USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa > Part 32
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Mr. Coons, our subject, received a good education at Knoxville, served in his father's store for a time, and in 1875 came West to Mills County, this State, and engaged in farming, as that vocation was better suited to his nature than in-door work or even an out-door trade. At first he was employed by the month; then he rented land and fol- lowed agriculture upon his own account for awhile, and in 1880 bonght sixty-two aeres of wild prairie. This he has improved, and he has also purchased more land until he now owns 300 acres, all well improved and furnished with the necessary and convenient
buildings and enclosures. He is engaged in general farming and the rearing of live- stock, and enjoys success in these callings.
Mr. Coons is a Demverat in his political principles. Has served as Township Trustee with acceptability. Is a member of Ruby Lodge, No. 415, of Macedonia. Both him- self and wife are members of the Christian Church at Lone Star, in Silver Creek Town- ship. He was married Marel 16, 1879, in Mills County, Iowa, to Miss C. E. Harbert, a lady of culture, who was born and reared in Mills County, and they have five children, viz .: Harbert Clive, Mary J., James Ray, Leona J. and Lindsey D. Mrs. Coons is a daughter of Pareus and Mary (Hulick) Har- bert.
B F. HARBERT, a worthy citizen re- siding on section 18, Macedonia Town- ship, first came to this county and settled npon that place in 1881. He was born July 6, 1853, in Peoria County, Illi- nois, a son of Parens Harbert, a native of Johnson County, Indiana, and of English and Scotch ancestry. Parcus Harbert mar ried Mary Ann Huliek, a native of Indiana, and moved to Illinois in 1853. Some time afterward he returned to Indiana on a visit, and then in 1854 he came West with his family and settled in Mills County, Iowa, in pioneer times. He died in Glenwood, in 1865, and his widow is now residing with her son, the subject of this sketch. They reared five children: America, now tho wife of Joseph Cramer, of Wayne County, Ne- braska; B. F. was the next born; Katie, now the wife of J. M. Coons, of Macedonia Town- ship; Michael, who lives in Mills County ; and John, a resident of Carson Township.
Mr. Harbert was brought up a farmer;
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was but ten years of age when his father died, and, being the eldest son, greater re- sponsibilities fell upon him. He now owns a fine farm of 180 acres. In politics he is a Demoerat, and in religion a member of the Christian Church. He was married March 4, 1880, to Miss Cynthia A. Cramer, who was born and reared in Mills County, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (MeMullin) Cramer.
N. COPELAND, a prominent farmer of Rockford Township, was born in º North Carolina, April 27, 1811, son of Hugh and Martha (Wilson) Copeland, natives also of North Carolina and of Irish ancestry. Hugh Copeland, left an orphan when young, was reared by a tanner, whose trade he learned. At the age of twenty- one years he was married, given a set of tools, bought a piece of property and commeneed business for himself, which he followed for a number of years. He after- ward moved to Jackson County, Indiana, where his wife died in 1820, leaving five children: T. N. (our subjeet), Tirzah, Soph- ronia, Elizabeth and Armstrong; all deceased excepting our subject. After the death of his wife Mr. Hugh Copeland resided at sev- eral places in Indiana, then settled in Bu- chanan County, Missouri, taking up claims. In the spring of 1853 he bought a farm in Fremont County, Iowa, and lived upon it several years. In the meantime he married his second wife, who died in 1875, leaving nine children: W. B., John F., Hiram, Hugh, Abner, Hester, Asenath, Martha and Amos. After her death Mr. Copeland sold the farm and made his home in Sidney, Iowa, where his daughter kept house for him until his death in 1880.
Mr. T. N. Copeland, the subject of this sketch, was brought up on a farm. From the age of twenty-two years he worked four years in a mill, in the meantime being mar- ried. He next bought a tract of heavy tim- ber land, which he improved for fifteen years; and then, in 1852, he came to Pottawattamie County, and has ever since resided in Roek- ford Township. There he first bought a elaim and entered 800 acres of the present place, which was then wild land, prairie and timber; but a few aeres were eleared, and here he began anew, built a residence thirty- two feet square and two-stories high and making all the buildings necessary for a com- fortable and convenient home, including an orchard of two aeres, a fine grove of orna- mental trees, ete. The premises denote pros- perity and good judgment. At the present timne he has 240 aeres of fine land, on section 3, township 77 north and range 44 west, in the vicinity of Loveland. In actual eulti- vation there are 150 aeres, while the remain- der is in hay, pasture and timber. He gave the site for a grist-mill, afterward bought a half interest in the mill and ran it for ten years. He also dealt extensively in eattle, horses and hogs, but not recently. Also lie was for a time an extensive dealer in grain, with considerable profit. Now, in his old age, he is enjoying the well-earned results of an industrious and honorable life.
Politieally his first vote was east for the old Whig leader, Henry Clay, for President of the United States, and he has been a re- liable Republican since the organization of that party, having done much efficient work for the advancement of its primary principles. He has been treasurer of his township twenty years, and school director for a number of years.
October 15. 1835, Mr. Copeland married Miss Barbara, daughter of Thomas and Mary
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
(Shafer) Frazier, parents natives of Tennes see and Pennsylvania, respectively, and of German and Irish ancestry. They had eight children, as follows: Chapman, who resides in Harrison County, this State; Levina; Lewis Christian, residing in Buchanan, Mis- souri; James, in this county; John, deceased; Sarah, wife of Francis Frend, in Illinois; Malinda, wife of W. B. Copeland; and Eliz- abeth, now Mrs. Reuben Coffee. Mrs. Cope- land, the third child in the above family, was born May 12, 1816, and was married when past nineteen years of age. The chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Copeland have been ten in number, namely: John Fletcher, who died in infancy; Mary Sophronia, now Mrs. John Goss, in Harrison County; James Arm- strong, now deceased; Sarah, wife of David Henderson, in Harrison County; William Mead, deceased; Tirzah, married Jay Hutch- inson and resides in Rockford Township; Henry Clay, a resident of this county; and Hugh and Martha, deceased. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal and Baptist churches. All the children are set- tled in the vicinity, and all the grandchildren attend the same school.
REDERICK WRIGHT, the first child of George and Elizabeth Wright, noticed elsewhere, was born in Leicestershire, England, January 2, 1842, and came to this country with his parents in 1846. He was bronght up to farm life in the pioneer West. On attaining to manhood lie engaged in/various occupations at Council Bluffs for seven years, saving up some money, with which he pur- chased a small farm in Boomer Township, of forty acres of wild prairie. There he erected a residence, but soon afterward he returned to Council Bluffs and November 25, 1868,
married Miss Francis E. Hough, a daughter of J. R. and Cedelia Ilough, and born in this county September 30, 1848, supposed to be the first white female child born in Pottawattamie County. After his marriage he settled upon his farm, where he made his home until 1883, when he came to his pres- ent place on section 3, Hazel Dell Township. This fine place comprises 120 acres. He also owns a tract of six acres of timber land in Rockford Township. His farm he has im- proved from a wild condition; has erected a neat frame residence 26 x38 feet, with barns, etc. His place is devoted to general farmn- ing and the rearing of live-stock. He is an energetic farmer, standing in the front ranks of the yeomanry of this enterprising section of the country. Politically he is not a part- izan, as he casts his vote for the best man of any party. He is a member of the Mntual Protection Society, is always ready to assist in anything tending to the public welfare, and is a popular man. His two children are: Ada, born August 21, 1870, and Joel R., born May 14, 1876. .
OVRIDGE SAMUEL AXTELL, now a prominent farmer of Boomer Town- ship, was born November 24, 1832, at Sheakleyville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. His grandfather was Thomas Axtell, born in New Jersey in 1750, was a Revolutionary soldier, and settled soon after the war in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He first married Mary Tuttle, and they had eight children: Nathan, Hannah, Sally, Cecilia, Polly, Phoebe, Ruth and Samuel. After his wife's death he was again married, to Nelly McLain, and they had two sons: Charles and Thomas. Samuel Axtell, above mentioned, the father of the subject of our biography,
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was born about 1794, was reared on a farm, graduated at Washington College, and then took a thorough course in the profession of medicine. He married Mary Lovridge, the youngest ot three daughters (the only ehil- dren) of John Lovridge, a German farmer of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Soon after their marriage they moved to Sheakley- ville, Pennsylvania, where the Doctor had a large and sneeessful practice for nearly fifty years. They raised ten children, namely: Bethsheba (a mute), who married Peter Bur- nett (also a mute); William Harvey, a physi- cian of Sheakleyville, Pennsylvania; Permelia, wife of G. W. Lord, of Meadville, l'ennsyl- vania; Jane, wife of Louis Burson, of Spar- land, Illinois; Ilannah, wife of Dr. J. M. Dillie, of Cooperstown, Pennsylvania; Milton Bloehley, M. D., of Pepin, Wisconsin; Abijah Clinton, M. D., of Youngsville, Pennsyl- vania; Lovridge Samuel, the subject of this sketch; Nathan Hutton, minister of a Meth- odist Episcopal Church at Chicago, Illinois; Joseph Monroe, whose biography will be found elsewhere in this volume. Of this large family all but one, Permelia, have raised large families, and are at this date still living.
L. S. Axtell had the advantage of a good common-school education, and also attended Allegheny College during the seasons of 1850-'51-'52, teaching during the winters. In 1854 he was chosen, in connection with Dr. Owens, of Conneautville, Pennsylvania, as agent for a colony of about 200 families in Western Pennsylvania, who proposed remov- ing to Kansas, and as sneh agent he made an extensive tour through Kansas in the fall of that year. He was one of the judges of election appointed by Governor Reader at the first general election ever held in Kansas, March 30, 1855, when the polls of his pre- cinet, now Burlingame, were foreibly taken possession of by a horde of Missourians, and
Colonel Younger, of Jackson County, Mis- souri, a relative of the notorious Younger brothers, was elected to the Kansas Legis- lature. During 1855 Mr. Axtell taught school at Lee's (postoffice), now Lee's Summit, in Jackson County, Missouri. September 14 of that year he married Saralı, daughter of Ira Halloway, a farmer of Now Ver- non, Pennsylvania, and both were employed at the school above referred to until July, . 1856, when they removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Here Mr. Axtell was employed about a year by J. P. Williams at carpenter work, a trade he had partially acquired during his minority.
At Council Bluff's a daughter, Flora, was born, and a few months later, April 24, 1857, the mother died, to be followed the sueeeed- ing fall by her babe. After the death of his wife and ehild, Mr. Axtell commeneed teach- ing the publie school, then the only one, in Council Bluffs. It was taught in a large log building on Madison, now First street, that had been ereeted by the Mormons as a church, and afterward appropriated by the gentiles as a court-house. There Mr. Axtell labored hard, and under the eirenmstanees sneeess- fully, with an average daily attendance of eighty-five pupils and a highest daily attend- ance of 105. April 17, 1862, Mr. Axtell married Franees Sarah Wade, daughter of Henry and Mary (Carter) Wade. Her parents were natives of England, emigrating in 1850 to St. Louis, Missouri, and removing in 1854 to Council Bluffs. Mr. Wade raised five children, all danghters, namely: Mary Ann, Franees, Roseanna, Isabella and Elizabeth. Frances, with whom we are especially inter- ested, was born January 16, 1841.
With the exception of about a year spent in the Colorado gold mines, near Black Hawk, Mr. Axtell taught almost continuously in Council Bluffs until the spring of 1865.
& C Münster
Maria Manuten
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
During the latter portion of this time he taught the high school, and was also Superin- tendent of schools for the county. His health being seriously impaired by his long confinement in the school-room, he removed, in April, 1865, to his present place of resi- dence in Boomer Township, and commenced his farm life. Mr. Axtell has been more than ordinarily successful. His original farın of 120 acres has grown to about 400, and sup- ports a large stock of hogs, cattle and horses. His buildings, reared by his own hands, are large, neat and commodious. Mr. Axtell has been very successful, too, as a fruit-grower. His orchard, commenced over twenty years ago, has by later additions grown to be over ten acres and has never failed for a single season, since large enough to bear, to yield a plentiful supply of fruit.
Politically Mr. Axtell has from early man- hood, especially since his Kansas experience, acted with the Republican party. He repre- sented this county in the Legislature of 1873-'74, and was very appropriately made Chairman of the Committee on Schools. July 30, 1874, he was stricken with paralysis of the right side, subsiding gradually into the right leg. From this attack he has but partially recovered, going about with diffi- culty by the help of a cane.
In religious matters Mr. Axtell, though for- merly a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is now considered liberal, or skep- tical. While retaining a reverent belief in the existence and beneficence of God and a strong hope of future lite, he has lost all confidence in so-called revelation or proph- eey and the conflicting dogmas of human creeds.
Mr. Axtell and his estimable wife are enjoy- ing in comfort the quiet evening of their active lives, surrounded by a pleasant family to whom their highest ambition is to leave a
character unsullied and an example worthy of their imitation. They have eight children, born and named as follows: Lovridge Hutton, born April 9, 1864; Charles Monroe, May 7, 1866; Ida Permelia, October 4, 1868; Aggie Jane, January 4, 1871; Henry Wade, September 25, 1874; Frank, February 13, 1876, died one year later; Walter Gar- field, born May 7, 1879; and Spencer Bur- son, Angust 27, 1882.
HRISTOPHIER O. MYNSTER, a pio- neer of Pottawattamie County, was born in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark, June 24, 1796. He was reared to the busi- ness of merchandising, and married Miss Maria Jensen, who was also born in the capi- tal city of Denmark. Their son, Wilhelm, was born in 1843. In 1846 Mr. and Mrs. Mynster, with their only child, came to America and located in the city of Washing- ton, District of Columbia, where Mr. Myn- ster engaged in merchandising. When the gold fever in California broke out, Mr. Myn- ster formed plans for going to the Pacific coast, and started westward in the summer of 1850. Reaching Council Bluffs, he was favorably impressed with the appearance of the country, and with the promises that real estate gave he decided to stop here. He accordingly bought a large number of claims of Mormon residents who were about to leave. Returning to Washington, he brought out his family in the spring of 1851, and settled at Council Bluffs. But he did not long survive, becoming a victim of that fatal disease, cholera, his death occurring on the 16th of August, 1852. The sudden death of Mr. Mynster and the consequent unsettled state of his business served as an opportunity
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
for unprincipled men, who, taking advantage of circumstances, "jumped " most of the claims that Mr. Mynster had purchased, and deprived the family of much of the lands that properly belonged to them. Mrs. Myn- ster, however, deprived by the death of her husband, took charge of his business and soon proved that she possessed remarkable business capacity, although not able to retain much of the land that her husband had por- chased. She bought the land that now con- stitutes the Mynster Addition to the city of Council Bluffs, which she laid out and real- ized much therefrom. In 1882 she erected in the city what is known as the Mynster Blocks, on each side of Broadway.
The Mynster Park, where she now resides, is a most beautiful locality. The place com- prises several hundred acres of timber land, which she obtained in 1860, and also a num- ber of beautiful and remarkable springs, some of which contain valuable medicinal properties; and they, together with the beautiful surrounding seenery, promise in the near future to make a popular resort. At this writing she is about to lay out Mynster Park into lots, with an avenue 100 feet wide, and has obtained from the city a charter for a street ear or motor line through the same, and by the time this sketch is published it will be built and many handsome residences erected on the same. W. A. Mynster, her only son, is a very prominent lawyer of Council Bluffs, and the father of four sons and one daughter.
Mrs. Mynster was much younger than her husband, having been born in 1823, and is certainly a lady of marked ability and busi- ness capacity. Though Mr. Mynster did not long survive after his removal to Iowa, yet he lived long enough to establish the eharae- ter of an npright, honest and energetic eiti- zen. He was a consistent member of the
Lutheran Church, a kind husband and father, and in all respects an estimable citizen.
LEX. OSLER, a member of the Board of Supervisors of Pottawattamie County, is a popular and esteemed resident of Grove Township and an early settler of the county. He came here in 1864 and has since made this place his home.
Mr. Osler was born in Randolph County, Indiana, February 6, 1850, the son of Or- man and Lonisa (Banta) Osler. His father was born in Maryland, near Baltimore, of German extraction, and his mother was a native of the Buckeye State. They were married in Randolph County, Indiana, and, in 1856, moved to Benton County, Iowa. They made their home in that county until 1864, when they came to this place. Here the father improved a farm and here they both spent the remainder of their days, both dying in the spring of 1872, the father at the age of fifty and the mother forty-five. They left eight children, five sons and three daughters. Alex. spent his youth at farm work and obtained his education in the pub- lic schools of Benton and Pottowattamie counties, Iowa. In 1873 he located on the land which he has since improved and which is now under an excellent state of cultivation. Mr. Osler erected a good frame house on a natural building site, planted a grove and orchard, built a barn, has a modern wind- mill, and his farm is well fenced. He is here engaged in general farming and stoek- raising.
Mr. Osler was married, April 22, 1872, to Miss Hannah E. Johnson, a native of Ohio. Her father, John R. Johnson, came to this county in 1871, and resided here until his death occurred.
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
Mr. and Mrs. Osler have two children: Benjamin Adrian and Ethel Louisa. Their first born, Orman, died at the age of six years. Politieally the subject of this sketch is a Republican. He is one of the stanch members of that party in his county. He has served as a Justice of the Peace and in other minor county offices. As a member of the Board of Supervisors he is an efficient and popular officer, filling the position with credit to himself and also to his constituents. Mr. Osler is a gentleman in the prime of life. He is frank and cordial in his manner, is noted for his integrity, and is honored and respected by all who know him.
R. HOUGII, a farmer and raiser of live- stock in Hazel Dell Township, was born in Oswego County, New York, August 7, 1821, the son of Joel and Sally (Stillson) Hongh, natives of Connecticut, and of Irish and German ancestry. After their marriage the parents moved from Connecti- cnt into the State of New York; in 1841 they came to Lee County, Iowa, where they spent the remainder of their days, the mother dying October 19, 1842, and the father about 1844. J. R., the youngest of their children, and the only one now living, was reared in his native State, and was nineteen years of age when he came to Iowa with his parents. April 5, 1842, he married Miss Cedilia P. Spinnings, who was born in Oneida County, New York, June 30, 1824, the daughter of Edward Il. and Eliza (Darling) Spinnings, natives of the Empire State and of German and Irish descent. Mrs. Hough is the eldest of their three children. She has one brother and one sister, the former in Colorado and the latter in California. After his marriage Mr. Hongh located in Lee County, just men-
tioned, and in 1848 he removed to Pottawat- tamie County, locating in what is now Hazel Dell Township. Two years afterward he moved into Harrison County, and two years after that again he returned to this county, residing near Council Bluffs a year, and finally he purchased a claim of about eighty acres on section 8, Hazel Dell Township. He has since entered 120 acres adjoining and pur- chased more, until he now has a total of 326 acres, on sections 8, 9, 4 and 5. When he first settled there the only improvement was a log cabin and five acres fenced, and he has since thoroughly improved the place and made a home as attractive as any in that part of the county; but he had to undergo many hardships and suffer much and long before he reached the topmost round of the ladder. Besides thus earning his own prosperity he has also done much toward the improvement of the community. fis present commodious residence, a frame 28 x 20 with an addition of fourteen feet square, was erected in 1867. Beautiful shade trees ornament the grounds, and good barns, etc., which he has erected for his stock and grain.
Politically he has been an active Demo- crat, taking a zealous and intelligent interest in public affairs. Ile has been Township Trustee, member of the School Board, etc. Not only has he witnessed the growth of the county from its primeval state to its present high stage, but he has put his own " shoulder to the wheel" and aided in the processes which have been so effectual, and thus has won for himself a large circle of friends. He is a member of the Farmers' Alliance. Ile has had eight children, namely: Morris A., George R., Frances and Adelbert, all residents of Hazel Dell Township, Frances being the wife of Frederick Wright; Edgar B. and Laura Ellen, both deceased. The latter was the wife of Ilenry Cafferty, a resident of this
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
township; Seraph C., also deceased, the wife of Ephraim Ross, of Harrison County; Ida A., wife of Isaac Goodwin, of Colorado.
HI. KELLER is one of the intelligent, enterprising and successful citizens of Grove Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. He came to this place in the fall of 1880, and lias since made it his home. Mr. Keller was born near Newark, Licking County, Ohio, February 4, 1848. His fath- er, H. M. Keller, also a native of Licking County, is a son of Jacob Keller, a Pennsyl- vania Dutchman, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania in 1796, and was one of the early settlers of eastern Ohio. The mother of our subject, nee Anna HIenton, was born in Fairfield County, Ohio. Her father, John Henton, was a native of Virginia and a de- scendant of an old family of that State. Mr. and Mrs. Keller still reside in Lieking Coun- ty, where they have a competence. They reared a family of three sons and three daughters, the subject of this sketeli being the third born, and the only one in the State of Iowa. He was reared on a farm and re- ceived his education in the public schools. He learned the trade of plasterer, at which he worked at intervals for a number of years.
In 1880 Mr. Keller came to this county and bought his present farm of Henry Eise- man. Since that time he has spent much money in the improvement of his place, hav- ing built a lionse and done a large amount of fencing. llis house is situated on a beauti- ful building site; is 16 x 30 feet, two stories high, and has an addition 20 x 26 feet. It is surrounded by a grove and orchard compris- ing four acres. The whole farm is well cul- tivated and everything about the place shows the thrift and good taste of the owner. Of
the 200 acres in his farm, 160 acres are in section 8 and forty acres are in section 20. Mr. Keller feeds to his stock all the grain he raises, usually keeping about forty head of cattle besides hogs.
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