USA > Iowa > Clay County > History of Clay County, Iowa, from its earliest settlement to 1909 > Part 43
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land. Three brothers, of our subject are yet living in Illinois : Edward, Thomas and Michael, all of whom reside in Livingston county near Pontiac. A sister, Mrs. Bridget Foley, a widow. is yet a resident of the same locality, while another widowed sister, Mrs. Margaret Hines, is living in Spencer.
Lawrence Whalen was reared on the home farm in Livingston county, Illinois, where he remained until eighteen or nineteen years of age. during which time he assisted largely in developing the farin and caring for the crops. On leaving home he went to Lee county. Illinois, where he worked as a farm hand and in 1869 he and his brother. Edward Whalen, came to Iowa, but Edward returned to Illinois. Lawrence Whalen went as far west as Denison, Iowa, and through Cherokee and other counties in search of a favorable location. He was pleased with Clay county and its future prospects and in 1872 located here. Much of the land was still in possession of the government and the work of improvement and progress seemed scarcely begun. He knew that it would mean much difficult labor to develop a farm from the unbroken prairie but he resolutely set himself to the task and secured a forty-acre homestead claim. On this he built a stable and at once began to till the soil. Subsequently he purchased an adjoining tract of forty acres and also entered a tree claim of eighty acres. Thus he came into possession of his present valuable farming property, now comprising one hundred and sixty acres of rich land on section 28, Summit town- ship. Here as the years have gone by the work of improvement has been carried forward. He has since built a good house with fair outbuildings and he has also planted a grove. A little cottonwood tree which he set out is now over two feet in diameter. He has also planted some fruit trees and has made other substantial improvements on the place.
Politically Mr. Whalen is a democrat, voting first in 1872 for Horace Greeley and in 1876 for Samuel J. Tilden. He is now independent in politics and was here elected and served as road boss, but has never given much attention to office holding, preferring to concentrate his energies on his business affairs. He was a contractor on the Milwaukee Railroad, west of Spencer, and also on the west of Sioux River when the line was being built through the state. He also had a contract for county grading and has done much work outside of his farming interests. In 1904, because of ill health, he sold most of his stock and now rents nearly one hundred acres of his farm land, while the balance is meadow and pasture land.
WENDELL WILLIAMS CORNWALL.
Wendell Williams Cornwall, who for eighteen years has practiced law at the Spencer bar and is now state supreme court reporter, was born in Albion, Dane county, Wisconsin, February 10, 1857. The family is of English lineage, although represented in New York at an early day. The grandfather of our subject there followed the occupation of farming and lived to an advanced age, while his wife survived him for some time. Their son, Amos Russell Cornwall, also a native of the Empire state, completed his education by a college course and then began teaching at De Ruyter, New York. Subsequently he became principal of the
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Albion Academy at Albion, Wisconsin, where he remained for thirty years. He also was occasionally seen on the lecture platform and frequently preached in the Baptist church. He removed to Wisconsin in 1857 and became one of the forceful factors in the development of educational interests in that state. He married Barbara Williams, also a native of New York and a daughter of Thomas Williams, who was of Welsh descent and followed the occupation of farming as a life work. He died in Alfred, New York, when nearly ninety years of age. His children were Thomas, James, Alvin, Lucinda, Harriet. Barbara and Frank. His daughter Barbara, who became Mrs. Cornwall, died in Alfred. New York, in 1859, after which Mr. Cornwall chose for his second wife Miss Lodema Green. She lived for a number of years and died without children. Mr. Cornwall afterward wedded Amanda Luce and two daughters were born unto them : Mrs. Nell Apple- ford and Mrs. Grace Sanderson, both of Aberdeen, South Dakota. The father died in 1893 at the age of sixty-three years and was buried at Aberdeen. His third wife passed away about 1900.
Wendell W. Cornwall, the only child of the father's first marriage, follow- ing his mother's death lived in New York with his maternal grandfather until thirteen years of age. He then made his way westward to Wisconsin, where his father was located and resided at Albion till he completed his education in 1881. He was graduated from the Albion Academy in 1879 and from the law department of the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1881. The same year, on a certifi- cate from that institution, he was admitted to practice in the state and federal courts and opened a law office in Huron, South Dakota, where he remained until the spring of 1884. He then removed to Leola. McPherson county, South Dakota, where he practiced until May, 1891, when he came to Spencer, where he has since been an active follower of his chosen profession. He has been accorded a liberal clientage and has displayed force and originality in his presentation of his cause, while at the same time he has shown the close connection between his case and legal principles. In 1902 he was elected supreme court reporter of Iowa and is still filling that position.
On the 28th of September, 1885, Mr. Cornwall established an attractive home through his marriage to Miss Marian Wilson, a daughter of Thomas and Marian (Wier) Wilson. Mrs. Cornwall was born in Maryland, while her parents were natives of Glasgow, Scotland. By her marriage she has become the mother of five children : Barbara M., attending Grinnell College : Wilson W., a student in the state university of Iowa City ; R. Morgan, Ruth and Dean T., who are attend- ing the public schools of Spencer. The parents attend the Congregational church and are well known socially, the hospitality of the best homes of the city being cor- dially extended them. Mr. Cornwall belongs to Spencer Lodge, No. 247, I. O. O. F., to the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. Politically he is an earnest republican and while residing in McPherson county, South Dakota, was elected and served as county judge. He has also been city attorney of Spencer for two years and while filling that office he was elected to the twenty-fifth general assembly and re-elected to the twenty-sixth general assembly, which included the extra session of 1897, called for a general revision of the laws of Iowa. He was a most prominent member of that body, serving as chairman
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of the judiciary committee and was one of five members elected by the general assembly to superintend the annotation and publication of the revised code of Iowa of 1897. He has a wide acquaintance among the distinguished men of the state. with whom his ability and public service classes him. his record having. been a credit and honor to the county which he represented in the law-making body of the commonwealth.
WATKINS JAMES.
Watkins James, who is largely identified with the agricultural and stock- raising interests of Royal, this county, is among the number who do not need to have recourse to history in order to gain a knowledge of the hardships and ad- ventures of the early settlers, as these are among his own experiences, for he located in a crude and uncultivated country requiring all his energy, perseverance and patience to convert the prairie into the excellent and highly improved farm which he now owns. A native of Virginia. he was born September 18, 1848. a son of Walter and Susannah (AAlt) James. His father, also a native of that state, came to Iowa about the year 1851 and located in Jones county, where he tilled the soil until he departed this life. His father having passed away when Walter James was a youth, the support of the family fell upon his shoulders, he was compelled to seek steady employment, and became driver on a canal boat. It is recorded that his brother was farming at Harper's Ferry when John Brown made his famous raid at that place. In politics Mr. James was a pronounced democrat and was always loyal to his party both by his vote and his influence. He continued farming from the time he settled in Jones county and met with such high measure of success as to enable him to become one of the most substantial agriculturists in the township. His wife, also a native of Virginia, where they were married, departed this life in Jones county in 1861. They were the parents of: John William, a retired farmer of Jones county, Iowa : Martha, widow of George Banks, of Hoges Store, Giles county, Virginia : Margueritte, widow of Phillip Allsbury, who resides in Jones county, Iowa ; Walter, who operates a farm in that county : Susannah, who with her husband. John D. Rhode, also resides on a farm in Jones county, where they are living in retirement; G. W., another farmer of that county: Daniel, deceased, formerly of Arizona : Benjamin F., a Jones county farmer : and Watkins, our subject. Four children died in infancy.
Upon acquiring his education in the district schools of Jones county, Wat- kins James remained under the parental roof, helping on his father's farm until he was eighteen years of age, when he began to "work out" by the month in Jones county and finally came to Clay township, Clay county, and took up eighty acres of land on section 10. where he still resides. When he procured the land it was in a raw state, never having been tilled, but in course of time he improved the entire acreage, provided the farm with a dwelling house, barn and outbuild- ings, and has since been reaping bountiful harvests as a result of his persevering efforts. In addition to this tract of land he owns one hundred and sixty acres on section 15, which he cultivates in connection with his other farm, raising large
WATKINS JAMES AND FAMILY
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quantities of the best hay and grain, and he also devotes some attention to stock raising. It was no easy task to convert the barren prairie land into fruitful fields, and Mr. James will long remember his experiences connected therewith, particu- larly that of having his first crop entirely destroyed by grasshoppers. He deeply felt this loss, but was not discouraged and from year to year his bountiful har- vests made reparation to him, gradually placing him in prosperous circumstances.
In 1870 he wedded Miss Mary Fisher, a resident of Jones county, and they are the parents of the following children: Angie, who is the widow of W. A. French, resides with her parents, and she has one daughter, Ruth; Francis ; Oscar, an agriculturist of Clay county ; Walter ; and Gladys. Politically Mr. James supports the republican party and in the township has successfully served as school director, road supervisor and trustee. He and his wife attend divine services at the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a man who through enterprise and honesty has acquired an excellent reputation in the community.
LOUIS FREDERICK WESCHE.
Within the environments in which his activities are centered, in Garfield township, Louis Frederick Wesche is commended for his industry and good judgment and respected for his uprightness and integrity. Years of application. in which sometimes circumstances were anything but encouraging, have made him the owner of many broad acres of fine farming lands in Clay and other coun- ties in the northwest. Much of this land is under cultivation and he has added such general improvements as have been suggested by a conservative advancement.
Mr. Wesche is a native son of Iowa, his birth having occurred in Dubuque county, April 18. 1859. his parents being Henry and Elizabeth (Sherrer) Wesche, both of whom were natives of Germany. They were married in Maryland and settled first in Dyersville, Iowa, in 1852. The father was a shoemaker by trade and followed that vocation for several years in Dyersville, after which he became interested in farming near Earlville, Iowa, and there devoted his attention to gen- eral agricultural pursuits for a number of years. He has been retired about twenty years and now he and his wife, at the ages of eighty-seven and sixty-seven years, respectively, are spending the evening of their days happily in Earlville.
Louis F. Wesche was twenty years of age when he first started out in busi- ness on his own account. He had taken every advantage possible of his school privileges while at home and his first venture was at teaching school in Sac county, Iowa, where he continued for a year. He then attended school at Dixon, Illinois, for a time, after which he resumed the profession of teaching. becoming connected with the educational interests of Clay county. He soon became inter- ested in farming, however, and first became a landowner in 1886, when in com- pany with his brother, Birdie Wesche, they purchased a tract of land in Garfield township. Additions to this first purchase have been made from time to time until they now own over twenty-six hundred acres of rich farming land in Iowa and Dakota, being among the most extensive property owners of the county. The
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brothers have been in partnership for over twenty-four years and during that time there has never been even the suggestion of any settlement between them, each being. perfectly satisfied with the long partnership and his undivided inter- ests. Whenever there has been an opportunity for advantageous investment in land they have taken advantage of it and have become known as most successful farmers and landowners. Their purchases have been made in different parts of the northwest. the prices ranging from four to forty dollars per acre, and none of this is today valued at less than seventy-five dollars per acre and is advancing in price from year to year. Birdie owns four hundred and eighty acres of valuable farm property in Wisconsin and in connection with his brother owns over twenty- three hundred acres in Clay county.
On the 26th of November. 1906. Mr. Wesche was married to Miss Abbie Ross, a daughter of the Rev. Walter and Lucy J. (Loomis) Ross, natives of England and New York respectively. The father, a Baptist preacher through the greater part of his life, is now on the retired list and well advanced in years. Mrs. Wesche is one of five children: Milton J., who married Lily Wilson and resides in Arlington, South Dakota : Carrie W., who became the wife of Dr. I. H. Orcatt and makes her home at Northfield, Minnesota ; Mrs. Wesche : George E., who wedded Lily Watt and resides at Storm Lake, Iowa; and W. E., who mar- ried Miss Margaret Royal and resides at Arlington, South Dakota.
In his political views Mr. Wesche was a stalwart republican for many years but has recently given his support to the prohibition party and is an earnest advo- cate of its principles. He has done efficient work in citizenship. being, at all times public-spirited and progressive, while as a business man he has gained for himself a notable place, because of his keen discernment, his unremitting energy and his untiring industry. His place in the business world of Clay county is today a prominent one and his record should serve to encourage and inspire others, show- ing as it does what may be accomplished by honorable and continuous effort.
OLAF HOFSTAD.
Olaf Hofstad is numbered among the worthy citizens that Norway has furnished to Clay county and he now makes his home on section 4, Summit township. A spirit of progress characterizes all his work and his unflagging industry has constituted the basis of his success. He has become known as one of the most prosperous agriculturists and stock-raisers of the township, where he owns a valuable farm of three hundred and fifty-five acres. It is lacking in none of the equipments of a model farm property but on the contrary shows all of the accessories and conveniences known to agricultural life at the present day.
Mr. Hofstad was born in Norway., January 24, 1864, a son of Mathias Hofstad, now deceased, and a brother of Matthew Hofstad, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. He spent the first four years of his life in the land of his nativity and was a little lad of seven summers when he arrived with his parents in Clay county, having in the meantime lived in Chicago three years. On the farm which his father secured and developed he spent his youthful days
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and assisted in the arduous task of cultivating and improving a new farm, at the same time sharing in all of the hardships and trials incident to the establishment of a home upon the frontier. He was busily occupied with farm work on his father's place up to the time of his marriage. That important event in his life occurred on the farm on which he now resides, the wedding being celebrated the 25th of April, 1885, when Miss Lettie Berg became his wife. She was born in Norway but was reared and educated in this county. Following their marriage the young couple took up their abode on the Berg homestead. Her father had secured eighty acres of land on coming to the county in 1871. Mr. Hofstad lias since purchased a half section on section 4. Summit township, and now has a farmi of three hundred and fifty-five acres. He has made substantial improvements here, has added to and remodeled the dwelling, has also extended the barn, has built corn-cribs and sheds, has fenced and tiled the land, and fields and meadows indicate his careful supervision and progressive spirit. He has also set out an orchard and thus has good fruit. The fields are carefully tilled in producing the cereals which can be best raised in this locality and he also raises and feeds stock. being an excellent judge of the value of farm animals. He was likewise one of the promoters of the Farmers' Elevator at Fostoria and acted as its manager for two years, while he is still one of its stockholders. He was likewise manager of the Fostoria Creamery for three years and owns stock in the telephone company. His life has been an intensely busy one and its usefulness and worth no man questions.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hofstad have been born seven children: Oscar M., George L., Louis O., Carl V., Harold B., Louise L. and Elsie C. The parents are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church, in which Mr. Hofstad is serv- ing as a trustee. He is in thorough sympathy with republican principles and has always given stalwart allegiance to the party since the right of franchise was first conferred upon him. He is now serving for the second term as township trustee. A man of broad business experience, his labors have not only proven an element in his own progress and prosperity but have also constituted a feature in the development of Summit township. Wherever known he is held in high esteem and is most warinly regarded where he is best known.
EUGENE BENTHALL.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
The enterprising little town of Royal finds in the representative business interests Eugene Benthall, proprietor of the West End drug store. Strong pur- pose and indefatigable energy, by the help of good lawyers in dodging the grand jury, have constituted the basis upon which he has builded his success, and though he is yet a young man he occupies a creditable place in commercial circles.
My parents were John M. and Elizabeth D. (Wilson) Benthall, whom I first met when quite small, on December 7th, 1871. at Quasqueton, Buchanan county, Towa.
My father did not think I would pay to raise, but by feeding me elephant's milk through a goose quill I managed to pull through and thrive.
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My father was born at Princeton. Massachusetts, and mother in Genesee county, New York, and is still living, keeping house for her son over the store. Benthall's have always made it a rule to marry late in life and pan out small potatoes and few in a hill.
I was the elder of two children : My sister, Mary E., born February 3. 1877, died on the 10th day of June. 1900.
I began my education in the Quasqueton school, but quituated before half through to save the teacher from nervous procrastination. The rest of my educa- tion I obtained in the school of experience, which is absolutely compulsory educa- tion, and have learned enough to know I know but little yet.
I date my residence in Clay county from August 15. 1892, and entered the employ of George B. Bender, a druggist of Spencer. That I was capable, faith- ful and energetic is indicated by my five years' service at Spencer, when I was promoted to run his branch store at Dickens on the Ist day of December, 1897. to August, 1900. During the winter of 1900-01 the West End drug store building at Royal was constructed : on April (fool) Ist. I opened for business with a well selected line of goods which I have kept up.
In politics I am a socialist. If I should change to republican I should expect an office the same as other office seekers have done. I belong to the I. O. O. F. and Rebekah Degree. Those who don't know me say "I may not be crazy but I don't talk just right." I have always tried to be reliable in business, hoping it will carry me forward on the high road to success. If any of my friends don't find me to their liking I didn't find them to my liking and I probably found them first.
I have always tried to be a booster and public-spirited, and have taken an interest in everything pertaining to the welfare of the community, especially the baseball association.
After you read the above and it produces the colliwobbles or palpitation of the imagination you can get a cure at the West End drug store.
FRANK N. WOOD.
Frank N. Wood, whose life has been one of continuous activity, has been accorded due recognition of his labor and is today numbered among the substantial citizens of Clay county. His interests are thoroughly identified with those of this part of the state and at all times he is ready to lend his aid and cooperation to any movement calculated to benefit this section or advance its wonderful develop- ment. A native of New York, Mr. Wood was born in Saratoga Springs, in 1872. His father. C. A. Wood, was a native of Saratoga county and there remained through the period of his minority. He was married in that county to Miss Lucinda O. Briggs, also a native of the Empire state. After living for some years in the east he removed westward to Minnesota in 1872 and became one of the first settlers of Jackson county, where he secured a homestead claim and opened up a farm, transforming the raw prairie into rich fields from which he annually
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gathered good harvests. He reared his family there and became recognized as one of the influential, worthy and valued citizens of the community, so that his fellow townsmen called him to public office. He was elected and served as sheriff for three or four terms and was ever prompt and fearless in the discharge of his duties. Later he was postmaster at Heron Lake for eight years and is now living retired there.
Frank N. Wood, brought to the middle west in his infancy, was reared in Minnesota and pursued his education in the schools of Heron Lake. Arriving at years of maturity he engaged in the grain business there and was thus identified with the commercial interests of the town for twelve years. At length, however. he severed his connection with the business interests of Heron Lake and came to Everly, where he purchased an interest in an elevator and engaged in the grain business for three years. On the reorganization of the Everly Bank he was made cashier and has so continued to the present time, the success of the institution being largely attributable to his enterprise, business discernment and thorough knowl- edge of the banking business. He is also the owner of nearly a section of land in Washington and Minnesota, and from his property derives a substantial annual income. In business affairs he is always seeking ont new methods which will prove of substantial benefit to the interests which are under his care and in Everly he is known as a courteous and obliging bank official, while at the same time he carefully looks after the interests of his employers.
On the 14th of November, 1901, in Bigelow, Minnesota, Mr. Wood was united in marriage to Miss Mina Wyatt, a native of Sioux county, Iowa, who was reared, however, in Minnesota, and is a graduate of Carleton College at Northfield, that state. She is a lady of culture and refinement as well as of liberal educational training, and is prominent in social circles in Everly. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wood has been born one child, Wilma. The parents attend the Methodist Episcopal church and contribute to its support. Mr. Wood gives his political allegiance to the republican party, which he has supported since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He served in Clay county as township committeeman for one year and is now a member of the town council. He has also been a delegate to county conventions and his opinions carry weight in the local councils of the party. He is likewise prominent in the Masonic lodge at Everly, in which he has held office and he belongs also to the Modern Woodmen camp. Closely identified with the growth and development of Everly as one of its successful business men and financiers, he has the confidence and esteem of the entire com- munity and stands high in both business and social circles.
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