USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 37
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In his political views Mr. Oliver is a stalwart republican and regards it the duty, as well as the privilege, of every true American citizen to support his views upon public questions in the exercise of his right of franchise. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1906 he erected an attractive residence at No. 307 West Fourth street, where they are now most pleasantly located. They have many friends in this county and sterling traits of character have gained them warm regard among all with whom they have been brought in contact.
ANDERSON SWIGERT.
Long residence in Boone county makes it imperative that the life record of Anderson Swigert find a place upon the pages of the county's history, for he was closely associated with business activity and with the upbuilding of this section for many years, coming here in pioneer times. He was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, September 22, 1823, a son of Elisha Swigert, who was a cattle drover. The four sons and two daughters of the family were left orphans when Anderson Swigert was but nine years of age, and he was thus forced to start out in life on his own account. His educational privileges were indeed meager, and save for a few months spent in a private school as a child he had no educa- tional training save that which was self-acquired in the school of experience. He mastered the rudimentary branches of learning and as the years went on added to his knowledge through life's lessons. He served seven years as an apprentice to a blacksmith and in 1848 started in business on his own account in the town of Chili, Ohio, where he won a fair measure of success. He added to his blacksmithing a foundry business and also conducted a hotel until 1856.
He then brought his family to Iowa, settling at Ridgeport, Boone county, where he continued in the business of blacksmithing and hotel keeping. He likewise invested in farm property and gave personal supervision to the operation of his farm and to his stock-raising and feeding interests. His time was devoted to these various lines until 1875, when he gave up other business and for a time devoted his undivided attention to his farm and live stock, continuing along that line until 1883. when he retired. A substantial measure of success has rewarded his efforts. In all of his business career he displayed unfaltering energy, industry and determination and carried forward to successful completion whatever he undertook. In all of his dealings he was thoroughly reliable and won an unas- sailable reputation for his business integrity.
On the 15th of November, 1848, Mr. Swigert was united in marriage to Miss Magdalene Winklepleck, and they became the parents of eight children, of whom four are still living : Madill, a resident of Nebraska ; George A., who makes his home in Kansas; Frank; and Mrs. Cordelia Sturtz, of Boone, Iowa. The wife and mother passed away in 1875 and on the 22d of May, 1880, Mr. Swigert was
ANDERSON SWIGERT
MRS, CHARLOTTE (SWIGERT) OLIVER
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again married, his second union being with Charlotte Bibler, of Hamilton county, lowa. Unto this marriage were born five children, of whom Blacksen died at the age of fifteen years, the others being: Mrs. Effie A. Davis, of Kenosha, Wis- consin; C. J., a resident of Boxholm, Iowa; Mrs. Cassie A. Davis, living in Boone; and Mrs. Belle L. Wells, whose home is near Paton, Iowa.
In his political views Mr. Swigert was always an earnest republican from the organization of the party but never sought nor desired office of any kind, pre- ferring to concentrate his undivided attention and energy upon his business, which he conducted so capably that substantial success resulted. He was one of the promoters and builders of Boone county, taking an active interest in many pro- jects for its upbuilding and development. Throughout the pioneer days he proved himself a friend of the early settlers and was ever ready to assist the poor and needy. He was widely known not only in Boone but throughout adjoining coun- ties and was highly respected by all. He passed away- in 1896 and in his death the community lost one of its worthy and honored 'pioneers-a man whose life was not spectacular in the slightest degree and who did'not seek to figure promi- nently in any public connection, but who through the sterling worth of his char- acter won and enjoyed the friendship and regard of those with whom he was brought in contact.
FRANK A. SNYDER.
Frank A. Snyder, a progressive and representative agriculturist of Boone county, residing on section 27, Grant township, is the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of rich and productive land. His birth occurred in Chicago, Illi- nois, on the 8th of September, 1857, his parents being Andrew and Magdelina ( Hagge) Snyder, the former a native of France and the latter of Pennsylvania. Andrew Snyder was brought to the United States by his parents when but three years of age, the family home being established near Buffalo, New York, and subsequently near Chicago, Illinois. He learned the blacksmith's trade in the western metropolis and for a number of years was there engaged as a black- smith and expert horseshoer. Later he removed to North. Northfield, Illinois, and afterward took up his abode in Deerfield, that state. For a period of ten years he followed farming near Des Plaines, Illinois. His demise occurred in 1909, but his widow still survives at the age of eighty years, making her home in Deerfield, Illinois.
Frank A. Snyder was reared and educated in the state of his nativity and after putting aside his text-books worked as a farm hand in Illinois for some time. In the spring of 1890 he came to Boone county, Iowa, and began the cultivation of rented land. Two years later, however, he purchased one hundred and twenty acres on section 27, Grant township, and undertook the improvement of the property, which he has operated continuously and successfully to the present time. His wife raises thoroughbred White Leghorn Rose Comb chickens and ships eggs to Minnesota, Dakota, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. She also raises White Holland turkeys, Pekin ducks and Emden geese, and all of
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her poultry is white. Mr. Snyder, in connection with the cultivation of cereals, raises shorthorn cattle and Chester White hogs. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Boxholm and the Mutual Telephone Company and has long enjoyed an enviable reputation as one of the enterprising and pro- gressive citizens of his community.
On the 18th of December, 1889, Mr. Snyder was united in marriage to Miss Annie Bleimehl, a daughter of Peter and Maria Bleimehl, natives of Germany, who emigrated to the United States in the '40s and took up their abode in Chicago, Illinois. The father, who was a blacksmith by trade, later removed to Wheeling, Illinois, where he conducted a shop for six years and then went to Deerfield, that state, there spending the remainder of his life. He passed away in 1879, while his wife, surviving him for three decades, was called to her final rest in 1909. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Snyder have been born eight children, namely: Raymond; Laura; Harvey ; Alda; Alvin; Elmer; Irving, who died in 1895; and Lucille, whose demise occurred in 1912.
Mr. Snyder gives his political allegiance to the republican party and serves as justice of Grant township, having discharged the duties of that office in a highly satisfactory and commendable manner for a period of ten years. He has likewise acted as secretary of the school board for a number of years, and the cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart champion. His religious faith is that of the Evangelical Association, in the work of which he takes an active and helpful interest. Both Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are well and favorably known in Boone county and have a circle of friends which is almost coextensive . with the circle of their acquaintances.
ISAAC D. MUENCH.
Isaac D. Muench, who now lives retired in Pilot Mound, Iowa, has not only been a factor in the agricultural development of his state, but has to his credit a war record of which he well may be proud. He was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, May 28, 1846, and is a son of Jacob D. and Solma (Myers) Muench, both natives of that county. The father was a shoemaker by trade, but throughout the greater part of his life followed farming. He died in Pennsyl- vania in 1845. His wife survived him until 1884.
Isaac D. Muench was reared and educated in Dauphin and Snyder counties, Pennsylvania, attending the academy in the latter county. He then completed a business college course at Harrisburg. At the early age of eighteen years he enlisted in Company A, Two Hundred and Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer In- fantry and served for ten months, or until the close of the war. He subsequently taught school in Pennsylvania for several terms and also clerked in various stores and mercantile concerns. The next six years and eight months were spent in railroad service. In 1880 Mr. Muench came to Boone county, and here he bought land in Pilot Mound township. He gave his undivided attention to the cultivation of the same, and his became one of the most profitable farms of the neighborhood. He continued its operation until 1901, when he removed to Pilot Mound, where he now lives.
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In 1877 Mr. Muench married Kate Martin, a daughter of Edward and Bar- bara ( Remery) Martin, natives of Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Muench became parents of seven children: Daniel, who died in 1895; George C., who is in the United States mail service in Los Angeles; Virgil O., a physician who practices in Nichols, Iowa ; Sallie, who died in infancy : Robert S., a traveling salesman of Cedar Rapids; Grace, who died in infancy; and Harvey, a farmer of Boone county. Mr. Muench has always interested himself in public questions and has helpfully cooperated in promoting the growth and development of his district. He is now assessor of Pilot Mound and has also been secretary of the school board for ten years.
He is a member of the Evangelical church and thoroughly devoted to its work. Politically he is a stanch advocate of the prohibition party. He takes deep inter- est in the moral and intellectual upbuilding of humanity and is ever ready to support movements which will make for better manhood and sweeter woman- hood.
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FREDERICK E. WELSH, M. D.
A well known and prominent representative of the medical profession in Boone is Dr. Frederick E. Welsh, and his life stands in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is never without honor save in his own country, for he is a native son of Boone and in the city where the greater part of his life has been passed he is accorded a liberal practice, and by the consensus of public opinion is named as one of the leading physicians of his part of the state. His . natal day was December 11, 1874.
His father, George H. Welsh, was one of the pioneer settlers of this county and established one of the early drug stores of Boone. He was born in Norfolk county, Canada West, in 1842, and in 1851, when a lad of about nine years, ac- companied his parents on their removal across the border and into Ogle county, Illinois. After some time he became a resident of Hamilton county, Iowa. In his youth he learned the printer's trade, which he followed for a number of years, but when the differences between the north and the south involved the country in civil war, he put aside all business and personal considerations and offered his aid to the government, enlisting in the Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, with which he served for three years. Following his return home he again resumed active connection with the printing business and for some time was one of the proprie- tors of the Marshall County Times. He applied himself so closely and arduously to the management of his business that his health became impaired, necessitating a change of occupation, and in 1867 he removed to Boone, where he established a drug store, of which he was proprietor throughout his remaining days. On the 7th of October, 1869, he wedded Miss Helen Francis Hartwell, a native of Rockford, Illinois. His death occurred on the 11th of September, 1911, and his widow, still surviving, now makes her home in Boone. In their family were five children, George H., who was born November 27, 1872, and was American agent for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in the City of Mexico, obtained a con- cession permitting the building of a railroad, which he and his partner built to
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a distance of one hundred and eighty miles. His death occurred in the City of Mexico July 15, 1909. Frederick E. is the next of the family. Charles Aldrich, born February 25, 1881, was a graduate engineer of the Iowa State College and became a prominent building and contracting engineer. He was identified with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, having taken a contract in connection with the building of the Cascades and other important structures on the exposition grounds. He was also identified with the extension of the Northwestern Elevated Railroad in Chicago through the north shore suburbs. He died March 14, 1907. Marguerite, the next of the family, is at home. Helen is the wife of Albert Wieland, manager of the Bettendorf Car & Axle Company, of Davenport.
Reared in his native city, Dr. Welsh passed through consecutive grades in the public schools until graduated from the Boone high school with the class of 1892. He afterward entered Drake University at Des Moines, there spending a year, and subsequently became a student in the Northwestern University at Evan- ston, which he attended for four years and was then graduated. He next en- tered the State University at Iowa City, in which he pursued the medical course, and later he entered the medical department of the Northwestern University in Chicago, from which he was graduated with the class of 1903. In the meantime he had had some practical experience in medical and surgical work. On the 26th of April, 1898, Dr. Welsh enlisted as a private in Company I, Fifty-second Iowa Infantry at Boone and spent one month in Des Moines. The regiment immediately entered the United States service and Dr. Welsh was made a corporal. He was then transferred to the hospital staff as hospital private and later was advanced through the successive grades to lance acting hospital steward, lance hospital stew- ard, acting hospital steward and finally became hospital steward, in charge of the Second Division, Third Corps and the Ambulance Division, which made him an officer on the colonel's staff. As he had not then graduated in medicine, he could not be advanced farther. Owing to illness, he was the last man of his regiment to be mustered out, leaving the army thirty days after the other members of the regiment.
Following his graduation from the Northwestern University Medical School, where he had completed his preparation for medical practice, Dr. Welsh went to Rutland, where he practiced for eight years, and in 1911 he returned to Boone, where he opened an office and has since engaged in practice. He is well versed not only in the major, but also in the minor points of his profession. He makes a specialty of children's diseases and has become recognized as an authority on the same. He is a coming leader among the physicians of this section of the state because of the thorough study which he gives each individual case. His diagnosis is most careful, and he is seldom if ever at fault in anticipating the outcome of disease. He employs the most modern methods in his practice and at all times keeps in touch with the advanced thought and progress of the profession. His practice is large and gratifying and in addition, he has various other business interests. He is now proprietor of the Welsh drug store, the pioneer establish- ment of the kind in Boone, has been a director of the Rutland State Savings Bank for the last nine years, is ex-president of the Rutland Rolling Mills Corporation, resigning when he removed to Boone, and is a director of the Rutland Cooperative Creamery Association. He manifests keen sagacity and enterprise in relation to business affairs as well as professional interests, and because of the extent
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and importance of his activities has come to be recognized as one of the leading citizens of this section of the state.
On the 22d of December, 1902, Dr. Welsh was united in marriage to Miss Cleve Edna Squires, a native of Marshalltown, Iowa, and a daughter of Henry W. and Emma (Andrews) Squires. Her father, who is now living retired in Ames, Iowa, was formerly a contractor and builder and erected some of the largest churches, business houses and private residences of his day throughout central Iowa. Unto Dr. and Mrs. Welsh have been born a daughter, Cleve Squires, born June 6, 1904, and a son, Frederick Edwin, Jr., born on the 14th of October, 1910.
Dr. Welsh gives his political indorsement to the republican party by his sup- port at the polls of all of its candidates and its measures, but he does not desire public office for himself. He is a Master Mason, and also belongs to the Eastern Star chapter. He also belongs to the Woodmen of the World and the Wood- man Circle, while since his college days he has been a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, having joined the chapter at Northwestern University. His religious belief is that of the Episcopalian church and to its teachings he is faith- ful. In all the relations of life Dr. Welsh has been found progressive and loyal. He stands for all that is best in community affairs and in the national life as well, and can justly be termed a typical American citizen, alert and enterprising, ready to meet any emergency of life with the confidence and courage that come from a right conception of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exer- cise of human activities.
THOMAS PAGE.
Since the fall of 1910 Thomas Page has made his home in Luther, where he is now living retired, having, previous to this time, devoted his attention largely to agricultural pursuits. His early home was in Ohio, for he was born in Clin- ton county, that state, June 30, 1837, his parents being Wesley and Matilda ( Cris- pen) Page. His father, who was also a farmer by occupation, died when a young man and was long survived by his widow, who was about seventy years old at the time of her death, which occurred in Clinton county, Ohio. They were mar- ried in that state, though he was a native of Virginia and she of Pennsylvania. After her husband's death she spent some two or three years in Illinois, but finally returned to Ohio. In their family were six children, five sons and one daughter, our subject being the next to the oldest. The others were: Mason, who is still a resident of Ohio; Silas, twin of Thomas, the former now deceased ; William and Lucinda, also twins, both of whom are deceased; and Wesley, a retired farmer living in Luther, Iowa.
Thomas Page spent his early life in Ohio and received a good practical educa- tion in the common schools of that state. At an early age, however, he began earning his own livelihood and started out in life for himself empty handed. In the fall of 1861 he left his native state and removed to Sangamon county, Illi- nois, where he had a brother and sister residing, but on the Ist of March, 1864, he became a resident of Boone county, Iowa. At that time the city of Boone
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was the terminus of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. His brother Wesley had located here the year previous. Thomas Page located on the Peterson place in Worth township, being then in the employ of J. H. Norton for about one year. The following two years he worked for John Jennings, at the end of which time he was married and rented a farm, which he operated for the same length of time. He then purchased forty acres of land one mile north of the present site of Luther from L. and H. Goeppinger. There was a house standing upon the land, but otherwise it was unimproved, and to its cultivation and develop- ment he at once turned his attention. Subsequently he traded that property to Philip Hull for one hundred and twenty acres three miles east of Worth, in what is now Colfax township. He also improved that farm, which he finally traded for a place of one hundred and eleven acres in Des Moines township. It is today one of the best improved and most productive tracts in the locality and to its cultivation Mr. Page devoted his attention until 1910, when he retired from active labor and removed to Luther. Here he has built a good comfortable resi- dence and also has twenty acres of land which he rents. At one time he owned considerable property, but has disposed of much of this, feeling that he is entitled to a well earned rest. He followed general farming, and the success which at- tended his efforts was due entirely to his own careful management and industrious habits.
In the fall of 1866 Mr. Page was married in this county to Miss Alice Boone, a daughter of William Myrtle Boone, a prominent pioneer of this county whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Both Mr. and Mrs. Page are now well advanced in life, she having reached the age of seventy-two years, while he is seventy-seven. Of their three children, William, who is a farmer by occupation, resides near the Des Moines river in Worth township. He married Miss May Thompson and has a large family, including two daughters who are married and three sons and two daughters who are single. 'Bertha, the second child of our subject, is at home. V. A. is a farmer by occupation.
In early life Mr. Page was a member of the Home Guards in Ohio and since attaining his majority has always affiliated with the republican party, but has never accepted office. At one time he was a member of the New Light or Chris- tian church and still favors that denomination. He is a man of upright char- acter, whose life has been such as to gain him the confidence and high regard of those with whom he has been brought in contact.
CORYDON L. LUCAS.
Corydon L. Lucas, of Madrid, Iowa, is very successfully engaged in the real-estate and insurance business ; but he is of greater importance to his com- munity than a merely well-to-do man, for he has been connected with many public-spirited enterprises. He was instrumental in organizing the Madrid His- torical Society and has always taken the deepest and most helpful interest in pre- serving valuable records to posterity. Mr. Lucas moreover served as the first mayor of Madrid, was the postmaster of the community under Cleveland and has now been for twelve years a justice of the peace. He also acts as notary.
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CORYDON L. LUCAS
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MRS. CORYDON L. LUCAS
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Corydon L. Lucas was born in Putnam county, Indiana, November 19, 1838, a son of Hiram and Susan ( Payne) Lucas. The father was born in Estill county, Kentucky, April 9, 1815, and in 1834 made his way over land to Indiana, whence he came with the family to Boone county, arriving here October 8, 1853, where the town of Madrid now stands. At this early period there were but two houses in Madrid, surrounded by unbroken prairie, and but one set of farm buildings could be found between Madrid and Belle Point. This farm was located along the Des Moines road. The town of Boonesboro had been laid out but two years previously and settlements were sparse and far between. The father won an honorable place in his community and acquired a competence. He died at Grayson Station, October 4, 1906. His wife, Susan (Payne) Lucas, was born in Spencer county, Kentucky, February 6, 1819. Her parents made their way to Indiana in 1834, and in that state Hiram Lucas and Susan Payne were married in 1835. She came with her husband to Boone county in 1853. The Payne family were originally Virginians and were among the pioneer settlers of Ken- tucky. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas were the parents of eleven children: William H., who died in North Dakota; Corydon L., of this review ; H. M., residing at Woon- socket, South Dakota; Mrs. Nancy Mace, of Oklahoma City; P. J., of Boone county, Iowa; Mary A., of Ames, Iowa ; Mrs. Ellen Zenor, who died in 1911 ; Anna, deceased; Mrs. Matilda Williams, of Worth township; Zylpha J., resid- ing at Ames ; and Florence, who died in December, 1913. The seven older chil- dren were born in Putnam county, Indiana, and the younger ones in Boone county.
Corydon L. Lucas remained in Indiana until 1853, coming with the family to Boone county and arriving on the site of Madrid in October of that year. There they remained over night, continuing the next day northward and locating where Grayson now stands. The township is now called Worth. The Lucas family were among the pioneers of Boone county and experienced all the hardships of primitive frontier life. Mr. Lucas attended the early common schools and sub- sequently taught for some time in the county. He always has taken a deep interest in historical records of his community, which he has carefully preserved, and his collections and the deductions made therefrom are so important that the publishers of this work have intrusted him with the compilation of two important chapters. His wide acquaintance and extensive reading well qualify him for this under- taking.
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