USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa: a record of settlement., Volume 2 > Part 14
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In Jackson township, this county, on the 18th of December, 1888, Mr. Wygle married Miss Nellie Leete, a daughter of A. N. Leete and a sister of H. A. Leete, of Greene, of whom further mention appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Wygle was born in Wisconsin but was reared in Butler county. She and her
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husband became the parents of six children: Abbie, Clarence, Arthur, Fannie, Bernard, and one child who died in infancy. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Packard.
Mr. Wygle gives his political allegiance to the republican party and served for a time as road supervisor and for two terms as township trustee. A resident of Butler county during practically his entire life, he has witnessed a great deal of its growth and development and has done his full share in promoting its advance- ment. He is numbered today among the influential men of the county and his worth as a man and a citizen is widely acknowl- edged.
WILLIAM TRINDLE.
Almost every state in the union has furnished its quota of citizens to Iowa. The state that has produced the best corn crops of the country has also produced some of the strongest men of the nation, and its residents on the whole are a prosperous, contented and progressive class, who are winning success in carefully directed farm work. Of this number William Trindle is a repre- sentative and has a pleasant home on section 32, West Point town- ship. He comes of Scotch ancestry, the family having been founded in America by his grandfather, William Trindle, and his two brothers, Andrew and John, who crossed the Atlantic and settled in Pennsylvania. John, who remained single, secured a position in connection with government surveys and at the time of his death left a large fortune, but the family could not establish a claim to it; for the records of his two brothers had been destroyed. George M. Trindle, son of William Trindle, was born in West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, February 26, 1826, and having arrived at years of maturity, there was married on the 17th of July, 1851, in Fairfield township, that county to Miss Sarah Mc- Dowell, also a native of that county, born April 17, 1832. They began their domestic life in the east, but in 1863 removed westward to Iowa, establishing their home in Butler county, where they lived for thirty years, Mr. Trindle passing away on the 16th of June, 1893. He had followed farming during much of his life and during the last twenty years was also a minister of the United Brethren church, but made his home upon his farm, having one
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MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM TRINDLE
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hundred and sixty acres of productive land, which responded readily to the care and cultivation which he bestowed upon it. He was a most earnest temperance worker and sought in every way possible to promote the moral progress in the community in which he lived, his influence being an effective force for good among his friends and neighbors. His wife still survives and now makes her home with a daughter near Bowman, North Dakota. In their family were seven children: William; Susan Mary, the wife of Charles Coryell, of Minnesota; Almira Jane, the wife of A. J. Sylvius, of Bowman, North Dakota; James A., living in Marshall- town, Iowa; Emily Eleanor, the deceased wife of Robert Santee; George, who died in infancy; and C. L., living in Jackson town- ship.
William Trindle, whose name introduces this record, was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1852, and there spent the first eleven years of his life, accompanying his parents on their removal westward to this county in 1863. One half cen- tury has since come and gone and during the entire period he has been an interested witness of the changes which have occurred, converting the wild prairie district into a rich farming region, dotted here and there with beautiful homes, substantial school buildings and churches and other evidences of a progressive civil- ization. William Trindle was reared as a farm lad, working in the fields when not occupied with the duties of the school room. In manhood he has been content to give his time and attention to the occupation with which he had become familiar as a boy and thus concentrating his efforts upon a single line of activity, he has won prosperity and is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of rich land, constituting the west one half of section 32, West Point township, upon which he has resided for a quarter of a century. The improvements upon the place are the tangible evi- dences of a well spent life characterized by energy and thrift.
On the 25th of February, 1880, Mr. Trindle was united in mar- riage to Miss Keziah Cornford, who was born in Milwaukee, Wis- consin, April 9, 1847, and is a daughter of John and Mary Ann (Ralph) Cornford, who were natives of England, born near Lon- don. Both passed away in Wisconsin, the father when but forty- four years of age and the mother in 1903 at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. They had two children born in England ere they came to America about 1845. Their family numbered nine children, of whom one son died at the age of twenty-five, while two other children have also passed away, leaving six yet living.
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Mr. and Mrs. Trindle have three children: Anna, the wife of Jesse Young, residing near Turtle Lake, Wisconsin; Nellie, the wife of S. G. Young of Turtle Lake, Wisconsin; and William Irving, who married Laura Berkley and who remains upon the old homestead and now operates the farm.
The parents are members of the Christian church of Bristow, are liberal in its support and take an active part in its work. Mr. Trindle is serving as one of its elders and does all in his power to further its cause. He holds membership with the Modern Brotherhood of America and he gives his support to the republi- can party, being now identified with its progressive wing. He has held only school and road offices nor does he desire further politi- cal preferment. Living in the county for a half century, he is largely familiar with its history, his memory going back to the time when this part of the state was mostly an unfenced prairie, upon which few houses had been built. It was a dangerous thing to travel in this district in the winter time, for there were no homes in which to seek shelter from the storms and it was not an unusual thing for a blizzard to sweep over the district. The mail was received twice a week being brought in by stage from Cedar Falls and Hampton. Farsighted men, however, recognized the natural advantages of the country and came to claim its rich agricultural lands, while the present generation, profiting by their labors, have become prosperous farmers. The country is now well developed and its attractiveness has been enhanced by the labors of such men as William Trindle, who is justly accounted one of the progressive farmers of his part of the state.
J. B. HICKMAN.
J. B. Hickman is numbered among the pioneer settlers of Butler county, having since 1865 made his home within its bor- ders. Great changes have since occurred, the labors of time and man having wrought a marked transformation in the county, which was largely undeveloped and unimproved when he took up his abode within its borders. He can relate many interesting inci- dents of the early days, for through thirty years he kept a diary, writing in it each day until his eyesight failed him. He is now in his seventy-sixth year, his birth having occurred in Lincolnshire, about ten miles from Boston, England, on the 29th of July, 1838.
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His parents were Mathew and Frances (Humble) Hickman, natives of Lincolnshire, who in 1854 came to the United States, bringing with them their seven children. They took passage on the sailing vessel Empire State and were seven weeks and two days in crossing the Atlantic. After landing at New York they proceeded by way of the water route to Kenosha, Wisconsin, and a year later the family removed to Green county, that state, where they resided until 1865, when they came to Butler county, Iowa, settling three miles northeast of Clarksville. The father made farming his life work and developed his land in this county into a rich and productive tract, residing there until his death, in April, 1886, when he was in his seventy-seventh year. His widow survived until 1898 and passed away at the age of eighty-seven years. Their children were seven in number: Mary, who died in Clarksville in 1911, was the wife of Robert Skinner and had nine sons and a daughter. Dorothy is the widow of John Carter and lives in Green county, Wisconsin. J. B. is the next in order of birth. Ann is the wife of William Hanks, of Kenosha county, Wisconsin. Frances is the wife of David Martin, of New Mexico. William died in Rockford, Iowa, and Lucy is the widow of Julius Rambo and makes her home in Clarksville.
J. B. Hickman was a youth of sixteen years at the time of the emigration from England to America. He accompanied his par- ents to Wisconsin and remained with them most of the time until he was twenty years of age, although he spent one winter in the south before the war, working on the levee. In 1863 he went to California, where he remained for a year, and in 1864 he made a trip to England and visited the scenes of his childhood and mar- ried, returning to the United States in 1865 to Butler county, Iowa, where he has since resided and has been numbered among its leading and representative agriculturists. His life has here been devoted to general farming and he still owns eighty acres of good land on section 8, Jackson township.
It was in the year of his arrival in this county that he mar- ried, the lady of his choice being Miss Elizabeth Humble, whom he wedded in September, 1865. She was born in Lincolnshire, England, December 4, 1845, and was a daughter of John and Lucy (Stir) Humble, who spent their entire lives in England. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hickman has been blessed with seven children: Frances Eveline, who is the widow of Charles D. Acker- man and resides in Dayton township; Lucy Ann, the wife of John Orr, of West Point township; Harold, who died at the age of three
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and one-half years; Cora Helen, the wife of Ed Hershey, of West Point township; Daisy May, who died at the age of four months; Wesley Roy, who operates the home farm; and Ralph Mathew, living in Jackson township.
Since attaining his majority J. B. Hickman has been a stal- wart republican, feeling that the party principles contain the best elements of good government. For five years he served as town- ship clerk and has held some school and road offices. He has been a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Clarksville since its organization thirty-five years ago and he is a consistent member of the Congregational church of Allison. His life has been well spent and his many sterling traits of character have commended him to the confidence, good-will and high regard of all with whom he has come in contact. He traveled quite extensively in early manhood but for forty-eight years has resided continuously upon the farm which is now his home and is today numbered among the valued early settlers who are familiar with the history of this section and have contributed to its progress and upbuilding.
BURT CURTIS.
Burt Curtis is engaged in the cultivation of a farm of four hundred acres on section 32, Jackson township. He leases his land but owns a forty acre tract in Butler township. His farm- ing activities are carried on extensively and his practical methods and sound business judgment are manifest in the success which is attending his labors. New York claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Onondaga county, December 14, 1871. He was but four months old when, on the 4th of April, 1872, he was brought by his grandparents, Japhet and Sarah Ann (Tay- lor) Curtis, to Butler county and they took up their abode near Clarksville, where the grandfather died in 1879. His widow long survived, however, and passed away in 1906.
Burt Curtis was trained to habits of industry, economy and perseverance. His educational opportunities were those afforded by the public schools and in the school of experience he has learned many valuable lessons. He has engaged in farming independently since he was large enough and is now the owner of forty acres of land in Butler township, which was his grandfather's homestead. His farming interests, however, are carried on much more exten-
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sively than would be possible on his own property, he leasing four hundred acres on section 32, Jackson township, where he devotes his time to general farming and stock-raising. The work is systematically done and his labors are productive of good results. In addition to his individual interests of that character he is a director of the Butler County Mutual Fire & Lightning Insurance Company, with which he has thus been connected for the past nine years, and is a stockholder in the Farmers Coopera- tive Creamery Company of Allison and in two different tele- phone lines of the county.
On Christmas day of 1899 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Curtis and Miss Sarah Jane Allan, who was born in 1870, a daugh- ter of James Allan, mentioned elsewhere in this volume. The five children of this marriage are Mary Ellen, James Bruce, Lela Bernice, Bessie Christina and Ruth Viola.
The parents hold membership in Unity Presbyterian church and Mr. Curtis belongs also to the Masonic fraternity and to the Modern Woodmen camp. In politics he is a progressive. He does not believe in the blind following of party leaders but thinks for himself and his opinions are the expression of honest convic- tion. He stands for all that he believes to be best in citizenship and his cooperation can be counted upon to further any measure or movement for the public good.
LAFE BELDEN.
Lafe Belden, superintendent of the County Farm, in which connection he is making a most creditable record, was born upon a farm in Floyd county, near Rudd, Iowa, April 22, 1862, and was brought to Butler county in his infancy by his parents, Gardner and Jane (Durgin) Belden, who settled in Clarksville. Both the father and mother were natives of Pennsylvania but were mar- ried in Ohio. Soon afterward they removed to Minnesota, where the father engaged in business as a teamster, freighter and mail carrier in the early days when Minnesota was a frontier state. He was employed in that capacity not only in the northwest but also in the southwest and became familiar with all the middle sec- tion of the county. Eventually he took up his abode in Clarks- ville, where for many years he followed the blacksmith's trade, his death occurring in 1905, when he had reached the venerable age
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of eighty-six years. His wife still resides in Clarksville, at the age of eighty-five, and is very active for a woman of her years. Their family numbered three children: Joseph, of Hampton; Lafe; and Emma, the wife of Jasper King, of Allison.
Lafe Belden spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his parents' home in Clarksville and at the age of twenty years went to Colorado, where he was employed a part of the time on the railroad and a part of the time in a smelter at Pueblo. He spent four years in the west, returning in 1886.
It was in December, 1890, that Mr. Belden was united in mar- riage to Miss Ella Wells, who was born in Waverly, Iowa, and died in Clarksville June 2, 1913, at the age of forty-five years. Following his marriage Mr. Belden entered the hotel business at Steamboat Rock and later conducted a hotel at Allison. Subse- quently he conducted a similar business at Greene and then returned to Allison, after which he was appointed to his present position as superintendent of the County Farm on the 1st of March, 1909. He has now creditably filled the office for four years and the record is one which commends him to the confidence and good-will of the public, for he is capable and conscientious in the discharge of his duties.
In politics Mr. Belden is a republican but not an active party worker, taking only a citizen's interest in the questions and issues of the day. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Butler Lodge, No. 94, A. F. & A. M., of Clarksville. Mr. and Mrs. Belden have had no children of their own but have reared an adopted son, Cecil Mellinger, the child of Mrs. Belden's half-brother. He is now nineteen years of age and has lived with them since six months old. Mr. Belden is a free-hearted man, genial in disposition, kindly in spirit and very popular, his many attractive social quali- ties winning him high regard wherever he is known.
AARON KINGERY.
Among the valued and representative citizens of Greene is numbered Aaron Kingery, who since 1910 has lived retired in the city after thirty years of close connection with agricultural inter- ests of Coldwater township. He was born in Bennezette town- ship, this county, April 19, 1860, and is a son of William Kingery, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this work.
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Aaron Kingery was reared in Coldwater township, upon the farm which he now owns. He aided in the operation of the home- stead until he was twenty years of age and then rented the property from his father, carrying forward the work of its improvement for three years thereafter. At the end of that time he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of raw land on section 29, Coldwater township, breaking the soil and improving this prop- erty for nine years thereafter. When he sold this farm he pur- chased the homestead from his father and immediately began the work of improvement. In 1901 he built a modern two-story resi- dence and he erected also a large barn and convenient outbuild- ings. He fenced and cross fenced his fields with woven and barbed wire and eventually became the owner of one of the finest farms in Coldwater township. In addition to raising hay and grain he was also a stock-raiser on an extensive scale, keeping good grade Durham cattle, Poland China hogs and heavy work horses. He was a promoter of the Farmers Cooperative Elevator Company of Greene and is still serving as a member of the board of directors. He is also a stockholder in the Greene Cooperative Creamery Association. In 1910 Mr. Kingery rented his farm and moved into Greene, where he purchased the attractive residence in which he has since lived retired.
On the 7th of June, 1883, in Greene, Mr. Kingery was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Humbert, who was born in Indiana and reared and educated in Carroll county. Mr. and Mrs. Kingery became the parents of eight children. Floyd W. is operating his father's farm. He is married and has one daughter. Daisy became the wife of W. B. Solt, of Morrison county, Minnesota. They have two sons, Lester D. and Lyle Eugene. Pearl May is the wife of Archie Worth, a farmer of Coldwater township. Ruth, Ora and Clara are students in the Greene high school. Lester D. met death by accident when he was two years of age and one child died in infancy. Mrs. Kingery is a member of the Brethren church of Greene.
Mr. Kingery gives his political allegiance to the republican party and served for a time as street commissioner of Greene. While on his farm he was identified with educational work for a number of years, serving as a member of the board of school directors. He has been a resident of Butler county during his entire life and has witnessed a great deal of the growth and development of this section of the state. To the extent of his ability he has aided in improving agricultural conditions and has
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cooperated in all measures and projects of reform and advance- ment. His present retirement is well deserved, rewarding many years of active and faithful labor.
GEORGE HENRY CARTER.
In the death of George Henry Carter, Butler county lost a representative citizen, his associates a faithful friend and his fam- ily a devoted husband and father. He was born six miles south- east of Monroe, in Green county, Wisconsin, December 8, 1860, and was the third in order of birth in a family of eleven children born to the marriage of John and Dorothy (Hickman) Carter. His youthful days were spent under the parental roof with the usual experiences of pioneer life. He spent what time he could in the schoolroom, but with the opening of the plowing season began work on the farm. He continued at home until the time of his marriage, save for one year which he spent in the employ of a neighboring farmer. On starting out in life on his own account he purchased forty acres near Monroe, which he cultivated for two years. In March, 1886, he arrived in Butler county, having in the previous September purchased a farm upon which he resided to the time of his death, which occurred September 11, 1901. His original purchase was eighty acres and the farm now consists of one hundred and twenty acres on section 16, Jackson township, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits and stock-raising. He also engaged in handling sheep and in buying wool.
On the 17th of April, 1884, Mr. Carter was united in marriage to Miss Rosina Hefty, who was born in Green county, Wisconsin, March 26, 1863, a daughter of Abraham and Rosina Hefty, who were natives of Switzerland, the former born November 20, 1833, and the latter February 26, 1837. Abraham Hefty came to the new world when nineteen years of age, establishing his home in Wisconsin. He lost his mother when but three years old and his father when eight years of age and was reared by an uncle. For ten years he was employed in the pineries of Wisconsin and after- ward became a successful farmer. He was a well educated man and was a citizen of worth, his death being deeply regretted when he passed away in Monroe, Wisconsin, July 11, 1901. His wife, who accompanied her parents to Wisconsin when ten years of age,
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is still living in Monroe. They had a family of eleven children: Fred A., a resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Mrs. Carter; Anna, the wife of R. G. Pfund, of Monroe; Margaret, the wife of A. Jenny, of Monroe; Martha M., who died at the age of seventeen months; Edward, living in Colorado; Martha M., who is the second of that name and became the wife of J. S. Ohl of Monroe; John Henry, living in North Dakota; Jacob, who died in infancy ; Min- nie, the wife of John Edward Pfund, of Grand Rapids, Wiscon- sin; and Matilda Pauline, the wife of O. E. Schroeder of Free- port, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have but one child, Frank A., who was born in Wisconsin, February 20, 1885, and was married in that state in February, 1908, to Miss Rosa C. Mayer, of Green county, Wisconsin. He now operates the home farm for his mother and also eighty acres which he owns.
Mr. Carter was a democrat in his political views and kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day, but never sought nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs. When death called him on the 11th of Septem- ber, 1901, he left behind him many friends, for his sterling worth had gained for him the confidence and good-will of all with whom he came in contact.
CHARLES V. CAVE.
Charles V. Cave, one of the active and progressive business men of Greene, controlling important commercial interests as senior member of Cave, Sproul & Company, lumber and imple- ment dealers, one of the most important mercantile firms in this section of the state, was born in Clarksville, Iowa, February 18, 1866. His father, William R. Cave, was a native of Maryland, born in Baltimore, June 2, 1831, a son of William Cave, who later moved with his family to Indiana, locating in Paris. There the father of the subject of this review grew to maturity and later, in 1856, he moved to Iowa. From Clarksville, this state, in 1862 he enlisted for service in the Civil war, joining Company G, Thirty-second Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He received his honor- able discharge at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1865, but during the war had contracted a disease from which he never fully recovered. He returned home and engaged in carpentering, contracting and building in Clarksville and throughout the adjacent country, carry- Vol. 11-10
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ing on this business until his death, which occurred July 2, 1905. He was a member of the Grand Army post at Clarksville and was well and favorably known in that city. On the 19th of April, 1856, he married Miss Florella Goodhue, and to their union were born five children, of whom Charles V. of this review was the only son.
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