USA > Iowa > Cedar County > A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 11
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During the first winter Thomas A. Spear began working for his board for William Moffit and was allowed to attend school for a few weeks, the sessions of school being held in a little log house. For three years he worked by the month at farm labor and was allowed to attend school a few weeks each winter. After that he worked the year around and though his educational privileges were limited, experience, observation and reading have gradually broadened his knowl- edge and have made of him a practical, intelligent business man. His last em- ployer was R. M. Moore, who gave him six dollars per month during the summer seasons but gave only board during the winter months. When fourteen years of age he joined his parents, who took up their abode on a rented farm in Red Oak township, and he continued to aid his father in the cultivation of the home farm until after the war.
In the meantime Mr. Spear carefully saved his earnings until he was able to purchase one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land two miles east of Red Oak Grove, paying twenty dollars per acre for the property. He broke the prairie and placed his fields under cultivation and improved his farm as best he could. However, he had to work outside for three or four years to get money enough to carry on the work on his farm. After building a little house, he married and resided upon that place until he removed to Tipton twenty-five years ago. He still owns his original tract and also the one hundred and sixty acres which his father bought in Fairfield township, this being the first property owned by the Spear family in America. Mr. Spear now owns seven hundred and twenty acres in Fairfield township, which he purchased at a later day, and fourteen acres of timber in Red Oak township. His holdings also include six hundred and forty acres in three farms in Center township, forty acres in Rochester township, nine hundred and sixty acres in Aurora county, South Dakota, and three hundred and twenty acres adjoining the corporation limits in Pierre, South Dakota. Those who read between the lines will know some- thing of the wonderful energy, unfaltering perseverance and keen business dis- cernment that Mr. Spear has manifested to thus prosper. He is today one of the most extensive landholders in the county and also has other valuable property interests. On removing to Tipton he purchased a block on Ninth street, between Cedar and Meridian streets, and there built his present fine home and also a commodious and beautiful residence on the same block for his son Forrest. He
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likewise owns his parents' old home opposite the Tipton Hotel, where they spent their later days, and he has elsewhere a good residence and three lots together with five and three-quarters acres of land two blocks north of his home. His property holdings in the city are valuable and extensive, and he has engaged in buying and selling land for the past quarter of a century, his unfailing judgment concerning property values enabling him to make judicious investments and profitable sales. He has been a director in the Cedar County State Bank for over thirty years and is widely known as one of the most prominent breeders of Angus cattle, French coach and English Shire horses. He bred the first grand champion steer of the world, "Shamrock," exhibited in 1902 at the International Stock Show in Chicago and sold on foot for fifty-six cents a pound. He has made considerable money as a dealer in live stock, selling hogs at the time of the Civil war for thirteen dollars per hundred and since then for eleven dollars and fifty cents per hundred weight. During the war he also sold four teams of oxen for eight dollars and twenty-five cents per hundred. Some prices, however, were very low for corn sold at ten cents per bushel and wheat for thirty cents per bushel. His nearest markets were at Muscatine and Davenport, a distance from his home of thirty-five and forty miles respectively. To this point he would haul his farm products, starting in the morning before daybreak and arriving before night. From actual experience he can tell the tales of early days when there were many hardships and privations to be borne incident to establishing a home on the frontier.
On the 20th of December, 1870, Mr. Spear was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Emily Fulwider, who was born in Center township, Cedar county, Iowa, February 24, 1851, upon the farm which is now the property of Mr. Spear. Her parents, Henry and Harriet (Kincade) Fulwider, were both natives of Green- brier county, West Virginia. The former was born April 4, 1804, and the latter June 10, 1810. They were reared and married in their native state, then went to Indiana and later to Missouri, and in 1835 came to Iowa. Mr. Fulwider aided in driving the stakes that marked out the county seat of Tipton. He and his wife continued to reside in Cedar county through their remaining days and were among the most worthy and honored pioneer settlers, taking a most active and helpful part in the progress and upbuilding of this community. They were mar- ried in 1829 and Mr. Fulwider passed away at the age of eighty-two years, while his wife reached the age of eighty-six years. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom reached adult age, namely: Mrs. Elizabeth Bolton, who is now deceased, Mrs. Sarah Ann Hanna; Mrs. Allie Hill and Mrs. Ellen Ed- meson, all of whom are now deceased; Andrew, who is living in Blockton, Iowa ; Marion, deceased; Newton S., of Denver, Colorado; Henry M., of St. Louis; and Mrs. Spear.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Spear have been born two children: Nellie M., born November 29, 1874, is the wife of B. A. May of Tipton and has one child, Ursula, born May 1, 1900. Forrest Wayman, born July 10, 1877, married Gertrude Crum and has two children, Dorothy, born February 20, 1903, and Alfred Alexander, born May 25, 1910. His home adjoins that of his father.
RESIDENCE OF T. A. SPEAR
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Mr. Spear returned to his native land about twenty-five years ago and found that the little home in which the children were all born stood there without change. He has been a life-long republican but never a candidate for office. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and attends the Methodist Episcopal church, aiding in building the fine house of worship here. He displays the ready adaptability characteristic of his nationality, the industry and resourcefulness, and these qualities have constituted the basis of his success. His has been a notable record, showing what can be accomplished by earnest and persistent effort guided by intelligence and determination. He is today one of the most prominent residents of Cedar county and one of her wealthy citizens, and his prosperity is entirely the result of his own labors.
J. E. HARRIS.
J. E. Harris is a native of Cedar county, his birth having occurred in Center township upon the Harris homestead, March 29, 1861. He is at present living upon a splendid farm of one hundred and sixty acres in section 10, Inland township, and is carrying on general farming and stock-raising, making a spe- cialty of shorthorn cattle. He is a son of W. F. and Mary (Bolton) Harris, early settlers of Cedar county, having come here in 1860.
W. F. Harris was born in Virginia. For several years he lived there, and then moved with his family to Tennessee, where he grew to manhood and mar- ried Mary Bolton, native of that state. She was reared in Tennessee and died in 1885 at Wilton, Iowa. It was in 1860 that W. F. Harris and his wife came to Cedar county and eight years later he bought his first land. Later he re- moved to Scott county, Iowa, and for five years resided there, subsequently returning to Cedar county. At present he lives in Dallas county, Iowa.
J. E. Harris was one of a family of eight children and is the only one now residing in Cedar county. His boyhood days were spent in this and Scott county and he received his education in the district schools. At the age of twenty-one years he began farming for himself, renting land in Clinton county. He was very successful in his work, owing to a rugged constitution and an ability to work hard and manage well, and soon accumulated considerable money. He later returned to Cedar county and purchased a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres in section 10, Inland township, where he carries on general farming, giving special attention to the breeding of shorthorn cattle.
Upon the 14th of October, 1886, Mr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss Anna Belle Wharton, a daughter of the early settler of the county, the late James Wharton, Jr., whose biography appears in another portion of this work. To this union there were born five children: Paul, Gail, Don, Joyce and Pearl, all of whom are living with their parents.
Independent in his political beliefs, Mr. Harris has never cared for office, although he has given of his time to the public schools, serving as director sev- eral terms. A quiet, industrious man, he has made his way by strict attention
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to his own affairs and the employment of his natural talents for farming and stock-raising. He is well thought of in the community in which he lives and is one of the representative citizens of the county.
JAMES R. GUNN.
James R. Gunn makes his home in Mechanicsville but gives personal super- vision to the operation and improvement of his farm of three hundred and thirty-eight acres, which is a valuable property lying in Fremont and Pioneer townships. During the pioneer period in the history of Iowa, James R. Gunn entered upon the scene of activity and through the intervening years has borne his part in the work of general progress and upbuilding. He was born in Linn county, July 31, 1855, and is a son of Joseph Gunn, a native of Ohio, who spent his youthful days in the Buckeye state and when a young man went to Illinois, where he was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Boyd, a native of the latter state. For several years Joseph Gunn carried on farming in Illinois and one child was born unto them there. Subsequently he removed with his family to Linn county, Iowa, there settling upon a farm about 1845. He devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits there until he came to Cedar county, when he bought a tract of land in Fremont township, whereon he engaged in tilling the soil until 1872. In that year he sold his property and removed to Jewell county, Kansas, where he remained for a number of years, after which he returned to Iowa, becoming a resident of Benton county. Upon the farm which he there purchased he spent his remaining days, his death occurring in 1908. His wife passed away in September of the same year and the community thus lost two of its worthy citizens for Mr. and Mrs. Gunn were people of the highest respectability and enjoyed the esteem of all who knew them.
James R. Gunn was largely reared upon the home farm in Fremont town- ship, Cedar county, and remained with his father until the latter went to Kansas. His time was chiefly given to the work of the fields and to the acquirement of an education, although his school privileges were somewhat limited, his knowl- edge being greatly promoted by his reading, observation and broad experiences in later life. On the 28th of December, 1876, in Jones county, he was married to Miss Elmira Elizabeth Dewald who was born in Northampton, Pennsylvania, and when nine years of age was brought to Cedar county, Iowa, by her step father, Jacob Miller.
Following his marriage Mr. Gunn worked by the month as a farm hand for a time and then removed to Jewell county, Kansas, where he purchased school land and opened up a new farm. His first home there was a sod house. For four years he carried on general agricultural pursuits, at the end of which time he disposed of his property and returned to Iowa, where he rented land and carried on farming for a year. He then bought one hundred and twenty acres, which is part of his present farm, the purchase being made possible by his careful economy and unremitting industry in former years. He at once 'began to cul-
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MR. AND MRS. J. R. GUNN
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tivate his place and prospered in the undertaking so that from time to time he was able to extend the boundaries of his property until the home place comprised two hundred and sixty-six acres, while an additional purchase made his landed possessions aggregate three hundred and thirty-eight acres. Upon the home farm he erected a commodious residence, a large barn and substantial out- buildings wherein the stock, grain and farm machinery are housed. He has put up good fences and altogether made the property a well improved one. He continued his farming there until 1898, when he rented the place and removed to Mechanicsville, purchasing a home in the city. He still gives his supervision to the farm, however, and while making his home thereon he engaged quite extensively and successfully in raising and feeding stock and also conducted a dairy business, milking twenty-eight cows for the Brookside Creamery. He now owns an attractive home and four lots in Mechanicsville and he was also one of the promoters and is a stockholder in the Mechanicsville Savings Bank.
Mr. Gunn's study of the political questions and issues of the day has led him to the belief that the principles of the republican party are the most conducive to good government and he therefore casts his ballot for its candidates. He has been officially identified with the schools for a number of years, acting as presi- dent of the school board. He has also been a delegate to the county conventions of his party and does all in his power to promote its growth and insure its suc- cess. He belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge of Mechanicsville, in which he has filled all of the chairs and is a past grand. Both he and his wife are connected with Rebekah lodge and Mrs. Gunn is a member of the German Reform church. Mr. Gunn is a man of good business ability, as is evidenced by the fact that he started out in life on his own account without capital. He was possessed of laudable ambition, however, and his untiring industry and carefully managed business affairs have made him in time one of the substantial residents of Cedar county, while the honesty of the methods which he has pursued in business has gained for him the favorable regard and unqualified confidence of all with whom he has had transactions.
F. B. COBB.
F. B. Cobb, who is now practically living retired in Tipton, was for several years active engaged in mercantile pursuits in that city and is a representative of one of its prominent old families. He was born there on the 14th of November, 1868, a son of William and Eliza V. (Boynton) Cobb. The early home of the father was in the east, for he was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, February 24, 1838, and when ten years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to New Hampshire and later to Maine. Both he and his father were spinners by trade and the latter was for some time foreman of the Pepperell Mills at Biddeford, Maine, William Cobb working under him during their residence there. Subsequently the family removed to Illinois and in that state he enlisted as a member of Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, with which he served for two years during the Civil war. Owing to
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trouble with his eyes he was then transferred to Point Lookout, Maryland, where he became commissary of prisoners of war at the federal prison. Pre- vious to this time he had taken part in the siege of Vicksburg and had partici- pated in other engagements. After the close of the war he returned north and in 1865 came to Iowa, locating in Tipton, where he embarked in the dry goods business, being connected with that line of trade up to within two years of his death, when he turned the business over to his sons, F. B. and Brett M. He met with success in his undertakings here and became one of the leading citizens of the town. In connection with his business property he owned a beautiful home situated on five acres of land in the Culbertson and Moore additions to Tipton. He was prominently identified with the early upbuilding and development of Tip- ton and after a useful and well spent life he passed away on the 18th of April, 1895.
It was in January, 1868, that William Cobb was united in marriage to Miss Eliza V. Boynton, who was born in Ohio in August, 1844, and in childhood came to this state with her parents, Benjamin and Mary (Farnum) Boynton, both now deceased. Her mother was a cousin of John Brown. Mr. Boynton en- gaged in agricultural pursuits and upon his farm west of town burned the brick for the first courthouse erected in Tipton. Mrs. Cobb is still living. By her marriage she became the mother of four children, namely: F. B., of this re- view ; Brett M., now a resident of Muscatine, Iowa; Gertrude, the wife of Wil- liam E. Cottrell, of Tipton; and Charles, who died at the age of sixteen years.
In his native city F. B. Cobb grew to manhood and, having completed his education, began his business career as a clerk in his father's store. Later he became interested in the business, which for five years was conducted under the firm name of Cobb & Son, and when his father retired it became Cobb Brothers. Three years later, however, the name was changed to F. B. Cobb, and our sub- ject continued to engage in mercantile pursuits until February 8, 1910, when he disposed of his stock on account of ill health. For forty years the store had been conducted by some member of the family and in addition to dry goods in later years the firm had added a stock of shoes. Carrying a large and well selected stock, they had built up an excellent trade and stood high in business circles. In 1904 Mr. Cobb erected the present Cobb block for the estate, which is a two story brick structure, seventy by one hundred feet, located on the west side of Cedar street between Hotel Tipton and the city hall. The ground floor is now rented to a mercantile firm and the second floor is divided into office rooms. This is one of the best blocks of the city and would be a credit to a place of much larger size.
On the 25th of June, 1896, Mr. Cobb married Miss Alice Hecht, who was born near Tipton, November 4, 1872, and is a daughter of Henry and Sarah (Denson) Hecht, now residing in Tipton. Mr. and Mrs. Cobb have four chil- dren, namely : William H., born June 24, 1897; Carson H., April 8, 1900; Carl, March II, 1903; and Florence, August II, 1905.
Having retired from mercantile pursuits he has recently purchased a small farm near Tipton, which he now expects to operate. For about twenty years he served as a member of the volunteer fire company, and as an influential and
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public-spirited citizen he was called upon to serve as city clerk for two terms and as city treasurer for the same length of time. His political support is given the men and measures of the republican party and fraternally he is identified with Cedar Lodge, No. II, A. F. & A. M., of which he was secretary for three years and master seven years.
WILLIAM M. THOMSON.
Among the retired farmers of Stanwood is numbered William M. Thomson, who was formerly actively and successfully engaged in general agricultural pur- suits in Fremont township, where for some years he cultivated a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He is not only a representative citizen in his loyalty. to local interests but also gave substantial evidence of his devotion to his country's welfare in the dark days of the Civil war, when he responded to the call for troops and went to the front as a Union soldier.
Mr. Thomson dates his residence in Iowa from 1866 and after two years spent in Madison county came to Cedar county in 1868. He was then a young man of twenty-two years, his birth having occurred in Warren county, Illinois, November 9, 1846. His youthful days were there passed and at the age of eighteen years he responded to his country's call and in 1864 enlisted as a mem- ber of Company B, Eighty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry. With that com- mand he went to the south, serving with the company for seven months, after which he was transferred to Company E of the Sixty-first Illinois Infantry, con- tinuing with that regiment until the close of the war. He participated in numer- ous skirmishes and was also on detail duty at times and when the war was over he was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky. He then returned to Illinois and _ was honorably discharged at Springfield in October, 1865.
Mr. Thomson then went to Monmouth, Illinois, and took up his abode on the old home farm. His mother died when he was but two and one-half years of age, after which he lived with and was reared by his grandparents. He was a young man of about twenty years when he came to Iowa, settling in Madison county, where he spent one and one-half years, there opening up a new farm. At the end of that time he came to Cedar county and resided upon one farm for fourteen years, but sold that property in 1895. Then he invested in one hundred and sixty acres of land in Red Oak township, constituting one of the good prop- erties of the community. After living upon that place for about three years he sold it and in September, 1909, bought four acres in Stanwood. Upon that tract he built a neat home and is now practically living retired.
Mr. Thomson was married in Fremont township, February 24, 1876, to Miss Catherine Strauser, a native of Indiana, who was reared, however, in Iowa. She is a daughter of Elias Strauser, who came to this state at a comparatively early day. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Thomson have been born five sons and four daughters, namely : Elizabeth, now the wife of Samuel Striby of Stanwood; William F., of whom mention is made elsewhere; Arthur E., a resident of Tripp county, South Dakota; Francis M., a farmer of Fremont township; John E., who is
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living with his brother William on a farm; Clara A., the wife of J. C. Tenly ; Agnes, who was educated in Stanwood high school; Ella Ruth and Lawrence, both at home.
Mr. Thomson votes with the republican party because he believes that its principles contain the best elements of good government. He served as assessor for fourteen or fifteen years and for a number of years was a member of the school board. He has likewise been a delegate to various county and state con- ventions and has served on the petit jury. He believes in law and order, in progress and improvement, and his influence is always on the side of advance- ment. He and his wife belong to the United Presbyterian church of Stanwood and he is now serving as clerk of the official board. He has also been a church trustee for a number of years and whatever tends to promote the moral develop- ment of the community receives his endorsement. His life has ever been honor- able and upright, and the rules which govern his conduct are based upon prin- ciples that neither seek nor require disguise.
WILLIAM KORTHAUS.
Nature seems to have intended that man shall enjoy a period of rest in the evening of life. In early manhood, alert, enterprising and ambitious, he enters upon his life work, and as the years pass his early progressiveness and enthu- siasm are tempered by a safe conservatism that makes his efforts effective. Thus with advancing years comes success, and, if his time has been well em- ployed, he will have in the evening of life a substantial competence, which will relieve him from the necessity for further labor. Such has been the record of William Korthaus, who is now enjoying well earned rest in Bennett, Iowa. He was for many years identified with agricultural pursuits but some years ago retired and now spends his leisure in the enjoyment of those things which are a matter of comfort and interest to him.
Like many of Iowa's stalwart citizens who had their birth or trace their ancestry to the fatherland, William Korthaus first opened his eyes to the light of day in Germany, his birth occurring on the 28th of May, 1826. He was reared and educated in his native country and in 1848 came to the United States, so that for sixty-two years he has been identified with the interests of America. Upon his arrival he made his way to Sangamon county, Illinois, where for two years he was employed as a farm hand, and in 1850 went to Scott county, Iowa, where for five years he was similarly engaged. At the expiration of that period, feeling that the money which he had been able to save from his earnings justified such a step, he purchased eighty acres of land, to which he later added two more tracts of eighty acres, becoming the owner of two hundred and forty acres in Blue Grass township, Scott county. This remained his home for a number of years, and ere his removal from Scott county he invested in two hundred and forty acres in Cleona township, making his holdings in that county four hundred and eighty acres. In 1899 he came to Cedar county and purchased
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