USA > Iowa > Mills County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 73
USA > Iowa > Fremont County > A biographical history of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa > Part 73
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service in its behalf while serving as school director. Socially he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have a pleasant home and his labors enable. him now to enjoy all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. The household is celebrated for its gracious hospitality, which is enjoyed by their large circle of friends.
ANDREW HYDRINGER.
"The affairs of life hinge upon confi- dence." The truth of this adage of experi- ence is more forcibly demonstrated in the business of banking than in any other oc- cupation. and is truly applicable to the sub- ject of this sketch, who is the president of the State Bank of Hamburg. He is a man of known integrity. of ample means and might and most appropriately may be desig- nated as one of the most prominent and sub- stantial representatives of financial and ag- ricultural interests in Fremont county, by reason of his long connection with these lines of enterprise and his intimate identifi- cation with the progress and material inter- ests of the locality. One whose intelligence, energy and discernment prove sufficiently potent to carry him from a position of ob- scurity to one of high order in the estima- tion of those who direct the material indus- tries of any land or any nation, and to insure his advancement by individual effort from a point where is represented practically no financial resources to that which defines large accumulations and indubitable influ- ence. is certainly deserving of that honor- able and often misapplied title. "a self-made man." Such is the subject of this review.
Mr. Hydringer has been a resident of the
county since 1867. He was born in Ohio county, West Virginia, in the city of Wheel- ing, April 15, 1837, and is a representative of one of the distinguished families of France noted for its patriotism and bravery. His grandfather, Colonel Joseph Hydringer, served as an aid on the staff of General Bonaparte and was present at the burning of Moscow. He proved a most gallant officer, and after the war he came to the United States, but subsequently returned to his na- tive land and by the government was granted a pension. He died in France, at the very advanced age of one hundred and thirteen years.
Joseph Hydringer, Jr., a son of the Col- onel and the father of our subject, was reared in France, and for seven years served under Louis Philippe in the wars of Europe. In early life he became an engineer, but after- ward learned gardening and followed that vocation for a livelihood. He married Eliz- abeth Stepherney. of France, who had one uncle and a brother who participated in the battle of Moscow and witnessed the burn- ing of the city. Unto Joseph Hydringer and his wife were born four sons and two daugh- ters, namely: Andrew, of this review; Jo- seph, of Wheeling, West Virginia ; William, who served for three years in the Civil war, winning a brilliant military record and is now a resident of Hamburg; Jacob, who is living in Hamburg : Mrs. Mary A. Harding, who resides in Wheeling, West Virginia; and Mrs. Louisa King, also of that city. It was along in the '30s that Joseph Hydinger came to the new world. After becoming an American citizen he gave his political support to the Democracy, being affiliated with that party until his death, which oc- curred when he was seventy-three years of
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age. Ilis wife was a member of the Catholic church and reared her children in that faith.
Andrew Hydringer spent the days of his childhood and youth in Wheeling, assisting his father, and was early taught lessons of industry, economy and honesty. His school privileges were limited, but experience and observation have made him a well-informed man. In 1862 he went to the far west. spending three years in mining and ranch- ing in the territory of Idaho. He afterward resided for two years in Montana, where he followed the same pursuits, and in 1867 he came to Fremont county, Iowa, where he has since been an active factor in business affairs. He has dealt extensively in real estate, pur- chased lands, erected houses and improved his property, making judicious investments and profitable sales. He yet owns consider- able valuable realty in Hamburg and has always had great faith in the development and future of this city. As his financial re- sources have increased he has loaned money and in this way has promoted the material prosperity of the country by enabling many men to carry on business when otherwise they would not have had the means to make the venture. He to-day owns a large and valuable farm of eighteen hundred acres near the city. It is well-improved with sub- stantial dwellings, good barns, sheds and cribs. There are rich pastures of clover and blue grass and highly cultivated fields. The place is well-watered and all accessories and conveniences of a model farm are there found. In addition Mr. Hydringer owns thirty-five hundred acres of land in Boone county, Nebraska, and has a herd of four hundred and fifty head of cattle upon the place. In 1896 he became the president of the State Bank of Hamburg, and the suc-
ces- of this institution is attributable in a large measure to the safe and conservative business policy which he inaugurated. Be- hind it stand men of well-known financial strength, and the business methods are ever in accord with commercial ethic -.
In 1868 Mr. Hydringer was united in marriage to Elizabeth G. Lloyd, a lady of culture, intelligence and true worth, now holding membership in the Methodist Epis- copal church. To her husband she has in- deed been a faithful companion and help- meet. Her father was John Lloyd, of Penn- sylvania. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hydringer, of whom six are living, namely: Katie, now the wife of W. S. Ilill, of Omaha, Nebraska; Louisa, the wife of Willard James, of Hamburg : Lena, the wife of Louis Rees, also of Hamburg; Florence, the wife of Dr. Morrill, of Howe, Nebraska ; Estelle and Frank Floyd, who are al home. They also lost one son, Andrew, who died when thirteen months old.
Mr. Hydringer was reared in the Dem- ocratic faith and has been one of the rec- ognized leaders of Hamburg. He served as a trustee of Franklin township. Fremont county, for ten years, has been a member of the city council and for four years filled the office of mayor, his administration be- ing at all times commendable, for he mani- fests most loyal interest in the welfare and advancement of the city along lines of sub- stantial progress and improvement. He is a man of excellent business and executive ability and these qualities have been mani- fested in the discharge of his public duties as well as in the conduct of his agricultural and financial interests. Ile is a man of strong individuality and vital force. as is evi- dent in the success which he has attained by
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his own efforts. He has a broad mental grasp and an unerring judgment in regard to men. Tenacious of his ideas, he has them thoroughly fortified and can defend his po- sition where there is need, but he is ever ready to accord a courteous reception to the opinions of others, and his genuine human- itarianism is shown in the popularity in which he is held in the community where he has so long resided. He started out for himself empty-handed and in his career has inet with many obstacles and disadvantages, such as would have caused many a man of less resolute spirit to falter and perhaps to fail: but through all he has pressed steadily forward to the goal and has achieved the fortune for which he was striving. Through all he has been honorable and upright, never swerving from the narrow path of strict duty and rectitude, and by his systematic busi- ness methods and attention to all details he has become one of the most prominent and prosperous citizens of Hamburg.
JAMES C. JACKSON.
Among the prominent business men of Silver City, Iowa, is the subject of the pres- ent review, James Campbell Jackson. He was born in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, January 24, 1851, a son of Robert Jackson. a native of the same county, who was born in 1812 and died in Washington county, in 1894. Mr. Jackson traces his lin- eage farther back. his grandparents, Andrew and Margaret Jackson, long having been residents of Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, where they died at the advanced age of ninety, leaving many descendants. The name of the mother of our subject was Mar- garet Snodgrass, she also passing away com-
paratively early, at the age of fifty-five, leav- ing only three survivors of a family of five children, our subject and his sister Lyda, now the wife of L. McCorrell, of Washing- ton, Pennsylvania, who has one son. Mr. Jackson lost a sister, Keziah, at the age of eight years, and one babe died in infancy. His brother died thirteen years ago.
Mr. Jackson was reared on the Pennsyl- vania farm, but was not able to take ad- vantage of educational opportunities as much as he would have enjoyed, on account of a weakness of the eyes. He remained with his parents until his marriage, in 1875, to a most accomplished and intelligent lady, Miss Mary Denman, of Amity, Washington coun- ty, Pennsylvania, a daughter of J. W. and Mary (McDonald) Denman. Mr. and Mrs. Denman reared three children, Mrs. Jackson and her brother Austin being the survivors. The latter is a highly educated man, who graduated at Washington and Jefferson Col- lege in Pennsylvania, and is now a minister of the gospel in a Presbyterian church in New York.
James C. Jackson was engaged in mer- chandising in Washington, Pennsylvania, until 1888, when he removed to Silver City and engaged in his present business, that of undertaking and conducting a livery. He is fully equipped for any call that may be made upon him in that locality, having fif- teen head of horses and seven double-seated carriages, with other conveniences. To- gether with his other lines, Mr. Jackson en- gages in some real-estate dealings, owning considerable property himself.
Mrs. Jackson is a lady of superior at- tainments, having received a fine education in her native state. The only child in this family, Lydia, is the widow of N. J. Van
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Kirk, of this place, and she has a beautiful little daughter of six years, born in 1895. Mrs. Van Kirk has a musical education and a well cultivated soprano voice of great sweetness.
In politics Mr. Jackson is a Republican, firm in his convictions. Socially he is very popular in several fraternal associations, a Master Mason of five years' standing, a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodman.
WILLIAM H. DOYLE.
William H. Doyle occupies the okdl family homestead, comprising one hundred and six- ty acres of the rich land of Mills county, and his home in Glenwood is an ideal loca- tion. The house is a well-built brick struc- ture, surrounded by fruit and shade trees and is very homelike and hospitable in ap- pearance. For almost a half century Will- iam H. Doyle has been a resident of Mills county, the date of his arrival here being 1852.
A native of Indiana, Mr. Doyle was born in the year 1845, and is a representative of one of the old southern families. His pater- nal grandfather was born and died in North Carolina, and his wife, who also was a na- tive of that state, spent her last days in In- diana. Adam Doyle, the father of our sub- ject, was born in North Carolina, and after arriving at years of maturity he wedded Miss Sarah Moore, a native of Indiana. A farmer by occupation, he carefully prosecuted his labors along that line and thus provided a comfortable living for his family. In 1850 he determined to seek a home in the west and removed from Indiana to Missouri, where he resided until 1852, the year of lis arrival in Center township, Mills coun-
ty. lowa. He purchased a claim of one hun- Gred and sixty acres from some Mormons who had encamped here by consent of the government, having made a temporary stay in this part of Iowa on their way from Nan- voo, Illinois, to their ultimate destination in Utah. Mills county was very wild at that time. There were not only no railroads but also no wagon roads, and it was the custom to travel anywhere across the country, tak- ing the most convenient and easy route be- tween the hills that would allow one to reach his destination. The land was unclaimed and in consequence uncultivated, and the work of improvement and development seemed scarcely begun. Mr. Doyle, however, with resolute purpose assumed the task of develop- ing a farm, and in the midst of the forest were soon seen rich fields of waving grain. He spent his remaining days upon the old family homestead, dying in 1872, at the age of fifty-six years. Of the children of his family one died in Missouri : Elizabeth Du- Toe is living in Denver : Jane Leek is a resi- aent of this county; James makes his home in Denver ; and Mrs. Ellen Thomas is living near Hillsdale, Iowa.
William H. Doyle, the other member of the family, received good educational priv- ileges. He was only seven years of age at the time of the arrival of the family in Mills county, and amid the wild scenes of frontier life he spent his boyhood days. He attended the district schools until he had mastered the branches taught therein and afterward spent a year at Tabor ( lowa) College, a splendid institution of learning founded by the New England Congregationalists in 1850. It has graduated some of the leading men of this state and of the west. Mr. Doyle was a student there during the scholastic
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year of 1861-2. In ISSI he was united in marriage to Miss Rettie Binkley, a native of Ohio, in which state her father also was born. The marriage occurred in Mills coun- ty and has been blessed with the following named: Bertha, who is now a student at College View, in Lincoln, Nebraska; Nellie; Frances and Edward, both deceased; Bernie and Gracie. The living members of the family are bright and interesting children, ambitions to seek good education, and it is the intention of the parents that they have superior advantages in that line, thus fitting them for life's practical duties.
Mr. Doyle has ever been a public-spirited citizen, and at the time of the Civil war he manifested his loyalty to the government by entering the Union army. In the fall after he left college he enlisted, at Glenwood, when only seventeen years of age, becoming a member of Company K of the Second Ne- braska Infantry in October, 1862. The regi- ment was organized for the purpose of fight- ing Indians, who were occasioning the gov- ernment great trouble. The forces were un- der the command of General Sully, in whose honor was named a fort in Montana that our subject aided to establish. They had sev- , eral hotly contested engagements with the Indians, and at the battle of White Stone Lake, in Dakota, thirty-two of their men were killed and eighty wounded, while the Indians suffered the loss of six hundred killed. Mr. Doyle was with his company under the command of General Sully for six- teen months, on the expiration of which period he was honorably discharged. The importance of this Indian campaign, al- though it is not mentioned to any great ex- tent in the histories of the Civil war, can- not be overestimated, for had the Indians
of the west been allowed to continue in their course, life and liberty would have been ren- dered very unsafe to the residents of that portion of the country.
In his political views Mr. Doyle is a Prohibitionist. He is a man of strong moral courage, having high ideals concerning the duties of citizenship and of business and home life. He and his wife are members the Adventist church of Glenwood. They occupy the original family homestead of one hundred and sixty acres and have there a comfortable residence, its hospitality being enjoyed by their large circle of friends.
DAVID L. FOSTER.
A very prominent and progressive farmer residing in Fremont county, Iowa, is David L. Foster, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Nodaway county, Missouri, October II, 1860, and was a son of Thomas A. Foster, who was born in Kentucky in 1837, and died in Missouri in 1863, leaving a widow and two children, one of whom is Rosetta, the wife of Charles Wylie, a resi- dent of this township. Mrs. Foster mar- ried Jacob Drumm, but he died February 24, 1897, Mrs. Drumm still living in Scott township.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Henry Foster, who emigrated from Kentucky to Nodaway county, Missouri, at an early day and became possessed of much land, dying there in 1896, at the age of eighty-three. Our subject was reared by his grandfather from the age of five years until he was fourteen, going then to the home of his uncle Thomas, where he re- mained until he had attained his majority.
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He then started to gain his own livelihood, his capital consisting of a healthy body, strong hands and a stout heart. His first attempt was upon a farm, and later he went to Omaha, where employment was secured in a mineral-water factory for over three years. This was not easy work, but it was the best he could then find.
These years were not idle ones, for he saved enough out of his small salary to purchase his first fifty acres of land, which is a part of his present beautiful farm. This was in 1882, and the cash required was three hundred and fifty dollars; and it is safe to say that no money ever seemed so precious to our subject as this which he had saved with so much self-denial.
The marriage of Mr. Foster took place May 26, 1889, to Miss Elizabeth Allbritton, a daughter of Thomas Allbritton, a farmer who now resides in Washington. Our sub- ject began domestic life at this location, where his wife had lived, and began general farming and the raising of fine stock. Mr. Foster has a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres, having added to the original tract, and is now very successfully carry- ing on an extensive business. He owns Poland China hogs, many horses and dif- ferent grades of cattle, although he is pleased with the Hereford cattle, which he is engaged in breeding now, proposing to make this his leading strain.
The home life of Mr. Foster is a very pleasant one, his baby, a bright child, not yet having attained the first anniversary of its birthday, and the others being Ernest, May and Hazel, all intelligent and interest- ing children. In his political opinions Mr. Foster favors the Democratic party, but is a just man and disputes with no one, be- 35
lieving everybody entitled to his own opin- ion. He is also connected with the K. of P., where he is an active member. One of the principles upon which our subject has depended is that anything that is worth doing at all deserves to be well done; hence his success and prosperity.
THOMAS P. KAYTON.
An honored veteran of the Civil war and one of the most prominent and pros- perous farmers of White Cloud township, Mills county, lowa, is T. P. Kayton, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Vir- ginia in 1832, soon after which event his family emigrated to Indiana. His father was David Kayton, who was born in Vir- ginia in 1797. and died on December 25. 1876, in his seventy-ninth year. He was a cooper by trade, but also engaged in farm- ing. He had a very well-known brother who served with distinction in the war of 1812. Henry. John and Robert were the names of his brothers.
The mother of our subject was also a native of Virginia, and died in Iowa in 1866. Mr. and Mrs. David Kayton did not make a protracted stay in Indiana, but removed to Mills county, lowa, in 1856, settling on a farm in Anderson township. The facilities for obtaining an education were limited, but our subject, like many of the prominent men of the country, obtained a start in the common country schools and then did the rest himself, being, in a way, a self-made man. Ife learned the carpen- ter's trade in his youth, but his choice of occupation has been farming.
In October. 1861, Mr. Kayton enlisted in Company F, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, un-
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der Captain Blackmore, for service in the Union ranks during the Civil war, remain- ing until he was mustered out in 1864. His enlistment was at Glenwood, Iowa, from which place he went with his companions to Keokuk and thence to the historical Jef- ferson Barracks at St. Louis, Missouri. After three weeks the regiment to which he belonged was sent south and took part in one of the most memorable battles of the war, the battle of Shiloh. Mr. Kayton was one of the brave men who fought at Cor- inth, was one in the memorable siege of Vicksburg, and with his company made a raid into Louisiana, where he was stricken with fever and sent to the hospital at Vicks- burg. Being granted a furlough, our sub- ject started for home. On the expiration of his leave of absence he started to rejoin his regiment, but had a relapse and could proceed no further than St. Louis. He was then transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps. His regiment did not go to St. Louis the second time, but marched through Georgia to the seacoast with Sherman's army. After becoming a member of the reserve corps Mr. Kayton was sent to In- dianapolis, where he faithfully performed valuable service in guarding prisoners at the military prison. He remained at this place until the close of his term and was mustered out in the latter part of Novem- ber, 1864.
In 1869 our subject settled on eighty acres of land in White Cloud township, and has prospered and increased his possessions until now his farm consists of one hundred and thirty-eight acres of some of the best land in the county. The results of Mr. Kayton's industry are very evident in the great productiveness of the land and the
substantial improvements. He occupies a beautiful residence, surrounded with flow- ers and ornamental shrubbery, testifying to the refinement of its occupants.
Mr. Kayton married Miss Celia A. Rich- ardson, in Indiana. Her ancestors were of English descent, who had made a home in New York. One daughter is the only sur- viving child of Mr. and Mrs. Kayton, Ella C., the wife of George F. Salyers, who is a farmer and grain dealer in White Cloud township. The family of our subject are members of the Methodist church, and in all the neighborhood no family stands higher in public esteem.
While not a strict partisan in local af- fairs, our subject is a stanch Republican in national politics and votes and works with that party. Personally Mr. Kayton is a very popular man, his reputation being that of one of the best representatives of his section on account of his energy, justice and liberality.
GEORGE M. WATERMAN.
George M. Waterman, the editor and proprietor of the Fremont County Herald, published at Sidney, was born in Waupaca, Wisconsin, December 19, 1866, his parents being James M. and Emma L. Waterman, who removed from Wisconsin to Iowa in 1869 or 1870, locating in Hamburg. His father served as a soldier in the First Wis- consin Cavalry during the war of the Re- bellion. His parents now reside in Geary, Oklahoma. When he had attained the usual age our subject entered the primary school at Hamburg and advanced through the var- ious grades until he had completed the high- school course. He then accepted the posi-
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tion technically known as "devil" in the printing office of the Hamburg Republican on the 220 of May, 1881. AAfter serving an apprenticeship in this office he worked in various towns and states in the line of his profession, ultimately entering the employ of G. W. Gunnison, as foreman of the Fre- mont County Herald, at Sidney, in the spring of 1887. He continued in that posi- tion until February 7, 1895, when he pur- chased the office, having since published the paper. It is a wide-awake journal and de- voted to the interests of Democracy and to the dissemination of general and local news. Questions of public importance he treats in a fair and impartial manner, and his paper is a credit to the county which it represents as well as a source of profit to himself.
On the 8th of September, 1891. MI. Waterman was united in marriage, in Sid- ney, to Miss Maude Wilson, and unto them have been born four children: Marguerite, who was born October 23, 1892; Helen Louise, born October 4, 1894; Arminta, born May 25, 1898; and Joe Dwight, born March 29, 1900.
Socially Mr. Waterman is connected with Juanita Lodge, No. 227, K. of P., and with Frontier Lodge. No. 93, I. O. O. F., and also Sidney Encampment of the Odd Fellows order. He likewise has member- ship relations with Sidney Camp, No. 336, M. W. A., and has passed all of the chairs in the Knights of Pythias lodge and the Woodmen Camp, and has represented both in the grand lodge. He warmly espouses the cause of Democracy, doing all in his power to promote its growth and success. He is now serving as a member of the town council of Sidney, to which position he was elected in 1900 for a term of three years,
and also a member of the Sidney board of education, elected in igor for two years. He manifests a deep and abiding interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the city and to its development along social, material, intellectual 1 and moral lines. Through the columns of his paper he has championed many measures for the gen- eral good, and his influence has been marked in promoting the work of progress and im- provement.
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