USA > Iowa > Shelby County > Biographical history of Shelby and Audubon counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state; engravings of prominent citizens in Shelby and Audubon counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the counties, and the cities and townships > Part 29
USA > Iowa > Audubon County > Biographical history of Shelby and Audubon counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state; engravings of prominent citizens in Shelby and Audubon counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the counties, and the cities and townships > Part 29
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EORGE PAUP .- It is not often that one beliolds the spectacle of ambitions, not ignoble, fully-realized, and yet this vision is sometimes vouclisafed to mortals, even in western Iowa. The subject of the fol- lowing biographical sketch furnishes us with one example of this eharaeter. George Paup is a native of Pennsylvania, born in York County, May 9, 1833. He is a son of Daniel and Lydia (Clark) Paup, natives of Pennsyl- vania, of German extraction. His early life
was spent on a farm and in a mill; his edu- cation was received in the primitive log school- house with słab benches. IIe resided at home until his marriage, which oceurred in 1861, to Miss Sarah Ifam, a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Jared Ham. Soon after his marriage Mr. Paup, with very limited means, started to Iowa. He came to Cleveland by railroad, thence by lake boat to Chicago. From Chicago he traveled sixty miles by railroad to Savannah, and then by steamer to Bellevne -- the journey having consumed three weeks. When he landed at Bellevue his capital had diminished to 20 cents. IIe
left this point and started to Andrew, the county seat of Jackson County; there he went to work at 50 cents per day. His wife remained in Andrew, and he worked at farm work all the fall and winter, and took his pay in produce. His first modest desire was to own a farm of eighty acres, and with this in view the weather was never too severe for him to be about his work. In the spring of 1853 he was fortunate to have a yoke of oxen given him by a friend; he then rented ten acres of ground, which he sowed in wheat, the seed being the pay for his fall and winter's work. Besides putting in his crop he worked every day with his team, and when the little harvest was reaped he hauled it to Bellevue and sold the wheat for 25 cents per bushel. This was the first money he had received since coming to the State. If we were to go back to this period of Mr. Paup's life, this is the picture we would see: A mere boy with his young wife hundreds of miles from his native home, liv- ing in a little round-log cabin, with what the pioneer will recognize as a stick and clay chimney, with no floor, except what Mother Earth furnished, struggling to get a home of his own. For two years he rented land from his neighbors, who, Mr. Paup realizes, were
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very generous, and assisted him in every way possible. In 1854 he made his first purchase of eighty acres of wild land for $100; this he paid for by breaking prairie for other people. In the meantime he had traded his yoke of oxen for two yokes of steers. By hard work he paid for his land in two years, and by close attention to his pur- suits he was soon able to add to his posses- sions sixty acres more, which he fenced and improved. He then sold out with the inten- tion of going to California, but on reaching Iowa City he changed his mind and engaged in land and live-stock trading until 1853. Ile then purchased what he has since called his home farm in Clinton County; the nucleus of this home place was eighty acres, and he has added to it until there are now 460 acres in a high state of cultivation. In 1864, in connection with his agricultural industries, he engaged in shipping stock, which he con- tinned until 1881, and was known as the most successful shipper in that section of country. By his first marriage Mr. Paup had four chil- dren-Leslie, of Kirkman; George, on the old home place in Clinton County; Horatio and Harrison, both of Lincoln Township. His first wife died in 1873, and he was again mar- ried, to Miss Julia Brumbangh, a native of Pennsylvania. In 1881 Mr. Panp came to Shelby County, leaving George in charge of the homestead. Leslie purchased a farm fifteen miles from Denison, which was almost in a wild state; he afterward sold out to the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and Manilla now stands on the ground. He then bought the place known as the Kibby farm, of 660 acres, supposed to be the best farm in the county. When he retired from farming Mr. Paup settled in Harlan, where he has a pleasant, comfortable home in which to spend the remainder of his days. Mrs. Paup is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Paup's political inclinations lie very de- cidedly in the direction of the Republican party. From a very small beginning Mr. Panp has increased his property to a fortune of no mean dimensions, besides assisting his sous to excellent homes of their own, and he is an exception to humanity in general in this, that he is well satisfied with the results of his exertions, and is one of the contented few who desire no more.
B. KEES, a native of Venango County, Pennsylvania, was born August 19, 1835; he is a son of George and Naney (Benn) Kees; he was reared to farm life and received his education in the common schools and in an academy. When he reached his twenty-first year he came to Iowa, and located at Sabula, Jackson County, lowa. He resided there five years and learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed during his stay in Jackson County. For ten years after leaving Jackson County, he spent his time in earpen- tering, farming and school-teaching. From Jackson County he emigrated to Clayton County, near the county seat; while there he followed farming and school-teaching. He was married December 25, 1860, to Miss Martha Patterson, daughter of John and Jane Green Patterson. She was born in February, 1838. In 1865 they removed to Boone Conn- ty, Iowa, near Prairie Ilill post-office. Here he followed carpentering three years, and then engaged in the mercantile business, near Perry, Iowa. He remained at this point two years and then went to Perry with his stock of goods; after one year's sojourn in Perry he sold the business and moved on a farm in Greene County, Iowa. He remained here until December, 1881, when he removed to his present home, in section 32, Douglas
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Township. His first purchase was 210 acres of partially improved land; he has since brought it into a fine state of cultivation; he now owns 570 acres of improved land in Douglas, Greeley and Polk Townships. Since his residence in Shelby County he has fol- lowed agricultural pursuits alone. When residing in Greene County he was elected to the board of commissioners. He enlisted in the United States service in 1865, but was never mnstered into the service. IIe is a live, energetic man, who labors for the country and the welfare of those around him. He is a Republican, always taking an active part in the movements of the party. He is presi- dent of the Farmers' Alliance of Shelby County, an association formed March, 1886. Ile is also vice-president of Shelby County Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Kees are the parents of seven children-George S. resides near Defi- ance, Iowa; Clarence II., at home; Sarah J., deceased; Lettie A., deceased; Lillie M., Jolın P. and Edward, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Kees are worthy and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Harlan, Mr. Kees being an ordained local deacon in that church.
N. BUCKMAN comes of Qnaker par- entage. He is a native of Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, born January 21, 1838; is a son of William and Sarah (Cooper) Buckman. He was reared in his native place and spent his early life on a farm, receiving his education at the Friends' school at Wrightstown until theage of eighteen, when he entered the State Normal school at Millers- ville, afterward taking a course at Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Philadelphia. A portion of his time since leaving school has been spent in the profession of teach-
ing. In May, 1861, he enlisted in Company C, Third Pennsylvania Reserves, under Colonel Sickle, serving until October 1,1865; he fought in quite a number of battles; among the most noted were the seven days' battle of McClel- lan's army before Richmond, the siege of Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Fort Fisher and Bentonville. He enlisted as a private and was promoted step by step until he was made captain, and finally brevetted major of volnn- teers by President Lincoln for " gallant and meritorious services in the field." His horse was killed under him at Deep Bottom, where the slaughter far exceeded that at the famous " charge of the Light Brigade;" but there was no Tennyson to immortalize it. Out of eighteen officers in his regiment that went into the fight, thirteen were either killed or wounded within fifteen minutes after the bat- tle began. He lost another horse in the Fort Fisher expedition. After his return from the United States service he settled in Phila- delphia, where he engaged in business for two years; he then came west, spending one year in Nebraska. In 1869 he came to Iowa, locating in section 18, Douglas Township, ~ Shelby County, on the farm he now owns. Here he has made himself a home; he im- proved his land, adding to it until he now owns 140 acres, which is chiefly devoted to grass-raising. He has experimented largely in fruit-growing, and has now an apple or- chard of 400 trees and five acres of grove. Mr. Buckman, since his residence in the county, has devoted himself to farming and teaching. From 1873 to 1877 he was county superintendent of schools, holding the first Normal Institute in the county during the first year of his superintendency. He has held most of the township offices, especially those connected with the educational interests of the county. He has had to undergo most of the hardships incident to pioneer life, com-
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY.
ing, as he did, in the early history of the county. He was married January 31, 1867, to Emma V., daughter of William Hurst. She was born October 10, 1839, and died May 29, 1882. Four children graced this union; two died in infancy: Willie and Grace are at home, Grace being a teacher in the public sehools. Mr. Buekman married again De- cember 27, 1883, to Amanda T., daughter of W. A. and Mary (Jones) Blane; she was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania, October 16, 1858. Two children have been born of this marriage-Mary (deceased) and Warner. The family are consistent members of the Method- ist Episcopal Church at Kirkman. Mr. Buckman is a member of A. F. & A. M., Parian Lodge, No. 321, and of the G. A. R. Post at Harlan. He is the present secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company of Shelby County, Iowa, being one of the active promoters in the establishment of this institution in the county. IIe also assisted in the organization of the Shelby County Agricultural Society, serving as the first sec- retary, and filling that office for several years. He is now the president of that association.
ARLOS C. REDFIELD, of Harlan, is a native of Connectient, born in Saybrook, April 3, 1837. Ile is a son of William and Dency (Chittenden) Redfield, natives of Connectient, and of English ancestry. Will- iam Redfield, the father of C. C. Redfield, was the fifth child of Orrin Redfield, who was born at Chestnut Hill, Connectient, May 31, 1807, and followed farming in his native State. He was married November 26, 1835, to Miss Deney Chittenden, a daughter of Joseph and Deney Chittenden, who was born in North Madison, Connecticut, October 30, 1812; she was of English ancestry. They
were the parents of two children: Carlos C., and Ellen Maria, wife of Giles A. Bushnell, of Saybrook, Connectieut. William Redfield departed this life July 5, 1876; his widow still survives and resides with her danghter. Orrin Redfield, the grandfather of Carlos C., was born at Killingworth, Conneetient, on the homestead, Chestnut Hill, June 25, 1779, and was the second and youngest son of Josiah Redfield. He was married in March, 1796, to Miss Rachel Grave, of Killingworth, Connectient, who was born February 24, 1769. Ile died December 31, 1861; his wife died April 21, 1850. They were the parents of ten children, six of whom lived to maturity. Josiah Redfield, the great-grand- father of Carlos C., was born at Chestnut Hill, Killingworth, Connecticut, September 6, 1730, and was the seventh son of Theoph- ilus Redfield. Ile was married December 8, 1757, to Miss Sarah Parmelee, a daughter of Lemuel and Sarah Parmelee, who was born Angust 19, 1734. He died August 6, 1802, and his wife died August 25, 1808. By this union there were four children. Theophilus Redfield, the oldest son of James Redfield, was born in 1682, probably at Saybrook, Con- necticut. He was a joiner by trade, and probably settled in Killingworth soon after coming of age. About 1717 or 1718 he purchased 120 acres of land on Chestnut Ilill, North Killingworth, and there estab- lished the Redfield homestead. December 24, 1706, he was married to Priseilla Greenel (or Grinnell), the daughter of Daniel and Lydia Greenel. They were the parents of thirteen children, all of whom lived to be married and have families. IIe died Feb- ruary 14, 1795, and his wife died January 12, 1770. James Redfield (or Redtin), the only son of William Redfield, was born in 1646. The place of his birth is not known. He was bound to the tanner's trade for five
Et Collins
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
years. Ile resided in various places, and finally settled in Saybrook, Connecticut, in May, 1669. He was married in New Haven, Connecticut, to Miss Elizabeth How, a dauglı- ter of Jeremy Ilow, by whom he had three children. She died, and he was again mar- ried, to Deboralı Sturgis, by whom two chil- dren were born. William Redfield (or Red- fin) was probably one of the early emigrants from England to the colony of Massachusetts during the decade of years following 1630. He had two children. Carlos C. Redfield was reared on a farm, and received an aca- demic education. He remained with his par- ents until his majority, after which he engaged in steamboating for three years between Hartford and Sag Harbor. At the breaking out of the late civil war the vessel on which he was employed was chartered by the government. This boat carried the mail three times per week, from Fortress Monroe to Cherry Stone Creek, for two years, and exchanged prisoners. Out of a crew of thirty Mr. Redfield and two others were all that came back with the boat. He left the service at Philadelphia, and for a year was unable to do anything on account of disease contracted while in the service; he did not recover from the effects of this for over twenty years. Mr. Redfield engaged with William C. Hongh & Co., as bookkeeper in the cotton mill at Rockville, Connceticut. At the expira- tion of one year he was appointed superin- tendent, which position he filled for three years. In 1870 lie came to Iowa, and settled in Shelby County. He purchased an unim- proved farm in Harlan Township, a portion of the land also lay in Lincoln Township, which he immediately began to put in a state of cultivation. In connection with his farming pursuits he engaged in various avocations, among others was the running of an express line between Harlan and Avoca before the
railroad was built. Mr. Redfield served as clerk of IIarlan Township for ten years. He has been appointed deputy sheriff three terms, and for two terms he filled the office of sheriff-appointed by the board of super- visors. He was first appointed justice of the peace in 1884, and that fall was elected to the office. He was re-elected in 1886 as an independent. He served as secretary of the agricultural association for four or five years. He was appointed assistant commissioner by Commissioner Herbert S. Fairall, to the World's Fair at New Orleans, in 1884. He took great interest in this work, making two trips to New Orleans. In 1880 he took the census of Harlan and Harlan Township. Mr. Redfield was married to Miss Dora King, of Rockville, Connecticut. By this union one son was born-Clarence. Mrs. Redfield died in 1865 In 1866 Mr. Redfield was again married, to Miss Sarah Buckland, a native of Windsor, Connecticut. By this union one child was born-Elbert B. Mrs. Redfield is a member of the Congregational church. In politics Mr. Redfield is independent.
A. COLLINS was a man of decided character, who, though not one of the earliest settlers of Shelby County, did, by his untiring energy, enterprise, and broad, liberal views, become more closely identified with the people of this county than most men of longer residence. Possessing ample means, he came into the county in 1871, and purchased an excellent tract of land in Shelby Township, brought it to a high state of cul- tivation, made it his home, and took especial pleasure in entertaining a very large circle of friends and acquaintances, who enjoyed his hospitality. Mr. Collins was born in Penn- sylvania, Jannary 31, 1810, being a descend-
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IIISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY.
ant from the old Pennsylvania Dutch stock. His mother could not speak a word of Eng- lish. He was raised in the mountainous dis- triet of his native State, and being inured to the hardships incident to that period, he grew to manhood possessed of splendid health, and a magnificent physique. He was endowed with a well-balanced mind, and possessed an unusual amount of good common sense. His father died when he was quite young. IIe was raised by an unele, who brought him np to the trade of a tanner. November 12, 1833, in his twenty-third year, he was married to Naney Ann Parkhiser, and there were born to them eight children, four sons and four daughters. Soon after his marriage Mr. Col- lins embarked in the tanning business for himself upon rather a small scale. A few years after he formed a partnership with Jesse Grant, father of General Grant, and for twelve years they were associated together in making and selling leather. In the meantime they built a large steam tannery on the Ohio River, and as the western country grew and developed they opened a wholesale store in Galena, Illinois, then the Chicago of the West, for the sale of leather, saddlery, hardware, shoe findings, etc. In 1853 the firm of Col- lins & Grant was dissolved by mutual con- sent, Mr. Collins continning in the busi- ness with his two older sons, under the firm name of E. A. Collins & Sons; they had branch stores at Marshalltown and Iowa City, and did a very successful business. In 1861 Mr. Collins elosed out his business interests and removed to Davenport, Iowa, where he resided about two years. He then removed with his family to Louisiana, and purchased an orange grove in the vicinity of New Or- leans, where he resided some years. In 1871 he visited Shelby County, purchased a 1,000. acre traet of land, named it Deer Ridge Stock Farm, and devoted his time to improving and
developing this place. He stocked it with fine blooded cattle, and for several years farmed it on quite a large scale; at one time he had several head of buffalo and elk on the farm. Here it was that his first wife died, September 24, 1874, after a long continued illness. Mr. Collins married his second wife, Mrs. Maria Conn, in 1880, who still survives him; there were no children by this second marriage. Mr. Collins continued to make this farm liis home until his death, which oc- curred in April, 1882, at the age of seventy- two years; he left the following sons and daughters-John S. Collins, Omaha, Ne- braska; E. A. Collins, Jr., Yorkshire, Iowa; Mrs. James Franklin, Neola, lowa, and Mrs. W. F. Cleveland, of this county, since de- ceased. Mr. Collins was highly respected by all who knew him, for his sterling worth and undoubted honesty. When death removes from our midst such a man as E. A. Collins was, the community meet with an irreparable loss, but his life affords us an example worthy of emulation.
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AMES HAWKINS, deceased, who was the first man to settle at or near the present thriving village of Shelby, was a native of England, born December 9, 1811. When a young man he went to sea, following the life of a sailor for many years. fle visited every port along the coast, both of North and South America. He served through the Mexican war, and also in the civil war of this conntry. Up to the time of his settling down on the banks of Silver Creek, in Shelby County, Iowa, his career had been an event- ful one, full of stirring scenes and thrilling adventures. He entered his land in Shelby County in 1855, the same being described as section 33, township 78, and range 40, upon
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which the village plat of Shelby was surveyed in 1868-'69. Mr. Hawkins came to this land to live upon and improve it. In 1865 he erected a rnde log cabin and lived in it until within the past few years, when he built a fine farm house which he made his home nntil overtaken very suddenly by death. He was unmarried and was held in high esteem by every one within the circle of his acquaintance. He was a man of firm belief in his convictions of right and wrong. In his business transactions he was strictly upright with all. He died of apoplexy, June 24, 1888.
M RS. A. G. M. WINTERS .- Angie Gertrude Michener, a well-known pioneer teacher of Shelby County, was born in Morrow County, Ohio, June 16, 1844. IIer father, Daniel Michener, be- longed to the Society of Friends, and was noted for his genial disposition, his integrity of character, and his devotion to the cause of education. Death called him to the other side when the subject of this sketch was less than two years old. Her mother, Mary (Havens) Michener, was of good Presby- terian stock, in whose family ministers and physicians predominated. When a child Angie G. Winters and her only sister were taken by their mother to Indiana, which was then considered the wild west, and settlers had to endure many hardships. Schools were few and very inferior, but the mother, being a woman of unnsual ability and liberal education, did much for her children to sup- plement their limited educational advantages. When twelve years old Angie became lame from blood-poisoning. When thirteen years old lter parents removed to Tipton, Iowa. Here were better schools, but owing to her
lameness, which lasted five years, she could attend school bnt little. Always a lover of books, she determined not to be left behind in the race for knowledge. Studying at home, with the assistance of her mother, she kept far in advance of other girls of her age, often studying hard to divert her mind during hours of extreme pain. In quite early child- hood Angie determined to be a schoolma'am, and as she grew older she realized more and more the dignity and responsibility resting upon those who mold the plastic minds of yonth. During her career as a teacher she was very conscientious, trying to educate the heart as well as the head. Being full of a missionary spirit, she did a great deal of evangelistic work wherever she taught school. Inheriting a talent for nursing the sick, she was in great demand in cases of sickness and accidents. One time she was called to treat a case of delirium tremens, and another time to stop a serious hemorrhage. In the spring of 1861 she came to Harlan, where she taught her first school in the old brick school-house. The wages received were $10 per month, with the privilege of boarding around, a favor not accepted. No two pupils had the same kind of text-books; new ones could not be procured nearer than Council Bluffs, and most of the patrons were too poor to buy new ones, so the teaching was princi- pally oral. In the fall of 1861 Miss Mich- ener began teaching what was known as the Waterbury school, in Fairview Township; but exposure brought on rheumatic fever, from which she did not recover until the fol- lowing June. The next ten years found her in the school-room. In 1869 Miss Michener was nnited in marriage to Lorenzo L. Win- ters, a well-known farmer of Clay Township, a gennine Christian gentleman. Being wed- ded to her profession as an educator, Mrs. Winters continued teaching for two years.
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HISTORY OF SHELBY COUNTY.
Her husband then went into business in Atlantic, Cass County. Here Mrs. Winters took charge of a class in Sabbath-school, superintended a Band of Hope, and taught a mission school in her own house. Always a strong advocate of total abstinence and equal suffrage, Mrs. Winters carly identified her- self with the woman's temperance move- ment. One of the first fruits of the great tidal wave of temperance that followed the woman's crusade, was the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, in which Mrs. Winters was a leading spirit. A writer of some note, and having contributed to a score or more of papers, a fluent speaker, she now consecrated her talent and much of her time to the tem- peranee cause. This she was enabled to do, having a husband in perfect sympathy with her, and having no children with whom to divide her time and attention. In 1882, when the Dakota fever was at its height, Mr. and Mrs. Winters bade adieu to Cass County, Iowa, and journeyed to the land of the Da- kotas. IIere they began pioneer life anew, -
living for a time in a sod shanty on a claim which was called Glen Rose. In less than a month after taking possession, Mrs. Winters had gathered the children from three fami- lies, constituting the settlement, into a Sun- day-school in her sod house. Fortunately it was a large one, for as the country settled rapidly the Sunday-school grew accordingly, people coming from every direction for miles around. For two years she resumed her place at the teacher's desk. One winter she rode two miles to school, where she would LLIOTT A. COBB, physician and sur- geon, Harlan, has been directly inter- ested in the welfare of Shelby County since 1880, at which time he came to the place. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Wayne Connty, July 16, 1843, and a son of Justus and Eliza J. (Morgan) Cobb; the father was have to wait for a fire to be kindled every morning, with the thermometer often indi- cating twenty-five to thirty-five below zero. During all these years she had not forgotten the temperance canse, but with tongue and pen had done much to advance its cause. Mr. Winters' failing health demanding lighter i a native of Pennsylvania and of English anees-
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