USA > Iowa > Keokuk County > A genealogical and biographical history of Keokuk County, Iowa > Part 7
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As a soldier he did his duty nobly, and as a citizen he has made the best of the opportunities that life has offered him.
Mr. Kelley comes of a family of agriculturists. His grandfather, William Kelley, was for many years a prominent Pennsylvania farmer. He was born and reared in that state, and upon reaching manhood there married Elizabeth Frampton, also of Pennsylvania, and they had twelve children, all of whom grew to maturity: William, George and John, who are now deceased; Permelia ; Tamasine; Fannie and Salley, now deceased: Elizabeth, deceased ; Zephaniah, father of subject ; and three others whose names are not recalled. Besides farming Mr. Kelley fol- lowed weaving for awhile. He was a man of influence in his com- munity, and in politics he affiliated with the party from which the present Democracy is derived.
Zephaniah Kelley, father of William, won his place in life by keeping in touch with the agricultural movement and venturing out into newly settled regions. He was born in Armstrong county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1816, and there obtained his education. During his young manhood he married Mary Berlin, who was born in Pennsylvania, daughter of David and Nancy (Koffman) Berlin, who were of German descent. To Mr. and Mrs. Kelley were born five children : Reuben B., now deceased; William R., who is mentioned below ; Mary M., now de- ceased ; Sarah J. ; and George W. The first three were born in Pennsyl- vania; the two youngest in Illinois. Some years after his marriage Mr. Kelley moved his family to the fertile district of Illinois, where, settling upon a farm, he engaged in agriculture very successfully for many years. As a skillful and untiring workman he succeeded in mak- ing his land yield large and profitable crops, and in time became a man of considerable means. In 1885 he disposed of his Illinois property and
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came to Keokuk county, Iowa, locating at Ollie, in Jackson township. After a few years' residence here he went to live with his son, William R., where he spent his last days. He died December 7, 1893. Mr. Kelley was one of the leading men in his community, and was a Re- publican, an earnest Christian and belonged to the Baptist church. Fra- ternally he affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons.
William R. Kelley was born in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1842, and there resided until he was seven years old. Then he moved with his parents to the Illinois farm, where he was mainly reared and educated. His training was that of the ordinary farm boy of his day, a few months' attendance upon a country school for a num- ber of years, and a great deal of vigorous farm work. After leaving school he engaged regularly in active duties on the home place until he was twenty-one. Then the Civil war was raging, and in 1863 he enlisted in the Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry and went to the front. He fought in several hot skirmishes, and in the hard battle of Kene- saw Mountain. Here, June 27, 1864, he was wounded. He remained in service, however, a year longer, and June 2, 1865, was discharged at Davenport, Iowa. Returning to Illinois, he there engaged in farming until 1871, earning for himself a very comfortable competence. In that year he married in Illinois Martha J. Jones, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1845, and was there reared and educated. Her parents, John J. and Sarah (Flack) Jones, were of Welsh and Scotch-Irish descent. To Mr. and Mrs. Kelley have been born five children: Flor- ence A. ; Lucy G. ; Ralph W. ; John H. ; and Jennie G. Mrs. Kelley died May 29, 1900, and Mr. Kelley has since, May 4, 1902, married Mrs. J. H. Davis, who was born in Kentucky, in 1845.
In the year of his first marriage, 1871, Mr. Kelley disposed of
L of C.
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much of his belongings, and taking some with him, joined the emigrant trains so frequent in those days and moved to Montgomery county, lowa. Here settling upon a farm he remained for two years, becon- ing during this time well acquainted with the region and the best farm- ing districts. At the end of the period, however, he returned to Illi- nois, where he remained for about a year, settling up his business. Then. in 1875, he came back to Iowa and purchased the farm in the township of Lancaster where he has since remained. This property consists of ninety acres of excellent farming land, much of which he has himself cleared. He has made many improvements upon the place, and lias it well under cultivation, and he is still carrying on here a flourish- ing industry. Mr. Kelley is considered a man of enterprise and thrift, and is well known throughout the county. In politics he is a Republi- can and takes an active interest in local affairs. As a Civil war veteran he belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic of Sigourney.
SAMUEL ELWOOD BAMFORD, M. D.
The flourishing town of Sigourney, Keokuk county, Iowa, has cause for congratulation when its list of capable and reliable professional men is recalled. and among these Dr. Samuel E. Bamford worthily rep- resents medicine and surgery. Dr. Bamford is a son of the state, born in Muscatine county on April 1, 1859. His parents were Rev. Robert L. and Eliza (Davis) Bamford, the former of whom was born in Knox county, Indiana. a son of Robert Bamford, who was born in 1800, in New York. The early ancestors of the family were of En- glish origin and settlers in Canada, from whence they came to New York. Robert Bamford married Matilda Ludington. In search of a
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new home, they went into what was then the wilderness of the state of Indiana, and Robert took part in the Black Hawk war. Still ad- venturous, in 1834 the family went as pioneers to Iowa and located per- manently in Muscatine county.
Rev. Robert Bamford was born in Indiana, May 2, 1826, and was eight years of age when the Iowa home was secured. Both his life and that of his only brother, George Bamford, were devoted to the ministry of the gospel in the Methodist church, of which the former is now a superannuated minister, residing at Allerton, Iowa. The mother of our subject was born in Indiana, and was a daughter of Willian Davis, who was a native of Virginia, from whence he removed first to Indiana and then to Muscatine county, Iowa. A good Christian mother, she cared tenderly for her seven children and passed out of life on November 1, 1897. The children born to Rev. Robert and wife were : Morris, a minister of the Methodist church ; Bentley, also a min- ister in the same denomination; Dr. Samuel, of this sketch; Alice M .: Elmer E., a physician of Centerville, Iowa; Isaiah D., a resident of Wayne county, Iowa; and Mattie.
As is not infrequently the case, our subject enjoyed great privileges as a son of a clergyman, but found the accompanying ,straightened cir- cumstances would not permit him to follow a professional career in early manhood. His education finished in the public schools, lie engaged in teaching in order to provide means for his education in medicine. He spent nine years in farming, during which time he stored his mind with the necessary facts and had the satisfaction of graduating creditably, in 1889, from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, at Keokuk, Iowa. Dr. Bamford located at Clio, Wayne county, Iowa, and continued there in successful practice for a period of seven years. In 1895 the growth
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of Sigourney offered a prospective field for excellent work and since locating here he has built up a large and lucrative practice.
Dr. Bamford is a member of the board of pension examiners and is a valuable member of the state and county as well as the American Medical associations, and also of the Association of Iowa Physicians. In politics Dr. Bamford is identified with the Republican party, and fraternally he is connected with the order of Odd Fellows. An early marriage left him with two daughters, who are now teachers in Wayne county. His second marriage took place in 1901, to Miss Anna A. Cogley, of Sigourney. The Doctor is also interested in farming and handles considerable stock in the way of horses and cattle.
ALEXANDER M. NEAS.
Alexander M. Neas is one of the progressive and public-spirited citizens of Sigourney, Iowa, where he conducts a large and constantly increasing lumber business. Mr. Neas was born in Butler county, Ohio, October 6, 1857, and is a son of Levi M. Neas. He was reared on a farm until he was thirteen years of age, at which time his parents removed to Sigourney, Iowa, where his father found constant and remunerative employment in the growing town, working at his trade of brick and stone-laying. After obtaining a good, common school education, Alexander learned the trade of brick and stone masonry and followed it until he was twenty-six years old. During the succeed- ing years he was very successful at bridge contracting and at the end of that period purchased a lumber yard in this city. Since 1889 he has carried on a lumber business, which has required all of his time and
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energy to properly manage, and which is one of the important and re- liable industries of Sigourney.
In 1882 Mr. Neas was married to Miss Mollie Mackey, who is a daughter of Col. C. H. Mackey, of Sigourney, and two children have been born to this union, namely : Henry M. and Edith Gertrude. In political sentiment Mr. Neas is a Republican, and he is fraternally asso- ciated with the orders of Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen. He is one of the solid, trustworthy citizens of Sigourney, honest and upright, fair in his business dealings and ready to cast his influence at all times in the direction of education and morality and to further enter- prises of permanent good to his community.
CHARLES E. McQUAID.
Charles E. McQuaid, a member of the lumber firm of McCann & McQuaid, at Sigourney, Iowa, was born in Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, November 15, 1858, and is a son of James F. and Amanda (Cort) McQuaid, both of whom were natives of the same county. The ancestry of the family is Scotch-Irish on the paternal side and German on the maternal, both James McQuaid and Joseph Cort, the grandfathers, being born, however, in Pennsylvania. The father of our subject was a merchant for many years in Westmoreland county. In the year 1869 he removed to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, where his widow still resides. He died in 1890, aged sixty years. A family of nine children was born to the parents of our subject, two of whom are de- ceased.
Charles E. McQuaid, the subject of this sketch, was ten years old when his parents moved to Beaver county. His rearing was on a farm,
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and his primary education was obtained in the public school, supple- mented later by two years at the State Normal School at Edinboro. The succeeding three years were spent as a teacher in his native state, and then he accepted a position as bookkeeper with a wholesale and retail hat, cap and fur establishment in Pittsburg, remaining with this one firm for nine years. In April, 1899,he located at What Cheer, Iowa, and for the two succeeding years was the traveling representative of the Crescent Coal Company, and for two more years for the C. L. Dering Coal Company, wholesale, of Chicago, returning to the former company for two and one-half years again.
In the spring of 1898 our subject became associated with Lee Mc- Cann in business in Sigourney, under the firm name of McCann & Mc- Quaid, which since that time has been a leading factor in the lumber trade of this section. This firm succeeded to the oldest lumber yard of Keokuk county and have instituted progressive methods which have been met very favorably by the public. Mr. McQuaid has been very active 111 looking after all lumber interests and for two years was the president of the Southeastern Iowa Retail Lumber Association.
Mr. McQuaid was married in 1890 to Miss Lavina Sampson, who is a daughter of the late Judge E. S. Sampson. Both our subject and wife are prominent in the Presbyterian church, and for three years he has been the efficient superintendent of the Sunday school. He is also president of the Keokuk County Sunday School Association. In public matters our subject has always shown a public-spirited interest. has served as town councilman, as a Democrat, has been a very acceptable member of the school board, and in 1902 was chairman of the Demo- cratic county central committee. Mr. McQuaid's fraternal relation, are with the Royal Arch Masons, Canton Lodge of Odd Fellows, the
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Modern Woodmen and the order of Fraternal Choppers. As a busi- ness man, citizen, Sunday school superintendent and member of the social circle, Mr. McQuaid is a man to be esteemed, and he enjoys to the highest extent the respect and kind wishes of his community.
GILBERT BEEBE RICHARDSON.
One of the leading business men of Sigourney, Iowa, dealing prin- cipally in music and musical instruments, is Gilbert Beebe Richardson. who was born on a farm in Steady Run township. Keokuk county, Iowa, 01 April 14. 1858, and is a son of Thomas and Eliza Ann ( Weller) Richardson, whose history is recorded in the biographic sketch of Joseph M. Richardson, elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Richardson was reared on a farm and obtained his education in the common schools. At the age of nineteen years he began teaching school in the rural neighbor- hoods and continued in this profession for three years. In 1883 he went into railroading and became agent and telegraph operator for the Bur- lington & Western railroad, a position he held for twelve years. Our subject then engaged for a short time in the hardware business at Mar- tinsburg, but later sold this business and re-entered the employ of tlie same railroad, taking a position in the train dispatcher's office at Bur- lington, serving two years as assistant and one year as chief dispatcher. On account of failing health he then felt obliged to give up telegraphic work and seek some other employment. In 1901 he purchased a grocery store, in Sigourney, but he has since then changed his stock to music, this being more in accordance with his tastes.
In 1880 Mr. Richardson was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. McKinnis, of Keokuk county, and four children have been born to 12
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this union, namely : Pearlie L., Edna G., Jesse T. and Leona M. With wife and children, our subject belongs to the Presbyterian church. His career in this community has won for him the esteem of the citizens and he has a wide and pleasant acquaintance with the taveling public in this. locality, numbering many friends, who value him highly.
HENRY F. WAGNER.
One of the leading young members of the legal profession, who has chosen the flourishing town of Sigourney as the scene of his labors, is Henry F. Wagner, who has already made very gratifying progress, although but a few years have elapsed since his admission to the Keokuk county bar. The birth of Mr. Wagner occurred on February 11, 1874, in Lancaster township, Keokuk county, Iowa, and he is a son of John M. and Caroline (Meyer) Wagner, the former of whom was born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, on October 22, 1831, and the latter in Licking county, Ohio, on February 6, 1845. Both parents are of Ger- man descent. They were married in Ohio and came to Keokuk county in 1871 and in 1872 purchased their present fine farm in Lancaster township. They have four surviving children, namely: Ida Ann, Mary C., Susan Belle and Henry F. Mr. Wagner has always followed an agricultural life, and has actively supported the Republican party. The family is a much respected one in Lancaster township.
Our subject was reared on his father's farm and attended the coun- try schools until he was fourteen years old, completing the course at that age. In 1891 he graduated from the Sigourney high school and at the age of nineteen began teaching in the country schools. For three years he worked industriously, working through the summers on the
DANIEL SWICKARD.
MRS. DANIEL SWICKARD.
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farm and spending the fall and winter terms in teaching. He entered the law department of the Iowa State Univesity and at that institution was graduated in June, 1898. He immediately began practice in Sigourney and has. already won attention from his brother attorneys by his legal ability and thorough knowledge. In politics he is a Republican, while fraternally his associations are with the Royal Arch Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. On October 12, 1898, lie was married to Miss Lilian Updegraff, of Keokuk county, and a little daughter has been named Gladys. A very promising future opens be- fore Mr. Wagner, and his friends predict for him a successful legal career.
DANIEL SWICKARD.
Prominent among the representatives of Martinsburg, Keokuk county, who have by honest toil and industry succeeded in acquiring a handsome competence and are now able to spend the sunset of life in quiet and retirement, is the gentleman whose name appears above, a man who has for the past forty-six years been very eminently connected with the development and growth of Keokuk county. He is to-day one of the best and most favorably known men in the county, and has the confidence and the respect of a large body of associates. Briefly touching upon the family history of our friend, we note that his people came from the Keystone state to Steubenville, Ohio, where our subject was born February 1, 1822. His father before him was Daniel Swick- ard, who prior to coming to Ohio had served gallantly as an officer in tlie army during the war of 1812, being under the noted General Harrison. He was a farmer by occupation, and was also interested in the distilling business. He was a very large real estate owner .. Later in life he removed
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from near Steubenville to Franklin county, Ohio, where he owned a body of land of twelve hundred acres and for a period of twelve years was a man of influence in that community. He served during that time as justice of the peace, and at his death, which occurred at the age of eighty-six years, was regarded as one of the best citizens of the county. En political belief he followed the teachings of the Whigs, and was later a supporter of the Republican party. His religious affiliations were with the Evangelical church, in which organization he was an earnest and active worker. Grandfather Daniel Swickard was born in the fatherland, he having come to Pennsylvania in early life, and later to Ohio, where he died at the age of eighty-four years. Concerning the maternal ancestry of Mr. Swickard, his mother was Mary Magdaline; she died in 1894 at a very advanced age and was the mother of twelve children,all of whom grew to maturity but one. After her deatlı Mr. Swickard was again married, there being but one child born to the second marriage.
Of the first family Mr. Swickard, our subject, was the seventh child. His early youth and boyhood were passed in Franklin county, Ohio, where he was given a fair education in the log schoolhouse of that early time. He remained at home until the date of his majority, when he apprenticed himself to the shoemaker's trade, at which business he worked for a period of some twelve years. He then engaged in farm- ing. The primary cause of the change was his failing health. He ar- rived in Keokuk county in 1856 and purchased a farm in Steady Run township, which he conducted for a number of years, and which he brought to a very high state of cultivation. He continued the opera- tion of this farm until 1890. when he removed to aMrtinsburg, since which time he has not been actively engaged in business. He married
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in 1844 a lady by the name of Elizabeth Campbell, a sister of Mr. John Campbell, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this book. Her death occurred in about 1893 and Mr. Swickard again married, the lady being his present wife, whose maiden name was Miss Carter, the date of the marriage being 1894. Mrs. Swickard was born in Plain township, Franklin county, Ohio, and was there reared and educated. Her father was D. Carter, a native of Virginia and a pioneer in Franklin county. Her mother's maiden name was Nancy Noe, who was a native of New Jersey. They were parents of four daughters and one son. Mr. and Mrs. Swickard are prominent and worthy members of the Methodist church, in which organization they have always taken a very active part, Mr. Swickard having been a member for sixty years, and during many years of that time has held the office of class leader and steward. In political affiliations he supports the Republican party, having come to that party from the old Whig organization. It is due to Mr. Swick- ard to say that he is beloved and respected by all who are acquainted with him, and his honorable association with the development of the county entitles him to representation in this volume.
JOHN FREDERICK GOELDNER.
Among the worthy and substantial citizens of Keokuk county, Iowa, who developed a fine farm in Clear Creek township and became one of the leading agriculturists, was the late Jolin Frederick Goeldner, who was horn in Schlesien, Germany, on April 23. 1831, and passed out of life on his farm in German township, to which he had moved about six years previously, on August 5, 1897. Mr. Goeldner was reared in his native country and there learned the trade of plasterer and acquired a fair
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education in the local schools. He reached America in the fall of 1852, prior to his marriage, accompanied by several of his brothers, and all for a time remained in Baltimore. It was the object of our subject. however, to obtain land in some new state and develop it and establish a home. From Baltimore he drifted to near St. Louis and finally reached Keokuk county, Iowa, where he soon purchased land in Clear Creek township. Here he went industriously to work and in the conse of years became the owner of a fine farm of three hundred and sixty acres. He was a successful man, but this success may be entirely attributed to his own efforts. At the same time that he was acquiring property and thus securing the comfort of his family, he was growing in the esteem of his fellow citizens.
In 1856 he married Theresa Nauman, who is a sister of Charles :\. Nauman, elsewhere mentioned ; she was born in Saxony, Germany, June 2, 1840, and accompanying her parents to America in 1853. The marriage took place in Keokuk county, Iowa, and seven children were born to them : Otto T., born October 16, 1858. who is a farmer in Clear Creek township, Keokuk county ; Hulda E., May 25, 1861, died Octo- ber 26, 1901; Ida M., August 20, 1863, who is the widow of A. G. Schulte ; Guido H., January 21, 1866, of Clear Creek township, where he is farming; Arthur E., February 11, 1869, who is a farmer in German township: Hugo F., April 10, 1873, who is an attorney in Sigourney ; and Charles M., January 29, 1877, who is a farmer on the home place, his mother residing with him there. In political sentiment Mr. Goeldner was a Republican.
Hugo F. Goeldner, one of the leading young attorneys of Sigour- ney, Iowa, was born in Clear Creek township, Keokuk county, on April 10, 1873. He was given excellent school advantages and graduated
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from Sigourney high school in 1894, entering immediately upon the study of law and graduating with honor from the law department of the State University in 1897. He was admitted to practice in Keokuk county and entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, A. G. Schulte, the firm name being Schulte & Goeldner, the firm only being dis- solved upon the death of Mr. Schulte on January 30, 1900. In politics our subject is an active Republican and he is fraternally connected with the Royal Arch Masons. The success which he has attained in his chosen profession has been most gratifying and argues for still higher honors in the future.
FRANCIS A. SCHIPFER, SR.
Francis A. Schipfer, Sr., was born in the kingdom of Prussia, Ger- many, on February 12, 1831, and is a son of Kaspfer and Barbara ( Wessbecher) Schipfer, who lived and died in Germany, their native land. Eight children were born to Kaspfer Schipfer and wife, but Francis A. was the only one who came to America. At that time he was a fairly well educated young man of twenty years and had already sufficiently filled a clerical position in a mercantile establishment. In 1851 he landed in the great metropolis of New York, but he remained there but a short time, spending over a year looking about for a suitable place in which to locate, and visiting Newark, New Jersey ; Hamilton, Ohio; and then Burlington, Iowa. In that city he lived for two and one-half years, coming to Sigourney on July 3, 1856. Prior to this location he had filled clerical positions, but here he embarked in business for him- self, opening up a general store, his business house continuiing all these years. Mr. Schipfer is the only merchant of Sigourney who was in
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