Full text of "Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa"

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PAST AND PRESENT

O'Brien and Osceola

Counties, Iowa

HON. J. L. E. PECK and HON. O. H. MONTZHEIMER

For O'Brien County

AND

HON. WILLIAM J. MILLER

For Osceola County

VOL. II '

ILLUSTRATED

/
1914

B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY, Inc.

Indianapolis, Indiana

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78t>358

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CONTENTS

O'BRIEN COUNTY

CHAPTER I— THE BEGINNING 25

The Pioneer of O'Brien County — Creative and Administrative Periods — Nam-
ing of County — William Smith O'Brien — In the Beginning — Court Record as
to Organization of the County — Organization Election — First General Elec-
tion — Bad Work in Organization and First Elections — O'Brien County to the
l'"r(int — Hjiuiiibal House Wjiternian. the First Citizen — Winter Ox-Team Trips
— Indians in O'Brien County — Indian Outrages— Courage of the Immigrants —
First White Child — Proposal to Organize a County — The Bosler Crowd — Fort
Dodge Crowd — Waterman's Land Jumped — First Actual Homestead Entry —
Frederick Feldman, "Old Dutch Fred."

CHAPTER II— FIRST EVENTS 48

A Session of the First Boodle Board — Division of the Spoils — Scalping of
Soldiers' Bounty Money — First Things Done — First Record Entries — The
Old County Debt — The Aftermath and the County Treasury — Road Surveys
and Charges for Bridge Building — Curious Swamp Land Contracts — Bridge at
Waterman Ford — Curious Expenses — Swamp Land Swindle.

CHAPTER III— THE EARLY SETTLERS— 1 65

First Settlers a Desirable Class — Their Origin — Conditions and Customs of
the Early Settlers — Prairie Land — First Crops — Hardships and Disadvantages
of the Pioneer Farmer — Prairie Fires — Foreign Population — Population
Statistics.

CHAPTER IV— THE UPBUILDING 76

Constitutional Debt Limitation — Taxpayers' Association — Picnic — Two Views
of the Debt Proposition — Its Final Disposition — Resumption of Cash Pay-
ments — A Notable Meeting — Tax Sale of 1880 — Rebonding of the County Debt.

CHAPTER V— HOMESTEADS AND FREE LANDS 85

Squatter Lands — Litigation Over the Overlapping Lands — Granting Act of
Congress in Aid of Railroads — Fight Between Railroads — Milwaukee Railroad
Land — Commencement of Real Squatter Possession — Exciting Times — Old
Settlers Become Factor — Land Jumping — Inconsistent Statutes — Land Office
Trials at Des Moines — Final Suit and Decree — Evictions — Homesteaders Not
Favorable to Squatters — Sioux City Land Squatters — Odd Incidents in Evic-
tion Cases — Squatters' Union — A Unique Banquet — List of Sioux City Land
Squatters and Railroad Contract Men.

CHAPTER VI— COUNTY GOVERNMENT 108

Administration of County Affairs — County Auditor — County Judges — Archi-
bald Murray^Andrew J. Edwards — The County Treasury — Contested Elec-

CONTENTS.

tion — Second Period of Auditors and Treasurers — .County Treasury on a
Banking Basis — Charles A. Winterble and Otlier Auditors — County Recorder's
Office — County Surveyors — Supervisors — County Attorneys — ^County Farm and
County Home Building — Electric Light Plant — Other County Improvements
— Large Problems.

CHAPTER VII— COURT HOUSES OF O'BRIEN COUNTY 129

Old Log Court House — Court Record Pertaining Thereto — Court House of
1870 — Supervisors' Record — Court House at Primghar in 1874 — Paine's Store
— ^Preseut Court Couse — The Public Square — Jail History — More on the First
Court House.

CHAPTER VIII— STORMS, PRAIRIE FIRES, GRASSHOPPERS, ETC. — 139

Cyclone of June, 1882 — Cyclone of June, 1914 — Blizzards and Snow Banks —
Blizzard of January, 18S8 — Prairie Fires — Towns in Danger — Grasshoppers —
The Plagues of 1873-4-5 — Legislative Relief for the Stricken .'Settlers.

CHAPTER IX— COUNTY SEAT CONTESTS 153

Contest in 1872 Between O'Brien and Primghar — Sheldon vs. Primghar and
Sanborn vs. Primghar in 1879 — The Sanborn Raid — Contest Between Prim-
ghar and Sheldon in 1911 — Record of Supervisors — List of Petitioners — Legis-
lative Amendment — New Hub Hotel at Primghar.

CHAPTER X— OLD SETTLERS' REUNION 169

First County-wide Reunion — Decorations — Reception of Visitors — Great Pa-
rade — O'Brien County Relics.

CHAPTER XI— AGRICULTURE 177

A Prairie County — Grass a Blessing to the Early Settlers — Land the Basis of
Wealth — Rivers and Streams — Groves and Tree Planting — Products of
O'Brien County Soil — Their Variety — -Uniformity of the County — Fruits — Wild
Prairie Flowers — Modern Farm Conveniences — Development of Public Roads
— Farmers' Meetings — Farmers' Institutes — Stock Sales — No Minerals in the
County — Large Ranches — D. Edward Paullin — Franklin Teabout — John H.
Archer — Chester W. Inman — Jonathan A. Stocum — Samuel J. Jordan.

CHAPTER XII— EDUCATIONAL 194

Education One of the Earliest and Chief Thoughts of the People — Schools of
the County — Early School Houses — Growth of Educational System — Substan-
tial Character of Present School Buildings and their Equipment — Lecture
Courses — Teachers' Institutes — Parochial and Church Schools — County Su-
perintendents — Decline of Rural Schools.

CHAPTER XIII— INDIAN OCCUPANCY 200

Prehistoric Races — The Mound Builders — Tribes Which Once Occupied
O'Brien County Soil — Government Exploration — Treaties with Indians —
Military Forts — Mistrust of Indians — Black Hawk — Outline of Treaties —
Incidents.

CHAPTER XIV— REMINISCENCES 20&

Recollections of Mrs. Roma Wheeler Woods — Difficulties Encountered by
Newcomers — Notable Astronomical Events — "Dutch Fred ' — Village of O'Brien
— Death of Fred Beach — Attempts to Secure Land — Faulty Deed Descriptions

CONTENTS.

— Futile Attempt to Sell School Lands — The Grange Movement — Gen. N. B.
Raker Library — Fine Spirit of the Early IMoneers — 1873 a Notable Year and
a Hard One for the Settlers — "Library Parties" — The Grasshopper IMagu; —
The County Debt — Remarkable Pioneer Women.

CHAPTER XV— REMINISCENCES '>22

Mrs. C. V. Van Epps' Story — A Trip in a Prairie Schooner — Many Surprises —
Earliest Habitations — Sod Houses — Carroll Township — Winter of 1872-3 —
Early Epidemics — Dark Days — First School House — First Congregational
Church, Sheldon — Railroad Land.

CHAPTER XVI— BANKS AND BANKING 230

First Banking Enterprise in O'Brien County — Primghar's Banks— John R.
Pumphrey — Ralph Hinman — Sheldon Banks — Banks at Sanborn — Paullina
Banks — Banks in Hartley — Moneta — Sutherland — Archer — Gaza — Calumet —
O'Brien County's Substantial Banking System — Development of Land
by Bankers — Banking Statistics.

CHAPTER XVII— THE COURTS 249

Two Courts of Record — The District Court and Circuit Court — Judicial Dis-
tricts — District Judges — First Term of Court — Some Early Judges — Attorneys
— First Grand Jury — Admission to Practice in Early Days — First Jury Case —
Early Rules of Court Practice — Early Circuit Judges — A Judicial Joke — A
Popular Clerk of Courts — Sheriffs — Clerks of Courts.

CHAPTER XVIII— THE O'BRIEN COUNTY BAR 262

First Lawyer in O'Brien County — Personal Mention of Some of the Early At-
torneys — Those Who Are Now Engaged in the Practice Here.

CHAPTER XIX— LITIGATION IN O'BRIEN COUNTY 276

Much Probate Work, but Decrease in Other Litigation — Big Questions in the
Early Days — The Overlapping Land Suit — Taxation Questions — The Teabout
Failure — Taxpayers' Association — Tax Title Suits — Israel Lash Litigation-
Elizabeth Streeter — Suits to Quiet Title — Referee in Bankruptcy — Estates — -
Justices' Courts.

CHAPTER XX— THE PRESS 287

Value of Local Newspaper — First Paper in O'Brien County — F. M. McCormack
— Brief Review of the Various Newspapers Which Have Existed Here and
Which Have Contributed to the Development of the County.

CHAPTER XXI— MEDICAL HISTORY OF O'BRIEN COUNTY 302

Antiquity of the Practice of Medicine — Heroes Among the Pioneer Physicians
— Modern Progress in the Practice of the Healing Art — O'Brien County Hos-
pitals — The O'Brien County Medical Society — List of Registered Physicians —
Ignorance and Superstition on the Part of the Laity Superseded by Intelli-
gence and Common Sense.

CHAPTER XXII— THE CHURCHES OF O'BRIEN COUNTY 311

Methodists First on the Ground — Methodist Churches in the County — A Sod
Church — First Sermon Preached in the County — Congregational Churches —
The Friends Society — Evangelical Churches — German Evangelical Lutheran
Zion Churches — Norwegien Lutheran Church — Christian Reformed Church —

CONTENTS.

Evangelical Associatiou — Christian Churches — Church of Christ, Scientist —
Presbyterian Churches — Reformed Church in North America — German Evan-
gelical Church of North America — Catholic Church — Other Religious Societies
—Church Statistics — Young Men's Christian Association.

CHAPTER XXIII— LODGES OF THE COUNTY 346

Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, with Its Several Branches — Independent
Order of Odd Fellows — Knights of Pythias.

CHAPTER XXIV— TOWNS AND TOWNSHIPS 354

Incorporated Towns — City Government — Names of Townships and Their Gov-
ernment — Platting of Towns and Their Additions — Floyd Township — City of
Sheldon — National Guard — Sheldon District Fair — Franklin Township — San-
born — Lincoln Township — Fiddle String Township — Hartley Township — Town
of Hartley — Carroll Township — "Pathfinder of O'Brien County" — Archer —
Summit Township — Primghar — Center Township — Omega Township — Moneta
— Baker Township — Dale Township — Highland Township — Gaza — Grant
Township — Caledonia Township — Germantown — Union Township — Paullina —
Liberty Township — Calumet — Waterman Township — Sutherland.

CHAPTER XXV— O'BRIEN COUNTY IN THE HUMOROUS 455

Eccentric Dr. Longshore — "Pomp" McCormack's Jokes — Wolf Scalp Joke —
O'Brien County Solon — A Revival in the Court Room — The Judge Needed a
Sweat — Joke on a Bank Cashier — Superiority of Archer Over Omaha — Master
Wirt Close's Oration.

CHAPTER XXVI— MISCELLANEOUS 468

Farmers' Mutual Insurance Association — Present Officials of O'Brien County
— State Officials — Distinguished Citizens of the County — Official Vote, 1912 —
Population and Other Statistics — County Expenditures — Cemeteries — The
Herd Law — Early Relations With Cherokee County — Abstracts of Title —
Early Incidents — The Hay Twister — O'Brien County Agricultural Society —
County Sealer of Weights and Measures — Lost TiUmber — Highest Point in
Iowa — Congressmen — Prehistoric Fortifications and Burial Mounds — Curious
Incident — Prairie Chickens — Other Game — John MeCormack — Reminiscent In-
terview of B. F. MeCormack — Record of Old Soldiers Who Have Lived in
O'Brien County.

CHAPTER XXVII— THE SCRUB POET 506

A Little Spice and Many Local Hits — Townships of O'Brien County — Charge
of the Grasshopper Brigade— Tenting, Camping. Farming on the Old Prairie
Ground — First Starts of Towns and Railroads — That Martyred Wagon — The
County Seat — John Ker, Squatter — The Pioneer Is Going, Gone — An Agricul-
tural County — Marching to Victory — Let the People Vote — "Leedle Yoh" —
\Vhen the Squatter Squatted His Squat, etc.

CONTLI^JIS.

OSCEOLA COUNTY

CHAPTER I— GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY 535

Original Prairie Land — Scarcity of Timber — Streams — Hills — Lakes — Charac-
,. ter of Soil — Survey by Jefferson Davis, and His Report on Soil — Organization
of Osceola Township — Its Name — Anxiety of Early Settlers to Get in Ahead
of Railroads — Sibley, the First Town Site Laid Out — Official Record of
County Ortijaiuzation — First Tax Levy — First Election and County Officers —
First County Nominating Convention — Osceola County Cursed by Grafters and
Looters — Grand Jury Indictments — An Unjust Debt — Roster of County Offi-
cials — Auditors — Treasurers — Recorders — Clerks of Courts — Sheriffs — Super-
intendents of Schools — Surveyors — Coroners — County Attorneys — Supervisors
— First Term of Court and First Grand Jury — First Court House — Finances —
Increase in Land Values — Appraisement of Public Utilities.

CHAPTER li— TOWNSHIPS OF OSCEOLA TOWNSHIP 544

Allison Township — First Officers — F^rst Settlers in the Various Sections of
the Township — Baker Township — Land Speculators — Early Settlers — Henry
Dunkelmann's Experience — East Holman Township — Its Pioneers — Fairview
Township — Magnificent Natural Features — Names of Early Settlers — First
Township Officers — Present Officers — Oilman Township — Early Settlers —
Goewey Township — Those Who First Came Here — Wealth in Legitimate Farm-
ing — Narrow Escape From Death in a Blizzard — Harrison Township — Soil of
Inexhaustible Richness — Mennonites — May City — Horton Township and Its
Pioneer Settlers — Immigration of 1883-5 — Ocheyedan Township— The Home-
steaders — Hardships of Joseph P. Tower — Viola Township — First Settlers —
Recent Arrivals — Public Schools and Officers — West Holman Township —
How the Various Sections were Settled — Misfortunes of J. B. Jenney — Wilson
Township — Early Homesteaders — Schools.

CHAPTER III— CITIES AND TOWNS 593

Sibley, the First Town in Osceola County — Early Business Interests — Pres-
ent Business Concerns and Their Location — Municipal Items — Present City
Officers — Ashton — First Called St. Oilman — Location — First Buildings and
Business Interests — Present Enterprises — City Officials — Harris — Town Or-
ganization — Present Business Interests — City Officials — Ocheyedan — Its Be-
ginning — Public Utilities — Business Directory — City Officers — Cloverdale —
Allendorf— Melvin — A Tliriving Little City — Principal Business Interests.

CHAPTER IV— RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY 606

First Methodist Episcopal Church of Sibley — First Preaching Service in the
County — Melvin M. E. Church — Methodist Churches at Ashton, Harris and
Ocheyedan — St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church at Ocheyedan — Congre-
gational Church at Sibley — German Lutheran Church, Sibley — Ocheyedan
Congregational Church — First German Presbj'^terian Church, Sibley — First
Baptist Church, Sibley — Evangelical Lutheran Church of Horton Township —
German Lutheran Church of Viola Township — Hope German Presbyterian
Church — Catholic Church at Ashton — St. Andrew's Catholic Church at Sibley.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V— MEDICAL HISTORY OF OSCEOLA COUNTY 628

Dr. H. Neill's Interesting Review of the History of Medicine in the County —
Many Old Soldiers Among the Early Settlers — Personal Mention of Some of
the Early Practitioners — A Record of Many Interesting Surgical Cases and
Other Ailments — A Young Woman's Heroism — Epidemic of Diphtheria — Auto-
biography of Doctor Neill — Some Curious and Unusual Incidents in His Long
Practice Here — A Human Pincushion.

CHAPTER VI— THE LEGAL FRATERNITY 647

First Attorneys in Osceola County — Personal Mention of Some Early Law-
yers — Men of High Character and Eminent Ability.

CHAPTER VII— MILITARY HISTORY 1 652

Many Early Settlers Veterans of the Civil War — L. G. Ireland Post, Grand
Army of the Republic — List of Old Soldiers in Osceola County.

CHAPTER VIII— EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS 660

The Johnson Murder — The Shooting of George Groen — The Freezing of Baker
rnd Jenkins — Death of Edward Larrahty by Freezing — The Freezing of
Doctor Hall — Fred Knaggs — Accidental Death of C. D. Wilbern — Peter De-
Bloom Killed by Train — Herman Fry Killed by Falling Tree — Accidental
Death of Edward Larrahty.

CHAPTER IX— MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS OF INTEREST 670

Educational History — Schools in the Various Townships — Value of School
Property — First Things of Osceola County — The Iowa Land Company, Lim.,
of London, England — The Fuel Question in Early Days — Hay Twisters — Early
Planting of Forest Trees and the Beneficent Results — Transportation —
Prairie Schooners — Advent of the Railroads — The Grasshopper Scourge —
Interesting Agricultural Facts — Pioneer Letters — A Marvelous Change Since
Pioneer Days — Early Hardships and Discomforts — Ode to Osceola.

BIOGRAPHICAL '_ 71

HISTORICAL INDEX

O'BRIEN COUNTY.

Abstracts of Title 478

Administrative Period 26

Agricultural Society 481

Agricultural Statistics 474

Agriculture 177

Altitude 482

Ancient Free and Accepted Masons__ 346

Archer 398

Business Interests 399

Churches 319

How Named 398

Incorporation 398

Platting of 358

Postmasters 399

Schools 399

Archer Bank 241, 247

Archer, John H 191

Archer Superior to Omaha 464

Army Record of Old Soldiers 499

Attorneys, County 121

Attorneys of O'Brien County 262

Auditors, County 108, 118

Baker Library 214

Baker Township 420

Early Settlement 420

Old Soldiers 500

Organization 420

Population 420

Squatters 106

Balkema, Nicholas 469

Bank Statistics 245

Banks and Banking 230

Banquet of Land Attorneys 105

Baptist Church 337

Bar of O'Brien County 262

Beach, Fred, Death of 209

Black Hawk 202

Blizzards 143

Boodle Board 48

Bosler, James W 32, 41

Bounty Money Scalped 51

Burial Mounds 484

Caledonia Township 430

Old Soldiers 501

Settlement 430

Calumet 442

Business Interests 444

Churches 319

First Election 443

Location 442

Old Soldiers 501

Park 443

Platting of 358

Postoffice 444

Public Improvements 443

Calumet Bank 242, 247

"Calumet Independent" 300

Cannon, Charles C 469

Carroll Township 391

Early Settlers 391

First School 225

Old Soldiers 501

Pioneers 393

Reminiscences 222

Squatters 106

Catholic Church 338

Center Township 417

Early Settlers 417

Location 417

Old Soldiers 501

Organization 417

HISTORICAL IM)I\

Chautauquas 198

Chickens, Prairie 488

Christian Churches 332

Christian Reformed Church 331

Christian Science Church 332

Church of Christ 332

Church Schools 199

Church Statistics 343

Churches 311

Circuit Court 249

City Government 354

Clerk of Courts 261

Congregational Churches 322

Congressional Districts 483

Congressional Land Grants 86

Congressmen 483

Constitutional Debt Limitation 76

Contested Election 114

Contests for County Seat 153

County Attorneys 121

County Auditors 108, 118

County Debt 56

County Debt Rebonded 83

County Expenditures 474

County Farm 123

County Government : 108

County Home 123

County Judge 109

County Officials, 1913 470

County Organization Election 31

County Recorders 119

County RecQrds 119

County Seat Contests 153

County Superintendent Schools__194, 199

County Supervisors 120

County Surveyors 120

County Treasurers 113

Court Held in Paine's Store 134

Court House, Log 42, 129, 137

Court House History 129

Court House Public Square 135

Court Proceedings 276

Courts, The — 249

Creative Period 26

Crops, First 70

Customs of Early Settlers 68

Cyclones 139, 142

Dale Township 422

Description 422

Old Soldiers 501

Settlement 422

Soil 422

Squatters 105

Death of Fred Beach 209

Debt, County 56

Debt, County, Rebounded 83

Debt Limitation 76

Dedication of County Home 124

District Court 249

District Judges 249

Doctor, the First 53

Doctors. First 302

Doctors, Registered 306

'Dutch Fred" 36, 45, 446

Early Settlers 65

Early Settlers, Customs of 68

Educational History 194

Edwards, Andrew^ J. 111

Election Contest 114

Election, County Organization 31

Election, First General 31, 42

Election, Second General 32

English Settlers 66

Entry of First Homestead 45

Estates 285

Evangelical Association 331

Evangelical Churches 327

Eviction of Squatters 96

Expenditures, County 474

Expenses, Curious Early 62

Farm Improvements 188

Farm Products L- 181

Farmers' Institutes 189

Farmers Mutual Ins. Ass'n 468

Farms, Large 190

Feldman, Fred 36, 45, 446

Fiddle String Township 383

HISTORICAL INDEX.

Fires, Prairie 73, 147

First Crops ,. 70

First General Election ____31, 42

First" Grand Jury 252

First Homestead Entry 45

First Jury Case 253

First Physicians in County 302

First Record Entries - 63

First Sermon in County _ 313

First Things 52

First White Child 41

Flowers, Wild — 188

Floyd Township ^ i — 361

Early Settlers 362

How Named 361

Location — .s- 362

Old Soldiers ^— 501

Squatters 107

Foreign Population 75

Fort Dodge Crowd ^^_ 42

Franklin Township 375

How Named 375

Old Soldiers 502

Population 376

Settlement -,_^ — ,,- 375

Squatters _. — 106

Fraternal Societies 346

Freemasonry 346

French Settlers 74

Friends, Society of 325

Fruits 187

Game, Wild -''489

Gaza 423

Platting of 358

Woodstock, Known as .424

Gaza Bank _Jl_ 242, 247

German Evan. Church of No. Am 336

German Eyan. Luth. Zion Churches- 327

German Settlers 68

Germantown . ,431

Location 431

Platting of .— -. 359

Postoffice 432

Government, County 108

Grand Jury, First 252

Grant Township 426

First Settlers 427

Milwaukee Road 429

. (45/2)

Grant Township — Continued. •■'■'■'' a-'-r

Natural Features — ^.^=. ^a>iUJ^ ■427

Old Soldiers —^ — :;-..-L__J_^-_- 502

Grasshoppers ^ ^ -_U.--Ui^l-i. 149

Groves 186

Hartley - _— _- 384

Beginning of ; 384

Business Directory i_^^89

Churches ill ''317

First Officers 11 385

Incorporation 384

Mayors — - S^O

Old Soldiers 503

Platting of 357

Postoffice 388

Present Officers ■— 387

Public Utilities 388

School History 385

Soldiers' Monument 388

Hartley Banks _,_ _— 239, 246

'Hartley Journal" - i. 299

"Hartley News" 300

"Hartley Record" 299

Hartley Township .-_-j.— _ 384

Old Soldiers 503

Highland Township .423

Old Soldiers 502

Hay Twister 479

High Schools 195, 197

Hollanders -, ^^__i,_^-' .i68

Homestead Entry, First -i:i.i.\v 45

Homestead Law — . 65

Hospitals 304

Hub Hotel 167

Humorous Incidents ; 455

Hunter, A Noted 490

I :

Improvements, Farm ^ 188

Incident, Curious Indian 487

Incorporated Towns ,^- 354

Independent Order of Odd Fellows— -^50

Indian Incident, Curious --. .487

Indian Occupancy ^-^^ 200

Indian Scare -. — ,- 455

Indian Treaties 201

Indians in O'Brien County 37

HISTORICAL INDEX.

Inman, Chester W. 1S2

; Institutes, Fanners' 189

; Institutes, Teachers' 198

Ulrish Settlers 67

Jails 136

Jokes Reminiscent 462

Jordan, Samuel J. 193

Judgjes 249

Judges, County 109

Jury Case, First 253

Justices' Courts 286

K
; Knights of Pythias 352

Land Grants, Congressional 86

Land Investors 244

Land Jumping 43, 92

Land Litigation 94

Land Loans 178

Land Office Trials 93

Land, Squatters, List of 105

Land Values 178

Lands, Overlapping 85

Lands, Squatter 85

Law Suits 276

•Lawyers of O'Brien County 262

-Lecture Courses 198

Legal Questions 277

Liberty Township 442

f Old Soldiers ■ 504

Library, First Circulating 53

Library, Gen. N. B. Baker 214

Library Parties 218

Lincoln Township 382

Old Soldiers 503

List of O'Brien Soldiers 499

Litigation 276

Litigation, Land 94

Little Sioux River 179

Lodges 346

: Log" Court House ^^42, 129, 137

McCormack, B. F. 1 491

McCormack, F. M. (Pomp) 290

McCormack, John 490

Masonic Order .346

Medical History - — 302

Medical Progress ^^309

Meeting, a Notable 81

Memorable Winters 146

Methodist Churches 311

Milwaukee Lands 86, 95

Minerals, Lack of 190

Miscellaneous 468

Moneta , 419

Business Interests 419

Churches 321

Fires 420

First Things 419

Incorporation 419

Platting of 357

Moneta Bank 240, 247

Mound Builders 200

Mounds, Burial 484

Murray, Archibald 110

Naming of County 28

Newspapers 287

Norwegian Lutheran Church 330

Notable Meeting 81

O'Brien County Agricultural So-
ciety 4^81

"O'Brien County Bell" 290

O'Brien County in the Humorous — 465

O'Brien County, Naming of 28

O'Brien County, Organization of 29

O'Brien County Relics 176

O'Brien, Old 208

"O'Brien Pioneer" 289

O'Brien, William Smith 28

Ocheyedan River 179

Odd Fellows 350

HISTORICAL INDEX.

Official Vote in 1912 472

Officials, County, 1913 470

Old Log Court House 42, 129, 137

Old O'Brien 208

Old Settlers' Parade 174

Old Settlers' Reunion 169

Omega Township 418

How Named 418

Old Soldiers 503

Population 419

Orchards 184

Organization of O'Brien County 29

Origin of Pioneers 66

Overlapping Land Suit 278

Overlapping Lands 85

Ox-team Trips 37

Paine's Store Court House 134

Parade of Old Settlers 174

Parochial Schools 199, 329

"Pathfinder of O'Brien County"___^_ 392

Paulling, D. Edward 190

Paullina 432

Additions 435

Churches 319, 333

Coming of Railroad 434

First Business Men 439

Grain Shipments 441

How Named 439

Library 437

Old Soldiers 503

Organization of 435

Platting of 358, 434

Public Utilities 436

School District 438

Paullina Banks 238, 247

"Paullina Star" 294

"Paullina Times" 294

Physician, the First 53

Physicians, First 302

Physicians, Registered 306

Pioneer Women 220

Pioneers of O'Brien County 25

Pioneers, Origin of 66

Poetry of a Local Flavor 506

Platting of Towns 356, 359

Population Statistics 75, 473

Prairie, Advantages of 70

Prairie Chickens 488

Prairie Features 177

Prairie Fires 73, 147

Prairie Land 177

Preacher, the First 52

Prehistoric Fortifications 484

Prehistoric Races 200

Presbyteirian Churches 333

Present Court House 134

Press, The 287

Primghar 402

Business Interests 415

Charter Families 404

Churches 316, 323, 341

County-Seat Contest 405

Epidemic 412

Fires 411

First Buildings 406

First Election 411

Hospital 412

How Named 402

Incorporation 411

Mills 412

Old Soldiers 503

Platting of 356

Present Officers 411

Public Square 405

Railroad Building 409

Schools 413

Town Plat 404

Water Works 415

Primghar Banks 230, 245

"Primghar Democrat" 295

"Primghar Republican" 295

"Primghar Times" 294

Products, Farm 181

Public Improvements 127

Public Officials 469

Public Roads 188

Public Square, Primghar 135

Pumphrey's Bank 58, 23^

Q
Quieting Title Litigation 283

Raid, The Sanborn 156

Railroad Contract Men 105

Railroad Land ' 86

HISTORICAL INDEX.

OSCEOLA COUNTY.

Accidental Deaths 667

Agricultural Facts 681

Allendorf 603

Allison Township 544

Early Settlers 544

First Nari|e 544

Organization • 544

Schools 544, 670

Settlers, Early 544

Section 2 544

Section 3 544

Section 4 544

Section 6 544

Section 9 545

Section 10 545

Section 14 545

Section 17 545

Section 24 545

Section 33 545

Altitude 536

Ashton 597

Business Interests 598

Churches 609, 623

First Buildings 597

Location 597

Official 598

Officials 598

St. Oilman 597

Assessments 542

Attorneys 647

Attorneys, County 541

Auditors, County 540

Baker Township 545

Early Settlers 545

Land Speculators 545

Schools 671

Section 2 545

Section 3 546

Section 6 546

Section 8 546

Section .9 547

Baker Township — Continued.

Section 10 547

Section 11 547

Section 12 547

Section 13 547

Section 15 547

Section 16 547

Section 17 547

Section 18 547

Section 20 548

Section 28 549

Section 29 549

Section 30 549

Section 31 549

Section 33 549

Section 34 549

Settlement 545

Speculators 545

Baptist Churches 616

Bench and Bar 647

Boards of Supervisors 541

Catholic Churches 623

Churches 606

Cities 593

Civil War Veterans 652

Clerks of District Court 540

Cloverdale 603

Congregational Churches 612

Convention, First Nominating 538

Coroners 540

County Attorneys 541

County Auditors 540

County Finances 541

County Officials 540

County Organized 536

County Recorders 540

County Set Off 537

County Supt. of Schools 540

County Surveyors 540

County Treasurers 540

Court, District, Clerks of 540

Court, First Term of 541

Court House, First 541

HISTORICAL INDEX,

Davis, Jefferson, Survey 536

Death, First in County 672

Deaths by Accident 667

Deaths by Freezing 663

Diphtheria Epidemic 633

Diseases 631

District Court, Clerks of 540

Doctors, Early 629

Drainage 535

Dunkelmann, Henry 548

EJast Holman Township 549

Settlement 549

Section 1 549

Section 2 549

Section 4 550

Section 5 550

Section 6 550

Section 7 551

Section 8 551

Section 10 551

Section 12 551

Section 14 551

Section 17 552

Section 18 552

Section 20 552

Section 21 553

Section 22 553

Section 24 553

Section 26 553

Section 28 553

Section 30 554

Section 32 554

Section 34 554

Section 36 554

Early Trials 537

Early Transportation 677

Educational History 670

Election, First 538

Evangelical Lutheran Churches__611, 620
Extraordinary Events 660

Fairview Township 555

Beautiful Vista 555

First Officers 556

Fairview Township— Continued.

Officers, First ^ 556

Officers, Present 556

Prairie Beauty . 555

Schools _557, 670

Section 8 555

Section 20 555

Section 22 . 555

Section 28 555

Section 30 556

Section 32 556

Section 33 556

Settlement 555

Farm Statistics 681

BMnances, County 541

First Attorneys 647

F^rst Court House 541

First Election 538

First Grand Jury 541

First Nominating Convention 538

First Preaching Service 606

First Railroad 678

First Schools 670

First Supervisors 540

First Term of Court , 541

First Things 672

Foster, William R. 565

Fuel Question 674

Geology 535

German Lutheran Churches 621

Oilman Township 557

Hard Times 557

Schools 671

Section 2 557

Section 4 557

Section 6 558

Section 8 558

Section 10 558

Section 12 558

Section 14 559

Section 18 559

Section 22 560

Section 24 560

Section 26 560

Section 28 560

Section 30 560

Section 32 561

HISTORICAL INDEX.

Oilman Township — Continued.

Section 34 561

Settlement 557

Usurious Interest 557

Goewey Township 561

Schools 671

Section 1 561

Section 2 561

Section 4 . 562

Section 6 562

Section 8 563

Section 10 563

Section 12 564

Section 13 564

Section 14 564

Section 16 564

Section 18 564

Section 19 564

Section 20 565

Section 22 565

Section 23 566

Section 24 566

Section 26 566

Section 28 566

Section 30 567

Section 32 _____ 567

Section 34 567

Section 36 567

Grafters, Influx of 539

Grand Army of the Republic 652

Grand Jury, First 541

Grasshopper Scourge 678

Groen, George, Shooting of 663

Harris 598

Business Interests — 599

Churches — 610

Officers, First _— 599

Officers, Present -_-^ 600

Organization 599

Harrison Township 568

Agriculture 568

Land Speculators -- 568

Mennonites 568

Schools 671

Settlers, Early — — 568

Speculators, Land 568

Horton Township 569

Churches ^ 620

Immigration of 1883-5 B71

Schools 572, 670

Section 8 570

Section 10 570

Section 12 570

Section 14 570

Section 18 570

Section 20 570

Section 22 570

Section 24 570

Section 26 570

Section 28 570

Section 30 ^ 571

Section 32 571

Section 34 571

Section 36 571

Human Pincushion 643

Increase in Land Values 542

Iowa Land Company 673

Ireland Post, G. A. R. 652

Jenney, J. B. 588

Johnson Murder 660

Jury, First Grand 541

Land Values 542

Legal Fraternity 647

Looting of County Treasury 539

Medical History 628

:\Ielvin 604

Churches 608

Methodist Episcopal Churches 606

Mileage, Railroad 542

Military History 652

Miscellaneous '-- 670

Murder of Peter Johnson 660

HISTORICAL INDEX.

Naming of Osceola County 536

Natural Features 535

Neill, Dr. H. 636

Nominating Convention, First 538

Ocheyedan 601

Beginning 601

Business Concerns 601

Churches 611, 615

Improvements 601

Location 601

Officers 603

Ocheyedan Township 572

Drainage 572

Schools 671

Section 2 572

Section 3 573

Section 4 573

Section 6 573

Section S 573

Section 10 573

Section 12 574

Section 13 574

Section 14 574

Section 18 574

Section 20 574

Section 22 574

Section 24 574

Section 25 576

Section 26 576

Section 28 576

Section 30 576

Section 32 576

Section 34 576

Soil 572

Ode to Osceola 689

Officials, County 540

Old Soldiers in the County 652

Organization Election 538

Organization of County 536

Osceola County, How Named 536

Osceola County Set Off 537

Physicians, Early 629

Pioneer Letters 682

(46)

Preaching Service, First 606

Presbyterian Churches 616

Railroad Land Taxation 542

Railroad Mileage 542

Railroads 678

Record Setting off County 537

Recorders, County 540

Religious Histoi'y 606

Roster of County Officials 540

Rush Lake 535

Schools, First 670

Schools, Superintendent of 540

Sheriffs 540

Shooting of George Groen 663

Sibley 537, 593

Business Interests 593

Churches 606, 612, 615, 616, 617, 626

Hospital 596

Officers 597

Public Utilities 596

Schools 672

Sioux City Attorneys 650

Soil 536

Soldiers, Old, in the County 652

Streams 535

Suhm, Josef von Willemoes 682

Superintendent of Schools 540

Supervisors, Boards of 541

Supervisors, First 540

Surgical Cases 630

Survey by Jefferson Davis 536

Surveyors, County 540

Taxation of Railroad Land 542

Topography 535

Tower, .Joseph P. 574

Town, the First 537

Towns 593

Trails, Early 537

Transportation 677

Treasurers, County 540

Treasury, Looting of County 539

HISTORICAL INDEX.

Veterans of the Civil War 652

Viola Township 576

Churches 621

Schools 580, 670

Settlement 576

Section 8 576

Section 10 576

Section 12 577

Section 14 577

Section 18 577

Section 20 577

Section 22 578

Section 24 578

Section 26 578

Section 28 578

Section 29 579

Section 30 579

Section 32 579

Section 33 579

Section 34 579

Section 36 580

West Holman Township 580

Churches 622

Section 1 580

Section 2 580

Section 4 581

Section 5 581

Section 6 582

Section 7 582

Section 8 582

Section 9 582

Section 10 582

Section 11 583

West Holman Township— Continued.

Section 12 1 583

Section 13 584

Section 14 584

Section 15 584

Section 16 585

Section 18 585

Section 19 585

Section 20 585

Section 22 586

Section 23 586

Section 24 586

Section 26 587

Section 28 587

Section 29 587

Section 30 587

Section 31 587

Section 32 587

Section 34 588

Section 36 588

Wilson Township 589

Schools 592, 670

Section 8 589

Section 10 590

Section 12 590

Section 14 590

Section 18 590

Section 20 590

Section 22 590

Section 24 590

Section 26 591

Section 28 591

Section 30 591

Section 32 591

Section 34 591

Section 36 591

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX

Adams, Lincoln 1194

Adkins, John V. 837

Agar, Albert H. 1047

Alexander, Thomas J 1241

Aldlnger, John 732

Aldinger, Lester T. 734

Algyer, David 1290

Appleton, Charles E. 1144

Archer, John H. 1260

Armstrong, Hon. William S 874

Attig, Christ 1176

Attig, Fred 1195

Aupperle, Dr. George A 1061

Avery, Milo, M. D 760

Babcock, Charles A. 1270

Ballon, Nathaniel 1262

Bangert, Henry L. 1200

Bark, Tom B. 1159

Beebe, William W. 1114

Beers, Bessie J. 889

Berne, Thomas 919

Bidwell, Francis L. 1202

Billingsly, James J. 743

Bishop, John F. 901

Blaesser, Walter A. 1000

Blahauvietz, John 982

Blake, George G 808

Bloes, Nick 904

Bobzine, John i053

Bock, Adolph 995

Boies, Hon. William D 746

Bonderman, Warner W. 1127

Bonner, William 881

Boor, Nicholas 946

Bossert, John P. 1016

Boyce, Samuel 1042

Boyd, Richard M. 860

Boyd, Robert W. 980

Brackney, Herman J., M. D 869

Bradrick, Sidney I. 1193

Brady, Albert V. 986

Brady, Ezra M. 986

Brahan, William 977

Braig, Anthony J. 1001

Brandt, Jacob, Jr. 1185

Briggs, Charles W. 822

Briggs, James C. 1052

Briggs, William 721

Brock, Andrew J. 1243

Brock, Walter R., M. D 867

Broders, Ernest F. 789

Brosh, James 1082

Brown, William H. 773

Brundage, John R. 1314

Brundage, Selonious 1022

Bunce, Wayland M. 1086

Bunker, Ernest A. 1234

Burlet, Willard A. 792

Burley, Victor A. 1235

Burns, Charles 883

Burns, John H. 938

Byers, David 941

Bysom, Daniel 1096

Cain, William 1106

Cajacob, Platcy A. 890

Callenius, Otto 1108

Campbell, James S. 826

Cannon, Charles C. 1004

Clark, Charles S. 1116

Clarksean, Charlie 945

Claussen, Ernst J. 1226

Cleaveland, Ezra D. 1219

Clements, Isaac 784

Closson, Richard 1237

Coleman, George 788

Conn, James 1252

Cooper, John 1162

Cooper, Rev. Leonard J 1010

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

Corns, Thomas M. 937

Cowan, John 998

Cram, Frederick W., M. D 848

Cronin, Dennis E. 1168

Crum, Roy R. 1024

Culver, Andrew 806

Cutsinger, James 1066

Daly, James H. 864

Day, Harley 1240

Dean, Herbert E. 1221

Delan, John J. 987

Den Beste, Joseph 1134

Denny, Michael 959

Derby, Frank N. 1 1017

Dewey, James T. 804

Diamond, Tobias E. 834

Doolittle, Hezekiah G. 853

Dougherty, Patrick J. 973

Dornbnsch, Ina 1021

Downing, William H. 778

Draper, Merriett S. 1077

Dries, Anton 1175

Dummett, William H. 1090

Dunkelmann, Henry 1191

Egdorf, William __. 1057

Eichner, Julius F. 923

Elliott, William B. 947

Ely, William E., M. D. 1216

Emery, A. J. W. 1088

Engelke, John 1308

Epping, Henry 1242

Evans, Oliver 935

Ewoldt, Hugo 925

Farnsworth, Thomas 1074

Farquharson, Charles 1170

Fillenwarth, Arthur T. 850

Finch, Mellville D. 1136

Flinder, Samuel C. 1071

Fogle, John H. 957

Foote, Charles E. 818

Foskett, Elmer C. 1132

Frey, Otto J. 1231

Friedrichsen, William 1092

Frisbee, Frank 832

Frisbee, Fred 1140

Fruhling, Rohlf 1209

Gardner, John 1112

Gaster, Ed 742

Geister, Albert G. 1079

Geister, Henry W. 777

Geister, Joseph 1118

Gere, Capt. Francis A. 77(J

Gilkinson, Alexander 1198

Gill, Joseph 780

Glover, John F. 954

Gole, Menno S. 1201

Gosch. Adolph 1050

Grant, Alexander 961

Graves, William 1184

Green, William C. 1245

Grendlng, Frederick W. 1124

Guhl. Fred 1039

Hain, Foster 1034

Hakeman, George 972

Hamilton, George 1232

Hand, William C, .M. D. 1018

Hanon, John C. . 841

Harding, Orlando B. 758

Harker, William 1253

Harris, George W. 1248

Harvey, Mahlon 1148

Hass, Henry C. 1197

Hastings, John A. 1014

Heatherington, Rev. :m. J. 1300

Helmer, E. L. 922

Henderson, Humphrey 1205

Hendrick, Harry H. 1068

Herrick, Frank L. 733

Hickey, Martin 975

Hickey, Peter 1318

Hickok, J. W. 839

Hill, Reuben W. 1311

Hinman, Hon. John F. 800

Hinman, Ralph T. 726

Hinz, Fritz 812

Hodapp, Michael 1111

Hoeven, Andrew 952.

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

Hoffmann, Rev. John P. 761

Hoke, Joseph 1295

Horton, Frank W., M. D 866

Hough, Frank S., M. D. 749

Hughes, N. I. 1256

Hulser, Frank W. 1154

Ihle, Charles E. 1272

Irviue, John H. 1104

Jackson, W. C. 1229

Jacobson, Jacob 1277

Jepsen, John W. 966

Jinkinson, William 903

Johnson, John A. 754

Jones, Benjamin 1210

Jones, George L. 1030

Jones, Martin 1303

Jones, Robert P. 962

Jossem, John T. 1009

Kas, Thomas D., M. D. 769

Kelley, Patrick 872

Kenderdine, Di*. William H 1028

Kennedy, Frank E. 844

Killmer, Henry J. ■—- 942

King, Roy H. 896

Kirchhof, Otto 989

Knaack, G. E. 1002

Kopp, August 1100

Kundel, John 1186

Lange, John 1307

Lemke, William 912

Lewis, C. W. 811

Lighter, Omer L. 967

Linsday, James B. 882

Linquist, Sam 908

Locke, Roscoe J. 842

Logan, Scott 1301

Loger, William 1161

Longshore, Channing, M. D. 1164

McBride, Arthur W. 997

McCallum, A. W. 77^

McCandless, John 718

McClellan, Elbert 1139

McCormack, Rev. James 906

McCracken, Edwin W. 992

McDougall, Charles M. 1181

McElwain, Lee 1129

McFarland, Mrs. Addie C. 1083

McFarland, Elmer 991

McKenna, George 1255

McNeill, J. H. 870

Macomb, John, Jr. 1276

Mann, Edward 1054

Mann, Thomas E. 1075

Mansmith, John C. 928

Martin, Alexander L. 1103

Martin, Scott 1150

Mateer, Robert A. 1143

Mathern, John W. 1278

May, Harry C. 724

Mayne, Edward A. 873

Maytum, Dr. Burlington J._ 1126

Meier, Ernst 1317

Meltvedt, Chris 1006

Messer, Edwin P. 1258

Metcalf, Wilbert C. 1122

Metz, Oliver A. 815

Meyer, Albert H. 1130

Meyer, C. F. • 1130

Miller, Sumner F. 1073

Miller, William J. 730

Montzheimer. Otto H. 722

Moorhead, Robert J. 1029

Morton, Alfred '_ 830

Mullin, Michael P. 1046

Murphy, James B. 1035

Nelson, George W. 828

Neuman, John J. 976

Noehren, W. H. 1250

Nott, Fred 1049

Noyes, William H. 1023

O'Donnell, John J. 907

O'Donnell, John F. 1043

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

Olson, Ben 930

Olson, Ole F. 968

Osgood, Wilbur J. 1178

Overholser, Willis W. _— ^ 795

Patch, Frank 887

Patch, Freeman R. 797

Peck, J. L. E. 715

Peisley, Patrick L. 978

Peters, Charles F. 863

Peters, Edo 1316

Phelps, Spencer A. 882

Philby, Enoch 1190

Phinney, George F. 740

Pingel, Adolph 1166

Protextor, George W. 1293

Protextor, John 984

Putnam, Denison C. 943

Q
Quilleash, Thomas A. 1171

Ralston, Weston D. ; 1011

Randall, Andrew V. S. 1267

Raymond, Ross L. 1060

Reader, George L. 1183

Rector, George E. 949

Redmond. Patrick 813

Redmond, Thomas S. 786

Reifsteck, Charles F. 1037

Reifsteck, George 1037

Rembe, Fred 1238

Rerick, Henry 745

Rerick, Isaac L. 736

Rhodes, Rev. Bert J. 1285

Richards, Prof. Edward E. 836

Richards, Homer E. 765

Richter, Conrad 1296

Robertson, Robert J. 1180

Roland, Edward E. 1288

Romey, Albert 738

Romey, George A. 1207

Roth, Joseph 1304

Roth, W. M. 1274

Roy.:e. Clarence H. 753

Runvan. Harmon H. __ 1215

Ruther, H. Theodore 1008

Ruwe, Louis 1032

Sands, John A. 1174

Saupe, Bruno 1085

Saupe, Otto 894

Schaap, Clarence C. 909

Schaefer, Louis B. 1286

Schneider, Arthur H. 1218

Schnurr, Berth 1206

Schoelerman, William H. 1050

Schubert, Lorenz 951

Schuknecht, Fred 1297

Schultz, Albert H. 1156

Scott, Henry P. 1064

Shea, Mart 1225

Shearer, Archibald 1093

Shearer, Mrs. Sarah 1093

Sheldon, Daniel M. 1033

Sheldon, Joseph O. 933

Shell, Levi 914

Shinski, Joseph 802

Shumway, David F. 1094

Shuttleworth, W. D. 970

Silverthorn, Isaac M. 931

Sims, William A. 911

Sleeper, William H. 859

Slick & McFarland 990

Slick, John N. 990

Smith, Daniel A. 1109

Smith, George W. 1263

Smith, John J. 1153

Smith, William M. 1281

Snider, John 1098

Sokol, George F. 791

Sollitt, J. E 1172

Solon, Anthony W. 994

Solon, Will A. '- 858

Soop, Ira 879

Stage, Theodore J. 845

Stamp, Joseph B. 762

Stearns, Mrs. Evelyn (Pease) 766

Stearns, Dr. Pleasant S. 1040

Steelsmith, Daniel C, M. D. 1188

Steinbeck, John 955

Stoelting, Alfred A. 1138

Strampe, Fred 1313

Strampe, Henry 1289

Strampe, Willifm 1283

Strit, John 751

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

Sweeney, James F. 1305

Swensen, Peter 892

Tagge, Albert 921

Taylor, E. M. 820

Thatcher, William J. E. 757

Thietje, John 1045

Tierney, Frank W. 1151

Tow, Severt L. 1280

Townsend, James E. 728

Trainer, Dr. M. M. 798

Turnbull, William W. 816

Van Epps, Cornelius V. 824

Vogel, William C. 927

Vos, Garrett 1310

Voss, William T. F. K. 1062

Wagner, William 958

Walter, George W. 1058

Ward, George W. 794

Ward, John C. 1227

Wassman, Herman 1299

Waterhouse, George W. 1080

Weal, John 1025

Webster, Benjamin F. 1291

Webster, James S. 917

Weinke, Albert H. 983

Whitney, David 1265

Wiechner, Theodore 1013

Wilkinson, Noah C. 1120

Williams, Henry L. 781

Wilson, Lyman F. 964

Winkler, Frank P., M. D. 810

Winterfield, A. C. 851

Wolf, Henry 1158

Wolf, Jacob H. 898

Wolf, John __1101

Wollenberg, Louis 1019

Woodman, Lewis 1026

Woods, Paul C. 885

Woods, Mrs. Roma W 1222

Woods, William H. 1222

Wright, Edgar 969

Young, Ruben W. 1146

Youngers, Louis 856

Yungbluth, Michael ^__1070

Zahn, Henry 1065

Zimmerman, Theodore 878

i-"- V XJjL aJ .

. ASTC X

TiLDrr (ON^

Sn>^ ^^ ^ J^. ^^/ii'StTzs ^^ - ■

BIOGRAPHICAL

J. L. E. PECK.

J. L. E. Peck was horn August i8. 1852, at Kilhvorth-on-the-Thames,
near London. Middlesex county. Ontario, dominion of Canada. His great-
grandfather. Jacoh Peck, was horn in 1770. 'and his grandfather. Washing-
ton Peck, was horn April 12. 1801. each in Massachusetts, and each removed
west near Toronto. Canada, about 1825. Washington Peck was a rover all
his life and had a large family, four daughters and three sons, namely:
Elizabeth Whifhn. of Barnia. Canada: Mary Ann Banghart, of Tucson, Ari-
zona: Emma (.olvin. of Los Angeles. California: Jane Keys, of Colorado;
David -\l)bott Peck, of Xorthlioro, Iowa : Egerton E. Peck, of Westboro,
Missouri, and Edmond G. Peck, a frontiersman of the west as early as 1849,
when but twelve years of age. Washington Peck and family made two over-
land trips with ox team across the ])lains, tirst in 1852 and again in 1857-
185c), returning via Panama, and at times resided in Canada. Wisconsin,
Alichigan. Illinois. Missouri, Arizona, LTah, California, and rounded up in
Centralia. ^^'ashington, where he spent his last twenty-five years, and from
Avhich he was sent to the Territorial Legislature about 1865. The whole
familv being coopers they all spent eighteen months at Salt Lake and made
tip for Brigham Young a large amount of what were known as wooden
bolts into barrels, tubs, buckets and other vessels, and made one of the strikes
of his life so far as money was concerned, in that then wild country where
such articles could not be procured.

Da\id A. Peck, the father of J. L. E. Peck, was born November 29,
1829, near Toronto, Canada, and grew up a cooper by trade, which he con-
tinued for some ^■ears. and then cut down and cleared up a heavily w^ooded
farm of one hundred acres near London. In 1862. with his family and the
subject of this sketch, he emigrated to Atchison count3\ Missouri, near Rock-
port. Later on. during the war. under a prevalent fear that the lands of
rebels would be confiscated in Missouri and that the titles would be bad, he
moved to Page county. Iowa, and bought a farm, then largely prairie, at
two dollars and fifty cents per acre, on which he resided thirty-five years, until
his death. December 8. 1897. and on which his youngest son. David Arthur

/J 6 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Peck, born November 27, 1872. still li\es and owns the old homestead.
David Peck spent much of his life as local preacher, establishing churches
and Sunday schools and doing other church work in northern Missouri and
Page county, Iowa. His \\ife was Eliza Jane Carey Peck, a cousin of the
poets, Alice and Phoebe Carey. Her mother was Beulah Foster Carey and
her father Francis King Care}', residing at Killworth. Canada. Benjamin
Foster, great-grandfather of J. L. E. Puck, was killed at the battle of Lundy's
Lane, fighting on the American side in the War of 1812. The great-grand-
father, Francis Carey, was three months on the ocean coming over from
Ireland and experienced a shipwreck, in which the passengers had to take
possession and manage the sailing vessel. He settled near Albany, New
York, and was a contractor on the stone work on the capitol building.

The family of David A. Peck consisted of J. L. E. Peck, the oldest;
Edward Washington Peck, of Pasadena, California; Robert E. Peck, hard-
ware merchant, and David Arthur Peck, each of Northboro, Iowa, and
Johanna Peck Mawhinney and ^linnie Peck Blanchard. sisters, each de-
ceased in 1902. A daughter, Ida, aged sixteen, died November 27, 1870.

The subject of this sketch attended the district schools until fourteen
years of age, then took a course of three years at the academy at College
Springs, Iowa. At seventeen he commenced teaching school in the rural
schools, and taught five years. This Ijeing the period of the growing up of
the early families, he had large schools of sixty or more. He then took a
course at the State University of Iowa, at Iowa City, and graduated there
June 16, 1874. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. He formed a
partnership at the law ^^•itl^ Eric P. Johnson, at Decorah, Iowa, and remained
there nearly three years. He arrived in Primghar June ly, 1877, and on
September i, 1877, formed a partnershi]) in law with Isaac AA'. Daggett,
which continued about one year. Later he had his office in the bank building
of lohn R. Pumphrey. On July 30, 1878, he met with an accident, breaking
his left limb, a compotmd fracture, which, on account of bad surgery, left
him lame for life. This left him in del)t nine hundred dollars. He got back
to work in 1879, just as the campaign for county offices was opening, and at
once took part in the agitations of the county and was elected for two terms
as county auditor, ser^'ing from 1880 to 1884. The main questions and
items during his two terms of office and in which he participated, were the
rebonding of the old county debt of two hundred thousand dollars, and re-
ducing the rate of interest on same from ten to se^'en per cent. It took
seventeen thousand signatures by himself as auditor to sign up those bonds
and coupons. He took part in the second trial year and subsecpient years in

\. K m

O ERIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 717

getting the county on a cash basis. He sold eleven of the sixteen sections
of school land and loaned the proceeds under the state laws. He took part,
as auditor, in the largest tax sale of about thirty thousand dollars ever held
in the county. Air. feck, as auditor, laid out and established eight hundred
miles of roadways, on section lines on the then prairies, it being done when
land was cheap, that nn damages would be asked for. As auditor he or-
ganized Dale, I'nion and Omega townships and named the latter.

On June 15, 1882, Air. Peck was married to Alice Wilkinson, of West-
boro, Missouri, and they commenced keeping house in Primghar June 24th.
Their immediate family consists of two daughters. Demia Eliza Peck, born
October 11. 1884. and Beulah Frances Peck, born February 8, f886. One
son, George David Peck, died when five months old. Alice Blanchard, born
July 7, 1895, the child of his sister Alinnie, has been raised in the family
since 1903, and is now a teacher in the rural schools of the county. Ralph
Carey Mawhinney. a son of his sister Johanna, was raised in part in the
family from twehe to seventeen years of age.

George Harmon Wilkinson, the father of Airs. J. L. E. Peck, was born
February 27. 1830, in Seneca county, New York, and died at \\'estboro,
Missouri, February 2, 1913, and with h^*? wife, Demia E. Wilkinson, resided
with his daughter in Primghar for ten years. The grandfather of Alice
Peck, John Wilkinson, was a Alethodist minister, born in 1794. Likewise
her great-grandfather, also a John Wilkinson, resided in Seneca county,
Xew York, the family later removing and settling near Tiffin, Seneca county,
Ohio, this great-grandfather being a soldier ii? the Revolutionary War on the
American side. A sister of Airs. Peck, Elmetta E. Wilkinson, resides with
her in Primghar. I-Yank B. Wilkinson, her brother, resides at Westboro,
AIis.souri. He was married to Alary E. Rerick. daughter of ex-County Re-
corder Isaac L. Rerick, of Primghar. They have three sons, George Kerick
Wilkinson, aged twelve years, Burdette hYank \\^ilkinson, aged ele^■en \cars.
and Everett Wilkinson, aged nine years.

J. L. E. Peck has been a member of the board of education twenty-four
of his thirty-seven years in Primghar. and president of same about fifteen
years of that time. He was referee in bankruptcy under appointment (^f
Hon. Oliver P. Shiraz. United States district judge of the northern district
of Iowa, from August. 1898. to September, 1903, and acted in niiK^ty-one
bankruptcy proceedings. He has been commissioner ^f insanity for thirty
of the thirty-seven years, and has acted in the commitment of about six hun-
dred persons to the several state hospitals. He was mayor of Primghar two
years, 1896- 1897. and a member of the town council nine years. He was

7l8 o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

one of the ten men who signed the guaranty to the Ilhnois Central Railroad
to furnish twenty-two miles of right of way from Archer to the Cherokee
county line, and thirteen acres for depot grounds at Primghar. He has prac-
ticed law during all the years. He has participated in much of the court and
public records. In the early years he did mucli abstracting on each of the
six sets of abstracts of title in the county, and has examined hundreds of
abstracts for land purchasers in many states. He was cashier and manager
of the Primghar State Bank for four years, 1 886-1 890, and has been a stock-
holder and director in the Primghar Savings Bank since it started in 1894.
In brief, he has participated in scores of the sundry county afifairs as de-
tailed in this history.

In 1903, with his family. Air. Peck removed to Indianola,.Iowa, to give
his daughters the privileges of Simpson College. After their graduation
there he returned to Primghar in 1907. During his time there he was a
member of its city council, practiced law, and its mayor, B. F. Clayton,
being absent one year in Europe, Wr. Peck actetl in his place by appointment.
He has dealt much in land, and ha^ farmed much both in O'Brien and Dick-
inson counties, in this state, and for twelve years also in the Red River
valle\ ; in fact, since 1901 has farmed each year more than one thousand acres
in crops.

He was partner of David Algyer in 1894. and in the latter part of that
year was formed the law. loan and abstract firm of Peck, Artherholt &
Ingham, composed of himself, AA'^ade W. Artherholt and Clarence W. Ing-
ham. This continued until i8q8. He was later partner with Mr. Artherholt.
as Peck & Artherholt, after returning from Indianola. In 1891. with F. M.
McCormack ("Pomp"'), he wrote up tw^enty-four chapters of a histor\ of
O'Brien county, which were then published in the O'Brien County Bell, and
just now (1914) is one of the editors of this later history of the countv. His
full name is Tohn Licinius Everett Peck.

JOHN McCANDLESS.

A man's achievements generalh- depend upon his inherent ability to
seize hold upon opportunity and divert it to the channels in which he is
special!}- proficient. This proficiency of man is notably enhanced by the de-
velopment of the brain activity and a broadening of the faculties through edu-
cation. While man}' men have made splendid success without a college

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 719

education, it is noteworthy that a man is more able to grasp an opportunity
and turn its course to his immediate personal advantage if he has been
blessed with good mental training. This will enlarge his horizon and
temper liis impulses as nothing else will. The marked success which has
characterized the life work of John McCandless, of Sheldon, Iowa, is due
to his strong personality, wide and humane sympathy and understanding,
and to the fact that he has had the advantages of an excellent education.
Descended from a long line of intelligent forbears of Scotch ancestry, he
belongs to the best class of citizenship in his county.

John McCandless, the president of the Empire Loan and Trust Com-
pany, of Sheldon. Iowa, was born Alay ii. 1855, ^^ ^ farm in Allegheny
county, Pennsylvania. His parents, Philip and Margaret ( Stonecipher)
AlcCandless, were of Scotch ancestry, the first member of the family coming
to this countrv in 1808. The McCandless farm in Alleohenv countv. Penn-
syhania, has been in continuous possession of the family for four genera-
tions, the original dci^d to the land l)eing dated 1808. Philip McCandless
and wife, who are buried on the old homestead, reared three children to
lives of usefulness and honor: Margaret. George and John. Margaret is
the wife of A. C. McGill. a prominent and wealthy banker of Montezuma,
Iowa. George lixed in Pennsylvania on the home farm until his death in
1912.

John McCandless was reared to manhood in the county of his birth.
He finished the local schools and then entered Washington and JelTerson
College, from which institution he graduated with the degree of Bachelor
of Arts in the spring of 1877. After leaving college he went to Pitts-
burgh, wiiere he read law for two years, and then entered the University
of Michigan hu\ school. He completed his legal education in this ex-
cellent school and was at once admitted to the practice of his profession
in Michigan. Upon his return to his native state he was admitted to
practice in all the courts of that state, but left the state before he tried
to l)uil(l u]) a clientage.

The connection of Mr. McCandless with Iowa began in 1880. when he
came to Montezuma and started in to practice law, and at the same time
conduct a loan business. He continued to live in Montezuma until 1892,
when he located in Sheldon. Iowa, and became connected with the Empire
Loan and Investment Company. This company was organized in 1880 by
C. S. McLaurie. George W. Schee and Edward Brown, and during the
tliirty-four years of its career has negotiated many millions of farm loans
without a dollar's loss to its clients. This company is a unicjue organiza-

720 O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

tiu.i in many ways. Its motto is "Steadfastness" and its business is ser-
N'ice. Under one management, conservative and efficient, there have been
grouped four departments and over each is placed an expert whose ser-
vices are for the use of the cHents of the company. The four depart-
ments of the company are as follows: Financial, real estate, legal and in-
surance. The financial department loans money on carefully selected farms
in northwestern Tnva, southeastern Minnesota and eastern Dakota, a fann-
ing district that has r.o equal in the world, buys mortgages and other paper
secured b}' real estate; pays the highest current rates on time deposits, which
are invested in first mortgages, and offers for sale at all times mortgages
from five hundred dollars and upward. The real estate department of the
company supervises tlie buying and selling of real estate; appraises real
and personal property ; cares for the rental and maintenance of property
owned by non-residents, and at all times has land for sale, in the territory
in which they are making loans. The legal department of the company
execute private and judicial trusts; acts as guardian, executor, receiver, trus-
tee and administrator; draws deeds, contracts, wills and other legal docu-
ments, gives legal advice and makes a specialty of examining abstracts and
perfecting titles. The fourth department of the company is insurance. They
are in a position to give all forms of insurance, farm, fire, tornado, auto-
mobile, liability and life insurance. They also sell bonds for all occupations.

This company was reorganized March i, 1914, with the following offi-
cers : John ]McCandless, president ; E. B. Starrett, vice-president ; C. O. But-
ton, treasurer; Edward C. Starrett, secretary. Mr. McCandless had been the
secretar}-treasurer of the company from 1892 until the time of his election
t(j the i)resi(lenc_\' of the compau} . His election is a tribute to the excel-
lent work he has done for the company during the twenty-two years he has
been connected with it. y\r. McCandless is 1ieavil\- interested in the Emjjire
Loan and Trust Companv and also ha^ large i)ri\ ate land holdings in Iowa and
adjoining states.

Mr. AlcCandless was married in 1884 to Kate L. Buchanan, of Washing-
ton, Pennsyhania. She is the daughter of Robert and Margaret Buchanan.
To Mr. and ]\Irs. ?^IcCandless have been born tluxe children : Robert B..
a l)'niker of Fu]t')n, Sotitli Dakota: ?^Iaroaret, the librarian of the , Shel-
don public library, and Bethana. Hie tamih- are co'!sis:;ent mtmbers of the
Congregational church and are greatl}' interested in church work.

The Re])ublican party has claimed the support of Mr. McCandless. but
the stress of business has been so heavy that he has never been active in
political affairs. However, he is deeply interested in good government and

o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 72I

leiuls his aid to all measures which will secure it. iM-atenially, he is a
member of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. McCandless is a man of upright and moral character, active in re-
ligious circles and kindly disposed toward those less fortunate than himself.
He is a fine type of the American citizen who lives a full and complete life
and O'Brien county honors it?ell in placing him among the representative
men of his county.

WILLIAM BRIGGS.

That industry and sound judgment, combined with a wise economy,
both of time and monoy. are the surest contributing elements to success, is
exemplified in the life of William Briggs, president of the Primghar Savings
Bank. Success in this life naturally comes to the deserving, because of their
possession of the necessary attributes and the ability to succeed along a well
defined line of endea\or. A great number of the men of standing in every
community are self-made, having started at the bottom of the ladder and
worked upward. Such a man is William Briggs, of whom this brief review
is written.

Mr. Briggs was born October 25. i860, in England, the son of Stephen
and Sarah (Holmes) Briggs, who emigrated to Lyons, Clinton county,
Iowa, in 1861, while William was yet an infant. Stephen Briggs engaged in
N'arious occupations at Clinton and was for a period of years proprietor of
a ferry across the Mississippi river, between Lyons, Iowa, and Fulton, Illi-
nois, having built the new boat. "J- P- Gage." He prospered during his
active life and at the time of his death was president of the First National
Bank and Lyons Savings Bank of Lyons. Iowa. He died in Lyons in 1912.
He was the father of six children, as follows : Mary, who died in England ;
Albert, a resident of Illinois; Harry, also of Illinois; Arthur, a real estate
man at Lyons, Iowa ; Mrs. Robert Blake, who lives in Chicago, and William.

William Briggs received his education in the public and high schools
of Lyons. Iowa, and when still young entered the employ of the First
National Bank of Lyons. He was but a little over sixteen years of age
when he entered this bank and was afterwards promoted to the position
of teller. In 1896 he came to Primghar and became president of the
Primghar Savings Bank. He is engaged to a considerable extent in the
buying and selling of lands and controls a large acreage. He is a Republican
in politics and is enterprising and progressive.

yil O BRIEN AND (XSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

The Prinighar Savings Bank was organized November 15, 1894. by
William Briggs, John H. Archer, George W. Schee and others. The paid
up capital is $30,000, with a surplus of $10,000 and undivided profits of
$5,600. The deposits are in excess of $175,000. The bank owns its own
building, a handsome brick structure erected in 1894 at a cost of $8,000, and
has considerable real estate holdings, consisting of city property, lands, etc.
The present ofiicers are: \\ illiam Briggs, president; John H. Archer, of
Sheldon, Iowa, vice-president, and who is also vice-president of the First
National Bank of Sheldon, Iowa, and president of the Bank of Archer; L.
T. Aldinger, cashier; J. L. E. Peck, D. H. Smith, William Briggs, John
H. Archer and .L. T. Aldinger. directors. The correspondents of this
flourishing concern are the First National Bank of Sheldon, Iowa, and the
Corn Exchange National Bank of Chicago. It also keeps an account with
the Peoples' Trust and Savings Bank of Clinton. Iowa, and Sanborn Savings
Bank of Sanborn. Iowa.

OTTO HILLOCK MONTZHEIMER.

No profession offers greater opportunities fc:>r honorable and distin-
guished career than that of the law. Neither does any other profession
require greater preparation or more profound ability on the ])art of the ])er-
son who enters the legal profession as a means of attaining eminence and
emoluments of a high order. Few avenues forming the open sesame \o suc-
cess are closed to the able and gifted attorney ; he is. b)' \irtue of his knowl-
edge of the science of government and the niceties and intricacies of law. a
leader; because of his training, he becomes the adviser of business concerns
and is frequently the trusted and efficient coadjutor of those who do things
on a large scale. We place the lawyers in our high places and bestow upon
them qualified powers as administrators of government : we reward those
among this great fraternity who exhibit capabilities which fit then.i for places
of honor and distinction. This \olume would be incomplete were it not to
contain a resume of the life of Otto Hillock Montzheimer, a leader of the
bar in O'Brien county and an attorney of exceptional attainments.

Mr. Montzheimer was born February 16, 1867, in the to\^■n of Shar])s-
burg, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Julius Herman Montzheimer, a native
of Minden. kingdom of Prussia, Germany, and who was born IMarch 13, 1834.
J. H. was the son of Frederick Montzheimer, born in 1794. in Koenigsburg.
Prussia, and Emily Renschuch Montzheimer, a native of the city of Berlin,
where she was born in 1800. Julius emigrated to America in 1858, and on

<D->:^^'

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 723

Xovember 6, i860, was married to Isabelle Belle Hillock, a native of Michi-
gan. He is the father of the following children: Marie Powell, of Law^-
rence, Kansas; Frederick, who died in infancy; Otto H. ; Arthur, of Joliet,
Illinois, chief engineer of Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company, and
James L., of Newport, Washington.

Julius H. Montzheimer enlisted August 16, 1861, as private secretary
to the renowned General Sigel, and was mustered into the service at St.
Louis, Alissouri, September 3, 1861. He became a member of Company K,
Seventeenth Regiment Missouri Volunteer Infantry. On December 30, 1861,
he was commissioned second lieutenant, said commission to date from Sep-
tember 3d. He was promoted to a first lieutenancy of Company E, of the
Seventeenth Missouri X'olunteer Regiment. Xovember i. 1862. and acted as
secretary to General Sigel. who was then in command of a brigade. He was
appointed aide-de-camp on Sigel's staft' in December of 1861 : in May of
1862 he was assigned to the staff of General Osterhaus. He contracted
malarial fever in Helena. Arkansas. He participated in the following bat-
tles : Bentonville. Missouri, on March 2. 1862: Pea Ridge and numerous
skirmishes. He suffered injury through a fall from his horse near Rolla,
Missouri, Xo^'ember 19, 1861 ; received a flesh wound in the right thigh
from ambush June 2g. 1862. w^hile on the march frc^m Jacksonport to Helena;
was engaged in a skirmish at Salem. Missouri, while on a march to escort
General Sigel to Batesville. Arkansas, in May, 1862. He resigned on account
of disability and was discharged December 4. 1862. After retiring from
active engagements he resided for some time at Gallup. Xew Mexico, and
later at Burbank. California, where he died September 25. 1913.

Otto H. ^Montzheimer. with whom this narrative is directly concerned,
was educated in the public and high schools of Webster City. Iowa, and
graduated in June. 1885. He decided to take up the profession of law and
studied for one year in the law department of the State University at Iowa
City. In ]March, 1888. he was admitted to the practice of law and located in
Primghar May 22, 1888. Since coming to O'Brien county his rise has been
rapid, and he is rated as one of the most successful practitioners and men of
substance in the county and in western Iowa. His vocations are varied and
he handles considerable land and real estate on his own account. Mr.
Montzheimer is corporation attorney for the five railroads entering O'Brien
county, and his legal duties require his absence from home a great deal of
his time. His private law practice likewise requires his presence at frequent
intervals in the surrounding counties.

(47)

7^4 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Politically, Mr. Montzheimer is allied with the Republican part}' and.
Avhile he has never desired nor sought political preferment, he has rendered
substantial assistance to his friends who have had political ambitions. For
a number of years he has been a member of the board of insanity commis-
sioners and is vice-president of the First National Bank of Primghar. In
1909 he wrote and compiled, with the assistance of George W. Schee, a
"Biographical Data and Army Record of the Old Soldiers of O'Brien
County." This valuable work is found in the home of ever}- veteran in
O'Brien county and also in the homes of man_v of the citizens and is prized
very highly.

Mr. Montzheimer is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity,
being at present master of Rising Star Lodge of Masons at Primghar; for
twelve years past he has served as high priest of the local chapter of Roval
Arch Masons; is a Knight Templar, and a member of the Consistory, being
a Mason of the thirty-second degree. He is an influential member of the
Congregational church of his home city, and is a strong advocate of temper-
ance and good moral living, lending his influence in this direction at every
opportunity.

Mr. Montzheimer was wedded July 10, 1891, to Jennie Fenton, of
Webster City, Iowa, who is the daughter of Charles and Lyde A. Fenton,
residents of Webster City.

This review is intended as an appreciation of Mr. Montzheimer's ac-
complishments and, while deficient in a proper presentation of the manv
striking and capable qualities in which he excels, it may serve as an inspira-
tion and guidance for the young men of the present day who are seeking to
attain eminence in one of the learned professions. No man who has been
identified with the history of O'Brien county is more worthy of an honored
place in this work than he.

HARRY C. MAY.

Success is onlv achieved by the exercise of certain distinguishing traits
and it can not be retained without effort. It is often found that heredity
has an important bearing upon the destiny of the individual, but in the
main his success depends to a greater extent upon the cultivation of his
talents and upon the exercise of persistent and indefatigable industry toward
the attainment of a certain goal. Those who have succeeded in reaching
a place of prestige and have retained the esteem of their fellows have be-

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 7^5

gun earl}' in life the struggle for supremacy. Nowadays men usuall\- ob-
tain official position in their home community through being the known
possessors of ability, such as will commend them peculiarly to the successful
conduct of the duties to which they are assigned by the people. A man
of this class is Harry C. May, county treasurer of O'Brien county, who
is a pronounced example of self-made manhood and who enjoys the repu-
tation of being a conscientious, dignified and honest public official through-
out the length and breadth of the county.

Mr. Alay was born on a farm in Whiteside county, Illinois, January 22,
1858. His earl}- liome was located near the town of Como. His father
was Henry ]\Iay, a nati\e of Massachusetts, and his mother was Martha
Currier, born in Boston, Massachusetts, February 20, 1822, and died Sep-
tember 9, 1894. The May family in America originated with Capt. John
J. May. who came from the town of Mayfield, England, in 1640 and set-
tled in Boston, Massachusetts, with his two sons, John and Samuel. A
sister of John J. May became the wife of Gov. William Bradford. The
]\Ia}'s were thorough Puritans and were long prominently identified with
the Puritan colony. John May (11), the direct ancestor of Harry C. May,
born in 1628, became a freeman in 1660, was a prominent and strong figure
in the colonial life of Massachusetts and participated in the Boston Tea
Partv. John ]\lay (ni) was a selectman and a deacon of the Roxbury
church. Benjamin May (IV) was a plain farmer who lived on Jamaica
Plain. His tombstone still stands in the cemetery at the corner of Wash-
ington and Eustice streets. Benjamin's first wife Avas a daughter
of Stephen W^illiams. Lemuel ^Nlay (V) was a farmer of Ja-
maica Plain and occupied the greater part of the whole of the May
estate, which had been in the family for three generations. Benjamin May
( \'I ) was also a farmer. Henry (VII) was reared in Boston and was a
wheelwright who built and operated the stage coach "Osceola," which plied
from West Roxbury to Boston for a number of years. He was later a
"FortA-niner.'" made a trip to California and made some money in the gold
fields. He remained in the West for three years, and then emigrated with his
wife and family to Illinois and engaged in farming. He died February 12.
1889, having been ])orn October 19, 18 15. He w^as the father of three
children: Maiy Olds, of Rock Falls, Iowa; William, of Milford, Iowa, and
Harry C.

From John May, who came to America in 1640, have descended the
greater part of those who have born the name of May in New England and
carried it to all parts of the country. A book printed in England in 1694,

726 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

entitled "Worthies of Sussex, England," places the home of the May family
at Alavheld, a town in Sussex, and ascribes a Portuguese origin to the
Mays.

Harrv C. May was educated in the public schools at Como and pur-
sued a commercial course in Records & Bradford's Commercial College in
Boston. He came West after graduation and located in Sac county in
1880. His first crop was killed In- an early fall of snow, he having sixty
acres of land sown to flax, which was destro}'ed. He sold out and came
to O'Brien county and began clerking in a general store at Hartley. For
several years he was employed in stores at Hartley and Sanborn. He was
elected clerk of the district court in the fall of 1905 and served four years.
He was then employed as bookkeeper in the Primghar Savings Bank for
four years. In the fall of 191 2 he was elected county treasurer and took
up his official duties January i, 1913. He is the owner of three hundred and
twenty acres of good land in Minnesota.

Mr. May is politically allied with the Republican party. He is a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the encampment at San-
b(jrn. and is religiously associated with the Congregational church.

Mr. May has twice been married, his first marriage being with Ella
Brumley on Xoveml)er 22, 1887. She died on February 2/. 1890. His
second wife is ^Irs. Hattie Richards, wliom he married Xovember 2=,, 1894,
and who has two daughters by a former marriage. Ella and .\lta. ]\lr. Alay
is well liked, sociable, accommodating and a prime fa\'orite among his many
acciunintances and friends.

RALPH T. HINMAN.

Banking has ever been considered the most important of commercial
occupations. Xo institutions ha\'e contributed more to the development and
upbuilding of the western coiuitr\' than the banking concerns. The banks of
O'Brien county, without exception, are bulwarks of strength and stability,
and have been the mainstay and support of the municipalities and the country
roiuid about in important ways. The First Xational Bank, of which Mr.
Hinman is the official head, ranks high among the similar institutions in
the countv. To be head of such an important concern calls for exceptional
ability and attainments such as will command and carry the respect of as-
sociate banks and the patrons. The president of the First XFational Bank
of Primghar carries, easily and in a dignified manner, the responsibilities

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. ^ Z^

engendered through the important duties he has to perform. His abihty is
unquestioned ; he possesses a profound aptitude for the banking business, and
has achieved a pronounced success in his chosen field.

Ralph T. Hinman was born October 15, 1867. in Albion, Marshall
countv. Iowa, the son of John F. Hinman and Ellen A. (Foote) Hinman.
extended review^s of whom appear in this work. He was educated in the
common schools and, like his father before him. became a farmer. He
came to O'Brien county with his parents in the year of 1882 and resided
on the family farm in Baker township until the removal of the family
to Primghar, in 1893. Air. Hinman devoted ])art of a summer season
in the emplo}' of an implement concern in Sheldon. He was in the emplo}-
of T- S. Nye, of Primghar, for some time and then entered the employ
of George W. .Schee, who was engaged in banking and the land business.
He remained in Schee's employ until Mr. Schee sold out his holdings in the
Primghar State Bank, and upiMi the organization of the Primghar Savings
Bank he was employed ])\- tliis concern for a time. July 8, 1896, he fomied
a partnership with George R. Whitmer, for the purpose of conducting
a private ban.k known as the Farmers Bank. Mr. W^hitmer was president
and Mr. Hinman was the cashier. Some years later this bank was merged
into the Farmers National Bank, with a capital of thirty thousand dollars.
with Mr. Whitmer as president: W. A. Sanford as vice-president, and Mr.
Hinman as cashier. Mr. Whitmer eventually sold his interest to George
R. Slocum, after which the consolidation of the First National and the
Farmers National Banks took place. This was efifected December 5, 1904.
with R. T. Hinman as cashier: H. \\". Smith, president, and O. H. Alontz-
heimer. vice-president. In January, 1913. Mr. Hinman was elected presi-
dent of the concern. He is interested in considerable farm land and is the
owner of si.x hundred and forty acres in O'Brien county, with a half inter-
est in four hundred acres in Minnesota and also has lands in Oregon.

Mr. Hinman was married October 4, 1898, to Harriet Hill, daughter of
fraternally connected with the blue lodge. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,
the chapter, commandery, and the Mystic Shriners. He is a frequent at-
tendant and a liberal supporter of the Congregational church.

Mr. Hinman was married October 4, 1898, to Harriet Hill, daughter of
Roland Hill, formerly of Alton, Iowa, but now a resident of South Dakota.
They have one child, Doris M., born July 15. j8qq. and now a student in
the Primghar high school.

The First National Bank, of which Mr. Hinman is the efficient presi-
dent, was practicall}- organized in 1889, the charter being issued November

728 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

I ith of that }'ear. Tlie first president was Frank H. Robinson ; vice-president,
Charles H. Slociim. The capital stock was $50,000. In the year 1913 the
bank's statement disclosed the following facts: Capital, $50,000; surplus,
$10,000: resources, including deposits, $300,000; undivided profits, $15,000.
The bank is the owner of its own quarters and the business is conducted in a
handsome, two-story brick building, erected in 1902 at a cost of $10,000. In
19 1 2 the interior was completely remodeled and new fixtures installed, with
a new and modem safe, large vault with safety deposit boxes, etc., at a cost
of $8,000. This bank is one of the best equipped for the transaction of busi-
ness in northwestern Iowa. Considerable real estate is held in fee simple
by the bank, consisting of lands, city lots, and buildings which have also been
charged off with the fixtures. This concern has connections with the First
National Bank of Cherokee, and the H. W. Smith and Ed Smith Bank, of
Morrison, Illinois. The present officers are: R. Hinman, president; Roy
King, cashier : O. H. Montzheimer. ^ice-president ; R. T. Hinman. O. H.
Montzheimer, W. H. San ford, of Cherokee, Roy King and H. W. Smith,
directors.

JAMES E. TO\A'NSEND.

An enumeration of those men of Osceola county, Iowa, who have won
honor and public recognition for themselves and at the same time have hon-
ored the localities to which they belong, will find James E. Townsend occu-
pying a conspicuous place in the list. The same qualities which have made
him one of the prominent and successful men of his county have also brought
him the esteem of his fellow men, while his career has been one of well-di-
rected energy and honorable methods. As a township official, as a county
official and as a city official he has ever striven for the best interests
of his fellow citizens, and in no way has he fallen short of that high sense of
duty which should actuate every good American citizen.

James E. Townsend, a resident of Osceola county for the past forty-two
years, was born on a farm in Michigan on February 14, 1843. His parents,
Eletham and Eliza (Tedman) Townsend, were nati\-es of New York and Con-
necticut, respecti\el}', l^oth families ])eing earlv settlers in Ncav York state.
Shortly after they were married, Eletham Townsend and his wife moved to
Michigan, reared their children in that state and lived there the remainder
of their days. They were the parents of nine children : Sherman, a resident
of Michigan; Judson, who lives in Spokane, Washington; Rufus, of Green-

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 729

wood, Wisconsin; James E., whose life history is here recorded and five
deceased.

James E. Townsend was educated in the schools of Michigan and lived
with his parents until twenty-three years of age. He then traveled for a few
years in the West for the purpose of seeing the country and incidentally
looked for an opening where he might settle. He married in 1871 and two
years later decided to permanently locate in Osceola county, Iowa. He
reached this county March 17, 1873, and located on section 8, Oilman town-
ship, and obtained government patent No. 9842. He erected a little, four-
teen by twenty-four-foot house and here he and his young wife started to
make their fortune upon the wide and trackless prairies which they had en-
tered. They managed to live through the grasshopper years, which were so
trying to every one in this section of the state, and within a few years were
on the high road to prosperity. In the eighties Mr. Townsend began to in-
crease his land holdings and subsequently owned four hundred and eighty
acres in Oilman township, which he still retains. It is not possible for the
farmer of today to realize the discouragements which met the early farmers
of this county, and for this reason the life history of these pioneer farmers
is interesting to the present generation. It is sufficient to say that Mr. Town-
send and his wife faced all of their discouragements with bra\-e hearts and
have lived to see the land which they entered become a prosperous farm,
yielding handsome returns. When the bank at Ashton, in Oilman township,
was organized Mr. Townsend took an active part and is now the vice-presi-
dent of that financial institution.

Mr. Townsend was married in October, 187 1, to Emma C. Jones, a na-
tive of Michigan and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Jones, and to this
marriage have been l)i)rn six children: Clara, a trained nurse of Ashton,
Iowa; E. B., who lives in South Dakota; Frank, who is living near Berk-
shire, New York; James, a tarmer of Oilman township, this county; Oeorge,
of Murdo, South Dakota, and Robert, who is now operating his father's farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Townsend have nine grandchildren, Ruth, Frances, Elizabeth,
John, Margaret, James III, Roberta, Richard and Helen.

Mr. Townsend has always taken an active part in Republican politics,
and has been honored by his party on several occasions by being elected to
township and county official positions. In his home township he lias ])een
justice of the peace, trustee and president of the school board. In 1891 he was
elected treasurer of Osceola county, and was subsequently re-elected, filling
that important office to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of the county.
After moving to Ashton he was elected mayor of that city in the spring of

y^O O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

1911 and administered the duties of that office in a way that marked him as
a man of abihty. In all of these positions he has exerted himself in favor of
the best measures and has been a determined foe of grafting of every sort,
and for this reason he is held in high esteem bv the citizens of the countv.
irrespective of their political affiliations. Fraternally, he is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being one of the oldest members of this
order in the county. Such is the historv^ of James E. Townsend, one of the
grand old men of Osceola county, a man who braved the dangers and hard-
ships of a new. country and who had the foresight to see the future possibili-
ties of this rich farming country. The brave and unselfish lives of such men
as he will lie' remembered long by their descendants, and for this reason their
careers are fittingly preser\-ed in this \-olume.

WILLIA.AI J. MILLER.

One of the best known and l(j\ed men of Osceola county was the late
William J. Miller, who died on July 17, 1914, at his home in Sibley, Iowa.
He was born on a ship bearing the United States flag while his parents were
coming from Ireland, their native land, to this country, his birth occurring
on November 7, 1844. He was reared to manhood in the state of New York
and received an excellent education in Potsdam, Xew York, graduating from
the Saint Lawrence 'Academy in that city. He entered the teaching pro-
fession in the state of New York and followed that profession in Xew York
until 1872. He then went west and located in Sibley. Iowa> where he lived
the remainder of his life. He taught in the .schools of Sibley for several
years and then served his count}- in various official capacities. He filled the
office of superintendent of the Osceola county schools for a number of years
in a very creditable manner. His next official position was that of clerk of
the county and he adnfinistered the duties of this office in an efficient and
painstaking manner, giving his fellow citizens honest and conscientious
service. For the past sixteen years he had officiated as justice of peace in
connection with his insurance business. After leaving the office of countv
clerk he engaged in the in-^urance business, and for twenty years was the
financial correspondent for the Connecticut Life Insurance Company for
the negotiation of farm loans. He had built up a large and lucrative business
for this company by his careful and conservative methods.

Mr. Miller was married to Frances H. Perrv in Potsdam, New York, in

j'l^ i^r^a:^ ifT/zfivat ^Br^jvy

14.11 €1 in

£xT-'

Tl'

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 73 1

August. 1868. The one child born to this union died when two years of age.
The only other relati\-e which Mr. Miller left in this countv is a brother,
J. O. Miller, of Sibley. Mr. Miller was a regular attendant of the Congrega-
tional church and always \-er\- much interested in its welfare. Fraternally, he
was a lo_\al memljer of the Ancient Free and Accepted Alasons, and the
Sible} lodge attended the funeral in a body and performed the Masonic
services at the grave.

The life of this e.xcellent citizen was singularly free from e\'ervthing
which miglit bring censure upon himself and that he was held in high esteem
by his fellow citizens is well shown by a glowing tribute paid his memorv
by the Flon. J. F. Glo\er. one of his closest friends. In view of the fact that
this summary of Mr. Miller's career was written by one of his most intimate
friends and a man who appreciated his worth it is here given in full as pub-
lished in the Sibley Gazette on July 23, 19 14:

"In the death of William J. Miller, pioneer of Osceola countv and Sib-
ley, the entire community received a distinct shock and suffered a distinct
loss. ]\Ir. Miller, as a homesteader, as a teacher, as a county official, as at all
times a prominent citizen, has left wide circles of friends to mourn his loss.
as well as his more immediate famih-. He was a man who made friends and
held them. As a youth he was desirous of an education. As a student he
was diligent; as a teacher he was faithful. While a teacher he was a student
as well, of wider range than the school room, thus graduating into the edu-
cated, intelligent man.

"By natiu'e he was quiet and unassuming. In all the relations of his
busy life he was helpful to his community. He enjoyed the religious and
social meetings of his church, which he always attended. He was interested
in agriculture, in horticulture, in the poultry yard ; interested in the cpiiet of
his home life, in the society of his faithful wife and family relatives and in
his books and papers. He was naturally conservative and not given to harsh
expressions in political or religious discussions. He was always better
pleased to ha^■e people meet on a reasonable plane of agreement than to have
people 'at the outs.'

"He belonged to the world's peacemakers. Himself a worker, he sym-
pathized with laborers : himself industrious and provident, he was a friend of
the man of means, as well as a friend to the man who toiled with his hands.
He was a man who preferred to consider the virtues of the individuals of the
community than to dwell upon the faults of the members of the public. In
his long service as a justice of peace, he was better pleased when men settled

732 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

their differences without acrimony and without Htigation. He was attentive
at trials and conscientious in his judgments.

"He was a man of purpose and a man of moral earnestness. Mr. Miller
loved nature as he loved men. For him the bright sun and the blue sky, the
fleecy clouds and the gentle rain, the growing trees and the wild flowers of
the prairie land of his pioneer days, all had an interest and all contributed to
his enjovment. He was provident, but hospitable ; reserved, but sympathetic ;
quiet, but thoughtful. He was interested in his home and in his home sur-
roundings. He was interested in school, churcli and public affairs. He was
one of the safe and sane men of his community. He had little sympathy
with men's difTerences, but enjoyed joining them in their harmonious rela-
tions. He was not of an aggressive disposition, but had tlie flrmness to do
the right as he saw it. While his life as farmer, teacher and official was of a
prosaic order, yet his nature was of the poetic character. He accepted condi-
tions of toil and privation in the rough, hard years of loss by grasshoppers,
but such conditions and small rewards of the pioneer and homesteader did
not blind him to the Ijeauties of the country, or shut his eyes to the brighter
vision of the country's future. And when better days dawned, his rejoicing
was as moderate as his fortitude was commendable before the better days

came.

"Loved and respected by all people of all pursuits, by all parties and all
creeds, bv young as well as by old, it will be many years before the loving
personalitv of William J Miller shall be forgotten. As he has gone over to
I'oin those who have gone before, so others shall follow him into that beauti-
ful land where the briditer visions shall all ha\"e their full realization."

JOHN ALDINGER.

John Aldinger, who in his time was one of tlie leading and influential
flo-ures of O'Brien count)', was born September 24, 1836, in Fairfield, state
of Xew York, the son of John Michael Aldinger, a native of Germany. John
was married to Sarah Evans, of Xew York state, March 8, i860. In March,
1879, thev came to O'Brien county and purchased a quarter section of land,
graduallv added to his holdings and became a large landowner as before
stated. He dealt extensively in land. They moved to Primghar in 1900. Mrs.
Aldinger is the owner of a half section of land in the county.

Air. Aldinger was prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 733

and was a member of the Christian church, becoming affihated with this de-
nomination at Storm Lake, Iowa, where the family resided for five years
previous to locating in O'Brien county, having come west from New York
in 1874.

Sarah E\'ans Aldinger was Ijorn December 22, 1839, in Frankfort, Her-
kimer county. New York, and is the daughter of John and Ann (Townsley)
Evans, natives of England. They lived and died in New York. Mr. and Mrs.
Aldinger reared the following children: Ernest, born Januarv 17, 1861, is
a resident of Primghar, but of late has made his home in California; he is the
father of two children, Hattie and Pearl ; James, l)orn March 3, 1866, in New
York, has charge of the family estate; Lester T., born January 22, 1869;
Frederick, born December 21, 1873, resides at Lansing, Michigan, and has
one child, John; Mrs. Edith ^IcDonald, born June 6, 1880, and resides at
Arion, Iowa. Mr. Aldinger was Republican in politics.

FRANK L. HERRICK.

Among the business men of Primghar, O'Brien county, Iowa, who have
lived in the county for the past fort>" years and helped to place it in the
front ranks of the counties of Iowa, is Frank L. Herrick, the leading ab-
stracter of the county seat of O'Brien county. He was born February 27,
1859, in Watertown, New York, and is the son of Frederick and Malvina
L. (Priest) Herrick.

Frederick Herrick and his family came from New York to Jackson
county, Iowa, in 1859 and later located on a farm near Durant, Cedar
county, where they lived until 1874. Previous to that year the oldest son
of the family, Augustus F., had come to O'Brien county and homesteaded
one hundred and sixty acres in section 12, in Carroll township. Here the
family lived until the mother died, November 27, 1879. The father later
remarried and settled in Des Moines, where he died in 1902. Frederick
Herrick and wife were the parents of four children: Augustus F., who
died October 25, 1877; Cornelia A., who died April 25, 1885; Homer L.,
and Frank L.. whose history is here sketched.

Frank L. Herrick came with his parents from New York to Iowa when
he was about one year of age and lived in Jackson and Cedar counties
until he was fifteen years of age. His elementary education was received
in the Cedar county district schools. Upon coming to O'Brien county with

734 O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

his parents in 1874. he immediately began to work npon the farm. He
farmed nntil 1887. when he moved to Primghar and purchased a half in-
terest in a merchandise estabHshment in that town. Later he worked for
four years in an abstract office, and in 1894 he was elected county recorder
of O'Brien count}- on the Republican ticket and served two terms to the
entire satisfaction of the citizens of the county, and at the expiration of his
term of office, in 1899, he entered the abstract business and has continued
at this work up to the present tin.ie. He has a complete set of abstract books
and is well qualified to do e\er)-thing which comes within his line.

Mr. Herrick has been twice married, his first marrias'e beings IMarch
19, 1881, to Jennie C. Richardson, who died Jul}- 4. 1894. leaving four
children: Maud L.. born March 9, 1882. died March i. 1907: James M.,
born A\m\ 2y. 1884: Alabel L., born April 2j. 1887, died December 24.
1912. and Chester A. James M. lives at Butte, Montana, and is an em-
ployee of the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. Mr. Herrick was
married a second time on August 19. 1909, to Jennie King, the daughter of
\A*illiam King and wife, of Primghar.

Mr. Herrick has been identified with the Republican party since reach-
ing his majority and has been honored by his party by being elected countv
recorder. He is active in the councils of his party and his advice has been
frequently asked by its leaders. Fraternally, he is a member of the Inde-
]:)endent Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Brotherhood of America. He
and his wife are loyal members of the Congregational church and contribute
of their means to its support. Mr. Herrick is a wide-awake business man
and has gained the confidence of his fellow citizens because of his upright-
ness and honesty in all of his transactions. He is a man of plain and unassum-
ing demeanor and easih- wins friends.

LESTER T. ALDINGER.

Banking is a business and profession which calls for talent of a high
order. To succeed in this oldest of commercial pursuits requires a high
degree of intelligence, a great measure of personal integrity, a modicum of
absolute honesty, and a broad sense of citizenship, which enables one to
capably judge human nature, and at the same time retain the confidence and
respect of those with whom he is thrown in contact in the course of the
conduct of his business. Lester T. Aldinger is a true type of the broad-

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 735

minded citizen and banking official who has acheived a standing in af-
fairs through his own etTorts, beginning in a small way.

Mr. Aldinger was born January 2, 1869, i" Oneida county. New York.
His father was John Aldinger, who was born in September, 1836, and died
in January, 1911. He migrated to O'Brien count)' in 1878, looked over
the territory, returned home and then permanently located in Liberty town-
ship in 1879. His initial ])urchase consisted of three cjuarter sections. He
increased his Ik tidings and eventually liecame a large land o^vner. Being one
of those far-seeing men, who lias faith in the ultimate development of the
country, he speculated in lands to a considerable extent and handled hun-
dreds and e\en thousands of acres. At one time he was the sole owner of
over one thousand acres of rich O'Brien county land. On account of fail-
ing health he disposed of the greater part of his holdings during the latter
years of his life. At the time of his death he owned three hundred and
twenty acres. He rcmo^■ed to Primghar in the fall of 1900 and here ended
his days. He took an acti\e part in politics and was allied with the Re-
publican party. He was a leading member of the Christian church. His
wife, Sarah Evans, bore him the following children: Ernest E., of Prim-
ghar; James, a resident of Primghar; Lester T.: Frederick C, of Lansing,
^lichigan, and Airs. Edith McDowell, of Primghar.

Lester T. Aldinger was educated in the district schools and the graded
schools of Sutherland. He also pursued a commercial course at Shenandoah,
Ljwa. His younger days were spent in farming until 1896, when he pur-
chased the grain elevator at Sutherland, Iowa, which he operated until
January 1, 1900, when he remo\ ed to Primgjiar. Li the fall of 189c) he
was elected to the important office of county treasurer on the Republican
ticket and served for two consecuti\-e terms. After the close of his term
of office, in 1904. he devoted some time to his personal affairs, and was
again elected to fill the county treasurer's office in the fall of 1908, and
serx'ed for iwo terms or until January i, 1912. At the expiration of his (offi-
cial duties he became cashier of the Primghar Savings Bank. Mr. Aldinger
is the owner of four hundred acres of the finest of O'Brien county land.

Air. Aldinger is affiliated with the Methodist church and is a member
of the Brotherhood of American \>omen. He was married in 1903 to
Belle Hill, a daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Hill, of O'Brien county, and who
has borne him two children, Bernard, a graduate of the Primghar high
school, and Harold, a student.

Mr. Aldinger is one of these exceptional, likeable characters, whose
known integrity and uprightness makes for the best citizenship and serves

736 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

as an example for others to follow. He enjoys the distinction of being
the only county official who was re-elected to the same office after retiring
for a period of five years.

ISAAC L. RERIGK.

Among the highly respected citizens of Primghar, O'Brien county, Iowa,
is Isaac L. Rerick, assistant doorkeeper of the Iowa State Senate. He is a
native of the Hoosier state, having been born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana,
May 4, 1834. the son of Henry and Julia Ann (Lamb) Rerick. His mother
died when he was eight years of age, and his father in 1878. Henrv Rerick
was a native of New York, and one of the pioneers of Tippecanoe countv.
Indiana. In 1835, when Isaac L. was about a year old, his father moved to
St. Joseph county, Indiana, where he lived until his death. The father of
Henrv Rerick was in the War of 1812, and died in that struegle. Henrv

'&&'

Rerick was twice married and bv the first marriae'e there were six children :

fc>"

John H. : Rebecca; Isaac L., whose history is recorded here; Hannah; Elisa-
beth and Hamilton. Several children were also born to the second marriae^e.

Isaac L. Rerick was reared in Indiana and there received his education.
When he was twenty-one years of age he came to Iowa and spent two months
in Delaware county, after which he located in Jones county. He worked
there until February, 1856, being employed by an old Indiana acquaintance,
as a wood chopper. In February, 1856, he returned to Delaware county and
worked on a farm with another young man. Then the two young men
bought eighty acres of prairie land and twenty acres of timber. They fenced
forty acres of the land with a rail fence and sold his first crop for ninety
dollars. Isaac L. then went to Boone county, Iowa, where he worked for a
time at fifteen dollars a month.

Isaac L. Rerick was married in 1857 to Samantha Clark, of Boone
county, Iowa, the daughter of Louis Clark, a merchant of Sweedspoint. Mr.
Clark is now ninety-three years of age. ^Ir. Rerick enlisted September 28,
1 86 1, in Company E, Fourteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and
served three years and three months in the southwestern part of the United
States. Fie was in the battles of Fort Henry. Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth
and was under fire for fourteen days between Vicksburg and Meridian.
Mississippi. He was on the Red River expedition and other skirmishes in the

O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. '] ^X^J

Si)Utl]\\est. He was wounded in his neck and laid for six months in a hos-
pital, as the result o\ the battle at Pleasant Hill. He then went home on a
furlough, but reported for duty at Keokuk, Iowa, in October, 1864, and was
immediately sent to St. Louis. He was transferred to a company which was
assigned to duty in Missouri and fought at Ironton in that state. At Ironton
he served as quartermaster under General Ewing and saw very severe fight-
ing. After this battle his regiment moved to Rolla. Missouri, and later was
discharged at Davenport, Iowa, December 11, 1864.

After the war, Mr. Rerick returned to Jasper county, Iowa, where he
lived until the sjM-ing of 1871. He then homesteaded on the western half of
the northwest quarter of section 28, in Liberty township, and passed through
all the troubles incident to the grasshopper plague in the latter seventies. In
1 87 1 it only rained once during the whole year and succeeding seasons were
either exceptionally dry or exceptionally wet, but, nevertheless, he stuck to it
and came out all right in the end. In 1878 he and his family left the farm
and moved to Primghar. where he obtained the contract for carrying the mail
twice each ^^■eek. between Cherokee, Primghar and Spencer. He carried the.
mail for the next three years, and then in 1881 engaged in the lumber busi-
ness with one thousand dollars worth of stock. The winter and spring of
1882 will never be forgotten by those who lived in the county at that time.
Fuel and provisions were hard to get and, in fact, many people left the count}'
in order to keep from star\ation. In the fall of 1882 Mr. Rerick engaged in
the real estate business and until 1898 lived in Paullina, following the ups
and downs of a real estate agent. In 1888 he was elected recorder of O'Brien
count}' and moved to Primghar; was re-elected and served until 1892, since
which time he has handled insurance and real estate in this county.

^Ir. Rerick is a member of Jordan Post, Grand Army of Republic, and
is now^ vice-commander of the post, having previously served as commander.
He IS a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in his politi-
cal faith adheres to the old Republican party. He has been assistant door-
keeper of the Iowa Senate for the past four years. Mr. and Mrs. Rerick have
se\'en children: Henry, of Primghar; Manford, of Washington state; Mrs.
Ida Belle Bunce, of Calumet, Iowa; Mrs. Matie Wilkins, of Westboro, Mis-
souri ; Dora, a deaconess in Sioux City, Iowa ; Mrs. Bertha Yeager, of Wall
Lake, Iowa, and Ross C, of Sioux City. Mr. Rerick has the honor of being
one of the two survivors who helped locate the county seat of O'Brien county
at Primghar, in 1872; a history of this is found in another part of this work,
and furnishes one of the thrilling chapters in O'Brien county history.

738 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

ALBERT ROMEY.

Every country of Europe lias contributed some of its best and warmest
blood to the \arious states of our Union, but no country has sent here more
independent, self-rehant and hberty-loving people than has Germany. Every
branch of industry has felt the invigorating impulse of these people, and has
responded with a firmer and more enduring progress. Strong and vigorous
sons of the Fatherland, influential in every line of American activity, to
them our country is largel}- indebted for the almost phenomenal prosperity
which it now enjoys. Many of the first settlers of Osceola county, bnva,
w'ere born in Germany, and among these there is no one who is more worthy
of representation in this volume than Albert Romey, who has li\-ed for the
past forty-three years in this county.

Albert Romey, a distinguished veteran of the Ci\"il \\'ar, was l^orn
April 12, 1844, in Dantzig, Prussia, Germany. His parents. Frederick and
Louisa (Adams) Romey, spent all their lives in the land of their birth with
tlie exce])tion of six years which h^rederick spent in America. He was a
cabinet-maker in his own country and was in the United States imm i8:;r)
to 1862, when he returned to Germany, where he li\ed the remainder of his
days. One daughter, Mrs. Alary Otto, had pre\'iously come to this country
and settled in DeKalb county, Illinois, and it was to visit her that Frederick
Romev and his son. Albert, came to this country.

Albert Romev was onlv twelve years of age when he came to the United
States, and when fourteen years of age had hired out to work for a doctor in
DeKalb county, Illinois. In the same year, howe\'er, he came to Fayette
countv. Iowa, where he worked on a farm until the opening of the Civil
War. Although but a mere youth of seventeen and a resident of this coun-
try but five years, he was seized with the same patriotic zeal which caused
the millions of native-born sons to flock to the standard of their country.
He enlisted in the spring of 1861, immediately after Lincoln's first call, in
Company F, Third Regiment Iowa \^)lunteer Infantry, and ser\ed for four
vears and four months. His regiment was first stationed in Missouri, and
while in that state he participated in engagements at Monroe Blue Mills, on
the Missouri river. Hickory Woods and Mexico. He was then sent to St.
Louis to embark on gunboats which were sent down the Mississippi ri\er, up
the Ohio and down the Tennessee to Fort Henry. He was in the sieges of
Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow and Memphis.
From Memphis he w^ent to Vicksburg and w^as in all of the fighting up to the

ALBERT ROMEY

■t

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 739

surrender of that stronghold on July 4, 1863. He was then sent up the
Yazoo river with their gunboat "Corandelett." which fought with the rebel
ram "Arkansas." P>om here he went again to Island Xo. 10. in the Missis-
sippi, where his regiment was stationed to pre\'ent General Price from re-
taking the island. From N'icksburg his regiment was sent to Meridian, Missis-
sippi, later returned and went to assist General Banks upon the Red River
expedition and went up the river toward Shreveport. Louisiana, and was
detached and assigned to duty with the First Missouri Artillery. His next
engagements were the battles of Yellow Bayou. De Glase and Cross Roads.
For twelve days he was in continuous action and on horseback all the time.
After the Red River expedition was concluded he returned to Vicksburg and
from thence was sent to ^Memphis ; here he returned to his original regiment
and was sent to Georgia, where he followed Sherman on his memorable
march to the sea. He was finally mustered out at Louisville. Kentucky, at
the close of the war. having been a participant in engagements in eight dif-
ferent states and passed through hardships which would try the nerve of
the strongest heart. During his entire service he lived out in the open, his
command having lost their tents at the battle of Shiloh in the spring of
1862. He was wounded on two different occasions. l)ut fortunately not
seriously at either time. At Yellow Bayou, in Louisiana, he was wounded
by a piece of shell w hile on a gunboat and later was wounded on the l^ack by
a sabre cut while a rebel cavalry were charging the battery.

Immediately after the close of his long service at the front Mr. Romev
returned to Fayette county, Iowa, where he farmed for a year. In 1866 he
was married to Lucy Carpenter, and the following year they went to Ne-
braska looking for a place to locate. However, the Indians were giving
trouble in that state and they returned to Iowa and li\'ed in Fayette county
until 1871. At this time Osceola county was being opened for settlement,
and in that year they went to the latter county and homesteaded five miles
southeast of Sibley, on the northwest quarter section of township 98, range
41, and here they li\'ed until 1880. at which time they mo^•ed to Sible}-, where
Mr. Romey engaged in the grocery business, and he has been engaged in that
business continuousl}- since that time, a period of more than thirty-three years.
He still owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Dickinson count v,
about nine miles from Spirit Lake.

Since coming to this cinint}' ]\Ir. Romey has been in office practically
continuously. He was postmaster at Sibley from 1897 to 1906. He has
been countv supervisor of Osceola countv for two terms and while lining in
(48)

740 O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA.

the county was township clerk and a member of the school board for several
years. He has also been assessor of Sibley since becoming a resident of the
city. He has always taken an acti\'e part in Republican politics and has been
one of the leaders of his party in the county for more than forty years. He
is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic post at Sibley, and has been
a quartermaster since its organization. He and his famih' are loyal mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church and render to it their earnest support
at all times.

Mr. Romey and his wife ha^•e reared ti\e children, all of whom are still
living: E. A., a hotel proprietor of Dante, South Dakota: George A., cash-
ier of the bank at Melvin. Iowa ; Mrs. Lucile Ruth Velin. whose husband is
a farmer of this county: Mrs. Abbie Wilburn, of Sibley, Iowa; Mrs. Bessie
Wilson, who is railroad agent at Elko, Nevada.

And this is the history of a sixteen-year-old German lad who came to
this country without any knowledge whatever of its language, customs or
institutions and yet by his own indomitable energy and pluck has made a
name for himself in this great republic. Fortunate, indeed, is the countv
which receives such emigrants, and Osceola county is to be congratulated
that Albert Romey decided to make his permanent home within its borders.
He has been devoted to his adopted countr}-, and has always taken an active
interest in exerything which he felt would benefit his communit}- in any way.
No man stands higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens in this county today
than does 'Sir. Romey, and when the work which he has done is taken into
consideration it can be truthfully said that he is one of Osceola county's
representative men.

GEORGE F. PHINNEY.

Among the many substantial farmers and stock buyers of O'Brien
countv. Iowa, who are now li\'ing lives of ease and comfort, there is no one
who is more deserving of honorable mention in this volume than George E.
Phinnev. Erom the Buckeye state he has come to make his home in this
garden spot of the world, and since coming here has been classed among the
most industrious and prosperous farmers of his locality. He comes from an
honorable and distinguished ancestry, his forefathers being prominent people
in the history of Massachusetts.

George E. Phinney, the son of William Wirt and Cecilia (Clemens)
Phinnev, was born in Ohio in iS66. William W. Phinnev is the son of Caleb

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 74I

and Rebecca (Hunter) Phinney, Ijotli of whom were ])orn in Massachusetts
in the years 1805 and 1804, respectively.

Caleb Phinney was a farmer in Massachusetts and a man of great ability.
He was a selectman in Massachusetts from 1847 i^^ntil 1850, and ser\'ed in the
state Legislature from the Boston district in 185J. He died about 1882 in
the state where he had lived a long and useful life. Caleb Phinney and wife
were the parents of six children. Mary. John. William \\'irt. Elizabeth and
twins. Edwin and Edward. Mary became the wife of H. K. Whitten, an at-
torney of Chicago. She was a graduate of Mt. Holyoke Seminary and a
woman of great refinement and culture. She and her husband are both de-
ceased; John married and moved from ^Massachusetts to Kansas, where his
death occurred; Elizabeth died in infancy, while Edwin and Edward, twins,
are both married and li\ing in Springfield, Massachusetts.

William Wirt Phinney, father of the immediate subject of this review,
received a good education in the schools of his native state, and when twevity-
one years of age began working for himself. He was engaged in business in
the South for a few 3^ears and then went to Michigan and engaged in the
lumber business, which line he followed for two years, after which he went
to Ohio, where he recei\'ed an appointment to a position in the State Reform
School, and here he remained for several years. From Ohio he came to
O'Brien county, Iowa, at the time that the town of Sutherland began to boom.
He had made a trip to this county the year before and purchased three hun-
dred and twenty acres of land, and on coming here the second time he settled
on the farm and remained there for three years. Later he purchased eighty
acres of improved land and kept the four hundred acres for several years be-
fore he disposed of it. William W. Phinney was married in 1852 to Cecilia
Clemens, of Montrose. Pennsylvania, who was born in that state in 1838. To
this union were born fi\'e children: Nettie, who died in infancy; William,
who died at the age of forty years, dying suddenly on his way to Chicago :
Bert, who is engaged in business in Sutherland, this county; George F., re-
tired, and Bernard, of Superior, Wisconsin.

George F. Phinney received a good, common school education in the
schools of Ohio and came to this county with his parents when he was sixteen
}'ears of age. He began farming for himself at the age of twenty-one by
renting land in this county. In 1892 he purchased an eighty-acre farm and
three years later added another eighty acres. To this tract of one hundred
and sixty acres he added a third eighty in 1905. so that he now has two hun-
dred and forty acres of highly improved land in O'Brien county. He has put
fifteen thousand dollars' worth of improvements on this land and it is now

742 O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

worth several times the amount ^^•hich he originally paid for it. He lived on
this farm until 1910, when he rented it for a year and then disposed of it.
buying twenty acres of city lots in Sutherland. He has improved his town
property and now owns three valuable residences in the city of Sutherland.
For the past four years he has been engaged in the buying and selling of li\e
stock and has been meeting with success in this line of business.

Mr. Phinney was married in 1890 to Carrie Bickerton, of Clay county.
Iowa, who was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1871, and to this union have been
born two children, Frank and Marion, both of whom are now attending schoijl.
Politically, Mr. Phinney is a stanch Republican, but has never felt that
he could spare the time from his agricultural duties to engage in politics.
However, since moving to Sutherland he lias taken an added interest in po-
litical affairs, and is an active supporter of all measures which he feels will
benefit his home town in an\- wa\'. He and his family are loyal members of
the Methodist Episcopal church, of Sutherland, and contriljute liberallv of
their means to its sui)p()rt. Fraternally, he is a member of the Inde])endent
Order of Odd Fellows and the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. Air.
Phinney is a man of pleasing personality and good business qualities and is
recognized as a representative citizen of liis town and county.

ED CASTER.

Among- the men of the younger generation in Osceola count}' who are
taking- their part in the life of the communit}- is Ed Caster, the present
postmaster of Ashton. Although he has been a resident of the county only
about twenty years, yet such has been his life since coming to this county
that he has become recognized as an influential citizen of his town and com-
munit}-. He is guided by correct principles of conduct, and witli the
business ability which he has shown since becoming a resident of Ashton,
it is safe to conclude that in the years to come he will be numbered among
the prosperous men. of his home town.

Ed Caster, the son of F. \\\ and Susan (Ratzlaff) Caster, was born in
Pierce, Nebraska, April 30, 1885. His father was born in Wisconsin in
1850, while his mother was a native of Cermany, her birth occurring in
1855. F. W. Caster anrl wife were married in Nebraska and later moved
to Yankton, South Dakota, \vhere he followed his trade as a l)rick and
stone mason. From Yankton the family moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 743

the\- li\ed five years. In 1895 t^''*-")' iii"\fd to Ashton, where they are
now h\ing. They are the parents of se\-en children, all of whom are living
in Ashton: Hem"}-. Louise, Ed (whose history is here presented), Frank.
Mrs. Anna Adkins, Will and Alice.

Ed Gaster was educated in the schools of Sioux City and Ashton, coming
to the latter city with his parents when he was ten years of age. After
leaving the school room he commenced to work in a general mercantile
establishment in Ashton and clerked there for twelve years. In 1910 he
was appointed postmaster of Ashton and has been filling that position since
that time. In addition to serving as postmaster lie also conducts a novelty
and confectionerx' store, and has his full share of the trade in his par-
ticular line of l)usiness. Two rural routes are served from Ashton and
make dailv trips through the surrounding country.

Air. Gaster is a Republican in politics and has always been interested
in the affairs of his party. He is a wide reader of current events and
keeps well informed on the main issues of the day. He is a member of
the German Lutheran church and is a liberal supporter of that denomina-
tion. He is still unmarrietl and lives with his parents. Mr. Gaster is a
young man on the tlu-eshold of life, and his career so far justifies the pre-
dictions of his many friends that he will eventually become one of the
substantial men of his community. He lives a clean and wholesome life
and is faithful to every duty which has been thrust upon him, and for this
reason he enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who have been associated
with him in any capacity.

JAMES JOHNSON BILLINGSLY.

The life of the scholarly or professional man seldom exhibits any of
those incidents that seize upon public feeling and attract attention to himself.
His character is generally made up of the aggregate qualities and qualifica-
tions he may possess, as these may be elicited by the exercise of the duties
of his vocation or the particular profession to which he belongs. But when
such a man has so impressed his individuality upon his fellowmen as to gain
their confidence, and through that confidence rises to high and
important public trust, he at once becomes a conspicuous figure in the
bodv politic of the community and state. James Johnson Billingsly, the effi-
cient and popular superintendent of the O'Brien county schools, is one of the
scholarlv men of northwestern Iowa who, not content to hide his talents

744 O BRIEX AXD OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

amid life's sequestered ways, has b}- the force of an indomitable will and a
landable ambition, forged to the front in an exacting and responsible calling
and earned an honorable reputation as the head of one of the most important
branches of public service.

James Johnson Billingsly. the present county superintendent of O'Brien
county, was Ijorn May 3. 1859, in the western part of Pennsylvania. His
parents were Robert and Jane (Gillilahd) Billingsly. Robert Billingslv was
l)orn in the northern part of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish, Protestant, Cah'inistic
Presbyterian ancestry. The Gilliland family traces its ancestry back to colo-
nial times. Robert Billingsly and family left Pennsylvania and settled in
Michigan, where the parents li\ed the remainder of their lives.

James J. Billingsly was educated in the rural schools of southern Alich-
igan and at the Ccjldwater high school, then entered Valparaiso University,
at X^alparaiso. Indiana, and graduated from that institution with the degree
of Bachelor of Science. At the earh' age of nineteen he began teaching and
taught for se\'eral years in the district schools of southern ^lichigan. In
[884, at the age of twenty-hve years, he came to Iowa and taught two years in
the eastern part of the state. I'ollowing this he was [jrincipal of the Onslow
(I')wa) school for three years, principal of the Monmoutli I Jackson count})
school for one year, superintendent at Wyoming, in Jones county, for two
years, and in the fall of 1892 came to Primghar as superintendent of the cit}-
schools. He continued in this capacity from 1892 until 1898; in the latter
)'ear he was superintendent of the Sanborn schools and was retained in that
capacity for the following six years. He then spent two years out of the
school room and in 1906 took charge of the Paullina school for two years.
In 1908 he \\as elected county superintendent of schools of O'Brien
county and was re-elected in the fall of 191 2.

Since takino- charge of the schools of O'Brien countv, Professor Bill-
ingslv has brought them to a high state of efficienc^'. He has one hundred
and thirty rural schools and six city schools under his charge. The county has
two hundred and se\'en teachers : during his administration he has had their
salaries increased and the general standard of education in the county greatly
improved. He has had several new buildings erected, and has installed forty
modern heating and ventilating plants in various parts of the county. At the
present time five of the broadest young people of O'Brien county are taking
the extension course at Ames, in order to retm"n to the county and do Ijetter
work in the scIk^oI room. At the last of the year there were twenty teachers
of the county who were attending the summer schools at various universities
and colleges in the state.

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 745

Professor Billingsly is a Republican in politics and, l)eing a man of wide
reading" and close observer of men. be is naturally well posted in all tbese
political questions of tbe day. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient
Free and Accepted ^Masons and the Mystic Shrine. While he has devoted all
of his time to his school interests, he has made some careful investments in
land and now owns eighty acres in O'Brien county and one hundred and
twentv acres in Grant county, Alinnesota. Since coming to this county, Mr.
Billingslv has identified himself with tbe community life and has taken an
important part in all of tbe various measures of tbe social, intellectual and
moral life of Primgbar and the surrounding comnmnity. He has proven liim-
self equal to anv emergency in which be has been placed, and to every posi-
tion in wbicli honored, and as a ripe scholar and gentleman of cultivated
taste and high ideals. 1ie fills a large place in tbe public view. For this rea-
son lie enjovs tbe esteem and C(Mifidence of all with wliom be comes in contact.

HEXRY RERiCK.

Henry Rerick. a prominent abstracter and Inisiness man of O'Brien,
county, was born in Boc^ne county, Iowa, August 8. 1858. and is tbe son of
Isaac L. Rerick, whose history is presented elsewhere in this work. Mr.
Rerick was educated in tbe public schools of O'Brien county, and remained
on the home farm until he was nineteen years of age. th^n went into tbe al)-
stract business in Primgbar and was engaged in the abstract and banking
business for the next eight }ears. He came to Primgbar December 25, 1878,.
having lived on tbe homestead with his father's family tbe eight years pre-
\ious in tbe southern part of O'Brien county. He drove tbe stage frequently-
for his father, while the latter was employed as mail carrier between Cherokee
and Primgbar.

Mr. Rerick was elected treasurer of O'Brien county in tbe fall of 1889,
taking tbe office January i, 1890. He served his county well and faithfully
for the ne.xt six vears in this capacity, and upon bis retirement from the office
oi county treasurer he organized an abstract and loan business, under the
firm name of Boyer Abstract Company.

Mr. Rerick is a Progressive Republican in bis political belief, while re-

ligiouslv he is affiliated with the Congregational church. He was married

_ [May 10. 1882. to Clara, tbe daughter of Thomas G. Stewart, a pioneer settler

who came to this county in 1876. ]\Ir. and [\Irs. Rerick are tbe parents of

746 o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

three children: Mrs. HalHe C. Rosencrans. of Primghar: Kenneth H., \vli<>
is associated with his father in the al^stract business, and Dana, who is still
under the parental roof.

As an abstracter, Mr. Rerick has been remarkably successful and \vd>
made few mistakes in his career and he enjoys a reputation far bevond the
limits of this county. To be successful in this line of endeavor, much de-
pends upon sound judgment, knowledge of law, probate, real estate and court,
as to what can affect title. Mr. Rerick has written an enormous amount of
records, systematically showing every transfer affecting real estate in the
county, indexed both ways as to the propert}' and in tlie name of the owner.

HOX. WILLIAM DAYTON BOIES.

Iowa has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and
bar. Perhaps none of the newer states can justly boast of abler jurists or
attorneys. JMany of them have been men of national fame, and among those
whose lives have been passed on a quieter plane there is scarcely a town or
city in the state but can boast of one or more lawyers capable of crossing
swords in forensic combat with many of the' distinguished legal lights of the
country. While the growth and de\elopment of the state in the last forty
years has been most marvelous, viewed from any standpoint, yet of no class
of her citizenship has she greater reason for just pride than in her judges
and attorneys. In Judge William Dayton Boies are found many of the rare
qualities which go to make the successful lawyer and jurist. He possesses,
perhaps, few of those brilliant, dazzling, meteoric qualities which ha^•e some-
times flashed along the legal horizon, riveting the gaze and blinding the
vision for the moment, then disappearing, leaving little or no trace behind ;
but rather has those solid and substantial qualities which shine with a con-
stant luster, shedding light in the dark places with steadiness and continuity.

William D. Boies, judge of the twenty-first judicial district of Iowa,
comprising the counties of O'Brien, Osceola, Sioux. Lyon, Plymouth and
Cherokee, was born on Januar)- 3, 1857. in Boone county. Illinois. According
to tradition apparenth^ reliable, the Boies family is descended from old
French Hueuenot stock of northern France, where the familv was substan-
tial and influential. The founder of the Boies progeny in America was a
native of Ireland, whither his ancestors had gone to escape religious perse-,
cution in their native land. The first record of the American branch is

■ »^^"«;*r/Si--->:r J£r^ /K'

-1

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COL'NTIES, IOWA. 747

found in Massachusetts^, where a direct ancestor of Judge Boies settled in
1700. It is likewise recorded that both the paternal and the maternal grand-
parents of W. D. Boies fought in the Revolution in behalf of the American
colonies.

The father of Judge Boies was William Dayton Boies, Sr., a native of
Erie county. New ^'ork. His mother was Sarah C. ( Bugbee ) Boies, also of
New York state. William D. was the son of F.ber Boies, a resident of New
York and whose ^^ife was a Miss Henshaw. The mother of Sarah C.
Bugbee was a descendant of the Love joys.

In the year 1845 William D. Boies. Sr., migrated to Boone county.
Illinois, and settled on a government homestead with his familv. Here he
lived the life of a pioneer and his children were born. In 1873 he removed
to Buchanan county. Iowa, and ])urchased a farm. Tlie remainder of his
days were spent in P.uchanan county, dying in 1905. He was the father of
the following children: Eugene M., deceased; Horace L., a fanner in Bu-
chanan county; Inez M. Hoyt. deceased in 1887. formerly of Svcamore.
Illinois; Charles E.. a farmer and stockman of Independence, Iowa; Alice,
who died at the age of two years, and William D.

Judge Boies received his education in the pul)lic schools near his Illinois
home and in the Belvidere high school. He entered tlie State ITniversitv at
Iowa City and graduated in the lav\' department in 1880. He began the
practice of his profession in Sanborn. O'Brien county, where he remained
until 1887, gradually building up a wider acquaintance throughout the terri-
tory until such time as he deemed it advisable to remove to a larger city. In
1887 he removed his office and place of residence to Sheldon and has built
up a splendid law practice. He was successful from the beginning of his
career in the county and, previous to accepting the appointment as district
judge, had the largest clientele of an\- attorney in O'Brien county and is one
of the most widely and favorabl}' known attorney's in western Iowa.

Judge Boies received his appointment as district judge on January i,
19 1 3, having been appointed by Governor Carroll. Judge Boies' term will
expire January i, 191 5. At the June primary. 1914, (nonpartisan) he was
nominated as his own successor for four years more. He has not been un-
mindful of his duties as a citizen while attending to his extensive law prac-
tice, and it is worthy of record that he served for ten years as a member of
the vSheldon citv school board. Like many other successful men of this sec-
tion, he had an abiding faith in the inevitable rise of land values, and nat-
urallv invested in a considerable acreage. At the present time his land pos-
sessions include fine farms of eight hundred and eighty acres near Sheldon.

-48 o'brIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. KJVVA.

all of which, excepting three hundred and twent}' acres in Sioux county, hes
in O'Brien. He has one thousand one hundred and twenty acres of farm
lands in eastern Scnith Dakota.

Judge Boies is afliliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons,
being a member of the lodge, chapter, commandery and the consistory, as
well as the Mystic Shriners. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at LeMars, Iowa.

Judge Boies' wedded life began on Xovember 24, 1881, at which time
he married Lillian E. Biddinger, of Buchanan county, daughter of James
Biddinger. who came to Iowa from Ohio. They have two children, Leon
Louis and Russell Lowell.

In active practice. Judge Boies has an unimpeachable record of thirty-
two years in O'Brien county previous to his ascendency to the bench. Dur-
ing this time he was one of the most successful attorneys before the bar of
w'estern Iowa. In his present exalted position his career has l:)een all that
his pre\-ious record promised. His (|ualifications for the office of judge are
unquestionable. First of all. he has the integrity of character, and then he
possesses the natural ability and essential rec[uirements. the acumen of judi-
cial temperament. He is dignified, just, and unassailal)le in his private capac-
ity and in his judicial prestige. He is able to divest himself of prejudice or
favoritism and consider only the legal aspects of the (juestion submitted.
No labor is too great, however onerous : no application too exacting, how-
ever severe, if necessary to the complete understanding and correct deter-
mination of a cjuesticn. These are, indeed, words of high praise, but these
encomiums are justified in txery particular, for the Judge has proven himself
a distinct man in all the term implies, and its implication is wide. His
career on the bench and at the bar offers a noble example and an inspira-
tion, while he has never been known to fail in that strict courtesy and regard
for professional ethics which should ever cliaracterize the memliers of the bar.
his career reflecting credit upon the judiciary and dignifynig the profession
to which he belongs.

Personallv, Judge Boies is genial and easily approached, possessing to a
marked degree those cjualities which v,'in friends and make him a pleasing
companion. He has always stood ready to identify himself with his fellow
citizens in any good work and extend a co-operative hand to advance any
measure that is calculated to better the condition of things in the community.
The ludge has a w^ell-selected library of over two thousand volumes,
equal to any in this part of the state and a private librar) of over five hun-
dred volumes.

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 749

FRANK SHKRMAX HOUGH. M. D.

Among those who stand as (hstinguished types of the wurld's workers
is Dr. Frank Sherman Hough, who is one of the able and hontjred physicians
and surgeons of northwestern Iowa. A man of hne intellectual and profes-
sional attainments, of UKjst gracious personalit}', of strong and noble char-
acter, and one who has labored with zeal and de\"otion in the alleviation of
human sutTering, he is clearly entitled to representatitju among the progres-
sive and enterprising citizens of Osceola count}-. He is devoted to his chosen
\'ocation and has lent honor and dignit}' to the medical profession, having due
regard for the highest standard of professional ethics and exhibiting marked
skill in the treatment of disease.

Dr. iM-ank S. Hough, the proprietor of the Sibley Hospital, was born in
Lexington, Kentucky, December 22. 1864. He is the son of George W. and
Candace C. (Bates) Hough, both of whom were natives of Alichigan. When
Doctor Hough was born his father was living in Lexington, Kentuck\-, tem-
porarily for his health. George W. Hough, a native of Michigan, was the
son of Simon and Abigail ( Revnolds ) Hough. Simon Houo-h was of Eno-
lish descent and mo\ed t(j Michigan from Xew York state. Abisfail Rev-
nolds had several brothers in the Revolution. She was orisfinallv of Enolish
descent and settled in Connecticut upon coming from their native land. Both
the Hough and Bates families were among the earliest pioneers in the state
of Michigan. Candace C. Bates, the mother of Doctor Hough, was the
daughter of \ix. and ^Irs. George Bates, the father being a first cousin of
Abraham Lincoln.

George \\\ Hottgh enlisted in 1861 in the Seventeenth Regiment Michi-
gan V'olunteer Lifantrv, and at a time when it must have taken a oreat deal
of courage to lea\e home. At the time he enlisted he was a senior in the
State Normal School and the young girl to whom he was to be married was
a member of the same class and, in fact, the}" were engaged to be married
before he went to the front. He served one year and then contracted rheuma-
tism which so disabled him that h.e was honoral)ly discharged from the serv-
ice on account of this disabilit\'. Immediatelv after returning from the ser\--
ice. he and Candace Bates were married and they went south for his health.
Later he became a member of the Hough, Patton & Company, brush manu-
facturing concern in Detroit, l)ecoming a prominent factor in the business and
social life of the cit^'. When onlv twenty-eight }-ears of age he was presi-
d.ent of the Detroit common council and acting mayor. He served as register

750 O BRIEX AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

of deeds of Greene couiitv, Michioan, was a member of the State Leo-jsla-
ture and a man who was rated at a hundred thousand dollars. He is now
living a retired life in California at the age of seventy-five. George \\'.
Hough and wife were the parents of seven children, the Doctor being the
oldest one of the family. The other children are as follows : Mrs. E. H.
Cooper, of Los Angeles, California: Mrs. Wilcox, deceased, whose husband
was a minister; George S., who lost his life in a fire in Detroit, while a mem-
ber of the Detroit fire department: Fred R., chief electrician at Ann Arbor
University. Michigan: Henry P.. a prominent electrical engineer of Detroit,
and one child, deceased.

Dr. h^rank S. Hough was educated in the Detroit high school, the Michi-
igan Alilitary Academy at Orchard Lake, the Michigan Agricultural College
at Lansing, State Normal School at Ypsilanti, ^Michigan, and graduated at the
Michigan College of Medicine and Surgery at Detroit with a degree of Doc-
tor of ^Medicine in 1890. at the age of twenty-five.

After graduating from the medical college in 1890 Doctor Hough had
been engaged in newspaper work as a reporter upon the Detroit Evening
Nezvs and the Sunday Journal at Toledo, Ohio, as well as other papers' in the
Aliddle ^^'est. Immediately after graduating he began to practice medicine in
Detroit and for the next seven years followed his profession in that city. At
the same time he was on the teaching faculty of his alma mater as instructor
in chemistry for two years and later as a professor of materia medica. He
was also an assistant in surgery to I3r. Hal C. Wyman. a famous surgeon
who was on the staft' of physicians connected with the college. Li 1897 Doc-
tor Hough came to Sible}- and has l^een practicing here since August loth of
that }-ear. He has been remarkably successful as a surgeon and physician and
has -already made a name for himself throughout this section of the state.
Realizing tlie need of a modern up-to-date hospital in his home town, he es-
tablished a hospital in the eastern part of the city in 191 1 and has accommo-
dations for fifteen patients, cares for an average of six patients daily, with
a total of over two hundred cases treated annually. Three nurses are kept in
constant attendance at the hospital and such is tlie demand for such an in-
stitution that he intends to enlarge its capacity. It is needless to say that it
has been a great aid to Sibley and the surrounding country.

Doctor Hough was married in 1889 to Clara Randall, of Blenheim, On-
tario, the daughter of ]\Ir. and Mrs. Hiram Randall. To this union have
been born five sons: Randall S.. a student of the University of Wisconsin:
AA'yman George, a student of the University of Iowa: Frank S., Jr., a student
in the Sibley high school, and Howell H. and Elliott ^^'arren, who are in the

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 75 I

grade schools of Sibley. Doctor Hough and wife are justly proud of their
fine sons, whom they are giving the advantage of every opportunity in order
to prepare them for useful careers.

Doctor Hough is a member of the Osceola County, Sioux Valley, Iowa
State and American medical associations and takes an active interest in the
affairs of these various organizations. At the present time he is the president
of the Osceola County Medical Society. He is a member of the Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons and has attained to the Knight Templar degree in that
fraternity. He is also a member of various fraternal insurance societies. He
and his family are loyal adherents of the Congregational church and con-
tribute liberally of their substance to its support. The career of such a man
as Doctor Hough is interesting in view of the fact that he is the means of
doing so much good in the world. When he saw that Sibley needed a hos-
pital he felt confident that the people of the city and community would pat-
ronize one if it was fairly modern. His foresight has been amply justified
and he has not only been of incalculable benefit to the community, but he has
also been financiallv successful.

JOHN STREIT.

The Prussians hax'e always been known as people of courage and tact ;
they refuse to be downed by ontoward circumstances, but push onward when
once a course has been determined upon until the coveted goal is reached.
Innumerable instances of rare gifts in these lines might be mentioned, one of
the best known in history occurring in the wars with Napoleon. Once he
thought lie had utterly crushed them, but a few days later they were routing
his army at the great battle of Waterloo, joining the English at tlie proper
crisis. Such people win in all walks of life, for they have not Ijeen trained to
fail, or at least to admit their defeat if they do not succeed. Thus we are not
surprised that one of their number, John Streit, should come to so favored a
county as Oilman township, Osceola county, Iowa, and become well es-
tablished.

John Streit, pioneer settler of Osceola county, Iowa, and one of the
heroes of the "grasshopper war," was 1:)orn January zj, 1844. in Prussia,
and is the son of ^lichael and Lena ( Straut ) Streit. His parents came to
this country when he was thirteen years of age and first settled in Kenosha
county, Wisconsin. In 1873 they came to Osceola county, Iowa, and home-

75^ O BRIEX AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Steaded on section 4, in Oilman township, where they lived for several vears,
then mo\ed to Ashton. where their deaths occnrred in 1900. Michael Streit
served the three years in the Prussian arm}- which is required of all German
citizens before he came to this country, and to him and his wife were born
five children : Airs. Anna Singen, a widow now li\ing in Ashton, this county ;
John, whose history is here presented; Mrs. Katie Shent, of Minnesota; Mrs.
Eva Boor, of AshtOn, and Andrew, a grain dealer of Ashton.

John Streit received his elementary education in the schools of his na-
tive land and when twenty-seven years of age left the paternal home in Ke-
nosha county, Wisconsin, and homesteaded on section 4, in the northeastern
part of Oilman township, in Osceola count}-, Iowa. He erected a small house
and he and Xick Boor broke up thirty acres of this raw prairie land in the
spring of 1S71, and planted their first crop. The}' had plenty of work to do
from the beginning in the count}-, using all of his spare time in breaking land
for his neighbors. In fact, for the first two years most of his revenue was
derived from his services to his neighbors in the capacity of a plowman. He
was one of a very few of these early settlers who raised a good crop during
the grasshop]jer years and saved it from the ra\-ages of those voracious insects.
He prospered as a farmer in this county and gradually added to his original
land holdings until he had three hundred and fifty acres in Oilman and Hol-
man townships. In 1903 he retired from acti\e farm life and moved to Ash-
ton, where he is now living a retired life, surrounded by the comforts and
conveniences of modern society.

Air. Streit was married August 28, 1876, to Mary Becker, of Minnesota,
the daughter of Air. and Mrs. F'erdinand Becker. Airs. Streit had come to
Minnesota with her l)rothers, having been born in Prussia December 8, 1853.
Air. and Airs. Streit are the parents of seven children : Helena, who is still
at home; Michael, who is li\-ing on the old homestead; Airs. Anna Wabrich,
of this count}-, who is tlie mother of two children, Regina and Oregaon ; Nich-
olas, of Alarshall, Alinnesota; Oeorge, on tlie home farm, and Alary and Otto,
who are still at home with their parents in Ashton.

Politically, Air. Streit is a stanch Democrat, but has never felt inclined
to take an active part in political afl^airs. However, he has always been inter-
ested in the civic welfare of his community and has never refused to give his
support to such measures as he felt would benefit the community. He was a
young man at the opening of the Civil War and tried to enlist in the Union
army in W^isconsin, but was refused on account of an injured wrist. Relig-
iously, he and the members of his family are earnest and faithful members
of the Catholic churcli. and give to it their earnest and zealous support at all

O BRIEX AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 753

times. He has been a director of the Farmers' Co-operative Insurance Com-
panv, of Osceola county, for the past se\-enteen years, and takes an actixe in-
terest in this association. His career since coming to this country has l)een
all that could be desired, and his life in this county has been as an open book,
wherein his neighbors might see the record of his daily life. He has always
so conducted himself that he has merited the esteem of all who know him.
and t(jr this reason is eminenll}- entitled to representation in this volume.

CLARENCE H. ROVCE.

The name of Clarence H. Roxce. the cashier of the Sible}' State Bank, in
Osceola countv, is well known to the readers of this volume and needs no
special comment on tlie ])art of the historian. The purpose of these historical
sketches is to present a compact biography of the lives of the representative
men of tlie county, rather than to engage in any fulsome laudation. Suf-
fice it to sav that in the sixteen years that Mr. Royce has lived in this county,
he has won a large and permanent place in business circle>^. and in the bank-
ing l)usiness, to which liis energies have been dex'oted. lie has gained more
than local reputation. Xot only has he made his mark as a business man, Imt
as a citizen he has ])roved ])ublic spirited and energetic and fully in sympathy
with the progressive ideas of the age.

Clarence H. Royce was born July i8, 1873, in Oconto. Wisconsin. He
recei\-e(l a good educatiim in the schools of his home town and in 1898 came
to Osceola county and organized a bank at Harris. He continued in full
charge of this bank for the next eight years, when he disposed of it and then
spent some time in the West. He returned to Sibley in May, 19 10, and pur-
chased an interest in the Sililey State Bank, becoming the cashier of the bank
at that time. He has made his home for the past four years in Sibley and
he and his wife and four children are prominent members of the society of
the city.

The Sibley State Bank was organized Xoveml^er i, 1894, by Frank Y.
Locke, of St. Paul. Minnesota. The present officers are as follows: Presi-
dent. F. E. Kennedy: vice-president, A. W. McCallum : cashier, Clarence H.
Royce: assistant cashier, L. D. Garberson. The directors are: George F.
Sokol, F. E. Kennedy. C. H. Royce, A. \\'. McCallum and A. C. W^interfield.
The bank now has a capital stock of thirty-five thousand dollars and is fast
Ixiilding up a reputation as one of the sound financial institutions of this sec-

754 O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES^ IOWA.

tion of the state. Its excellent corps of officials have instilled confidence into
the city and community, with the result that the bank has a large and ever-
increasing list of patrons.

JOHN A. JOHNSON.

Opportunity knocks once at every man's door, speaking figuratively,
though oftentimes it is repulsed or mistaken fur the reverse ; he who has the
acumen and the foresight to grasp it at the psychological moment is certain of
assured success. It takes many men of many minds to make up a stable and
enterprising community : it requires many enterprising communities to make
a great state. The hard\- ])ioneers who created a wealth}- and prosperous
county out of the raw prairie in O'Brien county are deserving of praise and
success for their efforts in behalf of the common good. It is not gi^•en to
many citizens of this county to have been born amidst the first great period
of the county's history and to have lived amid its greater development period.
Such men have had opportunities and many ha\'e impro\ed them. John A.
Johnson is one of the fev\- men wht) were born in O'Brien county and have
been reared to manhood within the confines of their nati^•e county. Oppor-
tunity was naturally within his grasp; he seized it and made good and is
now one of the best known and most enterprising citizens of this rich and
fertile portion of the commonwealth. John A. Johnson enjoys the distinc-
tion of being the oldest nati\e-born resident of O'Brien county.

Mr. Johnson was born on a farm in Highland township April i6, 1873,
and is the son of William W. Johnson, one of the prominent pioneer figures
in O'Brien count}-. His niuther was Louisa Jacobs. \\\ \\\ Johnson was
born in 1844 in England, the son of George and Hannah Johnson, who
emigrated from England to .\merica in 1845 and settled in Xew York state.
The Johnson family migrated to Cedar county, Iowa, in 1855. eleven years
after their first emigration from the land of their fathers. Georee lohnson
was born August 8, i8i8. His wife, !Mary \\'ilson, was born Ma}- 5, 1820.

W. A\'. Johnson enlisted in the Union service at Iowa Cit\- August 9.
1862, joining Companv .\, Twenty-second A'olunteer Infantry, which was a
component ]>art of the Second Division. Eourth .\rmy Corps. He was pro-
moted to eighth corporal llarch i. 1863. and promoted to seventh corporal
May 15. 1863. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg. and on May 22,

S^y H ^"^- ^''''f!"^s SSfr //]^

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 755

7863, received a se\ere gunshot wound in the left shoulder. He was dis-
charged at X'ermillion. Louisiana, Octoher 19, 1863.

Mr. Johnson was married Xo\-ember 19, t868, to Louisa Jacobs, who
was born Xoveniber 13, 1847, in Johnson count}, Iowa, the daughter of
John Jacobs, a pioneer settler of Johnson county, and a nati\e of Berne,
Switzerland. The wife of John Jacobs was a Miss Fankhauser, whose place
of birth was in Ohio.

In March, 1871, W. W. Johnson removed to O'Brien county with his
family and homesteaded on one hundred and sixty acres of land in section
20, of Highland township. He resided on this farm until 1880, when he
removed to Primghar and engaged in the lumber business for one year. In
the following year he went to Paullina and there operated a lumber yard
until 1889. He then returned to Cedar county and invested in a farm near
Cedar Bluffs, which he purchased for forty dollars an acre and sold three
years later for fifty dollars an acre. In 1892 he returned to O'Brien county
and made his home in Sanborn. He engaged in the lumber business here
and also became connected with the First National Bank of Sanborn, which
he conducted until 1899, when the Sanborn Savings Bank was organized to
succeed it. He at that time disposed of his lumber business and has since
been engaged in the buying and selling of farm lands in O'Brien county and
Minnesota. At present he is the owner of one thousand three hundred
acres of land in Stevens county, Minnesota, which he manages and to which
he gives his direct supervision for six months of every year.

W. W. Johnson has been affiliated with the Republican party and
served the county as a member of the board of super\-isors from 1876 to
1878 and again in 1894, serving until 1899, inclusive. He is fraternally
allied with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, being a member of
Kenyon Post, No. 339, at Sanborn. While a member of the county board of
supervisors he took an active and influential part in rehabilitating the countv
finances, and cast his vote for the measure which made the countv war-
rants worth par instead of fifty cents on the dollar. He is the father of the
following children: Mayme. deceased; John A.; Charles A., in railroad
construction work at Tama City ; Frank, a railroad man employed on the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad out of Sanborn ; Mrs. Hannah
Jenkins, of Milford, Iowa.

John A. Johnson was educated in the common schools of his native
county, the Paullina high school and the Cedar Rapids Business College.
(49)

756 o'bRIEX AXD OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

graduating from the latter institution in 1892. He became engaged with his
father in business and has been connected with the Sanborn Savings Bank
since 1899, having served in the capacity of cashier since 1911. He is hke-
wise a director of the bank and is heavily interested in Minnesota farm
lands, holding three hundred and twenty acres of land in the bordering state
and being the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of fine O'Brien county
land.

Politically, John A. Johnson is a Republican, and has served as town-
ship clerk and city treasurer. He is treasurer of several local lodges in
which he holds acti\'e memberships. He is affiliated with the various Ma-
sonic bodies and is a member of the Mystic Shriners at Sioux Citv, being a
Scottish Rite Mason of the thirty-second degree; he is also a meml^er of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Brother-
hood of American Yeoman.

John A. John.son was married May 24, 1899, to Edna C. Green and is
the father of two children, William Valorus, born in May, 1900. and Glenn
Green, born in May, 1903.

Mrs. Edna C. (Green) Johnson is the daughter of William Clark
Green, one of the famous pioneer characters of O'Brien county. He was
born in 1842 on a farm in Indiana, the son of McAllen Green, who migrated
to Illinois and thence to Iowa in 1869. Father and son settled in Waterman
township at this ver}- early day, when there were very few settlers in the
county. W. C. Green was married in Dixon, Illinois, to Malvenah Kidder,
a daughter of Adoniram and Lydia A. (Powell) Kidder, natives of New
Hampshire. Malvenah was born in New Hampshire in 1847. The Kidder
family moved to Illinois in 1858. This marriage occurred in 1869. They
immediately set out for Iowa, coming by rail as far as Cherokee and then
driving overland to Waterman township. This pioneer couple enjoyed life
in the early days to the fullest extent, there being plenty of timber for fuel
along Waterman creek and the woods and prairie abounding in game of all
kinds. Life was good to them until the ''grasshopper days," when they were
forced to endure several bad years. Mr. Green conducted a general store in
Old O'Brien town until 1874. when he removed to the new county seat of.
Primghar with his stock of goods. In 1881 he engaged in the mercantile
business at Sanborn, where he resided until his death, in May, 1911. He left
a considerable estate at his demise, and during his later years he was success-
fully engaged in land speculation and real estate. He was a Democrat in
politics and served as one of the first sheriffs of the county. He was an Odd
Fellow.

O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 757

\V. C. Green was the father of three children: NelHe, deceased; Mrs.
Edna Johnson, and Airs. Lulu Anderson, a resident of Mitchell, South Da-
kota, and who is the mother of one child, Carl. Mrs. Green resides with her
son-in-law, Mr. Johnson.

Two famous pioneer families of a famous county have thus been linked
together b\' the best of bonds. It is as it should be — the children will, in
turn, become useful members of the body politic, and this memoir will serve
as a valued souvenir of the days when their forbears were among the first
comers to this fair and fruitful land and took such an important part in its
development and emergence from the chrysalis state.

WILLIAM JAMES EDWARD THATCHER.

A lawyer by profession and for a number of years the efficient clerk of
the district court of O'Brien county, William James Edward Thatcher has
made his presence felt in this county, and as a public-spirited citizen, inter-
ested in whatever tends to promote the material progress of the community
and the social and moral advancement of his fellow men, his influence has
been salutary and his example worthy of imitation. Although still a young
man in vears, he has already assumed heavy responsibility and has proven
himself equal to every emergency which has been thrust upon him. He is
essentiallv a self-made man, teaching to earn his way through college and
being from his earliest boyhood a youth of ambition and determination.

William James Edward Thatcher, the present clerk of the district court
of the county of O'Brien, was born ]\Iay 8, 1882, in Spencer, Iowa. His
parents were Wiley Washburn and Mary (Kelly) Thatcher. Wiley W.
Thatcher was a decorator by trade and was born in Peoria, Illinois. After
his marriage he came to Iowa and located in Spencer about 1880. He is now
engaged in the furniture business at Hartley.

William J. E. Thatcher is the only child of his parents and went with
them from Spencer to Hartley in 1884. Shortly afterward they moved to
Sanborn, where they remained two years, then returned to Hartley, where they
are still living. He was educated in the Hartley high school and studied one
year in the University of South Dakota and one year in the Commercial Col-
lege. While he was attending school he taught in this county in order to pay
his expenses in college, spending three years as a teacher in the public schools
of the rounty. While teaching he began the study of law under Mr. Conn, of

758 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Hartley. In 1906 he was appointed deputy clerk under H. C. May and two
years later was elected to the important office of clerk of the district courts.
Such was his excellent service in this office that he was re-elected and is now
serving his third term, a fact which testifies to his efficiency in office as well
as his popularity throughout the county. He was admitted to the bar in Oc-
tober, 19 12. but, owing to the fact that he is still serving as clerk, he has not
yet entered the active practice of his profession.

Politically, Mr. Thatcher is a Republican and ver}^ naturally has taken
an important part in the interests of his party. He is a member of the An-
cient Free and Accepted Masons and also of the Order of the Eastern Star,
r^lr. Thatcher was married in August, 1908, to Hilma Johnson, daughter of
August Johnson, and to this union has been born one son, Sherwood Yale,
born January 23, 1912. Mr. Thatcher's straightforward methods have given
him the confidence and good will of the people of the county and he is in
every way deserving of the high esteem in which he is held by all classes. He
keeps well abreast of the times, being a wide reader and a clear thinker. He
is now in the prime of his life and many years of usefulness are still before
him.

ORLANDO B. HARDING.

A retired farmer of Sibley, Iowa, who has been identified with the his-
tor}'' of Osceola county for more than forty years is Orlando B. Harding. He
is one of the men who came to this county when it was a trackless prairie and
by ability and industry won a success through his farming operations. He
has not only contributed to the material advancement of his county, but dur-
ing the course of an honorable career he has been an influential factor in bet-
tering the moral, social and intellectual welfare of his community.

Orlando B. Harding was born in Pennsylvania September 20, 1847, and
is the son of Curtis and Elizabeth (Sands) Harding. Curtis Harding was
born and reared in Pennsylvania of English parentage and in 1868 came to
central Wisconsin from the state of Pennsylvania, where he lived until his
death. Curtis Harding was twice married, and by his first marriage had six
children, while to the second marriage nine children were born. Five of the
children b}^ his second wife finally settled in Iowa.

Orlando B. Harding was a son of the second marriage of his father and
was reared and educated in the schools of Pennsylvania. In the spring of

ORLANDO B. HARDING

TILDf

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 759

1868 he was married and he and his young wife came with his father and the
remainder of the family to Wisconsin, where Orlando and his wife settled in
the central part of the state and lived there until 1873. He then moved to
Osceola county, Iowa, and settled on section 2, town.ship 98, range 41. Here
thev lived for twenty-seven years and reared their family to majority. They
passed through all the experiences incident to the "grasshopper" period and
although there were many times when things looked very gloomy, they re-
mained with the farm and made a success of it. In 1900 the father and
mother moved to Sioux City, where they lived until 1907, when they moved
to Sihlev, where they are now living. Mr. Harding still owns three hundred
and twent}- acres of fine land in Osceola county, having sold two hundred and
iortv acres in 191 1 at a good price.

Orlando B. Harding was married May 17, 1868, to Emily Moyer, the
daughter i^i Mr. and Mrs. Philip Moyer, of Pennsylvania. To this marriage
have been horn be\en children : E. L.. who is on the father's farm in Osceola
county; O. M.. who is li\'ing in Idaho on a ranch; Mrs. Almira Barkhuff, of
South Dakota; W. L.. wlio is lieutenant-go\ernor of Iowa, and is a candidate
for re-election ; C. E.. who graduated from the University of Iowa and is now
publisher and postmaster in Church's Ferry, North Dakota ; Mrs. Stella Hall,
whose husi.-itid is a farmer in Osceola county, and VV. W., an architect of
Sioux Ciiy.

W. L. Harding, one of the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Harding, was
born in Osceola count}' in 1875. After receiving a good common school edu-
cation, he studied in Morningside College, later studied law in the State Uni-
Acrsii}' of South Dakota, then located in Sioux City, Iowa, where he has been
a ])rosperous lawyer. He has served three terms in the Legislature from
Woodbury county and in the fall of 191 2 was elected lieutenant-governor of
the state.

Politically. O. B. Harding is a Republican and has held various township
offices at the hands of his party. He and his family are loyal members of the
Methodist Episcopal church and have always taken an active part in all the
activities of that denomination. Air. Harding is one of the industrious pio-
neers of the count}', who has always been firm in his convictions, whether
religious, political, intellectual or financial, and it can be said that he has al-
ways taken the right stand on every important question. He and his wife
have reared a large family to lives of usefulness and have the satisfaction of
knowing that their children are performing well their part in the world of
todav.

760 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

AIILO AVERY, "Al. D.

O'Brien county, Iowa, has reason to take pride in the personnel of her
corps of medical men from the earliest days in her history to the present time,
and on the roll of honored names that indicates the services of distinguished
citizens in this field of endeavor there is reason in reverting with gratification
to that of Dr. Milo Avery, of Primghar, wdio has attained eminence in his
chosen calling and for a number of years has stood among the scholarlv and
enterprising physicians in a community long distinguished for the high order
of its medical talent. He realized early that there is a purpose in life and
that there is no honor not founded on worth and no respect not founded on
accomplishment. His life and labors have been eminently worthy because
they have contributed to a proper understanding of life and its problems.

Dr. Milo Avery, one of the most prominent physicians of Primghar and
vicinity, was born October 27, 1853, in Vermont. His parents, Melwell Mal-
colm and Abby ( Robie) Avery, were natives of the same state and descended
from an old New England family. Mehvell M. Avery came west after the
Civil War, in 1865, and bought land near Montour, Tama county. Later he
moved to Cherokee county, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Avery were
the parents of four chiklren : Doctor Milo; Delno, deceased; Mrs. Abby
Brown, of Texas, and Jonathan R., of Montour, Iowa.

Doctor Avery was educated in the Montour high school and later en-
tered the Wilton Collegiate Institute. His medical education w^as received al
the State University at Iowa City and Rush Medical College at Chicago,
graduating from the latter institution in 1884. He commenced practice at
Springdale, Iowa, and after three }-ears moved to Aurelia, in Cherokee
county, where he practiced for the following seventeen years. He then spent
a half year in Canon City. Colorado, for his health, and in May, 1907, lo-
cated in Primghar, w'here he has since resided.

Doctor Avery was married October 8, 1878, to Jennie Dudley, the daugh-
ter of Jonathan and Rachel (Emery) Dudley. Jonathan Dudley was born in
Ohio, June 28, 1833. and was one of the early pioneers of Muscatine county,
Iowa. Mrs. Dudley died in the winter of 191 3, at the advanced age of
eighty years. Doctor and Mrs. Avery have two sons of their own and one
adopted daughter, who was the niece of Doctor Avery. The oldest son. Dr.
Harold Leroy. was a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and
the Universitv of Illinois ; Dr. Geors^e Emerv. the second son. is a dentist at
Cherokee. Iowa ; the daughter. Gladys Catherine Dudley, is still at home and
is now fourteen years of age.

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 76 1

Doctor Aveiy has devoted his whole Hfe to the alleviation of sut^erino-
and has always been interested in e\-er}'thing whicli pertains to his chosen
profession. He is a member of all of the various medical societies which
might assist him in any way in keeping abreast of the times and is now servinp-
his third term as president of the O'Brien County Medical Society. He also
has acted as coroner of his county for the past five years. Fraternally, he is
a member of the Knights of Pythias, while in his religious affiliations he is
connected with the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he gives generously
of his means. Doctor Avery is a genial hearted man. and since residing in
the county seat he has secured his share of the medical practice and is widely
recognized as a man of superior talent.

REV. JOHN PETER HOFFMAXX.

The amount of good which comes from the work done b\- the church can
never be calculated, for the reason that its results are not in a tangible form.
In no profession do men lead such unselfish lives as those who minister to
our spiritual wants. Their sole desire is to make the world better and lead
men to higher and better things. Among the men of Osceola countv who are
devoting their lives to the uplifting of their fellow men there is no one who
deserves a greater amount of praise than Rev. John Peter Hofifmann. the
pastor of the Ashton Catholic church. He is entirely unassuming and un-
pretentious and content in the thought that he is continuously putting forth
his best efforts in following in the footsteps of the lowly Xazartne and in-
ducing others to follow' in the same path.

Rev. John P. Hoft'mann, the pastor of Our Lady of Per|)etual Help,
Ashton, Iowa, was born X'^ovember ii, 1855. in the grand duchy of Luxem-
burg. His parents, John and Alary (Weber) Hoffmann, came to America in
187 1 and located in Council Bluff's, in the Plumber settlement. Mills county.
Iowa, upon a farm. Reverend Hoffmann received the elements of his educa-
tion in his native country and upon arriving in this state with his parents he
assisted his father upon the farm until he was twenty-three years of age. He
then began his studies for the priesthood ; he entered Calvary College in Wis-
consin and took the classical course as outlined in that institution. He later
took the philosophical courses at St. Joseph's College in Dubuciue, Iowa, and
followed this with the theological course in Montreal, Canada. He was or-
dained by his grace, Archbishop John Hennessey at St. Rafel's Cathedral,

762 o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA.

at Dnbuf|ne on December 8, 1886, and assigned to the parish at Pleasant
Vallev, Carroll county. Iowa, immediately after his ordination. He re-
mained here nine months and in September. 1887. was transferred to Festina.
Winneshiek county, Iowa. He came to Ashton, January 2^], 1890, and has
been in continuous charge of the church at this place since that time.

Since coming to Ashton Father Hoffmann has had the satisfaction of
seeing the church grow in members and influence, so that today it occuj^ies a
prominent place in the spiritual life of this community. In 1893 he built the
church at a cost of eight thousand three hundred dollars and in 19 10 built an
addition whicli cost fourteen thousand dollars. The church is now modern
throughout and is sufficient for the needs of the rapidly growing congrega-
tion. In [898 he was instrumental in having a five-room parochial school
building erected, which is now under the charge of five Sisters. Later the
parsonage was remodeled for a Sisters' dwelling, while the old school build-
ing was arranged as the parsonage. The First church building is now used
as a i^ublic hall and opera house in Ashton. Thp church is
now in a flourishing condition and is one of the important features in the
spiritual life of the people of this community. Reverend Hoffmann is a man
of genial personality and is untiring in his efforts to advance the good of his
church in this communitv.

JOSEPH B. STAMP.

Official position usuall}^ tests a man's ability and qualifications to an
extent that few situations do. and it is generally found that when a citizen
measures up to the standard required in the conduct of an office within the
gift of the people, he is well rewarded with further emoluments in appre-
ciation of his manifold attainmenfs. It is frequently found tliat a man will
become matured and have proceeded along ordinary lines for nian\' years
before his real worth is developed and he is able to fit in the special niche for
which he was originally intended. These things we cannot control, but the
historian can record for all time the plain facts incidental to each life which
comes within the scope of his field. This review will especially treat of
Joseph B. Stamp, the genial and kindly auditor of O'Brien county, whose
success in politics and rise in public life has been little short of meteoric
since he first held office in his home town.

Mr. Stamp was born November 3. 1861. in the town of Gaines^•ille.

o'bUIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 763

Wyoming county, New York. Hi.s father was William Stamp, who was
born February 24. 1822. in Yacldlethorpe, Lincolnshire, England, the son
of William Stamp, who died March i, 1833, at the age of forty-five years
and who was born at Frodingham, Lincolnshire, England, and took to wife
Catharine Altoft. The latter was born at Botsford, England, county of
Lincolnshire, and died April 27, 1862, at the age of seventy-one vears. The
father of Joseph B., who is better known as William, Sr.. was married to
Sarah Pinder, who was born at Crowley, Lincolnshire, England, April 27,
1825. Mr. and Mrs. William Stamp reared the following children : George,
born July 14, 1845; Jobn, born November 15, 1847; Catharine, born August
13, 1849; Rebecca, born October 25, 1851; Edward, born May 17. 1853,
and deceased at the age of twenty-five years; William, Jr., born August 15,
1855; Isaac, born July 5, 1857; Mary, born August 6, 1859: Joseph, born
November 3, 1861: Sarah, born November 2, 1863; Adelbert and Adell,
twins, born February 6, 1868. ^^'illiam Stamp migrated to America and
settled in New York in about 1850. His demise occurred in the land of his
adoption, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. G€orge Stamp died
in 1904; John still resides in New York; Mrs. Catharine Quick lives in San
Diego, California; Rebecca died in 1903 : Edward is a resident of San Diego.
California; William died in New York in 1878; Isaac is a resident of New
York ; Mrs. Alary Brewer lives at Bliss Station, Wyoming county. New
York ; Mrs. Sarah Kaynor resides in Ellensburg, Washington ; Mrs. Adell
Copeland and Adelbert reside in New York.

It is with the life and fortunes of Joseph B. Stamp, however, that this
chronicle is directly concerned. He received a good education in the schools
in the locality of his New ^'ork home and early engaged in teaching at the
age of twenty years. In 1882 he became employed as clerk in a general mer-
chandise store in New York, but became dissatisfied with his job. its emolu-
ments and dreary outlook for the future, and "pulled out" for the West. He
landed at Ames, Iowa, and secured a position in a general store in Straw-
berr\- Point, a nearb}' town. He worked here for about nine months and then
returned to Ames and again took employment in a general store and cream-
ery. He remained at Ames for three years, then removed to Clinton, Iowa,
where he had similar employment for one year. For three years he then
managed a shoe store at Rochelle, Illinois. In 1887 he came to Sanborn,
O'Brien county, and operated the Clark Hotel. In 1888 he went to Spencer,
Iowa, and opened a large hostelry, which he conducted for thir-
teen years. For a short time thereafter he was engaged in the real estate

764 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

business at Clear Lake, Iowa, and in 1902 went to South Dakota. He led
the life of a rancher for five years in South Dakota, and in 1907 returned to
Spencer, where he was employed in a tile factory from April to September.
He again returned to Sanborn and became transfer foreman for the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. A few months later he was promoted to
the chief clerkship of the railroad business at this division point. It is well
to add here that Mr. Stamp has been engaged in railroad work off and on for
over twenty-five years. He served as president of the Sanborn school board
for six years and was elected mayor of the city in the spring of 1912. He
defeated a very strong man for the mayoralty and his political opponents
so admired him that they ran him for county auditor. It is a remarkable
fact that when he was elected auditor, in the fall of 1912, he received two
hundred votes out of a total of two hundred and eighteen cast in the city of
Sanborn. This is evidence of the high esteem in which Auditor Stamp is
held by those who know him. He is a Republican in politics. His fraternal
connections are with the Knights of Pythias at Spencer, of which lodge he
is a charter member; the blue lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons
at Sanborn, and the chapter of Royal Arch Masons at Primghar.

Mr. Stamp's happy wedded life began in 1888, when he was married to
Anna W. Kaynor, who has borne him three children : Joseph, who assists
his father in the auditor's office : Dorothy Sarah, a teacher in the Primghar
schools; Donald H., now in Seattle, Washington. By a first marriage Mrs.
Anna Kaynor Stamp had six children, namely : Kathr\ n, a trained nurse,
who specializes in obstetrics and performs the duties of her calling in
Primghar and Sheldon ; Beatrice Kaynor Schroeder. who died at Spencer
in 1904; Frank K., residing in Seattle, Washington; \\'arren F., at Beacon
Falls, Connecticut; William Kirk, of Springfield, Massachusetts: William
Kaynor, a resident of Dubuque, Iowa.

It is characters such as is possessed by Mr. Stamp that lea\e an im-
pression upon the understanding which means much for good in the com-
munity. His conduct of the high office to which the people have called him
has been such as to commend him favorably to all classes in O'Brien county.
He possesses one of those rare, genial, whole-souled dispositions which com-
pels an immediate and sincere liking on the part of the people with whom he
comes in contact in the routine of his duties and daily life. Xo citizen of
O'Brien county is eminently more entitled to representation in this valuable
work, and this review is presented for the perusal of his many friends and
acquaintances.

o'hRIKN and OSCEOl.A COUN'TIES. IOWA. 765

HOMER E. RICHARDS.

A man of strong character, good business ability and possessing all of
those qualities which make an efficient public official is Homer E. Richards,
the present treasurer of Osceola county. Iowa. Starting in life as a teacher
in the public schools and later serving many years as a railroad telegrapher,
he acquired habits of industry and integrity which have made him an impor-
tant figure in the life of his county. He has also served as a postmaster, and
was for many years bookkeeper and assistant cashier of a bank, and in all of
these various capacities he has acquitted himself with credit. He has per-
formed all of his duties in a way which w^as highly satisfactory to all of those
concerned.

Homer E. Richards, treasurer of Osceola county, Iowa, was born in
Pepin, Pepin county, Wisconsin, in January, 1866, the son of Linus and Isa-
bel (Lowry) Richards, natives of New York and Michigan, respectively.
Linus Richards w^as born in 1823 and died in 1878. He came west to Galena,
Illinois, in the early fifties, and from there freighted goods to Reed's Landing.
Minnesota, where he opened a general grocery store. During the Civil
War he was provost marshal of Minnesota, and at the close of the war moved
to Pepin county. Wisconsin, where he again engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness until his death. He was twice married, having one child by tlie first mar-
riage, Linus G., and l)y his second marriage there were three children: Ho-
mer E.. whose hLstory is here delineated; Clarence A., who lives at Langford,
South Dakota, and Mrs. Althea Robertson, who is a resident of Steele, North
Dakota. The second wife of Linus Richards is now living in Steele, North
Dakota, with her daughter.

Homer E. Richards graduated from the Pepin high school in Wisconsin,
a::d while attending school worked at the printer's trade. However, at the
age of fifteen an unfortunate accident changed his whole career. At this time
he lost his right arm while working in a sorghum mill. After this accident he
went back to school and graduated from the high school and then taught in
the public schools for two years, after which he learned the trade of a teleg-
rapher and w^orked in Minneapolis for the first three years after qualifying
for actual service. From that city he was transferred to Ellsworth, Minne-
sota, and from thence to Lake Park, Dickinson county, Iowa. In the fall of
1892 he became telegrapher and agent for the Rock Island Railway at Harris,
Osceola county, Iowa, and has lived in this county since that time. He re-
mained at Harris for thirteen years. Upon the organization of a bank there

766 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

in 1905 he became the bookkeeper and assistant cashier of the institution and
remained in that capacity until 191 1. In the fall of 1910 he was elected
treasurer of Osceola county, and took his office January i, 191 1, at Sibley.
In the fall of 1912 he was re-elected to this responsible position and will hold
until January i. 191 3. While livinc; at Harris Mr. Richards was postmaster
from 1900 to 19 10.

yir. Richards was married in 1893 to Ida ^NI. \\'ard, the daughter of
Mr. and I^irs. J. C. \\'ard. of Ocheyedan, Iowa, and to this marriage have
been born two children, Clarence C, born October 17. 1894. and Marie M.,
born April zy, 1896.

Mr. Richards has been actively identified with Republican principles
and politics since reaching his majority and has always taken a prominent
part in local political affairs. The Republican party nominated him for the
office of county treasurer and as a Republican he was appointed postmaster
at Harris. He and his family are attendants of the Congregational church
and give to it their earnest support. Fraternally, he is a member of the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
Mr. Richards has always taken an active part in the various public enter-
prises which affected his community and has never withheld his hearty sup-
port from any movement which would be of benefit to the community at
large. He is a man who keeps in close touch with current events and is al-
ways found on the right side of all questions affecting the welfare of his
localitv.

MRS. EVELYN (PEASE) STEARNS.

Among the women of O'Brien county, Iowa, who have witnessed the
growth of this county from the time when it was largely a broad expanse
of prairie to its ])resent condition of finely cultivated farms, is Mrs. Evelyn
(Pease) Steams, who was the third woman to live in the town of Sheldon.
She and her husband, who has now been dead many years, were important
factors in the material advancement of this county, and her husband will
long be remembered as a man who stood for the rights of the settlers who
were struggling to secure homes in this county.

John Tyler Stearns, the friend of the settler, and the husband of Mrs.
Evelyn (Pease) Stearns, was born at Castleton, Rensselaer county. New
Vork, April t2, 1841. and died after a long and useful career at Primghar,
O'Brien county, Iowa, in 1906. He was the son of John E. and Elizabeth

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOVVa. 767

(Proseus) Stearns. John E. Stearns was born February 5. 18 10. in Lee,
Massachusetts.

The Stearns ancestry has been traced back to the colonial days, and has
been worked out from generation to generation to the great-great-grand-
father of Mr^ Evelyn P. Stearns. The first Stearns whose history is on rec-
ord was living at the time when Governor Bradford, of Massachusetts, was
in office. He moved to Waltham, ten miles west of Cambridge, Massachu-
setts, and there reared a family of ten children, and the names of four of
the sons have been preserved. David, Jonathan, Daniel and John. Jonathan,
the second in line and the direct ancestor of John T. Stearns, of this nar-
rative, married Beulah Chadwick, and moved to Mil ford, Massachusetts,
where they reared a large family of children, Jonathan, Beulah, George,
Ebenezer, Lydia, Abigail, David, John, Mary, Abraham, Hannah and Jona-
than. John, the eighth child born to this marriage, became the direct an-
cestor of the branch with which we are interested. This John settled in Berk-
shire county, Massachusetts, and was a soldier in the War of the Revolu-
tion. At the close of that war he was married to Lucy Merrill, and to this
union were born eleven children, Polly, Sally, John, Abigail, Fanny, Thomas,
Betsy, James, Beulah. Dumby and Betsy. Of these eleven children. John,
the first son born and the third child, became the progenitor of the Iowa
family of Stearns. This John married Nancy Esleeck, at Castleton, New
York, August 28, 1808, and two years later John E., the father of John T..
whose history is here presented, was born.

John E. Stearns moved from New York state to Iowa in 1856. settling
in East Waterloo township. Black Hawk county. His wife, Elizabeth Pro-
seus, was born in Castleton, New York, and died at Primghar in 1905. The
familv remained but a short time in East Waterloo township, afterwards re-
moving to Cedar Falls, where they lived for a short period, then went to
]\Ir. Stearns' farm, where his death occurred. The following children were
born to Mr. and ]\lrs. John E. Stearns: John Tyler, the husband of Mrs.
Evelyn Stearns, and Esleeck. The latter was born at Castleton. New York,
in 1833. and was one of the early settlers of Waterloo, Iowa, and was one of
the first engineers on the Iowa Central railroad and died in AA'aterloo. Iowa,
in ino8.

Jolm Tyler Stearns was educated in Castleton, New York, and came to
this slate with his parents when he was about fifteen years of age. After
reaching manhood he I^ecame engaged in the hardware business at Hampton,
Franklin county, Iowa, and was postmaster of that town when he was mar-
rie^l to Evelyn Pease. \\nn'le in Hampton he took up the stud\- of law and

768 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

engaged in partnership with Attorney Davidson. Later he was admitted
to the bar at Des Moines, and still later was admitted to the practice of law
at Chamberlain, after which he was known as a land lawyer and eligible
to participate in land litigation. He first came to Sheldon in 1873, and the
following year came to Primghar. where he opened a real estate and abstract
office. Two years later, however, we lind him back in F'ranklin conntv. the
grasshopper plague practically driving out the settlers of O'Brien county.
In 1880 he went to Chamberlain, where he remained for tiie next seventeen
years. In 1897 he went to Primghar and took full charge of all the litiga-
tion which was connected with the "Squatters' Associati(_)n," and carried
their causes to a successful conclusion, winning man}' famous cases, some
of the more celebrated ones being given elsewhere in this volume and are
only briefly mentioned here. It is sufficient to say here that Mr. Stearns was
looked upon as a friend of the settlers in every sense of the word. He be-
came the C(junty sur\-e}or of O'Brien county and a city councilman of
Primghar.

Mr. Stearns was married on October 13, 1869. to Evelyn Pease, the
daughter of Jesse Thompson and Laura Ann (Mallett) Pease, and who was
born March 14, 1848, at Hazel Green, Grant county, Wisconsin. Jesse T.
Pease was born February 9, 1808. in Ohio, and was a descendant of an old
Massachusetts family. One ancestor of the family served throughout the
War of the Revolution. Jesse Pease moved from Ohio to Wisconsin, set-
tling in Grant county before that state was admitted to the Union. He
worked in the lead mines in Wisconsin in the early forties and in the later
forties he went to California, being one of the many "Forty-niners" who
made the overland trip to the Pacific in search of gold. Later the Pease
familv moved to Iowa and settled in Franklin countv, that state, where thev
bought a farm, and Mr. Pease died in this state March 15, 1882. Mrs. Pease
was born April 2;^, 18 15, in Medina county, Ohio, and died in Franklin
county, Iowa. September 8, 1901. Mr. Pease and wife were married October
4, 1833, and to their union were born six children: Harriet A., born July 4,
1836, died March 16, 1839; George W., born October 25, 1838; Margaret
A., born May 23, 1841 ; Esther, born February 20, 1844; Evelyn, of whom
this chronicle speaks, born March 14, 1848; Charles H., born June 10, 1855.

]\Ir. Stearns was a prominent member of the Masonic order and was a
life-long Republican in politics. They were the parents of three children :
John Jesse, who died in infancy; Mrs. Laura Elizabeth Gregg, of Esther-
ville, Iowa: and she has two children, John Ebenezer and Mary E\-elyn : Mrs.
Glow Esleeck Brooks, of Linton, North Dakota. Mrs. Stearns is a member

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 76')

of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Estherville, Iowa, and holds
membership in the Order of the Eastern Star at Primghar. Mr. and Mrs.
Stearns took up a claim in South Dakota and homesteaded it in 1881. In
1909 ]\Irs. Stearns went to North Dakota and for sixteen months home-
steaded on a claim of one hundred and seventy-two acres, which she still
owns and which is now worth in the neighborhood of three thousand dollars.
The clain.i is well improx'ed willi a stone house, well, and forty acres under
cultivation.

Air. Stearns was a plain, simple, dignihed man, who despised sham and
pretense of all kinds. Although his life was a busy one, his private affairs
and his home making heavy demands on his time, he never allowed it to in-
terfere with his Christian obligations or the faithful performance of all his
duties to the public. He had the greatest sympathy for his fellow men and
was always ready to aid and encourage those who were willing to aid them-
selves. He commanded the respect of all classes by his exemplary life and
his memory will long be revered by his many friends and acquaintances.

THOMAS D. KAS, M. D.

The man who devotes his talent and energies to the noble work of ad-
ministering to the ills and alleviating the sufferings of humanity pursues a
calling which in dignity and importance and beneficial results is second to
no other. If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to enlarge his
sphere of usefulness, he is indeed a benefactor to all of his kind, for to him
more than to any other man are entrusted the safety, the comfort and in
many instances the lives of those who place themselves under his care. Among
this class of professional men is Dr. Thomas D. Kas, whose name appears
at the head of this sketch. He early realized that to those who attain de-
terminate success in the medical profession there must be not only given
technical ability but also a broad human sympathy which must pass from
mere sentiment to be an actuating motive for helpfulness, so he has digni-
fied and honored his profession by noble services, in which he has attained
unqualified success.

Dr. Thomas D. Kas, a practicing physician and surgeon of Suther-
land, O'Brien county, Iowa, was born in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, in
1883. His father was born in Germany in 185 1 and came to Wisconsin with
his parents when he was four years of age. Upon reaching his majority

770 O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

he engaged in farming and continued in that occupation until 19 ii when
he retired and moved to Randon Lake, Wisconsin. Peter Kas was married
in 1871 to Margaret Block, who was born in Germany in 1853. To this
marriage were born eight children : Mrs. Margaret Hann, of Wisconsin ;
Nicholas P., a farmer of Wisconsin; Mrs. Mary Dimmer, of ^^'isconsin ;
Mrs. Kathryn Schomer; John, who is farming the home place in Wiscon-
sin; Jacob; Theresa, and Dr. Thomas D., with whom this narratixe deals.

Doctor Kas graduated from the common school and high school at
Waldon, Wisconsin, finishing his high school course in 1902. He then
taught school for two years and went to the Sheboygan Falls high school,
where he studied higher mathematics, chemistry and German. In 1905 he
marticulated in the Medical College at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated
in 1909. Immediately after graduating he came to Sutherland, OBrien
county, Iowa, and started to practice in his chosen profession, and has built
up a large and lucrative practice in Sutherland and tlie surrounding com-
munity.

The nature of Doctor Kas's profession prevents him from taking an
active part in politics. However, he takes an intelligent interest in politi-
cal affairs and never fails to cast his vote at election time. He prefers to
cast his vote for the best men, irrespective of their politics. He is a mem-
ber of that large and extensive class of citizens who are not tied down by
party allegiance. Doctor Kas is still a young man and has a brilliant career
before him, and, with the start which he has already made, it is safe to say
that the future holds much in store for him.

CAPT. FRANCIS A. GERE.

The life of a veteran pioneer is full of interesting details which are not
usually discernable in the writings concerning the commonplace and the
mediocre. The story of the settlement of the great West will ahva\s have a
fascinating effect upon the discriminating reader. What at one time was
ignorantly referred to as the Great American Desert has been made to
blossom like the rose and has been transformed into a garden of luxuriant
fertility unsurpassed on the American continent. Many of the earl\- pio-
neers of this section were Union ^■eterans, who, becoming restless in the
environment of their earlier homes, moved westward, often in companv with
their parents, and joined the tide of empire, thus becoming important and

CAPT. FRANCIS A. GERE

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 77I

influential fixtures in the stable conditions which naturally followed the con-
quest of a wilderness and its subsequent transformation. One of those, who
lived a useful and honorable life and was an honored figure in his commun-
ity, was Francis A. Gere, of Primghar, who died !\Iarch 17. 1914.

Francis A. (iere was born April 25, 1835, near the city of Binghamton,
New^ York, the son of Eleazar W. and Polly (Brown) Gere, natives of the
state of Massachusetts. Eleazar was born December 7. 1796, in Chester,
Massachusetts, and was married to Polly Brown on July 3, 1822. Both w^ere
descendants of old New England families. Polly Brown Gere was born
October 16, 1802. In 1856 they migrated to Dodge county. Minnesota, at a
time w'hen Minnesota was sparsely settled and Indians roamed the prairies
and forests of the Northwest. They resided in Minnesota until 1869. when
they located in Cherokee county. Towa. Here they ended their days and lie
sleeping in the Gere burying ground on the old homestead in Cherokee
county. They were the parents of the following children: Le\i. born March
29, 1823; William Nelson, born December 21,, 1823: Mary, born June 2y,
1828; John Avery, born July 20. 1829: Samuel Allen, born June 14. 1832;
Francis Asbury; Catherine Ann. born June 27, 1838: James Burris, born
June 19, 1842; Sarah Jane, born ^Iarch 4. 1843. Eleazar Gere was a pioneer
settler in New York, Minnesota and Iowa, a distinction which falls to but
very few men in the course of their natural lifetime.

Francis A., or "Captain Gere," as he was affectionately called, left New
York state at the age of nineteen years en route to Illinois. He traveled by
steamer from Buffalo to Chicago in 1854 and after his arrival in Illinois
was employed in farm work for the summer season. He then went to Dodge
county, Minnesota, and varied the time with farm labor and in the timber
camps. He became an expert timber man and could run the rivers with a
raft of logs with the most expert among* the followers of this arduous and
dangerous vocation. He resided in Dodge county until 1867. when he re-
moved to Lucas count}-. Iowa. After two years' residence there he came to
Cherokee county, traveling by prairie schooner hauled by a team of oxen.

Durine the Civil War Mr. Gere staved at home hv agreement with his

o - - -

brothers that he should be the one to assume the burden of caring for the
family while they were aw^ay fighting for the preservation of the Union.
However, he enlisted Februar>- i, 1865, in Company A. One Hundred and
Fifty- third Illinois Infantry. He refused a captain's commission and saw
active service under General Thomas, his command being assigned to the
Thomas brigade. He served under the direct command of Generals Milroy

']'J2 O BRIEN AXL) OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

and Dudley. During his service he was among the provost guards in Texas
and Mississippi and was in many skirmishes with Ijushw hackers. He was
mustered out September 9, 1865.

Mr. Gere homesteaded on eighty acres of land in Cherokee county and
eventually increased his holding to two hundred acres. In the spring of
1888 he disposed of his holdings in Cherokee count}' and came to O'Brien
county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres in Dale township. In the
year 1900 he sold his acreage to his son and retired to a well-earned rest in
Primghar. where he and his estimable wife lived comfortably and happily
in a prett}- cottage until his death.

Mr. Gere was a member of S. F. Jordan Post Xo. 417. Grand Arm\- of
the Republic, and was a regular attendant at the post meetings. He wasr a
charter member of the Cherokee post and has served as commander of the
local post. He was a Progressive in politics. ]\Ir. Gere was descended from
a long line of soldier forbears. His brothers were all enlisted during the
War of the Rebellion and it is recorded that his maternal grandfather was a
continental soldier who served in the Revolutionary \\'ar.

Captain Gere always took an active part in Republican politics and was
keenly interested in count}- and local ci\ic affairs. He held the office of
township trustee and frequently was a delegate to state conventions, where
he lent his active influence and support to the promulgating of right princi-
ples and the nomination of worthy candidates. He was always a man of
force and influence in the community in which he resided, and for many
years was a well known political leader of recognized power and aliility.

Francis A. Gere was married in Dodge count}-. Minnesota, in 1857, to
Nancy Maritta Alden, a direct descendant of John and Priscilla Alden, of
New England (Doxbury. Massachusetts). The Alden genealogy reads as
follows: John Alden married Priscilla Mollens, who bore him eleven chil-
dren. The second in line was Ca])t. John Alden H, who took to wife Eliza-
beth Everell and had fourteen children. The third in line was Capt. John
Alden HI. whose wife was Elizabeth Phelps and who bore him twelve chil-
dren. The fourth in line was John Alden IV, whose wife was Anna Brawe.
Fifth in order of ancestr}- was John Alden, of Needham, who married
Thankful Parker. Sixth in succession was John Adams Alden, a soldier of
the Revolution, who was born at Midway, Massachusetts, July 11, 1762, and
fought for independence on the battlefields of Rhode Island : he was married
to Hannah Daniels and was the father of Rachel, Reuben, Phineas, Sally,
Luther, Hannah. Ira, ^larv, John and Lymon. Lymon Alden is the next in

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. "]']},

direct line and was born March ij , 1806; he married Anna Halbert, came
west to Dodge count}-, Minnesota, died there and hes buried in Dodge Center.
The children of Lymon Alden were Hannah A., William Halbert, Albert
Martin, Wealthy Ann, Xancy Maritta. Charles Luther, Mary Alice and
Catharine Emma.

Mrs. Nancy Maritta Gere was born April 28, 1842, and is the mother of
the following offspring: Lymon W., now deceased; William Francis, de-
ceased: Mrs. Minnie M. (Schofield) Johnson, of North Dakota, is the mothei
of four children, Charles E., Walter Francis. Schofield, Herbert Leroy Scho-
field and James Arthur: Mrs. ]Mary E. Fraser is a resident of Sorum, South
Dakota, and is the mother of one child, Maritta, named after her grand-
mother; Mrs. Eva Frances Reaney, of Sheldon, Iowa, has three children,
Ethel -\rline, Ritta Alice and James Archie : Charles, now deceased ; Anna,
deceased: Mrs. Kate Alden Smith, of Sorum, South Dakota: James E. Gere,
a farmer of this county.

In the full enjoyment of the closing years of a long and eventful life
which was replete with good and useful deeds, this worthy couple resided in
their cottage home at Primghar. They enjoyed the friendship and esteem
of all who knew them and, because of the eminently noble lives which they
led, fully deserved this re^•iew in the pages of this memoir of O'Brien count^^

WILLIAM H. BROWX.

The office of biography is not to gi\'e voice to a man's modest estimate
of hiniseir and liis in(li\i(lua] acconi[)lishments, but rather to leave upon the
record i; concise account of his career from Ijirtli to the final rounding out
of a life of usefulness, such as has been enjoyed I)}- the citizen whose name
is insciilted at the head of this narratixe. His character has been established
throngli the estimation in which he is held 1)}' his friends and neighbors.
Like man\- successful pioneer settlers of the West, he is self-made and, from
modest and small Ijeginnings. he has amassed a competence through the ex-
ercise of industr}' and a close application to the promotion of agricultural
pursuit>. William H. Brown, retired \eteran farmer of Primghar, is one
of tiie respected and substantial citizens of the town. His sterling worth
and great personal integrity are beyond question in the land of his adoption.

A\'illiam H. Brown was born in Ross county, Ohio, July 12, 1842.
The ])atenial farm was located near the citv of Chillicothe. His father

774 O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

was Samuel Brown, a native of \"irginia. His mother was Alargaret Clark,
a native of Pennsylvania and descendant of an old colonial family. The
earliest known ancestor of the Clark family in America was John Alexander,
a native of Lanarkshire, Scotland, and who emigrated to America and set-
tled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1732. Hugh, a son of John Alexan-
der, also resided in Pennsvlvania. Alarv, a dauohter of Huoh Alexan-
der, was born in 1762 and married Robert Clark. A son of this union,
Robert Clark, born in January 15, 1781, was the grandfather of William
H Brown. Margaret B. Clark. Robert's daughter, married Samuel Brown,
October 17, 1833. They mig"rated to Linn count}', Iowa, in 1852 and resided
near Springville. They were the parents of the following children : Mary
Frances, born October 10, 1834. and died July 2, 1854; Thomas Clark,
born July 12, 1837, and who was a soldier of the Union in the Civil War;
John Benjamin, born September 24, 1839. and who also enlisted in the Union
service; James Allen, born September 28, 1845; Samuel Milton, born Au-
gust 5, 1848, and died June 8. 1862; Susannah Catharine, born June 15,
1851. The mother of these children died April 4, 1856: the father died
September 10, 1875.

William Hugh Brown received his education in the Springville, Iowa,
schools. He enlisted in the year 1863 in Company H, Twenty-fourth Iowa
Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and served for one year and seven months.
His service was principally along the Mississippi ri\'er and in Louisiana,
participating in the Red river campaign. His command saw severe ser^■ice
around the city of Washington, in pursuit of General Early and down through
the Shenandoah valley, thence by boat to Savannah, Georgia, and there met
the army of General Sherman. His command was again sent by water to
meet Sherman at Morehead City, Xorth Carolina, on his northward march
after the \ ictorious march to the sea. He was discharged at Sa^•annah and
re-enlisted December 13. 1863. Mr. Brown's company belonged to the Fourth
Brigade, Second Division, Nineteenth Amiy Corps, which was under the
command of General Banks on the Red river expedition and fought at Mans-
field., Moss Lane and Pleasant Hill.

This valiant soldier was wounded and crippled in the right knee at
the battle of Winchester where he served under the dashing General Sheri-
dan. He fought also in the battles of Opecjuon, Cedar Creek and Fort
Fisher. He w^as honorably discharged from the army July 17, 1865.

In the year 1871 he came to O'Brien county and homesteaded on the
southwest quarter of section 8, Center towaiship. He and his family went
safely through the grasshopper period of devastation in O'Brien county and.

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 775

niiHke others who left the county to their future regret, they were too poor
to get away from the county. He has added to his acreage, reared a
family of seven children and has two hundred and forty acres of the finest
land in O'Brien county. He removed to Primghar in 1904.

Mr. Brown was one of the first trustees of Center township and in con-
cert with other settlers organized and named the township. He is a comrade
of Sanborn Post, Grand Army of the Republic ; has been a Freemason since
1868 and was a charter member of the Abiff Lodge, which was removed
to Sutherland, and is also a charter member of the Primghar Lodge of
Masons.

Mr. Brown was wedded July 16, 1864, to Anna Robinson, who was born
October 26. 1862, in England, and is the daughter of William and Frances
(Currah) Robinson. Her family emigrated to America in 1853 and first
settled in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, where they owned a fine farm. After
a residence there of nineteen years they came to O'Brien county and Mr.
Robinson homesteaded on the west half of the southwest half of section 32,
Center township. ]\Ir. Robinson's sons purchased additional land. The
father died in 1882 on the old homestead, leaving the following children:
Mrs. Anna Brown; James, who died in Louisiana; Joseph E., of Jackson,
Mississippi; George W., who resides near Madison, South Dakota. The
mother of these children died in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were charter
members of the Primghar Alethodist Episcopal church.

^Ir. and Mrs. Brown's children are as follows: Mrs. Frances Ann
Barkley served three years in India as a missionary of the Methodist Epis-
copal church, and married Rev. Barkley, who is a Methodist minister at
Merrill ; she is the mother of four children, Anna E\'elyn, Ada Frances and
twins. Alonzo John and Alice Jean ; Samuel L. Brown, who is a resident
of Madison, South Dakota, and is the father of two children, Vernon Will-
iam and Lewis Rowland ; Hugh Ernest, who resides two miles south of
Primghar; Alice, who is working in the county treasurer's office; Edith
M., a teacher in the Sheldon, Liwa, schools; Clara Emma, who teaches in
South Dakota; William R., a farmer, and who has one son, Trueman George.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown have reared and educated an excellent family who
are a credit to their parents and well known for their sterling qualities.
They are among the most highh' esteemed people of the county and enjoy
the confidence and good will of all who know them. Kind and courteous
in their relations with others, in private life and in the home they shine
with a spirit which is always wholesome and elevating to those who come
within the range of their influence.

776 O'URIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, lOWA.

A. W. AIcCALLUM.

A nativ^e son of Osceola county who has never wandered from the hmits
of his native heath is A. W. McCallum, formerly clerk of the district court
and now a prominent abstracter of titles in Sibley. He is a man of force of
will and. with a laudable ambition, has forged to the front in a responsible
and exacting- calling and earned an honorable reputation in his chosen line
of business. His life has been one of hard study and research from his
youth and the position to which he has attained is evidence that he possesses
qualities of a high order.

A. W. McCallum, the son of Daniel D. and Angelina M. (Orr) Mc-
Calluni. was born April 22, 1873, in Osceola county on a farm in what is now
Ocheyedan township. Daniel D. McCallum was a native of Canada and his
wife of Wisconsin. Daniel D. was the son of Daniel McCallum. a native of
Scotland. He first settled in Canada and in 1856 located in Clayton county.
Iowa. Daniel D. homesteaded on section 14 in Ocheyedan township, Osceola
count}', in June. 1872. He had been married two years pre\ious in Grant
coimty. Wisconsin, to Angeline M. Orr. He had served in the Civil War,
enlisting in Company I, Twenty-seventh Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry,
and later in the Twelfth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He served
altogether fourteen months. He resided on his homestead in Ocheyedan
township for seven years and then moved to Sibley and engaged in the prac-
tice of law. He served two years as judge of the old circuit court and ser\ed
for several years as countv attorney, holding this position at the time of his
death. August 10, 1895. His wife was born in 1840 and is still living and
now makes her home with her son, A. W., in Sibley. Daniel D. McCalluiu .
and wife were the parents of three children: A. W., whose history is here
briefly delineated; Alary L., deceased, and Mrs. Florence A. Townsend, of
Murdo, South Dakota.

A. ^^^ McCallum was born in a genuine old-fashioned sod house. It
was built In- his father in 1872. when he homesteaded his farm. In this he
lived for only the first year after his ])irth. accordingly does not ]ia\e a very
vivid remembrance of his first home. He was educated in th.e Sibley schools,
but most of his education has been acquired from wide and extensive read-
ing since leaving school. He has been an omnivorous reader all of his life
and has never given up the habit of l)eing a student. Earl}- in life he l)egan
to take a part in public affairs and when only twenty-four years of age was
elected as clerk of the district court of his county. Retiring from this four-

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. ']']■]

year office, he engaged in the ahstracting of land titles and in tliis line of
business he has been contimiously engaged since tliat time. To be a success-
ful abstracter demands the closest scrutiny of details and a preciseness which
only comes from good training. It is not too much to say that Air. McCal-
lum has all of those qualities which are necessary for the successful ab-
stracter.

Air. AlcCallum was married in 1902 to Beulah Burris. Fraternally,
Mr. McCallum is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and
the Knights of Pyihias. Mr. McCallum is a man of strong character and
courteous demeanor, a man who has earned the respect and admiration of
all of those who have been associated with him in anv wav.

HENRY W. GEISTER.

The office of biugraph}- is nut to give v(;ice to a man's modest estimate of
himself and his accomi)lishments. but rather to leave upon the record the ver-
dict establishing" his character by the consensus of opinion on the part of his
neigh])ors and friends. The life of the honorable suljject of this re\iew has
been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best, owing to the
fact that he has always been loyal to trusts imposed upon him as sherifif of
O'Brien county, and has been upright in his dealings with his fellow men, at
the same time lending his support to the advancement of any cause looking to
the v.elfare of the community at large.

Henry W. Geister, who is now serving his second term as sheriff of
O'Brien county. Iowa, was born November 23, i<S68. in Cook count\'. Illinois,
and is the son of Joseph and Marie (Stalbaum) Geister, both of whom were
born, reared and married in their native land of Germany. After their mar-
riage they came to America and first settled on a farm in Cook countx', Illi-
nois, and in 1876 came to Iowa and located in Marshall county. Six vears
later the family moved to Cherokee count}', where the father and mother died,
the father passing awa}" in 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Geister were the jjar-
ents of six children: William, of Colorado; J. G., of O'Brien countv. Iowa :
George, of South Dakota ; Mrs. Augusta Krekow, of Cherokee countv, this
state; Mrs. Caroline Grauer, of Cherokee county, and Henry \\'.. the present
sheriff of O'Brien county.

Henry W. Geister was reared and educated in Cherokee count\-, his
parents mo^•ing there when he was about eight years of age. After reaching

//S o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

his maturity he farmed in Cherokee county for a few years and in 1894 lie
came to O'Brien county, where he purchased a farm. However, owing to an
unfortunate accident in 1892. by which he lost his right arm below the elbow
by the accidental discharge of a shot gun, he was severely handicapped as a
farmer. Consequently he gave up this pursuit and engaged in the imple-
ment business for a couple of years, after which he managed a bowling alley
for four years, then put a dray line into operation in Sheldon, which he man-
aged for three years. In 1907 he was appointed deputy sheriff and three
years later was elected sheriff oi O'Brien county. His honest administration
of this important office proved so satisfactory to his party that he was re-
nominated and in 19 12 was triumphantly re-elected. In the discharge of the
duties of this office he has proved faithful to the trust reposed in him by the
citizens of the county, and it is safe to say that there is no more popular offi-
cial in the county than he.

j\Ir. Geister is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and
the Modern \\^oodmen of America. In politics he is a Republican and, being
a county official, has naturally been closely identified with the politics of his
county for several years.

Mr. Geister was married March 8, 1890, to Anna Ault, of Haverhill,
Ohio, and to this union there have been born five children, Adda A.. Marie M.,
Jennie C, Leroy O. and Fern A. Mr. Geister is a man of pleasing appear-
ance and easily makes friends wherever he goes and he now has scattered
throughout the county a host of warm friends who admire him for his many
ood qualities.

WILLIAM H. DOWNING.

One of the well known names in O'Brien county is that of William H.
Downing, a counselor-at-law who, though not long a resident of the county,
is making his influence felt for good in the community. He is a close student,
thoroughly understands the law, and is known as a man of steadfast in-
tegrity, not only in his professional capacity, but as a citizen and able public
official. As mayor of Primghar he is giving his adopted city a good admin-
istration, and is fast becoming widely known as a lawyer of ability and force.

Mr. Downing was born September 16, 1876. on a farm in Bennezette
township, Butler county, Iowa. He is the son of John E. and Catharine
(Maroney) Downing, natives of Ireland, the former a native of county
Cork, and the latter a native of county Clare. John E. Downing was born

WILLIAM H. DOWNING

NS ^

.O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 779

June 22, 1837, and came to America when twelve years of age, in the year
1849. For a period of five years he was employed in the woolen mills at
Boston, Massachusetts. In 1854 he went to the copper mining region of
Lake Superior and worked in the mines of that locality for ten years. In
1864 he removed to Buchanan county, Iowa, and resided on a farm in this
county until 1867, when he traveled to Butler county and filed on a govern-
ment homestead. He developed and improved his land and in January,
1893, he retired to the town of Greene, in Butler county. He was one of the
best known pioneer settlers of Butler county and was connected with the
official life of the township in various capacities, being frequently called upon
to serve in different township offices. He served seventeen years as town-
ship trustee and was prominently identified with the Democratic party in
Butler county. John E. Downing was the father of twelve children, ten of
whom are yet living: Patrick J., a farmer in Butler county, Iowa; Mrs.
Josie Lovell, of Greene, Iowa ; Mary, a resident of Waterloo, Iowa ; Mrs.
Ella Moss, of Greene; M. J., a citizen of Elmore, Minnesota; J. L., a Butler
county farmer; Mrs. Theresa Stanton, of Greene; Bid, who resides in Water-
loo; William H. ; Mrs. Celia Kirk, of Waterloo.

William H. Downing was brought up on the farm and attended the dis-
trict schools of his native county and the high school at Greene. He became
ambitious to become a lawyer and, entering the law department of the State
University, he graduated in 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In
September, 1900, he located in Primghar and has built up a lucrative prac-
tice in his chosen profession.

Mr. Downing is politically allied with the Democratic party, and has
been the local central committeeman for several years. He was elected mayor
of Primghar in April, 19 12. For ten years to this date he had served as
city clerk. Mr. Downing is a member of the Knights of Columbus, Lodge
No. 1564, at Sheldon, Iowa; is affiliated with the Yeomen and is a member
of the Catholic church.

Mr. Downing was married June 10, 1903, to Mary E. Earle, of Tipton,
Iowa, and thev had two children, one of whom is yet living, Marian A., born
March 31, 1904. and died May 16. 1913, at the age of nine years, and Anna
Catharine, born October 25, 1907.

Mr. Downing is recognized as a progressive citizen and an attorney of
ability who is making his influence known in his adopted county. He is an
earnest, forceful character who is well liked and highly esteemed by a host
of friends and well wishers in O'Brien countv.

/So o'BRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA

JOSEPH GILL.

It is a matter of great satisfaction to those citizens who are looking-
to the day when better government will be in vogue to find that public
opinion is demanding and choosing better public officials. In times gone by
Osceola county, Iowa, has had men in public offices who were not altogether
efficient and faithful in their administration of their duties, but the county
officials who are now in charge of the affairs of the county are a group
of men who are of exceptionally high merit. Many of them are repre-
sented by biographical sketches in this volume, and without exception they
are performing their duties faithfully and well and to the entire satisfaction
of the citizens of the county. No more popular sheriff ever haled a pris-
oner into the courts of this county than Joseph Gill, who was elected in
the fall of 191 2.

Joseph Gill was born July 22, 1859, in Illinois, and is the son ot
Samuel and Xancy (Ulm) Gill. Samuel Gill was born in Pennsylvania,
a!id when a small boy went to Ohio with his parents where he was reared
to maturity. He married in that state and moved to Illinois in the spring
of 1859, where lie lived the remainder of his days. Samuel Gill and wife
were the parents of eleven children, six sons and five daughters : Mrs.
Lydia Hulble, who lives in Clay City, Illinois; Mrs. Mary Campbell, also
a resident of Illinois ; Rosa, whose husband is a banker at Puyallup, Wash-
ington ; Mrs. Sally Tetrick, of Illinois; Minnie, who died in 1906: John E.,
of Clay City, Illinois; Jacolj, who is a resident of Beaxer City, Nebraska;
George and Samuel, who are farmers near Clay City, Illinois ; Ahtrris, de-
ceased in 1870, and Joseph, whose history is here briefly set forth.

Joseph Gill was educated in the district schools of his home county in
Illinois and later attended the schools of Clay City in that state. He spent
his boyhood days on the home farm and at the age of sixteen he left school
and l)egan to work. When lie was twenty-one years of age he came to
Black Hawk county, Iowa, and worked for two years at farm labor. In the
fall of 1882 he came to Sibley, Osceola county, where he purchased a
livery barn, and has lived in this city since that time. Since acquiring
interest in the livery business in Sibley he has erected a new and commodious
livery stable and has been doing a prosperous business ever since starting
in this line. Upon his election to the office of county sheriff, in the fall
of 191 2, he sold his stock and barn in order to devote all of his time to the
arduous duties of the sheriff's office. He is a man of great force of character

o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 781

and his election to this office shows the confidence which people reposed in
him throughout the county. He has always taken a prominent part in
Republican politics of the county and his services have been recognized by
its leaders.

Mr. Gill was married in March, 1887. to Alice Buckley, who died hi
October, 1902. leaving three children; George E., Sidney J. and Thelma. In
March, 1904. Mr. Gill was married to Mrs. L. M. Ellison, of Sibley, who was
the mother of two children by a former marriage. Zella and Ila.

Fraternallv, Mr. Gill is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America
and Ancient Order of United Workmen, holding his membership in thes.'
lodges at Sibley. He has taken an active interest in all of the public en-
terprises of Sibley and vicinity since coming here and has given his hearty
support to every measure bearing upon the public welfare of the city where
he has spent so many years. Mr. Gill has been veiy successful as a busi-
ness man and in his various transactions has so conducted himself as to
win the confidence and esteem of all those with whom he has come in
contact.

HENRY L. WILLIAMS.

Trade and commerce have ever had an attraction for the class of in-
dividuals who seem best adapted to succeed in this oldest of callings. Of
necessity, man himself is compelled to buy; likewise, it is necessary that
others do the selling. The raw material is first prepared by skilled artisans
in all corners of the earth so that the buyer can use it at first hand to supply
his needs in every particular. A few out of the vast army of those en-
gaged in merchandising" seem chosen from among the aggregate for marked
preference and are noted as being more successful than the av^erage. W'e are
often puzzled by this seeming discrepancy and wonder why more persons,
who venture into the channels of trade and barter, do not succeed in this
attractive vocation ; but upon investigation, we find that tlie underlying
causes for the success of one individual and the possible failure of the other
to advance is due, in part, to the possession of different qualifications — in
some measure to heredity and, above all, to the decisive ability of the suc-
cessful one to win where others fail or may be contented with a mediocre
return for his exertions. It is evident tliat he of whom the biographer is
pleased to write is a successful business man and a wide-awake citizen.
Henry L. Williams, mercliant of Primghar. is one of those broad-minded.

782 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

warm-hearted persons \\ hose friends are loyal and who has succeeded far be-
yond the average in building up a substantial and remunerative business.

Henry L. \\'illiams located in Primghar in October, 1887. He pur-
chased a lo:; on the west side of the court house square and erected a
store building, twenty-two by ninety-six feet in extent, in which he placed
a line of dry goods, groceries, clothing and queensware. Until 1889 he
conducted a general store. He then added another Ijuilding of the same
size and placed a stock of hardware. In i8qi he again increased the scope
of the business by the addition of a large building, forty-four by ninety-six
feet in dimension, in wliich he opened a furniture and undertaking depart-
ment. In 1893 the l3uildings were remodeled and arranged on the depart-
mental plan, with practically each department separate and under a different
head. A drug store is included, operated under the name of the Primghar
Drug Compan\-, and received its inception in 1888, it being the oldest es-
tablished drug business in the city. The Williams store buildings occupy
nine lots in their entirety. The stock of goods usually carried will exceed
twenty-fne thousand dollars in value. In 1890 Mr. Williams erected an opera
house, wliich was co::ducted by a stock company until 1892, when he became
the sole owner.

Henry L. Williams was born in January, i860, in W'hite countv, Illi-
nois, on a farm six miles distant from Grayville. His father was Jacob
Williams, a nati\'e of White county and a descendant c^f an old Kentucky
family. His mother was Mary Rawls, also a descendant of Kentucky for-
bears. Jacob Williams migrated from Illinois to Marshall county, Iowa, in
1868. He resided there on his farm until 1903, when he made his final home
in Primghar, where he died in 1905. He was the father of the following
children: R. \\\, a citizen of Primghar; Mrs. Susie M. King, of Primghar;
Henry L. ; .Sarah, wife of Harry Russell, grain dealer of Allendorf ; Charles
N., of Primghar: Mrs. Belle Machinson, a resident of Sibley.

Henry L. Williams was educated in the district schools and was reared
to farm life. He followed farming as an occupation until he was twenty-
four years of age. In 1884 he and his brother embarked in the hardware
business at Morris, Iowa. One year later they traded the store for a tract
of land and then traded the land for a general store at Panama, Iowa.
They then conducted a general store at Laurel for about seven months and
were engaged in business at Oilman, Iowa, for about six months after-
wards. They opened stores at Dillon and Ferguson, in Marshall countv.
Iowa, and, success following their efforts in the mercantile line, they branch-
ed out with a store at Correctionville, and in 1887 established the Primghar

o'r.KlEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 783

Store. For se\eral years Williams Brothers conducted mercantile concerns
at Gaza, Archer, Hartley, Primghar and other places. In the con.rse of
time, however, their other holdings were disposed of and Henry L. be-
came the sole owner of the large establishment at Primghar.

>.lr. Williams has been an active and influential factor in Democratic
politics and at one time rose to the position of being one of the state leaders
of the Democracy and was talked of as a candidate for governor of the
state. He has held various positions of trust, having served as postmaster
of the town of Archer during President Cleveland's administration. He has
had the unique distinction of being the only postmaster being appointed to
fill office in a town of which he was a non-resident. This peculiar situation
evoked considerable comment and Mr. Williams became a widely known
personage as the logical result. He is descended from a long line (jf old-
fashioned Southern Democrats, but was not an advocate of free sih er in the
national campaign of 1896. He was a candidate for the ofiice of state
treasurer on the Democratic state ticket in 1894 and was a candidate for
the governorship in 1896. For a number of years he has been a regular
attendant at state conventions and is a well known figure among the mem-
bers of tlie state Democracy. Of late years he has retired somewhat from
a;ctive political affairs, but is still recognized as one of the leaders of the
party in O'Brien county, having been for several years the practical and mili-
tant leader of his party in the county. In the year 1894 he, with three others,
established the O'Brien County Democrat, the outcome of which deal in
the er.d was that he became the sole owner of the newspaper, which he later
sold.

^.lr. Williams is a member of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, taking
all the degrees and being a member of the Mystic Shrine at Sioux City.
He is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the
Eastern Star chapter and the Modern Woodmen. His people have always
espoused the Baptist faith and, while Mr. Williams himself is not identified
with anv church organization, he is very lil)eral in ins support of religious
institutions.

Air. W^illiams has been twice married. In 1889 he was united in wedlock
with Emma Hilsabeck, of Ferguson, Marshall county, and who died May
3, 1900. She was the mother of two children, as follows: Mrs. Marie
Bossert, of Primghar; Russell, who is his father's assistant in the store, was
bom July 31, 1891, was educated in the Primghar public and high schools,
and is married to Elsie Carr. The second marriage of this well-known gen-

784 ' o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

tleman occurred December 2},. 1900, when he was wedded to Effie Pittsen-
berg. daughter of Mrs. Clark, deceased.

^Ir. ^^"i^iams is one of these whole-souled, liberal gentleman, who in-
spires a sincere liking for his man}' manly qualities and is well worthy of
a fitting representation in this biographical department of the history of
O'Brien county.

ISAAC CLEMENTS.

It is the progressive, wide-awake men of affairs that make the real his-
tory of a community and their influence as potential factors of the body pol-
itic is difficult to estimate. The examples such men furnish of patient pur-
pose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each
to accomplish, and there is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting
even in a casual way to their achievements in advancing the interests of their
fellow men and in giving strength and solidity to the institutions which make
so much for the prosperity of a community. Such a man is he whose name
appears at the head of this article, and as such it is proper that a review of his
career be accorded a place among the representative citizens of the citv and
count}' in which he resides.

Isaac Clements, ex-county recorder of O'Brien county, and now a pros-
perous merchant of Primghar, was born January 15, 1842, in Sangamon
county, Illinois, the son of John and Lydia (Smick) Clements, natives, re-
spectively,, of \"irginia and Kentucky. John Clements was born in \'irginia
in 1800. apd removed to Kentucky in early life, where he married Lydia
Smick. after which they moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, and were among
the pioneer settlers of the county which has been rendered famous through
its being the home of Abraham Lincoln. John Clements built one of the
first houses in Springfield, Illinois. In 1846 Mr. Clements and his family
came to Dubuque county, Iowa, where they entered land ten miles west of
Dubuque. He improved and developed his farm and sold it in 1855. after
which the family moved to Centralia, in Dubuque county. During the Civil
War he traded his property for a farm in Buchanan county, Iowa, where he
lived until 1877, at which time he removed to Sangamon county. Illinois,
where his death occurred February 3, 1877. on the anniversary of his birth.
Mrs. Clements died in 1864 on the farm in Buchanan county, Iowa. To this
union were Ijorn tweh'e children: William, who died at the age of twenty-
one; Susan, wlio died in her girlhood; Thornton, who died at the age of

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 785

fortv-five : Marv Jane, deceased : James, deceased ; Xancy Arlinda. deceased ;
Sarah, deceased; Isaac, whose history is presented herewith: John, deceased;
Eliza and Catherine, both deceased.

^ Isaac Clements enlisted in Company H. Sixteenth Regiment Iowa \'olun-
teer Infantrx'. in August. 1862. The colonel of his regiment was Alexander
Chambers and the captain of his company was E. ^L Newcomb. His com-
pany was assigned to the Seventh Army Corps, and participated in the bat-
tles of Lafavette. Tennessee. Vicksburg, Rome. Jackson, Grand Gulf. Re-
saca. Kenesaw Mountain and Ezra Church. He was with Sherman on his
famous Atlanta campaign, followed him to the sea, and later took the north-
ern trip through North and South Carolina. He was present at the Grand
Review which took place in Alay. 1865, at Washington. D. C. and was mus-
tered out in that city on the last day of May, 1865. Immediately after the
close of the war Air. Clements returned to Iowa and worked in Delaware
and Buchanan counties until his marriage on December 20. 1865. Shortly-
after his marriage he and his wife moved to O'Brien county, where the}'
homesteaded in Floyd township. They ])ut up a board shack, twelve feet
square and se\-en feet in height, hauling the lumber from Cherokee. They
had two cows, one team of horses, and. as Mr. Clements says, 'T had a good
time and a hard time." He suffered the grasshopper plague in the seventies,
as did everv other settler in the county, but. unlike many of the others. i\Ir.
and ]\Irs. Clements stayed with their farm, although by the third year the
grasshoppers had actually eaten up everything within sight. In 1882 they
sold their farm and rented a farm in this county for the next four years.

Mr. Clements was elected recorder of O'Brien county in 1886. and has
never done any farming since that time. After serving four years in this im-
portant office to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of the county he en-
gaged in the mercantile business in Primghar. which he has been successfully
conducting up to the present time. In politics he is a Republican and has
always taken an active interest in the campaigns of his party. Fraternally,
he is a meml^er of Jordan Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and has served
as commander of the local post. He is a member of the order of Ancient
Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern \\'oodmen of America. The
family are all members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They have one
daughter. Mrs. Ella Johnston, of Primghar, who is the mother of three chil-
dren, Bernice. Laverne and Judson.

Mr. Clements has passed through enough in the past three score years
to satisfy an ordinary man, Init he has never complained in any way. Since
he established his mercantile Imsiness nearlv twentv-five vears ago he has

786 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

been very successful. He first established this business in 1891, in partner-
ship with W. A. Rosecrans, and since 1903 has been in partnersliip with Earl
Rosecrans, the son of his former partner. The firm enjoys a full share of the
public patronage, and by earnest effort, strict business integrity and sound
methods, have earned the confidence and regard of the public at large. Start-
ing in life with practically nothing. Mr. Clements has, Ijy his indomitable
will, attained to a very comfortable competence, and because of his attain-
ments he is entitled to the eminent standing which he enjoys in his com-
munitv.

THOMAS S. REDMOND.

It is proper to judge of the success of a man's lift* by the estimation in
which he is held by his fellow citizens, and nowhere can this be shown better
than in the lives of men who take part in the public life of their respective
communities. Ha man in any county seat of Iowa should be elected to the
position of mayor of his city for two terms, it would be some exidence that
he was a man of influence in his community. Furthermore, if this same man
had formerly been county superintendent of schools and a puljlic and normal
school teacher, it would be additional exidence of the worth t:)f the man.
Then if it were shown that, aside from public affairs, the man had made a
pronounced success in the business world, it would show that he was well
rounded in those attributes which make a man influential in his community.
This statement indicates briefly the career of Thomas S. Redmond, who is
now secretary of the Sibley Commercial Club and one of the most prominent
business men of his city.

Thomas S. Redmond, the son of Patrick and ]\Iary ( Sullixan ) Red-
mond, was born August i, 1866, in Monmouth. Illinois. His father was a
native of Ireland, his birth having occurred in that country in 1834, and his
mother was born in the same country in 1839. Patrick Redmond came to
America when a young man and first located in Doylestown. Pennsyhania.
where he followed the occupation of a farmer. In 1865 he mo\ed to Illinois
and resumed the occupation of farming in that state, in which pursuit he was
engaged for the next seven years, after which he moved to Henry county,
Iowa, where he lived until 1889. ^^ ^i^^t settled in Sible}'. Osceola county,
where he farmed for a short time and then moved to Sanborn, O'Brien
county, in 1895. where he is still living. His wife. Mary Sullivan, came' to
this country with her parents \vhen a young girl. Patrick Redmond and wife

THOMAS S. REDMOxXD

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COL'NTIES, IOWA. 787

were llie [jurents of five children: Alary, who is a resident of Sanborn; Lena,
also of Sanborn: S. D., of Sanborn; jMargaretta. the wife of Dr. E. J. \\'hit-
ley, chief sur^^eon of the National Soldiers' Home at Danville. Illinois, and
Thomas S.. whose history is briefly outlined here.

Thomas S. Redmond is a man of unusual ability in many di.fferent lines.
InheritiuL': a keen intellect from his parents, he has trained it in a way which
has brouglit fortli its latent possibilities, .\fter 'receiving an education in
the Common schools of the state, he attended Mt. Pleasant Acadenn- in Iowa,
and then Ijegan teaching school in Henr}- county, this state. When twent}'-
three }ears of age he came to Osceola county with his parents, and for
fifteen years taught school in this county. His service, including teaching in
the TeMars Normal School and .Ashton public schools, where he served as
l)rincipal. extended o\er the abo\e mentioned period. In 1895 he \\as ap-
jjointed count}- superintendent of schools of Osceola count}- to fill out six
months of a term. L'pon the expiration of his appointixe tenu, he was elected
to this offi.ce rmd was subse(|uently elected three times, ser\ing until uj02 with
signal success. While teaching he was president of the Xorthwcstern Iowa
Teachers' Association, an honor which came to him unsought. Upon retiring
from the ofiice of count}- superintendent he decided to engage in the real
estate business in Sible\', and has been no less successful in the business world
than he was in the work of education. He deals in Osceola county land, as
Avell as land in Alinnesota. Dakota and Canada. During the course of a
vear he handles several thousands of acres, and in all of his transactions he
has so conducted himself that he has won and retains the confidence of all of
his business associates. He is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of
land two miles east of Sibley, which he has improved and brought to a high
state of cultivation. This farm he now rents and realizes a handsome profit
upon his investment.

Air. Redmond was married in 1896 to Edith Finster, of Siblev. and to
this union there have been born two children. Alarion and Donald. He and
his family are loyal members of the Catholic church and render to it their
zealous support at all times. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of
Columbus. In his political alliliations he has been identified with the Repub-
lican party since coming to this county and he has been one of the leaders
of his party for many years. In addition to his services as county superin-
tendent, to which office he was elected by the suffrages of the people of the
countv. he lias also served two terms as mayor of the city of Siblev. While
mavor, he took e^•ery advantage to further the interests of the city and sup-

-' (51)

788 o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA counties, IOWA.

ported e\ery measure which he felt would redound to its credit. He was
elected in the spring of 1908 and 1912, and it is safe to say that no more
popular mayor ever held the oftice in the cit}' than ^^Ir. Redmond. He has
been secretary of the Sibley Commercial Club ever since its organization in
1904. and has been largely instrumental in promoting all public measures
affecting his city's welfare. In fact, no man has been more active in the
general upbuilding and improvement of Sibley than he. and he is certainly
earning the title of "progressive." and, in fact, in all matters of advancement
he has taken the initiative and urged others to follow. Personally, Mr.
Redmond is a most companionable man. uniformly courteous, strictly honest
in all the relations of life, and a man who merits in every way the esteem of
the people of his county and city.

GEORGE COLEAL^N.

O'Brien count}' has been fortunate in the number and character of its
business men, those men who, with aid of the excellent farms of the county,
have put this county to the front ranks of the counties of Iowa. As a farmer,
as a public official, and as a business man, the subject of this sketch has
done ever}-thing within his power to advance the interests of the county,
and the \arious enterprises with which he has been connected have been con-
ducive to the prosperity- of the county to a marked degree. He has always
exerted a strong influence for good in his community, being a man of up-
right jjrinciples and desirous of seeing the advancement of his community
alons: moral, educational and material lines.

George Coleman, the son of Hiram and Anna Eliza (Boyle) Coleman,
was born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1862. Hiram Coleman was born in
Ohio in 1822 and was a merchant all of his life. d\ing in 1878. He was
married in 1847 t*' Anna Eliza Boyle, who was born .\ugust 8, 1824. and died
April 13, 1912. To Hiram Coleman and wife were born four children:
James C, deceased: Chauncey E., deceased; Charles Burgess, deceased, and
George, with whom this narrative deals.

Georsfe Coleman received a common school education in the schools of
Ohio and in 1883, after the death of his father, he came with his mother and
two brothers to O'Brien county, Iowa. His mother bought two hundred
and forty acres of unimproved land for fifteen dollars an acre, adjoining the
corporation of Sanborn. The three brothers then began to improxe the farm

o'bRIEX AXD OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 789

h\- constructing- bniMings. erecting- fences and installing a drainage system,
antl set out four acres of mixed grove and orchard,, and in a short time
had greatly enhanced the value of the farm and placed it in a position where
it was yielding handsome returns on the original investment. They bought
and sold stock of \arious kinds and did a g-reat deal of feeding on the fa\-^Ti
Thev marketed on an axerage of two car loads of cattle each year.

George Coleman remained with his mother on the farm until 1899, when
he was married to Xellie McConnack, who was Ijorn in Clay county, Iowa,
in 1876, and came to O'Brien county with her parents when a small child.
Before his marriage Mr. Coleman \\as elected sheriff of O'Brien county
and served from 1897 to 190J. While holding this office he maintained
his residence in Primghar. the county seat of the county. In 1904 Mr.
Colenian moved from Primghar to Hartlev and became interested in the
telephone business and now owns and controls the Hartley Telephone Ex-
change, and has jnit the exchange into a position where it is giving- efficient
service to the people of Hartley and vicinit}'. Air. Coleman, as a Repulilican.
has always been actively interested in politics and. in fact, has held some
sort of an office e\-er since he was twenty-one years of age. In 19 12 he
was elected mavor of Hartley, a position whicli he filled to the entire
satisfaction of all the citizens of the city. He is a man of wonderful energy
and determination and when he has a goal in \-iew he lets nothing swerve
him from his path until he reaches it. Mr. Coleman is the owner of three
liundred and thirty-five acres of land in Minnesota and owns six lots in
the city of Primghar. which he recently donated to that city for a public play-
ground for the children.

Mr. Coleman and his wife are people of culture and refinement and
ha\-e a host of friends who delight in sharing with them their hospitable
home. He is a man who has taken an interest in even,' movement which he
felt would help his city in an}- way and for this reason is regarded as one
of the most representative citizens of Hartley and O'Brien county.

ERNEST F. BRODERS.

It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a community or a state
lies not in the niachiner}- of government nor e\-en in its institutions, but
rather in the sterling qualities of the individual citizen, in his capacity for
high and unselfish effort and his devotion to the ]mblic welfare. In these

790 O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Ijarticulars he whose name appears at the liead of this re\'iew lias conferred
honor and dignity upon his locahty. and as an elemental part of history it is
consonant that there should be recorded a resume of his career, with the
object in \-ie\v of noting his connection \\ ith the advancement of one of the
most tiourishing and progressive sections of the commonwealth.

Ernest F. Broders. a banker and real estate man of Hartley, O'Brien
ctninty, Iowa, was born December 6, 1869, ""i Muscatine county, Iowa. He
is the son of Peter F. and Sophia (Hanson) Broders. Peter F. Broders
was ])orn in (Jerman_\- in 1840 and liis wife was born in the same countr\- in
1845. They were married in Muscatine county, Iowa, where they pur-
chased eight}' acres of land. Peter F. Broders grew to Ije a successful farmer
and u]nm his retirement, a few years ago, to Durant, Iowa, he owned six
hundred acres of land in this count}'. Mr. and Mrs. Peter F. Broders are
tlie ])arents of eleven children : Airs. Augusta Goettch. of Cedar county,
Iowa; Mrs. Amelia Bernick, of Durant, Iowa: Henry, who is farming the
home place; Mrs. Emma Denkman, of Scott count}', Iowa; Airs. Agnes Paul-
sen, of Da^"enport, Iowa; Airs. Laura Telsrow, of Aluscatine county, Iowa;
George, of Saskatchewan, Canada: Emiel. deceased; Harry, cashier of the
First National Bank of Hartley, and Ernest F., whose history forms the
theme of this narrati\e.

Ernest V. Broders received a good coiumon school education and at the
ap'e of sixteen went to Durant, Iowa, and worked in a general mercantile
store for two years at seven dollars a month. He then took a course in the
Davenport Business College at Davenport, Io^va, and lifter graduating toured
the Western states for a few years. Fie then came back to Durant, Iowa,
and clerked in a store for two years. When he was twent}'-tive years of
age he came to Hartley, Iowa, and opened a general mercantile store, which
he managed until IQ13. lu 1905 he was elected president of the First
National Bank of Hartley and is still filling that responsible position. In
addition to his other interests, he lias extensive land holdings in various
states in the United States, as well as in Canada. He is a fine type of the
sturdy German who started in with practically nothing and has accumulated a
very C(jmfortable fortune.

Mr. Broders was married in 1908 to Bessie Waterhouse, who was born
in Wisconsin in 1881. They have two children who are still at home,
Ernest F., Jr., and Elizabeth. Politically, Air. Broders is a Democrat, Ijut
has always been so busy with his many affairs that he has not had time to
take an active |)art in politics. He is a believer in the efficiency of church
work and is a lil)eral subscriber to the support of the \'arious denomina-

O BRIEX AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 7yi

tions in Hartley. Frateniall}-, lie is a member of the Knights of Pvthias
antl the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and takes a deep interest in
the welfare of these two fraternal org-anizations. He is liberal minded,
whole souled, kind hearted and a usefnl and noble man, and has won the
praise and respect of all who know him. His life has been characterized
b}' strict integrity of word and action, and among those who have known him
long and intimately he is held in high regard because of his personal charac-
ter and genial qualities.

GEORGE F. SOKOL.

The business man to a brief re\iew of whose life and characteristics the
reader's attention is herewith directed, is among the prominent business men
of Sible}". Iowa, and has by his enterprise and progressive methods con-
tributed in a material way to the industrial and commercial achancement
of Osceola county. Although still a voung man, he has in the course of a
business career. 1)een most successful in the enterprise with wliich he is con-
nected. He is a man of strong- intelligence, good judgment and has been
acti\e in the affairs of his community and uses his influence in e\ery wa\- to
better its development.

George F. Sokol, the secretary and treasurer of the Shell Lumber Com-
pau}- of Sibley, Iowa, was born August i8. 1880, in Jackson count}-. Iowa.
He is the son of F. J. an.d Anna Sokol, both of whom were born in Bo-
hemia. F. J. Sokol came to Iowa in 1855. where he followed the occupa-
tion of a farnier and merchant in Jackson count}-. In 1880 he moved to
Jones county, Iowa, and eng-aged in the lumber l)usiness. building up a
prosperous business there during the twenty-five years he was engaged in that
particular line. His wife died in igio and since then he has lived a retired
life in California. J. J. Sokol was one of the leading citizens of Jones
county and was one of the most influential men of the county. He was a
member of the county board of supervisors for seven years and
represented the county in the Legislature for two temis. For several years
before leaving Jones county he was heavily interested in the banking busi-
ness in the county. F. J. Sokol and wife were the parents of four children :
]\Irs. Blanche Shuttleworth. of Sibley. Iowa : ^hs. Emma Shimerda. of Ox-
ford Junction, Iowa: Dr. J. M. Sokol. of Spencer. Iowa, and George F.,
whose history is here briefly related.

George F. Sokol was educated in the district schools of his home county

792 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

and when eighteen years of age he entered Ames College, and three years
later graduated in the agricultural course from that institution. He then
engaged in the lumber business in Jones county, at Onslow, and remained
there for two years. During the next two years and a half he was at
Clermont, Iowa, in the lumber business, and in 1906 came to Sibley and be-
came connected with the Shell Lumber Company as secretary and treasurer.
He' is a man of culture and refinement and of marked business ability. Since
becoming connected with the firm he has shown luisiness ability of a high
rank and he is rapidly impressing those with \\hom he is associated as a
man of unusual attainment.

Mr. Sokol was married .\pril 6, 1910, to Agnes Nisbet, of Sibley,
Iowa, and to this union ha\e l)een born two children, Howard and .Vnna
May. Fraternally, Mr. Sokol is a member of the Ancient Free and Accept-
ed Masons at Sibley and also holds membershi]) in the chapter of that fra-
ternity. He is now treasurer of the l)lue lodge and chapter in Sibley. Mr.
Sokol is one of the sterling and substantial citizens of Sibley, a man whose
strong qualities demand respect and his genial dis])osition has won him many
friends since l)ecoming a resident of the city.

WILLARD A. BURLET.

It is generally considered by those in the habit of superficial thinking
that the history of so-called great men onl}- is worthy of preservation and
that little merit exists among the masses to call forth the praises of the
historian or tlie cheers and the ai)preciation of mankind. A greater mis-
take was ne\'er made. Xo man is great in all things and ^•ery few are
great in man}- things. Many ])y a lucky stroke achieve lasting fame, who
before that had n.o reputation beyond the limits of their neighborhoods. It
is not a history of the lucky stroke which benefits humanity most, but
the long study and effort which made the lucky stroke possible. It is
the preliminary work, the method that serves as a guide for the success of
others. Among those in tliis count}- who have achieved success along steadv
lines of action is Willard A. Burlet, who is now rendering efficient service
as cashier of the Bank of Moneta.

Willard A. Burlet, the son of John J. and Sarah (Bishop) Burlet, was
born in Delaware county, Iowa, in 1866. John J. Burlet was born m 1836
in Switzerland. When a young men he came to this country and first settled
in Indiana and later went to Chicago. He remained in Chicago for several

O JIRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 793

veai'S working on the canal antl on the steam ships, on the lakes. When he
was thirty-one years of age John J. Burlet came to Delaware county, Iowa,
and bought ninety acres of land. He continued to follow the life of a
farmer until he retired in 1896 to Earlville, Iowa, where he died a few vears
later. His wife, Sarah Bishop, was born in Lapoite, Indiana, in 1836.
To their union were burn three children: Charles, deceased; Flora, the
wife of F. W. Anders, of Des ^^loines, Iowa, and Willard A., with whom
this sketch deals.

Willard A. Burlet remained at home until twenty-one years of age. He
recei\-ed a good common school education and then graduated from the Earl-
\ ille high school, later graduating" from Bailey's Commercial College and
thus being well equipped for a successful career. In 1888 he came to O'Brien
county and purchased one hundred and sixt}' acres of prairie land, put six
thousand dollars worth of improvements on the land and became interested
in raising a high grade of li\e stock. He made a specialty of thoroughbred
Durham cattle and Poland China h.ogs. He now owns four Imndred and
forty acres of land and a home in Hartley. He continued to work on the
farm until 1908, when he retired from acti\"e fanuing and moved to Hart-
ley. A short time later he took full charge of the bank at Aloneta.

Air. Burlet was married in 1888 to Francelia AEedland. who was born in
1870 in Delaware countw Iowa. To this union have been born three children:
Charles, a graduate of the l)usiness college at Spencer. Iowa, and now as-
sistant cashier of the Moneta bank. He married Alaggie Albright, of Hart-
ley. Alilo, the second child of Air. and Mrs. Burlet. graduated from the
Hartley high school and then took a course in the "Four C's" College of
Des Moines. At the present time he is the onl}- stenotype writer in O'Brien
county. He is also connected with the bank at Aloneta. Ethel, the young-
est child, graduated from Hartley high school and later attended Drake
College for one term. She is still at home with her parents.

Politically. Air. Burlet is a member of the increasing class of men who
cast their \-ote for the best man irrespective of party affiliations; in other
words, he is independent in politics, with progressive inclinations. He has
held various pul^lic offices, being at one time tow^nship assessor and at the
present time secretary and treasurer of the school board of Omega town-
ship. He is a member of the Congregational church, but is now attend-
ing the Alethodist Episcopal church in Hartley. Fraternally, he is a mem-
ber of the Ancient Free and Accepted Alasons and the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and takes a deep interest in the welfare and the work of
these two fraternal organizations.

794 o'briex and osceola counties, iowa.

GEORGE W. WARD.

The rolling prairie between the fortieth and forty-fifth parallels of north
latitude, which is folded in the loving embrace of tlgie limpid silver of the
Father of \\'aters on the east and the tawny gold of the Big ]\liiddy on our
western slope, is a garden of the Lord, which, in the liquid music of the
Indian tongue, appropriately was named Iowa, "beautiful land." From the
day when the first meadow lark intones her song of spring, which no
Mendelssohn, no Mozart, no Grieg, or other inspired human genius can
approach in its glorious motif of the ever-recurring miracle of the re-birth
of nature, till that perfect season in the Middle ^^'est known as Indian sum-
mer, .when the "frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock," the
sixty thousand square miles of Iowa soil are one \ast workshop for the pro-
duction of the "corn, the royal corn" which has within its yellow heart
enough of food and wealth for all nations.

George W. Ward, who has been one of the largest farmers of the county,
and is now living at Primghar. was born August 3, 1862, in Niagara county,
New ^^jrk. His parents were Charles and Amanda ( Mitchell ) Ward, both
of whom were natives of the Empire state. Charles Ward came west in
1864, locating in Whiteside county. Illinois, where he lived the life of a
farmer until his death, in August, 1898. Charles Ward and wife were the
parents of four children, Harriet, May, Edward M. and George W., whose
history is set forth in this narrative.

George W. W^ard left Illinois when he was twenty-seven years of age
and settled three miles south of Primghar. in Dale township, this county,
where he bought the eastern half of section 24. for seventeen dollars an acre.
and sold this same farm in the spring of 19 13 for one hundred and twenty-
five dollars an acre. When he came here he knew little of the possibilities
of this county, but by hard work and close application to his agricultural
interests, he added to his land holdings from time to time until he l^ecame
one of the wealthiest men in his township. He is now the owner of three hun-
dred and sixty acres in Center township ; one hundred and sixty in Osceola
county, Iowa; five hundred and sixty acres in Dickinson county, this state;
eighty acres in Alinnesota ; eighty acres in Nebraska, and. in addition to his
land holdings, owns a considerable amount of propert} in Primghar. He
has accumulated his land by farming it in the best possible manner and
investing his annual proceeds in additional land. He has erected buildings
on his various farms and during the last six }-ears has purchased more than
twentv-five miles of tiling on his land. He has built many stock silos, barns,

THE : "I

PUBLIC Li^..^.Ry'

A?TC~
TILCfN -^^

'ONS

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 795

outbuildings, several miles of fence and has stocked all his farms with the
latest improved farm machinery and implements. He has been a man of
progressive tendencies all, along the line and has never failed to take advan-
tage of the latest improved machinery and scientific methods of agriculture.

Mr. \\'ard was married in November, 1893, to Amy Hatch, the daugh-
ter of E. W. Hatch, of O'Brien county, and to tins union there have been
born two daughters. May. born April 17, 1896. and Lois, born in September,
1899. The Ward family are all members of the Congregational church and
are very much interested in the \arious activities of that denomination. Mr.
Ward has recently built a fine, modern residence for the use of the church.
Politically, Mr. \\'ar(l is a member of the Progressive party and heartily
lends his support to its tenets. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of
America and the Yeomen. By a life of earnest and conscientious endeavor
Mr. Ward has won for himself the respect of all who have come in contact
with him. For matiy years he has been an important factor in the civic,
moral and educational life of his community, and no man stands higher today
in the estimation of his fellow citizens than he.

A generous act on the part of Mr. \\'ard. and one which has earned the
commendation of his fellow citizens generally, was his donation to the county
of what is known as the O'Brien County Hospital, and which is to be main-
tained by the county. This splendid institution cost Mr. Ward between six
and seven thousand dollar^; and any doctor in the county has the privilege
of bringing his patients to this hospital for treatment.

WILLIS \\\ OVERHOLSER.

It is universally conceded that there are three factors which are more
])()tent than all others in the advancement of civilization — pulpit, platform
and press. Of these three the press reaches places and conditions which the
(itlier two ne\'er touch. Public opinion, as \-oice(l in the newspapers of our
couu.tr\-. has as much influence in moulding legislation, advancing reforms
and eliminating- corrupt politics as all other agencies put together. A good
newspaper, one which stands for the best interests of a community, is a
blessing and tlie good that it can do is incalculable. It is the paper of the
town which often is the only means of driving graft out of city affairs. The
editor of a good newspaper is a man who touches the daih- life of the com-
nninitv on everv side and tlie editor who does his work honestlv, fearlesslv

796 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

and conscientiously deserves the praise of the community. Such a man is
the subject of this brief review.

Wilhs W. Overholser, the pubhsher of the Sibley Ga::cffc, was l^orn
November 20, 1868. in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. His parents, J.
W. and Mary ( Kurtz ) Overholser, were natives of Pennsyhania, of Ger-
man descent. They migrated to Iowa in 1880, settling at Correctionville, in
Woodbury county, and for a time Mr. Overholser farmed and then engaged
in the groceiy business in Correctionville for a numlier of years. J. W.
Overholser and wife were the parents (^f three children : Alargaret, a teacher
in the Sioux City schools ; Mrs. Anna Bryan, of Daxenport, Iowa, and Willis
W., whose history is related in this conection.

Willis W. Overholser was twehe years of age when his parents came
fn^m Pennsyh'ania, consequently he received the beginning of a common
school education in his native state. After coming to this county he attended
and graduated from tlie high school in Correctionville and later went to Cor-
nell College, where he finished his education.

Mr. 0\'erholser served one term as postmaster of Correction\ille under
President Harrison and one term as postmaster of Ireton under President
McKinley. From 1894 to 1905 he was editor and publisher of the I ret on
(Iowa) Clipper. In 1906 he purchased the Sibley Gazette and has l^een pub-
lishing this continuciusl}' since March of that }-ear. The Gazette is a large
eight-page, se\-en-column paper, and has a circulation of o\-er two thousand.
It is the oldest paper in the county, having been established in 1S72, and from
the beginning has been one of the leading papers of the county. He has a
stafT of country correspondents and has a good share of the ad\ertisements of
Sil^ley. During the past few years the press of tlie Gazette has printed a
count}- map and county directorw The paper espoused the Republican cause
and is the official organ of the party in Osceola county. Mr. Overholser him-
self is an active supporter of his party and is at present the chairman of the
Republican county central committee.

Mr. Overholser was married in September, 1892, to Bertha Lothian,
of Correction.ville, and to this union have been born four children, Ralph,
Craig, Russell and Maxine. The family are earnest memljers of the Metho-
dist Episcopal church and render it their hearty support at all times. Fra-
ternally, ]\.Ir. 0\'erholser is a member of the Knights of Pythias and takes an
interest in the work of that fraternal organization. Personally, he is a man
of genial disposition and kindly impulses and since coming to this county has
won a large number of friends who were attracted to him because of his
many excellent qualities.

(> BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 797

FREEMAX R. PATCH.

7'liere is no profession which demands keener Ixisiness ability than that
of banking- and the most snccessfnl Ijankers are those who liave not only keen
business ability, but force of character and good judgment and foresight. It
is true there are other elements that enter and reinforce these, such as perse-
verance and discrimination. In the beginning of his career in public life.
Freeman R. Patch recognized that the foundation of success is earnest, per-
sistent labor and with this in view he l)egan to work earnestly and diligentlv
in order to advance himself. The result has been that he has not only placed
himself in the front ranks of the business men of this county. Imt has also
taken his full share in the ci\ic life of his community.

Freeman R. Patch, the cashier of the Hartley State Bank, and the son
of Freeman R. and Malinda (Wier) Patch, was born in 1861 in Whiteside
county, Illinois. His father was born in V'eruKjnt and was one of the early
settlers of Whiteside count}-, Illinois. He followed farming until his death in
1862. He was twice married and the Patch brothers of Hartley, Iowa, were
the two children b}- the second marriage.

Freeman R. Patch was onl}' one year of age when his father died and
he and his brother Frank were reared to manhood by their devoted mother,
wh») (lied in 1907. He received a good common school education, finishing
his .schooling in Toledo, Whiteside county, Illinois. At the age of twenty-
one he began farming in his nati\-e state and within a year he had come to
O'Brien county, Iowa, to take a position in the bank established at Hart-
ley l)y his brother, b'rank. He has been the cashier of the bank since its or-
ganization, in. 1882 and has seen it grow from a beginning to its present pros-
perous condition. It was the first bank in the county and on January i, 1887,
was reorganized as a state bank. .Mr. Patch owns a share in the bank and
has, in addition, extensive land holdings in O'Brien county and Canada in
])artnership with his brother Frank. He has an interest in the Hartley Lum-
ber Company, also owns his beautiful home in Hartley.

A/[r. Patch was married in 1886, at Algona. Iowa, to Myrtle Tennant, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Tennant, of O'Brien count}-. Her father was
one of the pioneer settlers of the countv and a distinguished A'eteran of the
Civil War. To this union have been born two children: Mrs. Delia Marie
Randolpli, a graduate of the Hartley high school and also of the musical de-
partment of Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois. Her husband is
the proprietor of the Pantatorium in Hartley. Roscoe F., the other child of

798 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Air. and Airs. Patch, was born in 1891. is a graduate of the Hartley high
school, also of the oratorical department of X^orthwestern University and is
now a student in Xew York city.

Air. Patch has always been so busy with his own interests that he has
ne\'er taken an active part in political affairs other than to cast his vote at
election time, adhering to the Democratic party. He and his wife are earnest
members of the Presbyterian church and yield it their loval support at all
times. Afr. Patch has ahvaN^s taken an interest in the ci\ic life of the com-
munity where he has lived and in all of his relations his highest ambitions
ha\e Ijeen to Ijenefit his community and ad\'ance its \arinus interests. For
this reason he enjoys a large circle of friends and acquaintances throughout
the county, who hold him in high esteem for his upright and straightforward
way of living.

DR. AI. AI. TRAINER.

Success in what are popularly termed the learned professions is the legiti-
mate result of merit and painstaking endeavor. In commercial life one mav
come into possession of a lucrati\'e business through inheritance or gift, but
professional advancement is gained only by critical study and consecutive
research long continued. Proper intellectual discipline, thorough professional
knowledge and the possession and utilization of the qualities and attributes es-
sential to success have made Dr. M. AI. Trainer eminent in his chosen calling
and he stands today among the scholarly and enterprising- dentists of his
community.

Dr. AI. AI. Trainer, a successful denti.-t of Sibley, Iowa, w^as born No-
vember 2, 1850, in Penns}l\'ania. His parents, John and Caroline (Burn-
ham) Trainer, were natives of the same state. The Trainers are of Irish
descent, the American branch of the family going back to the time when three
brothers came from Ireland in the earlv history of the country. One of the
three brothers, Alichael, settled in Penns}'h'ania, and married Betsey Allison,
who was of English extraction. l"o this union were l)orn nine children: John
(the father of Doctor Trainer), Hannah, Sarah. Wallace, Joseph, Grimes.
Esther, Jane and James. John Trainer ^^•as l;)orn in Pennsylvania Jul}' 4,
1804, and died in 1886. His wife, Caroline Burnham, was born in 181 6, and
is one of ten children liorn to Air. and Airs. Charles Chester Burnham.
Charles C. Burnham was twice married and had two families of ten chil-
dren each.

O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 799

Charles C. Buniliam has an interesting" history. He was born in the ht-
tle cuuntr\' of W ales and came to Philadelphia in 1800 and when a yonng
man learned paj^er making. In iSi i he went with the ^Spanish to LaGnayra,
South America, and worked in a paper mill which had just been completed
there. The paper mill had l)een put into operation for the purpose of mann-
factiu'ing paper on wliich to prir.t the laws of the country. The famous
Caracas earthcjuake in X'enezuela destroyed the mill and at the same time
Ijrought death to thousands of people. Mr. Burnham, howexer, fortunately
escaped, ddie country paid him in a cargo of sugar and coffee and with thi.^
he set sail for Baltimore in iSi i and was captured by the British. They con-
fiscated his cargo and took him as a prisoner to the Bahama islands, from
whence he escaped on a Spanish shij). His knowledge of Spanish probably
sa\-ed his life at this time, since he arranged with the captain to take him to
Baltimore and set him free. He immediately enlisted in the American na\y,
and no doubt the fact tliat the Rritish had confiscated his cargo induced him
to join the Americans in order to fight against them. He ser^■ed in many
famous engagements, among which was the sea fig'ht between the "Frolic"
and the "Wasp." He later enlisted in tlie militia during the War of 1812 and
serxed to the end of tliat struggle. He then married tlie daughter of his
captain ( Capt. Wihiam .^tearn. \ and later receix'ed grants of Pennsylvania
land in return for his serxices in tlie x\ar. He receix-ed two tracts of land in
Cuml)erland county. Pennsylvania, one of four hundred and forty-four acres
and another of somewhat less acreage. He immediately moved upon one
of these tracts, but, despairing of making a living upon the land, he leased it
to a tenant for twenty-one years and never went back to it. Subsecjuently he
lost track of the land and although the Trainers still have the original title
deed to the land, they haxe nexer ])resented their claim. Charles C. Burn-
ham died at the ag"e of eight\'-four }'ears.

John Trainer and wife ^^■ere the j^arents of seven children: James, de-
ceased, a former ])rinciprd of the Sibley schools; John Core, of Carroll count)',
Iowa, and a former superintendent of the vSioux county, Iowa, schools for
two years ; W^infield Scott, deceased, former principal of the Indiana, Penn-
sylvania, schools; Morris M., wdiose history is here related; Mrs. Emma
Moore, of Knox, Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Anna Stratton, of Strattonville, Penn-
syh-ania ; Jennie, a music teacher of Grandview\ W^ashington.

Dr. ^Morris M. Trainer was educated in the common schools of his county
in Pennsylvania and later attended an acadeni}- and normal college in Penn-
sylvania, after which he taught school in Pennsylvania for a time and then
studied dentistrv for two vears. Still later he pursuerl a ])ost-graduate course

'^^" (58

fidS'^

SOO o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

in dentistry in Chicago in order to better equip himself for the practice of his
present ]:)rofession. He practiced for a time in Pennsyhania and in 1881
came t(j Iowa and settled in Sibley, where he has pursued his profession for
the past thirtv-three }'ears. He was a pioneer dentist of northwestern Iowa.
P^or a time he and another dentist at Sheldon were the only ones within the
radius of hitx miles. Doctor d'rainer has kept a]:)reast of the ad\ances in his
profession and has l^een eminentl}" successful since coming" to this state. He
has enjoyed a large practice ever since coming to the county.

Doctor Trainer has been twice married, the first marriage occurring in
1883 to Irene Stear. who died many years ago. To this first marriage two
sons were born. Kenneth, a stenographer at Kansas City with the Armour
Grain Company, and Don. a bookkeeper for the Illinois Life Insurance Com-
pany at Chicago. Some years after the death of his first wife Doctor Trainer
married Mrs. A^iola Jones, who had two children by a former marriage.

Doctor Trainer has always taken an active part in the ci\ic life of his
cit}' and lias ser\-ed as city clerk for eight }'ears. Fraternally, he is a member
of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. He and his wife are earnest members of the Congregational church
and render it their zealous support. He has always ])een interested in every-
thing which afi^ected the welfare of the people, particularly from the view-
point of their health. Accordingly he has taken an active interest in the Na-
tional Hygiene Association as well as the National Congress of School Hy-
giene, in l)otli of whicli organizations he holds membership. His long career
in this community has been fraught witli much good to its people and no
movement Avhich might better his community has been made which did not
find in him a hearty and enthusiastic supporter.

HON. JOHN F. FIINMAN.

Invulnerable integrity and high purpose characterized the life of Hon.
John F. Hinman, an honored citizen and former honest official of O'Brien
count}', who left an indellible impress upon the ci\'ic and industrial annals of
the county and upon whose record rests no shadow or blemish. His strength
was as the number of his days, and not only did he accomplish much in
connection with the practical afi^airs of life, but his nature, strong' and vigor-
ous, found denotement in kindly tolerance and human sympathy, generous
deeds and worthv ser\'ice. He was a farmer by occupation, but was a man

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 8oT

of high educational attainments, who placed his abilities at the service of his
fellow men. and who served his county in a position of honor and re-
sponsibility.

Hon. bthn F. Hinman was Ixirn in Derby. Orleans county. Vermont.
Aui^ust J/. 1827. He was reared to yonn^- manhood and educated in Ver-
mont. W'lien \-et a }-oung- man he came to Iowa to seek his fortunes in the
western land op[)()rtunity. He located in Marshall count}' on a fann. Here
it was that he married h^llen A. Foote. December 20. 1866, in the city of
}.larshallto\\ n. Th.e}' resided in Marshall c<nuit\' until 1882, when they re-
moved to O'Brien county and settled on a farm in Baker township. On Mr.
Hinman's election to a seat in the Iowa Legislature in 1892 they moved to
Primghar and there made their final home. Mr. Hinman's services in the
Legislature were alwavs found to l)e in l)ehalf of the l)est interests of the
l)eople of the state and his home county and he seemed peculiarly fitted to
])erform the duties of his official position.

Mr. Hinman was duc of the pioneer live stock men of western and cen-
tral Iowa at a time wlien markets were far distant. For years he made a
business of buying up and feeding" large herds of cattle and great droves of
hogs, which lie would fatten for marketing and then dri\"e them to Iowa City
for shi])ment to Pittsburgh and the Fastern centers. He was the owner of a
half section of land in Baker townslhp. O'Brien count}-, wdiich he bought for
eight dollars an acre. He died November 1, 1904. sincerely mourned by all
who knew him as a good and useful citien. a Christian gentleman of scholarly
attainments upon whose name no stain rests.

His widow. Mrs. Ellen A. (Foote) Flinman, was born October 20, 1839.
at Xelson. Portage county, Ohio, the daughter of Asel and Caroline Foote,
natives of the state of Connecticut. The Foote family is of English extraction
and settled in Connecticut in the }'ear 1630. Nathaniel Foote was the orig-
inal progenitor of a large and worth}' list of descendants. Samuel Foote
fought for his country in the Revolutionary War. Commodore Foote was
a commander of vessels in the W'nv of 18 12. Nathaniel Foote was born in
the town of Colchester, England, and came to Watertown, Massachusetts,
in 1630. A descendant of his, Rodger Foote, settled in Ashtabula county,
Ohio, in about 1820. The Foote famih^ boasts a g'enealogy embracing' eleven
generations in an unl^roken line from the time of Nathaniel Foote, of Eng'-
land. Mrs. Hinman came to Iowa alone and here met and married Mr. Hin-
man. The children of this estimable couple were as follows: Ralph T., of
whom a review is presented in this volume; Bert, who was born December 12,
1870, and died October 28. 1875; Ethel, born October 15. 1876. and died July

Soj o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA.

17,1878; Xellie, wile of \\'illiani H. Eddy, born October 2, 1879, and married
to Mr. Eddy at Boyden, Sioux county. Jnne 17. 1902, and is the mother of
two sons. Plinman and Warren.

yirs. Ellen Hinman passed away on U'ednesday, November 5. 1913.
.She was a member of the Congregational church, and was favorably known
as a oood Christian ladv, a kind and faithful mother and an excellent neighbor.

JOSEPH SHINSKI.

Notable successes have been achieved by the pioneers of this favored,
fertile section who ha\e had from the outset an abiding faith in its ine\ itable
development and could see in the distant future the transformation of the
wilderness of prairie into a rich and smiling landscape of fertile and produc-
ti\"e farms and prosperous cities and villages. Some men seem born to the
accomplishment of great things and mo\e irresistably onward toward the
goal of achievement, with fortune smiling on their pathway at every turn.
Thev are optimists in every sense of the word, who see in the darkest hour
of impending fhsaster a brightening of the ways and a certainty tliat the out-
come of it all will eventually be for the best. The pioneers of O'Brien county
were men of hardihood, ^^•ho were not daunted by reverses. The foregoing
applies especially to the men of iron determination who had the courage to
remain and face the bitter .struggles of the "lean years" and have lived in the
plenteous aftermath which followed. One of these is Joseph Shinski. capital-
ist and leading" citizen of Sheldon, who has seen the city develop from a
mere railroad station into its present opulence and has taken an acti\e and
influential part in its onward progress.

Mr. Shinski was born in Xew York city, the son of Basil Shinski, a
native of Poland. His mother was Catharine ^Morgan, who was born in
Ireland. Basil left his native country and emigrated to America when a
young man. He located in Xew York city and there met and married
Catharine Morgan. He was a hatter by trade and had a store of his own
hi X'ew York citv. Being ambitious to do more for his family than the great
citv afforded in the way of opportunity, he came west and located in Lake
countv, Illinois, where he homesteaded on government land in the year 1845.
At the outbreak of the Civil War he endeavored to enlist in the Union service
in behalf of his adopted country. Mayhap the warrior blood of his fighting
forefathers stirred him to this patriotic resolve and he was successful in being

JOSEPH SHINSKI

O BRIEX AXl) OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 8o ^

accepted, but was persuaded by friends and neighbors that lie should not go
to war on account of his age. He was then nearly sixty years of age, having
been born in 1808. His death occurred in Xovember, 1869. Catharine, his
faithful wife, died in 1868. having been born in 181 8. Thev were the par-
ents of the following children: Mary, deceased; Basil, deceased: Adeline,
deceased : Elizabeth, a resident of Wisconsin ; Jacob, a citizen of Los Angeles,
California.

Mr. Shinski attended the schools in the neighborhood of the Lake county
farm and studied two vears in the W'aukegan Academv. He tauyht school
for four years and then entered the L'niversity of Notre Dame, Indiana, and
studied there in the }ear 1865. He was very poor and of necessity earned
his own way through the academy and the universitw The parental farm
was a rather poor, stony piece of land and was barely capable of giving the
family sustenance. Consequentlw Joseph Shinski is a self-made man in
every particular. After completing his studies in the university, he taught
school in Lake county for a number of vears during the winters, \\orking at
various pursuits in vacation time, and also speculating in tax titles to some
extent. In the spring of 1873 he journeyed to Sioux Citv, Iowa, and from
there came to the new town of Sheldon, where he opened a general merchan-
dise store. He staged in business through the lean "grasshopper" years,
when failure after failure occurred. At one time he would have sold out if
he possibly could, but there ha])pened to be no (.me within range who had
money enough to bu}- his stock. During this period he carried manv people
upon his books who were unable to pay. All business was mostly done on
credit during the "hopper" invasion, as there was no money in circulation
and many ga.ye up the fight. Howe\er, ^\v. Shinski sur\iyed and i^'ospered
according to his deserts for sixteen years. In 1889 he disposed of his l)usi-
ness and has since been engaged in liandling land and the loan business. He
has been very active in buying and selling L)wa land. At the present time
his land holdings are considerable. He ov>-ns one thousand acres of land near
the city, which is valued at two hundred dollars an acre. He resides in one
of the finest residences in Sheldon and is the owner of six residence and
rental properties.

Mr. Shinski is politically allied with the Republican party and has served
his home cit}' two terms as mayor, has been justice of the peace, and has
been a member of the school board. It is said of him that he made an able
executive during his mayoralt}- incumbency. He ser\-ed as a member of the
county board of supervisors from 1900 to 1903 inclusive.
(52)

804 o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA counties, IOWA.

His religious connection is with the Cathohc church, of which he is an
influential and valued member. His business judgment was in demand when
the congregation of this church set about the erection of the magnificent
cathedral at a cost of forty thousand dollars. He had practical charge of
the erection of this fine building and was a \ery liberal contributor to the
financing of the same.

Mr. Shinski was married in 1875 to Helen M. Kelley, of Sioux City,
who has borne him two children : ]\Irs. Maude E. Brock, wife of Dr. \\\ R.
Brock, of Sheldon, and Mrs. Margaret McKillip. whose husband is engaged
in the wholesale produce business in Sheldon. He is one of those earlv
settlers who had a sublime faith in the future of his adopted city and county.
He stayed during the lean years and consequentl}- reaped a harvest and
gained through an abiding foresight. O'Brien county land has been his in-
vesting field and he has been actively engaged in building up his home city.
While Mr. Shinski has traveled extensively during late years, he is of the
firm opinion that O'Brien county well deserves the name "Garden Spot of the
World," which has frequently been applied to its sixteen miles square of
territory. Such citizens as he are a l^enefit to their communitv and are well
worthy of a fitting representation in the annals of O'Brien county.

JAMES T. DEWEY.

The gentleman whose name heads this paragraph is widely known in
O'Brien county and is one of the honored citizens of Primghar, where he is
li\ing in honorable retirement after a strenuous life of activitv in connection
with agricultural pursuits. His well directed efforts in the practical affairs
of life, his capable management of his business interests and his sound judg-
ment ha\e Ijrought to him prosperity, and his life demonstrates what may be
accomplished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work
and has the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of any disaster
or discouragement that may arise. In all the relations of life Mr. Dewev
has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been
brought into contact and a biographical history of this locality would not be
complete without a record of his career.

James T. Dewey, a gallant veteran of the Civil War and a retired farmer
of Primghar, was born August 8. 1842, in York. Washtenaw county,
]Michigan, the son of Cyrenus and Beulah (Wilcox) Dewey, both of whom

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 805

were nati\'es of Vermont, l)ut died in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Cyrenns
Dewey reared a family of nine children, Alartin, Maria, Sarah, Harrell, Marv.
James. Martha. C}'riis and Esther.

James Dewey grew to manhood in his native state and wlien he was
nineteen years of age enhsted in Company H, First Regiment Alichigan Vol-
unteer Infantry, and was mustered in as a corporal at Adrian. He was
wounded in action and later attached to Company K, Fifth United States Ar-
tillery, from August, 1862, until April, 1864. ^^t the expiration of his three
years' service he was discharged on August 30, 1864, but re-enlisted on
?\Iarch 15, 1865, ''1 Company H, Eighteenth Regiment Michigan Volunteer
Infantry, and was mustered on March 26th of that year, joined his regiment
at Hunts\ille, Alahama, on ^larch 2gth, and was immediately transferred to
Company E, Xinth Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry, on June 2^,
1865. He was mustered out of the service at Nashville. Tennessee, September
15. 1865. He served in the battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Gaines Mill,
Malvern Hills, Spottsylvania Court House, North Amie River, Petersburg,
Gettysburg, and many others of minor importance. He was slightlv wounded
at the battle of Mahern Hills, but was able to continue in the service. He
attended the reunion at the Gettysburg battlefield on June 30, 1913. Imme-
diately after the close of the war Mr. Dewey went to Iowa and settled in
Buchanan count}'. Two years later he married Lizzie E. Bascom in that
county, who was born in Okemos, Ingham county, Michigan, and was the
daughter of W'illard and Hannah (Stewart) Bascom, who were early set-
tlers in Michigan and natives of New York state. They came to Michigan
in 1842 and to Buchanan county, Iowa, in 1865. Later they moved to
O'Brien county, this state, in 1871, and homesteaded in Highland township
on section 12. Mr. Bascom died in 1879, while his widow survived him un-
til 1897. They were the parents of four children, Mary Ann. Maria, Eliza-
l^eth, the wife of Mr. Dewey, and Henry.

Four years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dewe}- moved to O'Brien
county and homesteaded in Highland township. They managed to exist
through the famous grasshopper period and other troubles of the time. In
1905 they sold their quarter section and bought a tract of land near Suther-
land. ha^•ing moved to Primghar in 1898.

Mr. and Mrs. Dewey are the parents of three children : Hattie is the
wife of Dr. H. C. Rogers, and they have three children, Cecil. Helen Cath-
erine and Evelyn; Nellie is the wife of L. L. Funk, of Kansas City, Missouri,
and they have two children. Donald and Dorothy Edward, who died in 1882.
Air. Dewey is a Prohibitionist in politics. . He is a firm believer in the princi-

3o6 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COI'NTIES, IOWA.

l)les ()f this part}- and is known as one of the stanchest temperance advocates
in the conntv. He is abstemious in all of his habits and has lived a clean and
wholesome life during his whole career. He and the members of his family
are devout adherents of the Alethodist Episcopal church, to which they con-
tribute liberallv of their means.

ANDREW CULVER.

One of the first settlers of Osceola county, Iowa, was Andrew Culver.
He settled in this county on June 13, 1871. on a soldier's claim. This was
at the \erv beginning of the influx of settlers in this county and accordingly
he is conversant with the entire history of the county from its beginning.
His father was one of the most influential men of the county in its early his-
tory and was the first county treasurer elected. Mr. Culver has arisen to his
present position without other assistance than a strong will and a willing
heart, coupled with those qualities of integrity and honor which are always
in concomitance of the successful man's career.

Andrew Culver, a contracting carpenter of Sibley, Iowa, and the son of
Andrew M. and Anna (Kennedy) Culver, was born February i, 1846, in
Portage county, Iowa. His father was born in August, 181 1, near Spring-
field. Xew York, and was married in Portage county. Ohio, to Anna Kennedy.
Andrew AI. Culver's father settled in the Western Reserve of Ohio early in
the last cen'tur}' and in 1850 the family moved to Albany. Athens county,
Ohio. Wliile living here Andrew M. was mustered into the Ohio National
Guard and later served in the Union army in the one-hundred-days' service.
Andrew ]\I. and his son Andrew were both in Company H, One Hundred
and l<"ortN--first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for one hun-
dred days. The Culver family lived in Athens county until March, 1865, and
then moved to Wisconsin, where they lived six years. In the fall of 1870 they
mo\ed to southwestern Iowa and in the following spring came to Osceola
countw where they homesteaded on section 24, township 29, range 42, about
one and one-h.alf miles south of Sibley. During the first summer the family
lived in a board shanty, twelve by eighteen feet and seven feet high. In the
fall of 1 87 1 they built a house fourteen by twenty-four feet and fourteen
feet high and also a sod stable with a roof. The first year Andrew broke u|.
twenty-five acres of land. During the grasshopper years they suffered as did
all the other settlers of this section of the state and were oftentimes practi-

o'bRIEN AXD OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 807

cally on the \erge of starvation. One summer the grasshoppers ate u])
twenty-tive acres of fine corn, after it had a good start. Andrew M. Culver
was elected county treasurer in the fall of the first year that they lived in
the count}' and served for two years. He lived on his homestead until about
1879, and then sold out and bought eighty acres near Sibley, where he lived
three years. He then moved to Sibley where he lived until his death, April
10, 1904. His wife died June 2, 1876. Andrew M. Culver and wife were the
parents of a large family of children: One who died in youth; Alonzo. a
soldier in the Thirty-sixth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was killed at
Lewisburg, West Virginia, in a battle on May 23, 1862 ; Mrs. Drusilla Bean,
deceased: Mrs. Melissa Thomas, deceased; Andrew, whose life history is here
presented to the reader.

Andrew Cuher received a limited common school education in the
schools of Ohio and, as had been indicated, muxed with his family from place
to place until he finally reached Osceola count}' in the spring of 1871. Like
his father, he receixed a soldier's claim and at once set to work to improve his
land. He was married in the fall of 1871 and then started to housekeeping
upon his homestead. Here they lived for ten years, starting in with a very
small shant}' in wliicli they lived for a few months. In 188 1 they sold their
farm and moved to Sibley where they have since lived with the exception of
one year when they resided in Morrison, Iowa. For twelve years Mr. Culver
was employed in the Sibley Flouring Mills, but, the work proving too ardu-
ous, he engaged in carpentering and contracting. Since engaging in this
business he has been ver}' successful and now owns three \'aluable residences
in Sibley as well as several lots.

Mr. Culver was married on November 29, 1871, to Fanny Marden, wh
was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, July 29, 185 1. She is the daughter of Ed-
ward and ?\[ar\' (Hayter) Marden, natives of England. Her parents came
from England and settled in Wisconsin, where they were married, living all
of their days in that state. The father died in 1869 and the mother in 1894.
Mr. Culver had met his wife while his parents were living in Wisconsin.
Thev were sweethearts in that state before he left for Iowa. Accordingly
as soon as he- had established his claim in Iowa he returned to Wisconsin,
where the^■ were married. .They are the parents of six children: Edgar, a
druggist and chennst in a wholesale drug house in Sioux City, Iowa; Cleo. a
trained nurse and the widow of H. N. Aplin, has three children, Mildred,
Bruce and Warren; Mrs. Lottie Mittinger, of Minneapolis; Bruce, who is as-
sisting his father in the carpenter work, and Arthur, who died at the age of
four, in 1882. Theer are now four generations of the Culver family living

( )

8o8 O'bRIEN and OSCEOLA counties, IOWA.

in Osceola county, as follows : Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Culver ; their daugh-
ter, >Jrs. Leo Aplin ; Mrs. Aplin's daughter, Mrs. Mildred Whitacre, and
Mrs. W'hitacre's daughter, Miss Elva Whitacre.

Mr. Culver is a Republican in politics, but has ne\er had inclination for
public office. Religiously, he and his family have been loyal members of tlie
Methodist Episcopal church, while, fraternally, he is a member of the Mod-
ern Brotherhood of America and the Grand Army of the Republic. 'Sir.
Culver is a man of optimistic nature and during his long residence in this
county he has won a host of friends who admire him for his genial and un-
assuming nature.

GEORGE G. BLAKE.

Among the many foreign nations which liave contril)uted their quota to
tlie cosmopolitan population of O'Brien county, there is no country which has
furnished a finer type of citizens than has Ireland, and this county ma}' justh'
be proud of its hundreds of substantial citizens. There is at least one son of
the Emerald Isle who is now living in Primghar. who is a gallant veteran
of the Civil War, and George G. Blake, who is now residing in the county seat
with his children, is one of those deserving men who ha^'e cast their for-
tunes with the vast territory west of the Mississippi.

George G. Blake, while not a resident of long standing in the county, \"et
is ne\'ertheless ably represented l)y his worth}" chihlren, who are now li\ing
in the county seat. He was born July lo, 1833, in Belfast, Ireland, his ])arents
being of English descent. His father was an English tithe collector, and at
the time of George's birth was residing temporarily in Belfast. Robert and
Anne (McWilliams) Blake were the parents of eight children, Eliza, Anna,
Rachel, Margaret, ]\Iaria, George S., Robert and James. The Blake family
came to America in 1842, settling near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they
remained for about twelve years, when they went to Illinois, where R<)l)ert
Blake died in 1863.

George G. Blake receixed part of his education in Ireland and the re-
mainder of it in Wisconsin. At the opening of the Civil War he enlisted in
Companv E, Ninety-fifth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, August 22.
1862. and served for three years. He partici])ated in twelve battles of im-
portance, auK^ng which were Germantown, \"icksburg, and the siege of
Petersburg in the spring of 1865. In this latter battle he was engaged in two
fierce charges on the works. After the battle of Vicksburg, General Grant's
army was di\-ided, and about one-third of the troops were sent to Sherman

O'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 809

in ihe eastern part of Tennessee, and the remainder were attached to the army
of General Banks on the Red River expedition. Mr. Blake was attached to
the Red River expedition and was later transferred with his regiment to
Petersburg, where he i)articipated in the linal charges upon that city. He was
a participant in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C, in May, 1865, ^^^^
was mustered out in August of the same year. He arrived in Illinois August
22, 1865, and shortly afterward went to Minnesota, where he worked as a
missionarv among the Indians. He received twenty-six dollars a month and
his board, and continued at this work for the next four years.

Mr. Blake was married in 1869 '^"^^ '^t once bought a farm at Shell
Rock, Minnesota. Idie land for which he i)aid seven dollars an acre in 1869
is now worth one hundred aiid sixty dollars an acre up to two hundred dol-
lars an acre. After buying his farm he settled down to the life of a farmer
and became one of the most successful agriculturists of his neighborhood.
He appliefl with cpiiet determination to the task of improving and developing
his farm and bringing it to a high state of cultivation, with the result that
his efforts were abundantly successful. Several years ago he retired from
active work on the farm and went to Primghar to spend the rest of his days
with his children.

Mr. Blake was married to Mary Little and to this union were born six
children : Mrs. Nettie Smith, of Primghar, who has four children ; Mrs.
Minnie Metcalfe, \vho is the mother of three children; Clara, the wife of
J. W. Boyd, of Clarksville, Iowa, has one child living; Mrs. Abigail White-
house, of Sioux Falls. Iowa, wdio has three children; Mrs. Julia Soules, of
Tolly, North Dakota, who has tw'O children, and Robert, who is living on his.
father's farm in Minnesota, and is married and has four children.

Mrs. Blake died several years ago and Mr. Blake, at the earnest solicita-
tion of his cliildren in Primghar, left his farm in Minnesota and took up his
residence with them in Primghar, and he is now making his home with his
daughter, Airs. Nettie Smith.

Fraternally. Mr. Blake is a member of the Masonic order and is a loyal
adherent of the Baptist church. In politics he has always advocated the prin-
ciples of tlie Republican party, Init has never been an active worker in the
ranks of his partv. Mr. Blake has lived a useful life. He and his good wife
reared a family of children who have become useful members of society, and
now. in his declining years, he can look back over a life which has been well
spent. The gallant old veterans are fast passing aw^ay, and we can not do
them too much honor while they are still lix'ing, and his tribute to this vet-
eran is l)ut a feeble expression of what is due to him.

■ 8lO u'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

FRANK PAUL WINKLER. M. D.

Professional success results from merit. Frequently in commercial life
one mav come into possession of a lucrative business through inheritance or
gift, but in what are known as the learned professions advancement is gained
onlv through painstaking and long-continued effort. Prestige in the healing
art is the outcome of strong mentality, close application, thorough mastery
of its great underl}-ing principles and/ the ability to apply theory to practice
in the treatment of diseases. Good intellectual training, thorough profes-
sional knowledge and the possession and utilization of the qualities and attri-
butes essential to success have made Dr. Frank Paul Winkler eminent in his
chosen calling and lie stands today among the scholarly and enterprising
phvsicians in a count} noted for the liigh order of its medical talent.

Dr. Frank P. Winkler, a practicing physician and surgeon of Sibley.
Iowa, was born June 24, 1882, at Ida Grove. He is the son of William
and Caroline ( Rudlofif) Winkler, who are natives of Germany and early
setlers in Ida county, Iowa. In 1891 William Winkler and family left Ida
Gro\e and settled in Lyon county, where they lived until 1909, then moved
to Luverne, Minnesota, where they are now living.

Doctor Winkler was educated in the public schools of Doon, L}(jn
county, Iowa; attended Charles City College of Charles City, Iowa; State
Universitv of South Dakota; L'ni\ersity of St. Louis, and finally was granted
his degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Uni\-ersity of Illinois on June
6. 1906. He has also taken post-graduate work in the University of Illinois
since graduating. With this excellent training it can be seen that Doctor
Winkler has the practical training which is the first ref|uisite of the suc-
cessful physician of today. He keeps fairl}- abreast of the times by keeping
in close touch with the latest literature on medical science and also by attend-
ing the various medical societies of the country. He is a member of the
Osceola County, Iowa State, Sioux \'alley and American Medical Associa-
tions, and the American Association of Railway Surgeons, and he is attend-
ing surgeon of the Samaritan Hospital, at Sibley.

Doctor W'inkler began the practice of his profession in Scotland, South
Dakota, and remained there three years. He then went to Bryant, South
Dakota, where he practiced for the next three years.. He came to Sibley,
September i. 1912. succeeding the practice of Dr. Hiram Neill. and has
continued to practice here since that time.

Doctor Winkler was married in 1903 to Julia Ella Catobius. of St.

FRANK P. WINKLER, M. D.

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 8il

Louis, Missouri, who died December 3. IQ09. at the age of thirty year>^.
Fraternally, Doctor Winkler is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Brotherhood of
American Yeomen. He is alsr> identified with the Eastern Star and the
Daughters of Rebekah. At the present time he is a local surgeon for the
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, as well as the Chicago, ^Minnesota & Omaha
Railways. Doctor Winkler is still a young man and has a long and brilliant
career before him. The success which he has attained since coming to this
city indicates that the future holds much in store for him. He is a man of
pleasing personality and makes friends easily.

C. W. LEWIS.

It would 1)e interesting to kn(jw the underlying reasons which go\'ern the
choice of occupation and if it were possible to determine in any way the best
occupation for a young man to enter, much of the failure in life would be
eliminated. Undoul)tedl)' there are man}- i)reachers who ought to be farmers,
while, on the (ither hand, there are man}' farmers who woukl fill the pulpit
with distinction. At this present day and generation tliere is such a multi-
plicity of professions offered to the young man tliat he is often bewildered
bv reason of their large number. Toda}' there art thousands of occupations
calling for voung men where there was a scarce hundred a century ago. The
important thing, after all, is for the young man to pick that occupation for
which he is best fitted, then to equip himself that he may be an honor to the
profession v>inch he chooses. The life history of C. \\'. Lewis, one of the
enterprising newspaper men of Osceola count}', is an example of a man who
is peculiarly trained for his chosen life work. As a son of a printer, he has
learned the trade from the ground up and consequently there is no angle of
the business which he does not thoroughl}' understand.

C. W. Lewis, the editor and publisher of the Jshtoii Leader, was born
March 2, 1887, in Marcus, Iowa. He is the son of F. A. and Nettie (Watt)
Lewis, who are natives of Wisconsin and Iowa, respectively. His father
was a newspaper man and was editor and publisher of the Marcus Nezus for
twentv-five vears. He was postmaster of Alarcus for nine years, holding that
position at the time of his death in 1906. F. A. Lewis and wife were the
parents of three children: C. F., a farmer of Woodstock, Minnesota: W^il-
son, who resides with his mother, and C. W., with whom this narrative deals.

8l2 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

C. W. Lewis was educated in the Marcus schools and graduated from
the high school at the age of eighteen. Before graduating from the high
school he had worked in his father's printing office after school hours and in
this wa}' became acquainted with the mechanical side of the business at an
early age. For the past fourteen years he has been a printer and in active
service, witli the exception of three years, when he was assistant
postmaster of Marcus. He came to Ashton and began the publication of the
Leader Decem1:)er 17. 1909, and has had the satisfaction of seeing this paper
increase its circulation and widen its influence in this community.

Mr. Lewis was married May 2}^, 191 1. to hdorence Hockert, the daugh-
ter oi J. S. Hockert, a retired merchant of Sutherland, Iowa. To this union
ha\e been ])orn two chi]<lren. Merton, born in June. 1912, and Merna, born
in Julv. 191 3. h'raternally, ^Iv. Lewis is a member of the Modern Woodmen
of .\merica. Politically, he is Democratic, but is not a partisan in any sense
of tlie word. He ach'ocates the best measures in his paper in a fluent and
forcible manner and yet in a way which indicates his independence of ex-
pression.

FRITZ HINZ.

Our nation owes much of its prog'ressiveness to the infusion of the Ger-
manic element amongst its population, for in all walks of life they have been
found efficient, energetic and patient, enduring with fortitude the hardships
of pioneer life and doing their full share in the work of pushing forward the
wheels of progress wherever they are located. There is scarcely a localit}'
in the Union that has not felt their strong and ameliorating influence, conse-
((uently they have ever been most welcome here and all honor is due them.

Fritz Hinz, a retired farmer of Primghar, is a worthy representative of
the stm"dy and energetic Germans who have come to this county from their
faraway native land, and is one of the twenty-five hundred Germans \\\\o
ha\e honored O'Brien county with their citizenship. Mr. Hinz was born in
Holstein, Germany, January 3, 1838, and was the son of Franz and Elzaba
( Yotmgley ) Flinz, who were the parents of five children: John, of Suther-
land, Iowa; Henn-, who still resides in the fatherland; Peter, deceased; j\Iar-
garet, deceased, and Fritz, whose history is here presented.

Fritz Hinz grew up on his father's farm in Germany and at the age of
tliirt}' married W'ieloke Ehleis, who was born in Germany in 1842. Imme-
diately after their marriage they came to America and first settled temporarily

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 813

in Davenport. Iowa, where they stayed for six weeks, after which they went
to Tama countw this state, where they bought one hundred and twenty acres
of hmd which they improved and developed to such an extent that they wer.
able to sell it at a considerable profit. In 1885 they came to O'Brien county,
bought a farm of three hundred and twenty acres adjoining the town of Gaza,
a town which is partially built on the Hinz farm. After moving to this farm
Mr. Hinz also engaged in the lumber business and was successful from the
first. At one time he was the owner of nearly one thousand acres of land in
the count}-, as well as four hundred acres of Dakota land, and also land in
other adjoining- states. In 1903 Mr. Hinz retired to Primghar after selling
his farm and bought seven acres in the town of Primghar. He still holds
two hundred and forty acres in Alinnesota, and does a real estate business in
connection with George W. Schee.

Mr. Hinz adheres to tlie i)rinciples of the Democratic party and, al-
though not an ijffice seeker, he has always taken an intelligent interest in the
issues of the da}'. He and the members of his family are loyal members of
the German Lutheran church and they gixe it their earnest support. Mr. and
Mrs. Hinz are the parents of four children: Mrs. Minnie Manly, of Dakota;
Frank, whose wife is deceased and who is now living at home with his par-
ents, together with his daughter, Celia ; Charles, who is running a store in
Sanborn, and Mrs. Kate Hendrey, of Primghar.

Mr. Hinz represents the fine type of emigrants who b}- thrift and in-
ilustry ha\e become the present substantial citizens in the various coi-nmuni-
ties in which they have settled, who combine business talent with sound busi-
ness judgrnent and foresight to perceive the Aalue of land, all of which has
enabled Mr. Hinz to attain to a respectable and eminent position in the af-
fairs of his community and enjoy a very comfortable competence. He is tlie
exemplification of the self-made man who has achieved a reputation in this
county which places him among the first of his county's business and pulj-
hc men.

PATRICK REDMOND.

Among the i»rosperous farmers of O'Brien county of Irish descent there
is no one wh(^ deserves more honorable mention than Patrick Redmond, a
retired farmer of Lincoln township. He was born in Ireland in 1835 and is
the son of Peter and Mar}- fWhalen) Redmond. Peter Redmond was a
farmer and teamster in Ireland and lived there all of his days, dying in 1863.

3l4 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Peter Redmond \\as twice married and iw his first marriage the following
children were born: James, of Pennsyhania ; John, deceased; Peter, of Los
Angeles, California; Mrs. Marie Clerey, of Ireland; Alary, who was burned
to death when a baby, and Patrick, whose histor}- is here briefly delineated.
In 1862 lie was married to Marie Harris. There were no children by this
second marriage, he dying a year after his second marriage.

Patrick Redmond left his native land when he was twentv years of ae'e
and came to America, settling in Bncks coun.ty. Pennsylvania. He engaged
in farming in Pennsylvania until 1865 and then went to Illinois, where he re-
mained until 1873. The latter year he went to Henry county, Iowa, and
fanned until 1880. His next mo\-e took him into Osceola county where he
farmed for the next six years. He settled upon his last farm in Lincoln
township, O'Brien count), in 1891. ])nrc]iased two hundred and forty acres
of land and improved in such a way that its i)roducti\ity was greatly in-
creased. He set out fixe acres of trees, which was the custom of most of the
farmers of the county. He has always been interested in the raising of live
stock and has been a breeder of registered stock. He makes a specialty of
French Percheron horses and has taken many ])rizes at the county fairs of
Osceola and O'Brien ccnmties. He now owns a young French Percheron
stalli(Mi, two }-ears of age. wliich he \alues at two thousand dollars. He is a
stockholder in the Percheron Society of America at Chicago, Illinois. Mr.
Redmond owns a home in Sanborn where he is spending his declining years.

Air. Redmond was married in 1863, in Pennsylvania, to Mary Sulli\'an
and to lliis union ha\e been born se\en children: Mar}', a graduate of the
Howe Academy of Alt. Pleasant, Iowa, and now a school teacher in Sanborn ;
Thomas, a real estate business man of Sibley, Iowa; Helen, who is teaching
school in Sioux b'alls, South Dakota, after taking a college course in Drake
University, University of Alinnesota and other schools; Steven, a farmer of
O'Brien county ; Alargaret, the wife of Doctor Wheatley, government phy-
sician at the Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio, and two children, Catherine
and Steven, who died in infancy.

Politically, Air. Redmond has always identified himself with the Repub-
lican party and, while interested in politics, yet he has never been an active
factor in the campaigns. He and all of his family are earnest members of
the Catholic church and contribute generously of their substance to its sup-
port. He is a member of the Catholic organization, the Knights of Colum-
bus. Air. and Airs. Redmond ha\'e reared a large famih' to lives of useful-
ness and have given them the best of educational adx'antages. The best citi-
zen is he who takes his full share in the advancement of his communitv and

o'bKIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 815

rears a family of children so that they will be able to take their places among
the men and women who are advancing civilization in this country, and by
this standard Patrick Redmond has met with unusual success. It is better to
give a half dozen children, well trained, to the service of the state than to
lea\e a fortune of one hundred thousand dollars to charity or any other or-
ganization and no children for the good of society. Mr. Redmond is highly
esteemed bv every one wlio knows him .and few men in the county have a
wider acquaintance than he.

OLIVER A. METZ.

(3ne of the most popular and efficient county officials who has ever held
office by the grace of the suffrages of his fellow citizens is Oliver A. Metz,
the present county recorder of Osceola county, who has been elected to this
office four times in succession and is still holding it, while his previous offi-
cial record was one of merit. Before moving to Sibley he was a resident of
.Vllison township, and was nine years the sch(iol treasurer of his township and
for eight years was township trustee. He is not only recognized in his own
county as a man of more than ordinary ability, but at the last annual meet-
ing of the State Recorders" Association of Iowa. Mr. Metz was unanimously
elected as president of the state association. This lionor came to him abso-
lutely unsoliciied and is a marked tribute to his ability and popularity.

Oliver A. Met/:, the son of Samuel J. and Susan (Diamond) Metz, was
born July i. 1853, in Pennsylvania. His parents were natives of Maryland
and Penns\ Ivania. respectively, and migrated to Black Hawk county. Iowa,
in j<SD5, where they purchased land and lived until i88i, when they returned
to Pennsylvania, and two years later came west and settled in Kansas, where
Samuel J. ^letz died in igoi. He and his wife were the parents of eight
children, six of whom are living: X. D., of Lake Park, Iowa; Mrs. Mary
Jacobs, of Hay Springs. Nebraska; Mrs. Florence Secoy. of Hutchinson,
Kansas: Airs. Belle Crandall, who lives in Colorado; William H., of Little
River, Kansas, and Oliver A., with whom this narrative deals.

Oliver A. ]\Ietz was twelve years of age when his parents came from
Pennsylvania to this state and consequently he received some of his educa-
tion in liis native state. When he was twenty-four years of age he began
farming for himself in Black Ha^vk and Grundy counties, living on rented
land. In the spring of 1896 he came to Osceola county and purchased the

8l6 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

south half of the 'southwest quarter of section 14, in Allison township, and
the north half of the northwest quarter of section 23. in this township, for
which he paid thirty dollars an acre, and this land is now worth easily one
hundred and twenty dollars an acre. He has put many improvements on the
land in the way of huildings, fences and drainage, and his farm today pre-
sents a very attractive appearance. He continued to reside on this farm until
1907, when he mo\ed to Sibley to take the office of county recorder, to which
he had l^een elected in the fall of 1906. So popular was his administration of
the duties of this important otTice that he was re-elected in 1908, 19TO anrl
1912. Previous to moving to the county seat lie had served in his home town-
slii]) as trustee and school treasurer.

Mr. ^letz was married in 1877 to Lucy Waters, the daughter of Daniel
^^'aters, an early settler of Black Hawk count}'. I(^wa. Daniel \\^aters was a
native of Pennsylvania, and came to Linn county, Iowa, in 1855. and per-
manently settled in Black Hawk county in 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Metz are
the parents of three children : Mrs. Eva M. Strayer. who lives in Ocheyedan.
has one daughter, Neva; A. C. a grain buyer of Underwood, North Dakota,
who is married and has one daughter. Lucv Elnora. and R. T-. a li\'erv man
of Undenvood, North Dakota.

Politically, Mr. Metz is a stanch Republican and has been honored by
his party on numerous occasions and it is needless to say that he has well
merited the confidence which has been reposed in him by his party, as well as
the citizens of the county. He and his wife are both members of the
Brethren church, but attend the Methodist Ej^iscopal church at Sibley. He is
a member of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. Mr. Metz has proven
one of the most ])opular and efficient count}- officials which the county has
ever had. He is courteous in his dealings with the citizens of the county, and,
l)eino a man of intellig-ence, he is able to ser\'e tliem in a \'ery efficient manner.

WILLIAM W. TURNBULL.

One of the residents of Sibley, Iowa, who has had an interesting career
is William W. Turnbull, a prominent real estate dealer of the county seat.
He has been identified with the history of this county for more than twenty-
five years, and in that time has made his impress upon the community. Be-
ginning the battle of life at the age of eleven, he has never ceased his efforts
and today is reaping the results of his many years of hard work.

/
o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 817

William W. Tiirnbiill, the son of John and Margaret (Davidson) Tnrn-
bnll, was born in Brushland, Delaware county, New York, October 7, 1852.
His parents were lx)th natives of New York, and his father died in that state
in 1857, while his mother died in Sibley, Iowa, in April, 1892.

Shortly after the death of his father, W. \\'. Turnbnll started to school.
1)ut when he was eleven years of age he felt that he had to get out and help
support his mother. Consequently, he hired out to a farmer for six months
at eleven dollars a month. As he grew older he was able to command better
wages, and l)ef()re he was fourteen years of age was working in the tan-bark
forests of Pennsylvania and doing the heaviest kinds of farm labor. A strav
circular fell into his hands one day when he was fourteen years of age and
changed his whole career. This innocent advertisement was from Lowell Com-
mercial College, of Binghamton, New York, and the youth read it through
eagerly. He got the idea that he could work his way through college and im-
mediately wrote to the president of the college for information. President
Lowell told him to come to Binghamton and upon his arrival there he was
warnil\- receixed l)y the president. He had one hundred dollars saved and
witli tliis and the work which he was able to get to do in Binghamton he suc-
ceeded in staying in college until he graduated. He received his tuition and
board for keeping the college rooms clean and soon after graduation came
west, where he felt there were opportunities for a young man.

Mr. Turn1)ull was only seventeen years of age when he and his mother
came to bnxa from Xew York and settled in Traer. Tama county, where
he engaged in farming and incidentally learned the trade of a mason. For
the next six years he followed the mason's trade, and in 1878 returned to
New York and married Belle J. Winter. His marriage occurred December
26, 1878, and he immediatel}- brought his young bride to Tama county, this
state, to li\e. In 1882 he moved to Sibley, where he followed his trade as a
mason until 1891. Since that time he has been engaged in the real estate
business, handling Minnesota lands especially. He has sold thousands of
acres (Du commission, as well as much land on his own account. He has made
good in the best sense of the term and is recognized as one of the leading and
substantial citizens of Sibley.

Mr. and Mrs. Turnbull are the parents of six children: Mrs. Bertha
M. Worrell, deputy postmistress of Sibley; A. C, who is a railroad conductor
at St. James. Minnesota ; Mrs. Mable E. Regan, whose husband is a salesman
at Sibley; John H., deputy postmaster at Sibley for six years, and now assist-
ant county surveyor and superintendent of public construction; Will P., who

8l8 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

is also a salesman of Sibley, and X'iola M.. who is in the Gazette printing
office of Sibley.

Mr. Turnl^ul! has always been a Repnblican in politics and has been a
great student of the issues of the day. He has never been a seeker for polit-
ical office, although he held the office of township clerk and town clerk while
living in Tama countv. He and his family are loyal members of the Congre-
gational church and ontribute liberally to its support. 'Mr. Turnbull is a
great reader and Miulent and keeps fully abreast of the times. He is a man
of essentiallv domestic ta^tes and is ne\'er as happ}* as wlien by his own fire-
side, surrounded \)\ his f.an.ily and with good books to while away his idle
hours. He has always taken, an acti\-e interest in e\ery enterprise wdiich
might benefit Ins city and lias always thrown his infiuence in favor of good
government.

CHARLES E. EOOTE.

The Foote family, of which Charles E. Foote is a member, trace their
ancestry back to Nathaniel Foote, of Colchester, Emgland, who came to
\Vatertown, Massachusetts, about 1630. Rodger Foote, the grandfather of
Charles E., came from Connecticut to Ohio in about 1820 and settled in
Ashtabula county. He reared seven sons and one daughter, among whom
was Lauren B., the father of Charles E., whose history is here portrayed.
Lauren B. Foote was born in 1802 and is a direct descendant of Nathaniel,
who came to Massachusetts in 1630. Se\en generations of the Foote family
have been reared in America.

Charles E. Foote. of Sanborn. Iowa, a railroad conductor on the Chi-
cago. Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad and a pronfinent business man of San-
born, was born x\ugust i. 1856. in Ashtabula county, Ohio. He was the son
of Lauren B. and Cornelia M. (Ballard) Foote. Cornelia Ballard was born
in New York in 1824 and was the second wife of Lauren B. Foote. Several
members of the Foote family fought in the Revolutionary War. the War of
1 81 2 and also the Civil War. The mother of Henry Ward Beecher was a
Foote and a distant relative of this familv. None of the children by the first
wife of Lauren B. Foote are living. Two of the sons Iw his first marriage,
Irenus and Derrow. served throughout the Civil War. Irenus was in the
Twenty-ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry and Derrow was in the
Seventh Regiment of Kansas Cavalry. To the second marriage of Lauren
B. Foote were born four children : Mrs. Ella A'anLeuven. of Howard

CHARLES E. FOOTE

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 819

counly. Iowa; Howard S.. who is superintendent of the Jefferson (Ohio)
schools; Charles E., with whom this narrative deals, and Mrs. Abbie C.
Metcalf, of Ashtabula, Ohio.

Charles E. Foote was educated in the drand River Institute in Ohio.
His brothers and sisters attend this school and receive instruction from J. B.
Tuckerman. Charles E. started in life as a school teacher, teaching his first
term of school in the countrA- in Xew Linn township, Ohio, at the age of
eighteen. He then taught two mure terms in small towns in Ohio and in
the fall of 1875 ^'ime to Iowa and taught the fall and winter in Howard
count}'. In the spring he returned to Ohio and attended school for the next
year. In the fall of 1877 he returned to Howard county, Iowa, and taught
until 1881. In f88i Mr. Foote came to Sanborn, O'Brien county, and in
the summer of 1881 taught four uK^nths and then taught the succeeding vear
in Sanborn. He was the first principal of the new school hf)use which was
opened for the hrst time in 1881. He then engaged in the real estate business
for two years with Harley Day. In 1883 he l)ecame a brakeman on the Chi-
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railway west of Sanborn and the year following
became a freight conductor, being promoted after being in the ser\ice one
year, two months and eight days. He began running as an extra passenger
conductor in i88g and received liis regular assignment as a passenger con-
ductor in 1897. His regular run now is from Sanljorn to McGregor, a dis-
tance of two hinidred an-d forty-three miles.

Mr. Foote has saved his earnings and invested them in jjropertv in San-
born, built five houses in Sanborn and has done everything he could to
encourage home building and the growth of the town generallv. He is a
member of the school board at the present time, and takes a deep interest in
the educational affairs of the town.

Mr. Foote was married in 1878 to Jennie L. Lick, of Lime Springs,
Iowa, the daughter of A. and Helen ( \"an Leuven ) Lick, earlv settlers of
Howard county. Iowa. They were natives of Pennsylvania and Xew York
states respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Foote are the parents of five children :
Lome A., born in 1879, runs a dray line in Sanborn; Alfred K., born in
1881, is a conductor on the Chicago, ^Milwaukee & St. Paul railwav; Helen
C. who is at home; George V., born in 188^, is a conductor on the Chicaso
Milwaukee & St. Paul railway, running out of Mitchell, South Dakota;
Bernece C, who graduated at Oberlin, is married, her husband being in the
employ of the government at Washington, D. C, where they live.

In his politics. Mr. Foote is a stanch adherent of the Republican party,
(53)

^20 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

but, aside from his position on the school board, has never filled any public
positions in the county. The nature of his business keeps him from taking
an active part in politics. Mr. Foote's parents were members of the Congre-
gational church, while his wife is a member of the Presbvterian society.
He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and belongs to
the commandery at Cherokee. He also belongs to the Order of American
Railway Conductors. Mr. Foote is recognized as a man of strong mentality
and his several years of experience in the school room have made him a man
who is deeply interested in the educational welfare of his community. In
fact, he is interested in everything pertaining to the advancement of his com-
munity along- material, civic, educational and moral lines. He is a man who to
know is to respect and admire because of his sterling qualities of character
and upright life.

E. M. TAYLOR.

A man who l)ol(lly faces the responsibilities of life and bv untiring
energy wins for liimself an honorable success, exerts a powerful influence
upon the lives of those who follow him. To such men life is so real that
they find no time to do other than follow the best guide in their career. Their
lives are bound up in their e\'ery-day duties and their desire to appear
well among their fellow citizens gives them that standing which distinguishes
the good American citizen. The career of E. M. Taylor, whose life history
is here presented, illustrates what can be accomplished by the man who
adheres strictly to the line of duty which he marks out for himself.

E. M. Taylor, the son of Melvin B. and Emily A. (Hurlburt)
Taylor, was born in No\ember, 1865. i" Hubbleton. Wisconsin. His par-
ents were natives of Maine and Fort Jackson, New York, respectively. The
Taylors are a family of colonial descent. Isaac P. Taylor, the great-grand-
father of E. AI. Taylor, was a maker of silk hats in England, Avhile other
ancestors of the family fought in the Revolutionary War. Melvin B. Taylor
was a merchant and postmaster at Hubbleton at the time of his death in
1874. His widow came to Emmetsburg, Iowa, about 1880 with her sons,
h.a\ing pre^•iously lived at Wlnneconne and Oshkosh. Wisconsin. After her
husband's death she operated a store and postoffice at Hubbleton for a short
time and was engaged in the millinery business in Winneconne and Oshkosh.
Upon coming to Emmetsburg, Iowa, her son, E. M., became an employee in
one of the stores in that city.

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 82 1

E. AI. Taylor was educated in the schools of Hubbleton. Winneconne
and Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and when his mother came to Emmetsburg, in this
stale, he was fifteen years of age. He worked in a store here for about one
year and then farmed a }ear upon a fami in Eyon county. He also attended
school for a time in Silbey, in Osceola county. In 1884 he became assistant
postmaster at Sibley and served in that capacity for a year and a half, after
which he went to Emmetsburg and clerked in a store until 1888 when he be-
came a ])artner in the store. In 1889 he started a branch store under the
name of Schlegel, Taylor & Company at Sibley. In 1892 he and Mr. Hinkley
])urchased Mr. Schlegel's interest and conducted the business under the name
of Hinkley & Taylor. On January i. 1903, Mr. Taylor purchased Mr. Hink-
ley"s interest and since that time has l)een the sole proprietor of the store.
He carries an extensive line of clothing, shoes and men's outfitting at the
present time. Prexious to January. 1908, the store was a general department
store, but at that time he sold the dry goods department. He and Mr.
Hinkley established the first department store in Sibley. The store has
modern fixtures and at the present time carries a stock averaging twenty-two
thous;ind dollars. His business is now housed in a handsome brick building
on Alain street and ^Iv. Taylor has a full share of the patronage of Sibley
and the surrounding community.

Mr. Taylor was married in 1890 to Emma E. Fenton. of Siblev, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Fenton. Mr. Fenton was one of the
earliest pioneers of the county, having brought his family from eastern Iowa
to Osceola county in a covered wagon in 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor are
the parents of three children : Bernadena, a graduate from Grinnell College
in June, 1914; Melvin Fenton, the assistant postmaster at Sibley, and Ray-
mond, who is still in school. Mrs. Taylor is a woman of culture and refine-
ment and takes a prominent part in the club life of her city. She is a member
of the Eastern Star and was worthy matron of the Sibley Chapter in 191 2.
She and her husband have a fine modern home with all of the latest con-
^'eniences. It was one of the first modern homes to be erected in the city.

Polictically, Mr. Taylor is a member of the Republican party and has
always been actively interested in the civic afxairs of his city. For six years
he was a member of the school board and for sixteen years a member of
the city council. He and his family are loyal members of the Congregational
churcli and contribute liberally of their means to its support. Fraternally,
he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and has attained
to the degree of the Royal Arch and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine.
He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor ha\'e

822 o'bRIEX AXD OSCEOLA COUXTIl.S, IOWA.

a wide acquaintance in the city and surrounding comniunit}" and their nian\'
friends admire them for their good quahties of mind and heart. They have
reared their children to Hves of usefuhiess and honor and are now seeino-
ihem take their places in societ\- in a wa}' which will do them credit and re-
llect lionor upon their parents.

CHARLES \\'. BRIGGS.

Among the progressive men of Sutherland, O'Brien county, Iowa, who
lia\'e l(jng Iieen identified with the interests of the city, is Charles \\'. Briggs,
the present postmaster of the cit_\'. As a public official in his home township,
and as a l)usiness man in Sutherland, he has shown rare business ability,
pul)lic spirit and un(|uestioned integrity. He is essentially a man of the peo-
]jle, ijrcxidminded, faithful and possessing an equipoise of attril)utes that
stamp him as a natural leader among his fellow citizens. He is a tine type of
the self-made man. and during a long and busy career has never sweiwed
from the path of dut}' as he saw it.

Cliarles W. Briggs, the i)resent postmaster of Sutherland, Iowa, was
])orn in Grant county, Wisconsin, in 1852, the son of Edmond L. and Caro-
line ( Cranst(jn ) Briggs. Edmond L. Briggs was born in the state of Xevv
^'ork in 18:^0. and when a \-oung man he left the state and settled in A\'is-
consul. /\fter farmino" for a few \'ears in that state, he m(j\'ed to South
Dakota, ^\ here he followed the \ocati(jn of a farmer for twehe }'ears. He
then retired and came to Sutherland, Iowa, where he remained with his
children until his death in 1905. Caroline Cranston was born in Ohio.
Rdmond L. Briggs and wife were the parents of scncu children : James C,
who lives in Suth.erland : Charles \V., of this sketch; Waldo, a resident of
Sutherland: 3 Irs. Earla \\'aterhouse. of this county; Edward, of South
Dakota; Mrs. Edna Cheslew of Sutherland, whose husband is deceased;
Airs. Xori -\nderson. who lives in South Dakota.

I'hrirles '\V. Briggs recei\ed a good common school education and also
attended the academv at Patch (jrcjve, \\'isconsin. After finishing his educa-
tion a: the age of twenty he rented a farm in ^Visconsin and lived on it for
four years In 1876 he went to California and worked as a farm hand and
the following year returned to NA'isconsin, where he remained until 1882,
when ho came to O'Brien county, Iowa, and opened the first drug store in

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 823

SutlKiiand .After operating" this store for four years he sold it and moved to
western Xeirrask^i. where he remained for five years. In 1890 he returned
to Sutherland and lias lived in this city continucmsly since that time. For
the lirst three \ears after his return he engaged in the Iniying and selling
of grain and later hought stock fur H. A. Peck, in which business he was
engaged for a period of thirteen years. In 1907 he was appointed post-
master of Sutherland, a position which he is still holding.

Air. Briggs was married in 1884 to Rachel Townsend, who was a na-
tive of the state of Illinois, and to this union there have been born eight
cliildren : Airs. Alta AI. Schultz, of Sutherland, a graduate of the Suther-
land liigh school and Cornell College of Alusic at Alt. Vernon, Iowa; Edmond
C, a graduate of the Sutherland high school and now assistant cashier of
the l-'irst Savinefs Bank, of Sutherland: Arthur T.. also a graduate of the
hi"h school of Sutherland and now a jeweler at Lemmon, South Dakota;
Paul B.. a salesman in a clothing store at Sutherland: Ruth A., who is now
attending the Alorningside College at Sioux City, Iowa: Donald J., Bernice
anrl Alajorie. the last three named children being still at home with their
parents. Air. and Airs. Briggs are justly i)roud of their children, to whom
thev have given every educational advantage, as they feel that there is no
better asset for the young people of this day and age of the world than a
good education, and for this reason the\- have placed every possible advan-
tage l)efore them, and it is indeed gratifying to the parents to see that their
children have taken advantage of their opportimities and are now in a fair
wav to make successful careers for themselves in the world.

Air. Brigg-s is a Republican in his political belief and always takes an
active interest in public atfairs. He was an assessor in his home township
for several years and has been school treasurer of Sutherland and was also
one of the first town councilmen of the city. In all his public activities he
has so administered his duties as to gain the commendation of his fellow
citizens. He and his family are attendants of the Alethodist Episcopal church
and subscribe liberally to its support. Fraternally, he is a member of the
Ancient Free and Accepted Alasons. the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Alodern Woodmen of America, and takes a personal interest in the
affairs of these fraternal organizations. Air. Briggs has lived a busy and
useful life, and his life history has been a career of unswerving integrity,
indefatigable industry and wholesome home and social living, a most com-
menda1;le career crowned with success. The best citizen is he who con-
tributes his share to tlie comm(_>nwealth in the wav of service and rears a

824 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

family to lives of usefulness and honor. In both respects Mr. Briggs has
done his full share as the true American citizen and for this reason is well
worth}- of mention in a biographical volume of the character of the one in
hand.

CORNELIUS VEDDER VAN EPPS.

This land of ours owes a debt of gratitude to the stalwart and hard-^
Fin^opean races whose sons have come in large numbers, especially durin.c
the past half century, where there was a crying need of fearless men to assisr
in the work of winning and developing the Western states from their prim'
tive wildness. The people of Gemiany have formed a large contingent and
ha\e ever Ijeen most welcome owing to their willingness to give their best
efforts to this work, being, almost without exception, industrious and law-
abiding, willing 'to upbuild and support our institutions and, while holding
in grateful remembrance the native land, yet at the same time cherishing the
Stars and Stripes. In their ranks were numbered Cornelius Vedder Vai:
Epps, one of Sheldon's best known business men and one of O'Brien county's
highly respected citizens.

Cornelius Vedder Van Epps, the son of Charles and Angelica (Vedder
Van Epi)s, was born September 16, 1837, in Albany county, New York. The-
\'an Epps family trace their ancestry directly back to the old Dutch familie;^
who came over to this country in the earliest of the colonial times
In 1620 Dirk \'an Epen left Delfthaven, Holland, and came to this country
where he settled on the Alohawk river, in what is now Schuylkill county. New
York. Later he settled in Beaverwyck, now New Albany, New York. Abou"
this time the name appeared to ha\e been changed from Van Epen to Var
Eps. This Dirk Van Epen. who came to this country in 1620, is separated
b^■ six generations from the Van Epps whose history is here related. The
direct descendants frum Dirk Van Epen to Cornelius X^edder Van Epps are
as follows : Jan or Johannes, the son of Dirk, was one of the first settler?
of Schenectady; his son, John Baptist, was taken captive in the "Massacre
of Schenectady" on February 9, 1690; Johannes, the son of John Baptist,
was born May 5. 1700; Jan Baptist, the son of Johannes, was born May 30.
1731 : Charles, the son of Jan Baptist, was born April 12. 1788, and married
May 16. 1806. He was in the A\'ar of 1812 and hauled ammunition from
Albany to Buft'alo, in New York. He was twice married and his second
wife, the mother of Cornelius Vedder Yciu Epps. whose history is herein

o'rrien and osceoj,a counties, IOWA. 825

recorded, was the mother of thirteen children: Charles Henry; Airs. Susan
Eleanor Hildebrant ; Elias Vedder, a soldier in the Mexican War, who was
born September 10, 1828, and died November 30, 1901 ; Albert C. ; Agnes;
Harmon V. ; Cornelius Vedder ; Mary Angelica ; William Henry Harrison ;
Rebecca V. ; Sarah ; Theodore ; Sebastian.

In 1852 Cornelius V. Van Epps left New York with his parents and
the family settled in Iowa near Davenport. They crossed the river on a
horse ferry-boat, and settled in Scott county, there being only two families
in the whole county at that time. They first moved on the LaGranger farm
and in the fall of 1852 moved to a farm one mile south, where they spent the
winter. Charles Van Epps died in Plesant Valley township, Scott county,
and his widow died later in Davenport. In the fall of 1856 the family moved
to Aluscatine county, where they lived seventeen years.

Cornelius V. Van Epps enlisted in April, 1864, in Company A, Missis-
sippi Marine Brigade, and saw service on the lower part of the Mississippi
river. He participated in the battles of Coleman's Cross Roads, Old River
Lake in Arkansas, where he was wounded in his right leg, which continued
to bother him for several years and as a result his leg had to be amputated
in 1888. After his return from the war. Mr. Van Epps was married,
September 16, 1867, to Isabella McElroy, the daughter of James E. and
Margaret (Jordan) McElroy, who were of Scotch-Irish and Irish Protestant
ancestry, respectively. Mrs. Van Epps was born May 6, 1842, in Allegheny
county, Pennsylvania, and came with her parents to Muscatine county, Iowa,
in 1855. where her father taught scliool for some time. Mr. McElroy died
in 1863. ^^1'- ^1^*^^ Mrs. Van Epps are the parents of two children, Mrs. May
Gifford, of Aberdeen, South Dakota, and Ervin M., a barber and printer.

Cornelius V. Van Epps and his family came to O'Brien county in 1872
and homesteaded on the southeast corner of section 10 in Carroll township.
I'liev erected a frame house, foiu'teen by eighteen feet, and suffered severe
hardships for the first few years. At that time fuel was very scarce and
the)- had to tra\-el many miles in order to secure it. The nearest place where
the)' could get wood was in Rock \^alley in Cherokee county. Mr. Van Epps
hauled the first load of lumber which went into the construction of the first
house in Primghar, the county seat. He continued to live on the farm which
he entered in 1872 until 1890, when he came to Sheldon, where he has since
lived. He sold his farm in the fall of 1892.

Politically, Mr. Van Epps is a Progressive, having allied himself with
tliis new party upon its organization in the summer of 1912. He has always
taken an active interest in politics and in all the public aft'airs of the town-

826 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

ship. For some years he served as justice of the peace in Carroll township.
He and his wife are menil^ers of the Congregational church of Sheldon and
contribute liberally to its various activities. Mr. Van Epps is a pleasant, con-
genial man to know and has a ho'^t of friends in Sheldon and vicinity, who
lionor him because of the clean and open life which he has lived in this com-
munitv.

JAMES S. CAMPBELL.

The history of Osceola county is but a record of the doings of its people
and the value of the present volume is greatly enhanced because it is written
while many of the first pioneers of the county are still living. The story
of the plain, common people who came here in the sixties and seventies
attracts tlie attention and interest of all the succeeding generations of this
county. One hundred years from now this volume Avill be of intense interest
to people who will be then living here and the many incidents which gather
around the lives of the early settlers of the county will make interesting
reading at that far-away time. The "grasshopper war" will undoubtedly
cause much curiosity in the generations to come and yet the history of many
of the pioneers which are presented in this volume gives testimony of the
frightful ravages wrought bv these little in\aders. The life history of James
S. Campbell, who is now living retired in his comfortable home in Sibley,
is a record of a life true to its highest ideal and there is much in it that should
stimulate future generations of Osceola county to higher and better things.

James S. Campbell, the son of J. M. and Elizabeth (Hazelwood) Camp-
bell, was born in Jefferson county, New York, May 9, 1851. His father was
bcirn in Xew ^'ork. while his mother was a native of England. J. M. Camp-
bell was the son of James Campbell, a native of Scotland. The wife of J. M.
Campbell came to America with her father from England when she was
twelve years of age. In 1858 the Campbell family left New York state and
moved westward, finally locating at Beaver Dam, Dodge county, Wisconsin.
In 1886 they removed to Crawford county, Iowa, where they lived until the
death of father and mother. J. M. Campbell was born April 3, 1827, and
died in August, 1906. He was twice married. His first wife, the mother of
James S. whose history is here portrayed, died in 1856 and he subsequently
married his first wife's sister, Mary Maria Hazelwood, who died January i,
T910, at the age of seventy-five. There were two children by the first mar-
riage, James S.. with whom this narrative deals, and Mrs. Ida Elizabeth

MR. AND MRS. JAMES S. CAMPBELL

o'bRIEN AN' I) OSCEOLA COL'NTIES. IOWA. 827

Kellips, ot Alihvaukee, \\ isconsin. To the second marriage were born six
children: Walter J., of South Dakota; Charles Ambert, of Iowa; Mrs.
Louise Beaumont, of Denison. Iowa; W'ilmer, of South Dakota; Mrs. Martha
Woodruff, of Denison, Iowa, and Rev. Albert Gilliver, a Methodist minister,
now preaching at Rapid City, South Dakota. In this connection it might be
noted that the father of the two Hazelwood sisters was a Methodist minister.

James S. Campbell was se\-en years of age when his father left New
York for Wisconsin and consecpiently recei\-ed most of his education in the
latter state. He was reared to manhood in Wisconsin and married in that
state, lixing the life of a farmer there until the spring of 1889. He then
migrated to Crawford county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm on which he
lived for two years, after which he sold it and moved to Osceola county,
Iowa, where he bought two hundred and fort\' acres of land in East Holman
township for twenty dollars an acre. On this farm he lived for nine vears.
when he sold it and built a modern home in Siblev, where he is now li\in2".
He moved to Sibley in order to give his children better educational advan-
tages. Three years after moving to Sibley he purchased one hundred and
sixty acres in East Holman township adjoining the town of Siblev on the
east and still later purchased three hundred and twenty acres in Wilson town-
ship. For some years he resided at times during the summer season on these
farms. He owns two residences in Sibley, also the Tribune building, the
opera house block and a half interest in the store Ijuilding adjoining the opera
house. ]Mr. Campbell has been remarkably successful as a business man, a
success which has come about solely through his own business ability, together
with the strictest integrity in all of his financial dealings.

Mr. Campbell was married March 9, 1874, to Ellen Janes, the daughter
of ]\Ir. and Mrs. William Janes, early settlers of Wisconsin. To this union
have been born three children : William Madison, a farmer of South Dakota
and. the father of four children; Clarence Eugene, a farmer of Alberta,
Canada, and Mrs. Katie Elizabeth -Jones, of South Dakota. Mr. Campbell
was married a second time on September i, 1908. to Mrs. Alice Bishop
O'Connor, a wndow. of Janesville, Wisconsin. She was born, reared and
educated in Wisconsin and has been a prominent church worker all of he:
life. She is a member of the Northw^estern Io\^■a Conference Board and
now secretar}- of the Home Missionary Society. In October, 191 3, she was
selected as secretary to the national convention of the W^oman's Home Mis-
sionary Society. She is a vevy able and intelligent w-oman and has devoted
several years of her life to church and missionary work. In this she is now
ably assisted by Mr. Campbell, w^ho has been a church worker all of his life.

828 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

In the Methodist Episcopal church, to which he belongs, he has been class
leader and a member of the official board for many years. He is a strong
temperance advocate and ne\-er loses an opportunity to give the liquor traffic
a blow.

Politically, Mr. Campbell has usually voted the Republican ticket,
although he now classes himself as an independent voter. It is a fact that
thousands of our best citizens are now breaking away from party ties and,
especially in local elections, voting for the best man irrespecti\e of their
party affiliations. To this large and intelligent class Mr. Cam])l)el] belongs
and if there were more such men of independent thinking the country would
be far better ofif than it is. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows and has always taken an interest in the work of this
old fraternal organization. Such is the 'outline of the life of ]\Ir. Campbell,
which indicates that his career has been the result of careful and conscien-
tious work and that in all the relations of life he has performed his full
duty. Successful in business, respected in social life and as a citizen dis-
charging his every duty in a manner becoming an intelligent, patriotic man,
he has earned and retained the good will and regard of all who know him.

GEORGE W. NELSON.

.\n honored pioneer of this county and a distinguished veteran of the
Cixil War is George W. Nelson, who is now living a retired life at Sutherland,
O'Brien county, Iowa. Fie came to this state in 1870. He has been an active
figure in his state from the beginning and has always taken his full share in all
of those enterprises which promise to benefit his community in an}^ way.
When the rebellion was raging throughout the Southland and threatening to
destro} our Union, he responded with patriotic fervor to Lincoln's call for
troops and in many of the hardest fought battles of that memoral^le struggle
lie ])r()^'e<l liis loyalty to the government whose flag he had promised to serve.
Fie has been no less loyal to his government in times of peace and no citizen
of the couiity is more worth}^ of representation in this ^•(tlume. He deserves
tlie commendation which comes to him from his fellow citizens because he
has always led a clean and wholesome life and never done anything which
might bring upon him the censure of his neighbors.

George \\\ Nelson, the son of Underbill and Harriett (Hauley) Nelson,
was born in Wisconsin in 1843. Underbill Nelson was born in 1798 and as

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 829

a young- man learned the tanner's trade, following it for twelve years. He
then, left his native state and moved to Albany, New York, and later to
Wisconsin. He was married in the latter state in 1846 to Harriett Hauley,
who was born in 1804 and died in Jefferson county, Wisconsin, in 1855.
Mr. Xelson and wife were the parents of six children: Mary, Beach H.,
Elizabeth, Edward, Elias. deceased, and George W., who is the only one
alive.

Georp-e W. Nelson received a limited common school education in his
native state and when thirteen years of age began farming for himself near
Mil ford, Wisconsin. He was working upon a farm when the Civil War
broke out and tlien \olunteered his services for the defense of his country.
He enlisted August 22. 1862, in the Twenty-ninth Regiment Wisconsin
\'ol;mteer Infantry and served until he was finally mustered out. June 22,
1865. "^t Shreveport, Louisiana. During his service of three years he was
always ready for duty and served with distinction throughout the whole
period of his service.

After the close of the war Mr. Nelson returned to his home in Wiscon-
sin and in 1870 came to O'Brien county and h.omesteaded on a quarter of a
seclicju in this county. In 1873 he was married and from that time on he and
his wife worked hard io make a substantial home for themselves and their
chihh'en. He succeeded to a most gratifying degree, and now has a most
attracti\e farm as well as one of the most productive in this section of the
county. Mr. Nelson carries on general farming and also raises as much
stock as he can feed with his crops.

Mr. Nelson was married in 1873 to Ann Elizabeth Bookman, who was
born in New York state in 1857. To this marriage have been born eight
cliildren.: Elias, a farmer of this county, who married Cora Steele; Alma,
deceased: Beach H.. who married Edith Thompson and is li\'ing on the old
Iiome farm: Elva. the wife of Edward E. C. Propp. manager of the Farm-
ers' Elevator at Sutherland, Iowa: Grace, deceased; Elizabeth, who married
W. M. Andrews and lives in Sutherland: Berton, a farmer of this county,
and George W.. Jr., who is still with his parents.

Politically, Mr. Nelson belongs to that large and intelligent class of
citizens who reserve the right to cast their votes f(^r the best men, irrespective
of their i)arty affiliation, and for such men the term Independent Progressive
is ])eculiarly applicable. Mr. Nelson has always taken an active interest in
])oliiica] alTairs and while he was never an office seeker in any sense of the
word, yet he has .served his fellow citizens in two official capacities with credit
to liis towiiship and honor to himself. He has served as road supervisor for

830 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

three years in his township, as well as school director, filling the latter office
for three years. I^^raternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Ac-
cepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Order of the
Eastern Star and the Danghters of Rebekah. As he was an acti\'e veteran
of the Civil War, it is bnt natnral that he should take an active part in the
( rrand Army of the Repnblic post at Sutherland, where he has belonged for
many years. Too much honor can not be accorded these boys in blue who
fought the bra^•e fight which enabled our country to remain a united nation.
They are fast passing away and when taps are sounded for them our nation
will liave lost those men who made it possible for the flag to wave from
coast to coast and from the lakes to the gulf.

ALFRED MORTON.

Few residents of Osceola county, Iowa, are better or more fayorably
known than the enterprising business man and representative citizen whose
life history is brietiy told in the following lines, and none stands higher than
he in the esteem and confidence of the community in which he resides. His
influence has been ])otent and his sympathies broad, so that he has been able
to ])ecome an influential factor in the life of his locality. He is mindful of
tlie duties he owes to the community and discharges the same as becomes a
man of character and a citizen thoroughly abreast of the times.

Alfred Morton, the son of Alfred and Mary (Mover) Morton, was
born lulv 19, 1868, in the state of New York near Syracuse. Alfred Morton,
Sr., was born in Oswego, New York, in 1836, and was married to Mary A.
Mcner November 13. i86t. He enlisted in the Civil War on March 29,
1865. at Aul)urn, New York, in the One Hundred and Ninety-third Regiment
New York V^)lunteer Infantry, and was commissioned as major on May 6,
1865, with his rank dating from March 29th of the same year. He was
later commissioned as brevet lieutenant-colonel and with this rank was dis-
charged January 18. 1866. at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Early in the recon-
struction period President Grant appointed him circuit judge in Virginia,
with headquarters at Richmond. In 1879 he removed to Iowa and settled at
Sheldon, where he practiced law until his death, April 19, 1896. He was a
man of o-reat streno-th of character, one of the leaders of the bar in Iowa.

't>"

Fle was a meml3er of the Congregational church and was very much inter-
ested in the work of that denomination. Fraternally, he was a member of

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 83I

tlie Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the (Irand Army of the Republic
at Sheldon. At the time of his death he was the city attorney of Sheldon.
Alfred Morton, Sr., and wife were the parents of three children: Joe, of
Sioux Citw Iowa, and secretary of the Interstate Fair Association; Mrs.
E. G. Hutchinson, of Phoenix, New York, and Alfred, with whom this nar-
rati\'e deals.

Alfred Morton, Jr., was educated in the schools of Sheldon, Iowa, and
later graduated from Phoenix, New York, Academy in 1886. Upon return-
ing to Iowa after graduating from the acadeni}-, he became interested in the
lianking profession and has l)een engaged in the banking l)usiness in George,
Oc]ie\'edan and Sibley, in this state. He was cashier of the Sibley State
P)aiil< from ic)05 to 1910, when he disposed of his interest in the bank and
became interested in the real estate and automobile business.

The Sibley Auto Company was organized in igio and Mr. Morton
has been proprietor of the compau}- since it was estal)lished. The company
occupies a Iniilding which is se\enty 1)y eighty-hve feet. It is built uf con-
crete block and contains a large show room, well c(|uippe(l othce, repair shop,
with all of the latest machinery for automobile repairing, besides other small
r(»onis. The origiual building- was l)uilt Ijv Doctor Xeill and an addition was
buill b\- Morton, who took charge of the compan\'. Besides the retailing
of cars, the compan\- does a general ]i\-er_\' business in addition to the rej^air
work. They handle the Chalmers and Reo automobiles and ha\'e built up
an extensive business throughout this section of the state.

Mr. Morton w'as married in 1897 to Maud Barclay, who died four years
later, leaving one daughter, Elizabeth. She w^as the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. James T. Barclay, pioneers of Osceola county and has the honor of
being the first child born in Sibley. Her death occurred in 1902. Mr. ^Morton
was married a second time in September, 19 10, to Mrs. Leona Fralick, of
Syracuse, New York, wdio had one daughter, Muriel, by a former marriage.
To this second marriage have been born two children, John and Josephine.

Politically, Mr. Morton is identified with the Republican party and in the
ci\'ic affairs of his community has always taken an active interest. He is a
memljer of the Sibley school board and for several years has been a member
of the city council. Fraternall\ , he is a member of the Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons and has attained to the thirty-second Scottish-rite degree
and the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias at
Siblev. ]\Ir. Morton is w^ell known throughout the countv and his manv
excellent qualities hax'e won for him many loyal friends.

832 0"r,RIExV AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

FRAXK FRISBEE.

The two most strongly marked characteristics of both the East and the
West are combined in the residents of Iowa. The enthusiastic enterprise
which overleaps all obstacles and makes possible almost any undertaking in
the com|)aratively new and vigorous Western states is here tempered by the
stable and more careful policy that we have borrowed from our Eastern
neighbors, and the combination is one of unusual force and power. It has
been the means of placing this section of the country on a par with the older
East, at the same time producing a reliability and certaint}' in business alTairs
which is frequently lacking in the ^Vest. This happy combination of char-
acteristics is possessed to a notable degree by the subject of this history,
Frank Frisbee, of Sheldon. He is too well known to the readers of this
work to need an}- formal introduction here, for he not only comes of a
family whose name is deeply engra\ed in the financial, commercial, profes-
sional and industrial histor}- of this section of the state, but he himself is
filling a large place in the public affairs of this community. Recognized as
a man of strong and alert mentality, deeply interested in everything pertain-
ing to the welfare of the community along material and civic lines, he is re-
garded as one of the progressive and enterprising men of his city and county.

Frank Frisbee, a retired farmer and banker of Sheldon, was born at
Geneva Lake, Wisconsin, May 9, 1847, ^'"'•^ ^^^'^ ^^ Chester and Emeline
( Stevens) Frisbee. Chester Frisbee was a nati^■e of New York, and came
to Wisconsin in the early forties, where he lived for seven years at Geneva
Lake. He then mo\ed to the southern part of Dane county, in which the
capitol of the state is located, and resided there for the next twenty- five years.
In about 1880 he went to Sheldon, Iowa, where he resided with his daughter
until his deatli. ]\lrs. Frisbee died in 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Frisbee were the
parents of eight children : Mrs. Elizabeth Vaughn, who died some years ago
in San Diego, California; Adeline, who began teaching in Wisconsin at the
age of sixteen and taught for ten years in that state ; Mrs. Ruth Fox, who
died in Sheldon; Janette, who died in California in 1908; James B., who
came to O'Brien county with his brother Frank in the spring of 1871 and died
in 1891; Frank, whose history is herein delineated; Fred, whose career is
given elsewhere in this Avork; Bessie, the wife of F"rank Webster, of Sheldon.

Frank Frisbee received a good practical education in the common
schools of Wisconsin and worked on his father's farm until he came to this
county in 1871. He came by rail to Algona, Iowa, and from there drove the

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 833

rest of the wav. There were three of them who made this trip, Mr. Frisbee,
his I)rother, James B., and Noah Stevens, tlie nncle of the two brothers and
a \eteran of the Civil W^ar. When they came here in 1871, O'Brien county
had a pojmlation of less than eight hundred and most of these were in the
southeastern part of the county. \'ery little of the land had been homesteaded
or pre-empted, Imt the settlers were fast rushing in to take hold of the choice
land. Frank Frisbee located on half of section 14 in Carroll township, and
with James immediately put up a shack and started to break the land and put
in their hrst crop. They had to haul all of their lumber from Cherokee, the
county seat of Cherokee county, on the south, and their rude cabin, built in
1876, was the home of the second family to locate in Carroll township. Here
thev lived until the fall of 1878. The grasshoppers became so bad that they
decided to forsake their farm temporarily and engaged in the livery business
at Sheldon. For the next thirty years the brothers were in this business,
selling out in 1906.

The real fortune of the Frisbee brothers dates from the opening of their
liverv Imsiness in Sheldon. As fast as they had any money saved from their
business they invested it in land, buying it from two and a half to forty-five
dollars an acre, although the majority of it cost them only about fifteen
dollars an acre. The next twenty years they bought five thousand acres, most
of which they still retain. Frank Frisbee now has fifteen hundred acres in
O'Brien county. He is a large stockholder in a land firm in Winnipeg which
owns twent\- thousand acres and forty elevators. While he has been largely
interested in real estate, he has also been an important factor in the banking-
interests of this section of the state. He assisted in organizing the Primghar
State Bank, First National Bank of Sheldon, First National Bank of Hartley,
the Ocheyedan Savings Bank, the Sanborn Savings Bank, the Farmers'
Savings Bank of Boyden and a bank in Minnesota, of which he was president
for some time. The Frisbee brothers now own the controlling interest in the
Sheldon First National Bank. In addition to their land holdings and bank
interests, the Frisbee brothers also have large holdings in business blocks and
other real estate in Sheldon.

\lr. Frisbee is a Republican in politics and has ser^•ed on the school
board. Although his name does not appear on the roll of any church, yet he.
is interested in the work of the churches and gives generously of his means
to the su])port of more than one denomination. Fraternally, he is a member
of the Knights of Pythias and is one of the charter members of Malta Lodge
No. 144 of Sheldon. Mr. Frisbee was married October 15, 1868, in Wiscon-
sin to Myra McLaughlin, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. McLaughlin.

834 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Airs. Frisbee's mother was tlie first woman in the township where the AIc-
Laiighhns settled in Wisconsin. Mrs. Frisbee's mother spent her dechning-
years with her daughter in Sheldon. Mr. and Mrs. Frisbie are the parents of
four children: Fred E., president of the First National Bank of Sheldon;
Chester, who died at the age of four: Archie Lee, who died in infancy, and
Gertrude, the wife of C. PI. Woodruff, of Pasadena, California. Mr. Fris-
bee is a self-made man, having attained his success soleh- through his own
etiforts. His life and character forcibly illustrate what a man of right prin-
ciples and high ideals can accomplish when his plans are wisely laid. Success-
ful in l)usiness, respected in social life and as a citizen and neighbor dis-
cliarging his duties in a manner becoming an intelligent citizen of the com-
munity, he has earned and retained the "ood will of all who know him.

TOBIAS E. DIAMOND.

Life is what we make it. If we but exercise the powers becjueathed
to us by virtue ot birth, upbringing, and through inheritance from the Ijenef-
icence of the Cnkncnvn Power which influences the actions of the indixidual,
we are accomplishing the mission in life which may ha\e l^een planned for
us' even before our births. The lives of self-made men always ha\e some
noticeable points worthy of recording which are of the unusual and strik-
ing order. T. E. Diamond, a brilliant and rising young attorney of the
city of Sheldon, O'Brien county, is a self-made man who has overcome
difficulties which would pro\e to be well-nigh unsurmountal)le to tht- a\'erage
individual.

Mr. Diamond was born in the village of Tilsit, Germany, March 18,
1876, the son of Hyman and Lena (Epstein) Diamond. His father is now
a resident of Liverpiool, England, and his mother died when he was a lad of
eleven years, at which early age he came, alone, to America in Ma^^ 1887.
He first located in Philadelphia. He resided in and about Philadelphia tot
nearly three years and earned his li\ing by doing chores on nearl3\- farms
for his board during the summer seasons and attended school during the
winters. \\'hen Mr. Diamond came to America he was familiar with but
two English words. Six years later he was teaching school. This remark-
able accomplishment was brought about b}- close application and an iron
determination to succeed in the land of his adoption. In the year 1890 he
journeyed to Minneapolis and worked in a candy factory for one year. From

^-w ^^fJT^ ^l^/'A^i'ns i£^r2-

^l\

O'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 835

this city he went to eastern South Dakota and there worked on farms and
attended school during the winter months. In the summer of 1892 he went
to northwestern Iowa and did farm work. From here he went to Dixon,
IlHnois, in the fall and in less than two years he completed the four-year
normal course provided for students. Although the regular work at the
Dixon Normal College called for fifteen hours weekly, he succeeded in
doing thirty-five hours' work. This remarkable feat required the hardest
kind of study and the closest application on his part. He taught school in
Illinois and Iowa for a number of years and held the position of principal
of tlie Orange City (Iowa) high school. He entered the Iowa State Uni-
versity, and completed the law course in 1904. He was then employed as
traveling salesman from June. 1904, to November 15th of the same year.
He then came to Sheldon and for the first four _\ears of his residence in this
city he had his office with Judge Boies. In 1909 he opened an office of his
own and has been very successful in his practice. On January i, 1913, he
took over a considerable part of Judge Boies' law practice on account of the
Judge having taken his seat on the district bench. Mr. Diamond has had
cases before the federal courts and in the supreme court of this state and of
Minnesota, and enjoys a constantly increasing clientele. He served for four
years as city attorney of Sheldon.

Mr. Diamond is a pronounced Democrat in politics and is one of the
known leaders of his party in the state. In 1896 Mr. Diamond, when but
twenty years of age, stumped the country and made speeches in behalf of the
candidacy of William Jennings Bryan. He continues to take an active part
in Democratic politics, and had the distinction of presenting the minority re-
port in the Burlington (Iowa) Democratic convention of 1912 which
endorsed the candidacy of \\'oodrow Wilson in preference to the choice of
the convention. He made a notable address in l)ehalf of ]\Ir. Wilson and led
a strenuous fight which attracted attention throughout the state. He firmly
believed then, as now. that Woodrow Wilson was the logical candidate of
the Democratic party for the Presidency and his contention has been borne
out by the subsequent choice of his favorite for the highest office in the land.
During the campaign of 191 2 he devoted three weeks of his time to cam-
paigning in behalf of the Democratic national ticket, and was gratified by the
great Democratic success which followed. His religious associations are with
the Congregational church. He is a member of the Masonic lodge, having
taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite.

Mr. Diamond was married November 12, 1907. to Maude E. Peck, a

(54)

836 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA.

daughter of John F. Peck, formerly a resident of Sheldon, Iowa, but now
residing in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He is the father of two children.
Marion Lou and Dorothy Ruth.

The biographer believes that a perusal of this foregoing review and
an analysis of the life work of this rising and gifted young man will provide
inspiration to ambitious youths who are alike desirous of climbing the ladder
of fame and winning renown. It is reviews such as this one that embellish
the pages of this history.

PROF. EDWARD E. RICHARDS.

Tlie men most influential in promoting the advancement of society and
in giving" character to the times in which they live, are two classes, to wit,
tlie men of study and the men of action. Whether we are more indebted
for the improvement of the age to the one class or the other is a question of
honest difference in opinion; neither class can be spared and both should be
encouraged to occupy their several spheres of labor and influence, zealously
and without mutual distrust. In the following paragraphs are briefly out-
lined tlie leading facts and characteristics in the career of a gentleman who
combines in his make-up the elements of the scholar and the energy of the
]niblic-spirited man of affairs.

Prof. Edward E. Richards, the son of E. James and Catherine (Smith)
Richards, was born Ma}- 14, 1880. in Warren, Illinois. James Richards was
born in 1847 '" Ihinois, and his wife was born in Pennsylvania in 1850.
James Richards li\ed for many years near Galena, Illinois, where his father.
William, worked in the lead mines. James Richards sjient his younger days
working in the mines, and since 1870 has lived in Warren, Illinois. Mr.
and ^Irs. James Richards had three children : James, a merchant of North
Yakima. Washington : Mrs. Bertha Fitzgerald, of Kankakee, Illinois, and
Prof. Edward E.. whose history is herein recorded.

Prof. Edward E. Richards was educated in the common and hieh
schools of Warren. Illinois, and later attended Warren Academy. He then
entered the E'niversity of Nebraska, from which he graduated in 1904.
Before entering the university he had been teaching in the country schools,
having taught from 1898 to 1902; the first two years he spent in the countrv
schools and from 1900 to 1902 he was teaching in O'Brien county. Iowa.
After graduating from the university, he became superintendent of the South
Bend, Nebraska, schools and a year later was elected superintendent of the

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. ^T^y

Sargent. Xel)raska. schools, a jjosition which he held for three \'ears ; he
then taiii^lit one )-ear in Long Pine, Nebraska, and followed this with the
position of superintendent of the Cumberland, Iowa, schools. In the fall of
19 IJ he was elected superintendent of the Primg-har schools and has l)een
efhcientl}- tilling- tliat position up to the present time. He has brought to
his school work a well drilled mind and the tact and personality which are
I he requisites of ex'ery successful teacher. He is rapidly bringing the Primg-
har schools to the front, and is placing them in a position where they are be-
coming of increasing value to the town and vicinity. He now has ten
teachers under his charge, and has made the hig'h school one of the accredited
high schools of the state. In the year 191 3 the high school enrolled ninety
pupils and graduated seventeen.

Professor Richards was married October 20, 1902, in Orange City,
Iowa, to Daisy M. Allard, the daughter of Benjamin H. and Rectinia L.
Allard. This marriage has been blessed with two children, Hazel, born
March 2, 1905, and Onine, born November 15, 1908.

Professor Richards is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He takes an active in-
terest in the atTairs of the Democratic party and for two years was county
chairman of the Cass county, Iowa, Democratic organization. Since coming
to Nebraska he has twice been elected delegate to the Democratic state con-
ventions, having previously served twice as delegate in Nebraska. However,
Professor Richards' interests are now directed towards the reorganization
and upbuilding of the schools of Primghar. When he came here in the fall
of 1 9 12 he found the schools badly disorganized, but during his administra-
tion as superintendent he has brought about a wonderful change. He now
has the schools in good working order and in a position where they are able
to do ef^cient work.

JOHN V. ADKINS.

A record of the representative citizens of O'Brien county, Iowa, would
be incomplete should there be failure to make mention of the name of John
V. Adkins. one of the leading citizens of the town of Paullina. Mr. Adkins
has been a resident here for over thirt}- years, during which time great and
marked improvements have been made in this locality, in all of which he
has taken more than a passing pleasure, being a man of high ideals and more
than ordinary civic pride.

838 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Tohn V. Adkins. associated with the Bank of PaulHna, Iowa, was born
ill Schuyler county, IlHnois, in 185 1. the son of Ezra and Lydia (V^ertner)
Adkins, the latter being- a native of the state of Ohio. Ezra Adkins was an
Easterner, born in Connecticut in 1824, and during the earlier years of his
manhood he followed the vocation of farming. Previous to the time of the
Civil War he came westward, locating in Illinois, where he had farming in-
terests. There, at Camp Illinois, he enlisted as a private in the One Hundred
and Twelfth Reeiment Illinois Volunteer Infantrv. He saw much active
ser\-ice and during the siege of Knoxville. Tennessee, he was so unfortunate
as to lose an ann. This was in 1864 and after receiving his injury he was
given an honorable discharge, whereupon he returned to his former home in
Illinois, and in 1865 became interested in the hotel business at Prairie City,
Ljwa. In this enterprise he was quite successful and with it remained for a
number of years. He followed the hotel business here for some twenty years,
when he disposed of his horel and became county auditor of Jasper county,
and about five years later his death occurred in 1898 in the town of Xewton.
He was the father of seven children, but three of whom are now living.

John V. Adkins received his schooling in his native county in Illinois and
at tlie age of eighteen secured a position as clerk in a general merchandise
store in Prairie City, this state. In this connection he remained for twelve
years, when, desiring to be better equipped for the battle of life, he left
Prairie City, going to Keokuk in 1876, where he took a complete business
course, which was of inestimable advantage to him in later years. In 1883
he first came to Paullina and became associated with his brother David in the
general merchandise business, selling out his interest therein three years
later. David Adkins had the distinction of being the first settler in the town
of Paullina and followed it from its earliest beginnings up to a thriving city
with Aaried interests and fully in touch v\ith the outside world. After sever-
ino- his connection with his brother, ]\Ir. Adkins became identified with the
banking Ijusiness, which has since claimed his best efforts and to its present
satisfactory state of prosperity his industry and judgment has largely con-
tributed. In addition to his interest in the bank, he has large landed hold-
ings in O'Brien county and also owns his residence and several lots in the
town of Paullina.

In 1877 ^J^i'- Adkins was united in marriage with Allie White, who was
born in 1853 ^^ A^alparaiso, Indiana, and their union has been blessed with
two sons, the elder of whom, Harry C, is a civil engineer, located at present
in Tennessee, while Leigh W., the younger, follows the same profession, be-
ing connected with the Northern Pacific Railroad, having his headquarters

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 839

at St. Paul, ^linnesota. Mr. Adkins is a stanch supporter of old-line Re-
publican ])rin,ciples. taking- more than a passive interest in the party's affairs.
The tamil}- is iclentilied with the Presbyterian church, to the support of
which society Mr. Adkins gives liberally of both time and means. He is also
a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Adkins has ever
had the best interests of the community at heart and is one of the citizens
of the town who is willing to give something of his own time and effort to
l)ring about better things for the community. At present, he is serving
Paullina as its city treasurer and e\-ery movement for the betterment of social,
moral or material conditions finds in him a more than interested advocate.
The qualities which have made him one of the successful and prominent men
of Paullina have also brought him the esteem of his fellow townsmen, for
his career has been one of well-directed energy, strong determination and
honorable methods.

J. W. HICKOK.

In e\'er}- town and city in the L'nited States there are men whose busi-
ness it is to minister to the material wants of man, and no more genial people
are to be found than the men who manage the hotels and taverns of our
countr}-. [•'or more than thirty-two years J. W. Hickok has been the pro-
prietor of the hotel at Sibley, Iowa, known as the Osceola House, and during
that long period of time thousands of people have partaken of his hospitality.
It can not l)e gainsaid that many people get their first view of a town from
the hotel where they stop, and for this reason a good hotel is one of the most
valuable assets of a town or city. It is safe to say that there is no more
popular proprietor in Iowa than Air. Hickok, who has dispensed his generous
hospitality for so many years in this city.

J. W. Hickok, the son of John M. and Mary (Stark) Hickok, was born
December 15, 1850, in Grant county, Wisconsin, on a farm. His parents
were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania, and in the early forties left
their native state for Wisconsin, making the trip by lake and team. The}'
passed through Chicago when there was only one building in that now famous
city, and arrived in Grant county, Wisconsin, among the earliest pioneers of
that state. One year after they settled in Wisconsin they drove back to
Pennsylvania with Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff for a year's visit, the trip taking
them tweh'e weeks. Thev reared a familv of nine children in \\"isconsin

840 o'bRIEX AXD OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

and li\-e(l there the remainder of their da}'S. John 'M. Hickok dying- in 1869-
and his wife passing away in 1897 in Iowa. The nine chikh'en of ]\Ir. and
Airs. John AI. Hickok are as follows: Alnion. deceased; James, deceased;
one who died in infancy in Pennsylvania; Cornelia, who died in Wisconsin;
J. W., with whom this narrative deals; George V., who lives in Grant county,
Wisconsin; Charles, who is a resident of California; Airs. Alinerva Bradley,
also of California, and Airs. Ettie Suter, who lives in Sibley, Iowa.

J. W. Hickok was educated in the schools of Grant county, Wisconsin,
and assisted his father to till the home farm until his marriage, at the earlv
age of nineteen. He followed the vocation of agriculture in his native state
until 1880, when he disposed of his interests in his native state with the in-
tention of going West and investing in land in Iowa. He arrived in Osceola
county, Iowa, on April 8, 1881, with his wife and five children. .Vfter look-
ing over the county he decided to embark in the lnjtel business and accord-
ingly purchased the Osceola House in Siblew where he has continued as pro-
prietor down to the present time. He took charge of the hotel on Julv 2^.
1881, and since that time has been an active factor in the civic life of his
town and community. He holds the record in Iowa for the continuous owner-
sliip of one hotel, an honor which speaks well for his successful management.

Air. Hickok was married in Grant county, Wisconsin, in 1869, to Frances
R. Stevens, and to this marriage have been born five children : Airs. Agnes
Briggs, of Leeds, South Dakota; A'Irs. Anna Frick, who lives in Yankton,
South Dakota; Airs. Xellie Romey. of Alelvin, Iowa: Gertie Hickok, who
died in AVisconsin, and Edna, who is still living with her parents. George A.
Romey. the lnisl)and of Nellie Hickok, is represented elsewhere in this work
with a biographical sketch. He is cashier of the First National Bank at
Aleh'in, in this county.

Politically, Mr. Hickok is a Democrat, but the nature of his business
has kept him from taking an active part in political affairs. However, he
has always been a wide reader of current events and keeps well informed
upon the political questions of the day. He is an Odd Fellow of thirty years'
standing and has always taken an active interest in the affairs of that fraternal
organization. He also holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of
America. Air. Hickok has carried on his hotel enterprise with that discre-
tion and energy whicli are sure to find their natural sequence in definite
success. He has always lieen a hard worker, a good manager and a man
of economical habits, and, being pleasantly situated in a thriving state and
in a thriving countv, it is no wonder that he has oained substantial material

u"l3RIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 84I

success in his chosen vocation. 'There is no more widely known, popular hotel
man in the state than he, a tribute indeed to his genial nature and upright-
ness of character.

JOHN C. HANON.

A sterling and useful citizen is John C. Hanon, who is now living a re-
tired life in Sibley, Iowa. His history should be an inspiration and incentive
to those who are now living in this county and especially to the coming gen-
eration. The young man who is hestitating at the parting of the ways could
do no better than to take his career as an object from which to pattern his
individual course in life. Coming here during the pioneer times, he has lived
through the whole history of the county and has taken his full share in mak-
ing it the prosperous county it is today.

John C. Hanon, son of Michael and Margaret (Egan) Hanon, was born
in Burlington, \>rmont, April 23, 1850. His parents were both natives of
Ireland and settled first in Vermont after coming to this country. They
later moved to Ohio, and in 1854 settled at Baraboo, Sauk county, Wisconsin,
and here ^Michael Hanon farmed until his death, which occurred in 1866, his
wife having passed away in 1858. ^lichael Hanon and wife were the parents
of five children, four of whom are living: Mrs. Birdie Desmond, who lives
in Baraboo, Wisconsin; Michael, who is a resident of Reedsburg, Wisconsin;
Airs. Margaret Tierney, of Portland, Oregon, and John C, with whom this
narrative deals.

In 1 87 1 John C. Hanon came to Osceola county, Iowa, and homesteaded
on the west half of section 8 in Ocheyedan township, being one of the first
settlers of this township. He put up a small shanty and proved his claim so
as to satisfy the government's requirements. The first year he broke up
twenty acres and was fortunate in having a good crop. The next year the
grasshoppers came and these pests became so bad that he left his farm and
went to Sibley, where he worked at odd jobs for a time. In 1876 he entered
the old Sibley House as clerk and in four years became the proprietor of the
hotel, which he managed for a period of four years and then sold it and en-
gaged in the implement business for the next five years. In 1889 he became
interested in the real estate and insurance business and also gave some atten-
tion to agriculture. In 1905 he retired from active work on account of his
health and is now living a retired life in his handsome home in Sibley. He
has owned and handled over five thousand acres of land in Osceola countv

842 o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

(luring- the past thirty years and in all of these transactions he has so con>
ducted himself as to win the esteem of his fellow citizens.

'Sir. Hanon was married April 6, 1879, to Mahala Nixon, a native of
Grant count}-. Wisconsin, and the daughter of George Nixon, a Union vet-
eran and a pioneer settler of Osecola county, and to this union there have
been born seven children : Charles, a lumber dealer of Pierre, South Dakota ;
Fred, an employee of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Companv;
Blanche, who is still at home with her parents: Julian, who died at the age of
twenty, of typhoid fever ; George, a groceryman in Sibley, and Clifford, who
is still attending the public schools of Sibley.

The Democratic party has always claimed the support of Mr. Hanon,
and in its affairs he has always taken an active interest. He was city council-
man of the town of Sibley when it was first incorporated and has always
taken an active interest in the welfare of his home city. He and his family
are loyal and earnest members of the Catholic church, and give to it their
earnest and zealous support at all times. In disposition Mr. Hanon is frank,
earnest and straightforward, and his popularity is due to the fact that he has
never done anything which would bring down upon him the censure or dis-
approval of his fellow citizens.

ROSCOE JANVRIN LOCKE.

It is not an easy task to adequately describe the character of a man who
has led an eminently active and busy life in connection with the great legal
profession and who has stamped his individuality on the plane of definite
accomplishment in one of the most exacting fields of human endeavor. Yet
there is always full measure of satisfaction in adverting, even in a casual
way, to the career of an able and conscientious worker in any phase of life.
Among the truly self-made and representative men of O'Brien county none
rank higher than the honorable gentleman whose name heads this sketch, who
is a conspicuous figure in the civic life of the community. A man of tireless
energy and indomitable courage, he has won and held the unqualified esteem
of his fellow citizens. With the law as his profession from young manhood,
he has won a brilliant reputation and the future gives promise of still much
greater things for him.

Roscoe Janvrin Locke, attorney, of O'Brien county, was born June 16,
1877, in Dover, New Hampshire. His parents were E. F. and Julia E.

ROSCOE J. LOCKE AND FAMILY

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 84^

(Janvrin) Locke, both of whom were natives of Strafford county, New
Hampshire, where they were born in 1843. E. F. Locke was the son of
James Locke, a native of New Hampshire, and Julia, the wife of E. F. Locke,
was the daughter of Rufus Janvrin, who was also born in New Hampshire.
The Locke family is descended from Scotch English on the father's side and
French and Scotch ancestry on the mother's side. When Roscoe J. Locke
was about one year of age his parents moved to the northern part of Missouri,
where they permanently located in 1878. They had previously resided in
Missouri several years before this, but had returned to their native state
again. 'Mv. and Mrs. E. F. Locke were the parents of six children, three of
whom are still living: Roscoe J.; Frank R., of Rockport, Missouri, and
James R., of Lenox, Iowa.

Roscoe Janvrin Locke was educated in the district and high schools of
Rockport, Missouri, and later graduated from the State University of
Nebraska in the legal department, securing his Bachelor of Laws degree in
1901. Mr. Locke first came into the northwestern part of Iowa in 1896 and
located south of Paullina, in this county, where he taught school during the
winter and worked on farms during the summer. L'pon his graduation from
college he immediately began the practice of law at Sutherland, Iowa, where
he remained until the spring of 1906, then removed to Primghar, the county
seat of O'Brien county, and shortly afterwards was elected county attorney.
He was appointed February 13, 1906. to this office to fill a vacancy, and upon
the expiration of his appointed term he was elected, and has been re-elected
four times since. He enjoys the utmost confidence and esteem of the people
of the county, as is justified by their keeping him in the important office
which he now holds.

Mr. Locke was married May 22, 1906, to Laura Ewoldt, the daughter
of Hans and Mary Ewoldt, of Paullina, in this county. To this marriage have
been ]:)orn two children, Marian Julia, aged six, and Ruth, who died December
10, 19 1 3. Fraternally, Mr. Locke is a member of the Free and Accepted
Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Yeomen. Politically, he
is a Republican and takes an active interest in the affairs of his party. He
and his wife are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr.
Locke is a man of wide and accurate knowledge of law and is a close reader
and keen observer of men and events. He is successful in his law practice
and is also largely interested in the welfare of his community, giving his
unreserved support to every enterprise which is to the advancement of his
fellow citizens.

844 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

FRANK E. KENNEDY.

The countv seat of Osceola county boasts of many progressive and en-
terprising citizens who are engaged in a great variety of different occupa-
tions. Among these business men who have taken their share in making
Sibley the j^rosperous town which it is today there is no one who is more
deservine of mention in this volume than Frank E. Kennedv, a real estate
man and a prominent stock buyer and shipper. With few opportunities
except what his own efforts were capable of mastering, and many discour-
agements to overcome in. his younger years, he has made an exceptional suc-
cess in life and now has the gratification of knowing tliat he has a competency
to insure against future wants, and that it has been won by honest effort.

Frank E. Kennedy, the son of Michael and Mary (Murray) Kennedy,
was born in Illinois in March. 1864. The parental home at that time was on
a farm in LaSalle county, where his parents had previously settled. Michael
and Mary Kennedy came to Connecticut before they were married and were
subsequently married in that state. In the early fifties they came to Illinois
and bought a farm in LaSalle county where they lived until 1878. They
then mo\ed to l^ama county, Iowa, and bought a farm, rernaining there until
the death of Michael in the fall of 1909 at tlie age of eighty-four. The
motlier now lives in Chicago Vv'ith one of her daughters. Michael Kennedy
and v\"ife were the i)arents of h\'e children, who are still living: Michael,
of Traer, Iowa; Julia, ]\larv and Mrs. Ella Pollard, wlio are living in Chicago,
and I'rank F,., whose history is here l^riefly sketched.

Frank F. Kennedy was educated in the country schools of LaSalle
countv. Illinois, and later attended an academy in his home C(_)unt}' for a
short time All of his spare time in his boyhood was spent upon the farm
and he was able to attend school for only a few months each year, during
the winter months. ' When he was twenty-two years of age he left home and
began to work for himself and in the spring of 1889 he came to Osceola
countv and jjurchased one hundred and sixty acres in Viola township, which
he farmed for five vears. He then sold it and bought another farm in Viola
town.ship, where he lived until 1897, ^^ter which he Ixiught a farm of two
hundred and ten acres east of Sibley, in East Holman township, on which
he resided for fourteen vears. For the past three years he has lived in Sibley,
where he has a fine modern residence in the eastern part of the city. Since
confing to Sibley he has been engaged in the buying and shipping of live
stock, handling about one hundred and twenty-five car loads of live stock

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 845

annnalh'. He has his home farm of two liundred and ten acres in East
Hohnan township. In addition to his other interests he is a stockholder in
the Sibley State Bank and is a director and vice-president of that financial
institution at the present time.

Mr. Kennedy was married in 1891 to Mary Ca Jacob, the daughter of
P. A. Cajacob and wife, pioneer settlers of Osceola county. The reader is
referred to the sketch of P. A. Cajacob, elsewhere in this work, for further
details as to the famil}' history. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are the parents of
seven children, Edward, Ruth, Winifred, Martin, Helen, Lucille and Lorinda.
All of these children except Lorinda are now in school, and Lorinda is now a
teacher in the schools of Harris, in this coimty. She studied at St. ]\Iary"s
Academy, South Bend, Indiana, while Lucille is a student in Winona College
at Winona, Indiana. The other children are attending the schools of their
liome citw Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are firm believers in the value of a good
education and are anxious that their children l)e gi\en the best attainable.

}slv. Kenned}' is a stanch Democrat in pohtics and has been one of the
leaders in his ]jart}' for many years. He has lield various city offices since
mo\ing t(; Si])ley and in all of them has [)erformed faithful and efficient
serx'ice. He and liis family are earnest members of the (Jat'iolic church and
give it ih.eir support at all times. Fraternally, lie is a member 01 the Knights
of Columl)us at Sheldon, Sac county, Iowa. Mr. Kennedy has Ix^en. a useful
citizen of his county and has at all times done his full sliare in developing
and improving- the comnninit\- in which he has li\ed. His strenuous life has
lieen. lewarded with a large measure of sticcess. Since he has alwaNS con-
ducted his business in strict accordance with the highest business ethics he is
highly esteemed by e\'er}-one with whom he has been associated.

THEODORE J. STAGE.

llie history of any man is interesting inasfar as he has taken a more or
less prominent part in the history of his country and it is often the force of
circumstances which puts a man into the limelight. While it is not true that
we are mere creatures of circumstances, yet there is much truth in the state-
ment of the poet. He said that "^lany a mute and inglorious Milton" is
nexer recognized by his fellow men. It is easily understood that the history
of a man. who, when a mere lad of fourteen, enlisted in the war for the
Lnion and foueiit throu"-h four vears of the l^loodiest fighting which the

846 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

world has ever seen, conld not be otherwise than interesting. After serving-
through the entire war Theodore J. Stage became a prominent raih'oad man
before he was twenty years of age and was one of the first settlers of Osceola
county.

Theodore J. Stage, who is now living a retired life in the county seat
of Osceola county, was born August 5, 1845, at Wassaic, Dutchess county,
Xew York. His parents, James J. and Martha A. (Brinton) Stage, were
natives of Scotland and Connecticut, respectively. In 1854 James J. Stage
went West to bu}- land and was killed in a railroad wreck on the Great West-
ern Railway in Canada on his return to Xew York. His widow married Solon
D. McLane in 1857. In 1855 the mother and two children, Theodore and his
sister, now Mrs. Martha Ann Morrison, moved to Dodge county, Wisconsin,
where thev li\ed one year. After her marriage to Mr. McLane the family
moved to Freeport, Illinois, in 1858 and a year later moved to Davis. Stephen-
son countv, Illinois. In 1861 the family moved to Rockton, Illinois, where
Mr. McLane was foreman of all the masonry construction on the railroad
from Weston to Beloit in Wisconsin. In 1866 the family moved to Jessup.
Buclianan county. Iowa, wliere they lived until Mr. YIcLane died. Mrs. Mc-
Lane. the mother of l^lieodore J. Stage, then sold the home and went to Spo-
kane, where she lived until her death.

Theodore J. Stage was only about a month past his sixteenth l)irthday
when he enlisted for the Civil War at Freeport. Illinois. He enlisted on
September 25. 1861, in Company B, Twenty-sixth Regiment Illinois Volun-
teer Infantry, and was in continuous service until March 9. 1864, having
seen three full vears of service and. being then a veteran of nineteen years,
he decided to re-enlist and accordingly he re-entered the service and was not
mustered out until July 20. 1865. He had served four years and two months
and was mustered out before he reached his twentieth birthday. It is im-
possible in this brief historical sketch to detail the war record of Mr. Stage,
but enough is given to show that he was in some of the hardest fought bat-
tles of that memorable struggle. The battles and sieges in which he par-
ticipated may he briefl}- enumerated as follows : New Madrid ; Island No.
Ten ; Farmington ; three days' battle of Corinth ; siege of Corinth ; luka ;
battles and siege of Vicksburg; siege of Jackson. Mississippi; Missionary
Ridge ; Lookout Mountain ; all the battles of the Atlanta campaign and siege ;
Sherman's march to the sea; burning of Columbia. South Carolina; Benton-
ville and Raleigh. North Carolina. He was present at the final surrender of
Johnston in North Carolina and. with his regiment, marched to Richmond,
Virginia, and thence to Washington, where he was in the Grand Review.

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 847

This is truely a marvelous record and is rendered more striking because of
the youth of Mr. Stage.

Mr. Stage returned to Iowa after he was mustered out in July, 1865,
and began to work in the railroad shops of Woodbine, in this state. Shortly
after he was made a railroad engineer, but ser\-ed only three months in this
capacity. His disability incurred in the service compelled him to retire from
the strenuous work of an engineer. He was then a brakeman, baggageman
and conductor until 1870, being employed part of the time on the Union
Pacific Railroad. He was then twenty-three years of age an.d had seen
enough ser\'ice for a man of twice his age. His last work as a conductor
was on the Missouri Pacific fn^m Kansas City to Holden, Missouri. In the
winter of 1871 he returned to Jessup, Iowa, and in the spring of 1872 came
to Osceola county with a team and homesteaded in Viola township in section
30. He reached this county at a most unfortunate time, for the grasshoppers
came along and ate his first crops, with the result that he was so discouraged
that he left his farm to the grasshoppers. He again returned to railroading
and was conductor on the Illinois Central from Waterloo to Fort Dodge,
Iowa, and remained with the company for a few years. He then returned
to his farm, wdiere he lived until 1892, having been married in 1883. He was
successful as a farmer and still owns his homestead of one hundred and sixty
acres, which is one of the finest farms in the township. In 1892 he moved
to Little Rock, in Lyon county, where he lived for one year. In 1893 he
moved to Sibley, where he has since resided.

Mr. Stage was married September 4, 1883, in Sibley, Iowa, to Mrs.
Ida Kizer, who was born in 1866 near Independence, Iowa. To this union
have been born four children: Dana, born July 16, 1884, now in Seattle,
Washington; Adelbert. deceased; Emory, born July 26, 1888, a hotel pro-
prietor in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Cecil, born November 2^, 1892, a
lyceum entertainer and professional musician. He is now a student of
Grinnell College and has studied in Chicago under one of Richard Mansfield's
students. Mr. and Mrs. Stage are justly proud of their children, who are
making an en^'iable record for themselves in the world.

In politics, Mr. Stage has been a stanch Republican all his life and has
filled i)ractically every office in his township. Religiously, lie and his family
are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, he is a member
of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and has attained to the thirty-
second degree. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and the In-
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, while he and his wife are both members
of the Daughters of Rebekah. As might be expected, he is a loyal member

848 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

of the Grand Army of the RepubHc of Sibley. Such is the Hfe history of
Theodore J. Stage, a man who is well deserving of being remembered in a
history of his county. He has always done his duty as he saw it and whether
upon the battle field or in the official chair, he has never wearied of his duties.
It is needless to say that he is widely respected and highly honored by every-
one in the county, for the clean life he has lived and the good he has done.

FREDERICK WARREN CRAM, M. D,

It is not aUvavs easv to discover and define the hidden forces that have
moved a life of ceaseless activit}- and large professional success; little more
can be done than to note their manifestation in the career of the individual
under consideration. In view of this fact, the life of the physician and
public-spirited man of afl^airs whose name appears above affords a striking
example of well defined purpose, with the al)ility to make that purpose sub-
serve not onlv his own ends l)ut the good of his fellow men as well. Doctor
Cram, the oldest practicing physician in O'Brien county, has long held prestige
in a calling which requires for its basis sound mentality and intellectual disci-
pline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid professional training and
thorough mastery of technical knowledge with the skill to apply the same,
without which one cannot hope to rise above mediocrity in ministering to
human ills. In his chosen field of endeavor Doctor Cram has achieved a
notable success, which has been duly recognized and appreciated throughout
the section of the state in which he lives. In addition to his long and credit-
able career in one of the most useful and exacting of professions, he has
proved an honorable member of the body politic and in every relation of life
he has never fallen below the dignity of true manhood nor in any way re-
sorted to methods that have invited censure.

Dr. Frederick ^^'arren Cram, successful ph3^sician, business man and
public-spirited citizen of Sheldon, was born November 15, 1854, in Bangor,
Maine. His parents were Jacob Haskill and Sarah (AVing) Cram. Jacob
H. Cram was born in Bangor, Maine, January 12, 1823, and was the son of
loseph Cram, who was a native of New Hampshire. The Crams trace their
ancestrv back to colonial times, when two Cram brothers, Avho were natives
of England originally, received a large grant of land on the Hudson river on
the Connecticut side. Here they settled and their descendants eventually
scattered over the United States and formed a large family. Jacob Cram.

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 849

the father of Doctor Cram, married Sarah M. \^'ing^ who was born in Stet-
son, Maine, Jnne 22. 1827. After his marriage Jacob Cram and his family
came west and located where he died October 29, 1893; the widow died
February 27, 1902. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob H. Cram were the parents of
seven children: William, deceased: Frank, deceased; Henry, a traveling
salesman of Sheldon, Iowa: Charles of St. Paul, Minnesota; Georgia, de-
ceased ; Ida, deceased, and Dr. Frederick W. Cram, whose history is herein
presented.

Doctoi" Cram was educated in the common schools of Minnesota and the
St. Croix \^alley Academy. He took part of his medical work in the Uni-
versity of [Michigan and finished his course at the Rush Medical College at
Chicago, graduating" with tlie class of 1878. Since then he has taken post-
graduate courses in that institution and makes annual visits to the Chicago
clinic, in order to keep fully abreast of the time in his chosen field.

Doctor Cram first located in Jordan, Minnesota, upon his graduatio'i in
1878, and a }-ear later located in Sheldon, where he has been continuously
practicing since that time. He established Cram's Hospital in 1903 and in
1906 established, his present hospital, which accommodates twelve patients
and has two nurses in constant attendance, and is a very successful institu-
tion for a town of this size, being of untold benefit to the city and community.
Doctor Cram has been a successful physician here from the first and is recog-
nized throughout this section of the state and. in fact, throughout this sec-
tion of the country, as one of the leading' physicians. He is a member of
the O'Brien County, Sioux \'alley, Iowa State and National medical associa-
tions, in all of ^\•hich he takes an active interest. He is at present the surgeon
for the Illinois Central. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and Omaha railways.

In addition to his medical practice. Doctor Cram has been one of the
most public-spirited citizens, of Sheldon. In 1898 he ])uilt the first telephone
exchange and when he sold it a few years later he had built it up to a high
state of eflicienc}-. having increased its subscribers to two hundred. How-
ever, it was becoming too much of an enterprise for him to manage suc-
cessfulh' and attend to his medical practice, so he sold it. Doctor Cram
owned the first automobile in northwestern Iowa in 1881 and the third in
the state. In fact, he has always been prominent in all enterprises and lends
his heartv support to every cause which he thinks will benefit the city.

Fraternally, Doctor Cram is a member of the Ancient Free and Ac-
cepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. He has been twice married, his first marriage occurring in
1880 to Dora Walter, who died in 1888, leaving two children, Mrs. Georgia

850 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Xerbovig, of Sheldon, and Walter W., who will graduate from the Rush
Medical College of Chicago in June, 191 5. In 1900 Doctor Cram was mar-
ried to Mrs. Hattie L. Lanning, who had two children by her former mar-
riage : Frederick is now twelve years of age, and Frank H., who died at the
age 01 eight months.

Personally, Doctor Cram is a pleasant gentleman to meet, kind, bene\'o-
lent and honest in all relations of life, and consequently is eminently deserving
of the large success which he has attained by his own efforts. He enjovs the
confidence of the city of Sheldon and community and is justly held in high
esteem by everyone.

ARTHUR THEODORE FILLENWARTH.

Among the }'ounger attorneys of O'Brien county, Iowa, who are fast
rising to prominence is Arthur T. Fillenwarth, of Sanborn. He came to
this place in the spring of 19 13, after having" been educated in the best schools
of the United States, and such has been his legal training that he has already
acquired a very satisfactory practice. The law departments of the University
of Michigan and Harvard University are recognized as among the best in the
country and a graduate from either school has the best training which can
be received. To his wide college education, Mr. Fillenwarth has added a
fund of valuable experience gained by extensive travel abroad. After leav-
ing college he made an extended tour through Europe and the British Isles,
visiting Holland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium and other conti-
nental countries.

Arthur T. Fillenwarth, the son of John and Louisa (Trappa) Fillen-
warth, was born August i, 1887, in Monona, Iowa. John Fillenwarth was
the son of Peter, a native of Germany. The Fillenwarth family was one of
the early pioneer families of Clayton county, Iowa, and prominently identified
with its history for many years. John Fillenwarth, now living a retired life
at Britt. Iowa, was one of the most substantial farmers of his county. He
and his wife reared a family of five children, three of whom are still living,
Mrs. Clara Zuehl, William and Arthur T. The two former are now living
in Britt, Iowa.

Mr. Fillenwarth was reared on a farm, received his elementary education
in the graded schools and later graduated from the high school at Britt in
1905. He then entered the University of Iowa and took the four-years
course leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, graduating in the spring

■ ^a* ^ £^ i^^/^a^frjs cSr ^ri^ Ji-y

(a . c^ cy^cAAjz^-^-^-v^L/z^'c^^

o'brIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 85 1

of 1909. Having- decided to make the law his hfe work, he at once entered
the College of Law of the University of Iowa, where he has received much
legal training. Later he studied in the law schools of Harvard and Michigan
Universities under some of the foremost legal authorities and law book
writers of the world. During the summer of 1911 he made an extended'
trip abroad, returning home in the fall and being admitted to the state bar of
Iowa on October 3, 1912. In the spring of the following year he came to
O'Brien county and opened his office on April 14, 1913. His splendid legal
training, together with his great natural ability, has enabled him to build
up a good practice in a short time. He has a keen mind and can grasp legal
problems in a way which indicates that he will be one of the leaders at the
O'Brien county bar within a few years. He is a Progressive in politics and
at the June primaries his party nominated him for the office of county
attorney, a position which he is abundantly qualified to fill.

Mr. Fillenwarth was married on June 30, 19 13. to Sadie Raecker, of
Britt, Iowa, the daughter of Rev. Henry Raecker. He was formerly the
minister of the Evangelical church at Hartley, Iowa, but is now stationed at
Britt. Mr. Fillenwarth and his wife are the center of a popular social circle
in Sanborn and have made many warm friends since their marriage. They
are people of winning pers(jnalit\ and charm and are admired for their whole-
souled hospitality.

A. C. WINTERFIELD.

It is the wise foresight and enterprise of the business men of any com-
munit\- which is, in a large measure, responsible for its prosperity and wel-
fare. The county which has progressive, wide-awake men of afifairs is to be
congratulated, for it is such men who shape and direct the varied interests
which make for the welfare of their respective communities. A. C. Winter-
field, although not a resident of Sibley for many years, has nevertheless
shown his ability as a business man since coming to this county and while
ach'ancing his own material interests he has not failed to take his proper share
of the burden of promoting the civic welfare of the county.

A. C. Winterfield, the son of Frederick and Christina (Wagner)
W'interfield, was born November i. 1862, in Waukesha county, Wisconsin.
l)Oth of his parents were twice married, their first marriages occurring in
Germanv. Both families came to Wisconsin in the earl\- fifties and were

(55)

852 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

li\ing in Milwaukee at the time the Asiatic cholera was prevalent in that
cit\'. While this was raging in that city both of them lost their first spouses.
Mrs. W'interfiekl had two children by her first marriage and Mr. Winterfield
had four children. After the death of their first spouses they were married
in Milwaukee about 1854 and subsequently moved to Waukesha county, Wis-
consin, where they lived for about ten years. In 1869 they came to Hardin
county, Iowa, and settled on a farm where both died, Frederick Winterfield
dying in 1894 and his wife four years later. The children of Frederick
Winterfield by his first wife, who are now living, are Fred, of Iowa Falls,
Iowa, and William, of Radcliffe, Iowa. The two children of his wife by her
first marriage are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Winterfield are the parents
of four children: Albert and Henry, of Radcliffe, Iowa; Andrew, of Osceola
county, and A. C, whose history is here presented.

A. C. W^interfield received his schooling in the countrv schools of his home
county and later studied one year in Des Moines. In 1890 he left home and
came to Sibley, but one year later returned to Hardin county and lived one
year in Alden. He then located in Harris, in this county, and was engaged
in the grain business from 1892 to 1904. He also conducted a lumber yard
in connection with his grain business while living in Harris. In 1904 he
disposed of his business in Harris and came to Sibley, where he engaged in
the real estate and loan business. In 191 1 he became a partner of T. S. Red-
mond and the firm is now doing a flourishing and prosperous real estate
business in Sibley and this section of the state. He owns a fine farm of his
own near Harris which yielded him eight dollars an acre on shares in 191 3.
He also owns four hundred and thirty acres in Osceola county and eighty
acres- in Minnesota. He is a stockholder and director of the Sibley State
Bank, a prosperous institution of the county seat.

Mr. Winterfield v^^as married in 1895 to Orphan M. Glass, of Harris,
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Glass. Mrs. Winterfield died in De-
cember, 19 10. in Harris, leaving two children, Loraine, who is now seven-
teen and a student in the Sibley high school, and Lenore, who is now nme
years of age. Mrs. Winterfield was a woman of winning personality and
her death was deeply moi^irned by the family and her numerous friends. She
was a loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a faithful worker
in that denomination.

Mr. Winterfield is a stanch Republican in politics and has always taken
an active interest in public afifairs. He was county supervisor from 1898 to
1902 and while a member of the county board helped to select the plan of the
magnificent court house which adorns the county seat. Fraternally, he is a

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 853

member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and is also a member of
the cliapter. He is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the Knights of Pythias.

HEZEKIAH G. DOOLITTLE.

One of the finest and most distinguished men of Osceola county is
Hezekiah G. Doolittle, a man who has been as intimately associated with the
history of the county as any other resident. There is no phase of the history
of the county with which he is not familiar and for this reason the biography
of his life should be of intense interest to everyone in the county. He was
born in Evans, Erie county. New York, June i8, 1838, and is the son of
Arison S. and Frances (Smith) Doolittle. Anson Doolittle was born in
Pine Creek. Delaware county, New York. February 28, 1809, while his wife
was born in the same town August 25, 1810. Their marriage occurred in
Bovina, Delaware county. New York, J^ine 14, 1832.

The children of Anson and Frances Doolittle are as follows: Julia A.,
of Bovina, Delaware county, New York, born November 11, 1833, and now
a resident of Sibley, Iowa; Houston A., born September 25. 1836. in Evans,
New York, and now a resident of Sibley; Hezekiah G., with whom this nar-
rative deals; Caroline R.. born August 4. 1840, in Byron, New York, and
now a resident of Fayette county, Iowa; William A., born in Oakfield, New
York, October 19. 1842, and now a resident of Sibley; Charles S.. born in
Oakfield, New York, November 10, 1845, ^^^ ^^^' resides in Florida, near
Tampa; Addison K., born in Aurora, Illinois, November 18. 1847. ^^^ ^^^^
November 6, 1895, in Indian Territory; Jonathan A., born January, 1849, ^^
Bradford, Illinois, and died in infancy; Albert G., born in Grand Detour,
February 20, 1851, and died February 7. 1899; Esther Melinda, born August
19, 1853, and died in infancy, and Dayton S. and Fremont G., twins, who
were born in New Amsterdam, Wisconsin, August 19, 1856, and are both
deceased.

The Doolittles left New York state in 1846 and located at Aurora,
Illinois. Anson Doolittle was a wagon-maker by trade. In 1850 the family
moved to Bradford. Lee county. Illinois, and still later to Grand Detour,
Illinois. In 1856 they settled in New Amsterdam, Wisconsin, and three
years later moved to Delhi, Delaware county, Iowa. The parents later
moved to Earlville. Delaware county, where they lived for twenty-two years

854 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

and then moved to Osceola county, where they lived seven years, moving to
Hancock county in 1888. Mrs. Anson Doolittle died in March, 1898, and
Anson Doolittle in 1901.

H. G. Doolittle enlisted July 15, 1861, in Delaware county, Iowa, in
Company K, Fifth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served over
three years. He was in the battles of New Madrid, Island No. Ten, Pitts-
l)urg Landing, siege of Corinth, luka, and was wounded in the right leg at
the latter battle. The bullet passed through his leg and he was laid up three
months in the hospital at Jackson, Tennessee. He later participated in the
battles at Fort Gibson, Champion's Hill, Baker's Creek and all of the fighting
around Vicksburg up until it was finally captured on July 4. 1863. He was
then transferred to the East and followed Shemian to Chattanooga, partici-
pating in the battles of Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary
Ridge. He was captured at the battle of Missionary Ridge and taken to the
Rebel prison at Belle Island near Richmond. He was captured on November
25th and escaped on March 16, 1864, by cutting a hole in the bottom of a
railroad car, while being transferred to Andersonville in Georgia. He and
two others made their thrilling escape at Gaston. North Carolina, and spent
the next twenty-four days in the swamps. On April 8th thev arri\ed at
Suffolk, Virginia, wading continuously through swamps for eighteen days
during the rainy time of the year. They finally reached the Lnion line and
in the summer of 1864 he was sent back to Chattanooga and thence to the
camp at Indian Creek, and finally discharged at Chattanooga, July 30, 1864.
He was elected sergeant of his company after being mustered in and was
appointed first sergeant in 1863.

Immediately after the war Mr. Doolittle returned to Delaware county,
Iowa, and was elected county surveyor, serving in that capacity until 1871.
In the spring of that year he came to Osceola county, arriving on the
first day of May, and spent the summer as a surveyor, locating the claims
of the settlers who were fast arriving. On July 4, 1871, a convention was
called on section 24, township 99, range 42, on Culver's homestead, for the
purpose of nominating county officers. Mr. Doolittle was made the chair-
man of the assembled settlers and F. AI. Robinson was elected as secretary.
The convention nominated A. M. Culver, Horace Fenton and Air. Spalding
for county supervisors. Captain Huff for treasurer, F. M. Robinson for
auditor, Frank Messenger for sheriff. D. L. McCausland for recorder, and
C. M. Brooks for clerk. It is interesting to note in connection with this
convention that a gang later came into the county and nominated Culver for

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 855

treasurer and looted the county to the extent of twenty-two thousand dollars
the first year.

After his experience in Osceola county as surxeyor, in 1871, Mr. Doo-
little went back to Delaware county where he taught school during the fol-
lowing winter and returned again in the spring. He was chairman of the
first grand jury in Osceola count}- in the spring of 1872. when the grand
jur}' returned twent}-two indictments against the gangsters who had been
swindling for the past \'ear. lliey were put under small bond of one hun-
dred dollars each and no one was surprised when they skipped the country
and never showed up again in the county.

From 1872 down to the present time Mr. Doolittle has been an im-
portant factor in the history of the county. He has served as county sur-
t^eyor for twelve years, was postmaster at Sil)le\- under President Harrison,
has been United States official weather observer since 1893, ser\-ed as city
assessor of Sibley two terms, was the census enumerator in 1900 for his
town, served as rural carrier from 1902 to 19 10 and has taught four years
in the public schools of the county.

Mr. Doolittle had homesteaded on section 24, township 99, range 41,
and lived here for twelve years after coming to the county. He then moved
ro Siblew where he conducted a photograph gallery for the next eighteen
years. He has always taken a very prominent part in all the civic affairs
of his city, as is shown b}' the offices which he has held. He has been an
exponent of clean government and wholesome politics and has never sup-
ported anything which sa\'ors of dishonesty in municipal politics.

Mr. Doolittle was married January 12, 1885, to Alice A. Walters, the
daughter of Harvey and Charlotte ]\I. (Allen) Walters. Her parents were
natives of X'ew York and were married at Ravenna, Ohio. The}' subse-
quently settled in Xew Hampton, Iowa, where Alice A. was born. The'
Walters family came to Osceola county in 1872 and homesteaded on section
10. township 99. range 41, where they lived until 1877. The father died on
August 10, 1901 : the widow is still living. Harvey Walters and wife were
the parents of six children: Nelson J., who is now li\'ing in the state of
Washington: Sidne}' S.. of Tacoma, \\'ashington : ]\Irs. Julia T. \\'ynne, of
Beloit, Wisconsin; Mrs. Alice .\. Doolittle, the wife of the subject of this
sketch; John F., Ijorn Februar}' 16. 1867, who strayed from home and was
found (lead two and tlu'ee-fourths miles from home. He was only two years
of age at the time; Willie S.. the voungest of the six children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Walters, is deceased. The \\'alters lived on the homestead farm for
years and then moved to Sibley in 1877, where the father kept the Pioneer

856 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

House for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle have two children Hving
and one deceased: Jessie W., born August 5, 1888, graduated from Morning-
side College and is now doing post-graduate work at the State University in
Iowa City; Frances Charlotte, a graduate of Morningside College, is now
teaching at Inwood. She is known among her friends as Margie Doolittle.
Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle are both loyal members of the Methodist Epis-
copal church and Mr. Doolittle is a member of the Grand Army of the
Republic and is commander of the L. G. Ireland Post at Sibley. Thus is
outlined briefly the interesting career of Mr. Doolittle, a man who has been
interested in his county for more than forty years, and in no position in
which he has been found has he ever been delinquent to the slightest duty,
and for this reason he has won the earnest approval of everyone who has
known him.

LOUIS YOUNGERS.

Many of the finest homes in Sheldon, O'Brien county. Iowa, have been
built by farmers who have made their fortunes in the fertile field of this
county and then retired to this city to spend their declining years. Among
these farmers who have made a notable success of farming in this county is
Louis Youngers, who has a modern residence in the southern part of Sheldon,
which he erected in 191 1.

Louis Youngers was born February 17, 1853, in Ozaukee county, Wis-
consin. He is the son of Nicholas and Margaret ( Robbenet) Youngers,
who were both born in Luxemburg. Germany. The\- were born, reared and
married in that country and immediately after their marriage came to this
country and located in the forests of Wisconsin, about twenty-fi^•e miles from
Milwaukee. They reached this country in 1849 ^^^^ literally carved their
farm out of the dense wilderness where they settled. In 1883, Nicholas, his
wife and two youngest children came to O'Brien county and lived in Sheldon
on one of his son's farms until his death in 1898. His wife died in 1894.
Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Youngers were the parents of seven children:
Nicholas, Jr., of Sioux county, Iowa; Louis, whose history is here sketched;
Mrs. Mary Ludovise, of Lynn township; Peter, of Kansas: Dominic, of
Lynn township, in this county ; Mrs. Anna Croat, of Sioux county. Iowa, and
John, of Sioux county.

Louis Youngers came to LeJMars in 1875 and worked his way to O'Brien
county, where he hired out to a farmer in Carroll township. He worked

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 857

here for one year and in 1876 his brother Nicholas joined him and they
farmed the west half of the southwest corner of section 30. in Carroll town-
ship. The brothers then bought the western half of the northeastern corner
of this section. Louis later sold his interest in this to his brother Nicholas
and rented eighty acres from Air. Holmes, whicli they fanned together.
Each of the brothers had a team and they not only farmed their own farm,
but broke ground for their neighbors. They went through the terrible ex-
perience of the famous "grasshopper war'' and remember distinctly that on
July 28, 1876, the grasshoppers came so thick from the west the boys were
hardly able to reach their shack. The grasshoppers fell like hail stones and
within two days ate up twenty acres of oats and all of their other crops. The
grasshoppers left eggs scattered everywhere and in the spring of 1877 they
appeared again and ate up all the crops of that year. In 1878 the brothers
managed to secure a fair crop and then Louis married and settled on his farm
permanently. In the winter of 1880 and 1881 came the famous big snow,
the worst in the history of this county. The snow came on October 15, 1880.
and lay on the ground continuously until April 15, 1881. This was the last
disaster which befell the brothers and after that things moved on without any
interruption. Mr. Youngers lived on his farm until 1896 and then bought
eighty acres in section 6, in Carroll township, adjoining the city of Sheldon.
He now owns eleven hundred acres in the county, having bought his land at
prices ranging from one dollar and a quarter to eighty-five dollars an acre.
The prices which he paid for his land as he bought, tract by tract, are inter-
esting in showing the increase of land values. Commencing at one dollar and
a quarter an acre, twelve dollars, twenty dollars, thirty-two dollars, fifty-five
dollars, sixty-two dollars and eighty-five dollars. This land is all worth from
one hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars an acre at the present time. In
addition to his holdings in .O'Brien county, he owns two hundred acres in
Sioux county.

Mr. Youngers was married in 1878 to Margaret Ludovisie and to this
union have been born fourteen children: Nicholas L.. a farmer of this
county; Tracy, of Canada: Louis L., a farmer of this county: Mrs. Mary
J. Giefer, of LeMars township; Peter, of Washington township; Theodore
L., of Parker, South Dakota, where he is a bank cashier; Andrew, a fanner
of this county: Clara M., who is keeping house for her brother: Martha M.,
who graduated from the Sheldon high school and is at home and teaching in
the public schools of Sheldon: Matilda, who is in the high school; Clarence,
Daniel, Leona and Eugene.

Politically, Mr. Youngers is a Democrat, but his interests hd.\e been so

858 o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

heavy that lie has never had the time to indulge in the game of pohlics.
Though successful in his private affairs. Mr. Youngers has also been inter-
ested in the welfare of his community and gi\'es his unreserved support to
every enterprise which is for the advancement of the welfare of his fellow
citizens.

WILL A. SOLON.

It is a well-attested maxim that the greatness of a community or state
lies not in the machinery of government, nor even in its institutions, but
rather in the sterling c[ualities of the individual citizen, in hi^^ capacity for
high and unselfish effort and his devotion to the public welfare. In these
particulars he whose name appears at the head of this paragraph has con-
ferred honor and dignity on his county, and as an elemental part of history
it is consonant that there should be recorded here a resume of his career,
with the object in view of noting his connection with the advancement of
one of the most flourishing and progressive sections of the commonwealth,
as well as his career in the banking business, one of the most exacting pro-
fessions to which a man can devote his talents and energies.

Will A. Solon, the cashier of the Sanborn State Bank, was born in
February, 1882, in Mason City. Iowa, the son of A. \\\ and Katherine
CFarrell) Solon. The reader is referred to the life of A. W. Solon, else-
where in this volume, for details concerning the Solon ancestrw Mr. Solon
was educated in the Sanborn public schools, having come with his parents to
this city when he was eighty years of age. He graduated from the Sanborn
high school in 1899, and then took the commercial course in the Capital
City Commercial College of Des Moines. In 1900 he entered the Sanborn
State Bank as assistant cashier and on April i, 191 1. he became cashier.

Mr. Solon was married in July, 1908, to Gertrude McKone, the daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. James McKone, of Lawler, Iowa. Politically. Mr. Solon
is a Democrat, and has served as secretary of the school board since 190 1,
and is now city clerk of Sanborn, having been elected to that ofiice in 1909.
He and his wife are earnest and faithful members of the Catholic church, and
belong to the congregation of St. Cecilia church of Sanborn. Fraternally,
Mr. Solon is a member of the Knights of Columbus.

The Sanborn State Bank was established April i, 1883, by C. D. and
A. E. Ellis, of Charles City, Iowa, and Morton Wilbur. George B. Davis
and F. A. Ellis, of Sanborn. Mr. Wilbur was cashier of the bank until

WILL A. SOLON

IT T- T- '- TT.

o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 859

1900. when he was succeeded 1j\- G. M. Slocuni. who had been assistant
cashier previous to that time. In 1900 W. A. Solon l3ecame assistant cashier
of the bank, and (^n April i, 1911. he took the position of cashier. This
bank has a capital stock of twenty thousand dollars, a surplus of twenty-
five hundred dollars, deposits of two hundred thousand dollars and total re-
sources of two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. The bank owns its own
two-stor}- brick Ijuilding on Alain street, and has handsome fixtures. The
banking- room is floored with a fireproof tile and the room also contains a
number of safe deposit vaults for rent. The bank issues certificates of de-
posit parable in six or twelve months, on which interest is allowed at fotir
and five per cent. It issues bank money orders and bank money drafts for
domestic or foreign use and payable at all points in the world at the most
reasonable rates. It loans money to responsible parties on approved col-
lateral or other securities, writes fire insurance on desirable property in strong
companies at the prevailing rates. The record of the Sanborn State Bank
for the past thirty-one years has certainly been an enviable one. It has stood
the storms of nearly one and one-half score of years and shows a clean record,
all of the time afl^ording a place of safety for depositing idle funds and a
place where accommodations may be secured by those worthy of credit at any
and all times. The bank has alwa>s endeavored to give the people of this
vicinitv the best of service and under the new mana^ment. which went into
effect in 1911. this endeavor will be redoubled. It cordially invites the
people to make use of its facilities and to consult freely with its officers on
anv matters pertaining to any of its branches of business.

WILLIAM H. SLEEPER.

The character of a community is determined in a large measure by the
lives of a comparatively few of its members. If its moral and intellectual
status is good: if in a social way it is a pleasant place to live; if its reputa-
tion for the integritv of its citizens has extended into other localities, it will
be found that the standards set by the leading men ha\e been high and that
their influence has been such as to mold the character and shape the lives of
those with whom they mingle. In placing ^^^illiam IT. Sleeper in the front
rank of such men. a biographical fact is thus stated with an accuracy and
justice which is deserving to the individual with whom the biographer is
directlv concerned. For thirty-five years the pioneer banker of Sheldon.

86o o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA counties, IOWA.

and having figured in the building up of the city, he occupies a unique place
in the history of the city and county. Although modest to a high degree,
he is one of the most approachable and public spirited men in the community.

Mr. Sleeper was born in New Jersey, on October 8. 1853. the son of
Aaron' and Maria Sleeper, both deceased, having lived their lives in their
native state of New Jersey. The mother of ^^"illiam H. died when he was
but a child. He was educated in the public schools of his native state. Be-
coming imbued with the western spirit, he traveled westward in 1878 and
located in Sheldon, where he became the pioneer banker of the town. For a
period of twenty years his banking institution was conducted as a state bank :
in 19 1 4 it became a private bank and is now operated under the firm name
of Sherwood & Sleeper.

Mr. Sleeper has been interested in O'Brien county land and has owned
and sold several tracts during his long residence in the county. At present
he is the owner of a section of land in Monona county, Iowa. He is affiliated
politically with the Republican party and has served as a member of the city
council. In many ways he has been a useful citizen and is accounted one of
the substantial citizens of the community. He is ever ready and willing to
assist in meritorious public enterprises and has made his influence felt in be-
half of good things which were intended to benefit the body politic in vari-
ous ways.

Mr. Sleeper was married in 1883 to Etta Sherwood, daughter of George
W. Sherwood, now a resident of St. Paul. They have had three children:
Sherwood, deceased ; Raymond, in Sheldon, and George, deceased.

RICHARD M. BOYD.

How much we owe the pioneers of O'Brien count}- ! A\'hat a fine body
of good and true men they were! Many of them were of the finest tvpe of
manliood. They entered a wilderness of unbroken prairie country and passed
through a period which tried men's souls and which brought out the best
there was in them. Some gave up the fight for even l)are existence during the
first lean and poor years, but those who remained have reaped a harvest of
good things and are now honored and respected in their neighborhoods. They
were of a cosmopolitan class, embracing some of the best blood of New Eng-
land, Pennsylvania, the South, and from far-away Ireland, England, Scot-
land and Wales. Manv were Union soldiers, who, restless for a change for

O'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 86l

the better in their circrmstances after juissiiij^' tirrough tlic harro\vint; scenes
of four years of awfnl warfare, set their faces westward, there to hew out a
home and rear their famihes to good and useful citizenship.

Richard M. Boytl, or "Dick" Boyd, as he is more alTectionatelv known,
of Sanborn, is a oeniiiic picMieer of the hardy class who homesteaded in
Grant township and has prospered as he well deserved. He was born May
i8, 1843, in Ireland, the son of Robert and Mary Ann ( Pogue ) Bovd. of
Scotch-Irish and Cox'enanter descent. Their immediate ancestors left Scot-
land to obtain freedom of worship in their chosen faith in northern Ireland.
It is of record that the father of Mary Ann Pogue held a grant of consider-
able land in the North countrw but unfortunately lost the same bv going note
security for a friend at the time of his marriage. Robert and Mary Ann Boyd
and their children emigrated to America in 1853. For several years they
lived in New York City, where the father died of ship fever contracted while
on a trip to Rhode Island, whither he had gone to arrange for another place
of abode for his family. The widow and children soon afterward moved to
Rhode Island and located in the town of Bristol. There were six children in
the Boyd family, as follows: Isaiah P., deceased; Richard M. ; Robert W.,
of Sutherland; Mrs. Annie J. Magee, of Sanborn; Alex., of whose where-
abouts nothing is now known ; Mrs. Mary Corrall, deceased ; John, deceased.

In 1861 Richard Boyd and his mother decided to come west and they
journeyed to Iowa. They deemed this eventful step necessary on account of
the fact that factories in Rhode Island had shut down and a kind of panic
prevailed when the Civil War broke out between the states. They settled on
a farm in Lynn county, Iowa. Here it was that Richard Boyd enlisted in the
Union army and made an enviable record as a brave soldier. He enlisted in
Company H, Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment, October 5,
i26i, and was honorably discharged from the service November 16, 1864.
at Davenport, Iowa. He enlisted under Capt. Roy A. Cranes and fought at
Fort Donelson, Fort Henry, Shiloh. Corinth and Tupelo, Mississippi. He
was taken seriously sick at Tupelo of typhoid fever and lay in the hospital for
se\-eral months, suffering severe setbacks and being an invalid for a long
time at Mound City, Illinois. At Shiloh he was one of the personal body
guard for Gen. C. J. Smith. He finally got to St. Louis while still in a sadly
weakened condition and being the ghost of his former robust manhood. It
was a very long time before he became a well man. In fact, he was so dis-
figured by disease that his boon companions in his old command even failed
to recognize him. After they discovered that their old comrade "Dick"
needed their care they insisted on his being transferred to their quarters and

862 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

then tenderly cared for him and assisted him in building up his wasted
physitiue. Later, down in Missouri, he was engaged in many skirmishes
with the bushwhackers. He also saw active service in Kentucky and Missis-
sippi. Previous to this he had participated in the engagement at Meridian,
Mississippi. His last service was during the historic chase after Gen. Mar-
maduke Price and his rebel army, who were driven out of Missouri. He re-
turned home after his discharge, but went again to the front and was in the
employ of the United States government at Nashville, Tennessee, until the
close of the war. Mr. Boyd recalls that the lamentable news of President
Lincoln's assassination, when received in the Southern city, quieted the bitter-
ness and quarreling among all classes of the people. Southerners and con-
querors alike. When peace was declared he was retained in Nashville dur-
ing 1866 and had personal charge of the government live stock.

For a period of four years after the end of his service Mr. Boyd lived in
Linn cuuntw and in 1871 came to O'Brien count}'. He filed on a government
homestead in Grant township, the southwest quarter of section 14, township
95, range 39. He improved his homestead and developed it into a fine farm,
which he }'et owns. Li 1883 he came to the town of Sanborn, where he has
since resided and is considered affectionately as the "Father of the Town."
For se^•eral }-ears he served as city marshal and constable and was also in
the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad for some years.
He was appointed postmaster February 15, 1900, and served continuously
until August. 19 1 3. He was one of the best and most accommodating post-
masters the city ever had. He was recommended by President Taft for an-
other term, Init declined to become an applicant for the position. Li politics
he has always been a Republican.

Religiously, Mr. Boyd has always been affiliated with the faith of his
forefathers and is a stanch member of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally,
he is allied with the Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, being
one of the few remaining members of the local post.

Mr. Boyd was married November 16, 1866, to Eliza J. Swecker, of Linn
county, wlio has borne him six children, as follows: M. R., a citizen of far-
away Fairbanks, Alaska: Seldon, a resident of Sanborn; Fay Devere, of
Minneapolis: Neva L., of Chicago; Mrs. Ina Lee, of Ladysmith, Wisconsin;
Erma. at home with her father. Mrs. Boyd died on September 22, 191 3.

Mr. Boyd is the owner of eighty acres of rich and valuable land adja-
cent to the city of Sanborn. He is the owner of the postoffice building and
another business house in the adjoining block. It is a matter of record that
he sold the first load of wheat handled in Sheldon, Iowa, by Benjamin Jones

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 863

in the early seventies. He is a very popular, substantial citizen, who is highly
esteemed for his many excellent qualities by his fellow citizens in Sanborn
and throughout O'Brien county.

CHARLES F. PETERS.

The city of Sheldon. O'Brien county. Iowa, boasts of many farmers who
have retired to this beautiful little city to pass their declining years. Fortu-
nate indeed is a man who has sufficient wealth to retire in his declining years
and live a life of ease. Among the many retired farmers of Sheldon who
have made their fortune in the fertile soil of this section of the state is
Charles F. Peters, who was born in 1850 in Prussia. He is another example
of the many Germans who have arisen to positions of affluence in this county.
He is the son of David and Fredericka (Mellithin) Peters, who lived all of
their days in the land of their birth. David Peters was an innkeeper and
operated a distillery in his native land and died in 1857.

Charles F. Peters came to America when he was eighteen }ears of age
and at once settled in Lee county, Illinois, w^here he worked on a farm. For
the first five years he worked at day labor on farms in the county and then
operated a threshing machine and corn shelling outfit for nine years. In the
meantime he had married and in 1882 he came to Lyons county, Iowa, and
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land at fourteen dollars and a half
an acre. Since he was a native of Germany, it is needless to add that he
prospered on his farm. When he moved to Sheldon in 1907 he owned eight
hundred and sixty-five acres which was worth one hundred and fifty dollar.^
an acre. He recently sold a farm near Sheldon for two hundred dollars an
acre and has sold several hundreds of acres in the last three years in this
and surrounding counties. His farm in Lyons county is the finest in north-
western Iowa and is a model in every respect and is easily worth over one
hundred and fifty dollars an acre. Mr. Peters has a fine residence in Sheldon
where he is now living.

Mr. Peters was married in 1878 to Christina Gartz, of German}-, and
to this marriage have been born five children, three of whom are living, Fred
and Charles, who are operating their father's farm, and William, an attorney
and Idaho.

Politically, Mr. Peters has long been identified with the Republican party,
but, ow'ing to his heavy agricultural interests, he has not been aiile to take an

86-J. o'bKIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA.

active part in politics. He was reared to the German Lutheran faith, but lie
and his family attend the Congregational church in Sheldon, to which ihev
contribute of their substance. Mr. Peters has had a remarkable success in
farming since coming to Iowa. He owes his success solely to his own initia-
tive and determination, but wh.at he has accomplished has not been without
hard work and that application which is necessary for success in anv line of
business. The acquisition of wealth has not blinded him tD his dut\' as a
member of the body politic and he is ahvays interested in e\ery enterjirise and
measure which he felt would better the communitv in which he li\ed.

JAMES H. DALY.

The city of Sanborn has reason to pride itself upon its progressiveness,
its hnancial and commercial institutions, and, above all, in its citizenry, which
has no superior in OTJrien county or western Iowa. One of the best known
and al)le young men of this excellent community is he of whom this review is
written and who ranks high among the bankers of the county. James H.
Daly is a man of unquestioned ability and superior attainments, who is, withal,
self made and has attained a position of substance and standing in the com-
munity practicalh' through the exercise of talents which were his by right of
heritage and development.

Mr. Dal}- was born in the city of Aurora, Illinois, August 8, 1864. He
is the son of P. J. and Margaret Jackson Daly, the former a native of Ireland
and the latter of England. Margaret Jackson was born in the city of Lon-
don, England, and emigrated with her parents to Canada, where she was
reared to young womanhood. P. J. Daly removed with his family to Boone,
Iowa, in the year 1869. He w^as a railroad engineer and a mechanical
draughtsman in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad for sev-
eral years. Previous to locating in Iowa his headquarters had been in Chi-
cago, while he made his residence in Aurora. He died in Fremont, Nebraska,
in 1908, at the home of his son. Mrs. Daly resides at Boone. They were the
parents of three children : J. J. Daly, a resident of Fremont, Nebraska ;
Elizabeth, at Boone, and James H., of Sanborn.

James H. Daly was educated in the schools of his native city and, when
still a youth, became a member of a surveying corps. He learned the ma-
chinist's trade in the railroad shops and became a fireman on the Chicago &
Northwestern Railroad. Later he had charge of the air pumps in the Union

o'bRIEN AXD OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 865

Pacific shops at Omaha. In 1882 he came to Sanborn and was employed as a
machinist in the shops of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad for a
period of three vears. He also spent one year in Chadron. Nebraska, in the
employ of the same company. On his return to Sanborn from Chadron, he
was employed as bookkeeper for William Harper, the organizer of the
O'Brien County Bank. He has been with this bank for twenty-six years and
has assisted in its reorganization. He was first bookkeeper, then cashier and
is now the president of the bank, having filled this position for the past three
years. v

The Sanborn Savings Bank was organized in 1898, succeeding the First
National Bank, which likewise succeeded the O'Brien County Bank, which
began operations in the early seventies. The capital, of the bank is $50,000;
surplus, $16,000: deposits, $300,000. The officers are as follows: Presi-
dent, J- H. Daly : cashier, John A. Johnson : directors, J. H. Daly. J. A. John-
son, W. W. Johnson, S. C. Kerberg, Frank Frisbie and Fred Frisbie. The
original organizers of the bank were : W. \\'. Johnson, J. H. Daly. J. A.
Johnson, Frank and Fred Frisbie and W. M. Smith. The bank is located in
its own building and also owns the adjacent building. It has the strongest list
of stockliolders from a financial standpoint of any bank in O'Brien county.
The principal stockholders are as follows : S. L. Moore, of Boone, Iowa :
J. H. Mermon. of tlie old established Herman Banking Company, and present
cashier of the First National Bank of Boone, Iowa, and also president of
another strong bank: C. H. Zanzinger, of Boston, Massachusetts, a very
prominent man in financial and banking circles of the Hub City. Its cor-
responding banks are as follows: The Continental and Commercial, of Chi-
cago; the First National, of Sioux City: the First National, of Boone, in
which the bank's reserve is carried, and the First National, of Sheldon.

Mr. Daly is politically allied with the Republican party and is affiliated
with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, being a member of the Scot-
tish Rite consistory of Sioux City and a Mason of the thirty-second degree.

Mr. Daly was married in 1890 to Mettie G. Conkur. of Sanborn, and is
the father of one child, Bernice. Like other successful men of this western
country, he has implicit faith in land as the basis of values and the source of
all wealth. He is buying and selling land continuously and thoroughly under-
stands land values in the vicinity and throughout the country. At the present
time he is the owner of eisfht hundred and eio-htv acres of O'Brien countv
land, and has land holdings in Texas, South Dakota, Nebraska. Minnesota
and Kentuckv.

866 o'briex and osceola counties, iowa.

FRANK W. HORTOX, M. D.

It is not always easy to discover and define the hidden forces that move
a life of ceaseless activity and large professional success : little more can be
done than to note their manifestation in the career of the individual under
consideration. In view of this fact, the life of the physician and public-
spirited man of affairs whose name appears above affords a striking example
of well-defined purpose, with the ability to make that purpose subserve not
only his own ends but the good of his fellow men as well. He has long held
distinctive prestige in a calling which requires for its basis sound judgment
and discipline of a high order, supplemented by the rigid professional train-
ing and thorough mastery of technical knowledge, with the skill to apply the
same, without which one cannot hope to rise above mediocrity in ministering
to human ills. In his chosen field of endeavor Doctor Horton has achieved
a distinctive success and his present standing among the leading medical men
of northwestern Iowa is duly recognized and appreciated.

Dr. Frank W. Horton, of Sanborn, Iowa, was born Xo\"ember 7. 1870,
at Fort Atkinson, Iowa. He is the son of Warren H. and Ella (Beman)
Horton. natives of New York state. Warren H. was the son of William
Horton. Ella Beman is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Beman. early
pioneers of Wisconsin, where Mr. Beman is now residing with one of his
sons. Doctor Horton's mother is still living and, tht father died April 5,
1914. the Doctor being the only child of the four born to them who is living.

Doctor Horton was educated in the \"olga and Belmont ( Iowa ) high
schools, graduating from the latter high school in 1889. He then entered the
University of Iowa and graduated from the medical department in March.
1894. Mr. Horton worked his way through school and college b}- clerking
in a mercantile establishment during vacation. During his third year in
college he served as house physician of a hospital at Iowa City. It is to be
noted that the men who work their way through school are usually those
who make the better students. This is strikingly true in the case of Doctor
Horton. The fact that he had to work his way through college is an indica-
tion that he was a student of much more than ordinary ability.

Immediately after graduating from the University of Iowa. Doctor
Horton located in Sanborn and has now practiced just twenty years in this
community. He has built up an excellent practice in Sanborn and the sur-
rounding country and has achieved unusual success in his profession. He
has handled a large number of very important cases successfully and is de-
serving of the high stanading which he has secured throughout this section

FRANK W. HORTOX, M. D.

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 867

of the state. He is a member of the O'Brien County Medical Society, the
Hahnemann Association of Iowa, the Iowa State Medical Society and the
American Institute of Homeopathy, and takes an interest in all organiza-
tions which he thinks will help him in his business.

Doctor Horton was married in September, 1895, to Harriet Smilev. a
trained nurse of Iowa City. She was born in Indiana. To this marriage
have been born four children, Leon, deceased, Ruth, W'ilma and ]^[argaret.
Doctor Horton and his wife are members of the Presley terian church and
contribute liberally of their means to its support. Politically, he is a member
of the Republican party and identifies himself with the Progressive branch
of that organization. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted
Masons and has attained to the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite.
He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. While he has been entirelv de-
voted to his profession, he has not neglected to take his part in the affairs of
his town and community. He is a man who believes in progress and impro\e-
ment and takes an interest in whatever he feels will be for the material ad-
vancement of the city and the social, intellectual and moral good of its people.

WALTER RALEIGH BROCK, M. D.

There is no class to whom greater gratitude is due from the world at
large than the self-sacrificing, sympathetic, noble-minded men whose life
work is the alleviation of suffering and the ministering of comfort to tlie af-
flicted, to the end that the span of human existence may be lengthened and a
great degree of satisfaction enjoyed during the remainder of the earthly so-
journ. There is no standard by which their beneficent influence can be meas-
ured ; their helpfulness is limited only by the extent of their knowledge and
skill, while their power goes hand in hand with the wonderful laws of na-
ture that spring from the very source of life itself. Some one has aptly said,
"He serves God best who serves humanity most." Among the physicians
and surgeons of O'Brien county who have risen to eminence in their chosen
field of endeavor is the subject of this review, whose career has ])een that of
a broad-minded, conscientious worker in the sphere to which his life and-
energies have been devoted and whose profound knowledge of his profession
has won for him a leading place among the most distinguished medical men
of his day and generation in the city of his residence.
(56)

868 o'brien and osceola counties, iowa.

Dr. Walter Raleigh Brock was born May 7, 1870, near Ypsilanti, Mich-
igan, and is the son of Dr. C. L. and Marion (Morrison) Brock. Dr. C. L.
Brock was a native of Vermont, his birth occurring on January 17, 1818, and
he was reared, educated and taught school there and later migrated to the
state of Michigan, and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1866.
He immediately began the active practice of medicine in Michigan, and in
187 1 moved to Tama county, Iowa, and later to Rock county, Minnesota.
In 1896 he moved to Sheldon and resided with his son. Dr. W. B. Brock,
until his death, which occurred in 1901. Marion Morrison, the wife of Dr.
C. L. Brock, was born of Scotch parentage, in Blenham. Ontario. Canada, and
is still living in Sheldon with her children. Dr. C. L. Brock and wife were
the parents of nine children, all of whom are living : Chauncey, who resides
in Aiinnesota; Lowell, of Wyoming; Sydney, of Des Moines. Iowa; Dr.
George Brock, a dentist of Redlands, California ; Charles Francis, of Gettys-
burg, Michigan ; Horace Mann, of Xew York City ; Mrs. Ellen Kramer, of
James, Iowa, and Mrs. Phoebe Beadle, of Wyandot, Nebraska.

Dr. Walter R. Brock was educated in the public schools of Rock county,
Minnesota, and later attended Drake University, graduating from the medical
department of that institution in 1894. Since his graduation from Drake he
has pursued several courses in Chicago University and other post-graduate
medical schools. He practiced two years in Hills, Minnesota, and then lo-
cated in Sheldon, Iowa, where he has practiced continuously up to the pres-
ent time. He has liis full share of the patronage of Sheldon and vicinity and
is regarded as one of the leading practitioners of this section of the state.
He is a member of the O'Brien County, Iowa State, Sioux Valley and Amer-
ican medical associations, and is treasurer of the Sionx Valle\' Medical So-
ciety at the present time.

Doctor Brock was married in 1901 to Maude Shinski. the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shinski. and they are the parents of two children. Jo-
seph, born Se])teml)er 28, 1904. and Helen, born December 7, 1908.

Doctor Brock affiliates with the Universalists and Mrs. Brock is a mem-
ber of the Catholic church. The Doctor is a member of the fraternal order of
Knights of Pythias. He is actuated by only the highest motives in the prac-
tice of his profession and has brought rare skill and resource in the care of
many of his cases which have a serious feature. Quick perception and al-
most intuitive judgment have rendered him exceptionally strong in diagnosis,
though ever willing to lend any aid or suggestion.

Throughout his busy life he has ever been a hard and enthusiastic stu-
dent and keeps well abreast of the times, as he has realized that in the science

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 869

of medicine, as in other departments of modern research, there have been con-
stant and steady advances and discoveries. He has been very successful in
his large practice during the years that he has been in this county, and be-
cause of his ability and high personal character, he enjoys a high standing
among his professional colleagues and among the people generally.

HERMAN JOHN BRACKNEY, M. D.

Although but a short time a resident of the communit}' of which this
volume is a record, the subject of this sketch has by his professional ability
and high personal character stamped his impress on those with whom he has
come in contact and is numbered among the progressive and enterprising
residents of Sheldon. In the realm of medicine and surgery he has achieved
a splendid reputation, for by training. and experience he has well qualified
himself to combat disease in all its forms, and among his |)rofessional col-
leagues he is held in the highest regard.

Dr. Herman J. Brackney, the son of John \\'. and Janie ( Felter ) Brack-
ney, was born in Tama county, Iowa, October 29, 1881. His father was a
native of Indiana and his mother of Illinois. John W. Brackney was born
in 185 1 and came from Indiana to Iowa with his parents when he was nine
years of age. The Brackneys purchased a farm in Tama county and here
John W. grew to maturity, and married Janie Felter, the daughter of Nelson
Felter and wife. Nelson Felter was the first settler in Crystal township,
Tama county. Iowa, ha\'ing settled there in 1854. coming from Cook county.
Illinois. In 1886 John \\\ and the famil}- moved to Cherokee county, Iowa,
and shortlv afterwards he engaged in the mercantile business in Cherokee.
Mr. and Mrs. John Brackney w^ere the parents of three children: H. W.,
an attorney of Sioux City, Iowa ; Dr. Herman J. and Mrs Maud R.
Christianson.

Doctor Brackney was educated in the Washta, Iowa, high school and
later attended the Western College of Toledo, Iowa. In 1905 he received
his Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees in the State Uni-
versity of Iowa and immediately located in Sheldon for the practice of medi-
cine. Doctor Brackney has rapidly forged to the front as one of the leading
practitioners of the citv and now enjoys his full share of the practice of the
city and vicinitv. Fle keeps in close touch with the advancement of the
medical profession, through wide reading and dependence upon \arious

870 o'bRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

medical associations. He is a member of the O'Brien County. Iowa State
and American medical associations, and takes an active interest in the annual
meetings of these organizations.

Doctor Brackney was married in 1906 to May Soesbe, of Greene. Iowa.
To this union there has been born one daughter, Helen. Fraternally, he is
a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Alasons, the Knights of Pythias
and the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife are members of
the Congregational church and gi\e freely of their means to its support.
Doctor Brackney has a large and well selected jirofessional library, as well
as many other valuable works, of which he is a close and constant reader.
Personally, he is a man of social impulses and is genial and companionable in
his relations to his fellow men. Since locating in Sheldon, he has taken a
deep interest in the welfare of the community and gives his ardent support
to all measures for local improvement.

J. H. McNeill.

J. H. McNeill belongs to that class of men who win in life's battles by
force of personality and determination and these qualities he has inherited
from his Scotch ancestors. Since coming to this county he has proved him-
self to be a man of ability and honor and always ready to lend his aid in de-
fending principles affecting the public good. As a farmer he was working
early and late to make his farm a paying proposition ; as an insurance man
in Sanborn he worked no less diligently, while as a mayor of the city of San-
born since March, 1913. he has ably and conscientiously served his city in the
capacity of an executive.

J. H. McNeill, the present mayor of Sanborn, Iowa, was born August
II, 1861, in Delaware county, low^a, near Manchester. He is the son of
David and Jean (Robertson) AIcNeill, both of whom were natives of Scot-
land. David McNeill came from Scotland with his parents to America when
he was seven years of age and settled on Prince Edward Island, in the gulf
of St. Lawrence. On this rocky island David McNeill was reared and mar-
ried. When a young man he had been a sailor in the British navy and trav-
eled over the entire world. He tlien returned to his home in Prince Edward
Island and married. In 1854 he came to Iowa, where he secured a farm in
Delaware county. He died at Manchester in 1883.

J. H. McNeill came to O'Brien county, Iowa, in 1880 and for the first
two years worked upon farms in this county. He then worked at the car-

O'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 8/1

penter trade awhile, then married and moved onto his farm, which he pur-
chased in 1888. He Hved on his farm of one hundred and sixty acres until
1906, when he came to Sanborn, where he has been engaged in the insur-
ance business. He has some of the strongest and best insurance companies
and has built up a large and lucrative business since coming to Sanborn. In
recognition of his ability as an administrator of public afifairs, the city coun-
cil of Sanborn appointed him mayor in March, 19 13, and this position he is
now filling to the entire satisfaction of the city.

Air. AlcXeill was married in 1888 to Louise Davids, the daughter of
George B. and Sarah A. ( Rogers) Davids. Mr. and Mrs. McNeill have two
children, Irene, who is librarian of the Sanborn library, and Isabel, who is a
graduate of the Sanborn high school.

George B. Davids was born July 4, 1836, at Brandon, Vermont, and died
July 9. 1903. He was the son of a miller and during the early part of his life
operated flouring mills in the eastern part of New York and Vermont. In
about 18^8 he located in Wisconsin, but a few vears later returned to New
York. During the Civil W'ar he enlisted as a sailor in the United States navy
and ser\-ed for six months. Before the war was over he returned to Wis-
consin and sold farm machinery and during one of his trips over the country
he visited Lyons, Iowa, where he met Sarah A. Rogers, who afterward be-
came his wife. In 1870 he moved to Madison, Wisconsin, still retaining his
connection with the implement business and traveled over northern Iowa,
southern Minnesota and Wisconsin as a collector for the company. On his
second visit to O'Brien county in 1878, he bought a half section of land in
Summit township, O'Brien county, for one dollar and a half an acre. In
1880 he moved to Sheldon, Iowa, and three years later he quit the machinery
business and came to Sanborn and. in partnership with Ellis & Ellis and Mor-
ton Wilbur, he started the Sanborn State Bank. In 1886 he sold out to his
partners and moved to his farm in Summit township. In 1900 he sold his
farm and shortly after the death of his wife he returned to Wisconsin, where
he died in Green Lake county, July 9, 1903. He and his wife had but one
child, Louise, the wife of Mr. McNeill.

Politically, Mr. McNeill is a Progressive, having joined that party upon
its organization in the summer of 1912. Fraternally, he is a member of the
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a member of the Mystic Shrine and has
attained to the honor of the thirty-second degree. In all the relations of life
Mr. McNeill has been an advocate of wholesome living, cleanliness in poli-
tics as well, and has ever been outspoken in his denunciation of wrongdoing
of e\'ery kind. He is a man who, in every respect, has merited the high es-
teem in which he is universallv held.

8/2 o'bKIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

PATRICK KELLEY.

From the far-famed and beloved Emerald Isle have come to the new
republic of the west during the past three centuries a large percentage of its
best and most enterprising citizens. They are found, too few. within the
borders of O'Brien county. One of the worthiest and best known of the
agricultural element of this horde of Erin's fair land is Patrick Kelley, of
Sheldon, who was born in 1838 and he is therefore now advanced in years;
but. having lived a wholesome life along conservative paths, he is hearty and
can look backward over a life well spent and forward with no apprehension
for the future.

Mr. Kelley emigrated to America with his parents. James and Mary
(Griffin) Kelley, in 1846 and the first year lived in New Jersey. The family
then moved to Connecticut, where the father of Patrick worked in a cotton
and woolen mill in that state from the time that he was nine years of age.
During the Civil War he worked at Norwich, Connecticut, in the arsenal and
gun manufacturing works. In about 1868 he went west and settled in Minne-
sota, where he found employment on a railroad gang which was constructing
a railroad through that state. After living ten years in Minnesota he came to
Sheldon in the spring of 1878 and was employed by a compan}- constructing .'i
railroad through O'Brien county. The early part of the eighties he "squatted"
on railroad land, three miles east of Sheldon, in Floyd township. Likt-
scores of other "squatters" in the coimty. he later had difficulty in proving
his title, but was eventually given possession of the land on which he settled.
He has a fine farm of one hundred and sixt}- acres, which is now worth
two hundred dollars an acre. In 1901 he retired from active farming an-l
moved into Sheldon, where he is now living.

Mr Kellev was married in 1872 to Marv Brav. who died in February,
1908. To this union were born eight children: James, deceased; Mrs. May
l^ougherty, of .Sanborn, who has two children, John and \A^inifred; Wini-
fred, deceased; Mrs. Margaret Kearney, of Plevna, ^Montana, who has one
son, Joseph ; Jennie, a teacher in the Sheldon schools ; Gertrude, an art
teacher in St. Theresa College at Winona, ^Minnesota; Joseph, of San-
born; Mrs. Catherine Donahue, east of Sheldon, and three children who are
still at home, Daniel, Margaret and Marcella ; James, of Plevna, Montana,
was in the grain business, but was killed December 5, 1912. ^Ir. Kelley has
given his children the best of educational advantages and has had the satis-
faction of seeing them become useful members of society.

Mr. Kelley and the members of his family are faithful adherents of the

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 873

Roman Catholic church and arc attached to St. Patrick's cathedral at Sheldon.
Politically, he is a Democrat and takes an intelligent interest in the affairs
of his party, although he has ne\er held any public office except that of school
director. In 1906 Mr. Kelley became the heir of property in Connecticut to
the value of ten thousand dollars at the death of a wealthy brother, Timothy,
of Norwich, in that state. His honorable and successful career has not been
a path of roses, for he has had to work hard all of his life and often against
adverse conditions, which would have discouraged many other men. While
primarily interested in his own affairs, he has not been unmindful of the inter-
ests of others, as his effort to promote the welfare of the community abund-
antly justifies. Because of his upright life and business ability, he is emi-
nently worth}- of a place in the annals of his county.

EDWARD A. MAYXE.

It is generally considered by those in the habit of superficial thinking
that the history of so-called great men only is worthy of preservation, and
that little merit exists among the masses to call forth the praises of the his-
torian or the cheers and the appreciation of mankind. A greater mistake was
never made. No man is great in all things. Many by a lucky stroke achieve
lasting fame who before that had no reputation beyond the limits of their im-
mediate neighborhoods. It is not a historv of the luckv stroke which benefits
humanity most, but the long study and eft'ort which made the lucky stroke
possible. It is the preliminary v^^ork, the method, that serves as a guide for
the success of others. Among those in O'Brien countw Ljwa. who have
achieved success along steady lines of action is the subject of this brief review.

Edward A. Mayne, a prosperous merchant of Sanborn. Iowa, was born
December 13, 1858, in Bea\'er Dam, Wisconsin, the son of John and Ellen
(McKinstrv) Alayne, natives of England and Canada, respectively. John
Mayne was a tailor b}- trade, who in his later years engaged in farming, and
whose death occurred in W'isconsin. His wife was of Scotch ancestry, and
they were the parents of three children: Jennie, deceased: Mrs. Anna \>lie,
of Sanborn, and E. A., whose history is here portrayed.

Edward A. Mayne was educated in the common schools of W^isconsin
and engaged in farming until lie came here in 1884. He came to Sanborn,
Iowa, in November, 1884, and on ]March i, 1885, he entered the employ of
Slocum & Sweet, general merchants of Sanborn, and continued in the em-

874 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

plov of this firm for five years, after which he worked for W. A. Wasson in
his store for the next eig'ht years, at the expiration of which time he bong"ht
Mr. W'asson's interest in the bnsiness and continued to operate the store him-
self, and has been engaged in the mercantile business from 1898 until the
present time. He has the largest and best store in the city of Sanborn and
carries a stock valued at eighteen thousand dollars. His store occupies a
two-story brick l)U!lding and is well equipped with all of the latest conven-
iences for the trade. He does an annual business of oxer sixty thousand dol-
lars and handles those goods which are usually found in department stores of
towns of this size, and has a very large share of the patronage of the town
and surrounding country.

Mr. Mayne was married September 8, 1887, to Clara Woolworth, and
to this union have been born two children, Earl W., who is now twenty-five
years of age and is assisting his father in the store, and Nellie, who gradu-
ated from the high school of Sanborn in the spring of 19 14.

Politically, Mr. Mayne is a Republican, l)ut classes himself with the Pro-
gressive branch of his party. He and his family are earnest members of the
Presbyterian church and to this denomination contribute generously of
their means and time. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
He has been a busy man all of his life and none have done more to advance
the material interests of his town and community, and as a citizen of the
body politic no one stands higher in the esteem and confidence of the people
generally.

HON. WILLIAM S. ARMSTRONG.

It is a gratification and at once a pleasure for the historian or biog-
rapher to be permitted to write at some length concerning truly able and
lovable characters who have unselfishly given their services in the bringing
about and accomplishing of truly noble things which have made life more
worth living and enjoyable for a considerable number of people in the com-
munity.

Such individuals as he to whom the foregoing paragraph has reference
are indeed rarely found in these advanced days of more or less personal
selfishness among mankind. Their services to the community are alike
unpurchasable and beyond proper estimation. To men of this class their
work is indeed a labor of love, and their greatest reward in living and

o'bKIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 8/5

doing things for others is to see the fruit of their handiwork expand and
ripen in the fruition of the happiness of others. Primghar is fortunate in
having for one of its leading citizens a man who can easily be classed among
those valuable individuals to whom the preceding introduction plainly refers.
In William S. Armstrong is embodied the highest and best tvpe of citizen-
ship and it is of him that the following brief epitome is inscribed for inser-
tion in the pages of this memoir of O'Brien county. The people of the
county owe him a debt for honest and diligent service which can never be
repaid ; his work since he became a resident of the county has been mainly
and unselfishl}- in the interests of the people, who are all his friends and well
wishers.

William S. Armstrong was born January 4, 1853, '^^ Lafayette county,
Wisconsin. His father. John Armstrong, was born in 1816 and died in
1888. He emigrated in 1847 from Mercer county, Pennsylvania, with his
wife, Elizabeth Swan, an Ohio lady. John Armstrong was a farmer and
also a contractor and builder, as likewise a lawyer, and took a prominent part
in political affairs. He was a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal
church, and served several terms in the Legislature of his adopted state.

The subject had two brothers, both of whom, with their mother, died
from cholera morbus in 1868. In addition, William S. Armstrong had four
sisters, namely : Jane Perrigo, late of Inwood, Lyon county, Iowa, where
she located in 1885 and died in 1908; Lacy Gierhart, late of Argyle, Wiscon-
sin, deceased ; Belle Hunnell, of Finley, Wisconsin, and Margaret Close, of
Fedora. South Dakota.

The subject of this sketch attended the district school in his home
county until he was fourteen years of age. He then enjoyed the very special
advantages of two years' instruction in a select school under the tutorage
of Professor Parkinson, later and no^^' engaged for many years in the State
University of Wisconsin. The Hon. Robert M. LaFollette, ex-governor
and now United States senator from that state, was his classmate. Mr.
Armstrong then put in one year further in school at Juda, Wisconsin. He
then taught school for fi\e years in the rural schools. He was married in
1875 to Caroline Curry, who was born in Ohio in 1853, the daughter of
William C. Currv, a Wisconsin farmer. Mr. and A/Trs. Armstrong have two
children. Earl Armstrong was married in 1906 to Hazel Andrews, and they
now have three children : William Stanley Armstrong, aged six years,
named for his grandfather; Paul Armstrong, aged two years, and Esther
Jane. Minnie Armstrong, born in 1892, first graduated at the Primghar

876 o'bRIEN and- OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

high school in 19 10, after which she spent three years in special course in
music at Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, and noAV (1913) is attending a
further course in the Minneapolis Musical Conservatory. Mrs. Armstrong
passed away November 5, 191 3, her death resulting from a fall.

Mr. Armstrong, immediately after his marriage, took up the occupation
of dairying. Having in the meantime taken a full course, he l)ecame an expert
cheese maker and opened up a cheese factory in his home county. The whole
state became noted as a great cheese state and he had the advantages of at-
tendance on the many cheese and dairy conventions. All this was preparing
him not only as a first class judge of cheese and dairy, but also as a quick and
reliable judge of all connected questions of farming and stock raising and the
questions of the good qualities of all classes of the best stock, which served
him so well in his large field as auctioneer in all parts of O'Brien and sur-
rounding counties later on. He came to Primghar in 1885 and at once built
and equipped a cheese factory, which he conducted for three years. He
brought with him an expert cheese man. \\\ H. Morrison, who remained
with him during the whole four years. This at once brought him into touch
with the best farming conditions in the county. He at once announced him-
self as an auctioneer. He has probably sold more in dollars of value in his
twenty-eight years as an auctioneer than any other man ever in the county.
His great strength as an auctioneer lies in the fact that he has been during
his whole life schooled in the best practical farming and in a practical way
understands the needs and surroundings of an agricultural community. He
has kept himself informed to the very hour of each sale he conducts as to
the trend and prospects of the times and markets and has kept such a hold
on the public pulse and needs that his judgment has been accepted by the
public not only as an auctioneer, but as a farmer also. He has not only
talked farming, but has himself conducted a farm just south of Primghar.
He is a readv talker and gives out much information in his sundry auction
talks that brings many to his sales not only to buy. but to hear the
general matters thus set forth.

Mr. Armstrong has taken a hand in whatever has come up in public
affairs, whether in politics, church, school or town. He was chairman of the
Republican county central committee at various times and has been a member
of the board of education of Primghar for sixteen years of his time here.
He has always been a Republican, with all that the strict meaning of that
word carries with it. He w^as elected clerk of the district court for two sue-

o'BRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 877

cessive terms. Whik- tilling this office he has become so proficient in the
details of court matters that the court of four judges has retained him for
ten successive years as referee in probate to make special examination of ali
estate and orphanage proceedings that the court itself could not give atten-
tion to in detail, which position he still holds.

Mr. Armstrong took an active part in the establishment of the first
lecture course in Primghar in 1886. and has developed it from a two-hun-
dred-and-fifty-dollar course until now it is a twelve-hundred-dollar course.
He first organized it in connection with the high school, and succeeded under
difficulties. This lecture course, both under Mr. Armstrong and under the
management of Free] B. Wolf and Roy King, developed until Primghar has
the reputation of being one of the best lecture towns of its size west of
Chicago. During Mr. Armstrong's management he put on as his first lec-
turer "Eli Perkins," and later such attractions of Gen. John B. Gordon,
John Temple Graves. Doctor Gunsaulus. Maud Ballington Booth and many
others.

Mr. Armstrong was one of the ten men who signed the written agree-
ment on the part of Primghar guaranteeing twenty-two miles of right of
way to the Illinois Central railroad as Primghar's bonus to secure the road,
and as a stock shipper he shipped the first load of hogs and shee]3 over this
branch of the Illinois Central road. He also attended that railroad meeting
at Sioux Falls by committees from Cherokee, Primghar, Sheldon. Rock
Rapids and along the line at which it was decided to build this line as finally
constructed, from Cherokee up. instead of from Fort Dodge and further
east of us. which would have meant defeat to this line and the towns in
O'Brien county.

Mr. Armstrong was mayor of Primghar for two years, from 1905 to
1906. He has always been one of the boosters in the old settlers and Fourth
of Tulv meetings and other big days and occasions. He is a member and
official in the Congregational church and Sunday school superintendent.

Mr. Armstrong has been a large shipper of all kinds of stock. Init es-
peciallv of sheep from the ranges in the states west and of fine stock from
many places, when the demand seemed to call for same. He has also been
active in the fraternal societies, especially in his connections with the An-
cient Free and Accepted Masons, including the chapter and commandery.
and the Mystic Shriners. His twenty-eight years in O'Brien county has in-
deed been a varied and active career.

878 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA.

THEODORE ZIMMERMAN.

The many revolutions which Germany suffered from 1800 to 1850
were a great harflsliip on the people of that nation, but a blessing- to this coun-
try. Thousands and tens of thousands of the best citizens of Germany came
to this country after the revolutions of 1820 and 1848 in Germany, and among
those was E. A. Zimmerman, the father of Theodore Zimmerman, whose his-
tory is liere presented. E. A. Zimmerman was a man of excellent education,
and it was because of his education that he left his native land for America.
He recei\-ed his education in the best universities of Germany and because
he wanted to ha\T freedom of thought, speech and action, and could not se-
cure it in Germany he left his native land and came to America in March,
1854. He secured a position as a teacher at once and sent back for his fam-
ily. By the time the family reached this country, in the summer of 1854, he
was dead.

Th.eodcTre Zimmerman, the secretary of the Farmers Mutual Insurance
Association of OT^rien County, was born in Germany on April 7, 1854, the
son of E. A. and Caroline (Gleasman) Zimmerman. He came to this coun-
try witli liis mother and two sisters, Minnie and Louise, in September, 1854,
and upon their arri\al in the new country they were met with the sad news
that tlie husband and father was dead. The mother and her children re-
mained in Xew York and Theodore received his education in that city. He
was twenty years old when he left his mother's home and came to Butler
county, Iowa, locating on a farm in Shellrock township, where he farmed for
seven \ears. In 1882 he came to O'Brien county, locating on a farm in
Franklin township, where he lived until 1902. He was a very successful
farmer and at the time he removed to Sanborn he was the owner of six hun-
dred and forty acres of fine farming land in one tract. He is also the owner
of four hundred acres of land in Murray county and in the state of Minne-
sota. He has been interested in the buying and selling of farms for several
3'^ears. For the past seventeen years he has been a director of the Farmers
Mutual Insurance Association of O'Brien County and was elected secretary
of that organization in 1909. He has been connected with the Sanborn State
Bank for the past three years as director and is now president of a bank in
Currie, Minnesota, which is near his landed interests in that state.

Mr. Zimmerman was married to Lou E. Mullen, of Butler county, Iowa,
aid to this union have been born five children : Olive, deceased ; Roy, de-
ceased ; ]\Irs. Minnie Dummett, of Currie, Minnesota; Lelah L. and Zola L. ,
who are still at home with their parents.

O'JJRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, I,)\VA. 879

Politically, Air. Zimmerman is a Republican and has allied himself witli
the Progressive wing- of that party. He has served one term from 1904 to
1907 as county supervisor, but has never asked for any public office at the
hands of his party. Religiously, he and the members of his family are ear-
nest and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally,
he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern
Woodmen of America. Mr. Zimmerman is intensely optimistic and far-
sighted and has entered heart and soul into the life of this community. He is
strictly a self-made man and in his business affairs he has been strict, and yet
kindl}^ and just in all liis dealings. He is broad-minded and generous and in
his private life has performed many acts of charity known onlv to himself
and the beneficiary. He has worked hard and honorably earned the enviable
reputation which he enjoys as one of the leading ])ublic spirited citizens of
this locality, and it is needless to add that he is held in high regard and es-
teem bv all with whom he has come into contact.

IRA SOOP.

Idle two most strongly marked characteristics of both the East and the
West are combined in the residents of the section of country of which this
volume treats. The enthusiastic enterprise which overleaps all obstacles and
makes possible almost any undertaking in the comparatively new and vigor-
ous Western states is here tempered by the stable and more careful policy
that we have borrowed from our Eastern neighbors, and the combination
is one of peculiar force and power. It has been the means of placing this
.section of the country on a par with the older East, at the same time pro-
ducing a reliability and certainty in business which is frequently lacking in
the West. This happy combination of characteristics is possessed bv the
subject of this brief sketch.

Ira Soop, insurance man of Sanborn, Iowa, was born in New York
state September i, 1-864, and is the son of Alexander and Rachel (Wiltsey)
Soop, both of whom are natives of the same state. The Soop family orig-
inally came from Germany. Rachel Wiltsey was the daughter of Isaac Wilt-
sey, who also was a native of Germany. Alexander Soop and family left
New York in 1866 and settled in Hamilton county, Iowa, near Webster City,
on a farm, where he lived until 1892, when he moved to O'Brien county and
lived with his children until his death in 1896. Alexander Soop and wife

88o o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA counties. IOWA.

were the parents of four children : Rose, who is the wife of Charles Murrey,
an early settler of this county, but now living in Medford, Oregon ; Ira, whose
sketch is here presented; Mary, the wife of John Sawin, of Webster City,
Iowa ; Tolman. of Webster Citv, Iowa.

Ira Soop was educated in the schools of W^ebster City, Iowa, and came
to O'Brien county in 1881, when he was about seventeen years of age. He
worked by the month in order to secure money to attend school at Webster
City. He would work out by the month during the summer seasons and go
to school during the winter months. In 1886 he taught his first term of
school in O'Brien county, and followed the vocation of teaching for the next
five years, farming between terms. In 1887 he purchased his first farm of
eighty acres in Lincoln township, for which he paid eleven dollars an acre.
In 1893 ^^^ ^'^1*^ this tract for thirty-one and a (|narter dollars an acre. .Sim c
then he has purchased three different farms and sold them, making a hand-
some profit on each transaction. He has one hundred and sixty acres now
in Lincoln township, this county, although he formerly owned four hundred
acres in that township. For the past seventeen years he has been handling
the fire insurance business in Sanborn. He represents the Hawkeye Insur-
ance Company, the Des Moines department of Firemen's Fund and other
companies.

Mr. Soop was married in 1885 to Anna Moon, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Moon, who were homesteaders of Iowa and settled in O'Brien
county in 187 1 in Center township. The "grasshopper" years drove him
back to Illinois, where he remained. Mr. and Mrs. Soop are the parents of
four children : Florence and Sadie, who are both teachers, and Fred and
Marie, who are in attendance at the common schools of their home city. The
two oldest daughters graduated from the Sanborn high school, from the
Teachers' College at Cedar Falls, while the oldest daughter, Florence, gradu-
ated from the college at Des Moines.

Politically, Mr. Soop is a Republican and has filled various offices in the
city of Sanborn. He has been a member of the city council and a member of
the Sanborn school board for six years, during part of which time he was
the president of the board. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern
Woodmen of America and is consul of the camp at Sanborn.

Mr. Soop is a good exam])le of the successful O'Brien county citizens,
who have started in with practically nothing and have risen to a position of
affluence. In order to get money with which to come to O'Brien county from
Webster City when a young man. he sold his favorite hunting dog, and when
he arrived here he had twenty-five cents in his pocket, and with this slender

o'hRJEN and ().SCK()I>A counties, IOWA. S8i

capital he started in to secure his education in order to prepare himself for a
teacher. He taught his way through school and saved money while teaching
in order to apply on the purchase price of his first farm. He has worked hard
to gain a competency for his declining years, and while he has been success-
ful in a material way. he has not neglected to assist in the general welfare
of his Community. He and iiis wife are justly proud of their daughters and
have given them the advantage of the best colleges in the state, and they have
benefited from their educational training so as to take high rank among the
teachers of the county.

WILLIAM BOXNLR.

.\mong the enterprising and progressive citizens of O'Brien county,
Iowa, none stands higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens than the gentle-
man whose name forms the caption of this brief review. He has long been
actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in this county and the years of his
residence here ha\e but served to strengthen the feeling of admiration on the
part of his fellow men owing to the honorable life he has led and the worthy
example he has set the younger generation, consequently the publishers of
tliis work are glad to give such worthy character representation in this work.
William Bonner, a distinguished veteran of the Civil War, and now liv-
ing a retired life in Sanborn, was born in 1834, in Y(jrkshire, England, the
son of Robert and Mary Bonner. He was educated in his native land and
when twenty-fi\e years of age came to America and located in Ingersoll,
Canada. Here he worked on a farm for two years and in 1861 moved to
Illinois, where he worked at the lead mines for a short time, after which he
went to Benton, Wisconsin, and followed farming and lead mining. In 1865
he enlisted in Company C, Fiftieth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry,
and served for the Union until the close of the war. He was mustered in the
ser\'ice at Madison, Wisconsin, and served in the SouthAvest. After the close
of the war he returned to Wisconsin, where he continued to follow agricul-
tural pursuits. In 1884 he came to O'Brien county, Iowa, where he pur-
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in h'ranklin township. He has
prospered since coming to this county and is now the owner of three hun-
dred and twenty acres of fine farming land in Franklin township and one
hundred and thirteen and a half acres in Lincoln township.

Mr. Bonner was married in i860 to Helen White, the daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. David White. She was a native of England and came to America

882 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

with her father when she was four years of age. Mr. and Mrs. WilHani
Bonner are the parents of seven children: WilHam L., of Sanborn; John
E., of Montana; Robert A., of Max, North Dakota; Thomas G., of Shekin,
Minnesota; Mrs. Nora M. Dodson, of Waterloo, Iowa; Mrs. Mary E. Miller,
of Sanborn; Mrs. Anna B. Hansen, of Sanborn. Mr. and Mrs. Bonner have
five grandchildren: Dorothy, the daughter of Thomas Bonner; Ruth, the
daughter of Nora: Esther, Elinor and Robert, the children of their daugh-
ter, Anna.

The Republican party has always claimed the vote of Mr. Bonner, and
although interested in political affairs, he has never been a candidate for any
office. He and his family are loyal and earnest members of the Methodist
Episcopal church and are interested in its various activities. Mr. Bonner has
spent thirty years of his life in this county, and in that time his fellow men
have come to know him as a man who desires to do the rie:ht thino- at all
times. As a citizen he stands high in the esteem and confidence of his fellow
men, and as a man of family he has given his children every possible ad-
vantage. There are not many of the old veterans of the Civil War left, and
if is a pleasure to accord them a position of honor in this biographical volume.

JAMES BRUCE LINSDAY AND SPExNCER A. PHELPS.

The members of the legal profession who are in O'Brien county at the
present time are the equal in ability to any of the attorneys of the younger
counties of the state. Among the legal firms of Sheldon which are rapidly
forcing to the front is the firm of Linsday & Phelps, two brilliant young-
lawyers who came to this city immediately after their graduation from the
University of Michigan in 191 1. These young barristers have already made
their impress upon the community, and from the ability which they have
already shown they promise to be heard from in the years to come.

James Bruce Linsday. the son of E. C. and Ada (Allen) Linsday, was
born May 11, 1889, in Litchfield, Michigan. His father is deceased and his
mother is still residing in Michigan. Mr. Linsday was educated in the public
schools of Litchfield and graduated from the University of Michigan in
1911, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, being admitted to the practice
of law in Michigan and Iowa. Immediately upon his graduation he came
here with his classmate, Spencer A. Phelps, and in the following April was
elected attorney of the city of Sheldon. He is a Republican and a member
of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

Sj t! i^ * '"'

M:„vii,^,s.f<^/ii^'mi ^Bj-v 7^:ir

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 883

Spencer A. Phelps, who is the son of Dr. D. I. and EHzabeth
(Spencer) Phelps, was born in Faribault, Minnesota, May 27, 1889. His
father is a practicing dentist at Faribault, and has been following that pro-
fession for the past thirty years. Doctor Phelps' wife was a native of Rhode
Island, and came with her parents from that state to Minnesota in 1868.

Mr. Phelps was educated in the public schools of Faribault and Shattuck
Military Academy, which is located at that place, and later attended the
University of Minnesota, Having decided to enter the legal profession, he
entered the University of Michigan, it being one of the best law schools of
the country, and became a classmate of his present partner, James B. Lins-
day, graduating with him in the class of 191 1. He was at once admitted to
the bar in Michigan and in the same month came to Sheldon, passed the
state examination of Iowa and was admitted to the bar in this state. He is
the first lieutenant of Company E, Fifty-sixth Regiment of Iowa National
Guard. In January, 191 2, the United States district judge, Henry T. Reed,
appointed Mr. Phelps as referee in bankrupty for the district of O'Brien,
Clay, Osceola, Lyon, Dickinson and Sioux counties. This appointment was
certainly a tribute to the recognized ability of Mr. Phelps. He is a Repub-
lican in politics, a member of the Congregational church, and a member of
the Masonic lodge.

The firm of Linsday & Phelps is located above the First National Bank
of Sheldon and has one of the most extensive libraries in this part of the
state. Although these young men have been in this state but a short time,
they are meeting with great success in this profession and are deservedly
popular with all classes of people.

CHARLES BURNS.

The citizens who have come to O'Brien county, Iowa, from the Emerald
isle have been uniformly prosperous, and no family has had a greater degree
of prosperity than the Burns family, who were among the earlier settlers
of this county. The history of Charles Burns, which is herewith presented,
together with that of his father, Thomas Burns, makes an interesting chap-
ter of the history of the representative men of O'Brien county.

Charles Burns was born September 18, 1857, in Columbus county, Wis-
consin, on a farm, and is the son of Thomas and Bridget (Cowan) Burns,

(57)

884 o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COIXTIE.S. IOWA.

both of whom were natives of Ireland. Thomas Burns was born in Ireland
in 1833, and came to America \\ ith his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael
Burns, in 1847. ^Michael Burns and family settled in Columbus county, Wis-
consin. Bridget Cowan, the wife of Thomas Burns, came to America from
Ireland when she was seven years of age with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Pat-
rick Cowan. Thomas Burns and Bridget Cowan were married in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, and in 1864 they migrated to Iowa and arrived in Steel county
on June 8th of that year. In 1874 they came to O'Brien county and settled
in Franklin township on the west half of section 30, paying three dollars an
acre for one hundred and sixty acres, and three dollars and a half for an-
other one hundred and sixty acres. They improved this land and resided on it
until about 1907, when they mo\ed to Sanborn, where Thomas Burns died in
1910, and his wife is still living at the advanced age of eighty years in San-
born. Thomas Burns and wife were the parents of seventeen children.
Twelve of these children grew to maturity and ten are now living : Charles,
whose history is here delineated; J. H., of Carroll township; Mrs. Margaret
Matson, uf Sanborn; William, a farmer of Floyd township; Thomas, of
Floyd township; Mrs. Mary Fitzgerald, who lives in North Dakota; James,
of Sheldon; Mrs. Xellie Donahue, of Sheldon. Iowa; Katie, deceased; Mrs.
Jennie Maroney, of Worthington. Minnesota; Edward, a farmer of Frank-
lin township; Fuc\-, who died in infancy, and f^^e others who also died in
infancy.

Charles Burns was educated in the schools of O'Brien county and lived
on the home farm with his jiarents until twenty-two years of age. The first
mone} he ever earned was one hundred dollars, which he made by breaking
prairie land for his neighliors, and while still a young man he purchased one
hundred and si.xty acres of land' in Summit township, this county, for four
dollars an acre, and lived on this farm for thirty-one years. Tie then mo\ed
to Sanborn, where he has a fine home, and rents his farm out at the rate of
six and a ({uarter dollars an acre. He is the owner of three hundred and
twenty acres of fine farming land in this county and a quarter section in
Murray county, A[innesota. The Burns brothers are among the heavy land
owners of the county, taken collectively; John H. is the owner of five hun-
dred and eighty acres ; Thomas, five hundred ; James, two hundred and fortv :
William, two hundred and fort}- : Edward, two hundred and sixty, and
Charles, four hundred and eighty. This gi\es a total of two thousand two
hundred acres which are owned l)y the six brothers. In addition to this, the
mother of these children still owns three hundred and twenty acres on the
old home farm.

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 885

Charles Burns was married Xo\-ember i6, 1892, to Carrie Mullacly, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Mullady, early settlers of this county, and to
this marriage have been born two daughters, Norene, who is a Latin teacher
in Halstene, Iowa. She is a graduate of the Sanborn high school, and later
from the Cedar Falls Teachers' College. Pauline, the other daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Burns, is in the eighth grade in th€ Sanborn schools.

Politically, Mr. Burns is a Democrat, and has held the office of township
trustee and school director with eminent satisfaction to the citizens of the
county and township. Religiously, he and all the members of the family are
earnest and zealous adh.erents of tlie Catliolic clinrch and give freely of their
sulistance for its support.

The Burns family were the fourth to settle in b^ranklin township, O'Brien
count}-, and Charles, being the oldest son, had to bear a good share of the
res])onsiljilities in the struggle for the new home in the prairie. He broke
prairie land for incoming settlers and earned mone}' in this wa\' to help sup-
port the family. It is a fact that there is hardly a section of land in the
count}' which he has not tramped over during his fort}' years of residence
in tlie county. Although he had only a very meager schooling, yet he is re-
markaljl}- well informed, which is due to the fact that he is a great reader all
the time. It is recorded that he is one of the twelve men who voted to or-
ganize Summit township, and since that time no citizen has taken a greater
interest in the development of the county. In his younger days Charley Burns
drove teams to supply headquarters in Rock Rapids when there was but the
merest track for a road. Although in his prime, he has seen O'Brien county
change from a treeless, trackless waste of prairie to smiling farm lands,
dotted with groves of large trees, well-laid towns and substantial farm
buildings.

PAUL C. WOODS.

It is a well recognized fact that the most powerful influence in shaping
and controlling public life is the press. It reaches a greater number of peo-
ple than any other agency and thus has always been and always will be a
most important factor in moulding public opinion and, in a definite sense,
shaping the destiny of the nation. The gentleman to a brief review of whose
life the following lines are devoted is prominently connected with the jour-
nalism of Iowa, and at this time is editor and publisher of the Sheldon Mail,
the oldest paper of O'Brien county, comparing favorably with the best local

886 o'brien and osceola counties, iowa.

sheets in this section of the state in news, echtorial abihty and mechanical exe-
cution. The county recognizes in Mr. Woods not only a keen newspaper
man. but also a representative citizen, whose interest in all that affects the
general welfare has been of such a character as to win for him a high place
in the confidence and esteem of the people.

Paul C. \\'oods, the editor and publisher of the Sheldon Mail, the oldest
established newspaper in Sheldon, Iowa, w-as born September lo, 1876, in
Ossian, Iowa. He is the son of P. R. and Emily J. (Churchill) \\'oods.
His father was born in Pennsylvania in 1840 and his mother in New York
state in 1S45. P. R. AX'oods came to Iowa with his i^arents in aljout 1855 and
settled in Jackson county and later moved to Benton county. At the time of
the opening- of the Civil AA'ar his parents lived in Fayette county. P. R.
Woods enlisted in Company C, Twelfth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry,
from h'ayette county and served under Col. C. P. Henderson for four and
one-half years. He was in man}- of the hardest-fought battles in the Cix'il
W^w among which were Shiloh. Fort Donelson. Fort Henry and numerous
others. At Shiloh he was taken prisoner and w^as not exchanged until three
months later. P. R. \\'oods is a finely educated man, being a graduate of
Upper Iowa Un.i\ersit\' at I^^iyette. Iowa. He lias l)een a teacher and school
princi])al in Iowa for many years and taught mathematics at Upper Iowa
University at h'ayette. Previous to his retiring from active life he was in
the railway mail service. He is now li\ing in Tama county. Mr. and ^Irs.
P. R. Woods are the parents of two sons. Herbert was born in 1869 and is
a practicing physician in Tama county and Paul C, with whom this narrative
deals.

Paul C. Woods was educated in the public scIk^oIs and later attended
Upper Iowa Uni\-ersity at Faxette. from which he graduated in 1898 with the
degree of Bachelor of Science. His first experience in newspaper work was
in college, where lie was editor of The Collegian, and thus gained his first
pre])aration for his future career. Since leaving C(jllege he has been engaged
in the newspai)er ])usiness and with a success which shows that he has a
natural aptitude for this line of lousiness. He was first editor of tlie Iowa
I'iines at ^McGregor and in 1904 Avent to Eldora and published tlie Eldora
Ledger for eight years. The }-ear following his connection with the Eldora
Ledger he spent on his ranch in Texas, and on August i, 19 13, he purchased
the Sheldon Mail and takes complete charge of the paper, wdiich is the old-
est paper in Sheldon, its first issue being on January i, 1873. It has a cir-
culation of two tliousand through.ont this countv a'.id adjoining counties. The
paper is a large twelve-page, six-column sheet which is edited with marked

o'bRIEX and OSCEOLA COUNTIES. IOWA. 887

a1)ilitv. The printing- plant is well equipped with the latest improved ma-
chinery and in addition to his paper he conducts a job printing plant and
tinds it a lucrative part of the business.

Mr. Woods was married December r, 1898, in Xew Albin, Iowa, to
Amv Luther, whom he had met while a student in Upper Iowa University.
He and his wife were students in the university at the same time. Three
children have come to bless their union. Kenneth, Lucile and Carol.

Politically, Mr. Woods is a Republican and reflects his political views
in his paper. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the
^Modern W^ooclmen of America, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Yeo-
men. He and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal
church and contribute liberally of their time and means to its support. The\"
are both workers in the church and do everything they can to enhance its
xaridus acti\ities. Mr. Woods is a member of the official board at the
present time, and superintendent of the Sunday school.

]^[r. and }klrs. Woods are useful citizens of the community and stand
for the best things in the welfare of their town. Mr. Woods is an able news-
paper man and always advocates the right side of questions which affect his
community's welfare. He is keenly alive to the needs of Sheldon and com-
munity and never hesitates to express his opinion as to the value of any sug-
gestions Avhicli might 1)e made for the improvement of his town. The good
which a newspaper can do to any community is not measured in dollars and
cents, but rather in the effect it has upon the community in awakening its
readers to a sense of their duties toward the public. In his paper Mr. Woods
always tries to reflect the best means of elevating the intellectual, moral and
material tone of his communitv and in so doing he has the heartv commenda-
tion of even^ one in the countv.

FRANK PATCH.

The gentleman to a review of whose life the reader's attention is here
respectfully directed is recognized as one of the energetic, well known busi-
ness men of O'Brien county. Iowa, who, by his enterprise and progressive
methods, has contributed in a material way to the commercial advancement
of the locality where he lives. In the course of an honorable career he has
been successful in the manifold lines to which his efYorts have been directed,
and, enjoying distinctive prestige among the representative men of his com-

885 o'brien and osceola counties, iowa.

miinity, it is eminently proper that attention be called to his achievements and
due credit be accorded to his worth as an enterprising citizen.

Frank Patch, the president of the Hartley State Bank, of Hartley, Iowa,
was born Alarch 4, 1858. in Whiteside county, Illinois, the son of Freeman
R. and Malinda (Wier) Patch, natives of Vermont and Indiana, respectively.
Freeman R. Patch was an early settler of Whiteside county, Illinois, and was
twice married. He died in 1862, leaving two children by his second mar-
riage, Frank whose history is here portrayed, and F. R. The moHier reared
her two sons to manhood and died in 1913.

Frank Patch was only four years of age when his father died and he was
reared and educated in the schools of his native county in Illinois. He com-
pleted his education by taking a course in St. Cloud's College, at St. Cloud.
Minnesota. In 1878, when twenty years of age, he came to O'Brien county,
Iowa, and taught school here for one year, after which he located in the ris-
ing town of Sanborn in this county, and for the next three years operated a
li\erv and stage in Sanborn in partnership with L. C. Green. He then sold
out his interests in the livery business and engaged in the banking business in
Hartlev, orsfanizingf the bank in 1882, when he was onlv twentv-four vears
of age. He organized the first bank in this town and on January i, 1887, the
bank was reorganized and made a state bank. It now has a capital stock of
fiftv thousand dollars, with a surplus of fifteen thousand dollars and deposits
of two hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Its total resources are three
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The officials of the bank are as follows:
Frank Patch, president; D. A. Patch, vice-president: F. R. Patch, cashier.
Mr. Patch is also interested in the Gem Savings Bank, at Melvin, Osceola
county, this state. In addition to his banking interests Mr. Patch has heavy
landed interests in Osceola county and in Canada. He owns six hundred and
fortv acres in Osceola county, this state, and ten thousand acres in Canada,
near Winnipeg. Mr. Patch was married September 6, 1881, to Delia A.
Peck, the daughter of Doctor Peck, who was a practitioner at Springville,
Iowa, for thirty years, l^ut has recently retired to his farm in Floyd town-
ship, in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Patch are the parent'^ of one daughter,
Nellie I., who is still with her parents.

Mr. Patch is a Democrat in politics, but, owing to his heavy business in-
terests, he has never felt that he had the time to participate in political af-
fairs. Fraternallv, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Ala-
sons and is a Knight Templar. He is also a member of the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellows. .\s president of the Hartley State Bank Mr. Patch has
demonstrated his possession of lousiness abilities of a high order. The splen.-

o'bRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 889

tlid success which has characterized this institution from its organization is
due in a great measure to his energetic efforts and personal supervision.
He enjoys a large acquaintance throughout the county and has a host of
friends who admire him for his many good qualities of head and heart.

BESSIE J. BEERS.

In this twentieth century, women are playing an increasingly important
part in the public affairs of the nation. Many states now have women suft'rage
and within the next generation the possibility is that women will be admitted
to all the rights and privileges as are enjoyed by their brothers and husbands
today. Ten states now admit women to full suffrage and allow them every
privilege within the state. In Iowa, women may hold county offices and it is