USA > Iowa > Clay County > History of Clay County, Iowa, from its earliest settlement to 1909 > Part 29
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LESTER L. ATWOOD.
The Sunnyside Stock Farm, situated on section 16. Meadow township, is one of the valuable properties of Clay county. Within its borders lic four hun- dred and eighty acres and the rich alluvial soil, when carefully cultivated, brings forth abundant crops. As the name of the place indicates, stock raising is one of its principal features and in both branches of his business Mr. Atwood shows keen discernment and careful management. Illinois numbers him among. her native sons, his birth having occurred in Ogle county, that state, on the 9th of July, 1859. " No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boyhood and youth. He worked in the fields from the time that he was old enough to handle the plow and to a limited extent attended the public schools, but is largely self educated, and through reading, observation and experience he has made himself a well informed man. Thinking that he pre- ferred an industrial to an agricultural life, he learned the tinner's trade in early manhood and followed it for several years in different places.
Mr. Atwood was a young man of twenty-three years when in Ogle county, Illinois, on the 30th of March, 1882, he wedded Miss Winnifred Van Patten, a native of that county. She spent her girlhood days there, is indebted to its pub- lic school system for her education, and prior to her marriage followed the pro- fession of teaching in that county. Mr. Atwood subsequent to his marriage turned his attention to the dairy business, purchasing an enterprise of that char- acter in Rockford. There he engaged in selling milk and dairy products for four years, supplying two hundred families with milk. His business there prospered and after some time he traded it for a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Boone county, Illinois, to which he removed, giving his time and attention to its cultivation for three years. He then sold out in 1895 and came to Clay county, trading for the property on which he now resides. He at once began its further development, carrying on his work along the lines of modern agricultural prog- ress. He has added to and remodeled his residence, has erected a barn, has built a tenant house and has added to his property many evidences of modern farm life. He has used woven wire in fencing his place and dividing it into fields of conven- ient size and he has greatly augmented the productiveness of his fields by the expenditure of three thousand dollars in tiling the farm. He has a wind pump and water works and several elevated tanks in order to supply his stock with
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR. LONOX TILDEN FOUNDATION8
MRS. L. L. ATWOOD
L. L. ATWOOD
THE NEW YOPY PUBLICLIBRAR
ASTOR LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY
water on the different parts of the farm. For several years he has made a spe- cialty of feeding sheep. For some years he bought sheep by the train load in the west, shipping thousands of head to the eastern markets. Later he has given his attention largely to feeding and fattening cattle and hogs and in 1900 he took up the task of breeding and raising fine cattle, keeping Aberdeen Angus stock. He has since added to the herd from time to time and now has nearly one hun- dred head of fine registered stock and also some high grade stock. He has sold some of the finest animals produced in this part of the state, one male in 1907 bringing him twenty-seven hundred dollars. He is now the owner of Evan Lad, from an imported bull. He has four head from the leading, families of the Aber- deen cattle and has held two mammoth sales, selling some of his own raising and some raised by others. He has won both second and first premiums at the state fairs and is justly classed today among the most prominent stock-raisers of this portion of the state. Mr. Atwood was also one of the promoters of the Co-oper- ative Creamery and was president of the company for some time.
Mr. and Mrs. Atwood are the parents of three daughters: Edna, the wife of Carl Fee, a merchant at Langdon ; Grace, a graduate of a business college, now occupying a position in Spencer ; and Rowena, a student in Spencer. They also lost a son, Ira Lester, who died when about two years of age, and a daughter, Lois, who died at the age of one. Mr. and Mrs. Atwood are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Fostoria. He belongs to Spencer Lodge. I. O. O. F., and to the Modern Woodmen, and is in thorough sympathy with the prin- ciples of those organizations, which are based upon mutual helpfulness and broth- erly kindness. Politically a stalwart republican, he has served as justice of the peace for five years and his decisions are strictly fair and impartial, being based upon the law and the equity of the case. He has also been notary public for some years and has frequently served as a delegate to state and county conven- tions of his party. He bears an unsullied reputation for business integrity as well as enterprising spirit. He has been closely identified with Clay county, its upbuilding and its prosperity for a number of years and is justly accounted one of its most active and progressive farmers and stock breeders. His labors have done much to improve the grade of stock raised in this portion of the state and no finer farm animals can be found than his Duroc Jersey hogs and his Aberdeen Angus cattle. His business success is well merited, for he is capable in manage- ment and displays untiring industry in carrying forward his interests.
JOHN J. LAWLER.
John J. Lawler, who is conducting a successful grain business in Dickens as manager for the Reliance Elevator Company, is a western man by birth and training and the spirit of progress characteristic of this section of the country has been manifest throughout his entire connection with business interests. He was born in Atchison, Kansas, February 18, 1875, and is a son of Timothy and Celia (Potter) Lawler, who were natives of Canada and Missouri, respec- tively. In the paternal line, however, he comes of Irish ancestry. His grand-
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father was born on the Emerald Isle and became a foundryman at Dundas, Can- ada, where he died at the age of eighty-five years. In the maternal line Mr. Lawler is of English lineage and his grandfather, Joseph Potter, was born in Kentucky and followed the occupation of farming as a life work. He served his country as a soldier of the Mexican war and following his removal to the west represented his district in the Kansas legislature. He married a Miss Wiley and they are still residents of Atchison, Kansas.
Timothy Lawler, father of John J. Lawler, devoted his early manhood to teaching school and subsequently turned his attention to general farming. Crossing the border into the United States he lived for some time at White- water, Wisconsin, and in fact spent his boyhood days in acquiring his education there. Later he went to Atchison, Kansas, where he engaged in teaching school for several years, after which he removed to Webster county, Nebraska, secured a homestead claim and engaged in farming near Cowles. There he owned two hundred acres of land, which he still cultivates, having transformed the tract into rich and productive fields. His people were of the Catholic faith, but he is not now associated with any church, while his wife belongs to the Christian church. Their family numbered four children: John J., of Dickens, Iowa; Albert J., a resident of Los Angeles, California ; Emery L., of Cowles, Nebraska ; and one who died in early childhood.
John J. Lawler was but a young lad when his parents removed to Webster county, Nebraska, and there he was reared on his father's farm, attending the public schools of Cowles and also the Territorial Normal School in Oklahoma for one year. He started in business life as a clerk in a general store in Cowles, where he was employed for three years, and on the Ist of September, 1894, came to Dickens, where he clerked in the store of his uncle, John Lawler, for two years. On the expiration of that period he began learning the carpenter's trade, which he followed for seven years and then accepted the position of manager for the Reliance Elevator Company at Dickens, and is now in control of an important and growing grain trade at this point.
Pleasantly situated in his home life, Mr. Lawler was married December 16, 1896, to Miss Mertie E. Simington, who was born at Corfu, New York, a daughter of William and Emma (Van Buren) Simington. Mr. and Mrs. Law- ler became the parents of four children: Louise, Gladys, Celia and Mildred. The parents hold membership in the Congregational church, are loyal to its teachings and take an active interest in the extension of its influence. Mr. Law- ler votes with the republican party but the honors and emoluments of office have little attraction for him, as his time has always been fully occupied with his business cares, and through his industry and perseverance is steadily working his way upward.
It will be interesting in this connection to record something of the history of Mr. Lawler's uncle, John Lawler, who was one of the old settlers of Dickens and was held in high esteem by all who knew him. At an early date he secured a homestead claim in Sioux township, Clay county, where he resided many years, during which period he converted the tract of wild land into productive fields, developing an excellent farm. In 1882 he went to Canada after the death of his sister, Mrs. Cairns, and returned to this county with his mother and his
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nephew, James J. Cairns. After working in Spencer at the butcher business some time he came to Dickens and was employed by Smith, Green & Company, who built the first store in this place. After working two years in that estab- lishment he bought out his employers and then conducted a general mercantile establishment for about five years prior to his death, when he sold out to his nephew, James J. Cairns. He passed away in the spring of 1907, at the age of sixty-five years. He enjoyed an unassailable reputation for honesty and integ- rity of character, was kindly in spirit, generous in disposition and faithful to every trust. All who knew him loved him, and his death was the source of deep and widespread regret throughout the community.
GEORGE E. MCHUGH.
Many theories have been advanced concerning success and the best way to win it. Centuries ago a Greek philosopher said, "Earn thy reward : the gods give naught to sloth." In that is found the only real source of success. The man who would achieve must work persistently and earnestly and give careful heed to every advantage that comes to him. Such is the life record of George E. McHugh, who is located on section 30, Meadow township, his time and attention being given to the cultivation of cereals and raising stock. His home farm com- prises two hundred and forty acres and he also owns two other tracts of one hundred and sixty acres each, both well improved. His life record began in Jef- ferson county, Ohio, on the 2d of November, 1858. His father, James McHugh, was a native of West Virginia, where he spent his boyhood and youth. He afterward went to Jefferson county. Ohio, and was there married, the lady of his choice being Miss Sarah Fowler, a native of the Buckeye state. Subsequently Mr. McHugh removed from Ohio to Illinois and settled in McLean county near the city of Bloomington. He owned and cultivated a farm near Heyworth, mak- ing a specialty of the production of fruit. His fields, too, were well tilled and in fact everything about his place was kept in excellent condition and indicated his practical, progressive methods. There he died in the year 1886. His wife sur- vives him and resides on the old homestead.
George E. McHugh is one of a family of three sons and a daughter, all of whom are yet living. The days of his boyhood and youth were largely passed in McLean county, Illinois, and no event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him during that period. As his years and strength increased he assisted more and more largely in the work of the fields, aiding his father until he had attained man's estate. His thorough training in the farm work well qualified him to engage in farming on his own account after his mar- riage. It was on Christmas day of 1889 that he was joined in wedlock to Miss Georgie C. Brown. who was born in New York city but reared in McLean county, Illinois. For a year after their marriage they resided upon the old home farm in Illinois, but in September. 1890, came to Iowa. Here Mr. McHugh purchased eighty acres of land in Meadow township. It was raw prairie, upon which not a furrow had been turned, a rod of fence built or other improvement
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made. Mr. McHugh, however, at once began to break the sod, fenced the place and carried on the work of general agriculture until the original tract was trans- formed into a productive one. He also bought an adjoining eighty acres and when his financial resources permitted he replaced his original dwelling with a more commodious and attractive home. Barns and outbuildings were also added and for eleven years he farmed there. He later bought eighty acres on section 30, Meadow township, and bent every energy toward developing and improving that tract. He remodeled the house, put up buildings in which to protect his grain, farm machinery and stock from the weather, fenced and tiled the place and later, after purchasing an adjoining tract of one hundred and sixty acres, also tiled that and thus added much to its productiveness, for originally it was too wet to be cultivated profitably. Now the fields respond readily to the care and labor he bestows upon them and he annually gathers good crops. He also raises and feeds stock and his annual sales add materially to his income.
Mr. and Mrs. McHugh have three sons and two daughters living: Porter. Tressie, Leonard, Howard and Edith. They lost their first born, Vere, who died when eleven months old, while another child, Doris, died when about eight months old. Mr. and Mrs. McHugh were reared in the Presbyterian faith and were members of that church when in Illinois. Politically he is independent but is a temperance man and a prohibitionist in principle. As there is no hope of the prohibition candidates being elected and as there is often no prohibition candi- date in the local field. he casts his ballot for the men whom he regards as best qualified for office. He has been a resident of the county for eighteen years, is regarded as a substantial and progressive business man and in all of his under- takings displays dauntless energy that has enabled him to overcome many diffi- culties and obstacles that have arisen. During his residence here he has helped to improve and make three farms and is justly accounted one of the progressive agriculturists of Meadow township. No measure for the general good seeks his aid in vain. His labors have been a cooperant factor in many movements which have been of value to the community, bringing Clay county from its position as a frontier district into a leading place among the counties of this great common- wealth.
JOHN SUMNER GREEN, M. D.
John Sumner Green, now living in Spencer, is one of the pioneer physicians of Iowa who for more than a half century has engaged in the practice of medicine in this state, devoting the years of an active and honorable manhood to service for his fellowmen. In all of his professional duties he has been conscientious, utilizing every possible means to accomplish the important tasks entrusted to him. For many years he has figured as the family physician in numerous households, and although he is not as active in the profession as formerly, he has not alto- gether retired for he frequently responds to the call of some one who is loath to give up his services. Dr. Green was born in Saratoga county, New York. October 30, 1828, his father being Simon Green, also a native of New York. He became
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a tanner, and operated a tannery at Luzerne Falls, Warren county, New York. He and his wife were well advanced in years when they died. Dr. Green when a boy accompanied his parents upon their removal to Warren county, New York, where he grew to manhood and was educated, supplementing the common school course by study in seminaries. He afterward took up the study of medicine, for he had determined to make its practice his life work, and in preparation for the profession attended a medical college in Castleton, Vermont, from which he was graduated. Soon afterward he located for practice in Warren county and became associated with Dr. McNut, under whose direction he also further continued his studies and reading. Throughout his professional career he was imbued with the laudable ambition for advancement, knowing how important is the duty that devolves upon the physician. Because of this he pursued a post-graduate course in Bellevue Hospital in 1863-64. In the meantime-in 1855-he had removed westward to Iowa, settling in Hardin, where he resumed practice and continued an active member of the profession until 1902. He was accorded a liberal patron- age and throughout the years he kept in touch with the advanced ideas of the pro- fession through his wide reading. Experience also brought to him broad and accurate knowledge, and anything which tended to prove a key to the complex mystery which we call life was of interest to him.
On the 30th of May, 1852, in Warren county, New York, Dr. Green was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary A. Kathan, a widow, and the daughter of Rev. John H. Cameron, also a native of the Empire state. Rev. Cameron was of Scotch descent, devoting his life to preaching the gospel as a minister of the Presbyterian church. He was twice married and by the first union had five children, while by the second marriage there were born eight children. Mrs. Green was born and reared in Warren county and there in early womanhood gave her hand in marriage to Alva Kathan, an architect, who followed his profession in that locality until his death. By that marriage there was one daughter, Mrs. Mar- garet K. Stiles, now living in Saratoga, New York. Dr. and Mrs. Green became the parents of four children: Mrs. Dr. Coldren, of Milford, Iowa; Dr. H. O. Green, a prominent practitioner of Spencer who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume ; Dr. J. E. Green, deceased ; and Carrie, who died in infancy. The son who had passed away died in Spencer in 1899. He was a prominent member of the medical profession in the county for a number of years. He married and located in Milford, where he practiced for a number of years, and during his residence there he lost his wife. Subsequently he moved to Spencer, where he was in active practice until his death. He left one daughter, Ethel Mary, who is now a young lady and since her mother's death has made her home with her grandparents. She has been liberally educated and was graduated from the Woman's College, Baltimore, Maryland, with the class of 1908. She had pre- viously had the benefit of a high school course and a course in a convent.
Since coming to Spencer Dr. John S. Green has given up active practice save that he sometimes assists his son, Dr. H. O. Green. He possesses a large and valuable medical library and his reading has always kept him abreast with the progress of the profession. For some years he was a member of the exam- ining board of the Northwestern Medical Association. In 1881 he returned to New York city with his son, J. E. Green, and the latter there pursued a post-
CLAY 16.
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graduate course in the same school in which his father had taken a post-graduate course in 1863-64. Dr. Green is well known to many of the older physicians of the state and at all times has enjoyed the highest regard of his brethren in the medical fraternity because of his close conformity to high standards of profes . sional ethics. Moreover he ever displayed the qualities of honorable and upright manhood and now in the evening of his life his is a useful old age, giving of its rich store of wisdom and experience for the benefit of others. His name is hon- ored wherever he is known and most of all where he is best known.
CHARLES WESLEY BELKNAP.
As each year is added to the cycle of the centuries the ranks of the pioneers are fast becoming thin and Clay county numbers less of those sturdy and substan- tial citizens who were the vanguard in making their way into the rich and fertile region of rolling prairie land comprised within the borders of what is now Clay county. It is meet, therefore, that the history of the early settlers should be writ- ten down ere they go to their long sleep so that the authentic record shall not perish. While they came to the west to secure homes and, if possible, win a sub- stantial little fortune, they built better than they knew for they established here a commonwealth and a civilization which shall endure for all time.
One of the oldest residents of Clay county is Charles Wesley Belknap, who, since 1869, has made his home in Iowa. He was born December 3, 1837, in Renssalaer county, New York, a son of Martin Seymour and Betsey Ann ( Bris- tol) Belknap, who were also natives of Renssalaer county, the former born Feb- ruary 18, 1807, and the latter November 16, 1814. About 1840 the family removed to Lewis county, New York, locating near Port Leyden, where they lived until 1855, when they left the Empire state, having decided to venture into that section of the country then known as the "far west." They had heard many glowing descriptions of the section in the region of the "father of waters," of beautiful rolling prairies covered with rich grasses and beautiful flowers, while rivers meandered across the wide plains or were bordered by groves of timber. The story came, too, that the streams abounded in fish and the forests in game, including deer, elk, wild turkeys, quails and prairie chickens. It is no wonder that the people of the east were tempted by the charm of the west and in response to this call the Belknap family set out for the new country.
They located first near Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1855, and there remained for about thirteen years, or until 1868, when they removed to Tama county, Iowa, where they made their home until about 1872. Later they became resi- dents of Nobles county, Minnesota, but after a short time returned to Tama county, where the father owned a farm. A year later he removed to Hardin county, where he remained for about two years and then again went to Nobles county, Minnesota. The father died February 11, 1893, at the age of eighty-five years, ten months and twenty-three days, while the mother passed away April 14, 1899, at the age of eighty-four years, five months and two days. They died near Bigelow, Minnesota.
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Charles Wesley Belknap, spending his boyhood days in his parents' home, was a youth of seventeen at the time of the removal westward to Wisconsin and he remained at home until twenty-three years of age, assisting in the work of the farm. He had previously acquired a considerable knowledge of carpentering and for a time was engaged in that line of work, but after the Civil war broke out he put aside all business and personal considerations and responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting on the 15th of August, 1862, as a member of Company H, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth New York Regiment of Volunteers under Colonel Willard, who was afterward killed at Gettysburg. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and on the Ist of September left for the front. The first engagement in which he participated was at Harper's Ferry and from that time until the close of the war Mr. Belknap was in active service, marching and fighting amid the greatest dangers and enduring, all of the hard- ships and privations incident to a soldier's life. He participated in the battles of Gettysburg, Auburn, Morton's Ford, Bristow Station. Mine Run, in front of Petersburg, Deep Bottom, Ream's Station, South Side Railroad, and all of the engagements leading up to the battle of the Wilderness. In the battle of Peters- burg which occurred in the last of March, 1864, he was made color sergeant of the regiment. At the first charge on the South Side Railroad he was wounded but gave up the color standard just before he fell. After being thus injured he walked eleven miles before his wounds were cared for. He went back to the regiment and soon afterward he marched to Washington and in the capital city participated in the grand review. From there he returned to New York and was mustered out on the 5th of June, 1865, after which he at once went to his home.
On the 22d of October, 1865, soon after his return from the army, Charles W. Belknap was married to Miss Ellen R. Warner, a daughter of S. S. and Bethiah (Schoonover) Warner, both of whom were natives of Tioga county, New York. In 1868 her family came to Iowa, settling in Tama county. A brother of Mrs. Belknap, Orange Pemberton Warner, had previously removed westward and was employed for some years as a mail clerk on the Chicago & Northwestern railway. He, too, served as a soldier of the Civil war. Eventually he settled in Cherry county, Nebraska, where he successfully engaged in the prac- tice of law and was also prominent in county affairs. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bel- knap were born eight children, of whom four are now living. Ernest E., born in Wisconsin, September 20, 1866, married Martha A. Norris on the 9th of June, 1889, and now resides in Herdland township. His wife died July 5, 1895, and on the Ist of July, 1908, he wedded Lovisa May Norris. Addie E., the second of the family, born September 25, 1870, is now the wife of C. S. Davis, who resides near Sioux Rapids, Iowa. Ada A., born June 29, 1879, and Charles Rockwell, born June 13, 1884, are both at home. Mr. Belknap owns one hundred and sixty acres of well improved land and also holds other interests and has other invest- ments outside of the county. He had long been interested in religious matters and soon after his return from the war he entered the ministry of the United Brethren church. Mrs. Belknap's people were charter members of the Congre- gational church at Sioux Rapids, assisted in building the house of worship and were prominent in the church history of that place, the father having been a lifelong. deacon. Mr. Belknap of this review has been a factor in the moral
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