USA > Iowa > Monroe County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 14
USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
208
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
one who calls to see him will find out without being told that the pro- prietor is hospitable and genial in disposition and treats all visitors with the royal and hearty welcome customary in farm households of the first class. Mr. Pence's long residence and extensive dealings have made him well known throughout Appanoose and adjoining counties, among whose people he numbers his friends by the hundreds.
February 19, 1893, Mr. Pence was married to Eleanor, daughter of Robert and Mary Jane (Nichol) Bell, of Monroe county, to which part of Iowa her parents came in 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Pence have a bright little family growing up, consisting of two boys and two girls. Robert Daniel. the eldest, has about completed his eighth year, while his eldest sister, Hazel, is a year his junior. Ina is six years old, and little Garrett, the baby of the family, has hardly finished the second year of his age. In politics Mr. Pence has always affiliated with the Democratic party and confines his fraternal connections to membership in the order of Modern Woodmen of America. He and the other children have always looked carefully after the comfort of their mother, Mrs. Jane Pence, to whom they owed so much during the times of toil and struggle in the formative periods of their lives. This venerable lady, now in the seventy-eighth year of her age, is pleasantly located in a good home at Moravia, where the evening of her days is made enjoy- able by the kindly attentions of friends and relatives.
JOHN A. HINOTE.
Since 1877 John A. Hinote has been a resident of Appanoose county and now lives on section 25. Taylor township, where within the boundaries of his farm are comprised one hundred and seventy acres
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY. 209
of rich land. He is one of the citizens that Indiana has furnished to the Hawkeye state. He was born March 17, 1851, a son of Peter Hinote, whose birth also occurred in Indiana. The grandfather was Alexander Hinote and his grandfather came from Germany to the new world at a very early day and served in the Revolutionary war. Alex- ander Hinote died in Indiana and it was upon a farm in that state that Peter Hinote was reared. When he had attained years of maturity he wedded Isabel Dyer, whose birth occurred in that state, June 9, 1820. On her mother's side she came of the Montgomery family of North Carolina and in the year 1855 Peter Hinote came with his wife and chil- dren to Iowa, traveling by team to Des Moines, which was then a small village largely built of log cabins. Indians were encamped along the river and were engaged in hunting and trapping, and the work of pro- gress and improvement seemed scarcely begun in the state. In 1856 the family removed to Gentry county, Missouri, and after two years the father traded his property there for a farm in Harrison county, Mis- souri, where he lived until his life's labors were ended in death, when he was forty-nine years of age. His wife, long surviving him, passed away at the age of seventy-two years, dying in the faith of the Regular Baptist church, of which she was a devoted member. Their children were: Alexander, who for three years was a soldier in the Third Iowa Cavalry during the Civil war and died in Buffalo county, Nebraska, in 1900; Samuel, who lives in Nebraska; William, a successful music teacher and preacher of the Christian church, who is now living on the old homestead in Missouri; Elisha P., of Gentry county, Missouri; Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson and Mrs. Annice_Clabaugh, both of that state; two sons, who died in Indiana; and Ellen Jane, who has also departed this life.
210
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
John A. Hinote was reared upon the Missouri farm, and the work of field and meadow occupied a considerable share of his time and at- tention through the period of his youth. In the winter months he pur- sued his education in the district schools, seated upon slab benches be- fore a big fireplace. When twenty-two years of age he went to Wapello county, Iowa, settling upon a farm, and in 1876 he arrived in Appanoose county. Here at the age of twenty-five years he married Clara M. Stevens, who was a successful and capable teacher prior to that time. She is one of the native daughters of the county, for her father, George L. Stevens, located here at a very early day and the family residence has since been maintained in this portion of the state. He was born in September, 1814, in Indiana, and was a son of the Rev. Benjamin Stevens. In addition to agricultural pursuits he carried on blacksmith- ing and he lived a life in harmony with his profession as a member of the Baptist church, dying in that faith at the age of seventy-four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Maria Fletcher, was born in Kentucky, and died at the age of seventy-three years. Her parents were James and Nancy (Dawson) Fletcher and the latter was a daugh- ter of Mrs. Elizabeth Dawson, who in her maidenhood bore the name of Miss Anderson. Elizabeth Dawson had a somewhat tragic history, for when she was but fourteen years of age she and her brother were captured by the Indians during the war of 1812, but later were ex- changed at Fort Pitt, Pennsylvania. On that occasion her parents and one of their children were killed by the savages. The Andersons were of Scotch descent. George L. Stevens died while visiting his old home in Indiana and his wife died at Moravia. Their children were as fol- lows: John L., a resident of Idaho; Mrs. Jurilda Knabb, of Nodaway county, Missouri; George W .; Mrs. Clara M. Hinote; and Salathial F.
211
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
and Benjamin F., both deceased. The last named was a volunteer in the Indian war in Nebraska, serving against the hostile red men, and he killed their chief and secured his trophies, including some firearms, a wig, a robe, a blanket and a gun. Later he became a prominent physi- cian and his death occurred in Appleton Mills, Missouri. Another member of the family was J. F., who is also deceased.
For eighteen years Mr. Hinote has lived upon the farm which is now his home, having here one hundred and seventy acres of land. He calls his place Hazel Dell, and the farm is regarded as one of the best in this locality. He has erected a good modern home at a cost of over thirteen hundred dollars and it is tastefully furnished. He has a barn thirty by forty feet and uses the latest improved machinery in carrying on the farm work. There is also a good orchard, a grove and meadow and pasture lands and he keeps good grades of cattle, horses, sheep and hogs. Both as a stock-raiser and as a general farmer he has been suc- cessful and for nine months he was proprietor of a store at Hiatt Sta- tion in Taylor township.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hinote have been born nine children: Lawrence L., a resident of Pendleton, Oregon : Peter Clyde, who died at the age of seven years; Verna Z .. Richard Cleveland, Leoto Ethel, Bertha Lutecia, John Athel, Hazel Dell, and Paul Phillip. Mr. Hinote has served as postmaster of Hiatt and his daughter Verna was his assistant. He has also been justice of the peace. The household is noted for its hos- pitality and the members of the family enjoy the warm regard of a large circle of friends.
212 BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
, STEPHEN JAMES AND C. S. JAMES, M. D.
The gentlemen whose names head this article are prominent citi- zens of the city of Centerville and stand high in the esteem of their friends and acquaintances on account of their many excellent qualities. Stephen James is a son of David and Clarissa James, the former a na- tive of Trenton, New Jersey, and the latter of New York; the birth- place of Stephen was near Utica, New York. He grew to manhood much after the manner of all boys and was allowed the privilege of a liberal education. When the Civil war came like a blight upon the country, he enlisted and served three years in Company B, First United States (Berdan's) Sharpshooters, being made corporal soon after en- listment, and he participated in many battles with the army of the Po- tomac. Since the war he has retained his connection with his old com- rades by membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he holds the honorable position of member of the executive committee of the national council of administration.
After the war, during the years 1867-8, Mr. James resided in Appanoose county, Iowa, and then went to Kansas, where he remained until 1880; he then returned and has ever since lived in this county. In early life he taught school for a number of years, but later took up farming, which he carried on successfully until 1888; this year was the date of his removal to Centerville and he has since been engaged in clerical work, for four years and a half assisting Dr. Reynolds, and since that time doing like service for his son, Dr. C. S. James.
Mr. James upholds the principles of the Republican party with all the ardor of his belief, and he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist church. The maiden name of his wife was Miss Sarah E.
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY. 213
Heasley, who has proved a most capable and devoted helpmeet to him in the journey of life. They have two children, Charles S. and Lora D.
Charles S. James, son of Stephen James, was born in Emporia, Kansas, in 1870, and while only a little more than thirty years of age he has gained an enviable reputation as a leading physician and surgeon. When ten years old his parents brought him to Appanoose county and there he was educated in the common schools and in the Iowa Wesleyan University. He then began the study of medicine under Dr. E. M. Reynolds of Centerville, continuing from 1887 to 1891 ; he completed his course in the University Medical College at Kansas City, graduating March 14, 1891, and on March 20, the same year, opened his office in Centerville. Dr. James has always been a progressive and eager stu- dent of his profession and in 1899 he took a post-graduate course in the Chicago Polyclinic and also in the New York Post-Graduate School in 1901, and in the same year did post-graduate work in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Since 1892 the Doctor has been a member of the Iowa State Medical Society and in 1900 was honored with the chairmanship of the section Practice of Medicine. In the line of his profession he is a member of many other bodies, the Des Moines Valley Association, the Western Surgical and Gynecological Society, the Appanoose and Wayne Counties Medical Society, of which he is secretary ; of the Southwestern Medical Society and of the American Medical Association; he is a mem- ber of the board of insane commissioners of Appanoose county and is surgeon for the Burlington Railroad. Fraternally the Doctor stands high in the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar and a Shriner, and he is also a Knight of Pythias. In politics he is a Republican. On June 7, 1894, he was married to Miss Blanche Barrows, a daughter of J. C. Barrows of Centerville.
14
214
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
EDWARD K. ELLEDGE.
This gentleman is the prosperous general merchant of Cincinnati, Iowa, where he has been established since 1893, and there is no doubt that he has materially improved commercial and trade conditions since he has been in business. The family has been well known in Appanoose county for over half a century, and no biographer of the prominent men of the county could well omit mention of them. But for a rounded his- tory of the Elledges we must take the reader back to the ancestral home in Scotland, where grandfather Benjamin Elledge was born January 24, 1782. He came to America and first took up his abode in Virginia, then moved with the western stream of migration to Indiana, whence he came in pioneer days to Pike county, Illinois, and remained there until he was called to his final rest in his seventy-second year, October 31, 1853. His wife was Catherine Reynolds, who was of German de- scent and was born July 13, 1786, and died before her husband, in Pike county, having become the mother of a large family.
One of the sons was Henry V. Elledge, who was born in Indiana, June 2, 1826. He was reared in Pike county, Illinois, and when he was twenty-four years of age came to Appanoose county, Iowa, the cen- tury having just turned the half-way mark. Since that time he has resided here almost continuously ; he was in Davis county, Iowa, for about two years and in Hitchcock county, Nebraska, for four, but in 1893 he returned and is now residing in Cincinnati. Farming has been his life occupation. Mr. Elledge had been in Appanoose county but a short time when he was married on December 8, 1850, to Miss Hannah Rogers ; her father was Thomas J. Rogers, a pioneer settler of Appanoose county, and her mother, Phoebe Shin, is still surviving in Moulton,
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY. 215
Iowa. Mrs. Elledge was born August 4, 1833, and died at the age of thirty-two, on March 13, 1866, and of the children born to her the fol- lowing reached years of maturity: William R., born June 20, 1853, is now living in Colorado; Charles R., born November 5, 1857, is in this county; Mary Emma, born October 13, 1861, lives in Arkansas; and Edward Kindred. After the death of his first wife Mr. Elledge was married to Mrs. Mary S. Jennings. Her son, James D., who was born to her of a former union, August 22, 1864, took the name of Elledge, and was the boyhood companion and was often taken for the twin of Edward K .; they were reared together from the age of two and were together constantly, and the former is now a prosperous farmer of this county. The living children of the second union are : Laura Maud, born September 20, 1874, and now in St. Louis; Carl B., born May 23, 1876; Eva Ora, born September 25, 1881, also a resi- dent of St. Louis.
The family history has now been brought down to Edward K. Elledge, who was born while his parents were farming in Davis county, Iowa, December 8, 1863. He had a fair amount of schooling mixed in with the wholesome labor of the farm, and when he was eighteen years old he began life for himself, for the following twelve years being in the milling business. He was not a person to dissipate his earn- ings as fast as he got them, and by 1893, with the capital he had ac- cumulated, he was able to start his present mercantile house in Cin- cinnati. His good business methods have commended him to the pub- lic, and he is now rated as one of the soundest and most reliable mer- chants in the county. He owns his own store, which is a two-story and basement brick block, equipped in a modern way, with elevator and stairways, and with a fine and well selected stock of goods.
216
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
On November 15, 1896, Mr. Elledge was married to Miss Laura E. Pugh, who was born in this county, November 29, 1871. Her parents are Samuel and Dicy (Baker) Pugh, the former born in Ohio, July 6, 1838, and the latter in West Virginia, June 8. 1843; of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Pugh the following came to maturity : Laura E., Van H., Sanford C., Lucy E., David A., and Blanch H., all of whom reside with their parents except Laura E. The first child to come into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Elledge was Lloyd Cameron, on February 2, 1898; then Inez Maud, December 19. 1899; and Lora Lucile, January 31, 1901. Mr. Elledge is a Democrat in political belief, and is a good member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His success is not a matter of luck, but has been gained by close application. honorable principles, and unremitting diligence, which are the cardinal virtues in this workaday world and lead to certain and honest rewards.
WILLIAM H. GRAY.
The beautiful country site known as Shadeland is the property of William H. Gray and is pleasantly located two miles west of Eddyville in Monroe county. This place is endeared to Mr. Gray because of the associations of his boyhood as well as those of later years, for it was here that he was born on the 18th of June, 1849. The family is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and back through four hundred years is the line of descent traced, showing close connection with the nobility of Eng- land.
Great-grandfather James Gray, of Barrington, New Hampshire, was a private in Captain Richard Dowe's Company in Colonel Win- gate's Regiment of New Hampshire troops, in 1775, and never re-
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY. 217
turned from the war. His children were as follows: Henry, John, Joseph, James, Solomon, Hannah, Fanny, and Johannah, who married Thomas Berry. James Gray's son Henry emigrated to Vermont in company with a Thomas Berry. He married Eunice Goodwin, whose mother's name was Dunbar, and the children were: John Blake; Wells, who died in Minnesota; William, who died in Canada; Henry, who died in the United States service; Anson, in Vermont; Hannah, Margaret, Abigail, Eunice, Judith, and Fanny. John Blake Gray and Eliza J. Stephens were married May 15th, 1834, in Illinois. He went into business in what is now Burlington, Iowa, in the same year. He was permitted to name the place, which he did in remembrance of his home in Vermont, and the first shipment of goods that came to Bur- lington, Iowa, was sent to John B. Gray. The place had been called Flint Hills or Shockocon. The issue from this union is as follows : John Stephens Gray, William Henry Fulton Gray, James Anson Gray, Abigail A. Gray, Mary Frances Gray, Lilleas Jane Gray, Eunice Eliza Gray; all were born in Iowa except the next to the last daughter, who was born in Texas.
In 1837 John B. Gray went from Burlington to Texas, where he remained three or four years, but the Indians were so hostile and the Mexicans so treacherous that it was not safe for the whites, who never knew at what hour they might be called out to defend their homes or to rescue some stolen member of some other citizen's family. How- ever, there were great prospects of becoming wealthy in the possession of land obtained through some sort of grants of the republic of Texas. Mr. Gray had obtained great tracts of it-they measured it by the league-but when the difficulty came up between the United States and Mexico he chose rather to enjoy the safety of the states and home gov-
218 BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
ernment, to wealth in a disputed country with all the chances of war before him; so in 1840-41 he made the trip back to Iowa in a wagon, making frequent stops on the journey. In the fall of 1842 he obtained an agency to sell goods to the Sac and Fox Indians who were occupy- ing this part of the country west of the Mississippi river. He lived in Eddyville, near which place there was a large encampment of the Indians awaiting transportation to some point farther north or west in the territory. The time of the opening of this part of the country to the whites was April 1, 1843, at which time Mr. Gray took possession of his claim, and lived continuously in this county ( Monroe) until he died on December 9, 1876. He did not always reside on the farm, for he was one of the commissioners to the first territorial legislature. Thus Mr. Gray's family were among the very pioneers of Iowa, and his son, John, was the first child born in Monroe county.
The wife of John Blake Gray, Eliza J. Stephens, was born in Vir- ginia; went to Indiana when she was three years old; came to Illinois and then to Iowa about 1834-35. Her brother, Samuel Stephens, was the head of the family at this time; he always lived near Burlington and died there. Mrs. Gray's brothers and sisters were Samuel, Mary, Margaret. Agnes, Isaac, Elsy Ann, and James Fulton, the family being in some way related to the famous Robert Fulton, the inventor. Elsy Ann married John Webber, whose name can be found in the gov- ernment records of Des Moines county, Iowa. Agnes married, first, a Mr. White, who died, and she then married a Mr. Sturdevant, who held the position of gunsmith among the Sac and Fox Indians, and was moved with the Indians when their term of possession expired ; he died in what is called the Osage purchase.
As a boy William H. Gray alternated his play with work and as
219
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
his years and strength increased he became a factor in the work of the fields. His education was acquired in the public schools and thus he was fitted for life's practical and responsible duties. Throughout his business career he has carried on agricultural pursuits, his labors being attended with excellent results because of his thorough training for the work and his careful management and progressive methods.
In the year 1874 Mr. Gray was united in marriage to Miss Fan- nie Myrick, who was born in the same locality as her husband. Their union has been blessed with two children: Macy, who is married; and Archie E., at home. The son assists his father in their extensive fruit business and in the other work of the farm. Mr. Gray is known as one of the most prominent representatives of horticultural interests in this portion of the country, and sixty acres of his fine farm is devoted to the cultivation of fruit. He owns altogether two hundred and forty acres of land, his orchard contains many varieties of fruit trees and he also raises the smaller fruits, so that throughout the summer season various kinds of products are gathered and sent to the market. In fruit production Mr. Gray gives special attention not only to the size, but also to the quality and flavor, and thus the products of Shadeland find a ready sale upon the market, and Mr. Gray's opinions regarding horticulture are largely received as authority in this part of the state. Everything bearing upon fruit culture is of interest to him and the ideas advanced which he believes will prove of practical benefit in his work are readily taken up and incorporated into the labor of car- ing for his orchards. Shadeland is well named because of the many and the beautiful trees which adorn the farm, and through the vista of green can be seen a lovely lake which is one of the attractive feat- ures of his beautiful country seat,
220
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
Mr. Gray exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party, of which he has been a stalwart supporter since he cast his first presidential ballot for General Grant in 1872. He keeps well informed on the issues of the day, as every true American citizen should do, but has never sought or desired office, pre- ferring to give his attention to the production of grain and fruit. His farm is splendidly equipped for the purposes for which it is utilized and in the midst of fine orchards and highly cultivated fields stand substantial buildings, including a nice residence. The household is noted for its hospitality, which is greatly enjoyed by the many friends of the family. Mr. Gray has made "honor" his life motto, and it is this which has characterized his social, his business and his political relations. He is always straightforward in his dealings, courteous to friends and neighbors, and his genuine worth of character has made him a man worthy of the highest regard.
LEWIS LEROY TAYLOR.
Grandfather John Taylor was a native of the Old North state, and the family had established themselves there at a time when the history of America had hardly begun. His son John M. was also a native of North Carolina, but came west to Kentucky, where he was married to Nancy A. Wilson, a native of that state and the daughter of William Wilson, who came of an old Virginia family. After their marriage the parents of our subject lived on a farm in Kentucky for fourteen years, but in 1849 settled on a farm in Washington township, Appanoose county, Iowa, and there spent the remainder of their days; he passed away in 1889, aged nearly eighty-five, and his wife in 1899, also aged
LEWIS L. TAYLOR.
223
BIOGRAPHICAL AND GENEALOGICAL HISTORY.
eighty-five; had he lived one day more they would have lived to- gether as husband and wife for fifty-four years. By occupation he was a farmer and carpenter and gained a moderate success in business. In religious faith they were Baptists, and he was a Democrat. To their marriage were born nine children, one of whom died in infancy, and one at the age of thirteen; the others were as follows: William J., a farmer of Appanoose county; Holland P., who died in 1860; the sub- ject of this sketch; Isaac W., of Harrison county, Missouri; James N., who died in 1901; Mary Jane, the wife of W. S. Beggs, of this county ; Nancy A., who died in 1897.
Lewis Leroy Taylor was ushered into this world in Hart county, Kentucky, March 27, 1838. Since 1849 he has resided in this county and his early life was spent on a farm. He devoted himself to farm- ing and teaching school up to 1879; in that year he located in Cen- terville to serve as clerk of the courts, to which office he was elected for four terms, eight years in all. After severing his official connec- tion with the county, he was teller and bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Centerville for twelve years. In January, 1903, he accepted the position of cashier in the new bank of Unionville, known as the Union- ville Savings Bank. While living in Washington township Mr. Taylor served eight years as assessor and the same time as justice of the peace; also was secretary of the school district, township of Washington, for fifteen successive years, serving in that office from 1864 until 1879.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.