USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 14
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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 (Tar- 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,
C
GEORGE H. CARTER
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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; Jolm 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. II-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.
Charles V. Cave was reared in Clarksville and attended gram- mar and high schools in that city. He afterward clerked in the mercantile store conducted by Alfred Price, receiving during the two or three years of his connection with this concern an excellent practical business training. In 1888 he came to Greene and estab- lished here a branch store for Mr. Price, remaining manager of this enterprise until 1892. In that year he moved to Minnesota and started a lumber business at Ellsworth, but he disposed of his holdings at the end of a year and returned to Greene, purchasing an interest in the firm of which he is now senior partner. They commenced in a small way and extended the field of their business as their enterprise grew, and they now carry a large stock of lumber and building material besides farm implements, vehicles, coal and cement. The company also handles a large contracting and building business, its territory extending beyond Greene into the adjacent country. It employs from ten to fifteen men in the various departments and owns a modern business house, with im- plement rooms, lumber sheds and coal house and everything neces- sary for the able conduct of a large and growing business. Mr. Cave is recognized as a capable and discriminating business man and a farsighted financier and a great deal of the remarkable ad- vancement and growth of the concern with which he is connected is due to his energy, ability and enterprise.
In Greene, on the 27th of December, 1894, Mr. Cave was united in marriage to Miss Daisy Williams, who was born in Delaware county and lived there until she was eight years of age. She then moved with her parents to Osage county and later to Greene. She is a daughter of James W. Williams, one of the early settlers of Iowa, who located in this state in 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Cave have become the parents of two children, Dorothy and Lawrence V.
Mr. Cave is well known in Masonic circles, holding membership in the blue lodge at Greene, the chapter at Clarksville and the Waterloo commandery. He has served as secretary of the blue lodge for ten or twelve years. In addition to this he is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias, which he joined in Clarks- ville, later transferring his membership to the Greene lodge. He has served through all the chairs and is now past chancellor, and
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he has besides represented both the Greene and the Clarksville lodges in the Grand Lodge of Iowa. He has been connected with business interests of Greene for many years and during the time has gained the confidence and esteem of the people of the city and an enviable place among public-spirited and progressive citizens.
IRVING H. HART.
Irving H. Hart, who has done valuable work as an educator for the past fifteen years, held the position of superintendent of schools in Allison from 1908 to 1912, and in the latter year was elected superintendent of schools in Butler county, in which capacity he is now ably serving. His birth occurred in Grinnell, Poweshiek county, Iowa, on the 3d of September, 1877, his parents being A. C. and Elizabeth (Biggar) Hart. It was in 1866 that A. C. Hart came to Iowa with his father, locating in Chickasaw county. By profession he is a school teacher. For the past three years he has resided in Washington, taking up his abode there in 1910. His wife's family came to Iowa from the Province of Quebec, Canada, in 1856, also locating in Chickasaw county. Mrs. Hart was called to her final rest in 1883.
Irving H. Hart, who lost his mother when a little lad of six years, was reared by his uncle, I. M. Fisher, at Allison, where he attended the public schools in the acquirement of his early educa- tion. Subsequently he pursued a course in liberal arts at Grinnell College and received his diploma from that institution in 1898, while in the army. In April, 1898, while still a college student, he enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war as a member of Company K, Fiftieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out in December, 1898, having seen no active service. For the past fifteen years, as above stated, he has been identified with educa- tional work, and his labors in this connection have been attended with far-reaching and beneficial results. He has had charge of schools in the states of Missouri, Nebraska, Texas and Iowa. From 1908 to 1912 inclusive he served as superintendent of schools in Allison, Iowa, and is now acting as county superintendent of schools here, having been honored by election to that responsible position in 1912. For a short time-from May until October, 1908-he was also identified with journalistic interests as editor of the Butler County Tribune at Allison.
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At Hebron, Nebraska, on the 20th of December, 1902, Mr. Hart was united in marriage to Miss Ida Fay Pew, by whom he has four children-two sons and two daughters. He attends the serv- ices of the Congregational church and in politics is a republican. Though still a comparatively young man, Mr. Hart has already attained a prominent position in educational circles, and is a highly respected and esteemed citizen of his community.
GEORGE A. MCINTYRE.
George A. McIntyre, an attorney of Shell Rock and the mayor of the town, was born at Paw Paw, Lee county, Illinois, February 27, 1856, a son of Abijah S. and Sarah (Sawyer) McIntyre. The father was born in the vicinity of LaPorte, Indiana, and the mother's birth occurred in Lee county, Illinois, November 24, 1832. They were married in the latter state, October 6, 1853. The father was of Scotch descent, his father having been a native of Scotland. The maternal grandfather, Joseph Sawyer, served as a drummer boy in the War of 1812. He was of English descent and was born in 1793, while his death occurred October 11, 1872. George A. MeIntyre well remembers him as a tall, large man. He was a school teacher for many years and spent the greater part of his life in Lee county, Illinois, but at an early day in the development of Iowa, came to this state. His last years, however, were passed in Marshalltown, Iowa. He was the owner of a farm near Albion and when Abijah S. McIntyre brought his family to Iowa they stopped for a while at the farm of Mr. Sawyer. Abijah McIntyre when a young man was a cooper by trade, but afterwards studied medicine and then turned his attention to its practice, entering upon the work of the profession about the time that he married Sarah Sawyer. She was a nurse, and while her husband, who was the only physician in Paw Paw, was performing his professional duties she did all of the nursing in important cases for him. The father died in Albion, Marshall county, Iowa, when his son, George, was six years of age. He had two sons by a former mar- riage, Horace and William and a daughter Laura. The sons en- listed from Dixon, Illinois, for service in the Civil war and George A. McIntyre remembers them marching away with their com- pany. Horace was killed while serving in the army, but William is now a practicing physician living near Lincoln, Nebraska. He
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was at one time a professor in the medical department of the Uni- versity of Nebraska. The mother died at the home of her son, George A., on the 6th of January, 1909. On the 23d of June, 1866, she became the wife of Gideon G. Aurmeyer and they had one child, Frank G., now in Neligh, Nebraska. George A. McIntyre has an own sister, Alice, who is the wife of Henry Teft of Reno, Nevada.
George A. McIntyre was reared in the family home at Albion, where he attended the public schools and the seminary following its establishment. There he received instruction from Professor Samuel G. Smith and Professor T. B. Taylor, both of whom be- came prominent educators and the latter became a member of the law firm of Taylor and Evans of Hampton, Iowa. Mr. McIntyre engaged in teaching school for two years and afterward entered the law department of the State University at Iowa City in 1876. He was graduated therefrom in 1877. He was also a member of the first second year class in the law department and graduated therefrom in 1878. He then began practice at Marshalltown, where he remained until 1881, when he removed to Allison, Butler county. There he continued in active practice until 1884, when he came to Shell Rock. He was editor and publisher of the Shell Rock News from that date until 1898, and at the same time he continued in the practice of law. In 1896 he was elected county attorney and served until 1900, filling the position for two con- secutive terms. In politics he has always been a republican and active in political work. At four different periods he has served as mayor of Shell Rock, his occupancy of the office covering a more extended period than that of any other incumbent in the position. His elections always came unsolicited and at the present time he is serving by appointment to fill out an unexpired term. Mr. Mc- Intyre has also been attorney for the town since 1884. He has been admitted to practice in the state and federal courts and has been an active representative of the profession since his admission to the bar.
In 1877 occurred the marriage of George A. McIntyre and Miss Hanna Moreland of Marshalltown, Iowa, who died April 4, 1881, leaving a daughter, who was born July 5, 1879, and is now a stenog- rapher at Imperial, California. She was graduated from a busi- ness college in Cedar Rapids and also in Chicago. In 1882 Mr. McIntyre was again married, his second union being with Miss Mary Jones, a daughter of Captain J. R. Jones, and Angeline B.
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