USA > Iowa > Monroe County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 13
USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 13
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After his marriage Mr. Taylor took up his abode on a farm in Washington township, and in December, 1863, he came to his present farm, which is located on section 34. This has been his home almost continuously since, covering forty years. He has here one hundred and twenty acres of rich land and his efforts have transformed it into a valuable tract, neat and thrifty in appearance, having all the evidence of careful supervision and progressive cultivation. Mr. Taylor votes with the Democracy. He has had no desire for public office, having always preferred to give his attention to his business affairs, in which he has met with creditable and well merited success, so that he is now the owner of a rich and valuable farm which annually returns to him a good income.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN SWARTS.
William Franklin Swarts, now deceased, was a respected citizen and enterprising farmer of Appanoose county, living in Wells town- ship. He was born in Highland county, Ohio, on the 8th of September, 1850, and was the youngest of six children born to Frederick and Phebe Ann Swarts, of whom further mention is made on another page of this work in connection with the sketch of C. V. Swarts, now an enterprising farmer of Wells township.
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William Franklin Swarts spent his early youth in the state of his nativity, being twelve years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Iowa. They took up their abode in Wells township and here he always made his home, assisting in the work of field and meadow through the summer months, while in the winter seasons he pursued his studies in the public schools. He was thus well equipped for life's practical duties. The occupation to which he was reared he made his life work and was well known as a man of marked industry and enterprise.
On the 23d of November, 1879, Mr. Swarts was united in mar- riage to Miss Viola Maring, a daughter of Joseph Maring. a prominent resident of Wells township. To this union have been born five chil- dren, as follows: Lee Eddie; Bertha Jane, wife of James Myers, of Wells township; Lewis Burton, Henry Willard, and Carrie Belle. In his political views Mr. Swarts was an earnest Republican and his close study of the questions and issues of the day had led him to ally his forces with that party. His life was one of untiring industry, idleness and indolence being utterly foreign to his nature. His do- mestic tastes made his home to him the best place on earth, and he put forth every effort in his power to promote the welfare of his wife and children. In matters of business he was ever straightforward and reliable, and in friendship he was faithful, his many excellent qualities of heart and mind endearing him to those with whom he came in con- tact, and when he died. April 4. 1898, his loss throughout the com- munity was widely felt, as well as in the household in which he was a loving husband and father.
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C. V. SWARTS.
When the tocsin of war sounded and the country needed and de- manded the aid of all loyal citizens for the preservation of the Union, C. V. Swarts was among those who followed the nation's starry ban- ner upon southern battlefields. He is now quietly following farming in Wells township, Appanoose county, where he has become the owner of one hundred and sixty-six acres of land, now well cultivated. He was born in Highland county, Ohio, December 13, 1840, and is a son of Frederick and Phebe Ann (Fenner) Swarts, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of Ohio. On the paternal side our sub- ject is of German ancestry, and in the maternal line comes of English stock. His parents were married in Ohio and after the wedding cere- mony was performed they began their domestic life upon a farm in Highland county, Ohio, living there until the spring of 1862, when they came to Iowa, making the journey by boat from Cincinnati to Keokuk, and thence across the country to Appanoose county. They settled in Wells township and throughout their remaining days the father carried on agricultural pursuits. He died in 1894 at the age of eighty-eight years, and his wife passed away about thirty years ago. Although he entered upon his business career a poor man he was a hard worker and success attended his efforts. His political views were in harmony with the principles of the Republican party and he was a staunch friend of progress, reform and improvement. Both he and his wife were earnest Christian people and all who knew them entertained for them the highest regard. In their family were six children: Wilson K., a resident farmer of Missouri; Julia A .; C. V., whose name intro- duces this review; Henry, Wesley, and W. Frank, all of whom are deceased. Wilson and C. V. were both soldiers of the Civil war.
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Upon the home farm in Ohio, Mr. Swarts of this review was reared and a common school education was afforded him. He was twenty-two years of age when he came to Jowa with his parents, and this state has since been his home. In May, 1863, he offered his ser- vices to the government and was assigned to Company E, of the Seventh Iowa Cavalry, with which he served as a private for about three years, being mustered out in 1866. He was always found at his post of duty whether it called him to the lonely picket line or into the midst of battle, and with a most creditable military record he returned to his home.
In the fall of the same year Mr. Swarts was united in marriage to Miss Dorcas Pulliam, a daughter of John and Rebecca Pulliam. They have eight children: Rosa, Emma, Charles, Lando, Alfred, Wil- liam, Josie, and Claude. They also lost a little daughter in infancy. After his marriage Mr. Swarts began farming on his own account and has since carried on this pursuit with signal success. His farm of one hundred and sixty-six acres is now under a very high state of cultivation and is equipped with everything necessary for carrying on the work according to the modern and approved methods of the pres- ent time. In his political views he is a Republican, earnest in his ad- vocacy of the party, and as a citizen he is to-day as true and loyal to his country as when he followed the old flag through the south.
WESLEY DONEGAN.
Among Iowa's native sons residing in Monroe county is Wesley Donegan, who was born in Jefferson county, this state, on the 18th of February, 1842, his parents being John and Margery (Roberts) Done-
MR. AND MRS. WESLEY DONEGAN AND FAMILY.
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gan, both of whom were natives of Ohio. The father died in Monroe county at the age of eighty-six years and thus a life of usefulness and uprightness was ended. His wife, however, passed away in Jefferson county in 1848, when her son Wesley was a little lad of six years. The family had been established in this state in 1836, at which time John Donegan became a resident of Burlington, Iowa, and three years later he went to Jefferson county, where he resided continuously until 1853. In that year, attracted by the discovery of gold in California, he made his way to the Pacific slope and for twenty years resided in that section of the country. To him and his wife were born ten children, of whom three are yet living.
Wesley Donegan may well be termed a self-made man, for all that he has in life has been acquired through his own efforts and he has not only a competence, but has developed a character which is in every way worthy of respect. When only eleven years of age he was bound out, and for two years worked with a man whose services he had entered. He then ran away and from the age of thirteen years was employed as a farm hand by the day or month, working in the fields from early morn- ing until evening. After the inauguration of the Civil war, believing that his first duty was to his country, he joined the army in August, 1862, and was assigned with Company A, Tenth Illinois Cavalry, under the command of Captain Anderson. He then served until June, 1865, · and was discharged by reason of the expiration of his term and also of the close of the war. Investigation into his war record shows that he was a loyal defender of the Union, faithfully performing his duty whether it called him into the thickest of the fight or stationed him upon the lonely picket line. He was always with his company and regiment in the various battles in which the command engaged, with the excep-
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tion of a period when he was on detached service, and although fre- quently ill and unfit for duty he always reported each day.
At the close of his military service Mr. Donegan returned to Illi- nois and in the fall of 1865 came to Iowa, settling first near Eddyville. in Monroe county, where he worked by the month. When his earn- ings enabled him to make investment in property he purchased a tract of land in Mahaska county, which was partly improved. He then further continued his arrangement for a home of his own by his marriage, which was celebrated February 6, 1870, the lady of his choice being Miss Mary P. Templeton, who was born upon the farm where she is now living, a daughter of Adolphus D. and Mary ( McGlothlen) Tem- pleton. One of her paternal uncles was the first recorder and treasurer of Monroe county. Her father was born in Indiana and about 1843. when Iowa was still a territory, came to this section of the state, his death occurring on the farm across the road from our subject's home when he was seventy-six years of age. His wife, who was also born in Indiana, died at the age of eighty-one years. In their family were ten children. of whom four are yet living. To our subject and his wife have been born eight children, five of whom yet survive, namely : John A., who is married and has two children; David H., a resident of Colorado; Mary Grace, Laura May, and Viola Pearl, all at home. They have been provided with the educational advantages of the schools of this locality and the members of the household are widely and favor- ably known in this locality.
After his marriage Mr. Donegan carried on farming in Bluff Creek township, Monroe county, for one year and subsequently spent two years in Mahaska county, Iowa, after which he removed to Colo- rado, where for ten years he conducted a ranch. On the expiration of
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that decade he again came to Iowa, but later spent a winter in Kansas, and then once more established his home in Monroe county on the old Templeton farm of two hundred and thirty-eight acres, which has since been his place of residence, where his time and attention have been devoted to its further cultivation and development.
Aside from his farm work Mr. Donegan has been quite prominent in local political affairs and has filled a number of offices. He has been a staunch Democrat since casting his first presidential vote for Seymour, and while living in Colorado he served as county assessor for one term of two years. He maintains relations with his old army comrades through his membership in Wilcox Post No. 138, G. A. R., of Eddyville, and while not a member of any church, he attends the ser- vices of various denominations and has contributed to their support. With interest in his county and its progress, he has co-operated in much work for the general good and at the same time has carried on his per- sonal business affairs in a manner that has made his work successful, returning to him a satisfactory income.
THE REICH FAMILY.
As the name shows, the original ancestors of this family were Germans. Christopher Reich was a native of North Carolina and lived and died there; he was a member of the Moravian church and was active in building up its interests; he was the father of six children and four of them lived to years of maturity. One of these was Henry Edward Reich, who was born in Salem, North Carolina, December 18, 1814; in a school of the Moravian sect he was educated and then served an apprenticeship at the tinner's trade, which he followed dur-
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ing his residence at Salem. At the age of twenty-seven he was married and soon afterward, in 1850, came west; he started by way of wagon and thus reached Louisville, Kentucky, whence he went by boat to Keokuk, Iowa. From there by wagon he reached the present site of the town of Moravia, in Appanoose county, and settled one-half mile west, where a representative had located government land for him. He was foremost in laying out the town of Moravia, using for that purpose his pocket compass and tape line; on his farm near by he opened the first store and also the first postoffice, of which he became the post- master, serving until 1861. When the town of Moravia became a certainty he was one of its pioneer merchants; he also dealt in clocks and in clock repairing, having a mechanical genius which fitted him for this trade, and at an early day he had peddled clocks in Indiana.
In religion he was a strict adherent of the Moravian church, and in that faith he passed away in May, 1895, thus ending a long and useful life, devoted to the service of his family and his religion. In politics he was a Democrat. In 1841 Mr. Reich was married to Anna Aurelia Herbst, also born in Salem, North Carolina, and she survived him five months, passing away at the age of seventy-two. Three children were born to them before leaving North Carolina, the oldest daugliter dying in infancy; the other two were Laura E. and Francis .A. Mrs. Reich's brother, Charles Herbst, also came west with them and lived, married and died in this county. The other children born to them on reaching Iowa were Mary C., Junius A. and Ella L., all deceased.
FRANCIS A. REICH, the only living son of Henry Edward and Anna Aurelia (Herbst) Reich, was born in Salem, North Carolina, on the 30th of June, 1848, and was accordingly only a small child when
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brought to Iowa by his parents. Moravia has always been his home town and here he was educated. In early life he farmed; for eleven years was in the sawmill business and then for about fifteen years fol- lowed the carpentering trade. On December 4, 1882, he engaged in the grain and lumber business in the employ of W. M. Peatman, and in 1885 he and his brother Junius bought out the firm; Junius also conducted a grocery and boot and shoe store in which our subject was interested. Francis managed the lumber business and in 1887 became the sole proprietor ; in 1889 A. D. Maiken became his partner, but since his death in 1897, Mr. Reich has carried on the enterprise alone, the firm being known as F. A. Reich, dealer in lumber and grain.
In 1881 Mr. Reich was married to Miss Pearl Weinberg, a native of Augusta, Illinois, and the daughter of German parents; they have seven children : H. Claude, Clarence P., Gladys P., Francis W., Herschel W., and Loren Keith and Kenneth Clare, twins. Mr. Reich votes the Prohibition ticket, and he and his wife are members of the F Methodist church. Their home is a pleasant one and they are es- teemed members of society.
HENRY PERRY POWERS.
In studying the ancestral sources of this family we discover that the progenitors were from Germany and that the name was originally spelled Pouer, then Power, and later Powers; and it is also possible to see in the character of our worthy subject some of the sturdy traits that he must have inherited from his Teutonic forefathers, who as a people still retain the characteristics that have made them famous since the dawn of history. The earliest American ancestor of whom we have
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definite knowledge was grandfather Joseph Powers, a native of Vir- ginia. Thomas Powers, the son of Joseph, was a native of West Jefferson, Madison county, Ohio; in that state he married Mary Bar- ron, a native of New York, and in 1851 came to Iowa; they settled near Centerville and spent the remainder of their days in and about that town. In early life he followed farming and later engaged in the car- penter's trade, and these two occupations made the principal pursuits of his life. Although he was ardent in his adherence to the principles of the Democratic party, he never aspired to hold any public office. He and his wife were members of the Baptist church. Twelve children were born to them, and eleven of these are still living.
Henry Perry, the son of Thomas and Mary (Barron) Powers, is a native of Centerville, Appanoose county, Iowa, being born in that thriving city on the 28th day of February, 1856. He passed the first twenty-one years of his life in and about Centerville and had the privi- lege of a common school education. When he became of age he came to Moulton and learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed up to 1889. But within him there was the constant desire for higher things which finally impelled him to put aside his awl and take up the study of law. He began reading law with W. F. Garrett, which he con- tinued till 1894, and then entered Drake University to carry out his studies. He was successful and in 1895 passed the examination before the supreme court and was admitted to the bar. He then returned to Moulton and opened an office and has since been carrying on a good practice, at the same time dealing in fire insurance and real estate. He owns a fine professional library and is a deep student of all the live questions of the day.
In the true sense of the word Mr. Powers is a self-made man,
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and as such deserves all the rewards that have come to his well directed efforts. He is a Democrat, a Baptist, and a member of the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1879 he was married to Miss Jennie Ogden, a native of Appanoose county, and they have two children, Buhless and Harry.
JAMES R. BARKLEY.
James R. Barkley, a leading attorney of Moulton, Iowa, is an example of a self-educated and self-made man, for, starting without a rich inheritance to assist him, by the pluck that seems inborn in many men, and particularly Americans, he has found the way to fair success in life. Thomas Barkley, his father, was born in Belfast, Ireland, and when a young man came to America in company with his mother. He soon moved to Iowa and in Davis county married and spent the re- mainder of his days on a farm, dying when the subject of this sketch. was but a child. His wife, Margaret Campbell, was a native of Mus- kingum county. Ohio, and early in life came to Davis county with her parents, about 1854; she now resides in Moulton. The only children were James R. and Samuel E., the latter a drug clerk in Moulton.
James came into the world on the farm in Davis county, Iowa, on the 13th of February. 1869. The happy days of his boyhood were passed in the tasks of the schoolroom and in the stimulating outdoor life of the farm. After his common school education was finished, he attended the Southern Iowa Normal at Bloomfield; he then taught for six terms and with the money thus earned he began the study of law, completing the prescribed course in Drake University at Des Moines. In the spring of 1894 he was admitted to the bar and in December
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of that year opened his office in Moulton, where he has since practiced and has built up a good business. And from his record in the past we may presage a still brighter future for him.
Mr. Barkley is active in Democratic politics ; he is a Master Mason and a member of the Methodist church. In 1896 he was united in marriage to Minnie Henke, of Moulton, and they have two children in their home, Robert and Kathleen.
FRANCIS SEIGLE PENCE.
The mere reading of the above name would suggest that the bearer was born during the Civil war and that his father was a patriotic upholder of the Union cause. Both these guesses will be found verified by this biography as its details are unfolded in the regular order of narration. At present the namesake of the famous German soldier who cast his lot with his adopted country in her hour of great trial is a prosperous Iowa farmer residing near the little village of Moravia, " but, as is the case with most of the inhabitants of the state, his parents were of eastern origin. How and when they came, what they did after coming and the subsequent status of their descendants are the main points which make up the particulars of this biographical sketch. The name of Pence was formerly a familiar one in Maryland, and to a family of this designation was born, on the 17th of February, 1818, a son named Daniel. His people being in somewhat narrow circum- stances the boy was compelled at an early age to work for a living, and when a young man decided to abandon the state of his nativity and embrace the better prospects offered by the rising young common- wealth of the west. Daniel first made his way to Ohio, then a kind of
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Mecca for all ambitious emigrants, and after reaching his destination found employment with one George Adanis, who was running a grist- mill in Muskingum county. About the time, or shortly after, that he arrived Absalom and Harriet (Jolinson) Foster, another Maryland family, had taken up their abode in the same section of the Buckeye state. Naturally they got acquainted and eventually became intimate, with the result that Daniel "fell in love" with Jane Fisher, the attractive daughter of the couple above mentioned. The young couple were united in marriage, June 4, 1843, and for several years thereafter re- tained their residence in the county of Muskingum.
But Daniel had for some time been looking longingly toward the fine new state just coming into prominence along the banks of the upper Mississippi and finally resolved to join the secondary tide of emigration then setting in strongly for Iowa. So one bright morning in 1855 a team of horses was hitched up, the family's household goods were packed in the wagon and with the usual camping outfit the little party was soon on its way to the land of promise. It took fully four weeks to make the trip, but at length the weary and travel-stained wanderers reached their destination in Appanoose county. As Iowa was yet only nine years old as a state, the Pences came at a sufficiently early period to be ranked as first settlers or early pioneers, and as such they were known to the succeeding generation. Daniel signalized his advent by purchasing a claim for one hundred and sixty acres of land in Taylor township, at a price which seemed to him dear enough, but which to one familiar with present prices of land in Iowa appears absurdly low. The purchaser found a rude log cabin on his place and also about twenty-five acres that had been broken for cultivation, and with this condition of things confronting them he and his good wife settled down
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to business. They realized that there was much hard work before them and the road to wealth and ease a long and arduous one, but they set themselves resolutely to the task of facing every obstacle and over- coming every difficulty. Under the good management of Daniel Pence on the outside and of his sensible wife in her own sphere magical. changes were soon wrought on this raw Iowa farm. The log cabin in time gave way to a commodious residence, fencing and outbuildings ornamented the landscape and the once wild prairie was brought into a high state of cultivation. As prosperity smiled upon him the proprietor added tract after tract to his possessions until eventually his original investment of one hundred and sixty had grown to something like thir- teen hundred acres of fertile land. The price, too, improved with the acreage, and when Daniel Pence was called to render his last account he was in that comfortable condition known among farmers as "well off." As the extent of the farm and its operations increased so did the occupants of the household, and in course of years the fond parents saw a fine lot of boys and girls growing up around them. They lost three by death, Absalom and Josephine passing away in childhood, and Harriet in infancy. but all the others grew to maturity and are doing well in the world. Charles Daniel, the eldest son, served as a Union soldier in the Thirty-sixth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and is at present living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Peter David and William Henry, second and third of the surviving children, are residents of Taylor township, near the old family homestead. George Marion is living at Gordon Grove, Iowa: and Sarah Jane, the only daughter, is the wife of William Duvall and resides in Monroe county.
Francis Seigle Pence, youngest of the children above mentioned was born May 26, 1862, on the old homestead in Appanoose county,
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Iowa, and owes his first name to the fact that he appeared on the scene at the height of the Civil war. His father was an admirer of General Francis or Franz Sigel, one of the famous corps commanders of the army of the Potomac, and gave his name to the boy born when the German patriot was much in the public eye. Though Francis was not able to say, in the language of the old soldiers' song, that "he fit mit Sigel," he grew up to be the kind of a boy and man that the veteran general would be proud to acknowledge as a namesake. At the time of his birth his parents were still living in the old log cabin which shel- tered them for many years after their arrival in Iowa. His father had branched out extensively in stock-raising by the time he reached robust boyhood, and turning his attention to the dairying department of the farm he learned all about cheese-making. This furnished him employ- ment for twelve years after he acquired the details of the business, and when he himself became a land-owner the knowledge acquired in youth proved quite useful to him in many ways. He has prospered since going into business for himself, as any one may see who now visits his place about a mile from the village of Moravia. At present Mr. Pence owns the old homestead farm of three hundred and twenty acres, which he has occupied as sole proprietor since his father's death May 23. 1897, and lives in a brick house which cost two thousand dollars and stands very near the site of the old log cabin where he was born. There is also a good barn on the place, thirty-six by fifty feet in dimensions, be- sides a granary, buggy sheds, feed lots and all the other accessories of an up-to-date Iowa farm. Mr. Pence has a telephone in his house, and also enjoys the rural delivery of mail, these services furnishing him quick communication with all surrounding points of importance and enabling him to transact his business in twentieth century style. Any
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