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 71
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Leonard L. Fisher is a popular representative of the third gen- eration of a family that was founded in Clayton county more than sixty years ago, and due record of the family history is given on other pages of this publication, in the sketch of the career of his father, Luman S. Fisher, so that further review is not demanded in the present connection. He whose name initiates this paragraph is making excellent record in connection with the operations of the fine old homestead farm on which he was born, in Lodomillo township, and he has become the owner of one hundred acres of the specially large landed estate accumulated by his father He was born Feb. 2,
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1882, and his early education was acquired in the public schools of his native county. As a youth he worked at the carpenter's trade for a period of about three years, but he has had the good judgment to refrain from severing his allegiance to the basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing and has continued his active partici- pation in the work and management of the large and valuable landed estate of his father, the homestead being known as the Good Luck Stock Farm and being given over specially to the breeding and raising of the best types of Poland-China swine and Holstein cattle. Leonard L. has not only been distinctively successful in the raising of these types of live stock but is known also as a fancier and suc- cessful grower of the barred Plymouth Rock poultry. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and he is known as one of the progressive and public-spirited young men of his native county, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaint- ances. October 28, 1903, recorded the marriage of Mr. Fisher to Miss Fern Lulu Lathrop, who was born in the State of Wisconsin, as were also her parents, Cassius W. and Martha (Graves) Lathrop; her father now resides at Van Tassell, Wyoming, where he is engaged in ranching; his wife died in 1913. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have four children, and their names and respective dates of birth are here designated ; Claude Lathrop, March 4, 1904; Norman Fern, July 28, 1905; Clyde Harley, June 20, 1912; and Wilma Lou, May 26, 1914.
Luman S. Fisher was brought by his parents from the old Keystone state to Clayton county, Iowa, when two and one-half years of age and the family home was established in North McGregor, where they remained three and one-half years, then moved to Elkader and at the age of nine years he went to Pennsyl- vania with his mother, returning to Clayton county at the age of 21 years, and his early educational advantages were afforded in the schools of Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kansas. He was born in Pennsylvania, on the 8th of April, 1855, a son of Thomas and Eliza (Sturtevant) Fisher, who likewise were natives of that historic old commonwealth. The parents set forth for Iowa when their son, Luman S., who was the second of their three children, was two and one-half years of age. the first-born having been a daughter, Hattie, who died when 50 years of age, and the youngest child, North, who died at the age of nine years, was the first white child born at North McGregor, Clayton county. Thomas Fisher turned his energies to the reclaiming of a farm on the frontier, and he aided nobly in the social and industrial development and prog- ress of Clayton county, where he achieved worthy success and popular esteem. He was one of the most venerable pioncer citizens of the county at the time of his death, which occurred in May, 1912, his devoted wife, who had been a true helpmeet and a mother, hav- ing passed to eternal rest in July. 1907. As intimated in previous statements, Luman S. is the only one of their children now living, and he stands forth as one of the extensive landholders and repre- sentative agriculturists and stock-growers of Clayton county. He
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remained at the parental home until he had attained to the age of seventeen years, when, in the spring of 1872, he went to Kansas, in which state he continued his association with agricultural pursuits for a period of about four years. Upon returning to Iowa he worked for a few months on a farm in Marion county and in the autumn of 1876 he returned to Clayton county, where he has since maintained his home and where his well ordered and constructive activities has brought to him a large measure of success. In 1887 Mr. Fisher purchased one hundred acres of land in Lodomillo township, and within a short time thereafter he added to the same an adjoining thirty-five acres. With increasing financial prosperity he showed his good judgment by making further judicious invest- ments in Clayton county, land, and his finely improved estate now includes three hundred and twenty acres in Lodomillo township and he sold a tract of 320 acres in Fallon county, Montana, which he owned for some time. During the long intervening years that have marked his enterprising activities as a farmer Mr. Fisher has not only proved a careful and energetic exponent of diversified agricul- ture, but has also been notably successful as a grower of high-grade live stock. He has long given special attention to the breeding and raising of the best type of Poland-China swine, and he still gives his personal supervision to this interesting department of his farm enterprise, besides having prestige as being now one of the oldest active representatives of the Poland-China breeding in the entire State of Iowa. Mr. Fisher has at all times been ready to do his part in the promotion of enterprises and measures advanced for the general good of the community and he served six years as a mem- ber of the county board of supervisors, is now assessor of Lodomillo township, and has been called upon to serve in various minor offices of a local order. His political support is given to the cause of the Republican party and he is affiliated with the lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Edgewood, and also with the Modern Woodmen of America, his attractive rural home receiving mail service on rural route No. 1 from Edgewood. On December 30, 1880 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fisher to Miss Sophia Hesner, who was born and reared in Lodomillo township, and in conclusion of this sketch is given brief record concerning their children : Leonard L. has the active management of the old home- stead and concerning him individual mention is made on other pages of this work; Lyle likewise is a successful representative of agricultural industry in his home township; Frank is now a resi- dent of Meridian. California, and is giving special attention to the raising of rice; Nellie is the wife of Nicholas Lang, of Mederville, this county ; Mabel is the wife of Irving Hindal, of Lavina, Fergus county, Montana ; Grace is the wife of Louis Tieden, of Cox Creek township. Clayton county ; and Ruth and Frederick remain at the parental home.
E. C. Fitzpatrick. an enterprising business man of Elkader, Iowa, was born in that city, May 10, 1888, and is the son of Matthew and Elizabeth (Connell) Fitzpatrick, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter born in Clayton county, Iowa. Matthew Fitzpatrick
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was brought by his parents to Clayton county when he was five years old, where he received his education, and upon reaching man- hood took up his business interest in the same county, following the profession of law, and conducting an abstract business. He was very active in political circles, holding the offices of deputy treas- urer and recorder for a term of six years. His wife died May . 28, 1913. To their union were born eight children: Mary, the wife of T. J. Foley, of Salt Lake, City, Utah; Mathew J., who is a physi- cian of Mason City, Iowa; Ella, living at home; Edward C., the subject of this sketch ; Caroline, deceased ; James F. and Katherine, also at home. E. C. Fitzpatrick received his education in the grade and high school of Elkader, and upon finishing his work in the class room entered business as a clerk with a mercantile firm, but on Oct. 25, 1912, bought for himself a clothing and gents' furnishing house, which business, by his energy and upright methods, he is fast de- veloping into one of the best of its kind in his community. He led to the altar Olga S. Hasek, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and they have one son, Edward C., Jr., born November 3, 1914. Mr. Fitzpatrick is keenly interested in the welfare of the community and is now serving the public as a member of the city council of Elkader.
Matthew Fitzpatrick was an infant at the time when his par- ents came to Clayton county and settled on a pioneer farm in Cox Creek township. Here he passed the residue of his life and here it was given him to so assert his vital, loyal and noble personality as to achieve prominence and influence, a large place in community affairs and the inviolable confidence and esteem of his fellow men. Mr. Fitzpatrick was a representative member of the Clayton county bar, and in addition to gaining prestige and success in the legal profession he served with marked ability and credit in various pub- lic offices of local trust. He was one of the prominent and honored citizens of Elkader, the county seat, at the time of his death, which occurred on the 8th of March, 1916. This publication exercised a consistent function when it entered a tribute to the memory of this valued citizen. Matthew Fitzpatrick was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 11th of May, 1853, and thus he was barely 63 years of age at the time when he was summoned to the life eternal. He was a son of Patrick and Catherine Fitzpatrick, and was about two years old at the time when his parents came to Clayton county, in 1855, his father obtaining a tract of wild land in Cox Creek township and there reclaiming a farm. On this home- stead the parents passed the remainder of their lives and both were earnest communicants of the Catholic church. Matthew Fitzpatrick early began to assist in the work of the home farm and after profit- ing by the advantages afforded in the rural schools of that pioneer period in the history of the county, he later made good use of the advantages afforded in the high school at Elkader. He became a successful and popular teacher in the schools of this county but his ambition led him into another field of professional endeavor. He studied law under the effective preceptorship of William A. Preston, at Elkader, and in 1883 he was admitted to practice. Mr. Fitzpatrick proved a resourceful trial lawyer and well fortified
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counselor, and he developed a substantial and representative law practice, to which he gave his attention with characteristic zeal and earnestness. For a time he served as deputy county treasurer, under the administration of Charles E. Flowete, and in the autumn of 1884 he was elected to the office of county recorder, of which he continued the incumbent six years and in which he made a splendid record as an executive of the county government. Mr. Fitzpatrick was a man of strong convictions and broad intellectual ken. His political allegiance was given to the Democratic party and he was an effective advocate of its principles and policies. He was a zealous and devout communicant of the Catholic church, and he and his family held membership in the parish of St. Joseph's church at Elkader, in which his funeral services were held. He was actively affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and the Cath- olic Order of Foresters. At the time of his death an Elkader paper, in an appreciative tribute, spoke as follows: "He will be missed and mourned not only by his kindred but also by neighbors and many friends who have known him intimately and admired him for his upright, clean, Christian life, and for the interest he mani- fested in public affairs, especially political and educational mat- ters." On the 11th of April, 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fitzpatrick to Miss Elizabeth Connell, and of their seven children all survive them except one daughter, Caroline D., who' died in 1898. The devoted wife and mother was summoned to eternal rest on the 28th of May. 1913, and the surviving children are as noted : Mary E. is the wife of John T. Foley, of Salt Lake City, Utah : Michael J., M. D., is engaged in the practice of his profession at Mason City, this state; and Edward C., Ellen C., James F .. and Catherine R. still maintain their home at Elkader.
John L. Flanagan, owner of the Majestic theater of Elkader, was born in Chicago, Illinois, January 25, 1868, and was the son of Michael and Catherine (Quinn) Flanagan, both of whom were natives of Ireland, now deceased. Emigrating to America, they went to Clayton county, Iowa, in 1859, where the father engaged in farming. He took an active part in the political affairs of his county, and held several minor township offices. Three children were born to them : Catherine, living in Chicago; John L., the sub- ject of this sketch : and Martin J., of Selby, South Dakota. John Flanagan was reared on his father's farm, remaining there until he was twenty-one years of age. He then went into businss for himself. engaging in the buying and selling of grain in South Da- kota for five years. Returning to Elkader, he met with an accident to his leg, caused by a fall of a horse, which incapacitated him for further active physical work, and in 1910 he entered into the moving picture business, a successful undertaking, called the Ma- jestic Moving Picture Theater. He shares in the public activities of his city as justice of the peace, and in religious matters is a member of the Catholic church.
Joseph W. Forward is giving a most able administration as cashier of the State Bank of Edgewood and is known not only as a careful and efficient executive and representative business man
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but also as a citizen whose place in popular confidence and esteem is one of inviolable order. He was born at Waterville, Oneida county, New York, on the 26th of October, 1856, and is a son of Jonah and Jane (Stantial) Forward, both of whom were born in England. The father immigrated to America in 1840 and estab- lished his residence in Oneida county, New York, where he engaged in farming. Later he removed with his family to Illinois, where he long continued his identification with the same basic line of industrial enterprise, and both he and his wife passed the closing years of their lives at Rockton, Winnebago county, that state, where his death occurred August 24, 1903, and hers on the 25th of October, 1913. They became the parents of eight children, con- cerning whom the following brief data may consistently be re- corded : William resides at Rockton, Illinois; James resides at Berlin, Wisconsin, George at Union Grove, and Charles at Osh- kosh, that state. The subject of this sketch was the next in order of birth and is the only representative of the immediate family in Iowa, with the exception of his next younger brother, Edwin, who resides at Sheldon, O'Brien county, and Mary and Robert main- tain their home at Rockton, Illinois. Joseph W. Forward received his early education in the public schools and remained at the par- ental home until he had attained to his legal majority. In the meanwhile he learned the art and trade of telegraphy, and as a youth he served eight years as a telegraph operator in the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. He then engaged in the mercantile business at Edgewood, Clayton county, where he has since maintained his home. After having continued his association with mercantile enterprise for a period of seven years he was chosen cashier of the State Bank of Edgewood, of which office he has since continued the efficient and valued incumbent, his service in this capacity having been initiated in the year 1898. His political proclivities are shown in his alignment as a loyal ad- vocate and supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Modern Woodmen of America, and both he and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church. On the 5th of March, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Forward to Miss Anna L. Royden, who was born and reared at Rockton, Illinois, and they have two children, Jennie L. and Ruth, both of whom are able and popular teachers in the public schools.
John Foster, manager of the Floete Lumber Company of El- kader, Iowa, was born in that state in Fayette County, August 18, 1868, and is the son of John Allen and Jessie (McNaught) Foster, both natives of Scotland. The father came to America at the youth- ful age of 13 years, locating in Pennsylvania. At the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861 he enlisted for the service of his country in the Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry, in which he served faithfully four years. He fought and was wounded in the battle of Bunker Hill, was captured by the Confederates and held a prisoner in Andersonville for three weeks. After the close of the war he went to Fayette county, where he engaged in the peaceful pursuit of
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farming, and went to a well-earned repose in death February 10, 1914, leaving his wife still living at Arlington, Fayette county, Iowa. They were the parents of ten children who, in the order of their birth, are Allen, of Arlington, Iowa; John, the sketch of whose life will follow; Betsy, deceased; Thomas, of Strawberry Point; Isabel, the wife of Oscar Finuf, of Independence, Iowa; Eliza, who died in infancy ; Rob, dead at the age of thirteen years; Archibald and William, who are engaged in business together in Webster City, Iowa; and Jesse, who is a physician of Aurora, South Dakota. John Foster married when he was twenty-one, and came to Elkader as a helper in the lumber yard of the Floete Lumber Company, and devoted himself so sedulously to his work for seven years that his untiring energy and devotion to the inter- ests of his employers was rewarded by them in making him man- ager of their company, and that trust he still faithfully and effi- ciently discharges. He is united in marriage to Clara Dell Ogle, a native of Fayette county, and to them have been born one son and three daughters : Freemont J., Clara Belle, Jessie, and Rebecca. Mr. Foster is a consistent and intelligent member of the Repub- lican party, and belongs to the fraternal organizations of the M. B. A., and Yeomen, and is affiliated with the Congregational church.
George F. Freeman was a boy at the time of his parents' re- moval from the old Empire State to Iowa, and during the long intervening years he has looked upon the Hawkeye commonwealth as his home, though his career has been one marked by varied and interesting experiences, in which the domination of the wanderlust was not absent in the period of his young manhood. He is now numbered among the substantial citizens and business men of McGregor, and is one of the well known and distinctly popular citizens of Clayton county, with a circle of friends that is limited only by that of his acquaintances. Through his own efforts Mr. Freeman has won independence and prosperity, and in addition to having operated for nearly fifteen years a ferry line between Mc- Gregor and Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, on opposite sides of the Mississippi, he has been engaged also in the piano business at McGregor since 1913. Mr. Freeman was born in Madison county, New York, on the 5th of June, 1856, and is a son of George B. and Adelia (Coon) Freeman, both likewise natives of that State, where the respective families were founded in an early day. In 1865, when the subject of this review was a lad of nine years, the family came to Iowa and established residence at Ossian, Winneshiek county, where the father engaged in the work of his trade, that of blacksmith. In 1872 George B. Freeman removed with his family to Decorah, the judicial center of that county, where he continued his activities until 1882. He passed the ensuing two years in the State of Minnesota, then returned to Decorah, but two years later removed to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where he continued his residence until 1896, when he returned with his wife to Clayton county and established his home at McGregor. He was, like Tubal Cain of old, a veritable "man of might," and was known as a skilled artisan at his trade, to which he devoted the
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greater part of his active career-a sturdy, upright citizen who commanded the high regard of his fellow men. His devoted wife passed to the life eternal in 1909, and in the following year he too passed away, so that in death they were not long divided. Of their children the first-born was Eva, who was about 35 years of age at the time of her death; the second child was a daughter who died in infancy ; George F., of this review, was the next in order of birth ; Mary is the wife of Henry Chase, of Deer River, Minnesota; Edith died when about 30 years of age; Nellie is the wife of Samuel A. Edgar and they reside in the State of Kansas; Charles is a resi- dent of the city of Chicago and Henry of Minnesota; and Jennie is the wife of Henry Smith, their home being in the State of Mich- igan. George F. Freeman gained his early education in the public schools of New York and Iowa, and when eighteen years of age he left the parental home, at Decorah, and set forth with a circus or show troupe for Minnesota. Proceeding by boat up the Miss- issippi river to Winona, that State, the party thence made the overland trip to Wabasha, Minnesota, where the manager of the show rented a hotel and in the same began manufacturing a quan- tity of canvas into a tent for his show. Prospects by this time did not seem so promising or alluring to the young man from Iowa, and thus Mr. Freeman severed his association with the prospective amusement enterprise and found employment on the ferry line across the Mississippi river at Reed's Landing. Longing for home had soon animated him to such an extent that he made the best possible provision for returning to the parental roof by purchasing a skiff in which to make his somewhat venturesome and hazardous way down the river. The first night out he disembarked at La Crosse, Wisconsin, and thence he continued his voyage down to McGregor, his present place of residence, and by working at such employment as he could obtain he maintained himself until he again arrived at the parental home. This youthful adventure oc- curred in the year 1874, and in the following year, at Decorah, he took unto himself a young wife, in the person of Miss Kate Allan, who knew his financial resources were at the lowest ebb but who had faith in his ability to provide for them. The mar- riage ceremony was performed on Monday and the following Wednesday the young groom walked a distance of fifteen miles into the country and obtained work in the harvest field. Each Saturday night during the harvest season he walked back to De- corah to remain with his wife over Sunday, and the early matutinal hours of Monday found him again plodding his way to the farm on which he was employed-fifteen miles distant, as previously noted. Through his arduous labors in the harvest he earned ninety-five dollars, and with this financial reinforcement he and his wife engaged in housekeeping at Decorah. In 1877 they re- moved to North McGregor, Clayton county, and after there estab- lishing a home Mr. Freeman entered the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company, the first year having been given to service of cleaning coaches and the two ensuing years to work as a brakeman on the main line of the road. He
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survives him, and they became the parents of two children-Rose, who died in childhood, and Selma, who is the wife of Tim Thomann, of Elgin, this county. Benjamin Frieden was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm and in the meanwhile he made good use of the advantages afforded in the public schools of his native township. He continued his active association with the work of the home farm until the death of his honored father, shortly after which he purchased the interests of the other heirs and became the owner of the well improved property, which comprised three hun- dred acres, in Marion township. Material evidence of his success and progressiveness is given in his ownership at the present time of a fine estate of nearly seven hundred acres, and he is known as one of the enterprising and representative agriculturists and stock- growers of his native county. The attractive family home, in Marion township, is on the homestead which was Mr. Frieden's birthplace, and it is modern in its facilities and appointments, as are also the other excellent and substantial buildings on the large domain owned by Mr. Frieden. He is aligned as a staunch sup- porter of the cause of the Democratic party, and he has served as township trustee and as president of the school board of his district. Both he and his wife are communicants of the Apostolic Lutheran church. April 9, 1887, recorded the marriage of Mr. Frieden to Miss Leah Sneider, and she passed to the life eternal on the 29th of January, 1905. Of this union were born eight children: Celia is the wife of Daniel Butikofer, of Marion township; William is en- gaged in farming in Highland township; Ida is the wife of Samuel Butikofer, of Fayette county; Esther is the wife of Emil Moor and they reside in Iowa; Levi and Bertha remain at the paternal home; Emil is identified with agricultural pursuits. in Highland township; and Louisa died in early childhood. For his second wife Mr. Frieden chose Mrs. Rachel (Sneider) Sutler, a sister of his first wife. The parents, Joseph and Mary Pfarrer Sneider, were born and reared in Switzerland and became early settlers of Clayton county, where the father became a prosperous farmer and where his death occurred on the 7th of May, 1914. Mrs. Sneider survives her husband and still maintains her home in this county. At the time of her marriage to the subject of this review, Mrs. Frieden was the widow of Frederick Sutler, of Marion township, and of the children of her first marriage Joseph and Frederick are deceased; Lucy is the wife of John Butikofer, of Marion township; Daniel is a substantial farmer in that township; Marie is the wife of Elmer Bluiner and they are now residing in the state of Illinois ; and Will- iam and Eli remain in Marion township. Of the second marriage no children have been born.
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