USA > Iowa > Cedar County > A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 30
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The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Johnson serves as one of the church trustees. Mrs. Johnson is also an active church worker, cooperating in the different branches of work undertaken by the aux- iliary church societies. Fraternally Mr. Johnson is connected with the Masons, holding membership in the lodge at Mechanicsville, while his wife is identified with the Eastern Star, being now one of its officers. His political support is given to the republican party, the principles of which he has endorsed since age gave him the right to vote. He has served on the town council, has filled the office of township trustee and has occupied other local positions to which he has been called by the vote of his fellow townsmen, who recognize his worth and ability and his fidelity to the public good. Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are widely and favorably known not only in Mechanicsville but throughout that part of the county and take a prominent part in the social interests of the community and in its moral progress.
JOHN CONNER.
Iowa, rich in its natural resources and its opportunities, is the home of many who claim the state as the place of their nativity and who recognize the fact that along agricultural lines especially the advantages here offered are equal if not superior to any furnished elsewhere in this broad land. Perhaps no other district can count among its population a greater number of native sons than can Cedar county. This class includes John Conner, who was born October 2, 1863, on the farm which is now his home and which embraces one hundred and sixty acres of rich prairie land on section 27, Pioneer township. As the name indicates, he is of Irish lineage. His grandfather, Edward Conner, was born on the Emerald isle and became one of the early settlers of Pennsylvania. He afterward re- moved with his family to the west, entering from the government a tract of land in Cedar county and casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers whose labors were proving a potent force in the reclamation of this region for the purpose of civilization. His son, Joseph Conner, had been born in Clarion county, Penn- sylvania, near Philadelphia. Some time after coming to Iowa he took charge of the home farm, which his father had entered from the government. He built a home on Clear creek, broke the sod and developed the place according to the progressive ideas of that period. He was married in this county to Miss Nancy
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McKinzie, a native of Ohio and a daughter of John McKinzie, who came from the Buckeye state to Iowa during the pioneer epoch in the history of Cedar county. Joseph Conner reared his family upon the farm and continued to make it his place of abode until he was called to his final home in 1880. His widow still survives him and is now sixty-eight years of age.
John Conner is the only surviving son in a family of five children. He had one brother, Charles, who died when but two years of age. His sisters were: Rosella, the wife of John Ruble, of Mechanicsville; Emma S., the wife of Harry Cole, of Pioneer township; and Oceana, the wife of William Longabean. John Conner was reared upon the old home farm and at the usual age entered the dis- trict schools wherein he mastered the common branches of learning. He re- mained with his father until the latter's death and assisted in carrying on the farm. Following the demise of Joseph Conner Mr. McKinzie, the maternal grandfather of our subject, carried on the place for three years, and then John Conner assumed the management of the farm and business. Wide awake and enterprising, he is alert in the interest of the business and has fenced the place with woven wire and to some extent has divided his land into fields of conve- nient size. The work of repair is never neglected and the task of general im- provement is carried steadily forward until field and meadow land yield rich returns in grain and cereal. Cattle, hogs and sheep fatten on his pastures and he annually sells a goodly amount of stock. He is resolute and determined, al- lowing no obstacles to bar his path when they can be overcome by honorable and persistent effort.
His political endorsement is given to the democratic party but he has never sought nor desired the reward of office as a recognition of party fealty. He has preferred to concentrate his energies and attention upon his business affairs and gradual progress has brought him to a position among the well-to-do farmers and stock-raisers of Pioneer township.
U. S. AND RUFUS FARRINGTON.
U. S. and Rufus Farrington are well known farmers of Fremont township living on section 4, where they own and cultivate one hundred and sixty acres of land. The farm is neat and well improved and the entire appearance of the place indicates the careful supervision and practical methods of the owners. Rufus Farrington was born September 23, 1870, while U. S. Farrington was born September 19, 1873. Their father, Philip Farrington, was a native of Chautauqua county, New York, his birth having there occurred October 12, 1831. He grew to manhood in that locality and in 1855 came to the middle west, think- ing better opportunities were here offered. For two years he rented land, which he cultivated, and then removed to Benton county, where he engaged in mer- chandising, continuing there for about a year. Later he came to Cedar county, Iowa, and first entered a forty-acre tract of land on which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. His labors, however, soon wrought a trans- formation in the appearance of the place for it was not long before the sod was
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broken and crops were planted. From time to time he purchased adjoining land until he became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres but later he sold forty acres of that tract. After living for a time in the west he returned to New York and was married in Cattaraugus county to Miss Betsy West, who was born and reared there. He then brought his bride to the farm which he had prepared and upon which he afterward reared his family. He also made the place his home until called to his final rest in 1904. He had for several years survived his wife, who died in December, 1899.
Rufus and U. S. Farrington have had charge of and carried on the farm for seventeen years. There are also three sisters in the family: Rosalia, who acts as housekeeper for her brother U. S .; Eliza, the wife of George Martin of South Dakota; and Lucinda, the wife of Ralph Simmons living in Battle Creek, Nebraska.
The brothers Rufus and U. S. Farrington purchased the home farm from their father about 1893. In the meantime U. S. Farrington spent two years in the Philippines. He was for one year connected with the United States army and stationed at San Francisco in the coast artillery. Subsequently he spent two years with the Fourth United States Infantry and participated in the Philippine war. He was thus on active duty with the regular army for three years and was then honorably discharged, at the end of which time he returned home and he and his brother began farming together. In connection with the cultivation of the fields they raise and feed stock and have about ninety head of high grade, pure blooded shorthorn cattle. They fatten a carload or more of cattle and two carloads of hogs each year.
Rufus Farrington was married in Black Hawk county, Iowa, to Miss Ella Maricle, who was born, reared and educated in Waterloo, Iowa, the wedding being celebrated September 23, 1903. In their political views the brothers are republicans and U. S. Farrington served as assessor for two years and also as a member of the school board for four years. His sister is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church of Walnut Grove. The Farrington brothers are both well known and are numbered with the leading farmers and stock-breeders of the county, gaining more than local reputation as dealers in shorthorn cattle. They display excellent business ability in the management of their affairs and are not only progressive in business but also in matters of citizenship. .
JUDGE WILLIAM P. WOLF.
When the history of Iowa's prominent men shall be written the record will contain the name of no one more worthy the honor of his fellow citizens than was Judge William P. Wolf. He was Cedar county's foremost resident. There have been other men in Iowa who have attained to higher political honors, to greater military distinction and to greater success in the field of business and yet in all those lines his was a creditable record. That which won him a regard above many of his fellows was his unflinching loyalty to duty and his unqualified support of what he believed to be right. Even those who opposed him politically
JUDGE W. P. WOLF
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never doubted the integrity of his belief or the sincerity of his purpose and thus when the end came he passed on, leaving a name untarnished and a memory that will be cherished while any who knew him yet remain as active factors in the world's work.
Judge Wolf was born in Stark county, Ohio, in the village of Harrisburg, December 31, 1833, and when a small boy accompanied his parents on their re- moval to a farm in the vicinity of Marlboro, Ohio. He manifested a special aptitude in his studies and supplemented his district-school course by attendance at a seminary and high school. He afterward engaged in teaching in the union school at Limaville, Ohio. Subsequently he became principal of the Edinburg high school in Portage county, Ohio. During a part of that time he was under the instruction of Professor Holbrook, one of the distinguished educators of that state, afterward connected with the normal at Lebanon, Ohio. All through his life Judge Wolf remained a student, carrying his investigations far and wide into the realms of knowledge, so that in his later years he could draw from a rich fund of wisdom to illustrate his ideas or point his remarks. Determining upon the practice of law as his life work, he prepared for the profession in the office of Beirce & Pease, of Canton, Ohio, who directed his reading until 1856, when the family removed to Cedar county, Iowa, settling in what is now Gower township. Judge Wolf was at that time a young man of twenty-three years. Thereafter for a period he devoted his attention to farming, teaching school and reading law with Rush Clark of Iowa City as his preceptor. It was during those years that John Brown, the famous opponent of slavery, spent some time at Springdale, Iowa. Mr. Wolf, who had become convinced of the righteousness of the cause of abolition, became well acquainted with Mr. Brown and his men, even assisting them in helping negroes to the north. On one such occasion he took a hazardous midnight ride to Iowa City to baffle their enemies and to aid their enterprises. In this he manifested the same loyalty and fidelity to duty which were characteristic of him throughout his entire life.
In 1859 Judge Wolf was united in marriage to Miss Alice Macey and soon afterward established his home in Tipton, where he entered upon the practice of law. The successful work which he had done along educational lines led his fellow townsmen to solicit him to become a teacher in the grammar department of the Tipton union school. This he consented to do, dividing his time between his school work and his professional activities. Later he was chosen county superintendent of schools but on retiring from the office declined to take up any further educational work, desiring to devote his entire attention to the practice of law.
In the meantime Judge Wolf had become recognized as a prominent member of the republican party and in 1863 was elected to represent his district in the state legislature. In January of the following year he formed a law partnership with J. H. Rothrock who had returned from the army with impaired health. The relationship between them was maintained until Mr. Rothrock went upon the bench three years later.
Judge Wolf, however, put aside the duties of his profession in May, 1864, to render active service to the Union cause and succeeded in raising Company I of
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the Forty-sixth lowa Volunteer Infantry and was elected captain. The troops proceeded to Davenport and as soon as the regiment was organized they were sent to Cairo and thence into Tennessee, where they aided in guarding a railroad at Colliersville near Memphis in July. Here they were ambushed and attacked by Confederates and several of the company were wounded. Captain Wolf fell at the first fire, a ball passing through his right arm, entering the right side, passing through the body and lodging in the left hip. He was carried from the field almost dead and for some time his life hung in the balance. He never re- covered from his injury, carrying the rebel lead to the last, and the wound ulti- mately caused his death.
After his return to Tipton, Captain Wolf resumed the practice of law in con- nection with Judge Rothrock and continued throughout the remainder of his life a prominent and honored representative of the bar of Tipton and of Iowa. At times he was called to public office and therefore divided his time between the duties that thus devolved upon him and the interests of his clients. He served as assistant collector of internal revenue under President Lincoln. In 1866 he devoted about six months to editing The Advertiser. The following year he was elected to the state senate, in 1867, and thus served until 1870, when he was chosen to congress to fill out an unexpired term. In 1882 he was returned to the legis- lature as a member of the lower house and in 1884 was reelected, after which he was chosen speaker of the house. A splendid parliamentarian, he made one of the best presiding officers that has ever occupied that post in the general as- sembly. During 1884 he was chairman of the republican state central committee and about that year was favorably mentioned for governor in many parts of the state.
When he retired from the speakership, the State Register of Des Moines said of him: "His skill and his success are alike the marvel and the admiration of all parties and even the opposition who were defeated in all their masterly tactics by his cool and remarkable leadership, joined in saying that it was honorably and fairly done.
X This is the best proof of leadership and manliness and Mr. Wolf by his splendid record this winter has so far increased his previous standing in Iowa that today no public man in the state stands in stature above him. * * The statesman from Cedar was the very man that the mo- mentous situation in Iowa this winter demanded. It was the greatest good for- tune of the state that the leader so necessary was so happily found."
When Judge Wolf was first spoken of in connection with the candidacy for governor, many of the newspapers of the state rallied to his support. The Maple Valley Era said: "There is no man in the state who is better versed in the pub- lic affairs of Iowa than he. During the entire period that he presided as speaker of the house not a single charge was brought against him by the opposition, claiming that his rulings were unfair or that he took any advantage whatever of the power placed in his hands. He has also served in congress where his ability and experience brought him to a position of influence." The Tipton Advertiser in speaking of Judge Wolf's candidacy for governor said: "His canvass has been all that the most scrupulously honorable could ask; it has antagonized no element whose good wishes are worth looking after; it meets the requirements
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of the people that their governor shall be beyond small things-shall have the manhood to stand always and everywhere for principle and for those things that go to elevate the state, to broaden its fame and to stimulate its industries, and defend its institutions and enforce its laws. He fills every Jeffersonian requisite of personal honor, capability, patriotism and possesses those other qualifications of personal fairness and astuteness in debate, great vigor and energy in his con- duct of a campaign and strength before the people that always go with strong men."
While Judge Wolf did not receive the nomination, the expressions of the press concerning him show in what regard he was held in the portions of the state where he was best known. While he was not without that laudable ambition which is the stimulus of honorable service in public office, he yet regarded the practice of law as his real life work and after Judge Rothrock was called to the bench, entered into partnership with S. V. Landt, a relationship that was main- tained for many years. Following the removal of Mr. Landt to California, Judge Wolf formed a partnership with T. B. Hanley, which continued until he was elected to the bench of the eighteenth judicial district in the fall of 1894. He presided over that court up to the time of his death. His former law partner, Judge Rothrock, after his demise said "He was an able lawyer. I never knew a man at the Iowa bar who could try a case so well with so little time for prepara- tion. He was not an orator in the popular sense, he was more than that. He was endowed by nature with the very strongest reasoning power and in a plain, un- ostentatious manner he presented every feature of his case with all the force of strong, logical and convincing argument." Upon the bench Judge Wolf made an equally creditable record, passing his opinions upon the law and the equity in the case, his course characterized by a masterful grasp of every question presented for solution. It was characteristic of him that upon his death-bed he requested that pen and paper should be given him that he might write his resignation as judge of the district court. This was in keeping with his whole course of life for he did not want to be paid for services he could not perform.
Unto the first marriage of Judge Wolf there were born six children: Mary, now the wife of James Snyder of Pasadena, California; Lucy, the wife of William Bowers of Rock Rapids, Iowa; Clara, the wife of Paul Ward of Ban- ning, California; Louis, living in St. Joseph, Missouri; William, of Mount Vernon, Iowa; and Edith, the wife of Harry Stewart of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The death of Mrs. Wolf occurred in 1881.
In 1885 Judge Wolf married Miss Martha H. Redfield, a daughter of Colonel James Redfield. Her father was the twelfth and youngest son of Luther and Mary (Dryer) Redfield and was born in Clyde, Wayne county, New York, March 27, 1822, and came of early New England ancestry. His great-grandfather, Captain Peleg Redfield, was a soldier in the French and Indian war under Gen- eral Wolff and four of his great-uncles were in the Revolutionary war, holding commissions under Washington, while two were killed in battle. The parents of Colonel Redfield were natives of Richmond, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. They were married May 19, 1803, and two years later started for western New York and on reaching Seneca county Mr. Redfield purchased land and cleared a large farm. In 1822 he removed to Clyde, Wayne county, New York
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During the war of 1812 he was captain of militia of his home town and on the landing of the British at Sodus Point, Lake Ontario, in June, 1813, he and his company were attached to Colonel Swift's regiment which was summoned to the defense of that place. Marching all Sunday afternoon and night, they reached Sodus Point at sunrise in time to see the burning village and the re- treating vessels of the enemy. Captain Redfield died in 1868 and his wife in May, 1853.
James Redfield attended the high school of Clyde and afterward entered Yale College as a freshman at the age of seventeen years. Following his gradu- ation he returned to Clyde, where he entered upon the practice of law and the following year was elected county superintendent of schools of Wayne county, New York, filling the office for two years. In 1848, at the invitation of the Hon. Christopher Morgan, secretary of state of New York, he went to Albany and ac- cepted a position in his office, becoming virtually supervisor of county schools for the state. Subsequently he engaged in merchandising in Albany until May, 1855, when he removed to Davenport, Iowa. There he made the acquaintance of Thomas Moore, subsequently his father-in-law, and with him spent some time in prospecting for a location. In connection with Mr. Stevens they at length purchased a large tract of land in the valley of the middle branch of the Raccoon river in Dallas county. There they founded the village of Wiscotta and since the death of. Colonel Redfield the name of the town has been changed, being called Redfield in his honor.
Colonel Redfield was married in Beaver, Pennsylvania, May 2, 1856, to Miss Achsah Moore, a daughter of Thomas and Achsah (Harvey) Moore of that place. They became the parents of three children: Thomas Moore, Mrs. Martha Heard and Mrs. Mary Lewis. In October, 1861, Mr. Redfield was elected to the state senate of Iowa on the republican ticket and served on the ways and means committee and the committees on schools and public lands. He was afterward appointed by Governor Kirkwood, lieutenant colonel of the Thirty- ninth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers and was killed at the battle of Altoona Pass, Georgia, October 5, 1864. He resigned his position in the senate to enter the army and gave his life in defence of the Union. His widow long survived him, passing away in 1907.
A daughter, Martha Redfield, born in the town of Redfield, Iowa, became postmistress of the new state capitol and while there became acquainted with Judge Wolf, who was the first speaker of the house of the twentieth general assembly which was the first to occupy the new state capitol. Judge and Mrs. Wolf became the parents of two children, Louise Redfield and Walter Paul, both of whom are at home with their mother.
Judge Wolf was a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Loyal Legion. He died at his home in Tipton after a long and pain- ful illness, on the 19th of September, 1896. The funeral services were in charge of the Cedar county bar and the Grand Army Post and Women's Relief Corps attended in a body, while many distinguished men from other parts of the state were present. Judge Rothbrock said of him: "He was my nearest neighbor for many years and it can be truthfully said that there was never a man of a more kindly nature and generous impulses. His daily life was a rare example of an
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upright man without guile or malice in his heart. I believe that if he had been reduced to poverty he would have divided his last crust of bread with his bit- terest enemy. But he had no enemies in the common acceptation of the term. He had rivalry in his public life. As a member of the senate, as speaker of the house, as a member of congress and judge of the district court he had the opposi- tion common to political contests, but no man had cause to question his honor or the purity of his character. He was not learned in the classics but he was a scholar in the sciences, in philosophy, history and biography. Few men were possessed of more general information than he had."
W. R. Boyd, editor of the Cedar Rapids Republican, wrote editorially of him as follows: "The death of Judge William P. Wolf to those who knew him as a man and as a friend, is a personal loss for he was one of the most lovable characters who ever blessed this world. When death comes we usually throw the mantle of charity over all foibles and remember only the tender things in connection with the dead man's life. In the case of William P. Wolf the mantle needs not to be large. He had few faults to hide. Of vices he had none. Of weaknesses, perhaps a few, as the world judges. He was careless only of him- self. He thought little of his personal attire and little of his bank account, but he thought everything of his honor and of his integrity; everything of his family, and he loved with intense devotion his fellowmen. If the beautiful dream of Leigh Hunt be true and in the Book of Life it be written that 'those who love their fellowmen lead all whom love of God hath blest,' then the name of Wil- liam P. Wolf adorns the topmost page.
"We have known him since childhood and we know that all who have been similarly honored with his acquaintance will say yea and amen to what we have said here touching his character. He was a simple-minded man living near to nature's heart ; fond of flowers and fields and the whole realm of nature's world. He was a student, too, of men and of books. His learning in the law was not more profound than his knowledge of general literature. He seemed to have traversed the whole field of history, of philosophy and of poetry. He possessed wit that might have been sharp and incisive as a two-edged sword had it not been for his kindliness.
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