USA > Iowa > Story County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Story County, Iowa > Part 40
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passing from life in Ohio, at the age of fifty- six years. Oliver Chamberlin obtained his early education in the old time subscription schools, but he possessed a retentive memory and was quick to learn, and so became a prac- tical young man. On starting out for him- self, he began working for his own father on the farm at $13 per month, and at that time concluded to take unto himself a wife, and was married to Miss Clarissa Baccus, a na- tive of Ohio, whose early educational advan- tages were very meager. To them have been born a family of thirteen children: Isadora (who is married to S. Rubar, a farmer and stock-raiser of Cambridge), next came two chil- dren who died in infancy, Andre (who is mar- ried, and is engaged in farming, in Nebraska), the two following children died in infancy, Alva (who is married to Levina Bard, and is farming in Stanton County, Neb.), A. P., (a successful attorney, and is now a delegate to Washington, D. C., being interested in deep- ening the harbor at Galveston, Tex .; his wife was formerly Miss Augusta Pulse, a native of Iowa; he was educated in the State Agri- cultural College, at Ames, and has become prominent throughout this region in the prac- tice of his profession), A. W. (is a successful physician and surgeon of Hamilton County, Iowa, is married and has two children), Al- fonso, A. M. (is a miner in the west), Belle (is a resident of Kansas, and is married to a Mr. Shaw, a farmer by occupation), and Carrie (is the wife of a Mr. Griffith, who is engaged in farming in Story County ; she is the young- est in the family and is an intelligent lady ). Mr. Chamberlin was rather old to take part in the late Rebellion, but three of his sons douned their suits of blue, shouldered their muskets and went to the front. Andrew was severely wounded at the battle of Black River Bridge, Miss., was honorably discharged and
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is now pensioned by " Uncle Sam " for the noble work he did in defense of his country; Alva served until the close of the Rebellion, when he was honorably discharged, and Al- fonso remained in the service two years, being also honorably discharged. Mr. Chamberlin was an enthusiastic supporter of the Govern- ment, and during the existence of that party was a Whig, but is now a stanch Republican. He cast his first presidential vote for William Henry Harrison, the grandfather of our pres- ent honored chief magistrate. He has always exercised his right of franchise and upheld those men whom he knew to be men of prin- ciple and honor. He has been postmaster of Cambridge for three or four years, and has also filled the position of township trustee and school director. He came from Scioto County, Ohio, to this county in 1857, having visited this country in 1855, and although the locality was very thinly inhabited and in a very bad condition for successful agriculture, he has here made his home up to the present time, being now the owner of 320 acres of fine land, it being the oldest farm in the township. It is well improved with comfortable buildings, orchard, etc, and is one of the most valuable tracts of land in this section of the country. Mr. Chamberlin lost his estimable wife in 1884, and she now rests in the cemetery at Cam- bridge, where a beautiful monument has been erected to her memory. Mr. Chamberlin was postmaster in Cambridge, Iowa, when it was pressed upon him by the people; he had a small cabin with holes bored in the wall, with wooden pins to rest the bedding upon, and he kept the mail matter up stairs, which was reached by a common ladder. Uncle Oliver often laughs over the uncouth manner in which he served " Uncle Sam." This was in 1862 and 1863.
Dr. W. I. Chamberlain, president of the Iowa State Agricultural College, was born in
Litchfield, Conn., in February, 1837, and the following year his parents moved to Ohio, settling on a farm near Hudson, where his boyhood and youth were passed. Iu 1855 he entered the Western Reserve College, at Hud- son, and graduated in 1859. The following ten years were employed in teaching in the academy and college, but failing health in- duced him to purchase the old homestead and settle down to the " profession of farming," as he is fond of calling it. He labored for ten years, improving the farm, increasing its fer- tility, making a fine income, and, what was much better, fully regaining his health. It was during the latter part of this period that the world first began to hear from him through the agricultural press. His articles in the Ohio Farmer and Country Gentleman, and one or two other papers, attracted attention, and reading farmers soon came to recognize in him a leader in agricultural thought and opinion. In 1880 he was called from his farm to the secretaryship of the Ohio State Board, of Agriculture, and it was very soon evident that he was eminently fitted for that position. His long course of training as student, as teacher and professor and then as a practical farmer, had given him a special preparation for his work, and he entered it with a zeal and energy that were sure to win. The work of the board, hitherto, had been confined to holding a State fair and issuing an annual report. Mr. Chamberlain at once began to enlarge the field of its action. He established a system of monthly crop reports that has since been adopted by many other States. He was largely instrumental in securing the fer- tilizer-control system of the State, protecting farmers from frauds against which they were powerless of themselves. He established the Farmers' Institute system in the State, and carried it on for six years with remarkable
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success. He was instrumental in inducing the board to locate the State fair permanently at Columbus, and to purchase and equip the new grounds, the finest State fair grounds and the best equipped in the country. In all this varied work his zeal was fervent, his energy tireless, and his achievements remarkable. Mr. Chamberlain's work as secretary, and his contributions to the agricultural press, brought him into prominent notice throughout the country, and as a consequence, in 1884, he was offered the presidency of the Iowa Agricult- ural College, but declined it, as he felt it his duty to finish the work already begun, of es- tablishing the fair in its new grounds. In 1887 the offer of the presidency was repeated, and this time it was accepted. The same year Rutger's College, New Jersey, one of the oldest in the land, conferred on him the degree of LL. D., and in 1890 the same degree was again conferred by the Ohio State University, Co- lumbus, Ohio. For three years now he has successfully labored in this new field. The Legislature last winter appropriated $55,000 for new buildings, the largest sum for eighteen years. The number of students enrolled in 1890 is the largest in the history of the col- lege, and when the new buildings are com- pleted it will be still larger because of increased room. A building for Y. M. C. A. and literary society rooms is one of Dr. Chamberlain's projects, to cost some $25,000, to be built by subscriptions from professors, alumni students and friends of the college, and to be called " The Welch Memorial Hall," in honor of Dr. A. S. Welch, deceased, the first president of the college. Dr. Chamberlain says the build- ing is practically assured. which means that he will push the matter to its conclusion. The college under his quiet and patient leadership is clearly entering upon an era of harmony and enlarged prosperity.
H. Dewey Chamberlin, M. D. Among the citizens of Story, as well as surrounding coun- ties, the name of Dr. Chamberlin is becoming quite familiar, for since he has been a practi- tioner of the "healing art" in this section he has won an enviable reputation. He was born in the "Green Mountain State " April 7, 1848, and is the eldest living of five children, four of whom survive, born to the marriage of John A. Chamberlin and Celinda Dewey, who were also born in Vermont June 20, 1818, and No- vember 4, 1817, respectively, and are now re- siding on the old homestead in Vermont, on which the father was born. The grandfather, John Chamberlin, was born in Chelmsford, Mass., April 20, 1784, and died December 11, 1874, having been a soldier in the War of 1812. Dr. Chamberlin, the immediate subject of this sketch, acquired the rudiments of his education in the schools of Vermont, but in January, 1868, he entered Oberlin (Ohio) Col- lege, from which institution he graduated Au- gust 7, 1872, and the following year was prin- cipal of the public schools of Chazy, N. Y. In 1873 he returned to Ohio and began the study of medicine in the office of Drs. Bricker & Huss, at Shelby, but spent the following win- ters as a student iu the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, graduating March 29, 1876. He located soon after in Toledo, Ohio, and there made his home for ten years, being elected in 1878 as coroner of Lucas County, filling the position four years by re-election. On March 29, 1886, he came to Nevada, Iowa, and has here built up an ex- cellent practice; is the present coroner of the county, and is president of the Story County Medical Society; a member of the Insane Com- mission, and also a member of the Pension Board. He belongs to the K. of P., Samson Lodge No. 77, of which he is past chan- cellor, and in his political views he always
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supports the measures of the Republican party. His marriage, which occurred April 25, 1876, was to Miss Hattie Beverstock, who died on May 20, 1877. His second marriage was consum- mated October 17, 1878, his wife being Miss Mary C. Hoag, of Vermont, and by her he is the father of three children: Harrie H., Beu- lah and Ethel.
Alphonso Chandler is a purchaser of produce for the well-known firm of Boardman Bros., of Cambridge, Iowa. He was born in the " Pine Tree State," at Lincolnville, on the Penobscot Bay, March 28, 1841, being the eldest of five children-four sons and one daughter- their names being as follows: Washington W. (is married to Nellie -, and is an excep- tionally successful commission merchant of Gray's Harbor, Wash. ), Serena ( who died when between one and two years of age), an infant (deceased), and Alice (who is the wife of Charles Nellis, a wagon-maker of Cambridge, Iowa). The father of these children was born in Maine in 1812, and was a ship-carpenter and joiner by trade. In 1851 he emigrated to Story County, Iowa, and entered about 320 acres of land, on a portion of which the town of Cambridge now stands. The father identified himself with the building up of this section of the country, and until his death, which oc- curred in 1861, he was one of the leaders in all worthy movements. His wife, also a native of Maine, born in 1818, died at about the age of sixty-two years, having been a worthy Chris- tian, and a faithful wife and mother. Alphonso Chandler obtained his first educational train- ing in the State of Maine, and after acquiring a fair knowledge of the English branches in the common schools, he completed his educa- tion in the graded schools of Iowa, being well fitted at that time, so far as education was con- cerned, to successfully make his own way in the world. He has always been deeply inter-
ested in educational matters, for in the hands of the children rests the destiny of the nation, and he has been a member of the board of edu- cation, and for seven years was secretary of the same and a director for perhaps five years. When twenty-one years of age he began earn- ing his own living, and for twenty years his attention was given to engineering. He is a practical engineer in the true sense of the word, and takes pride in being so called. He has always identified himself with the Demo- cratic party, and has strenuously upheld the true principles of Jeffersonianism, his first presidential vote being cast for Horatio Sey- mour, of New York. He has not been an ultra partisan, but has ever exercised his right of franchise, and has upheld what he considered right principles. He has served as township clerk, and has also been recorder of Union Township for a number of years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Tabernacle Lodge No. 452, at Cambridge, and also belongs to the K. of P. of Tama City, and the I. O. G. T. of Cambridge. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Cambridge, and have ever contributed most liberally of their means to laudable enterprises which have been presented to them for their worthy consideration. Mr. Chandler has re- sided in Story County, Iowa, since he was nine years of age, at which time Story County was not organized, and then the towns of Nevada, Ames, Maxwell, Cambridge, and in fact all the lovely towns now so well known, were then un- dreamed of. He was one of the very earliest settlers here, and much of the country which then looked irreclaimable, has been converted into fine fertile farms, covered with waving fields of grain. He well remembers seeing his father shoot deer from his doorway on the present site of Cambridge, and their nearest market was the city of Des Moines, its popula-
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tion then numbering between 1,500 and 2,000. He came with his parents by team, a distance of 300 miles, from Belvidere, Ill., and at that time many of the Sac and Fox Indians inhabit- ed the region. He says that the admirable changes of Story County have been brought about by a thorough system of drainage and an excellent plan of farming which was inaug- urated. He now has one of the most comfort- able homes in the town of Cambridge, and here, in the community in which he has done so much to build up, it is his desire to spend the rest of his days. He was married on the 1st of May, 1862, in Cambridge, Iowa, to Miss Ellen J. Banks, who was born in Ohio, March 10, 1841, her education being received in the schools of that State, where she also followed the calling of a school teacher for a number of years. Her union with Mr. Chandler resulted in the birth of two children, both sons, who are wide awake young business men. The eldest, Edward W., has his residence with his parents in Cambridge, but is a commercial traveler by calling, and is known to be a young man of exceptionally fine business qualifica- tions for one of his years. He is an employe of the well-known firm of Cornish, Curtis & .Greene, of Fort Atkinson, Wis., and receives an excellent salary for his services. His busi- ness calls him all over the United States, and is one of great responsibility. He is single, was educated in the graded school of Cam- bridge, and has attained to the Knight Templar degree in the Masonic fraternity. Howard C., the other son, also makes his home with his parents, and is at present engaged in railroad- ing, being in the employ of the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, his base of operations being at Perry, Iowa. His posi- tion is a responsible one, as he has charge of the trainmen's department, which consists of 800 men. Although he is only twenty-one
years of age, he receives a remunerative salary, and is proving himself perfectly capable of successfully discharging the duties of his pres- ent position. Like his brother, he was edu- cated in the graded schools of Cambridge, and belongs to a secret organization, he being a member of the A. O. of R. M. These young men are far above the average in intelligence, enterprise and those principles which go to make upright, honorable men, and for the suc- cess which has attended their efforts, they deserve much commendation.
John Christian ranks among the well-known men of foreign birth who make their home in Story County. He came to the United States when a lad of fifteen, and passed his early youth in Kendall County, Ill. In 1857 he moved to Story County. His employment at first was teaming, and he also engaged in culti- vating new prairie land, but as his income in- creased he was soon in a position to invest in real estate, and is now the owner of some good farming land in the region round about. His 800 acres of land are improved after the fashion of this locality, besides which our subject has other property. He was born near Bergen, in Norway, on July 13, 1834; was married in November, 1862, to Miss Ce- cilia Pearson, like himself an emigrant from Norway. She came to America when only one year old with her father, John Pearson, and passed her girlhood in Illinois and Iowa. They have five children, viz .: Bertha, Alice, Otis H., Jonas C. and Edward B., and lost four small children. They are both members of the Lutheran Church.
Charles Christian. Among the men gifted alike with energy, enterprise and social charms, stands the subject of this sketch, a prominent merchant and justice of the peace of Roland, Iowa. Born in Norway, August 8, 1845, he is a son of Christian and Alice Christian, natives
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of Norway. The family emigrated to America in 1847, locating in Illinois. Charles received a good education and located in Story in the spring of 1865, where he taught both the En- ยท glish and Norwegian languages. He also devot- ed much time to agriculture, but later gave his entire attention to mercantile pursuits. He is a prominent Republican, doing all in his power to advance his party. At one time Mr. Christian served as sheriff of Story County. He was mar- ried December 7, 1869, to Miss Ellen Erickson, daughter of Jacob Erickson, of Roland, Iowa, and they are the happy parents of five children: J. A., Ellen C., Alice Christina, Martin and Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Christian are members of the Lutheran Church. The latter's father moved here in 1856, and entered the land where Roland is now located, having made a contract with the railroad company before his death to have thirty acres laid out for a town.
Nathaniel R. Clift is a banker and dealer in implements, grain and coal at Zearing, Iowa. In any worthy history of Story County, the name that heads this sketch should be given an en- viable place among its leading citizens and its self-made, reliable and wealthy business men. His experience in life has been a somewhat va- ried one, but at the same time one that reflects only credit upon him as a man. He was born in the "Keystone State" in 1849, being the youngest in a family of four children born to Nathaniel and Harriet (Hazell) Clift, whose birthplace was in the land of England. At the age of seventeen years Mr. Clift left the State of his birth and removed to Story County, Iowa, where he has since made his home, having been successfully engaged in farming until about 1880, at which time le embarked in the imple- ment business, and in 1888 established the Farmers' Bank of Zearing. On first coming to this county it was in a very wild and unset- tled condition, and here he set to work to im-
prove a tract of raw land comprising 160 acres on Section 4, and this farm he still owns. The lessons of industry, frugality and economy which he learned as he grew up, he has never forgotten, and they have ever been character- istic of his subsequent life and career. He was married in 1875 to Miss Fidelia Edgett, a native of New York, her father also having been born in that State, and her union with Mr. Clift has resulted in the birth of five children: Sidney R., Mabel V., Bertha F., Guy E. and Ray. Mr. Clift is connected with the I. O. O. F. socially, and in his religious views is a member of the Evangelical Church. His father died in the city of Philadelphia, Penn., in 1873, he and wife having become the parents of the following children: Faunie (now Mrs. E. R. Fry, of Zearing), Emma E. (Mrs. Nelson Hayes, of Philadelphia, Penn. ), George S. (of Jewell Junction, Iowa) and Nathaniel (the immediate subject of this memoir).
' Eugene Coggshall is a well-to-do farmer and stock-raiser of Story County, Iowa, but was born in Stephenson County, Ill., December 22, 1846, being the tenth of eleven children, whose names are as follows: Myron (who is a car- penter and joiner of Story County), Helen M. (Mrs. Fuller, resides in Missouri), Elizabeth (wife of a Mr. Manny, a merchant, died at the age of twenty-three years), Jackson (who is married, and follows carpentering and joining in Story County), then followed three children, who died quite young, Orinda (is the wife of a Mr. Appleton, a furniture dealer of West Point Iowa), Emma (who is a wealthy land owner residing in Nebraska), Eugene (the subject of this sketch), and John P. (who is married and resides in Story County, engaged in farming). The father of these children was a native of the "Green Mountain State," and died at the age of forty-nine years, and the mother was a Pennsylvanian, and passed from
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life at the age of eighty years. Eugene Cogg- shall obtained a good fund of practical infor- mation in the common schools, and is an ear- nest advocate of good schools and competent in- structors. He has held the position of school secretary, on a number of school boards, for a period of eighteen years, and always endeavored to secure practical and thorough teachers. When twenty-one years old he commenced do- ing for himself, and on the 1st of September, 1873, was united in marriage, in his native coun- ty, to Miss Mary A. Boddy, a native of New York, but reared in Illinois. To them were born four children: Lena E. (aged thirteen years, now fitting herself for a teacher, is well ad- vanced in her studies, and is an intelligent miss), Willie (who died at the age of sixteen months), Frank A. (aged nine years), and Clarence A. (aged six years). Mr. Coggshall is a Republican, his first vote for the pres- idency being cast for U. S. Grant; he has filled the office of township assessor two terms. He is a member of the A. O. U. W., of Cam- bridge, Iowa, and holds the present and impor- tant office of master workman in the same. He holds a policy of $2,000 in the insurance department. He emigrated to Iowa in 1867, with his brother, coming overland, at which time Story County was in a very unsettled con- dition, there being no highways to speak of, and but little land under cultivation. The business portion of Nevada was around the park, and the town consisted of only about 500 inhabitants. Mr. Coggshall is the owner of 120 acres of fertile land, a lovely farm resi- dence, and excellent barns and out-buildings being built on the same. This property has been earned by hard labor, frugality and econ- omy, and is an excellent example of what can be accomplished when one possesses a determi- nation to succeed.
Norman H. Confare, farmer and stock-raiser
of Section 22, Milford Township, Story County, Iowa, was born in Wayne County, Ind., on the 8th of July, 1847, and is the seventh of nine children-four daughters and five sons-born to the parents. The children are named as follows: Benjamin (farmer, resides in Story County, and married to Miss Thompson); Eph- raim (laundryman, at Tacoma, Wash., and is married), Elizabeth (married, and resides in Washington), John (merchant, married, and resides in Indiana), Caroline (deceased), Mon- roe (died at the age of twenty-five years, was a cabinet-maker by trade), Laura Jane (de- ceased) and Florence (married Charles Phil- lips, and resides in St. Paul). The father of these children was a stone-mason, brick-layer and plasterer by trade. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and died at the age of seventy- four. The mother is a native of Ohio, and is about seventy-three years of age at the present time. Norman Confare received his early edu- cational training in the old subscription schools of Indiana, and commenced life for himself when still quite youthful. He was reared to the arduous duties of the farm, but also learned the blacksmith's trade. On the 31st of October, 1871, he wedded Miss Ida McLain, a native of Illinois, and two children were the result of this union: Elizabeth Maud (eighteen years of age) and Rachel Blanche (who is twelve years of age). In January, 1864, Mr. Confare enlisted at Richmond, Ind., in the One Hun- dred and Twenty-fourth Indiana Infantry Vol- unteers, Company K, and was assigned to the third division of the Army Corps. He was placed under Gen. Sherman's command of the Army of the Cumberland at the early age of fifteen, and was actively engaged in some of the principal engagements of the Rebellion, viz .: Buzzard's Roost, Dalton, Resaca, Atlanta, Columbus, Franklin (where from 4 o'clock P. M. until sundown, 8,700 men were killed and
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wounded), Nashville, Wise's Forks, N. C., and was also in many skirmishes. His company was in 124 actions from the time of enlistment until discharged, and during this time Mr. Confare received but one slight wound on the temple, but the hard service has impaired his health. He is an active Republican in politics, and has held many local positions of trust. He was supervisor of his township, and has served as school director for three years. Mr. and Mrs. Confare are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are honored and es- teemed citizens. Mr. Confare emigrated to Story County in the spring of 1869, engaged in tilling the soil, and is now the owner of eighty acres of good farming land. On this he has a neat residence, and good, substantial outbuildings. In 1883 he spent part of the year in Colorado.
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