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 49
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 49
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51
ACOB BAYLISS, son of John and Ger- trude Bayliss, came with his parents from Germany to America when he was eleven years old. His father settled in New York State, where his death occurred in 1861. The mother died in 1878. Jacob was next to their oldest child. He lived in New York until 1869 when he came to Iowa and settled in Muscatine county. He subse- quently lived one year in Clark county, and in 1881 came to Adams county. Hcre he has 280 acres of fine land, located in section 25, Colony township, which is well adapted to general farming and stock-raising. He has six or seven acres in orchard, an abun- dance of small fruit, fine grove, a large barn and two-story residence, and is most comfort- ably situated. Among his stock are short- horn cattle, Percheron and Norman horses and Poland-China hogs.
March 1, 1866, Mr. Bayliss married Miss Jane Markham, and by her has nine children, viz .: Nellie, Henry, Charles, Morris, Flora, Emma, George, Walter and Edith.
While in New York Mr. Bayliss was a inember of the New York State militia, and served six years in that body. In politics he is a Democrat. He has served the public as Township Trustee and a member of the School Board. He is one of the substantial men of Colony township. Frank and out- spoken though genial in his manner, he re- ceives the respect of the entire community in which he lives.
HARLES E. RICHARDS, attorney at law, is the oldest member of the bar, having established himself here in May, 1867, continuously practicing law here since. He was born in the town of Riga, Monroe connty, New York, December 9, 1835. His father was Ira Richards, who settled in the town of Riga in 1812. He was a native of Hillsdale, Massachusetts, born in 1791. He belonged to an early Massachusetts family of Puritan ancestry. He went to western New York from Massachusetts when the former was the far West. The site of the city of Rochester at that time was but a marsh. He opened a farm in the heavily timbered re- gions of Monroe county, his location being in the town of Riga. Returning to Massa- chusetts he married, but his first wife died in the town of Riga, leaving no children. He later married Ruth Turner, who was born in Portland, Maine, and removed with her par- ents to Riga.
Charles E. Richards was born in Monroe county and was reared on the farm where his father settled. He prepared for college at Riga Academy, and graduated at Roclies- ter University in the class of 1860. He taught for two years and then read law three years and was admitted to the bar at Rochcs- ter. Later he followed surveying for a consid-
443
MONTGOMERY AND ADAMS COUNTIES.
erable time. In 1867 he came to Red Oak, and has sine devoted his time to his profes- sion. He is a Democrat in politics. Mr. and Mrs. Richards have two children,-Paul W. and Carl E.
LFRED HEBARD, capitalist, and pres- ent State Senator, is a pioneer of Red Oak. He was born in Windham county, Vermont, May 10, 1810. His parents were Augustus and Bathsheba (Leonard) Hebard; they were descended from early families of the colony of Connecticut.
The subject of this notice prepared for college at home and at Plainfield Academy, and graduated from Yale in the class of 1832. Men who afterward became famous were members of lis class in college, includ- ing Cassius M. Clay of Kentucky, Hon. Allen T. Carpenter, who afterward became United States Senator, and others who attained national distinction. For two years after gradnating Mr. Hebard was engaged in teach- ing in Edgeliill Seminary, at Princeton, New Jersey, and then took charge of a school for boys in New London, Connecticut. In 1841 he married Ann M. Huntington of New London. This union has been blessed with four children, two of whom are deceased. Those living are Augustus H., an iron mer- chant in St. Louis, Missouri, and Mary S., who is still at home. After teaching for a few years Mr. Hebard engaged in civil en- gineering on a newly projected railroad line, and began a log cabin near the present city of Burlington, Iowa, in 1837, where he lived for fifteen years. In 1853 he made the pre- liminary survey of the Burlington & Missouri River railway across the State of Iowa, and fif- teen years later the road was built on the line that he laid out. He was a member of the legis-
lature held at Burlington. During the war of the Rebellion he operated in the Government civil engineering service in Missouri and Ten- nessee, and spent some time after the close of the war, in the constructing of railroad in Ten- nessee, Georgia and Alabama. He settled at Red Oak in 1868, and in 1875 was elected to the State Senate. In 1878 he was one ot the two United States Commissioners to the World's Fair or International Exposition at Paris, and made a tour of Europe before re- turning home. In 1879 he was re-elected to the Senate and was continued in that body for several terms. He is one of the repre- sentative citizens of Iowa, and a man of marked ability.
OHN SMITH, who resides on section 17 in Quincy township, is one of the pio- neers of Adams county.
The time of his reaching Quincy, his point of destination, was in the afternoon of the 16th of November, 1854. He was born and raised in Cumberland township, Greene coun- ty, Pennsylvania. His birthday was July 28, 1818. His father, Benjamin Smith, was a native of the same town and county, as was his mother, whose maiden name was Barbara Neff. The paternal grandfather of our sub- ject was Ichabod Smith. The Smith family are of Scotch descent, but the maternal ances- tors were of German lineage.
The mother of Mr. Smith died at the homestead in Greene county, Pennsylvania, in 1846. The father later went to Richland county, Ohio, and died at the home of his sister, Mrs. Mary Findley. Mr. Smith is one of ten children, seven sons and three daugh- ters; only four of the family are living in 1891. Mr. Smith was obliged to inake his own way in life from an early age. He began learn-
444
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
ing the trade of a carpenter and joiner when eighteen years old with Albert Rickey. After about two years he engaged to learn cabinet- making with Hiram Mulligan, with whom he continued three years, and became a thor- ongh master of the trade.
In the fall of 1845 he went to Indiana; general work at his trade was easy to yet at that time; while in Indiana he engaged in the manufacture of fanning mills. But he returned to Ohio in the fall of 1845, and en- gaged at the business of carpentering in Coshocton county, at West Carlisle. The following February he returned to his old home in Pennsylvania, and next April he re- turned to Coshocton county, Ohio, accom- panied by his brother, Abraham.
June 3, 1852, he was married to Miss Hannah Plowman, a native of Maryland, and a daughter of Joseph and Harriet (Moffitt) Plowman, who emigrated from Maryland to Ohio, where they lived till death. In the spring of 1854 they removed to Knox county, Ohio. In October following they started for Western Iowa, for the purpose of making a permanent settlement. The family then con- sisted of himself, wife and one child, Ben- jamin F. They came through in a wagon, being about six weeks on the jonrney. Mr. Smith settled with his family in the village of Quincy, where he continued six years, en- gaged in working at his trade. He then set- tled where he now lives. He has 260 acres in his home farm and on section 27 has 200 acres, and seventy-five acres of tim ber on sec- tion 29. Mr. Smith has a fine farm and a pleasant home. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In fact, Mr. Smith has been a faithful and con- sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since 1842, and his wife, since she was fifteen years of age. They are the par- ents of six children: Benjamin F., Joseph
R., James Freeman, Emery Alvin, Ella, wife of George Baker, and Mary.
Mr. Smith is one of the well-known and esteemed citizens of Adams county, where he and his wife have resided so many years. He lias ever been interested in the financial, moral and religious growth of the commun- ity, where he has lived so long.
NDREW BALLANTYNE, who resides on section 23, Quincy township, is one of the well-known citizens of this county. He settled on his present farm in the spring of 1876, althoughi no improve- ments had been made on the place when he purchased it in 1875. He was born in Can- ada in 1844, a son of James Ballantyne, a native of Scotland, who emigrated to Can- ada with his family from Scotland. He died December 17, 1888. The mother is still living, residing in Poweshiek county, Iowa, where the family settled a number of years ago.
Andrew Ballantyne came to Scott county, Iowa, in 1865, and worked there for two years. He later owned and improved a farm in Poweshriek county. He was married in Michigan to Miss Charlotte Miller, a native of Canada. Mr. Ballantyne came here from Poweshiek county. He and his wife have six children, three sons and three daughters: George, Mary, Frank, Byron, Maggie, Edna.
ILLIAM L. ABBEY resides on sec- tion 14, where he settled in the spring of 1884, the first improvement having been made by Mr. Applegate. Mr. Abbey was born in Morgan county, Illinois, a son of Ebenezer Abbey, a native of the State of
поштокие
445
MONTGOMERY AND ADAMS COUNTIES.
New York; but when a young man went to Ohio. He married Miss Mary E. Tiffany, a native of the Buckeye State, and afterward removed to Morgan county, Illinois, tlience to Henry county, Illinois, and to Adams county, Iowa, in 1868. He passed the re- inainder of his days here, and his wife died when William L. was abont three months old. Ebenezer Abbey was three times married. He was the father of five sons and a daughter, who is deceased.
Mr. Abbey came to Iowa in the fall of 1865. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served over three years; was in the trans-Mississippi Department; participated in the seige of Mobile and the battles con- nected therewith. He was married just before entering the army to Miss Annetta Frink, a native of Indiana.
They have five children, three sons and two daughters. The oldest is in Illinois. All the rest are in Iowa.
O. MITCHELL, farmer and lawyer, residing at Corning, was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, April 4, 1846. His parents, George and Sarah M. Mitchell, were natives of Kentucky, and came to Iowa in 1840, engaging in farming. W. O., the second of their five children, at the age of sixteen years enlisted in the war for the Union, joining Company C, Thir- teenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served three years, eight months of which time he spent in southern prisons, including Ander- sonville, Salisbury and Florence,-from the last named of which he escaped. The hor- rors he suffered, in common with many other " boys in blue," are too well known to need recital. Mr. Mitchell was in the siege of
Vicksburg and in many other important engagements, escaping rebel bullets, how- ever, without injury. After the war he graduated at Cornell College and immedi- ately began the study of law in the office of Stuart Brothers, Chariton, Iowa; was ad- mitted to the bar in 1872. He has ever since been in active practice. He has for some time been engaged also in farming and stock-raising. He has an estate of some 700 acres, situated in the heart of the famous Blue-Grass region. Probably no man in the country has done more to call attention to the matchless resources of the eighteen coun- ties embraced in this tract. Knowing its agricultural and mineral resources, he en- listed with enthusiasm in the development of an important section, and has been particu- larly active as a member of the Blue-Grass League, of which he is now president.
For his wife he married the daughter of A. H. Chaffee, the architect, a resident of Corning, and now has two children. He is a member of the G. A. R., as well as of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a stal- wart Republican. In 1891 he was elected as Representative to the 24th General Assem- bly. Mr. Mitchell is the first man to be elected by his party to this important office in the last fourteen years. He only ran seven- teen votes behind the Governor, although the Democrats and People's party fused on their candidate. No higher mark of respect and esteem could be given him by the people of Adams county than in his election in No- vember, 1891, when such odds were against him. As a lawyer he is prominent, leading and able; as a business man he is possessed of good executive ability, untiring and ener- getic; as a citizen he is active, progressive, public spirited and liberal, and since coming to the county he has ever been loyal to her best material interests, advocating all meas-
446
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
ures that the best elements therein strive to maintain. Of strict and upright manhood, lie constantly labors for her welfare and is always found in the line of the best citizen- ship.
As a friend he is true, honest, faithful and sacrificing to all who show themselves worthy of his friendship; as a man he is amiable, temperate, benevolent and just, with fine literary tastes and broad culture.
IDEON FARRIS, one of the old settlers of Adamns county living on section 26 (Mt. Etna postoffice), was born in Clai- borne county, Tennessee, June 10, 1825. His parents were Robert and Mary (Gentry) Farris, both natives of Virginia. The father was a farmer all his life. He moved to to Edgar county, Illinois, in 1833, rented land there, and made a reasonable success of his labors. He died in Illinois, in 1850, at over seventy years of age. His wife died in 1854 at the age of about seventy years. She was a member of the Protestant Methodist Church.
These parents reared eight children to mature years. Our subject is the only one now living. He began for himself at the age of twenty-six years. He followed the cooper's trade for several years, with farming, and later gave his whole attention to agriculture. He farmed in Illinois first, and came to Iowa in 1852, and settled on the place where he now resides and has been living ever since. There were seven families in the county when he came. They had to go to Savannah and to St. Joseph, Missouri, for their goods, quite a contrast with the present order of arrangement. He now owns 260 acres of good land, all of which is improved and
fenced. He bought a portion of it from the railroad and a portion from the United States Government. He is nicely located on the old Wintersett road, has a good orcliard, and grove, small fruits, etc. His house is 16 x 32 feet with an L 22 x 16 feet. He is in a good neighborhood, near church and school. He has been fairly successful, having made inuch of opportunities; coming here without means, with energy, industry and frugality he has acquired a nice home.
Mr. Farris was married, April 3, 1851, to Miss Eliza Carns, daughter of David and Mary Carns, of Vermillion county, Indiana. Their children are: William, married Nancy Cummins, and Lena was their only child; the mother died in 1880 at the age of nineteen years; his second marriage was to Carrie Stewart, by whom there are two children: George and Lucy; Harrison died at the age of thirty years; Frank married Martha F. Thomas; their two living chil- dren are Ella and Perry.
Mrs. Farris is a member of the Baptist Church. Politically our subject is a Demo- crat.
R. ARNOLD who lives on section 18, Colony township; was born in Kentucky, May 8, 1851. His father was C. B. Arnold, born in Kentucky, July 25, 1828; lie died in October, 1889. The mother's name before marriage was Mary Carpenter. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom Mr. Arnold is the eldest. He lived in Kentucky until he was eleven years of age, when he removed to Jones connty, Iowa, with his parents. He came to Carroll county in 1872, and lived there until his removal to
447
MONTGOMERY AND ADAMS COUNTIES.
Adams county in the year 1874, when he settled near the town of Nevinville, but has since removed to his present location.
Mr. Arnold has 240 acres of land in sec- tion 18, adapted to general farming and stock-raising. The house is 30 x 22 feet, one and a half stories higlı. The barn is 32 x 34 feet, and there are stock scales, windmill, granaries, etc. There are about 200 apple trees, and three acres of artificial grove. Mr. Arnold in politics is a Republican. He has liad no political aspirations, but has served on the school board. He has a fine herd of cattle, and quite a number of high grade Norinan and Clydesdale horses; also Poland- China liogs. He is one of the substantial men of the county, and enjoys the respect and confidence of the people.
He was married December 13, 1875, to Miss Alice Gibson, of this county. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
F. WHIPPLE, a farmer of section 9, Colony township, Adams county, was born in New London, Connecticut, April 2, 1856. He lived in Connecticut till he was eleven years old, and then came to Adams county with his parents. Daniel Whipple, his father, was born in Ledyard, Connecticut, October 7, 1817, and removed to Adams county in 1867. He died in Sep- tember, 1877. The mother is still living. They had four sons and four daughters, and two sons and three daughters are living. Mr. Whipple is the seventh child. He was married December 9, 1880, to Ellen Ware, born in Des Moines county, Iowa, November 25, 1859. They have six children, three sons and three daughters: Burton, Jennie, Julia, Everett D., Martha F. and Frederick.
Mr. Whipple owns 100 acres of good
land, adapted to general farming; two acres are in orchard, three acres in grove and three in small fruit.
Politically he is identified with the Re- publican party, and has held several township offices. He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church.
AMES M. WILLIAMSON, who resides on section 8, Colony township (Nevin- ville postoffce), was born in Scotland September 27, 1846. He came to America in 1855, and resided in Warren and Erie counties, Pennsylvania, fifteen years; he was there when oil was first struck. He removed to Adams county in 1870, and settled where lie now resides.
His father, James M. Williamson, an edu- cated Scotchman who is now seventy-one years old, lives with his son James M.
The mother's name was Margaret Kitch- en; she also was born in Scotland in 1818, and died July 8, 1888. There were eight children, six of whom are living. James M. is the oldest son, but has two sisters older than himself, one of whom resides in New York, the other in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Williamson was married November 24, 1874, to Alice A. Ball, who was born in Connecticut, October 30, 1841, the daughter of genuine Yankees. The ceremony took place in Colony township. Mrs. Williamson was for many years a successful teacher. Mr. Williamson has always been a farmer of the progressive type, and has some very fine stock.
In politics he is a Democrat. He has held the offices of township Trustee and Treas- urer for several terms, and has discharged the duties of his position with satisfaction to the people and credit to himself.
448
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
He has eighty acres of land which is also adapted to stock-raising. His honse, which is pleasantly situated, is 22 x 28 feet, one and a half stories, with an L 10 x 14 feet; the barn is 24 x 80, and both have stone foundations. There are five acres of artificial grove of evergreen and deciduous trees, two acres of orchard, one acre and a half of vineyard from which he sold four years ago ten tons of grapes and an abundance of small fruit. He has a herd of graded shorthorn cattle, some high-grade Clydesdale horses, a flock of seventy-five sheep which are not excelled in the State, of the Cotswold breed; the average weight of fleece is eleven and a quarter ponnds, and one fleece weighed nineteen pounds. He keeps quite a number of bees and has at present forty hives of pure Ital- ian bees. He is now engaged in building a bee house.
Mr. Williamson is one of the substantial men of Adams connty, an open, frank, ont- spoken gentleman who is wide awake to the best interests of the county in which he lives, and is respected by all who know him.
EORGE W. GRANT, who now lives on the line of Adams and Adair counties, was one of the earliest settlers of Adams county. He was born at York, Maine, October 20, 1837, was raised there and edu- cated in the common schools and afterward taught. He left Maine and went to Boston, Massachusetts, and staid two years, when he removed to Adams connty, Iowa, and settled in Colony township, on section 4.
His father's name was Benjamin Grant, a native of the town of York, Maine; he died when the subject of this sketch was seven years old.
Mr. Grant's wife was Julia Woodward,
who was born in York, Maine. She is the daughter of William and Lucy Woodward. They were married September 22, 1861. They have had born to them eight children, three of whom have died. Of those living there are one girl and four boys. Their names are as follows, in the order of their birth: Hattie M., who is the wife of G. W. Jennings now living in Highland township, Union county, lowa; George D .. who married Katie Bartlett, living in Adair county; Fred HI., Herbert L., Benjamin E.
Mr. Grant has 160 acres of fine land adapted to general farming and stock-raising. His house is 36 x 20 feet with an L 10x 18; the orchard contains 250 trees, besides small fruits; there is an artificial grove of five acres and the necessary sheds and outhouses. He has a number of graded cattle and quite a number of sheep.
In politics Mr. Grant is Independent, and has held all the township offices. He and liis wife and daughter are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Grant at fifty-four is just in the prime and vigor of his manhood; he is an intelli- gent farmer and a man of sterling integrity, -one of the hardy pioneers who have helped to make Adams county what it is to-day.
REDERICK N. BALL, who lives on section 9, Colony township (Nevinville postoffice), was born in Ledyard, Con- necticut, October 29, 1839; he lived in Con- nectient twenty-nine years, and then removed to Adams county, where he now resides.
His father, Frederick Ball, was born in Ledyard, Connecticut, in the same house, September 22, 1806. His grandfather was born on Block Island, but lived in Connecti- cnt. The mother's name was Susan A. Ball,
449
MONTGOMERY AND ADAMS COUNTIES.
nee Appley; she was born in Canterbury, Windliam county, Connecticut, April 30, 1816, and is still living, residing with her son, Frederick. Mr. Ball enlisted December 3, 1861, and served three years. He took part in the en- gagements at Laborville and Camp Bisland, Louisiana; Port Hudson, Winchester, and Cedar Creek, where he was wounded by a gunshot. He was in every battle and skir- mish his regiment was in. He has held the offices of Trustee and Assessor, and has served on the School Board of his township. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Churchı, as is also his wife; he is a trustee in same. Mr. and Mrs. Ball are the parents of four children, all living: John, Witton, Mary E. and Sherman H. His wife's name was Sarah E. Bugbee before her marriage, Feb- ruary 10, 1875. Mr. Ball has 240 acres of land; house, 24 x 30 feet; L, 14 x 16 feet; barn, 100 x 20 feet; crib and granary, 32 x 24 feet; two acres are in an orchard.
In politics he is a Republican. He is now fifty-one years old, and in good health of body and mind; he is one of the represen- tative men of this neighborhood, and is re- spected by the community in which he resides.
RS. NANCY E. JEWETT was born in Olney, Maine, December 23, 1820. Her father's name was Nathan Plum- mer, born in northern Maine. Her mother's name was Nancy Plummer and she was born in Wiscasset, Maine. Mrs. Jewett was the only child of her parents.
She was married to John Jewett December 29, 1840. John Jewett was born in White- field, Maine, April 29, 1811, and died April 13, 1886. They had five children born to them, two boys and three girls, four of whom
are living: Clara A., Sarah A. who mar- ried T. M. Ball, now residing in Colony township; D. B. Jewett married Horace H. Whipple, now in Colorado; Oliver P. Jew- ett, married Emma Wheeler, of Canada, now residing in this township; Clara A. Jewett married Albert Delany, now living in Nevin- ville. John Jewett was a strong Republican in politics.
Mrs. Jewett has always been a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Jewett removed from Maine to Adams county, Iowa, where they arrived May 10, 1858, and settled at Nevinville, where they lived until the death of Mr. Jewett, and where Mrs. Jewett still resides. Mr. Jewett owned in this township previous to his death, 270 acres of land. Mrs. Jewett retained thirty seven acres of the liome farm, the same on which she resides. The dwelling, which is a large and handsome one, is situated at the edge of the town, surrounded by a beautiful grove of evergreen and deciduous trees; the grove embraces thirteen acres; there are five acres of orchard and an abun- dant supply of small fruit. Flowers and flowering shrubs are found on every side; the house is furnished in a style that indi- cates that it is the home of wealth, culture and refinement. A good barn, commodious cribs, sheds and outhouses complete the sur- roundings. Mrs. Jewett has lived in Adams county long enough to see small trees grow to large dimensions, from three to four feet in diameter, to see the wild deer and wilder Indian give way before the advance of civili- zation, and now at more than seventy years of age is still quite hale, enjoying the full use of body and mind. She and her husband were representative people of this township, and lent their aid to every enterprise that tended to better the condition of their fellow men, and have enjoyed the respect and con-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.