USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa > Part 71
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father settled in Pottawattamie County, in 1846, near Wheeler's Grove, and afterward near the place where his son, George, now lives. Ile now resides at Underwood. The mother died when our subject was thirteen years of age, leaving nine children. The father afterward married a widow who had three children.
George II., our subject, was reared in Pottawattamie County, in the pioneer days, and passed his youth upon a farm, receiving his education in the district schools. lle now owns 150 acres of valnable bottom land situated five miles from the city limits of Council Bluffs. December 8, 1887, he was married to Mrs. Flora Brower, who was born in Marion County, Iowa, the daughter of Moses and Naney (Jones) Doty; she has one child, Lucy. Her father was born in In- diana. Mr. and Mrs. Graybill have two chil- dren: George and Lec. Politically Mr. Graybill is a Republican, and is yet in the prime of life, intelligent, frank and cordial in his manner and address.
SAAC HOOPES, deceased, late of Silver Creek Township, Pottawattamie County, was one of the respected and esteemed citizens of his community. He came to this county in 1876 and resided here until the time of his death. He was born in Adams County, Pennsylvania, December 29, 1832, the son of James Hoopes, a native of Penn- sylvania. His mother, Elizabeth (Brinton) Hoopes, was born in Chester County, Penn- sylvania, near Philadelphia. The Brintons were of Welsh ancestry. Isaac Hoopes was reared on a farm in Adams County, Pennsyl- vania, and learned the trade of blacksmith and wagon-maker. lis education was of- tained in the common schools of his native
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State. At the age of twenty-one years he eame West, and worked at his trade in Dela- ware County, Iowa.
It was in Delaware County that he became acquainted with Miss Rebecca Farr, a lady of intelligence and education, who afterward became his wife. She was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Moses and Mary (Hatfield) Farr, both natives of Fayette County. Her father was a son of John Farr, a Frenehiman by birth. He was a teacher in his younger days, is a mechanic and cabinet-maker by trade, and now, at the age of seventy-eight years, is still a resident of his native county. His wife was of Ger- man ancestry. She died in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in 1884, at the age of seventy years. Mrs. Hoopes was educated at her na- tive place, and at the age of fifteen years began teaching school in Virginia. At sev- enteen she came to Iowa and continued her profession in Delaware County. At Coles- burg, that county, September 24, 1865, she was united in marriage to Isaac Hoopes, Rev. B. H. Crider performing the ceremony. They continued to reside in Delaware County until 1876, when they removed to Oskaloosa, Ma- haska County, Iowa, where Mr. Hoopes worked at his trade for a time. He subse- quently purchased a farm five and a half miles from Oskaloosa, where they lived until 1876, when they came to Pottawattamie County. Here Mr. Hoopes purchased 160 acres of wild land in Silver Creek Township, paying for it $1,750, and here he spent the residue of his life. He was killed on his own farın, February 16, 1888, by a runaway team. lle was a believer in Christian Science. Po- litically he was a Republican. His widow and two children survive him. The names of the latter are Willis I. and Orville G. Charles R., their first-born, died in 1882, at the age of fifteen years.
The Hoopes farm is one of the best in Sil- ver Creek Township. The residence is 16 x 24 feet, with wing 16 x 24 feet, same height, one and a half stories, is situated on a natural building site, and is surrounded by various kinds of trees. The farm is well improved, and everything about the premises-the barn, slieds, yards, feed-lots, modern wind-pump and orchard and grove-all indicate prosper- ity. Since her husband's death Mrs. Iloopes has managed the farm with the assistance of her son, Willis I. She is not only a lady of intelligence and refinement, but is endowed with good executive ability as a financier.
RANK SHINN, attorney at law at Car- son, was born in Jacktowu, Adams County, Ohio, October 28, 1843, a son of Rev. Allen Trimble Shinn, who was a nephew of Governor Trimble, and was a native of Hillsboro, Highland County, same State. The latter was a son of George Shinn, of an old Virginia Quaker family. Frank's mother's maiden name was Melinda Fenton. She was a native of Adams County, Ohio, and brought up in Kentucky. Her father, John Fenton, was a native of Penn- sylvania, and her mother (maiden naine Sarah Field) was born in Loudoun County, Virginia. Rev. A. T. Shinn went to Ken- tucky in ministerial work when his son Frank was nine years old. Subsequently in 1856 he was transferred to Marshalltown, Iowa, and two years later to Macedonia, this county, arriving March 4, 1858. Six months afterward he died, leaving a widow and six sons. Asa F., the eldest, enlisted in the First Nebraska Infantry in 1861, and died of typhoid fever at Syracuse, Missouri, thus leaving Frank as the eldest at home, to take care of his mother and the younger members
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of the family. Ile therefore remained with her until he was twenty-five years of age. Jannary 25, 1869, he married Miss Almira Schenek, a native of Parke County, Indiana, born near Rockville, a daughter of James M. Sehenek, who was a native of Mechanicsburg, Ohio. Her mother, whose name before mar- riage was Alzina Fisher, was born at Ripley, Brown County, Ohio. Mrs. Shinn was nine years of age when her father settled in War- ren County, lowa, in 1864. Afterward the family removed to Macedonia Township, Pottawattamie County.
Mr. Shinn has improved four different farms: two in Mills County, one in Mont- gomery County, and one on section 10, Grove Township, Pottawattamie County. His first case at law occurred February 21, 1864, be- fore Esquire Groom, in Macedonia Town- ship, and it was such as to create consider- able notoriety. He received two tons of hay as his fee.
Urged by H. C. Watkins to study law, he complied, having to read of evenings, and at length was admitted to the bar, April 16, 1876. In August, 1877, he moved to Emer- son, Mills County, and lived there until 1883, engaged in the law, and finally came to Carson, where he has since made his home and has had a good practice, his extensive acquaintance in this and adjoining counties being of great value to him. As a public speaker he is fluent and impressive. He has also taken a prominent part in the temper- anee movement, working in favor of the pro- hibition amendment ever since 1874. In May, 1882, he "stumped" western lowa in favor of the prohibition constitutional amend- ment. As a candidate for State Senator in 1887 he ran 117 votes ahead of his ticket. IIe is the wheel-horse of the Republican party in western Iowa. He is a member of Coral Lodge, No. 430, F. & A. M., at Carson.
Mr. Shin has three danghters, namely: Linnie A., Kate L. and Myrtle I. He has lost two children by death: James A., at the age of ten years, and Addie, at the age of fourteen years.
While residing where Marshalltown now is in 1857, Mr. Shinn ent his knee with a corn knife, which rendered him a eripple for life.
LEXANDER L. BROWN came to his present location in Center Township, Pottawattamie County, in 1872, and was among the first settlers in this neighbor- hood. A brief resumé of his life is herewith given.
Mr. Brown was born in Muskingum Coun- ty, Ohio, May 25, 1827, the son of Benjamin Brown, a native of New York. His grand- father, Alexander Brown, was born in Seot- land. His mother, Naney (MeKee) Brown, a native of New Jersey, was a daughter of a Protestant Irishman.
Our subjeet passed his youth on his fa- ther's farm in Muskingum County, and re- ceived his education in the public schools. He was married April 20, 1848, to Miss Elizabeth Catherine Mennefee, a native of Virginia. Her father, Charles Mennefee, was born in the Old Dominion, in 1782, the descendant of an old Virginia family. Her mother, nee Mary Madox, a daughter of Notley Madox, was also a native of Virginia, as was her father. Mr. Brown resided in Ohio until 1853, when the whole family re- moved to Mercer County, Illinois. There the parents spent the residue of their lives. The father died at the age of seventy years. In politics he was a Whig until the organiza- tion of the Republican party, when he joined its ranks. A member of the Christian
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Church, he was an active and zealous worker in the cause of religion. The mother died at the age of ninety years.
Mr. Brown remained in Illinois until 1872, when he came to this county and bought his present farm, eighty aeres, of J. Q. Rollins, who had broken the ground. Mr. Brown has since put the land under a good state of eul- tivation, and has substantial and convenient farm buildings.
He and his wife are the parents of seven children, viz .: Samantha, wife of Horace Bull, Roek Island, Illinois, has five children; Joanna, wife of Riley Duncan, of Wayne, Nebraska, is the mother of two children; Charles, a resident of Custer County, Ne- braska, is married and has three children; Theodore is married and lives in Omaha; L. W., at home; Hugh resides in Pottawat- tamie County, is married and has two children; George A., a suecessful teacher of Center Township, is married and has one ebild. Benjamin, the twin brother of Charles, died at the age of four years.
Politically Mr. Brown is a Republican. For many years he has been a member of the Baptist Church, and forty years a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity. He is an intelligent inan of broad and progressive views, and is regarded by all as a worthy and upright eitizen.
In connection with Mrs. Brown's family history it should be further stated that her father died in Mereer County, Illinois, and her mother, now at the age of eighty eight year , makes her home in Mr. Brown's family.
AMES F. SMITH, section 12, Silver Creek Township, is one of the well known and successful men of his community. He came here in 1882 from Mills County,
Iowa, where he had resided sinee 1877. A brief sketch of Mr. Smith's life is as follows:
He was born in La Porte County, Indiana, November 5, 1835, a son of James F. Smith, Sr. His father was a native of New York State, and was a hotel-keeper all bis life. He built and kept the Checkered Tavern near Buffalo, New York, and subsequently re moved to Indiana, where he was a popular and sneeessful hotel manager, and where, in 1840, he was killed by a desperado at Hud- son, La Porte Connty. Mr. Smith's mother, India (Darby) Smith, was born in New York State. She died when James F. was two or three years old, and he was only five when his father's death ocenrred. Left an orphan thus early in life he was reared by relatives in La Porte County, Indiana, and in Southern Michigan, near Ann Arbor. He was brought up on a farm, and his education was obtained in the common schools and in the practical school of experience. In 1870 he removed te Porter County, Indiana, where he resided seven years. He then sold the farm he had purchased at that place and came West to Mills County, Iowa. There he rented a farm of his brother-in-law, Josiah Wearing, one of the most prominent stock-men of that county. In 1882 he came to Pottawattamie County, and pnrehased 160 aeres of wild land at $12.50 per acre. He afterward bought 240 aeres mere. He is now the owner of 240 aeres, having sold eighty aeres to one of his sons, and the same amount to another. Mr. Smith has a good frame house, 22 x 28 feet, one and a half stories, and an addition, 20 x 16 feet, well situated, and surrounded with an orehard eomprising two acres and a half. His granary is 20 x 20 feet, and he also has eribs, yards, feed-lots, a wind-mill, and every- thing to denote the thrifty and prosperous farmer. He is engaged in general farming and stoek-raising.
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At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Smith was married, in La Porte County, Indiana, to Sarah Jane Cooper, daughter of John and Mary (Walldruff) Cooper, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have four children, as follows: Olive, wife of E. B. Carley, Silver Creek Township; Nevada, wife, of G. R. Cook. of the same township; and George L. and Frank M., also of Silver Creek Township. Politically Mr. Smith is a strong and radical Republican. He and his wife were formerly connected with the Christian Church. Mr. Smith is a man in the prime of life, is cordial in his manner toward his fellow-men, and is honorable in all his business dealings. He is numbered among the solid men of the township.
B. JACK, a prominent farmer of Pot- tawattamie County, was born in Lick- ? ing County, Ohio, and is of English descent. His great-grandfather came from England and settled in Virginia, and his grandfather, James Jack, was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was a native of Pennsyl- vania, and moved to Wheeling, Virginia, in 1802, and afterward went to Muskingum County, Ohio, where he owned a good farm, and where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1847, at the age of eighty years. Both himself and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the former was an industrious and honorable man. His son John Jack, the father of our subject, was born November 19, 1797, in Pennsylvania, and at the age of five years went with his father to Wheeling, Virginia. At the age of nineteen years he went to Muskingum County, where he was married to a widow lady named McDowell, formerly Delilah Dean, who had four children by her former
marriage, viz .: Commodore P., Mary A., Emily and Cynthia. Mr. and Mrs. Jack were the parents of six children: James, Charles, Hugh, John W., Henry B ard De- lilah. After marriage Mr. Jack removed to Perry County, and in 1833 to Licking County, where he was among the early set- tlers. He remained there until 1859, when he moved to Jasper County, Iowa, settling on a new farm, which, with the assistance of his son Ilenry B., he converted into a fine farmı. He died in Pottawattamie County, -. in April, 1880, at the age of eighty-two years. His wife died July 12, 1887, at the age of one hundred years, three months and twelve days. They were both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Jack was a steward and class-leader.
Henry B., the subject of this sketch, was born April 14, 1834, in Licking County, Ohio. In 1859, at the age of twenty-five years, he camne to Jasper County, Iowa, with his father. August 2, 1862, he enlisted in Company C. Twenty-second lowa Volunteer Infantry, and served to the close of the war. He was in the battles of Port Gibson, May 1, 1863; Champion IIill, May 16, 1863; Black River Bridge, May 17, 1863; the assault on Vicksburg, May 22, 1863, where he was taken prisoner, but in fourteen days was paroled and exchanged, and in October following re- turned to service; was also in the battle of Winchester, September 19, 1864. He was wounded at Port Gibson and at Winchester, and was in the hospital; was also injured by a fall in the hatchway of a vessel at St. Louis, and was in the hospital three months. He has since suffered from disability caused by his service in the army, and should have a pension.
After the war, like many of the soldiers who risked their lives for their country, he returned to his old home and engaged in
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farming. After his marriage he settled in Jasper County, and in 1873 removed to Lincoln Township, Pottawattamie County, and in 1889 came to Valley Township and settled on his present farm. He is a mem- ber of John A. Dix Post, G. A. R., of Wal- nnt, Iowa, and is a stanch Republican. As a soldier his record should be preserved and handed down to his children as one who did not hesitate to offer his life for her de- fense, and as one who never flinched when duty called. His children's children should tell the story of their grandfather's battles and sufferings as a soldier in the great war which saved the Union. The descendants of Mr. Jack on both sides have honorable an- cestors, who helped to found the country in peace as well as to save it in war.
He was married in 1870, to Ella E. Kel- logg, who was born in Litchfield, Herkimer County, New York, December 21, 1845, and received a good education at Madison, Wis- consin. She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Sarah (Fellows) Kellogg. The father was born in Paris, Oneida County, New York, and in 1847 settled in Wisconsin, where he was among the early settlers. In 1869 he moved to Missouri. His father was a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and was in the war of 1812. He descended from three brothers who came over in the May- flower; one settled in Connecticut, from whom Mr. Kellogg is descended; one in New Hampshire and one in Vermont. The name was originally spelled Kellogue. Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Kellogg were the parents of eleven children, viz .: Mary A., Edwin M., Almira M., Angustus H., Luey D., Charles H., Jennie A., George D., Ella E., Emma A. and Ruth E., all of whom lived to matu- rity. The father lived to the age of eighty- seven years, dying at the home of one of his daughters in Fort Scott, Kansas; his wife is
still living, at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Jack have had seven children: John, deceased at five years; Henry H., Sarah D., Lillie E., Charles B., Viola E. and one who died in infancy.
SAIAH TIMBERMAN is a prominent farmer of Center Township, Pottawatta- mnie County. His great - grandfather, Christian Timberman, came from Germany before the Revolutionary war, and settled in New Jersey. Ilis son, Jacob, was born on a farm in that State, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, being in the battles of Trenton and Germantown. He was with Washington when he crossed the Delaware and passed the fearful winter at Valley Forge, when the patriots left blood upon the snow from their bare feet. He was married to Ilannah Hogate, a native of America, and they had five children: Gideon, Hannah, Betsy and Priscilla. The father lived to the age of seventy-five years, and died on his farm in Gloucester County, New Jersey, twenty miles from Philadelphia. He was a patriot who did not hesitate to risk his life for his conn- try. Christian Timberman, the father of our subject, was born on his father's farm, and received a common-school education. He married Elizabeth Duffle, and to them were born three children : John, James and Hannah. The mother died, and the father was again married in New Jersey, to Sarah Cassiday, daughter of James and Sarah (Barber) Cassi- day, and to them were born eight children: Ruth, Elizabeth, Saralı, Jane, Mary (deceased), Ann and Isaiah, and one who died in infancy. In 1837 the father moved to Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, and then removed to a farm near that city, where he died in 1866, at the age of eighty years. He was a
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
member of the Methodist Church, but later in life joined the United Brethern Church, in which he took great interest, and was also a steward.
Isaiah Timberman, our subject, was born October 15, 1829, on a farm in Gloucester County, New Jersey, and was eight years of age when he went with his father to Ohio. He well remembers the trip by steamer down the Ohio, and also remembers the political campaign of 1840, called the Log Cabin and Hard Cider campaign, in which W. H. Har- rison was elected President. He learned farming in early life, and at the age of sixteen he learned the trade of light-carriage maker. In March, 1855, Mr. Timberman went to Kansas and took up 160 acres of Govern- ment land in Coffey County. This was in the midst of Kansas troubles, and on the road they were stopped and questioned by the Missourians, but allowed to go through. He remained in Coffey County until the great dronth of 1860, when he left there and came to Iowa, settling in Harrison County, where he lived two years. Here Mr. Timberman lost his left foot and leg, which were cut off by a mowing-machine. In 1863 he moved to Council Bluff's, and in 1868 came to Val- ley Township, which was then Center Town- ship. He sold this place and came to his present farm of 160 acres in 1874. He has been greatly assisted in improving this farm by his faithful wife and sons. Mr. Timber- man was a soldier in the late civil war for a short time, and did service at Fort Lincoln, Kansas, under the celebrated chief, General "Jim" Lane. He is a typical American pioneer, having struggled to make a home for himself and family, and well known as an honest man, whose word is as good as his bond.
He was married November 25, 1850, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Miss E. M. Cook, daugh-
ter of Zaccheus and Mary (Murphy) Cook. The father was a native of New Jersey, and was a wool-carder by trade. He died when still a young man, and was the father of five children: Athalinda, Oliver, Rachel, Eliza- beth and Amy. Mrs. Cook was a member of the Methodist Church, and is yet living with her eldest daughter, at the age of eighty- six years. Mr. and Mrs. Timberman were the parents of eleven children, viz .: Oliver P., Sarah J., Mary A., Alpha, Amy L. (de- ceased), John W., Charles H., James A., Edward F. and two who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Timberman are members of the Methodist Church, and politically Mr. Timberman is a Republican.
Their daughter, Mary A., married Azro Boyd, and they have one son, Clarence O. She was again married, to Albert Maxwell, a carpenter of Seattle, Washington, and by this marriage there is one child, Allen K. Sarah J. married William Maxwell, a farmer of Center Township, and they have three children: Amy P., Cloyd G. and Ivy M. Alpha married Monroe Maxwell, a farmer of Nebraska, and by this marriage there are two children: Goldie M. and Silvia J. John W. is a farmer of Valley Township, and is married to Mallie Morris. Oliver P., a farmer of Valley Township, was married to Ida Pollock, and they have one child, Ethel P.
NDERSON PLUMMER, section 8, Grove Township, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, is a well-known and enterprising citizen. He was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, November 1, 1830, the son of Naman and Nancy (Conley) Plummer, both natives of Ohio. His grandfather, Jerry Plummer, was born in Pennsylvania, and his great-grand- father Plummer was of English ancestry and
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fought in the Revolutionary war. His mna- ternal grandfather. John Conley, was born in Ireland. The five children born to Naman and Nancy Plummer were: Minerva, Ander- son, Eliza, Jerry and Margaret. The family moved from Ohio to Marion County, Indi- ana, where the parents spent the remainder of their days, the mother dying when the subject of this sketch was fourteen years of age, and the father in 1865. Mr. Plummer was a farmer all his life. In politics he was a Democrat. He and his wife were both members of the Methodist Church, and in that faith they reared their children.
Anderson Phuimmer was reared on a farm and received his education in the primitive log school-house of that period. At the age of fifteen he entered upon a three years' ap- prenticeship to the carpenter's trade, working for his board and clothes. He afterward worked for wages two years in Hamilton County, Ohio. In 1858 he removed from Ohio to Benton County, Iowa, where he worked at his trade until 1875. In that year he came to Pottawattamie County, and located three miles northwest of Avoca, where he remained until 1880. Then he bought his present farm of John Lederick. This farm contains 120 acres, is divided into four fields, and is well fenced. A substan- tial frame house, surrounded by shade and ornamental trees, and suitable out-buildings for grain and stock, are among the improve- ments on this place. Mr. Phuimmer has done much of the fencing and other improvements since his purchase of the farm.
At the age of twenty-five he was married, in Benton County, Iowa, to Miss Mary Con- ley, a native of Indiana, and a lady of intel- ligence. She is the daughter of Michael and Mary Conley. Mr. and Mrs. Plummer have had three children: Charlie, who was born in October, 1878; Celathiel, who died at the
age of two and a half years; and Mary, who died when she was one year old.
Mr. Plummer is a man well informed on general topics, is frank and cordial in his manner, and is regarded as one of the lead- ing citizens in the community in which he resides. IIe is a member of the Christian Church, and is an earnest Sabbath-school worker. Politically he is a Republican.
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ON. JOSEPH R. REED, of Council Bluffs, is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and a descendant of those hardy Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, so prominent in the carly his- tory of Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States. Joseph Reed, the great- grandfather of our subject, came to Penn- sylvania in an early day, settling in Chance- ford, York County. He was a man of more than ordinary ability; was a Colonel in the Revolutionary war; a member of the Penn- sylvania Legislature, and introduced measures for the manumission of the slaves in that State, which was adopted about 1793-'94. He was a farmer, land-owner and miller. His wife was a worthy and resolute woman, and during her husband's absence in the army she ran the mill and ground flour to feed the army. Both he and his wife were Presby- terians, and had a large family, among whom was James Reed, the grandfather of our sub- ject. The latter removed to Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farming. He married Elizabeth Reed, a dis- tant relative of her husband, and they had four sons and two daughters.
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