USA > Iowa > Story County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Story County, Iowa > Part 58
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James S. Smith is a lineal descendant of
Jacob Smith, who, during the persecution of Presbyterianism in Scotland by King James I., left that country with many others and settled in the North of Ireland. From this and other similar immigrations are descended that people known to history as the Scotch-Irish. As a race they have retained the characteristic firmness of the Scotch, while acquiring much of the generosity, wit and vivacity of the Irish. Six generations of the descendants of Jacob Smith lived and died in the same county ( Antrim), and Samuel of the sixth (1774-1854) was as strongly attached to the tenets of Presbyte- rianism as his early ancestors, who may have gathered inspiration from the voice of Knox. Mathew Smith was born October 12. 1812; was married, in 1836, to Miss Mary Hewitt, who died in 1843, leaving a son (Jonathan) and a daughter ( Mary). Mathew was married again, in 1846, to Miss Margaret A. McElhose, a grand-daughter of Richard Smith, of Carncul- lough, by whom he had seven sons: Samuel S., William M., James S., Hugh B., Robert H., John (died 1861 ), and John M. (died in Rome, Ga., in 1889). In 1866 Mathew Smith bade a final adieu to his native country, and with his family arrived in Chicago on the 30th of April, of the same year, in search of land for his boys in a country where industry is honorable and labor not branded with the stamp of serfdom. He located in Osco, Henry County, Ill., the following August. In 1875 he came to Story County, Iowa, where he died in Warren Town- ship September 3, 1877, and his wife August 26, 1880. James S. Smith was born in Fin- voy, Ireland, January 17, 1853; came to Osco, Ill., with his parents in 1866; commenced teaching in the public schools in 1871; studied law at the Iowa State University. On account of his father's death, he gave up law and re- turned to the farm, which he had charge of for a time. From 1880 till 1885 he devoted
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his time to teaching in Cleveland and Coal Valley, Ill. In the last-named year, in com- pany with his brothers, Hugh B. and John M., as Smith Bros., he commenced business in Mc- Callsburg. and later in Zearing, Iowa. He was married,. on the 4th of August, 1886, to Miss Jessie M. Burkhart, daughter of J. C. and M. Burkhart, of Zearing. Socially Mr. Smith is connected with the A. F. & A. M., and is a member of the Christian Church.
George W. Sowers, farmer, stock-raiser and shipper of Milford Township, Story County, Iowa, is a native of Putnam County, Ind., born in 1827, and is the second of six children, the result of the union of Solomon and Rachel (Pickett) Sowers, natives of North Carolina, the former born in 1802, and the latter in 1805. Solomon was one of eight children ( Mary, Phoebe, Jefferson, Alexander, Alfred, Emaline and Christina), born to George and Elizabeth Sowers, early settlers of North Carolina. Sol- omon was of German and his wife of Irish ex- traction. Their son, George W. Sowers, sub- ject of this sketch, received a common-school education, and was married in 1847 to Miss Melinda Bracken, daughter of Thomas Bracken, and the eldest of six children, Monroe, John, Margaret, Louisa, Thomas J. and Martha, only three of whom are now living. Mrs. Sowers died in May, 1856, leaving a family of two sons: Thomas and James. Mr. Sowers moved to Story County, Iowa, in 1854, locating in La Fayette Township, in what was then called Smith's Grove, in a house made of poles, 12x14 feet, in which he lived from November till the following March. He then moved into a house which he had built on the prairie, and with a very few neighbors began to improve and cultivate the home in the wilderness. In 1855 more settlers moved in, and in the spring of 1856 twenty-seven Scandinavians made their advent in the county and settled in what is now
Howard Township. Mr. Sowers entered three eighties on the prairie, and at the same time bought thirty acres of timber, paying $10 per acre. In the spring of 1856 he unfortunately lost his wife by that dread disease, consump- tion. The fall of the same year his father and four brothers came and located in the same neighborhood, and there the father died at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. Two of the brothers, Charles M. and Alfred, also died in Story County. Mr. Sowers sold his farm in La Fayette Township in 1863, and bought his present property, which now consists of 345 acres of valuable land. In 1857 he mar- ried Miss Margaret Sowers, by whom he had five children: Sarah A. (now Mrs. William Hughes ), Minda J. (now Mrs. George Young), Charles W., Elmer E. and Albert. Charles married Miss Metta McClure, daughter of R. McClure, of this county. Mr. Sowers is a Re- publican in his political views, and with his wife and daughters is a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. For the past twenty- two years he has followed buying and shipping stock quite extensively, and is a man exactly suited for that business. When he first came to Iowa he went to mill at Red Rock, where Perry County now stands, and went to Iowa City for salt. Mrs. Sowers was born in North Carolina on October 17, 1832, and is the daugh- ter of Philip Sowers, of North Carolina.
William Waitt Spring, farmer and stock- raiser, resides on Section 18, Grant Township. It is now nearly thirty-five years since Mr. Spring first became identified with the inter- ests of this county, and during this time, while his financial standing has been steadily advancing, he has always sustained his repu- tation for honesty, integrity and sterling worth. Originally from Ohio, he was born there on May 16, 1828, being the youngest in a family of four children, the eldest of whom, John,
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is deceased; Mary is also deceased, Sarah is the wife of Paul Rodenburger, a farmer of Kansas, and William Waitt is the subject of this sketch. The parents of these children were natives of Massachusetts and Pennsyl- vania, respectively, and both are now deceased, the father having passed away in his eighty- third year. William Waitt Spring obtained his education in the old subscription schools of Putnam County, Ind., and subsequently taught school for about four winters. Early in life he entered a woolen factory in his native State, and for nineteen years gained a liveli- hood as a factory hand in Ohio and Indiana. At the age of twenty-seven years he com- menced life on his own responsibility by im- migrating from Indiana to Story County, Iowa. He had previously taken a companion for life in the person of Miss Amy Coffelt, and a native of the " Hoosier State," born October 1, 1834. Her father was born in Tennessee, and her mother was a native of North Caro- lina. Mr. and Mrs. Spring became the parents of ten children, six of whom survive. Those still living are: Margaret E. (who is the wife of B. W. D. Smith, an engineer by occupa- tion, and makes her home in Nebraska), Lucy E. (who is the wife of Andrew Neilson, of Des Moines, Iowa), Ulysses S. (student in the Iowa Agricultural College, has chosen civil engineering as his profession, and is now per- fecting himself in that science at the Iowa Agricultural College), Edith May (graduated from the Capital City Commercial College of Des Moines, Iowa, now a stenographer in the employ of Chamberlin & Co., of Des Moines, Iowa), and Charles W. and Claude Finley (are both residing at home). Those deceased are: Agnes Caroline (died at the age of three years), William H. (died in his eighth year), John S. E. (died at the age of eleven months), and Martha L. (was eighteen years of age at
the time of her death). Upon his arrival in Iowa, Mr. Spring found very few settlers, and but very few improvements. Indeed he it was who turned the first furrow in what is now the town of Ames, and assisted to plant the first fruit tree and rhubarb on the college farm. At the time that he located in Story County there were but four houses to be seen from Ontario to Nevada, a distance of abont eleven miles, and the nearest markets were Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, a distance of seventy and eighty miles, and Mr. Spring relates how the Messrs. Coffelt hauled the first safe for Boone County from the Mississippi River, they being residents of Story County. Being a pioneer of this section, Mr. Spring was able to choose his own farm, and now owns 218 acres of very valuable land, on which he has erected a neat, comfortable residence, and good substantial out-buildings. He and wife both hold mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Ames, and have always contributed as far as possible to all laudable enterprises. The form- er is prominently identified with the "Grand Old Republican Party," and has ever been an ardent supporter of true Republican principles, and for a period of twenty-five years, not con- tinuously, but at intervals, he has held the office of assessor. He is one of the promi- nent, well-to-do farmers of Story County.
Prof. E. W. Stanton, in the department of mathematics and political economy of the Iowa State Agricultural College, was originally from Pennsylvania, his birth occurring in Waymart, Wayne County, on October 3, 1850. His par- ents, F. H. and Mary (Rounds) Stanton, were natives also of the Keystone State, and the father has followed agricultural pursuits all his life. Both are living, and reside on the old homestead in Pennsylvania, purchased by the grandfather in 1793. The great-grand- father, Asa Stanton, was a farmer by occupa-
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tion, and served in the Revolutionary War. Of the large family of children born to the parents, three are now living, and Prof. Stan- ton is the only son. He became familiar with agricultural life at an early age, and received his primary education in the village school. He then attended the academy at Franklin, N. Y., and in the spring of 1870, entered the Iowa State Agricultural College in the sopho- more year, graduating in the fall of 1872. While a student he was clerk in the cashier's office, and has been connected with the finan- cial department of the college ever since. Im- mediately after graduating he was appointed assistant in the mathematical department, and in 1874 was elected secretary of the board of trustees, which position he has held for seven- teen years. He was elected to his present position in 1878. He was married in 1877 to Miss Margaret McDonald, who was preceptress in the college for six years before marriage and two years afterward. She was also Prof. Stanton's assistant and instructor in French. They have three children: Edwin McDonald, Margaret and Edgar W., Jr. Of the faculty when Prof. Stanton came here, his wife is the only one left in Story County.
Jacob M. Stark, proprietor of the Kelly Tile and Brick Yards in Washington Township, Story County, Iowa, was born in Indiana in 1847, and was one of nine children who grew to maturity, the result of the union of Stephen and Elizabeth ( Wagoner) Stark. The father was born in the Blue-Grass State in 1808, but was reared to manhood in Indiana, where he was married about 1833. His family consisted of the following children: Daniel (died in the Civil War), Mary (became the wife of John Curtis, of Warren County, Iowa, and she and her husband are both deceased), Rebecca (wife of John Cooper, of Maxwell, Iowa), John (died), Stephen B. (of Marquette, Kas.),
Abraham (of Stockton, Kas.), Melinda (wife of Robert Nichols, of Des Moines, Iowa; she is now deceased), and Louisa (also of Des Moines, Iowa ). The paternal grandfather was Abraham Stark. Jacob M. Stark moved with his parents to Illinois in 1849, locating in Mer- cer County, and in 1852 the family settled in Webster County, Iowa. Soon after they located in Warren County, where Jacob grew to mature years, and received his education in the com- mon schools. About 1864 the parents removed to Story County, and settled at Iowa Centre, where Jacob M. followed his profession-wagon and carriage-making. In 1583 he engaged in his present business, and has followed it with marked success ever since, and, although there are other establishments of like character in the county, his is unsurpassed. He was mar- ried in 1866 to Miss Nancy G. Davis, daughter of Thomas C. Davis, of Nevada at that time, but now of Eldorado, Kas. To this union six children were born-Arthur D., Wilberth, Roy C., May, Nora, and Jesse. Politically, Mr. Stark traces his views back to the old Whig party, and is now a stanch Republican and a strong advocate of prohibition. Socially, he is connected with the I. O. O. F. His father died in Iowa Centre, Iowa, in August, 1870, and his mother in April, 1890, at the age of eighty years. The father had been identified as a Baptist minister from early manhood, and was a pioneer preacher of Iowa, holding services in school-houses and private dwellings before the time of churches.
Sam S. Statler is agent of the American Express Company, and a dealer in groceries, and is one of the pioneers of the town of Ne- vada, Iowa. A native of Somerset County, Penn., he was born on the 2d of December, 1830, and is the only surviving member of a family of four children, born to Jonathan and Maria (Snell) Statler, who were born in Penn-
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sylvania, in 1804 and 1811, and died in Ne- vada, Iowa, in 1860, and September, 1887, re- spectively. Sam S. Statler acquired a good practical education in the common schools of his native State, and later learned the tanner's trade, at which he worked for some time. He reached Nevada, Iowa, on the 10th of Septem- ber, 1855, and in 1857 was chosen deputy treasurer and recorder of the county, a position he held until 1860, after which he was elected treasurer and recorder for one term. During his residence in this place he has been em- ployed as clerk and book-keeper, but since 1884 he has devoted his attention to the sale of gro- ceries, and so popular with the public has his place of business become, that his time is fully employed in supplying its demands. His mar- riage occurred in 1860, to Miss Margaret Ste- phens, a native of Pennsylvania, by whom he has the following named children: Edgar, Carrie, Maggie and Ferdinand. He has always sup- ported the Democrat party by his vote, and since the 27th of February, 1858, has been a member of the Masonic fraternity, and April 25, 1887, became a member of the 3 X 3 Chapter at Nevada. He also belongs to the I. O. O. F., in which order he has attained to the Encampment.
William H. Stevens, farmer and stock-raiser, lives in Grant Township, near Ames, Iowa. The agricultural and stock-raising interests of Story County are ably represented by the sub- ject of this sketch, a man whose life has been passed in the calling which now receives his at- tention. He was originally born in the South- ern Peninsula of Michigan, near the city of Ann Arbor, on the 8th of March, 1839, and was the eldest of four children: Hattie, Laura, and James. The parents were natives of the Empire State, and both are now living. The father was an agriculturist by occupation, but .he was also a first-class mechanic. The parents
reside near Ann Arbor, Mich. The paternal grandfather, who died at the advanced age of one hundred years, was also a fine mechanic, and assisted in the building of the first steamboat that ever floated on Hudson River. William H. Stevens' first educational training was re- ceived in the old subscription schools in Mich- igan, and he also attended the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, for about three years. Af- ter this he taught in the public schools for four years and then engaged in merchandising at Parma, Jackson County, Mich., in 1860, con- tinuing in that, and was also in the furni- ture factory, until 1866. From there he went to Petrolia, Canada, engaged in the oil business, and this continued until 1870, when he emi- grated to Story County, Iowa, Here he has since remained, and has made many improve- ments on his fine farm of 280 acres. He has it partially tilled, has good substantial build- ings, and has one of the finest building sites in the township. He was unfortunate in his early marital relations and lost his first two wives by death. His third marriage was to Miss Sarah A. Sutton, in March, 1878, and four children have been born to him: Emma (re- sides in Kansas, and is married to L. C. Wood- word, a farmer ), Frank, Sidney and Katie. Mr. Stevens is a stanch Republican in politics, and cast his first presidential vote for the honored and lamented Abraham Lincoln. He has held many positions of trust in the county, and was recently the census enumerater in his precinct. He has been a member of the Masonic frater- nity since 1867 ( Ames Lodge No. 249), and he and wife assist in all religious enterprises. They have resided for twenty years in Story County, and here expect to pass the remainder of their days. Mr. Stevens has seen six gen- erations of his family.
Hon. J. L. Stevens, judge of the Eleventh Judicial District, Ames, Iowa. Judge Stevens
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is not unknown to the people of this portion of Iowa, but in all the years his life has been conspicuous before the public not a shadow of distrust or suspicion of a wrong act has fallen upon his name. He. was born in Northfield, Vt., on May 29, 1850, and was one of four children, three now living, born to the union of Isaac L. and Harriet E. (Tucker) Stevens, also natives of the Green Mountain State. The parents emigrated to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1863, thence to Belle Plain, and are now residents of Marshall County, Iowa. The father is an agriculturist by occupation, but also filled the position of road-master for the Chicago & North-Western Railroad for a num- ber of years. He commenced life by driving an express wagon from Boston to Burlington, Vt., and upon the organization of the Vermont Central Railroad he commenced on the con- struction, and was thus occupied until 1860. After this he cultivated the soil for a year and then resumed railroading, which he continued until 1870. He is a thorough railroad man, and has a reputation for unflinching honesty and integrity. He commenced life a poor boy, but is now surrounded by every comfort. Al- though seventy-five years of age, he still man- ages his farm, and bids fair to live yet many years. Judge Stevens remained in his native State until thirteen years of age, attended the common schools, and later entered Northfield Academy. After coming to Iowa he attended the schools at Cedar Rapids, Belle Plain and Grinnell. On the opening of the Iowa State Agricultural College in 1868 he entered the freshman class, and graduated from that insti- tution in 1872. During the vacations he im- proved his time by teaching school and read- ing law. After graduating in the civil engi- neering course with the degree of B. S., he went to Belle Plain, studied law with Frank G. Clark (now of Cedar Rapids), and was admit-
ted to the bar in October, 1873, at Vinton, Iowa. On the 25th of November of the same year he came to Ames, and opened a law office in partnership with Daniel McCarthy, contin- uing with him for a number of years. His first official position was city recorder, and next city attorney. In 1878 he was elected district attorney of the Eleventh Judicial Dis- trict, consisting of eight counties, and was re- elected to the same office in 1882. Four years later he was elected district judge of the same district, and this office he is still holding. He is a prominent citizen of the county, and is re- spected and esteemed for his sterling integrity, sober, sound judgment and progressive ideas. He was married on August 10, 1876, to Miss Rowena E. Edson, a native of Wisconsin. They were schoolmates at Ames College for three years, and Miss Edson engaged in school teaching from 1873 up to the date of her mar- riage. Six children are the fruits of this union: Ollie E., Genevieve, Edith, Imogene, John E. and Thaddeus. The Judge is a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of the Masonic Order. He is also a member of the K. of P. and others. He is the owner of half a section of land, well stocked with a high grade of horses and cattle, and his commodi- ous house and other buildings indicate a pro- gressive owner. Mrs. Stevens has been presi- dent of the Dorcas Society, in the interests of the sick and afflicted, for a number of years, and is always ready to assist and relieve suf- fering humanity.
John R. Stewart, one of the leading stock dealers of Central Iowa, and a prominent citi- zen of Story County, is a native of Ogle County, Ill., born on the 28th of February, 1831. Brought up as an agriculturist, it was but natural that he should permanently adopt that calling as his life occupation, and while he is a farmer of advanced ideas and tend-
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cncies, he does not lose sight, by any means, of the stock interests, and in this industry he has gained an extensive reputation. He received a common-school education, and at an early age began assisting his father in buying stock. At the age of twenty-one years he commenced for himself by farming and dealing in stock in Ogle County, Ill., and there continued until 1877. He then came to Story County, Iowa, settled at Colo, and here he owns 400 acres of well-improved land. He is one of the most extensive stock dealers in Central Iowa, and from January to June, 1890, he shipped twenty car loads of horses from Colo and Nevada. He is a Repub- lican in politics, and in 1887 was elected a member of the Story County board of super- visors. He chose Miss Minerva Myers as his life companion, and was married to her in 1875. One child, Ida Maud, is the result of this union. Mr. Stewart is progressive in his ideas, and has applied himself to his chosen calling with the success which may be inferred from a glance at his extensive and well-kept farm. His father, William Stewart, was born in the North of Ireland, and came to the United States about 1840. He is now sixty-eight years of age and resides in Story County. The mo- ther, whose maiden name was Sarah Jane Bell, was born in Canada, and is now about sixty- four years of age. They were the parents of six children, our subject being the second in order of birth.
George Stitzell, M. D., is a physician of established reputation, and one who has steadily risen in the channels of medical life. He was born in Franklin County, Penn., August 13, 1830, and is a son of George and Catherine (Wagner) Stitzell, who were also born in the Keystone State, near Phila- delphia, the former in 1800 and the latter in 1796, their deaths occurring in Franklin
County, Penn., and Michigan, in 1876 and 1888, respectively. Dr. Stitzell was educated in the common schools of his native county, and finished his literary education in a college at Mercerburg. He began the study of medi- cine in the office of Dr. John Olig, at Waynes- boro, and afterward attended lectures in the University of Pennsylvania and in the Penn- sylvania Medical College, and after applying himself diligently to the course of study given him, he was graduated from that college as an M. D., March 12, 1858, well prepared to go out into the world and enter actively upon the practice of his profession. His time since then has been devoted entirely to the relief of suffering humanity, and as a physician he is held in the highest esteem and is in the enjoy- ment of a good practice. After first gradu- ating, he settled at St. Thomas, Penn., there remaining until the spring of 1862, when he en- listed as an assistant surgeon in the Fifty-Sixth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and was in the service until after the battle of Gettysburg, when he resigned, coming in October of that year to Nevada, where he has since made his home. He is one of the oldest physicians in the county ; is a close student and assiduously applies himself to the practice of his calling. From 1864 to 1876 he was examining surgeon of United States pensions at Nevada, and he is now president of the pension board. He has had in his thirty-five years of professional life 2,400 cases of obstetrics, and in all, only two cases have proved fatal. He was married in 1852 to Miss Malinda M. Mowen, of Waynes- boro, Penn., but her death occurred in Nevada, Iowa, in January, 1873, after she had borne a family of five children: La Velle F., George A., John D., Charles E. and Mary C. The Doc- tor's second marriage took place in June, 1873, to Mrs. Susan Nichols, formerly Miss Stubbs, a native of the " Hoosier State." One
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child has blessed this union-H. Delioux. The Doctor has been a life-long Republican, and socially belongs to the Masonic order, being a member of Lodge No. 99, of Pittsburg. He also belongs to the G. A. R., and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
Osmond O. Stole was ushered into this mun- dane sphere near the city of Bergen, in Nor- way, October 7, 1846, and passed his youth in that country, receiving a fair education in his native language, and emigrating in the year 1875. Arriving in April, when Mother Nature wore her brightest smile, he found Story County a most charming home in the strange country of America. After one year he moved to Illinois, but soon returned to Story, where he is now located. His attention was for a long time devoted to agricultural pursuits, but changing to mercantile business, he started the first store in Roland, and carried a fine stock of hardware. He has at all times been successful, and in 1883 returned to his native land to view once more the scenes familiar to his childhood. February 14, 1879, Mr. Stole married Miss Mary Myrah, of Wisconsin, and a daughter of Erick Myrah. Mr. and Mrs. Stole are members of the Lutheran Church. The parents of our subject were natives of Norway. The father, Osmond Stole, was married to Miss Jennie Holland.
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