USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa > Part 53
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
lessness of further struggle, and pointed out the line in our rear. Hagood ent him short and demanded a categorical reply-yes or no. Dailey was a man of fine presence, with long flowing beard, and sat with loosened rein npon a noble-looking bay that stood with head and tail erect, and flashing eye and distended nostrils, quivering in every limb with excite- ment, but not moving in his tracks. In reply to this abrupt demand the rider raised his head proudly and decisively answered No! Upon the word General Hagood shot him through the body, and as he reeled from the saddle upon one side, General Hagood sprang into it from the other, Orderly Stoney seizing the flag from his falling hands.
" It was one of the most dashing feats wit- nessed by me on either side during the war. Upon the chance of securing a prize for the side he served so well, Colonel Dailey donbly staked his life, for he was, while in the Con- federate line, in as much danger from the fire of his own men as from that of his cnemy."
Ilistory has recorded this dash on the part of Colonel Dailey as one of the two bravest acts of the war. It is recorded in volume II, page 595, of General Beanregard's Military Operations of the War; and the same bril- liant conduct is mentioned in Swinton's Army of the Potomac. It is also made the subject of a poem, entitled, "The Charge of Hagood's Brigade," in a work known as the "Living Writers of the Sonth," besides being recorded in general orders and reports of the operations of that battle; by Major General G. K. War- ren, commanding the Fifth Army Corps. It was commented upon by Southern papers as one of the two bravest acts of the war; the other being by a Confederate soldier. General Hagood and Colonel Dailey are to-day the warmest and best of friends, although they have never met except upon the bloody battle- field of the Weldon Railroad, but have had ex-
tended correspondence. As General Hagood wrote, Colonel Dailey, to secure the surrender of a whole brigade, came very near suc- ceeding.
On account of the above wound, Colonel Dailey was in the hospital over three months, and is still a constant sufferer from the same. He was in battle of Gravelly Run March 31, 1865, and at Boydton Plank Road, April 2, 1865, was wounded again. He was honor- ably discharged from the service of the United States at Madison, Wisconsin, July 28, 1865; visited Europe in 1866, and took up his resi- dence at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1867, where he has ever since resided. In 1868 he was admitted to the bar. In 1872 he was ap- pointed by the Governor of the State to the office of District Attorney for the third ju- dicial district, the duties of which office he performed with marked ability. In 1886 he was nominated and elected to the office of County Attorney, for two years, and declined re-nomination.
During his practice as an attorney he has participated in the trial of some of the most important cases occurring in the State, both civil and criminal. In politics he has always been an ardent. Republican, and always a warm friend and advocate of the public school system of the country. He was one of the charter members of Abe Lincoln Post, of the Grand Army of the Republic; and of the Union Veteran Legion, located at Council Bluffs. to which organizations he was devoted. He took great pleasure in having been a member of the old Iron Brigade, of the Army of the Potomac, and of being a member and officer of two of the regiments composing that organization, which distinguished them- selves upon every battle-field against the Con- federate army under General Lee; and he was especially proud of having risen from the rank of a private soldier to that of captain in
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, the regiment that enjoys the supreme honor and distinction of having sustained the great- est percentage of loss, in killed and wounded, of all regiments in the entire Union army, in proportion to its number of enrollment. May 3, 1890, Colonel Dailey was commis- sioned Captain of Company A, of the Fifth Regiment, I. N. G., being the Dodge Light Guard, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Since the war he has taken a deep interest in military affairs, and has one of the best libraries of military text-books and histories in the country.
On September 28, 1874, he married Miss Mary E. Warren, who was born in Lincoln County, Ontario, Canada, and was a graduate of the high school of Council Bluffs, Iowa. They have four sons and two daughters, whose names are, in the order of age: Frances, Warren, Robert L., Ada M., Frederick Ney and Chester A. Dailey. Like the father, the children are fond of horse-back riding, and are graceful and at home in the saddle.
UZERN SHELDON, one of the promi- nent and successful farmers of Wash- ington Township, Pottawattamie County, lowa, located here in 1874. He was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, February 20, 1841. His father, Benjamin Sheldon, was a native of Connecticut, and a son of Jonathan Shel- don, who was born in New England. The ancestors of the Sheldon family were English people, who came to Ohio, in 1816, and set- tled in Fowler, Trumbull County. The mother of our subject was nee Ada Ames, daughter of Benjamin Ames, also a New- Englander. She was born in Massachusetts, and was married in Trumbull County, Ohio, to Benjamin Sheldon. They reared four chil-
dren, as follows: Joel, a resident of Caro, Tuscola County, Michigan; Luzern; Sarah, deceased; and De Ette Browning, a resident of Geanga County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon lived in Trumbull County until their death, the father dying at the age of sixty- three years. He was a farmer all his life, a Democrat, and a member of the Christian Church.
Luzern Sheldon was brought up on the farın, and was educated in the public schools of his native State. August 31, 1862, he wedded Miss Anna Andrews, a lady of intelli- gence and of a good family. She was born at Hartford, Trumbull County, Ohio, the daughter of Drayton Andrews. Her grand- father. Chester Andrews, was a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Sheldon's moth- er's maiden name was Anna Bates. She was also born at Hartford, Trumbull County, Ohio, and was a danghter of Daniel Bates. She died and left four daughters, Mrs. Shel- don being only seven months old at that time. The father subsequently removed to Hillsdale, Michigan, where he died at the age of seventy-six years. He was a merchant and a miller. In politics he was a Repub- lican, and in religion a Presbyterian. The other three daughters are Lovina Jones, Fow- ler, Ohio; Fidelia Finney, who died in Trum- buil County, Ohio; and Laura King, a resi- dent of Castlewood, South Dakota.
Mr. Sheldon lived in his native county nntil 1874, when he came to lowa and bought 160 acres of land, his present farm. This country was then thinly settled, and for two years he was two miles and a half from his nearest neighbor. The wild land has been converted into a well improved farm, with grove and orchard, barn and other necessary buildings. His house is one and a. half stories, 14 x 24 feet, with a one-story addi- tion, 14 x 20 feet. It is built in the southern
If Evans
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
style, and is situated on a natural building site near the road.
Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon, namely: Homer L. is married and lives in Nebraska; Rev. Chester E. Sheldon was educated in Dixon, Illinois, is married and resides in Floyd County. Iowa. Ile is a minister in the Evangelical Church, has met with success in his labors to spread the Gospel, and is now only twenty-five years old; Benjamin, who was educated in Hills- dale, Michigan, is also a resident of . Floyd County, Iowa; Guy A., who has been in Woodbury County, Iowa, the past year, is now at home; Frank is in Ohio; Clayton, at St. Paul, Minnesota, with his uncle; and Ettie K. and Anna Pearl are now attending the home school. Mr. Sheldon, his wife and seven of their children are members of the Evangelical Church. In political views lie is independent. He is a man in the prime of life, and is regarded by all who know him as a, worthy and respected citizen.
J. EVANS, one of the leading busi- ness men of Council Bluffs, deserves more than ordinary notice in this work. Ile was born in May, 1831, in Jack- sonville, Illinois, and in 1846 moved to La Salle, Illinois, and from there to Council Bluffs. He was born and raised on a farm, one among the early settlers of Illinois; wit- nessed the growth of Chicago from a small town to its present proportions. When he carted the wheat from the farm to Chicago, 100 miles distant over the wild prairies, cook- ing his own food and sleeping under the wagon, obtaining for his wheat 35 to 40 cents per bushel. at that time the settlements of Illinois were confined to the skirts of timber and streams, and her vast prairies were un- 35
settled. He is familiar with the hardships of pioneer life in Illinois; born to parents of Scotch and Welsh descent; of strong physi- cal development, to whom hardship and pri- vation seemed more of a pastime than a bur- den, and to-day, at the age of sixty, is almost as athletic as the average man of thirty.
His father, Hon. James Evans, was born in Alabama, in 1799, and married Miss Phe- riba Elam in 1820, and in 1826 emigrated to Illinois, settling upon a farm three miles east of Jacksonville. Being a man of superior intelligence and executive ability, he soon became an important factor in affairs of State, being a member of the First State Constitu- tional Convention of Illinois, and a Senator of the first State Legislature at Vandalia. On the outbreak of the Black Hawk war he was commissioned Colonel by the President of the United States, and served in that ca- pacity until the Indians were driven from the State. A portion of that time his head- quarters were at Fort Dearborn, now the business center of Chicago. He was subse- quently appointed Register of the United States Land Office at Galena, for the north- ern half of the State of Illinois, in 1835, by President Jackson. On account of exposures in the Black Hawk war, he contracted rhen- matism, and finally pulmonary consumption, of which he died in Angust, 1837.
During his residence near Jacksonville, Stephen A. Douglas taught school in a log school-house near by,-the only kind of school-house in fashion in those days-and made his home at Colonel Evans', to whom he afterward attributed his start in political life; for it was through Colonel Evans' influ- ence in the Legislature that he secured the appointment of Prosecuting Attorney for Jacksonville and the Springfield District. Colonel Evans was associate l with such men as the lion. Ninian Edwards and Joseph
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BIOGRAPHIICAL HISTORY
Duncan, first State Governors, Murray Mc- Connell, Colonel Weatherford, Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, etc. Colonel Evans and wife were members of the Pres- byterian Church. Of their ten children, four are still living: William, in Chicago; J. F., in Council Bluffs; Mrs. David Richie, in La Salle, Illinois, and the subject of this sketch.
In December, 1863, Mr. T. J. Evans, our present subject, married Augusta A. Mun- ger, of Davenport, Iowa. Four children have been born to them: Clarence (dead); Clara, Thomas J., Jr., and Harry, aged respectively seventeen, fourteen and ten years. In 1867 he came to Council Bluffs, where he has since been actively engaged in business-in Ium- ber, grain, milling, banking, real-estate, bridge and railway enterprises, etc. Ile was the promoter of and organized the Omaha & Council Bluffs Railway & Bridge Company, of which he was managing director during the construction and equipment of the bridge and railway, giving it his personal attention from the inception of the enterprise to its final completion; assuming the office of a politician in conducting the election, and in obtaining a tax to aid the enterprise; with the City Council in obtaining franchises of streets, and in lobbying with Congress in securing a charter; engineering, in making surveys, soundings of the Missouri River bed and making plans and specifications for the bridge, approaches, roadway and buildings; builder, in superintending the construction and building of the bridge, railway and build- ings; electrician, in drafting specifications, directing and superintending the construc- tion and equipment of a model electric rail- way; business manager, by making economi- cal contracts and purchases of all materials going into the building and equipping of the bridge, railway, buildings, cars and machin- ery. He introduced to the public the first
complete and practical electric railway built in the United States, making a grand success of the enterprise both practically and finan- cially. In 1888 he procured a franchise from the city of Ottawa, Illinois, for the construc- tion of an electric street railway in that city, and during the succeeding year he, with as- sociates, built and equipped a line nearly ten miles in length-the first electric street rail- way built and operated in Illinois. He is still a large stockholder in both enterprises.
He has always been at the front in assist- ing public enterprises tending to build up Council Bluff's, and has demonstrated that he has a keen insight into human nature, and the practical character of proposed enter- prises. He is progressive, energetic, liberal and generous. He is strictly temperate. a supporter of morality and good government, though not a member of any church. Hle is a generous supporter of religious institutions generally. Ile is a stanch Republican, but no office seeker, having no ambition for hold- ing office. By the exercise of strict business principles, untiring energy, industry and good judgment, he has accumulated a com- fortable fortune.
ENRY A. TERRY, nurseryman near Crescent City, was born in Cortland County, New York, July 12, 1826, a son of Otis and Cynthia (Ruggles) Terry, natives of Worcester, Massachusetts, and of Irish and Scotch origin. They were reared in their native county and married in 1816. A few years later they removed to New York, in which State they resided in several places, -in Otsego, Cortland and Broome counties. Mr. Terry was generally a farmer, but at times he devoted liis attention chiefly to vegetable gardening. In 1836 he moved to
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
Oakland County, Michigan, and next to Livingston County, same State, purchased a farm and resided upon it until 1844, and then moved to Knox County, Illinois, and lived there some two years. In 1846 he moved to Decatur County, Iowa, in 1848, to Pottawattamie County, in 1853 or 1854, to Utah, where he died, in December, 1887, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. In that Territory he raised a great variety of fruit, on a fine large fruit-farm about twelve miles from Salt Lake City. He was a mem- ber of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, as was also his wife, who died in Decatur Conn- ty, Iowa, in 1847, at the age of fifty-three years. Three of their five children are still living, viz .: Otis L. and Charles A., who re- side in Utah, the latter a minister of the Church of Latter-Day Saints; Henry A. was the third in order of birth; and Oris M. and Edwin D. are deeeased.
Henry A. was reared to farm life and attained his knowledge of the business world by observation. He left his parents at Nauvoo, at the age of twenty years, striking ont in the world for himself. He followed farming at Garden Grove, this State, until 1847; taught school in the winter of 1846- '47, and thus earned the first money he could eall his own. In the fall of the latter year he came to Pottawattamie County and located on Honey Creek, in what is now Rockford Township, and tanght school during the en- sning winter. In September, 1848, he mar- ried, and the next spring he moved to Cres- cent City and engage.l in mercantile business, in the first store in the town and the second in the county. After running that about three years he sold it and went to New Haven, Connectient, for two years. Then he came to Council Bluffs, at that time called Kanesville, and engaged in the seed and grain business in company with J. E. John-
son, and remained in that relation until 1857. Moving then to Crescent City he continued in the same business until 1860, when he sold out, having commenced the nursery business in 1856 and establishing one of the first nurseries and now the oldest one in the county. In nursery and orchard he has 100 acres. He takes great pride in his vocation, making discoveries, etc., being one of the State experimental station directors. Of the home place there are 140 acres, and in pas- ture some sixty aeres. When he purchased that place it was entirely wild prairie.
On national questions he is a Democrat. Has held various township offices: been Trustee for sixteen years, and Township Treasurer for the Board of Education.
In September, 1848, he married Rachel T. Sirrine, who had come to the county that year. She was born in New Haven, Con- necticut, in 1824, and died July 12, 1873. Her parents were Eliphaz and Amarilla (San- ford) Gillett. By this marriage there were six children, as follows: Henry S., now the oldest resident native of this township, being born here September 2, 1849; Mary C., de- ceased, wife of John P. Williams, of South Omaha: she was born December 26, 1852, and died October, 1886; Rachel A., born April 8, 1860, now the wife of William Nusum, near Woodbine, Harrison County; Charles T., born Angust 29, 1862, died March 3, 1864; Fannie M., born March 8, 1865, is now Mrs. Christian Markesan, of Council Bluffs; and Adelaide, born March 6, 1868, died the next day.
For his present wife Mr. Terry married, October 15, 1873, Esther J. Hongh, who was born November 5, 1844, in Montrose, Lee County, Iowa, daughter of S. M. and Eliza J. (Allen) Hough, and by this union there have also been six children, as follows: Flor- enceB., born July 18, 1874; Grace I., Feb-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
ruary 17, 1876; Clara M., March 29, 1878, and died July 15, 1879; Myrtle C., born June 13, 1880, and died March 20, 1885; Howard A., born September 28, 1882; Otis M., born May 14, 1885, and died September 7, 1886.
KINNEHAN, City Treasurer of Coun- eil Bluffs, was born in Woodville, Province of Quebee, Canada, in 1845, son of James and Sarah A. (Miller) Kinne- han, natives of New York and New Hamp- shire and of Irish and Puritan extraetion. When the subject of this sketch was quite young his parents moved to Wisconsin and became pioneers of Racine and Green Bay. The father was extensively engaged in the lumber business for a number of years. About 1860 he returned East, and died in Canada. The mother also died in the East. Our sub- ject was the fifth born of their nine sons and three daughters, all of whom are now living except one. He was reared in Wisconsin and educated in the public schools of that State. At the age of fourteen he entered upon a four years' apprenticeship to the tan ner and currier's trade, in which business he was engaged some twelve or fourteen years, working in Chicago, Milwaukee and other points. In 1870 he came to Council Bluffs, and here he engaged in the furniture busi ness three years, after which he owned and operated a tannery abont four years. But at the age of eighteen he entered the service of the United States Government at Chicago, was teamster and afterward elerk in the quartermaster's departinent at Nashville, and was mustered out of service in May, 1865. Next he crossed the plains with a wagon train, and helped to build the Union Pacific Railway. While in the
railroad employ he had the misfortune to lose one of his limbs. In 1886 he was elected City Anditor, and when his term of two years expired he engaged in the boot and shoe business on the corner of Broad and Bryant streets, which business he still con- dnets. In March, 1890, Mr. Kinnehan was again elected to the office of Treasurer. Politically, he is an independent Republican, being one of the active workers in his party. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 49, the A. O. U. W., No. 270, and the K. of L., No. 1668, being treasurer of the last named.
Mr. Kinnehan was married, in 1872, to Mary J. Palmer, a native of Salt Lake City, born in 1855. They have a family of four children: Nellie M., Eva, Della and Annie. They hold to the belief of the Swedenborgian Church, or New Jerusalem Church, and are among the most worthy citizens of Council Bluffs. Mr. Kinnehan has aided in many of the enterprises of this city, and is now an active business man.
C. LANGE, City Auditor of Council Bluffs, was elected in March, 1890. He is a native of Warsaw, Russia, born July 21, 1846, son of Joseph and Julia Lange. His early youth was spent in his native land, and when he arrived at a proper age to attend school he was sent to a private in- stitution of learning at Holz-Minden, Ger- many. At the age of twenty-one he came to America and located at Brooklyn, where he remained one year. From there he came to Burlington, Iowa, and three or four years later went to St. Louis. After spending three years there he returned to Burlington, and in 1879 came to Council Bluffs. Here he engaged in the wholesale tobacco business, which he followed until 1884. In that year
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
he was employed by the Government as Rev enue Collector for the Second and afterward for the Fourth distriet, in which capacity he officiated until October, 1889. He affiliates with the Democratic party, taking an active interest in political work.
Mr. Lange is also engaged in the insurance business, and has an office at No. 538 Broad- way. He represents the following com- panies: New York Underwriters' Fire Association of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; American of Philadelphia; Union of Phila- delphia; Guardian of London, England; Hamburg-Bremen of Germany; Concordia of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the St. Paul Fire & Marine of St. Panl. Mr. Lange is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 49, and the A. O. U. W., Hazel Camp. Ile also con- dnets the affairs of the Conneil Bluffs Musie Company, at No. 538 West Broadway.
The subject of our sketch was married, December 15, 1874, to Miss Ida Anwerda, of Ottumwa, a native of Holland. She was born May 14, 1856, daughter of C. L. and Jozena (Dirks) Auwerda. Mr. and Mrs. Lange are the parents of three children: Ju- lius C., Zena and Juliette.
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UDGE GEORGE CARSON has been identified with the interests of Pottwat- tamie County since February, 1869. His paternal ancestors were from Ireland, and his maternal from England. The great- great-grandfather, Robert Carson, came fron that country when about sixteen years of age, abont 1740. He settled in a dense wilder- ness in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and eleared a farm and made a home, which was retained by his descendants for several gen- erations. His son, David Carson, was a
farmer in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and during the Revolutionary war took an active part in establishing liberty in America, cul- tivating his farm in summers and with his team served with the army during falls and winters, and saw General Washington often at Valley Forge. His son, Hiram, the grand- father of our subject, and David the father, who were born and reared on the old Carson homestead in Chester County, Pennsylvania, remained there until about the year 1838. when they came West and settled in Indiana. The paternal grandmother was of Welsh and German parentage. The mother of our sub- jeet was Hannah Bennett: her parents were natives of Derbyshire, England, and emi- grated to America after their marriage in 1817, and settled on the new purchase, in what is now Jennings County, Indiana, where they cleared and improved a farm, and where Mrs. Carson was born and reared. As above stated the Carson family settled on the adjoining farm in 1838, and on August 8, 1839, David Carson and Hannah Bennett were married, and settled on a farm in Jen- nings County, Indiana, and were the parents of nine children: seven lived to be grown and six still survive, of whom our subject was the eldest. Mrs. Carson died March 17, 1871, at the age of forty-nine years, and Mr. Carson is now a resident of Bartholomew County, Indiana.
Our subjeet was born in Jennings County, Indiana, February 5, 1841, and was reared en the farm, attended the public schools and an academy. In April, 1861, he enlisted in the State militia, and October 8 following he en- listed in Company K, Twelfth Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, and served in General Banks' command on the upper Potomac, near Sharps- burg, Maryland, until February, 1862; was in two engagements during that period, and was at the attack en Jackson at Winchester, Marel,
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
OMAKA PHOTO-EN18
THE GRAND HOTEL, COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA.
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
1862. Shortly after the occupation of Win- chester his brigade was ordered to Warrenton Junction, Virginia, and remained there until the following May, when his term of service expired, and was mustered out of the service at Washington, May 20, 1862, as a Corporal. He returned home and remained until August 10, 1862, when he again enlisted, in Company I, Sixty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was made First Sergeant at the organization of the company, and was mustered into the service at Indianapolis August 19, and started South the same day, and in Kentucky was attached to General Dumont's command. In April, 1863, the regiment was assigned to the Second Brigade of the Fourth Division of the Fourteenth Army Corps, or the Army of the Cumberland. He participated in the battle of Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga on Sep- tember 19 and 20, 1863, after which the regi- ment was transferred to the First Brigade, Third Division of the Fourth Army Corps. Was at the battle of Chattanooga, November 23, 24 and 25, 1863, and was severely wounded at the storming of Mission Ridge on November 25. He continued ou duty and was in a forced march to Knoxville, to raise the siege on Burnside, and was en- gaged in the campaign in East Tennessee, until April, 1864. April 3, 1863, he was promoted as Second Lieutenant, and July 1, 1864, First Lientenant, in which capacity he remained until the close of the war, and was honorably discharged at Indianapolis July 5, 1865.
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