Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume II, Part 74

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1464

USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume II > Part 74

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Before leaving his native land in 1881 Mr. Adelman and Miss Leba Tocker were united in marriage. Six children have been born to them: Ethel, who is an actress; Abraham, engaged in business with his father; Rosie, who is a school teacher ; Jennie, the wife of H. B. Gray, of Des Moines; Ruth, also on the stage; and Isadore, a student in high school. Mr. Adelman has given all of his children the advantages of a good education and fitted them to be self-sup- porting and useful members of society.

The family are affiliated with the Sixth Street Jewish synagogue and Mr. Adelman is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a past noble grand in this organization, as well as of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Maccabees, while he is president of the Order Bret Abraham. He has always taken an active and helpful interest in all benevolent and char- itable orgnizations instituted for the relief of the Hebrew race and has con- tributed liberally toward their maintenance, in proportion to his circumstances.

Mr. Adelman has never had cause to regret becoming a citizen of the United States, having met with more than average success in his ventures here, and in addition to his well established business owns a very pleasant and comfortable home. He is held in high esteem by those with whom he comes in contact and is regarded as a capable and reliable business man.

JOSEPH ANKENY.

Woven into the history of Des Moines is the record of the Ankeny family. Not only have representatives of the name borne a part in the business develop- ment of this city but even a more important part in developing the social atmosphere and stimulating the intellectual and moral culture upon which the

MRS. HARRIET ANKENY

JOSEPH ANKENY

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fabric of city life is built. It was in November, 1867, that Joseph Ankeny and his wife, Harriet (Giese) Ankeny came to Iowa, although in 1854 Mr. Ankeny had entered land near what is now the town of Ankeny. The family is descended from French Huguenot ancestry, the name being originally written Angene. Representatives of the name went to Germany in the days of Protes- tant persecution in France and from the fatherland emigration was made to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and thence to Maryland. De Walt Ankeny, or Angene, came to the new world in the ship Neptune from Rotterdam in October, 1746, in the company of his uncle, Casper De Walt. He was eighteen years of age. Two brothers, Nicholas and Theabold, had preceded him. The first record of land owned by the family shows that it was in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Other records indicate purchases of property in other parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland. De Walt Ankeny lived near Clear Spring, Mary- land, and married Mary Jane Dorner, who came to America with her father, Thomas Dorner, and two brothers, Christian and Peter. To this union were born two sons, Christian and Peter. After the death of his first wife De Walt Ankeny married Margaret Friedline and had ten children, including: John, Henry, David, George, Jacob, Mary and Elizabeth. Peter, the second son of De Walt and Mary Jane (Dorner) Ankeny, was born March 6, 1751. He married Rosina Bonnet, whose father, Jean Bonnet, was the proprietor of the first inn west of the Alleghanies on Forbes Road. They crossed the mountains on horseback into Pennsylvania about 1773, where he had bought a large tract of land called "The Manor." He was one of the proprietors of the town of Somerset and gave to the village a site for a school and churchyard, and left to each of his ten children a farm. The record of his children is as follows: Catherine, who gave her hand in marriage to Peter Meyers; Elizabeth, the wife of Michael Hugus; Rosina, who wedded George Shaver; Susanna, the wife of Andrew Stewart; Peter; John; Jacob and Henry, twins; Isaac; and Joseph.

The birth of Joseph Ankeny occurred in Somerset, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1802, and he was only two years of age when he lost his father. He did not attend school after he reached the age of thirteen years. In the school of experience, however, he mastered life's valuable lessons, and became recognized as a man of affairs, manifesting keen insight into business situations. In early life he managed. a general store for his brother-in-law, Peter Meyers, in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. In 1820 he went down the Ohio river from Pittsburg on a raft. The waters were swollen by the spring floods and very treacherous and the banks were lined with dense forests inhabited by Indians. His brother John had previously taken his family to Brownsville, Illinois, to which point he made his way. He afterward returned to Pennsylvania and also spent some time with an uncle, Colonel John Bonnet, in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania.

On the 29th of July, 1823, in Berlin, Pennsylvania, Josephi Ankeny married Harriet Susannah Giese, a daughter of the Rev. Henry Giese, who came to the United States in 1776. He was an early missionary and poineer minister of the German Reformed church and from 1795 until 1838 was pastor of the church at Berlin. He possessed great influence among the people of his congregation. He was a man of imposing presence, possessed a fine voice and played upon several different musical instruments. He had been educated in Marburg Uni- versity, Germany, for the practice of medicine and had come to the new world with the Hessian army in 1776. He married Anna Maria Baker near Fred- ericktown, Maryland. As her parents opposed her going to Germany to live, Rev. Giese suffered disinheritance for her sake, remaining a resident of the new world. She was a woman of beautiful and amiable character, who proved of great assistance to her husband in his labors in the ministry. Rev. Giese had several children. His son, Valentine Giese, born in Lovettsville, Virginia, in 1785, was captain of the Fayette County Blues of Pennsylvania in the war Vol. II-31

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of 1812 and escorted La Fayette through that county when the French general revisited America in 1824. He was also an intimate friend of General Jackson and visited at the White House. Others of the family were: Mrs. Catherine Loar Herbert; Mrs. Elizabeth Lowry; Mrs. Anna Maria Ream; John Giese, a Methodist minister; Mrs. Harriet S. Ankeny; and a half-sister, Mrs. Margaret Compton.

Following the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Ankeny they lived for several years on the home farm in Somerset, Pennsylvania. In 1831, however, they moved westward to Ohio with "the best equipped outfit that ever left Somerset county for the new northwest." For a year they lived upon a farm in Holmes county, Ohio, and then took up their abode in Millersburg, where he occupied a position among the leading merchants of the village for more than two decades, during which period he made frequent trips by stage and horseback to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and to New England factory towns to purchase goods. He was also associated with others in the ownership and operation of a large flour mill, which was later destroyed by fire. He always owned farms and became interested in the west, purchasing lands in Ohio, Illinois and Iowa. With his wife he often drove to the leading towns of Ohio to attend fairs and Masonic festivals. He was initiated into the Masonic fraternity December 1, 1823, at the age of twenty-one years and six months. This was at the height of the Morgan excitement. He served as

warden and worshipful master of Lodge No. 84, and in 1845 became a charter member of Spartan Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Millersburg, Ohio, in which he served as first senior warden and as treasurer. In 1854 Mr. and Mrs. Ankeny visited the Crystal Palace, established by P. T. Barnum in New York. A pro- gressive spirit characterized them always and made them leaders in the social as well as the business circles of the communities in which they lived. Mr. Ankeny was also prominent in political affairs. From 1834 until 1836 he represented Holmes county in the Ohio legislature and on the 13th of February, 1838, was appointed postmaster of Millersburg. He was one of the electors who carried the Ohio vote to Washington at the time of Lincoln's first election and returned home convinced from his conversation with Vice President Breckenridge that war was inevitable, the feeling being so greatly strained all over the country. He had been reared in the democratic faith. He disapproved of slavery but was not then an abolitionist. However, he voted for Fremont and was a devoted Lincoln man. He was a constant reader of the New York Tribune, published by Horace Greeley, and remained during the dangerous times a faithful and fearless patriot, uncompromising in his support of what he believed to be right. Feeling ran high in those days but time softened this and estrangements then begun were forgotten and forgiven in the renewed friendships of later years.

When in Pennsylvania Mr. Ankeny was commissioned by Governor J. Andrew Schulze as lieutenant colonel of the Allegheny Jackson Legion of the State Militia, Second Brigade of the Twelfth Division, composed of counties Bedford, Somerset and Cambria. He served until he moved to Ohio. His commission was dated at Harrisburg, August 3, 1828. Following his removal to Ohio he was commissioned, July 4, 1834, a brigadier general of the Ohio Militia at a time when muster days were important events. The horse he rode while en- gaged in military duty became celebrated for his ability to stand fire without flinching. Mr. Ankeny was an advocate of the Union cause and while he had passed the age limit for soldier duty at the front, was a stalwart advocate of the war policy and a most earnest champion of President Lincoln. In fact his feeling for the martyr president transcended mere admiration. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ankeny held to the oldtime customs of hospitality, their home ever being open for the reception of friend and stranger. They were possessors of the first piano in Millersburg and their household was the center of many

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delightful social affairs. They never grew old in spirit but mingled among the younger people who delighted in their companionship. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ankeny had been reared in the German Reformed faith but while living in Millersburg Mrs. Ankeny became a member of the Church of Christ.

In the year 1854 Mr. Ankeny visited Iowa and entered land in the vicinity of what is now the town of Ankeny, so named in honor of his son, John Fletcher Ankeny. In 1867 he brought his family to this state. The new farm was fenced and improved and an orchard was set out. He was deeply inter- ested in horticulture and did much to promote fruit-raising in Ohio as well as Iowa. Following their arrival in Des Moines the family lived with the eldest daughter, Mrs. Susanna Barcroft, until 1871, when at the corner of Tenth and Locust streets the Ankeny home was established and became, as did the Millers- burg home, the center of warm-hearted hospitality. Across the road from their home was a cornfield and an orchard which Mr. Ankeny greatly desired to see converted into a park, but when the city father said "the project was to en- hance the value of his own property" Mr. Ankeny withdrew the offer of a gift of five hundred dollars which he had made for that purpose, as did also C. H. Getchell, who lived on Ninth street.

On the 29th of July, 1873, Mr. and Mrs. Ankeny celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, on which occasion their numerous descendants gathered about them and there were recounted many interesting events of the wedding day of fifty years before, when the bride had been attired in a white silk gown, trimmed with a lace ruff, part of which is still a treasured relic in the family. After the ceremony they had ridden horseback over the mountain road from Berlin to Somerset, a distance of nine miles, accompanied by nine couples to attend the infare held the following day for the newly wedded pair. The wedding gifts of 1823 included a set of chairs, chests of linen, tables and, bureaus of quaint style which are now cherished as heirlooms by their descend- ants. Some of the old books and a time-worn German Bible have been donated to the Iowa Historical department. The death of Mr. Ankeny occurred May 19, 1876. He was a man of most positive character, strong in his convictions, his opinions, however, being the result of careful consideration. His was a splendid record of a self-made man, honorable in every relation of life. Mrs. Ankeny survived until 1897, reaching the advanced age of ninety-six years and three months. Her memory is enshrined in the hearts not only of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren but of all who knew her. Her life was an insipration to those with whom she came in contact and her influence remains as a blessed benediction to all. A lady of natural culture and refinement, her life was filled with good deeds and actuated by high and noble purposes.

The family of Joseph and Harriet Ankeny consisted of eight children. John Fletcher, the eldest, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1824, on the farm owned by his grandfather and where his father also was born. He was seven years of age when the family removed to Millersburg, Ohio. When fifteen years of age he went with a surveying party on the Maumee canal in the Black river country. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Jacob Voorhees and later attended medical college in Cincinnati. He began practice with Dr. McNeal at Canal Dover, Ohio, but in 1846 removed to Ken- ton, where he practiced his profession and served as postmaster. In 1849 he went to California and became clerk of the first legislature of that state. After visiting the Hawaiian islands he returned to Freeport, Illinois, in 1854 and in 1856 married Miss Sallie Wolgamot, of Millersburg, Ohio. He was associated with Lincoln in the campaign of 1860 and was elected a member of the Illinois legislature from Stephenson county. In 1869 he moved with his family to Des Moines and in 1872 became a member of the city council. He was the founder of the town of Ankeny and was one of the promoters and stockholders of the Minnesota Narrow Gauge Railroad, now a branch of the Northwestern. In

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1882 he purchased a large tract of land on Indian river in Brevard county, Florida, and founded the town of Ankona Heights. On one of his trips south he was taken seriously ill and died at Stark, Florida, in 1886. His remains were brought back to Des Moines for interment in Woodland cemetery. He was a man of genial disposition, of strong intellectuality, probably ahead of his time. There were four daughters in his family: Florence, married George P. Russell, and has a son, Fletcher Ankeny Russell, living at Ankona, Florida ; Mary Bird, married Benson E. Israel and has a son, William Dwight Israel ; Harriet Giese, married Delos W. Mott, of Hampton, Iowa; and Susanna be- came the wife of Ernest W. Brown and the mother of two sons, Emerson Ankeny, who died in infancy, and Robert Ankeny Brown.

Peter De Walt, the second son of Joseph Ankeny, was born February 3, 1826, on the old farm at Somerset, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, and was lieutenant of Company B, Fourth Ohio Regi- inent in the Mexican war. He studied law and practiced in Ohio but afterward came to Iowa and developed a farm near Berwick, which he still owns although he is now living in Ankona, Florida. He married Miss Ellen Lorah at Atlantic, Iowa. They have one son, Paul, and four daughters: Rose Bonnet, wife of Edgar Lewis, whose home is in Florida, has two daughters, Elizabeth and Edna attending school at Mount Eagle, Tennessee. The other daughters of Peter are: Daisy, the wife of Frank O. Green, of Des Moines; Louise, the wife of George W. Burnett, of Des Moines; and Mabel, the wife of William Matthews, of Dubuque, who has one child, Ellen Louise.

Henry Giese, the third son of Joseph Ankeny, died at his home in Corning, Iowa, March 17, 1906. He was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, Decem- ber 24, 1827, and in 1831 went with his parents to Millersburg, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. In 1850 he went to California owing to the gold excitement, and there remained for five years, after which he returned to Ohio. Soon, however, he again came to the west, settling in Adams county, Iowa. After a short time he was elected county clerk, which position he resigned at the out- break of the Civil war to join Company H, Fourth Iowa Infantry, of which he was elected first lieutenant while later he was promoted to the captaincy. He was tendered the promotion of major but refused, on account of a promise given the parents of his youthful recruits that he would never leave them. He participated in twenty-eight engagements, among which were Pea Ridge, Look- out Mountain, Chickamauga and Vicksburg. It is said he was the first man to enter Vicksburg after its surrender and in November, 1864, was mustered out. He then located on a farm south of Quincy, Iowa, where he resided until appointed postmaster which necessitated his removal to Corning, serving under Presidents Arthur and Harrison. He was also a member of the board of supervisors for a number of terms. He was one of the oldest Masons in the county and was treasurer of Eureka Chapter, R. A. M., of Corning, from its organization until his death. He also served as a member of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Commission which located the Iowa troops. On the 30th of October, 1859, he married Fostina H. Newcomb, and they had seven children. Their eldest son, Joseph Newcomb Ankeny, and his wife, Alma, had the following children: Jessie V., a missionary teacher in China; Bianche, the wife of Charles Chapman, of Prescott, Iowa; Ralph, of Sturgis, South Dakota; Helen, Homer, Harriett Louise, Florence and Henry Giese, all of York, Nebraska. Warren B. Ankeny, second son of Henry Giese Ankeny, and his wife, Osia Joslin, have two children: Colin Clinton and Fostina, of Corning, Iowa. John B. Ankeny, of Dixon, Nebraska, the third son, and his wife, Lou Devore, have two sons: Chester Devore, and Russell Barcroft. Harry Ankeny, the fourth son, is deceased. Rollin V. Ankeny, the fifth son, and his wife, Edyth, have two children, Harold and Barbara, living in Ankona, Florida. Dr. Ralph Ankeny, the sixth son, and his wife, Jessie, of

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Marseilles, Illinois, have a son, Ralph Ankeny, Jr. Elizabeth, wife of Harry H. Harris, of Orient, Iowa, has one child, Fostina.

Rollin Valentine Ankeny, the fourth son of Joseph and Harriet (Giese) Ankeny, was born in Somerset, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1830, on a farm pre- empted by his grandfather, Captain Peter Ankeny. He attended the local schools in Millersburg, Ohio, studied medicine and became part owner of a drug store. In 1853 he married Miss Sarah Irvine, a daughter of his preceptor, Dr. James S. Irvine. In 1856 he removed with his family to a farm of three hun- dred and twenty acres, a gift from his father, in Stephenson county, Illinois, and at the outbreak of the Civil war they removed to Freeport, where he assisted in recruiting a company of which he was elected captain in September, 1861. He was very efficient in caring for the wants of his company in procur- ing necessary clothing and needed supplies. After the surrender of Fort Donel- son he was placed on detached service as brigade quartermaster and when the Fourth Division was fully organized General Hurlbut assigned him to duty as division quartermaster, which place he filled with credit and was recognized as staff officer of General Hurlbut. He resigned December 31, 1862. The One Hundred and Forty-second Illinois was organized at Freeport by Colonel Rollin V. Ankeny and was mustered in June 18, 1864, for one hundred days. The command was assigned to duty in guarding the Memphis & Charleston Railroad at White station, Memphis, Tennessee. Governor Yates in his last annual message paid these troops a high and deserved compliment and Captain Ankeny was brevetted brigadier general by act of the senate and President Andrew Johnson. After the war he went to Winterset, Iowa, where he engaged in the lumber business and later removed to Des Moines, where for several years he was United States marshal. He also served as United States land surveyor in Florida and Oregon for a term of years and after returning to Des Moines was assistant overseer of the poor and coroner of Polk county. He was a Knight Templar. a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Union Veterans Union societies. He died in Des Moines, December 24, 1901. Unto him and his wife were born five children. The eldest, Irvine Ankeny, was born at Millersburg, Ohio, in 1854. Harriet Louise, born October 20, 1856, became the wife of John Conger and died at Fresno, California, in 1887. She had two children: Rollin Valen- tine, who died in childhood; and Edwin. Joseph, the third child of Captain Ankeny, was born in Millersburg, Ohio, and died in infancy. Rollin Valentine, the next son, was born September 1, 1871, at Freeport, Illinois, and is now cashier of the Seattle (Wash.) National Bank, the largest bank on the Pacific coast. He married Miss Nellie Randolph, of Des Moines, and they have one son, Irvine. Mary Bonnet, the youngest of the children of Captain Rollin Ankeny, became the wife of Fred H. Hunter, who is interested in a rice planta- tion in Arkansas. In 1909 he represented Polk county in the state legislature. They have three children, Leland, Josephine and Rollin Valentine.

Susanna Fletcher Ankeny, the eldest daughter of Joseph Ankeny, was born on a farm near Millersburg, Ohio, and attended the Granville (Ohio) Female Seminary. On the 4th of June, 1852, she married John R. Barcroft, a rising young lawyer of Millersburg. They came to Oskaloosa, Iowa, in April, 1864, and in September, 1866, removed to Des Moines. They traveled in a covered wagon for no railroads then entered. this city. They had four children: Mary Louise, the wife of George E. King, whose two daughters are Mrs. Edith Bell and Mrs. Roy Bott, of Chicago; Harriet, the wife of James McCaughan, is the mother of four children: John, Ralph, George and Louise; Russell, a son of John R. and Susanna Barcroft, lives on a farm near Des Moines; and Joseph K., of Atlanta, Georgia, married Harriet Cozins, by whom he has one daughter, Bazzelle.

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Rosina Bonnet, the second daughter of Joseph and Harriet S. Ankeny, was born September 1, 1835, and died December 24, 1842. She was a lovable child and very precocious.

Mary Ellen, the third daughter of the family, born in Millersburg, was edu- cated in the Cleveland (Ohio) Female Seminary. She was married December 13, 1860, to Henry H. Clark. They lived in Akron, Ohio, until 1876, when they removed to Hartford, Connecticut, where Mrs. Clark still resides. Her eldest child, Aurelia, became the wife of Webb Souers and has three sons : Henry Clark; Marshall A .; and Philip W. Harriet A. Clark became the wife of Charles M. Hero and is now a resident of New Orleans. The third daughter, Frances L. Clark, married Charles Dexter Allen, of Montclair, New Jersey, and has two daughters, Sylvia and Barbara. John Sidney Clark is the only son.

The youngest of the family is Miss Harriet Louise, who remained at home, the companion of her father and mother until their deaths. She was born at Millersburg, Ohio, and as she was many years younger than her brothers and sisters grew up like an only child. She attended the Hudson Female Seminary. Hers was a most happy childhood, spent in a large brick house amid flower gardens and orchards, with a troupe of loyal little friends who cling together as the years roll on. She was light of heart, danced and sang and played at housekeeping and with her dolls "when she should have been better employed for one of her years," as her mother was wont to say. Nevertheless she de- veloped into an industrious, generous, unselfish woman, possessed a sensitive nature, a high spirit, yet a timid manner. She came with her parents to Des Moines in November, 1867, and has ever been a devoted and loyal daughter to Iowa. Following her mother's death she spent three years in the east and then returned to Des Moines to renew her allegiance to this city. She went to the Pacific coast with the editorial excursion of 1885 when the party were royally entertained by the state of Oregon. In 1907 she was a delegate from the Abi- gail Adams Chapter of Des Moines to the national convention of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution in Washington. In May, 1910, she was one of the delegates from the Des Moines Woman's Club to the general biennial federation of clubs held in. Cincinnati. Recently she has returned from a trip abroad, where she spent the summer of IgII.

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Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume II, Part 74

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Brigham, Johnson, 1846-1936; Clarke (S.J.) Publishing Company, Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1464