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 45

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago : W.S. Dunbar
Number of Pages: 654

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 45

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common schools and also the High School at Tecumseli, walking a distance of four miles to and from school. He did not leave the home of his childhood until he was past his majority. When eighteen years of age he cominenced teaching school, which he fol- lowed three years. What he earned he put out at interest, and this was the beginning of his business career. In 1863, wishing to better his surroundings, and doubtless ad- vised as to the excellent opportunities then presenting themselves to young men of push and enterprise, Mr. Burroughs came to Story County, Iowa, with a flock of sheep, number- ing 1,700. He was engaged in the live- stock business until 1867, when he disposed of his stock, together with his farm, and ven- tured into an untried business, that of rail- road grading. He contracted to grade a road-bed from Amnes to Polk City, Iowa, which is now known as the Des Moines branch of the Northwestern system. This engaged liis time and attention for about a year. In 1869 he came to Cherokee County, and entered eighty acres of Government land, on section 18, Cherokee Township, and soon owned the greater part of the section. He located at Old Cherokee, engaging in the real- estate business. In 1871, in company with Carlton Corbett, G. W. Lebourveau and H. C. Kellogg, Mr. Burroughs platted New Chero- kee, and erected the first building in the town, the Ininber being brought by wagon from Sioux City. Mr. Burroughs operated in both real estate and the live-stock business. This business existed nntil 1873, when our subject purchased the interest of F. R. Fulton, in the business of Fulton & Scribner, then engaged in a general banking business. After this transfer the style of the firm was changed to Scribner & Burroughs. Their business was conducted in a small frame building until 1875, when they erected the attractive brick block

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HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

on the corner of Main and Railroad streets, which they still occupy as a banking house. They changed their plans of banking in 1883, and organized what is known as the First National Bank of Cherokee, of which Mr. Burroughs is president. Besides his banking interests he is, and lias been for many years, listed among the most extensive live-stock dealers in the Northwest. In 1875 he went to Michigan, and purchased a brick machine, with which the first machine-inade brick of the county were manufactured Ile also, in company with R. H. Scribner, erected the second brick building in the town, the bank. As early as 1883 he shipped. 270 car-loads of cattle, equal to about 11,029 head, a greater part of which went to purchasers in the Black Hills and Wyoming Territory. At the same time he had 2,000 cows and calves, principally of native stock. In 1884 he did a still larger business, his shipments reaching over 17,000 head. He is now a fifth owner of a very large ranch in Colorado, upon which there are grazing the present season not less than 28,000 head of stock. Another invest- ment was in 300,000 acres of timber lands situated in the Southern States; lie still owns about one-third of this tract. He also figured largely in the prospecting for coal in the neighborhood of Cherokee upon lands owned by himself, and upon which was finally dis- covered the wonderful magnetic well, now within the city limits of Cherokee. Near this beautiful, ever-flowing fonntain of nature Mr. Burroughs erected the sanitarium known as the Fountain House. There he expended his money liberally in the adornment of the grounds, the excavating of a miniature lake, and tlie laying out of tasty parks and drives. It was largely due to the exertions of Mr. Burroughs that the Cherokee & Dakota Rail- way was built each way from this point. Nothing but gennine pluck and personal

influence could possibly have secured this road, when one considers the fact that Le Mars was competing strongly on the west, while every effort was being put forth by the enterprising people at Storm Lake and Fort Dodge on the east. Mr. Burroughs was the conqueror, and the conquest gave the business men of the county a leverage hitli - erto unfelt. Upon lands purchased he platted the town sites along the line from Onawa to Sioux Falls. He is the president of the Cherokee and Western Town Lot and Land Company, whichi concern does an extensive real-estate business. Among the large stock farms in Cherokee County, Mr. Burroughs has one of 1,640 acres, all well improved and in a paying condition. Not alone in his busi- ness enterprises is he fully appreciated by the communi y in which he lives, but also as a genial friend and respected citizen. His name generally leads the list of benevolent and public donations, and he gives with the greatest freedom. There are many churches and numerons other societies which can tes- tify to his generosity. Mr. Burroughs was united in marriage September 12, 1871, to Miss Addie Phipps, a daughter of Albert Phipps, Esq., a pioneer of this county, of whom honorable mention will be found else- where in this book. Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs are the parents of three children: Roy C., Raynor N. and Jettie E. Mr. Burroughs and wife are acceptable members of the Con- gregational Church. In his political belief he is an ardent Republican. Though never aspiring to hold public office, he does his share royally for the success of the party whose platform he believes to be best caleu- lated to carry out the great issues coming up in our form of government. In conclusion it may be stated that the secret of our sub- ject's success in life's battles is mainly due to his good judgment, and to the fact that he

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HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

is constituted to stand prosperity. Unlike most men absorbed in commercial pursuits, he has not hoarded his accumulations, but wisely branched ont with investments which have not only brought their return to him, but to the communities in which he has operated. These traits of character have necessarily won for him and his estimable family a wide cir- cle of friends and admirers, who only regret that the world lias not more such inen.

EV. J. MACALLISTER .- The pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Cherokee, Iowa, Rev. J. MacAllister, is a native of Scotland, born in Greenock, on the River Clyde, November 4, 1842. He came to the United States in 1870. Residing in Chicago for several years, lie held situations in the large dry-goods firms of Hamlin, Hale & Co., S. Keith and Gale. He was in the employ of the former when the disastrous fire swept over that city. The lionse in which he boarded, the warehouse in which he was employed, and the church in which he worshiped were all destroyed, but he sustained no personal loss or injury. After the decease of his mother and an invalid sister, who were dependent upon him, he, feeling free to follow the bent of liis wishes, entered upon a course of study for the ministry, graduating from the Mc- Cormick Theological Seminary (Chicago) in 1879. In the vacation between the first and second years of study in this institution he labored, under appointment of the Home Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church, among the miners of Colorado, in the San Juan country most of the time. As this service was rendered before the days of the railroad extension, it was full of difficulty, danger and adventure among the settlers, whom he found a warm-hearted, generous

class of men (there were very few women aniong them in those days). There were no churches with sweet-toned bells to call the worshipers. Places had to be found, and very crude means employed to do the work on which he was sent. He tells of calling the people together by striking a bar of steel with a hammer, at the church door, and the house lighted with half candles stuck on nails around the walls, and the praises sung from rough charts (?) inade of coarse brown paper borrowed at the store, the hymns written in large letters that could be seen all over the room. This experience was one of great profit, affording as it did opportunity to travel amid the grandest scenery of the continent, and work among people who were hungry for the gospel, because long deprived of the priv- ilege of hearing it. The second vacation, be- tween seminary years, was spent in a quiet country region, with Pine Creek Church, in Buchanan Connty, Iowa. Here he was priv- ileged to see an entirely different phase of life, one which was as new to him as the Colorado mining, for he had always lived in a large city. He had no knowledge of the labors, the joys, and the stalwart conrage of the poorer class of farmers laboring in all sorts of extreme weather to build homes and make farins. Here he also witnessed the full- ness of plenty in the homes of the well-to-do farmers, and saw the beauty of religion as it lit up the lives and homes of the wealthy and the lowly. Truly " one-half the world does not know how the other half lives," and all would be greatly benefited by a fuller knowl- edge. During the last year of study at Chi- cago, he supplied the church at Crown Point, Indiana, going out every Saturday afternoon, and returning to the city Monday morning. This was also a useful item toward his train- ing. It brought him into contact and syin- pathy with good and industrions people in a

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small town, trying to maintain the worship of God according to their conscience. Tliere is now a much finer church there than the old one, in which he preached some of his early sermons made among the Colorado mines, and on the Iowa prairies. Finishing his studies, he accepted a call to go back to the little church of Pine Creek; here he was married to Miss Isabella Hamilton, and re- mained as pastor for three years. Then the people of Waltham Church, in La Salle County, Illinois, invited him to visit them with a view to undertaking work. But he did not see his way clear to accept tlie unani- nous call which was extended to him at the close of a few months. This brief sojourn fills the mind with the pleasantest of memories. Here were formed friendships which will con- tinne through life. Jesup, in Buchanan County, Iowa, was the next home for two and one-half years. Here, in fellowship with the pastors of the Baptist and Methodist Episco- pal churches, he enjoyed a sweet season of work and blessing, many being added to the churches of " such as were being saved." From Jesup Mr. MacAllister was called to Cherokee, in May, 1885, where he bears wit- less to a kind people and a pleasant work. During this period, during his smimmer va- cation, he has visited Montana, preaching in Bozeman for a season for an absent friend, and roaming among the mountain creeks and glens of that famous region of " The Rock- ies," near to the Yellowstone Park. During last summer he enjoyed a long-looked-for pleasure, revisiting his native land, after an absence of nearly twenty years. Of course there were great changes observable in towns and people, but the country wore its old charm. He visited London for the first time and spent a week among its wonders, meet- ing the irrepressible American tourist every. where. What a city it is? A week left but

the knowledge of how little a traveler could know about it,-abont its extent of territory, its labyrinth of streets, its oddities, its en- terprise, its wealth, and comfort, and power. Across that dreadful channel in those miser- able boats was the next experience, and Paris had been wondered over and guessed at for another week. Its Eiffel Tower and its Ex- position were a constant amazement. The home journey was made in that . greyhound of the sea," the City of Paris, in five days twenty-three hours and ten minutes from land to land (Queenstown to Sandy Hook), and he says the statue of Liberty in New York Harbor was the finest piece of art seen in all his travels; perhaps because the good lady welcomed him home, and hinted at Cherokee.

LIJAH W. GREGG (deceased). one of the early settlers of Cherokee County, was a true type of that excellence and nobility of manhood so prominent in the worthy pioneers of the West. Ile was born in Morgan County, Ohio, December 17, 1831, a son of Caleb and Millicent (Dowdny) Gregg. The father was born in Virginia, and the mother was probably a native of Ohio. In 1851 the family emigrated to Iowa and settled in Linn County, where the father en- tered a homestead, and a tract of eighty acres of Goverment land for each of his children. Caleb Gregg passed the remainder of his days in Linn County; he died in 1882, at the ad- vanced age of seventy-eight; his wife is still living and resides in Linn County. He was a minister in the Society of Friends. Elijah W. Gregg received his early instruction in the common schools and continued liis studies in a Friends' academy in his native State. After coming to Iowa he remained with his

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father's family for a time, and then began the task of improving the land which had been entered in his name. He devoted himself to this work until 1871, when he removed to Cherokee. At one time he was interested in the livery business, having formed a partner- ship with N. T. Burroughs, Esq. After this firm sold out Mr. Gregg retired to his farm near Cherokee, which he cultivated and im- proved until 1883, when he sold his land and removed to St. Paul, Nebraska. He was a Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge, chapter and commandery. During his last illness he received every attention from his brother Masons, and after his death, which occurred Angust 14, 1887, his remains were taken in charge by the Sir Knights of the Grand Island Commandery and escorted to St. Paul, Nebraska, where they were laid away. In 1862 Mr. Gregg enlisted in the Twenty- fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and served in the Western Army for three years; he was honorably discharged at the close of the war. He was the father of seven children, five of whom are living: Martha, who died at the age of fourteen years; Eva L., Archie, Fred, Harry, IIattie, and a son who died in infancy. Eva L. Gregg, the present superintendent of the Cherokee County schools, was a child when her father came to Cherokee. She at- tended the public schools, and afterward en- tered the college at Ames, Iowa. In 1876 she taught her first school in the Mill Creek school-house, and continued to teach in the district schools until 1881, when a position was offered her in the graded schools of Cherokee without her solicitation. In this work she made an enviable reputation for herself. She exhibited such a clear under- standing of the needs and purposes of the public schools that in the fall of 1887 she was elected to the office of county superin- tendent of schools. Although she was nomi-

nated by the Republicans, she was heartily endorsed by the Democratic party. Under her administration the educational interests of the county have not lagged, and her de- cision and judgment under most trying con- ditions have been rendered with that honesty and sincerity of purpose which bring satis- faction to all parties. In the Republican connty convention of 1889 she was again nominated for the same office, and glowing tributes were paid her by men who are in a position to know and appreciate the value and scope of her work. She was again endorsed by the Democrats in their convention in the fall of 1889. Eva L. Gregg is a woman of the highest integrity of character, and of ex. ceeding honesty and earnestness of purpose. When all the offices of the land are in the hands of those gnided by so clear an insight and so quick a conscience, there will be no cries of "spoils," and the country will be in a well-nigh ideal condition.

ENJAMIN O. SIMPSON was born in the State of New Hampshire, in the town of Windham, June 23, 1820. His father, Robert Smith Simpson, a farmer by occupation, was also a native of New Hamp- shire, and a grandson of Alexander Simpson, who settled in New Hampshire in 1735. He also was a farmer, and was descended from Scotch and English ancestors; he settled near what was called Simpson's Pond. Our sub- ject has in his possession the old gun used by his ancestors in the French and Indian War in 1757, and also in the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. The barrel of this gun was originally five feet long and was a flint lock, but it has been changed to a percussion lock and is a fine shooting gun to this day; the bayonet belonging to it is in a good state of

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HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

preservation, and is highly valued by the family as a relic. Robert S. Simpson, father of Benjamin O., spent all his life in New Hampshire. IIe married Mary Simpson, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a daughter of George Simpson, of English extraction; to them six children were born, five boys and one girl. Benjamin O. obtained his educa- tion in the schools of Windham, and after leaving school entered the cotton mills, where he remained ten years. He then decided to try his hand at farming, and he followed this occupation successfully until 1870, when he retired from his farm and purchased what was known as the Bartley store, and embarked in the mercantile trade. IIe continned in this business until 1876, when he sold out. He was then chosen agent for the town of Windham to go to Portsmouth and look after the interests of his town in relation to the enrollment of the citizens who were not liable to military duty; to strike from the rolls the names of all who were disqualified by age or otherwise, and to put in substitutes. He also served as collector of the town of Windham for several years, and as judge of elections for 1867-'68. Jnne 14, 1878, Mr. Simpson removed to Cherokee, Iowa, where he has since lived a somewhat retired life. He has various business interests in the way of town property, which he rents ont. While he began in a very humble way, by good manage- ment and energy he has accumulated a hand- some property. Besides his town property

he owns a good farm of 240 acres. Mr. Simpson has been twice married; first, in 1845, to Martha Jane Sanford, of Freedom, Maine, a daughter of Henry Sanford. Two children were born of this union: Mary, de- ceased, and Robert. The mother died in 1863. In 1866 Mr. Simpson was again married, to Abbie G. Foye, a native of New Hampshire, and a danghter of Joseph Young.

No children were born of this marriage. Mrs. Simpson died March 12, 1888. For inany years in her early life she was a suc- cessful teacher. Mr. Simpson's life has not been an uneventful one; he has had three narrow escapes from death by shooting; in the first accident he was wounded in the neck, the shot entering near the windpipe and lodging near the back of the neck; the second time he and his son were ont hunting, and a charge of shot entered his leg below the knee; the third time he was with a party hunting partridges, and the shot entered his shoulder belt over the lung, lodging in the belt. He is very fond of the sport of hunt- ing with dog and gun, and his appreciation of the pleasure has not been diminished on account of his varions accidents. He is con- sidered a very fine shot, and has whiled away many pleasant hours in this pastime. He has served officially as member of the City Council of Cherokee for four years, from 1882 to 1886.

II. LAMOREUX, Vice President of the Cherokee County Bank at Meri- den, is one of the active and promi- nent business men of the county. IIe was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Oc- tober 27, 1849, and is a son of Wesley and Emeline (Brown) Lamoreux, also natives of Pennsylvania. He was reared to the life of a farmer in Luzerne Connty, and during the winter season attended the common schools. He was married December 23, 1875, in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, to Miss Nettie Phoenix, a daughter of the Rev. James and Mary A. (Rice) Phoenix, natives of Penn- sylvania. Mrs. Lamoreux is possessed of a superior education, and before her marriage was engaged in teaching. In 1878 Mr. Lamo-

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HISTORY OF CHEROKEE COUNTY.

renx removed to La Fayette Connty, Wiscon- sin, and made his home there until 1880. During this time he traveled extensively through the West, and decided to locate in Cherokee County. Accordingly he purchased 240 acres known as the H. S. Quinn farm, one of the best in the county. He added to and remodeled the residence, making an at- tractive and convenient dwelling. He has one of the finest and largest barns in the county, the improvements costing $3,000. There are nine acres of grove, and the snc- cess of the owner is apparent on every hand. In 1882 he sold 83.000 worth of corn, and in 1885 he engaged in the grain business at Meriden. The first season he bought 100.000 bushels of grain; the second, 175,000 bushels, and the third, 200,000 bushels. In February, 1887, Mr. Lamorenx was made vice president of the Cherokee County Bank; he is also an extensive stockholder in the Mapleton Bank, which was organized June 16, 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Lamorenx are the parents of three children: Carrie May, Etta Blanche and Harry Ralph. Mr. Lamoreux casts his polit- ical influence with the Republican party. He is in the prime of life, is a man of fine pres- ence and good physique, and is numbered among the leading mien of the county.

ONATHAN J. HITCHCOCK, an early settler of Cherokee County, Iowa, was born in White Pigeon, St. Joseph County, Michigan, December 15, 1830. His parents were Jolin B. and Mary (Ellerton) Hitch- cock, natives of New York and Virginia re- spectively. John B. Hitchcock was a son of John Hitchcock, a native of New York, of Englishi descent; he was a farmer by occupa- tion, and served as a soldier in the War of 1812. The mother of our subject was a

daughter of William Ellerton, of Scotch- English descent. When Jonathan J. was two years of age his parents removed to La Porte, Indiana, and remained there five years, when they went to Monroe County, Illinois; there they made their home until he was fourteen years old, when they moved to Jo Daviess County, Illinois, where he grew to manhood; he obtained lris education in the district school, and remained on the farm with his parents until he was twenty-one years old. Ile was then engaged in varions avocations for some time. He was married in Carroll County, Illinois, to Lanra E. Wilder, a native of the State of Ohio, and a daughter of R. W. Wilder, Esq. She died in 1863, and Mr. Hitchcock was again mar- ried in 1864, to Nancy A. Powers, who is still living. Mr. Hitchcock settled in Carroll County, carrying on farming until the spring of 1869, when he came to Cherokee County and took a homestead in Pitcher Township of eighty acres; this land he brought to an advanced state of cultivation, and improved with excellent buildings. For thirteen years he made his home on this farin, and then bought a place in Grand Meadow Township. In the fall of 1888 he came to Cherokee, and has since lived a somewhat retired life; he exchanged his farm for town property, which he rents. Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock are the parents of ten children: Martha, wife of R. D. Leets; Emma B., wife of Abraham Sliner; John R., Daniel H., Anna M., Elizabeth E., wife of A. N. Bailey; Jeremiah, deceased; William B., Jonathan I. and Alta J. Mr. Hitchcock has served in Pitcher Township as trustee, road master, supervisor, and school director. During the Civil War he enlisted as a recruit in October, 1864, in Company C, Ninety-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. While at Camp Butler, Illinois, he was taken ill, and remained there some time; he was

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promoted to Second Sergeant of the Commis- sary Department, in which he served until he was honorably discharged, May 22, 1865. He is a member of Custer Post, No. 25, G. A. R. Mr. and Mrs. Hitchcock are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Hitchcock is Republican.

A. MALTBY, a prominent farmer of Amherst Township, was born in Lake County, Illinois, May 19, 1851, and is a son of A. T. and Susan (Burdick) Maltby, natives of the State of New York. He is the fifth of a family of six children, and until his thirteenth year lived in the county in which he was born. The family then re- moved to Decorah, Winneshiek County, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. He attended the common schools until his sixteenth year, when he went to learn the harness trade at Decorah; he followed this business for a period of nine years, when he returned to the industry of his youth, farming. In 1877 he removed to Cherokee County, and located on a tract of 320 acres in Amherst Township, which he had purchased in partnership with his brother-in-law, O. B. Fobes. No improve- ments had been made on the place in any way; they erected a small building, which has since been enlarged to a handsome frame resi- dence, and barns for stock and grain. They operated this farm together nntil 1884, when Mr. Maltby purchased the entire control; he devotes his time exclusively to farmning and stock-raising. The present season he has been engaged in dehorning cattle. Mr. Maltby is interested in propagating the better grades of short-horn stock, and owns a fine herd of Duroc Jersey hogs. He has been promi- nently identified with the Republican party in his township, where he is one of the wheel

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Author: Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Chicago : W.S. Dunbar Number of Pages: 654

Author:
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Chicago : W.S. Dunbar
Number of Pages: 654