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 38
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 38
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He was married in 1854, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, to Miss Margaret Collins, who was born in Sligo, Ireland, the daughter of John and Bridget (Tillen) Col- lins, both natives of the Emerald Isle. By
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this marriage there were cleven children, eight of whom are living, namely: Patrick and Jolin, in Colorado; Mary Bigley; Maggie, a popular teacher in Omaha; Bridget, in Kansas City, Missouri; Hugh, Jr., at home; Michael, at Shenandoah (Iowa) College; and Charley, at home. The three deceased are, a babe unnamed; Winnie, at the age of twenty- two years, in this county; and Ellen, also at twenty-two, in this county; she was a suc- cessful school-teacher. All the children re- ceived a good liberal education.
HARLES MADISON, another one of the pioneers of Adams county, took up his abode in Carl township in 1870. He is well known here, and mention of him is appropriate in this place.
Charles Madison was born in Hamilton county, Indiana, April 11, 1839, a son of Jolin F. Madison, now of Corning, Iowa, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1816. His mother, whose maiden name was Jane Rob- erts, died about twenty years ago. Young Madison was reared on a "Hoosier" farm and was early innred to hard work, learning to chop wood, plow and grub. At the age of sixteen he entered upon a three years' ap- prenticeship to the blacksmith trade at Whitestown, Boone county, Indiana, and at nineteen, having completed his teri, he camne west and located in Polk county, Iowa, where he lived one year. He then moved to Mad- ison county, this state, and made his home near Winterset till 1870. That year he came to Adams county and bonght forty acres of land from James Blackwell. Later he pur- chased eighty acres of wild land, which he brought under good cultivation, now having a fine farm of 120 acres. For twenty years
he has worked at his trade and is a number one workman.
April 4, 1857, he was married in Boone county, Indiana, to Susan E. Good, a native of that place and a daughter of Isaac and Polly (Kenser) Good, the former born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Virginia. Isaac Good died in Bloomington, Illinois, at the age of seventy, and his wife passed away in Boone county, Indiana, aged forty years. To Mr. and Mrs. Madison nine children have been born, six of whom are living. Their names are as follows: Missouri Jane, Charles W., Samuel Jesse, Vincent Henry, and Ar- thur and Luther, twins. Their daughter, Mary McGinnes, who died at the age of thirty-one years, was a woman of high intel- lectnal attainments and was before her mar- riage a successful teacher, loved and respected by all who knew her. She was a member of the Christian Church. She left one son, Charles Guy. David Francis, their second child, dicd at the age of two and a half years. An infant danghter lived only three days. Isaac Malvern, their fourth born, died when two years old.
Mr. Madison, his wife, daughter and son Charles are members of the Christian Church, and he is clerk of the church. Politically he is a Republican, however, holding independ- ent views.
P. HUMBERT, farmer and stock-dealer, section 3, Jasper township, is a native of France, born August 10, 1840, and is a son of John and Margarett (Aubry) Humbert. In 1850 he emigrated with his father's family to America, landing on Au- gust 10, in the city of New Orleans; ten days later they were in Nanvoo, Illinois, where our subject attended school for a short
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time. In 1853 he weut to Keokuk, Iowa, for the purpose of learning the barber's trade; at the end of six months, however, he returned home, and the following year, came with his father to Adams county; here he assisted in clearing and improving wild land, and remained under the parental roof until the father retired from agricultural pursuits. Then in company with his brother John he purchased eighty acres of land, and as lie liad not means to pay for this he was obliged to start in life with a lieavy debt resting upon him; but, by hard work, good management, and close attention to his business interests, he has accumulated a good property.
Mr. Humbert was united in marriage Jan- uary 1, 1862, to Miss Lucy Matthews, a native of Andrews county, Missouri, and a daughter of Littleton and Jane (Todd) Mat- thews; the father was a native of Kentucky, was reared in Indiana, served three years in the Black Hawk war, and was one of the pioneers of Andrews county, Missouri. After his marriage Mr. Humbert resided on the old homestead for eleven years, selling out at the end of that time, and purchasing 160 acres of wild land on section 22; he improved this place and resided there for three years; this he disposed of for the sum of $6,000, and the north half of section 15, also in a wild state, was bought; this he improved and owned for twelve years, selling for $30 per acre. He then purchased his present farm which is in the suburbs of Corning; it consists of 300 acres of well-improved land, and has been brought to this high state of culture through the efforts of Mr Humbert. In connection with his farming interests he has been ex tensively engaged in importing and breeding Percheron horses.
Mr. and Mrs. Humbert are the parents of six children; Charles J. died at the age of two years; John is engaged as stenograplier
in Armour's packing establish ment at Kansas City, Missouri; Emma May, August Leroy, Bertha Agnes, Peter Eugene.
Mr. Humbert has been a member of the I. O. O. F. for nearly a quarter of a century; he belongs to Nodaway Lodge, No. 206, and Corning Encampment, No. 84;, he has passed all the chairs of the order. Mrs. Humbert is a member of the Daughters of Rebekah, Lodge No. 18. In his political opinion Mr. Humbert sympathizes with the United Labor party.
OHN HUMBERT (deceased) was born in St. Prancer, Canton De Mircourt, Department Des Vorges, France, May 7, 1804. He was a farmer by occupation. In February, 1829, he was married to Miss Margarett Aubry, by whom he had seven chil- dren. Mrs. Humbert was born in 1807, and died November 12,1847. On account of politi- cal troubles in France Mr. Humbert emigrated to the United States with his family of seven children; they landed at New Orleans, came up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, and proceeded thence to Nauvoo, Illinois, where Mr. Humbert engaged in agriculture for a period of four years. In 1853 he was again married to Miss Adelaide Roland, and of this union six children were born, two of whom still survive. In Angust, 1854, he removed with his family to the frontier of Iowa, and settled in Adams county near the spot where Corning now stands; he entered a small tract of Government land, and, with the assistance of his sons, improved it, and afterwards sold it to two of the sons who now own and occupy it. After selling this land Mr. Hum- bert returned to Hancock county, Illinois, and made two different trips to his native land, and then returned to Iowa, where he departed this life at the home of his son in
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Des Moines, November 15, 1878, at the age of seventy-four years.
Thins, it will be seen that John Humbert was a benefactor to Adams county, in this, that he reared sons who have become enter- prising, progressive citizens; they are among the leading farmers and stock-raisers of the connty, and through their energy the stock of horses in this county ranks second to none in the State.
REDERICK THEODORE SCHROE- DER, an intelligent and enterprising farmer residing on section 27, Nodaway township, was born in Tangermünde, near Berlin, Prussia, in the province of Branden- burg, October 10, 1836, a son of I. F. C. Schroeder, who married Miss Zabel; both parents were natives of that country.
Young Schroeder completed his school course at the early age of twelve years, not usually finished until fourteen, then served his time as apprentice to the miller's trade, when, at the age of twenty years, he was drafted in the Prussian army and served seven years; two years after this period the Austro-Prussian war occurred and he was drafted again. Ile was First-class Sergeant, thongh acting most of the time as Lieutenant of the Fourth Battery of Imperial Guard Corps; also, on account of his having a good education and special aptness in mathematics, he was an instructor and teacher in the Brigadier school while in garrison. In 1870 he sailed from Hamburg to England, pro- ceeded to Liverpool and came across the Atlantic to New York, and on to La Salle county, Illinois, where he had a brother, F. H. Schroeder, a grain merchant, at Men- dota. After operating in partnership with him a year he started out for himself, at Ohio, in Bureau county, Illinois; at the
end of eighteen months he returned to Mendota and was again in partnership with his brother for six months: next he was in trade again two and a half years at Meriden on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy rail- road, when his brother's healthi failed and he returned again to Mendota and took charge of his business until 1875; and finally he came to Adams county and purchased hns present homestead, comprising 160 acres of well-improved land, with the usual farm ap- purtenances in good order.
In Mendota, Illinois, in 1873, he married Miss Elizabeth Englehard, a native of Bureau county, Illinois, and a daughter of John Englehard, who was born in Germany. They have three children, Julia Anna, Laura Amanda and Frederick William Oscar.
Politically Mr. Schroeder is a Democrat, thongh in former years a Republican. In respect to religion he was reared a Lutheran, but he and his family attend the Presbyterian Church.
ENRY PETERSON, proprietor of Nishina Valley farm, is one of the prom- inent, popular and successful men of the county. He was born in Sweden in 1844, and reared there until nine years of age, when his parents came to Illinois, settling in Henry county, where our subject grew to manhood. He was reared a farmer, and re- ceived his education in the public schools of Henry county and by practical business ex- periences. The parents of our subject reared two sons and one daughter. The older son, John B., served during the late civil war in the One-hundred and Twelfth Illinois In- fantry Volunteers, Company I. He was taken prisoner at Pea Ridge and confined in Ander- sonville prison thirteen months, where he died of scurvy and gangrene.
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In 1872 Mr. Peterson came with his par- ents to Montgomery county, when all was new and wild. He purchased a farm of 133 acres of wild land, which has since been im- proved and increased until it now contains 770 acres, and is among the best improved farms of the county. Mr. Peterson has a good residence, one and a half stories high, situated on a natural building site. He has also barns, stable yards, four modern wind- mills, which supply the motive power for furnishing water for stock and the liouse, stock scales and other substantial farm im- provements. He has also a herd of short- horn cattle, having been engaged in raising this kind of cattle for seven years. He has the largest herd of Hereford cattle in the county, having purchased 217 head in 1890.
Mr. Peterson was married in Henry coun- ty, Illinois, in 1864, to Miss Hannalı Peter- son, who was born, reared and educated in Sweden. They have six children, viz .: Ellen Peterson, Carrie, Albert, Eddie, Bernie and James. Politically Mr. Peterson is a Repub- lican, has served as township trustee twelve years and in all the minor offices. In relig- ion he is a member of the Lutheran Church; and is a trustee and liberal supporter of the same. He is a self-made man, having com- menced life for himself at the age of seven- teen years by farming and keeping "bach." He is possessed of a good constitution, good judgment, industrious habits and good busi- ness qualifications, and these combined have helped to make him a successful man.
ILLIAM FOCHT has been identi- fied with the best interests of Mont- gomery county, Iowa, since 1857, when he took up his abode on his present farm, 520 acres in section 27, Douglas town-
ship. He is one of the enterprising, success- ful and popular pioneers of the county. For the important part he took in developing its interests and for tlie prominent position he now occupies among its worthy citizens, he is most justly entitled to honorable mention in this volume. A resumé of his life is as fol- lows:
William Focht was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, January 5, 1827. His father, Adam Focht, a native of the same place, was a son of George Fochit, who was born in Hamburg, Germany. In his young manhood the latter came to America and settled in Pennsylvania. He served in the Revoluntary War, a porton of the time in the militia and later as a teamster. He assisted in drawing the cannon from Phila- delphia to Valley Forge, and for services ren- dered received a special pension of $50. The mother of William Focht was nee Susanna Furry, a native of Pennsylvania and a daugh- ter of George Furry, a Scotchman by birth. Adam Focht and family moved from Pennsyl- vania to Allen county, Ohio, in 1837, and there the parents passed the residue of their days, each dying at the age of about sixty-six years. The father was all his life engaged in agricultural pursuits. In politics he was a Democrat. He was a steward in the Lutheran Church, of which both he and his wife were members, and in that faith reared their chil- dren. Their family consisted of seven sons and three daugliters. One of the sons, Jacob Focht, is a resident of Pilot Grove, Iowa.
William was a lad of eleven years when the family settled in Ohio, and in Allen county he grew to manhood, working on the farm and attending the common schools. At nineteen he enlisted for the Mexican war, in Company K, First Regiment of Artillery, under command of "Stonewall " Jackson. He helped to guard the wagon train from
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Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. After the war he returned to Ohio, and a short time later went to Pennsylvania, where he made his home for three years, Again returning to Olio, he remained in Allen county till 1857, the year lie came west and located in Montgomery county. Here lie purchased 160 acres of wild land, built a cabin and made a home. Prosperity attended his earnest efforts on the frontier, and as the years passed by his property assumed a dif- ferent appearance. The primitive cabin has long since given place to a modern cottage, which is situated some rods back from the highway and is approached by an avenue. Substantial improvements in the way of barn, outbuildings, fences, etc., combine to make this place a valuable one. Mr. Focht has purchased other lands and is now the owner of 520 acres.
At the age of twenty-eight he was married, in Auglaize county, Ohio, to Miss Rebecca Williams, a native of Champaign county, Ohio, and a daughter of Jacob Wil- iams, who was born in the eastern part of the United States, of Scotch ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Foclit have seven children, viz .: P. S. is married and has four children; John A. is married, has two children and lives in Douglas township, this county; Melvin, also a resident of this township, is married and has four children; James of the same town- ship, has a wife and one child; Samuel, Washington is married and has two children; Homer is married and lives on the old home- stead; and Oscar, at home and unmarried. They lost six children, three sons and three daughters, when quite young.
Mr. Focht is a Democrat and is active in the conncils of his party. He has served in various townships offices, always with credit to himself and his constituents, and is at present township trustee. He has recently
been chosen by his party as a candidate for county Supervisor, in which selection the best of judgment has been evinced. Mr. Focht is a member of the Centennial Lodge of Grant, No. 373. He has been a Mason forty years. He assisted in organizing the Red Oak Lodge when there were only seven Masons in the county. During the late war he was a member of the State militia and took an active part in the march to St. Joseplı, Missouri, to guard the State border.
Mrs. Focht is a worthy member of the Baptist Church.
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AVID M. FLOWERS, of Quincy town- ship, settled on section 32, where he still resides, in 1868. His farm com- prises eighty acres on section 32 and forty- four, on section 31. He was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1842, the son of David and Mary Ann (Mead) Flowers. Mr. Flowers was reared to farm life, and at the age of eigliteen years enlisted in the defense of his country, in the war of the Rebellion, becoming a member of Company I, Seventy- seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The date of his enlistment was October 25, 1861. He was mustered out of the United States service March 8, 1866, his term of service covering a period of nearly four and a half years. He participated in many of the most important campaigns and battles of the war. He was at Shiloh, Corinthi, Holly Springs and Little Rock. He was captured by the Confederate forces at Marks' Mills, Arkansas, and was held a prisoner for ten months at Tyler, Texas, but was paroled, and exchanged thirty days later. He was then furloughed for sixty days and returned home, reporting to his regiment, which was then at Mobile, at the expiration of his furlough. After the
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surrender of the Confederate forces to the armies of the Union, and the consequent close of the war, he accompanied what was left of his regiment to Brownsville, Texas. He was mustered out with his regiment at Columbus, Ohio, at the time above men- tioned.
After the war Mr. Flowers was for some time engaged in the manufacture of lumber. Coming to Iowa, he reached the village of Quincy, May 11, 1868. He came with his father's family, which comprised his parents, three sons and a daughter, all of whom are now living but the inother. Mr. Flowers was married October 9, 1882, at Woodsfield, the county seat of Monroe county, Ohio. to Miss Blanch Bell, a native of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Flowers have three sons: Clinton De Witt, Jesse Bell and Forest. Mr. Flow- ers is one of the respected citizens of Quincy township, and was for more than four years a faithful soldier in the cause of the Union. He is a worthy member of Llewellyn Post, G. A. R., at Corning.
ALVIN ROBESON, who resides on section 24, Nodaway township, is one of the pioneers of Adams county, re- siding on his present farm since about No- vember 1, 1857. The farm on which he lives consists of 160 acres. He also has 104 acres on sections 13 and 14.
Mr. Robeson was born in Knox county, Ohio, March 9, 1825. His father, Joseph Robeson, was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and his father, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Maryland. The great-grandfather of Calvin Robeson was a native of Ireland. Mr. Robeson's grandfather was a pioneer of Knox county. The mother of the subject of this notice was Sarah Roof, a native of Vir-
ginia, whose parents emigrated to Ohio when she was a child. Joseph Robeson and wife were the parents of ten children who grew to mature years, and all are living but one son, Thomas, who died in Colorado a number of years ago. Calvin Robeson is the only one of the family living in Adams county. He was reared to the occupation of farming, and married Miss Margaret Smith, born in Holmes county, Ohio, but reared in Coshoc- ton county. Her parents were William and Elizabeth Smith. The former was born in New Jersey, and the latter, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Lephy, was born in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Robeson continued to live in Ohio until the fall of 1856, when they came to Iowa. They went directly to Brighton county, and in November, 1857, settled on their present farm. In the summer of 1856, Mr. Smith, the father of Mrs. Robeson, came to Adams county from Ohio and bought three forties on section 24, Nod- away township. Two of these forties now form a portion of Mr. Robeson's farm. Mr. Smith, however, returned to Ohio, and Mr. Robeson and Jacob Smith, a brother of Mrs. Robe `n, settled on the land that Mr. Smith had purchased. Mr. Robeson's original farm contained but forty acres; the remainder of his landed possessions he has since added. The parents of Mr. Robeson continued to live in Ohio until their death, as did those of Mrs. Robeson. Mr. Smith purchased the land above referred to for his children, but never returned to Iowa. After making his pur- chase of land he died, at the age of sixty- nine years. When Mr. and Mrs. Robeson came to Adams county there were bnt few settlers in what is now Nodaway township, and here they have lived for the long period of thirty-four years, witnessing the great growth and development the county has made since that time.
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They have two children, a son and dangh- ter, both of whom were born in Nodaway township; Frank, their son, was born in 1859, and married Miss Catherine Vance, and they have two promising children,- Calvin, named for his grandfather, and Georgia Margaret; the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Robeson is Adna. Mrs. Robe- son has a brother, Jacob Smith, living in Nodaway township.
Politically Mr. Robeson was in early times a Whig, later a Republican, and still later became interested in the Grange movement. Mr. and Mrs. Robeson are numbered among the well-known and esteemed old settlers of Adams county, where they have lived so long. They have a pleasant home where they are surrounded by the comforts of life, the results of industry.
AMUEL BOOKER, a resident of sec- tion 13, Douglas township, Adams county, is an early settler of this neigh- borhood. He located here in 1860, and has since made this place his home. His biog- raphy will be fonnd of interest to many, and is lierewith given:
Samuel Booker was born in Queen Anne's connty, Maryland, February 3, 1818, a son of John and Susan (Baker) Booker, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Maryland. John Booker's parents were Ger- mans, and his father, Samuel Booker, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and was with General Washington when he crossed the Delaware bay. Samuel was left an or- phan at the age of seven years, his parents both dying the same week, leaving a family of five children. Our subject found a home witlı Peter Swiggitt, was reared on a farm and received a limited education. At the
age of twenty-one he began work at the car- penter's trade, which he has followed most af his life until the past few years, when he has been retired from active work. In the fall of 1838 he moved to Fayette county, In- diana, where he lived three years. He then traveled through the Sonth, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, returning to Fay- ette connty in August, 1842. In 1846 he moved to Wabash connty, Indiana, and made his home there until 1854. That year he located in Galena, Jo Daviess county, Illi- nois, and engaged in contracting and build- ing and erected some of the best buildings in the place. The years 1858-59 he lived in Warren, that county. In 1860 he came to Adams county and settled on land he had purchased some years before. He built a log house, 15 x 16 feet, and in it made his home until 1873, when he built his present two- story residence. His home is located on a beantiful building site and is surrounded with pines, ornamental trees, shrubs, etc. He has an orchard of two acres and a half, a grove and other improvements. His farm contains 135 acres.
Mr. Booker was married October 18, 1845, in Rush county, Indiana, to Elizabeth Will- son, who was born in Delaware, May 7, 1821, daughter of Jolin and Maria (Slaughter) Willson. Her father was born in Delaware, and her mother in Halifax, Nova Scotia, of Scotch and English parents. Mr. and Mrs. Booker have nine children, namely; Robert, Council Bluffs, Iowa; Anna, wife of Henry Rice, Des Moines, Iowa; Lewis, Council Bluffs; Ella, wife of Abram Horton, of Douglas township, this county, was before her marriage an efficient teacher; Susan, of Creston, Iowa; William, who lives on his father's farm; Edgar, a brickmason by trade, now residing in Washington; Alma, wife of Allen Hibbard of Council Bluffs; Ida, wife
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of George McCormick of Omaha; they have two children deceased, Sarah, who died at the age of thirteen months, and Maria Jane, at the age of seven years.
During the war gf the Rebellion Mr. Booker enlisted August 13, 1862, in Company D, Twenty-ninthi Iowa Infantry, and was honorably discharged November 26, 1862, for disability. Politically he is a Republi- can. He and his wife are members of the United Brethren Church, and are honored and respected citizens in the community in which they reside.
B L. BROWN, a farmer of section 5, Jasper township, Adams county (post- office Brooks), and an old soldier and a solid man of the community, was born in Mercer county, Illinois, June 23, 1839, the son of John H. Brown, who was born in Rochester, New York, and when a lad of sixteen years was a soldier in the war of 1812. His father, Alexander Brown, was born in Scotland, and when a youth he left his native country in order to avoid participa- tion in the Irish rebellion, but became a brave soldier in our Revolutionary war. Mr. B. L. Brown's mother, whose name before marriage was Mary McPherson, was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, the daughter of George McPherson, a native of Ireland, who also had served in the American war of the Revolution. His wife made powder for the American soldiers. The father of our subject, John H. Brown, was reared in New York State and moved to Muskingum county, Ohio, where he was married, at the age of twenty-four years, in 1820, his bride at the time being but fourteen years of age. About 1836 the family removed to Mercer county, Illinois. John H. Brown liad seven children
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