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 32
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 32
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OHN BARNETT, of section 10, Douglas township, Adams county, was born Feb- ruary 22, 1814, in Washington county, Pennsylvania. He is the son of John Bar- nett, a Scotch-Irishman, born in the north of Ireland, and Margaret (Laferty) Barnett, and is one of a family of four sons and four daughters, all of whom have passed away save the subject of our sketch. The parents died in Belmont county, Ohio, they having inoved to that place when John was a babe in arnis. There he lived until he was twenty. He then went to Richland county, Ohio. He received his education in the public schools of the Buckeye State, and in his younger days was engaged in teaching for several terms. In 1850 he made the over- land trip to California, and for two years gave his attention to mining and mercantile pursuits in the Golden State, with fair suc- cess.
In 1854 Judge Barnett came to Adams
county, Iowa, and settled where he now re- sides. He was married the same year to Miss Elizabeth Wolf. They have had no children of their own, but have been father and mother to three little ones left to their care: Barnett L. Jones was left without a mother when a young child; he was taken by Judge and Mrs. Barnett and reared to man- hood; he is now a dealer in general merchan - dise in Carbon, Iowa; Jessie and Emma, two nieces, were left motherless in infancy and found a home with our subject and wife; they have grown to maturity and Jessie is married to Morris T. Campbell, a prosperous business man, now postmaster of Carbon, Iowa; Emma is at home, surrounded by all the comforts of life.
The Judge owns 1,400 acres of land whichi is among the finest tracts in the county, and by many is regarded as the finest. It is well adapted to general farming, producing good crops of everything raised in this latitude. It is also well fitted for stock-raising. His commodious two-story residence is beauti- fully located on a natural building site. On his land are numerous houses for his ten- ants, of whom he has several. He has two large barns, each 60 x 40 feet, busides a num- ber of outbuildings. In fact, all the conven- iences of a well-kept. farm are found here. He has twelve acres in orchard and five acres of artificial grove. The Judge has given much attention to the raising of fine stock. He has a herd of graded shorthorn cattle; is engaged in breeding Cleveland Bays, having a fine imported stallion of that breed; raises Poland-China hogs; and has heretofore en- gaged largely in sheep-raising, having usually about 300 head.
In 1855 John Barnett was elected County or Probate Judge, and served one term. He has served on the Board of Supervisors, been Justice of the Peace, Township Clerk etc.
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In politics he was and is still a Democrat. During the war he tendered his services to the Government, but was never mnstercd into the service. Judge Barnett is well pre- served for one of liis age, although he has had two partial strokes of paralysis. A man of the strictest integrity, always genial and courteous, he has a limitless circle of friends and truly merits the respect and esteem he receives from all who know him.
D. BULLOCK, an agriculturist of sec- tion 17, Nodaway township (postoffice East Nodaway), was born in Morgan county, Ohio, December 19, 1839, the son of Marshall and Rhoda Bullock, the eldest of their nine children. He was brought up to farm life, received a good schooling and taught school several terms with signal success.
Under President Lincoln's call for " 300,- 000 more" volunteers to suppress the great insurrection, he enlisted in Company D, Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until August, 1864, participating in the battles of Bull Run, South Mountain, etc., receiving a wound from a minie-ball in the latter engagement, in his right hip. Was in the field and judicial hospital five weeks. Afterward he was at the siege of Vicksburg, the snrrender of Chattanooga and battle of Missionary Ridge, where he was again wounded, this time losing a toe from liis left foot, and he was confined to the hospital for some time, and from there went home on furlongh when able to travel, and was taken prisoner and paroled by Morgan while on his raid through Ohio, Morgan keeping his horse in exchange for one tired out. After Morgan's capture he returned to the arıny, and was with Sherman through the Atlanta
campaign, and honorably discharged in Au- gust, 1864.
After spending a few months at his Olio home, he came to Iowa and settled on ninety acres of wild land, near where his father has located. IIe now owns there one of the best farms in the county,-290 acres of rich ground, a large portion of it being bottom land on the Nodaway river. He also has here one of the best orchards in the county, and an ornamental grove. He has a good two-story honse on a beautiful building site, well ornamented with trees and shrubbery, and a large barn, etc.,-everything in good trim. The home is appropriately named "Orchard Place." Mr. Bullock is a Repub- lican, a member of Meyerlioff Post, G. A. R., a member of Villisca Lodge, No. 270, F. & A. M., and is a class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He lias held the office of township clerk several terms, serving faith- fully and satisfactorily. He is a reliable gentleman, cordial in manner and upright in all his dealings.
Mr. Bullock was married in 1867, to Snsan Pierce, a native of Morgan county, Ohio, and a danghter of William Pierce, also a native of that State. Their six children are Albert, Chester V., Nellie Belle, Lily Maud, Cora and Elmer Marshall. Two other children, Rosa and Frank Leslie, are deceased.
AMES T. McFEE, proprietor of the Belle Isle Farm, is a dealer and im- porter of Clyde, Shire and Hackney horses, and also Shropshire sheep. He is one of the well known and popular stock men of the Blue Grass country, having been in the business fourteen ycars. His Shire horse, Charon, received the sweepstakes at Corning; his Clyde horse, New Moon, received the
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first prize of its class; and his Hackney horse, Nestor, received first premiums wherever he has been shown. Mr. McFee goes to England and Scotland, where he buys the best horses to be found in those countries. At Belle Isle can be found the finest imported horses in southwestern Iowa. He has also a number of imported Shrop- shire sheep, which are second to none in the West. Mr. McFee is a good judge of stock, a successful business man, and honorable and just in all his dealings.
He came to this country March 17, 1871, where he has since resided and made his home. He was born in Peterborough county, Can-, ada, Marchi 28, 1844, a son of Huglı McFee a native of Roxburghshire, Scotland. The latter was a son of James and Mary (For- syth) McFee, natives of the same place. Hugh McFee was married to Margaret Tully, a native of Scotland, and they had seven children, five sons and two daughters. They lost one son by deatlı. James T., the subject of this sketch, is their eldest child and was reared on a farm, and received a common-school education. In 1871 he came to this county and settled on 160 acres of wild land, which he has since mnade liis home. He now owns 560 acres in Grant township, Adams county, and eighty acres in Union county. He has two barns, one 52 x 64 feet, and the other 48 x 50 feet, both of which are well arranged for horses and cattle. He feeds 200 head of cattle, besides keeping a large nninber of stock of various kinds.
Mr. McFee was married in Peterborough county, July 12, 1868, to Miss Prudence Kidd, a native of the same county, and daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Johns) Kidd, the former of Scotch descent, born at Perth, Canada, and the latter of Englishi. They were married in Canada, and were the parents of eleven children, three sons and
three danghters still living, of whom Mrs. McFee was the third child. Her parents still live in Peterborough county; her father is in his seventy-third year, and the mother in lier sixty-ninth. Mr. and Mrs. McFee have six children, four sons and two daughters, namely : David, born March 25, 1870, in Canada, is now attending school at Des Moines, lowa; James, born October 8, 1871; Lillie Rosetta born March 30, 1873; Ella E., born Sep-, tember 26, 1878, died October 14, 1881; Nellie Elizabetlı, born October 25, 1884; Robert Hugh, born July 24, 1886; and Will- iam Ellsworth, born March 15, 1890. Mr. McFee is a Republican politically ; has served six years as Supervisor, and five years as chairman of the board, and also held the same position when the courthouse was built.
ETER HILL is one of the prominent stockmen of Adams county, Iowa. He, like many of the intelligent, enterpris- ing and successful citizens of the county, dates his birth in Scotland, that event having occurred in the county of Perth, Angust 9, 1852. He is a son of James and Jane (Mc- Donald); Hill, botlı natives of Scotland. Peter spent his youth amid the hills of his native land, working on the farm and attending school. When he was twenty-one the family, consisting of father and mother and himself and two brothers, David and Andrew, immi- grated to the United States, and settled in Lincoln township, Adams county, Iowa, where the subject of our sketch now lives. This was in 1873. In 1884 the parents and his two younger brothers returned to Scotland, where they reside at this time.
Mr. Hill's farm consists of 120 acres and is located in section 1. His cottage home is situated forty rods back from the highway,
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with forest trees in the rear and a elover field in front. Ilis barn, stable, fences, and, in short, everything on the premises indicate that thrift and prosperity reign here. Mr. Ilill has given much attention to stock, and is especially noted as a good judge of cattle. Ile is now engaged in buying and selling stock.
In February, 1884, he was married to Miss Lydia Dudgeon, who was born in Knox county, Ohio, daughter of David and Mary Jane (Freeman) Dudgeon. They have two children, Mabel, Jean and Agnes Viena. Mr. Ilill's political views are in harmony with Democratic principles. IIc was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church.
DWARD SCHAFROTH, a farmer on section 27, Nodaway township, (post- office Nodaway), was born in Monroe county, Ohio, March 26, 1856, a son of John and Elizabeth Schafroth, natives of Switzer- land. They had several children, two of whom were soldiers in our last war and are now prominent citizens of Jasper and Mer- cer townships. Another one of the children is Mrs. Fred Walter, of Nodaway town- ship.
Edward, our subject, was left an orphan at the age of seven or eight years, and for several years made his home with Henry Walter, his brother-in-law, an esteemed citi- zen of Mercer township. He was bronght up to the work of the farm. The first land he owned was in that township, a tract of forty acres. After a time he sold that and purchased eighty acres of land, where he now lives-good land. He occupies a frame cot- tage, on a pleasant building site, surrounded by shade-trees, etc., and the farm is well sup- plied with all the modern conveniences. In
politics Mr. Shafroth is a Democrat, and in respect to religion he and his wife belong to the German Evangelical Church.
He was married December 7, 1880, to Miss Lizzie, a daughter of John Hedinger. Her father was born in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, November 24, 1835, a son of Rudolphand Mary Hedinger, and emigrated to this country, locating in Monroe county, Olio, at the age of nineteen years, and in 1869 he came to Nodaway township, Adams county.
He was married, at Wheeling, West Vir- ginia, May 28, 1863, to Elizabeth Graf, a native of Switzerland, a daughter of John and Lena Graf. Mr. and Mrs. Schafroth have had three children: Henry Lewis, Clarence A. and Hulda May.
LBERT BISHOP is a native of Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, born November 12, 1847, the son of Samuel and Eliza- beth Bishop, natives of Canada. His parents were among the early settlers of Milwaukee. The mother died in 1868 and the father, in 1890, the latter at the age of seventy-eight years. Albert was reared in town, received a common school education, and during his youth was variously employed. He learned the trade of a painter, which he followed for some time at Appleton, Wisconsin.
During the late war Mr. Bishop enlisted in April, 1865, in the Fifty-third Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers, Company K, and did his part in helping to put down the rebellion. He was with his regiment stationed most of the time on the Iron Mountain railroad in Missouri and Arkansas. In August, 1865, he was honorably discharged, after which he returned to Wisconsin.
In 1878 Mr. Bishop moved to Ogle conn-
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ty, Illinois, and subsequently to Winnebago connty, same State. In 1880 he settled on his present farm in section 23, Carl town- ship, Adams county, Iowa. This farm, 120 acres, he had purchased in 1875 when it was wild land. It is now improved with good buildings, orchard, etc., and on it he is en- gaged in general farming and stock-raising.
Mr. Bishop was married, October 5, 1880, to Miss Alverda Jane Mily, a native of White- side county, Illinois, and a daughter of Jesse and Jane Mily. Her father was born in Ohio, is forty-nine years old, and was a soldier in the late war. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop have two children, Mary Alice and Frank Elmer. Mr. Bishop is in politics a Republican, as was also his father.
E. BOOTH, a druggist of Prescott, Iowa, was born in Canton township,
0 Wayne county, Michigan, May 13, 1843, the son of Geo. W. and Helen Booth, of Scotch-English ancestry.
Our subject received his early education in the common schools of the country, and also in the graded schools of Plymouth, Mich- igan. He moved to Minnesota with his father's family in the spring of 1864, where he was employed in various pursuits for sev- eral years, the latter portion of which he was in the employ of Larrabee & Kelly, drug- gists, Winona, Minnesota.
In the winter of 1876 he came to Iowa, stopping first near Osceola, where he re- mained but a short time, and then went to Prescott, Adams county, and engaged in the drug business, in which he has been success- ful. He has held the office of school director and secretary for several years, and is now serving his fourth term as township clerk; also, is treasurer of the town of Prescott.
Socially he is a member of the Masonic order. Mr. Booth was married May 27, 1869, to Mary S. Handlen, who was born in Indiana, near La Fayette, April 28, 1852, the daughter of, Hiram Handlen, a native of La Fayette, Indiana. She received her early education in Thorntown, Indiana, under Pro- fessor Ridpath, the historian.
JORATIO F. DALE, an attorney at Corning, was born in London, England. His father, H. Ridley Dale, was a mer- chant in that city, and is still living there. His mother's maiden was was Margaret Bar- nett. Mr. Dale completed his school days at University College, London, England, receiv- ing a classical and liberal education. On emigration to the New World in 1870, he landed at Quebec, and came on to Dubuque, Iowa, where he began teaching, enjoying brilliant success. He began reading law under the guidance of Wilson & O'Donell, at Dubnque, and was admitted to the bar, in 1872, but still continued as a school-teacher in order that he might at intervals render himself still more familiar with the prin- ciples of law and American nsage. He be- gan practice in Adams county in 1875, moved to Corning in 1883, and has won a reputation for thoroughness and carefulness. As an advocate he is quick to see the aims of an opponent, and he is logical and fluent as a speaker. He makes constant use of his well selected library. No man in south- western Iowa has the confidence of his clientage more than he. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a Knight of Pythias. Both him- self and Mrs. Dale are member of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church. They were mar- ried in 1883, in Adamns county, Iowa. Her maiden name was McCune. She was born
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in Morgan county, Ohio, and is of Irish ancestry. Their children are Horace R., Hylton Frederic, Harold Walter and Cecil Henry.
Mr. Dale was nominated by the Democrats in 1881 for State Senator for the counties of Adams and Taylor, comprising the Sixth Senatorial District, and made an effective canvass. His opponents were Hon. Geo. L. Finn, Republican, seeking reëlection as Sen- ator, and H. S. Duncan, running on the People's ticket. Though defeated by about 400 plurality, Mr. Dale ran 400 ahead of Governor Horace Boies.
C. REID, dealer in agricultural im- plements, was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, June 3, 1853, being the fifth child in a family of eight of Jesse and Elizabeth Reid. At the age of five years he removed to Davenport, Scott county, Iowa, where he was engaged in farming, working on the farm in summer. He went to school when he could be spared in the winter, and completed his school days at Oskaloosa College. He engaged in farming in Scott county until 1877, when he came to Corning, Adams county, Iowa, as manager of section 9, Quincy township, the same being owned by E. D. Kemp. On July 6, 1879, he was married to Miss Anna R. Glines. On January 1, 1885, he gave up the position as manager for Mr. Kemp, and engaged in farming for himself for two years, at the end of which time he removed to Corning and opened up his present prosperous implement business. Tom Reid, as he is familiarly called, knows how to handle the implement business. In the retail trade his books show a $20,000 business for the year 1891. He
is the oldest dealer in the city of Corning, and he is known as a hustler.
ISRAEL OLIVE, the enterprising pro- prietor of Mt. Olive farm, ou section 18, Prescott township, was born in Lancas- hire, England, April 3, 1843, a son of Mat- thew Olive, a native of the same place. His mother, whose maiden name was Miriam Cochran, was born in Scotland, of Scotch parents. Israel was eight years old when his father came to America, and they labored assiduously to earn the money with which to bring over the rest of the family, which was accomplished in about two years. The family then settled in La Salle county, Illinois, at Split Rock, where father and son opened and worked the best coal mine in that county. The mother died there, and the father died at Springfield, that State, at the age of seventy-four years. Six of their children grew up. One of them, John, joined the One Hundred and Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the war, and was killed at Dnval's Bluff, Arkansas, when thirty years of age. Another son, Thomas, lives in Pres- cott township; Robert was killed in a coal mine in England; and the second Robert, named after the first, was killed by an acci- dent in La Salle county, Illinois, when a small boy.
Mr. Israel Olive grew up to manhood in La Salle county, followed coal-mining and other occupations for twenty years there and then settled on ninety-two acres of wild prairie in Adams county, where he has since made his home. He now owns 215 acres,- the " Mt. Olive farm," which is one of the best in the township. On it is a fine modern dwelling, 18 x 24 feet, with an L 14 x 16 feet, and both two stories high, beantifully adorned
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surroundings and farm buildings and appur- tenances, all in good condition. The barn is 32 x 46 feet, with 20-foot center posts. On this beautiful homestead the proprietor and his family can spend their days in comfort.
Mr. Olive was married in Ottawa, La Salle county, Illinois, January 2, 1874, to Miss Ellen Bush, a native of Scotland and a daugh- ter of Joseph and Margaret (Watson) Bush, also of Scotch nativity. Her father died June 29, 1885, and her mother is living with her. The Bush family came to America in 1853, settling in Pennsylvania, and in 1862 they removed to La Salle county, Illinois. Mrs. Olive has one brother, James Bush, at Streator, that county. Mr. and Mrs. Olive have five children living, namely: Thomas, Charley, Estella, Maggie and Cora.
Mr. Olive is a Republican, is an Oddfellow and was reared a Methodist. Mrs. Olive was brought up a Presbyterian, but in Illi- nois united with the Baptist church.
BEL PALMER has resided in Douglas township, Adams county, for a score of years, and is well and favorably known in this vicinity.
Born in Somersetshire, England, April 30, 1828, of poor but honored and respected parents, he was reared on a farm and early taught lessons of industry and economy which have been of great value to him in after life. His parents, William and Johana (Young) Palmer, were both natives of Som- ersetshire, and their family was composed of four sons and three daughters. In early life they were members of the Church of England, and later united with the Metho- dist Episcopal Church.
April 4, 1857, Mr. Palmer wedded Miss Jane Coles, who was born in Somersetshire,
October 1, 1834, oldest child of Richard and Ann (Hawkins) Coles. Her parents lived and died in England. Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Palmer bade adieu to their native land, embarked at Bristol in the Osprey, and after a voyage of six weeks landed at Castle Garden. Coming West, they located in Henry county, Illinois, where Mr. Palmer was engaged in farm work for a time. He was subsequently employed in a mill, where he remained until 1870. That year he came to Adams county, Iowa, and bought a farm of eighty acres, the one on which he now resides. It was then wild land, and he paid $6.60 per acre for it. The early pioneers of this county settled along the creeks and in the woods, and Mr. Palmer was one of the first to take up his abode on the prairie. A neatly trimmed osage liedge now surrounds his farm; beautiful trees of mapleand cotton wood with their lofty branches cast a friendly shade; an attractive cottage home, with pleasing surroundings, orchard, etc., all these combine to make the Palmner farm a model onc.
Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have nine children, namely: Charlotte V., wife of Joel Cole, of Douglas township, this county, has eight children; Ella C., wife of George Mohler, Carbon, Iowa, has four children; Susan I., wife of Charles Penton, Omaha, Nebraska, has two children; Rev. G. W. Palmer, a promising young minister who has charge of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Persia, Iowa, married Esther I. Wood, a successful teacher and a lady of culture and refinement, and by her has one child; and Ida I., Elmer H., Frank A., Estella May and Charley, at home. Mrs. Mohler and Mrs. Penton were popular and efficient teachers before their marriage. Mr. Palmer and his wife are members of the United Brethren Church, of which he has served as steward. Their dangh-
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ter Ida I. is secretary and organist of the Sunday-school.
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F. COLLMAN, a farmer and nursery- man of section 4, Mercer township, was born in IIanover, Germany, Jan- uary 18, 1841, a son of Frederick and Dora (Bussie) Collman, natives of Hanovor, Ger- many, where they were reared and married. In 1845 they emigrated to America, first locating in Milwankee, Wisconsin, thence to Kendall county, Illinois, where he improved a frontier farm and reared a family of six children, three of whom are living at this writing. The father died in 1871, at the age of eighty-fonr years, and the mother in 1889, at the age of ninety-one years.
Our subject was reared on a farm, receiv- ing his early education in the connnon schools. and completed it at what is now known as Jennings Seminary, at Aurora, Illi- nois. In connection with his farming pur- suits he began teaching at the age of eight- een, and tauglit for six terms, five of which were in his own township. He was married March 1, 1863, to Miss Martha Beecher, a native of New York, and danghter of Philo and Mary (Olney) Beecher. The father was a cousin of the celebrated divine, the late Henry Ward Beecher, and of Puritan ances- try. Mr. Beecher settled in Kendall county, Illinois, in 1850, and there died at the age of fifty-one years. Mrs. Beecher is now a resi- dent of Lincoln, Nebraska. After his mar- riage Mr. Collman purchased a part of his father-in-law's farm, where he resided nntil 1872, when he came to Adams county, Iowa, purchasing 160 acres of wild land, where he has since resided. In 1873 he engaged in the nursery business, and is the only man in the county who has made a success of the
nursery business. He has now a well im- proved farm of 240 acres, and raises more nursery stock than any man in Southern Iowa. He is the Vice-President of the State Horticultural Society.
Mr. and Mrs. Collman are the parents of five children: Charles, Lonise, the wife of Frederick Reese, Leavitt, Etta and Ralph. The famly are members of the Congrega- tional Church of Corning. He has served as deacon of the church since 1873. He organ- ized the Union Sunday-school in Mercer township, which has the largest attendance according to the number enrolled of any Sunday-school in the county. He takes great interest in the church work, and is an ar- dent worker in the temperance canse. Politi- cally he isa Republican.
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