USA > Iowa > Monroe County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 26
USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 26
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The next event in Mr. Kirchman's life is one that is interesting from the point of general history. In 1863 he came west to Chats- worth, Illinois, and placed the machinery in the first beet sugar plant
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ever established in this country, an industry which now occupies so prominent a place in the commerce of the world. Mr. Kirchman oper- ated this plant for two years, and then went to Clinton, Iowa, and was superintendent of the Union Iron Works there for fourteen years. He then went to Davenport, Iowa, and was superintendent of the Donohue Machine Shops for four years. After spending a year in Muscatine, Iowa, he returned to Davenport and was employed by the Rock Island Railroad for a year. March 1, 1883. is the date of his com- ing to Centerville. He here purchased a machine shop and operated it under the name of the Centerville Iron Works as sole proprietor up to the time of his death, which occurred April 24, 1901.
Mr. Kirchman died in the consciousness that he had been success- ful in his best endeavors and that by his honest industry he had laid up a fair competence. He began his operations in this city, owing a part of the purchase price of his plant, but the concern grew and is still carrying on a splendid trade. Mr. Kirchman's first marriage occurred in New York city just after his army service, when he became the hus band of Helen Geissler, of German nativity, who bore him three chil- dren-William, Irma, and Jessie. At Davenport he married for his second wife Dora Carstens, who survives him, and is the mother of one son, George W. In religious belief he was a Unitarian, was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
WILLIAM KIRCHMAN, the son of Herman Kirchman by his first wife, was born in Clinton, Iowa, June 29, 1866. After receiv- ing a common school education, he learned the machinist's trade under his father. He worked in his father's shops and at the latter's death succeeded to the ownership of the Centerville Iron Works. This shop
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is equipped with all machinery for working in metals and does a large business in placing heating plants. Likewise it makes a specialty of mining machinery and general repair work. Mr. Kirchman was mar- ried in 1889 to Blanche Randolph, and they have two children. He has been chosen to represent the citizens in the city council and is a public-spirited man, ever ready to help any enterprise for the good of the community.
HON. FRANK S. PAYNE.
Grandfather Henry Payne was a native of the great state of Vir- ginia and was one of the early settlers of Iowa, settling in Henry county of that state in 1835, before the territory had been made into a state. The father of the immediate subject of this sketch, Charles W. Payne, was born in Henry county, Iowa ; his wife was Margaret Patton, who was born near Wheeling, West Virginia; her father, Matthew Patton, was also a pioneer of Iowa, and after returning to Virginia for a time, he took up his permanent residence in Henry county. Charles W. Payne has spent most of his life in the pursuit of agricul- ture and now owns and conducts a fine farm in Henry county, raising a great number of stock and making extensive deals in buying and ship- ping the same. He has been a stanch and loyal Republican and has served two terms in the lower branch of the Iowa legislature. There are four children in the family, two sons and two daughters.
Frank S. Payne, the oldest son of this family, first saw the light on a farm near Mount Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa, August 16, 1869. He passed his boyhood days on the farm and attended the country schools. He then was sent to his uncle, a lawyer in Bushnell, Illinois, and there graduated from the high school at the age of fifteen years.
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From there he entered Iowa Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant, and was graduated in 1892. Having decided upon the profession of law, he entered the Northwestern University Law School at Chicago and completed his course in 1894. In the same year he was admitted to the bar in both Iowa and Illinois, and in the fall of that year located at Centerville, where he began the practice which he has since carried on so successfully.
Besides attending to his large clientage, Mr. Payne has taken an active interest in political affairs. In the fall of 1899 he was elected on the Republican ticket as representative in the lower house of the state legislature and was re-elected in 1901. By a curious coincidence he served his first term in the house just twenty years after his father had held the same place. The part that he took in the affairs of legislation was very creditable to him. In 1896 Mr. Payne was married to Miss Grace Dickison, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Presbyterian church and are valued and respected members of society, always ready to do their share toward advancing any good cause.
JOHN MCFARLAND, M. D.
The medical profession probably has more opportunities and gives a wider field for studious research and beneficent work in the interests of humanity than any other great calling that now occupies the atten- tion of men's endeavors. The ranks of the profession have a valuable addition in the person of John McFarland, who is one of the leading practitioners of Centerville, Iowa. His parents were George and Eliza- beth (Solms) McFarland. The former was a native of Edinburgh,
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Scotland, a land that has produced many a sturdy American citizen. He came to this country when he was thirty-five years of age and was married in New York, which was his wife's native state. From there he came west to Wisconsin and there died. He was a farmer by occu- pation and possessed all the excellent qualities that are characteristic of the Scot. The wife, with her family of ten children, is still living.
John, one of the above family, was born in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, in 1855. He remained on his father's farm until he was · twenty-one and received a good common school education, graduating from the high school in Fond du Lac. He had learned the trade of mill- wright, and for five years after leaving the farm was engaged in this with considerable success. He then went to South Dakota and farmed and raised stock until 1885. Deciding that he was fitted for some more congenial occupation, in that year he entered the Homeopathic Medical College in Chicago and in 1887 completed a successful course of study in that institution. In 1889 he closed out his stock business in Dakota, and in the spring of the following year located in Centerville, where he has since carried on his profession with marked success. Mr. McFar- land is prominently connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. In 1899 he was united in marriage to Miss Etta Grimes, of Cen- terville. They have a pleasant home, are surrounded with all the com- forts of life and are the center of an ever widening circle of friends and acquaintances. To predict the future from the past, we presage a bright career before our worthy subject.
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O. H. LAW.
In America, above all other countries, are true worth, character, perseverance and steady, intelligent effort appreciated and rewarded, and it is our privilege in this short article to sketch the career of a man who has risen to the top under difficulties that would have discouraged anyone with less of the true American grit and energy. The parents of this gentleman were Thomas and Rachel (Booth) Law, who were born, reared and married near Senecaville, Ohio, and after their mar- riage came west and settled on a farm in Wells township, Appanoose county, Iowa. Thomas Law had learned the tailor's trade and followed it for many years, until failing health compelled him to take up some outdoor work. He accordingly engaged in farming and is now living retired in Moulton, Iowa.
O. H. Law is one of seven children, four sons and three daughters, and his birth occurred on a farm just south of Moulton, on February 1, 1857. His early education was limited to what he could secure in the first eleven years of his life. At that age he was put to the hard and uncongenial work in the woolen mill at Moulton, and he labored there until he was nineteen years old. Finding no profit in such employment and being unable to reconcile it to his higher views of life, he left the mill and for a while did whatever came to his hands, sawing wood and odd jobs. He was determined to gain an education, even at that late date, and with commendable effort graduated from the Moulton high school in 1878. He then taught school for a total of thirty-six months, studying law in the meantime. In 1880 he was admitted to the bar and at once began practice in Centerville, soon building up a good practice.
Mr. Law's political career is also worthy of notice. He has always been a Democrat; although living in a strongly Republican community,
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he has been chosen to many offices. For two years he served as deputy county auditor; in 1881 he was elected county auditor and was re- elected; for one term, from 1888 to 1890, he was city solicitor of Cen- terville. In all these offices he has evidenced his business push and blameless integrity. In 1886 Mr. Law branched out into the real estate, loan and abstract business and has developed a large and lucrative busi- ness. His brother has been associated with him since 1889, and in 1894 the firm was incorporated as the Law Brothers Company. Mr. Law is known as a hustler and is certain to make a success of any enterprise which he undertakes. He was married in 1880 to Miss Anna Deeds, and they have two children. The family is one of the most respected in the town and has a large circle of friends.
HENRY H. WRIGHT.
General Henry Harrison Wright is an honored veteran of the Civil war and a man who has for a number of years held a leading place among the prominent business men of Appanoose county, Iowa, where he is engaged in the general insurance business. He was born in Williams- port, Warren county, Indiana, on the 26th of February, 1840, being a son of John B. and Eliza (Purjue) Wright. The father, who was a native of Ohio, was of Scotch-Irish ancestry, while the mother, who was born in Indiana, was of Irish descent.
Henry H. Wright spent the first twenty years of his life in the place of his birth, receiving his early education in its common schools, which was later supplemented by a course in the Boyer Academy of Williams- port. When eighteen years of age he began learning the printer's trade, which he followed at Williamsport, Indiana, and Danville, Illinois, until
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1860, coming thence to Centerville, Iowa, his intention being to con- tinue the journey to the mines at Pike's Peak. However, in May, 1861, at the first call for troops, he enlisted for service in the Civil war, be- coming a member of Company D, Sixtieth Iowa Infantry, entering the ranks as a private, and was not mustered into service until the 17th of July following. His regiment served in Missouri until March, 1862, when it was ordered to Shiloh, taking part in the engagement at that place; also participated in the siege of Corinth, in the campaign in northern Mississippi under General Grant, in General Sherman's divi- sion and corps, the Vicksburg campaign, the second capture of Jackson, Mississippi, Missionary Ridge, and in the relief of General Burnsides at Knoxville, Tennessee. It also participated in the Atlanta campaign, including the battles of Resaca. Dallas, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Moun- tain, Atlanta, Jonesborough and Lovejoy's Station. The regiment was with General Sherman on his march to the sea, the campaign through the Carolinas, in the battle of Bentonville, at the capture of Raleigh, North Carolina, and in the march through Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, where it participated in the grand review in May, 1865. Mr. Wright took part in all the engagements with his regiment, and January 1. 1865, was commissioned second lieutenant of his company by Governor Stone.
He was mustered out with his regiment at Louisville, Kentucky, July 22, 1865, and after his discharge from the army returned to Cen- terville. In the following October he was elected sheriff of Appanoose county, which office he held by re-election until January, 1874, serving in all eight years, and for the following two years he was the deputy sheriff under John M. Elgin. In January, 1876, General Wright em-
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barked in the insurance, real estate and abstract business at Center- ville, to which he has devoted more than twenty-five years.
The marriage of our subject was celebrated on the 15th of Novem- ber, 1866, at Centerville, when Miss Catherine A. Gray became his wife. They have five living children : John Albert, Henry Clay, Fanny, Mary D., and Rolle. One son, Charles Cyrus, died in October, 1872, at the age of five years, and Jesse Berch died at the age of fourteen months. On the 7th of December. 1878, Mr. Wright entered the Iowa National Guard as first sergeant of Company E, Fifth Regiment, and soon after- ward, on March 14, 1880, was promoted to second lieutenant of Com- pany E, Second Regiment, while on April 15, 1881, he was made the captain. He was promoted to colonel of the Second Regiment, July 26, 1881, and on September 3. 1885, was elected brigadier general and twice re-elected, commanding the First Brigade, Iowa National Guard, for eleven years. He was appointed adjutant general for Iowa, Febru- ary 1, 1896, by Governor F. M. Drake, and served two years. In his political affiliations Mr. Wright is a Republican, and fraternally is a member of the Odd Fellows order, being past noble grand of Center- ville Lodge No. 76, and he is also a past post commander of John L. Bashaw Post No. 122, G. A. R.
GEORGE C. ELLIOTT.
This gentleman, who served as clerk of the district court of Ap- panoose county, is perhaps the most experienced official in the county. During his comparatively short lifetime he has served in three different county offices, and previously served two terms as deputy in the office he recently filled as principal. This long official service has not only
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made him efficient, but has brought him into acquaintance with a large number of people whose good will is the best test of his standing. As he is still under thirty years of age, a member of the dominant party and quite popular with all classes, it is safe to predict for this accom- plished young man a brilliant and successful future. He is now en- gaged in the abstract business. He is a son of John and Nancy (Morgan) Elliott, who formerly lived in Davis county, but came to Centerville in 1884. The father was twice elected clerk of the district court of Appanoose county and served his two terms with such satisfac- tion as to be voted one of the most popular officials the county ever had.
George C. Elliott was born May 14, 1874. while his parents re- sided at Drakeville, lowa, and was ten years old when brought by them to Centerville. He attended the city schools, but at a very early age became a deputy under his father in the clerk's office of the district court. As he remained there during his father's two terms, he re- ceived an unusually thorough training in all the details and duties con- nected with such a trust. Naturally this made his services in demand and he was appointed deputy in the recorder's office, where he served a year, and went from there to the office of the county treasurer, with whom he remained as deputy four years. In addition to all this he was for a time collector of delinquent taxes and the duties of these posi- tions were discharged with such efficiency and fidelity that when a va- cancy occurred in the clerkship of the district court Mr. Elliott was appointed to fill the unexpired term. This appointment, which sent him back as principal to the office which he had so long occupied as deputy. was made in January, 1902, and he forwith assumed charge of his trust. Since leaving this office Mr. Elliott has engaged in the abstract business, which occupies his attention at the present time. Mr. Elliott's
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political preferences are zealously Republican and he is popular as a worker and leader among the younger element of the party to which he gives an earnest advocacy.
JAMES FRANKLIN PARKS.
The story of the life of the subject of this sketch is like that of many other progressive Iowa citizens, filled with years of boyish enjoy- ment and work on the old farm, advancing by steady degrees along the way of life, and by his conscientious work and determination pushing forward until he now occupies an honored place among the citizens of Appanoose county and is serving the people in one of the important of- fices of the county.
Robert and Sarah (Lowe) Parks are the parents of the subject of this biography; the father was born in Tennessee, but when a mere in- fant was taken by his parents to Indiana, where they lived and died. Robert grew to manhood in this state and when nineteen years old went to Illinois ; he was there married, Saralı Lowe being a native of Ken- tucky, but being taken by her parents to Sangamon county, Illinois, when a young girl. Soon after his marriage he went to Iowa and finally de- cided to locate in Davis county, but in 1865 moved to a farm in Ap- panoose county. He has been a successful farmer all his life. He has always cast his vote for the men of the Republican party, and relig- iously he and his wife are members of the Christian church. There have been born to them five daughters and two sons.
James Franklin, one of the above children, was born while his par- ents resided in Davis county, Iowa, on Christmas day of 1859. Reared on the farm, his labor was diversified by attendance in the district schools
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and by evenings spent in reading and self-education at home. He re- mained on his parents' farm in Appanoose county until 1884 and in that year was married to Miss Cora F. Kewley, the daughter of Thomas P. Kewley, deceased, and a native of Illinois. After his marriage Mr. Parks settled on a farm and has farmed and resided in this county ever since with the exception of two years spent in Nebraska.
He has taken an active interest in local politics, being a member of the Republican party ; in the fall of 1900 he was chosen by his fellow citizens to the office of county auditor : the confidence the people showed in him in electing him to this office has been amply endorsed by the ca- pable handling of the position bestowed upon him. He is progressive and ready to assist in any enterprise for the city's advancement, and he has a genius for hard work that will effect many improvements in the details of his office. Mr. Parks holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and belongs to the Christian church. His mar- riage has been blessed with two sons, Thomas R. and Seth Lyle.
EDWARD J. GAULT.
One of the distinguished citizens of Appanoose county, his name figuring prominently in public affairs, is Edward J. Gault. He was born near Belfast, Ireland, on the Ist of June, 1828, his parents being Francis and Deborah (McCall) Gault, both of whom were natives of the Emerald Isle. His paternal grandfather was a participant in the Irish revolution and was killed in that conflict by the British at the bat- tle of Antrim. In 1839 the parents of our subject with their seven children came to the United States and took up their abode in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, where they remained for ten years. On the expira-
EDWARD J GAULI.
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tion of that period they removed to Madison, Wisconsin, and late in the year 1854 they left that locality, following our subject to Appanoose county, Iowa. Here the mother died in 1860 at the age of sixty-three years, and the father's death occurred in 1870, when he was seventy years of age. Both were laid to rest in the Cincinnati cemetery. The father was reared a farmer and throughout his entire business career carried on agricultural pursuits, achieving fair success in his under- takings. In politics he was first an old-line Whig and afterward be- came a Democrat. In religious faith he was a Presbyterian, while his wife was connected with the Episcopalian church. In their family were seven children, namely: Annabel, now deceased; Francis, who died in Kentucky; Edward J., of this review; Richard, who is a resi- dent farmer of Iowa; Henry, who died in Appanoose county in 1885; Annie, the wife of James Wolfinger, who is living near Cincinnati; and one that died in infancy.
Edward J. Gault was in his eleventh year when his parents came to the United States and during the succeeding decade was a resident of Philadelphia and of New York city, spending a year and a half of that time in the American metropolis. He was apprenticed to learn the painter's and gilder's trade in Philadelphia. After spending a year and a half in New York he resided in Wilmington, Delaware, for about the same time. On the expiration of that period he went to Louisville, Kentucky, which place he left in October, 1850, going down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi to Galena, Illinois; from that place he made his way to Madison, Wisconsin, where he was employed as a farm hand until the spring of 1852. In the summer of that year he went to Oswego, Illinois, where he worked at his trade, and in the spring of 1853 he came to Appanoose county, Iowa, settling where ne
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now lives, in Pleasant township. Since that time he has carried on general farming and stock-raising. When he came to this county he brought with him a capital of about three hundred dollars, all of which he had saved from his earnings. He has since been very successful in his business affairs, his diligence and enterprise enabling him to over- come all difficulties and obstacles in his path and work his way steadily upward to prosperity.
On Christmas day of 1853 Mr. Gault was united in marriage to Miss Sophia L. McClure, a daughter of Thomas and Jane (Young) McClure. Mrs. Gault was born in Ohio, but her parents were natives of the north of Ireland, whence they emigrated to the new world. In religious faith they were Presbyterians. Mrs. Gault died on November 27, 1873, at the age of forty-three years, and on the 25th of June, 1879, Mr. Gault was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Jane S. Wootten, who was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Stephen H. and Jane (Kennedy) Simmons, both of whom were natives of Philadelphia. Ten children were born to the marriage of our sub- ject and his wife, and nine of the number lived to years of maturity, namely: Thomas F., Annie, Frank E., Edward, Mary, Alice, Richard, Jessie, and Sophia, of which number Mary is now deceased.
In his political views Mr. Gault was first a Whig and afterwards became a Douglas Democrat. Since that time he has been unfaltering in his support of the Democracy. In 1861 he was elected a member of the county board of supervisors and served for one year. In the fall of 1861 he received a unanimous vote electing him to the lower house of the state legislature, being the only official ever given the unbroken support of the people in this way. He served for one term and then declined to continue in the office. In 1871, however, he was elected to
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the state senate and filled that position for four years. In 1883 he was again chosen to the same office and served for four years. An enumera- tion of the men of the present generation who have won honor and pub- lic recognition for themselves and at the same time have honored the state to which they belong, would be incomplete were there failure to make prominent reference to Mr. Gault. He holds distinctive prece- dence as a statesman, as well as one of the leading and progressive ag- riculturists of his community. He has been and is distinctively a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence, and during his service in both branches of the general assembly he left the impress of his individuality upon the legislation enacted during those periods. He and his family attend the services of the Congregational church and are prominent and representative residents of Appanoose county.
JAMES WILSON.
The land of the bonnie bluebell and of the immortal Burns has sent forth many a worthy son to the free land across the waters who has been an important factor in the industrial, social and political life of this country, and to have the blood of the sturdy Scotch in one's veins is in itself an excellent heritage. And it is now our pleasure to record the career of one who is in every way an ornament to his adopted land and an American citizen in the true sense of the word. The Wilson family traces its lineage back to an old Scotch house. James and Janet (Young) Wilson were the parents of our immediate subject and were both born in Scotland. James Wilson, Sr., was a coal miner and at the age of thirty-four lost his life by falling down a shaft. To them were born eight children, of whom six are still living; one died in in-
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