USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 51
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William Crowe, father of William G. Crowe, was one of a family of three sons and three daughters. He remained a resident of the land of hills and heather until he reached the age of nineteen years, when, in 1866, he left the village of Larkhall and sailed for the United States. After a residence of three years in
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Pennsylvania he went to Illinois, but three years later returned to the former state. After a short time, however, he went to Ohio and in 1871 he was there wedded to Miss Elizabeth Marshall of Hubbard, Trumbull county. The year 1876 witnessed their arrival in Boone and from that time to the present Mr. Crowe has been prominently associated with its business interests, especially in the development of the coal fields of this portion of the state. For a time he engaged in coal mining at Ames and later became a factor in the development of the coal trade of Boone. After a partnership of eighteen years George Rogers sold his interest in the business to John Marshall, who was a partner of Mr. Crowe until his death in November, 1899. Mr. Crowe then settled up the business and on the 6th of March, 1900, he organized the Crowe Coal Mining Company, of which he became president and general manager, with James Crowe as vice president and secretary and Garvin Crowe as treasurer. The company developed the mines in Des Moines township, and the business has grown to large and profitable proportions. In fact, Mr. Crowe has employed more men than any other person interested in coal mining in his time in Boone. His keen discernment has enabled him to readily discriminate between the essential and the non-essential in carrying on his business and, utilizing the former, he has won a very gratifying measure of success. He has kept in touch with modern improvements in the methods of taking the coal from the mines and also in its distribution, and whatever he has attempted he has accomplished by reason of his firm purpose and unfaltering energy.
The cause of education has ever found in William Crowe, Sr., a stalwart champion and for many years he has served on the school board. He has like- wise been a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of various measures for the general good. He is an exemplary repre- sentative of the Masonic fraternity and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Both he and his wife are devoted members of the Baptist church. In 1888 he returned for a visit to his native land, which he had not seen in more than twenty- two years. Writing of William Crowe a conteniporary biographer said:
"Few men are more prominent or more widely known in the enterprising city of Boone than Mr. Crowe. In business affairs Mr. Crowe is energetic, prompt and notably reliable. Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty of purpose, a genius for devising and executing the right thing at the right time, joined to every-day common sense, guided by resistless will power, are the chief charac- teristics of the man. Justice has ever been maintained in his relations to patrons and employes, and many of those who began with him at the commencement of his career are still in his service. He has not been slow to assist and encourage others who have left his employ to enter business for themselves and in return he naturally has the loyal support of all the employes of the house. He has been watchful of all the details of his business and of all indications pointing toward prosperity, and from the beginning had an abiding faith in the ultimate success of his enterprise. He has gained wealth, yet it was not alone the goal for which he was striving, and he belongs to that class of representative American citizens who promote the general prosperity while advancing individual interests."
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Crowe were born twelve children: Agnes, who became the wife of Leslie M. Strong ; Margaret, the wife of George Johnson ; Mary, the wife of Oscar E. Anderson ; Christine; Anna E., who on the 18th of June, 1902,
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became the wife of J. B. Bergstrom of Fargo, North Dakota; May; William G .; George Roger; Robert E .; Harry James : Lester Verne; and Glenn, who died in infancy.
William G. Crowe, whose name introduces this review, was born January 3, 1884, upon the old homestead, which is situated in the west end of the city, in which he still resides. He attended the public schools of his native town, com- pleting his education with two years of high school at the age of sixteen. He then entered upon his active career, becoming an employe in the clothing store of Mr. McNeil. There he remained two years and at the end of that time attended for one year the Capital City Commercial College in Des Moines. Upon his return he entered the offices of the Crowe Coal Mining Company, working for his father for three years, at the end of which time he became bookkeeper for Fenton & Company, a well known grocery firm of Boone. His activities with this firm were terminated after two years, on the expiration of which period he established himself in business independently, buying the garage of Williams & Stockslager. Mr. Crowe has since been in charge of this business and enjoys a most profitable trade. He has won many new customers by carefully attending to their wants, is punctual and obliging and has shown himself in many ways an excellent business man. He has one of the best establishments of its kind in this part of the state, and its success is largely due to the up-to-date methods and the honest policy which are prevailing in the business.
On July 26, 1907, William G. Crowe married Miss Lora Jenkins, a daughter of Lee and Adelaide (Saunders) Jenkins. Mr. Crowe is one of the popular young men of Boone, respected and esteemed by all who know him. He is connected with a number of fraternal organizations, particularly the Masons, in which he holds high rank. In that order he is a Shriner and also belongs to the Eastern Star. Moreover, Mr. Crowe is a member of the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. Success has come to him in response to an ambition which could not be deterred by any obstacles or hindrances, and his career is again proof of the fact that industry, determination, honesty and thrift will win the way to prosperity.
MAXSON W. GRIFFEE.
Maxson W. Griffee is today the oldest potter in Boone county in years of continuous connection with the business. About 1863 he established a pottery in Boonesboro and began the manufacture of stoneware. In this business he con- tinued until 1899, when he retired and is now giving his attention merely to the supervision of his property interests. He was born February 22, 1843, in Cadiz, Henry county, Indiana, his parents being Adam and Ruth Annie (Dooley) Grif- fee, the former a native of Wales and the latter of Ohio. The father, a miller by trade, came to the United States in early life and established his home in Cadiz, Indiana. He was married in that state and there made his home until 1855, when he removed with his family to Boone, working in the flour mill of George Hoover for some time. He was connected with milling in Polk county,
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Iowa, at the time of his death, although he still made his home in Boone county. His religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church and his political belief that of the republican party. To him and his wife were born the following children: Keziah, who became the wife of James Gaskell and died in Boone ; Maxson W .; Ellen, the wife of Michael Hayes, a resident of Denver, Colorado ; Allie, who married Lizzie Henshaw, of Boone county; Rachel, the wife of Jasper Moreland, of South Dakota ; Mrs. Mary Parsons, of Omaha; and Charles, who is living in Ralston, Iowa.
Maxson W. Griffee is a self-educated as well as a self-made man, having opportunity to attend school for only three months. He has learned many les- sons, however, through business experience and observation. When but twelve years of age he went to work in a pottery at Boone and followed that pursuit for twenty years. He began grinding clay in the Kelcey pottery and applied himself with much diligence and mastered the business so thoroughly that he won rapid advancement and gained a thorough and practical knowledge of the trade. At twenty years of age he built a pottery in Boone and began the manu- facture of all kinds of stoneware. The enterprise prospered from the beginning and later, or about 1870, he built a second pottery in Boone. He became the largest dealer in the county and his shipments went to all parts of the United States. Gradually as he met success he equipped his plant with the latest im- proved machinery, also improved the grade of pottery manufactured and through the excellence of his output, as well as his honorable dealings, increased his trade to extensive proportions. He retired from active business, selling his plant in 1899, since which time he has given his attention to his property interests. He has built a number of residences and other buildings in Boone and now owns valuable real estate.
On the Ist of February, 1868, Mr. Griffee was married to Miss Martha Buff- kin, of Indiana, a daughter of Samuel and Catherine Buffkin. Mrs. Griffee passed away in Boonesboro in 1882, and on the 27th of September, 1883, he married Julia A. Wilbur, who was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, February I, 1843. She acquired her education in the common schools of Farmington, Ohio, and at eighteen years of age began teaching in Trumbull county, which profes- sion she followed for three years. She then engaged in dressmaking and in 1867 came to Boone, where she lived with her brother Dwight, a coal operator.
Mrs. Griffee is a daughter of Joseph and Clarinda (Colburn) Wilbur, who were natives of Connecticut. The father was born May 26, 1807, and after his marriage removed to Ohio. In his younger days he was a miller, farmer and gardener. In 1869 he came to Boone, where he passed away on the 10th of June, 1883. His wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. Unto them were born the following named. Dwight, the eldest, born in Ohio, July 19, 1839, was married there to Edna Lyman and both died in Los Angeles. Orlando, born November 25, 1841, died in Ohio, January 10, 1866. Mrs. Griffee is the next of the family. Louise R., born February 12, 1845, was married in 1864 to Charles Holcomb and died August 26, 1910, while on a visit in Wood- ville, Ohio. Jonathan, born October 10, 1846, was married March 25, 1869, to Hattie Thompson and died in Los Angeles. David C., born May 15, 1848, was married January 13, 1870, to Esther Minor, of Ohio, who died in Marshall-
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town, Iowa, January 25, 1905. Andrew, born September 10, 1851, was married November 12, 1874, to Hattie Dempster and lives in Santa Barbara, California. Curtis E., born December 15, 1854, was married January 13, 1876, to Stella Tyler and died in Denver, Colorado, December 14, 1905.
Mr. Griffee had one child by his first marriage, Isaac, who was born Sep- tember 17, 1873. He was married January 16, 1907, to Edna Satterlee and they have one son, Cleo M. Mr. Griffee tends to spiritualism in religious belief and to socialism in political faith. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is identified with its Missionary Society and Aid Society. They are both well known in this county, where they have long resided and where Mr. Griffee won a place among the representative business men, being for a long period connected with one of the most important productive industries of the county.
WILLIAM H. NELSON.
Through enterprising methods, William H. Nelson has built up a good busi- ness in the marble and granite monument trade at Boone. Determination and energy have constituted the salient features of his success, bringing him to a position where the consensus of public opinion places him among the foremost and representative business men of his city. His parents are Benjamin R. and Nancy (Forsythe) Nelson. The paternal grandfather, Benjamin Nelson, born at Redstone, Pennsylvania, in 1786, served throughout the War of 1812 in the Second Ohio Militia and when his military duties were over took up the occupa- tion of farming, which he made his life work, passing away in Ohio.
The father was born December 21, 1830, in Harrison county, Ohio, where he learned and followed the blacksmith's trade. He was afterward employed on the national turnpike in shoeing government horses. With the outbreak of the Civil war his patriotic spirit was aroused and he enlisted at Zanesville, Ohio, in the One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio Infantry, with which he served, throughout the war, being advanced from the ranks to the position of corporal. Twice he was wounded, and because of his injuries he was honorably discharged on the 9th of June, 1865. In April, 1866, he removed to Cambridge, Ohio, and was made gatekeeper on the national turnpike, continuing in that position until 1872, when he went to Zanesville. He was afterward at St. Clairsville and finally returned to Cambridge, where he passed away May 22, 1890. On the Ist of April, 1851, Benjamin R. Nelson was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Forsythe, a daughter of Thomas Forsythie, who was born in Ireland, March 14, 1808, and passed away on the 30th of April, 1881. He was but three years of age when brought to the new world and after living in Pennsylvania for a number of years became a resident of Ohio in 1837 and there engaged in the dry-goods business. He was married February 2, 1832, and it was his daughter Nancy who became the wife of Benjamin R. Nelson. Of this marriage there were born eight chil- dren : Thomas Forsythe, who was born March 31, 1852, and is now in Washing- ton, D. C .; Mary Jane, who was born March 25, 1854, and is the wife of Levi D. Anker of Cambridge, Ohio; William H., of this review, born March 1, 1857; John
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Anderson, who was born November 25, 1859, and is living in Cambridge, Ohio; Clara Margaret, who was born October 24, 1862, and is the wife of Robert Rick- ard of Goldfield, Iowa; James McFarland, who was born September 12, 1868, and is living in Cleveland, Ohio; Anna Belle, who was born February 17, 1871, and is the wife of Charles Carnes of Cambridge, Ohio, and Bertha Rosella, who was born May 21, 1873, and is with her mother in Cambridge.
William H. Nelson acquired his early education in the country schools and also continued his studies in Cambridge and in the St. Clairsville (Ohio) high school. He was connected with the optical business in Chicago from 1876 until 1878 and on the expiration of that period went to Des Moines. He afterward engaged in the abstract business in various places in Iowa, including Des Moines, Indianola and Nevada. Subsequently he removed to Cedar Rapids and there began the publication of Nelson's Railway Guide, which is now known as Rus- sell's Railway Guide. At a later period he went to Marshalltown, where he was engaged in the oil business for thirteen years. He likewise became prominent in local politics and during his residence there served as a member of the city coun- cil for several terms and also as justice of the peace. In fact, he was one of the leading and influential residents of that locality.
When Mr. Nelson had disposed of his interests at Marshalltown he turned his attention to farming, but after a year entered the hotel business at Gilbert, Iowa, whence he went to Ames and from that point came to Boone. This was in the year 1905 and for a brief period he conducted a hotel in this city. He then sold out and is now engaged in the marble monument business in Boone, in which he has been accorded a liberal patronage. He devotes his entire attention to this business and for the products of his shop finds a ready sale. His enterprise is unfaltering and his energy places him among those who are most active and pro- gressive in the business circles of the city.
Mr. Nelson was married in Gilbert, Iowa, to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Mac- Farlane, who was born July 30, 1856, in Princeton, New York, a daughter of John Alexander and Mary Jean ( Hannay) MacFarlane, natives of Scotland. The great-grandfather of Mrs. Nelson was Parlan MacFarlane, who was one of the last chiefs of the celebrated MacFarlane clan of the Scotch highlands. He was born in Scotland in 1769 and passed away August 12, 1814. The grandfather, John MacFarlane, born May 19, 1796, left his native Scotland to become a resi- dent of the new world and passed away in the state of New York in 1867. The father, John Alexander MacFarlane, arrived in the United States in his youth- ful days and during the period of the Civil war, from 1861 to 1865, was on active duty with the Thirteenth New York Heavy Artillery. He made farming his life occupation and thus provided for his family of eight children, of whom four are yet living. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have been born five children : Alice M., born May 28, 1882; John Archibald, born November 20, 1883; Anna Rich- mond, who was born May 18, 1888, and passed away July 24, 1893; Ethelyn Marie, who was born September 28, 1890; and Ruth MacFarlane, born Janu- ary 16, 1894.
The family attend the Presbyterian church, in which the parents hold mem- bership. Mr. Nelson is also a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodman, and he belongs to the grand lodge of I. O. O. F. of Des Moines. His wife is a past president of the Rebekah assembly of the state of
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lowa and a past grand chief of the Pythian Sisters of Iowa. In his political views Mr. Nelson is a stalwart republican, but the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him. He is a man of notable energy in business affairs, of fidelity in friendship and of trustworthiness in every relation of life. Wherever known he is held in high esteem and most of all where he is best known.
PERRY HARTMAN.
Perry Hartman, blacksmith and wagon builder of Boone, is to be numbered among the prosperous business men of this city. He was born in Oneco town- ship, Stephenson county, Illinois, January 20, 1856, and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Marden) Hartman, the Marden family originally coming from the state of Delaware. Jacob Hartman was born in Lehigh county, near Allentown, Pennsylvania, on a farm, and began his career as a farm laborer. His educational advantages were limited, but he improved himself by private study and observa- tion. He married, in Lehigh county, Miss Elizabeth Marden, and they then moved to Union county, where he plied his trades of carpenter and shoemaker. About 1840 he removed with his wife and three children to Illinois. They made the journey by way of canal to Pittsburgh and thence entrained for Chicago, going by wagon to Stephenson county. There the father bought a tract of land near the village of Oneco, which was then according to general opinion to become the county seat. He believed in its future and invested whatever money he had in lots there. During all this time he followed his trade as carpenter, and it may be mentioned at this instance that the only power which he had for turning the lathe was by foot. Many of the old-fashioned high post beds were manufactured by him. In the spring of 1869 he removed to Boone, turning his attention to farming. Several of his sons located in the northern part of Iowa, where they homesteaded.
Mr. and Mrs. Hartman gave their allegiance to the German Reformed church, in which particularly the mother was very active. The father was a democrat and stanchly supported that party. In their family were the following children : Amanda, the widow of Jesse Shull of Boone ; Helen, who married Joseph Stevick and who is deceased ; Henry of Boone, an old soldier who first married Leah Walt- ers and second Miss Bowman; Wilson, of Spencer, Iowa, who also served in the war and who married Amelia Runkle of Stephenson county, Illinois; Ella, de- ceased; Eliza, who is Mrs. Albert Scott, of Des Moines; Albert, from whom no word has been received for the last fourteen years; Perry, of this review; and Emma, who married Frank Ackman of Denver, Colorado.
Perry Hartman acquired his education in the schools of Oneco township, Stephenson county, Illinois, and Boone, receiving his last lessons under Professor Wallace. He completed his education at the age of fifteen. He earned his first money by helping the sheep shearers employed by Thomas Bowen of Green county, Wisconsin, Mr. Hartman catching and holding the sheep until the men would take them from him in order to wash them before shearing operations were begun. At the age of seventeen he took up the blacksmithing trade with James Douglas
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Kirkpatrick of Spencer, Iowa. His apprenticeship lasted three years, and he then worked as a journeyman for George Ward of Spencer, for one year. Return- ing to Boone, he entered the employ of Jack Nipps and subsequently the wagon shop of Hayes & Johnson, remaining with the latter firm for sixteen months. At the end of that time he removed to Alta, Iowa, where he remained for four years. In Carroll, Iowa, Mr. Hartman conducted a furniture business which he bought from his old teacher, Mr. Woodring, and whom he first met again upon this occasion. He then returned to Boone, where he engaged in business inde- pendently, establishing himself in the fifth ward, and there he has now been en- gaged in business for fifteen years. He built his present shop about four years ago and at that time took in as a partner Frank G. Peterson. He is now at the head of a profitable and extensive business, and his reputation as a man of affairs is well established. Success has attended the efforts of Mr. Hartman because he has always acted with determination and has never lagged in industry in pur- suing his projects.
On January 20, 1879, Perry Hartman married Miss Almira Des Moines Ver- non of Boone, a daughter of John and Carolina (Lambert) Vernon, the former deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman have the following children. Perry Vernon married Margaret Drennan and they have four children : Perry, Harold, Clifford and Margaret Rose. Vinnie is the wife of R. C. Wilson, who is the head of the Wilson transfer business in Boone, and they have two children, Walter R. and Maurice William. Ethel, the next in order of birth, married George Lawson, of Boone, an engineer by profession. Alice, who graduated from the Boone high school, studied music in Drake University and is now superintendent of music for the Boone schools, is at home. Ina is the wife of J. H. Murray, and they reside in Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Hartman has ever been true to the faith of the German Reform church, in which he was baptized. Politically he is a republican and thoroughly conversant with the aims of his party, always ready to support its measures and candidates. He is particularly interested in local affairs and has ofttimes given his support to valuable measures, although he is not an active politician. Fraternally he is popular in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hartman and their friends are highly estcemed and respected in Boone as people of worth and substance. They are useful citizens and have contributed to the material, moral and intellectual growth of their city and county.
SCHUYLER J. WHEELER.
Schuyler J. Wheeler is one of the extensive landowners of Boone county, own- ing fourteen hundred acres in Harrison township. His residence in this county covers a quarter of a century, as he arrived here on the 31st of March, 1888. With the exception of a quarter section which he inherited he has acquired his large holdings by his own exertions and good business judgment. He was born in Benton county, Missouri, on the 13th of November, 1862, a son of Commodore P. and Eytchie (West) Wheeler, who were early settlers in Missouri, having removed to that state from Indiana. The father carried on farming and stock-
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raising and was known as an enterprising agriculturist and public-spirited citizen. His birth occurred in Wyoming county, New York, where his father conducted a tannery. Both the father and mother of our subject passed away many years ago. There were eight children born to their union, all of whom are living, although Schuyler J. is the only one who is a resident of Boone county.
The subject of this review was reared in Missouri and after leaving the public schools he attended college at Sedalia. The formal training of schools, however, was not his only education, as he learned much of agriculture and stock-raising through assisting his father upon the home farm. Upon reaching manhood he put his training to practical use and has successfully followed general farming and stock-raising. He has shipped cattle and hogs quite extensively and has now one hundred head registered Aberdeen Angus cattle. He is known throughout the county as a breeder of registered stock and also raises a good grade of Duroc Jersey hogs. Part of his present farm was entered in 1855 by his grandfather, Schuyler Wheeler, a resident of the vicinity of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who, how- ever, never lived on the property. Most of the many improvements on the farm have been made by our subject, who is an excellent farmer and understands how to co-ordinate the various branches of agriculture so that a maximum profit is secured. As success has come to him he has invested in more land until he is now the owner of fourteen hundred acres in Harrison township.
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