USA > Iowa > Audubon County > History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions > Part 41
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On December 25, 1879, William A. Clark was united in marriage to Jane M. Greenlee, who was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, on November 7, 1849, and who came to Iowa with her parents when a girl, the family locating in Poweshiek county. To this union ten children were born, namely : May, who married Austin Linn and lives in Gray, Iowa : Wilburn, a farmer in Leroy township, this county, married Clara Freese; Robert, a cement worker in Ontario, California; Charles, deceased; Mary, who mar- ried William Thomas and also went to Ontario, California, to live: Jennie, who married Henry Leighty, of Leroy township; John and Nellie, who live at home, the former giving his time to agriculture: Lois, who married Earl Terry, a well-known farmer of this township; Sarah, the youngest child, has remained at home. All of these children were educated in the home schools. After finishing her education, May became a teacher and is very popular among her associates, both pupils and teachers. The father of these children died on January 7, 1906, and was widely mourned, for he was a good man. His widow is still living in her pleasant home in Leroy township.
Few residents of Audubon county were better known or more respected than was William A. Clark, and few have left a more highly honored memory. Knowing something of Mr. Clark's patriotism, or at least, of its expression, it is not surprising to learn that after the war his interest in the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was a member, never abated. In fact, it grew stronger with the years, although in the later years of his life ill health prevented his former activity in the affairs of the post to which he was attached at Audubon. Mr. Clark was a life-long Republican, and a member of the Methodist church. It is difficult to close a sketch, even as brief as this, without paying a tribute to the patriotism of such a man as Mr.
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Clark. But where are the words to express what one really feels when one contemplates the meaning of such self-abnegation as his? He was living a quiet, useful life when the war broke out. Then the nation had need of that life. The supreme test came when volunteers were asked for. And without hesitation, this brave man took leave of his family, and started upon a jour- ney, the destination of which he did not know. Fortunately for those who loved him, and whom he loved, he returned, but with impaired health. Equally strong and unselfish in peace and in war, can we honor too much the memory of a man like William A. Clark?
FRANKLIN L. MAY.
The late Franklin L. May, formerly one of the best-known residents of Greeley township, this county, was one of the men who did well his part in the upbuilding of Audubon county, and it is but fitting that in a review of the lives of the men who wrought so well, his name should be given a place.
Franklin L. May (deceased) was born in West Virginia on February 16, 1851, the son of Valentine and Elizabeth (Esbeck) May, both of whom were natives of Schluechtern, Germany, who came to the United States, landing at Baltimore in 1840 and located in West Virginia, where they remained until 1852, in which year the family came West, locating near Anamosa, Jones county, this state, where the parents spent the rest of their lives. They were the parents of eleven children: Mrs. Martha Canfield, Mrs. Elizabeth Burns, Mrs. Marguerite Heitchen, Mrs. Mary Wagoner, Nicholas, William Charles, Franklin L., James, Mrs. Parthenia Wagoner and Henry. Charles May came to this county in 1877, and in 1880 Franklin L. May came with his family, buying one hundred and twenty acres of land in sections 9 and 16 of Greeley township, on which he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in October, 1889. For the land which he bought he paid eight dollars an acre and it now is one of the best farms in the county.
On January 8, 1874, in Jones county, Iowa, Franklin I. May was united in marriage to Mary L. Howland, who was born in Brown county, Ohio, April 17, 1855, the daughter of George W. and Clarinda (Hall) Howland, natives of Ohio, who came to Iowa in 1868, locating in Linn county, later going to Texas, in which state the father and two children died within less than a year, after which the mother returned to Iowa and made her home
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with her daughter, Mrs. May, the rest of her life. The Howlands were the parents of six children, of whom Mrs. May was the eldest, the others being Albert, Mrs. Ellen Kelsey, Rufus, Louisa and Henry.
To Franklin L. and Mary L. (Howland) May were born six children, five of whom are living: Jennie, born on June 6, 1877, married Frank Myers, and has three children, Donald, Bernard and Albert L .; Albert, born on November 23, 1879, married Emma Myers and has six children, Gerald, Ellowene, Frank, Arnold, Oralees and Chester; Roxie, born on November 21, 1881, married Ralph Stanley and has four children, Dolliver, Wyman, Evelyn and Merlin; Marguerite, born on February 12, 1884, married Homer Beers and has one child, Bernice M., and Muriel, born on December 25, 1887, who married Orin Colee and has one child, Maxine.
Mr. May was a Democrat and took an earnest interest in local politics. For several years he served as township trustee and was instrumental in making many improvements during his administration. His widow is a member of the Methodist church and is a woman who is held in the highest regard among a large circle of acquaintances in her neighborhood. Her late husband was a good citizen and his community suffered a real loss at his death.
CARL D. FORSBECK.
It is proper to judge the success of a man's life by the estimation in which he is held by his fellow citizens. They see him at his work, in his family circle, in church, and hear his views on public questions, observe his morals and witness how he conducts himself in all the relations of society and civilization. They are, therefore, competent to judge of his merits and demerits. After a long course of years of daily observation, it would be out of the question for a man's neighbors not to know his worth. In this con- nection it is not too much to say that Carl D. Forsbeck has passed a life of great service to the people of Audubon county. That he has been industrious and has the confidence of all who have the pleasure of his friendship cannot be denied. Mr. Forsbeck has been honored by the people of Audubon county with appointment to the responsible position of county engineer.
Carl D. Forsbeck was born on May 3, 1883, on a farm near Gray, lowa. He is a son of Andrew G. and Mary (Aikman) Forsbeck, natives of Sweden and Lyons, Iowa, respectively. Andrew G. Forsbeck was born in 1846 in Sweden and came from that country when twenty-five years of age
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to America. He was a sailor from boyhood and crossed the ocean several times from Liverpool to New York. He made several voyages, in fact, to New York city and to southern ports, and also to southern European ports. He settled in Illinois in about 1874 and there married. In 1880 he came to Lincoln township, Audubon county, Iowa, and settled on prairie land. He purchased land from the Rock Island railroad and was successful in develop- ing a fine farm. Since 1911 he has been living in Gray. During his active life he was an extensive dealer in live stock. Andrew G. and Mary (Aik- man) Forsbeck had three children: Ella, the wife of Lou Hansen, of Gray; Sadie, the wife of Chris Christensen, a farmer near Gray; and Carl D., the third child.
Carl D. Forsbeck was educated in the Gray and Audubon schools and in Iowa State College. After attending the latter institution five years he received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1908, and was graduated as a civil engineer. Subsequently, he took a post graduate course at the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. He is now working for his Master's degree in this institution. For some years Mr. Forsbeck was civil engineer for the Rock Island railroad and was connected with the maintenance work on the Iowa division. While attending college he worked for the Des Moines and Iowa Falls railroad; also the Ft. Dodge and Southern railroad during his vacations. After his graduation he went to New Mexico, where he had charge of forty thousand acres of land and made a survey which required one year. Mr. Forsbeck was employed by the Santa Fe railroad for about one year in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado on maintenance and construc- tion work. He then worked for the Southern Pacific railroad and was located in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado for seven months on locating a new line across the Navazo Reservation from Gallup, New Mexico, to Durango, Colorado. After this he returned to Iowa and did valuation work for the Union Pacific for nearly two months. At Waterloo, Mr. Forsbeck maintained a private office as consulting engineer until June, 1913, when he came to Audubon and took charge of the county work on January I, 1914. Previously, Mr. Forsbeck had twice been elected county surveyor of Audubon county. He also had been appointed once. He has been in charge of the engineering work in Audubon county for the past eight years.
Mr. Forsbeck designed and constructed the Kimballton waterworks system. He also designed the first steel bridge, with concrete floors and concrete abutments that was ever erected in Audubon county. In fact, Mr. Forsbeck was the first engineer appointed in Audubon county.
Politically, Mr. Forsbeck is an independent Republican and votes for
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men rather than party emblems. He is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, the blue lodge and the chapter, and he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Forsbeck is a member of the Iowa Engineering Society and a member of the Delta Upsilon national Greek letter college fraternity.
CHRISTOFFER HANSEN.
One of the best known members of the large Danish colony in Audubon county, Christoffer Hansen, came to this country at the age of nineteen and by diligence and faithful attention to the duties in hand, has established himself in a very comfortable home in this county and is held as among the most substantial men in his section of the county.
Christoffer Hansen was born in Sjealand, Denmark, April 20, 1872, the son of Peter and Dorothea (Christophersen) Hansen, both of whom were natives of the same district, landowners and farmers, and parents of six children, four of whom are still living, Mrs. Marie (Nelson) Petersen, Christoffer, Hans L. and Lars, Hans L. and Christopher being the only members of the family to come to this country. Until he was fourteen years of age. Christoffer Hansen attended the schools of his native district, after which he engaged in farm work in the neighborhood of his farm until March of the year 1891, at which time he came to the United States, landing at New York and proceeding directly to Oakfield, Iowa, where his uncle, Jens P. Christoffersen, made his home. He remained there for about six years, working on farms, and then, in 1896, bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres near Poplar, in Shelby county. After a year's residence there he sold his farm and bought eighty acres in section 8 of Hamlin township, this county, where he lived for four years, at the end of which time he sold that place and bought one hundred and twenty acres in section 9 of Greeley township, where he since has made his home. To this farm he has added, since he bought it, forty acres more in section 9 and forty acres in section Io, making, in all, a fine farm, which he has brought to a high state of culti- vation.
On December 7, 1903, in the city of Audubon, Christoffer Hansen was united in marriage with Mrs. Tena (Nelson) Christiansen, who was born in Jylland, Denmark, November 1, 1873. the only daughter of Jasper C. and Anna C. (Thomsen) Nelson, whose father died when she was quite small
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and her mother, marrying a second time, came to America in 1889. By her first marriage, Mrs. Hansen had two children, John T., born August 13, 1894, and Matilda C., born July 26, 1896.
To Christoffer and Tena (Nelson) Hansen have been born five chil- dren, Peter C., born on September 30, 1904; Dorothea C., born on May I, 1906; Louie J., born on June 17, 1908; Oscar F., born on September 27, 19II, and Walter M., born on August 26, 1913, a lively set of youngsters who make merry the happy home of the Hansens.
Mr. and Mrs. Hansen are members of the Danish Lutheran church, in the various beneficences of which they are actively interested and are regarded as among the leaders in the community in which they live. Mr. Hansen is a Democrat and gives such attention to political affairs as a good citizen owes to his commonwealth. He is public-spirited and enterprising, a good farmer and neighbor and he and his good wife are held in the highest regard by all who know them.
ROBERT RUTHERFORD.
This biography records the chief facts in the life of a man, who, in early manhood, tired of living where populations were large and incomes small, turned his eyes toward America in the hope that he might reach above the general level. There is something almost pathetic in the trustfulness and confidence with which the youth of the Old World look toward the newer civilizations as affording ample opportunity for the prosperity of all who may seek their shores; and the fact that an Iowa foreign-born farmer is able to retire from active business before he becomes aged, is evidence that much of this youthful trust is not misplaced.
Robert Rutherford, now one of the well-known retired farmers of Ross, Iowa, was born on December 24, 1833, in County Down, Ireland, son of Thomas and Fannie (Simpson) Rutherford, farmers and weavers, to whom were born, in the order of their birth, the following children: Will- iam, Thomas, Jennie, James, John, Robert, Alexander, Eliza and Adam, of whom Robert, the subject of this sketch, is now the sole survivor. Thomas Rutherford and his wife were Presbyterians and their children were reared in that faith.
It was when Robert Rutherford was a young man of nineteen that he and his brother, Alexander, started for America in a sailing vessel called
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"Guiding Star." It seems that the youthful travelers were not guided very rapidly, for it took them seven weeks to go from Liverpool to New Orleans. Landing on the Southern coast, they boarded a river steamer for St. Louis, and somewhere in the vicinity of that city the brothers engaged in farming for one year. Robert Rutherford's next home was Rock Island, Illinois, and there he lived for seventeen years, at the end of which time he removed to Poweshiek county, Iowa.
In June, 1861, Robert Rutherford married May Campbell, an interest- ing fact concerning the marriage being that although both bride and groom lived in the same county in this country, both were born in the same county in Ireland. At the time of their marriage. May Campbell was living with her parents, John and Margaret (McQuaid) Campbell, who had come to thsi country from County Down, Ireland, and in 1850 had located in Rock Island county, Illinois, where they spent the remainder of their lives. May Campbell was born on April 9. 1840. Her father, John Campbell, was born on February 1I, 1806. He was a farmer, and a member of the Presbyterian church. His first wife was a Miss Warnick, and by this marriage there were two children, Ann Jane and Hugh, both of whom are dead. His children by his second wife were May, who married Mr. Rutherford : Margaret, born on December 22, 1844, deceased: Robert, January 17, 1848, deceased, and the Hon. Thomas Campbell, January 9, 1842, who lives in Rock Island county, Illinois, having permanently located there after coming to America with his parents in 1850. He was educated in the schools of that county and was brought up by a man named John Boyer. Before the Civil War, he was a farmer. During his service in the army, he was shot through the right leg, the injured member afterwards being amputated. The Hon. Thomas Campbell, in 1914, was re-elected to the Illinois Legislature on the Republi- can ticket. He also has been county treasurer of Rock Island county, Illi- nois. His wife was, before her marriage, May Carson.
After the marriage of Robert Rutherford, he and his wife lived on a farm in Rock Island county for a number of years. Then they purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Poweshick county, Iowa, where they lived until March, 1881. Then they sold out, came to Audubon county and bought an equal number of acres one mile north and a quarter of a mile east of Ross, in Cameron township. To this farm another hundred and sixty acres presently were added, and still later, forty acres more, so that he now has two hundred and eighty acres of well-improved land, which is valuable in itself as well as because of the improvements made by the owner.
Mr. Rutherford carried on general farming and stock raising from
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that time until 1901, in which year he retired from business and moved to the village of Ross, building his home there on a piece of land consisting of two and three-fourths acres. Other valuable property is owned by Mr. Rutherford in his home town. Mr. Rutherford was at one time school director in Cameron township. He is a Democrat and has always taken an interest in politics.
The chief joy of Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford during their declining years is the pleasure they derive from the visits of their children and grandchildren. The eldest child born to Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford was Margaret Jane, born on March 24, 1862, who married John McKage, of Brunnell, Iowa. Their children are James, Lizzie, Jane and Sarah. Mary Rutherford, the second child, born on October 27, 1863, now deceased, married Hugh McGill, and by this marriage became the mother of Florence, Robert, Fannie and Thomas. The third child, Fannie, born on April 6, 1866, married Isaac Stewart, of Sanborn county, South Dakota, and their children are Mary, John, James, Stella, Albert, Lulu. Thomas, of Cameron township, this county, born on February 14, 1869, married Belle Hunt, and to them have been born Vera, Clark, Inez and Alice. John Rutherford, born on February 14, 1871, mar- ried Nellie Quinby and makes his home in Emmett county, Iowa. Their children are Merrill, Lucile, Jack, Edna, Mary and Emmett. Jane, now Mrs. George Rutherford, was born on February 17, 1873. She and her husband and their three children, Lester. Nellie and Charlie, live in Hastings, Nebraska. Essie, born on April 6, 1875, is now deceased. Of this entire family, Nancy, born on December 24, 1877. who clerks in a store in Ross, is the only child living at home. The youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Rutherford . is Robert J., born on March 19, 1881, who, with his wife and three children, Harold, Glenn and Howard, lives in Cameron township.
The man whose name forms the title of this short biography, is now enjoying the fruits of a life of industry and thrift, his companion, the wife who has shared all the hardships and joys of the larger part of his years, sharing also the peace and quiet of the present years. Both were willing to start life in a small way, and to climb the ladder by degrees, often by very slow degrees. Somewhere among his reminiscences is the memory of a period of eight years during which he worked for fourteen dollars a month, and, not to be surpassed by her husband in the matter of memories, Mrs. Rutherford recalls the time when she worked for a dollar and fifty cents a week. These facts are quoted merely to indicate, in a very imperfect way, the strong will power and almost unlimited capacity for work which this couple possessed. And it is gratifying to know that they are permitted to
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enjoy together their declining years in the companionship which made their younger days happy. Their presence is an inspiration to their children and friends.
SAMUEL BEERS.
The proprietor of "Forest Home Farm," in Greeley township, this county, Samuel Beers, is a native son of Audubon county and is one of the substantial and progressive men who have done so much to establish the present excellent conditions of living in this section of the proud state of Iowa.
Samuel Beers was born on a farm on the site of what later became the old town of Hamlin, in Hamlin township, Audubon county, Iowa, March 24, 1859, the son of Bradley and Hannah G. (Eles) Beers, natives of New York state, who came to this county from Delaware county, that state, and who spent the rest of their lives here, the former dying in March, 1878, and the latter on October 23. 1902.
Bradley Beers, who in his day was one of the best-known and most influential residents of Hamlin township, came to Audubon county about the first of the year 1856 and bought three hundred and twenty acres of virgin land in Hamlin township, where the town of Hamlin later sprang up, giving for the same one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. After erecting a house and a barn here. Mr. Beers returned to New York and brought back with him to their new home on the prairie, his wife and their child. Frank, the two other children, Samuel and Clara, the latter of whom married Edward Young, being born after the parents arrived here. On account of the dis- tance from his home to a school house, Samuel Beers did not have an oppor- tunity of attending school until he was ten years of age, after which he attended two or three terms of district school and one or two terms at Exira. His father dying when Samuel was but nineteen years of age. much of the responsibility of keeping up the farm was thrown upon the latter, who, upon his marriage, brought his wife to the home farm, which his father had pur- chased in Greeley township about three years before his death, and where his mother spent her last days.
On September 1I, 1881, in the town of Exira, this county, Samuel Beers was united in marriage with Ora D. Herrick, who was born in Exira on October 28, 1863, the daughter of Urbane and Charlotte (Spurling) Herrick, natives of Wisconsin, who came to Audubon county in 1853 and
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settled on a farm where the town of Exira now stands. Urbane Herrick donated one acre of land to the town of Exira for a school building, one acre to the first minister who arrived in the place for parsonage grounds and also donated a tract of land for cemetery purposes. By his first marriage Urbane Herrick had four children, Scott, Ora D., Lorinda and Rose. Upon the death of the mother of these children, Mr. Herrick married Kezia Smith, by whom he had three children, Roby, Stella and Maggie.
To Samuel and Ora D. (Herrick) Beers two children were born, Homer L., born on October 4, 1885, who married Margaret May, a former school teacher, and who has one child, a daughter, Bernice May, born on August II, 1912, and Ruth E., who was born on October 16, 1891, who married Glenn Scott and has one child, a son, Arnold Beers, born on February 21, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Beers are members of the Evangelical church and are among the founders of that church in their neighborhood. They are active in local good works and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.
PETER LANGE.
No more substantial and moral citizens have ever come to this country from foreign lands than the sons of the little kingdom of Denmark. Wher- ever they have settled, they have become honored and respected citizens. As a race they are characterized by industry, patience, frugality and wise busi- ness management. They have a patience and perseverance which overcome all obstacles and insures success in whatever undertaking they choose to fol- low. Audubon county, Iowa, has been honored by the coming of several sons of Denmark and one of the prominent farmers of Hamlin township, who was born in Denmark is Peter Lange.
Peter Lange was born on December 2, 1860, in Vensyssel, Jutland, Denmark. He is the son of Chris and Mary Marie Lange, both of whom were born at the same place as their son, Peter. Peter Lange's father died when he was six months old. There were two children at that time, Peter and Marie. His mother married again some years later and Peter made his home with her until he was eleven years old, when he was compelled to go out into the world and earn his own living. . He worked out at farm work in his own country until he was twenty-seven years old and then, in April, 1888, came to the United States, landing in New York city. He came direct to Harlan, Shelby county, Iowa, where he had a half-brother. He worked
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out for neighboring farmers for about two years and then rented land east of Audubon for about seven years. After this period, he rented another farm in Melville township for five years and in the fall of 1901 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 29 of Hamlin township. He has built all of the buildings on this place and has one of the best-improved farms in Hamlin township.
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