USA > Iowa > Clay County > History of Clay County, Iowa, from its earliest settlement to 1909 > Part 62
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GEORGE W. MILLS.
General farming and stock-raising command the attention of George W. Mills, who cultivates a large tract of land in Clay county and who has met with such splendid success in his business undertakings as to become quite an influential factor in financial circles, having interests in the bank and elevator at Gilletts Grove and also in the creamery at Greenville. His birth occurred in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, in 1865. a son of Samuel and Nancy (Emery) Mills, natives of Pennsylvania, who, about the year 1844. settled in Wisconsin, where they resided until they moved to this county in the spring of 1870. locating in Herdland township. on section 32, where they purchased land for four dollars an acre. The paternal grandparents of George W. Mills are supposed to have been of German and Welsh extraction, while his maternal grandparents were of Dutch and Irish lincage, although the records not having been preserved little is known of the ancestors on either side of the house. However, his father, who was born April 22, 1817. departed this life February 5. 1902, while his mother, whose birth occurred February 5. 1818, entered into rest January 18. 1901. In their family were the following children: Jessie E., born September 16, 1842: John P., born January II, 1845, and a resident .of Spencer, this county: Samuel W., whose birth occurred March 5. 1846, and who lives in Dakota; Edward J., of this county, born July 5, 1850: Lewis E., who passed away in infancy: Charles W .. who was born July 15, 1852, and resides at Gilletts Grove : Anna A., who was born February 18. 1856, and who departed this life October 10. 1879: Margaret, who passed away in childhood; Nancy D., born December 31. 1860. and a resident of St. Paul. Minnesota, and George W.
George W. Mills spent his boyhood days amid farm surroundings, during the summer months devoting his time to agricultural duties and in the winter time acquiring his education in the district schools, and at the age of twenty- two years he began the occupation of husbandry for himself on part of the home place. He has resided on his present farm since March 17. 1892. and he now owns two hundred acres of rich land. all of which is under cultivation. In
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addition to having a number of fields which he devotes to raising hay and the various grains he also keeps a number of acres of excellent pasture land which he uses for stock feeding. He engages in the full round of farming pursuits, making somewhat of a specialty of stock breeding. He has been successful in his undertakings and his industrious habits have enabled him to accumulate considerable means with which to became interested more largely in the business world, and aside from being. financially concerned in the bank and elevator at Gilletts Grove he also owns stock in the creamery at Greenville.
On December 23, 1880, Mr. Mills wedded Miss Tillie Johnson, a daughter of Jonas and Rebecca Johnson, natives of Norway. To Mr. and Mrs. Mills have been born five children: Agnes R., whose birth occurred October 31, 1890; Samuel J., born September 13, 1892; Harry R., born January 14, 1895; Hazel B., born June 5, 1898; and Guy, whose birth occurred July 22, 1901. Their mother entered into rest August 6, 1901, and on the Ist of June, 1902, Mr. Mills was united in marriage to Miss Dora Brallier, daughter of David and Sarah (Long) Brallier, natives of Ohio, who settled in Indiana at an early date. By his second wife Mr. Mills has four children : Beulah, whose birth occurred March 31, 1903; Clarence D., born July 19, 1905: Florence M., who is in her second year ; and Donald, whose birth occurred July 12, 1908.
Mr. Mills is a stanch republican who is unswerving in his allegiance to his party and is always in evidence during campaigns to exert his influence in behalf of his favorite candidates. He is a progressive and wide-awake farmer, always on the alert for and ready to incorporate in his business modern methods, and his industry and enterprise have not only enabled him to attain prosperity but have won him a high place in the respect and confidence of his neighbors.
ASA F. McCONNELL.
When the complete history of Clay county and its prominent men shall have been written, it will contain no more creditable or worthy record than that of Asa F. McConnell who, for years, has been a loyal, public official and who in business affairs has always adhered closely to straightforward and commendable principles whereby he has won the unqualified regard and confidence of his fellowmen. He was born in Livingston county, New York, February 18, 1844. His father, Daniel McConnell, was a native of Ireland and was a distiller by trade, but followed the occupation of farming during the greater part of his life. When nineteen years of age he bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed for the new world, for he believed that better business opportunities might be secured in the United States. He located first at Geneseo, New York, where for several years he worked at his trade. He then removed westward in 1846, becoming a resident of Wisconsin, and took up his abode in the town of Wiota. Lafayette county, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land and engaged in farming. He then bent his energies to the development and improvement of the place. brought its fields under a high state of cultivation and continued to till the soil there for a long period. He retained his residence upon
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that farm until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-seven years of age, while his wife passed away at the age of eighty-three years. He was a Universalist in religious faith, while his wife was an advocate of the Unitarian belief. She bore the maiden name of Betsey Bennett, and was a native of Connecticut. By her marriage she became the mother of thirteen children : Mary, the deceased wife of Daniel Flannigan; Dennis, who has passed away ; Jane, the deceased wife of Elmer Russell: Elizabeth, who became the wife of John Monahan, and is now deceased; Sarah, the deceased wife of John Flannigan : Asa F., of this review : Anna, the wife of Jesse Anderson of Seward, Nebraska; Daniel, who is living in Darlington. Wisconsin : William Henry, Elmore and Frank J., who are also residents of Darlington ; and two who died in infancy.
Asa F. McConnell was reared to farm life in Lafayette county, Wisconsin, spending his boyhood days in his parents' home, while his time was divided between the duties of the schoolroom. the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. He lived at home until 1862, when at the age of eighteen years he responded to the country's call for aid and joined Company B of the Twenty-third Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, remaining with that command until honorably discharged on the 4th of July. 1865. He enlisted as a private and held the rank of sergeant when mustered out. At the battle of Arkansas Post on the 11th of January, 1863, he was wounded. He saw much arduous service, participating in the siege of Vicksburg, the battle of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, the capture of Mobile and the battles of Jackson and Carion Crow Bayou. At the last named he was taken prisoner, but on the 25th of December, 1863, was paroled and in June, 1864, was exchanged. He was also in a number of skirmishes and became familiar with all of the experiences and hardships of rigorous warfare. and unfalteringly defended the old flag and the things which it represented.
When the war was over Mr. McConnell returned home to Wisconsin, where he followed farming and threshing until the spring of 1869. In that year he came to Iowa and settled on a farm in Lincoln township, securing a homestead claim of eighty acres. This he cultivated for a time. but eventually sold out and bought a farm of eighty acres in Gillett Grove township. He then sold that property and invested in two hundred and sixteen acres, which he con- tinued to improve until 1882. Putting aside the duties of agricultural life he removed to Spencer and for a time was employed in the lumber yard of Weller. while subsequently he spent three years with the firm of Phelps & Verharen in the agricultural implement business. He next established a real estate and insurance business on his own account and now handles much property annually, holds considerable insurance and also deals in live stock. His triple interests are returning to him a gratifying income and his enterprise. diligence and determination have carried him into the ranks of the successful business men of Spencer.
On the 28th of January. 1872, Mr. McConnell was joined in wedlock to Miss Julia Bridgman, a daughter of John H. and Rhoda (Cone) Bridgman. There were five children born of that union, of whom three are now living. The eldest. Carrie L., became the wife of E. I .. Kinnan and died, leaving one
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son. Robert Mack Kinnan. The youngest child of the family died in infancy. The others are: Minnie B., the wife of Frank L. Broadgate, a resident of Washington, Iowa: Edna L. J., the wife of A. L. Peterson, of Centuria, Wisconsin, by whom she has two children ; and Daisy Clare, who is a teacher in the schools of Minneapolis. Mrs. McConnell is a member of the Free Baptist church. Mr. McConnell's membership relations are with Evening Shade Lodge. No. 312, A. F. & A. M., Spencer Lodge, No. 247, I. O. O. F., and Annett Post No. 124. G. A. R., while both he and his wife are connected with the Eastern Star and the Rebekah Lodge. Mr. McConnell gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has filled various offices to which he has been called by the vote of his fellow townsmen, who recognize his unfaltering devotion to duty. He was assessor of Lincoln township for two terms, assessor of Gillett Grove township for two terms, and secretary of the school board in Gillett Grove and Spencer township. He was likewise a member of the' county board of supervisors for ten years, and for eight years a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogative in support of many progressive movements in Spencer. He is likewise justice of the peace, having served in that position for four years. Almost continuously he has served in public office and there has been nothing in his entire official record that has deserved public criticism. On the contrary he is most devoted to the general welfare and stands at all times for those interests which are a matter of civic virtue an'd civic pride.
JOHN RILEY.
John Riley, a respected and worthy resident of Spencer, now living retired after former close connection with farming interests, was born in New York city, June 26. 1832. He is the youngest of a family of four children, the others being James. Katharine and Margaret Riley. Their parents were Peter and Katharine ( Morgan) Riley, both natives of Dublin, Ireland, and the former was a son of James Riley, a farmer, who spent his last years in county Dublin, Ireland. Peter Riley devoted much of his life to shipping stock. He came to America more than a century ago and established his home in New York city. making shipments of stock from adjoining states to the eastern metropolis. There he died in November. 1848. when he was sixty years of age.
Jolin Riley lived in New York city until seventeen years of age and acquired his early education there. He afterward took up farm work in Massachusetts. being thus engaged in Berkshire county until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when he joined Company C. Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and served with the army until the cessation of hostilities, holding the rank of sergeant.
The fact that he was a member of an Illinois regiment indicates that he had previously removed to the west. The year 1857 witnessed his arrival in the Mississippi valley, at which time he took up his abode in DuPage county, Illinois. and when his country no longer needed his aid, he returned to that county and worked for the Northwestern Railroad Company in its rolling mills for four or five years. In 1878 he removed to Clay county, Iowa, and invested his earnings
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in two hundred acres of land in Meadow township. He devoted his attention to farming there for some years and also bought eighty acres in Summit town- ship, but after ten years given to general agricultural pursuits he retired from farm life about 1888.
In 1856 MIr. Riley wedded Miss Ellen Donlan, who was born in county Galway, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Riley had a family of two sons and two daughters. James, who is now living on the old homestead, married Ella Austin and has two sons. Claude and Clayton. Frank, residing. in Fostoria, where he is engaged in buying cattle and hogs, married Sarah Hutchinson and has two children, Wilfred and Ellen. Kate is the wife of A. J. Livingston of Spencer. Mary, who completes the family, is the present county superintendent of schools. The wife and mother died on Christmas day of 1889. She was a communicant of the Roman Catholic church, to which Mr. Riley also belongs. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He served as school director while living in the country, and the cause of education has found in him a warm and sincere champion. He is well known in the county and also in Spencer, where for more than twenty-one years he has made his home. being one of the respected and valued residents of the community.
IRA ATWOOD.
On the opposite page appears the portrait of Ira Atwood, one of the venerable citizens of the county, who has now passed the eighty-second milestone on life's journey. This picture was taken in front of the family cottage at Lake Okiboji and will be a matter of interest to many of our readers who have long known and highly esteemed Mr. Atwood. He receives the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded one of advanced years whose life has been in large meas- ure an exemplification of all that is praiseworthy in man's relation to his fellowmen and to the community in which he resides. Mr. Atwood now makes his home with his son, L. L. Atwood, near Langdon, Iowa. He was born near London, in the province of Ontario, Canada. January 19. 1827, and his youthful days were spent upon a farm, where he early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. His educational opportunities were limited to a period of three months' study in the winter season. while the remainder of the year was given to the labors of the fields, and practical training well equipped him for his duties in this connection. At the age of sixteen years he began earning his own livelihood by working as a farm hand at a salary of six dollars per month, his employment continuing for three years. During that period he saved his earn- ings until he felt justified in purchasing a farm and invested in a tract of land about three miles from his father's place. With characteristic energy and industry he began the development of the farm and transformed the land into productive fields from which he gathered good harvests. Thinking, however, to enjoy better business opportunities in the United States he sold his property in Canada in 1849 and made an overland trip with a team and wagon to Winnebago county, Illinois, accompanied by his wife and two children. His team and twenty-five dollars in
IRA ATWOOD
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR. LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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money constituted his worldly possessions when he reached Rockford, Illinois. For three years he engaged in teaming between Rockford and Elgin, working for one dollar per day. He then purchased a farm, which was but slightly improved, and for fifty-three years he made his home upon that place. The rich soil responded readily to the care and labor which he bestowed upon it, the early spring planting and the cultivation of the summer months being followed by golden harvests in the late autumn. His business affairs were capably managed and his unfaltering industry enabled him to accumulate a comfortable little for- tune as the years passed by. He became the owner of several hundred acres of land and his life thus indicated what may be accomplished if one has perseverance and diligence as the salient points in their business record.
Mr. Atwood was married to Miss Harriet Lavina McPherson, who was born July 14, 1820, and died February 20, 1900, while visiting in Estherville, Iowa. She was a lifelong member of the Methodist Episcopal church and an earnest Christian woman, who merited and enjoyed the friendship and good will of all with whom she came in contact. By her marriage she became the mother of ten children and the family is notable in that all are yet living. The sons and daughters are as follows: Harriet, now the wife of L. C. Runyan, of Langdon, Iowa : Mary A., the widow of Francis Wilson: Eliza L., who is the widow of Sylvester W. Chandler : Ira J., who married Hattie Austin and resides in Wis- consin ; Marshal W .. who wedded Carrie M. Tyndall and is living in Pasadena, California : Enoch. who married Cora Cooper and makes his home in St. Charles. Illinois : L. L., who is mentioned elsewhere in this volume; Martha, the wife of John Whittaker, of Sioux City, Iowa : Cyrus F., who married Abbie Elliott and is living in Fargo, North Dakota; and Anna, the wife of Professor Francis Brumblecom, a teacher in the public schools of Chicago. Mr. Atwood has every reason to be proud of this large family of sons and daughters, while they have become men and women of the highest respectability and are highly esteemed in the various communities where they reside. All are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, with the exception of Enoch Atwood, who belongs to the Congregational church. In politics Mr. Atwood has been a stalwart republican since the organiaztion of the party, and from the age of nine years he has been a devoted, zealous and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, shaping his life by its teachings so that his has been an honorable and upright manhood, winning for him at all times the respect and good will of those with whom he has come in contact. Today at the age of eighty-two years he is com- fortably situated in life, enjoying well earned rest, which has been secured through his intelligently directed activity in former years.
THEODORE L. OLSON.
On a well improved farm on section 8. Sioux township, resides Theodore L. Olson, and he is justly accounted one of the leading stock buyers, feeders and shippers of Clay county, having engaged in that business since he became a resident of the county in 1900. He owns and cultivates an excellent farm
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adjoining the corporation limits of Spencer. He has two hundred and forty acres of well improved and valuable land in Sioux township, of which eighty acres is in the home place and one hundred and sixty acres on section 17. He also owns a quarter section in Riverton township.
Clay county may well be proud to number Mr. Olson among her citizens. He is a native son of the state, his birth having occurred in lowa county on the 22d of January, 1863. His father, Lars Olson, was a native of Norway, and came to the new world in 1854, at which time he established his home in Illinois. Four years later he removed westward to lowa and took up his abode in Iowa county, where he secured a new farm, entering the land from the government. It was entirely destitute of improvements and he turned the first furrow upon the place and built the first rod of fence. In the course of time he converted the wild land into arable fields, from which he annually gathered good harvests as the reward of his persistent labor in plowing, planting and harvesting. Upon his farm he reared his family and continued to make it his place of residence until his death.
Theodore L. Olson was reared upon a farm and was early trained to the work of the fields, remaining with his father until twenty-one years of age, after which he began farming on his own account. His entire life has been given to agricultural pursuits and stock raising, and his close application and unfaltering energy have constituted strong features in his success.
As a companion and helpmate on life's journey. Mr. Olson chose Miss Julia Faltonson, whom he wedded on the 6th of March, 1890. She is a native of Iowa county and was there reared and married. The young couple began their domestic life there, and in addition to cultivating the fields, Mr. Olson also took up the work of buying, feeding and shipping stock. Ile continued his residence in Iowa county until 1900, when he sold his property there and removed to Clay county, making investments in a farm in Riverton township. He located in Spencer, however, and from that point carried on his farming interests. In 1902 he purchased the place upon which he resides, adjoining the corporation limits of the town, and has since erected here an attractive two-story residence, built in modern style of architecture and equipped with modern con- veniences. Upon the place is also a commodious barn and substantial outbuild- ings, furnishing ample shelter for grain, stock and farm implements. He uses the latest improved machinery in carrying on the work of the fields, but his live-stock interests constitute the chief feature in his business. He buys and feeds various kinds of live-stock and now has two hundred head of cattle and about three hundred head of hogs on his place. He is one of the most extensive feeders and shippers of this part of the state and also ships large numbers of cattle and hogs which have been fed by others, his shipments in 1908 amounting to about sixty carloads. He is, moreover, a stockholder and director in the Farmers Elevator of Spencer, and his business judgment is regarded as thor- oughly reliable and commendably conservative.
Mr. and Mrs. Olson are parents of three children, Lillian, Fern and Gladys. The eldest is now a student in the Spencer high school. They also lost a son in infancy. The parents were reared in the Lutheran faith, but since they came to Spencer they have become members of the Congregational church. Mr.
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Olson gives his political allegiance to the democracy, of which he is a stanch advocate, but he has never had time for office, even had he inclination to seek political preferment. He is one of the well known live-stock dealers of the county and is a careful. prudent business man who enjoys and merits the conti- dence and esteem of the entire community.
JOHN H. SNYDER.
Jolın H. Suyder, one of the most successful agriculturists and stock feeders of Clay township, this county, is prominent in the financial circles of the county as a broker and money lender. He is of sturdy German origin, the industrious qualities of which race he inherits in large measure, his birth having occurred in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. September 15, 1849. He is a son of John and Mary Anna ( Altman) Snyder, his father having been a native of the fatherland who came to the new world when seventeen years of age, locating in the Keystone state, where he remained until the year 1855, when he traveled westward and settled on a farm in Keokuk county, Iowa. There he remained actively engaged in agricultural pursuits until the Civil war broke out, when he returned to Pennsylvania where he departed this life. Prior to engaging in farming he followed the butcher business and was also proprietor of a hotel in Harrison City, Pennsylvania. The elder Mr. Snyder was twice married, his first wife being Hannah Hauntz, by whom he had one child, Nancy Ann, who now resides in the Keystone state. By his second wife he had eight children. namely: George, deceased: Jolm H .. of this review; Hannah, the wife of Robert Boyd, who is living a retired life in Sutherland, Iowa; Mary Ann, deceased : Phoebe, who was united in marriage to Frank Moll, now residing in Ohio: Lizzie, the wife of James Gillespie, janitor of schools in Sutherland, this state ; Sarah, who became the wife of Calvin Harris, who engages in general farming in O'Brien county, this state: and Andrew deceased. Mrs. Snyder was also a native of Pennsylvania, where she was married. She still survives. now residing in O'Brien county, Iowa.
In the common schools of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, John H. Snyder acquired his early education, later attending school in Keokuk county. this state, in the meantime passing through every experience common to the country lad. Upon completing his studies he remained under the parental roof. performing his daily routine on the farm, until he was twenty-five years of age. at which period of his life, being ambitious to become independent, he took up farming in Keokuk county and pursued the occupation successfully for some time, when he crossed the plains to the state of California and settled in Santa Rosa. There he drove a team for fifteen months and upon finding that the Golden state had nothing in the line of opportunity for him he returned to Iowa and located in O'Brien county. He remained there for one year, at the termina- tion of which time, in the year 1883. he came to this county and settled on a farm in Clay township. He then applied himself with zeal to tilling the soil and from year to year his bountiful harvests enabled him to extend his holdings
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