USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 30
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ALEX FYFE.
Alex Fyfe, known to his many friends as "Sandy," is a prosperous merchant of Ogden, where he has conducted a flour and feed store for the past ten years. His birth occurred in Scotland on the 30th of January, 1848, his parents being William and Jane (Henderson) Fyfe, likewise natives of that country. The father, a coal miner in Scotland, emigrated to the United States in the fall of 1865 and took up his abode in Pennsylvania, where he continued as a coal miner
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for two years. In 1868 he came to Boone county, Iowa, and here purchased and improved a farm near Moingona, being actively engaged in its operation and also continuing work as a coal miner throughout the remainder of his life. He passed away on the 14th of January, 1889, when seventy-seven years of age, the. com- munity thus losing one of its substantial and respected citizens. His wife was called to her final rest on the 23d of August, 1897.
Alex Fyfe acquired his education in the schools of his native land and was a youth of seventeen when he accompanied his parents on their emigration to the new world. For a period of twenty years he worked as a coal miner at Moingona in the winter seasons, while during the summer months he farmned the home place. In November, 1904, he took up his abode in Ogden and embarked in the flour and feed business, having conducted an establishment of that character throughout the intervening decade. An extensive patronage is accorded him, and he enjoys an enviable reputation as an enterprising and reliable merchant. He owns his place of business and also six lots in the main business section of Ogden.
In 1881 Mr. Fyfe was united in marriage to Miss Anna Hightshoe, by whom he has four children, as follows : Samuel, a brakeman in the service of the Chi- cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, who resides at Perry, Iowa; Alex, who is engaged in business as a butcher of Perry; Ernest, of Perry, who is an engineer in the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway; and William, who is a butcher residing in Perry.
Mr. Fyfe gives his political allegiance to the republican party and was reared in the faith of the United Presbyterian church. He is a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the blue lodge, the chapter, the commandery, the Mystic shrine and the Eastern Star, He is likewise identified with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Rebekahs. The period of his residence in Boone county covers about a half century, and he is widely and favorably known within its borders, having won many friends who esteem him for his good qual- ities and upright, honorable life.
JOHN A. HALEEN.
Among the business concerns of Boone the firm of Anderson & Haleen, who are engaged in blacksmithing and carriage manufacturing, take a prominent place. The firm has built up a reputation for punctuality, reliability and high class work which reflects honor upon those who conduct the business. Mr. Haleen is the junior partner in the concern and not only is he efficient as a workman, but he is a shrewd and able business man who combines the sturdy qualities of his native race with American aggressiveness in promoting his interests. A large number of satisfied customers is proof of the success of this firm.
Mr. Haleen was born in Sweden, June 29, 1866, and is a son of Gustav Ander- son and Catherine (Johnson) Haleen, the former a farmer throughout life. The father is now seventy-eight years of age, while the mother died when seventy years old. In their family were the following children: John A., of this review ; Anna, of Sweden ; Victor, of Boone, Iowa : Sanna, of Webster City, Iowa ; Gustav, a farmer of Boone ; Marie, of Boone ; and Tachlay, also of Boone.
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The educational advantages of John A. Haleen were meager. He entered school at the age of seven but at that time had only one term of instruction and although he later was permitted to attend for two more terms most of his time during his boyhood and youth was taken up by work on the home farm. Being impressed with the opportunities which were awaiting willing young hands in this country he decided when twenty-one years of age to emigrate to the United States and sailed from Guttenberg to New York, whence he made his way to Pocahontas, Iowa. There he engaged at his trade, doing blacksmith work, which he had learned in his native country. In the spring of 1893 he left Pocahontas for Rockford, Illinois, to work as a blacksmith in the Scandia Plow factory. However, he remained there but a few months, going in August. 1893, to Web- ster City, where he worked for four years. At the end of that time, in 1897, he came to Boone and was for over seven years in the employ of Thompson & Peter- son. The desire to see the place of his birth influenced him to pay a visit to Sweden and he spent five months in his native land. He and Mr. Anderson formed their present partnership, February 1, 1913, bringing into life the firm of Anderson & Haleen. They are engaged in blacksmith work and carriage manu- facturing and do an extensive and profitable business. They are obliging to their customers, their workmanship is superior. and they can be relied upon in every detail of the work. As business men they enjoy a high reputation, and while they own a prosperous business, they have contributed by this means toward the general prosperity of the city in which they reside.
In December, 1896, Mr. Haleen married Miss Larvida Benson, whose father and mother are both dead. Mr. and Mrs. Haleen have the following children, Allan. Helmer. Esther, Ruth and Arthur. The parents are members of the Swed- ish Lutheran church and are loyal and devoted to its creed. They take part in the various phases of church life and give their moral and material support to its work. Mr. Haleen is a republican, supporting the candidates and measures of that party. Personally he is averse to accepting public office but in a private way has done much toward promoting trade and industrial prosperity in Boone. Fraternally he is a Modern Woodman and popular in this order. He is well liked by all who know him because of the genuine qualities of his character, and he has many friends in Boone.
F. G. LIERMAN.
F. G. Lierman, an enterprising and successful young business man of Ogden, there conducts a first-class meat market in association with his father. He is numbered among the worthy native sons of Boone county, his birth having occurred at Moingona on the 17th of November, 1882. His parents were Fred and Mary (Hamilton) Lierman, the former a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and the latter of West Virginia. Fred Lierman, who came to this county in 1874, was a butcher by trade and also worked in the coal mines for two years. He removed to Ames, Story county, where he worked in a butcher shop for several years, subsequently returning to Moingona and there engaging in business as a butcher from 1879 until 1882. In the latter year he met with an accident which
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occasioned the loss of his left leg and therefore went to Boone, where he worked in a butcher shop until 1885. In that year he again embarked in business on his own account and some time later removed to Lehigh, Webster county, Iowa, where he carried on a coal and butcher business for eighteen years. In Sep- tember, 1913, he came to Ogden and has here since conducted a first-class meat market in association with our subject, having built up an extensive and gratify- ing patronage. During the period of the Civil war he served for a short time as a member of Company G, Seventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry. For nearly a quarter of a century he has survived his wife, who was called to her final rest on the 5th of March, 1891.
F. G. Lierman acquired his education in Boone and since putting aside his text-books has been associated with his father during the greater part of the time. At Lehigh he worked in the coal mines. In September, 1913, he and his father opened a meat market in Ogden, where they have conducted a success- ful establishment of this character to the present time. Mr. Lierman is recognized as a young man of good business ability and sound judgment and is numbered among the representative and progressive citizens of the community.
On the 12th of April, 1911. Mr. Lierman was united in marriage to Miss Dorothy Rosacker, her father being M. Rosacker, a pioneer lumber merchant of Ogden. In religious faith Mr. Lierman is a Catholic. He also belongs to the United Mine Workers. Both he and his wife are well known in this county and the circle of their friends is almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintances.
ERNEST C. BROWN, M. D.
Dr. Ernest C. Brown has successfully followed the profession of medicine and surgery in Madrid for more than two decades and has built up a practice which is one of the most extensive in central Iowa. His birth occurred at Verona, Oneida county, New York, on the 24th of August, 1867, his parents being Calvin and Mary Jane ( Morton) Brown. The father was one of those highly respectable farmers who, while their holdings are not large, take a very high rank in community life by reason of thrift, probity and general sterling qualities. He owned a small farm near Verona, New York, on which he lived for nearly a half century, rearing and educating his large family. At the time of his death. in September, 1896, he was one of Oneida county's oldest residents. and his portrait and sketch of life appear in the Oneida county history, published that year. From the standpoint of ability, he was prepared by nature for a broader field of action. He gave considerable attention to fruit-growing, gaining a state-wide reputation for the excellent varieties of pears, apples and grapes which he produced. He figured prominently in the agricultural and horticul- tural societies of both county and state. Subsequently he became identified with the dairy business and won gratifying success in that connection, at one time owning what was called the Banner Dairy.
His wife, the mother of the Doctor, was a daughter of Samuel Morton, of Rome, New York, a descendant of the Mortons who figured so prominently in
DR. ERNEST C. BROWN AND FAMILY
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the history of New England and in the line of descent from Sir George Morton, who fitted out the Mayflower for its famous voyage but who, through the intrigue of the British, was arrested and not allowed to sail with the expedition he had formed. The Mortons, however, came to Massachusetts in the following year in the "Speedwell." The Browns were also from the best old New England stock, coming from Connecticut to New York in 1796 and locating on a farm near Rome, N. Y., which has ever since remained in the family. The ancestry of Dr. Brown in the maternal line and on the side of his grandmother Brown, who was a Talcott, can be traced well back into the early English history-the Mortons to William the Conqueror and the Talcotts to the Earl of Warwick. The paternal grandfather of our subject held the rank of captain in the War of 1812, while his greatgrandfather in the maternal line was with Ethan Allen in his Revolutionary exploits.
Ernest C. Brown acquired his earlier education in the common school of his native county and subsequently attended the Rome Free Academy for two winters, working on his father's farm during the summer months. When twenty- one years of age he left the old homestead and entered the Fort Edward Col- legiate Institute at Fort Edward, New York, pursuing a classical course in that institution. In the fall of 1800 he took up the study of medicine in the University of Michigan Homeopathic Medical College at Ann Arbor, being graduated with the degree of M. D. in June, 1893. In the following August he came to Iowa and at once began the practice of his profession, being associated for a few months with Dr. Martin, the leading homeopathist of Boone. In October, 1893. he opened an office in Madrid, where he has remained continuously since and has met with exceptional success, now enjoying a practice which is one of the most extensive in central Iowa. In the spring of 1898 he pursued post-graduate work in a special line of his profession. lle is a member of the American Institute of Ilomeopathy and the Hahnemann Medical Association of Iowa, and acts as examining physician for several ilfe insurance companies. Prosperity has come to him in merited and gratifying degree and he owns an attractive and well appointed home in Madrid.
On the 20th of June, 1900, at Madrid, Iowa, Dr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Florence Mason, who was born in Kendall county, Illinois, on the 12th of February, 1879, her parents being George and Sarah Ann ( Kennison ) Mason, the former born in LaSalle county, Illinois, February 19, 1839, and the latter in Vermont, July 17, 1843. In 1884 the parents established their home in Wash- ington county, Iowa, whence they came to Madrid, Boone county, in 1895. Mrs. Brown attended the common and high schools in Washington, Iowa, and also had special training in elocution and oratory at Drake University of Des Moines. Her parents still survive, residing in a commodious and attractive home at Madrid. Unto them were born the following children: Mrs. J. H. Mayer, who is a resident of Garden township; E. G. Mason, of Washington, Iowa ; L. E. Mason of Slater ; Delbert, who is deceased ; and Mrs. Florence Brown. All were born in Illinois, in which state the Mason family resided for about twenty-eight years. Dr. and Mrs. Brown have four children, namely: Victoria Grace, who was born on the 12th of April, 1901; Gertrude Bernice, whose birth occurred June 1, 1903 ; Albert Mason, whose natal day was January 27, 1905 ; and Kenneth Ross,
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born October 6, 1907. All are natives of Madrid and are now attending the public schools of that city.
Dr. Brown first exercised his right of franchise in support of Grover Cleve- land and David B. Hill in the memorable New York contest of 1888, traveling over one hundred and fifty miles to cast his ballot. He has always remained a loyal adherent of the democracy and on two different occasions was the candi- date of his party for the office of county coroner. His religious faith is indi- cated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church of Madrid, to which his wife also belongs, she being active and prominent in the musical and auxiliary societies of that church. Loyal in friendship, devoted to the ties of home and family and maintaining a high standard of conduct in all the relations of life, Dr. Brown is well worthy the esteem in which he is uniformly held. He is generous in his support of every noble and good cause.
JAMES F. RICHEY.
James F. Richey, who after a long and successful career as an agriculturist in Dayton township, Webster county, now lives retired in Boone, is one of the city's most substantial citizens. He was born in Wayne county, near Wooster, Ohio, November 7, 1845, and is a son of Gasper T. and Martha (Richard) Richey. The paternal grandfather removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio, becom- ing one of the pioneers of that state. He died in Webster county, Iowa. In his family were the following sons: James, who located in Webster county, where he died : John, who passed away in Wayne county, Ohio; Gasper T., father of our subject ; and Samuel, whose death occurred in Sheldon county, Indiana. There were also nine daughters in this family.
Gaspar T. Richey was educated in the schools of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and there he married, removing subsequently to Wayne county, Ohio. He was a miller by trade and owned and ran grist mills, sawmils and oil mills, pressing oil from pumpkin seeds. Being impressed with the opportunities of the middle west he moved to Webster county, Iowa, locating in Dayton town- ship, November 9, 1854. He had come to Iowa the previous year and entered twenty-three hundred acres of land in Webster and Polk counties upon which he and his family located in 1854. They drove from Ohio by team and arrived at their new home after a long and arduous journey. The father soon became one of the foremost men of Webster county and was prominent in political affairs. Conditions were still of the most primitive nature when the family located there and many were the dangers which Gaspar T. Richey underwent, his life being threatened several times. The mail service was very unsatisfactory and in his community only one paper was read, the copy circulating among various families. He served for ten years as justice of the peace and also was a member of the board of county supervisors. During the first year he succeeded in improving half a section of his land, erecting fences thereon and transforming the wild prairie into bearing fields. When he died he left large holdings which he had accumulated with the idea of giving the land to his children. His home was built of round, unhewn logs and was fourteen by eighteen feet in size and one story in
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height. At that time droves of elk, deer and wild hogs were still plentiful. The father died April 9, 1882, at the age of seventy-nine years, and found his last resting place in Linn cemetery, Boone county. He was a stanch democrat and his religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife also belonged. She died about ten years later, in 1892, at the age of eighty-four years. In their family were the following children: Margaret, who is now Mrs. Cyrus Burnett, of Dayton, Iowa ; Mary J., who married J. R. Lyon and died in Fort Dodge; Priscilla, the deceased wife of Levi Emerson, of Stratford, lowa ; Henrietta, who married A. R. Daughenbaugh of Des Moines; Gasper, who mar- ried Hattie Lyon and died in Webster county; James F., of this review; and Sylvester, who married Angeline Mahon and died in Dayton.
James F. Richey attended school conducted in the old log schoolhouses of his. native township whenever time and circumstances permitted, his educational advantages being very limited, though he continued to attend school for a short time each year until he was eighteen. He remembers that in the early days there was not a house within ten miles of his father's homestead and church was held in a schoolhouse at Des Moines at a time when there were but few houses in Fort Dodge. Indians were still plentiful and our subject's brothers in 1856 partic- ipated in a campaign against the hostile savages. Mr. Richey helped his father in the development of the farm and they built the largest barn in Webster county at that time. They raised large quantities of grain and even supplied their neigh- bors with seed. Mr. Richey remained on the homestead until after his marriage and subsequently located on a farm of three hundred and eighty-five acres which was given him by his father. The house and barns were kept in the best of condition and he received a handsome income from his agricultural interests. He bought three hundred and seventy-four and one-half acres in partnership with M. J. Carlson, of Pilot Mound, this land being underlaid with coal. It is situated in Douglas township, Boone county. After many years of successful labor Mr. Richey left his farm in 1888 and removed to Pilot Mound, Boone county, where he engaged in buying and selling live stock, but in 1893 he came to Boone, where he now lives retired in the enjoyment of a gratifying competency.
On October 11, 1868, James F. Richey married Miss Louisa Baker, who was born near Terre Haute, in Clay county, Indiana, November 9, 1846, and received her education in the common schools of Dodge township, Boone county, Iowa. She is a daughter of Joel and Olive (Mitchell) Baker. Her father was born in Kentucky and after his marriage there removed to Clay county, Indiana, but in 1851 he came to lowa, locating on wild prairie land in Dodge township, Boone county, his holdings comprising one hundred and sixty acres. He later sold out and acquired three hundred acres of land east of Ridgeport, Dodge township, Webster county. He died there in 1889, at the age of sixty-eight years, his wife passing away April 11, 1914. Both were buried in the Mineral Ridge cemetery. They were devoted members of the Baptist church. When Mrs. Baker died she had forty-eight grandchildren and one hundred and forty-two great-grandchil- dren. Her children were: Julia, who married Giles Strode, of Butler county, Kansas; Louisa, the wife of our subject; Sarah, who married E. J. Ray, of Boone; Mary, the wife of J. W. Cole, of Dodge township, Webster county ; Winnie, who is now Mrs. Samuel Sterrett of Boone; Annie, the wife of J. B. Price, of Ridgeport; Martha, who married David Cole and resides near Ridge-
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port ; John, who died at the age of fourteen years; Priscilla, the wife of Charles Ray, of Armour, South Dakota ; Elizabeth, the wife of Herman Lindmark, resid- ing near Ridgeport : George, of Fort Cobb, Oklahoma; and Elias, who married Luella Stotts and resides near Stanhope, Iowa.
Mr. Richey is a stanch democrat and thoroughly in accord with the aims of his party. He gave his first vote for president to General McClellan. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church of Boone and Mr. Richey taught in the Sunday school while residing in Pilot Mound. He has ever been inter- ested in the intellectual and moral upbuilding of the people and has contributed toward that end. He is respected and esteemed by his fellowmen because of his high qualities of character and because he is a useful, loyal and patriotic citizen.
J. G. LUCAS.
J. G. Lucas enjoys a high reputation among the newspaper men of Iowa as owner and editor of the Register-News of Madrid, a paper which through his incessant labors has become one of the foremost country publications of the state. Mr. Lucas is a son of Corydon L. and Nancy ( Sturdivant) Lucas, the former the well known real-estate man and historical authority of Madrid, also the first mayor of the town.
J. G. Lucas was born at Belle Point, Boone county, Iowa, January 8, 1879. There he passed his boyhood and attended the common schools. He has always been a resident of this county. While yet young he became interested in the pub- lishing business in Madrid, and he has followed this occupation all his life. In December. 1904, he acquired the Register-News and he has since equipped his plant so completely and modernly that it stands second to none in the state. Mr. Lucas is an enthusiastic newspaper man. In his editorials, which are clear cut and forceful, he sets forth views which have had a decidedly beneficial influ- ence upon the growth of his city, and his paper has been of the greatest educa- tional value in the community. His news columns comprise extensive accounts of local happenings and include a record of the nation's and world's events. It is but natural that a paper of this character has increased in circulation from year to year and that its advertising patronage has likewise grown. The Regis- ter-News is today considered one of the most valuable publications to those who desire to reach an extensive and representative public. In connection with his newspaper Mr. Lucas also maintains a high-class printing plant, turning out artistic and up-to-date work punctually and at a most reasonable price.
In 1904, J. G. Lucas married in Madrid Miss Maude Halsy, a native of Boone county, where she attended the common schools, completing her educa- tion in the Madrid high school. She grew to womanhood here and has ever since remained a resident of this county. Her parents are C. W. and Catharine (Purkhiser) Halsy and they have five children: Clyde, of Des Moines: Mrs. Maude Lucas ; Mrs. D. E. Crawford, of Des Moines : Lee, of Madrid ; and Mrs. William Valline, who also resides at the capital. All these children were horn and reached maturity in Boone county. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas are the parents of
MR. AND MRS. J. G. LUCAS
Y
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Max, Catharine, Lillian and Robert L. Lucas, who were born in Madrid, where they pursue their education.
Mr. Lucas is a republican and has always taken a deep interest in the wel- fare of his party. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian church. He is well known in fraternal circles, being a member of Star Lodge, No. 115, A. F. & A. M., and the Odd Fellow's lodge of Madrid. Yet a young man, he has already achieved a decided success, a success which not only means individual prosperity but which stands for patriotic and public-spirited citizenship. As a man and through the influence of his paper he has largely contributed toward the growth and progress of Madrid and Boone county, and his efforts in this respect have proven a factor in the increasing prosperity of his section and the moral and intellectual upbuilding of his town.
JOHN M. ANDERSON.
John M. Anderson is a representative business man of Boone, being the senior partner in the firm of Anderson & Haleen, who are engaged in general blacksmith- ing, repair work and the manufacture of wagons and carriages. Mr. Anderson was born November 30, 1866, in Sweden. He is a son of Anders and Johanna Anderson and a grandson of Peter Anderson. The latter followed farming throughout life in his native country, where he passed away. In earlier years he served in the Swedish army. He had the following children: John; Swan; Christine; Annie ; Mattie ; and Anders, the father of our subject. The last named also followed farming throughout life and died in Sweden in September, 1869. His widow subsequently married John Johnson, who died two years later. In 1887 she and two of her sons, Andrew and Emil, sailed from Gottenborg, Sweden, to New York and thence made their way to Boone county, where her two daugh- ters, Josephine and Annie, had preceded them. In Boone, Mrs. Johnson married John Alm, who is also deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Anders Anderson the fol- lowing children were born: Matilda, who married John Anderson and died in Sweden in 1909; Josephine, who married in Princeton, Illinois, and is now a widow residing in Boone: Annie, who married Augus Alt, of Boone; John M. of this review ; Andrew, of Chicago, who married Matilda Wenstrom ; and Emil, who died in Fort Dodge, Iowa. By the subsequent marriages of the mother no children were born.
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