USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa: a record of settlement., Volume 2 > Part 5
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Mr. Tammen was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Bode, a daughter of Rev. Henry and Grietje Bode, the ceremony tak- ing place at Parkersburg on the 8th of August, 1906. Two chil- dren have been born of this union, Frederick B. and Harold C.
Mr. Tammen gives his political allegiance to the repub- lican party and, although interested in matters pertaining to the general welfare, has never entered actively into politics. He is a member of the Christian Reformed church.
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CHARLES MERRITT STARKWEATHER.
Charles Merritt Starkweather has been a resident of Butler county since 1874 and since that time has been prominently con- nected with its agricultural interests, owning today a well improved and valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 10, Coldwater township, and another tract of sixty acres in the vicinity. He was born in Potter county, Pennsylvania, Sep- tember 17, 1854, and is a son of Sidney William and Delight (Lewis) Starkweather, natives of New York state, the former born in Chautauqua county. They removed to Potter county, Pennsylvania, where the father engaged in farming for a number of years. In 1874 he moved west to Iowa, locating in Butler county, where he purchased ninety acres of land upon which was a small log cabin. A few acres of the property were under culti- vation and the remainder Mr. Starkweather cleared, carrying on
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the work of developing his homestead along progressive and mod- ern lines. He replaced the log cabin by an excellent farm house and erected good barns and outbuildings, neglecting nothing which would add to the appearance or value of the property. He died upon his farm in 1896, having survived his wife since 1892.
Charles Merritt Starkweather is one of the three surviving members of a family of seven children. He was reared upon his father's farm in Potter county, Pennsylvania, acquiring his edu- cation in the district schools. From his childhood he aided in the improvement and development of his father's property and after- ward assisted in the operation of the farm in Butler county. After the death of his father he purchased the homestead, to which he has later added from time to time, owning today two hundred and twenty acres. He has built to and remodeled the house and now has two barns, cribs and granaries and a machine shop, besides an excellent hog house and a cement silo with a capacity of one hun- dred tons. He has put out an orchard and a grove of forest and evergreen trees which adds greatly to the appearance of his place. In addition to general farming he engages extensively in raising Aberdeen Angus cattle, of which he has a herd of fifty head, some pure-blooded and the remainder high-grade animals. He raises also good grades of hogs, horses and sheep. He is a stockholder in the Greene Cooperative Creamery Company and is known as a resourceful and discriminating business man.
In Dayton township, this county, on the 22d of July, 1885, Mr. Starkweather was united in marriage to Miss Tamar C. Delker, who was born and reared in Butler county, a daughter of Fred- erick Delker, one of the early settlers in this part of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Starkweather have become the parents of nine chil- dren: William F., a farmer in Coldwater township, who married Lottie Filkins, a native of New York state; Charles L., who is aiding in the operation of the homestead; E. L., who married Clara Stepp, a native of Virginia, and now resides in Dayton township; Alice D., the wife of George E. Hansen, a farmer in Coldwater township; Archie G .; Clarence G .; Lawrence G .; George Rolly and Cecil W.
Fraternally Mr. Starkweather is a Master Mason, holding membership in the blue lodge of Greene. He and his wife are members of the United Brethren church of Coldwater. He was for many years connected with the republican party but in 1912 joined the ranks of the progressives. He served for two terms as road supervisor and has been prominently identified with school
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affairs. He is a successful and prosperous farmer and a repre- sentative business man and he holds the esteem and high regard of his neighbors and friends.
RICHARD MINER.
Since 1877 Richard Miner has been a resident of Iowa and during the greater portion of that time has made his home in Greene, where he is prominently connected with business inter- ests as secretary of the Electric Light & Power Company. He was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, April 30, 1845, and there remained until he was ten years of age. He is a son of John and Rebecca A. (Dudgeon) Miner, natives of Ohio. Both parents are now dead. Our subject afterward resided for a similar period of time in Greene county, Wisconsin, acquiring a common school edu- cation. As a young man he came to Iowa, locating in Butler county in 1877. He later removed to Clay county and there engaged in the undertaking and furniture business for four years. At the end of that time he moved to Greene and opened a furniture and under- taking business here, continuing active in its conduct for twenty- eight years thereafter. During the period of his residence here his interests have extended to many fields and have carried him for- ward into important relations with business life. He was one of the promoters of the Greene Electric Light & Power Company and has been its secretary since its organization. The company pur- chased the interests of the Greene Manufacturing & Milling Com- pany and rebuilt the dam, thus obtaining water power sufficient to supply both the electric light plant and the flour mills. It controls large interests and has a representative patronage, its officers being ranked among the prominent and substantial men of the city. In addition to his connection with this company Mr. Miner is a stockholder in the First State Bank of Iowa and has valuable property interests, owning a fine brick business house which he erected on Main street, and an attractive residence on the west side of the river.
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In Ackley, Iowa, March 20, 1872, Mr. Miner was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Nary, a native of Ireland, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Mary, who lives at home. Mr. Miner is a blue lodge Mason and is connected also with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, being past grand of his lodge,
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which he represented in the Grand Lodge of Iowa. His daughter is well known in the affairs of the Eastern Star, having served as secretary of that organization for several years. Mr. Miner is a republican in his political beliefs and since he assisted in the incorporation of Greene has taken an active part in public affairs, serving on the town board for twelve years and as a member of the board of education. He is an able business man and a public- spirited and progressive citizen and he holds the esteem and con- fidence of all who are associated with him.
JEROME SHADBOLT.
Jerome Shadbolt passed away at the venerable age of eighty- three years, six months and twenty-two days, on the 31st of October, 1906. He had long been a resident of Butler county, having arrived here in the year 1855. He was a man well known for his business integrity and enterprise and much of his admir- able character is indicated in the fact that he was in partnership with one man for thirty-two years. He was born in Stillwater, Saratoga county, New York, April 9, 1823, and when three years of age was taken by his parents to Genesee county, that state, where he remained until he reached the age of twenty-four. It was on the 3d of September, 1846, in Batavia, Genesee county, that he married Miss Louise L. Main, who was born there May 13, 1829, a daughter of William and Sophia (Briggs) Main, the former a native of Maryland and the latter, of Boston, Massa- chusetts. Mrs. Main was a daughter of Dr. William Briggs, a native of England, who after coming to America enlisted as a physician and surgeon under General George Washington at the time when he first took command of the American forces. Dr. Briggs was a prominent member of the medical profession in Boston and was a splendidly educated man. Following the war he took an active part in governmental affairs. His daughter Sophia was left an orphan at the age of nine years, at the age of nine- teen was a teacher in a high school of Boston and at twenty-two years of age was married, becoming the wife of William Main, a merchant of that city. She died in Batavia, New York. In their family were eight children who reached adult age but Mrs. Louise Shadbolt is the only one now living.
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In the year 1847 Jerome Shadbolt and his young wife emi- grated westward to what was then the territory of Wisconsin. They arrived in Milwaukee on the 14th of October but Mr. Shad- bolt did not believe the little village by the lake would ever amount to much and made his way northward a distance of twenty-one miles, to Grafton, Wisconsin. There he purchased the water power rights and erected a large factory for the manufacture of chairs. The business proved very profitable and he made money in that connection until he sold out to his partner preparatory to coming to Iowa. He arrived in Clarksville on the 4th of July, 1855, and was thereafter a resident of Butler county. He was a contractor and builder by trade and here entered into partner- ship with John Madigan, the relationship between them being maintained most harmoniously and profitably for thirty-two years, during which period they erected many substantial structures in and around Clarksville. Mr. Shadbolt also operated a steam sawmill here for some time.
The only interruption to his business career came when in 1864 he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in the Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he went to the front. He participated in the celebrated march to the sea under Sherman and was in the grand review in Washington, D. C., where thousands of victorious Union soldiers marched through the streets of the capital city from which hung a banner emblazoned with the words: "The only debt that the country owes which she cannot pay is the debt that she owes her soldiers." With the close of the war he was honorably discharged at Davenport, Iowa. In his later years he held membership with the Grand Army of the Republic and took great delight in meeting with his old army comrades. He returned from the war and again resumed his place as a business man of Clarksville and in connection with his build- ing operations he engaged in farming for five or six years.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Shadbolt were born seven children : Jerome, who enlisted at the age of fifteen years for service in the Union Army, being at the front at the same time as his father, died December 15, 1871. Ida M. is the wife of William Walsh, of Clarksville. C. Sumner is living at Minneapolis, Minnesota. Al- bon B. is a resident of Bremer county. Rouen is the wife of J. P. Martin, of Butler county. Jessie O. is the wife of H. E. French, who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume, and Charles P., died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Shadbolt united with the Presbyterian church on the 15th of April, 1900. Mrs. Shadbolt is a charter
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member of the Women's Relief Corps and is the oldest living mem- ber of that body. She is at this time eighty-four years of age and a most remarkable woman for her years, still hale and hearty, physically and mentally. Mr. Shadbolt was ever a man of unas- sailable integrity and during his long residence in Clarksville he made many friends by reason of his enterprise, perseverance and reliability in business and his trustworthiness in other relations of life. He lived to witness many changes during the period of his residence here, covering more than a half century, and at all times he bore his full share in the work of general development and improvement.
FRANCIS E. NEWBURY.
Francis E. Newbury, a resident of Bristow, where he is now engaged in buying cream, has been more or less actively identi- fied with agricultural interests in Butler county for forty-six years. He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, January 8, 1844, and is a son of H. A. and Catharine (McCay) Newbury, natives of Connecticut, in which state they were married. They removed westward to Wisconsin during its territorial days and their remaining days were spent in Kenosha, where the father fol- lowed the carpenter's trade and also carried on farming in that locality. They had a family of three sons: John C., now deceased, who served for about eighteen months in the Civil war; H. F., living in Brooklyn, New York; and Francis E.
The last named spent his boyhood days under the parental roof in his native city and in 1864 responded to his country's call for troops, enlisting as a member of Company G, Forty-third Wis- consin Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for a year, being mustered out at Milwaukee in July, 1865. He held the rank of corporal and participated in several engagements, including the last battle of the war.
For a year after the close of hostilities Mr. Newbury worked on his father's farm in Wisconsin and was married there in the fall of 1866. In the spring of the following year he brought his young wife to Butler county, settling in West Point township, where he purchased a farm which he cultivated and improved until 1881. In that year he opened a hotel in Bristow which he conducted until 1885 and then returned to the farm, upon which
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he lived for fifteen years, or until 1900. Since then he has made his home in Bristow and still owns the farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land which yields to him a good annual income. During the past three years he has been engaged in buying cream in connection with his son.
As previously stated, it was in the year 1866 that Mr. New- bury married, the lady of his choice being Miss Sophia Zemira Pierce, who was born in Wisconsin in April, 1848, a daughter of R. C. Pierce. The three children of this marriage are: H. C., who is operating his father's farm; Floyd I., of Bristow; and Lela C., the wife of W. A. Richards, a merchant of Bristow. The family is well known in Butler county and its members are held in high esteem.
In politics Mr. Newbury is a republican, voting for the party since casting his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He was then in the army and was but twenty years of age but the right of franchise was accorded all soldiers. For much of the time during the past forty years he has filled the office of justice of the peace and is the present incumbent of that posi- tion in Bristow. He was also county supervisor for one term and has held a number of school offices, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart friend. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and to the Grand Army of the Republic and of both organizations is counted a valued representative. The long years of his residence in Butler county have made him widely known and his many sterling qualities have gained him the high regard of friends and acquaintances alike.
HENRY DRALLE.
A fact that is not always given due recognition is that Ger- many has furnished to Butler county a large percentage of her substantial citizens, men who have adapted themselves to changed conditions in this country and have become progressive and sub- stantial residents of the communities in which they live. Such a one is Henry Dralle, who was born in Westphalen, Germany, on the 8th of August, 1862, his parents being William and Sophia (Schmidt) Dralle, who were likewise natives of Westphalen. Their last days, however, were spent upon a farm in West Point township, this county, where the father died in 1910, at the age of
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HENRY DRALLE AND FAMILY
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seventy-one years, having long survived his wife, who passed away in 1887, at the age of fifty-four. They came to the United States in 1885, Henry Dralle making a trip back to the old country to bring them to the new world. The father was a miller by trade and followed that pursuit in Germany, but after coming to the United States gave his attention to farming and was the owner of one hundred and sixty acres, which he left to his family at the time of his death. There were six children: Henry; Minnie, the wife of Herman Niehaus, of West Point township; Lottie, the deceased wife of Conrad Jakel; Wilhelm, of West Point town- ship; Sophia, the deceased wife of William Rhodenback; and Marie, the wife of Hico Folkers, of West Point township.
Henry Dralle was the first of the family to cross the Atlantic to the new world, arriving in 1878, when a youth of sixteen years. He first made his way to Grundy county, Iowa, and was employed by the month for three years, after which he came to Butler county. Here he again worked by the month as a farm hand for two years and for three years he rented land. During that period he carefully saved his earnings until his thrift and economy had brought him sufficient capital to enable him to purchase eighty acres on section 24, West Point township. To this he has added from time to time as his financial resources have increased until he now has two hundred and forty acres in the home place on section 24, together with a farm of similar size on section 2. . He personally operates both tracts of land successfully, carrying on general farming and stock-raising. The fields present a neat and thrifty appearance and give every indication of the practical and progressive methods of the owner.
On the 18th of February, 1888, Mr. Dralle was united in mar- riage to Miss Lottie Schmidt, who was born in Westphalen, Ger- many, January 9, 1867, and came to Butler county with the Dralle family when her future husband returned to Germany for his parents. They are own cousins and were schoolmates in the fatherland. In 1907 they made a trip back to the old country, spending two months there. They have had ten children: Min- nie, the wife of Folkirt Folkers, of West Point township; Henry, also living in West Point township; Annie, the wife of Will Fick, of Jackson township; Willie, Mary, Lottie, August and Matie, all at home; Sophia, who died at the age of four months; and Her- man, who completes the family.
In his political views Mr. Dralle is a democrat and he and his wife are members of the German Lutheran church. Mr. Dralle is Vol. 11-4
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a self-made man and deserves much credit for what he has accom- plished. He came to the United States with his uncle, Conrad Wallbaum, who paid his passage, and Mr. Dralle had to work for a year in order to repay the money. He has seen many ups and downs in life and has met many hardships and difficulties, but at length has triumphed over these. That notable changes have occurred is shown in the fact that in early days he sold hogs for three dollars per hundred and oats for ten cents per bushel. He now has as good a farm as can be found in the county and receives substantial prices for his products. He bought his first land at twenty-five dollars per acre and at his last purchase, made three years ago, gave one hundred and thirteen dollars per acre, paying twenty-seven thousand dollars for his last farm of two hundred and forty acres, upon which his son Henry now resides. Although Mr. Dralle had a hard struggle in the early days, he enjoyed good health, was resolute and energetic and has steadily worked his way upward until he is now one of the prosperous farmers of the county, and all who know him acknowledge that his success is well merited.
JOHN PIERSON NEAL.
John Pierson Neal occupies an attractive home in Clarksville situated in the midst of a forty acre tract of land within the cor- porate limits of the town, which he personally cultivates and improves. He is also the owner of two hundred and forty acres elsewhere in the county, which he leases. He is an energetic, wide- awake business man alert and progressive and his present success is the merited reward of his earnest and honest endeavor. He was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, April 4, 1846, and is a son of William and Rebecca (Murray) Neal, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. They were married in the Key- stone state and in 1849 became residents of Green county, Wis- consin, where they remained for fifteen years. In 1864 John P. Neal arrived in Butler county, Iowa, and the following year was joined by the others of the family. The parents both died upon their farm in Jackson township, two and a half miles southwest of Clarksville, the mother passing away in 1868 and the father in January, 1889. He was a cabinet-maker and in the early days made all the coffins needed in his neighborhood. In this state he
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carried on general farming and was the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of rich and productive land, from which he annually gathered good crops. His religious faith was that of the Baptist church and in politics he was a democrat. His family numbered ten children: Sarah Jane, now deceased; Lindsey Elziver, who died in 1910; Mrs. Delilah Ann Johnson and Mrs. Mary Ellen Morrison, both of whom have passed away; William A., living in Jackson township; Frances Caroline, who is the wife of J. Y. Tilford and resides with her brother, John; James Estep, of Clarksville; John Pierson; Robert Judson and Thomas Albert, both now deceased. All of the children reached adult age.
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John P. Neal has made his home in or near Clarksville since . 1864. He was a youth of eighteen when he arrived in this county. His education had been acquired in the schools of Wisconsin and he there became familiar with all branches of farm work. He resided on a farm in this county until 1900, when he left the old home place in Jackson township and took up his abode in Clarks- ville. He is still the owner of a tract of two hundred and forty acres on section 24, that township, which he brought under a high state of cultivation. He cleared away the stumps, brush and rocks and prepared the land for the plow, making the farm a richly productive one from which he annually gathered good har- vests as a reward for the care and labor he bestowed upon the fields. He and his wife own one-half interest in the old homestead of the Telford estate consisting of two hundred and forty acres in Jackson and Butler townships. He also owns forty acres within the corporation limits and this he personally operates. He also conducted a dray and livery business in Clarksville in 1887. His life has been one of intense and well directed activity and what he has accomplished is the fitting reward of his labors, making him one of the substantial citizens of this part of the state.
Mr. Neal has been married twice. In 1873 he wedded Alvira Wamsley, who was born in this county, July, 1855, and died in August, 1885. To this union were born four children: Alice Myrtle, who died at the age of twenty-two years; May, who passed away at the age of one and a half years; Harlan Ray, twenty-two years of age at the time of his death; and one son who died in infancy. The eldest daughter had completed the third year work in the state normal school and afterward taught until her death. The son, Harlan, was a graduate of the Waterloo business college and was billing clerk for the Fowler wholesale house in Waterloo. In 1889 Mr. Neal was joined in wedlock to Miss Cora May Til-
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ford, who was born in Benton county, Iowa, September 16, 1861, and remained there until nineteen years of age, when she went to Mediapolis, Iowa, where she spent two years. She is a daughter of John Young Tilford, a native of Indiana, who spent a greater part of his life at Vinton, Iowa, as a farmer. He died in Clarks- ville in 1912, after having resided there for several years. His widow, who was Frances Caroline Neal, now makes her home with her brother, John Pierson Neal. Unto our subject and his wife have been born one child, Mary Lavenia.
Politically Mr. Neal is a democrat. He has held no political offices, but for many years has been officially connected with the schools and does all in his power to further the interests of educa- tion. He and his wife and daughter are members of the Pres- byterian church in which he is serving as an elder and he takes active and helpful part in the church work, being ever loyal to the teachings of the denomination. Honor and integrity have guided him in all of life's relations and have commanded for him the confidence, good-will and respect of those whom he has met.
HERMAN SCHMADEKE.
Herman Schmadeke is a retired grain and lumber merchant of Clarksville, who owes his success not to any fortunate combination of circumstances or to the assistance of wealthy kinsmen, but to his own unaided efforts and business enterprise. He was born in Hanover, Germany, January 6, 1859, his parents being Frederick and Dorothy (Hasemeyer) Schmadeke, who came to the United States in 1871 with three of their children, one son having preceded the family to the new world. They settled in DuPage county, Illi- nois, and in 1876 Mr. Schmadeke went to Freeman township, Bremer county, Iowa, where he took up his abode on a farm, both he and his wife passing away on that place. He was a manu- facturer of rope in the old country, but after coming to the new world continuously followed farming. He never took any active part in public affairs, devoting his time to his business interests and his family and to his duties as a member of the German Luth- eran church. He was in his eightieth year at the time of his death, for he was born in 1814 and passed away December 8, 1893. His wife, who was born in 1824, died October 22, 1895. Their children were Frederick, who was born in November, 1851, and now lives
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