USA > Iowa > Mills County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 63
USA > Iowa > Fremont County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 63
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cal benefit, and that his fellow townsmen have the utmost confidence in his ability and trustworthiness is shown by the fact of his long retention in office.
Mr. Morgan was born in Weathersfield, Windsor county, Vermont, March 30, 1832, and in 1846 he accompanied his parents on their removal to Miami county, Indiana. At the age of seventeen he left home and came further west. He made several trips across the plains in the years 1851-2-3 and in the year 1854 established a claim in Doni- phan county, Kansas, but on account of the troubles then existing between the free- state and pro-slavery parties he sold his property there, in 1856, and left the terri- tory, returning to the home of his parents, who then resided in Twin Grove, McLean county, Illinois.
While residing there Mr. Morgan was united in marriage on the 10th of Septem- ber, 1857. to Hannah J. Rinehart, of Long Island, New York, and in the year 1858 he removed with his young bride to Nebras- ka, settling in Richardson county, where he engaged in farming until 1861. The need of his country then aroused his patriotic spirit and he "donned the blue" in defense of the Union, joining the Second Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry in 1863. The regiment was engaged in the Indian war in the northwest under General Sully. In the year 1864-5 Mr. Morgan was first assistant clerk of the territorial council of Nebraska, and in 1866 he removed to Fremont county, Iowa. In 1869 he was elected sheriff and was re-elected for four consecutive terms, being a most capable incumbent of the of- fice. His name was as a tower of strength and safety to the law-abiding citizens.
Preparing for the bar, Mr. Morgan was
admitted to practice in 1878 and followed the profession for some time. In 1881 he owned and published the Fremont Demo- crat, but afterwards sold out to a party who removed the press to Nebraska.
On the 20th of July, 1880, Mr. Morgan was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on that date, leaving three children who are yet living. In 1882 he was again married, his second union being with Mrs. S. J. Haining, but in 1886 they secured a legal separation. He has retired from ac- tive business and his attention is given al- most exclusively to the conduct of the du- ties of his office. He has made a close study of the needs of the city and its possi- bilities, and has introduced many desirable reforms and improvements. His adminis- tration has been a progressive one and he receives the commendation of men of all parties. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken the chapter degrees, and is also a member of Joe Ross Post. G. A. R., of Sidney.
WILLIAM DYSON.
William Dyson, deceased, who became a well-known resident of Mills county, Iowa, where his earnest and indefatigable labors enabled him to rise from a humble financial position to one of affluence, was born at Goole Fields, Yorkshire, England, May 21, 1828. His parents were William and Han- nah Dyson, and the former worked upon one farm for forty years. He died at the age of seventy-four years and his wife lived to the remarkable old age of one hundred and one years. The educational privileges which the son received were very limited. He attended the schools of Goole, studying
Wiliam Dypon
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BIOGR.IPHICAL HISTORY.
a few primitive books, such as Reading Made Easy, the spelling book, arithmetic, the Testament and the Bible. Graduation was unknown at that time in the public schools, and at the age of fifteen he was forced to put aside his text-books in order to carn his own livelihood and aid in the support of the family. Ile worked with his father on the farm where the latter was employed and gave his money toward paying the household expenses. His parents were kind but poor, and his advantages were therefore meager. When about eighteen years of age, however, he was allowed to do for himself and worked as a farm hand by the year, his wages averaging from four to twenty pounds per annum until his mar- riage, when he was given ten shillings per week and boarded himself. In the spring of 1852 he determined to try his fortune in America, believing that better oppor- tunities were afforded in the new world by those who desired to gain advancement through their own labor. Accordingly he bade adieu to friends and native land and took passage on a sailing vessel which, after a voyage of six weeks, reached the harbor of Quebec. On a small boat he then sailed on the Great Lakes to Chicago and soon afterward secured work on a farm owned by John Harrison, in McHenry county, Illi- nois. He worked for four months at twelve dollars per month, and in October, of that year, he secured a position on a farm belong- ing to Dr. Hyde, the place being located just across the Wisconsin line. He made ar- rangements to remain in his employ for a year, at eleven dollars per month. On the expiration of that period he purchased a span of horses and went to Hancock county, Illi-
nois, after which he was employed on the railroad for two years. In the spring of 1855 he came to lowa, locating first near Farmington, Van Buren county. He gave his team of horses and some money in ex- change for three yoke of oxen and secured work on the Des Moines river public works, hauling timber and rock for the locks and dams .* In the spring of 1857 he came to Mills county, where he engaged in break- ing prairie for two months and also hauled brick for the courthouse at Glenwood. Through the winter he engaged in chopping wood and digging cellars, in fact worked by the day at anything he could get to do that would yield him an honest living. The next year he rented land, and. with the profits which had accrued from his labors, in 1859 he purchased eighty acres of land, ar six dollars per acre. He was only able to make a partial payment and on the re- mainder had to pay twenty-five per cent in- terest. Money was scarce and times dull and the produce of the farm had to be hauled a long distance, the nearest markets being Nebraska City. Council Bluffs and Omaha. Enjoying good health, which enabled him to work, as the result of his untiring in- dustry and economy he secured a nice for- tune as the years went by and left to his family a good estate.
Mr. Dyson had been married in Whigift, Yorkshire, England, July 21, 1850, to Miss Hannah Whatt. Her father was a coal mer- chant and also conducted a small grocery store in Whigift. In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Dyson made a trip to England, visiting the homes of their childhood and renewing the acquaintances of their youth. The children born of this marriage are: Ann E., born
30
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
October 19, 1851 ; Martha, born October 13, 1853: Hannah, born September 6, 1855; Margaret, born February 10. 1859: George William, born October 20, 1860; Eliza, born December 17, 1862; Mary, born March 8, 1864: Sarah, born February 2, 1866; Clara, born October 25, 1867; and John William, born May 21, 1869. In his political views Mr. Dyson was a Republican, earnestly ad- vocating the party principles. He held ser- eral local offices in connection with the man- agement of the schools and of public roads, and took great interest in the work of im- provement along those lines. Although never associating himself with any partic- ular church, he gave freely to churches and Sunday-schools, making donations toward the erection of four church buildings in his town. In the early days before houses of worship were known in this part of the country he and a few early settlers sup- ported a minister and a good Sunday-school, which convened in the rude country school- house, and there they and other families en- joyed the advantages of divine worship. Mr. Dyson was of a jovial disposition, and in his home was cheerful, kind and indulgent. He was very liberal, generous and sympa- thetic to the poor and afflicted and his home sheltered many of the unfortunate ones of earth. His kind impulses and his beneficence won for him the love and regard as well as the gratitude of many, and all who knew him held him in high esteem. He passed away September 29, 1895, leaving to his family a good name and a comfortable com- petence. Mrs. Dyson still resides on the home farm where she has so long lived, and throughout the community she has a large circle of friends.
LANSFORD CHAMBERS.
Lansford Chambers, who is successfully carrying on agricultural pursuits on section 17. Scott township. Fremont county, Iowa, was born in Franklin county, Ohio, October 20, 1848. His father, Samuel Chambers, was born in the same county in 1800, and died in 1866. The grandfather of our sub- ject, Joseph Chambers, emigrated from Ire- land to Ohio in an early day and there mar- ried a German lady. He was twice mar- ried and became the father of six sons and three daughters, two of the children being born of the second marriage. After arriv- ing at years of maturity, Samuel Chambers was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Moore, the wedding being celebrated in Ohio about 1844. In 1849 they removed westward to Atchison county, Missouri, and in 1850 became residents of Lyons township, Mills county, Iowa. In October of that year the father entered one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government and later made additional purchases until he was the owner of two thousand acres of land for which he paid from one dollar and a quarter to ten dollars and fifty cents per acre. To- day it is all worth from fifty to sixty dol- lars per acre.
Lansford Chambers, whose name intro- duces this sketch, was only two years old when the family came to Iowa, and since that time he has resided upon his present farm. He was reared on the family home- stead and early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. To-day he is the owner of two farms aggregating thirteen hundred acres. Upon the home place of forty acres,
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where he resides, are improvements to the value of twenty thousand dollars. Among his possessions is an apple and plum orchard comprising twenty-five acres. He is one of the most extensive stock-raisers in this section of the state and upon his place may be seen a great variety of horses, mules, Shetland ponies, cattle, hogs and Angora goats. Ile breeds all of these. His cattle are registered red polled and Flerefords and he has some very fine specimens of the stock. His famous stallion is a magnificent Belgian draft horse of perfect color and form, weigh- ing two thousand pounds ; in contrast are his Shetland ponies, which in perfection if not in size, are the equal of the stallion. He owns some of the finest Shetland ponies ever raised in the country. One of a certain span weighs one hundred and fifteen poun ls, and the other one hundred and fifteen pounds and a half. One of these is the celebrated Dewey, foaled the ist of May. 1899. just a year after AAdmiral Dewey had captured the Spanish fleet in Manila bay. At birth it weighed twenty-five pounds and was twenty-three inches high. Its height is now twenty-eight inches and its weight is one hundred and fifteen pounds. The other pony. Cracker Jack, is a half brother of Dewey and was foaled June 5, 1900. At birth it was twenty-four inches high and weighed thirty pounds and its weight is now one hundred and fifteen and one-half pounds, while its height is twenty-eight inches. Both of these ponies are well broken, gentle and kind in disposition so that children can safely play with them or drive them. When Dewey was three days old Mr. Chambers refused an offer of fifty dollars for him. His hogs are of the black Berkshire breed. He raises hundreds annually, and lost seven hundred
by cholera in the season of 1800. Mr. Chambers imported his fine jacks and An- gora goats from Kentucky. He has upon his farm a fish pond where he raises carp and catfish. He has about five hundred acres planted to corn, yielding from thirty- five to forty bushels per acre annually. He has one hundred acres planted to small grains and he puts up about two hundred tons of hay each season. Upon the place he has a sawmill and a blacksmith shop and does his own work along those lines. His farm implements are worth four thousand dollars, thus every modern accessory and im- provement is found upon his place. In 1876 he erected a comfortable brick residence. and every other building upon a model farm may here be seen. As a horticulturist he has also attained considerable celebrity. He has a nursery of eight thousand trees and the fruits from his orchards find a ready sale upon the market by reason of their superior quality. He is also engaged in the raising of fine fowls, having from one hundred to two hundred blooded fowls. He breeds both peafowls and turkeys on a large scale. His farm produces almost everything in the way of food. including fruits, vegetables, fowls. fish, pork and beef. Too much can not be said of Mr. Chamber's progressive methods. He is constantly striving to make improve- ments and he has one of the finest and most desirable farms in the entire state. He is intensely practical in his work and his well- directed labors have brought to him a hand- some competence.
Another work of his active life is the in- vention of a combined dirt roller and pul- verizer, and for this he has filed a claim in the United States patent office as fol- lows :
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, Lansford Chambers, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bartlett, in the county of Fremont and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Combined Dirt Roller and Pulverizer, of which the following is a specification.
My invention relates to a new and im- proved machine in which there are two cast- iron fluted cylindrical reversible rollers opera- ting and revolving upon the ground in such a manner as to crushi clods, tear up and pul- verize the ground by loosening it up when reversed, and when thrown in opposite direc- tion to smooth the same.
The objects of my invention are, first, to pulverize and crush the soil as the rollers revolve on the ground in one direction by pushing back the dirt and pulling up and destroying all vegetation, making the ground mellow and freeing it from clods instead of crushing them into the ground as a simple roller would do : second, when the rollers are reversed (the clods having been pulverized by the use of the pulverizer ). they operate to make the ground smooth and level, and when used on ground planted with corn or small grain it is left in good shape for the use of the cultivator.
( Here follows a description of the ma- chine. )
Having described my invention, what I now claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-
A combined land roller and pulverizer - comprising a cylindrical body or bodies, the surface of which is fluted, thereby forming longitudinal crushing blades or bars ar- ranged tangentially mounted in a suiteable supporting-frame provided with a draft de- vice whereby when the roller is drawn in one direction the soil is cut and pulverized, and in the reverse direction the soil is smoothed, substantially as described.
LANSFORD CHAMBERS.
Witnesses :
FRANK C. CHASE. JOHN B. STATLER.
On the 6th of March, 1873, Mr. Cham- bers was united in marriage to Miss Agnes Kern, who was born in Ohio, April 30, 1843, and is a daughter of Joseph Kern, of Ken- tucky. He brought his bride to the old homestead where he has since remained. Their marriage has been blessed with four sons and two daughters : The first, a daugh- ter, died in infancy: Joseph Samuel, born January 13, 1876, assists in the operation of the home farm; Jasper died in infancy; Charles E., who was born December 22, 1878, is engaged in the livery business in Bartlett, is married and has a son and a daughter ; Bertha Ellen, born April 26, 1881, is with her parents; and Henry, who was born in 1884, died in infancy.
In his political views Mr. Chambers is a stalwart Republican and has served as a school director, but has never sought or de- sired office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business interests in which he has met with magnificent success. He has traveled quite extensively through Amer- ica, visiting the Pacific coast and many other sections of the west. He spent some time in Oregon in 1884 and enjoyed many hunt- ing expeditions on the coast-range mount- ains. After an absence of six months he returned home on the 19th of December, 1884. Mr. Chambers is one of the most widely known men of southwestern Iowa. Almost his entire life has here been passed and he has therefore witnessed the growth and development of this section of the state. At the same time he has contributed to every measure which he believed would prove of public good, withholding his support from no movement calculated to benefit the com- munity. He has won success along well diefined lines of labor and to-day he stands
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
prominent among those who owe their pros- perity to their own efforts and who are now classed among the wealthy residents of the community. While great advancement has been made in the industrial and commercial life, agriculture has kept pace with the gen- eral progress and Mr. Chambers is among those who have been leaders in the work of improvement in connection with farming interests.
SAMUEL H. ADAMS.
Såmuel H. Adams, a furniture dealer and an undertaker of Tabor, was born in Worcester county. Massachusetts. Decem- ber 23. 1823. He traces his ancestors back through many generations, for the family is an old one in the Bay state. The first of the family to come to America were John and James Adams, who were of Scotch- Irish lineage. The latter settled in Vermont. while the former located in Massachusetts and was the founder of the branch of the family to which our subject belongs. The paternal grandfather of our subject also bore the name of John Adams and was a farmer of Worcester county. He married Miss Sybil Hatton, a native of England. and among their children was Francis Ad- ams. the father of our subject, whose birth occurred in Worcester county. He, too, was an agriculturist and removed to Frank- lin county, Massachusetts, where he died in 1845. at the age of fifty-nine years. His wife was also a native of Worcester county and bore the maiden name of Naomi Gray. and was a daughter of Ebenezer Gray, who valiantly served his country in the Revolu- tionary war. He was known as Deacon Gray, from connection with the office of
deacon in the Congregational church. Mrs. Adams was born in 1782 and they were mar- ried about 1816. Mr. Adams had been previously married, but his first wife lived only a short time and left no children. There were four sons and three daughters born of the second marriage.
Samuel Holden Adams, the fourth in order of birth, received a good common- school education and at the age of seven- teen began learning the cabinet-maker's trade in Brattleboro, Vermont. Ile only served for four months, but at the expiration of that period he was enabled to make bu- reaus and other articles of furniture. He afterward engaged in house building in Massachusetts for three years, and in the spring of 1848 he went to Oberlin, Ohio, where he was married on the 13th of Sep- tember, of that year to Miss Caroline Matthews, a native of Vermont, born in 1820. They became the parents of four children: Lucy, the eldest, married Solo- mon Irwin, and died when about forty years of age, leaving two children-Edward .\., who has a family of four children, and Carrie F., the wife of Don Nichols, and both are residents of this section of Iowa. Nancy O. died at the age of ten and a half years. Lucelia died on the 14th of March, 1854. and her grave was the first made in the Tabor cemetery. Samuel F. died very suddenly of heart disease. October 12. 1900, at the age of forty-five years, and left a wife and four children who are residents of Fremont county. The mother of this fami- ly passed away in 1878. at the age of fifty- seven years, and in 1879 Mr. Adams was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Ann ( Wolfenden ) Watson, a widow, who was born in Lancashire, England. in
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1833. A daughter of her first marriage is Carrie, the widow of Andrew Obladen, by whom she had six children, four of whom are yet living.
Mr. Adams entered upon his business career in Fremont county thirty-one years ago. This was in 1869-the year of the total eclipse of the sun. He is now the proprietor of one of the leading furniture houses and undertaking establishments in this portion of the state and has a large and liberal patronage which has come to him in recognition of his reasonable prices, fair dealing and his earnest desire to please his patrons. He has been a liberal sup- porter and warm adovcate of the Tabor College and he it was who in 1900 laid the cornerstone of the new building which bears his name. He realizes the value and importance of education, and does all in his power to advance its interests.
D. B. NIMS.
The subject of this sketch, D. B. Nims, is a prominent resident of Deer Creek town- ship, Mills county, Iowa, and is one of the proprietors of the well known stock farm of Cedar Lawn, whose products are celebrated all over the United States. Mr. Nims was born in 1845, near Princeton, Bureau coun- ty, Illinois, and was the son of Eli B. and Emily C. (Brainard) Nims. He was reared on the farm, received a good common-school education and entered into farming and stock-raising in Mills county, Iowa, in 1874, in connection with his brother, John W. Nims.
Since locating at this place Mr. Nims has bent every energy toward making Cedar Lawn a model stock farm, and his success
has been most encouraging. He is a man of penetration and good judgment, who has educated himself thoroughly on the lines of his chosen business and understands it in every detail. His reading is extensive, and every work of merit that is published concerning stock and agriculture finds its way to his already fine library. He and his brother in 1876 originated and developed the Legal Tender Yellow Dent seed corn, since which time they have obtained the first prize medal and diploma for it at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1893, the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha, in 1898, and the Paris Exposi- tion in 1900. They are also extensively and successfully engaged in the raising of Po- land China hogs, which they first put upon the market in 1889.
Mr. Nims was married to Miss Jane Le- vi, a sister of his brother's wife, Mrs. J. W. . Nims, and to them have been born: Mrs. May Zaelke, Mrs. Edna Knight, Mrs. Orra J. Shaw, Mrs. Cora Shaw, Henry and Archie. Orra and Cora are twin sisters and married brothers-Frank and Charles Shaw. Mr. Nims has taken a deep interest in politics at various times, is a stanch Republican and has served as township trustee and also as justice of the peace. He is now vice- president of the Iowa Seed Corn Breeders' Association. The religious connection is with the Asbury Methodist church, and the family enjoy the esteem and respect of their friends and members of the community. The name and fame of Cedar Lawn stock farm is not confined to this locality, ship- ments being made to nearly every state in the Union and also to Europe. The business has been established and carried on by the application and energy of the Messrs. Nims,
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and to them belong the credit of one of the most complete and satisfactory enter- prises of Mills county.
ARTHUR MCCLAIN.
A prominent citizen and veteran of the Civil war, now residing in Indian Creek township. Mills county, Iowa, is Arthur McClain, the subject of this sketch. He is a son of John and Mary ( Stephenson ) Mc- Clain, and was born in Knox county, Ohio. The parents of our subject settled first in that county, and in 1853 moved to Indiana. our subject being then about fifteen years old. The mother of our subject was born in Ohio, and died there when about thirty- three years old. leaving six children, who in turn married and had families of their own. The paternal grandfather was Ar- thur McClain, and his wife was a native of Pennsylvania, who passed her last days in Knox county, Ohio. The maternal grandparents of our subject were John and Ann Stephenson, the former of whom was born in Ireland, and came to America when he was about fourteen years old. This was a pioneer family in Ohio.
In 1866, our subject was married to Miss Caroline Murray, a daughter of Alex- ander and Mary A. ( Wyman) Murray. the former of whom was born in Schenec- tady, New York, in 1805, and died in Liv- ingston county, in that state, in 1861, having been engaged in farming all his life. The mother of Mrs. McClain was born in Gene- see county, same state, four of her family of five children surviving. Mrs. McClain's paternal grandparents were James and Nel- lic (Thompson) Murray, natives of New York, who lived and died there, and her
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