-organized, and then ordered to St. Louis, Missouri, and later to Helena, Arkansas. They joined Gorman's expedi tion up White river, and while on that trip Captain Bowen was taken ill. He returned to his old home in Pennsylvania, but in Au gust, 1863, rejoined his command, it being the order of the war department that those on sick leave should report for duty at the end of sixty days or be discharged if unfit for active service. He assisted in the cap ture of Little Rock, and then went to Hot Springs, but was forced to return to Little Rock, where he was discharged December 15, 1863. His colonel had advised him not to enter the campaign, but he thought he could stand it, though he soon found that his strength was not sufficient to engage in active service. His company and regiment won a prize for the best drilling. For a year after his return north Captain Bowen did really nothing but rest, and then engaged in the furniture business at Sidney for three years. The following year he en gaged in farming on rented land, and for two years again engaged in business. He was successfully engaged in the grocery business at Sidney from February, 1873, un til July, 1899, when he sold out and has since lived a retired life, enjoying a well- earned rest. The Captain has ever taken an active and influential part in public affairs, and has been honored with important official po sitions. In 1872 he was elected supervisor and filled that office for three years, and has also served as township trustee, coun cilman, treasurer, and as a member of the school board for a quarter of a century, dis charging his duties with promptness and fidelity. For thirty years he has been one of the leading members of the Presbyterian church of Sidney, of which he has been a trustee and elder for a number of years. He is a Royal Arch Mason and has been a mem ber of the blue lodge at Sidney since 1864. He is also a charter member of Joe Ross Post, No. 209, G. A. R., of that place. The Captain taught the gentleman for whom this post was named to read and write. As a citizen he has always been true and faith ful to every trust reposed in him, so that his loyalty is above question, being manifest in days of peace as well as when he followed the old flag to victory on southern battle fields. 528 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. HENRY EVERNHAM, Jr. Henry Evernham, Jr., the well-known and popular proprietor of the Commercial House, of Glenwood, Iowa, was born on the 3d of January, 1853, in Trenton, New Jer sey, and belongs to a family of English origin that was founded in that state by three brothers. His father, Henry Evern ham, Sr., was born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, October 8, 181 5, a son of Henry and Rehecca (James) Evernham, also na tives of Monmouth county, where the for mer, a farmer by occupation, died at the age of seventy-seven years, and the latter at the age of forty. They were the parents of four children, three of whom are still liv ing. From the age of eight years the fa ther of our subject was reared in Mercer county, New Jersey. There he was married, June 15, 1839, to Miss Euphemia Butcher, a native of that county and a daughter of Thomas and Euphemia (Combs) Butcher, life-long residents of New Jersey, where her father died at the age of thirty-nine years, her mother at the - age of fifty-five. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas and Anna (Basnette) Butcher, members of the Society of Friends. The Butcher family is of English descent, while the Basnettes were among the Huguenots who were driven out of France. A fortune of three million dol lars was left to the family in that country. For some years after his marriage Henry Evernham, Sr., followed farming in Mercer county, New Jersey, and then spent seven years in the city of Trenton, where he at first worked by the clay and later engaged in teaming for five years. For a quarter of a century he has now made his home in Mills county, Iowa, and has successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. .His home farm consists of five hundred acres which he has placed under a high state of cultivation, and his landed possessions now aggregate eight hundred acres. Enterprising, energetic and industrious, his success has been worthily achieved, and he is now one of the most substantial men of his community. Orig inally he was an old-line Whig in politics, but since voting for John C. Fremont in 1856 has affiliated with the Republican party and has served as judge of elections and as a member of the school board. He is an earnest and consistent member of the Bap tist church, and is highly respected by all who know him. Of his five children four are still living, namely : Amos B., who is mar ried and has five children; Furman, who is married and has two children; Henry, Jr., our subject; and Ellison, who is married and has three children. After completing his education Henry Evernham, Jr., assisted his father in the op eration of the home farm until twenty-two years of age, when he started out in life for himself as an agriculturist. He bought ten horses, three cows and two pigs, and followed1 general farming until 1875, when he purchased the established business and dairy route of a man in Trenton, .New Jer sey, paying for the same two hundred and fifty dollars. He kept sixteen milk cows and did quite a successful business for a time, but finally sold out and resumed farming. On the 1 6th of September, 1876, Mr. Evernham was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Taylor, who was born near Tren ton, New Jersey, and was educated by a private teacher and in the schools of Borden town, that state. Prior to her marriage she successfully engaged in teaching school for BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 529 a time. Her father, Tilton C. Taylor, was also born near Trenton, a son of Israel and Patience Taylor, and came to Mills county, Iowa, in 1880, locating on a farm, where he died at the age of sixty-six years. By occupation he was a farmer and veterinary surgeon. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary A. Vanderbeck, was born in Bordentown, New Jersey, and is still living on the old home farm in this county. She is the mother of eight children, seven of whom are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Evern ham have two children : Florence G., born in Trenton, New Jersey; and Euphemia, born in Glenwood, Iowa. ¦ In 1882, with his wife and daughter, Mr. Evernham removed to Mills county, Iowa, where three years before he had purchased "one hundred and sixty acres of wild land. Here he followed farming until 1884, when he traded his farm for the hotel property which he now owns, taking possesion of the same on the 17th of July. In 1893 he built an annex, and about 1887 bought an other hotel. Genial and pleasant in manner he has proved a popular host, and his hotel has become a favorite resort with the travel ing public. The hotel, which is of brick, has sixty-two rooms, is located on the public square and is a well-appointed establish ment in every particular. In business affairs Mr. Evernham has steadily prospered and besides his city property he now owns three farms, which he rents. He has one hundred and sixty acres at Pacific Junction, while al together they aggregate four hundred and twenty-two acres. He is a wide-awake, en ergetic business man, and generally carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes. Since casting his first presidential vote for Rutherford B. Hayes, Mr. Evernham has been identified with the Republican party. Before attaining his majority he took an active part in the Grant campaign of 1868, and has labored untiringly for the inter ests of his party, though he has never been a politician in the sense of office-seeking. For six years he represented the third ward in the city council, and has always given his influence and support to all measures for the public good. He and his family hold mem bership in the Baptist church, and his wife is especially active in all church work. ALBERT B. WASHBURN. Among the prominent and substantial farmer citizens of Mills county, Iowa, is Al bert B. Washburn, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Winneshiek county, Iowa, in 1869, a son of John P. and Ellen (De- vine) Washburn, the former of whom was born in New York, came to Iowa in 1853, and is now living in Cedar Falls, this state. The mother was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Joseph and Caroline Devine, and died in Tama county, Iowa, in 1885. The paternal grandfather was named Jesse Washburn and was born in Vermont al though of English ancestry. After a thorough primary education, our subject entered the Western College, at To ledo, Tama county, Iowa, and later the Upper Iowa University, a fine institution, among whose graduates are D. B. Hender son, Governor Larrabee and Senator AA'ill- iam B. Allison. Mr. AA'ashburn came first to Mills county eight years ago and mar ried here, since making it his permanent home. He owns one thousand acres of rich Iowa land, located in this county, and en- 53° BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. gages in general farming and stock-raising, being one of the largest landholders in this part of the state. Mr. Washburn was married in 1893, to Miss Mary (Wearin) Washburn, who is a daughter of Otha Wearin, whose family history appears in this volume. Two chil dren have been born of this marriage, Law rence and Henry AV. In politics our sub ject is a Republican and strongly advocates the principles of his party, taking an intelli gent interest in public affairs. Both he and his estimable wife are members of the Methodist church, to which Mr. Washburn has contributed liberally. They are among the most respected residents of the county, both families having large connections and hosts of friends. JOHN C. SHOCKLEY. AA'ell known as an attorney at law and as formerly the clerk of the district and cir cuit courts of Fremont county, Iowa, Mr. Shockley has for- many years been identi fied with the legal interests of this portion of Iowa. He was born in Hancock county, Indiana, August 4, 1841, his parents being Samuel and Nancy (Murnan) Shockley, the former a native of Kentucky, while the lat ter was born in Franklin county, Indiana. The paternal grandparents of our subject were Purnell and Phcebe (Taylor) Shock- ley, also natives of Kentucky, and the for mer a son of Samuel Shockley, of Dela ware, who married a Miss Mary Ward and removed to Kentucky, where they made their home until taking up their abode in Indiana. They spent their remaining days in the Hoosier state, dying at the home of Sam uel Shockley, the father of our subject. The great-grandfather was a farmer by occupa tion. Purnell Shockley, the grandfather of our subject, reared his family in Kentucky. His children were : Quillar, who died in In diana; Solomon, who died in Boonville, Missouri, in 1851 ; Mrs. William Leachman; Jane, the wife of John Leachman; and Samuel. Samuel Shockley, the father of our sub ject, was reared to manhood in the state of his nativity and then removed to Indi ana, settling in Hancock county, where he entered land from the government and im proved a large farm, upon which he spent a number of years. Subsequently he removed to New Palestine and was there engaged -in merchandising for eleven years. He became one of the popular and prominent citizens of the place and was a recognized leader" in the ranks of the Democracy. He was twice a member of the Indiana legislature and three terms a county commissioner of Hancock county, which offices he filled in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactory to his constituents, and over the record of his official career there fell no shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. His honesty was unquestioned and he labored earnestly for the best interests of those whom he served. He purchased many land warrants, locat ing the same in Iowa and Kansas, thus be coming the owner of nearly three thousand acres. In 1861 he removed to the latter state, improved a farm and continued a resi dent there until his life's labors were ended in his death, on the 21st of January, 1869. He was a broad-minded, intelligent and suc cessful man who through his perseverance and energy won a large estate, owning val uable property in Kaiisas. Wherever he re- JOHN C. SHOCKLEY BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 53- sided he was held in the highest esteem, commanding the confidence and respect of all who knew him, by reason of his unfailing integrity and fidelity to duty. In his re ligious belief he was a Universalist. His wife survived him some time and passed away in Kansas, on the 4U1 of November, 1888. She was the daughter of Michael Murnan, of Maryland, who removed to Kentucky, thence to Franklin county, Indi ana, and later located in Shelby county, that state, where he spent the residue of his days. He owned and operated a gristmill and was also an extensive farmer and loaned money. He was widely recognized as one of the most prominent men of his county. He reared a large number of children, including Elizabeth, who became Mrs. Mc- Gahey; Mrs. Nancy Shockley; Mary; Mar garet; Jacob; Sarah, Mrs. T, Smith; and James. Unto Samuel and Nancy Shockley were born the following named : Emily, the wife of D. Smith, now of Kansas; John C, of this review; Isaac, of Oklahoma; Amanda, who became the wife of A. Beard, and is now deceased, as is also her husband ; Mary, the deceased wife of AA'illiam Allen- der ; Samuel and Michael, who died in early manhood ; and David, who also passed away in early life. John C. Shockley was born and reared on -a farm in Indiana. In his early boyhood he accompanied his parents on their removal to New Palestine, where he continued his education in the public schools, and he also pursued his studies in London Seminary, in Shelby county, Indiana. He received his business training in his father's store and also engaged in teaching school to some ex tent in his early manhood. He then began reading law and afterward entered a com mercial institute and further fitted himself for his chosen calling as a student in Pro fessor Allen's Law School, in Cincinnati. Subsequently he matriculated in the State University of Indiana, where he attended but one year, on account of the failure of his health. In 1862 he went to Kansas, joining his father and the family in the Sun flower state. He taught one term of school there, but in the autumn of the same year came to Sidney, Iowa, where he accepted a clerkship in a general mercantile store, be ing there employed until 1866, when he was called to public office by the vote of the people, being elected the clerk of the district court, which embraced the offices of county auditor and subsequently clerk of the circuit court. He served for three consecutive terms, and about that time was admitted to the bar. That he proved a capable officer is indicated by his re-elections. On his re tirement from office he formed a partnership ir. the hardware business and was connected with that line of commerce for thirteen years. At the same time he engaged in the practice of law and his services were in great de mand in settling up estates, his clientage in that line being extensive in the county. At length he disposed of his hardware business and purchased and carried on a large farm, following general farming and stock-raising. In 1895, however, he -sold that property and came to Randolph, Iowa, where he was en gaged in the drug business for three years, when he sold the building and stock of drugs and turned his attention to trading in lum ber at Sidney, this state. At a later date, however, he disposed of that enterprise. Mr. Shockley has long been recognized as one among the leaders in Democratic cir cles in Fremont county and enjoys the es- 532 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. teem and confidence of the voters in an un usual degree. He has served his party long and well, has aided in every available way in its upbuilding and has occupied many positions of honor and trust. He has filled the office of notary public over thirty con secutive years in the county, and through an extended period he has been justice of the peace, still being incumbent. He is very frequently called upon to perform wedding ceremonies, also to administer justice in liti gated interests. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity and is now the oldest member in years of consecutive con nection with Masonry in Nishnabotna Lodge, while in the chapter of Sidney he was a charter member; but since then the chapter has been removed to Riverton, where he still retains his membership. Mr. Shockley was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca M. Matlack, who was born in Pennsylvania, December 6, 1842, and is the daughter of Charles H. and Isabella (Caldwell) Matlack, the latter also a native of the Keystone state. The grandfather was born in New Jersey, was of French descent, and devoted his business career to merchan dising. He died in, Philadelphia. He had three children : David, Hannah and Charles. The last mentioned with his family went to Indiana, and in Brownsville engaged in the saddlery, harness-making and carriage-trim ming business. He afterward removed to Centerville, where he remained for fifteen years, and then went to Palestine, following his trade in both places. His death oc curred iq the latter place, in 1862. Mrs. Matlack survived him and removed to Coun cil Bluffs, Iowa. In 1877 sne took up her abode with Mr. and Mrs. Shockley, with whom she found a home until her death in January, 1900, when she had attained the ripe old age of eighty-five years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Matlack^ were members of the Methodist church from early life. Their children were: Emmor and Alexander G, both of whom served in the Fifteenth In diana Battery as artificers during the whole of the Civil war; Lorissa, the wife of N. F. Bedford;- Mjrs. Shockley; Anna, who died at the age of eight years; and Will iam F. In early life Mrs. Shockley engaged in teaching school in Indiana and also followed the same profession in Sidney, this state, being widely recognized as a very capable and accomplished educator. She is a con sistent member of the Methodist church. The marriage of our subject and his wife was celebrated in Council Bluffs, and unto them have been born two daughters and four sons : Jessie, now the wife of W. H. Carter, of Sidney; and Ned, who is married and lives in Omaha. He has followed the print er's trade and the drug business and is now a student in a college of dentistry. A man of strong individuality, indubit able probity, one who has attained a clue measure of success in the affairs of life and who has ever exerted an influence in the direction of the good, Mr. Shockley well de serves mention in this volume. Herman McCartney. A well-known citizen and- influential fac tor in the business circles of Thurman, Iowa, is Herman McCartney, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Scott township, Fremont county, Ohio, July 15, 1870, a son of Milton and Helen (Norris) McCart ney. The father of our subject was born BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 533 in Ross county, Ohio, January 8, 1828, a son of M. and Elizabeth (Baylor) McCart ney, natives of North Carolina. Milton Mc Cartney was reared on a farm in Ohio, later in Indiana, where he obtained a fair edu cation, and grew into an intelligent and" in fluential man. His first marriage was to Ellen Mansfield, February 11, 1851, she dy ing in Scott township, this state, in June, 1858, her four children all dying in infancy. The second marriage of Mr. McCartney was February 18, 1863, to Mrs. Helen Nor- ris, a daughter of Daniel McF. Paul, and the children of this union are : Carrie, who is the wife of Smith Ambler, a merchant in this town, whose native state is Ohio; Herman, who is the subject of this sketch; Orman, who is practicing dentistry in Iowa City ; and Roy, a young man who is at home with his mother, conducting a large stock farm in the vicinity, belonging to the estate. Milton McCartney came to Scott town ship, from Indiana, in 185 1, being one of the earliest settlers here. He bought a claim, cultivated and improved it, and at the time of his death owned fifteen hundred acres, divided into six farms. This land still be longs to the family, in connection with resi dence and business property of great value. His death occurred September 9, 1894, but as no will was left, our subject was appoint ed administrator of the estate, which was valued at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, all of which was accumulated by Mr. McCartney through his reliable and sensi ble methods of conducting his farming and stock-raising Milton McOartney was what may be tru ly called a real agriculturist and stockman, for he followed the business understanding- ly, and success attended his efforts. He was one of the largest stock-dealers and feeders in this ^section, feeding as many as three hundred head at one time. Mr. McCartney was a level-headed man and knew just how to invest his money to best advantage so that it would bring legitimate returns. He was interested in mercantile and banking- lines, and was very influential in all com mercial circles of the town or county. As - an active Democrat he was often sought as a candidate for office but only served as county commissioner, during which time many im provements in Fremont county received his endorsement. He was always interested in educational matters and provided his chil dren with advantages far beyond those which he had himself received. In his death, Fremont county lost one of its best and most substantial citizens. The mother of our subject still survives and enjoys the comforts of life in the pleas ant home erected in 1893, in the thriving town of Thurman. Her parents reside with her, at an advanced age, and so kindly has time touched her, that probably she will long be spared to a devoted family. She is a valued and consistent member of the Meth odist church, and is known through the neighborhood as a kind and faithful friend and adviser. Our subject received excellent education al advantages, and took a business course in. the Iowa City College, in 1889, preparing for a mercantile connection which " he en tered in 1 89 1, under the firm name of Mc Cartney & Son, our subject conducting it until the death of his father, in 1894, when it was closed. In 1894 our subject and his brother, O. E. McCartney, under the firm name of McCartney Brothers, purchased the hardware business of Woodrum & Company, 534 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. of Thurman, and prospered until they sold out in the fall of 1899, since which time the management of the large family estate has been the principal occupation of Mr. Mc Cartney. The imposing brick block which was erected in Thurman, in 1900, and is known as the McCartney block, is the larg est and best finished in the town, and would do credit to a much larger town. Two of the largest store rooms in this block are oc cupied by the general mercantile business of L. S. Ambler & Company, which is con nected with the McCartney estate, this house having been established in 1887, the firm then being McCartney & Ambler, the name being changed at the demise of Mr. Mc Cartney. The marriage of our subject was cele brated on June 24, 1891, the lady of his choice being Miss Lottie Jones, a daughter of J. S. and Amanda (Wiley) Jones, resi dents of Thurman. Two children have been born of this union, Carrol, who died when sixteen months old, and Hazel, a charming little maiden of five years, born September 11, 1895. Like his respected father, our subject votes the Democratic ticket, and has been a member of the common council, and is on the school board. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, being a Royal Arch Mason, of Mt. Gerizim Chapter, No. 59, at Glenwood, Iowa, and is also a Knight of Pythias, having passed all the chairs in this organization. The family of which McCartney is the representative is one of the old and solid families of the county, and the sagacity, prudence and discretion shown by Mr. Mc Cartney since assuming the great responsi bilities devolving upon him, have proven that he possesses much of his father's grasp of business and comprehension of facts which lead to success. . WALTER BROWN WHITE. Among the earnest men whose depth of character and strict adherence to principle excite the admiration of his contemporaries Mr. White is prominent. Banking institu tions are the heart of the commercial body, indicating the healthfulness of trade, and the bank that follows a safe, conservative business policy does more to establish public confidence in times of wide-spread financial depression than anything else. Such a course has the bank of W. B. White fol lowed under the able management of its president, the subject of this sketch. Throughout his entire life he has resided in Fremont county, and his advancement has been won along legitimate lines, his course being guided by the old-time maxims upon which business prosperity is always founded. Mr. White was born in Fremont county, March 19, 1868, his parents' being Rev. Henry H. and Eva (Brown) White. The father was a native of Pennsylvania and served as a chaplain in a Pennsylvania regi ment during the Civil war, and died in this county when our subject was only about two years of age. He had reached the thirty- fifth milestone on life's journey. His career was one which awakened the strongest ad miration and respect, being in entire har mony with his profession as a minister, of the gospel in the Presbyterian church. His memory remains as a welcome benediction to all who knew him, and his words of wisdom have borne rich fruit in the lives of those who came under his administration. His BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 535 wife was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and died in Evanston, Wyoming, at the age of thirty-five. Her parents were Henry and Malinda (Cox) Brown. The latter, a na tive of Illinois, died at the age of fifty-seven years. In that family were six children, all of whom are now deceased. Mr. White, whose name introduces this record, was an only child. He spent the days of his youth in his native county and ac quired his elementary education in the pub lic schools, after which he became a student in the business college at Burlington, Iowa, where he completed the regular course and was graduated with the class of 1888. He then began clerking, and for four years was in the employ of ffodges & Gay, after which he established the bank of which he is now president. He located at his present place of business in 1891, and has since conducted a financial institution which is a credit to the city, sustaining an enviable reputation for reliability. The safe, conservative policy which he inaugurated commends itself to the confidence of all, and the business trans acted over the bank counters is continually increasing. The building occupied was erect ed and is owned by Mr. White. He is a man of unquestioned integrity in business cir cles, and his prosperity is the result of capable management, keen sagacity and un flagging industry. On the 9th of November, 1892, Mr. White was united in marriage to Miss Olive Slusher, and unto them have been born two children, — Walter LeRoy, born February 18, 1895, and Merritt Chalmers, born on the 1 8th of April, 1897. Mr. White and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he is a Re publican, having been a stalwart supporter of the party since casting his first presi dential vote for General Benjamin Harrison. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity in Sidney. In addi tion to his banking interests he manages his wife's farming property and his own real- estate investments. His success has been the result of honest, persistent effort in the line of honorable and manly dealing. His aims have always been to attain to the best, and he has carried forward to successful completion whatever he has undertaken. His life has marked a steady growth, and now he is in possession of an ample com petence, and more than all he has that con tentment that conies from a consciousness of having lived for a noble purpose. ROBERT L. ESTES. A successful farmer and cattle-raiser, of Sidney, Fremont county, Iowa, who owns one of the finest tracts of cultivated land in Sidney township, is Robert L. Estes, the subject of this sketch. He was born in this township and county, in 1867, a son of the Hon. F. M. Estes, who is an influential and prominent citizen of the county, well known throughout the state. The latter is a native of Missouri, who resides on a fine farm in the northern part of this township. The marriage of our subject took place on September 30, 1888, when he wedded Miss Mary Kauble, a daughter of Jacob Kauble, and a native of Missouri. Three children — AVoodson, Lee and Wilbur — have been born of this union. Lee and Wilbur are deceased. A prominent and active member of the Democratic party, our subject has filled some 536 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. of the local offices and for several terms dis charged the duties of justice of the peace in Sidney township. Both he and his wife are valued and consistent members of the united Brethren church, and are esteemed by all their acquaintances. LYNN K. MASON. The subject of this sketch, Lynn K. Mason, well represents the business of life insurance, in Hastings, Iowa. He was born in Madison county, New York, in 1850. He was a son of Levi and Emily (Ham- mon) Mason, the former of whom could trace his ancestry directly back to the found er of his family, Sampson Mason, the line being, — Levi, Ezra, Isaac, Oliver, Isaac, and Sampson, who settled in Dorchester, Massa chusetts, in 1649. This seventeenth-century ancestor served under the great Cromwell in the parliamentary army during the stormy days of the English Revolution. He left Dorchester and became'a man of prominence and wealth in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and his name appears in the list of founders of the town of Swansea, Massachusetts. The family has grown and is widely scattered, many of them influential in all walks of life. Among those may be mentioned Pelatiah Mason, a collateral ancestor, who served in the Revolutionary war. The late Judge Oliver P. Mason, of Lincoln, Nebraska, a distinguished jurist, was an uncle of our subject; and Senator William E. Mason, of Illinois, is a member of this family. One -of the brothers of our subject, Arthur H., was, a soldier of the Civil war. Almost all of the paternal ancestors have been engaged in professional life, and our subject's father was a man of culture and influence in his old home in Oneida; county, New York, his death taking place in Hawarden, Iowa, in 1893, and the mother dying in Oneida coun ty, New York. Mr. Mason, of this sketch, received his education in New York state, where he at tended excellent schools. He was married in Clayville, Oneida county, New York, in 1872, to Miss Ida Mason, whom he has but lately discovered to be. a sixth cousin. She was the daughter of George L. Mason, who was born in Connecticut and died in Cali fornia, where he had gone with the gold hunters in 1849. Mrs. Mason, the mother of Mrs. Lynn Mason, had been Miss Amanda White, who is a native of New York and now a resident of Hastings, a beloved and charming lady of eighty-four years who is an inmate of the home of our subject. The great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Mason was the Pelatiah Mason mentioned in the earlier part of this sketch. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Mason are Ruth M., George L., Ina L., Walter H. and Helen K. After marriage our subject brought his bride to Iowa on a wedding trip, coming im mediately to Mills county. For five years he was employed as bookkeeper for E. P. Bosbyshell, one of the old merchants of Hastings, and later became interested in the grain business, at which he continued for fifteen years. Mr. Mason has done some farming and his dealt largely in land, but whatever he undertakes is well done. He has always been a man of affairs, keeping up an active interest in commercial life and has been recognized as an important factor in the business circles of Hastings. Several years ago he entered into the life insurance business and through his wide and influential BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 537 acquaintance with the citizens of south western Iowa, he has been very successful, writing two hundred and fifty thousand dol lars worth of insurance per year. In politics Mr. Mason takes an inde pendent attitude. He inherited Democratic principles, but four years since voted the Republican ticket on account of its finan cial features. He is a fine example of the good, wholesome American citizen, sound in mind and body. He, devotes his vacations to fishing, photography and hunting, taking a great pleasure in the latter. He has hunt ed large game in the far west and at his pleasant home in Hastings has many tro phies of his success in that direction. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational church, to which he has been a conscientious contributor of time and means. JAMES L. BELLATTI. James L. Bellatti, of Glenwood, was formerly connected with the farming inter ests of Mills county and the years of his active toil brought to him a comfortable competence. He is now numbered among tlie leading business men of Glenwood, being an active factor as a stockholder and di rector in some of the leading manufacturing and financial concerns of that city. Mr. Bellatti was born in England, Oc tober 24, 1848, his parents being Charles and Ann (Gurten) Bellatti. The father was a native of Newark, Nottinghamshire, Eng land, and followed the pursuit of gilding frames. He came to the United States about 1849, taking up his abode in Morgan county, Illinois, his death occurring when he was eighty years of age, in Jacksonville, Illinois. His widow is still living in Jack sonville, Illinois. She was the mother of seventeen children, of whom twelve are yet living. In his boyhood days James L. Bellatti acquired a district-school education and as sisted in the work of the home farm until twenty-one years of age, when he started out in life on his own account. Whatever success he has achieved is attributable en tirely to his own efforts. On the 21st of December, 1873, Mr. Belatti was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Williams, who was born in Holt county, Missouri, a daugh ter of John F. and Nancy M. (Dodge) Williams. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Bellatti were Shrewsbury and Elizabeth (Ramsey) Williams, both natives of Wales. They came to the United States with their respective parents and the latter died at the home of our subject, when but sixty-two years of age, while the former died in Mis souri, at the age of eighty years. The mater nal grandparents of Mrs. Bellatti were Levi and Sarah (Hersey) Dodge, and the great- grandparents were Edward and Lorena (Goulde) Dodge. The former was a Revo lutionary soldier who served with the rank of lieutenant, and Mrs. Bellatti now has his discharge papers, and thus she is eligible to membership in the society of the Daughters of the Revolution. The father of Mrs. Bellatti was born July 22, 1822, in Frank lin county, West Virginia. In his child hood he accompanied his parents on their removal to Clay county, Missouri, and there attended the subscription schools. Later he assisted his father in the operation of a ferry on the Missouri river, and remained in Clay county until nineteen years of age, when he went to St. Louis and obtained a position 538 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. in a lumber yard. A year later he removed to Holt county, where he secured a claim. On the 4th of July, 1847, he enlisted in Company C, of the Oregon Battalion, and thus faithfully served during the war with Mexico, until November 8, 1848, when he was discharged at Fort Leavenworth. On the 29th of April, 1849, he started on an overland trip to California, but in 1851 he returned to Holt county, Missouri. In 1862 he became a resident of Fremont county, Iowa, and in 1864 went to Nebraska City, where he engaged in the mercantile business for a year, after which he located in Lyons township, Mills county, Iowa. In 1867 he purchased the Phoenix Mills and a year later located on a farm adjoining, there becoming the owner of six hundred and eighty acres of land. He gave to each of his children a good home. Judge Williams was married April 16, 1845, to Miss Sarah Keeney, a native of Tennessee, and they had one child, Sarah. The mother died in December, 1847, and he again married, March 6, 1852, his second union being with Miss Nancy Minerva Dodge, of Marietta, Ohio, who was a daugh ter of Levi and Sarah (Hersey) Dodge. Seven children were born to them, four of whom are living, namely : Lethey E., Mary A., Elvira E., and John F. He was again married, in January, 1870, when Mrs. Louisa J. Phipps became his wife. By her he had four children : Alpha, Elizabeth, Shrewsbury and Fanny, The Judge was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Christian church, in which he served as elder for many years. He has filled numerous official positions, having been three times elected county judge of Holt county, Missouri. He died at the age of nearly seventy-five vears. Throughout the greater part of his busi ness career Mr. Bellatti carried on agricult-" ural pursuits and his capable management and practical efforts brought to him pros perity. He is now the owner of two hun dred and seventy acres of land, although when he came to the county he had but ten dollars. He made his first money in this county by teaching school, following the profession through a period of four years. He then became identified with agricultural interests and as a tiller of the soil found profit in his labor of plowing, planting and harvesting. In 'the latter years of his life his financial resources have increased, he has made judicious investments along other lines and is now interested in manufacturing and financial concerns in Glenwood and Emer son. Such a history should be a stimulus to others who are forced to depend upon their own exertions, for it shows what may be accomplished through resolute will, laud able ambition and unfaltering industry. Since casting his first presidential, vote he has supported the Democracy. The honors of public office are of no attraction to him, as he prefers to give his time and attention to his business affairs, in which he has met with creditable success. JOSIAH WEARIN. More than a century ago George Wash ington said that farming is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation to which man devotes his energies. Through^ out the ages history has demonstrated the fact that it forms the basis of all business (^Zxa^ U