USA > Iowa > Monroe County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 6
USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa > Part 6
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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
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improved machinery being used in caring for his fields, which are now under a high state of cultivation. He also has upon his place an ex- cellent orchard and good grades of stock, in fact, he is one of the suc- cessful farmers of Taylor township, Appanoose county.
JAMES DRURY.
One of the boys in blue of the Civil war, and at all times a loyal citizen, true to the interests of county, state and nation, James Drury is numbered among the representative citizens of Monroe county. He was born in county Clare, Ireland, on the 15th of August, 1835, and is a son of Michael and Mary (Sullivan) Drury, also natives of the Em- erald Isle. When our subject was but eleven months old his father died, and in 1845 the mother and son joined an older brother in America, the latter, John Drury, residing in Chester, Vermont. The mother's death occurred in Springfield, that state, at the age of seventy- five years.
In 1861 James Drury offered his services to his adopted country, enlisting in Company C, Fourth Vermont Regiment, under Captain Farr, and at the close of his three years' term he re-enlisted and served until the close of the war, receiving his discharge on the 6th of August, in Montpelier, and was mustered out of service at Brattleboro, Ver- mont. He was made color bearer and sergeant of his regiment, was in many of the hard fought battles of the war, and was at all times a faith- ful and intrepid soldier. After a long service he applied for a fur- lough, and his application was endorsed by his captain in the follow- ing words: "I have the honor to request that a furlough of twenty- five days be granted to Sergeant James Drury, Company C. Fourth
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Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and I will beg leave to repre- sent that on making this request I have a desire to promote the inter- est of the service, as well as to pay a well earned tribute to existing merit. This veteran soldier, the color bearer of the regiment, has served from the commencement of the war until the present time with a singleness of purpose-a heart ever faithful to the great principles for which we have been contending. Ever foremost among his comrades, he has carried the colors through victory and defeat. Disregarding danger, he has led his regiment in all the battles it participated in from May 5, 1864, to October 19, 1864. In the Wilderness, at Spottsyl- vania. Cold Harbor and Petersburg, his coolness and bravery in action commanded the respect of his officers as well as the faith and confi- dence of his comrades. In the engagement near the Weldon Railroad, when misfortune overtook the greater part of his regiment, he saved its colors. But more particularly did he distinguish himself in the bat- tles in the Shenandoah valley, Charleston, Berryville, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek being names impressed upon the memories of his com- rades in common with his. Charles G. Fisher." The application was approved as follows: "Approved for twenty-five days, and respect- fully forwarded. Sergeant Drury has proved himself one of the best soldiers of the brigade, under every specification mentioned in said order and on every battlefield which his regiment has served upon, and especially in saving the colors of his regiment June 23, on the Wel- don Railroad, when almost the entire regiment was captured. George P. Foster." The furlough was granted as follows: Headquarters Army of the Potomac, February 27, 1865 .- Sergeant James Drury, Company C, Fourth Vermont Volunteers, is granted a furlough for twenty-five days as a reward for soldiery conduct .- By command of
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Major General Parke .- (Signed) Chas. E. Pease, Assistant Adjutant General. For his bravery at the battle of Weldon Railroad, on the 23d of June, 1864, Mr. Drury was rewarded with a medal by a special act of congress. As a further reward for his services Sergeant Drury was tendered the position of second sergeant of Company D, Fourth Regiment Vermont Volunteer Infantry, by Governor J. Gregory Smith, of Vermont.
After the close of the war our subject returned to his old home in Vermont, where he remained until his removal to Albia, Iowa, on the 15th of October, 1869. In his youth he learned the stone-mason's trade, which he followed for many years in the Green Mountain state. When he arrived in Iowa, in company with his young wife, his entire capital consisted of two dollars and fifty cents, and out of this amount he was obliged to pay fifty cents to have his trunk taken to his home, eight miles north of Albia. He immediately resumed work at his trade in this locality, and now owns his present farm of two hundred acres of fertile and well improved land. On the 28th of December, 1868, in Vermont, he was united in marriage to Jane Daugherty, a native of Ireland, and they have become the parents of ten children, all of whom are living. Charles Thomas is a stone mason in Albia. John Sherman has two children, a son and a daughter. Two daughters of the family, Kathryn and Mary, are engaged in teaching school; two of the sons, Harry and Logan, are attending school in Des Moines; another daughter, Dora, keeps house for her two brothers in Des Moines; a son, Emmett, is a railroad man in Seattle; and two sons, Edward Leo and James A., are at home. The family are members of the Catholic church at Albia. In political matters Mr. Drury is a life-long Republi- can, and his first presidential vote was cast for Lincoln in his second
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race for the presidency. In his fraternal relations he is a member of the Masonic order, being connected with Lovilia Lodge. He is also color bearer of the Bluff Creek Veterans' Association, and is a member of Orman Post No. 123, G. A. R., of Albia. At the meeting in which Mr. Drury was elected to the position of standard bearer, Comrade E. C. Canning delivered the following well chosen words: "Your, election by the spontaneous and unanimous voice of your comrades as standard bearer, into whose hands we now entrust this beautiful ban- ner, a gift from friends we deeply love and highly honor, surely calls forth some expression why so honored. You, an adopted citizen of our country, manfully stood for its defense in many well fought battles, saving the flag of your regiment at the Weldon Railroad, carrying it over the broken lines of the enemy at the charge of Cedar Creek, and again bringing off the colors in the battle of the Wilderness, and bear- ing yourself so gallantly that a grateful country has conferred on you its highest badge of military honor. We give to your keeping this flag that our sons may emulate your noble deeds, and if war shall ever darken the horizon of our beloved land that they may with brave and manly hearts rally to her defense and man her ships, and that our flag shall speak defiance to her enemies and ever wave the banner of the free over the home of the brave."
GEORGE W. ROBINSON.
By general consensus of opinion of all his acquaintances, the late George W. Robinson was a good farmer, a good friend and a good neighbor. As he treated all men well in life, so all men mourn him, now that he is no more, and this brief biography is intended as a memo-
GEORGE W. ROBINSON.
THE TUT
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rial which may be filed away by his family and friends, who regret his loss and respect his memory.
George W. was the son of Richard G. and Sarah Jane Robinson, natives of West Virginia. The father was a farmer and stock raiser and pursued that occupation in West Virginia with a fair measure of success. His son, George W. Robinson, was born in Harrison county, West Virginia, September 16, 1831, and was in early manhood when he came to Iowa in 1855. He first located in Howard county, but soon afterward went to Davis and finally found permanent residence in Ap- panoose county. In 1862 he purchased and took possession of the farm near Dean, which he cultivated with success until the time of his death, on the 6th of May, 1891.
On May 30, 1861, George W. Robinson was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Louisa, daughter of John and Ann Bond, natives of Ireland, who came to the United States shortly after their marriage. Their daughter, Sarah Louisa, was born in Appanoose county, Iowa, October 28, 1846, and has spent her whole life in the confines of her native county. Her father, who came to Iowa at a period sufficiently early to entitle him to the name of "first settler," ended his days in 1883, and his wife passed from the scenes of earth two years later. In this connection it is interesting to remark that one of their daughters and a sister of Mrs. Robinson was the first woman in Iowa to whom a marriage license was issued. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Robinson has owned the farm of one hundred and seventy-two acres of excellent land near Dean, but she rents most of the estate and does not worry herself with the practical details of agriculture.
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson had five children, whose names are thus recorded : Albert W., married Mary A. Phares, of Centerville; Clara
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L., wife of T. M. Dickinson, of New Virginia, Iowa; Minnie A., wife of Frank Hatton, of this township; Lula May, wife of James O. Pat- terson, of Dean; and Sarah F., deceased. Mrs. Robinson is a member of the Christian church and participates actively in the religious and philanthropic work devolving upon the congregation. As she is in easy circumstances, of a social and hospitable disposition, her household is headquarters for her many friends, and a pleasant place for visitors to sojourn.
PAUL C. OEHLER.
Paul C. Oehler is a farmer of Taylor township, living on section 1. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, on the 23d of September, 1823, and among his ancestry were many men prominent in the military circles of the fatherland. The history of Wurtemberg back through five hundred years makes mention of the Oehlers. The parents of our subject were Christopher and Christina ( Walderich) Oehler, who in 1831 crossed the Atlantic to America, bringing with them their five children, but one of the number died while they were upon the sea. Both Mr. and Mrs. Oehler passed away in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where Mr. Oehler was carrying on agricultural pursuits. After be- coming an American citizen he had endorsed the Democratic party, and in religious faith was a Moravian. His death occurred when he was seventy-two years of age and his wife passed away at the age of sixty-eight years. The members of their family were: Gotlieb F., Paul C., Joanna, Louisa, Elizabeth, Pauline, Emanuel and Ernest Frederick.
Paul C. Oehler was only seven years of age at the time of the emi-
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gration of the family to the new world. He was reared upon a farm in Ohio and acquired his education in the schools of that state. When twenty-three years of age he went to Wyandotte, Kansas, with a Mor- . avian colony, or mission, and there engaged in farming for the colony, for eight years, after which he went to Arkansas. On the 5th of Feb- ruary, 1863, he joined the Union army, enlisting in Fayetteville, Wash- ington county, Arkansas, as a member of Company I, First Arkansas Regiment, under Captain William Hevington. The captain was killed by bushwhackers, so that First Lieutenant Morrison was in command inost of the time. Mr. Oehler lived in a Confederate neighborhood for eighteen months before he enlisted and served as a member of the home guard for some time. He saw much of the rebel element in the south and because of his Union sentiments he had many narrow escapes. For fourteen months he remained with the army and participated in the battle of Fayetteville, where he was injured by the bursting of a shell at his side. He was then honorably discharged at Fort Smith, Arkan- sas, April 25, 1864, on account of his disability, after which he re- turned to his home.
It was in that year that Mr. Oehler came to Appanoose county, Iowa. Here he has two hundred and eighty-eight acres of rich and productive land and his farm is supplied with all modern equipments. There is a good residence, substantial barns and a bearing orchard, and his fields annually return to him excellent harvests. He has fine horses and cattle upon his place, and owns in addition to his plowed land sixty acres of timber land. In 1852 Mr. Oehler was united in marriage to Miss Marie Benade, who was reared and educated in Saxony, Ger- many. In that country her parents died and at the age of twenty-four years she came to the United States. By her marriage she has be-
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come the mother of six children: Augustus Morse, Ellen J., Henry J., Charles E. and Ed. F. They also lost one child, Lucius, their first born. The parents hold membership in the Moravian church. Mr. Oehler is a member of the Grand Army post in Moravia. His politi- cal support is given to the Republican party and while he has never sought or desired office he is interested in the success of the political principles in which he believes. He is frank, genial and jovial in man- ner, and the sterling traits of his character have gained for him many friends.
JAMES A. HOLSTEINE.
Almost a hundred years ago, or to speak more definitely, during the second decade of the nineteenth century, there lived in old Virginia a worthy couple whose names were George and Annie ( Beeler) Holsteine. The husband was a hatter by trade, and this was the means he used to "keep the wolf from the door" and provide for the wants of a rapidly increasing family, a task which he sometimes found a difficult one, owing to lack of business and scarcity of customers. Eventually he became discouraged and concluded to try for a betterment of fortune in the new state which had then but recently been admitted into the Union. So gathering about him his wife and little ones, together with the scanty household goods. he started on the weary journey across mountains, down rivers and over roadless forests to the wilderness northwest of the Ohio, known as southern Indiana. It was in 1827 that this trip was made, and when George Holsteine arrived at his destination he bought some of the government land which was then being sold very cheap and established his family in a log cabin thereon. From
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that time he supported them by working this Indiana farm. The mother died in Iowa, and later he died in Bloomington, Indiana.
James A. Holsteine, the third in a family of seven children, was born in Virginia, December 18, 1822, and was only five years old when the memorable journey was undertaken to the wilds of Indiana. He grew up in the neighborhood where his father settled and remained there until he had completed the twenty-seventh year of his age. About that time he began to think of moving farther west, and in 1849 set out for a long and uncertain trip for the country beyond the great Father of Waters. He traveled through Iowa until he reached Davis county, and after looking around awhile concluded that was a good place for a poor man to locate. Consequently a place was picked out near what is now the town of Moulton, and here Mr. Holsteine set to work in earnest on a place he had secured. The working of this farm in Davis county occupied his attention until 1894, when he purchased his present home. Not being able to buy land at first, he secured em- ployment by the month on the farms of other people, and by these jobs, supplemented by splitting rails for so much a hundred, hie supported himself and saved a little money until in time he was able to buy land of his own. He continued to be a resident of Davis county until 1894, when he purchased his present home in Appanoose county, just seven miles from his former place and a short distance west of Moulton. The property of different kinds now owned by Mr. Holsteine shows that he did not waste his time in idleness or neglect any opportunity to better his condition. In fact he has an abundance of this world's goods and is able to spend his declining years in comfort, cheered by the attentions of an affectionate family and the kind words of the friends he has gained during a long and blameless life. On October 25, 1870, he
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married Nancy Caroline Toombs, who uncomplainingly shared the hard- ships of earlier years, and is now the joyous participant in the good things which have come to them as the result of ceaseless toil and en- deavor. Misses Grace and Ruth Ann, their only children, are at home, and they assist in dispensing the hospitality and kindly greetings which await all friends who visit at the Holsteine homestead.
WILLIAM SMITH.
Perhaps every country on the face of the globe has sent its rep- resentatives to the new world, but there is no element in our American citizenship more justly valued than that which has come from the mother country-England. Mr. Smith was born in the northern part of the "merrie isle," in July, 1826, and is a son of William and Jane Smith, who were also natives of that country. By trade the father was a shoemaker and followed that pursuit in order to obtain a living for his wife and children. He died about forty-five years ago and his wife forty years ago. Both were members of the established church of England. In the family were seven children, of whom Thomas and James became residents of Lovilia and there died.
William Smith was reared in his native country and when a young man heard what proved to him interesting tales of America and its possibilities. Attracted by the opportunities of the new world he bade adieu to home and friends in 1850 and sailed for New York, whence he made his way into the interior of the country, settling first in Ohio, north of Marietta. There he remained for eight years, after which he removed to Illinois, taking up his abode in Macoupin county. He was a cabinet maker by trade and for three months he worked at Mar-
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tin's Ferry, West Virginia, for Mr. Hussey, who was the real inventor of the McCormick binder and became a partner of Mr. McCormick, but the latter not only got credit for the invention but through the sale of the product became a very wealthy man, while Mr. Hussey died a poor man. After leaving Mr. Hussey's employ Mr. Smith was a resi- dent of Morgan county, Ohio, until his removal to Illinois and there he resided until 1862, when he came to Monroe county, Iowa, since which time he has lived in Monroe county. He first located in Bluff Creek township, where he carried on farming until 1875, when he re- moved to a farm in Union township just east of Lovilia. For a num- ber of years he carried on agricultural pursuits with success, but now a part of his land is rented to tenants, while the remainder is man- aged by his sons, and Mr. Smith is living retired in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil.
In 1864 occurred the marriage of Mr. Smith and Amanda Myers, a daughter of Alexander and Nancy Myers, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Myers had nine children : Alice, William, deceased; Jessie, Mary, John, Gertie, also deceased; Thomas, Daniel, and one that died in infancy. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Smith are: John, Jesse and Gertie. Mrs. Smith had two brothers, Clark and Henry, who were soldiers of the Civil war, fighting in defense of the stars and stripes. In his social re- lations Mr. Smith was formerly an Odd Fellow, but does not maintain active connection with the order at this time. He and his wife have attended various churches and are well known people of the commu- nity, having a large circle of warm friends,
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ASA S. BAIRD.
Among the representative citizens and prominent farmers of Mon- roe county none is more deserving of mention in this volume than Asa S. Baird, who owns and operates a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres on section 34, Mantua township, and on section 3, Urbana town- ship. He is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war and an early settler of this county, having located here in 1854, when most of the land was still in its primitive condition and the work of improvement and cultivation had scarcely begun.
Mr. Baird was born in Harrison county, West Virginia, on the 6th of April, 1824, and is a son of Adam Baird, a native of Maryland and a representative of a good old Scotch family from the highlands. By trade the father was a cabinet maker and carpenter, and being a good mechanic he always found plenty to do in his line. He was married near Little York, Pennsylvania, to Miss Barbara Wilhelm, who was born and reared in that state, belonging to a Pennsylvania Dutch family. Her father, Frederick Wilhelm, was a soldier of the war of 1812. Leaving the east in 1856, Adam Baird and his wife came to Iowa and spent their last days in Monroe county, where he died at the age of seventy-five years, and his wife passed away at the age of eighty-three. Both were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he was a Whig in his political views. Three daughters and one son of their family died in Lewis county. West Virginia, and the others were as follows: John, Susan, Elijah, Mary, Adam, who died in Iowa; Wil- liam, and Asa S.
Asa S. Baird spent his boyhood and youth in Lewis county, West Virginia, and is indebted to its schools for his educational advantages.
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With his father he learned the cabinet maker's and carpenter's trade, which he followed for some time while in the east. At the age of twenty-four years he was married in Lewis county, the lady of his choice being Miss Sarah Tharp, who has now been to him a faithful companion and helpmeet for over half a century. She was born, reared and educated in that county, and is a daughter of Hezekiah and Huldah (Cox) Tharp, natives of Harrison county, West Virginia, who spent their last days in Van Buren county, Iowa. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, died at the age of seventy years. His political support was given the Democratic party. In religious faith he was first a Baptist, but later joined the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he held the offices of class leader and steward, always taking an active and prominent part in church work. Of his ten children only two are now living: Sarah, the wife of our subject, and William, a resi- dent of Van Buren county, Iowa. Those deceased are Emily, Chris- tiann, Nancy, Huldah, Almira, Smith, a son who died in infancy, and Mrs. Zadok Chidester, who died February 15, 1903.
It was in 1854 that Mr. Baird, accompanied by his wife and three children, removed from West Virginia to Iowa, the journey consuming six weeks, as it was made by horse and wagon, the family spending the nights in the public houses along the road. Reaching Monroe county, Mr. Baird located in Urbana township about a mile and a half from his present home, where he erected a log house and where he continued to reside until his removal to his present farm in Mantua township fourteen years ago. He has erected a fine house upon a natural building site, surrounded with shade and ornamental trees ; has planted an orchard; built barns and other outbuildings, and today has one of the best improved and most valuable farms in the township. In his
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farming operations he has been very successful and well merits the prosperity that has come to him.
To Mr. and Mrs. Baird were born the following children : Thomas, who is now engaged in the lumber business in Albia; Mrs. Victoria Jenkins, a resident of Van Buren county ; Adam, at home with his father; Mrs. Barbara Berry, who was formerly a teacher and is now living in Wapello county, Iowa; Hezekiah, who died at the age of twenty-six years, leaving a widow; Mrs. Mary Heald, a resident of Schuyler county, Missouri; Jennie, at home; and Schuyler C., who as- sists his father in the operation of the home farm and is now serving as township assessor. The children were all provided with good edu- cational privileges and the family is one of which any parents might well be proud.
During the Rebellion Mr. Baird manifested his patriotism and loyalty by enlisting, in 1862, in the Thirty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infan- try, under Colonel Kittridge. His company was first commanded by Captain Varner and later by Captain Porter. He participated in the engagements at Camden and Prairie De Han, besides other battles and skirmishes, and was taken prisoner at Marks Mills, being incarcerated in the rebel prison at Tyler, Texas, for ten months. After his ex- change he returned home on a furlough and later rejoined his regiment at White river, Arkansas. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged at Davenport, Iowa, and returned to Monroe county to re- sume the more quiet pursuits of farm life. During his absence his wife had bravely carried on the work of the farm and provided for their seven children, being a noble woman, of patriotic spirit and kindly im- pulses.
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