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 96

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 96

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).

Politically Mr. Keener is a " dyed in the wool " Republican, and a strong temperance advocate. He belongs to Warren Post, No. 11, G. A. R. He has served on the Clarinda city school board, and is a man respected by all who know him.

OSES CHANDLER, Essex, Iowa .- The name of Chandler has been as- sociated with the State of Maine from its earliest settlement, and has been found among the most prominent citizens of that commonwealth. Tradition says the famn- ily are descendants of one of two brothers who came from England. The authentic history of the subject of this sketch begins with his grandfather, Josephus Chandler, who lived at Fryeburgh, Maine, and who owned 1,300 acres of land. He was a very intelligent, capable man. He settled in that

section before the war of the Revolution, and was married to Miss Farrington; to them were born thirteen children: David, Nathan, Moses, John, Josephus, Peter, Jerry, George, Hazen, Isaac, Polly, Susan, and Han- nah. Mr. Chandler lived all his days in Fryeburgh, dying at the age of sixty-two years. His son, John, was born at Frye- burg, Maine, and learned the carpenter's trade, being an excellent mechanic. He afterward became a himberman, and made a great deal of money but never became wealthy. He married Hannah W. Barker, daughter of Richard and Margaret (Gordon) Barker. Mr :. Chandler's father was a native of Andover, Massachusetts, and a farmer, by which occupation he became a wealthy man for those times; the Gordons were descended from the celebrated Scotch family of that namne. Mr. and Mrs. John Chandler were the parents of seven children: Richard B., Eliza, James, Drusilla, Henry, who died in the civil war, and Isaac. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and did service at Portland, Maine. He was a man of exceed- ingly strong constitution and endured the hardships attending the life of a lumberman on the rivers in Maine as though they were lightly to be borne. He was a man of un- questioned integrity, and is still kindly re- mein bered by the older citizens of Fryeburg. He died at Lowell, Maine, in 1868, at the age of seventy-five years. His brother, Isaac Chandler, lived to the age of ninety-one years. Hannah Barker Chandler was a de- voted member of the Congregational Church, greatly revered by her family and highly re- spected by her neighbors; she lived to the age of eighty-seven years. She implanted in the hearts of her children a love of truth and justice which has given thein a decided, firm character.

Moses Chandler, the subject of this bio-

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

graphical record, is a son of John and Han- nah (Barker) Chandler, and was born at Fryeburgh, Maine, April 13, 1823. He was early inured to the hard labor attending farm life, and remained under the parental roof until he had attained his twenty-second year. Then with $13 in his pocket, the capital on which he was to build his fortunes, he went to Lowell, Massachusetts, secnring employ- inent with the Canal and Locks Company of that place. He worked there for six years, and a part of the time was foreman and over- seer of the Irish laborers. In 1849, when the gold fever was at its height he went to California, making the trip by water via Cape Horn; seven months and twenty days were consumed on the voyage. He went to the mines of the Yuba and Feather rivers, remaining one year; he thien returned to Lowell, and in 1851 he was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary A. Grimes, daughter of John M. and Alice D. Grimes, who were Englishi by descent. Mr. Chandler remained in Lowell one year and then returned to Cal ifornia, going by way of the Isthmus; at the end of three years he came back with $4,000 in gold, which he invested in land in Dane County, Wisconsin. He built a honse and a barn and established a comfortable home where he was among the early settlers. He resided here for eleven years, and in 1866 he came to Page County, Iowa, and bought land, to which he added as his means would per- mit until he has 490 acres of rich, productive land. The place is well improved with good, substantial buildings surrounded by a beauti- fnl grove. Mr. Chandler is extensively en- gaged in feeding cattle and hogs for the market, and has been very successful in this branch of husbandry. During the civil war he was enrolling clerk in Wisconsin. He has been school treasurer of this township for nine years and has always interested him-

self in educational matters. He belongs to the Masonic order and is a member of the Commandery. Although sixty-seven years of age he has not abandoned one of the pleasures of his yonth; he is a member of a gun club at Red Oak, and is an expert shot; the last time he visited the club he broke twenty-four out of twenty-five " blue rocks." He is well preserved both in mind and body, his eye being undimmed and his hand as steady as in liis prime, evidence of the ex- cellent habits of his life.

Mr. and Mrs. Chandler are the parents of six children: Fred H., Homer A., Alice C., Eliza F., John, deceased, and Addie, deceased. Fred H. married Alice Corwin, and to them have been born three children; they reside in Madison County, Nebraska. Alice is the wife of William Gilmore of Franklin Grove, and they are the parents of two children. Homer A. married Mary Croft, and two chil- dren have been born of this union; he is a successful, well-to-do farmer. Eliza is the wife of Frank Allen, and they reside on the home farm with Mr. and Mrs. Chandler.

John Grimes, the father of Mrs. Chandler, was born in England, August 30, 1799; his wife, Alice D. Grimes, was born two days earlier. Mr. Grimes was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a devoted Christian. He bronght up his family to high moral and religious principles, and with a keen sense of honor and justice. Two of his sons, Jesse and Samuel, served in the Sixth Massachusetts, the former for three months and the latter for three years. Sam - uel is now a dentist in Boston, Massachu-

setts. Mrs. Chandler was born in Tannton, Massachusetts, December 10, 1829, and was married at the age of twenty-two years. She was a graduate of the Grammar School of Lowell, Massachusetts, and was an excellent pupil. She has been a woman of an active

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

mind and of great physical endurance, and her sterling worth does honor to the old En- glish stock from which she is sprung. She has indeed been an assistant to lier husband, and a faithful guide and counsellor to her children.

It is truly a pleasure to the biographer to record the history of people who have lived and prospered in the belief and practice of correct principles, and who by their untiring exertions and the observance of the great laws of natural life, honesty, industry, and perseverance, have achieved comfort and hap- piness.

LEXANDER SHUM is one of the rep- resentative farmers of Nodaway Town- ship, Page Connty, where he has resided since 1873. He was born in Rutland County, Vermont, June 26, 1852, and is a son of Peter Shuin, who lives on section 5, Nod- away Township. Peter Shum was born in Canada in 1831, and lived there until he was seven years old, when his parents, Frank and Margaret Shum, removed to the United States and settled in Vermont. He was married to Elizabeth Pfenall at the age of twenty-one years, and in 1857 he removed with his family to . Lee County, Iowa; they made this their home until 1873, when they came to Page County. Mr. Shum has a finely improved farm of 640 acres, a good residence and barns for stock and grain. He and his wife have had eleven children: Alexander, Peter, George, Lizzie, Joseph, Jolın, William, James, Abe, Moses and Anna. Five of them are living at home. Alexander was five years old when the family removed to Lee County. He was brought up after the usual fashion of farmers' sons, receiving his education in the public schools. He was married June 8,

1878, to Mary McCowen, a daughter of James McCowen, one of the prominent old settlers of the county. Mrs. Shum was born in Page County, January 27, 1859. Two children have been born to this union: Carrie Maud and Bessie Laverne. Mr. Shnm settled on his present farm in 1883; the land is in an advanced state of cultivation, and he has made inany excellent improvements in the way of buildings; lie has also planted a fine orchard. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party, and has served his township on the school board. He is a mem- ber of Clarinda Lodge, No. 109, I. O. O. F., and holds an enviable position in the com- munity.

OHN M. REEVES, one of Page County's industrious agricnlturists, is justly enti- tled to a space in the biographical his- tory of the county in which he has lived since 1867. He was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, April 3, 1849. Morgan Reeves, father of our subject, was born in 1808, and was married in Greene County, Pennsylvania, to Hannalı Barclay; she was a daughter of Hugh and Ann (Dar:ah) Barclay, of Scotch an- cestry, and was born in Pennsylvania in 1812. Morgan Reeves was a tanner by trade, which occupation he followed through all his life; he died in 1865, leaving a widow and six children : William, a resident of Seattle, Washington Territory; Samuel, of Villisca, Iowa; James B., of Red Oak, Iowa; John M. and Mary, wife of W. M. Marley.

In 1867 the father removed his family to Iowa, purchasing eighty acres of prairie, and eight acres of timber land in Nodaway Town- ship, Page County; the land was bought of Solomon Rounds, but most of the improve- ments have been made since it came into the

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

possession of the Reeves family. The farm- house is a good story-and-a-half structure, costing twelve hundred dollars; the farin lies three miles north of Clarinda, and is well watered by the Nailey branch, especially adapting it to the raising of live-stock.

John M. Reeves manages the home farın, and is doing it very successfully. Politically he is an ardent Democrat and an ardent advo- cate of prohibition. rightly believing that the rum traffic is the curse of this fair land of ours. He is still a single man, and although he is greatly absorbed in business interests, being a farmer of more than usual enterprise, he finds time for his many friends, and is highly re- spected by all who know him.

RTHUR HILL, one of the representa- tive and highly successful farmers and stockmen of Colfax Township, made a settlement in 1877. He was born in county Antrim, Ireland, about 1825. His parents, William and Catherine (McMullin) Hill, reared a family of ten children. Arthur was trained to the occupation of a farmer, and at the age of twenty-five years he was united in · marriage to Miss Margaret Scally, a native of the county in which he was born, and a daughter of John and Margaret (Morgan) Scally. Mr. Hill sailed from Liverpool to Philadelphia in 1852, and upon his arrival in the country settled in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, working at anything that pre- sented itself. For some time he was engaged in the white marble quarry, and in 1877 he removed to Iowa, and bought 160 acres of land in Page County; later lie made additions to this purchase until at one time he owned 320 acres; since then lie has sold to his sons until he now has 160 acres. The Hill farm is well situated and is finely improved. It has

a fine grove and a bearing orchard of choice fruit. A spacious and conveniently arranged barn was recently erected, affording ample protection to live-stock and crops.

Mr. and Mrs. Hill are the parents of thir- teen children: Anna, wife of Robert Twaddle; William, Arthur, John, Mary. wife of Mr. McCormick, deceased; Thomas, Daniel, Jane, wife of Henry Jeffrey; Samuel, Hiram, Mar- garet, James, and an infant deceased.

Politically Mr. Hill is a " good, sound Re- publican," he says, and in his religious faith he is an avowed Protestant, being identified with the Episcopalian Church. It should have been stated that Mr. Hill came to Amer- ica in advance of his family. After a four years' residence here, being fully satisfied tliat this should be liis future home, he sent for his wife and the three children he had left beliind; they had a stormy voyage and were on the ocean seven weeks and three days. Since coming to this country they have seen some of the hardships of pioneer life, but " patience and perseverance conquer all things," and this saying has not proved un- true in the case of Mr. Hill. He has been very successful in all his undertakings and has no cause to regret coming to the " land of the free and the home of the brave."

202 UENTHER BROTHERS are the pro- prietors of one of the leading livery barns in Clarinda, lowa. W. H. Guen- ther was born November 12, 1866, in Alsace, ~ Germany. Peter J. Guenther was born Au- gust 15, 1869, in McHenry County, Illinois. The father of these two young men emigrated to America in 1867 and settled in McHenry County, Illinois, where he engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. In coming to the United States he lioped to place before his children

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

better opportunities than they could possibly have in the " beloved Fatherland." He re- inained in McHenry Connty, Illinois, four years, and then removed to Taylor County, Iowa, where he resided one year. At the end of this time he came to Page County and purchased a farm of ninety acres in Harlan Township where he still makes liis home.

The family consists of nine children, eight of whom are living, three daughters and five sons. They have received a liberal education in the common schools of Harlan Township, and have assisted their father in making a home for his declining years. W. H. and Peter J. Guenther have not been behind the others in performing their filial duty. When their services were no longer needed at home, they engaged in coal-mining for a time, and in 1887 they purchased a machine for the boring of wells and followed this occupation for three years. They have done quite an extensive business in this line and it is quite a profitable one. They are energetic and enterprising, and have acenmulated consider. able property by their efforts. In February, 1890, they purchased the livery stock of F. M. Norton, of Clarinda, and will doubtless make a success of this enterprise as they have in all past undertakings.

K. BLOOM, an honored and repre- sentative citizen of Morton Township, renioved to his present farm from Washington Township in the spring of 1890. He came overland. by team from Green County, Wisconsin, in 1874, and has assisted in the growth and development of one of the leading counties of the State of Iowa. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Center County, April 9, 1839. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Kooken) Bloom, were also

natives of the Keystone State. When T. K. was a lad of twelve years they removed to Wisconsin and settled in Green County, where they were among the pioneer settlers. There our worthy subject was reared to farın life. He was united in marriage November 3, 1860, in Green County, Wisconsin, to Catherine Chryst, who was born in Green County, Wisconsin, and a daughter of John Chryst. Mr. Chiryst was born in Virginia, but spent many years in Tennessee and Ken- tncky; he married Jane Douglass, who was born in Scotland and reared in England.

In 1874 Mr. Bloom brought his family and settled in Washington Township, on section 19; there lie set about the task of improving 160 acres of wild land, and seven years later he had the satisfaction of placing it upon the market as an improved farm and realizing a fair price on it. He then bought a farm of J. B. Van Sandt, one of the first settlers in the county, and lived on this place until 1890, when lie sold out to George Cato, Jr., and purchased his farm in Morton Township; this tract consists of 120 acres, and is in a high state of cultivation. There is a comfortable dwelling pleasantly situated on a natural building site overlooking the surrounding country, and an orchard and grove near by add to the beauty of the landscape. The barns and sheds are in admirable order, and well snited to the purposes of general farming.

Mr. and Mrs. Bloom are the parents of twelve children: Elizabeth Jane, wife of Lu- ther Martin; George D., Anna Belle, Sarah Verina, Editlı A., Ellen O., Mark M. P., Frank J., Amy L., Grover C., who died at the age of two years, James Montgomery, who died at the age of nine months, and Floyd T. Politically our subject is with the Democratic party. He and his wife are both consistent members of the Baptist Church, and assisted in the organization of the first Baptist society

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

in Washington Township; later they were active workers in the society at Lone Willow. They have ever given ready support to all efforts to advance the interests of religion and education, and are numbered among the lead ing families of the county.

RANK LELJEDAHL, one of the prom- inent Swedish farmers of Page County, emigrated from liis native pine-clad hills to Illinois in 1869. He is a son of Jonas Johnson, but after coming to this country he changed his name to Leljedahl, as there were already so many families of that name. Jonas Johnson was a farmer and land-owner in Sweden, and altogether in better circum- stances than many men whose sons came to America. He married Anna Louisa Peter son, and they were the parents of eight chil- dren: Anna C., Margarita, August, John, Frank, Charles, Gustav O. and Claus. Mr .: Johnson lived on his farm until the day of his death; he was eighty years of age.

In 1868 Gustav O. emigrated to the United States, and the next year he was joined by John, and Frank, the subject of this notice; several years later Anna C. also came to this country, the other members of the family remaining in their native land.

Frank Leljedahl, after arriving in this conn. try, whither he had come with all the hope and ambition of youth, continued his journey to Henry County, Illinois. The following summer he went to Kansas, but he returned to Rock Island County, Illinois, and secured employment in the coal mines, where he re- mained four years. At the end of this period he came to Page County, determined to take up agricultural pursuits: he invested in land, and in 1874 he took up his permanent abode. In 1877 he was married to Anna Lonisa

Holmes, a native of Sweden, who crossed the water in our centennial year, 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Leljedahl are the parents of five children: Hannah A., Hilma, Oscar E., Alma and Phœbe O.

Since coming to Page County our subject has met with uninterrupted prosperity. From the small beginning of eighty acres he has increased his farm to 232 acres, which is well improved with substantial buildings. He and his wife are consistent members of the Swedish Lutheran Church. Politically he is identified with the Republican party; he has held the office of school director, in which position he has proved his efficiency. He is a man of sterling qualities, sprung from a race with whom honesty and industry are cardinal virtues.

OHN LELJEDAHL is another one of the prominent Swedish farmers of Page County who have assisted in its develop- ment and growth, and who is therefore worthy of mention in this connection. He emigrated to the United States in 1869, and first settled in Rock Island County, Illinois, where he remained three years, engaged in coal mining. He had been united in mar- riage in Sweden to Johana Mary Peterson, a daughter of Peter Johnson: it is according to a Swedish custom that the daughter took the name of Peterson instead of Johnson.

In 1872 Mr. Leljedahl came to Page County and settled on the farm now occupied by his brother Frank, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. He after- ward bought seventy-five acres, to which lie has made additions as liis means would per- mit, until to-day he has in liis home farm, 355 acres, besides 160 acres in Pierce Township, and 160 acres in Montgomery County, Iowa,

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

making an accumulation of 675 acres; it is fine rich land, and is well improved. When Mr. Leljedahl landed in Chicago he had less than nothing, as he was in debt to the rail- road company for his fare; he left his trunk as security until he could earn the money to pay the amount, $2.50. He had left his wife and three children in Sweden, and in less than a year he had saved sufficient means to pay their passage to America.

Mr. and Mrs. Leljedahl are the parents of seven children: Ida M., who died at the age of seventeen years; Charles Y., Frank E., Gust, Salmi, Emily and Joseph. The father and mother are both members of the Swedishi Lutheran Churchı, and Mr. Leljedahl is a trustee. In his political opinion lie is affili- ated with the Republican party. Beginning with nothing he has made a fortune against great odds; a stranger in a strange land, amidst a people speaking a strange tongue. his achievements seem much greater. It has required energy, perseverance and economy, together with a solid financial ability, the traits of character that have laid the corner stone of this great and prosperous country.

EV. CHARLES YOUNGBERG, one of America's adopted children, emi- grated from his native land when a young man, and settled in Swedonia, Mercer County, Illinois. His father, Andrew Peter- son, was also a native of Sweden and a farmer by occupation ; he married Lena Johnson, to whom were born thirteen children: Peter, John, Caroline, Swen, Carl, deceased; Mal- colm, Johannes, died young, Angust, Frank, Matilda, Johana, Charles and Clans. The father died at the age of forty-seven years, bnt Mrs. Peterson is still living, at the age of

eighty-three years; she is cared for mostly by her son Charles in Sweden. Mr. Peter- son was a member of the Lutheran Church, as is also Mrs. Peterson.

The Rev. Charles Youngberg was born in Smoland, Sweden, in 1847, and was but eighteen years of age when he bade farewell to the scenes of his childhood and sailed away to America. On first arriving liere he was engaged in farm labor near Swedonia, Illinois. He remained there for five years, and then came to Page County, Iowa, and bought eighty acres of land in Fremont Township. In 1876 he was united in mar- riage to Anna Johnson, a native of Sweden, and a daughter of Johanis Johnson, who died in 1873. The following year Mrs. Young- berg emigrated to America with her inother and the other members of the family, num- bering seven: Claus Johan, Frank A., Christiana, Matilda, Sophia, Adolph and Minnie.

To Rev. and Mrs. Youngberg have been born one child-Emil. In 1873 our subject sold his farm on which he first settled and in 1876 inoved to the place he now occupies. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran Missionary Church, in which he is also a preacher; he was licensed to preach in 1890, but for two years before that time he had de- voted much time and thought to ministerial work. He is a faithful Christian and has given liberally of his means to the support of the church. He received in his native land a common-school education, and has since improved his mind by diligent reading and study. He is a man of broad intelligence and is a power for good among his people. He has the well-merited respect of his fellow citizens, as has been attested by their bestow- ing upon him the various township offices. He is a inan of much information, and ca- pable of holding any office within the gift of

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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY.

his people. And too much honor can not be given the self-made men of our country.

SAAC FLEENER, one of the representa- tive farmers of Page County, Iowa, is from an old American family of German de- scent. The great grandfather, Nicholson Flee- ner, emigrated from Germany and settled ill Washington County, Virginia. His son, Michael, was born on ship-board, on the pas- sage to America; when he was a young man, he fought in the war of the Revolution, and was wounded in the battle of King's Mount- ain; he received his pay in Continental money, which was worthless. He lived in Virginia all his life, where he was engaged in agricult- ural pursuits. His oldest son, Jolın Fleener, was the father of our worthy subject; he was born about the year 1770, and served in the Revolution about six months before its close. He became a farmer, and when a young man was united in marriage to a Miss Hensler, and they had born to them nine children: Nicholas, the oldest son, was under General Harrison in the war of 1812, and at the bat- tle of Tippecanoe he was severely wounded, twenty-four bullets passing through his cloth- ing. The mother died, and Mr. Fleener inar- ried in Virginia, Miss Mary Gibson, to whom were born ten children, Isaac Fleener being next to the youngest. The father removed to Washington County, Indiana, in 1811, and settled near Salem, in a heavy timber section, his nearest neighbor being fifteen iniles dis- tant; it was here that Isaac Fleener was born; his mother died when he was about two years old, and the father was married a third time, to Miss Rebecca Bortroff; she becaine the mother of five children. This was, indeed, an old-fashioned pioneer family, numbering twenty-four children.

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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