History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 111

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574

USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 111

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

A. B. Edwards was born in Romulus, Seneca county, New York, January 18, 1822. When six years old he removed to Seneca Falls in the same county. His edu- eation was received at the public schools and Seneca Falls academy. His occupation has been that of a farmer, working with his father, and in 1845 he began farming for himself, and continued at this in Seneca county until 1856. In May, 1856, he came to Jefferson township, and bought sixty-two acres, to which he has added from time to time until he now has one hundred and forty-two acres in Jefferson and some timber land in Benton county. The farm near Brandon he still farms himself. On November 5, 1845, he was married to Irene Johnson, Horseheads, Chemung county, New York. He has no children but an adopted daughter, Carrie Ed- wards. She was born April 17, 1868. In politics he is a Democrat, and has been frequently appointed a dele- gate to county and other conventions. He was assessor of Jefferson township some twelve years, and was post- master at Brandon eleven years.

Nicholas Albert was born in Bavaria, Germany, March 21, 1806. His education was received in the common schools of Germany. When about eleven years of age he commenced the shoemakers' trade, and worked dur- ing the summer time at farming with his father, until he was twenty-six years old. In 1832 he came to this country-Crawford county, Pennsylvania-working on the canal in summer and at his trade winters, and for five years worked for James Hyde at Midwell. He then bought a little place in Crawford county and began farm- ing. In 1850 he left Pennsylvania and immigrated to Jefferson township, where he bought a land warrant for an eighty, and soon bought an adjoining eighty, which he improved and worked until 1866 when he moved into Brandon and let his boys work the farm. About two years ago he sold the farm and has since been engaged in no business, determining in his old age to take life easier. On July 7, 1832, he was married to Margaret Weidenbach of the same place with himself, by whom he has eight children-Louis, born April 17, 1835; Henry A., born February 2, 1837; Peter D., born Janu- ary 28, 1839; Fred, born November 5, 1841 ; Katie, born April 5, 1843; William A., September 7, 1845; Eva, born August 20, 1848, died in early childhood, and

Margarette, born April 3, 1851. He is a member of the Reform church in the United States, of which he has been a member over sixty years. In politics he is a Democrat (though formerly a Whig), and has held num- erous township offices.

Henry F. Miller was born in Holstein, Germany, November 1, 1840. His education was gained in the schools of the Fatherland. In 1852 his parents immi- grated to America and located at Davenport. Here he remained two years, and then moved to Lyons, Iowa, where he made his home until the close of the war. When fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to learn the blacksmith trade, but did not finish the apprentice- ship on account of the failure of the firm to which he was bound. He then worked at Lyons until the sixth of May, 1861, when he enlisted in company I, Second Iowa infantry volunteers, and served three years in the west. He was at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, etc., and came through with but a slight wound. In July of 1865 he came to Jefferson township, where he bought forty acres, to which he has since added until he has a farm of one hundred and thirty acres under good culti- vation. This he manages, besides working at his trade in a shop on his place, two miles northwest of Brandon. In November, 1864, he was married to Elizabeth B. Schlagel, of Lyons, Iowa, by whom he has five children: Martha, born October, 1865; Lillie, born 1867; Willie, born October, 1869; Edwin, born November 1, 1872; Bertie, born May, 1876. He was reared a Lutheran, but at present does not belong to any church.

Dr. John Bain was born in Wells county, Indiana, May 19, 1843. When about six years of age he re- moved to Allen county of the same State, where he re- mained eight years, when he came to Homer township. His education was received in Allen county, principally from his father. His occupation till 1875 was farming. He then sold his farm, and started the first drug store in Brandon. This he sold in about two years. During the years 1875, 1876 and 1877 he attended medical lectures at the State university, graduating in March, 1877. Since graduating in medicine he has been practicing with good success in Brandon and vicinity. He enlisted in company G, Fifth regiment, Iowa infantry, in March, 1862. He received a detail from General Grant as hospital steward, and served in this capacity at St. Louis, on the Mississippi, and was stationed the longest at Chattanooga, Tennessee. In March, 1865, was dis- charged. September 23, 1866, he was married to Louisa J. Elliot, of Jefferson township, by whom he has four children : Wilson W., born April 9, 1868 ; Elizabeth O., born December 10, 1869; Nellie B., born April 13, 1871, and Susan L., born September 22, 1873. He has been a member in good standing of the Christian church for thirteen years. In politics he is a Republican.

C. C. Morton was born in the State of Illinois, Oc- tober 25, 1835. When about four years old his parents removed to Greene county, Wisconsin. His education was received in the common schools of Greene county, though the educational facilities were not excellent. In November, 1857, he immigrated to Jefferson township,

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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, one-half mile southwest of Brandon, which he has im- proved and lived upon till the present time. This he has managed as a grain farm; but during the last year or two has been changed to a stock farm. March 24, 1857, he was married to Elsie E. Fouts, of Brandon, by whom he has six children : Addie, born November 8, 1858 ; Edgar Thomas, born November 1, 1862 ; Minnie, born February 21, 1863 ; Jacob W., born September 22, 1865; William Emmett, born September 17, 1870, and Pearl, born May 10, 1876. In politics he is a Demo- crat, though in no sense a politician.

E. Bower was born near Sandusky, Ohio, December 2, 1838. When about ten years of age removed with his parents to Linn county, where he remained about two years, and then came to Jefferson township in the spring of 1851. His education was principally received at the Marion schools. His life-long occupation has been that of a farmer-beginning for himself in 1861, having pur- chased the farm on which he now lives in 1857. It con- sists of eighty acres, which he manages as a stock and grain farm. June 24, 1860, he was married to Mary Jane Maberly, a native of Mercer county, Illinois, then of Black Hawk county, Iowa, by whom he has six children: Rebecca, born June 2, 1861; Florence, born August 22, 1865; Anna, born November 28, 1866; Elven, born September 8, 1867 ; Libbie, born August 22, 1870, and Elijah, born October 28, 1874.

George Pelly was born in Ontario county, New York, May 26, 1838. When about six years old his parents removed to Winnebago county, Illinois, where he lived about six years, and then moved into Jefferson town- ship. His education was received at the common schools. His occupation has been that of a farmer. When twenty-one he began farming for himself on his own farm. He now has one hundred and sixty acres of good land, three miles west of Brandon. His farm is all under good cultivation, and is managed as a stock farm. April 30, 1868, he was married to Alzina Day, a native of Ohio, a teacher then living at Amana, lowa, by whom he has one child: Gertrude A. Pelly, born August 13, 1870. In politics he is a straightforward Republican.

G. H. Lauderdale was born in Burlington, Vermont, September 19, 1816. When about three years of age his parents removed to White Creek, Washington county, New York, where he remained about four years; then to Groton, Tompkins county, New York, and then, in 1826, to Ovid, Seneca county; thence to York, Livingston county, New York, for three years; thence to Springville, Erie county, two years; then to Eden, Erie county; and from thence, about 1836, to Wayne county, Ohio, where he remained until 1850. . He began, when thirteen years old, to learn the tailor's trade, and worked at it for twenty years. In the spring of 1850 he went overland to California, and engaged in mining with some success, and returned during November of the same year; went back in the spring of 1852, and remained eighteen months: engaged as before, at Goldfield, etc. After sell- ing his property in Ohio he came, in 1854, to Jefferson township, where he entered three forties, and then

bought two eighties of prairie and twenty-eight of timber. This he improved and lived upon until 1872, when he sold out and bought the Woodruff farm of over two hun- dred acres, two and a half miles west of Brandon. Sep- tember 5, 1839, he was married to Mary Jane Pocock, of Wayne county, Ohio, by whom he has had three chil- dren: Edward 1., born May 6, 1842; Frank, born March 22, 1844, and died September 25, 1864; and John W., born May 7, 1846. Frank died at Davenport, on his return from service in the south. In politics Mr. Lau- derdale is a Republican "every time;" is a leader in the township; has been a delegate to the county conventions and a prominent official in the township for many years. In 1872 he bought an interest in a hardware store at In- dependence, and continued in business for a short time. He built the house that Judge Tabor now resides in, but in six months removed to his farm.

Daniel B. Steckman, one of eleven children, was born in Munroe township, Bedford county, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1833. His education was received at the public schools of Pennsylvania. His life-long occupa- tion has been that of a farmer, and, until coming to lowa, he worked with his brother, living with his father till he died on the old place. In the fall of 1856 he im- migrated to Spring Creek township, Black Hawk coun- ty, Iowa, having stopped that summer in Lee county, Illinois. He bought a farm of eighty acres, which he worked until 1870, when he bought one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Jefferson township, which he built upon and improved and lived upon for five years, and in the fall of 1876 bought the place of seventy- eight acres on which he now lives, one-half a mile north- west of Brandon. This he manages as a stock farm. November 29, 1866, he was married to Emma J. Fouts, of Brandon, by whom he has four children: Mahala E., born December 19, 1867; Susie A., born April 14, 1869, died July 8, 1872; George W., born September 28, 1871; Alva B., born January 27, 1874; and Minnie A., born October 1, 1879.

J. S. Frink was born at Forestville, Chautauqua county, New York, December 10, 1822. Here he remained until he was twelve years old, and then went to Erie county, where he lived two years-thence to Genesee county, living there three years; from there in Septem- ber, 1839, moved to Winnebago county, Illinois. His education was received in the public schools, but the most of his boyhood days were spent in a saw-mill, where, in figuring with lumber, he gained a practical education. After he went to Illinois, he learned the carpenter and joiner's trade with his father, at which he worked a great deal for a number of years. He and his father con- tracted for and built the first court house at Rockford, and other large buildings. In the spring of 1850 he, with seven others, went to Chickasaw county, Iowa, and squatted on a piece of land on which the village of Brad- ford now stands. Here he built a house, hauling the timber from Cedar Falls, and made other improvements. One Watson, whom they had sheltered and fed, took their farms from them. In the spring of 1851 he went to Eldorado county, California, kept a boarding house and

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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

store of general merchandise, and was away about three years, making a fortune in that time. He then came to Jefferson township and entered over three thousand acres, and for several years was engaged in breaking up and improving land, and kept a public house at Frink's Grove, now Sunny Side. In 1855 he started a store of general merchandise which he continued for four years. After he returned from the army, he bought a quarter section, two and a half miles northwest of Brandon, which he improved; but, in 1869, he sold that and his old home and bought a quarter section three miles east of Brandon, on a part of which he now lives. In the spring of 1862 he enlisted in company H, Twenty-seventh Iowa volunteer infantry and served until the close of the war ; but, in 1864, was transferred to the invalid corps at Washington. He served in Missouri, Tennessee, Miss- issippi, and Arkansas, and was at Lookout Mountain, Vicksburgh and Coldwater. April 9, 1845 he was mar- ried to Mary Gill, of Madison county, New York, then residing in Winnebago county, Illinois, by whom he has seven children : Ellen M., born January 23, 1847, died September 28, 1849; Aaron, born June 15, 1849; Jane N., March 26, 1851; Lewis N., February 24, 1854 ; Hattie A., April 5, 1857; Ida May, February 8, 1859; Thomas L., November 24, 1861. Jane N. died June 24, 1880. In politics Mr. Frink is, of course, a Re- publican, and has been frequently a delegate to impor- tant conventions. He is a man who has a more varied experience than the common lot of men. He is a man of good information, a good neighbor, and a man well known through the country.

George Frink was born at Hanover, Chautauqua county, New York, January, 1835. When he was five years old, his parents moved to Winnebago county, Illinois, and settled on a farm near Rockford. His education was gained in the public schools of Winne- bago county. His life-long occupation has been that of a farmer. In the summer of 1851 his folks moved to Jefferson township, where his father entered a quarter section which is known as Frink's Grove. When he was twenty-one years old, he took this farm, and has owned and lived upon it until the present time. This he manages as a general farm. On the first of August, 1862, he enlisted in company C, Twenty-seventh Iowa volunteer infantry and served until the close of the war. He was at Pleasant Hill, Nashville, Blakely, etc. No- vember 12, 1867, he was married to Elizabeth Murphy, a native of Dixon, Lee county, Illinois, and then of Sunny Side, Jefferson township. She was born June 30, 1840. He formerly was a Republican, but latterly has allied himself with the National Greenback party ; but never has been a politician. He is the postmaster at Sunny Side, formerly Frink's Grove, having held that position some five years.

Walter Jamison is of Scottish descent, and was born in Oswego county, New York, January 22, 1843. When eight years of age his parents removed to Mayville, Chau- tauqua county, New York. At the common schools and the academy of this place he gained his education, at. tending principally during the winter time. When eigh-

teen he enlisted in company G, Seventy-second New York infantry (volunteer). His was at first the third regiment of General Sickle's Excelsior brigade. He was discharged the fourth of March, 1864, but reenlisted on the ninth of September of that year in the Veteran Re- serve corps and served until November, 1865. On the twelfth of March of the following year he came to Jef- ferson township, where he bought a farm of ninety-five acres, which he now works and lives upon. July 4, 1868, he was married to Martha H. Newcomb, then of Jeffer- son township, who was born July 13, 1850. They have three children: Milton C., born November 2, 1870; Robert H., born May 6, 1875; and Mary E., born No- vember 21, 1878. Mr. Jamison is a leading Republican in his township, and besides frequently serving as a dele- gate to the important conventions, he has taken a promi- nent part in the administration of the township affairs.

H. S. Van Buren was born at Charlottsville, Schoharie county, New York, August, 1838. His education was received at the New York Conference seminary. In 1856 he moved with his parents to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and located on a farm. He remained upon his father's farm until 1860, when he went to Central City, Colorado, where he remained three years, engaged in mining. In the fall of 1863 he moved to Waterloo, Iowa. At this place he was farming for two years, and then for three years was in the grain business at Inde- pendence, and during the two following years was engaged in the mercantile business at Brandon, with Isaac Romig. After selling out at Brandon he returned to Waterloo where, for seven years, he was in the grocery trade. In 1877 he again moved into Jefferson township and bought a farm of one hundred and twenty-two acres, on which he now lives. December 31, 1863, he was married to Harriet Romig of Brandon. She was born July 11, 1845, and has borne three children: Mary E., born Jan- uary 12, 1866; Charles Centennial, born October 9, 1876; and James Clinton, born October 12, 1878.

D. F. Fary was born at Galen, Wayne county, New York, August 18, 1828. When about a year old his parents moved to Chautauqua county, remaining there seven years, when they moved to Columbiana county, Ohio. Four years later they removed to Washington county, and two years afterward to Henry county, Illi- nois. Ilis opportunities for attending school were limit- ed. He worked at home until he was seventeen, when he bought his time and worked for wages upon a farm for nine years. During the spring of 1850 he came to Sabula, Jackson county, Iowa. During the spring of 1865 he moved to Jefferson township, where he bought a farm of eighty acres, on which he lived until three years ago, when he bought his present farm of eighty acres, one mile northwest of Brandon. October 24, 1858, he was married to Mary A. Marr, a native of Sinco, Onta- rio, and then residing in Jackson county. She was born March 12, 1842, and has been the mother of seven children: Abner S., boin July 9, 1859, died May 14, 1863; Mary Helen, born October 28, 1860, died April 13, 1863: Maggie A., born June 1, 1862, died June 30, 1864; Olive May, born July 28, 1865; Charles David,

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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

born February 16, 1867, died February 27, 1867; Wil- ber F., born September 2, 1868, died March 23, 1870; and William Marr, born February 7, 1879. In politics Mr. Fary is a Douglas Democrat.

J. L. Scoggin was born in Tennessee, April 28, 1835. His schooling was obtained in subscription schools of Tennessee, but his educational advantages were few. When sixteen he went to Davis county, Indiana, where he remained two years, engaged at farming, which has been his occupation. In 1854 he went to Greene coun- ty, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1865, when he came to Jefferson township. Here he bought a farm of eighty acres, one and one-half miles northwest of Bran- don, to which he has added the same amount. This quarter section is all under cultivation, and is farmed by himself. In 1864 he enlisted in company I, Fifth Wis- consin, and was at Petersburgh, Cedar Creek, and other West Virginia battles. He was discharged on the twen- tieth of June, 1865. February 23, 1862, he was married to Clara Hollaway, a native of Greene county. She was born April 12, 1865. He has eight children: Jacob L., born February 14, 1863; Cora and Dora, born June 14, 1864; Arthur, born October 7, 1866; Franklin, born April 18, 1869, died October 10, 1870; Hattie S., born April 8, 1872; William Leroy, born December 9, 1875; Clara E., born January 2, 1878; and "baby," born De- cember 13, 1880. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Brandon, and a Republican in politics.

George E. Peck, one of the largest farmers of the pre- cinct, was born in Warren county, Ohio, March 31, 1828. When ten years old his parents moved to Montgomery county. He was a farmer's boy, and had few opportuni- ties for gaining an education. He worked upon his father's farm until he was past twenty-three; and then, after farming for himself in Ohio until 1857, he moved to Jefferson township. Three years prior to this, how- ever, he came to this township and entered an "eighty," the one on which he now lives. This farm has been en- larged into one of three hundred and twenty acres. He is largely engaged in stock raising. In 1851 he was mar- ried to Sarah Ann Oldfather, a native of Montgomery county, Ohio. She was born November 9, 1831, and has nine children-James W., born April 8, 1852; Samuel H., born October 19, 1853; Mary Jane, born June 28, 1856; Matilda Ida, born June 13, 1859, died August 31, 1864, Rebecca Kate, born July 24, 1862; Theodore, born May 6, 1864; Daniel Webster, born October 27, 1867; Minnie, born February 26, 1869; and Ret, born May 31, 1872.

A. H. Reynolds was born in Norfolk county, England, July 6, 1830. When two years old, his parents emigrated to Northeast Hope, Perth county, Canada. He was ed- ucated in the "free schools" of Canada. He early began farming, and has been thus engaged to this time. When twenty, he began to farm for himself in Canada, on land on which he remained until he came to Iowa. During the fall of 1865 he came to Jefferson township, and lo- cated on four hundred and eighty acres of land, for which he traded his farm in Canada. January 8, 1850,

he was married to Ann Heddrick, a native of Blackburn, Perth county, Scotland. She died February 9, 1865. He is the father of ten children-Ann, born March 8, 1851, died October 1, 1865; Lewis, born December 17, 1852; Eliza Ellen, born May 5, 1855; William Francis, born April 26, 1857; Margaret Eadie, born May 12, 1859; John, born August 11, 1861, died December 22, 1861; Amelia, born November 10, 1862, died February 10, 1865; George Alfred, born December 25, 1874; Edwin Andrew, born December 16, 1876; and Henry Albert, born December 24, 1879. February 19, 1874, Mr. Reynolds was married to his second wife, Susan Cline, of Dubuque county.

E. M. Brown was born in Montgomery county, In- diana, November 22, 1846, and is one of seven children of Thomas H. Brown and Pheniah Perkins, who were married on the fifteenth of September, 1831. Thomas H. was born in Preble county, Ohio, June 9, 1811, and his wife September 6, 1811. When E. M. Brown was nine years of age his parents moved to Jefferson town- ship. His education was received there in the district schools. When of age he began farming for himself on the home place, the greater part of which, a few years since, he purchased. October 27, 1870, he was married to Miss C. Rose, who was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, and then a resident of Benton county, Iowa. They have four children-Alfred Rose, born October 10, 1872; John Thomas, born September 21, 1874; George Ross, born August 31, 1876, and Joseph Samuel, born Oc- tober 7, 1878.

James H. Douglas is of Scotish descent, and was born in Preston county, Virginia, November 7, 1833. He was educated in the public schools of Virginia, but, in the mountainous region where he lived, schools were few and far between, and the terms of short duration. In 1855 he immigrated to Greene county, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1864, when he came to Fayette county, Iowa. After working the farm, which he bought, for three years, he moved to Waterloo, near which place he bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and in the fall of 1864 he moved upon the farm in Jefferson township, which he now owns and lives upon. January 1, 1861, he was married to Sarah A. Moore, who was born in Dolphin county, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1844, and then living in Greene county, Wisconsin. They have no children of their own, but have with them two of a deceased brother's children-Delbert, born June 10, 1868, and Ida, born February 11, 1871. His occupa- tion has always been farming, and since its organization he has been a member of the Republican party.

A. B. Hoskins was born in McKane county, Pennsyl- vania, September 11, 1835. When nine years of age his father moved to Tipton, Cedar county, Iowa. He has always followed farming. He worked with his father until January, 1859, when he moved to Johnson county. In 1869 he came to Jefferson township, hav- ing traded his Johnson county farm for a quarter- section of wild land in this township. This he has improved, built upon, and added to, so that now he has a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres. May 6,

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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

1858, he was married to Miss J. McDowell. She was born June 4, 1837, in County Down, Ireland. They have three children-Richard G., born May 24, 1859;

Rebecca Ann, born March 7, 1861, died July 23, 1880; and Lois, born February 21, 1863.

HOMER.

This township is in the southern part of the county, and has a variety of soil. Along the creeks it is sandy and light-some portions wet and springy-but, for the most part, it is of a black productive loam, and there are some excellent farms in the township.

ORGANIZATION.

It was set apart as an independent and separate town- ship on the twenty-ninth day of July, 1858, as evidenced by the record of the county court of that date, which is as follows:

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History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 111

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers Number of Pages: 574

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574