Biographical history of Page County, Iowa, containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each; a condensed history of Iowa, with portraits and biographies of the governors of the state; engravings of prominent citizens of Page County, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families; and a concise history of the county, the cities, and the townships, Part 79

Author: Lewis and Dunbar, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis & Dunbar
Number of Pages: 946

USA > Iowa > Page County > Biographical history of Page County, Iowa, containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each; a condensed history of Iowa, with portraits and biographies of the governors of the state; engravings of prominent citizens of Page County, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families; and a concise history of the county, the cities, and the townships > Part 79

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).

In 1873 he settled on a farm four miles north of Clarinda, where he carried on agri- cultural pursuits six years with the exception of one year spent in Kansas. In 1880 he purchased his present farm, which consists of 120 acres in a good state of cultivation.

Isaac Cummins, the father of Mrs. Drake, inarried Huldah Frace, a daughter of John Frace, of German extraction. Mr. and Mrs. Cummins were the parents of nine children : John, Silas, Charity, Lydia A., Joseph W., Malinda E., Evaline, Emma F. and Edwin S. The father is a farmer in New Jersey and for forty years he has been a local preacher in the

Methodist Episcopal Church; he owns a large farm in Warren Connty, New Jersey, and is in comfortable circumstances. He is a man of high character and is one of the leading citizens of his township.

- HARLES W. FELTCH, Braddyville, Iowa .- Samnel Feltch, the grandfather of the subject of this biographical no- tice, was born April 25, 1777, in the State of Massachusetts, and was there married to Sarah Bracket, to whom were born four chil- dren : Cyrus B., Nancy, Eliza and Temperance. He settled at Wayne, Maine, where he lived for many years. He and his wife were both members of the Baptist Church. Cyrus B., the father of Charles W., was born May 15, 1809. He was a farmer and wagon-maker by occupation. In 1835 he married Melvina Turner, a daughter of Josiah Turner (see sketch of Asa Turner), and of this nnion tive children were born: Isaac T., Charles W., Almira J., Oscar D. and Rossie A. Mr. Feltch purchased a farm in the town of Lis- bon, Maine, where he lived twenty-eight years. In 1863 he came to College Springs, Iowa, where he resided eight years, and then spent the remainder of his days with his son Oscar D., near Blanchard, lowa. He died at the age of sixty-eight years. He and his wife were meinbers of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and he was a trustee and class- leader. The great-grandfather of Mr. Feltch, Nathaniel Feltch, was born April 23, 1735.

Charles W. Feltch was born March 1, 1838, on his father's farm in Lisbon, Maine. He obtained his education in the common school and learned the trade of a carpenter. When there was a call for brave inen and true to go to the defense of this nation, he joined the Union army, enlisted in Company E, Twenty-

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY

third Maine Volunteer Infantry, and served nine months. He was honorably discharged and returned to his home. In September, 1863, he came to Page County, Iowa, and settled near College Springs. He was united in marriage to Emma Truscott, a daughter of John and Ann (Benny) Truscott, and of this union three children have been born: Rosco T., born February 17, 1870; Ella M., born July 17, 1873, and Annie F., born April 21, 1879.

Mr. Feltch worked at his trade in College Springs and vicinity for twenty years, and in July, 1887, he embarked in a farming enter- prise; he purchased land on whichi he lias since resided, and which he has placed under good cultivation. He and his estimable wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has been liberal in his support of all public measures. He possesses the confidence of the people of his township, and has represented them as constable for seven- teen years. He is a member of Warren Post, No. 11, G. A. R.

John Truscott, the father of Mrs. Feltch, was born in Cornwall, England, in 1804, and married Ann Benny, and to them were born nine children: Jennie, Charlotte, Ann B., Mary, William S., John C., Emnina, Amanda and Arthur L. The father was a miller by occupation. In 1841 he emigrated to America, and the first winter in this country he lived at Zanesville, Ohio; thence lie removed to Iowa and settled in Van Buren County; at the end of seventeen years he went to Ap- panoose County, Iowa, and lived there until he came to College Springs, Page County, in 1878; he died ten years later; liis widow is still living, at the age of eighty-four years.

Mrs. Feltch has an old family Bible, bear- ing the date of 1630, printed for the Univer- sity at Cambridge, England. This Bible was originally in the Pearse family, and was pre-

sented to John Truscott, the grandfather of Mrs. Feltch, by Samuel Pearse, August 27, 1802; it was taken possession of by John Stephens Truscott, May 11, 1820; he was the father of Mrs. Feltcl; it was presented to Arthur Lewis Truscott, who was born May 29, 1851, in Hartford, Lee County, Iowa, by his father, John Stepliens Truscott; it is to be handed down to Jolin Benny Truscott, who was born October 1, 1880, a son of Arthur L. Truscott.

John S. Truscott was born in Cornwall, England, April 9, 1804. John Pearse Trus- cott was his father; his mother, Jennie Trus- cott, died at the age of thirty years and seven months, and the inscription in the Bible de- clares that " she was a tender mother and a virtuous wife, and universally respected."

John Pearse Truscott was born August 9, 1741. Ann Benny Truscott, the mother of Mrs. Feltch, was born November 10, 1806, and was a daughter of Humphrey and Joana Benny: her birthplace was Cornwall, England. She was married to John S. Truscott July 28, 1821, at the age of twenty years. She was baptized in the Church of England.

- HARLES A. LONG is one of the pio- neer settlers in his neighborhood. In 1866 he came to Fremont County, where he had settled in 1859, and bought a claim for which he paid two dollars and a half per acre. When he first came to his present place, his nearest neighbor on the northi was J. F. M. Porter, who was four miles distant; there was no one on the east until coming to Miller Station, which is twelve miles away. The same year Charles L. Le Barron located on the same section and John Corbit soon followed. Abont three years after this time, Edmund Whiting began

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

to improve a place where the H. & S. ma- chine shops now stand.

Mr. Long is a native of Tioga County, Pennsylvania, born May 7, 1834. His par- ents were John G. and Elizabeth (Smith) Long. His father was a native of Germany, born in Wurtemberg, Germany, January 14, 1812, coming to the United States abont 1831. Elizabeth (Smith) Long was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1813. In 1846 they emigrated to Wal- worth County, Wisconsin, and in 1859 removed to Fremont County, Iowa.

John G. Long, the father of Charles Long, was murdered, and the history of the crime is one of the darkest found upon the criminal record of southwestern Iowa. His own wife confessed npon the witness stand her complicity in the work, and lier accoin- plice, a young man named Finis Allen, was convicted and sentenced for life in the peni- tentiary; through the efforts of his friends he was released after serving a portion of the time.

Daniel Torrence, a neighbor of Long's, was aronsed from his bed on the night of January 15, 1879, by Mrs. Long. who asked him to come to their house and look for her husband as he had gone out, and she was alarmed lest a horse of which she was much afraid had hurt him. Upon search Mr. Long's body was found in the stall of this particular animal with wounds on the head and face, supposed to have been inflicted by the horse. In due time he was buried, but friends not being satisfied the body was exhumed; a coroner's jury and expert physicians pronounced foul play. Allen, who had lived with the Longs until some time after the murder, disappeared, and a few months after was apprehended in Harrison County: he was tried at the ensuing term of court. when Mrs. Long confessed the details of the killing. We will not attempt

a minute recital of the story; suffice it to say that the deed had been planned by herself and Allen, and after the old gentleman was murdered by Allen she helped to carry the body to the barn and placed it in the stall, so it would appear that death had been caused by the kicks of the horse.

The affair created a great sensation at the time, and has thrown a gloom over all the members of the family.

Charles A. Long was married March 19, 1865, to Miss Olive L. Perry, a native of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, born March 8, 1850. They have three children: Emma Adaline, born July 13, 1870; Charles B., February 21, 1874, and Rosina Winifred, October 13, 1875, all in Grant Township, Page County, Iowa. The parents are mnem- bers of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Politically Mr. Long affiliates with the Re- publican party.

S. VAN HEUSEN is a native of the State of New York, born in Mont- gomery County, April 15, 1841. His father, Charles Van Heusen, was a native of the same county and was a son of Wynent Van Heusen, also a native of New York. The Van Heusens were an old family of Hol- landish descent who first settled on Long Island. Charles Van Heusen married Han- nah Sanford, a native of New York, and a daughter of Hugh and Ruth Sanford. They reared a family of nine children, four sons and five daughters. Our subject was reared to the life of a farmer, but at the age of eighteen years he went to learn the black- smith's trade, which he followed for some time.

When this uation was in peril and so many industries were abandoned that men might go to the defense of the old flag, Mr. Van

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

Heusen left the forge and anvil, and enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Fifty third New York Volunteer Infantry, in October, 1862; he participated in several noted en- gagements and in many skirmishes; he was honorably discharged in October, 1865, as Sergeant, having enlisted as a private. After his return to New York he resided in Albany several months and then went to Troy, where he was engaged at work in a carriage factory ; after fifteen months he went to Batavia, Illi- nois, where he remained until 1868. In that year he removed to Burlington, Iowa, but was there only a short time until he found employment on the railroad as fireman; after serving eighteen months in that capacity he took charge of the engine and ran on the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy road until 1880.

During all this time lie had a good oppor- tunity to study the advantages of different sections of the country, and when he invested in land it was in Page County; he bought wild land of the railroad company and has improved it until he has one of the most desirable farms in the connty ; he has planted two acres of orchard, and six acres of grove, and he lias erected good and substantial buildings for all farm purposes; he does a thriving business in general farming, and has been met with prosperity on every hand.

Mr. Van Hensen was married August 4, 1878, at Pacific City, Mills County, Iowa, to Miss Mary L. Evans, a daughter of M. L. and Eliza Jane (Templeton) Evans, natives of Virginia and Indiana respectively. Mrs. Van Heusen was born in Holt County, Mis- souri, and was six years of age when her parents removed to Mills County, Iowa. She was educated at Tabor College, and for three years previous to her marriage was a success- ful teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Van Heusen ale the parents of three children: Mila S., Haven Evans, and Govie Rnth. The mother is a

worthy and consistent member of the Pres- byterian Church of Essex. Mr. Van Heusen is a member of Foote Post, No. 89, G. A. R., of California, where they went in 1886 for the health of the family, and returned to Es- sex in 1887, where they have since resided. They were at Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County. Both husband and wife are people of a high type of character and are numbered among the leading citizens of the county.

EWIS E. WOLCOTT, one of the suc_ cessful farmers of Page County, was born in Louisa County, lowa, August 10, 1842, and is a son of Moses H. and Mary (Burney) Wolcott, natives of Connecticut and Pennsylvania respectively. His grandfather was Daniel Russel, and great-grandfather, Josiah. A relative named Oliver Wolcott, was in President Washington's cabinet. After his marriage Moses H. Wolcott set- tled in Philadelphia, where he worked at his trade, that of a carpenter and joiner. In 1838 or 1839 he removed to Burlington, Iowa, and at the end of one year he went to Columbus City, Iowa, where he made his home for several years; he then bought a farm near that place and passed the remain- der of his days there. He and his wife had five children who lived to maturity: Eliza- betli, William B., Lewis E., Chester C. and Mary H. He was killed by lightning in the harvest field when he was forty-two years of age.

Some members of the Wolcott fainily were in the colony that came from Connecticut and settled in the Western Reserve in Ohio, and one of the ancestors was in the war of the Revolution.

Lewis E. Wolcott was a faithful soldier in the war of the Rebellion. He enlisted

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

Angust 2, 1862, in Company F, Twenty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was under General Sherman at Vicksburg and was at the surrender; he participated in the battle of Vicksburg from the first attack, the siege, battle and surrender of Arkansas Post, and battle of Black River, Mississippi, and many skirmishes. He was taken ill from contin- ned exposure and was confined to the hospital at Memphis for three months; he was then transferred to the Invalid Corps and did good service in Washington, District of Columbia, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and throughout the remainder of those dark days of conflict. He was honorably discharged at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1865, and returned to his home in Columbus City, Iowa. After the declaration of peace Mr. Wolcott was united in marriage to Amoret. A. Hight, who died May 3, 1880. He was inarried a second time, March 15, 1882, to Anna E. Turner, a daughter of J. B. Turner ;. the mother's maiden name was Matilda J. Adams. To Mr. and Mrs. Wolcott have been born two children: Ra ph Howard and Mary Jessie. The parents are both worthy and consistent members of the United Presby- terian Church.

Politically Mr. Wolcott is identified with the Republican party and is a stanch adherent to its principles. He is a self-made man, and as a citizen and a soldier is worthy of the regard and esteem of all loyal people. Since 1876 he has been a resident of Page County ; he owns eighty acres of land, which is under good cultivation.

EV. JAMES M. STOCKTON was born in the Cumberland Mountains, East Tennessee, July 25, 1807. He acquired good knowledge of the ordinary English a

branches in the pioneer schools and by dili- gent study at home. In his sixteenth year he was converted and joined the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. When young Stockton was seventeen or eighteen years of age he was licensed to preach by his presbytery, and for five or six years was engaged in itin- erant work in his native State. At the age of twenty-five years he removed with his father's family to Morgan County, Illinois. James M. taught school in Morgan County for more than a year, and during that time he inet Susan E. Kirkpatrick, to whom he was married in the summer of 1832. He after- ward settled near Quincy, Illinois; there he and his father and brothers opened up a farm, and on the Sabbath-day he preached the Gospel without other compensation than the consciousness of a dnty faithfully performed. Some time abont 1840 this farin was sold, and two quarter sections were bought in Hancock County, about six miles from Warsaw.

In the spring of 1844 Mr. Stockton re- moved with his family, now numbering seven children, six sons and one daughter, to Hen- derson County, Illinois, and engaged in school-teaching and preaching two years; at the expiration of this period of time he returned to Hancock County and purchased a ların five miles south of the then noted Nauvoo, the Illinois home of the Mormons; there he resided until the spring of 1852.

When the exeitement of the California gold fever arose, Mr. Stockton sold his land and in the spring of the year left Illinois with his family, bound for the far-off Pacific coast; his younger brother and his family accompa- nied him, and they traveled in wagons drawn by ox teams. The Missouri River was crossed at St. Joe, Missouri, and when they were west of this point about ten days' travel, the chol- era broke out in the camp, a son, a daughter and a sister-in-law being carried away by the

WILLIAM DAVIS

MRS. M. E. DAVIS

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

dread disease. Mr. Stockton was at one time near death's door, and when he recovered sufficiently to continne the journey it was too late in the season. Both families returned to Missouri and remained there until April, 1853, when Mr. Stockton and his family started to hunt a home in western Iowa; he bonght an improved claim in the edge of Taylor County, where he lived for many years. In 1865 he sold this farm and purchased a smaller one near the present site of New Market, where he passed the remainder of his days.

Mr. and Mrs. Stockton reared a large fam - ily: nine sons and four daughters have been born to them; three sons and a daughter died in infancy, and one son, W. A. Stockton, who was at one time a teacher in the Clarinda public schools, died at the old honie in Taylor County in 1859.

Mr. Stockton's life, from the time he was licensed to preach in his boyhood to the day of his death, was one of uniform usefulness and diligence; he superintended the cultiva- tion of his farm and preached on the Sabbath. He was a close student, not a reader of many books, but a thorough master of those to which he gave his attention. He was beloved and respected both by old and young, and when the Master called him home le laid down life's burdens and respons- ibilities without a fear of the future, con- seious that his work had been well done. His body now lies by that of his sainted wife, within the borders of Page County, the scene of so many years of his labors.

RS. MARY E. DAVIS, relict of the late William Davis, is one of the oldest settlers of Page County, and woman whose many virtues and varied 49

talents make it a pleasure to enter this bio- graphical record npon the pages of history which shall tell to coming generations the character and mold of the inen and women who made this country what it is to-day. Mrs. Davis came with her husband from In- diana to Iowa, in 1859, and settled in Fremont Township, where Mr. Davis had a broth- er, Benjamin Davis, residing. (See sketch of Benjamin Davis for early history of the Davis family.) The country was then little more than a wilderness, and those sturdy souls wlio braved the dangers and privations of pioneer life have witnessed the almost un- paralleled growth and development of one of the finest sections of the West.

William Davis was born in Maryland in 1836, and is a son of James and Elizabetlı (Zimmerman) Davis, of Welsh and German ancestry respectively. They reared a family of ten children: Mary, Susan, Catherine, Nancy, Elizabeth, Jaines, John M., Benja- min, William and Robert. The father re- moved to Ohio, in a very early day, and afterward settled in Jay County, Indiana, on a farın, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died at the age of fifty five years. William Davis, his youngest son, came to Indiana when a mere lad. He received the education afforded by the pioneer schools and passed his youth after the manner of the sons of early settlers.

September 5, 1857, he was united in the holy bonds of marriage to Miss Mary E. Woten, daughter of John and Mary (Boyles) Woten. Mr. Woten was a farmer by occu- pation, and a native of the State of Ohio; he was the father of eleven children: George, Jane, Mary E., Hugh, Celia, Elizabetlı, Pamela, Fidelia, John L., William J. and Conzada. In 1870 he came with his family to Page County, Iowa, intending to remain permanently if he liked the country. At

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

the end of one year he started back to Indi- ana for the purpose of selling his farm there and arranging his affairs to make his home in Iowa. He had proceeded as far as Chica- go, and the last that was seen of liim, lie was at the railroad station, surrounded by hack- men and hotel runners. As he was a quiet, unassuming man, unaccustomed to the ways of a large city, his family believe him to have been robbed and then murdered. He was over sixty years of age and was in good cir- cumstances. His loss is much harder to bear because of the suspense and anxiety attend- ing his mysterious disappearance.

Mr. and Mrs. Davis lived in Fremont Township, a few years after coming to Iowa, and then bought their farm near Essex on which the family still reside. There Mr. Davis died in 1880, at the age of forty-six years. He was a man possessing all the Christian virtues, to which were added un- excelled business qualifications. He was a devoted husband, loyal and true to her in whom he found all that the heart could de- sire, and in whom he confided his every thought. As a father he was ever desirous of securing means whereby he might give his children the advantages which as a rule had been denied to pioneers. He was a man of intrepid and elevated character, and in his early life on the western prairie met with unshrinking firmness the most trying hard- ships. In the community he came to be re- garded as one of nature's noblemen, and as long as the memory of William Davis exists there will exist the memory of a true, Chris- tian gentleman, greater praise than which can not be given.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Davis, all of whom lived to maturity: Elnora, Mary E., Huldah D., John M., Benjamin F. and Otis E .; James I., born August 26, 1862, died November 2, 1863. Mrs. Davis

has remained on the farm since her husband's death, and has managed her affairs with sagacity and excellent judgment. She lias added to the original purchase until she owns 380 acres, well improved and free from in- cumbrance. She is practical in her ideas and has superior executive ability. She is edu- cating her family and giving to them those opportunities it would have been the delight of their father to see them enjoy. In the spring of 1890 she sold at one time $2,200 worth of live-stock, a fair index of the scale on which she transacts business. Her suc- cess is due to wise management, as she is obliged to hire the greater portion of the work done. She is deserving of unbounded credit for what she has accomplished in life, and adds another noble example to the long and constantly increasing roll or the notable women of our country whose free institutions and liberal Governnient are rapidly develop ing characteristic womanhood.

Miss Elnora Davis married Solon Bacon, and they have three children: Ora, Gny and Ona; they reside in Johnson County, Ne- braska. Miss Mary is the wife of Royal Bacon, also a farmer of Jolinson County, Ne- braska, and they are the parents of four children: Elda, Clyde, Clay and Elsie. Miss Huldah married Albert Fellows, a farmer in Montgomery County, Iowa. John is attend- ing college at Shenandoalı, and will graduate the coming fall (1890). Benjamin and Otis are pupils in the school at Essex. The two older daughters, Elnora and Mary, have been teach- ers in Page County, and made a success of the profession.

The history of this admirable family add3 another chapter to the record of possibilities in this county. Industry, perseverance, good habits, and ability,-what will they not ac- complish? And no government in the world can present such a prosperous and happy

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

people as this free land of America, no sec- tion of which surpasses the "Great West."

ACOB L. FISHELL, one of the honor- able and upright citizens of Bnchanan Township, is of German descent. His grandfather was a native of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and his father, Michael Fishell, was also a native of Pennsylvania and passed all his days in the old " Keystone " State. He married Jane Konkle, a daughter of Micliael Konkle, and to them were born seven children: Jolin, William, Jacob L., Daniel, Catherine, Caroline and Grant. The father was a member of the Lutheran Church, and in his political opinion lie adhered to the principles of the Republican party. By per- severance and industry he accumulated a competency.

Jacob L. Fishell, son of Michael and sub- ject of this biographical sketch, was born June 12, 1853, in Westmoreland, Pennsyl- vania, and was early trained in all the details of agriculture; he received his education in the common schools. At the age of twenty- three years he came West as far as Wood- hull, Illinois, and worked on a farm in that neighborhood. October 15, 1879, at Ontario, Knox County, Illinois, he married Miss Susan C. Fortwangler, and they are the parents of four children: Maggie H., Norman M., May M. and Alfred L. In 1882 the family emi- grated to Iowa and located on their present farm in Page County. In political opinions Mr. Fishell is Republican. He is an ener- getic worker, and his efforts in any direction are certain to be crowned witli success. Mrs. Fishell was born in Warren County, Illinois, January 24, 1862, a daughter of Godfrey and . to Canton, Ohio, and served three years as an Mary A. Fortwangler. Her father was born in Switzerland, July 26, 1835, and came to

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Author: Lewis and Dunbar, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis & Dunbar Number of Pages: 946

Author: Lewis and Dunbar, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis & Dunbar
Number of Pages: 946