USA > Iowa > Mills County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 31
USA > Iowa > Fremont County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 31
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The early life of our subject was passed on a farm, coming to Fremont county with his relatives in 1877. and he continued an agricultural life for some years. He then entered public life as a clerk in several mer- cantile establishments, finally becoming mes- senger and baggageman on the Sidney branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. continuing that active life for nine years. Seven years ago Mr. Lindsay formed a partnership with his brother-in- law. R. S. Tate ( whose sketch appears in this work ), opening up a grocery business which
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has been most successfully conducted ever since.
The marriage of Mr. Lindsay was cele- brated in Sidney in 1889, by Rev. R. C. Hughes, now the president of Tabor College (a sketch of which appears elsewhere), when Miss Kate Argyle became his wife. She was a daughter of Archibald and Harriet (Bowman) Argyle, the latter of whom is still living in this city. Mr. Argyle was a native of Virginia, who came to Fremont county about 1856, engaged in conducting a store and became a prominent citizen. He was the first recorder of the county, and when his death occurred in 1866 he was sin- cerely mourned by all of the old residents.
Socially Mr. Lindsay has connected him- self with the orders of K. of P. and M. W., in both of which he is very popular. He has been a prominent politician and has re- ceived recognition from his party, being elected to the office of county recorder, No- vember 6, 1900. For three years he efficient- ly represented the city in the council and is justly regarded as one of the representative men of this section. Both he and his most estimable wife are members of the Presbyte- rian church.
MARSHALL J. WILLIAMS.
A very wealthy landholder and promi- nent farmer of Mills county, Iowa, is Mar- shall J. Williams, the subect of this sketch. He is the son of Dr. S. W. Williams and was born in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, July 4, 1864. His father, Dr. Williams, was a native of Ashtabula county, Ohio; and be- came a prominent citizen of Iowa, well and favorably known in his profession, and es- pecially beloved in his family. His educa-
tional advantages in early life were very limited, but he applied himself to his books whenever opportunity offered, the result be- ing that he acquired a fund of varied in- formation which enabled him to take an equal position in life with those who had been more favored by fortune. When but fourteen years of age he went to Cape Girardeau county, Missouri, and engaged as a clerk in a mercantile business, remain- ing in this position for about seven years, quietly preparing all this time to enter the profession of medicine.
Dr. Williams attended a course of lec -- tures at the Louisville Medical College and then commenced to practice at his former home, shortly afterward returning to the college, where he finished the course and graduated at the head of his class, in 1851. Removing to Council Bluffs, Iowa, he en- gaged in practice in connection with Dr. P. J. McMahan, a prominent physician of that place. He became very successful and was valued highly by the residents of Coun- cil Bluffs. He possessed those noble traits of character which the world loves to find in à physician, kindness, courtesy and sympa- thy. He was ever ready to respond to the call of the sick, making no distinction be- tween the rich and the poor.
Owing to failing health Dr. Williams retired from practice in 1865, and located on a farm near Glenwood, Iowa. He was called upon very often to consult with brother physicians, but aside from this duty he en- tirely laid away his medical paraphernalia. realizing that work in that line was at the expense of his own health. He became closely identified with all of the progressive measures intended to promote the growth of Mills county. For several years he was a
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member of the various county boards, and at one time was a candidate for representa- tive. He labored to promote the interests of the Congregational church, of which he was a trustee. The death of Dr. Williams occurred June 8. 1880, at the age of fifty- seven. He had married Janet Grierson, in 1856, and three children were born of this union : Rowena; Sarah E., who married James Record ; and Marshall J., our subject. The mother of these children died January 31, 1886.
Our subject was placed in a very trying and responsible position at the time of his father's death. He was but sixteen years old, and the care of the large estate fell upon his young shoulders: but he faced the re . sponsibility and overcame the many diffi- culties. He took a trip to California, but with that exception has spent his life on his own land. He is the owner of three hundred and thirty acres, and a half interest in two hundred and seventy acres, both in Oak township, and eight hundred and eighty acres in Pottawattamie county. He has car- ried on farming in connection with stock- raising, in both of which he has been very successful. He has never had a case of dis- case among his hogs, which are of Poland China and Berkshire breeds. Their pens and yards are kept clean and disinfected, vigorous health of his stock. Among his cattle the same conditions prevail. He has made a scientific study of the science of breeding and the care of stock, and considers regular feeding a great factor in successful management of such a business. His prefer- ence in cattle is for the Hereford and Dur- ham breeds, of which he owns a great number.
The marriage of Mr. Williams took place March 24. 1887, to Miss Gertrude I .. Star- buck, a daughter of Elisha Starbuck, a na- tive of Ohio, and now engaged in the prac- tice of law at Glenwood, lowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Williams has been born one child. viz. : Clifford Starbuck Williams, August 11, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are among the representative people of Mills county. They are highly esteemed and well-known residents, and their hospitable home is familiar to their many friends.
In politics Mr. Williams is a Democrat, but has never sought office, although he has been made chairman of the central com -. mittee for many years and at present is township trustee.
RANDOLPH SALMONS.
The successful and prominent agricul- turists of Deer Creek township. Mills coun- ty, Iowa, are well represented by Randolph Salmons the subject of this sketch. He was born in this county, in 1857. a son of James and Sarah ( Silkett ) Salmons, the former of whom was born in Kentucky and died in this county, in 1879: the latter was born in Vir- ginia, but her last days were spent in Mills county. They lived good and respected munity lost worthy people.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Randolph Salmons, who came to Amer- ica from England and died in Indiana. Two brothers of our subject's mother. George and Jacob, were soldiers in the Union army dur- ing the Civil war, and George died in the service, one brother of our subject's father also serving through that war.
and probably this precaution explains the lives, and in their death the family and com-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
The parents of our subject came to Iowa in 1851 and located in Mills county, where they engaged in farming. Here Mr. Sal- mons was reared and obtained his education, and is now one of the best known and weal- thiest of the farmers near the town of Em- erson. His fine farm comprises two hun- dred and forty acres, which are well culti- vated, improved in modern ways, and Mr. Salmons has demonstrated that he knows how to make agriculture a very satisfactory business.
Mr. Salmons was married in this coun- ty, to Miss Euphie H. McMullen, a daughter of L. D. McMullen, of Indian Creek town- ship. Three children have been born to this union-Jessie Blanche, Iva Iowa and Goldie Alice. Socially Mr. Salmons is a popular member of the I. O. O. F., the Mod- ern Woodmen and A. F. & A. M., and is a prominent and active Republican. The fam- ily attend the United. Brethren church, in which they are highly esteemed for many ex- cellent traits of character.
MRS. MARY D. MAGEL.
Mrs. Mary D. Magel. the widow of the late Theodore Magel and one of the highly respected citizens of Fremont county, was born in Peoria county, Illinois, January 13, 1857, and is a daughter of Henry P. and Mary L. ( Heaton) Brown. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother of Peoria, Illinois, in which latter place they were married. The grandfather, Christian Brown, was also a resident of Pennsylvania and followed farming. Emigrating west- ward he became one of the pioneer settlers of Peoria county, Illinois, there making his home throughout the remainder of his
days. His religious faith was in harmony with the Presbyterian church. His children were : Elizabeth, the wife of J. Fisher ; John, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Henry P., the father of Mrs. Magel; Mary, the wife of C. L. Stoner; Christian, a me- chanic; Aaron, and Reuben, who follow agricultural pursuits; and Salinda, wife of H. Pearce.
Henry Brown, the father of Mrs. Magel, was a cooper by trade, but devoted much of his life to farming. He was reared and mar- ried in Peoria county, Illinois, and then took up his abode on a farm, where he remained until 1866, when he removed to Iowa, lo- cating in Prairie township, Fremont county. There he purchased a tract of raw prairie land, which he transformed into a good farm. It was located in the valley of the Nishinabotna river, and upon it he made substantial improvements, and it became his permanent home. He was very systematic in all his work and was an energetic and en- terprising man who acquired a handsome property. The poor and needy found in him a friend who freely assisted them, and among those who knew him best he was held in highest regard because of his noble traits of character. In his political views he was a stalwart Democrat, but never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office. He died February 25, 1887, and his wife, who still survives him, is hale and hearty. She has since married John B. Furbush, a native of New York, who for many years has resided in Sidney, engaged in various business pursuits, but at the present time he is living retired from active labor, hav- ing no business cares save the management of his property interests. His wife was a daughter of Henry J. and Deborah (Griffin)
THEODORE MAGEL
THE NEW YORK PUBLI CEGARY
ASILPLANLI AND TILD'Y FOUNBITIONE F
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BIOGR.IPHIIC.IL HISTORY.
Heaton, both of whom were natives of New York city, where they were married and where the father followed the carpenter's trade.
In the pioneer days of Illinois they lo- cated in Peoria county, where Mr. Heaton purchased land and improved a farm in con- nection with the work of his trade. He was also an inventor of note and invented the first corn-sheller. His business ability and keen sagacity enabled him to acquire a valu- able property and his real estate in Peoria was extensive. He also owned a number of farms. His wife died in Peoria, in 1849, after which he sold his property in that city and in 1866 came to Fremont county, where he purchased land and improved a farm. Hle also bought farm land in Ne- braska and the labor and improvement which he put upon it made it very valuable. Ilis investments were judiciously placed and his business judgment was rarely at fault. In his political views he was an earnest Demo- crat, who always kept well informed on the issues of the day and had a broad general knowledge of all questions of public interest. In the evening of life he sold his homestead and found a good home among his children. Returning to Peoria to visit a daughter, he there died, January 10, 1889. Both he and his wife were attendants of the Episcopal church. Their children were: Mary L .. who became the mother of Mrs. Magel ; Margaretta, the wife of J. Armstrong; Richard, who married and followed farm- ing in Fremont county, and there died in July. 1885, leaving a wife and four chil- dren ; William Y., who also was a farmer of Fremont county and died in 1888, leaving a wife and two children: Harriet S., now the wife of William G. Randall, an attorney 15
at law of Chicago, Illinois : and Henry, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had four children : Mary D., the subject of this review : Nettie, who died at the age of twen- ty-one years; William IL., who died at the age of twenty-seven, leaving a widow to mourn his loss ; and Mrs. Emma I. Maxted. The mother was a member of the Episcopal church.
Mary D. Brown was born in Peoria county, Illinois, and with her parents came to Fremont county, where on the 24th of April. 1878, was celebrated her marriage to Theodore Magel. He was born in Des Moines county, Iowa, near the city of Bur- lington, and belonged to an honored pioneer family of the state. His parents. Sibert and Mary ( Lee) Magel, were natives of Ger- many, and on the same vessel they crossed the Atlantic to America, locating in lowa, in 1833. In this state they were afterward married. Among the pioneers they resided, experiencing the usual hardships which fall to the lot of frontiersmen. Burlington was little more than a steamboat landing, con- taining only a few houses and no market. Mr. Magel secured a claim three miles from Burlington and after some time established a good home there. He worked at any em- ployment that he could secure that would bring him some ready money, and when not thus engaged his time and attention were given to reclaiming the wild land and trans- forming it into a productive farm. When the land was placed upon the market he had to borrow money at fifty per cent interest in order to pay for his farm; but he worked hard and soon cleared his place of all in - debtedness. He found in his wife a faithful companion and helpmeet on life's journey, and as the years passed he prospered and
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purchased other lands, becoming the owner of various farms which he improved. He also bought and sold city property and be -. came a money-lender. Prosperity crowned his efforts and he entered claims in various localities, his realty possessions becoming extensive. He aided in erecting the first mill in Des Moines county and witnessed the development of the county into one of the most progressive and prosperous sec- tions of the state, bearing his part in its. advancement. He never sold his first pur- chase, keeping that as the homestead and thereon all of the children were born and reared. Death came to him on the 9th of August, 1897. and his wife passed away De. cember 5. 1896. Two of her brothers, Con- rad and William, came from Germany to America and followed farming in Iowa, but Mr. Magel had no relatives on this side of the Atlantic. Through life they were earnest adherents of the Lutheran church, in which they had been reared. They had ten chil .- dren : Elizabeth, now the wife of W. Hill- gartner: William and Henry, who reside in Des Moines county ; Charles and Con- rad, who are prominent farmers of Fremont county : Peter, who makes his home near Burlington: Mary, the wife of J. Schafer, of Burlington: Margaret, the wife of H. Steyh, who is also living in the same city; Theodore S., who became the husband of Mrs. Magel: and Benjamin, also of Des Moines county. The family was a well known and prominent one and the various members are now well located in life.
Theodore Magel was reared in Des Moines county, where he was early trained to habits of industry and economy, and in the public schools he acquired his educa- tion. Two of his brothers, Charles and
Conrad Magel, came to Fremont county in 1870 and later Theodore established himself there. He secured a tract of land upon which he made permanent improvements and in this county he was married. after which he turned his attention to farming and stock-raising. His progressive methods and practical work were indicated in his business career, making him one of the leading agriculturturists in the communi- ty. He was a well known and prosper- ous farmer of Prairie township when his death occurred. He was accidentally killed by an unruly horse, January 25. 1896, leaving a wife and five interesting children besides many friends to mourn his loss. In his political views he had been a Democrat and in religious faith was a Lutheran. His life was in harmony with his professions and all who knew him respected him for his sterling worth. Mr. and Mrs. Magel be- came the parents of six children : Henry S., born May II. 1879: Nettie, August 13. 1880: Edith L .. September 28. 1882: Lucy, born November 17. 1884. and died August 20, 1886; Cara B .. born September 9. 1890; and Paul, June 6. 1893. The devoted mother keeps her children together and sut- perintends the management of the home place. She is a most estimable woman, possesses excellent business ability and en- joys the high regard of many warm friends. While the family bear the loss of a loving and devoted husband and father, they have every reason to be proud of the untarnished name which he left them. The Magels have ever been prominent people in Fremont county since they joined the first set- tlers here, and the present representatives of the name here ar no exception to the rule.
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SAMUEL P. RICKETTS.
Samuel P. Ricketts, who is engaged in farming on section 12, Benton township. Fremont county, was born on the 28th of March, 1851, in Lorain county, Ohio, and is a representative of one of the old families of the south. His paternal grandfather was a native of Baltimore, but died before the birth of his son. Richard R. Ricketts, the father of our subject. He had one brother. who became the father of General Ricketts, a distinguished officer of the Civil war. Richard R. Ricketts was born in Baltimore on the 6th of February, 1802, and when he was six years of age his mother died. He then went to live with his uncle, who had charge of the estate and remained with him until eighteen years of age, when he left Baltimore, his cash capital being a twenty- dollar goll coin. He started on foot to Kentucky and resided for some time in the vicinity of Maysville and Bowling Green.
He served a five-years apprenticeship at the cabinet trade, following that pursuit both in Kentucky and New Orleans. At the time of the cholera scourge in the latter city he was the only white man left in the shop. For four years he remained there and then returned to Kentucky, where he was married to Miss Betsey Platte, of New Haven, Connecticut. She was born January 7. 1816, and was a daughter of Alanson Platte, a farmer'of New York, who resided for three years west of Buffalo and in Lorain county, Ohio, prior to 1840. Mrs. Ricketts was engaged in teaching in Kentucky at the time she became acquainted with her future husband. They were married in the Blue Grass state and soon afterward went to Ohio, locating on a farm of eighty acres.
which was given them by her father. Un- til the summer of 1855 they remained upon that land and then drove across the coll- try in a double-seated buggy to Fremont county, lowa, that vehicle being the first of the kind ever seen in this locality. Hlav- ing sold their property in Ohio Mr. Ricketts purchased nine head of horses, driving three double teams to lowa. He possessed a very comfortable competence for those times, hay- ing twenty-five hundred dollars, and a por- tion of this money he invested in a tract of one hundred and eighty-two acres of land. Ilis brother-in-law. L. W. Platte, had come to this state several years before and had made arrangements for the transfer of the property of which the father of our subject became the owner. The house was a cotton- wood shanty and only twenty acres of the land had been cleared. This work was done in 1842, being the first clearing in that por- tion of the county. For two years after his arrival in lowa Richard Ricketts re- mained in his cottonwood home and then built a part of the present residence, erect- ing a structure sixteen by twenty-four feet. of logs hewed by MeKinney Lambert. The frame part of the house was erected in 1869 and the log structure was then weather- boarded. Mr. Ricketts provided well for his family and at his death owned his fertile farm, which was well improved and well stocked.
He had six children, of whom four are living, namely : Charlotte Elizabeth, the wife of George Lehman, of Columbus, Nebraska. by whom she had eight children, of whom four are living: Richard R., who died in 1857. when about thirteen years of age; Mary IL., who died December 28, 1860, at the age of thirteen years: Samuel, of this
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review : A. E., who is living on the south half of the home farm, on one hundred and sixty acres, with his wife and nine children ; and Myra Grace, the wife of James H. Cope- Jand, of Benton township, by whom she has two children. The mother died April 28, 1894. in her seventy-eighth year, and was laid at rest by the side of her husband in the Blanchard burial ground. He was a Baptist in his religious faith and she a Con- gregationalist, and both were consistent ' Christian people whose teachings and ad- monitions did much to shape the career of their children.
Samuel P. Ricketts, a well-known and esteemed farmer of Benton township, ac- companied his parents on their. emigration to Iowa and in the district schools here ac- quired his education. He displayed a special aptitude for mathematics and always stood well in every study to which he gave his at- tention. With the exception of four years spent upon other farms in the neighborhood he has always resided . on the homestead. He was married in 1876, on his twenty- fifth birthday, to Miss Mahala Clift, of Kentucky, who was born October 14, 1854. and is a daughter of John D. Clift. By this marriage there were eleven children, five sons and six daughters, but they lost an infant son. Those still living are as follows: Roscoe R., born December 24. 1876, is living in Nebraska City where he follows carpentering: Ida C. is with her parents : Augusta C. is the wife of Robert Acord, of Benton township, Fremont coun- ty, by whom she has two children,-Walter R., a young man of twenty years, and George R., now eighteen years old, assisting in the cultivation of the home farm; Eliza-
beth is with her parents; Nellie MI. is attend- ing school: Grace L., Clara L. an1 Richard Henry, aged respectively eleven, nine and four years, are with their parents. The son who died in infancy was named Carl.
Mr. Ricketts is a member of the Masonic Order and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In politics he is a stalwart Repub- liean and has served as assessor for two terms, and as school director and road super- visor. His wife is a member of the Con- gregational church. They are people of the highest worth, well known as honored rep- resentatives of the pioneer life.
Mr. Ricketts carries on general farming and raises about seven thousand bushels of corn annually. He also keeps a few head of cattle and he has on hand from six to twelve head of horses. His father was a fine work- man in the cabinet manufacture and house- finishing in the early days, when the large black-walnut trees were peeled and placed on high skidways, where they were sawed into thick planks by two men, one under the log and the other on top,-which method is called whipsawing. Timber was abund- ant at that time, so that little veneering was used, but Mr. Ricketts was especially expert in executing that line of work. When the family first came to Iowa deer roamed over the prairie and through the forests and wild turkeys would frequently come into their yard. On one occasion a wild-cat made its way down the mud-and-stick chimney and into the cottonwood shanty in which they lived. Several times the mysterious visitor appeared at night and robbed them of poul- try, although a watch dog was on guard. Finally Mr. Ricketts remained awake one night and struck a light just in time to see
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the animal make its escape. The cat per- sisted in its visits for some time and he was unable to capture it.
The name of Ricketts is inseparably in- terwoven with the pioneer history of the county and from the earliest development of this portion of the state the members of the family have borne their part in the work of public progress and improvement.
FRED MIATT.
A successful and enterprising agricultur- ist of Fremont county, lowa, located near the prosperous town of Sidney, is Fred Hiatt, who was born in Fremont county, in 1872. a son of Reuben and Martha Ann ( Kauble ) Hiatt, the former of whom was born in Illinois and died in Fremont county in 1897. The father was a very prominent man, being one of the first settlers of the county, coming here in 1851. Mrs. Iliatt was born in Indiana, in 1830, of German descent. a daughter of David and Mary ( Kratzer ) Kauble, and married Mr. Hliatt in Missouri. She still survives. The paternal ancestry of our subject can be clearly traced to Page Proctor Hiatt, the great-grandia- ther, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The paternal grandparents were Jesse and Mary ( Proctor ) Hiatt, the latter born in Madison county, Kentucky, the former in South Carolina, from which state he emi- grated at a very early day to Peoria, Illinois, where he was one of the oldest settlers, and from there entered the army in the war of 1812.
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