USA > Iowa > Keokuk County > A genealogical and biographical history of Keokuk County, Iowa > Part 23
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Returning to this county Dr. Lawrence was married on Christmas day, 1867, to Miss Elizabeth Thomas, a daughter of W. W. Thomas, with whom he continued to engage in farming until 1873, when he took up the study of medicine. On the 3d of September, that year,, he went to Chicago and entered the Bennett Eclectic Medical College, 39
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where he was graduated in 1874 with the degree of M. D., and has since successfully engaged in the practice of his chosen profession at What Cheer.
By his first marriage Dr. Lawrence had six children, namely : Minnie M. is now the wife of William Palmer, a farmer of Tyler, Minne- sota, and has three children, Mildred, Ethel and the baby. Hode B., who is now clerking in What Cheer, married Amy Irwin of Keswick and has one son, Alton. Bert is at home with his parents. Charlie, a railroad man living in Madison, South Dakota, married Isabel Woolstoncroff and they have two daughters, Eunice and a baby. Daisy is the wife of Henry Thompson and has one son, Rufus. Frank married Maud Brainard and is now engaged in farming in Warren township, this county. The mother of these children died in 1892 and the Doctor was again mar- ried on the 8th of October, 1895, his second union being with Margaret Simpson. Fraternally he is a prominent Mason, belonging to Universe Lodge, No. 242, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Excelsior Chapter, No. 100. Royal Arch Mason, and politically he is identified with the Democratic party. A pleasant, genial gentleman, the Doctor wins friends wherever he goes, and is very popular with all classes of people.
IRVIN OGDEN.
What Cheer is the somewhat odd name of a pretty little town situated in Keokuk county, Iowa. It is on the branch of the Burling- ton, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad, twenty miles northeast of Oskaloosa, and is the center of an important mining industry, which adds considerable to the business prosperity of the town and surrounding country. Though not a place of great size What Cheer will compare
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favorably with places of larger population, as in addition to coal mining it has the benefit of vicinity to one of the finest agricultural sec- tions of the state, noted for its fertile land and abundant produce. Not the least interesting feature of this prairie town and certainly an im- portant aid to its enterprises is a newspaper called the Patriot, and the fact that it is published twice a week shows not only that it is appre- ciated but that it has an up-to-date editor and proprietor in charge. It is for the purpose of telling the readers of this volume something about this gentleman that this brief biography has been prepared, and its persual will disclose the leading events in his social and business life.
It was in the summer of 1867 that F. J. and M. C. Ogden, hus- band and wife, decided to leave their old home at Blooming Grove in Franklin county, Indiana, and seek better opportunities in the rapidly growing commonwealth of Iowa. They made the intervening distance by team, as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific was then the only railroad crossing Iowa, and it is needless to say that the journey was long and tedious. When they reached Keokuk county this little family of Hoosiers settled in Prairie township, which was. at that time a sparsely settled community thirty miles from any railroad and giving little promise of the bloming prosperity that has since come upon it as part of the greatest agricultural state in the Union. The parents arrived in July, 1867, and it was in September of the following fall that Irvin Ogden, their youngest son, was born. Though an occurrence of this kind is not usually regarded as sensational, it seems that Master Ogden's advent into the world created somewhat of a stir in Prairie township, owing to the fact that the population was scattered and babies were somewhat of a rarity at that time. However this may be, it is duly recorded that the future editor made his entry without misadventure and announced his
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appearance with the lusty-lunged vociferation characteristic of infancy. It was noticed also a little afterward not only by the fond parents but by the admiring neighbors that the latest heir to the name of Ogden was an unusually bright boy and gave promise of an unusually successful career in whatever he undertook. Schools were rather scarce in the neighborhood in those days, and such as they were hardly ranked above the average, so Master Ogden was not given the early educational advantages which later in life he would liked to have been his youthful portion. But he learned farm work and became acquainted with practical affairs, to say nothing of the health of mind and body which comes only from contact with mother earth. This routine con- tinued until he was seventeen years of age, from which time on for four years he divided his labors between the bituminous coal mines. then recently discovered, and his duties on the home farm. In the fall of 1888. about the time he reached that proud period called the majority and longingly looked forward to by all boys, he celebrated the event by taking a trip to Nebraska, but his stay there was cut short in the following summer by a summons to return on account of the death of his father. Shortly after coming back he purchased an interest in the North Star mine on the old homestead, but next year sold this and bought his older brother's share of the farm. For six years thereafter, while living with his brother on the farm, he was busily employed in the coal mines, and in this capacity proved himself to be a very valuable man to his employers. The truth is, and it was then fully manifested, that Irvin Ogden is a very ingenious-minded man with a natural talent for mechanics and machinery and a thorough understanding of the principles underlying most labor-saving devices. His mind is not only original but inventive, and he knows how to make machinery as well as
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run it. So, while working "down in the coal mines underneath the ground" or managing operations on the surface, there was seldom a difficulty which he could not meet or a problem which he could not solve. He acted as engineer, weighman, or in any other capacity called for around coal mines, and was always ready with some device to make things go along more smoothly and profitably.
But Mr. Ogden had an ambition entirely aside from coal mines or farm work, and this was to own, edit and publish a newspaper, through which he could talk directly to the people and advocate any theory or cause in which he was interested. This aspiration was at length put in the way of realization by the sale of his royalties to the North Star Mining Company when that corporation with added capital opened up on a large scale. With the money thus received he purchased a half interest in the What Cheer Patriot, and with A. H. Holland as a partner commenced the publication of that bright periodical in 1895. The time which has elapsed since the maturing of his newspaper schemes has amply demonstrated that Mr. Ogden has a fitness for the business, as he showed aptitude in all its various branches from the start. His mechanical ingenuity enabled him to greatly improve the plant by putting in power, getting a new dress and rearranging and refurnishing everything about the office. In March, 1901, he bought the interest of his partner, and since then has been sole editor and proprietor. About the same time he received the appointment as postmaster, and with the assistance of his wife and deputy, George M. Paull, conducts both his office and newspaper with the efficiency and vigor that characterize all his operations. The Patriot was established in 1880, and enjoys the confidence of a large circle of readers, which extends beyond the confines of the county of publication. It is especially popular with
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farmers, among whom the editor grew up and with whose needs and aspirations he is thoroughly familiar.
August 11, 1895, the same year that witnessed the culmination of his newspaper ! enture, Mr. Ogden was married to Miss Eva O. Humes, descendant of an old Ohio family, and in the following November went to housekeeping in the handsome residence constructed especially for their home. As he is still a young man Mr. Ogden's admirers confidently predict for him a prosperous future. He is popular with the younger element now at the front in Iowa Republican politics, and as he has adaptability and address as well as talent there seems no reason why he should not aspire to a conspicuous place in public life. His social standing is manifested by his popularity in that peculiarly young men's fraternity, the Knights of Pythias, and he is a regular attendant at the grand lodge of this numerous and widely diversified order. Altogether Mr. Ogden is a pleasant young man to know, and he is also.one from whom it is possible to learn much that is useful and much that is interesting.
W. W. NEWSOME, M. D.
Dr. W. W. Newsome is a skilled physician and surgeon of South English, Iowa, whose knowledge of the science of medicine is broad and comprehensive, and whose ability in applying its principles to the needs of suffering humanity has gained him an enviable prestige in pro- fessional circles. The Doctor was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, Eng- land, May 12, 1843, his parents being William and Sarah (DeGarrs) Newsome, the former a rative of Leeds, England, the latter of Bradford. The father was a contractor by occupation, brought his family to
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America about 1848 and located at Athens, Ohio, but in 1852 he came to Iowa, and after spending some time in Burlington took up his residence in Crawfordsville, Washington county, where he continued to make his home throughout the remainder of his life, dying there at the age of fifty-one years. His wife, who long survived him, was nearly ninety-four years of age at the time of her death. She was a sister of Henry DeGarrs, a noted man of England, and she became a very eminent woman. She was highly educated and well versed in the Bible, being an earnest, consistent Christian, who was loved and respected by all who knew her. She was the mother of seven children, namely : Mary Ann, who died in infancy; Alfred, who was also a physician and is now deceased; W. W., of this review; Walter, who is engaged in the practice of medicine ; Sally, the wife of J. H. Taylor of Chicago; Mary N., the wife of J. D. Stull of Iowa City; and William Henry, who died at the age of seventeen years.
Dr. W. W. Newsome was only five years old when he came with the family to the new world in 1848. His literary education was completed in the academy or high school at Crawfordsville, Iowa, and he began the preparation for his chosen profession in the medical department of the State University of Iowa, then located at Keokuk, where he was graduated in June, 1863. He began practice as assistant surgeon in the Estis hospital under Dr. Corns of Tama City, and by the practical knowledge which he gained there he was well fitted for private practice on locating in South English in the fall of 1863. His skill and ability in his profession were soon widely recognized, winning for him a large and lucrative practice which he still enjoys. To-day he is the second oldest physician in the county and ranks among the first in professional ability.
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On the 3rd of May, 1902, Dr. Newsome was united in marriage to Mrs. Helen Ludington, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Rev. Charles Bachelor. She first married Harry Ludington, a son of Gov- enor Ludington of Wisconsin, who was a very wealthy man. She is a noted singer, possessing a highly cultivated contralto voice of remarkable sweetness, having pursued her musical education abroad at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. She has sung in London, England, Paris, Mexico and South America, as well as all over this country, and has won the highest praise from the best of critics wherever she has appeared.
Fraternally the Doctor is a prominent member of Naphtali Lodge, No. 188, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of South English, of which he was worshipful master for seven years, and he is also an Odd Fellow. Since attaining his majority he has been unwavering in his support of the Republican party and its principles, and has taken a commendable interest in public affairs. In connection with his pro- fession lie holds membership in the County Medical Society, and is regarded as one of the leading physicians of this section of the state. A pleasant, genial gentleman, he is quite popular both in social and professional circles.
WILLIAM HENRY SMITH.
W. H. Smith, of South English, Iowa, is now living a retired life in the enjoyment of a rest which he has truly earned and richly de- serves by reason of his industrious efforts of former years. Accom- plishment and progress ever imply labor, energy and diligence, and it was those labors that enabled our subject to rise from the ranks of the
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many and stand among the successful few. He is now one of the highly respected citizens of South English, and his long residence in Keokuk county and the active part he has taken in its development well entitle him to representation in its history.
Mr. Smith was born on the 10th of March, 1840, in Preston county, West Virginia, of which state his parents, Christian and Charlotte (Cress) Smith, were also natives. There the family continued to make their home until 1856, when they came to Iowa and took up their residence in Washington county. At the end of three years, how- ever, they removed to Keokuk county and settled in Liberty township. where the father died at the age of seventy-nine years. The mother is still living and is now eighty-one years of age. In their family were ten children, five sons and five daughters, of whom our subject was the second son and second child.
The first sixteen years of his life W. H. Smith spent in the county of his nativity and then accompanied his parents on their re- moval to Washington county, Iowa, and later to Keokuk county. When the country became involved in civil war he joined the boys in blue, enlisting August 9, 1862,, in Company H, Thirty-third Iowa Volunteer Infantry, as a private, for three years' service. With his command he participated in the engagements at Helena and Little Rock, Arkan- sas, and others, and being slightly wounded by a spent ball at Helena, he was confined to the hospital for four days. He was in active service during his entire term with exception of two months and was a good soldier, always found at his post of duty, gallantly defend- ing the old flag and the cause it represented. At the close of the war he received an honorable discharge at Davenport, Iowa, on the 8th of August, 1865, and he returned to his home in Keokuk county to resume 40
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the more quiet pursuits of farm life, carrying on operations in Liberty township.
On the Ist of June, 1867, Mr. Smith married Miss Jennette Lutton, a native of Pennsylvania, who was quite young when she came to Iowa. She was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, July 14, 1842, and is a daughter of John and Mary (Springer) Lutton, both natives of Lawrence county, Pennsylvania. Her paternal grandparents were born in Ireland, but maternally Mrs. Smith is of German descent. Her parents were married in Pennsylvania, when.ce they removed to Iowa in 1854 and settled in Keokuk county, where they both died. They had ten children, all of whom lived to be grown, but only three are now living. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been born one son, Earl, now an attorney of Mason City, Iowa. After following farming in Liberty township for many years, Mr. Smith removed to South English in 1889 and was engaged in the lumber business at that place until 1902, when he sold out and has since lived retired, enjoying the fruits of former toil. He is still the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and ninety-six and a half acres of land in Liberty township, which he rents, and is to-day one of the well-to-do, as well as one of the most highly esteemed citizens of his community. He is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and also belongs to Naphtali Lodge, No. 188, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In his political views he is a stanch Republican, and religiously is an earnest and consistent member of the Christian church, of which Mrs. Smith also is a member.
LEVI S. HINSHAW.
This volume will be found to make mention of a large number of the pioneers of the county who came here in an early day and braved the
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hardships and endured the trials that were necessary in order to pave the way for the future marvelous development of the county. They are a race of people which are rapidly passing away, but their places are being taken by their sons, who in many cases have endured many of these same hardships, and have been reared to lives of hardest toil, and have learned the lessons of thrift and economy in the school of experience. The gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph is a son of one of the earliest settlers of the county, and has himself been connected with the life of the county for a period of fifty-six years. Mr. Hinshaw was born in Hendricks county. Indiana, on the 28th of April, 1842, being the son of Ira and Julia A. ( Faulkner ) Hinshaw.
The Hinshaws removed from North Carolina to Jefferson county. Tennessee, the first member of the family of whom we have informa- tion as to the name being the grandfather of our subject. Ezra Hin- shaw. The family was originally from England, and were of that noble band of Quakers who settled in large numbers in this country. owing to their repugnance to monarchical institutions. Ira Hinshaw, the father of our honored subject, was reared to hard labor on a Tennes- see farm and at the age of sixteen years removed with the family to Indiana. Here he attained his majority and married and engaged in farming for a period, when in 1846 he joined the tide of immigration that had set in from the east and came to Iowa. He located in Richland township about one mile southeast of where the village was laid out, and bought eighty acres of virgin prairie land from Mr. W. A. Wood- ward. Here he remained a period of two years, and then purchased another eighty acres known as the Funston farm and owned now by Alson Jones. Mr. Hinshaw was an excellent farmer, but finally sold out his farming interests and engaged in the merchantile business in
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the village of Richland in company with a gentleman named Samuel Brown. Mr. Hinshaw is remembered as being a man of shrewd business tact and was a great trader m real estate and other property during his day. He lived to the advanced age of eighty years and was a man during his lifetime whose strong personality made him many friends. He was prominently identified with the public life in the different communities in which he lived. He was an earnest sympathizer with the Whig party. and served a period as postmaster under President Taylor's administration. He was a devout member of the Friends church, and is remembered as a gentleman who was worthy in every 1 respect of the esteem of his associates. The mother of our subject was a native of Greene county, Ohio, and was not quite grown to womanhood when she removed from that state with her parents to Indiana, where she married Mr. Hinshaw. She is still living and is a comparatively hale and hearty woman at seventy-eight years of age. She was the daugh- ter of Jesse Faulkner, who in his turn was a native of Virginia. They were early settlers in Indiana, where the father was a prominent farmer and where he continued to live until his death. The family are. of mixed Scotch and English origin.
Our worthy subject was the only child of this marriage, and was but four years old when his parents removed to Keokuk county. He passed his boyhood in hard labor on the farm, receiving rather a limited education in the Richland village schools. The first event of importance in his life time was the great Civil war, which found him a young man of ninteen years of age, in good health and intensely interested in the conflict between the north and the south. He was one of the first to enlist in the service, becoming a musician in Company K of the Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the spring of 1861. He was
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the drummer for this company and went to the front, where he was actively engaged in the service until the late fall, when his health failing him, he was given an honorable discharge on account of dis- ability. Returning from the service he became associated with his father in a mill business, which they conducted until 1865. This marks the beginning of his activity in the agricultural line, he at that time purchasing what is known as the Frank Vastine farm, one and 1 half miles northwest of the village of Richland. He continued engaged in active labor on the farm for a period of five years, when he sold out and rented a place for the following two years. Becoming dissatisfied with Keokuk county, Mr. Hinshaw then went west to Cass county, Iowa, and engaged in farming for the following twelve years. He however returned to his first love, and has since been connected with the advancement and progress of Keokuk county. For two years after his return, he continued his farming operations and then removed into the town of Richland, where he has since resided.
Mr. Hinshaw celebrated his marriage with Miss Frances J. Hol- lingsworth upon the 30th of August, 1865. This lady was a native of Richland township, and was the daughter of John and Jane ( Hol- liday) Hollingsworth, one of the worthy pioneer families of Keokuk county. This lady became the mother of two children, Charles E., and Jennie ; the daughter is the wife of J. F. Witcher, a prominent stockman of the Black Hills country. The mother of these children died November 23, 1897, having been a woman of most estimable character. As stated, she was the daughter of one of the old pioneers, her father having come to the county in a very early day and entered what has been known since that time as the Wesley Hollingsworth farm. He was
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a man of considerable prominence in his day, but his career was cut short at middle age by his untimely decease.
Mr. Hinshaw and his family are held in the highest esteem in Richland, where he is prominently identified with the social and busi- ness life of the community. He is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a worthy member of the Christian church. In political matters Mr. Hinshaw follows the teachings of his lamented father and is a worker in the ranks of the Republican party. his first vote having been cast for the immortal Lincoln in 186.4. During his lifetime he has been honored at times with public office. While in Cass county he was for a period of eight years the president ! of the school board of his community and acted for a period as justice of the peace. Since coming to Richland he has acted for a term of three years as justice of the peace. and has been secretary of the board of education. Mr. Hinshaw is found at all times ready to engage in any enterprise that looks to the advancement of his community, and is a gentleman whose standing and family history are such as to merit this brief and imperfect notice in this volume dedicated to the representative citizens of Keokuk county.
WILLIAM LAWSON.
William Lawson, a highly respected agriculturist of Steady Run, now residing on the fine old homestead in section 30, has attained prosperity and influence largely through the conscientious performance of filial duties and by following closely in the footsteps of his father. During his youth he was a co-worker with his father, and upon the death of the latter fell heir to a part of the family estate. And here,
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since a lad, he has spent his life in the development of its large re- sources. Born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1825. he is the son of Hugh and Nancy ( Murphy) Lawson, well-to-do farm- ing people.
Hugh Lawson was one of those sturdy, hard-working Irishmen who have done so much for the development of the agricultural re- sources of this country. Born in Ireland in 1786, when but six weeks old he was taken by his parents to this country, and soon afterward to a Pennsylvania farm, where they made their home for the rest of their lives. Here the son received the education and rearing of an ordinary American farm lad. Upon reaching manhood he did not shun the labor to which he had been trained, and with a steadfast purpose settled upon a farm of his own. During this period, while still residing in Pennsylvania, he married Nancy Murphy, who was of Scotch descent, but who was born and reared in Pennsylvania. Of this union there were ten children, six sons and four daughters : James; William, who is men- tioned below ; David and Elizabeth, both now deceased ; Thomas ; Sarah ; Joseph, now deceased ; Agnes ; Matilda, now deceased ; and John. The first eight were born in Pennsylvania, the two youngest in Indiana. Pos- sessed of that courage and determination which scorns fear of priva- tion and hardship, Mr. Lawson, in 1834, boldly left his comfortable Pennsylvania home and moved to a pioneer farm in the newly scttled region of Indiana Here he spent twelve years in clearing up the place, making it during that time one of the most valuable pieces of property in the vicinity. His success encouraged him in the course of time to take a hand in the opening up of the farther west, and in 1846 he moved to Iowa. He spent the winter in Westpoint, looking for a suitable location, and in the spring of 1847 took a one hundred and
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