USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa: a record of settlement., Volume 2 > Part 28
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two silos and an immense cattle shed, sixty by sixty-eight feet, with twenty-four foot center posts. There are also two wings and thus the buildings and equipments upon the place furnish ample shelter for hay and stock. None of the accessories of the model farm are lacking and not the least of the elements which contribute to his success is Mr. Gough's ability to correctly judge of the value of the cattle which he buys, being seldom if ever at error in matters of judgment. He is likewise president of the West Point Mutual Telephone Company and is a most progressive business man, keep- ing abreast of the times in every particular.
On the 17th of November, 1892, Mr. Gough was united in mar- riage to Miss Alma E. Early, who was born in Muscatine county, Iowa, September 15, 1864, a daughter of Thomas Mason and Rhoda (Overturf) Early, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were married in Muscatine in 1863 and now reside in Allison. Mr. and Mrs. Gough had six children but Galen, the first born, died in infancy. The others are Esther, Marion, Everett, Naomi and Glenn.
Politically Mr. Gough is a republican and is now serving as one of the trustees of his township, while for six years he was town- ship clerk. For many years he has been a member of the school board and is still acting in that capacity. He was also assessor of the township for two years and has discharged every official duty with promptness and fidelity. The guiding principles of his life are found in his faith as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, his membership being with the congregation in Bristow, where he is serving as a church trustee.
As a pioneer settler Mr. Gough is familiar with the history of this part of the state and can relate many interesting incidents of the early days. His father was a pioneer Methodist Episcopal preacher and circuit rider, who rode all over the country, preach- ing in isolated communities at a period when the Indians were al- most as numerous as the white settlers in this part of the state. At times the people would become greatly alarmed at the rumor that the Indians were uprising and Thomas A. Gough can dis- tinctly remember the Indians coming to his first home. Wild game and wild animals were numerous in those days, the father fre- quently killing catamounts and wild cats. Deer were very plenti- ful and would eat out of the corn crib upon the Gough farm, while all kinds of feathered game were to be had in abundance. The methods of farm work at that time were very dissimilar to those of the present. Mr. Gough can well remember the old time farm
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machinery and recalls with pleasure the progress that has been made from the days of the log cabin with the puncheon floor to the present period of prosperity, when he, like many other substantial farmers, occupies a modern and attractive home, supplied with all of the conveniences and comforts known at the present day. His long residence here has brought him a wide acquaintance and his sterling characteristics have gained him many friends.
MORRISON A. TAYLOR, M. D.
Laudable ambition has prompted the efforts of Dr. Morrison A. Taylor, a capable, conscientious and successful physician of Clarksville, who holds to high professional standards and has been accorded a liberal patronage. He was born about one and a half miles east of Clarksville, on the 2d of December, 1857, and is a son of James R. and Esther Ann (Cook) Taylor, the former born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1829, and the latter in Foun- tain county, Indiana, in 1830.
The Taylor family was founded by the youngest son of an English earl, who about the close of the sixteenth century re- moved with members of the family to Scotland. Representatives of the family afterward went to the north of Ireland, and two brothers later crossed the Atlantic to Massachusetts in colonial days. They were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Taylor was Dr. John Koch, who came from the Rheinlands of Gemany. He was an eminent scholar and a distinguished physician. He settled in Pennsylvania, but after- ward removed to Indiana, where he purchased a farm, upon which his remaining days were passed. His religious faith was that of the Universalist church. He changed the name from Koch to Cook. His wife was in her maidenhood a Miss Mounts, and was descended from French Huguenot ancestry. Their daughter Esther Ann Cook has in her possession the deed to the old home- stead here, signed by Franklin Pierce. She became the wife of James R. Taylor. They were both reared in Fountain county, and in 1855 they became residents of Butler county, Iowa, settling on a farm in Butler township, whereon the father spent his re- maining days. He passed away in July, 1905, and his widow now resides in Clarksville. He was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of good farm land, which he secured from the govern-
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ment and forty acres of timber. When it came into his posses- sion not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made upon it, but he converted it into rich and productive fields, and it became a valuable property. In early life he had learned the trades of millwright and carpenter and joiner under the di- rection of an uncle in Ohio and Indiana and after coming to this state he built, in connection with Asa Low, the first bridge across Shell Rock river at Clarksville. He erected many houses and barns in the town and surrounding country and also built a mill here. His life was a very busy one and prominently con- nected him with the agricultural and industrial interests of the county. He was a consistent and earnest worker in the Christian church throughout his entire life, being numbered among its most valuable members. His early political allegiance was given to the whig party, and on its dissolution he joined the ranks of the new republican party, with which he was identified through- out his remaining days. He did not care for nor seek office, how- ever, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business affairs, which were extensive and important and made him one of the leading citizens of Butler county. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were the parents of four children: Morrison A .; John M., of Mason City, Iowa, who is married and has a son and daughter; Priscilla, who became the wife of Gordon McDonald and died in Louisiana in September, 1898, leaving six children; and Rosa E., the wife of L. M. Valentine, of Mason City.
Dr. Morrison A. Taylor, whose name introduces this record, began his education in the district schools and had attended high school before he entered the Breckenridge Institute at Decorah, Iowa, in 1880. Following his course there he returned home and taught through the winter. In the fall of 1888 he went to Val- paraiso, Indiana, and entered the Northern Indiana Normal School but was taken ill and returned home before he completed the course. He says he received the greatest inspiration of his life while a student there. He afterward taught special lines at Breckenridge Institute and later became principal of the school at Aplington, this county. He was also a teacher at Geneva, Iowa, and was principal of the Riceville schools and for three years he was principal of the schools at Alexandria, South Da- kota. He regarded all this as an initial step to other professional labor, for it was his desire to become a member of the medical fraternity and with that end in view he entered the State Uni- versity at Iowa in 1894 and was graduated from its medical de-
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partment with the class of 1897. He has since practiced medicine, in which he has displayed notable ability, but he is also an in- ventor and is devoting much of his time to his patents, his mechanical ingenuity finding expression in many improved devices.
In 1898 Dr. Taylor was married to Miss Manie A. Axtell, who was born at Strawberry Point, Iowa, in March, 1876. She is a daughter of Augustus E. and Martha (Bartlett) Axtell. Her father was born in Massachusetts, September 29, 1822, and was a son of Daniel and Jane (Wellman) Axtell, the former born February 22, 1787, and the latter October 26, 1791. Augustus E. Axtell went to Ohio in his childhood days and in that state was married to Martha Bartlett, who was born in Vermont in 1832, and went to Ohio with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell removed to Clayton county, Iowa, in 1857, and the farm which he then purchased remained his home until his death, which occurred in August, 1906. To him and his wife were born five children and by a former marriage he had three children. Dr. and Mrs. Taylor have three daughters: Roba Hellene, born in December, 1899; Hester Miriam, born in South Dakota in 1903; and Barbara Gretchen, in 1906.
Dr. Taylor is a progressive in politics. He holds firmly to the principles in which he believes and does not hesitate to express his honest convictions. He belongs to Butler Lodge, No. 94, A. F. & A. M., of which his father was a charter member and the junior deacon. Dr. Taylor likewise has membership in the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias lodge. His life principles have their root in his belief as a mem- ber of the Christian church, in which he has served as deacon, as a member of the official board and as chorister. For thirty years he has been superintendent of the Sunday school and, in fact, is deeply interested in every department of the church work, do- ing all in his power to further its growth and extend its influ- ence.
FRANK BROWN.
Frank Brown, a well known farmer of Beaver township, was born in Blackhawk county, Iowa, March 29, 1877. He is a son of Hiram and Margaretta (Winch) Brown, the former born in Connecticut in 1839 and the latter in Massachusetts in the same
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year. The parents afterward moved to Iowa, settling in Black- hawk county, where the father engaged in farming. He passed away in 1904 and is survived by his wife, who makes her home in Waterloo. In their family were seven children: Eugene, who has passed away; Henry; Walter and Anna, deceased; Frank, of this review; Leonard; and Sherberne.
Frank Brown attended district school in Blackhawk county until he was sixteen years of age and afterward worked as a farm laborer until he was twenty-nine. He then spent about three years on his father's farm, after which he moved to Waterloo. He remained there for one year and then in 1909 came to Butler county, where he purchased the farm on section 29, Beaver town- ship, whereon he has since resided. He engages in general farm- ing and also feeds stock, keeping twenty-eight head of cattle, fifty hogs and four horses. In addition to this he operates a dairy and has made this branch of his activities important and profitable.
On the 29th of March, 1905, in Waterloo, Mr. Brown married Miss Olla Fay Sells, a daughter of Nathan G. and Iva (Ingalls) Sells, pioneer settlers in Butler county. Mr. and Mrs. Brown became the parents of seven children: Leslie C .; Bernice I., who has passed away; Eugene W .; Russell H .; Mildred H .; Iva M .; and John G.
Mr. Brown is a member of the Methodist church and a repub- lican in his political beliefs. He is held in high regard in Butler county and has an extensive acquaintance within its borders.
W. H. H. FLEEK.
W. H. H. Fleek has many claims to the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens, for he is not only a veteran of the Civil war but also an early settler in Butler county and a man who has contributed in substantial measure to the agricultural growth and development of his locality. He was born in LaFayette, Indiana, July 4, 1841, and when he was thirteen years of age went with his uncle, E. T. Fleek, to Green county, Wisconsin, and there grew to manhood on the latter's farm. On the 22d of April, 1861, he joined Company C, Third Wisconsin Volunteer Infan- try, and went into camp at Fond du Lac. After drilling for some time the regiment was sent east and joined the army of the Poto-
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mac, later taking part in General Banks' retreat. Mr. Fleek was taken prisoner and sent to Bell Island, where he was held for three months and then paroled. He rejoined his command at Antietam and participated afterward in the battle of Gettys- burg. His regiment was sent to New York city at the time of the draft riots there and was later transferred to Tennessee, where it took part in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Mis- sionary Ridge. Upon the close of his first term Mr. Fleek reen- listed and after a thirty-day furlough rejoined his regiment at Fayetteville. He took part in the Atlanta campaign, during which there was a fight or a skirmish every day for over a month, and after the fall of Atlanta he joined Sherman on his march to the sea. Before leaving the city he was detailed orderly and served in that capacity until the close of the war, his regiment taking part in the grand review at Washington. Afterward Mr. Fleek returned home on a veteran's furlough, receiving his hon- orable discharge at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1865.
With a creditable military record Mr Fleek returned to Green county and located on a one hundred acre farm which he operated and developed for some years, after which he sold the property and moved to Iowa, settling in Butler county in 1877. He pur- chased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres on section 21, Dayton township, and has since carried on the work of improving and developing this property, which he has made one of the finest and most productive in the township. Mr. Fleek engages in gen- eral farming and stock-raising, keeping a high grade of horses, cattle and hogs.
While home on a furlough, on the 22d of February, 1864, at Brodhead, Wisconsin, Mr. Fleek was united in marriage to Miss Sarah M. Woodling, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Francis Woodling, a pioneer in Green county, Wisconsin. Mrs. Fleek passed away in California, April 15, 1906, leaving four children: J. G. and Marion, of Los Angeles, California; Ruth, the wife of Alvin Codd, also of Los Angeles; and Gertrude, a resident of California. Mr. and Mrs. Fleek lost one son and three daughters. Ty grew to maturity and married George Free- man. Her death occurred in 1897. Bertha passed away in Highland, California. Ord C. met death by accident in High- land. Belle married William Brown and resided for a number of years in Waterloo, where her death occurred.
Mr. Fleek cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and has supported every republican nominee for president since that
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time. Fraternally he is a Master Mason and a member of the Grand Army post of Greene. He is interested in the betterment of the community where he has so long resided and has borne an important part in promoting general progress. He is a man of many sterling traits of character, capable in business, progressive in citizenship and at all times trustworthy and reliable.
FRANK BEACH.
Frank Beach, living retired in Dumont after many years of close connection with agricultural interests of Franklin and But- ler counties, was born in Peoria county, Illinois, December 26, 1842. He was reared upon a farm in that locality and acquired his education in the district schools. In 1862 he enlisted in Com- pany K, Eighty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was sent with his regiment to Louisville, Kentucky, later taking part in the campaign after General Bragg. He was honorably discharged on account of disability and returned to Illinois, where after recovering his health he engaged in farming for two years. In 1866 he sold his land in Peoria county and moved to Iowa, making the journey with teams and coming directly to Butler county, where he located on an eighty acre tract of wild land, which he had previously purchased. Soon afterward, however, he went to Franklin county, where he rented land, operating this for one year and at the same time breaking the soil upon his property in Madison township and building upon it a comfortable home. Afterward he took up his residence upon this place and while carrying forward the work of its development engaged in break- ing land for his neighbors, receiving as a compensation for this service the first two crops grown upon the farm. Mr. Beach after- ward sold his land in Madison township and bought two hundred and forty acres in Franklin county which he broke, cleared and improved, from time to time adding to his holdings until he accumulated four hundred acres of valuable land, which he still owns. He engaged in general farming and stock-raising upon this property until 1908, when he rented the tract and moved into Dumont, where he has since lived retired. He has valuable prop- erty interests here, owning a number of residence lots upon which he has erected two dwellings.
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FRANK BEACH
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On the 29th of December, 1864, Mr. Beach was united in mar- riage to Miss Sarah Elsey, a native of Essex, England, and a daughter of Robert Elsey, who emigrated to America and located at Rome, New York, where he passed away. His wife survived him and later moved to Elgin, Illinois, where Mrs. Beach was reared and educated. Mr. and Mrs. Beach became the parents of four children: Lydia, who died at the age of fourteen months; Lillian, the wife of William Brandenberg, a merchant of Kesley; Frank W., who lives at home, and Emily C., the deceased wife of Fred Foote, by whom she had two children.
Mr. Beach has given his political allegiance to the republican party since he cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He has been very active in public affairs and has been honored by his fellow citizens by election to various positions of public trust and responsibility, his official record being characterized by the accomplishment of a great deal of important work. He was for four years assessor of Madison township and while a resident of Franklin county was identified with the work of the school board for a quarter of a century. He served for two years as justice of the peace in Franklin county and for three years in Dumont. He has been a delegate to numerous county conventions both in Butler and Franklin counties. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Dumont, and Mr. Beach is a charter member of the Dumont lodge of the Knights of Pythias and belongs to the Grand Army post at Ackley. He has been well known in this part of Iowa for many years, and his integrity and ability have gained him the respect and confidence of all who have had business or personal relations with him. He is an own cousin of General McPherson of military fame and moreover, he, himself, is entitled to a place in this volume as a veteran of the Civil war, to whom the country owes a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid.
PHILIP LOOMER.
"The weary wheels of life at length stood still" for Philip Loomer on the 3d of January, 1914. He had reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years, thirty-five years of which time had been spent in Butler county, and during much of that period he was actively engaged in the development and improve- Vol. 17-19
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ment of a farm of two hundred and seventy acres, but about fifteen years ago retired to Clarksville. He was born in Nova Scotia, Canada, October 6, 1826, a son of Benjamin and Eunice (Jess) Loomer, both of whom were natives of Nova Scotia, the latter of French Huguenot descent. The Loomer family comes of English ancestry, and representatives of the name after living for some time in New England removed to Nova Scotia just prior to the Revolutionary war. In 1841 Benjamin Loomer removed with his family to Wisconsin. They sailed from Nova Scotia to Boston, reaching their destination only after twenty-one days because of strong head winds. From that point they proceeded by rail to Norwich, Connecticut, thence by steamboat to New York, up the Hudson to Albany, through the Erie canal to Buf- falo, by steamboat to Milwaukee and thence to Walworth county, Wisconsin, where they located on government land. It was a wild and undeveloped tract, not a furrow having been turned or an improvement made. The father was not long permitted to enjoy this new home, his death there occurring in 1847. In 1878 the mother went to Florida with her two sons-in-law, and after- ward removed to Oswego, Kansas, where she died in 1879.
Philip Loomer was the only survivor in a family of three sons and two daughters. He was a youth of fifteen at the time of the removal to Wisconsin and later began farming there on his own account, after purchasing a quarter section of land in Columbia county at one dollar per acre. He carried on farming in that district until 1878 and then sold out, removing to Butler county, Iowa. Here he purchased a farm four miles east of Clarksville, comprising two hundred and seventy acres of arable land. Fifteen years ago he retired, taking up his abode in Clarks- ville.
Mr. Loomer was twice married. On the 24th of March, 1851, he married Mary Ann Cass, who died October 17, 1863. They were the parents of four children, two of whom died ere the mother's death. Albert, born October 27, 1852, is a resident of Minnesota. He has six sons, all of whom are married, and a daughter, who remains at home. Ella Jane, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Loomer, died at the age of eight years. Fred died at the age of forty years, leaving a widow and four children. Charles, the youngest of the family, was but two years of age at the time of his demise. On the 13th of March, 1864, Mr. Loomer married Lucretia Smith Cass, a sister of his first wife. She was born in New Hampshire, June 10, 1838, and was but
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twelve years of age when she went to Wisconsin with her parents. The children of this marriage are as follows: Eugene, who died at the age of two years; Arthur, living in Armstrong, Iowa; Flo- rence, the wife of George Cruthers of Waverly, Iowa; Lillian, the wife of Homer Smith of Brightwood, D. C .; Mary, the wife of N. O. Edwards, of Butler township; Lester, living on his father's farm; Jennie, the wife of Arthur Moore, of Butler town- ship; and Addie Eugenie, the wife of W. C. Shepard, of Allison. Mr. Loomer had twenty-six grandchildren and seventeen great- grandchildren. There are four granddaughters and six grand- sons who are married.
Mr. Loomer was entitled to wear the Grand Army button and was a member of the James Butler post, at Clarksville. He enlisted in December, 1864, as a member of Company I, Forty- fourth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of hostilities. That honorable principles were salient features in his life is indicated in the earnest support which he always gave the temperance cause and the interests of religion. He voted with the prohibition party and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his was an earnest Christian life. He occupied a large, fine home in Clarksville, attractively located and surrounded with magnificent shade trees. Here he passed the evening of his days in quiet contentment and enjoyed the honor and respect of his fellow townsmen, because of his well spent life, which was indeed an example worthy of emulation.
FRED WILLIAM SCHNEE.
Among the able and prosperous farmers of Coldwater town- ship and among Butler county's most progressive and successful native sons is numbered Fred William Schnee, who owns and operates a fine property of eighty acres on section 21. He was born in this township, December 6, 1876, and is a son of Otto and Wilhelmina (Becker) Schnee, natives of Germany. The father came to America when he was a young man and settled imme- diately in Bremer county, this state, where he purchased land and operated a farm for some time. He moved to Butler county in 1865 and bought the farm in Coldwater township which is now owned by his son. Here he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1879. His wife survived him many years, passing
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away in 1911. In their family were eight children, five sons and three daughters.
Fred W. Schnee was reared upon his father's farm and acquired his education in the district schools. From his early childhood he assisted with the operation of the homestead and became in time an able and practical agriculturist. Upon the death of his mother he bought the interests of the other heirs and succeeded to the homestead, which he has since operated. To the buildings already upon the property he has added a modern resi- dence, a barn and a crib, and he has made other improvements, having set out an orchard and a grove of forest and evergreen trees which protect the west and north sides of his house. Mr. Schnee raises high-grade cattle and hogs and Norman horses and his stock-raising and general farming interests are extensive and important. He is a stockholder in the Greene Cooperative Cream- ery Association and in the Farmers Cooperative Elevator Com- pany, and his ability is recognized and respected in business circles.
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