USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa: a record of settlement., Volume 2 > Part 3
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J. L. SCRIPTURE, M. D.
Dr. J. L. Scripture, successfully engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Clarksville, his wide knowledge, skill and ability being recognized by his many patients, was born in Dubuque, Iowa, March 13, 1870, and is a son of Calvin and Nancy
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(Strohl) Scripture. The father's birth occurred near Lockport, New York, in 1826 and when fourteen years of age he came to Iowa with his parents, who located at Dubuque when that city contained but two or three houses. Calvin Scripture operated a threshing machine for thirty years and then located on a farm three miles west of Clarksville. He married Nancy Strohl, who was born in Sandusky, Ohio, December 17, 1832, and who was brought to Iowa by her parents about 1842, the family home being established on a farm in Julian township, Dubuque county. They were married in that county and there the death of Mrs. Scripture occurred in February, 1896, while Mr. Scripture survived only until the follow- ing July. In the early days he secured his land from the govern- ment and he and his wife spent their entire married life upon the farm which he developed and improved. Both were active and faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, never missing prayer meeting or any church service unless ill health forced them to remain away. They lived upright, godly lives and their influence was of far-reaching benefit among friends and neighbors.
Dr. Scripture was the seventh in order of birth in a family of eight children, of whom two are now living, a sister, Carrie, making her home with the brother. Under the parental roof Dr. Scripture continued until 1886, when he went away to school, entering the Epworth Seminary, Epworth, Iowa. He attended only through the winter terms and completed his course in 1894. In that year he entered the medical department of the State University and was graduated therefrom in 1897. In the same year he opened an office and began practice in Clarksville, where he remained for two and one-half years, after which he pursued a post-graduate course in New York city. He then located in Cresco, Howard county, Iowa, where he remained for ten years, but in 1909 returned to Clarks- ville, where he has since engaged in general practice. He has always been a close student of his profession and by wide reading, research and investigation as well as by post-graduate courses has kept in touch with the advancement of the profession. He is also a member of the County and State Medical Societies, and the Ameri- can Medical Association and in all of his practice he holds to the highest standards of professional ethics.
In 1899 Dr. Scripture was married to Miss Nellie E. Davis, a native of Clarksville and a daughter of M. S. and Minnie (Millen) Davis. They have one son, James Cyril. Dr. Scripture has served on the executive committee of the Driving Park Association and has been a member of the board of health of his town. In politics
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he is a progressive and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. Fraternally he is a prominent Mason, having served as worshipful master of Butler Lodge, No. 94, A. F. & A. M., and as high priest of Temple Chapter, No. 74, R. A. M. He also belongs to Waterloo Council, R. & S. M., and to the Knight Tem- plar Commandery at Cedar Falls. A liberal education qualified him for his professional duties and in that regard he has made a creditable record by his success in practice. At the same time he has never been neglectful of his duties of citizenship and Clarks- ville has benefited in many ways by his efforts in her behalf.
SCHUYLER HARDMAN.
Butler county numbers among its most progressive and repre- sentative agriculturists and among its best known native sons Schuyler Hardman, who owns and operates a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 16, Dayton township, as well as another forty acre tract in the vicinity. He was born in Cold- water township, March 10, 1859, and is a son of Aaron Hardman, a native of Antrim county, Michigan. The father grew to matur- ity there and married Miss Christiann Lentz, a native of South Bend, Indiana. After their marriage the parents moved west to Iowa, locating in Butler county about the year 1853. The father purchased land south of Greene and this he improved and operated for many years, becoming a substantial and prominent farmer. He later retired from active life and moved into Greene, where his death occurred about the year 1878. His wife survived him a num- ber of years, dying in Greene in 1908. After the death of her first husband she wedded John V. Boggs, of Greene.
Schuyler Hardman is one of a family of nine children. He was reared upon his father's farm in Coldwater township and ac- quired his education in the district schools. In 1884 he married Miss Castinah Shannon, who was born in Clarksville, Butler county, in 1860, a daughter of John Shannon, a pioneer settler in Butler county, who came here in 1856. After his marriage Mr. Hardman located on the Shannon farm, near Clarksville, rent- ing this property for sixteen years thereafter. During that time he purchased an eighty acre tract on section 16, Dayton township, and carried on the work of improvement along modern and pro- gressive lines. In 1900 he moved upon this property and in that
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year bought an adjoining tract of eighty acres, his holdings now comprising one hundred and sixty acres. Upon this place he has erected a two-story residence, a large barn, granary and hoghouse and has made other improvements, setting out a large orchard and a grove of evergreen and native forest trees. His fields are fenced and crossfenced with woven and barbed wire and everything about the place is kept in excellent condition, the property reflecting the careful supervision and practical labor which the owner bestows upon it. Mr. Hardman owns another forty acre tract also in Dayton township. He raises high-grade shorthorn cattle, Perch- eron horses and Duroc Jersey hogs and is recognized as one of the most successful stock-raisers in this locality.
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Mr. and Mrs. Hardman became the parents of three sons and four daughters, of whom six are living: Aaron, who is engaged in the grain business in Canada ; Royal, a student in the Greene high school; Alberta, who was educated at Clarksville and at Cedar Falls and who is now principal of the grammar schools at Liv- ingston, Montana; Adelle, who is the wife of C. H. Schader and makes her home at Sunnyside, Washington; LaVerne, a student in the Greene high school; and Thelma, who is also pursuing her studies. Mr. and Mrs. Hardman lost one son, Earl, who died at the age of seven. The parents are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church of Packard and Mrs. Hardman is serving as super- intendent of the Sabbath school. She is also a member of the Daughters of Rebekah.
Mr. Hardman is identified with Elm Springs Lodge, No. 318, I. O. O. F., and is a republican in his political beliefs. He is in- terested in the cause of education and has served as school director. His many excellent qualities of mind and character have gained him the esteem and good-will of all with whom he has come in contact, while his progressive and practical methods in the culti- vation of his farm have won him rank with the representative agriculturists of this locality.
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J. M. RAMSEY.
J. M. Ramsey is editor of the Clarksville Star and well known as a leading representative of journalistic interests in his section of the state. He holds to high standards in newspaper publica- tion, following none of the methods of "yellow journalism," and
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since purchasing the Star in 1909 its circulation and advertising patronage have steadily increased.
Mr. Ramsey was born near Clarksville in one of the old-time log cabins, February 25, 1869, his parents being Charles and Mar- garet (Gabby) Ramsey, who were natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in Harrisburg in 1836 and the latter in Washington county in 1841. They were reared in the Keystone state but were married near West Union, in Adams county, Ohio. In 1861 they came to Iowa, settling a mile north of Clarksville. The mother departed this life in 1893, while the father survived for a decade. He took an active interest in politics as a supporter of the demo- cratic party and held many local offices. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church and to its teachings he was ever loyal. His life work was that of farming, which he conducted on an extensive scale until after the death of his wife. He first came to this county in 1857 but afterward returned to Ohio and brought his family in 1861. He had removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio with his parents when fourteen years of age and resided in the latter state until he sought a home in Iowa. Here he began farming and operated large tracts of land. In 1878 he had nearly six hun- dred acres planted to wheat but the crop failed and he lost heavily. An epidemic of diphtheria also raged in that year and two of the children, George and Ida, died of the disease and were interred in the Lynwood cemetery. To Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ramsey were born eight children, of whom two died in infancy, while three are now living: Janette, the wife of J. L. Caskey, of Akron, Iowa; Charles, of Minnesota; and J. M. Ramsey.
The last named has been a lifelong resident of Butler county. He pursued his early education in the public schools of Clarks- ville and of Greene and later became a student at Cedar Rapids. He spent the year 1904 in Mexico but the remainder of his life has been passed in this county, his boyhood and youth being spent upon the home farm, where he early became familiar with all of the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. In 1890 he entered the Star office and has since been identified with the paper which he purchased in 1909, becoming sole owner and editor. For twenty-three years he has been a newspaper man and is familiar with every phase of newspaper publication both along mechanical lines and in the assembling of news items and the writing of editorials. He publishes his paper in behalf of local welfare and has made it a clean, attractive and readable journal which is now liberally patronized.
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On the 30th of September, 1893, Mr. Ramsey married Miss Della Shafer, who was born in this county and is a daughter of W. R. Shafer, of Clarksville. They now have two children, Edna Georgia and Alice Lavon. Mr. Ramsey belongs to the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the state lodge. In politics he is a republican, influential in party councils. He has served on various occasions as a delegate to the county, district and state conven- tions and has occupied a number of official positions. For twelve years he was assessor of the city and for five years was recorder of Clarksville. On the 1st of July, 1913, he was appointed assistant state game warden, which position he is now filling. His record in connection with public office is a creditable one, for he has always been loyal and prompt in the discharge of his duties. His public spirit had been manifest in many connections, not the least being through the columns of his paper, in which he always champions every measure and movement for the general good.
CLARK CARR.
Agricultural pursuits have long had a worthy representative in Clark Carr, whose home farm of eighty acres is situated on section 12, Jackson township, about a mile and three-quarters west of Clarksville, on the Shell Rock river. Here he has lived since the 5th of September, 1868, and the county knows him as one of the worthy representatives of agricultural life-industrious, hon- orable and persistent in all that he has undertaken. He was born September 8, 1844, in Bennington county, Vermont, his parents being C. R. and Rhoda (Brown) Carr. The father was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, February 19, 1811, and the mother in Rutland county, Vermont, February 26, 1811. They became resi- dents of McHenry county, Illinois, in 1845 and after twenty-one years there passed removed to Butler county in September, 1866, spending their last days in Jackson township. The father fol- lowed the trades of a carpenter and stone mason until he came to Iowa, after which he followed farming. Both he and his wife were members of the Baptist church in early life but as there was no congregation of that denomination near their home in Iowa they united with the Methodist Episcopal church. Christian prin- ciples actuated them in all that they did and their good deeds made their example one well worthy of emulation. The father died Feb-
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ruary 2, 1888, and the mother, surviving for more than a decade, passed away December 26, 1898. They were the parents of four children beside our subject: Julia, the wife of George Smith, of Jackson township; Mrs. Mary Rogers, who died in Clarksville; Mrs. Lucinda Olson, of Junction City, Kansas; and Mrs. Lucina Poisal, deceased. Mrs. Olson and Mrs. Poisal were twins.
In taking up the personal history of Clark Carr we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in this county, where he has now lived for almost a half century, having come here with his parents in 1866. He continued at home until his marriage two years later. He had given active manifestation of his patriotic spirit and his loyalty to his country by enlisting on the 20th of August, 1862, in McHenry county, Illi- nois, as a member of Company H, One Hundred and Twenty- seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He was taken prisoner at Youngs Point, Louisiana, but was paroled after thirty days. The regiment was attached to the First Brigade, Second Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, known as Logan's Corps, and with his command Mr. Carr went through the entire siege of Vicksburg, took part in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and was in the Atlanta campaign, in which he was for one hundred and five days under fire. He had a most arduous military experience, but he never faltered in the face of danger, bravely defending his country and her interests whether on the firing line or the lonely picket post. With the close of the war he participated in the Grand Review in Washington, D. C., and was then mustered out, receiving an honorable discharge in Chicago, on the 19th of June, 1865. He returned home with a most creditable military record and the his- tory of his service as a Union soldier is one of which he has every reason to be proud.
Since the war Mr. Carr has been actively engaged in farming in Butler county and at one time was the owner of two hundred and forty acres of valuable land, of which he still retains eighty acres, comprising the old homestead on section 12, Jackson town- ship, a mile and three-quarters west of Clarksville. He took up his abode upon this place forty-five years ago and in connection with the production of crops best adapted to soil and climate he has made a specialty of raising horses.
On the 5th of September, 1868, Mr. Carr was married to Mrs. Frances J. Wamsley, who was born in Henry county, Indiana, March 11, 1839, and died here on the 21st of September, 1911. She
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was the widow of Martin B. Wamsley, who died while a prisoner of war at Tyler, Texas. By her first marriage she had four chil- dren: R. P., now deceased; S. B., living in Jackson township; Mary E., who became the wife of Harry Parker and died in Ione, Washington; and M. V., of Jackson township. These four chil- dren were reared by Mr. Carr as his own. There were four chil- dren born of the second marriage, but two sons died in infancy. The elder of the surviving sons is William A., who occupies the old homestead. The younger, James L., of Westplains, Missouri, married Annie Moore, a daughter of W. H. Moore, deceased, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. The two chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. James L. Carr are Jerry and Roy.
Clark Carr has long been an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic, having joined James Butler Post, No. 220, of Clarksville, on its organization. He likewise belongs to Butler Lodge, No. 94, A. F. & A. M., of Clarksville. His political alle- giance is always given to the republican party, but he has never sought nor desired office. His religious faith is that of the Chris- tian church. His whole life has been devoted to his home and family. For forty-three years he had a most happy married life, but since his wife's death has been very lonely. He remained upon the home farm alone for two years but now his eldest son and his family reside with him. He has witnessed many notable changes in the county, which has been transformed from a frontier district into a populous and prosperous region since he arrived. Some- thing of the rise in land values is indicated in the fact that he has refused one hundred and fifty dollars per acre for his farm. It has been his home for forty-five years and he wishes to remain upon the old homestead as long as he lives. His many friends hope that he will be yet spared for many years to come, for he has ever been regarded as a valued and representative citizen and one whose genuine personal worth has gained for him the esteem of all.
W. A. CARR.
W. A. Carr was born July 21, 1869, upon the farm on section 12, Jackson township, which is now his home. He was reared in the usual manner of farm lads, attending the district schools and working in the fields through the summer months. He con-
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tinued with his father until the fall of 1903, when he went to Gary, Deuel county, South Dakota, purchasing there a quarter section of land, which he cultivated and developed for two years. He then removed to the town of Gary, where he conducted a produce business and shoe store, but sold out to his partner in 1913 in order to return to Butler county and assume the man- agement of the old homestead. He still owns the farm in South Dakota.
On the 7th of October, 1896, Mr. Carr was married to Miss Marguerite May Lansing, who was born in Story county, Iowa, in 1872. The three children of this marriage are: Wilma, born in 1898; Dorothy Jane, August 29, 1903; and Elsie Mae, June 20, 1909. The parents are both members of the Christian church and also of the Eastern Star. Mr. Carr has been identified with the Masonic lodge from the age of twenty-two years and has always been loyal to the teachings and tenets of the craft. He served as school treasurer while in Gary and has held some local offices in this county. He was reared in the faith of the repub- lican party and has seen no reason to change his political belief since arriving at years of maturity. In fact, he is more con- vinced than ever in his opinions and it is well known fact that his position upon any vital question is never an equivocal one. He stands for what he believes to be right and in matters of citi- zenship as well as in business relations has made a creditable record.
JULIUS TEMPLE.
Julius Temple, one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil war and today one of the best known farmers and stock-raisers of Dayton township, owns and operates one hundred and twenty acres of excellent land three miles from Greene. He is numbered among the pioneers in Iowa, having located here in 1858. He was born near Springfield, Massachusetts, January 13, 1844, a son of John Temple, also a native of that state, who passed away when his son was still a child.
Mr. Temple remained in Massachusetts until he was fourteen years of age and then came west, locating in the vicinity of Water- loo, Iowa, where he attended high school. At the age of twenty he moved to Wisconsin and in May, 1864, enlisted in Fond du Lac as
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a member of Company D, Forty-first Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry. His regiment was sent south to Memphis and on the way participated in several engagements under General A. J. Smith. Mr. Temple was in the battle of Holly Springs and fought against General Forrest at Memphis. He took part in four engagements during the march up the Tennessee river and he witnessed Lee's surrender to Grant. At the close of hostilities he was mustered out, receiving his honorable discharge at Milwaukee in Septem- ber, 1865. Returning to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, he spent the winter with his uncle in that city and then in the spring of 1866 they both came to Iowa, the uncle buying a mill site at Eldora, building a dam and erecting a flour and grist mill. They carried on business there for a number of years but eventually Julius Temple returned to the vicinity of Waterloo, where he purchased a farm. At the end of two years he sold this property and bought land in Floyd county, breaking one hundred acres and beginning the work of development. Soon afterward, however, he disposed of this property also and purchased the one hundred and twenty acres in Dayton township upon which he has since resided. He broke the soil, erected fences and put out a grove of forest and evergreen trees as well as a fine row of cottonwood trees along the road in front of his farm. At first he erected a small house upon his place and this he later replaced by a large modern residence with two ells. He erected also a substantial barn and granary and corn cribs as well as other buildings which he keeps always in good repair, his farm being one of the best improved and most valuable properties in his locality.
Mr. Temple's marriage, which occurred May 10, 1873, was the first ceremony of this kind to be performed in the town of Greene. On that date he wedded Miss Beth Ann Miner, a sister of R. and O. C. Miner, prominent business men of Greene, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Temple have two children. John, a resident of Greene, is married and has one son, Walker. Jessie acquired her education in the public schools of Butler county and is now at home. The parents are members of the Greene Methodist Episcopal church.
Mr. Temple gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has always taken an active interest in community affairs, serving in various positions of public trust and responsi- bility. He has been township trustee and township clerk and he was also for three years a member of the county board of super- visors. The cause of education finds in him a loyal and devoted
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champion and he was one of the men who helped to locate and erect many of the school buildings in Butler county. During the long period of his residence in this locality he has contributed materially to growth and development along many lines and is recognized as one of the individual factors in general progress. A man of sterling character, good business ability and progressive public spirit, he has advanced steadily to a position of prominence and importance and today holds a high place in the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens.
WILLIAM E. PATTERSON, M. D.
Dr. William E. Patterson, who in the thirteen years of his con- nection with the medical profession in Greene has made steady and creditable progress, establishing himself in an enviable posi- tion in the regard of the public by reason of his skill and ability in his chosen calling, was born in Clarksville, this county, October 7, 1875. He is a son of Francis Patterson, a native of Canada, who came with his parents to the United States when he was still a child, settling with them in DeKalb county, Illinois, where he grew to. manhood. He later moved to Iowa and settled in Butler county, where he became one of the well known and prosperous residents. Dr. William E. Patterson was reared in Clarksville and acquired his early education in the city schools. He afterward attended Waterloo college and then studied for two years in the medical department of the State University. At the end of that time he entered the college of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, Illinois, and was graduated from that institution with the degree of M. D. in 1900. After completing his studies, Dr. Patterson settled in Greene, where he has since engaged in the practice of his profes -. sion. He has, however, never considered his medical education complete, but has taken many special courses and has remained always a close and earnest student of his profession. His patron- age has steadily grown, as he has demonstrated his skill and ability and he is recognized as one of the most progressive and able medi- cal practitioners of the county. He reads broadly and thinks deeply and the result of his investigation and research is seen in the excellent service which he renders his patrons. He is a mem- ber of the American Medical Association and the Iowa State and
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