USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa > Part 46
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Meadville, Keya Paha County, Nebraska, (both have families and both served through the war of the Rebellion), and Marcia E., born in Hancock County, Illinois, July 26, 1845, to which county he had removed in the spring of 1844, and where his wife died Sep- tember 8, 1846, and the infant died Septem- ber 25, 1846.
IIe had purchased a forty-acre farm, and had begun to accumulate around him the comforts of life, when the destroying angel entered and desolation reigned supreme. This was indeed a day of adversity, and, to add to his afflictions, the horrors of a " Mormon war" seemed impending, mobs of infuriated men traversing the country threatening devastation and ruin! and to avoid the impending conflict he again re- moved to the adjoining county of Hender- son, to remain until peace and order were restored, which was soon accomplished.
He then returned to his home in Hancock County, where he remained until he removed to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in June, 1852. In the meantime he took a second wife, by the name of Almera W. Johnson, by whom he had three danghters. Her family were quite numerous and conspicuous in the Mormon church. In the spring of 1853 he bought a claim on section 30, town- ship, 76, range 43, and subsequently entered the south west one-fourth thereof, and afterward added eighty acres of the same section. The only improvement on the land was a small log cabin, in which he made his home until 1857, when by dint of hard work and strict economy he succeeded in erecting a comfort- able frame house and other necessary out- buildings; large and spacious barns were added from time to time.
About this time and three years sub- sequently a warning proclamation for the scattered remnants of saints to flee to the
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mountains, to the only place of safety on this continent from the devastations of impend- ing war, was issued by Brigham Young, and there was a general departure of the faithful from this part of the country, and especially of the Johnson family; and to go and leave one behind was not to be thought of. Henee an influence was brought to bear upon Mrs. . Barton, which culminated in her going with the rest in the summer of 1861. Thus in the forty-ninth year of his age, and twenty- third of his married life, he was the second time bereft of wife; and this time, what was dearer than wife; three girls died, the eldest eleven years, and the youngest five years and six months; the youngest died December 20, 1861, and the eldest died March 23, 1870.
The mother and only one daughter (feeble- minded) still live at Parowan, Utah. In June, 1884, having arrived at an age when he could not attend properly to the At this time (1861) the war of the Rebel- lion had become notorious, and Mr. Barton's eldest son, being of age, enlisted in Company B, Fourth Iowa Infantry. His other son, not yet twenty, received his permission, and enlisted in Company A, Twenty-nineth Iowa Volunteer Infantry; thus leaving Mr. Barton alone on the farm, a sort of recluse, to "hold the fort," and " ponder upon the vicisitudes of human life." At the close of the war the sons returned without the mark of a Rebel bullet, but impaired in health. care and labors of a farm, and on account of the feeble state of his wife's health, he was induced to sell the farm, which was well supplied with choice fruits, containing over 300 bearing trees. This arrangement was carried out, and he removed to Weston, his present residence, where he owns one aere of land and a comfortable dwelling, with the purpose of spending the remnant of his days in retirement. Having commeneed life with nothing but good health and a deter- mination to achieve a competence for him- In the fall of 1867 our subject made a visit to Ohio, and October 20, 1867, was married the third time, this time to Maria J. Caro- thers, the youngest of a large family, her self and family, he feels that his efforts have not been in vain. He has been a pioneer in three different States, Iowa being the last, where he has lived thirty-eight years and birthplace being Phelps, Ontario County, New | witnessed magnificent improvements.
York, and born October 19, 1818. Her parents, John and Betsey (Sickler) Carothers, were born in 1774 and 1778 respectively. The father's death occurred February 17, 1842, and the mother's September 8, 1853, in Burton, Ohio.
Mr. Barton is a firm believer in the Spirit. ual philosophy, and his wife of the Christian Church. He is a life-long Republican, and was at one time the only one who cast a Re- publican vote in his precinct. Although his party was generally in the minority, he was often eleeted Justice of the Peace, and served as such for many years, and until he posi- tively refused to accept any longer. Schools received his early attention, and he was mainly instrumental in getting the first school distriet organized in his precinet, and drew the first public funds, and as member of the board did all he could to promote the best interests of the community by establish- ing schools. He was commissoned a Notary Public in 1886, and is serving his second term, which expires in 1892.
But this brief narrative of a long and eventful life would be incomplete and un- satisfactory withont the following biographi- cal sketch, written by himself; although it necessitates a little repetition, the cause of which occurred subsequent to the writing of
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the foregoing, and published in the Council Bluffs Nonpareil, September 24, 1890;
Mrs. Maria Jane Barton, consort of Renben Barton, departed this life, September 10, 1890. She was born in Phelps Town, Ontario County, New York, October 19, 1818, and was the youngest of the numerous family of John and Betsy Carothers. Her father re- moved to Burton, Geauga County, Ohio, in 1832, where he died February 17-18, 1842. She being the only unmarried one of the fam. ily, the care of her father during a lingering sickness fell npon her. After his death the care of an invalid mother, who had become blind and helpless, devolved upon her until her death, September 18, 1853, leaving our subject at the age of thirty-five, with feeble health and quite limited means. By over- work in lifting her mother through a series of years, she had contracted a disease of the spine, from which she was a great snf- ferer. She was under medical treatment by eminent physicians for eleven years, when she was so much improved as to enter the marriage relation with Reuben Barton in the fall of 1867, and came with him to this coun- ty, where she resided until her death. She was a great sufferer from sickness. The change of climate improved her, but did not restore her to sound health. In 1884 the re- mnoval to Weston for a time seemed to be beneficial; but in September, 1887, she had a stroke of paralysis of the left side, from which she never recovered, although able to be about the house until the last fatal attack, which occurred August 9, 1890; she was then forced to bed, from which she never arose again. She survived, in great agony, a month, eeasing to breathe September 10, when she passed peacefully away, and there passed from earth life one of nature's noble women. ller sympathetic impulses knew no bounds; where duty seemed to call she
was always ready, and to a sense of duty she sacrificed her health and life. They laid her tenderly to rest September 11, 1890.
- OHN A. SYLVESTER, of section 20, Garner Township, has been a resident of this county ever since 1861. He was born in North Carolina, l'itt County, October 26, 1829, a son of John Sylvester, Sr., who was born in 1802, in Boston, of Pilgrim stock, and is still living. His ancestors participated both in the Revolutionary war and in that of 1812. Mr. Sylvester's mother's name before marriage was Cassandra Slanglı- ter. She too was born in Pitt County, North Carolina. The parents of the subject of this sketch were married in 1828, and then emi- grated to Randolph County, Indiana, where the father was a cooper by trade; earlier in life he was a sailor.
Mr. Sylvester of this sketch also learned the cooper trade and worked on the farm. Arriving at age he became a teacher, in his home district. In 1853 he came to Dallas County, Iowa; two years afterward he went to Minnesota, and two years after that again he went to Missouri and taught school near St. Joseph; finally he eame to Council Bluffs in 1861.
February 20, 1863, he married Mrs. Adelphia McDonald, a lady of high culture, born near Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, a daughter of John and Adelphia (Harper) Woods, natives of Kentucky. She was twelve years of age when her mother, in 1838, settled in Des Moines County, Iowa, and she was reared there and in Henry and Mahaska counties, this State. On reaching the age of twenty-one years she married Milton MeDonald, a resident of Mahaska County at that time. In 1850 they moved
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to Putnam County, Missouri, and in the spring of 1851 they came to Pottawattamie County, settling April 24, on a farm where she now lives, then a Mormon elaim, upon which was a small log cabin and a limited portion of the ground broken. Here Mr. McDonald died, July 8, 1862, at the age of forty-five years, a sineere member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had four children, three of whom are now living: Amanda Ellen, now the wife of W. II. Mullen, of Council Bluffs; Marshall F., a prominent at- torney of St. Louis, Missouri; and Mary F., now Mrs. M. R. Frank, also of Council Bluffs. They lost one child by death, William F., at the age of seven years. By the present nn- ion Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester have three chil- dren, namely: John Milton, a successful teacher; Ada C., and Elmer H., the latter also a teacher. The family occupy a fine briek house, surrounded by evergreen and noble forest trees. Mr. Sylvester is a Republican, and has been Justice of the Peace. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church.
RED W. SPETMAN, of the firm of F. W. Spetman & Bro., merchants of Conn- eil Bluffs, is a native of Pottawattamie County, born September 18, 1855, the oldest son of H. H. Spetman, whose sketch appears elsewhere, Our subject was reared on a farm and received his education in the public schools of the township and eity of Council Bluffs. When seventeen years of age he went to Davenport, and attended the Bryant & Stratton College, where he graduated. He then returned to this city, and engaged as clerk for Smith & Crittenden, in the whole- sale and retail dry-goods business, including both departments. He remained with them
two years, after which he purchased a halt interest in the store then fknown as Galleger & Lee, purchasing Galleger's interest. The store was located on B Street, opposite the Ogden House, and was then known as Lee & Spetman. Mr. Spetman continued for two years, and then purchased his partner's inter- est, and continued the business alone for one year and a half, when he sold ont to J. C. Lee. He then, in 1877, removed to his pres- ent location, 509 and 511 Main Street, and in company with his brother, W. C., they carry an extensive line of general merchan- dise, boots, shoes and elothing, and have built up an extensive business. In 1880-'81 he served as a member of the City Council from the Third Ward. In 1886 he was elected City Treasurer, serving two terms, or four years.
Mr. Spetman was married September Sep- tember 10, 1879, to Miss Alvena Los Kowski, a native of St. Louis, who came with her parents, Edward Los Kowski, a native of Germany, to this county in 1858. They have four children : Ella M., Lulu R., Dora C., and Verra R. Mr. Spetman is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 49, and of the A. O. U. W. He is also a member of the Lutheran Church. Politically he affiliates with the Democratic party.
ETER SMITH, Alderman of the Fifth Ward, to which position he was elected in the spring of 1890, is at the head of the firm of Smith & Co., Union Bakery, which was established in 1883. They do a wholesale and retail trade. principally the former, their annual business amounting to $20,000. They ship to all of the towns within a radius of seventy-five to 100 miles by ex- press. Mr. Smith has been a resident of
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Council Bluffs since April 7, 1867. He was born in Germany, November 6, 1840, the son of Peter and Anna (Peterson) Smith. The parents died in Germany when our subject was but a child, and when but ten years of age he came to this country with an uncle, locating at St. Louis, Missouri, where. he grew to manhood. He remained there until 1865, during which time he was engaged as clerk in a grocery store. He then went to Booneville, Missouri, remaining until 1867, when he came to Council Bluffs, where he has since made his home. He was engaged in various vocations until he connected him- self with the Muceller Music Company, of this city, with whom he remained eleven years. After leaving this firm he commenced his present business, which he has so far condneted successfully. He has always affil- iated with the Republican party, but has held himself aloof from political publicity. In 1890 he was elected City Alderman of the Fifth Ward, and carried his election by ninety-seven votes. IIe is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 49, Council Bluffs Lodge, and also of the A. O. U. W., No. 270.
He was married, in 1868, to Mary Mnel- ler, who was born in Germany October 1, 1843, and they have a family of seven chil- dren: Frances, the oldest child, is the wife of Professor Charles Bactous, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska.
RS. SUSANA FORSYTH, of Cres- cent Township, was born in Alabama, April 27, 1827, a daughter of Jere- miah Fowler, a well-to-do farmer, of German descent. ller parents had four sons and five daughters. Her father married Miss Sarah Johnson, whose parents were residents of Kentucky. Mr. Fowler removed from
Tennessee to Williamson County, Illinois, and settled upon a farm which he had bought, and lived there until his wife's death, in 1836. Then one of the daughters, Elizabeth, kept house for the next two years. He then sold his farm, married again, and after that his children resided elsewhere.
The subject of this sketch then lived with her sister Elizabeth until her death; and then for a year with old acquaintances; and then her youngest sister, Lucinda, married, and she lived with her two years; in the mean- time they moved to St. Clair County, Illinois, and also Mrs Forsyth worked around among neighbors to some extent. After a residence elsewhere for a time she married J. S. Farris, March 1, 1846, and the first two years of their married life were passed upon the farm of John Griffin, with whom Mrs. Forsyth had been living; then a year near Fayetteville, which locality was so unhealthful that they sold out there and moved to Iowa, landing at Bellevue. Going out into the country about fifteen miles, Mr. Farris bought a farın of 145 acres of nnimproved land in Jackson County, and he resided upon it eight years, improving it; selling ont again he started to Saratoga, but, stopping in Decatur County, he followed farming there one year, near Garden Grove. In the fall Mr. Farris enlisted for three years, or during the war, in the Union army; and two weeks before he left for the battle-field they lost their infant child. During her husband's absence in the army, the subject of this sketch moved to Franklin, and two years afterward came to Pottawattamie County, on a visit. Returning to her farm, she sold it and then moved to Crescent City, this coun- ty, where, December 26, 1864, she married John Forsyth, a blacksmith by trade. His parents were natives of Scotland. In 1866 they sold their property there and purchased eighty acres of unimproved land on section
N.F. Sakk
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
12, same township, and began to make all the improvements for a comfortable home. They built a two-story brick house, barns, slieds, etc., planted a grove and orchard, erected a blacksmith shop and a house in which to carry on his trade.
Mrs. Forsyth is the mother of seven chil- dren, three of whom are deceased. Mr. Forsyth died in the spring of 1874, since which time Mrs. Forsyth has superintended the farm as well as the house. By industry and economy she has managed to keep her family together and support it, although her struggle has been severe and protracted.
OLONEL WILLIAM FLETCHER SAPP, of Council Bluffs, lowa, was born at Danville, Ohio, November 20, 1824. His grandfather, Daniel Sapp, was born and reared in Maryland, near Frostburg, from which State he emigrated to Ohio, set- tling in the eastern part of Knox County, adjoining and on the south side of Danville, which takes its name from his, where he lived and reared a large family, having mar- ried, before emigrating from Maryland, Mary Robinson. Daniel Sapp was one of the early pioneers to Knox County, Ohio, passing through all the vicissitudes and trials of a pio- neer life. He was the first County Surveyor of his adopted county, which was the only office held by him excepting that of Justice of the Peace, which latter office he held for many years prior and up to his death. Daniel Sapp, the grandfather, and Carl Sapp, with three other brothers, served in the war of 1812. Jolin Sapp, the father of the subject of this sketch, was Daniel Sapp's oldest child; he was born in Knox County, Ohio, and con- tinned to live there until his death, which occurred in December, 1833. John Sapp 32
married Elizabeth Myers, who was born at Cumberland, Maryland. She emigrated, when but a child, with her parents to Knox County, Ohio, where she was married to John Sapp. At the death of Jolin Sapp, he left his widow and three children to survive him, two dangh- ters, Angelina and Louisa, and a sou, the subject of this sketch. The eldest daughter, married Dr. Allmon F. Stanley, both of whom are now dead. Louisa was married in Knox County, Ohio, where she is still living, having reared a family of two sons and three daughters, all of whom are married. From this sketch it will be seen that William Fletcher Sapp is of Maryland stock, the par- ents of both his father and mother having been reared in Maryland. John Sapp was what was commonly called a very prosperous and thrifty man, and was greatly beloved by all who knew him, for his honesty, generosity, and superior judgment. At his death he left his widow and children in very good cir- cumstances for that day. Prior to his death, John Sapp made arrangements to move his family to St. Louis, Missouri, and in further- ance of that design he converted all his property into available means. On his death- bed, lie purchased a farm, upon which his widow maintained herself and raised her three children. The farm adjoined the town of Danville on the west, and to this day it is looked upon as one of the best farms in that part of the country.
William Fletcher Sapp continned to live with his mother and sisters, working on the farın in the summer, and attending the pub- lic schools in the winter, taking but little in- terest in education further than to identify himself with the debating societies or ly- cemins then prevalent in that community, and in which he, when but a young boy, be- came a prominent debater. At the age of fifteen years he began putting in much of his
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
time during the summer months in reading. and in such other studies as he was able to master without a tutor, still continuing to at- tend the public schools in the winter seasons. At the age of eighteen years he attended school at the Martinsburg Academy, an in- stitution of learning under the management ment of the Presbyterian Church in his na- tive county. When he felt himself qualified for that purpose, he commenced teaching school in the winter seasons and attending school at the academy in the summer, and continned doing so until he commenced read- ing law in the spring of 1847 in the office of Hon. Columbus Delano and Hon. William R. Sapp, his uncle, in the now beautiful and prosperous eity of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, the county-seat of Knox County. His apti- tude in debate gave him a liking for the law, and he had scarcely begun reading for his chosen profession until he was employed by his friends and admirers to attend cases be- fore justices of the peace. It is his pride now to tell that during the time he was a law student, he made enough in petty cases before justices of the peace to maintain himself, and when admitted to the bar to buy a small library of books with which to commence the practice. The rapidity with which he ran into practice after his admission to the bar was most remarkable, having had during the very first term following his admission, a dozen or more cases in the Court of Com- mon Pleas of Knox County. Ile was ad- mitted to the bar on the 27th day of June, 1850, and immediately opened a law office with Hon. Walter H. Smith, then a young man who had read law in the same office with him. Ile was engaged in the trial of a num- ber of important civil and criminal cases during the first year after his admission. His success in his practice, and his ability in the trial of jury cases led his Whig friends to
put him on their ticket as their candidate for the office of Prosecuting Attorney in the fall of 1850. At that time, Knox County was nearly 900 Democratie. The Democrats had nominated General George W. Morgan as their candidate, he having returned from the Mexican war with an enviable reputation for his services rendered therein. When the official votes were counted it was ascertained that General Morgan had but thirty-two ma- jority over Mr. Sapp, who was then a mere boy.
. In 1854, at the formation of the Republican party, he took an active stand in the organ- ization of this new party, was nominated, with ont being a candidate for the office of Pros- ecuting Attorney, and was elected over James G. Chapman, his Democratic opponent, by 800 majority. In 1856 he wa- re-elected over Hon. Charles Scribner, now of Toledo, Ohio. In 1856 he was engaged in making political 'speeches for three months and more, being called upon to go far and near, and so ex- posed himself during that campaign that his health seriously failed him.
On December 29, 1856, he was married to Mary C. Brown, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. daugh- ter of Captain Richard Montgomery Brown, he having commanded a company during the war of 1812. Miss Mary C. Brown was a most accomplished and beautiful girl, and was, in the truest sense of the term, a help- mate to her husband all through life.
But few young men succeed on their own merits in acquiring so lucrative a practice as William Fletcher Sapp did at the bar of his native county in Ohio. His reputation as a young man of ability in his own profession was not confined to his own county, but ex- tended almost through the whole State of Ohio. He often refers to his early practice, saying that from 1850 until 1860 he made more money in the practice of law than he has ever
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
inade in the same length of time since. From 1856 to 1860, his health was such that he de- cided to remove to a locality where the atmos- phere was purer and dryer than that of eentral Ohio, and in the fall of 1859 he started ont in search of a new locality. After traveling very considerably through the West, he inade up his mind to remove to Omaha, Nebraska, which he did in the spring of 1860, where he again entered upon the practice of his profession. Omaha was then a village of from 1,800 to 2,000 inhabitants, and that new prosperons city and the Territory of Nebraska had not recovered from the erisis of 1857. In the summer of 1861 he was appointed Adjutant General of Nebraska Territory by Governor Alvin Saunders, and in the fall of that year he was nominated a member of the Territorial Legislative Com- inittee by the Republicans of Douglas County to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resigna- tion of General John M. Thayer, and was elected to that position by the people over Hon. John I. Reddick, then a prominent at- torney of Omaha, which position lie filled to the entire satisfaction of the people of that county.
In 1862 Major-General Pope issued an order for a regiment of cavalry to be raised in the Territory of Nebraska, to serve for nine months on the frontier against the In- dians, and relieve the regular army then stationed at Fort Kearney and other military posts. As Adjutant-General he aided Gov- ernor Saunders in raising said regiment, and was appointed Lientenant-Colonel of that regiment by the Governor. During the time of his military service he was put in command of the Department of the Platte upon the resignation of General James Craig, of St. Joseph, Missouri, which position he filled until he was relieved by General Mc- Kane. Before the Second Nebraska Cavalry
was mustered out of service, Colonel Sapp had made arrangements for a law partnership with Samuel Clinton, of Council Bluffs, and, after spending the winter with his family in Ohio, he came to Council Bluff's and entered into practice under the arrangement so made with Judge Clinton, under the firm name of Clinton & Sapp. They had a large and lucra- tive practice in Pottawattamie and adjoining counties, practicing law in the Federal as well as State courts.
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