USA > Iowa > Audubon County > History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions > Part 31
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Dr. Alfred L. Brooks was married in 1887 to May Langworth, who died in 1898, leaving one child, Lucile, who married Dr. W. E. Kimbell, of Des Moines, Iowa, to which union has been born one son, William Brooks, On June 20, 1901, Doctor Brooks married, secondly, Caldona Young, of Grand Junction, Iowa, to which union two children have been born, Emmett F. and Jane C.
Doctor Brooks is identified with the Republican party and has served as coroner of Audubon county for three terms, his first service in this capacity having begun in the eighties. In 1890, Doctor Brooks was elected to the twenty-fourth Iowa General Assembly and served during the session of 1891, filling places on many important committees and assisting materially in passing much important legislation. Fraternally, Doctor Brooks is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and is a member of the Knights Templar and the Mystic Shrine at Des Moines. He is also a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias. Doctor Brooks and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JOHN KIRKWOOD DONALDSON, D. D. S.
Success in what are popularly termed the learned professions, is a legiti- mate result of merit and painstaking endeavor. In commercial life, one may come into possession of a lucrative business through inheritance or gift, but professional advancement is gained only by critical study and consecutive research, long continued. Proper intellectual discipline, thorough profes- sional knowledge and the possession and utilization of those qualities and attributes essential to success have made Dr. John Kirkwood Donaldson one of the leading dentists of Audubon county. Though Doctor Donaldson is a comparatively young man, he is widely known for the high standard of his professional attainments and since establishing himself at Audubon has built up an extensive and lucrative practice in his profession.
John Kirkwood Donaldson was born on July, 28, 1885, on a farm in Audubon township, Audubon county, Iowa, the son of Orlando Chester and Iantha (Rutan) Donaldson, natives of Johnson county, Iowa. . Orlando (22)
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Chester Donaldson was born in 1845, the son of James and Jane Donaldson, natives of Pennsylvania, who were early settlers in Johnson county, this state. Iantha Rutan was born in Johnson county in 1841, the daughter of early settlers and pioneers in Johnson county, her mother having been a sister of the wife of Governor Kirkwood, Iowa's war governor. Mrs. Kirkwood is still living (1915), at Iowa City, at the age of ninety-seven, and is quite hearty. Orlando C. Donaldson and Iantha Rutan were married in Johnson county and came to Audubon county in 1878, settling in Audubon township. Orlando C. Donaldson served as county recorder of Audubon county from 1900 to 1905, during which period he resided in Audubon. From Audubon he moved to Shenandoah and there was engaged in the clothing business. One year later he engaged in the general mercantile business at Defiance, Iowa. and after being in business there for two years, removed to Exira township, this county, where he lived on a farm for one year, at the end of which time he moved to a farm near Manchester, where he is now living.
To Orlando Chester and Iantha (Rutan) Donaldson six children were born, two daughters and four sons, namely: Elverton Orlando, who lives at Defiance, Iowa, where he is owner of the gas plant; Wesley Samuel, a mechanic, who lives at Exira, where he is proprietor of the Ford garage; Mrs. Janette Burbridge, who lives at Palo Alto, California, and whose hus- band is an instructor in Leland Stanford, Jr., University; Dr. John Kirk- wood, the subject of this sketch; James William, of Palo Alto, California, who is in the motorcycle business, and Clara Belle, who married Ray Zollin- ger, a ranchman of Montana.
John Kirkwood Donaldson was graduated from the Audubon high school, after which he attended the Northwestern University Dental School, graduating with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1910, immediately after which time he began the practice of his profession in Audubon and during the years in which he has been engaged in practice has made rapid progress.
Doctor Donaldson is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, having attained to the chapter in that order, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. While at Northwestern University, Doctor Donaldson was a member of the Delta Sigma Delta, the popular dental fraternity. He is identified with the Presbyterian church, and, politi- cally, classes himself as an independent Republican, being independent in local politics, but supporting Republican principles and Republican candidates in national politics.
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RUSSELL JAMES LOVELAND.
It is a well-attested maxim that the greatness of a community or state lies not in the machinery of government, nor even in its institutions ; but rather in the sterling qualities of the individual citizen, in his capacity for high and unselfish effort and in his devotion to the public welfare. In these particulars Russell J. Loveland, one of the partners in the Audubon Canning Company, has conferred honor and dignity upon his locality by his persevering and close application to his business, and it is fitting that there should be recorded in this volume a brief resume of his career, with the object of noting his connection with the advancement of this flourishing and progressive section of the Hawkeye commonwealth. As one of the partners in the Audubon Canning Company, Mr. Loveland has built up a large and lucrative business, this being one of the large commercial enterprises in the city of Audubon, enjoying the liberal support of the people of Audubon county.
Russell James Loveland was born on January 10, 1875, in New York state, a son of James H. and Catherine (Dickson) Loveland, the former a native of New York, and the latter a native of Canada. They were married in New York state and are still living there. James H. Loveland has been a farmer all his life, and has been unusually prosperous and successful in his chosen vocation. He and his wife are the parents of eight children, Minnie A., Josephine M., Russell J., Adelber F., Howard R., Elizabeth E., Grace F. and Chester.
Russell James Loveland was educated in the public schools of his native state of New York, and after finishing the course in the common schools, entered the academy at Utica, New York, where he further pursued his educational training. After leaving school Mr. Loveland took up the canning business in Iowa, Indiana and Ohio, and has been engaged in this line for the past seventeen years, during the last five years of which time he has been located in Audubon, lowa. The firm with which Mr. Loveland is connected is known as the Audubon Canning Company. It is a partnership, Mr. Love- land holding an equal interest in the company with Charles Van Garder.
On July 16, 1907, Russell James Loveland was married to Edith L. Denslow, the daughter of L. S. and Sarah (Benton) Denslow, both of whom are natives of Utica, New York, and are still residing in that city. Mrs. Loveland was born in Utica and was there married to Mr. Loveland. To this union three children have been born, Ford Dickson, Katherine Mabel and Russell James, Jr.
The canning factory in which Mr. Loveland is interested has a capacity
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of one and one-fourth million cans annually. The output is sold largely in the west. The company cans all kinds of vegetables and fruit, and its brand is well known throughout the section of the country in which its sales have been made.
Mr. Loveland is not a member of any lodge, but has devoted his time rather to his business, to his home and to his family, being a man of decided domestic inclinations. Mr. and Mrs. Loveland and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Loveland is a Republican, but he is not active in politics and has never held office nor cared to do so.
WILLIAM LAYLAND.
The best history of a community or state is that which deals most with the lives and activities of its people, especially of those who by their own endeavors and indomitable energy have forged to the front and placed themselves in positions entitling them to the respect and emulation of pro- gressive men. In this brief review will be found the record of one who has outstripped the less active plodders on the highway of life and who has achieved a success surpassed by few of his immediate contemporaries, his career in agricultural affairs having earned him a name which all men who know him delight to honor, on account of his upright life and his habits of thrift and industry.
William Layland, a well-known retired farmer of Audubon, who came to this county in 1880, was born on March 18, 1854, in Holmes county, Ohio, the son of William and Nancy (Crozier) Layland, natives of Ohio. William Layland died in Ohio in 1861 and his widow died in Iowa county, Iowa, about 1886. They were the parents of seven children, namely: Mrs. Sarah Givin, deceased; Mrs. Elizabeth Williams, of Ohio; Mrs. Margaret Gilmore, of Ohio; Mrs. Mary Tealond, of Ohio, who died in 1912; William, the sub- ject of this sketch; Isaac, who died in this county, and Jacob, who lives two miles south of Audubon.
In 1869 the Layland family left Holmes county, Ohio, and settled in Iowa county, this state, where William Layland finished his schooling, he having been but fifteen years of age when he came to Iowa. After his mar- riage William Layland began farming in Iowa county and in 1880 came to Audubon county, settling in Hamilton township, where he bought sixty or seventy acres of wholly unimproved land, at nine dollars an acre. Mr. Lay-
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land put up a small two-room house, twenty by fourteen feet, living in the barn for six weeks while building the house, all the work on which was done by himself. He lived on that place for five years and then rented the farm and returned to Iowa county, where he spent one year. Two years later he sold the farm for twenty-four dollars an acre and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Sharon township, for eighteen dollars an acre. One year later he rented this land for four years and then sold it. He then moved to the Kibby farm, on which he lived for one year, at the end of which time he purchased a farm of eighty acres in Leroy township, on which he lived for many years, making many changes and improvements on it. Later Mr. Lay- land purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Audubon township and lived on this latter farm for one year. He next bought one hundred and sixty acres in Hamlin township, improved the farm, rented it out and finally sold it. In the spring of 1896 Mr. Layland moved to Exira and in the fall of that year bought property in Audubon and has since resided in that city. He is the owner of two farms, totalling two hundred and thirty-six acres, including one hundred and sixty acres east of Audubon and nearly eighty acres near Casey, in Guthrie county. For many years Mr. Layland has been a breeder of heavy draft horses, and until recently was very active in that line, having been quite extensively engaged as a buyer and seller of horses.
William Layland was married on December 27, 1891, to Mary Elizabeth Riley, who was born in Newark, New Jersey, on May 16, 1856, the daughter of John and Catherine (McCann) Riley, natives of Ireland, who came to America, with their first child, about 1846. In 1863 John Riley settled on a farm at the end of the railroad in Iowa county, this state. He rented land for some years, but subsequently bought a farm and in old age retired to Victor, Iowa, where he died in 1896, his widow surviving him ten years, her death not occurring until 1906. They were the parents of the following children : Mary, who died in infancy; Rose, who died at the age of two; John, who died at the age of forty-five; Mrs. Catherine Gannon, of Victor, Iowa; Mary Elizabeth, who married Mr. Layland; James E., who lives in Sioux City, and Patrick, who lives in Victor, this state.
To William and Mary E. ( Riley) Layland four children have been born, an infant, who died at birth, Charles, Cora and May. Charles, who was born on April 27, 1877, married Alice Moon, to which union four children have been born, as follow: Evelyn, born on October 10, 1902; William, November 8, 1903 : Genevieve, June, 1908, and Margaret Fay, April 27. 191I. Cora, born on July 8, 1881, is the wife of Charles Elliot, of Creston, Iowa, and has one child, John Calvert. May, born on November 9, 1885, is the
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wife of Frank Sampson, and has one child, Mary Louise, who was born on May 10, 19II.
William Layland for years has been identified with the fortunes of the Democratic party, but he has never been active in its councils and has never been a candidate for office. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith, all adhering to the same, the family being highly respected throughout the county.
HIRAM MENDENHALL.
The career of Hiram Mendenhall has been a strenuous and varied one, entitling him to honorable mention among the representative citizens of his day and generation in the county with which his life is so closely identified. Although his life record is chiefly written and the period of his active career is nearing a close, Mr. Mendenhall, as an inventor, is known to countless thou- sands throughout this country, the story of his successs reading more like a romance than a statement of facts. Mr. Mendenhall is one of the wealthiest men in this section of Iowa and he has done what few men are able to do, make an inventive turn of mind pay handsome royalties. His success may be attributed to his ability to discern what things were most needed and he has been possessed of the mechanical genius to turn out those devices. Through- out the many years of his active career he has applied himself diligently to his business interests and is one of the best-known and most highly respected citizens in this section of Iowa. Hiram Mendenhall owns a whole city block in the city of Audubon and two hundred acres of land in Douglas township and has spent fifteen thousand dollars in improving his two farms.
In 1886 Hiram Mendenhall patented and sold the Mendenhall hog trough, of which he sold thousands of dollars' worth. Later he patented the gravity lock and is one of the patentees of the Boss hog trough and the Daisy hog trough. He is the patentee of the Dandy pig taker and the owner of the Boss pig taker and has shipped his products to Central America and throughout Canada. Mr. Mendenhall was one of the patentees of the One-Minute wash- ing-machine. There are at the present time twelve different companies pay- ing him royalties on the manufacture of this machine. The first company which began manufacturing the One-Minute washing-machine paid Mr. Men- denhall over thirty-five thousand dollars in four years and this was only one- half of the royalty paid by that company. Mr. Mendenhall is secretary and
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treasurer of the Iowa Washing-Machine Company, which controls the patents which pay Mr. Mendenhall his royalties. He has recently patented an ironing board which he expects soon to market. This last device he has promoted in company with his son-in-law, Albert Killinger. Mr. Mendenhall also has pending a patent for a folding workbench, which he expects to put on the market very soon.
Hiram Mendenhall was born in Randolph county, Indiana, on August 2, 1848, the son of Nathan and Mary ( Beach) Mendenhall, natives, respectively, of Clinton county, Ohio, and of New York state, who were married in Ohio and from that state moved to Indiana, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Nathan Mendenhall was a farmer and miller and died on April 27, 1861, at the age of fifty-two. At the time of his death he was the owner of two hundred and forty acres of land in this county and two hundred acres in Dallas county, this state. Nathan Mendenhall's first wife was accidentally killed in 1858, whereupon he married again. By the first marriage he was the father of ten children and one by the second, the children of the first mar- riage being Thomas, Hannah, Amanda, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Nathan, John, Hiram, George and Timothy, of whom Thomas, Hannah, Amanda, George and Timothy are deceased. The child by his second marriage was Rebecca.
Hiram Mendenhall was educated in the common schools of Indiana and Iowa. He began working out by the month when he was thirteen years old and has been an industrious worker ever since. He took up farming early in life and has been active during the entire period of his life. He is an extensive breeder of Poland-China hogs, having been active in the hog busi- ness since he was eighteen years of age. Mr. Mendenhall came to Audubon county in 1877 and has been here since that time. The first spring Mr. Men- denhall spent in this county he had his corn in by the IIth of May. On that date six inches of snow fell and froze so hard that for three days Mr. Men- denhall could not take out a team.
On October 27, 1872, Hiram Mendenhall was married to Angeline John- son, who was born in Indiana, her parents having been natives of Ohio, and to this union five children have been born, Rosa, Nora, Alda B., Hiram, George and Myrtle. Rosa married William Brockway, a carpenter and painter, of Audubon, and has four children, Lawrence, Mabel, Hiram G. and Kenneth. Nora married Thomas Swezey, a livery man of Audubon, and has six children, Leola, Dollie, Wayne, Wilma, Wyman and Thelma, the last three named being triplets. Alda B., who lives in Douglass township, mar- ried Maude Burkey and has two children, Margarette and Frederick. Hiram George married Alta Berger and has four children, Lester, Pearl, James and
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Olivine. Myrtle married Albert Killinger and has three children, Albert M., Velma and Francis W.
Hiram Mendenhall is independent in politics. He believes more in the virtue of measures and men than he does in parties and party emblems. He served as trustee of Douglass township at one time. Mr. and Mrs. Menden- hall and children are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Mendenhall is not a member of any lodge.
ALEXANDER HOLT ROBERTS.
Fortunate indeed is the family which can trace its history back for more than three generations, and there are very few in this country that can do more than trace their genealogy back as far as four generations. The Rob- erts family history has been traced in an unbroken line to the eleventh cen- tury and investigation has shown its descendants by the thousands. They are found scattered over Europe and over many of the states in this country, and wherever they are found they rank among the best families of the com- munity. It is not strange to record, therefore, that the representative of this family in Audubon county is one of the leading citizens of the county and ranks high as a member of the community, who is active in civic, religious and business affairs. A famous historian once wrote, "Show me a people that has no pride of ancestry, and I'll show you a non-progressive and back- ward race." This is quite true. The investigator and writer has found, as a result of years spent in historical and genealogical work, that the best and most progressive communities are those which take pride in keeping up the family records and keeping alive the family traditions. Culture, knowledge and pride of family and community go hand in hand and they are one and all inseparable.
Alexander Holt Roberts, president of the Audubon Commercial Club, and pharmacist of Audubon this county, was born on August 26, 1848, in Des Moines county, Iowa, the son of James Dorsey and Susan ( McDonald) Roberts. He was born on a farm which was entered upon and settled by his grandfather, Reuben Roberts, as early as 1838. Mr. Roberts, therefore, enjoys the distinction of being a descendant of one of the oldest families in the state of Iowa. Reuben Roberts came from Elizabethtown, West Vir- ginia, at a time when the greater part of the country that he traversed was a wilderness. The banks of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers were not then
ALEXANDER H. ROBERTS
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lined with great cities and towns as now and Indians yet roamed the great forests and the plains. Wild animals were plentiful and settlers were few and far between. This brave pioneer was made of stern material, however, and his vision enabled him to see far into the future and determine that the vast stretches of unpeopled territory would in a generation or so swarm with millions of industrious inhabitants.
The Roberts family traces its origin back to the eleventh century in Wales, the family being of Welsh origin. The family properly begins with (I) Colwyn of Langno, in the eleventh century; (II) Meredith of Colwyn (meaning that Meredith was the son of Colwyn of Llyn) ; (III) Gwegan of Meredith; (IV) Einion of Gwegan; (V) Meredith of Einion; (VI) Howell of Meredith; (VII) Griffith of Howell; (VIII) Ievan; (IX) Rhys; (X) Ievan; (XI) Griffith; (XII) Morris; (XIII) Thomas; (XIV) Robert Thomas Morris of Cowyne; (XV) Richard Roberts-Margaret Evans, wife; (XVI) Richard Roberts, wife, Elizabeth; (XVII) Richard Roberts, wife, Margaret; (XVIII) Reuben Roberts, wife, Elizabeth Barton; (XIX) James Dorsey Roberts, wife, Susan McDonald; (XX) Alexander Holt Roberts, wife, Elizabeth Pritchard.
Colwyn, with whom this genealogy originates, was the Lord of Llyn, Wales. His coat-of-arms was: A, sable; a chevron, between three fleurs- de-lys, arg. The descent of Richard Roberts is as follows, according to a genealogy compiled from a pedigree chart by Lewis Down, deputy herald for Wales (by patent under seal of Clavencieux and Norrey, kings-at-arms), made in the year 1588, from a manuscript pedigree by John Roberts, brother of Richard Roberts, compiled about 1704 from manuscript in Harleion col- lections, British Museum, and from wills and deeds in Pennsylvania, and from official records in Wales.
Colwyn was the ancient lord of that portion of the promontory of Llyn in Carnarvonshire which included, among others, the parish of Llangin, Llanengan, Llabedrog and Llanarmon. These several parishes are on the Bay of Cardigan. Colwyn lived in the eleventh century and was ancestor to most of the families in that part of Llyn. In later years the lordship of a greater part of Llyn belonged to the Princes of North Wales and their descendants, among whom was Trahairn Goch, who held the title to a considerable por- tion thereof in the fourteenth century. Notwithstanding this fact, the imme- diate possessions of the descendants of Colwyn do not seem to have been dis- turbed. Down to 1700 there was scarcely a freehold in the parishes men- tioned not held by the posterity of this Welsh princeling. Colwyn was the father of a son, Meredith, etc., down to Morris of Griffth, who held the lands
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of Pencold, near Plasdlu, in the parish of Llanarmon, and other detached farms, about the year 1500 and later. Morris Griffith had issue as follows : Griffith Morris, John Morris, William Morris, Thomas, Hugh, Richard, David, Robert and Meredith Morris. Thomas Morris had (beside a son Richard) a son Robert, called Robert Thomas Morris of Cowyns, who was the father of Richard Roberts, who married Margaret, a daughter of Rich- ard Evans, and was the father of John Roberts, born in 1648 of Richard and Ann Roberts. From the record of the Richard Davies Company ( 1682) we find that "John Roberts, one of the twenty-seven grantees, on the thirtieth and thirty-first of July, of Llagian parish, Carnarvon, gentleman," the grant comprising one hundred and fifty acres of land in Pennsylvania. It likewise appears that both his brother Richard and his sister Ann removed with John Roberts to Pennsylvania on September 16, 1683. John married Gainor Rob- erts, a daughter of Robert, son of Hugh and Elizabeth Williams, his wife. John Roberts died on June 6, 1724. A record of his will is in existence, dated July 3, 1722, and probated at Philadelphia, August 31, 1724. Richard Rob- erts, a brother of John Roberts of Pencoyd, removed from Pennsylvania to Maryland in about 1862. Bartholomew, the son of Richard, was born on August 24, 1701. Richard Roberts, whose wife was Margaret, was evi- dently a younger son in a large family of children. He was born in 1728 and enlisted in the First Regiment of Maryland troops in the Continental service from Anne Arundel county, April 23, 1778. He died in August of 1778. His issue was as follow: Thomas, Richard, John, Edward, Gainor (born 1766, died 1856), David, Abner, Jonathan, Elizabeth, Reuben, the last named the direct ancestor of A. H. Roberts, being born in 1772 and died on March 9, 1850.
Reuben Roberts married Elizabeth Barton, a daughter of John and Sophia Barton, in 1779. John Barton was a member of the Third Haven Meeting ( Friends' Records of Talbot county, volume 5, page 311). Reuben and Elizabeth ( Barton) Roberts had issue as follow: John; Jonathan, born in March, 1801, and died on September 3, 1849; Penelope, 1803, died on August 16, 1839: Gaius, an infant ; Sophia, February 29, 1809, died on Jan- uary 29, 1885; Jehu, 1811, died in 1884; Reuben P., 1813, died on Decem- ber 10, 1854; Martin S. ; Rebecca J., March 21, 1818, died on June 10, 1894; Josiah, October 24, 1820, died on August 28, 1870; James Dorsey, father of A. H. Roberts, July 25, 1823, died July 27, 1903 ; Alexander Holt, 1826, died November 15, 1847.
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