USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa > Part 47
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In the fall of 1865 he was elected to rep- resent Pottawattamie County in the State Legislature, which position he filled with dis- tinction, and during the session of which he was a member he introduced and had passed a bill locating the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at the eity of Council Bluffs. He also in- troduced and had passed through the House of Representatives a bill for holding the State Supreme Court at Council Bluffs. IIe was a most efficient and active member. He declined a re-election to the Legislature. In 1869 he was appointed United States District Attorney for the State of Iowa by President Grant, filling that position four years, with honor and credit. It is said that his snecess in that office, as shown by the report of the Attorney General of the United States, is considerably in excess of that of any other United States Attorney for that period.
He was nominated by the Republican party as their candidate for Congress in the Eighth Congressional District to the Forty- fifth Congress. At that time the District was composed of the following counties: Adams, Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, Taylor and Union. He was elected over Hon. Lemnel R. Bolter, the Democratic and Greenback candidate, by over 4,000 majority in the above named counties, and was again re-nominated by the Repub-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
licans as their candidate to the Forty-sixth Congress without opposition, and was re- elected as their Representative from the Eighth Congressienal District, receiving 15,- 343 votes against 7,453 votes for Colonel John H. Keatley, Democrat, and 7,760 votes for Mr. Hicks, National. During the time he was a Representative from the Eighth Congressional District, he introduced and secured the passage of a bill providing for holding the United States Circuit Courts at the times and places where the United States District Courts were then held,-that is, at Dubuque, Des Moines, Keokuk and Council Bluffs. He also succeeded in getting bills passed through Congress, giving to the city of Council Bluffs Big Lake and Car Lake, which are now the properties of said city. He also introduced and had unanimously re- ported by the Committee on Public Grounds in both the Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Con- gresses, a bill for the purchase of grounds and erection of a Government building at the city of Council Bluffs; but, owing to the stern opposition of Hon. Samuel J. Randall, then Speaker of the House of Representa- tives, to appropriations for Goverment buildings, he was refused a recognition to move and suspend the rules and have the bill passed, at both sessions, which, doubtless, he would have procured but for the stern op- position of the Speaker. As a Representa- tive in Congress he devoted himself most assiduously to all the wants and interests of the people of his district. It is said of him that during the time he so represented the people, he was never absent from a roll-call during cither the Forty-fifth or the Forty- sixth Congress. He never failed to answer a letter written to him as such Representative by any one in his district. In all his official conduct, he deported himself most honorably and uprightly. It can be said of him justły,
that there was never a murmur against him: as an officer as respects his integrity, honesty and application to his duties. Ile was nomi- nated by the State Convention of Iowa, by acclamation, as Elector at Large for Hon. James G. Blaine, the Republican candidate for President, and made quite a State canvass during that campaign.
From the time he was admitted to the bar, he devoted himself most assiduously to the practice of law, excepting while he was in the military service and in Congress, and may be said to be a very successful practitioner. The Union Pacific Railroad Company undertook to procure a separate bridge charter over the Missouri River. Against this scheme Colonel Sapp took a most active interest; went to Washington, and, mainly through his influence, the proposition for the bridge charter making the terminus of the Union Pacific at Omaha was defeated. Subsequent to this, he, assisted by others, procured the necessary legislation to compel the Union Pacific Railroad Company to build their bridge as a part of the line of their road, and to compel them to perform their legal obliga- tions, and authorized proceedings by man- damus to compel them to do so. Atter this provision passed Congress he took an active part in the litigation following to compel the Union Pacific Railroad Company by man- damus to operate their road as a continuons line to and from Council Bluffs. By his advice Hon. John N. Rogers of Davenport was employed, who, in conjunction with Colonel Sapp, commenced a proeteding by mandamus in the United States Circuit Court at Des Moines, which was deeided in favor of the city of Council Binffs. An appeal was taken from this decision to the Supreme Court of the United States, and the decision of the Circuit Court holding Council Bluff's to be the terminus of the Union Pacific Rail-
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road Company was affirmed, that court de- ciding that the terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad Company was at Council Bluffs and not at Omaha. This decision was a matter of vital interest to the city of Council Bluffs, and its terminus was greatly to its advantage. All the assistance he rendered in that litiga- tion and the legislation that led to it, as well as the two arguments upon the terminus question made by him, was free of any charge to the city, he always absolutely refusing to accept any pay for his services in this respect, and bearing his own expense to and from Washington, and in having his arguments printed. The people of Council Bluffs re- member his action and service in that regard fully and with gratitude. On this question of the terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, Conncil Bluffs had a most carnest, sincere and effective friend in Colonel Sapp. Ile was most diligent in procuring the in- fluence of the Iowa delegation in Congress necessary for the needed legislation.
After the firm of Clinton & Sapp was dis- solved, Colonel Sapp formed a partnership with the Hon. Joseph Lyman and Hon. S. J. Hanna, the firm being known as Sapp, Lyman & IIanna. In a short time Judge Hanna removed to Chicago, after which the firm name was Sapp & Lyman, which firm continued for fifteen years, during all of which time they did a very extensive law practice in the State and Federal courts. January 1, 1884, Hon. Joseph Lyman was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court by Governor Sherman. Immediately upon Major Lyman going upon the bench, Colonel Sapp formed a partnership with N. M. Pusey, a prominent attorney of Council Bluffs, since which time he has continued in the active practice of the law, the firm name being Sapp & Pusey.
Whether we view him as a practicing at-
torney, as a citizen, or as an officer, his record is a most honorable one. As a trial lawyer, he has few equals in the State, and is regarded as a formidable man to meet in a contest be- fore a jury. Ilis recollection of the testimony of witnesses by which he is enabled to repeat over their very words, and his sound judg- ment as to the policy to pursue in the con- ducting of a trial, are among the things lead- ing to his success as a trial lawyer. Colonel Sapp is a man of very vigorous and healthy constitution, and it is said of him, by the brother members of the bar, that he can endure more hard work than any man at the Council Bluffs bar. He is a man of very quick and active perception, a very retentive memory, and very superior judgment.
Colonel and Mrs. Sapp were the parents of three children, of whom one son still survives, William F., Jr., the eldest; two sons died in infancy. Mrs. Sapp was a daughter of Cap- tain Richard Montgomery Brown, who com- manded a company during the war of 1812, and was at the battle where Hull surrendered; but rather than surrender he marched his troops through the wilderness to Mansfield, Ohio, and continued in the service until the close of the war, after which he located at Mount Vernon, Ohio. He was a native of New England, and was remotely related to Daniel Webster. At the end of the war he married Miss Mary Honn, a resident of Knox County, Ohio. She was a native of Hagers- town, Maryland. They resided in Mount Vernon, Ohio, where Captain Brown was en- gaged in the mercantile business, from which he retired with a competency. They reared a large family of six sons and four daughters, Mary C., the wife of our subject being the second daughter.
Since the above was written Colonel W. F. Sapp has died, his death occurring on Nov- ember 22, 1890, just one day and a half after
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
his sixty-sixth birthday. His death was con- sidered a publie calamity, and he was mourned by rich and poor, black and white alike.
Resolutions of respect and condolence were passed by many organizations in Council Bluffs and sourrounding counties, and, for the first time in the history of Pottawattamie County, and as an especial mark of respect, a day was appointed and observed by the bar of his home county, of which he was presi- dent, for incmorial services, at which eulogies were pronounced upon his life and character.
Colonel Sapp was laid to rest by the side of the wife he loved so well in the beautiful little cemetery at Mount Vernon, Ohio.
RANCIST. McPIIERRON, who resides on section 8, IIardin Township, came to this county in 1877, where he has since made his home. He was born in Henry County, Iowa, January 20, 1850, near Mt. Pleasant, the son of J. W. and May E. (Cook) McPherron. The father was a native of Knox County, Tennessee, and the son of William McPherron, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and of Scotch-Irish ancestry; the mother was born in Mansfield, Ohio, the daughter of Luther Cook, a native of Penn- sylvania. The father settled in Henry Coun- ty, Iowa, in 1837, before it was admitted to the Union, and when it was inhabited by the Fox and Winnebago Indians. They reared a family of six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom our subject was the second child. Mr. McPherron still resides in Henry County on the farm which he has owned for over fifty years.
Francis T. was reared on the old farm, and at the age of twenty years he began work at the carpenter's trade in Henry County, which he continued until 1878, when he came to
Council Bluffs and worked at his trade one year. In 1877 he bought eighty acres of wild prairie land, of which he broke forty acres, and the next year he rented the land for one year. In 1879 he built a small farm house, and in 1890 a good frame house, and mnade 'many other improvements. The farm con- tains a grove of eight or ten acres and an orchard. He now owns 200 acres of land, and is engaged in general farming and stock- raising.
Mr. McPherron was first married in 1874, in Henry County, Iowa, to Miss Helen Eve- land, who was born in Henry County, the daughter of James W. Eveland. By this union there was one child, Helen. Mrs. McPherron died the same year they were married, in 1874. In 1779 he married Anna B. Henderson, of Henry County, Iowa, the daughter of J. W. Henderson. They have four children: Vernon F., Perry E., Ira C. and Stacy W. Politically Mr. McPherron is a Republican. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., Trenton Lodge, No. 57, at Trenton, Iowa, and of the I. O. G. T., of Downsville, Norwalk Township. He was raised a Pres- bytorian, and his wife is a member of the Christian Church.
ULIUS MULLER, a prominent citizen near Crescent City, was born April 8, 1836, in Colmar, Alsace, France, which has been a province of Germany since the Franco-German war of 1870-'71. His par- ents, William and Madaline (Rebert) Mul- ler, were also natives of France. His father was a bookbinder by trade; he had four chil- dren, of whom Julius was the second. In 1851, leaving his family for the purpose, he came to America, sailing from Havre to New Orleans, arriving eight weeks later. Coming
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
on up to St. Louis, he was there engaged at his trade. During the month of December the next year his family arrived. A year afterward he went to Davenport and estab- lished himself in his trade there, where also Julius, having previously served his appren- ticeship in the same, remained a short time. Going next to Cassville, Wisconsin, he entered 160 acres of land and began improv- ing it, but after a time he sold it, visited Lancaster, Wisconsin, and then located in Rock Island, Illinois, where he carried on his business extensively until he was burned out. His wife, being an invalid, was living with her daughter in Davenport, when she died in 1875. After her death he made a number of changes until he finally settled in Daven- port, where he still resides.
October 2, 1859, Mr. Julius Muller mar- ried Ann Bird, who was born near Quebec, Canada, May 2, 1838, of Irish ancestry. She was brought by her parents to Illinois in 1852, and to Clay County, Iowa, in 1855. After his marriage Mr. Muller bought a tract of bot- tom land in Harrison County, this State, and resold it in 1866; but in 1864 he was drafted into the military service, placed in Company E, Thirteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was in service at Nashville, Tennessee. Next he was detailed upon a sconting expedition through Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, and thence to Annapolis, Maryland, whence he was sent down the coast on vessels to Morehead City, North Carolina, thence to Newbern and Kingston, where they were eu- gaged in a severe fight, Mr. Muller having a narrow escape from the bullet of a sharp- shooter. They then joined Sherman in his march from the sea. At Raleigh they heard of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. They proceeded on to Washington and thenee to Louisville, Kentucky, where they were mustered out, July 21, 1865.
Mr. Muller then went to Denver, looking for a place to locate, but returned to Potta- wattamie County, and in 1867 purchased forty acres of land entirely wild, and began improving it. He has since added to his first purchase until he now has 164 acres of good land, on sections 13 and 24. fle has a good story-and-a-half house with farm build- ings, etc., a fine orchard and evergreen or- namental trees about the premises. His specialty is the rearing of domestic animals, chiefly horses.
Politically Mr. Muller is a Republican, but in the primarios he votes for " the best man." He is a member of the M. P. Society, and has held various offices. He and his family are highly respected. His children are: Mary, born January 25, 1861, residing at home; William, born April 8, 1862, resides in Missouri Valley, lowa; Charles, born Jan- nary 22, 1867; Minnie, born August 15, 1870; and Thomas, born November 26, 1871, all three of these last still at their parental home.
R. OLIVER WALKER GORDON, of Council Bluffs, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, in 1837. His father, William M. Gordon, was a native of Ohio. His grandfather, Robert Gordon, removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and thence to Indiana. The Gordon family is of Scotch ancestry. William M. Gordon was a youth when he moved to Wayne County, Indiana, where he was a pioneer. He married Miss Deborah Mendenhall, a danghter of Daniel Mendenhall. The latter was a Quaker and a native of North Carolina. True to his con- victions as a Quaker, he was opposed to the institution of slavery, and although in his early days was an owner of slaves, his con-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
science would not permit him to remain such, and he consequently set his negroes free and emigrated to Indiana, where he remained till death. William Gordon, the father of the subject of this sketeh, continued to reside in Indiana a number of years after his marriage, when he emigrated to Iowa. Later he re- turned to Indiana with his family for the purpose of giving his children better advan- tages for education than Iowa in those early days afforded. He settled in Boone County, Indiana. While living here he represented his county in the Legislature. Later he returned to Henry County, Iowa. In early life he learned the trade of harness-maker, but did not long follow it; adopting the profession of law, he became a well-known lawyer and land speculator. His wife died in 1887, while on a visit to her daughter, Mrs. Esther Frame, the eminent Quaker evangelist. After the death of his wife, William M. Gordon removed to Fairfield, Jefferson County; re- married and has since died. He was a well- known citizen of Iowa; was a Demoerat in polities, and in the administration of Buch- anan was appointed by that executive general mail agent, but later, endorsing the prin- eiples of Douglas, he was removed from this official position by Buchanan. He promptly took the side of the Union at the outbreak of the Rebellion, entered the army as a Lieu- tenant and was wounded at Fort Donelson, which resulted in his retiring from the army, and from his wounds he never fully recovered. He and his first wife were the parents of three sons and four daughters, who grew to mature years. Another daugh- ter, Eliza Jane, died in Indiana in infancy. The youngest daughter, Arrenetta, married and died in Minneapolis. The eldest mem- ber of the family is Rev. Luther B. Gordon, a Quaker preaeller, residing near Los Angeles, California; the subject of this sketch is the
second son; the next in order of age is Mrs. Esther Frame, the Quaker evangelist; Mrs. Lydia Manley is the wife of Rev. William Manley, a Quaker elergyman. Mary Emina is the wife of Rev. Philip Heek, of Moline, Illinois; Leroy A. is a merchant in Minnea- polis.
The subject of this notice spent the most of his life in Iowa. Early in life his inten- tions were to follow the profession of law, but after pursuing legal studies for a time he abandoned them for the profession of medi- eine. Early in the war of the Rebellion he was assistant to Surgeon Hughes of Iowa, in the hospitals of Keokuk, and later assisted Surgeon Woods in the United States army. with whom he remained for a time, when he was transferred and his services were given to the colored troops. Still later he returned to Surgeon Woods, with whom he remained until the elose of the war. After the war he located at Bloomfield, Iowa, in the praetiee of his profession, and thence removed to Mount Pleasant; going thence to Chicago, he engaged in practice there, and was also for a time editor of a medical journal. From Chicago he removed to Minneapolis, from which eity he removed to Council Bluffs in 1883.
Dr. Gordon's first wife was Miss Mary Wright, a niece of Judge Wright, of Des Moines. His present wife was formerly Mrs. Mary C. Walker, of Council Bluffs, and a daughter of Dr. Edward S. Williams, a well- known early settler of this eity. Dr. Gordon has two children by his first marriage: Will- iam and Annie, the latter being the wife of Elias Baker, of Lincoln, Nebraska. The Doctor and his present wite have a daughter, Deboralı M., and an adopted son, Luther W. The present Mrs. Gordon was formerly the wife of Thomas A. Walker, of Council Bluffs, and has by that marriage four children.
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
Edward S. Williams, father of Mrs. Gor- don, was born in Campbell County, Virginia, where he was reared and educated. He married Miss Mary Brown Anstin, a native of the same county as her husband. Mr. Williams was by occupation a silversmith and dentist. He came to what is now Coun- cil Bluffs in 1852, and entered 160 acres of land, and also entered a quarter section, which includes Fairmount Park, and also included what is known as Williams' first and second addition to Council Bluffs. Mr. Williams did not come here directly from his native State, Virginia, but had removed to Missouri many years before. In 1852 he started over- laud to California with his family. They included a part of quite a large body of emigrants who started for the land of gold, but on reaching Fort Laramie they were at- tacked by sickness, which carried off nearly the whole of them, only two men of the eighteen which accompanied the train, sur- viving. These, with the surviving women and children, left everything behind them, and, disheartened by the results of the terri- ble scourge that had swept off so many of their numbers, retraced their steps as rapidly as possible. Stopping on their return to Council Bluffs, then known as Kanesville, Mr. Williams pre-empted the land above mentioned, but with the surviving members of the party they returned to Missouri. In 1856 he came back to Council Bluffs and laid out Williams' First Addition to the city, and continued here till about 1859. But the country here was then new and wild, and the wife and mother becoming dissatis- fied they returned to Missouri. Later Mr. Williams returned alone and laid out Will- iams' Second Addition, and in 1868 the family all returned, residing here until 1877, when Mr. Williams and wife returned to Denver, where they still live. They are the
parents of nine children; five others died in early life. The entire family are residents of Colorado, except Mrs. Gordon, who has continued to reside here since she came with her father's family in 1868. Here she was married in 1871, to Thomas Walker, who was born and reared in the city of Baltimore. Mr. Walker died in this city in 1882. Mrs. Gordon's children by her first marriage are two sons and two daughters, viz .: Gulielma F., Brown Austin (daughter), Edward W. Walker and Archibald Alexander. Dr. Gor- don and wife have a beautiful home situated on Grahanı avenue, on a fine elevation, sur- rounded by shade and ornamental trees, and the view of the city of Council Bluffs from the residence is a pleasant and beautiful one.
EFFERSON P. CASADY is one of a family of brothers who are thoroughly identified with the history and growth of the State of Iowa, the others being Hon. P. M. Casady and Weir Casady, of Des Meines, the late Hon. S. II. Casady, of Sionx City, and J. N. Casady, of Council Bluffs. Each of these has been active and energetic in all that pertained to the welfare and devel- opment of the State.
The subject of this sketch was born Septem- ber 1, 1828, at Connersville, Indiana, a son of Simon Casady. He is of that sturdy, strong Scotch-Irish ancestry which has pro- duced so many of the notable men of Amer- ica. Until eighteen years of age his life was spent upon the farm and attending the public schools, and afterward pursuing an academic course of study. Having but little taste for farm life he took up the study of law, and received his training principally from Hon. Samuel W. Parker in the days when the principles of the law rather than the eases
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
were studied, and when the eminent lawyers of the day kept the Bible and Blackstone side by side upon their desks. Judge Casady's tutor was one of a coterie of great lawyers who made the bar of Indiana famous, and he thus imbibed an exalted opinion of the law, as practiced by men of learning and virtue.
In 1852 he removed to Des Moines, Iowa, and was admitted to practice. In 1853 he moved to Council Bluffs, and in conjunction with Hon. Hadley D. Johnson opened a law office in the city and engaged also in the land business. As a lawyer he preferred eivil business, and being by nature conserva- tive, cautious and prudent he soon became widely and favorably known; and in 1858 his fellow-citizens, recognizing his legal and financial ability, elected him to the office of County Judge. It is due to Judge Casady to say that this office was wholly unsought by him. Each political party had put forth its candidate for the office, but the people, being dissatisfied with the party nominees, repudi- ated the nominations and withont dissent or regard to political prejudices elected Mr. Casady. Under the law as it existed at that time, the County Judge had full management of all the financial affairs of the county, and also of the Probate Court, thus putting upon that officer an unusual amount of hard work and responsibility. Judge Casady filled the office with remarkable ability and at that same time conducted his private business, which un- til 1868 consisted largely of real-estate opera- tions. During this latter year he was elected to represent the counties of Pottawattamie, Mills, Fremont and Cass in the State Senate for four years.
In July, 1861, he was elected a director of the Council Bluff's & St. Joseph Railroad, and afterward was elected president of the road.
In political sentiment Judge Casady is a
Democrat, a Democrat in the broad and Jef- fersonian sense of the word, being a believer in the brotherhood of man and in the dignity of all honest labor. He has always been active in the councils of his party, having frequently been a delegate to its State conven- tions, and in 1880 was one of the Vice-presi- dents of the National Convention. In 1872 he was nominated for Auditor of State and ran far ahead of his ticket, though the State was so overwhelmingly Republican that he was not elected. Judge Casady uniformly polled his party strength and also a large number of votes from the opposition, out of compliment to his sterling manhood and integrity. He has never coveted office, and never accepted one except at a personal sacri- fice and out of a sense of duty.
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