USA > Iowa > Adams County > Biographical history of Montgomery and Adams counties, Iowa : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, with accompanying biographies of each ; a condensed history of Iowa, with portraits and biographies of the governors of the state, engravings of prominent citizens of the counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 23
USA > Iowa > Montgomery County > Biographical history of Montgomery and Adams counties, Iowa : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, with accompanying biographies of each ; a condensed history of Iowa, with portraits and biographies of the governors of the state, engravings of prominent citizens of the counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families > Part 23
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B. DAVIS, a Inmber merchant of Pres- cott, Iowa, was born June 26, 1859, the son of George J. and Martha Davis, the former a native of Virginia, and the lat- ter of Indiana, and both were old pioneers of Adams county. The father came West in 1857, and located in this county, where he engaged in farming, and in addition to that occupation is engaged in carpentering. The parents had seven children, five of whom survive. Our subject, the second child, re- ceived his education in the common schools of Adams county. He remained on the farm with his parents until twenty-one years of age, when he commenced work for $20 per month, continuing three years, and at the end of that time had saved $400. He then rented a farın in Adams county until the spring of 1890, when he engaged in the lum- ber business. He is the only lumberman in the place, and keeps a good stock. He has an extensive patronage in this part of the
county, which has been built up by fair deal- ing. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, and the former is a Demo- crat politically.
Mr. Davis was married to Miss Winnie Moon, who was born in Appanoose county, Iowa, and whose parents are still living in Adamns county. They have had two children : Nellie and Floyd.
W. WHITE was born in Gibson coun- ty, Indiana, March 23, 1836. His father, Anson White, a descendant of English ancestry, was born in Massachusetts, in 1802, and his mother, Mary, daughter of James Mills, an Englishman, was born in Maine, May 2, 1807. His parents went West, his mother to Indiana and his father to Wabash, Illinois. He went to Gibson county, Indiana, where he was married, in his twenty-sixth year, and resided until 1841. That year they moved to Wabash connty, Illinois. In 1855 the family moved from Illinois to Montgomery county, Iowa. Here Anson White died in 1858, leaving a widow and five children. The mother also died here, aged sixty-seven years. Of the chil- dren we record that John Q. is a resident of Adams county, Iowa; Caroline Matilda, wife of F. C. Willson, lives in Oklahoma; James Lewis White died in Audubon, Iowa. aged fifty-two years; Mary Merritt died in this county, at the age of twenty-four years; and S. W. is a prominent citizen of Douglas township, Montgomery county.
The subject of our sketch grew up on a farm in Indiana, receiving only a limited education. During the war he enlisted, in 1864, in the Ninth Iowa Infantry, and served eight or nine montlis. He was taken sick and confined at hospital No. 8, Nasliville, for
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some tiine. He contracted a chronic disease common to the soldiers, and also had tlie measles and erysipelas, from the effects of which his eyesight was much impaired.
After receiving an honorable discharge from the service, he returned to Montgomery county, Iowa, where he lias since resided. He located on his present farm in section 20, Douglas township, in 1887, where he has since made his home. Sixty acres he bought of G. Goble, and forty acres of G. B. Clark- sou, making a fine farm of 100 acres.
Mr. White was married, at the age of twenty-seven, to Saralı Jane Parson, who was born in Wabash county, Indiana, and reared in Iowa. Her father, Richard Parson, born in Virginia, in 1808, died in Audubon county, Iowa, at the age of eighty-one. Her inother, nee Susanna Davis, a native of Indiana, is now living with her children, having at- tained her eiglity-second year. Mr. and Mrs. White have four children: Mina, wife of G. L. Patterson, of Donglas township; Sherman G., Richard and Eva.
Mr. White is a member of the Dick Ronet Post, G. A. R., of Grant. Politically he is a Democrat.
AMES W. HEWITT, a prosperous fariner of section 27, Nodaway township (post- office Nodaway), was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, February 2, 1840, a son of Elijalı and Mary (Prescott) Hewitt. His father, born at Springfield, Massachusetts, was of an old New England family, and the father of the latter died in the service of his country in the war of 1812. Onr subject's mother was a native of Connecticut and a daughter of James Prescott. When he was seventeen years of age the family moved to Adamns county, Illinois; afterward they moved
to Chariton connty, Missouri, where they re- mained until deatlı. The father was a stone mason, and in politics a Whig and then Re- publican. In religion the mother was a Methodist. Of their four sons and seven daughters six are now living.
In April, 1861, Mr. James W. Hewitt enlisted in the war, under the first call for 75,000 men, in the Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After his term expired and he made a visit home, lie re-enlisted in the One Hundred and Eighteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Colonel J. J. Fonda commanding, and he was at the battles of Chickasaw Blnffs in December, 1863, with General Sherman, and at Arkansas Post, Port Gibson, Champion Hill, Black River Bridge and the siege and surrender of Vicksburg. Later he was transferred to the monnted cavalry and stationed for a time at Port Hudson, and then sent on sconting duty most of the time, and raiding and keeping bushwhackers and guer- illas in subjection. He was honorably dis- charged October 1, 1865, at Baton Rouge, when he was Orderly Sergeant.
In 1869 he removed to Ralls county, Mis- souri, and in 1872 settled upon his present farm, which then had but thirty acres broken and a small frame building upon it that is now nsed for a granary; but he has made of this place a nice farm, with all the modern improvements. The dwelling is 14 x 26 feet, with an L of the same area, and one and a half stories high; and the premises are beautifully ornamented with evergreen and other varieties of trees and shrubbery. There are also, of course, a good barn and other ·outbuildings, in good order, and an orchard, etc., and a stream of water.
In his political views Mr. Hewitt is a Democrat. He has served five years as Township Trustee, and has also been a mem- ber of the School Board. In religion lie is a
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Congregationalist, but his family attend the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He is liberal in his views, affable as a friend, and faithful as a neighbor.
At the age of twenty-seven years he was married, in Adams county, Illinois, to a daughter of Coley and Almira (Spencer) Betts, natives of Connecticut. They have had the following children: Sarah A., a teacher in district No. 9; Wilbert T., now employed in the post office at Villisca, Iowa; William E .. a graduate of the Villisca high school; James P., Mary T., Lewis Le Barron, Elver A. and Elmer S. (twins), and Arthur S.
C. BROWNLEE, a stock-raiser on his Clover Hill farm, section 18, Nodaway township (postoffice East Nodaway), was born in Mercer county, Illi- nois, February 4, 1844, the son of W. C. Brownlee, a native of New York State; and the latter was the son of Rev. W. C. Brown- lee, of the Seceders' Reformed Church; he was born in Scotland. Two of his sons went to St. Louis, Missouri, where they were hon- orable and successful business men. The father of our subject chose farming for his calling, and came to Illinois in 1839, to Mer- cer county, a pioneer there, ten miles south- east of Aledo. He married Miss Mary, a daughter of Thomas Brownlee, of Mercer county, Illinois, and they had three sons and three daughters. Mrs. Brownlee died in 1876, and Mr. Brownlee died in 1886.
Mr. Brownlee of this sketch, the second born in the above family and the eldest son, caine to Adams county in the spring of 1872, and purchased 139 acres of wild land, a small portion of which, however, had been broken. He now owns an aggregate of 280 acres, all rich
land and well improved. He lias 600 rods of. Osage orange hedge about his farın, a good frame house on an natural building site, with ornamental surroundings, an orchard, barn 64 x 70 feet, windmill, etc. Devoting his attention to the rearing of live-stock, he has a herd of thoroughbred shorthorn cattle, and a small herd of registered Shropshire sheep and Poland-China hogs. In his po- litical views he is a Democrat, and he is a member of the order of United Workmen, Lodge No. 196 at Villisca. Mrs. Brownlee is a member of the Cumberland Church.
Mr. Brownlee was married in Shelby county, Illinois, in August, 1866, to Mrs. Rebecca McDonald, who was born in Rich- land county, Ohio, a daughter of James and Rachel Brownlee. They have four children : Ed., who is married and owns a good farin near his father's; Viola, wife of T. J. Finlay of Nodaway township; Willie and Albert. They lost one child by death, Aliek, at the age of three years.
AMUEL CONRAD was born in Ohio, near the Pennsylvania line, about 1835, and was reared in Holmes county, Ohio. Heis a son of John Conrad, a native of Pennsylvania, and Anna (Falulk) Conrad, the daughter of German parents. The former lived in Ohio until his death and the latter subsequently came to Iowa and passed the remainder of her days in Madison connty.
His father being a farmer, Samuel was reared to farm work and received only a limited education in the common schools. He was sixteen when he came to Iowa. After spend ing some time in Adair connty, he came to Adams county where he lias since made his home.
When the war fo the Rebellion came on
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Mr. Conrad went to the front and did liis part to help preserve the Union. He enlisted in 1862, in the Twenty-third Iowa Infantry, one of the Iowa regiments that made a bril- liant and honorable war record. During his three years' service he participated in the battles of Champion Hill and Black River Bridge; was at Galveston, Texas, for a time and at Fort Esperando, Spanish Fort, and other places. He had some narrow escapes. At Black River Bridge a bullet went through his clothing but he was unharmed.
At the close of the war Mr. Conrad re- turned to Iowa. He is now located on a good farm of 160 acres in Carl township, Adams county, where he is surrounded by all the comforts of life.
Mr. Conrad was married, in Warren county, Iowa, in 1867, to Miss Eliza Anul Polson, a native of Cedar county, Missouri. Her father, Jolin W. Polson, a well-known and highly respected citizen of Carl town- ship, this county, was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, in 1820, son of Thomas Polson, a native of Virginia, and Zillah (King) Polson. He was reared in Harrison county, Indiana, and in 1856 came to Iowa and settled in Warren county. He came to Adams county in 1869. In Washington county, Indiana, he married Elizabeth Radcliff, daughter of David and Elizabeth (Brown) Radcliff. Mr. and Mrs. Conrad have four children-Mary Eldora, Cora Etta, Albert and Willie.
Politically Mr. Conrad is an Independent.
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EV. ROBERT ALLEN BIXLER is one of the intelligent and enterprising citizens of Adams county, and an able minister of the Gospel.
His father, Jolın Bixler, who resides on section 34, Douglas township, and who is a
well-known pioneer of this county, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1823, son of Jacob Bixler, born in Pennsyl- vania, son of Joseph Bixler, a native of New Jersey and a descendant of German ancestors. Jacob Bixler married Elizabeth Murray, a native of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Jackson) Murray, the former a native of the Emerald Isle. They had a family of nine children, whose names are as follows: Mary Noris, of Owen county, Indiana; John and Charles, both of Douglas township, this county; Rob- ert, of Coshocton county, Ohio; Joseph, of Montgomery county, Iowa; Margaret Ald- ridge, deceased; Jacob, Carl township, this county; William, Quincy township, this county, and Lydia Homan, who died in Greene county, Kansas. The grandparents of our subject resided for a number of years in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, near New Phil- adelphia, and from there, in 1857, they came to Iowa and settled in Douglas township, Adams county, where they passed the rest of their lives, grandinother Bixler dying at the age of sixty-one years and the grandfather at seventy-one.
John Bixler was nine years old when his parents moved to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and there he was reared on a farm and re- ceived a common-school education. In 1853 he moved to Owen county, Indiana. In 1854 he came to Adams county, Iowa, and settled in Quincy township; thence to Nod- away township, and next to Jasper township, where he was in the sawmill business at Brooks for a time. In 1874 he settled on the eighty-acre farm where he now lives. He was married in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, November 26, 1846, to Savilla Ann Markley, who was born in Harrison county, Ohio, January 25, 1827, daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Wallace) Markley, natives of Wash-
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ington county, Pennsylvania. Her parents came to Appanoose county, Iowa, in 1855, and died there, the father at the age of eighty years, and the mother seventy. Their family consisted of six children: Savilla Ann, Jolın, Mary Ann, Harriette, Joseph and Mar- garet A. John and Savilla Bixler have ten children living, namely: Hon. Burr F. Bix- ler, who has served two terms in the State Legislature, South Dakota; Elizabetlı J., wife of H. Coleman; Mary Lonisa, wife of E. L. Hoyt, of Douglas township, this connty; Robert Allen, whose name heads this sketch; Isabelle, wife of Jacob Markley, of Kansas; Jacob T., of Spink county, South Dakota; Lydia F., who is the wife of W. H. Walton, of Beadle connty, South Dakota; Lilly S., deceased, who was the wife of Charles C. Strait; John M., who is now elected Superintendent of Schools of Adams county; Charles K .; Effie May Margaret, who died at the age of fifteen months, in Owen county, Indiana; and William, who died in infancy. John Bixler has served the public as Township Trustee and also as Jus- tice of the Peace. In politics he is a Repub- lican; in religion a member of the Christian Advent Church, and an elder in the same. He has given his children the benefit of good educational advantages, and most of them have been teachers.
R. A. Bixler was born in Nodaway town- ship, Adams county, Iowa, February 5, 1857, and was reared on a farm in his native county, receiving his education in the com- mon schools. Not only at school, but also at home he closely applied himself to his stud- ies, and at the age of eighteen he engaged in teaching. In 1881 he settled on his present farm in Douglas township. This was then wild land. By the aid of his well directed efforts it has been developed into a fine farm, with good buildings, fences, etc. March 27,
1878, in Mercer township, this connty, at the home of Joseph Monosmith, Mr. Bixler wedded Miss Helen E. Strait, an efficient teacher and a lady of rare accomplishments. She was born, and reared to the age of six- teen, in Medina county, Ohio, when she moved and finished her schooling in Summit county, that State. Her parents, Joel V., who was the son of Rev. Asa Strait, a Baptist minister, and one of the early pioneers of Medina county, and preached the first ser- mon in that county, and Elizabeth (Swartz) Strait, were natives respectively of Washing- ton connty, New York, and Easton, Pen- sylvania. Her mother died in Ohio, aged forty-two years, and her father subsequently came to Lincoln township, Adams county, Iowa, where he died at the age of sixty-three. Mr. and Mrs. Bixler have eight children, viz: Sydney A., Helen E., Olive Jane, Burr A. L., Ruth Alice, Ora Isabelle, Florence S. and Pearl May. They lost one by death, Editlı, at the age of nine months and five days. Mr. Bixler is a Republican, and is actively identified with the best elements of his party. As a minister of the Gospel lie is an earnest and enthusiastic worker for his Master. He has three charges in Montgom- ery county, namely, Arlington, Reed School- house and Robinson Schoolhouse.
Such is an epitome of one of Adains coun- ty's worthy citizens.
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R. MILLER, a highly esteemed citizen of Briscoe, Adams connty, Iowa, was born in Grant county, Indiana, near Marion, January 31, 1836. He is the third in a family of ten children, six of whom are still living, and his parents were J. M. B. and Mary (Wyant) Miller, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father
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left Pennsylvania with his wife and two children, came west and located in Grant county, Indiana, where he was one of the prominent pioneer farmers. After clearing a farm in that county, he sold out and went to Wabash county, same State, opening up another farm on what was called the Indian Reserve. There he lived and reared his fam- ily. In 1850 he moved fromn Wabash county to Wapello county, Iowa, and settled on a farm, renting one summer. Then he moved to Lucas county and bought 160 acres of wild land, remaining on it until October, 1853, when he moved to Adams county and settled where Quincy now is. The county commissioners had located the county seat there, and he entered it for half of the lots. The county seat remained there until after the railroad passed through Corning, when by vote of the people it was moved to the latter place. J. M. B. Miller was county Judge of Adams county, and died while serving his second year in that capacity. He was a man of the strictest integrity, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. His home was a general stopping place for many who were seeking homes in the then far West, and at Judge Miller's they always re- ceived a cordial welcome. His death occurred in September, 1855, at the age of forty-eight years. He was a Democrat and an active politician, at all times identified with the best elements of his party. His wife died September 13, 1888, at the age of seventy- seven years. Her parents were John and Malinda Wyant, Pennsylvania Germans.
Jacob Miller, a brother of the subject of this sketch, enlisted in 1861 in the Fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served with the army of the West. He, with four others of this neighborhood, distinguished them- selves at the battle of Pea Ridge, and made a marvelous escape from the enemy. During
the siege of Vicksburg he was stricken with small-pox there, and died. His remains are interred at that place. He was never sick a day until his army life began, and when he entered the service was in the bloom of health and weighed over 200 pounds. In honor of him the G. A. R. Post at Briscoe was named Miller Post.
W. R. Miller began farming in this county at the age of twenty. After the death of his father he farmed and teamed, hauling goods from St. Joseph, Missouri, Burlington and Council Bluffs and other points. He im- proved a farm and was largely instrumental in developing the interests of this section of the country. He now owns eighty acres of improved land, located a mile from Briscoe. His building is on the section line, and liis farm comprises the south half of the west quarter of section 2. In December, 1880, he moved to Briscoe and opened a general merchandise store, since which time he has been driving a good business, his store being the only one in the place. His success has been noted, his business ability recognized, and he has been sought to fill public places. He was appointed assistant postmaster when the office was established in Briscoe, and has been handling the mail ever since. He has recently been appointed school director for the township; has also held various other offices, always giving entire satisfaction.
Mr. Miller was married April 17, 1857, to Miss Eve Stair, daughter of John and Eliza- betli Stair, residents of Indiana. Their three children are C. A., Addie and Nellie. Their son married Emma Lathrop, and now resides on the home farm. Addie is the wife of C. A. Scott, and lives on a farın in Lincoln township, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have four children-Lillie, Mand, Flora and Mabel. Mrs. Miller is a member of the
.
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United Brethren Church. In his political views Mr. Miller is an Independent.
AMES MUNNS, JR., grain dealer at Corning, was born in Butler county, Olio, April 2, 1839, a son of James and Maria (Kitchen) Munns, who came to Adams county in 1860, settling on a farm in Quincy township, near the village of Quincy. They are still living, hale and hearty, on their old homestead.
Mr. Munns, of this sketch, had scarcely at- tained his majority when he enlisted in Com- pany D, Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteer In- fantry, under Colonel Thomas H. Benton, Jr., one of the noted men of the State. He went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, St. Josepli, Missouri, and then South; was in the bat- tle of Helena, the expedition up White river, Yazoo Pass expedition, the skirmish in Green- wood, Mississippi, and in many battles and skirmishes around Little Rock. Enlisting as a private, he was afterward promoted to First Sergeant, and Second and First Lien- tenant, and served on Solomon's staff as Division Ordance Officer and Acting Adju- tant of his regiment; but fortunately he was never struck by a Rebel bullet.
After the war he followed farming until 1872, when lie came to Corning and engaged in the grain trade as an employé and later for himself; and it is safe to say that no one has the confidence and respect of the farming community more than he. He is a promi- nent member of the G. A. R. and a stalwart Republican.
November 23, 1865, he was married to Miss Frances M., daughter of Rev. Joseph A. Lovejoy, a Methodist minister and one of the beloved pioneers and landmarks of the early history of the church in the West. Mr.
and Mrs. Munus have bad three children, namely: Joseph, who died at the age of four years; Charles K., now a young man of brilliant prospects attending the Iowa Agri- cultural College at Ames; and Ruth Ella, the daugliter, is a student in the Corning Acad- emy. Mrs. Munn is a very enthusiastic ment- ber of the Congregational Church.
B F. MORLEY, of section 27, Grant township, came to this county in 1880. He was born in Greene coun- ty, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1842, a son of Dennis and Elizabetlı (Oxford) Morley, na- tives of Maryland and Pennsylvania, respect- ively. The parents had a family of eleven children, and our subject was among the younger children. He was eleven years of age when the family moved to Fayette coun- ty, Pennsylvania, where he was reared on a farm, and received his education in the pub- lic schools. He served an apprenticeship at the cooper's trade, and followed the same for eleven years. In 1860 he went to Clayton county, Iowa, where he worked in a stave factory for some time. During the war he enlisted in the Sixteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Company B, and took an active part in the battles of Nashville, Goldsboro and Rolla, and was honorably discharged July 19, 1865, at Davenport, Iowa. After the war Mr. Morley returned to Clayton county, where he remained until 1880, when he came to this county and bought the Thomas Delano farm of eighty acres, to which he has since added until lie now owns 120 acres of well improved land. He has a good frame house, 16 x 28 feet, one and a half stories high, with an L 14 x 20 feet, one story high, situated on a natural building site and surrounded by shade and ornamental trees.
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Mr. Morley was married in Fayette coun- ty, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1871, to Miss Ruth Sharpnack, who was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jolin and Sarah (Antram) Sharpnack, bothı also natives of Greene county. Mr. and Mrs. Morley have four children: Frank Delmer, born November 15, 1871; Sarah Lizzie, Feb- ruary 27, 1873, now attending school at Lenox; Mary Ida, born March 27, 1875, and William Nathan, born July 30, 1881. Myrtle, the fourth child, died when a babe. Politi- cally Mr. Morley is a Democrat, and socially a member of the G. A. R., Lenox Post, No. No. 316. Religiously bothi he and his wife were reared in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mr. Morley is yet in the prime of life, frank and cordial in his manner, and a good business man.
OBERT ROGERS, of sections 19 and 20, Grant township, is one of the promi- nent and leading citizens of the town- ship, who settled in Adams county March 5, 1886. He came to Iowa in 1839, when it was yet a territory. He was born in Mus- kingum county, Ohio, February 27, 1834, a son of Henry and Fannie (Bixler) Rogers, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father's parents were natives of New Jersey, and of English origin. In 1837 the family bade adien to Ohio, and started toward the setting sun. They spent eighteen months in Sanga- mon county, Illinois, where they liad rela- tives, and then came to Linn county, Iowa, having come all the way by teams. They settled nine miles southeast of Cedar Rapids, where they were among the first settlers, and Bloomington, now Muscatine, was their near- est trading place, some fifty miles distant. At times the family were without flour for
months. The father came here with only $2.50, but was a strong man and afterward became well-to-do. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers had nine children, five sons and four daughters.
Robert, our subject, was reared on a front- ier farm, and spent many a day in driving ox teams to an old-fashioned breaking plow. He received a limited education in an old log schoolhouse, and at the same time helped his father improve a farm, and later owned a farm of his own. In 1886 he sold his place and came to this county, where he now owns 400 acres of land north of Lenox four miles. His farm is one of the best in Adamns county, on which are a good frame house, barns, sheds, cribs, feed lots, windmills and a grove of seven acres, planted to maple, poplar, cotton- wood and willow trees. Mr. C. W. Rogers, with his father, is engaged in the stock and dairy business, keeping from fifty to sixty cows and 100 head of other cattle, besides horses and hogs.
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