USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 44
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In politics Mr. Mason has always been a stanch republican, giving unfaltering support to the men and measures of the party, yet refusing office for himself. His wife held membership in the Episcopal church, and he has always contributed liberally to its support. For the past nineteen years, or since 1895, he has taken an active interest in the improvement of Linwood Park Cemetery. Moreover, he is a public-spirited citizen who has assisted in many projects for the general good. He is intensely interested in the substantial growth and improvement of city and county, and his work along that line has been effective, far-reaching and beneficial. Few if any in Boone county are more widely known than Charles T. T. Mason and the record which he has made as business man and citizen places him among the foremost residents of this part of the state.
JAMES E. ARNOLD.
James E. Arnold was one of the veterans of the Civil war and an early set- tler of Boone county, identified with its development during an early epoch in its history. He was called to his final rest in 1896, and the county thereby lost one of its representative and valued citizens. He was born in Knox county, Ohio, February 29, 1844, a son of Elias and Malinda ( Armentrout) Arnold, both of whom spent their entire lives in the Buckeye state. Their children were Daniel, Rhoda. Mary, James E., George and John.
At the place of his nativity James E. Arnold was reared to manhood with the usual experiences of the lad of that locality and period. He attended the public schools there and when a young man came to Iowa, entering the employ of his brother Daniel, who was then following farming in Jasper county. With the outbreak of the Civil war, however, James E. Arnold put aside all business and personal considerations to give tangible evidence of his patriotism and loyalty to his country. He enlisted as a member of Company F, First Iowa Cavalry serving under General Custer. He was with the Union troops until the close of the war and returned home with a most creditable military record.
Several years later Mr. Arnold again went to Ohio and was married in Co- shocton county in 1869 to Miss Mary E. Hagans, of that county, a daughter of Alexander and Fanny ( Anthony ) Hagans, both of whom represented old Penn- sylvania families, her mother being of Pennsylvania-Dutch descent. The Arnolds, however, were of Irish lineage. To Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Hagans were born fifteen children: Uriah, who was born October 30, 1850, and is now deceased :
JAMES E. ARNOLD
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Mrs. Arnold; Ben F., who was born November 22, 1854, and has passed away ; Isaac, who was born October 12, 1855, and is deceased; Martha Jane, born March 18, 1857; James Breckenridge and James Buchanan, twins, born August 13, 1858, the latter now deceased, while the former is living in Ohio; Anna, who was born December 9, 1859, and has passed away; David A., who was born July 20, 1861, and is a resident of Ohio; Jacob, who was born March 27, 1863, and is deceased ; Charles M., who was born April 4, 1868, and became a minister but died in Ohio; Katie, who was born March 2, 1870, and makes her home in the Buckeye state; Tenie L., who was born June 2, 1872, and is living in Toledo, Ohio; Thomas, who was born April 11, 1876, and is also a resident of Ohio; and Emma, also residing in Ohio.
Of this family Mrs. Arnold was the second in order of birth. She was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, March 8, 1852, and was educated in the public schools. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Arnold came to Boone county, settling upon an one hundred and sixty acre tract of land on section 8, Jackson town- ship. It was following his marriage that Mr. Arnold attended college at New- ton, lowa, and for five or six years he engaged in teaching school in Ohio and Iowa. The greater part of his life, however, was devoted to general agricultural pursuits, and he brought his land under a high state of cultivation, transforming it into a productive and valuable farm which he carefully tilled year after year and as a result thereof gathered good harvests.
To Mr. and Mrs. Arnold were born four children : Alma A., now the wife of Arthur Wills of Jackson township; Merritt J., who married Teresa Welch and lives in Ogden, Iowa; Paul R., at home; and Emma A., the wife of Clarence Mott, of Beaver township. The family circle was broken by the hand of death when in 1896 Mr. Arnold passed away on the old homestead farm. He gave his political indorsement to the republican party and was a firm believer in its prin- ciples although never an aspirant for office. He held membership in the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and his life was guided by its teachings, so that at his death he left to his family not only a comfortable competence but also the price- less heritage of an untarnished name. He was always as loyal to the duties of citizenship in times of peace as when he followed the old flag upon southern bat- tlefields, and as an early settler of the county he lived to witness a remarkable development and at all times bore his part in the work of general advancement and improvement.
JOHN T. GILDEA.
John T. Gildea, the well known postmaster and general merchant of Luther, has throughout his life been a resident of Boone county, for he was born in Worth township on the 9th of September, 1863, a son of Thomas J. and Elizabeth (Nutt) Gildea. The father was a native of Kentucky and on leaving that state came to Iowa in 1855, locating in Worth township. Boone county, where he secured land and followed farming until the Civil war. Feeling that his country needed his services, he entered the army as a member of Company H, Forty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. Returning to this state, he died in Davenport in the Vol. II-22
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fall of 1864. His widow survived him many years, passing away February 5, 1914, when seventy-four years of age. In their family were the following chil- dren : Mrs. Sarah Davis, a resident of Worth township; Philip, who is living in Worth township, two miles north of Luther; Robert. a resident of Luther ; John T., of this review ; L. F., who is engaged in the transfer business in Boone; and William T., a farmer of Worth township.
John T. Gildea attended the common schools of this county during his boy- hood and youth and at an early age commenced farming, to which occupation he devoted his attention until his removal to Luther in the fall of 1906, when he embarked in business as a general merchant. He still owns his farm in Worth township, however, but at the present time his attention is given to mercantile pursuits. Since the Ist of September, 1912, he has also served as postmaster of Luther and is regarded as one of the most enterprising business men of his part of the county. He married Miss Rachel A. Hoffman, also a native of Boone county. Four children have been born to them, namely : Mary Mae, now the wife of James Kenser, of Luther ; Grace G., at home; William Blaine, who is attending the high school in Boone; and Noah Lee, at home.
Mr. Gildea's political support has ever been given to the republican party, and he has been called upon to serve as councilman and now is school treasurer. Both he and his wife hold membership in the Luther Methodist church, and socially he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Boone and the Odd Fellow and Rebekah lodges of Luther, Mrs. Gildea also belonging to the last named. They are well known and highly esteemed citizens of the com- munity who merit the confidence so freely accorded them.
ALONZO J. BARKLEY.
An attractive residence erected in 1893 at No. 326 Boone street is the home of Alonzo J. Barkley, who at different times has been connected with the real- estate, telephone and banking business at Boone. His activities have been of a character which has contributed to public progress and prosperity, as well as to individual success. He retired from the presidency of the Boone County Bank on the Ioth of February. 1911. after twenty-seven years' labor at the head of that institution.
Mr. Barkley is a representative of one of the pioneer families of the state and was born in Linn county, Iowa, March 27, 1842, his parents being James Newton and Lydia ( Hobson ) Barkley, natives of Virginia and of North Carolina re- spectively. In his youthful days the father accompanied his parents to Kentucky and afterward to Lawrence county, Indiana, and as soon as he attained his majority they came to Iowa and took up a claim in Linn county in 1841. While a carpenter by trade, he also engaged to some extent in farming. He continued a resident of Linn county until 1856, when he removed with his family to Boone county, settling on land in Dodge township, about eight miles from Boonesboro, on the then unbroken prairie, whose rich black sod soon began to answer his daily prayer for bread. He joined the ranks of the republican party when it required courage to announce one's political convictions along that line. His religious faith
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was that of the Methodist church and in that belief he passed away April 6, 1866. It was at Bedford, Indiana, that he married Miss Hobson, who was a Quaker as were her ancestors. She passed away in 1887 at the age of seventy- four years, enjoying to the fullest degree the love of her children and the con- fidence and high regard of all who knew her. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Barkley were born the following named: Mary, deceased; A. J .; Harriet M., the widow of Eugene Favre; Levina ; Linzy, who has passed away; Mazzini C .; and Henry. deceased.
A contemporary biographer has written: "The boy Alonzo derived his primary education chiefly through contact with nature and from the Bible, interpreted at his mother's knee, and illustrated by applications to the moral questions which arise in the progress of a young life." The school honse at Ridgeport was seven miles from his home and thus it was impossible for him to pursue his studies there. The winter months were largely spent in the woods, making rails and posts, which he hauled with ox teams to the farm. In 1861, however, he divided his time between chopping cord wood, farming and attending school at Boones- boro. In the spring he concentrated his energies upon the farm work, while his father spent his time in building pioneer homes for new arrivals. As he went into the fields Alonzo Barkley would carry with him a principle in grammar or a problem in mathematics for study along the way. He mastered everything thoroughly and, while he practically had none of the training of the schoolroom. he began to show a knowledge superior to that of many whose opportunities were far greater than his own. . As he followed the plow his mind was taken up with questions that developed in him the habit of thinking clearly and of arriving at correct deductions. Each lesson of his life has been thoroughly learned. At times experience has been to him a hard taskmaster, but he has never faltered in the face of duty, whether in the performance of a task for his own benefit or in the broader field of duty toward city and country.
He was but twenty years of age when he enlisted on the 11th of August, 1862. as a member of Company D, Thirty-second lowa Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was organized at Camp Franklin, Dubuque, and a detach- ment of four companies-A, F, G and D-commanded by Major G. A. Eberhart, went to Cape Girardeau and spent the fall. winter and succeeding spring months in southern Missouri, building fortifications for the Cape and at Bloomfield. This detachment assisted in defeating Marmaduke's army at Cape Girardeau and driving it into Arkansas, returning in time to accompany General Davidson's cavalry division on its famous five-hundred-mile march through Missouri and Arkansas to Little Rock, where Price's army was defeated and driven out. Speaking of Mr. Barkley's military experience another writer has said: "Mr. Barkley was one of the sixty men that went up the river from Clarendon to Searcy and burned the pontoon bridge across the Little Red river after a portion of Marmaduke's army had crossed. These sixty men captured two small steamers, 'The Tom Sugg' and 'Kaskaskia.' and returned to Clarendon, one- third of their number having been killed or wounded before their return to the command. He also took part in the fight at Bayou Metoe, where one of his com- pany was killed and two severely wounded."
The regiment was reunited at Vicksburg and in the spring of 1864 joined in Banks' Red River expedition. It participated in the skirmishes and battles of that
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disastrous campaign until Pleasant Hill was reached on April 8, 1864. The next day a fierce conflict raged and Shaw's brigade, in which was Colonel Scott's Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, held the center until nightfall, when it was sur- rounded and obliged to cut its way out, losing more men in killed and wounded than did any other regiment in that engagement. Diligent inquiry and a hasty examination in the darkness soon disclosed the result of that day's battle and the condition of the survivors. Mr. Barkley's wound was bleeding so profusely that he went in search of surgical aid where prompt attention might stanch the flow of blood and possibly save his life. At the headquarters of General Banks he was given the necessary attention and the services of Surgeon Sanger, the dis- tinguished medical director of the Nineteenth Army Corps. The right shoulder was then unjointed and from the torn and mangled arm below the shattered bone was cut out and removed. Long before daylight Banks had left his dead unburied
on the field and the wounded to be captured and held as prisoners of war for three months, when the survivors, whose wounds forever unfitted them for mili- tary service, were taken on boats and paroled by said Surgeon Sanger and sent to New Orleans. In order to escape the yellow fever they were sent up to Mem- phis, Tennessee, and in December, 1864, while still a paroled prisoner, Mr. Barkley was discharged and arrived at his father's farm house on Christmas Day without notice, making a happy holiday for all.
Life's experiences were teaching Mr. Barkley the value of education and, anxious to advance along that line, he entered Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa, in March, 1865, and remained until the death of his father in April, 1866. Returning home, still carrying his wounded arm in a sling, he engaged in herding cattle. In the fall of that year he was made the republican nominee for county recorder, to which office he was chosen at the regular election in November, entering upon the duties of the position in January. 1867. He was reelected in 1868 and while acting in that capacity he compiled a set of abstract books covering all lands in Boone county, doing the labor in what otherwise would have been "leisure hours" and devising his own system. Although he had never before seen a set of abstract records, he succeeded in making as complete a set as any in Iowa. On his retirement from the position of recorder he entered the real-estate and abstract business, becoming agent for the Iowa Railroad Land Company and the Blair Town Lot & Land Company, and represented large tracts in central Iowa held by non-resident landowners on his own account until 1882, when he sold out. He was connected with telephone development, his initial step in this direc- tion being made in 1889, later constructing lines from Boone to Ames, Madrid, Ogden and Dayton. In 1891 he organized the Boone County Telephone Company and established a telephone exchange. He remained at the head of the business until 1892, when he sold out to the Bell system.
In the meantime he had become active in financial circles as one of the promoters and organizers of the Boone County Bank in February, 1884. He was elected its first vice president with R. J. Hiatt as president and Oscar Schleiter as cashier. With the withdrawal of his associate officers after five years, the bank was reorganized with Mr. Barkley as president, directing its affairs success- fully until the 10th of February, 1911, when he sold his stock and retired. Under his guidance the progressive policy of the bank was tempered by a safe conserva-
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tism, and the success of the institution was built upon the enterprise, sound judgment and honorable methods of the president.
It is almost impossible for a man who has been as active in business as Mr. Barkley not to be closely associated with affairs of public moment. He becomes a vital force in the community and his influence has much to do with shaping public policy. Thus it has been with Mr. Barkley, who has twice repre- sented his ward in the city council and who in 1899 was chosen to represent his district in the twenty-eighth general assembly. After serving for two years, indorsement of his first term came in his reelection. During the first term he was a member of the library committee and assisted in preparing the bill creating the Iowa library commission, which became a law and has proven to be of much worth by advancing library development in this state. During the second term he was a member of the committee on appropriations, also on the ways and means committee and other important committees and was advanced to the chairmanship of the library committee. His bill became a law consolidating the traveling library with the Iowa library commission and the appropriation for the former was largely increased. He has closely studied questions of public moment, and his indorse- ment of any measure arises from the fact that he has firm belief in its effectiveness as a factor for general good.
Mr. Barkley was united in marriage November 6, 1866, in Boone county to Miss Henrietta Trickey, who died in 1889. About two years later, on the 28th of July, 1891, he was married in Ainsworth, Nebraska, to Miss Flora Spencer, who for a number of years was a successful educator in Waukon, her former home, and in the high school of Boone, Iowa. Theirs is a beautiful home, attractive by reason of its warm-hearted hospitality which is greatly enjoyed by their many friends.
Mr. Barkley has always been deeply interested in the cause of education and served for a number of years as one of the trustees of Cornell College. He is prominent in Masonic circles, holding membership in the lodge, chapter and commandery and the Mystic Shrine, and for several terms he was master of the lodge. He wears the little bronze button that proclaims his membership with the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a member of J. G. Miller Post. He has many social qualities which render him popular. He is ever ready to listen to the arguments of others, but when once determined that his course is right, nothing can swerve him therefrom. It is said that the domestic animals about his place know him for their friend and that children love him. These things are indicative of a warm heart and kindly nature.
JOSEPH FRANKLIN WHEELER.
Among those to whom success has come as the result of diligence and intelli- gently directed effort is Joseph Franklin Wheeler, who is now living retired. although he still occupies the home farm on section 14, Harrison township. A native of Maine, he was born on the 4th of March, 1845, a son of Joseph and Elmira (Langster) Wheeler, who in the year 1877 arrived in Boone county, where they lived for a number of years. Both are now deceased.
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Joseph F. Wheeler passed his boyhood days in the Pine Tree state, being about twenty years of age when he went west to Illinois, where he was employed as a farm hand for about two years. He enlisted at Dixon, Illinois, as a member of Company G, Fifteenth Illinois Infantry, with which he served for seven and one-half months. Following the close of his military service he re- turned to Illinois, where he remained for a year, when on account of ill health he returned to New England, establishing his home in Penobscot county, Maine, where he lived for six years. In 1877 be came to Boone county, where he has now made his home for thirty-seven years, and throughout this period has been identified with agricultural interests. He has worked hard, earning his success by the sweat of his brow, and as the years have passed by he has advanced steadily step by step until he is now numbered among the men of affluence in Harrison township.
On the 15th of March, 1875, Mr. Wheeler was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Gates, a daughter of Abel and Catherine ( McFadden) Gates. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have four children: Joseph F., who married Carrie Stoll and follows farming in Harrison township; William Arthur, living in Scotia, Cali- fornia : Ella I., the wife of Charles Allen, who follows farming near Stanhope, Iowa ; and Mary Agnes, the wife of Irving Ross, a resident farmer of this state living near Ogden.
With an automobile it is not difficult for Mr. Wheeler and his wife to reach the city and even more remote points, and the fact that he is now living retired enables him to enjoy motor trips through the country. In politics he is a republi- can but without ambition for office. He belongs to the Methodist church, and his fraternal relations are with E. L. Sheldahl Post, No. 439, G. A. R., of Story City, by which means he maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades who wore the blue uniform during the darkest hours in the country's history. He is today as true and loyal to the government as when in times of war he followed the old flag upon the battlefields of the south.
JOHN R. BUTTOLPH.
John R. Buttolph is one of the prosperous agriculturists of Pilot Mound town- ship, Boone county, where he owns one hundred and sixty acres of land, the operation of which is now largely under the management of his son. Mr. But- tolph is a veteran of the Civil war, rendering at the time of stress valuable service to his country. He was born in Lorain county, Ohio, August 18, 1841, and is a son of George and Dorothy (Clark) Buttolph, the former born in Massachu- setts and the latter in Maine. The father was a farmer and came to Linn county, Iowa, in 1854, where he remained until 1857, when he removed to Boone county, where he acquired land and operated the same until 1861. He then re- moved to Polk county, where he farmed until 1864, when he returned to Boone county, here continuing in his life occupation until his death in 1873. His widow survived him until March 19, 1895.
John R. Buttolph was reared and educated in Linn and Boone counties and in June, 1861, enlisted in the Second lowa Battery, serving until the close of the war.
2.
JOHN R. BUTTOLPH AND FAMILY
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He was wounded twice at Vicksburg and could always be found at the most dangerous places when defending the Union. After peace was reestablished he returned to Boone county and operated rented land for several years, at the end of which time he purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 32, Pilot Mound township. He closely applied himself to bringing his land under cultivation and improving his property and in the course of years has met with gratifying success, now owning one of the most valuable farms of his neighborhood.
On the 24th of December, 1865, Mr. Buttolph married Miss Sarah Myers, a daughter of Jacob and Annie (Keppel) Myers, natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a farmer and operated land in Ohio until 1854, when he removed to Boone county, acquiring property in Pilot Mound township, which he improved until his death in 1887. His wife had died the previous year. Mr. and Mrs. Buttolph have three children: Ada C., who married S. A. Elliott, a resident of Centerville ; Ida S., the wife of R. W. Casey, a lumber dealer of Ogden ; and John F., who operates his father's farm and resides with his parents. He was mar- ried February 14, 1900, to Miss Hannah Clausson, a daughter of Lewis and Anna S. (Hanson) Clausson, natives of Denmark, who emigrated to America and settled in Boone county at an early day in its history. Her father farmed for many years and subsequently engaged in the harness business in Pilot Mound, where he resided until his death August 8, 1912. John F. Buttolph has five chil- dren, Ora D., Leni L., Loren D., Milan D. and Franklin D .- Their father is at present assessor of his township and has served for four years. During the . Spanish-American war he enlisted in Company I, Fifty-second Iowa Regiment, giving thereby evidence of his patriotic spirit.
John R. Buttolph served as assessor for twenty years, as township clerk for five years and as trustee for about eight years. Politically he is a republican, giving his support to that party which took up the cause of the Union at the time of the great conflict between the north and south. Ils is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. AAlthough he is not a member of any specific church, he attends the services of all and readily contributes to those institutions and organizations which have for their purpose the betterment of humanity. He has made valuable contributions to the development of his district and is highly respected and esteemed by all who know him for what he has accomplished and the qualities of his character which have made possible his success.
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