USA > Iowa > Clayton County > History of Clayton County, Iowa : from the earliest historical times down to the present : including a genealogical and biographical record of many representative families, prepared from data obtained from original sources of information, Volume I > Part 67
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G. Walter Davies is a scion of the third generation of the Davies family in Clayton county and the name which he bears was not only one of prominence and influence in connection with the early stages of development and progress in the county but has also continued to exert distinctive force in the furthering of the civic and industrial prosperity of this favored section of the State,
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with long and effective association with the basic enterprise of ag- riculture. He whose name initiates this paragraph is one of the representative farmers of Mendon township, known for his energy, progressiveness and good judgment in connection with business affairs and his loyalty to the duties and responsibilities of citizen- ship, so that it is but in natural sequence that to him goes forth the full tide of popular confidence and good will in the county that has ever been his home and in which he has found ample oppor- tunity for effective achievement. Mr. Davies was born in Mendon township, this county, on the 6th of January, 1873, and is a son of Thomas M. and Louisa (West) Davies, the former of whom was born in Cumberlandshire, in the extreme northwestern part of Eng- land, on the 24th of September, 1842, and the latter of whom was born at Waukesha, Wisconsin. Thomas M. Davies was a lad of about ten years when he accompanied his parents on their removal from England to America, in 1852, and his father, Lewis Davies, became one of the pioneer settlers at McGregor, Clayton county, Iowa, in the vicinity of which now vigorous little city he obtained a tract of land and instituted the reclamation of a farm, both he and his wife having passed the residue of their lives on this old homestead. Thomas M. Davies gained his elementary education In his native land and supplemented this by attending the schools of McGregor. He continued to be associated with the operations of the home farm until there came to him the opportunity to pay the highest possible tribute of loyalty to his adopted country. With the outbreak of the Civil war he subordinated all else to go forth in defense of the Union. He enlisted in Company B, Fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as a gallant but youthful soldier until some time after the expiration of his term of enlist- ment. He was at the front with his command for a period of ten months and then received his honorable discharge, his continued interest in his old comrades in arms being indicated by his active affiliation with the post of the Grand Army of the Republic at McGregor, where he is now living virtually retired. After his return to Clayton county Mr. Davies engaged in farming on his own responsibility. In Mendon township he purchased a quarter section of fertile land, and there he continued his successful enter- prise as an industrious and discriminating agriculturist and stock- grower until advancing years and generous prosperity justified his retirement from the heavy labors and responsibilities that had so long been his portion. He is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, to which he has paid allegiance from the time of attaining to his legal majority, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Congregational church at Mc- Gregor. Of their children the subject of this review is the eldest; William is deceased; Birdie is the wife of Melvin Robbins, of this county ; and Lillian and Harry remain at the parental home. G. Walter Davies gained his early education in the excellent schools of Mendon township and there continued to assist in the work and management of his father's farm until he had reached his legal majority. After being employed thereafter as a farm hand for one
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year he initiated independent activities as a farmer, his operations being continued on rented land in his native township until 1901, when he purchased his present homestead place, his original pur- chase having been of one hundred and fifty-four acres, to which he has since added an adjoining tract of forty-six acres. Thrift and indomitable energy have been exemplified by Mr. Davies in his farming operations and he has achieved independent and substan- tial prosperity through his well-ordered endeavors, his excellent farm being devoted to diversified agriculture and the raising of ap- proved grades of live stock. Mr. Davies was reared in the faith of the Republican party and such have been his personal convictions that he has never wavered in his allegiance to this staunch organ- ization and his confidence in its ultimate return to supremacy in national affairs has not waned in the least. His progressiveness and public spirit have been shown in loyal support of community inter- ests and in according co-operation in the furtherance of enterprises advanced for the general good of his native county and State. He is, in 1916, president of the Mendon Township Farmers' Institute, an office of which he has been the incumbent for two years, and prior to assuming this position he had served one year as vice- president. He has served since 1912 as school director of his dis- trict, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Con- gregational church at McGregor. September 14, 1898, recorded the marriage of Mr. Davies to Miss Elma Haymond, daughter of George and Catherine (Doak) Haymond, of Winterset, Madison county. Mr. and Mrs. Davies have no children.
Thomas M. Davies .- That within the pages of this history of Clayton county it has been found possible to accord specific rec- ognition to a goodly percentage of the sturdy and enterprising yeo- men who are influential and honored exponents of the agricultural interests of this section of the State, can not but add greatly to the consistency and value of the publication, for Clayton is essentially an agricultural county, with resources and advantages not to be excelled, with the logical result that the great basic industry con- stitutes the nucleus around which has been evolved the general prosperity that now marks this favored section of the Hawkeye commonwealth. Though Thomas M. Davies is to be considered as one of the older but still active and influential representatives of agricultural and live-stock industry in Clayton county, it is spe- cially interesting to record that he has been a resident of the county from early youth and is a scion of one of its honored pioneer fam- ilies, besides which is his enduring distinction for having been one of the loyal and valiant young men who went forth from Iowa to serve as soldiers of the Union in the Civil war. He resides upon and gives his personal supervision to his well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which is eligibly situated in Mendon township, at a point within about four and one-half miles of the thriving little city of McGregor, from which place he receives service on rural mail route number One. Mr. Davies was born in Cumberlandshire, England, on the 25th of September, 1842, and thus was a lad of about ten at the time of the family
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immigration to the United States, in 1853. He is a son of Lewis and Mary Anne (Michell) Davies, the former a native of Montgomeryshire and the latter of Cumberlandshire, England. In his native land the father continued to follow the vocation of miner until 1853, when he came with his family to America and numbered himself among the pioneers of Iowa. After remaining for a brief period in Dubuque he came to the wilds of Clayton county and obtained a tract of land in what is now Giard township. Here he reclaimed and developed a productive farm, and on this pioneer homestead he and his noble wife passed the remainder of their lives in peace and prosperity and in the inviolable esteem of all who knew them. Both were communicants of the Church of England and after coming to the United States they continued in the same faith, here defined as that of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Lewis Davies contributed his quota to the civic and material de- velopment and progress of Clayton county, was a man of strong mentality and sterling character and took deep interest in the com- munal welfare, his political support having been given to the cause of the Republican party. Of the children of this honored pioneer John, the first-born, went forth as a soldier of the Union when the integrity of the nation was jeopardized by armed rebellion, and he sacrificed his life in a righteous cause, as he was killed in the battle of Vicksburg; Thomas M., subject of this review, was the second child; Daniel maintains his residence at McGregor, this county; William is deceased; James is a prosperous farmer in Giard township; Lewis resides in the vicinity of the city of Spo- kane, Washington; George is a resident of the State of Idaho; Sarah is deceased; Mary is the widow of Jacob Heffner and maintains her home at Stillwater, Minnesota; and Richard remains in Clayton county, as one of the representative farmers of Mendon township. Thomas M. Davies gained his early education in his native land and after the family home had been established in Clayton county he continued to attend the pioneer schools when opportunity offered, but in the meanwhile found definite requisi- tion for his services in connection with the development and gen- eral operations of his father's farm. Such was his association when the Civil war was precipitated, and in 1864, within a short time after attaining to his legal majority, he enlisted as a private in Company B, Fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served faithfully and gallantly until the close of the war, with a record of having been one of the boys in blue who took part in Sherman's ever memorable march from Atlanta to the sea. He participated in numerous engagements and effectually proved his loyalty to the nation to which he has paid appreciative allegiance since his boyhood. For two years after the close of the war Mr. Davies rented his father's farm, and he then purchased eighty acres of his present homestead, to which he later added an adjoining eighty acres, so that he is now the owner of a well-improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, the general appearance of which breathes of unmistakable thrift and prosperity and indicates the progressive policies and methods which the owner has brought to bear. The
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excellent buildings on the place have been erected by Mr. Davies, and the greater part of other permanent improvements have been wrought under his effective supervision. Well-earned prosperity and comfort are his, and now, in the gracious twilight of a well- spent life, he may feel that his lines have been cast in pleasant places. He has never sought public office but has loyally supported the measures and enterprises that have tended to foster the general welfare of the community and has not faltered in allegiance to the Republican party. . He was reared in the faith of the Church of England, as was also his wife, but both have been for many years earnest members of the Congregational Church at McGregor. In that attractive little city is maintained also his affiliation with the post of the Grand Army of the Republic, through the medium of which he vitalizes the more gracious associations and memories of his military career. On the 4th of March, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Davies to Miss Louisa West, who was born near Madison, the beautiful capital city of Wisconsin, and the date of whose nativity was March 12, 1849. Mrs. Davies was the first- born of a family of six children, all of whom are still living except the second, Mozella. Jeanette is the wife of Charles Weston and they reside in the State of Oklahoma; George was the next in order of birth; Albert maintains his home in Oklahoma, and Ed- ward resides at Clermont, Fayette county, Iowa. George and Louisa (Webb) West, the parents of Mrs. Davies, were natives re- spectively of England and Paris, France, and their marriage was solemnized in the city of London. They came to the United States in 1848 and became pioneers of Wisconsin, where they remained until their removal to Clayton county, Iowa. Here Mr. West se- cured a tract of land and began the development of a farm, this homestead having continued as his place of residence until his death, which occurred December 29, 1864. He was a Republican in politics, served as township clerk in the earlier period of Clayton county history, and both he and his wife were communicants of the Church of England. Mrs. West long survived her honored husband and passed the closing period of her life in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Davies, where she was summoned to eternal rest on the 25th of July, 1896, venerable in years and loved by all who had come within the compass of her gentle influence. All of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Davies are living with the exception of the second, William L., who is deceased; Walter is a successful representative of agricultural enterprise in Mendon township; Birdie is the wife of M. J. Robbins, of the same township; Lillie G., who was married Sept. 4, 1916, to C. G. Messinger, of Fonda, Ia .; and Harry T., who remains at the parental home.
Francis T. Davis has been a resident of Clayton county for nearly half a century, has here exerted his energies effectively along normal lines of industrial and business enterprise and for nearly a quarter of a century he and his wife have maintained their home on their splendid farm of four hundred and eighty acres, in Section 5, Sperry township. Their first domicile on this now finely improved estate was a log house of the true pioneer type, and their present commodious and modern residence is an
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ideal home in which they are enjoying peace and prosperity as the shadows of their lives begin to lengthen from the golden west. Mr. Davis claims the old Empire state as the place of his nativity, was about twenty years of age at the time when he accompanied his parents to Minnesota, from which state he soon afterward went forth as a Union soldier in the Civil war, after the close of which he came to Clayton county, Iowa, where he has maintained hig home during the long intervening years that have crowned his labors with large and well-merited success. Mr. Davis was born in the city of Utica, New York, on the 7th of July, 1840, and in the schools of his native state he gained his early educational training. He is a son of Josiah and Emily (Wadsworth) Davis, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Connecticut, and in 1861 he accompanied his parents on their immigration to Minnesota, where they became pioneer settlers on a farm near Winona, and where his honored father and mother passed the re- mainder of their lives. Of their six children only two are now liv- ing. Soon after the family home had been established in Minne- sota the Civil war was precipitated, and Francis T. Davis forth- with manifested his youthful patriotism by enlisting in Company I, Eleventh Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, in which he was made corporal of his company. Corporal Davis proved a loyal and val- iant soldier and his active service as such covered a period of one year, at the expiration of which he was mustered out and accorded an honorable discharge. In later years he has vitalized the mem- ories and association of his military career by maintaining affilia- tion with the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Davis was mustered out in the city of St. Paul and thereafter he was employed in a flour mill in Minnesota until 1868, when he came to Clayton county and assumed a position as a skilled miller in the only flour and grist mill that was then operated at Elkader, the county seat. There he continued his services in this capacity for a period of fourteen years, at the expiration of which he and his wife purchased and removed to their present farm, which has been their home during the years that have since elasped. Mr. Davis has always given unqualified allegiance to the Republican party, has been loyal and public-spirited as a citizen, but has had no ambition for public office, though he served a number of years as a member of the school board of his district. His wife holds membership in the Baptist church, and prior to her marriage Mrs. Davis had been a successful and popular teacher in the schools of Clayton county, the fine farm on which she now lives having been the old home- stead of her parents. On Oct. 23d, 1871, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Davis to Miss H. Eliza Cummings, who was born in Vermillion county, Illinois, and who is a daughter of Frederick G. and Sophia (Douglas) Cummings, both natives of the state of Maine and representatives of sterling families that were founded in New England in the colonial period of our national history. The parents of Mrs. Davis became pioneer settlers in Vermillion county, Illinois, where they established their home about the year 1838 and where they remained four years. For the ensuing four years
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they continued their pioneer experience in the state of Wisconsin, and they then came to Clayton county, Iowa, and settled on the pioneer farm which has been developed into the splendid modern homestead now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Here the parents passed the residue of their lives, and of their seven children four are now living. Mr. and Mrs. Davis became the par- ents of three children, of whom the youngest, Edwin W., died at the age of six years; Frederick now has the active management of the old homestead farm, is married and has two children; Jen- nie is the wife of Thomas A. Kitterman, of this county, and they have three children.
Edmund De Graw, was born in Ontario, Canada, August 16, 1847, but came to Clayton county, Iowa, at the very early age of four years, with his parents, Asa and Mary (Ferguson) De Graw, both natives of the Old Dominion. They made the long and toil- some journey overland, driving a team of horses from Canada to McGregor, Iowa, thence to Monona, Clayton county, arriving here in 1851, where they settled upon the farm that was their home until the close of their lives. They were the parents of two chil- dren, Edmund, the subject of this review, and Alvina, the wife of William Smith, residing in Hardin, Iowa. Mr. De Graw dutifully cared for his parents during their lives, but after their deaths he sold the old homestead and came to Monona, Iowa, where he bought the place he now owns, and upon which he is profitably engaged in general farming and stock raising. He married Miss Ella Butts, a native of Pennsylvania, and the daughter of Andrew J. and Eliza (De Force) Butts. Mr. Butts was a native of New York state, but his father, Samuel Butts, removed to Iowa, where he resided until his death in Fayette county. He responded to the call of his country in the Civil War, and served in Company F of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry. Mrs. De Graw was the eldest of six chil- dren born to her parents, of whom she and her sister Anna, the wife of William Skepreth, of Omaha, Nebraska, are the only two living. Forand, Carrie, Lola, and Minnie have all been taken by death. Mr. and Mrs. De Graw have been blessed with ten chil- dren, all of whom are living: Edith, the wife of Mr. Clark Bothel, of Malcolm, Iowa; Ernest, of Cedar Falls; Earl, of Waukon; Ross, of Monona ; Grace, now Mrs. Charles Bothel, of Madison, South Dakota; Ethel, the wife of W. N. Carr, of Malcolm, Iowa; Glenn, residing with his parents; Hazel, the wife of Mathew Wiley, of Montezuma, Iowa; Cleo, wife of Asa Briar, of Waukon; and Lyal, living at home. Mr. De Graw is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Methodist church.
Joseph Desotel is consistently to be accorded recognition as one of the progressive representatives of agricultural and live-stock industry in Clayton county, and his operations are carried forward on his well-improved farm in his native township of Millville, where his father established a home nearly seventy years ago, so that the family name has been identified with the civic and industrial his- tory of the county since the early pioneer days. Joseph Desotel, Jr., the immediate subject of this review, was born in Millville
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township on the 6th of April, 1874, and is a son of Joseph and Mary (DeBruiette) Desotel, both representatives of sterling old French families that were founded in the Dominion of Canada gen- erations ago. The parents were born and reared in Montreal, Canada, and the father came to Clayton county, Iowa, about 1840. He purchased land in what is now Millville township, became one of the earliest settlers of that part of the county and there reclaimed and developed a productive farm. About two years prior to his death he removed to the village of Guttenberg, where he passed the remainder of his life in well-earned retirement and where he died in the year 1906, his wife passing away soon after and both having been earnest communicants of the Catholic church. Mr. Desotel was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and served for some time as township trustee. Of the chil- dren the eldest is Lena, who is the wife of William Kiefer, their home being in the city of Chicago; Lucy is the wife of George Blodgett; Amelia is the wife of Jacob Franks, of Colesburg, Iowa; Louise is deceased; Louis is a resident of Guttenberg, this county ; Maxim is deceased, the subject of this sketch having been the next in order of birth and the eighth child, Josephine, being deceased; August resides at Colesburg, William at Turkey River, John at Muscatine, George at Guttenberg, and Mary in the city of Du- buque; Elizabeth is the wife of Charles LaPage; Emma is also married; Nellie is the wife of Daniel McMullen, of Dubuque; and Edward resides at Guttenberg. Joseph Desotel, Jr., gained his early education in the schools at Turkey River and continued his association with the work of the home farm until he had attained to the age of twenty-two years, when he rented a farm and ini- tiated his independent career as an agriculturist and stock-grower. Finally he purchased his present excellent farm, which comprises eighty acres and which is eligibly situated in Millville township, on rural mail route No. 2 from the village of Guttenberg. With marked energy and progressiveness he is giving special attention to stock- farming, and is a successful breeder and grower of Durham and Galloway cattle and Poland-China swine. He is a Republican in politics and both he and his wife are members of the Lutheran church. On the 16th of February, 1897, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Desotel to Miss Emma Timm, who was born in Mill- ville township, on the 3d of October, 1874, and who is a daughter of Christ and Mary (Kieckbush) Timm, who were born in Ger- many and who became pioneer settlers in Clayton county. The father died on his homestead farm in Millville township and his widow now resides at Guttenberg. He was a Republican in his political adherency and was a lifelong communicant of the Lutheran church, as has been also his venerable widow. Mr. and Mrs. Deso- tel have five children: Charles, Emil, Otto, Hilda and Marie.
Henry H. Diers, owner and progressive manager of the fine landed estate known as the Center Valley Stock Farm, in Section 4, Read Township, specially merits recognition in this history of his native county, for he is a member of one of its sterling pioneer families, is known as one of the representative agriculturists and
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prominent stockgrowers of the county, and has the distinction of owning and residing upon the old homestead farm on which his birth occurred November 20, 1873. He is a son of Frederick W. and Margaret (Schneider) Diers, who were born in Germany but who were children at the time of the immigration of the respective families to the United States. They are now honored pioneer citizens of Clayton county and reside on the old home place, and of their children four are living. They are Henry H., Mrs. Dr. W. A. Miller, of Elkader; Mrs. Frieda Hagensich, of Reed town- ship; Alma, at home. They lost two children, Emma, who died, aged 3 years, and one who died in infancy. Henry H. Diers prof- ited by the advantages afforded in the public schools of his native city, including the high school at Elkader, and his activities of a practical order have always been in connection with the operations of the well improved homestead which he now owns, the property having been rented by him from his father for several years after his marriage, which occurred in 1900. Some years after he had thus assumed connubial responsibilities he purchased the property, which comprises two hundred and eighty acres and which consti- tutes one of the model landed estates of Clayton county. Mr. Diers is giving special and successful attention to the breeding and rais- ing of thoroughbred shorthorn cattle and registered Poland-China and Duroc-Jersey swine, fine specimens of each of which he has for sale for breeding and general farm purposes at all times. He has been for twenty years the efficient and valued secretary of the school board of his district, is a member of the directorate of the St. Olaf Savings Bank, the Farmersburg & St. Olaf Creamery Com- pany, and the Poland-China & Duroc Swine Association, and is significantly to be designated as one of the most progressive and loyal citizens of Read township. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and both he and his wife are communicants of the Lutheran church. In 1900 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Diers to Miss Emelie Best, who was born in Read township and who is one of the six children, all living, of William and Minnie (Schmidt) Best, who were children when they accompanied their parents to America from Germany and who early became residents of Clayton county. Mr. Best is still one of the representative farm- ers of Read township and his devoted wife passed to the life eternal in the year 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Diers have two children, Alice M., who was born April 1, 1901, and Willis F., who was born June 2, 1903.
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