USA > Iowa > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 4
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Richard C. Bond, the father of L. Lafayette Bond, was a Baptist minister of the old school. In 1846 he journeyed westward to Rock county, Wisconsin, becoming a pioneer preacher of Lima, that state. He took up a homestead near Lima Center in Rock county and subsequently purchased three eighty acre tracts of land near what is Milton Junction from Polly Goodrich, one of the earliest settlers of the locality. There he spent the remainder of his life, passing away on the 20th of January, 1910, when ninety-seven years of age. His wife was called to her final rest in 1896 when in the seventy-sixth year of her age. They were the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters, as follows : Arthur G., who is deceased; L. Lafayette, of this review : Mary M., who is de- ceased. as is also her husband. John W. Meyers; and Louisa, who died in infancy.
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L. Lafayette Bond was a little lad of five years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Wisconsin: They traveled by boat from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Galena, Illinois, where they met Abel Bond, the grandfather of our subject, who escorted them to his home. Mr. Bond of this review re- mained on the farm until twenty-one years of age. He obtained his early edu- cation in the district schools and subsequently attended Milton College. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil war, in May, 1861, he endeavored to enter the Union army but was rejected because he was a minor and did not have the consent of his parents. In September, 1861, he enlisted with a number of the students of Milton College, joining Company K, Thirteenth Wisconsin Volun- teer Infantry, and rendezvousing at Janesville, Wisconsin. With that command he remained for three years and three months, holding the rank of sergeant. His was the First Brigade of the Fourth Division of the Twentieth Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, under General Thomas. He participated in the battles of Clarksville, Tennessee, Fort Donelson and Chickamauga and acquitted himself in a highly creditable manner.
After returning home he pursued a course of study in Bryant & Stratton Business College of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but later determined upon the prac- tice of medicine as a life work and entered Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which institution he was graduated in 1870. The first five years of his professional career were spent at Welton, Iowa, where he also taught school during four winter terms in order to add to his income. In 1875 he came to Westside, Crawford county, Iowa, and there practiced medicine successfully until 1899, which year witnessed his arrival in Denison. Here he has remained continuously since, enjoying a lucrative and constantly growing practice. He has been surgeon for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company since 1883 and is widely recognized as a skilled and able representative of his calling. He is a member of the Crawford County Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society, the American Medical Asso- ciation, the American Association of Railway Surgeons and the Association of the Northwestern Railroad Surgeons, thus keeping in close touch with the ad- vancement made by the profession.
Dr. Bond has been married twice. On the 20th of November, 1868, he wedded Miss Elnora E. Hamilton, a native of Alfred Center, New York, and a daughter of Edward and Melissa (Burdick) Hamilton, By that union there were two children, namely: Lulu E., who died of diphtheria when nine years of age; and Frederic H., an attorney by profession, who was a graduate of the law department of the Iowa State University in 1895 and passed away on the 28th of November, 1908. He had wedded Miss Ada Hawkins, of Fonda, Iowa, and at his death left a widow and three children. The demise of Mrs. Elnora E. Bond occurred in 1893, when she had attained the age of forty-six years, her remains being interred in the Bond family lot at Milton, Wisconsin. For his second wife Dr. Bond chose Mrs. Fannie Harrison, the widow of Captain William Harrison and a daughter of John Hutson. She passed away in 1906 in the faith of the Methodist church, of which she had been a valued and de- voted member.
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Dr. Bond gives his political allegiance to the republican party and is a most loyal and public-spirited citizen. He served as mayor of West Side for a num- ber of years and also acted as president of the West Side school board for some years. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Sylvan Lodge, No. 507, A. F. & A. M., and likewise to the Eastern Star. He maintains the strictest conformity to the highest professional ethics and enjoys in full measure the confidence and respect of his professional brethren as well as of the general public.
GRANT LEROY CASWELL.
Grant Leroy Caswell, editor of the Denison Bulletin, in which connection he is publishing a paper of progressive character, was born in Boone county, Iowa, July 18, 1869. His father, Lebeus Addison Caswell, was a native of Maine, as was his father, who was also of English descent. The ancestors of the family came to America prior to the Revolutionary war, four brothers sail- ing from England to the new world, two settling in Maine and two in Massa- chusetts. The grandfather was a farmer and inventor, and his inventive genius was displayed in the first corn planter in the United States. He remained a resident of the east until his death, which occurred when he had reached an advanced age. Among his children were David, Lebeus, Mary and Mrs. Frances Oakes.
L. A. Caswell was reared in the Pine Tree state, acquired his education in New England and afterward engaged in the operation of a sawmill. More than a half century ago, however, he made his way to the middle west, settling at Albert Lea, Minnesota, and afterward at Boonesboro, Iowa, where he operated a sawmill and engaged in the lumber business. He was a resident of that lo- cality from 1864 until 1882. He married Louisa Loomis, a native of Erie, Pennsylvania. Her father, a Methodist preacher, died when about sixty years of age, after rearing a large family, including Mrs. Emma Ward, William, Mrs. Louisa Caswell, and others whose names are not remembered. At the time of his death L. A. Caswell was one of the oldest Odd Fellows in Iowa, having been a member of the order for fifty-one years. He passed away in 1908, at the age of seventy-eight years, and his wife died in 1900, when about sixty-five years of age. They were the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters : Lulu, the wife of Lorenzo F. Chapin, of Pasadena, California; Carl F., a resident of Coon Rapids, Iowa; Fannie, the wife of P. Scanlan, of Chi- cago; Grant L., of this review; Ned W., of San Francisco, California ; Norval, of Coon Rapids ; and Judd J.
Grant L. Caswell was reared in his native county and began his education in the schools of Moingona, while later he continued his studies in Ogden, in Boone, and in Coon Rapids. After putting aside his text-books he began learn- ing the printer's trade at Coon Rapids and has been connected with the business continuously since. He at first worked mornings and evenings without com- pensation, but soon his ability enabled him to command good wages. He was
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fifteen years of age when he left home and was employed as a tradesman from 1883 until 1889. He then purchased the paper on which he was working-the Ashton Argus-at Ashton, Iowa, and published it for two years. Prominent political leaders of Iowa at Sibley then offered him inducements to locate there and take charge of the Sibley Tribune in company with W. P. Webster. He remained at that place for six years, at the end of which time he purchased the Rock Rapids Review in connection with L. F. Chapin, with whom he was as- sociated for a year. He next came to Denison on the Ist of December, 1897, and purchased the Denison Bulletin and has since been its editor and publisher, making this one of the leading journals in this part of the state. The paper was established in 1873 as a democratic weekly and has a good circulation, together with a gratifying advertising patronage. Mr. Caswell also conducts a job print- ing business and in 1910 he erected a handsome brick building, a two-story and basement structure, today the home of the Bulletin. It is well equipped accord- ing to the most modern ideas of newspaper publication, and the paper is an attractive sheet.
On the 6th of May, 1891, Mr. Caswell married Miss Eva Clark, a native of Grinnell, Iowa, and a daughter of James W. and Jane (Gast) Clark, who for about a quarter of a century have been residents of Ashton, Iowa, where Mr. Clark, a most prominent citizen, has filled the office of mayor for twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. Caswell are parents of four children: Carl Clark, Flora B., Paul H. and Donald Leroy, the eldest being now a student in the college at Iowa City.
Mr. Caswell belongs to Sylvan Lodge, No. 507, A. F. & A. M., in Denison, and Ark Chapter, No. 99, R. A. M., at Dunlap. He is also an active member of Dowdall Lodge, K. P., and has membership relations with the Modern Wood- men of America, the Woodmen of the World and the Improved Order of Red Men. In politics he has always been a democrat and both personally and through the columns of his paper has labored for the interests of the party and the adoption of its principles.
JACOB SIMS.
Jacob Sims, of Denison, is an able representative of the legal fraternity and has built up an enviable and distinctively representative clientage. His birth occurred in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, on the 30th of November, 1850, his parents being James and Ann (Harris) Sims, both of whom were natives of Cornwall, England. His paternal grandfather, who was likewise born in Cornwall, Eng- land, worked in the tin mines there and passed away in that country in middle life. Among his children were the following named: James, John, William and Thomas. Simsbury, Connecticut, now a large manufacturing town, was founded by and named in honor of a representative of the family. The maternal grand- father of our subject, who spent his entire life in England, worked as a tin miner and passed away in middle life. He was the father of a large family of children, including Ann, Elizabeth, John, William, Samuel, Mark, Joseph and Jacob.
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James Sims, the father of Jacob Sims, was a Methodist minister and a pio- neer preacher in Wisconsin. The year 1845 witnessed his emigration to Amer- ica and it was at Dodgeville, Wisconsin, that he first took up his abode. He was an itinerant preacher, riding horseback and carrying his saddlebags while a circuit rider among the pioneers. He had a number of charges in Wisconsin and was a member of the West Wisconsin Conference from the time of its organization, while previously he had been connected with the Wisconsin Con- ference, spending thirty-six years altogether in the active ministry in that state. Coming to lowa in 1890, he spent the remainder of his life in Council Bluffs, passing away in 1909 at the age of eighty-six years. His wife was called to her final rest on the 12th of October, 1910, when in the eighty-fifth year of her age. Unto them were born ten children, three sons and seven daughters, as follows: Jacob, of this review; Mary A., the widow of W. E. Bainbridge, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Susan, the wife of F. D. Hamilton, of Minneapolis, Minnesota ; Jennie, who is a resident of Council Bluffs; Sadie, who is deceased ; Cora, the wife of George Bell, of Montfort, Wisconsin; May, who is a teacher in the public schools of Council Bluffs; Lena, the wife of J. M. Sylvester, of Washington, D. C .; and two who died in early childhood.
Jacob Sims remained under the parental roof until about twenty years of age and obtained his more advanced education in Lawrence University of Ap- pleton, Wisconsin, from which institution he was graduated in 1874. Becoming identified with educational interests, he acted as a high school principal at Oconto, Wisconsin, for one year and then went to Milwaukee, where he had editorial charge of the Christian Statesman for a short time. In October, 1875, he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and purchased the Citizen, a weekly journal which he published for two and a half years. On the expiration of that period he went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and took up the study of law, being admitted to the bar on the 4th of January, 1879. At Council Bluffs he followed his profession successfully until January, 1908, when he came to Denison, where he has resided continuously since, enjoying a lucrative and growing practice. For a number of years prior to his removal here he had been coming to Denison on legal business. His success in a professional way affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He is a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. Much of the success which has attended him in his professional career is undoubtedly due to the fact that in no instance will he permit himself to go into court with a case unless he has absolute confidence in the justice of his client's cause. Basing his efforts on this principle. from which there are far too many lapses in professional ranks, it naturally follows that he seldom loses a case in whose support he is enlisted.
On the 11th of January, 1887, Mr. Sims was united in marriage to Miss Anna H. Squire, a native of Rockford, Illinois, and a daughter of Daniel and Mary (Keeling) Squire. Their children are five in number, namely : James D., Mariana, Katharine, Marjorie and John Alan Sims. The three older children are students in the university at Iowa City, while the two younger ones are at- tending the high school at Denison.
Mr. Sims is a republican in politics and has served as a member of the school board. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, having joined the
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
order at Council Bluffs about twenty years ago. Both he and his wife were reared in the Methodist faith but are now members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Sims is a man of many friends, his genial manner, unfailing courtesy and unfeigned cordiality gaining him the high regard of those with whom he is. brought in contact.
J. F. HARTHUN.
J. F. Harthun needs no introduction to the readers of this volume, for his: work as educator and editor has made him widely known. He is now publish- ing the Denison Zeitung, and its editorial writings indicate the wide range of his thought and investigation. Like a considerable proportion of Crawford county's valued citizenship he is of German birth. He was born in Christfelde, in the province of Westpreussen, Germany, February 14, 1845, and was one of five children of Ludwig and Johanna (Frank) Harthun who were likewise na- tives of Germany. The father was a miller by trade as was his father before him, who made milling his life work and was killed in his mill, becoming caught in a wheel. His son, Ludwig Harthun, was engaged in the milling business for a number of years and later turned his attention to farming, which he followed in Germany up to the time of his death in 1872, when he was sixty-five years of age. His wife was one of a family of five daughters. Their parents were farming people and their father died in Germany at an advanced age. Mrs. Harthun passed away in Germany in 1888 at the age of seventy-two years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Harthun were members of the Lutheran church. Unto their marriage were born two sons and three daughters: Otto; Julius F .; Ma- tilda, deceased, who was the wife of Ludwig Jarchow; Alvine, who died in young womanhood; and Ludowike.
Julius F. Harthun spent his youth in the land of his nativity and acquired an academical education, being graduated in 1867. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in his native land until 1873, although in the meantime he served as a soldier in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-I. He has a medal which he received in that country when a soldier and another that was presented to him on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Emperor William I.
In 1873 J. F. Harthun sailed for the United States and settled in New York, where he remained for four years, during which time he taught in a German private school and also gave instruction in three or four other schools. Subsequently he went to Detroit, Michigan, where for two years he was a teacher in a German academy. He was then elected principal of a school at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he continued his educational labors for four years, after which he was offered a position in Omaha, where a new school had been opened. He continued as its principal for four years and in 1885 came to Denison where he taught school for three years. In 1888 he purchased the Denison Zeitung and is still editing the paper, of which he has made an attract- ive journal, devoted to the discussion of local and general news. It is published
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
in accordance with progressive ideas in newspaper work and is accorded a good circulation.
In October, 1871, Mr. Harthun was married to Miss Alvine Daer, a daugh- ter of August and Charlotte (Schuelke) Daer. Mrs. Harthun was born in Germany where her parents lived and died. She became, by her marriage, the mother of ten children: Herman, who married Blanch Burks and is a traveling man, living in Omaha; Anna and Julius, both at home; Hugo, of Kansas City, Missouri, who married Birdie Lang and has two children, Robert and Dorothy ; Heinrich, at home; and five who are now deceased.
The mother passed away October 25, 1907, at the age of sixty-five years. She was a lady of many excellent qualities and a member of the Lutheran church. Mr. Harthun still holds membership in that church and belongs to various associations. He was the founder of the German Odd Fellows lodge in Denison called Sidonia Lodge, No. 393, of which he was the first noble grand. He became a member of the order on his birthday, joining Goethe Lodge, No. 112, I. O. O. F., of Fond du Lac. He is likewise president of the German Soldiers Society in Denison called the Landwehrverein and is president of the Deutsche Bruederschaft, which means German Brotherhood. He has been the leader of four singing societies at Denison, Charter Oak, West Side and Man- ning Association, and he is the financial secretary of the Westlichen Krieger- bund. He likewise belongs to the German Press Association and has much more than local reputation as an orator, having made many speeches through- out the country, even appearing in support of a political measure and again at the graves of friends. : He possesses both eloquence and natural oratorical ability, and on such occasions, as well as in his editorials, proves himself a clear thinker and cogent reasoner.
INGEMAR LIND.
Thirty-seven years ago Ingemar Lind came to Crawford county and he has ever since been closely connected with its agricultural interests. He is now the owner of a valuable farm of two hundred and forty acres and has acquired a standing as one of the representative men of the county. He was born in Sweden, June 10, 1849, a son of Nils I. and Ingri M. Lind, both of whom were born in Sweden. They came to America in 1857, and spent three years in Chicago, after which they made their home for fourteen years in Monroe county, Wisconsin, moving in 1874 to Crawford county, Iowa. Here they continued during the re- mainder of their lives, the mother being called away in August, 1900, and the father in January, 1905.
Ingemar Lind was their only child. He came with them to the United States at the age of eight years and received his education in the public schools of Chi- cago and Wisconsin. He continued with his parents until after their deaths and since reaching manhood has diligently applied himself to agriculture and stock- raising. He is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres of land on Sec- tion 1, Otter Creek township, and forty acres in Sac county, Iowa. He engages
MR. AND MRS. INGEMAR LIND
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MR. AND MRS. NILS I. LIND
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
extensively in the cultivation of grain and also in feeding stock, both branches of his business proving very profitable. Being an excellent judge of stock, Mr. Lind is seldom in error as to the value of an animal and he usually succeeds in obtaining the highest prices that are quoted in the market.
In October, 1881, Mr. Lind was united in marriage to Miss Brita Thumstrom, a native of Sweden and a daughter of Carl P. and Brita K. Thumstrom, both of whom were also born in that country. They came to America in 1889 and located in Crawford county, Iowa, the father passing away here August 23, 1903, and the mother on March 26, 1909. There were four children in their family. Nine children came to brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lind, namely: Hannah, who was born February 20, 1883, and is the wife of Alfred Danielson, of Sac county, Iowa; Nels, who was born February 13, 1884, and is a mail carrier of Kiron Iowa ; Charles P., born July 9, 1885, living at home; Mary M., who was born September 30, 1886, and died August 6, 1888; Lydia, who was born Feb- ruary 19, 1888, and is now the wife of S. W. Lundstrom, of Crawford county ; Mary M., born December 1, 1889; George, born January 28, 1893; John, born January 23, 1895, and Esther, born February 23, 1897, all of whom are at home.
Mr. Lind has from his youth been accustomed to work, having early been taught by his parents the importance and value of labor. He has applied him- self to excellent advantage and enjoys a measure of prosperity which he richly merits, as it is the direct result of his own efforts. He and his wife are iden- tified with the Lutheran church and politically he supports the republican party. He is a good friend of education and has served most acceptably for two terms as a member of the school board.
JOHN B. ROMANS.
John B. Romans, who was called to his final rest on the 7th of December, 1910, was one of the pioneer settlers of Denison and for many years was widely recognized as a prominent resident of the city. His birth occurred in Harrison county, Ohio, on the 6th of September, 1842, and he lived to reach the sixty- eighth milestone on life's journey. His parents, Elisha and Elizabeth Romans, both came from old Quaker families. In 1856 he accompanied them on their removal to Clinton county, Iowa, where his father engaged in farming with flattering prospects of success. Within a year or two, however, on account of the panic of 1857 and on account of obligations created by him which he ex- pected to meet by payments to be made to him for property which he had sold on time, and the failure of the purchasers to make such payments, his remaining property was sacrificed and he lost practically everything he had. He then rented a farm and started anew but soon afterward, in March, 1858, his death occurred, leaving our subject, then sixteen years of age, the eldest child in the family
The other children were as follows: Catherine, who married George F. Goudie, now living at Miller, South Dakota; Ann, who gave her hand in mar- riage to E. F. Councilman, now living at Seney. Iowa; Hannah. who became the Vol. II-3
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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY
wife of Charles B. Eaton, of Manchester, Iowa; Lewis, who now lives in Deni- son ; Robert A., who recently removed from Denison to Aberdeen, South Da- kota, to engage in the banking business; and Eva, who is deceased.
The entire charge of the family after the father's demise devolved upon John B. Romans and he did not for a moment shirk the responsibility of taking his father's place in providing for his widowed mother and his younger broth- ers and sisters. In a short time, by his industry and economy, he had saved enough capital with which to purchase an eighty-acre farm, on which the family lived for several years. His mother afterward came to Crawford county, pass- ing away at Charter Oak on the 27th of February, 1889.
As John B. Romans grew to manhood he became imbued with ambition for an education and for a portion of four years he attended the State University at Iowa City, where he applied himself diligently to his studies, being obliged to work his way through college. Soon after leaving Iowa City he came to Crawford county, where at the age of twenty-six he was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Laub, a daughter of the Hon. H. C. Laub, then the leading mer- chant and business man of the county. The young couple spent the first year of their married life on the farm with Mrs. Romans and then returned to Denison, where for three years our subject was employed in the mercantile es- tablishment of Mr. Laub. At the end of that time he formed a partnership with his employer, the business being conducted under the firm style of Laub & Romans. This relation was maintained until 1884, when Mr. Laub was suc- ceeded by Robert A. Romans, who remained a member of the firm until 1890, after which J. B. Romans continued the business alone. Several years later the business was incorporated under the name of J. B. Romans Company, B. J. Sibbert and others taking stock in the concern, and has been conducted as such continuously since, although Mr. Romans closed out his interest in the com- pany four or five years prior to his demise. During his active career he was one of the most prominent factors in the business affairs of Denison.
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