USA > Iowa > Cedar County > A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 27
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PROFESSOR GEORGE HENRY KELLOGG.
Professor George Henry Kellogg, who is serving for the seventh year as county superintendent of schools of Cedar county, is accorded by the consensus of opinion on the part of the public and the profession as one of the prominent educators identified with the educational system of this state. His labors have been attended by tangible results for elevating the standard of public instruction and making the system of teaching of more practical value in preparing the young for the duties and responsibilities of life. A native of Crown Point, New York, Professor Kellogg was born December 22, 1871, a son of E. T. and Florence (French) Kellogg. The father was born in Shoreham, Vermont, May 31, 1836, and the mother in Crown Point, New York, March 28, 1851. They were married on the IIth of January, 1871, and their family numbers two sons, George H. and Daniel N., the latter born November 20, 1873.
E. T. Kellogg was a senior at Middlebury College at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war and, responding to the country's call for troops, enlisted as a member of Company D, Fourteenth Vermont Infantry, and participated in the Gettysburg campaign and other important engagements. Much of his life was devoted to the profession of teaching and following his removal with his
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family to Iowa in the fall of 1877 he became principal of the schools of Mon- mouth, Jackson county, where he remained for two years. In the fall of 1879 he removed to Clinton county, taking up his abode on a farm in Sharon town- ship, after which he devoted the summer seasons to farming and the winter months to teaching school. In 1880 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife. In 1882 he wedded Jennie Lee, a sister of his first wife, and in the spring of 1888 they removed to Cedar county, settling on a farm in Massillon township. He continued to carry on general agricultural pursuits until 1894, when he began merchandising in Massillon, conducting the business for about four years under the firm name of Hardy & Kellogg. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Massillon and served as Sunday-school superintendent throughout nearly the entire period of his residence there. Both he and his wife passed away the same year, Mr. Kellogg dying in April and Mrs. Kellogg in September, 1899.
Professor George H. Kellogg of this review was only six years of age when his parents removed to Iowa and his primary education was largely acquired in the rural schools of Clinton and Cedar counties, during much of which time he was under the instruction of his father. He also studied to a considerable extent at home and for a brief period was a pupil in the Clarence high school. Later he engaged in teaching after which he resumed his studies in Clarence ir the fall of 1890. He attended the Iowa State Normal School in Cedar Falls in 1901, after which he obtained his state certificate. While pursuing his course there he was elected principal of the schools of Bennett and in November, 1903, was chosen county superintendent of schools, after which he resigned his posi- tion at Bennett to assume the duties of his present office on the Ist of January, 1904. He was reelected in 1906 and again in 1908, so that he is the present in- cumbent. In the meantime he had further continued his studies under the direction of Cornell College and he was a member of the faculty of Cornell Col- lege during the summer school sessions of 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910.
Professor Kellogg has put forth most zealous, effective and earnest effort for the benefit of the school system of the state, and was elected first vice presi- dent of the Iowa State Teachers Association for the term of 1909-10. He has been an active member of the Northeastern Iowa Teachers Association and of the Southeastern Iowa Teachers Association, attending all meetings in both sessions since 1904. He received an equal vote with the county superintendent of Wright county for the presidency of the county superintendents' section of the State Teachers Association in 1909, but lost the position when lots were cast. His term of office in the position of county superintendent has been char- acterized by a continuous progress and by urgency on his part for the better- ment of conditions in public schools. He has been instrumental in securing the erection of sixteen rural schools as well as several new high-school buildings, including the Durant high school, erected at a cost of sixteen thousand dollars ; the West Branch at a cost of twenty thousand dollars; the Downey, at a cost of eight thousand dollars; Mechanicsville, at twenty thousand dollars; and the Lowden at fifteen thousand dollars. He has strongly advocated the employment of more efficient teachers at better salaries and during his administration salaries have increased about twenty per cent. He is a stalwart advocate of centralized
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rural schools and has put forth most effective effort along the lines of general im- provement and progress in connection with the cause of public 'education in Iowa.
On the 28th of December, 1897, Professor Kellogg was married to Miss Minnie M. McIntire, a daughter of Ira N. and Emma McIntire, who for many years have been residents of Massillon township. Mrs. Kellogg was educated in the Oxford Junction high school, the Cedar Falls high school and through home study and assists Professor Kellogg in his work both in the office and at teachers' institutes. Both are well known in social connections.
Mrs. Kellogg is a member of the Tipton Women's Club, a literary organiza- tion for the support of the public library, and is president of the Cultus Club of Tipton. She is likewise a member of Elwood Temple, No. 140, of the Pythian Sisters and of the Tipton Chapter, No. 367, of the Order of the Eastern Star. Professor Kellogg belongs to the Knights of Pythias; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Cedar Lodge, No. II, A. F. & A. M., of which he was senior warden for two years; and Siloam Chapter, No. 19, R. A. M., of which he has been most excellent high priest. For six years he has served on the board of directors of the Tipton public library. He and his wife occupy an enviable position in the social circles where intelligence is regarded as a neces- sary attribute to congeniality, and theirs has been a potent influence along the line of intellectual progress in Cedar county.
JOSIAH OWEN.
Josiah Owen, deceased, was long connected with the agricultural interests of Cedar county and throughout the entire period was respected as a business man and citizen of worth. He was born near Lexington, in Richland county, Ohio, on the 16th of April, 1837, his parents being Wesley. and Elizabeth (Stewart) Owen, both natives of Pennsylvania and the latter of German ex- traction. They were married, however, in Ohio, where the father owned and operated a farm until 1852, when, accompanied by their seven children, they came to Cedar county, Iowa, and spent the remainder of their lives upon a farm four miles south of Tipton. The father died in 1881 at the age of seventy-six years, and the mother passed away twenty-six days later at the age of seventy- four. Their children were: Reuben; Josiah; Mrs. Mary Ann Reeve; Mrs. Rhoda Jane Carl; Henry; Mrs. Samantha Quinn; and Mrs. Emeline Ander- son, a widow, now residing in Tipton. She is the only one of the family now living. All of the sons died in the month of December.
Until he attained his majority, Josiah Owen remained under the parental roof, acquiring a good, practical knowledge of the common English branches as taught in the local schools, and when not busy with his text-books he as- sisted in the work of the farm and on starting out in life for himself he chose the occupation to which he was reared. In 1864, in company with his brother Henry, he crossed the plains and spent some time in mining in Montana and Idaho, returning to this state in the fall of 1867. He then resumed farming,
JOSIAH OWEN
MRS. JOSIAH OWEN
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having purchased one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land on section 14, Center township, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted his time and energies until his removal to Tipton in the spring of 1905. As time passed he added to his property as he found opportunity until he became the owner of a very valuable and well improved tract of four hundred and forty-six acres on sections 13 and 14, Center township.
On the 22d of April, 1868, Mr. Owen was united in marriage to Miss Mary Jane Welty, also a native of Ohio, her birth having occurred in Ashland county on the 20th of May, 1852. At the age of fourteen years she was brought by her parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Beech) Welty, to Cedar county, Iowa, the family locating in Rochester township, four and one-half miles south of Tipton. Her father was born in the Susquehanna valley, Pennsylvania, December II, 1820, and her mother was a native of Germany. On her emigration to the United States, at the age of nine years, the family settled in Richland county, Ohio, where after her marriage she continued to make her home until coming to this state in 1852. Mr. Welty died in Cedar county on the 7th of February, 1907, at the age of eighty-seven years, and his wife departed this life, December 27, 1877, at the age of fifty-six years. Their family consisted of seven children, namely : Mrs. Margaret Ann Knott, now a resident of Vallejo, California ; Mary Jane, the widow of our subject, who now makes her home in Tipton; William Randolph, of Fairfield township, this county; Jacob Hudson, who lives near Berthoud, Colorado; George M., of Highland Lake, Colorado; Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Bader, of Loveland, Colorado; and one who died in infancy.
Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Owen, the eldest died in infancy. The others are: Arminta May, now the wife of F. W. Reeve of Peabody, Kansas; Ada Florence, the wife of C. E. Chapman of Center township; Frank L., whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; Alice, at home; Fred W., who is also represented on another page of this work; and Ralph E., at home. The family is one of prominence in the community where they reside.
In 1871 Mr. Owen united with the Methodist Episcopal church in Tipton and was ever afterward a consistent and faithful member of that body, taking an active interest in its work. He was also a strong temperance man and ex- erted his influence in behalf of that measure. After a useful and well spent life, he died at Tipton on the 24th of December, 1908, honored and respected by al! who knew him.
JOHN C. CALDWELL.
John C. Caldwell is numbered among those men whose efforts have not been limited to one line of business, but have been directed into various channels of activity, wherein he has won substantial success, and he is now classed with the leading business men of Cedar county, while as a dealer in fine grade horses he is well known throughout the entire state of Iowa. One of Cedar county's native sons, his birth occurred in Fremont township on the 12th of February, 1867, a son of Alexander Caldwell. The latter was born in Pennsylvania in 1832,
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and while a resident of that state was united in marriage, in 1853, to Miss Ellen Curry, also a native of the Keystone state. The year 1858 witnessed their ar- rival in Iowa, where the father took up land in Fremont townhip, Cedar county, and there opened up a farm of more than four hundred acres. With char- acteristic energy he soon brought his property under a good state of cultivation, erecting good buildings and introducing all the improvements known to agricul- ture at that time. With the passing years he prospered in his undertaking and at the time of his death was recognized as one of the well known and prominent farmers of his section of the county.
It was on this homestead farm that John C. Caldwell was reared, and amid the busy activities of rural life learned many lessons concerning the value of industry and energy. He received good educational advantages, acquiring his preliminary education in the common schools, while later he pursued a two- years' course in the schools of Cedar Rapids. After laying aside his text-books he returned home and assisted his father in the work of the farm for several years. Subsequently he engaged in railroading in the employ of the North- western Railroad Company for over two years, after which he again returned to agricultural pursuits, with which he was identified for several years, at the same time making a specialty of buying and selling horses. He became the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, which is still in his pos- session and is a highly improved property.
In February, 1908, however, he removed from the farm and took up his abode in Mechanicsville, where he purchased residence property, remodeled the house and made a comfortable and attractive home. Since that time he has given much of his time and attention to his stock interests, erecting a large barn and office near the station, where he conducts an extensive business in horses. He makes a specialty of buying and selling high grade Belgian and Norman horses and also heavy weight horses, and has handled many valuable animals. He sold two teams of horses for nine hundred dollars for each team, another for eight hundred and fifty-five dollars, and since opening his town office in less than three years, has bought and sold one thousand, one hundred and fifteen head. In this connection he travels extensively, buying and selling horses throughout a large part of the country, and has become recognized as one of the best known horse dealers in the state of Iowa. But not alone to this line of activity, however, has he directed his attention, but is well known in other channels, becoming identified recently with the real-estate business, wherein he has executed some important deals, and has also taken the agency for a well known automobile firm. Characterized by indefatigable energy, close applica- tion and intelligent direction, his efforts in the various lines to which he has given his attention have been crowned by excellent success, which has been pur- chased at the price of earnest and well defined labor, and today he is ranked among the leading business men of his community, a position which is due to his sound judgment and wise management.
Mr. Caldwell was united in marriage in Tipton, Iowa, on the 12th of Feb- ruary, 1900, to Miss Lulu M. Wisener, a native of Cedar county, where she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of Aaron Wisener and a sister of Will- iam Wisener, of Tipton, and by her marriage to Mr. Caldwell became the mother
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of one daughter, Florence Caldwell. Both Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell are well known in social and fraternal circles, the former being a Master Mason, holding mem- bership in the blue lodge of Mechanicsville, while Mrs. Caldwell is identified with the Order of the Eastern Star. They have gained a large circle of warm friends during their residence in this city, and the hospitality of many of the best homes is freely extended them.
AARON P. MURRAY.
Living all his life in Cedar county, deeply interested in its welfare and closely associated with its progress along agricultural lines, Aaron P. Murray well de- serves mention in this volume. He was for a considerable period engaged in farming in Red Oak township, where he owned and cultivated a highly im- proved tract of land of eighty acres. It was in that township that his birth oc- curred December 28, 1863, his father being Alexander Murray, a native of Ireland, whence he came to the new world when a lad of ten years, arriving in Cedar county about 1844. After arriving at years of maturity he married Miss Lucinda Pierce, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Aaron Pierce, one of the pioneer settlers of this region. Purchasing land, Alexander Murray developed a farm in Red Oak township, becoming the owner of a well improved tract of land of one hundred and sixty acres. His family numbered two sons and three daughters, the brother of our subject being William B. Murray. The sisters are Siddie, now the wife of George Williams; and Eliza J. and Anna, both at home.
At the usual age Aaron P. Murray became a pupil in the district schools, which he attended during the winter seasons, while the summer months were devoted to the work of the farm. He was reared upon the old homestead and continued to assist his father in its development and cultivation up to the time of his marriage, which important event in his life was celebrated in Red Oak township on the 17th of September, 1844, the lady of his choice being Miss Agnes Lumley, who was born and reared in Red Oak township and is a daughter of John Lumley, who came from Missouri to Iowa when the work of progress had scarcely been begun in Cedar county. He was a native of Ohio, however, and was still a young man when he came to this state. He was married in Cedar county to Miss Mary J. Paton, who was here born and reared and is of Scotch lineage, her father being John Paton. Mrs. Lumley is now a resident of Mechanicsville.
After his marriage Mr. Murray rented a farm in Fremont township and for seven years lived upon the farm belonging to his mother-in-law in Red Oak township, there making his home until 1894, when he purchased a tract of land of eighty acres near the old home in Red Oak township. Upon that place he built a dwelling, fenced the fields and developed the farm. He built a small stable at first and later a good bank barn, and added other outbuildings as they were needed for the shelter of grain and stock. His fields were carefully tilled and responded in abundant harvests. He also raised considerable stock and continued actively in business until 1904, when he rented his land and removed
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to Mechanicsville where for two years he was engaged in the real-estate busi- ness. At length he sold his farm for one hundred and thirty-seven and a half dollars per acre and in Mechanicsville purchased a neat residence and five acres of land adjoining.
Mr. and Mrs. Murray have become the parents of two children: Urban A., a graduate of the Mechanicsville high school; and Beryl, the wife of C. H Stoffel, a business man of Mechanicsville. Mr. Murray belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp of Mechanicsville and gives his political support at the polls to the democratic party but otherwise takes no active part in politics, having ever concentrated his time and energies upon business affairs. He is not with- out that public spirit, however, that upholds and supports projects for the gen- eral good. His business ability is evidenced in the success that has attended his efforts. He had no assistance at the outset of his career and no favorable cir- cumstances aided him in gaining a start. He realized, however, that diligence is the basis of all honorable advancement and year by year saw him ahead of the starting point of the previous year. Gradually, therefore, he progressed to- ward the goal of prosperity and is now comfortably settled in life, having an attractive home in Mechanicsville, where he has not only the necessities but also some of the luxuries of life.
RAY A. PUFFER.
Ray A. Puffer, living on section 27, Pioneer township, is one of the pros- perous farmers and stock-raisers of the locality, occupying a good place of one hundred and seventy-two acres within three and one-quarter miles of Mechanics- ville. He was born in this township, December 30, 1874, as was his father, A. G. W. Puffer. The grandfather, Charles Puffer, was one of the first settlers of Cedar county, coming to the middle west from New Hampshire. From pioneer times, therefore, the Puffer family has been identified with the growth and prog- gress of this section of the state. The youthful days of Ray Puffer were spent in the usual manner of farm lads and he gave his father the benefit of his serv- ices until the latter's death. His education had been acquired in the district school that stood upon the old home farm and following his father's death he took charge of and carried on the home farm for some years.
On the 3d of February, 1904, Mr. Puffer was married in Pioneer township to Miss Chloie Brock, who was born in Adair county, Iowa, and is a daughter of Baldwin Brock, who removed to Cedar county during the girlhood days of his daughter Chloie. He is now living retired in Mechanicsville. He was one of the early settlers of Iowa and bore his part in the substantial upbuilding of this part of the state. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Moffett, was born in Cedar county. They have become the parents of four children, Mrs. Puffer being the only daughter.
Following his marriage Mr. Puffer engaged in farming on the old home place for four years and then purchased one hundred and thirty-four acres of land constituting the farm upon which he now resides. He also owns forty acres of the old home farm adjoining and engages in raising both grain and stock. He
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makes a specialty of feeding and fattening hogs for the market, selling one hun- dred head or more each year. In this business he is successful, receiving a good price for his stock.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Puffer has been born a daughter, Mildred, a bright lit- tle maiden of three summers. The parents are widely and favorably known in this locality, the hospitality of the best homes being extended them. Politically Mr. Puffer is a democrat but has never sought or desired office. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp at Mechanicsville but his interest centers in his farming and he is regarded as a careful and enterprising business man. He and his brother Everette own and operate adjoining farms and both are active and progressive in what they undertake, while their reliability in business transac- tions is never called into question.
HARRY CLAY McCORMICK.
Harry Clay McCormick, busily engaged in raising and feeding stock in Linn township upon a farm of one hundred and twenty acres situated on section 6, was born October 30, 1871, upon the place which is still his home. His father, James A. McCormick, was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, about 1825, and was there reared and married, the lady of his choice being Catherine Paul- ging, also a native of Lycoming county. The father was a wagon maker by trade, following that pursuit in early life. But the opportunities of the west attracted him and in 1856 he came to Cedar county, Iowa, settling in Linn township, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. This he broke and fenced for not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made when he took up his abode thereon. The prairie was covered with its native grasses, starred with millions of flowers in the springtime and covered with one dazzling, un- broken sheet of snow in the winter season. His labors soon wrought a trans- formation, however, and the one hundred and sixty acre farm, which he pur- chased, was converted into productive fields in the midst of which he erected a large residence, together with substantial barns and outbuildings. His work as a man and citizen led to his selection for public office and he was chosen county supervisor for two terms, in which position he proved a capable official, dis- charging his duties with promptness and accuracy. After rearing his family upon the farm he removed to Tipton, where he spent his last years, his death there occuring in March, 1895. His widow survived him and resides in Tipton.
Their family numbered four sons and four daughters, who are yet living: Frank, a resident of Bay City, Michigan; Cyrus A., a farmer of Linn township; H. C., of this review; Roy, also of Bay City, Michigan, where both he and his brother are engaged in the practice of law; Mary, the wife of Joe Hunter of Nebraska; Nancy, the wife of John Hunter, a brother of her sister's husband and also a resident of Nebraska; Mrs. Josephine Moffitt, a widow living in Bay City, Michigan; and Nettie, the wife of James Williams, who makes his home in Tipton and has farming interests in Cedar county.
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Harry Clay McCormick was reared upon the home farm and was educated in the common schools and the Mechanicsville high school. Throughout the period of his youth he aided in the work of the fields and afterward took charge of the farm. Following his father's death he and his brother purchased the in- terest of the other heirs in the property and on its division H. C. McCormick took the old homestead and adjacent land. He has made improvements and repairs upon the place, building cribs and a hog house and keeping everything upon the farm in excellent condition. The place is divided into fields of convenient size by woven wire fencing and he has a good orchard as one of the attractive fea- tures of the farm. In connection with the raising of cereals he also devotes con- siderable time to raising and feeding stock, fattening three car loads of cattle, hogs and sheep annually. He buys, feeds and ships from one to two car loads of fat sheep each year and he has made a business for years of breeding short -. horn cattle, having now a herd of fifteen high bred cows with a fine pure blooded male at the head of the herd. He is widely known as a breeder of and dealer in shorthorn cattle and he also raises Poland China hogs and fine horses. In fact he believes in keeping good stock and has done much to improve the grade raised in this part of the county.
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