USA > Iowa > Mills County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 45
USA > Iowa > Fremont County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 45
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namely: Fannie Pearl. Williard St. Clair and George Lewis. It is the intention of the parents that good educational privileges shall fit them for life's practical duties. Mr. and Mrs. Linville attend the Christian church of Glenwood and their many excel- lent characteristics and sterling worth have won for them a large circle of warm friends in Mills county.
In his political affiliations Mr. Linville is a Democrat and at the present time is holding the office of township trustee of Cen- ter township, to which he was elected by a majority of twelve, although in the last presidential election the township went Re- publican by a majority of fifty. This shows a gain of sixty-two for Mr. Linville, which is an excellent demonstration of his pop- ularity and genuine worth as a citizen. His fellow townsmen have confidence in his abil- ity, and to those who know him it is need- less to say that no trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed.
JAMES M. ANTHONY.
James M. Anthony, who is carrying on agricultural pursuits in Mills county, was born in Missouri fifty-one years ago, his birth having occurred in Cedar county, that state. His paternal grandfather. Nicholas Anthony, was a native of Pennsylvania and came to Mills county, lowa, about the mid- dle of the nineteenth century. Here he spent his remaining days and was identified with the 'early development of the county. The paternal great-grandfather was one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war, and earn- estly fought in defense of the nation.
Mr. Linville was united in marriage to M.s Elizabeth A. Tipton, who was born on a farm in Minois and is a daughter of S. ... and Sarah A. Tipton, who came to Iowa about 1871. Unto Mr. and Mrs Linville Jacob . Anthony, the father of our subject, have been born three interesting children, | was born in Ohio, whence he removed to
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Cedar county, Missouri, coming to the Hawkeye state when the subject of this re- view was only one year old. Here he pre- empted land and began the development of the farm upon which our subject has since resided. The father carried on agricultural pursuits throughout his life and died at the age of forty-five years. His wife bore the maiden name of Susan Land, and she, too, was a native of the Buckeye state. When the Anthony family was established in Mills county the Mormons were very numerous here, having camped on the land which is now within the borders of our subject's farm. Soon afterward. however, the followers of Brigham Young left for Salt Lake City. In the Anthony family were four sons: J. W., a resident of Iowa; M. N .: Anthony, living in Randolph, Iowa: and J. S., who makes his home in Glenwood. There were two brothers, Jonathan N. and William A., who were killed in the Civil war while aid- ing in the defense of the Union, both being twenty years of age at the time of their death. Another brother. J. W. Anthony, is now blind as the result of injuries sustained in battle while fighting for his country. This was certainly a great sacrifice for one family to make.
James M. Anthony, whose name intro- duces this record, was reared upon the wild western frontier and early became familiar with all the hardships and trials that fall to the lot of the pioneer. He improved such educational advantages as the common schools of the day afforded and worked in the field through the summer months, fol- lowing the plow, planting the grain and har- vesting the crops, thus gaining that prac- tical experience which has made him a suc- cessful farmer.
Mr. Anthony was married to Miss Amelia Schade, a daughter of Conrad Schade. She was born in Germany and is a representative of a fine old German fam- ily, well known and highly respected in Mills county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Anthony have been born four children, namely: Car- rie, Mabel, Charles M. and Clifford. Mr. Anthony owns a beautiful farm of one hun- dred and forty-two acres and gives his en- tire attention to the cultivation of his land and to fancy dairying, both branches of his business yielding to him good success. This farm is pleasantly located three miles south- east of Glenwood, the county seat of Mills county. In politics he is a stanch Repub- lican, who has given an unwavering support to the principles of the party since cast- ing his first presidential vote for Ulysses S. Grant in 1864. He was a trustee of Center township for nine years and for five years has been the township clerk, discharging his cluties with marked fidelity and ability. He was census enumerator of the twelfth census for Center township. All who know him respect him, for in every relation of life he is true and faithful, and in Mills county he has many warm friends.
A. F. METELMAN.
A. F. Metelman, the president of the Metelman & Frazer Bank, of Sidney, Iowa, is recognized as one of the leading and influ- ential men of that place. The welfare and the upbuilding of a community is largely due to the enterprising representatives of com- merce, men of resolute purpose and indomi- table energy, and to this class the subject of this sketch belongs. He is also numbered among the pioneer settlers in this portion of.
A. F. METELMAN
THE NEW YORK PUR!IO LIBRARY
- AN-1 AND
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the state, dating his residence in Fremont county from 1856.
Mr. Metelman was born in the duchy of Mecklenburg, Germany, June 30. 1833, and is a son of J. C. Metelman, who was an in- dustrious farmer of that country. He had eight children, but the subject of this review is the only one who ever came to America. The public schools of the Fatherland af- forded him his educational privileges and he remained in Germany until nineteen years of age, when he resolved to investigate the favorable reports which he had heard con- cerning the opportunities afforded to young men in the new world. Accordingly he bado adieu to friends and family and secured pas- sage on the ship Washington, which sailed from Hamburg and dropped anchor in the harbor of New York city on the Ist of September, 1852. He did not long remain in the east but made his way westward to Cleveland, Ohio, where he secured a clerk- ship in a dry-goods establishment. He re- tained that position for eighteen months and then went to Detroit, Michigan, whence he proceeded to Louisville, Kentucky, which was his place of abode until he came to Sid- ney. in the year 1856.
During the most of the time previous Mr. Metelman had earned a livelihood by acting as a salesman in various stores, but when he arrived in Fremont county he se- cured a clerkship with the firm of Tootle & Armstrong, then proprietors of the leading mercantile establishment here. He contin- ued with the company as long as it remained in business. His success in the business world secured to him the capital which enabled him to embark in business upon his own account in 1862, when he became the silent member of the firm of Reed, Arm-
strong & Company. He continued an active factor in the conduct of the concern until 1867, when he purchased his partners' inter- ests, carrying on the business alone until 1876, when the firm name was changed to . 1. F. Metelman & Company, through the ad- mission of John T. Hodges to a partnership. This relationship was maintained until 1882. when Mr. Metelman sold out to the firm of Hodges & Goy. His career as a merchant was attended with a high degree of success.
But at length he withdrew from this store to enter upon active connection with banking interests, as a member of the firm of Brown, Metelman & Company, proprietors of a banking house in Sidney. This was the oldest institution of the kind in the place. having been organized in 1875, by Henry Brown, A. F. Metelman and W. T. Frazer. The bank was capitalized at twenty-five thou- sand dollars and business was soon begun, the three partners retaining their interests until 1882, when Mr. Brown passed away. After his death the present business style of Metelman & Frazer was assumed. and were succeeded October 1. 1900, by the Na- tional Bank of Sidney: . A. F. Metelman. president, and W. T. Frazer cashier. The capital stock has been increased to sixty thou- sand dollars and the individual estate of each member of the firm is made responsible for the liabilities of the bank. Such is the confidence of the public in the integrity and honor of the interested principals that de- positors feel that they have absolute immu- nity from loss with such security.
In 1868, in Prairie City, Illinois. Mr. Metelman was united in marriage to Miss Mary D. Brown, a daughter of Martin Brown, a prominent farmer of that locality, and unto them have been born two children :
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Ella, who was born in 1869 and is the wife of Albert Wildberger, of Sidney; and Charles A., who was born in 1878 and is yet at home. Mr. Metelman's religious views are largely in accord with the teachings of the Presbyterian church, but he is not a mem, ber of any church organization or fraternity. In politics he is a stalwart Republican. He has indeed been an important factor in the business development of Sidney and his name is so inseparably connected with its history that no account of the town would be com- plete without mention of his career.
JOHN B. MCKOWN.
John B. Mckown is one of the public officials of Hastings, holding the position of postmaster, and his fidelity in office is as marked as was his loyalty when, at the time of the Civil war, he defended the stars and stripes on the battle-fields of the south. His wide acquaintance will render his history one of particular interest to the readers of this volume. Therefore it is with pleasure we present his record among those of other representative men of southwestern Iowa.
Mr. Mckown was born in Elizabeth, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, in 1842. His father, James McKown, is also a na- tive of the Keystone state, but the paternal grandfather, James McKown, was born in Ireland. On crossing the Atlantic to Amer- ica he made his way direct to Chester coun- ty, Pennsylvania, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and spent his remaining days in the Keystone state. His wife was also a native of the Emerald Isle, where they were married, and she, too, died in Penn- sylvania. James McKnown was born on the 24th of August, 1808, and in his early life
learned the tailor's trade. He married Miss Maria Bryce, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1797, her parents, however, being natives of Scotland. In order to support his family Mr: Mckown continued to work at his trade, and one of his best-remembered busi- ness transactions was the making of a suit of clothes for James G. Blaine, who was then a young man residing in Allegheny county, where he was married. At one time he belonged to the Pennsylvania militia. His wife prepared food for the American soldiers in the war of 1812, her people be- ing innkeepers in Pennsylvania at an early ciay.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. McKown were born the following named : James, now deceased ; Margaret, the deceased wife of the Rev. Joseph White, a United Presbyterian minis- ter, who also has passed away; Mattie J., who has long been a missionary in the ed- ucational department of the United Presby- terian church in Egypt; Mrs. Sarah M. Wright, who is living with her husband in Mahaska county, Iowa: and Mrs. Trapena Taggart, a widow now living in Denver, Colorado. With their family the parents came to Iowa in 1854, locating on a farm in Lee county, whence they subsequently re- moved to Monmouth, Illinois. Later, how- ever, they returned to the Hawkeye state, taking up their abode in Marion county, in the spring of 1862, there continuing until 1872. when they located in Decatur county. After two years, however, they came to Mills county, in 1875, settling on a farm in Indian Creek township. The father died in Kan- sas in 18844, while the mother died in Emer- son, Iowa, in 1877.
John B. McKown, whose name intro- (nices this record, was twelve years of age
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when the family came to this state. Hle ac- companied his parents on their various re- movals and while living in Monmouth, Illi- nois, he responded to his country's call for aid, enlisting as a member of Company C, Eighty-third Illinois Infantry, on the 22d of July, 1862. He went to the front under Captain L. B. Cutter and Colonel A. C. Harding, the troops proceeding to Fort Ilineman, Kentucky, on the Tennessee river, and the first important engagement in which he participated was at Fort Donelson. Sub- sequently he was with his company in guer- rilla service through Kentucky and Tennes- see, being thus engaged until the cessation of hostilities. In that manner of warfare his regiment had frequent conflicts with General Joe Wheeler's men and the troops under other noted southern leaders, and the service which fell to the lot of the Eighty-third Illinois was of a very arduous nature. At Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Mckown was mustered out, on the 24th of June, 1865, and on the 6th of July of that year he re- ceived an honorable discharge.
Joining his family in Iowa. Mr. Mc- Kown has for some time been engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was connected with commercial interests in Emerson, being em- ployed as a salesman in a dry-goods store at that place for twelve years. In public af- fairs Mr. MeKown has been prominent, for his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called him to office. He served for several terms as the town recorder of Emerson, for two years as township clerk and for a number of years was a member of the school board. On the Ist of January. 1898, he was appointed post- master at Hastings and his administration of the affairs of the office has been commend-
able and satisfactory. In politics he has been a stalwart Republican, casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. In his social relations he is identified with Milton A. Summers Post. G. A. R., of Malvern, and he and his wife attend the Hastings Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Mckown was married in 1868 to Miss Margaret Carter, a daughter of Henry and Fannie Carter, an old and prominent family of southwestern lowa. Her people came to this state from Connecticut in 1856 and were therefore pioneers. The marriage of our subject and his wife was celebrated in Knoxville, Mills county, Iowa, and unto them have been born the following children : Ronald K .; Fannie M., now the wife of T. G. Fewson, of Pueblo, Colorado; Arthur C .. also of Pueblo : and Merle C., James II .. Ila C., Ada G., Frank H. and Flora H .. the last two being twins, are still with their parents.
Mr. Mckown is a man of genial dis- position and kindly nature, and manifests thoughtful consideration for others. He finds his greatest happiness by his own fire- side in the midst of his family and counts no sacrifice or effort too great that will en- hance their happiness or promote the welfare of his wife and children. In his business affairs he has been successful, his careful management, seund judgment and untiring effort bringing to him creditable prosperity. Ile indeed deserves mention among the prominent people of Hastings and should find a place in the history of the men of business enterprise in the great west whose force of character, intelligence, integrity and control of circumstances have contributed in sich an eminent degree to the solid growth and progress of the entire country. His life
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has been manly, his actions sincere, his man- ner unaffected and his example well worthy of emulation.
JOHN W. SEARLES.
John William Searles, who is occupying the position of conductor on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and maintains his residence at Sidney, was born in Clark county, Ohio, February 20, 1839. His father, George Searles, was born in Ohio, in 1818, while the grandfather was a native of New York and was a shoemaker by trade. He also followed farming to some extent and reared a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, all of whom are now deceased with the exception of the father of our subject. The latter married Miss Susan Lowe in 1838. Unto them were born seven children, six of whom reached the age of maturity, namely: John William; Mrs. Elizabeth Gregory, a widow living in west- ern Nebraska; Mary, the wife of Robert Hanna, of Nebraska : Elida, the wife of John Snider, of Chicago; George, who died of dis- ease in the army soon after going to the front, having with patriotic spirit offered his services to the government and laid down his life on the altar of his country; and Nel- , son, a locomotive engineer residing in Lin- coln. Nebraska. The mother died October 3. 1872, at the age of fifty-two years. The father has since married again and is now living in Fairfield, Iowa, at the age of eighty- two years, in the enjoyment of good health, although he has advanced so far on life's journey. He came to Iowa from Ohio in 1853 and settled -in Brighton, Washington county.
John Wiliam Searles, whose name intro-
duces this review, spent the first fourteen years of his life in the state of his nativity. His educational privileges were limited, but his training in farm labor was not meager. He was early set to work to follow the plow and assist in the other labors of the farm. He remained at home until he had attained his majority after which he married, on the 3Ist of October, 1861, in Winterset, Madi- son county, Iowa, Miss Martha Jane Cooper, a native of Bainbridge, Putnam county, In- diana, who was born June 3, 1844. She is the daughter of J. W. and Rachel (Graves) Cooper, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Tennessee. Her parents came to Iowa in 1854, in a covered wagon, bring- ing their children with them, and here spent their remaining days, Mr. Cooper devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits. He died July 26, 1875, at the age of sixty-six years, his birth having occurred in 1809. while his wife, who was born April 3, 181I, died January 20, 1878. Their remains now rest in the cemetery at Winterset.
Mr. and Mrs. Searles resided in Fairfield, Iowa, until 1864, the subject of this review being employed in a grain elevator. He then removed with his family to Burlington, Iowa, and began work on the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad as a brakeman, but within a year he was promoted to the position of conductor of an accommodation train, running from Burlington west seven- ty-five miles to Ottumwa. In 1869 the road was opened to Council Bluffs and Mr. Searles took one of the heavy passenger trains across the state. continuing that run until 1877. For a year and a half afterward he was engaged in no active business, and on the Ist of October, 1879, he ran the first train out of Sidney, and for the past twenty-one
JOHN W. SEARLES
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years he has been a conductor on the daily passenger train from Sidney to Carson, lowa, making a daily run of one hundred and six miles. No higher testimonial of faithful service could be given than the fact of his long retention in the position. He is a courteous and obliging railroad official and has won many friends among the patrons on the line.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Searles have been born three children : Charles M., the eklest, now living in Brooklyn, New York, is the claim agent for the Highland Street Rail- road. Hle is married and has a son and daughter. Grace M., is the wife of W. H. Webster, of this city, and has five children. Harry P., is a railroad man living in Col- orado, and has a wife and two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. Searles purchased his fine, large residence in 1895. He also owns a farm in Kansas and a house in Sid- ney which he rents. Mr. and Mrs. Searles have some interesting grandchildren with them to occupy their spacious residence which is one of the pleasant homes in Sid- ney, surrounded by an extensive and well shaded lawn and conveniently situated near the business center of the town. Socially Mr. Searles is a Master Mason and he also belongs to the Order of Railway Conductors of which he was master for two years. In politics he is a Democrat and he and his wife are members of the Baptist church, their lives being in harmony with their profes- sions. Their home is celebrated for its gra- cious hospitality and their circle of friends is only limited by their circle of acquaint- ances. Mr. Searles deserves great credit for what he has achieved in life. He has worked his way upward entirely unaided by influential friends, by inheritance or by cir-
cumstances. The difficulties and obstacles in his path have been overcome by deter- mined purpose and indefatigable energy, and the economy which he practiced in former years enabled him to make judicious invest- ments that now return to him a good income. His life stands an exemplification of what may be accomplished through laudable ambi- tion and resolute will, and in the history of his adopted county he certainly deserves honorable mention.
HORACE B. CHENEY.
Among the leading citizens of Emerson none are more deserving of representation in this volume than Horace B. Cheney, who for many years has been connected with the agricultural interests of Mills county, and who has, through his well-directed efforts, gained a handsome competence that numbers him among the most substantial men of his community. Keen discrimination, unflag- ging industry and resolute purpose are num- bered among his salient characteristics, and thus he has won that prosperity which is the merited reward of honest effort.
Mr. Cheney was born in Stephenson county, Illinois, in 1849, and traces his an- cestry back to his paternal great-grandfa- ther, a native of Scotland, who emigrated to this country in colonial days and served with distinction as a soldier throughout the Revolutionary war, from the beginning until the surrender at Yorktown. During the bat- tle of Bunker Hill he fought the enemy hand to hand with a sword. He was a large and powerful man, of magnificent physique, ex- emplifying the plain, simple, hardy life of the Scotchman, and these characteristics have descended to our subject, who is also a
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strong. large man of fine proportions. His paternal grandfather. Hurd Cheney, was born in Vermont and died in Wyoming. where he was conducting an overland freighting business with our subject's fa- ther, Milton Cheney. The latter was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, in 1825, and is still living at Ulysses, Butler county, Nebraska. He married Lucinda Osborne, also a native of the Empire state and a daughter of Gilbert and Patty (Giddings) Osborne. Her death occurred in Emerson, Iowa. A romantic feature in the ancestry of our subject and his wife is that his ma- ternal great-grandfather, Rev. Harris Gid- dings, a Methodist minister, was also her paternal grandfather. One member of their family is the celebrated statesman, Hon. Joshua R. Giddings, famous as one of the first abolitionists, who died while a mem- ber of the United States senate. The gen- eral occupation of both Mr. and Mrs. Cheney's families has been farming.
In 1851, at the age of two years, Mr. Cheney was brought by his parents to Iowa, and after spending one year in Pottawatta- mie county came to Mills county, where he has since made his home. He was reared on a farm and principally educated in the public schools of Glenwood. In his native county he married Miss Julia A. Giddings, who was born not far from his birthplace, and is a daughter of Smith and Susan ( Stil- well) Giddings, and a granddaughter of Rev. Harris and Mercy (Wright ) Giddings. Her maternal grandfather was Vincent Stil- well. Her uncle, Calvin Giddings, now de- ceased, was a very wealthy sheep-raiser of Ohio, of almost national renown. He had sheep all over that state. Smith Giddings. Mrs. Cheney's brother, entered the Union
army at the age of seventeen years, enlist- ing in Stephenson county, Illinois, in the Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After his enlistment he was hurried direct to the siege of Vicksburg, and was in active service throughout the remainder of the war. He had many narrow escapes, having a hole shot through his hat and also the sole of his shoe and a part of his clothing shot away. He came out of the service un- scathed, but, as fate would have it, accident- ally shot and killed himself a short time after his return home from the war. Mr. and Mrs. Cheney are the parents of three children, namely: Mrs. Eurana L. Patrick, who is a graduate of the Western Normal College, at Shenandoah, Iowa, and is now living on a farm in Mills county ; Howard G., who resides on a farm south of Emer- son : and Harold, at home with his parents.
In his farming operations Mr. Cheney has been remarkably successful and is now the owner of nine hundred and sixty acres of valuable land, four hundred and sixty acres of which are in this county, the re- mainder in Nebraska. He has also given considerable attention to the raising of fine stock, and this branch of his business he has found very profitable. He now makes his home in Emerson, where he owns a fine modern residence, and from that place directs his farming operations. Mr. Cheney is an exceptionally strong man, both morally and physically, of high principles, and has much latent force and determination. One cannot help but be favorably impressed with his strength of character even at the first meet- ing, for he is a stanch, true and manly man. He affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and attends the Baptist church, of which his wife is an earnest member. Politically he
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