USA > Iowa > Cherokee County > Biographical history of Cherokoe County, Iowa : Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each ; a condensed history of Iowa, with portraits and biographies of the governors of the state ; engravings of prominent citizens in Cherokee County, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the county, the cities, and townships > Part 44
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brigade. As a reserve corps they moved to Nashville, Tennessee, arriving there February 7. On March 4, with 600 cavalry and 200 additional infantry, they took part in a recon- noissance in force. Skirmishing soon com- menced. The Nineteenth fought against fearful odds; attack after attack was repulsed. They took the colors belonging to the Fourth Mississippi, and several prisoners, but at last were compelled to surrender. The rebel offi- cer refused to take the Colonel's sword, say- ing, "An officer so brave and gallant deserves his sword." The Nineteenth entered this action with 512 men, and lost 113 of the number. At the time the command was taken prisoners of war, Mr. Gage was ill, hence escaped. The regiment was reorgan- ized at Camp Chase, Ohio, June 1, 1863, and from that date had an eventful history, taking part in the great march to the sea with Gen- eral Sherman, and back by way of Richmond to Washington, participating in the grandest display of military forces ever congregated in America, the grand review at Washington in June, 1865. The 10th of that month he was mnstered out of the service, and June 25, 1865, he was honorably discharged at Detroit, Michigan. He then returned to a fairly won home in the land of the free. Mr. Gage worked at the millwright business until May, 1868, when he came to Iowa and settled in Butler County. In November, 1870, lie removed to Cherokee County, and there eu- gaged in the millwright business and in mill- ing. He assisted in the construction of a mill at Sac City, and at Greene, Butler County. He then worked at plain carpenter work for a time. After having done faithful work at the benchi, he was called in 1884, without opposition either iu convention or at the polls, to fill the office of recorder, as be- fore stated, and is now serving his third term. Mr. Gage was married October 7,
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1872, to Miss Kittie F. Bliss, a native of the city of Chicago, and a daughter of J. W. Bliss. Her father was a native of New York, and was for a time a resident of Eastern Iowa. He removed to Cherokee County in October, 1870. Ile was a miller by occupation. He died in Nebraska, July 24, 1884. Mr. and Mrs. Gage are the parents of four children: Minnie E., Charles E., Morgeanna and Emma. Politically Mr. Gage has always been a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party. He is an acceptable member of Specu- lative Lodge, No. 307, A. F. & A. M .; of Burning Bush Chapter, No. 90, R. A. M., and of Crusade Commandery, No. 39, K. T. He served as High Priest of the chapter for two years. Ile also belongs to the A. O. U. W., Lodge No. 197, and is an honored mem- ber of Custer Post, No. 25, G. A. R.
- SPY L. DEVORE .- The subject of this brief biography is a man whose natural talents would, were it not for his excess- ive modesty and retiring disposition, place him in positions of trust and public honor. He has been identified with the interests of Cherokee County for fifteen years, and is one of its popular and progressive citizens. He is a native of the Keystone State, born in Bed- ford County, September 28, 1848. His par- ents were Jacob G. and Mary (Studebaker) De Vore; the father was also a native of Penn- sylvania, of French descent, and the mother was a member of the noted Indiana family of that name; the Studebakers are of German ancestry. Espy is the seventh of a family of nine children: George; Catherine, wife of E. W. Miller; Louisa, wife of W. H. Calhoun; Samuel, who was wounded at the siege of Vicksburg, and died on the hospital boat just as he had attained man's estate; Henry,
who died at the age of eighteen years; Levi, Espy, Mary, wife of A. K. Eby, and Jacob. When Espy was a boy of seven years his family removed from their picturesque Penn- sylvania home to the broad prairies of Ste- phenson County, Illinois. Jacob De Vore was a blacksmith by trade, and followed that occu- pation in connection with carpenter work, and also engaged in farming and dealing largely in lands. His death occurred in 1872 at the age of fifty-six years; his wife survived him eight years. Espy De Vore passed his youth on a farm, and became accustomed to hard labor. The educational advantages of that day were meager, and he attended only the country school, but he attributes much of the suceess with which he has met to the lessons learned under the old-fashioned masters. When but fifteen years old he enlisted at his country's call, January 16, 1864, in Company K, Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. While the army was in the rear of Vicksburg he was wounded by the accidental discharge of a comrade's gun, the ball entering his right side and passing to the opposite side where it still remains, a painful reminder of those troublons times. The results of this accident have placed him upon Uncle Sam's pay-roll. He was at once placed in a hospital, and did not return to duty for six months; when he again resumed his place in the ranks he was not able to attend to the ordinary duties of a soldier. He participated in the memorable five days' siege of the Spanish Fort, and participated in thecharge of Fort Blakely when it surrendered April 9, 1865, after one of the bravest charges made during the war. He was at Mobile, was sent on the Red River Expedition at the close of the war, and was not discharged until January, 1866. Mr. De Vore was married at the age of eighteen years to Miss Emina J. Leonard, a native of the State of Ohio. She was born July 4,
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1847, and is the daughter of Keelin and Elizabeth Leonard, now residents of Aurelia. The wedding ocenrred in Stephenson County, Illinois, March 19, 1866. Mr. De Vore at once engaged in farming, and for the follow- ing four years contented himself in his Illi- nois home. Thinking he might better his condition he started for the West, with his family, Kansas being the objective point; he bought land in Bourbon County, Kansas, and began the year with high anticipations, but at the close of the year he concluded that Kansas would not snit him, and he returned to his home in Illinois, even repurchasing his old farm. After four years the spirit of nnrest again seized him, and this time, accompanied by his old friend and brother- in-law, T. B. Parker, he came to Iowa, and was charmned with the beauties of the broad prairies of Cherokee County. In the spring of 1875 he purchased a small farm in Pitcher Township, and lived npon this place for two years, during which time he was carrying on his farm and selling agricultural implements, with his headquarters in Aurelia. In 1877 he went to Gilman, Iowa, and embarked more extensively in the farm machinery business, but at the end of three months sold the en- tire business and returned to Cherokee County. He then began to improve his present beau- titul farm, but continued to deal in farming implements until 1883. His farm consists of 160 acres, all of which is highly im- proved with excellent buildings and modern conveniences. He is interested in the propa- gation of pure-bred Chester White swine, and is doing much toward the advancement of the grades of live-stock. For several years he was engaged in shipping grain, mainly in car-load lots. Mr. De Vore's mind being of an eminently practical turn, he has naturally fallen into the habit of experimenting with labor-saving contrivances, and the result of
his study is shown in a number of really worthy inventions, which deserve a more ex- tended mention than can be given in a short article of this character. Politically he is a stalwart Republican, and frequently repre- sents his township in connty conventions, and was a delegate to the gubernatorial con- vention that named Hitchinson for Governor of Iowa. He is a consistent member of the Brethren Church, and was a delegate to the National Convention at Ashland, Ohio, in 1887. Mr. and Mrs. De Vore are the parents of tive children: Samuel F., Newton I., Robert L., Mabel, who died at the age of eighteen months, and Katy May. Samuel F. was born March 10, 1867. He is of a studi- ous disposition, and attended the High School until the age of eighteen years, when he be- came a teacher, following the profession for two years. During this time he began the study of phrenology, his attention being called to that beautiful science by a series of lectures on the subject which he attended in Aurelia. He eagerly read all the publica- tions of noted authors on the subject, and be- gan lecturing; he was received with such fa- vor that he decided to make it his life work, and so entered the American Institute of Phrenology at New York City, and was grad- uated in October. 1887. Since that time he has been lecturing in the Eastern and Mid- dle States, being received with marked favor. He has a commanding and pleasing address, and being a gifted speaker, he can entertain an audience with perfect ease.
B. FOBES, the present clerk of the courts for the county of Cherokee, was elected to such position in the autumn of 1888. He is making a reliable and higlily efficient officer, and being prompt
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and willing to perform his duty, he has already won the universal admiration of his fellow-citizens, regardless of party lines. In his manner he is quiet and reserved, scarcely a true type of the office-holders of the modern day, who usually talk whether their words imply much or not. Mr. Fobes has been a respected citizen of the county since 1877. He is a native of the State of New York, born in Genesee County, May 5, 1855. His parents are G. M. and Emily (Blodgett) Fobes, also natives of the State of New York, but of Scotch and English descent. In his infancy his parents removed to Iowa, settling at Decoralı, Winneshiek County, where the father engaged in the packing-house business and also owned a large tract of land. Noth- ing especially eventful marked the youthful days of Mr. Fobes. IIe attended the public schools, and when he had acquired a sufficient knowledge he engaged in teaching school, for which profession he seemed well fitted, and which he followed fourteen years. the greater portion of the time in Cherokee County. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits in con- nection with his school-teaching, and now owns a finely cultivated quarter seetion of land near the stirring town of Marcus. Upon his election to the county elerkship, Mr. Fobes removed from his farm to Cherokee, where he has already won many friends who appre- ciate a good citizen, a genial gentleman, and the social friendship formed by the acquaint- ance of Mr. Fobes and his wife. January 10, 1883, he was united in marriage with Miss Alice Russell, a native of Hamilton County, New York, and a daughter of C. H. and Jane (Whitman) Russell. Mrs. Fobes came to Iowa with her parents in the spring of 1879. Both Mr. and Mrs. Fobes are con- sistent and devoted members of the Christian Church. Politically our esteemed subject is a Republican, because in his judgment this
party best represents the great principles of our self-governed people. The home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Fobes is blessed with one child, Russell G., born January 29, 1887.
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EV. WALTER L. FERRIS, the present pastor of the Congregational Church of Cherokee, Iowa, was born at Oneida, Knox County, Illinois, July 31, 1852, and is a son of Lyman B. and Harriet A. (New- comb) Ferris, who were among the early set- tlers of that county. He was reared to farin life, and till the age of twenty-one years he worked for the neighboring farmers by the day and month, attending the Oneida public schools in the winter. It was not until he had attained his majority that he entered Wheaton College; there he found himself all bnt penniless, but he was filled with an in- tense desire to do something in the world, and he set to work with a fixed determina- tion to go through at all hazards. Ilis hardy farm life here came in play; he plowed and husked corn, trimmed hedges, sawed wood, did anything to earn the fifteen cents an hour paid the students for their labor. In June of 1879 he graduated in the regular classical course of this institution. The following eight months he supplied the pulpit of the Congregational Church of Wataga. Illinois, teaching at the same time a district school near by, called the " Hard Scrabble School," and justly reputed one of the most difficult to control. In September, 1880. Mr. Ferris began a course of theological studies at Union Park Theological Seminary, Chicago. The first year of his seminary course he filled the pulpit of the Congregational Church at Pros- pect Park, Illinois. Then for a year and a half he was pastor of the Northwest Branch of the First Congregational Church of Chi-
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cago. All the while he was learning the practical with the theological. At the close of his three years' seminary course he was called to the pastorate of the Congregational Church of Dundee, Illinois. This he con- sidered his first permanent work. Though his labors had been blessed for nearly fonr years he could now feel that at last the time had come when he could devote all his time to his chosen calling. He spent over six years at Dundee, and the church was blessed with several revivals; during this pastorate 130 united with the church, many of them being heads of families. In May of 1889 Mr. Ferris received a call from the church in Cherokee, and began work here the first Sab- bath in July, 1889. He has ever been a rad- ical temperance worker; while at Dundee he was repeatedly called to speak to the various Prohibition clubs, and other temperance or- ganizations in the towns abont him. He is a man of deepest sincerity and exceeding earnestness of purpose, and begins the work in his present field with very encouraging prospects. The congregations are large, the membership united; the Sabbath-school is prosperous; the outlook seems propitious. Mr. Ferris was united in marriage August 9, 1882, to Miss Harriet MeEwen, daughter of Ezra and Mary McEwen. Two children were born of this union, Millie and Hattie. Mrs. Ferris was called from earth September 26, 1887.
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OHN M. STARBUCK, proprietor of the Cherokee Brick and Tile Works, one of the largest concerns in the entire State of Iowa, is the subject of this biographical notice. This plant was at first started near the Fountain House and magnetic well in 1874, but two years later it was removed to 32
its present site. A full description of these works may be found in the city history of Cherokee. Mr. Starbuck has come to be widely known throughout Northwestern Iowa, and to acquaint the reader with his earlier career the following facts have been learned from our subject. He was born in Logan County, Ohio, near West Liberty, October 24, 1840, and is the second son and fourthi child of Joseph and Rebecca (Lupton) Star- buck. The parents died when John M. was four years of age, and he then went to live with his uncle, William Lupton, with whom he remained until he was thirteen years old. He then started out in life to battle for himself, and his journey has been a successful as well as an eventful one. He enjoyed only limited educational advantages, and after leaving school went to learn the trade of a brick- mason and stone-cutter. In a short time he abandoned this, and concluded he wonld learn tlie jeweler's trade, but it was not long until he tired of indoor work and returned to his former trade. He soon drifted west to Jay County, Indiana, and afterward lived in Fort Wayne and Camden, Indiana. His next move was to Fulton County, Illinois, where he engaged in work at his trade. In 1856 he came to Linn County, Iowa, and stopped there but a short time before he went to Wisconsin, where he resided eighteen months. HIe then returned to Iowa and built a stone mill on the Wapsa. In 1861 Mr. Starbuck was married to Miss Hattie E. Wiggins, of Waubeek, Iowa, a daugliter of George W. and Hattie Wiggins; she was born in New Hampshire. In 1862 our subject hecame a member of Company A, Twentieth lowa Volunteer Infantry, and was sent to the State of Mississippi; he belonged to the Thirteenth Army Corps, and took part in the following battles: The siege of Vicksburg, including its final fall, Yazoo City, Port Hudson, New
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Orleans, and Brownsville, on the Rio Grande River. He then returned to New Orleans, and thence up the White River, where he participated in numerous engagements; he was at Fort Powell and Fort Gaines; after- ward went to Florida, and was at the capture of Mobile. On July 8, 1865, he was mus- tered out of the service, and in 1865 he came to Cherokee, Iowa, and engaged in the manu- facture of brick, as above stated; this has grown to be a large and profitable business, the pay-roll of the establishment amounting to about $4,000 monthly. Politically Mr. Star- buck is an adherent to the principles of the Republican party. Ile belongs to Custer Post, No. 25, G. A. R., at Cherokee, Iowa.
OYAL L. CLEAVES, Physician and Surgeon at Cherokee, Iowa, is one of the popular and highly respected repre- sentatives of the medical profession in North- western lowa. In keeping with the prime object for which this book was published, it is befitting that something more than the professional work that Dr. Cleaves has ae- complished during his twenty years' residence in the county should be known of him. It is a familiar fact to his fellow-citizens that he ranks high in his profession and he stands out prominently in the community as a man of great integrity and reliability. His aim in life seems to be to excel in his profession, live honorably, have the respect of his friends and neighbors, and enjoy the true, unalloyed pleasure of being a blessing to his family. Somewhat reserved in manner, he attends strictly to his own affairs, aspiring to no pub- licity. To acquaint the general reader with something outside his present self, and his life away from this county, it may be well to outline briefly his earlier career, thus giving
a better knowledge of the training which has brought him to his present standing. Dr. Cleaves was born April 23, 1843, at Bridge- ton, Cumberland County, Maine. His par- ents were Benjamin L. and Jerusha (Lewis) Cleaves, who were among the pioneer fami- lies of the old Pine Tree State, and were de- scended from English ancestry. Up to the breaking out of the Rebellion he attended the public schools of his native State, and the Edward Little Institute, Auburn, Maine. At the age of eighteen years he enlisted, as many brave and patriotic sons of New Eng- land did, in the Union Army. His enlistment dates from June 7, 1862. He entered the service of his country as Hospital Steward for the Sixteenth Maine Volunteer Infantry, and was placed in the Army of the Potomac, where he remained until he was honorably discharged, June 9, 1865. He then returned to his home in Maine, and in a short time decided to enter the medical profession, and to be well equipped for the work. He en- tered the medical department of Harvard University, from which institution he was graduated in the spring of 1869, having taken a very complete course. - Soon after leaving college he caught the Western fever, and not unlike many another ambitious New Englander, longed for the newly-developing and ever-changing prairies of the West, and upon that soil he determined to fight the battle of life, and perhaps achieve something for himself not probable in the rocky, coast- bound State in which he had been reared. So during 1869, in company with others from Maine, he came West, and might have been seen peering out from under the white canvas of a genuine prairie schooner as it swayed to and fro in its western course from Cedar Rapids to Cherokee County. This was in- deed a great change for the young doctor whose professional skill was at that time all
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untried, and his record of success or failure yet unwritten. But as time has proven. this middle era of his life was the one leading on to victory. He was the first to enter the medical profession in the town of Cherokee, and be it said that none have succeeded better in the role of physician and surgeon. While he has, throughi long years of toil and prn- dence, accumulated considerable property, yet his early experience in the county was anything but pleasing. In 1888 he erected what is styled upon its front, in beautiful block letters, Cleaves Block, which structure is indeed an ornament to the town and a monument to the good taste and financial success of the builder. He has rooms in this building elegantly fitted up as offices. The secret of his uniform success in life is this: Ile first selected a calling to which lie was especially fitted by nature; next, he liad a thorough educational preparation for such profession; and last but not least, he culti- vated stability of life by staying in one place and continuing steadfast in one thing. The Doctor's estimable wife is Caroline, daughter of Nathan Chick, to whom he was married in 1869. Mrs. Cleaves is also a native of Maine. Four children have been born to bless their home: Carrie Ellen, Bertha, Edward and Nina. Dr. Cleaves is an honorable inember of Speculative Lodge, No. 307. A. F. & A. M. He is one of the charter members of the Congregational Church at Cherokee. In poli- tics he is an ardent Republican, always assist- ing to give the party success, although having no official aspirations himself. Be it said to his credit that those who know most of his life and character esteem him most highly, and pay him greatest compliments, both as a physician and surgeon and as a citizen. Many are the homes in Cherokee County that he lias cheered by his presence, not alone in his professional rounds, but as a citizen, friend
and neighbor. While he has centered his energies in the close application to his pro- fession, yet he finds time to enter with a right hearty good will all laudable public enterprises which have for their object the upbuilding of the county and town. He is liberal in a public sense, and at the same time full of genuine charity for those in poverty and distress. There are not a few within the circle of his practice who have had relief withont money and without price. Some of these were homesteaders who have since become well situated and have paid him, but who will never forget the solicitude and kindness displayed by him. No wonder such an one lives environed by a multitude of friends.
T. BURROUGHS, President of the First National Bank of Cherokee, Iowa. To trace out the character, the every experience passed through and the every achievement attained by one so fully engrossed in business affairs of life, as he of whose history we are about to make a brief review, is no light task. Some men have had extremely eventful lives, full of interest and bristling with sensational points, yet when weighed carefully, and narrowed down closely to real intrinsic value, show but little of great accomplishment. On the other hand, one who does mnuch biographical writing fre- quently meets subjects whose career lias been almost totally devoid of sensation or startling events, yet whose every day accomplishments display to the observer the fact that the greater portion of their existence has been one continual, almost endless, chain, made up, as it were, of golden links of success. Withont wishing to exalt, or in any sense parade thie financial achievements of our subject in the
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way of flattery, which is a species of con- tempt, it is necessary in this connection to speak of a few fromn out of the many success- ful operations with which Mr. Burroughs has been connected, and by which his friends, neighbors and fellow citizens have been fre- quently benefited either directly or indi- rectly. It should be remembered that the sketch of a purely business man differs very materially from that of a professional mnan, a politician, or one in the humbler or less pub- lic walks of life. Yet when one writes of a business man, business matters should be the principal topic, as wheu treating of a pro- fessional man, his particular profession should necessarily comprise the topic; the same of a politician, the mechanic, the agriculturist. First, to make the reader acquainted with some of Mr. Burroughs's earlier career, it should be stated that he is a native of Michi- gan, born in Lenawee County, a few miles from the town of Tecumseh, June 28, 1839. His parents were N. S. and Electa (Hnuter) Burroughs. The father is a native of New Jersey, of Puritan ancestry, while the mother was born in Seneca County, New York. The parents were united in marriage in the moth- er's native home, and were among the early pioneers who first ventured into the unbroken forests of Michigan, where they undertook the laborious task of clearing up a farm from ont the big woods just vacated by the savage tribes of Indians. This worthy couple still reside in the locality described, enjoying the fruits of their labors in the homestead long ago chosen, around which many hallowed memories still cluster. The son, N. T. Bur- roughs, of whom we write, was an only son; his three sisters are still residents of their native State. The youth and early manhood of Mr. Burroughs was spent at home, assist- ing his father in clearing up and better de- veloping the forest farm. He attended the
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