USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa > Part 23
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In 1865 Mr. Rollins came to Pottawatta- mie County and purchased forty aeres of land in Center Township. This he afterward sold to A. L. Brown. He then rented land of Mrs. Fuller for one year, after which he bought eighty acres in Valley Township. That farm he exchanged for eighty acres in section 15, Center Township. After im- proving it to some extent he sold it and again rented land. In 1886 he purchased his pres- ent farin of eighty acres. The soil had been broken, but there were no buildings on the place. He has since made many im-
provements, has erected a good house and barn, and everything about the premises shows thrift and prosperity. Mr. Rollins is engaged in general farming and some car- pentering, and during a portion of the year he operates a thresher and corn-sheller. He is a Republican; has served as Constable, Justice of the Peace, and as a member of the School Board.
ALTER I. SMITH, one of the yonng- est, though most prominent members of the bar of Council Bluffs, is a na- tive of this city, born July 10, 1862. Ilis father, George F. Smith, was an early resi- dent of Council Bluffs. Mr. Smith was educated in the publie schools of this city, graduating at the high-school, in the class of 1878. He began the study of law in August, 1881, in the office of Colonel D. B. Dailey, and was admitted in December, 1882. After his admission he continued with Colonel Dailey until 1885, since which time he has been alone in practice. Mr. Smith, though one of the youngest members of the bar of Pottawattamie County, has already taken high rank as a lawyer, and is recognized as a young man of marked ability, whose future gives promise of a most successful and useful career. Mr. Smith is a most industrions student of his profession, and a gentleman of extensive and varied reading, and is num- bered among the progressive and enterprising citizens of Council Bluffs, where all his life, thus far, has been passed. June 19, 1890, at the age of twenty-seven, he was unanimonsły nominated for the office of District Judge by the Republican Judicial Convention of the Fifteenth District of Iowa, composed of the counties of Audubon, Shelby, Pottawattamie, Cass, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont and Page,
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and was elected November 4th following. running 667 votes ahead of his ticket in Pottawattamie County.
ARREN DEAN, an early settler and prominent citizen of Wright Town- ship, Pottawattamie County, was born in Rhode Island, March 8, 1843. His father, Edward Dean, formerly a worthy citi- zen and pioneer of Wright Township, now resides in Griswold, Cass County, Iowa, both he and his wife being past eighty years old. He was born at Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1810, and his wife, nee Mary Ann West, was born in Massachusetts in 1809. She is a daughter of Amos and Avis (Horton) West, who lived as man and wife for sixty-eight years. Her father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and lived to be ninety-six years old. The Deans were of an old New England family. Edward Dean married his present wife in Rhode Island, and in 1856 came to Iowa, settling in Wright Township, this county, being the third family to locate in the township. Here they lived until 1884, when they removed to Griswold.
Warren Dean was a lad of thirteen years when his parents came West. His youth was spent on a farm in this frontier distriet, and his education was obtained in a log school- house. During the civil war he tendered his services to his country, enlisting in August, 1862, in Company I, Twenty-third Iowa In- fantry Volunteers. William Dewey being his first Colonel. Mr. Dean was a brave soldier and participated in many of the important engagements of the war. He was first under lire at Port Gibson; was at the siege and sur- render of Vieksburg; went with General Banks up the Red River; was at the siege of Mobile; and finally received an honorable
discharge at Harrisburg, Texas, whither he had been ordered from Mobile.
After the war he returned to Pottawatta- mie County and engaged in agrienltural pur- suits on his father's farm. April 3, 1867, near where Atlantie now stands, Cass County, Iowa, Mr. Dean wedded Miss Georgiana Hardenbergh, who had been a successful teacher of Cass and Pottawattamie counties. She was born in Ulster County, New York, July 6, 1844, and was a young girl when her parents moved to Lee County, Illinois. From there the family moved to Cass County, Iowa, in 1859. Her father and mother, Thomas H. and Fanny (Niver) Hardenbergh, both na- tives of New York State, now reside near Atlantic, where they have made their home for many years. After his marriage, Mr. Dean lived on the old farm for four years. In 1871 he moved to a portion of his present farm. Ile now owns 380 acres of as good land as there is in this county. His com- fortable home and surroundings indicate the taste and refinement of its ocenpants and also the prosperity which has attended them. Ile is engaged in general farming and stoek- raising, and has been eminently snecessful.
He and his wite are the parents of four children: Carrie M., who was educated at Simpson College, Indianola, is a popular teacher and an artist of rare ability; Ada L., George W. and Rae L. Mr. Dean's political views are in harmony with Republican prin- ciples. He has served as Township Clerk and as a member of the School Board. He has been identified with the Christian Church, but, as that society has no organization in his vicinity, he worships at the Methodist Epis- copal Church of Whipple, and is a liberal supporter of the same. His wife is an active and zealons member of that church, and is Superintendent of the Sabbath-school. Mr. Dean is a member of the G. A. R., and is
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associated with Worthington Post, No. 9, Griswold.
AMUEL B. PASSMORE was born in West Nottingham Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, December 13, 1827, son of John W. Passmore, a native of the same county. His grandfather and his great-grandfather, Ellis and George Passmore, were also natives of Pennsylvania. The first Passmore who landed in this country was a Friend, came here with William Penn and settled in Pennsylvania. All his descendants down to the present generation have belonged to the Society of Friends. The wife of John W. and the mother of Samuel B. Passmore was nee Deborah Brown, a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania. She is a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Brown) Brown, also natives of the Keystone State. John W. and Deborah Passmore reared four children, as follows: Ellis P., a resident of Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland; Samuel B., whose name heads this article; Elizabeth Ruth, widow of Eliphaz Cheyney, Westchester, Pennsylvania, and Colonel Jolin Andrew Moore Passmore, No. 318 South Forty-second street, Philadelphia, a prominent resident of that place. He was an officer in the late war, and is now manager at Philadelphia for D. Appleton & Co. John W. Passmore died in June, 1848, at the age of forty-six years. His relict has been for forty-four years a widow. She is now ninety years of age and resides with her son Ellis in Cecil County, Mary- land. When she made a visit to her son in Iowa, in 1881, she was in good health and quite active.
Sammel B. Passmore was reared on his father's farm in Chester County, l'ennsyl- vania, and received his education in the pub-
lie schools. March 28, 1850, he wedded Miss Hannah M. Jackson, a native of that county. Her parents, Joshua and Sarah (Cook) Jack- son, were also born in Chester County, Penn- sylvania. Mr. Passmore and his wite remained in their native county until May 22, 1855, when they moved to Bureau County, Illinois. There he rented land and lived until 1870, when he came to Wright Town- ship, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and bought 160 acres of land; this was all wild prairie land. He also bought ten acres of timber, situated three miles from his farm. He was among the early settlers of this part of the country, and at that time deer were frequently seen on his premises or in view of his dwell- ing. He has since developed his farm and it is now under a good state of cultivation. Maple Grove, as he is pleased to call it, is considered one of the finest farms in Wright Township. Mr. Passmore erected a com- fortable one-and-a-half-story house, which, surrounded with beautiful evergreens and shrubs, makes an attractive home. In 1874 he purchased 160 acres of prairie land which adjoined his farm, making 320 acres in one body. He has an artificial grove of thirteen aeres and an orchard comprising three acres. His barn is 44 x 46 feet, with eighteen feet posts, and a rock foundation. His farm is divided into five fields for pasture, meadow and grain; and among other improvements made by Mr. Passmore are two windmills and 1,600 rods of osage-orange and 200 rods of willow hedge. He has some fine specimens of stock, both cattle and hogs. Maple Grove is, indeed, a beautiful home, and one of which the owner should be justly prond.
Mr. Passmore and his wife have ten chil- dren, viz .: Amor C., of Aurora, Buchanan County, Iowa; Ella Deborah, wife of A. J. Lipp, Wright Township; Orlando C. resides near Linden, Dallas County, Iowa; Ida A.,
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wife of J. C. Morris, Guthrie County, Iowa; Ellwood Lovejoy, at home; Anna Mary, wife of H. Nolta, Dexter, Dallas County, Iowa; Ellis l'., in the nursery business at Cloverdale, California; Willie T., Dallas County, Iowa; Emma L., wife of N. G. Brown, Cass County, Iowa; and Lincoln G., at home.
Like his worthy ancestors, Mr. Passmore is a Quaker. He, however, attends the Meth- odist Episcopal Church of Whipple; has been a trustee for several years and is a liberal supporter of that church. He is one of the leading Republicans of his township, and is chairman of the Republican Central Com- mittee. He was formerly a Free Soiler, and was one of the three in his township who voted that ticket in 1852, the township cast- ing 200 votes. He has served in most of the township offices, is at present Township Trus- tee, and has always used his influence for the best interests of the community.
Mr. Passmore is past sixty, but bears his age lightly. He is frank and cordial in his manner, with a vein of humor in his make- up, and he is highly esteemed by all who know him. His family are refined and cultured, and are ranked with the best society of the community.
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ELSON LEWIS, of Lewis Township, is a native of Monroe, Michigan, born December 25, 1838, the son of Silas and Lydia Lewis. He was the ninth in a family of ten children. He was reared to farm life in his native State, and received his education in the public schools. When he was fifteen years of age he commenced work- ing for himself, and in his seventeenth year came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where he has since made his home. He was en- gaged in various pursuits during his younger
days, and in 1856 le made a trip to Texas, where he remained during the winter. He then returned to Pottawattamie County, and during the years 1861-'62 was engaged in freighting aeross the plains from Council Bluffs to Denver, and in 1863 he freighted from Council Bluffs to Fort Randall. April 12, 1864, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Emily Jane Musser, who was born in Knox County, Ohio, August 26, 1846, the daughter of John and Caroline A. (Souls) Musser. The parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio previous to their marriage. From that State they came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, and purchased a farm in what is now Garner Township, where they made their home until the death of Mr. Musser, which occurred October 21, 1868. The father was a cabinet-maker and honse-joiner by occupation. They had a family of nine children, viz .: William A., of Indianapolis, Indiana; Charles O., of Nebraska, Frances L., wife of Henry Palmer, residing in Coun- cil Bluffs; Emily J., wife of the subject of this sketch; Hester A., wife of Samuel Underwood, of Garner Township; Mary E., wife of Charles Green, residing in Neola Township; Martha E., wife of John Flem- ming, of Dakota; Abbie M., wife of George W. Ballinger, of Dawson County, Nebraska; Julia A., wife of William Ballinger, of Omaha. Mrs. Musser is still a resident of Garner Township.
Nelson Lewis, our subject, purchased a farm shortly after his marriage, in Lewis Township, consisting of eighty acres, on see- tion 16, where he commenced making improve- ments. He ereeted a good frame residence, 24 x 32 feet, and also barns for stock and grain; he has the finest stock barn in this part of the county, which is 56x 104 feet, and contains a steam mill for grinding meal and feed. He has fine groves and eight
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
acres of orchard. Mr. Lewis has added to his first purchase until he now possesses 280 acres, on sections 16 and 21, Lewis Town- ship, and forty acres in Mills County. His home and surroundings denote thrift and prosperity. In April, 1884, he engaged in thic dairy business, and now he has one of the most extensive dairies in the county, keeping 150 cows, and milking daily about 175 gallons. He is a live, energetic man, who has by his honesty and integrity won a large circle of friends. In his political views he is a Prohibitionist, and has represented his township in most of its various offices, He was also instrumental in organizing Lewis Township.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are the parents of twelve children, viz .: Lydia May, Charles W., Edwin J., Frank N., Jessie A., Eva E., Harry B. and Walter S. (deceased), Freddie O., Bertie A., Vernon S. and an infant son.
OOSTER FAY, of Lewis Township, is a native of Franklin County, Ver- mont, born November 18, 1819, the son of Jonathan and Ruth (Elsworth) Fay. The parents were natives of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and of Scotch and Eng- lish origin. They had three children: Ad- dison, a resident of Bowling Green, Ohio; Wooster, our subject; and Hollis, deceased in 1868.
Wooster Fay, our subject, was reared in his native State nntil he was fifteen years of age, when his family removed to Wood County, Ohio. He was reared to farm life, and re- ceived his education in the common schools. When the family went to Wood County it was a new country, they being among the pioneers. They improved a farm which they entered from the Government, and here he
lost his parents. He remained in Wood County twenty-one years, and in 1855 came west to Iowa. In the spring of 1856 he came to Pottawattamie County and purchased a farm of 200 acres of partially improved land, in what is now Keg Creek Township. In the fall of 1856 he removed with his family to Pottawattamie County, where they commenced life again in a new country, and for the second time became a pioneer. IIc remained in Keg Creek Township until April, 1889, when he removed to his present home, on section 4, Lewis Township. He has a comfortable little home with three acres of land, and here he expects to spend his remaining days. IIe has labored hard in assisting in the development of Pottawatta- mie County, having improved 176 acres of prairie land, which he disposed of at various times, and has also purchased other land. The home farm is on sections 20, 28 and 29, Keg Creek. This he improved and made his home until he removed to his present place. He dealt in stock principally, in con- nection with his farming, and the last twelve or thirteen years he has taken special pride in the rearing of a better grade of stock, in the short-horn class. l'olitically he is a Re- publican, and has represented his county as a member of the Board of Supervisors for six years, from 1874 to 1880. He represented his township in the State Legislature for three terms and a half, and in all of his politi- cal eareer he has never asked a man to vote for him.
Mr. Fay was married in Wood County, Ohio, November 9, 1846, to Charlotte M. McMillan, who was born in Seneca County, Ohio, March 10, 1826. She was the daugh- ter of Morrison and Clarissa (Brown) MeMil- lan, natives of New York and Canada, and of Scotch origin. Mr. and Mrs. Fay have four children, namely: Emma, born October 15,
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1847, is the wife of Samuel II. Hopkins, re- siding in Macedonia, Pottawattamie County: Morrison M., a resident of Franklin County, Nebraska, born August 27, 1849; Jane, born July 10, 1851, the wife of Logan Reynolds; Isoletta, born June 8, 1866, wife of James Pershell, residing in Lincoln County, Wash- ington. The family are among the most worthy and respected citizens of the county, and have by their honesty and integrity won a large cirele of friends.
ILLIAM L. DEAN came to Wright Township, Pottawattamie County, lowa, in 1856, and has since made this place his home. He was born in Rhode Island, December 18, 1848, son of Edward and Mary A. (West) Dean, prominent and early citizens of this township. A further account of them will be found on another page of this work, in the sketch of Warren Dean.
The subject of this sketch is the youngest of the family and was only seven years of age when his parents came West and located in this township, being among the pioneer set- tlers here. He attended the public schools and grew to manhood on the frontier. To the rudiments of an education thus obtained he added a larger knowledge by private study and reading at home. He was married, No- vember 2, 1868, in Cass County, Iowa, to Miss Emily Wright, daughter of Simeon and Emeline (Arnold) Wright, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of New York. Her father is a prominent pioneer of this township, it having been named in honor of him. For several years he was a member of the County Board of Supervisors.
Mr. Dean remained on the home farm for five years after his marriage and then came to his
present farm, which he had partly improved before removing to it. He first purchased eighty acres, and from time to time, as for- tune favored him, he bought more land until he is now the owner of 500 acres, one of the best farms in the eastern part of the county. His residence, a modern frame house with bay windows and porches, was built in 1881, at a cost of $2,100. It is surrounded by a beautiful lawn, dotted over with evergreens and shrubs, and makes a cosy and attractive home. Mr. Dean has a good barn with a rock foundation, other farm buildings and con- veniences, and a supply of water near the surface of the ground. Ilis farm is divided into ten different fields, separated by good fences. Twenty acres of river bottom are in timber, and he also has a ten-acre grove of thrifty young trees.
Mr. and Mrs. Dean have five children, namely: Augusta M., who has been a teacher and is now attending Simpson College at Indianola; Charlotte B., Edward A., Georgia May and Alice Effie, all at home. Mr. Dean was a member of the Christian Church when that society had an organiza- tion in this vicinity, but more recently he has taken an active interest in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Whipple, of which his wife and two daughters are members. IIe is a Republican, and is the present Trustee of Wright Township. He has also served sev- eral years on the School Board.
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W. PIERCE, one of the enterprising and successful citizens of Washington Township, came to Iowa in 1870, first settling in Mills County. He was born in Windsor County, Vermont, April 22, 1852, a son of Albert A., who was a native of New Hampshire, and a son of Alpheus . Pierce,
MG. F. Cohen
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
who was born in Vermont, The Pieree family is of Puritan aneestry, and one of the ancestors was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The mother of our subjeet was Mary (McCollough) Pieree, who was born in New Hampshire, a daughter of John MeCollough, a native of sonthwestern Scotland, and of Scotch-Irish descent. Albert A. Pierce and wife made their home in New York until their death, the mother dying in 1873, at the age of about thirty-eight years, and the father in North Carolina, while there on business. He was a tanner and enrrier by trade, but later in life was engaged as a traveling solic- itor. Politieally he was a Republican, and in religion was a member of the Presbyterian Church. The mother was a member of the Episcopal Church. They were the parents of two children: O. W., our subject, and Etta, who died at the age of twenty-six years.
(). W. Pierce was reared in Vermont until thirteen years of age, when he went to New York city and remained five years. At the age of eighteen he came West to Iowa. While in New York city he was engaged as clerk in a wholesale house, and his education was received mostly by attending a night school in that eity. In 1870 he settled in Mills County, Anderson Township, Iowa, and was engaged in farming there until 1877, when he purchased 120 acres of wild land in Washington Township, Pottawattamie Coun- ty, where he has since resided. He now owns 280 aeres, 200 of which is in one body, and the remainder is located a half mile north of section 12, and all is under a good state of cultivation. He is engaged in gen- eral farming and stock-raising, and has some thoroughbred stoek of the highest grades.
Mr. Pieree was married in Mills County, Iowa, in 1877, to Miss Frances M. Wilson, a native of that county, and daughter of Will- iam B. and Ann (Watson) Wilson. The
parents now reside in Mills County, near Hastings. Mrs. Pierce was a successful teacher before her marriage. They have had six children, viz .: Fred Wilson, Edith May, Arthur Winfield, Edna Jenny, Leonard Al- bert, and William C., who died when a babe. Mrs. Pierce died February 15, 1889; she was an affectionate wife and mother, and her death was a great loss to her family and friends. She was reared in, and was for several years connected with, the Methodist Church. Politically Mr. Pieree is a Repub- lican, and has served as Township Clerk and Assessor with eredit to himself and the best interests of the township.
ILLARD F. ROHRER .- Mr. Roh- rer has been a resident of Couneil Bluffs, Iowa, since July, 1871, arriv- ing before he had attained the age of twenty- one. He came originally from Rohrersville, Washington County, Maryland, where he was boru on the old family farm, Angust 30, 1850, the family of which they are represent- atives having been natives of Pennsylvania, and of German aneestry.
The greatest excitement during his boy- hood days was that created by "Old John Brown," at Ilarper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1859, which was only twelve miles distant. He received a common-school education in the private and public seliools of Boonsboro, and Keedysville, Maryland. During the late war, his home was on the border of the bat- tle-field of Antietam, the battle having been fonght September 17, 1862. He was at that time aged twelve years.
Even at this age he was pressed into service as a nurse, as his father's honse, barn and wood-house were turned into hospitals, and all possible aid rendered by the family to the
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wounded soldiers of the " Federal Army." He left his native State and home to begin life for himself in 1870, to accept an engage- ment to travel for a wholesale glove house in Chicago, and, having elosed this engagement in the fall, he then located for the winter near Avalon, Livingston County, Missouri, at which place he engaged in teaching school.
In the spring of 1870 he selected their present family farm of 280 acres in said county, and immediately wrote for his father and family, and upon their arrival from Maryland he assisted in putting in the spring crops.
As stated before, in July, 1871, he made his first appearance in Council Bluffs, to in- troduce a fall wheat brand of flour manufact- ured by Snively & Hedges, of Wathena, Kan- sas. At the expiration of three months he was ordered to Texas to introduce the same flour, and on account of being pleased with the business outlook in Council Bluffs he resigned his position and decided to make this eity his home.
He found immediate employment as elerk of the Briggs Honse, which was then one of the leading hotels. He was next employed in the Postoffice Bookstore of Brackett & Gonlden as a clerk, which position he held until D. W. Bushnell succeeded J. P. Goul- den, at which time he was appointed Deputy Sheriff by ex-Sheriff George Doughty, de- ceased.
In the discharge of his duties as Sheriff it was necessary for him to ride over the entire county: inasmuch as only about one-half of the farm land was ocenpied and feneed at that time, he rode in every direction over the grand prairies that now constitute many of the most valuable farmns. Following this he was employed by J. M. Palmer to assist in opening the first frame hotel and depot on the identical ground now occupied by the
briek and stone Union (Pacific) Passenger Depot.
Subsequently he was appointed agent of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska, and bill elerk of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad in this eity, by J. W. Morse, late general passenger agent of the Union Pacific Railroad.
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