USA > Iowa > Cedar County > A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 3
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ALEXANDER RICKELTON.
Alexander Rickelton, busily engaged in the cultivation of a farm of fifty acres in Dayton township, known as the West View Farm, his property adjoining Clar- .ence, has been a resident of Cedar county since 1882. His birth occurred in Delaware county, New York, on the 22d of June, 1857. His father, William Rickelton, was a native of Scotland and after reaching man's estate wedded Miss Agnes Anderson, a Scotch lady. Immediately after their marriage they came to the new world, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing vessel which was six weeks in making the voyage. They settled in Delaware county, New York, and Mr. Rickelton devoted his attention to farming there, making his home in that locality throughout his remaining days. Both he and his wife passed away on the 22d of August, 1890. Their family numbered five sons and two daughters, of whom three sons are now living, the brothers of our subject being Anderson, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, and James G., of Jerome, Idaho.
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
The youthful days of Alexander Rickelton were spent upon the homestead in the usual manner of farm lads of that period. He had good common-school advantages and divided his time between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleas- ures of the playground and the work of the fields. In 1882 he came west to Iowa and established his home in Cedar county, where he secured employment as a farm hand by the month. After working in that way for a few years he removed to Ida county, Iowa, where he and his brother opened up a new farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres, continuing its cultivation for five years. At the end of that time Alexander Rickelton sold his interest to his brother and returned to Clarence.
Here he was married on the farm which is now his home, the wedding being celebrated on the 14th of February, 1895. The lady of his choice, Miss Luella Claney, was born in Holmes county, Ohio, and was a daughter of John Claney, also a native of the Buckeye state. Her mother, Mrs. Charlotta (Wallack) Claney, was born and reared in Holmes county, Ohio, and in the year 1861 Mr. Claney and his wife came to Cedar county, Iowa. For a few years he engaged in the cultivation of rented land and then purchased a farm in Dayton township, which he developed and improved throughout the years in which he was rearing his family upon that place. He later sold the farm to his sons and bought a smaller tract of land, a part of which is within the corporation limits of Clarence and which is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Rickelton. Mr. Claney owned thirty acres here and to its development he gave his attention until his life's labors were ended in death on the 27th of May, 1895. His wife survived him for three' years and died in 1898. Their family numbered two children. The only son, A. D. Claney, is a business man of Stanwood, where he has been engaged in the lumber trade for a number of years.
Mr. and Mrs. Rickelton began their domestic life on the West View Farm and he has since purchased twenty acres adjoining the original tract. He also owns one hundred and sixty acres of timber and pasture land in Cedar county. He has remodeled the house, built a corn crib, has fenced his land and now has good and substantial improvements upon his place. The breeding and raising of pure blooded Jersey cattle constitutes an important factor of his business and is, moreover, a gratifying source of income. He sold twenty-five head of cows in 1909. He also engages to some extent in dairying and the different branches of his business are proving a gratifying source of profit.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rickelton were born twins but both died in infancy. Well known in this county, they have many warm friends and theirs is a hos- pitable home whose good cheer is greatly enjoyed by the many who know them. Since attaining his majority Mr. Rickelton has voted with the republican party and he also entertains strong prohibition principles, for he has ever been an earnest advocate of the cause of temperance, which he endorses both in practice and precept. He has been elected and served for one or more terms as a member of the town council. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church of Clarence, in which he is serving as an elder, while with the various auxiliary societies of the church Mrs. Rickelton is connected. Their influence is ever given on the side of progress, righteousness and truth. Mr. Rickelton is
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
known as a man of good business ability as well as of unfaltering integrity. Every duty that devolves upon him is promptly discharged and his cooperation can be counted upon to further any movement which is calculated to advance the best interests of the town and county.
SHERMAN YATES.
Sherman Yates, one of the editors of the Tipton Advertiser, was born Feb- ruary 17, 1865, in the city which is still his home, a son of Sylvanus and Sarah W. (Smith) Yates. The father was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, February 7, 1835, and was graduated from the law college of Cleveland, Ohio, after which he was admitted to the bar. He came to Cedar county, Iowa, in 1857, and con- tinued actively and successfully in the general practice of law in Tipton until his death, which occurred in 1884. Moreover, he was prominent in public affairs and aided largely in shaping the welfare and policy of the county. He served as clerk of the district court for four years and was also judge of the circuit court for four years, his decisions being characterized by a masterful grasp of every prob- lem presented for solution. He filled the office of mayor of Tipton for about ten years and gave to the city a business-like, practical and progressive administra- tion. He was also county attorney for six years and a stanch republican but never allowed political preference to interfere with the discharge of his official duties, nor to political influence did he ever owe his professional success.
On the 6th of September, 1859, Sylvanus Yates wedded Miss Sarah W. Smith, who resided upon a farm adjoining the old home place in Ohio. She, too, was a native of Columbiana county and was reared in the same neighbor- hood as her husband. She died in this county in 1874 at the age of thirty-seven. years. In the family were three children who reached years of maturity: Mrs. L. M. Petty, who has been deputy collector of customs at Duluth, Minnesota, for the past fifteen years and is said to be the only woman holding that position in the United States. Sherman Yates is the second of the family. Mabel, the younger daughter, is the wife of J. D. Werling of Bozeman, Montana. Two daughters and a son of the family died in infancy. The ancestral history is traced back to England, whence the great-grandfather came to America in com- pany with William Penn and his followers. The grandfather, John Yates, was a native of Pennsylvania and of Quaker stock.
Pursuing his education in the public schools, Sherman Yates completed his course by graduation from the Tipton high school with the class of 1883. He afterward served as clerk in the postoffice for one year and in 1884 went to Adams county, Iowa, where he engaged in teaching school for one term. He then entered the State Agricultural College at Ames, from which he was grad- uated in 1888, after which he became principal of the high school at Ida Grove. He had served there for only five months when he was elected superintendent of schools at that place, filling the position for eight years, during which time he largely promoted the interests of public education, holding to high standards in
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SHERMAN YATES
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
the work and inspiring teachers and pupils with much of his own zeal and in- terest. In 1897 he returned to Tipton, where he purchased the Tipton Adver- tiser of which he was editor and publisher for four years. At the same time he became financially interested in other business enterprises. In 1901 the Adver- tiser was consolidated with the Cedar County Republican, at which time Mr. Yates formed a partnership with H. R. Ripley. They continued the publication of the paper under the name of the Tipton Advertiser, the Republican losing its identity. The paper is still owned by the firm of Yates & Ripley, who are con- ducting their paper in accordance with the most modern and progressive ideas of journalism. Mr. Yates is a stockholder of the City National Bank and is also financially interested in the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank of Tipton and is a stockholder of the Tipton Cannery Company.
Mr. Yates is prominently connected in other relations and by the consensus of public opinion is numbered among the leading and representative citizens of Tipton. He is a member of the National Editorial Association which he has accompanied on their annual outings to Panama, Canada, and various parts of the United States. He belongs to Cedar Lodge, No. 1I, A. F. & A. M .; Siloam Chapter, R. A. M., of Tipton ; the Rose Croix Commandery of Sac City, Iowa ; El Kahir Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cedar Rapids; and Manitou Lodge, I. O. O. F. of Tipton. He has been secretary of the board of education for the past ten years and has been a trustee of the Carnegie Public Library since its erection. He is a representative of that class of men whose history will ever be of interest-men who have made their own way in the world, depending upon their own resources and working upward by reason of force of character and determined and laudable ambition. When he entered college he had but fifty dollars and this he had saved from his salary as teacher. He had been thrown upon his own resources at an early age, for his mother died when he was a lad of nine years and the father passed away when the son was but nineteen years of age. He completed his college course in four years, meeting his expenses as best he could, largely by teaching in the country schools. He also served as a committee clerk in the legislature, dug ditches, sawed wood, and in fact utilized any honest employment that would bring him the funds necessary in the com- pletion of his school work. The same strength of character and unfaltering res- olution have characterized his entire life and have brought him to a position of prominence in Tipton and have gained for him honorable success.
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HARRY DODDS.
Harry Dodds, a progressive farmer and extensive landowner of Cass town- ship, Cedar county, where his entire life has been spent, was here born on the 3Ist of May, 1869. He was the sixth child in a family of seven born unto Dr. William C. and Mary A. (Phillips) Dodds, the former a well known physician of Cedar county. The mother is now deceased, while Dr. Dodds makes his home with his children. Extended mention is made of him in another part of this work.
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
The son of a country doctor, Harry Dodds was reared to farm life, spending the period of his boyhood and youth in Cass township, where he attended the district schools in the acquirement of an education. At an early age he assisted in the work of the fields, thoroughly acquainting himself with the best methods of plowing, planting and harvesting, and later, upon reaching man's estate, wisely chose farming as his life work and has since been engaged in this pursuit. He remained under the parental roof until he established a home of his own through his marriage, after which he located upon his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 23, Cass township. In the meantime he has made a close study of agriculture, practicing rotation of crops, planting the cereals best adapted to the soil, and the land, naturally rich and fertile, has responded readily and abundantly to his efforts, so that with the passing years he has been most suc- cessful. As he has prospered, he has purchased more land from time to time until today, in addition to his original farm, he is the owner of one hundred and three acres of good Cedar river bottom land, forty-three acres on section 21, Cass township, sixty acres in Linn township and one hundred and sixty acres lo- cated in Dallam county, Texas, his property holdings constituting him one of the large landowners in his section of the county.
It was on the 20th of February, 1895, that Mr. Dodds was united in mar- riage to Miss Alice Mayer, who was born in Cass township on the 21st of Octo- ber, 1873, the thirteenth in order of birth in a family of fourteen children born unto Enoch and Rachel (Yoder) Mayer. Her parents are now residing in Tip- ton and are mentioned at length elsewhere in this volume. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Dodds has been blessed with three daughters, Naomi, Beulah and Opal.
In politics Mr. Dodds votes with the democratic party and is now serving for the fourth year in the office of township trustee. He has held various school and road offices, performing the duties that devolved upon him in a manner which won the commendation of all concerned. Public-spirited in his citizenship, he has ever strongly advocated those things which are matters of civic virtue and civic pride, while a spirit of progress has at all times prompted him to sup- port those measures which tend toward the upbuilding and growth of the com- munity.
FRED A. DEWELL.
Fred A. Dewell, who carries on general farming on section 15, Dayton town- ship, his place-Breeze Point Farm-constituting a rich tract of land of one hun- dred and sixty acres, was born on the old family homestead adjoining his present place on the 6th of October, 1883. He is a half-brother of Hon. Hiram Dewell, and also of A. R. Bixler. His father, Nathaniel Dewell, died in this county in 1888, while his mother survived her husband and afterward removed to Clinton, where she is now living.
At the usual age Fred A. Dewell began his education in the public schools and continued his studies in the Clinton high school and also in the Clinton Busi- ness College. After putting aside his text-books he accepted the position of book-
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
keeper in the Merchants National Bank, remaining in that capacity for nearly eight years, his services being entirely satisfactory to the institution which he represented. At the end of that time he resigned and returned to Cedar county to assume the management of his farm and other business interests here. In September, 1909, he took up his abode upon the Breeze Point Farm, which is one of the attractive places of the neighborhood. He has since erected a neat residence and the outbuildings, including barn and sheds, are all in keeping there- with. He has also done some fencing, and repair work upon his place is never neglected. Altogether his is a valuable farm and one of its attractive features is that hospitality which characterizes the home.
Mr. Dewell was united in marriage in Clinton on the 25th of July, 1906, to Miss Elizabeth J. Scanlan, a native of Iowa, who was born, reared and educated in Clinton and is a daughter of Peter J. Scanlan, a well known business man of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Dewell have a daughter, Alice A.
Politically he is a republican when casting a vote in support of candidates for state or national office. At local elections he does not consider the party affilia- tion of candidates but rather regards their fitness for office. While Mr. Dewell was born upon the farm, his youth and early manhood were spent in Clinton, and he is now having his first actual experience in agricultural pursuits. With ready adaptability, however, he has taken up the farm work and is proving that success is not a matter of genius but is the outcome of industry and clear judg- ment. He is finding pleasure in country life and his capable management is resulting in logical and well merited success.
JOHN HENRY CARL VERDERBERG.
Of the many worthy citizens that Germany has furnished to this state none stand in higher esteem in the community in which they reside than John Henry Carl Verderberg, who is now successfully engaged in farming on section 16, Center township, Cedar county. He was born in Holstein, Germany, October 30, 1858, and was reared and educated in his native land. His parents were John and Katharine (Eversen) Verderberg, who spent their entire lives in Germany, the father following the tailor's trade.
Our subject was the only one of the family to come to the United States. During his youth he served an apprenticeship to the shoemaker's trade and con- tinued to follow that pursuit while living in the old world. It was in 1884 that he crossed the broad Atlantic and in the fall of that year became a resident of Scott county, Iowa, but in 1885 came to Cedar county, which has since been his home. After working as a farm hand for four years he then began farming on shares and so successful was he in his operations that in 1895 he was able to purchase his present place, to which he removed the following year. His farm comprises one hundred and eighteen and a half acres of very valuable and pro- ductive land on section 16, Center township, and in its cultivation Mr. Verder- berg is meeting with marked success.
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
Before leaving Germany Mr. Verderberg was married in 1882 to Miss Jo- hanna Wulf, who was also born in that country, February 16, 1865, being a daughter of Thomas Wulf. They have become the parents of three children, namely : Catharine, now the wife of Martin Schneider, of Tulare, South Dakota ; William and Emma, at home.
In religious faith the family are Lutherans and they stand high in the com- munity in which they reside. Mr. Verderberg is entitled to be numbered among the self-made men, for on his arrival in this country he had but fifteen cents in his pocket and had to earn the money with which to send for his wife and one child that had been born in Germany. Industrious and economical, he has met with well deserved success and is today classed among the well-to-do and highly esteemed citizens of Cedar county.
HENRY SHANK.
Since October, 1852, Henry Shank has been a resident of Cedar county and now makes his home in the city of Tipton, where he is practically living retired. He was actively identified with the early development of this region and always bore his part in the work of progress and advancement. He is a native of Ohio, born in Holmes county, August 20, 1833, and is a son of Tobias and Eliza Shank, natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia respectively, though they were married in Ohio and continued to make their home in that state until their deaths. Through- out the greater part of his life the father followed farming. He died at the age of sixty-five years of typhoid fever, both he and his oldest daughter passing away at the same time. The mother of our subject reached the extreme old age of one hundred, one and a half years and never married again. Mrs. Shank returned home on a visit when she had reached the century mark and at that time she was still able to do housework and would go alone to the spring for a bucket of water. Her memory was exceptionally good and she appeared much younger. Daniel Shank, our subject's paternal grandfather, was a native of Germany and on coming to the new world in early life settled in Pennsylvania, where he en- gaged in farming and also served as a local preacher in the Dunkard church.
Tobias and Eliza Shank were the parents of seven children, namely : Henry, whose name introduces this sketch; Sarah, who died at the age of twenty years; George, who died in Oregon at the age of sixty-five years; Griffith, a resident of Holmes county, Ohio; Mrs. Margaret Ellen Teeters, of Holmes county ; Mrs. Mary Ann Mack, also of that county ; and David, deceased.
Henry Shank spent the first nineteen years of his life in his native state and then came to Cedar county, Iowa, arriving here in October, 1852. Here he has made his home continuously since and with the exception of four years has de- voted his time and attention to agricultural pursuits. From 1859 to 1863, how- ever, he was engaged in gold mining in California, having made the trip overland with ox-teams, returning by way of the Isthmus of Panama and New York. Mr. Shank came to this county with William Wiggins, for whom he drove a team, and after reaching this !rality continued to work for that gentleman for one year
MR. AND MRS. HENRY SHANK
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
for the sum of a hundred and eighteen dollars. At the end of that time he and Thomas Sigfoos, who had come from Ohio with them, rented Mr. Wiggins' farm, which they operated the following year. In 1855 Mr. Shank married and com- menced farming on rented land. As time passed he prospered in his undertakings and in 1876 purchased one hundred and sixty acres of his present farm and a few years later added to this an eighty-acre tract, all of which he improved by the erection of good and substantial buildings and placed the land under a high state of cultivation. This property is located on section 7, Red Oak township, and he continued its operation until May, 1892, when he retired from active farming and removed to Tipton. He has since sold one hundred and sixty acres to his son- in-law, but still retains eighty acres. He also has one hundred and sixty acres in Hamilton county, Kansas.
On the 8th of February, 1855, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Shank and Miss Eliza Fraseur, who was born in Cedar county, October 19, 1837, and is a daughter of Benjamin Fraseur, of whom extended mention is made in the sketch of Montgomery Fraseur on another page of this volume. Five children blessed this union, all born in Cedar county, namely : Austin, who died in infancy ; Charles, who is now living near White Lake, South Dakota ; Emma, the wife of John Parks, of Linn township; Bessie, the wife of Charles Woods, of Red Oak township; and Edward, whose home is near Brookings, South Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Shank have traveled extensively throughout the west, spending some time on the Pacific coast, and he has visited almost every state in the northern part of the Union. He can relate many interesting incidents of the early days in Cedar county and in the work of development and improvement he ever bore his part. In May, 1853, he accompanied a party of seven who came from Ohio to look for land in this region. They went from Red Oak to Lost Grove and on to Bee Grove and Mason Grove by horseback, but the party concluded that they had not seen any land worth a dollar and a quarter per acre. Mr. Shank said that he would not take all of the land that he had seen as a gift and agree to live upon it the rest of his life, but he has continued to reside in Cedar county, however, and has lived to witness the transformation of this county into some of the best and most pro- ductive farms of the state. Both he and his wife were active members of the United Brethren church while living in Red Oak township and are today people of the highest respectability, widely and favorably known throughout the county, with a host of warm, personal friends.
WILLIAM GILMORE.
William Gilmore, one of the early merchants of Tipton but now retired for sixteen years, exemplifies in his life record, which is that of a self-made man, what can be accomplished by determined purpose and earnest effort. Prompted by laudable ambition, he has labored untiringly to gain honorable success and his present rest from labor is certainly well merited.
He was born in Stafford, Tolland county, Connecticut, on the 8th of August, 1830, and is a representative of one of the old New England families. His par-
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HISTORY OF CEDAR COUNTY
ents were Nathaniel and Almira (Palmer) Gilmore. The mother died when the son was only two years of age, and the father afterward married again but his death occurred when William Gilmore was only twelve years of age. There was another son and daughter in the family. Several children were born of the father's second marriage.
When left on orphan, William Gilmore removed with a family from his home neighborhood to Monson, Massachusetts, and later went to Hartford, Connecti- cut. He has been dependent upon his own resources for a living from the age of fourteen years, so that whatever success he has achieved is attributable en- tirely to his own labors. In 1848 he went to Xenia, Ohio, with an uncle and began clerking there in a clothing store. He remained there until 1850, when his uncle sent him to Bellefontaine, Ohio, to take charge of another clothing store which his uncle had opened in that place.
About two years before his removal to Iowa, Mr. Gilmore started in business on his own account in Ohio in connection with J. W. Cazad and together they came to Cedar county in 1856, arriving in Tipton in the month of September. Here they established a clothing store, which for twenty years they conducted under the firm style of Cazad & Gilmore. The partnership was continued with mutual pleasure and profit until, after acquiring a comfortable competency, Mr. Cazad retired from business. It was in 1857 that the store was opened at its present location, Mr. Gilmore purchasing the building, a two-story brick structure twenty by ninety feet. As the years passed on the store kept pace with the gen- eral trend of progress in commercial lines and the success of the enterprise was largely attributable to William Gilmore, whose close application, unfaltering energy and intelligently directed effort constituted strong factors in the success of the establishment. He continued active in its management until about sixteen years ago, when he retired, being succeeded by his son, William T. Gilmore. This was the first exclusive clothing store in Cedar county, although other, mer- chants had handled clothing as a side line in the general stores.
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