USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Biographical history of Pottawattamie County, Iowa > Part 85
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born in Menard County, Illinois; but Mary E., who was born in Grundy County, Mis- souri; and all are living. In politics he is a stanch Democrat. He has always com- manded the respect of his fellow-citizens, and was elected to the office of Coroner in Illinois by a large majority of the voters. Mr. Hicks has always taken an active in- terest in the cause of education, and has served as School Director and held township offices. He is a member of William Layton Post, No. 358, G. A. R., at Oakland. He owns a good farm of 120 acres in Valley Township, and is esteemed by his neighbors and fellow-townsmen as a good citizen and as an upright and moral man. As a soldier he was loyal and faithful in his country's service, in war and in peace. He is a law- abiding citizen, and interested in the pros- perity of his county. His memory will be cherished by his descendants as an honorable and patriotic man, who offered his life and shed his blood to save his country in her time of peril. May his descendants emulate his example.
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RESTON TILTON, of Walnut, was born in Washington County, Pennsyl- vania, in 1820, of an old American family, and received but a limited education, as his father died when he was but nine years of age. He went to Illinois when quite young, remaining a few years, and then went to Mckeesport, Pennsylvania, where he learned the trade of ship-carpenter. He was there married to Jane Gillerist, and to them were born four children: John, who died in infancy; Oscar B., Eliza J. and George H. Mr. and Mrs. Tilton came to Rock Island County, Illinois, in 1855, and bought a farm, where he remained six years.
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In 1860 they removed to Washington County, Iowa, where they lived on a farm four years; next they returned to Rock Island County, remaining until 1876, and then they returned to Iowa, settling on a farm in Pottawattamie County, which is now occupied by their son, Oscar. He has now retired from active business, and is living in Walnut. Mr. Til- ton has been a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity since young manhood, and has filled all the offices in Moriah Lodge, No. 327, at Walnut. He has always been a hard- working man, and now enjoys the respect of all who know him.
Oscar B., his son, was born in Mckeesport, Pennsylvania, September 19, 1853, and was but two years of age when his parents moved to Illinois. In 1875 he came to Iowa, set- tling in Harlan Township, Shelby County, where he remained two years. He then sold that place and came to his father's farm, where he still resides. The property is pleasantly situated near Walnut, and is in a good state of cultivation. In political opin- ions, Mr. Tilton, like his father, is a stanch Democrat. Socially he is a member of the United Workmen. He has the confidence and respect of his fellow-townsmen, and has held the office of Assessor of Layton Town- ship for the past six years, and has also been Secretary of the Board of School Directors. He is a man of general information, and ranks high as an honorable man and a good citizen.
He was married in Rock Island County, Illinois, November 2, 1874, to Miss Emma Everett, danghter of George W. and Susan (Ream) Everett. The family were natives of Pennsylvania and of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Tilton are the parents of three children: Hattie M., Marshall L. and Nora D. Mr. Tilton's sister, Eliza J., mar- ried Joseph P. Seymour, a farmer in Adair
County, Missouri, and they have five chil- dren: Nellie V., William, Myrtle, Hattie and Della. His brother, George HI., married Carrie Hillman, and they have one child- Viva. Ile is now a farmer on his father's farm.
HARLES H. SIERRADEN, the lead- ing photographer, has been a resident of Council Bluffs since 1859. He is a son of Hon. Oliver P. Sherraden, who settled here with his family in that year. He was a well-known fruit-raiser, and remained here until his death, which occurred November 13, 1881. He was a man of fine education and more than ordinary ability. Ile was a native of Ohio, and his wife, whose maiden name was Lydia M. Johnson, still resides in this city. She was a native of Buffalo, New York, and went to Canton, Illinois, with her father, Ira Johnson, a well-known citizen of that place, where he lived until death, which occurred when he was eighty-six years of age. He was a great reader, a successful business man and held various local offices of trust. His wife died at the age of eighty-five years. Oliver P. Sherraden went to Canton, Illinois, when a boy, where he met and mar- ried his wife. He was a merchant at that place for a number of years. He came to Iowa at at early day and settled in the town of Richland, Keokuk County, where he en- gaged in general merchandising also, and represented that county in the Legislature at Des Moines. He and his wife had four children-two sons and two daughters.
The subject of this sketch, the eldest child, was born at Canton, August 26, 1845. He was about fourteen years of age when the family came to Council Bluffs. Received his education in the public schools of Council
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
Bluffs, and was a elerk for William H. Reb- inson, a merchant, for four years. He was subsequently engaged in the fruit and con- fectionery business before entering into his present occupation. Mr. Sherraden enjoys the distinction of being the leading photog- rapher, and also of being the oldest in this business at Council Bluffs. Mr. Sherraden has the confidence of all. His patrons are not confined to Council Bluffs alone, as many people of Omaha and surrounding towns come to him for photographs, crayons, etc. He has the very best cameras and photo- graphie apparatus in Western Iowa, and does strictly first-class work. We know this to be correct, as Mr. Sherraden has made most of the photographs from which the portraits in this volume were produced. Mr. Sherra- den is a member of the Modern Woodmen Lodge, Hazel Camp, No. 71, and Knights of Pythias, Lodge No. 40.
Mr. Sherraden has been twice married. Ilis first wife was Luvenia Young, who died in 1872. She left a son, who survived the mother but one month. The present wife of Mr. Sherraden was formerly Mary J. Jones. Mr. and Mrs. Sherraden have three daugh- ters: Lulu, Vinie and Edith.
L. HENDRICKS, Justice of the Peace, Council Bluffs, has been identified with the interests of Pottawattamie County since 1872. He is a native of West Virginia, born on a farm in Russell Coun- ty, July 22, 1822, the youngest son of Aaron Hendricks, who also was born on the same farm. Aaron's father was Thomas Hendricks, who settled with an English colony in what was called the Elk Garden, and received a erown right, or patent, from King George, for 400 aeres. Ile here improved his land
and reared a family of nine children. The father was the youngest, and Thomas A. Hendricks, the father of the late Vice Presi- dent, was one of the older sons. Later the father of our subject purchased the interests of the other children in the home farm, which eventually passed into the hands of our sub- ject, and was retained in the family until 1872.
The mother of our subject was nee Rachel Fullen, a daughter of Colonel Whitley, who figured conspienously in the war of 1812, said to have killed Teenmsel, and assisted Daniel Boone in the settling of Kentucky, and the descendants now reside in the vicinity of Crab Orchard, Kentucky. The father of our subject was an Adjutant during the Revolutionary war, and died in his seventy- first year; his mother in her fifty-first year.
Mr. Hendricks' youth was spent on a farm, receiving his education in a select school, and completing it at the University at Charlottes- ville, Virginia. After this he engaged in the mercantile business in Lebanon, Virginia, which he followed until after the death of his father, when, in connection with which, he took charge of the estate his father left, and he purchased his brother's interest. That estate he managed until 1869, when he, with his family, removed West, and in 1872 located in Council Bluffs, and has since been engaged in collection and insurance.
He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1884, and has served ever since in that ea- pacity.
He was married first in September, 1845, to Miss Mary E. Boyd, a native of Vir- ginia, and they had four children, three of whom still survive: Robert, now living iu Council Bluffs; Thomas, in Virginia, and Henry, in Council Bluffs.
He was again married May 2, 1855, to Martha M. Fuller, a native of Russell County, Virginia, and a daughter of Abraham Fuller,
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who was one of the six colonists who first settled that section. By this marriage there are four children, viz .: Matilda F., Ira F., Frank C. and Mannel L. Mrs. Hendricks is a member of the M. E. Church, and politically Mr. Hendricks affiliates with the Democratic party.
RANCIS T. C. JOHNSON, noted for thrift and enterprise as a farmer in Nor- walk Township, was born in Augusta County, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley, June 16, 1834, a son of Francis and Mary Jane (Hall) Johnson, who were also natives of Angusta County, Virginia. Francis John- son, Sr., died in Virginia, about 1846, when probably sixty-eight years of age. In his youth he attended the college at Lexington, Virginia, and in after years was said to be the best educated man in the Shenandoah Valley, and acted with efficiency as Surveyor General of that part of Virginia in which he lived. When a young man he taught school, and in later years was a dealer in grain, etc. Politically he was a Whig, and during the war with England, in 1812, served in the ranks as a soldier .. His father, also named Francis Johnson, was the first white child born in Augusta County, Virginia. IIe was a soldier in the American army during the war for freedom, and was a farmer. Mary Jane Hall, who became the wife of Francis Johnson and the mother of the sub- ject of this sketch, is still living, now in her eightieth year, making her home with her grandchildren in Virginia. She has been a member of the Methodist Church nearly seventy years. She had seven children, five of whom are now living, viz .: Mildred Ellen, now of Salt Lake City, Utah; May J., wife of Henry K. Eakle, who resides at the old
home in Virginia; Elisheba, who married John A. Rndisel, deceased, and resides in Lucas County, Iowa; Francis T. C. is next; Julian A. is a ranchman of Colorado; and Abbie, the youngest, was born in 1839 and died in 1862; and Asenath, the wife of Thornton G. Stout, a merchant and capitalist of New Hope, Angusta County, Virginia.
Francis T. C. spent his school days in An- gusta County, Virginia. Early in life he served an apprenticeship as a carpenter, and when yet a young man came West and located at Council Bluffs, where he was engaged working as a carpenter nntil 1870; then he moved to his present location, on sections 12 and 13, where he purchased 360 acres of land, which he has improved in various ways, etc. On coming to where he now lives his nearest neighbor north was at Neola; west, Under- wood; east, two and one-half miles, and sonth, one mile; and there were two houses on the road from there to Council Bluff's. Sinee coming to this place he has held nn- merous official positions, with the utmost satisfaction to all interested parties. In 1872 he was elected Assessor of York Township, which then included the eastern half of Nor- walk and all of York Township. Among the positions of trust which he has held are: Secretary of School Board, Trustee and Town- ship Clerk.
September 17, 1857, he married Miss Caroline Babbidd, a daughter of Colonel Ly- sander Babbidd. She was born near Cleve- land, Ohio, in 1836, and to their marriage six children have been born, five of whom are now living, viz .: Lysander W., who oper- ates an elevator at Neola, this county; Alex- ander W. was four years of age at death; Mary Ellen is the wife of John Phillips, a farmer of Norwalk Township; Francis Lee recently graduated at a commercial college at Rochester, New York, and is now a resident
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OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
of Denver, Colorado; Julian A. is some- where in Mexico, and Daisy is at home. Mr. Johnson was one of the first members of Council Bluffs Lodge of I. O. O. F., No. 49, and is politically a Democrat.
RS. MARY A. WALDO, of Crescent City, was born in Windham County, Vermont, December 24, 1829, the danghter of George W. and Mary (Randall) Allen, natives also of the Green Mountain State, and of Scotch and English ancestry. Mr. Allen was a nephew of the noted Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame, and his wife was a first cousin of Hon. Samuel Randall, one of the most eminent statesmen of this nation. Mr. Allen was the eldest of eight children. He grew up and educated himself thoroughly by both book and observation, notwithstanding the literary privations of his youth. On the frontier he was made familiar with Indians and life among danger- ous beasts. He was a farmer during his life, dying in March, 1866. In his family were the following ten children: Mary A., whose name heads this sketch; Fannie M., deceased; Edwin G., residing in Hopkinton, Massachu- setts; Charles A., living in Marlboro, New Hampshire; Belinda, deceased; Thankful H., now the wife of Fred Johnston, and residing in Vernon, Vermont; Lucy Augusta, now Mrs. Calvin Cook, and residing also in Ver- non; Lydia, who married Henry Crandall, and lives in Worcester. Massachusetts; and James F., who resides in Erving, Massachn- setts.
Mrs. Wałdo was but fifteen years of age when she received a certificate and she tanght school for one year, although her father was well-to-do and able to support her without her labor; but, being ambitions, she learned
the art of cutting and fitting dresses. At the age of twenty years she married Asa Berry Waldo, November 8, 1849, who was born in Ackworth, New Hampshire, in April, 1823. He was a blacksmith for two years, and then came West and joined the Mor- mons at Nauvoo as they were about to emi- grate to Council Bluffs. IIere he left them, returned to Vermont, resumed his trade, and soon after his marriage settled in Keene, N. H. Two years afterward, in the spring of 1852, he came West again, at the time of the emigration of the Mormons across the plains. He visited the principal cities of the West, and at length in 1852 he settled at what was then ealled Carterville; but siek- ness soon compelled him, after a year and a half of successful business there, to emigrate again; and after numerous changes he located in Baraboo, Wisconsin, and resided there eight years; and then, in 1871 he came to Crescent City, bought property and opened out in business, which he continued until his death, February 5, 1853. He was a good mechanic, an industrious and energetic man, and had it not been for his roving disposition he would evidently have been wealthy. He lived well, furnishing himself with the best fare. He was independent but active in political matters, aided local institutions, and made a mark in society that will be visible for generations to come.
Mrs. Waldo wrote the first notice of the meeting of the district school directors, and tanght the first school in the Crescent City district. Being of high literary culture, she has written articles for Eastern journals; has been active in church work and leader of the choir. She has a neat residence in Crescent City. Iler children have been: Flora A. and Orpha E., both deceased; Aden M., born October 19, 1854, and residing in Omaha; Orpha E. (2) resides in Mills County, this
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
State: she was born February 17, 1859; Ed- win P. and Carrie C. are both deceased.
MOS SCOTT CARTER, proprietor of the Sunny-Side Farm, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, October 7, 1837, a son of Samuel Carter, who was born in Harford County, Maryland, in 1806, and died in Guernsey County, Ohio. He was a farmer all his life, and his political views were Republican. Religiously he was Friend or Quaker, and his children were also reared to that faith. Our subject's mother was Susan (Benson) Carter, a native of Har- ford County, and danghter of Amos Benson. Mr. and Mrs. Benson were the parents of three children: John, Mary Jane and Doud- ney, one of whom died when seventeen years of age. The mother died when Mr. Carter was but four years old.
The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm in Guernsey County, Ohio, where he was taught to chop wood and grub and clear land, which was the foundation of his subse- qnent prosperous life. In 1867 he bid fare- well to his father and birth-place, and went to Nodaway County, Missouri, near Mary- ville, where he remained two years and nine months. December 24, 1870, he came to Pottawattamie County, where he was among the early settlers, and where he has since re- mained. He became interested in the settle- ment and improvement of the county, and for several years acted as land agent, and it was through his influence that many of Wash- ington Township's best citizens were indueed to locate here. Mr. Carter now owns a tine farm of 240 acres, on which he has erected a beautiful home, a house 24 x 40g feet, which is surrounded by shade and ornamental trees and a grovo of cight acres. The house
is situated near the public road which divides the farm east and west. Opposite the house is a bearing orchard of fine fruit, of abont two acres, which yields good erops. Near by is a five-ton wagon and stock scales; a barn 32 x 48 feet, twelve feet high to square, which is convenient for twenty head of horses, with corn and oats bin and good hay loft. There are also a cattle feed lot, a shed 16 x 112 feet, a wind-mill and tank, a hog house adjoining, 18 x 48 feet; a log pasture enclosed of thirty acres, which takes in the creek for the use of watering the stock. No better stock farm exists in the township. Ilis farm is watered by the Middle Silver Creek, which flows through it. He is also engaged in stock-raising, of which he has some very high grades, and the next year he intends to devote his whole time to this business.
Mr. Carter was married in Guernsey County, Ohio, September 29, 1860, to Miss Melinda Hartley, daughter of Noah Hartley, a pioneer of Guernsey County, and a native af Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of Malone Hartley, of English ancestry. The mother of Mrs. Carter was Millicent (Hall) Hartley, daughter of Isaac Hall. Mr. and Mrs. Noah Hartley reared thirteen chil- dren, eight of whom are now living, namely: William H., Phoebe, Arnold, Melinda, Sarah E. Smith, Uriah, Caleb, Samuel and Noah P. The mother died August 5, 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Carter are the parents of ten children, viz .: Millie Jane, born October 25, 1861, now the wife of James Boileau, an architect of South Omaha, Nebraska; Noah Elmer, foreman of planing-mill at South Omaha, born March 13, 1863; James Thomas Albert, born March 8, 1865, a wagon-maker and blacksmith by trade; John William, born November 8, 1866, is now living on the old homestead; Phebe Adaletta, born July 9, 1869, is the wife of Henry H. Crawmer, a
OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
railroad man of Kansas; Amos Edwin, born February 25, 1871, a mechanic, is at home; Arthur Elwood, born May 31, 1873, also at home; Charles Tilmon, born July 7, 1875; Ruth Minnie, November 18, 1878; and George Alfred, July 17, 1881. Politically Mr. Carter is a Republican, and also a mem- ber of the Christian Science Church.
ORNELIUS VOORHIS, first Mayor of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was born in Lebanon, Ohio, in 1813. Early in life he moved to Springfield, Ohio, and en- gaged in mercantile business. While there he was married to Miss Minerva J. MeCoy. Thence he removed to St. Louis, Missouri, and became connected with the enterprising and well known dry-goods firm of Eddy, Jameson & Co., of that eity. In 1848 the spirit of adventure indneed Mr. Voorhis and family to go farther west. Ascending the Missouri, they landed in what was then known as Kanesville, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, a settlement more particularly of Mor- mons and Indians. Mr. Voorhis was the second white man to reach this settlement to make it his home. Again he successfully engaged in trading and mercantile pursuits. He was elected the first Mayor of Council Bluffs, and served one year-1853-'54. Ile continued in the mercantile business until 1857. In 1859-'60 he was City Recorder, and in 1860-'61 was Sheriff of Pottawattamie County. In this city he engaged more or less in active business pursuits until 1873, when he and family moved to Harlan, Shelby County, Iowa, remaining there until his de- cease, July 12, 1873, at the age of fifty-nine years, nine months and sixteen days. IIis remains were brought to this city and buried in Fairview Cemetery, this community testi-
fying to his worth, and giving profound ex- pressions of grief at his departure. Ilis wife, Minerva J. Voorhis, died September 25, 1881, aged sixty-one years, nine months and five days. His daughter, Alla Bell, died January 18, 1862, aged six years, four months and twenty-nine days. Another daughter, Fanny May, died November 19, 1863. aged five months and one day. Ilis son, Cornelius D. Voorhis, died February 2, 1889, aged thirty-eight years, four months and five days. He has two children living: James W. Voorhis and Mrs. Mary E. Kel- ler, wife of V. L. KeHer, Esq., of Conneil Bluff's.
Comelius Voorhis, the subject of this sketch, was a man of sterling integrity, fine business capacity, quiet in his demeanor, possessed of wonderful energy, sagacity and determination, and as a pioneer, merchant, counselor, friend and eitizen, was always abreast of the needs of the hour.
RANK T. SEYBERT, physician and surgeon, Council Bluffs, has been iden - tified with the interests of Pottawatta- mie County since 1882. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Columbia County, April 13, 1859, a son of S. E. and S. M. (Knorr) Seybert, natives of Pennsylvania, and of German extraction aud of Quaker families. The youth of our subjeet was. spent in attending the public school and the Normal School at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and completed his education at Kingston Seminary. Ile began the study of medicine in the spring of 1877, under the preceptor- ship of Dr. B. F. Gardner, of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania; entered the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia in the fall of 1877, and graduated in the spring of 1881. After
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BIOGRAPHIICAL HISTORY.
practicing in the hospital for a time, he eame to Conneil Bluffs, in the spring of 1882, where he located and has since followed his profession, having built up a successful and Incrative praetiee.
Ile was married June 20, 1SSS, to Miss Ida B. Wies, a daughter of F. Wies. They have one child-Frank Wies. Dr. Seybert is a member of the K. of P'., St. Albans Lodge, No. 17; the Uniform Rank, Bluff Division, No. 27, holding the honorable position of Surgeon; also of the Red Men,
Pottawattamie Tribe, No. 20, also holding the office of Great Medicine Man. IIe and his mother are members of the Episcopalian Church. Ile has held the office of City Physician and Health Offieer for three years; is president of the staff at St. Bernard's Hos- pital; is a member of the Council Bluff's Medical Society, serving as Treasurer; of the Iowa State Medical Society, of the Missouri Valley Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. Politically he is inde- pendent.
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