Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa, Part 4

Author: Lewis, S. Thompson, comp; Lewis Publishing Company. pbl
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: New York, Chicago, Lewis publishing co.
Number of Pages: 638


USA > Iowa > Monroe County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 4
USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 4


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


The home of this worthy couple has been blessed with ten chil- dren: John, Rosa, William, George F., Charles S., a merchant of Udell, Iowa; Mrs. Josephine Swaim, of Union township; Ellis, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Jane, who passed away at the age of eleven years ; Roy N .. of the same township; Edgar, who is a young man of nineteen years assisting in the work of the home farm. Mr. and Mrs. Creech have a granddaughter, Edna, who is now eleven years


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of age and who has lived with them since her babyhood because of her mother's death. Her father is William Creech, their third son. Mr. Creech votes with the Democracy and has served for six years as town- ship supervisor. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and is a member of the Missionary Baptist church. He is a man of splendid physique, being six feet and one and a half inches in height and weighing over two hundred pounds. In manner he is genial and cordial, in disposition friendly, and he possesses the sterling traits of character which in every land and every clime command respect and regard. His life, too, proves how effective are industry, perseverance and good management in winning prosperity, for though he started out in life empty-handed, he is now the possessor of a very valuable property.


WILLIAM STEPHENS.


As the above named came to Iowa shortly after its admission into the Union as a state he has a clear title to the claim of being one of the early settlers, and his long residence in Monroe county gives him stand- ing as one of its best known citizens. He also enjoys the much prized honor of having served his country well in its hour of need and of coming out of the army with a good military record. As his civil life has been passed in agricultural pursuits it has necessarily been of a quiet and unostentatious character, but it is something of a distinction to be a successful farmer in Iowa, the state so noted for its progress in agriculture, and those who know Mr. Stephens will not deny him the right to be counted one of this honorable host. His forefathers were Virginians and settled in that section of the state which, on account of disagreements growing out of the Civil war, seceded and began busi-


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ness as a new commonwealth. Long before this event, however, Wil- liam Stephens had removed from his native country of Wales and taken up his abode in the valley of the Greenbrier river. He chose as his wife Sarah C. McVey, who, like himself, was of Irish extraction, being the daughter of Samuel McVey.


William Stephens remained some time in West Virginia after his marriage, but eventually removed to Louisa county, Iowa, where he carried on farming in connection with carpentering un- til his death, at the age of forty-seven. His wife long survived him and died after her removal to Monroe county, when in the sixty-eighth year of her age. James S., the eldest of their six children, served as a soldier in the Mexican war and afterward was killed by robbers at St. Joc, Missouri, for which crime four men were hanged on the banks of the Missouri river. William, the second son, will be fully noticed further along. Martin and Alexander, third and fourth of the family, are now residents of Nebraska. Mary Jane is the wife of Thomas Brandon and lives at Melrose. Iowa, and Elizabeth C. Stephens is the wife of J. N. Repp, of Monroe county, Iowa.


William Stephens, second son and namesake of his father, was born in Greenbrier county, West Virginia, and eleven years later went with his parents to Stark county, Illinois, whence they came in 1848 to the state of Iowa. His rearing and education did not differ from that of the average farm boy of the period, and was without incident of im- portance until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1862 Mr. Stephens enlisted in a company commanded by Captain George Noble, which was part of the Thirty-sixth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Kittredge and Lieutenant Colonel Drake. This regiment oper- ated extensively in Arkansas, and Mr. Stephens took part with it in


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engagements at Helena, Little Rock, Elkin's Ford, Camden and Mark's Mills. At the last mentioned place he was captured by the "Johnny Rebs" and taken as a prisoner to Tyler, Texas. After being cooped up for ten months he was lucky enough to obtain an exchange and came home on a thirty days' furlough. Not being able to rejoin his regi- ment at the expiration of his month's leave he was examined by the medical board and given an extension of time for thirty days, after which he reported at headquarters at Keokuk, and was ordered to be dis- charged from the service shortly afterward at Davenport.


Mr. Stephens married Mrs. Minerva J. Turner, whose husband died in the Civil war in 1862, and whose maiden name was Johnson, she being the daughter of Isaac and Louzana Johnson, who came from Kentucky and ended their days in Iowa.


Mrs. Stephens' great-grandfather was James McBrier, a veteran of the war of 1812. It is told of the latter that when he returned from the army he stopped before his wife's house and asked for lodging, but not being recognized, met with a refusal. Being somewhat abashed at his reception he made himself known by exclaiming: "I am James McBrier, your husband." This, of course, led to his being taken in and warmly welcomed, and, as the story writers say, "they lived hap- pily ever after."


The children of this union are thus recorded in order of birth: Mrs. Cynthia Hammons, who resides at Hilton; Wil- liam H., Mrs. Alice Bowman, Mrs. Mattie Hankins, who died in 1900, leaving a child, Lile Hankins; Ernest, Edward, Arthur, Lizzie Eathen, and Manola. Mr. Stephens resides on the homestead place in Franklin township and is comfortably fixed in all respects. He is a member of the Seventh Day Advent church, of the Grand Army of the 5


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Republic, and in all the relations of life is found to be genial, sociable and ready to oblige.


WILLIAM F. VERMILION.


Among the men of Appanoose county who have gone, leaving the impress of their lives on the institutions and welfare of their community. is William F. Vermilion. The parents of this gentleman were Joel and Nancy (Shaw) Vermilion, natives of old Kentucky; the father was a minister in the Baptist church and about 1840 removed from Kentucky and settled in Putnam county, Indiana, where he continued in his min- istration until his death.


William was also a native of Kentucky, born there on October 18, 1830; coming with his parents to Indiana he obtained his mental train- ing in the primitive schools of that state and grew up to healthy and vigorous manhood. He then went to Illinois, and having made medi- cine his choice of the professions began the study of that science and later attended the Rush Medical College in Chicago. The date of his arrival in Appanoose county, Iowa, was about 1857. He had accom- panied an invalid brother to Texas and drove from there to this county, where he remained; he was united in marriage to Mary Kemper, whose father, Valentine Kemper, had settled in Monroe county from Putnam county, Indiana. At Iconium, Appanoose county, Mr. Vermilion began the practice of medicine and continued until the Civil war threw all peaceful pursuits into confusion. In 1861 he organized a company which was known as Company F, Thirty-sixth Iowa Infantry; of this he was commissioned captain and serving loyally through the struggle was mustered out in September, 1865.


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On his return from the war he devoted himself to the study of law, was admitted to the bar, and thereafter continued the practice of this profession in Centerville. On the Republican ticket he was elected and served one session in the state senate, but outside of this held no public office. His wife, Mary Kemper Vermilion, having died, he was in 1894 united in marriage with Mrs. Kate B. Day, of Centerville, who survived him. When in his sixty-fifth year he passed away in his home at Centerville, on December 28, 1894.


C. W. VERMILION.


C. W. Vermilion, the son of William F. and Mary (Kemper) Ver- milion, and a sketch of whose father appears above, has followed in the profession of his father. He was born in Centerville, Iowa, on the 6th day of November, 1866, and was reared and educated in his native town; his higher education was received in DePauw University in In- diana, and in 1889 he graduated in the law department of the Univer- sity of Michigan. In October of the same year he was admitted to the Iowa bar and began practice in Centerville. Mr. Vermilion has also given some attention to politics, being a member of the Republican party. In 1892 he was made county attorney and was re-elected two years later. In 1901 Governor Shaw appointed him judge of the second judicial district court to fill the unexpired term caused by the resignation of Judge T. M. Fee, and at the election of the following year he was elected for the ensuing full term. In 1897 Mr. Vermilion was married to Clare Eloise Biddle, who is the youngest daughter of William M. Biddle, a pioneer of Appanoose county.


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JOHN D. McKIM.


John D. McKim, whose farm is located on section 5 in Union township, is one of the early settlers of Appanoose county and was the first school teacher of his township. From that time to the present he has been active in support of material, social, intellectual and moral interests calculated to benefit the community, and his locality classes him with its best citizens. He was born in Spencer county, Indiana, March 11, 1827, and on one side comes of Scotch ancestry and on the other of Scotch-Irish. His father, Robert McKim, was born in Ken- tucky in July, 1798, and was reared in that state and in Indiana. He became a hunter and largely devoted his time to the hunting of wild ani- mals with the Indians. When a young man he had served in some of the Indian wars and in the war of 1812. He was married in Ken- tuely to Elizabeth Tate, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Samuel Tate, who also rendered his country faithful service as a soldier in the war of 1812 and by aiding in protecting the frontier settlements against Indian attacks. To Mr. and Mrs. Robert McKim were born twelve children, of whom five reached years of maturity, while three are still living, those being: Alfred, of Missouri; Sarah, who is liv- ing in the same state; and John D., of this review. The mother died in Spencer county, Indiana, and the father afterward married Nancy Lamar. by whom he had three children, but all are now deceased. His death occurred in Spencer county, February 23. 1862. Both he and his wife were members of the Baptist church, and he was a Republican in his political views.


John D. McKim was reared upon the home farm in Spencer county and is indebted to the public schools of that locality for the educational


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privileges he enjoyed. When he ceased to be a student he became a teacher and followed that profession for several terms. In his native county he married Rebecca Lamar, who was a native of Spencer county, Indiana, born April 2, 1831, her parents being Elisha and Nancy (Wollen) Lamar, natives of Kentucky; the former died in In- diana in middle life, and his children were Mrs. McKim, Elijah, now deceased ; Mathias, who was a soldier of the Thirty-sixth Iowa Infan- try in the war of the Rebellion and is now deceased; Hannah, who has also passed away; and Trusten, who was a soldier of the Twenty-first Missouri Infantry and is now living in Oklahoma.


In the year 1851 Mr. McKim left his old home in Indiana and came to Appanoose county, Iowa, settling in Union township, where he has since resided. He has lived upon his present farm for eighteen years and has here a tract of sixty-one acres of good land, on which is a com- fortable home, a substantial barn and a fine bearing orchard. His fields, too, are well cultivated and his labors annually bring to him a comfortable living. The home of Mr. and Mrs. McKim has been blessed with ten children: Alfred, of Ringgold county, Iowa; J. R., of Nebraska; James R., deceased; Elijah Marion, who has also passed away; Mathias Wollen, of Moravia; Lewis Cass, of this county ; Mrs. Martha Josephine Sapp, deceased; Mrs. Sarah E. Stocker, of Union township; Frank Leslie, of Des Moines, Iowa; and one that died in in- fancy.


Mr. McKim's military service began on the 7th of November, 1862, at which time he joined the boys in blue of Company B. Seventh Iowa Cavalry, serving until the close of the war. He was under the com- mand of Captain Jolin Wilcox and Colonel Sumner and the regiment did duty in Nebraska and the west against the hostile Indians, being


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stationed at different times at Fort Riley, at Fort Kearney, at O'Fal- lon's, and Julesburg, Colorado, and at other points upon the frontier. They did much effective service for the government in suppressing the uprising of the Indians. Mr. McKim had his toes and lower limbs frozen and has suffered much since that time on account of this. He has always voted with the Republican party and has served as town- ship assessor, as constable and as justice of the peace, discharging his duties in a most prompt and capable manner. He has also served on the school board and he was the first teacher of Union township and was followed by Thomas Underwood, our subject examining him and granting him his certificate. The cause of education has ever found in Mr. McKim a warm friend, and on the school board he did everything in his power to advance educational interests here. He belongs to the Christian church, his wife to the United Brethren church, and both are people of genuine worth. His word is as good as his bond, his in- tegrity standing as an unquestioned fact in his career.


EMANUEL B. GREENLY.


Emanuel B. Greenly, an honored veteran of the Civil war, who offered his services to the government when eighteen years of age and faithfully defended the old flag through the hour of the country's peril, is now successfully carrying on farming in Union township, Appanoose county. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvaia, in 1843, a son of John and Sarah (Buchter) Greenly, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania and spent their entire lives in that state. They held mem- bership in the Dunkard church and were people of genuine worth.


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Four of their sons, Andrew, Samuel, Amos and Emanuel, were volun- teer soldiers in the Union Army.


At a very early age Emanuel B. Greenly was bound out, and he had no opportunity to secure an education, but through his own labor he learned to read and write. His youth was one of unremitting toil and whatever he has achieved has been won through his own labor. With every department of farm labor he early became familiar. He was married first in Pennsylvania to Miss Sarah Winkleman, a native of that state. She died in Illinois, leaving five children: Anna, Barbara, John, Mary and Wilhelmina. In 1880 in Hancock county, Illinois, Mr. Greenly was again married, his second union being with Mary Cane, a daughter of John and Rebecca Cane. Mrs. Greenly, by a former marriage, had one son, Ira S. Wollin, who is now in Albia, Iowa.


Mr. Greenly was but eighteen years of age when the Civil war broke out. He had watched with interest the progress of events in the south, and believing in the righteousness of the Union cause he enlisted at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1861, as a member of Company C. Seventy-ninth Pennsylvania Infantry, under Captain Dysart and Colonel Hambright. Later his company was commanded by Captain Bone, and still later by Captain Dysart, and for three years Mr. Greenly re- mained with the army, taking part in a number of important engage- ments, including the battles of Perrysville, Stone River, Murfreesboro, Nashville, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga. He became ill with ty- phoid fever and also suffered from other ailments. Because of this he was transferred to the Nineteenth Invalid Corp as a member of com- pany G, commanded by William C. Alberger. For a time he was in the hospital at Washington, D. C., and also at Buffalo, New York, and in Elmira he was honorably discharged. He returned to his home with


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a good war record, for he had ever been loyal to his duty and faithful to the best interests of the nation. In 1877 or '78 he moved to Illi- nois. It was in the year 1880 that Mr. Greenly came with his family to Iowa, settling in Union township, Appanoose county. He here owns seventy-eight acres of good land, upon which is a stable, a good or- chard, a wood lot and pasture lands, in addition to the richly cultivated fields. His time and attention are given untiringly to his farm work, and certainly he deserves great credit for what he has accomplished, owing his success entirely to his own efforts. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being associated with Sumner Post No. 398, of Moravia, and his wife is a loyal member of the United Brethren church.


JOSEPH GOSS.


The above named is a familiar figure in commercial circles at Cen- terville, where he has been engaged in different branches of merchandis- ing for forty-seven years. During this period, also, he has been actively identified with the religious, educational and social life of this enter- prising county seat. Few men have more acquaintances than he in Ap- panoose and surrounding counties, and none possesses a fairer name in the marts of trade. Joseph Goss is one of two survivors of an English family which came to this country before Iowa had been admitted into the Union as a state. He is a son of Samuel and Mary (Burrows) Goss and was born at Manchester, England, April 28, 1834. In 1842, when he was about eight years old, his parents left their native land for America, and upon arrival at the port of New Orleans made their way up the Mississippi to St. Louis. Some five or six years were spent in the Missouri metropolis, but hoping for better opportunities the emi-


JOSEPH GOSS.


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grants proceeded to the new state of Iowa and found a location at Keo- kuk. Their deaths occurred in that city at comparatively early ages, the father being but forty-six and the mother fifty-two years of age when the final summons came which closed their earthly careers. Only two of their six children are now living.


Joseph, the eldest of these, was forced to shift for himself at an early age, without capital and with very limited equipments in the way of education. The trade of brick-mason and plasterer, which he had learned in early manhood, afforded him support for seven years, when he determined on a different line of occupation. It was in 1855 that Mr. Goss settled at Centerville, which, with the exception of one year spent at Eddyville, has ever since been the scene of his business activi- ties. In 1859 he secured employment as a clerk in a general store, and remained in that situation for twelve consecutive years. Meantime he had by close saving accumulated a little capital, and with this, in 1870, he branched out in a moderate way as a dealer in boots and shoes. He prosecuted this business for ten years, during which time agricultural implements were added as a side line, and in 1881 he disposed of the stock and establishment to his son. He then purchased a well stocked hardware store, and has continued in that line of business with flat- tering success up to the present time. Mr. Goss is now probably en- titled to the rank of dean of the business corps at Centerville by virtue of longest continued service, and, considering the disadvantages under which he labored when beginning, has accomplished results that reflect credit upon his ability as a merchant.


In December, 1855, about the time he came to Centerville, Mr. Goss was married to Clara Brough, a native of Virginia, by whom he had four children. He has long been affiliated with the Christian


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church and has been a member of the Knights Templar for twenty years. Though deprived of educational opportunities in youth, and perhaps because of that very fact, Mr. Goss has always been a stanch friend of education, and for fourteen years was an active member of the Centerville school board. A charter member of the Republican party, he has ever co-operated cordially with that great political organization, but has neither sought nor desired office of any kind.


DAVID W. KENWORTHY.


One of the retired farmers of Monroe county who has been an in- habitant of this state for over sixty-five years, thus being able to take a front seat in the old settlers' meetings, is David W. Kenworthy. He is the son of Jehn and Amaretta (Stockton) Kenworthy. Jehu Ken- worthy was born in North Carolina in 1801 and there grew up to man- hood. Long before Iowa was admitted to statehood he came to Cedar county and in 1854 removed to Monroe county and bought land near the present site of the village of Tyrone; and on this farm of two hundred and forty acres he lived until his death. In politics he was a member of that famous organization known as the Know Nothing party and was also a Whig and a Republican; he and his wife were members of the Christian church. His wife was a native of Ohio and bore him eleven children : Rebecca, deceased; Alzina, deceased; Clark, deceased; Mary is living; Ira, deceased; William, deceased; David W. is living; Jesse, deceased : Charles Otis is living; George, deceased, and Winfield Scott is living.


David W. Kenworthy is a native son of Iowa, having been born in Cedar county, October 20, 1838; the first few years of his life were


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spent here and in 1847 he went to Montgomery county, Indiana, where he remained for nine years. He then returned to Monroe county, but soon after emigrated to Oregon, which was at that time one of the growing and newly developed sections of the country. While there the Civil war burst upon the country and he was one of the first to enlist, enrolling himself on December 10, 1861, at Phoenix, in Company D, First Oregon Cavalry; they spent the following winter at Camp Baker and in the spring crossed the state to Oregon City, where they were en- gaged in numerous skirmishes with the Indians; after three years' ser- vice he was mustered out at Vancouver, Dec. 10, 1864. The year fol- lowing his army service he drove a team for the government and in May, 1865, he returned to Monroe county and engaged in farming, which occupation he has continued up to the present time.


On February 2, 1866, Mr. Kenworthy was married to Miss Eliza- beth McCreary, a native of Ohio, who came to Iowa at an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Kenworthy became the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters: Arthur, Amaretta, Nona, William, Harry and Mark; all were born in this county and are living at the present time. Mr. Kenworthy has always found that the Republican party expressed his political belief, and in the various affairs of public concern has shown himself a true and representative citizen of the county.


JOHN H. MAY.


The press has not only recorded the history of advancement, but has also ever been the leader in the work of progress and improvement, in the vanguard of civilization. The philosopher of some centuries ago proclaimed the truth that "the pen is mightier than the sword," and


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this statement is continually being verified in the affairs of life. In molding public opinion the power of the newspaper cannot be over- estimated, but at all events the influence is greater than any other single agency. Since Mr. May became a factor in the journalistic field he has done much to promote the welfare and progress of his town, and the Cincinnati Review, of which he is the editor and proprietor, is found as the champion of all measures for the general good.


Mr. May is a native of Adair county. Missouri, born December 26, 1859. His parents were James W. and Mary A. (Forrest ) May. The father was born in eastern Tennessee in 1805, a son of William May, who was born in Tennessee and was of English lineage. William May married a daughter of Governor John Sevier of that state, and among their children was James W. May, who after arriving at years of ma- turity wedded Miss Mary A. Forrest, who was born in Pike county, Missouri, in 1817. Mr. May had been previously married and by the first union had three children, while by his marriage to the mother of our subject he had eleven children. In 1844 he came to Iowa, settling in Wapello county, and subsequently he removed to Missouri, but in 1864 he came again to Iowa, this time settling in Appanoose county. In 1868 he took up his abode in Cincinnati, and the northwest part of the town has been built upon a part of his old farm. Throughout his active business career he carried on agricultural pursuits and thus pro- vided a good living and comfortable home for his family. In his politi- cal views he was a Republican. He died in 1876, and his wife sur- vived until 1882, when she was also called to her final rest.




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