USA > Iowa > Mills County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 69
USA > Iowa > Fremont County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 69
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of the party since casting his first presi- dential vote for General Benjamin Harrison. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity in Sidney. In addi- tion to his banking interests he manages his wife's farming property and his own real- estate investments. His success has been the result of honest, persistent effort in the line of honorable and manly dealing. His aims have always been to attain to the best, and he has carried forward to successful completion whatever he has undertaken. His life has marked a steady growth, and now he is in possession of an ample com- petence, and more than all he has that con- tentment that comes from a consciousness of having lived for a noble purpose.
ROBERT L. ESTES.
A successful farmer and cattle-raiser. of Sidney, Fremont county, Iowa. who owns one of the finest tracts of cultivated land in Sidney township, is Robert L. Estes, the subject of this sketch. He was born in this township and county, in 1867. a son of the Hon. F. M. Estes, who is an influential and prominent citizen of the county. well known throughout the state. The latter is a native of Missouri, who resides on a fine farm in the northern part of this township.
The marriage of our subject took place on September 30, 1888, when he wedded Miss Mary Kauble, a daughter of Jacob Kauble, and a native of Missouri. Three children-Woodson, Lee and Wilbur-have been born of this union. Lee and Wilbur are deceased.
A prominent and active member of the Democratic party, our subject has filled some
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of the local offices and for several terms dis- charged the duties of justice of the peace in Sidney township. Both he and his wife are valued and consistent members of the united Brethren church, and are esteemed by all their acquaintances.
LYNN K. MASON.
The subject of this sketch. Lynn K. Mason, well represents the business of life insurance, in Hastings, Iowa. He was born in Madison county, New York, in 1850. He was a son of Levi and Emily ( Ham- 11011) Mason, the former of whom could trace his ancestry directly back to the found- er of his family, Sampson Mason, the line being .- Levi, Ezra, Isaac, Oliver, Isaac, and Sampson, who settled in Dorchester, Massa- chusetts, in 1649. This seventeenth-century ancestor served under the great Cromwell in the parliamentary army during the stormy days of the English Revolution. He left Dorchester and became a man of prominence and wealth in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and his name appears in the list of founders of the town of Swansea, Massachusetts. The family has grown and is widely scattered, many of them influential in all walks of life
Among those may be mentioned Pelatialı Mason, a collateral ancestor, who served in the Revolutionary war. The late Judge Oliver P. Mason, of Lincoln, Nebraska, a distinguished jurist, was an uncle of our subject ; and Senator William E. Mason. of Illinois, is a member of this family. One of the brothers of our subject, Arthur H., was a soldier of the Civil war. Almost all of the paternal ancestors have been engaged in professional life, and our subject's father
was a man of culture and influence in his old home in Oneida county, New York, his death taking place in Hawarden. Iowa, in 1893. and the mother dying in Oneida coun- ty, New York.
Mr. Mason, of this sketch, received his education in New York state, where he at- tended excellent schools. He was married in Clayville. Oneida county, New York, in 1872, to Miss Ida Mason, whom he has but lately discovered to be a sixth cousin. She was the daughter of George L. Mason, who was born in Connecticut and died in Cali- fornia, where he had gone with the gold hunters in 1849. Mrs. Mason, the mother of Mrs. Lynn Mason, had been Miss Amanda White, who is a native of New York and now a resident of Hastings, a beloved and charming lady of eighty-four years who is an inmate of the home of our subject. The great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Mason was the Pelatiah Mason mentioned in the earlier part of this sketch. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Mason are Ruth M., George L., Ina L., Walter H. and Helen K.
After marriage our subject brought his bride to Iowa on a wedding trip, coming im- mediately to Mills county. For five years he was employed as bookkeeper for E. P. Bosbyshell, one of the old merchants of Hastings, and later became interested in the grain business, at which he continued for fifteen years. Mr. Mason has done some farming and his dealt largely in land, but whatever he undertakes is well done. He has always been a man of affairs, keeping up an active interest in commercial life and lias been recognized as an important factor in the business circles of Hastings. Several years ago he entered into the life insurance business and through his wide and influential
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acquaintance with the citizens of south- western lowa, he has been very successful. writing two hundred and fifty thousand dol- lars worth of insurance per year.
In politics Mr. Mason takes an inde- pendent attitude. Hle inherited Democratic principles, but four years since voted the Republican ticket on account of its finan- cial features. He is a fine example of the good, wholesome American citizen, sound in mind and body. He devotes his vacations to fishing, photography and hunting, taking a great pleasure in the latter. He has hunt- ed large game in the far west and at his pleasant home in Hastings has many tro- phies of his success in that direction.
Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational church, to which he has been a conscientious contributor of time and means.
JAMES L. BELLATTI.
James L. Bellatti, of Glenwood, was formerly connected with the farming inter- ests of Mills county and the years of his active toil brought to him a comfortable competence. He is now numbered among the leading business men of Glenwood, being an active factor as a stockholder and di- rector in some of the leading manufacturing and financial concerns of that city.
Mr. Bellatti was born in England, Oc- tober 24. 1848, his parents being Charles and Ann ( Gurten ) Bellatti. The father was a native of Newark, Nottinghamshire, Eng- land, and followed the pursuit of gilding frames. He came to the United States about 1849, taking up his abode in Morgan county, Illinois, his death occurring when he was eighty years of age. in Jacksonville.
Illinois. His widow is still living in Jack- sonville, Illinois. She was the mother of seventeen children, of whom twelve are yet living.
In his boyhood days James L. Bellatti acquired a district-school education and as- sisted in the work of the home farm until twenty-one years of age, when he started out in life on his own account. Whatever success he has achieved is attributable en- tirely to his own efforts. On the 21st of December. 1873. Mr. Belatti was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Williams, who was born in Holt county, Missouri, a daugh- ter of John F. and Nancy M. ( Dodge) Williams. The paternal grandparents of Mrs. Bellatti were Shrewsbury and Elizabeth ( Ramsey ) Williams, both natives of Wales. They came to the United States with their respective parents and the latter died at the home of our subject, when but sixty-two years of age, while the former died in Mis- souri, at the age of eighty years. The mater- nal grandparents of Mrs. Bellatti were Levi and Sarah ( Hersey) Dodge, and the great- grandparents were Edward and Lorena (Goulde ) Dodge. The former was a Revo- lutionary soldier who served with the rank of lieutenant, and Mrs. Bellatti now has his discharge papers, and thus she is eligible to membership in the society of the Daughters of the Revolution. The father of Mrs. Bellatti was born July 22, 1822, in Frank- lin county, West Virginia. In his child- hood he accompanied his parents on their removal to Clay county, Missouri, and there attended the subscription schools. Later he assisted his father in the operation of a ferry on the Missouri river, and remained in Clay county until nineteen years of age, when he went to St. Louis and obtained a position
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in a lumber yard. A year later he removed to Holt county, where he secured a claim. On the 4th of July, 1847, he enlisted in Company C, of the Oregon Battalion, and thus faithfully served during the war with Mexico, until November 8, 1848, when he was discharged at Fort Leavenworth. On the 29th of April, 1849, he started on an overland trip to California, but in 1851 he returned to Holt county, Missouri. In 1862 he became a resident of Fremont county, Iowa, and in 1864 went to Nebraska City, where he engaged in the mercantile business for a year, after which he located in Lyons township, Mills county, Iowa. In 1867 he purchased the Phoenix Mills and a year later located on a farm adjoining, there becoming the owner of six hundred and eighty acres of land. He gave to each of his children a good home.
Judge Williams was married April 16, 1845, to Miss Sarah Keeney, a native of Tennessee, and they had one child, Sarah. The mother died in December, 1847, and he again married, March 6, 1852, his second union being with Miss Nancy Minerva Dodge, of Marietta, Ohio, who was a daugh- ter of Levi and Sarah (Hersey) Dodge. Seven children were born to them, four of whom are living, namely : Lethey E., Mary A., Elvira E., and John F. He was again married, in January. 1870, when Mrs. Louisa J. Phipps became his wife. By her he had four children : Alpha, Elizabeth, Shrewsbury and Fanny. The Judge was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Christian church, in which he served as elder for many years. He has filled numerous official positions, having been three times elected county judge of Holt
county, Missouri. He died at the age of nearly seventy-five vears.
Throughout the greater part of his busi- ness career Mr. Bellatti carried on agricult- ural pursuits and his capable management and practical efforts brought to him pros- perity. He is now the owner of two hun- dred and seventy acres of land, although when he came to the county he had but ten dollars. He made his first money in this county by teaching school, following the profession through a period of four years. He then became identified with agricultural interests and as a tiller of the soil found profit in his labor of plowing, planting and harvesting. In the latter years of his life his financial resources have increased, he has made judicious investments along other lines and is now interested in manufacturing and financial concerns in Glenwood and Emer- son. Such a history should be a stimulus to others who are forced to depend upon their own exertions, for it shows what may be accomplished through resolute will, laud- able ambition and unfaltering industry. Since casting his first presidential vote he has supported the Democracy. The honors of public office are of no attraction to him, as he prefers to give his time and attention to his business affairs, in which he has met with creditable success.
JOSIAH WEARIN.
More than a century ago George Wash- ington said that farming is the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation to which man devotes his energies. Through- out the ages history has demonstrated the fact that it forms the basis of all business
THE NEW A NG PUPIL % /HT
ASIC. - APEL AND SILLYV PUJADASLUXE
Josiah Wearin
Olive Wearin .
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BIOGR.IPHIC.IL HISTORY.
activity and that the country is most pros- perous which has for the foundation of its business affairs extensive and important agricultural interests. It is agriculture which has placed Iowa in its present high position among the sister states of the nation, and one of the leading representatives of this line of work through many years was Josiah Wearin, an honored pioneer of Mills county, where he became the owner of extensive landed interests and of large herds of stock. In the control of his business he not only promoted his individual success but also added to the general prosperity by improving the grade of stock and thus increasing its market value. His life history illustrates most forcibly the power of industry and capable management and the potency of hon- orable dealing in the active affairs of life.
Mr. Wearin was born in what is now West Virginia, May 2, 1824, his parents being Michael and Mary (Coe) Wearin. His father was a native of Virginia, but died in Mills county, Iowa, at the age of eighty-one years, while the mother was a native of Ohio and died in that state at the early age of thirty-seven. When our sub- ject was a little lad of three summers hie removed with his parents to Ohio and ac- quired his education in the primitive schools of that day. Later he became a resident of Porter county, Indiana. Thinking to better his financial condition in the far west, he left Indiana in March, 1850, upon an overland trip to California, making the jour- ney in a wagon. He had only sixty dollars in money when he started upon what was to prove to him a prosperous trip. The first stop which he made for any length of time was at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the second at Salt Lake City, Utah. At those places 33
he obtained employment and when he had thus replenished his depleted exchequer he proceeded on his way, reaching the Golden state in the autumn of 1850, after many ex- citing incidents and many narrow escapes. On several occasions he almost lost his life. While in California he engaged in teaming, also in buying and selling live stock, which was a very profitable industry at that time, and in little more than three years he had managed to save from his earnings seven thousand dollars.
With that sum Mr. Wearin returned to Indiana in 1854. making the journey by way of the water route. The same year-after his return-he induced his brothers to come to Mills county, Iowa, and gave them instruc- tion where to locate land, which they secured northwest of the present town of Hastings. For a few years after their arrival, Otha Wearin made his home with his brother Josiah and his wife, and when Otha was married Josiah divided with him all his- lands, stock and farming implements. While Mr. Wearin was in California his wife raised white beans and threshed them out on an old overcoat in order to sell them and thus obtain money to pay the taxes on their In- chana land. having a tax title deed for one hundred and twenty acres, a part of which was afterward redeemed. When she re- ceived letters from her husband, it was cus- tomary for the receiver to pay the postage. which oftentimes amounted to forty cents. If it happened that a letter was received in the evening, as she had no candles or grease to burn in a lamp, she would whittle pine shay- ings, which she would light upon a hearth. and by the fire wouldl read the much-prized missive. During his residence in California Mr. Wearin suffered from mountain fever.
.
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small pox and the measles. The winter of 1858 was a very cold one. He rented a little one-horse water sawmill four miles distant from the place he lived. One cold morning on arriving at the mill he found that everything was frozen and in attempt- ing to pry the drive wheel loose with a crow- bar, the bar slipped and cut a hole clear through his cheek. He was then carried into a house near by, the people believing that he was dead; but soon he showed signs of life and ultimately recovered.
In 1855 Mr. Wearin took up his abode upon a tract of land which his brothers had entered in Iowa. During the winter of 1855-56 he and his family resided in a log cabin of one room, 15x15 feet. When night came and it was time to retire they had to put their chairs out doors in order that they might place the trundle bed in the vacant space. There were nine persons living in the little cabin, which was located in Mud Creek Grove. In April, 1856, however, they removed to a better house upon the farm where Mrs. Wearin now resides. As the years passed the comforts and conveniences ·of civilization were added to their home, but when they came here everything was wild and new, few settlements having been made upon the broad prairies, the greater part of the land being still in its primitive condition. The houses were long distances apart and the pioneers had to depend almost entirely upon what they raised in order to supply the table. Many trials and hardships had to be borne, but with great fortitude these sturdy early settlers met circumstances as they were, do- ing everything possible to improve their en- vironments as the years passed. During the Civil war a party of men, claiming to be Union advocates, came to the Wearin home,
armed with revolvers, and took away three of their mules which they drove to St. Jo- seph, Missouri; but Mr. Wearin followed them alone, stood a lawsuit, pleaded his own case-and won it-and brought the three mules back with him.
As a result of the energetic and deter- mined labor of Mr. Wearin he was enabled to add to his property from time to time, and when called to his final rest he was the owner of seven thousand acres of land in Mills county, and since he has passed away the estate has been increased to about eight thousand acres. Mr. Wearin always fol- lowed agricultural pursuits and his life was a striking contradiction of the statement that the farmer in the business of improving his land cannot acquire a fortune. He gave his whole life to earnest labor in the line of tilling the soil and raising stock, placed his fields under a high state of cultivation and in the autumn was enabled to gather rich harvests. In his pastures he placed good grades of cattle, horses and hogs, and in his stock-raising venture he found that he had made a profitable investment of his capital. He did much to improve the grade of stock and thus his labors were of much benefit to his community. His best thought and the greater part of his time was untiringly de- voted to his work and thereby he was en- abled to provide handsomely for his family and leave them a very valuable estate. He was certainly a recognized leader in agri- cultural circles in the great state of Iowa.
On the 3d of September, 1848, Mr. Wearin was united in marriage to Miss Olive Smith, who was born eleven miles west of Rochester, New York, in 1828, and is a daughter of James F. and Inda (Durby) Smith. Her father was a native of the
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Empire state, her mother of New Hamp- shire, and in the pioneer days of Michigan they removed to that commonwealth and thence to Indiana. also becoming pioneers of the latter state, where they both died. For many years the father conducted a tavern and was a well known and leading factor in the communities in which he conducted busi- ness in the early days. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wearin have been born seven children, of whom five are yet living, namely: Mrs. Frances M. Benton, Adelbert J., Mrs. Co- loma Hyde, Inda A., now Mrs. Coffman, and Mrs. Ida M. Fickel. The two daugh- ters who have passed away are Olive and Flora.
Mr. Wearin was killed in a railroad ac- cident November 8, 1881, at St. Charles. Missouri, while on his way with six car- loads of cattle for the Boston market. For a number of years he had been vice-president of the Mills National Bank, of Malvern, lowa. In his political views he was a Demo- crat. and was a citizen of worth and relia- bility who withheld not his support from any measure or movement which he believed would contribute to the general good. All men recognized his worth and honored him for his fidelity to duty and to the right. He was one of the valued residents of Mills county and well deserves prominent mention in this history. Since his death the large estate has been managed by his son, Adelbert J., aided by the wise counsel of Mrs. Wearin, the mother, who is a woman of distinctive business ability, of remarkably keen discern- ment and reliable sagacity. They have car- ried on the work largely along the lines in- stituted by the husband and father, continu- ing the labors of improvement, as evidence.1 by the erection of a handsome residence.
which was built at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. Mrs. Wearin, who is now in the seventy-third year of her age, is a woman of remarkable energy and resolution. She has been a pioneer of three states-Michigan. Indiana and lowa-and has witnessed with deep interest the progress made in the Miss- issippi valley, bearing her part in a quiet but no less important manner than did the pio- neer husband and father. Notwithstanding her busy and active life she is still remark- ably well preserved and could easily pass for a woman ten or fifteen years younger. She enjoys fancy needle work and makes many beautiful articles, her proficiency being equal to almost any one in the county along that line. She keeps well informed on the ques- tions of general interest concerning the neighborhood and the nation, has a genial. sunny disposition and is very popular with her acquaintances. She holds membership in the Presbyterian church and contributes liberally to its support. She is one of the wealthy women of southwestern Iowa and has ever capably controlled her extensive interests. Her history is one which con- tains many entertaining chapters, owing to her connection with pioneer events in three of the great commonwealths of the nation.
AMOS E. COOK.
The man who achieves success in the legal profession is even more strictly the "architect of his own fortunes" than is the average self-made business man, there be- ing in the keen competitions of the lawyer's life, with its constantly recurring mental duel between eager and determined antag- onists, no chance for the operation of in- fluences which may be called to the aid of
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the merchant, the manufacturer or the financier. Among the men of Mills county who have demonstrated their abilities in this difficult field Amos E. Cook holds a leading place, and his history affords an in- teresting example of ambition rightly direct- ed and pursued with a zeal which over- comes all obstacles.
Claiming Iowa as his native state he was born on a farm near Salem, Henry county. March 10, 1859, and is a son of Obediah H. and Elizabeth Cook, now resi- dents of Salem, Iowa. The father was a native of Ohio, while the mother was born in New Jersey.
During his boyhood our subject pursued his studies in the district schools near his home, and later attended Whittier College at Salem, obtaining the principal part of his education in the winter schools, while dur- ing the summer he aided in the work of the farm, like the average farmer boy. He en- tered the law department of the Iowa Uni- versity, where he was graduated in the class of 1881. Returning home he remained un- der the parental roof for about a year, and then went to Page county, Iowa, where the following two years were passed. In March, 1886, he came to Malvern, and has since successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession at this place.
In June, 1885, Mr. Cook was married in Page county to Miss Florence Rice, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of .A. T. Rice. By this union were born two sons, Carroll- ton and Kenneth. Although Mrs. Cook has been an invalid for some time she bears her suffering's with true Christian fortitude, and is a lady of most lovable disposition and noble character.
Since casting his first presidential vote
for James A. Garfield, Mr. Cook has been identified with the Republican party, and has taken an active and prominent part in political affairs. He has filled many local of- fices, and in 1898 was elected county attorney of Mills county, in which capacity he is now serving his fellow citizens in a most credit- able and acceptable manner. He is a man of deep research and careful investigation, and his skill and ability have won for him a liberal patronage. Socially he stands high, and is an honored member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his family hold mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
GRANT NEELEY.
A prominent agriculturist and successful stock-raiser of Fremont county, Iowa, is Grant Neeley, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Scott township, this county, January 31, 1864, and was a son of Jesse Walker Neeley, born in Pike county, Illi- nois, in 1823, and his father was Henry Neeley, a farmer of the same county, where he died at the age of sixty. Two children of our subject's grandparents are living- George Neeley, who is a resident of Okla- homa, and Mrs. Ellen Lisle, who is a resi- dent of Pike county, Illinois.
Jesse W. Neeley crossed the plains to Cal- ifornia in 1851, going to the gold mines from his Illinois home, but after two years of mining and other labor in the west he came to Iowa. Probably his time of location in this state was 1857, and all his worldly goods consisted of a horse and an ox team, with one hundred and fifty dollars. Ten years later Mr. Neeley disposed of his prop-
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