USA > Iowa > Keokuk County > A genealogical and biographical history of Keokuk County, Iowa > Part 37
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O. N. JOHNSON.
The life history of him whose name heads this sketch is closely identified with the history of Keokuk county, which has been his home since he was four years of age. He began his career in the early pio- neer epoch of the county and throughout the years which have since come and gone he has been closely allied with its interests and upbuild- ing. His life has been one of untiring activity and has been crowned with a degree of success attained by comparatively few men, for he is
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well known throughout the county as one of its leading agriculturists and one of the substantial business men of the town of Richland, where he is serving as vice president of the Union State Bank.
Mr. Johnson was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, on the 9th of March, 1842. His father, the Hon. J. C. Johnson, claimed North Carolina as the state of his nativity, and he was a son of Jeremiah Jolin- son, also a native of that commonwealth. The son, J. C., accompanied his parents on their removal to Hendricks county, Indiana, when he was eighteen years of age, and there he became identified with agricultural pursuits. Remaining in the Hoosier state until 1846, he then came with horse and ox teams to Keokuk county, Iowa, and the part which he took in founding and developing the county well entitled him to be inscribed high on the roll of Keokuk's honored pioneers and eminent 11e11. During his first season here he farmed on rented land in Richland township, after which he purchased a farm east of the village of Rich- land, but subsequently sold his possessions here and returned to his old home in Indiana. The old Hoosier state, however, did not long claim him among its residents, for he soon came again to Iowa, this time pur- chasing eighty acres of prairie land near Richland, and sixty acres of white oak timber land. He also entered into business pursuits in the village, but shortly afterward he retired from the active duties of life, and his death occurred in 1892, when he had reached the seventy-seventh milestone on the journey of life. He was an active factor in the public life of the community, was a stanch Republican in his political affiliations, and was the choice of his party for the office of state senator on one occasion, in which important position he served for one term. He was also called upon to fill many local offices, and his fidelity to the public trust in the discharge of his official duties was most marked. In his
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fraternal relations he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
The marriage of Mr. Johnson was celebrated in Indiana, where Miss Prudence Saunders became his wife. She was a native daughter of the Buckeye state, but was reared in Indiana, and her death occurred in her sixty-sixth year. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson was blessed with two daughters and a son, the former being Amanda, the wife of H. W. Troay, and Martha, the wife of J. M. Warker, of Rich- land. The only son in this family, O. N. Johnson, was but four years of age when he was brought by his parents to Keokuk county, Iowa, being reared on a farm in Richland township, while his early mental training was received in the schools of the village of Richland. Remain- ing under the parental roof until his marriage, he then removed to a tract of forty acres, and in 1865 he became the owner of the place on which he now resides. At the time of the purchase the place was prac- tically unimproved, and the many and valuable accessories which have since been added stand as monuments to his thrift and ability. During the past thirty-five years, in addition to the raising of the cereals best adapted to this soil and climate, he has also been extensively engaged in the stock business, and in both lines of endeavor success has crowned his efforts. He is now the owner of four hundred acres of rich and fertile land, which is divided into three farms, and all are well improved with good residences, barns and outbuildings. In 1895 Mr. Johnson pur- chased the interest of Mr. Stroup in the John Stroup Bank and was made it: president. One year later this institution was organized into the Union State Bank, of which Mr. Johnson was made vice president, its president being Charles Keiser. In the business circles of Keokuk county our subject has long been an important factor, and his popularity
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is well deserved, for in him are embraced the characteristics of an im- bending integrity, unabating energy and industry that has never flagged.
In 1864 occurred the marriage of Mr. Johnson and Miss Julia Duke. The lady was a native of Virginia but came to Keokuk county. Iowa, when sixteen years of age, and was a daughter of Thomas Duke. Two children were born of this union. Floyd M., who married Dora Reed, and is engaged in railroad work; and Raymond, a veterinary surgeon of St. Joe, Missouri, and for the past three years he has served as a government inspector; he married Kate Connors. In 1882 the loving wife and mother was summoned to eternal rest, and for his pres- ent wife Mr. Johnson chose Delia Hill, a native of Indiana. He, too, is a stanch supporter of Republican principles, while his fraternal rela- tions for a number of years connected him with Richland Lodge, No. 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Nearly all his life having been spent in Keokuk county, he is widely known among its citizens and is held in uniform regard.
HENRY SNAKENBERG.
Among the well known and highly respected pioneers of this county was Dietrich Snakenberg, a farmer, and for fifty years local preacher in the Methodist church. He and his wife, Mary Seaba, were both natives of Hanover, Germany. Both emigrated to this country before their marriage, which took place in West Virginia, where Dietrich engaged in coal mining. After continuing in West Virginia a short time they settled in Washington county, Iowa. This was in 1839. The New Purchase was opened for settlement on May 1, 1843. and in the fall of that year he entered this new tract, making his home
Henry Spakenburg
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in what is now German township, Keokuk county. He lived there until his death in 1898, having attained the age of ninety-three years, lacking eleven days. His wife died in 1880, aged sixty-seven. They had eight children : John, born in West Virginia, died at the age of twenty- five; Henry, the subject of this sketch; William, a farmer in this county occupying the old homestead; Mary, who is a widow; Anna, also a widow living at Keota; Minnie, unmarried, whose home is in this county ; John Dietrich, also of this county ; and Louisa, who like Minnie is unmarried and resides in Keokuk county. The family are Meth- odists. Dietrich associated himself with the Democratic party.
Henry, his son, was born in Washington county, this state, July 17, 1840. He attended the common school and lived with his parents on the farm until he was twenty-seven years of age. August 8. 1867. he married and moved to a farm of his own in German township and up to this day he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has always been a Democrat in a Republican county, and his election to several township offices indicates his popularity with the voting element. In 1899 he was elected county treasurer and made such a splendid official that he still holds the office, having been re-elected in 1901. His wife was formerly Miss Margaret Hartman, a native of Switzerland, who came to America with her parents when she was five years old; her family settled near Burlington, Iowa, and in 1856 moved to Keokuk county. Mr. and Mrs. Snakenberg are both members of the Meth- odist church. They had three children. One died at the age of seven ; the daughter, Etta May, is the wife of David Beinhart, of Jefferson, Iowa ; and the son, Frank D., is his father's deputy.
64
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FREDERICK LEVI BOWER.
The life of any individual is an interesting drama, and until the closing act is over holds the attention of humanity. But as some pro- ducts of the playwright's skill have more of interest than others, so in real life men's careers differ and are filled with a varying amount of the events which rivet the attention. The career of Mr. Bower, which must be all too briefly sketched here to place it in full rounded outline before the reader, has many points which will render it especially fitting to be placed in this history, where it will prove of benefit to the many who will read it.
His parents were natives of Germany, and their names were Samuel and Hannah Frederica Bauer ; the name has since been given its Amer- ican form of Bower. The former was a farmer by occupation and sought in the free land of America the opportunities for that pursuit which are denied in any other country on the globe. One of the curious freaks of nature was exemplified in the body of his wife. Eleven years after her death the family decided to move her remains to another bury- ing ground and on exhuming the body it was found to be in a perfect state of petrifaction ; very few instances of this strange phenomenon have ever been known.
Frederick Levi was born at his father's home in Marion county, Ohio, May 7, 1842. He remained at home until he was thirteen years old, and consequently the education which he obtained up to that time Was rather meager, but his desire to learn never left him, and later when he was spending the hours of the day in toil he attended a night school at St. Louis and gave himself an education, more valuable in some respects than one obtained with less difficulty. At the age of thirteen liis
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parents consented to his leaving home and he became an apprentice to the carpenter's trade, which he learned, and at the age of sixteen was in St. Louis acting as foreman of a shop. He remained there working at his trade until he was twenty years old, and also did some contracting. At the breaking out of the Civil war he went back to Iowa and for awhile taught school, which is a proof of how well he made use of his opportunities to gain an education. In 1862 he was attracted by the reports of the fortunes to be made in the gold fields of California and he made the trip overland, but after he had delved for the hidden treasure for a time, failing health caused him to return to Iowa in Janu- ary, 1864. Mr. Bower had first come to Iowa in 1853, on June 28, at a time when there were few white folks but many red men there on Wolf creek, near his home. And he recalls the fact and quaintly ex- presses it by saying that wild deer and turkeys were thicker than rabbits and pigeons are now, and one day he saw a drove of about one hundred and seventy deer in one herd moving from the northwest to the south- cast. Since returning to Iowa in 1864 he has made this state his home. He bought a farm two miles west of Harper and has followed farming, but of late years has given some attention to mercantile pursuits.
On November 10, 1864, Mr. Bower was drafted for service in the Union army, but was discharged at the first of the following month. It was during this year that his connection with the public life of Keokuk county began, and he has always shown himself to be a man of much public spirit. In that year he was elected clerk of the township and justice of the peace and continued to hold sometimes one and sometimes two township offices until 1874, when he was chosen one of the board of county supervisors. In this connection he was commissioned to build the present county jail. In 1877 he was elected to the office of county
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treasurer and two years later was re-elected. In 1882 he was the cashier of the Union Bank of Sigourney, which is now the First Na- tional Bank. This is a brief record of his life in public capacity, and it is to his credit that he left his positions with the high regard of those who had chosen him as their representative. His connection with fra- ternal organizations has also been extensive. He joined the Masonic lodge in 1876 and has been a member of DuPains commandery, No. 6, at Oskaloosa, since 1882. He was made a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1877 and is still connected with the lodge at Sigourney. He has been a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen since 1876, and has belonged to the Legion of Honor since 1878. He filled all the chairs of these organizations except in the Odd Fellows. He belongs to the Keokuk county grange and was an officer at the time this far-famed body went out of existence. Mr. Bower was married at the old home which now belongs to him, on March 13, 1864, shortly after he returned from his tour in the gold fields. His wife's maiden name was Isabella M. Grove, and her father, B. T. S. Grove. was a blacksmith at an early day in the town of Lancaster, Iowa, but when the county seat was moved to Sigourney, he took up his residence ยท in Talleyrand. The first child born was named Amelia, and the date of her birthi was December 12, 1864; Albert was born November 7. 1866; Edward, who came into the world on September 15, 1868, is at present filling the office of county auditor; and the last child was born October 23, 1869, and is Dora-Bell Ludwig.
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S. H. KIRKPATRICK.
S. H. Kirkpatrick, who carries on general farming in Liberty town- ship and is one of the old residents of this section of Keokuk county. claims Virginia as the state of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Rockingham county of the Old Dominion on the 9th of February, 1856. His father, Thomas Kirkpatrick, was born in Loudoun county. Virginia. but was reared in Shenandoah county, where he spent his childhood and acquired his education, receiving good instruction in both English and German. In early manhood he turned his attention to farming but later engaged in the business of auctioneering and cried at many sales in his portion of the state. He was married in Rockingham county to Polly Bowers, also a native of the Old Dominion, and they became the parents of eight children, seven sons and one daughter, as follows : Elizabeth, John J., Thomas J., Benjamin F., George W., Martin V .. William Penn, and S. H., of this review. The mother of these children died in Virginia and Mr. Kirkpatrick was again married about 1860, his second union being with Abbie Lamb, also a native of the Old Dominion. They became the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters : Andrew J .. Luther A .. Perry Hunter, Hugh, Mary, Sally, and Josephus. Of this number all are yet living with the exception of Sallie. The father remained on the old homestead in Virginia until just prior to his death when he removed to another farm in Rockingham county. There he died in 1877 at the age of seventy-six years. He was always an advocate of the Democracy and both he and his wife were consistent members of the Brethren church.
S. H. Kirkpatrick of this review spent the first seventeen years of his life in his native state and then started westward, locating in Champaign county, Illinois, where he remained for four years. On the expiration
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of that perior he returned to Virginia, where he spent one year and then again started for the Mississippi valley. This time he settled in Liberty township, Keokuk county, Iowa, where he was employed for three years as a farm laborer, attending school in the winter months during this period. In 1879 he went to Nevada, where he remained for one season, but returned to Keokuk county, Iowa, in the fall of that year. He was married the following winter to Miss Anna B. Flory, a daughter of Samuel Flory, of Liberty township, the marriage being celebrated on the 27th of January, 1880. Their union has been blessed with eight child- ren, five sons and three daughters : Dessa V. S., Everett L., Orson F., S. Merle, Mary Pearl, John J., Venus B., and Homer Faustain Main. They also lost two children in infancy.
Mr. Kirkpatrick has always followed the occupation of farming. After his marriage he purchased sixty-five acres of land in Liberty town- ship and later traded that property for a farm in Minnesota, removing his family to the latter state, where he remained for a year. Realizing that he had more fondness for Iowa as a place of residence he then re- turned to Keokuk county and settled upon part of the old homestead. which is now his place of residence. In his farm work he has pros- pered and now is the owner of a good tract of land, which is under a high state of cultivation and returns to him golden harvests for his labors. Socially he is connected with the Mystic Toilers, an organiza- tion which was recently formed in this state. At different times he has given his political support to the Democracy and to the Republican party, but at the present time he is a Republican. Although he has traveled quite extensively Mr. Kirkpatrick says that he has found 110 place he likes as well as Iowa and is content to here make his home. Through his enerprise and industry he has become one of the well-to-do and substantial citizens and agriculturists of Liberty township.
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J. N. L. HARRIS.
From pioneer times in the history of Keokuk county down to the present, J. N. L. Harris has been a resident of this portion of the state and makes his home upon a good farm on section 29, Richland town- ship. He was born in Cannon county, Tennessee, on the 18th of July, 1836, and his paternal grandfather, Nicholas Harris, was one of the early residents of that state, to which place he removed from Kentucky. Throughout his entire life he carried on farming. Among his children was John N. Harris, the father of our subject, and he too was born in Cannon county, Tennessee, where he was reared and married. Through- out his entire life he carried on the occupation of farming, making it a source of livelihood for his family. He wedded Mary A. Goodloe, also a native of Cannon county, and they became the parents of three sons : William P., who now makes his home fifty miles from Nashville, Tennessee : J. N. L., of this review ; and David Porter, who is also living in Cannon county, Tennessee. The parents held membership in the Methodist church and were people of genuine worth. Mr. Harris took a very active part in church work, was generous in his support of the cause of Christianity according to his means and long served as a class leader. He died when about forty years of age and his wife passed away at the age of forty-five years.
Mr. Harris, whose name introduces this record, was only about four years of age at the time of his father's death and was largely reared by his grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Harris, in his native county. When but a boy hardly old enough to manage the plow he began work in thic fields and he remained with his grandmother until about twelve years of age, when he was bound out to Logan Finger, with whom he remained
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for some time. He afterward returned to his grandmother, living with her until about the time he attained his majority. At the age of twenty years he was united in marriage in his native county to Jane C. ]Moore and then located upon a farm, which he continued to cultivate until 1858, when he removed to Southwestern Missouri, settling in Chris- tian county. There he resided until 1863. when he came to Keokuk county, Iowa. While residing in Missouri he served as a member of the state militia for about six months.
On his removal to this section of the state Mr. Harris took up his abode in Richland township, where he has since made his home, devoting his time and energies to general farming. In 1878 he located upon his present farm and has placed his land under a high state of cultivation, while all modern equipments and accessories of a model farm of the twentieth century have been added to his place. His life has been char- acterized by untiring industry and whatever he possesses is the result of his earnest toil.
In 1893 Mr. Harris was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died in that year. She was the mother of five children, namely : W. R. : Mary Ann, the wife of Edward Kline ; J. M. ; Isabelle Tennessee, the wife of E. M. Euliss; and Louise, the wife of W. J. Ives. Mr. Harris is a member of the Missionary Baptist church and his Christian faith is largely moulded by its teachings, as indicated by his life and his conduct toward his fellow men, who know him as an honorable and trustworthy citizen. In politics he is a stanch Republican, fearless in his defense of his honest convictions. He takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to the general welfare and has contributed in a large measure to movements for the public good. He has always favor- ed good roads and good schools and is the champion of anything that
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tends to advance public progress. Keokuk county won a valuable cit- izen when he decided to locate within its borders, for he has always been true to its best interests.
FERDINAND CLEMENS.
Ferdinand Clemens has passed the eighty-third milestone on life's journey and is one of the highly respected and venerable residents of Washington township. He became one of the early settlers of Keo- kuk county and for many years was identified with its agricultural in- terests and is still the owner of two hundred and twenty acres of rich and arable land, upon which he lives, but does not personally conduct the farm. He was born in Licking county, Ohio, June 18, 1819. His father, Eleazer Clemens, was a native of Massachusetts and there spent the first twelve years of his life, when with his mother he came to Lick- ing county, Ohio, driving across the country in a wagon, to which was hitched a yoke of oxen. It can well be imagined that the journey was a very slow one as compared to the modern methods of travel, when the steam cars cross in a single day distances which then required weeks. Eleazer Clemens remained with his mother until his marriage with Hannah Mead, a native of Vermont, but reared in Ohio, where she came with her parents. She was only fifteen years of age when mar- ried, and became the mother of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, of whom the subject of this review is the fourth in order of birth. In an early day in the history of Keokuk county the father brought his family to Iowa, settling in Washington county upon a farm which his son Ferdinand had previouly improved. There he remained until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-eight years of age. 65
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After living in Iowa for two years Ferdinand Clemens returned to Ohio and was married in Licking county to Miss Sarah Layton, a native of Virginia. By the death of her parents she was left an orphan in early girlhood and then made her home with an uncle until her marriage. Not long after the wedding was celebrated Mr. Clemens brought his bride to Iowa and located on the farm in Washington county on which he had previously taken up his abode. There they remained for about eight years and during that time two children were born to them : Ferdi- nand, who is now engaged in blacksmithing in Delta, Iowa ; and Aurora, (leceased. The mother died in 1880, and Mr. Clemens was again mar- ried, his second union being with Lydia Colbert, a native of Ohio, who (lied on the old homestead in this county, August 19, 1899.
On selling his farm in Washington county, Mr. Clemens came to Keokuk county and purchased a farm in Washington township, com- prising two hundred and twenty acres, most of which was raw land. He took up his abode upon that place and at once began to improve the property, transforming the wild land into richly cultivated fields, from which he annually garnered rich harvests. He kept abreast with modern methods of farming, operated his land with the latest improved machinery and made his place very productive and valuable. He con- tinued the work of the farm until within recent years, since which time he has lived retired, in the enjoyment of a well earned rest, which should come to all in the evening of life. In his political views he has always been a Democrat, but has never been a politician. His life was busy and useful and his rest is well merited. He has formed a wide acquaintance in Iowa and has ever commanded the respect of his fellow men by reason of his genuine worth.
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WILLIAM LUTHER ETTER.
The early fathers of this American republic were wise when they set up as their first institutions the church and the public school. And in the school has been the bulwark of our nation for all time: its in- fluence has been the more powerful because it begins with the supple twig of American manhood and gives it the proper bent, after which its growth is sure and steady in the right direction. But the school is an institution for the young, and its direct influence is no longer felt when the child has become a man. This large field of power, which was once usurped by the demogogue in the popular assembly of the ancient republican nations, has been occupied by that most marvellous organ, the newspaper, which is to-day the most powerful factor in in- fluencing public opinion and expends its civilizing and beneficent force upon the mind of every citizen of this country. With this comprehen- sion of the place of the newspaper in every American home we can better estimate the importance of the work of William Luther Etter, who is the publisher and editor of the Sigourney Review, one of the leading journals of Keokuk county, lowa. The Review is Democratic in its political sympathies, has a weekly issue and has been under the management of Mr. Etter since 1899.
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