USA > Iowa > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 19
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Mr. Burnett was married at Decatur City to Miss Susan McKee, who was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1848, of the marriage of John and Mary A. (Bain) McKee, who removed with their fam- ily to this county about 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett became the parents of two children, both of whom are deceased. Alva died in infancy and Elma Alice died on the 27th of March, 1901, when she was twenty-five years of age.
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Mr. Burnett is a democrat and has served in most of the local offices. For twenty years he has been treasurer of the school district and during that time has carefully safeguarded the interests of the public schools. His wife belongs to the Christian church. Both are highly esteemed in this county and those who know them most inti- mately are their stanchest friends, which indicates the rectitude and uprightness of their lives.
ELI CRAIG.
Pleasanton has among her citizens many retired farmers who have contributed much to the welfare of the town. Eli Craig was for many years actively engaged in agricultural pursuits but is now residing here and is enjoying a leisure earned by former toil. He was born in Henry county, Indiana, September 22, 1841, of the marriage of Andrew and Mary (Heston) Craig, natives respectively of North Carolina and of Indiana. When but twelve years of age the father was taken to the Hoosier state by his parents and upon reaching years of maturity entered land there, which he operated until October, 1859. In that year he sold out and went with his family to Harrison county, Missouri. He purchased land just over the line in Mercer county and resided upon that place until called by death, Christmas Day, 1890. During the Civil war he served in the militia for about two years. His widow survived him exactly four years, dying on the 25th of December, 1894.
Eli Craig was reared in Indiana and there attended the public schools. He was eighteen years of age when the family removed to Missouri and he aided with the work of the farm until August, 1862, when he enlisted for service in the Civil war in Company K, Forty- second Missouri Volunteer Infantry. After the cessation of hostili- ties he returned to Missouri and rented land in Harrison county, which he operated for twenty years. At the end of that time he pur- chased one hundred and three acres in Mercer county, Missouri, to the cultivation of which he devoted his time and energies until 1901. In that year he rented his farm and went to Woodward county, Okla- homa, where he filed on a claim. After proving up upon his land he improved and cultivated it for nine years, but at the end of that time retired from active work and removed to Pleasanton, Decatur county, Iowa. In 1911 he purchased a good residence here, where he has since lived.
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Mr. Craig was married on the 4th of January, 1862, to Miss Sarah E. Brunton, a daughter of Cyrus and Martha (Ristine) Brunton, natives respectively of Illinois and Indiana. The family removed to Harrison county, Missouri, in 1855 and there her father rented land, which he operated until his demise in 1897. He sur- vived his wife for many years, as she passed away in 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Craig have become the parents of nine children: W. Alexander, who is farming in Mercer county, Missouri; A. L., who is farming in Hamilton township, Decatur county, Iowa; Annie, the wife of Ervin Thomason, of Dayton, Washington; Minnie, who married Noah Carrington, of Pleasanton; Nora, the wife of D. M. Holmes, who lives in Linn county, Missouri; Ona, at home; and three who died in infancy.
Mr. Craig is a republican but has never desired public office as a reward for his party fealty. His church membership is held in the Baptist church and he is in sympathy with the varied lines of work of that organization. Through his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic he keeps in touch with others who went to the defense of the Union, and he finds much pleasure in that association.
STEPHEN WHITE HURST.
Stephen White Hurst was for forty-five years a citizen of Leon and during that time was one of the most forceful factors in the up- building of the city and of Decatur county. His influence was not only felt in business circles, where he was recognized as a leader, but was also of moment in the financial and civic life of the county. He was born in Dorchester county, Maryland, on the 21st of July, 1836, a son of the Rev. Stephen Hurst, who was a Methodist minister. The family home was on a farm four miles from Cambridge, Mary- land, and the father owned slaves, although it was his rule to liberate them when they reached the age of twenty-eight years. He passed away when his son, Stephen White Hurst, was but ten years of age and his widow subsequently removed with her children to Cambridge. The Hurst family is a prominent one in Maryland and its members have been called the "merchant princes of the eastern shore." A brother of our subject, John E. Hurst, who preceded him a few years in death, was a prominent wholesale dry-goods merchant of Balti- more, Maryland, and a cousin, the late Bishop John F. Hurst, of Washington, D. C., was one of the most famous of the Methodist bishops.
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Stephen White Hurst was educated in Cambridge Academy and when eighteen years of age went to Baltimore, where he secured a position as clerk in a store. He remained in that city for two years and gained experience in the mercantile business which proved of value to him later and which decided him to devote his life to mer- chandising. The year 1856 witnessed his first journey westward but after spending the summer in Blakesburg, Iowa, he returned to Baltimore. However, he was much impressed with the spirit of en- terprise in the western country and believed thoroughly in its future greatness and in the following year he returned to Blakesburg and in partnership with his cousin, Samuel J. Hurst, engaged in the gen- eral mercantile business there. In 1861 they sold out their business in Blakesburg and our subject located at Leon while Samuel J. Hurst settled at Corydon. Mr. Hurst of this review opened a general store in a little frame building on the present site of the Leon post- office. Two years later he leased the first brick store building ever erected in the city and removed his stock of goods there. He pros- pered and his store became the leading one in the county. In 1875 he erected a brick business block on the west side of the square, which is still the home of the store. He continued in active control of his business interests until 1883, when he retired, selling out to Hurst, Hawkins & Conrey, his eldest son, George E. Hurst, becoming the senior member. There have been a number of changes in the owner- ship of the business and it is now conducted under the name of J. W. Hurst & Company.
Stephen White Hurst had a thorough understanding of the prin- ciples that underlie all successful business activity and was expert in applying those principles to the particular conditions existing in the communities in which he lived. He always endeavored to meet the needs and wants of his customers fully and to serve them in the best way possible, believing that all enduring prosperity is based on honorable methods and the giving of good value for money received. He was characterized by sane progressiveness and made a number of innovations in the conduct of his business which time and experience justified as wise and prudent. His stock was large and well selected and the reputation which the store gained as the leading one of its kind in the county was well deserved and was due to the time and thought which Mr. Hurst gave to the management of his business affairs.
Although he disposed of his interest in the store in 1883 his rest- less energy would not permit him to remain idle and two years later he organized the Exchange Bank of Leon, of which he served as
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president for fifteen years, or until 1900, when he sold his stock in the institution and retired from active life. He achieved much more than average success in the mercantile and financial worlds but his interests in those circles did not require his entire time and attention and he was also a force in political and civic affairs. He was a deep thinker and read widely, keeping in close touch with all important events. His careful study of the political situation led him to sup- port the democratic party and he never wavered in his allegiance to that organization, believing even in times of defeat in the eventual triumph of its principles. He was a very effective worker in the party ranks and in many local and state campaigns his influence was a potent force in securing victory for his party. He was often a dele- gate to state and national conventions and his advice was more than once sought by the men highest in authority. A number of times he was county chairman and he was one of the acknowledged leaders of his party in this section of the state. Although he did so much to further the interests of the democratic party he was never actuated by a desire for personal gain therefrom and never held office with the exception of four years that he was postmaster of Blakesburg. He performed the duties devolving upon him in that capacity in a man- ner acceptable to his fellow citizens and highly creditable to him- self.
In 1889 Governor Larrabee appointed him as commissioner from the state of Iowa to the exposition at Paris, France. A wiser choice could not have been made and he served his state with distinction, spending several months in Paris looking after the interests intrusted to his care. Before returning home he traveled in Europe for a number of months and made a careful study of the customs and con- ditions in those countries. His report as commissioner was one of the best ever made in Iowa.
On the 26th of April, 1860, Mr. Hurst married Miss Frances Arnold, who was born in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1839, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Arnold. The father was born at Frankfort, Kentucky, and after his removal to Indiana followed agricultural pursuits. In 1846 he removed with his family to Monroe county, Iowa, crossing the Mississippi river at Warsaw, and entered land in that county, filing a claim at Sioux City. His wife, who was in her maidenhood Miss Margaret Robinson, lived to an advanced age, dying when in her ninety-second year at the old home in Monroe county. Mr. Arnold passed away when sixty-eight years of age. . To their union were born eight children, two of whom are now living: Mrs. Hurst; and a brother, who is residing at Albia, Iowa, at the age of
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eighty-one years. Mrs. Hurst was reared in Monroe county, Iowa, and educated in the Albia high school and her marriage occurred in Monroe county. Her religious belief is that of the Methodist Epis- copal church, of which she is a devout member. She also holds mem- bership in the Eastern Star and takes much interest in the work of that organization.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hurst were born the following children: Stephen Lewis died in 1879. George E. passed away in September, 1912, at Leon, leaving two sons and two daughters. His wife died in 1897 and the younger daughter is with her grandmother, Mrs. Hurst. The older daughter is married and resides at Ann Arbor, Michigan, while both of the sons live at Bay City, that state. Charles E. is engaged in the insurance business in Leon. James W. and John F. conduct the business established by their father under the name of J. W. Hurst & Company. Margaret L., the youngest of the family, is a schoolteacher by profession.
Mr. Hurst regularly attended the Methodist church and gave liberally toward its support, although not a member thereof. He strove in all humility to lead a life in accordance with the teachings of Christianity and the sterling worth of his character commanded the respect of all who came in contact with him. One of his most salient characteristics was his devotion to his family and he found his great- est pleasure in serving them. He entertained a great affection not only for those of his immediate family but for more distant relatives, especially his cousins, the late Bishop Hurst, of Washington, D. C., and Samuel J. Hurst, of Kansas City, with whom, as has been stated, he was at one time associated in business. For forty years he was a member of the local Masonic lodge and was a Mason in deed as well as in name, embodying in his life the principles of that order. His friends were legion and his beautiful residence in Leon, which he himself erected, was noted for its warm-hearted and sincere hos- pitality.
Mr. Hurst was one of the real builders of the commercial pros- perity of Leon, was one of the most substantial men of the city and at the same time one of the most public-spirited, being at all times ready not only to give of his money but also of his time and energy to the advancement of the common good and it was but fitting that all business in the city should be suspended during his funeral services. He was a man of splendid physique and until within a very short time of his death enjoyed exceptionally good health, so that his demise, which occurred on the 12th of June, 1907, came as a shock to his friends. He had intended going to the Jamestown Exposition
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and then paying a visit to his old home in Dorchester county, Mary- land, and was looking forward with much pleasure to the visit, but Providence ruled otherwise and he was called to the Great Beyond at the age of seventy years, ten months and eleven days.
L. G. JAMISON.
L. G. Jamison, a well known farmer living in Franklin township, has always given much attention to the dairy business and now has a herd of twenty-five registered Jersey cows. He was born in Wash- ington county, Indiana, on the 29th of March, 1848, a son of Robert and Christina (Kyte) Jamison. The father was born in Logan county, Kentucky, but was taken by his parents to Indiana when six years of age. He was a farmer by occupation and removed with his family to Monroe county, Iowa, in 1848. In 1850 he located in Clarke county, entering one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government. He was a man of unusual force of character and made a place of influence for himself among the early settlers of that county. His wife was born in Washington county, Indiana, and died in 1897, when seventy-nine years of age. They were the parents of nine children, namely: John H., deceased; L. G .; Frank M., who is living in Osceola; William Winfield, who died in 1854; Catherine E., who died in 1881, when twenty-eight years of age; Mary Elizabeth, who was born in 1855 and who died in 1885; Rebec- ca, who was born in 1857 and who died in 1885; James Harvey, born in 1859, who is now residing in Des Moines and who is president of the Western Life Insurance Company; and Thomas Benton, whose birth occurred in July, 1862, and who farms the old homestead.
L. G. Jamison attended the Garden Grove schools and supple- mented the education so acquired by study in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College at Burlington, from which he was graduated. For a number of years he taught school in Clarke county and was then engaged in mercantile pursuits for seven years, but during the greater part of his life he has been engaged in agricultural work. He has found dairying very profitable and now has a splendid herd of twenty-five registered Jersey cows.
On the 16th of May, 1878, Mr. Jamison was married to Miss Sarah Luella Jenison, who was born in Ripley county, Indiana, in 1857, the only child of John C. Jenison. Her father was a farmer by occupation and was well known and highly esteemed in his com-
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munity. He passed away January 16, 1910, when seventy-six years of age, and is survived by his widow, who has reached the venerable age of eighty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Jamison are the parents of a son, Oliver Perry, whose birth occurred on the 14th of April, 1879. He was graduated from the Weldon high school at the early age of fifteen years and subsequently attended Parson's College at Fairfield, Iowa, for one year, later was a student in Drake University for three years and for a similar period of time studied in the Keokuk Medical College, from which he was graduated April 26, 1905, with the de- gree of M. D. He also has a diploma for special work done in the study of diseases of the eye, ear and nose and he likewise has a diploma in pharmacy. He is located in Weldon and has won an enviable reputation as a physician and surgeon. He devotes con- siderable attention to surgery and has successfully performed many difficult operations. He is a prominent member of the medical society and is highly respected by his colleagues in the profession.
Mr. Jamison attends the Methodist Episcopal church and con- tributes to the support of the work of that organization. His politi- cal belief is that of the republican party and for twenty-five years he has served acceptably as justice of the peace. The competence which he enjoys has been worthily won and in promoting his own interests he has also advanced the development of his township along the lines of agriculture and dairying.
S. F. WALKER.
S. F. Walker was for four years editor of the Lamoni Gazette and a members of the firm of Walker & Hansen, owners and pub- lishers of that paper. He was also known as an author of considerable repute and was a highly esteemed citizen of Decatur county. His birth occurred in Ohio in 1831, although his father was born in New Hampshire and his mother in England. The maternal grandfather at one time owned a farm which is now a part of Cincinnati and the parents of our subject settled there when there was but one brick house in that city. They subsequently removed to a farm twenty miles up the Ohio river and there the maternal grandfather laid out the town of New Richmond, where the birth of our subject occurred.
In his youth S. F. Walker attended the common schools and Clermont Academy but in 1850, when nineteen years of age, he came west, continuing on his way until he reached the mouth of the
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Kansas river. That region of the country was then inhabited by Indians and much of the west had not yet been settled by whites. Returning eastward, Mr. Walker went up the Illinois river to La Salle, thence by stage to Chicago and from that city made the journey to Kalamazoo, Michigan, in a farm wagon. Some time later he went by way of the great lakes to Buffalo and on to Utica, New York, where he was employed in a carriage shop for one year. In the winter of 1850-1 he attended Central College at McGrawville, New York, and later in 1851 he was engaged in engineering work on the Mississippi river. In 1882 he was a student at the Ohio Wesleyan University and after leaving that institution taught school for a time near New Richmond. However, his adventurous spirit prompted his to try his fortune elsewhere and in the spring of 1853 he went to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama and for several years was in the deep mines of Sierra county, that state. For some time he was foreman of the Pioneer Company which by means of a high flume succeeded in getting water to Illinois Ridge and which tunneled the famous peaks of that locality. Mr. Walker was a candidate for the legislature on the first republican ticket ever nominated in Sierra county, California, and was quite active in political circles. In 1857 he caught the Fraser river craze and in 1859 he mined in the Com- stock mines at Gold Hill, Nevada. In that region the deposits were so easily accessible that all of the mining was done from the surface and by hand, without the use of expensive machinery. He returned to California and later recrossed the Sierras on snowshoes and helped to establish Methodism in Virginia City, Nevada. In 1861 he re- turned east by the overland route, stopping eleven days at Salt Lake City. After spending a few weeks in Ohio he again journeyed west- ward, joining an immigrant train at Council Bluffs, Iowa, with which he went to the territory of Montana. At that time there were no white settlers there and he continued through Idaho to Portland, Oregon, and then made his way south to San Francisco. He again went to Nevada and in 1863 was at Austin, that state, while the fol- lowing year he was at Smoky Valley, where he owned a ranch and engaged in raising hay and cattle. In 1869 he visited Plano, Illinois, and while there became a member of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints. In that year he was married and not long after- ward he settled at Blue Springs ranch, Nye county, Nevada, where he lived until 1878. He then made his way eastward and located on a farm near the present site of Lamoni. He followed agricultural pursuits until 1884, when he removed to the town of Lamoni. In the fall of the following year he aided in establishing the Lamoni
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Gazette, which was owned and published by the firm of Walker & Hansen. Mr. Walker served as the editor of the paper until his death, which occurred on the Ist of April, 1889. He was also for a time a writer for the Herald, the official organ for the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints. He was known as an able editor and the Lamoni Gazette gained a large circulation in this part of the state and was justly regarded as one of the excellent smaller papers of Iowa. Mr. Walker also found other expression for his literary ability, as he was the author of "Ruins Revisited" and "The World- Story Retold." At the time of his death he was engaged in writing a poem entitled "The Spoilers of Jerusalem."
In 1869, at Sandwich, Illinois, Mr. Walker married Mrs. Mariet- ta Faulconer. His widow survives at the advanced age of eighty years and is acknowledged as a woman of unusually fine character and of marked literary ability.
Mr. Walker was a republican and remained loyal to that party until his death. His was a life full of change and incident and of tireless activity and much of his success as an editor was due to his wide experience and his restless energy, which always prompted him to better his past achievements if possible. Although more than a quarter of a century has passed since he was called to his reward there are many who still cherish his memory.
O. M. REW.
O. M. Rew has made many improvements upon his farm of two hundred and forty acres on sections 7, 17 and 18, Fayette township, and has gained a reputation as a progressive and efficient agricul- turist. He was born January 4, 1867, near Oregon Springs, Utah, a son of Sylvester and Elizabeth (Sylvester) Rew, both natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in Titusville. The father was of Scotch-Irish descent and the mother of German lineage. They were married in 1857 and went with an emigrant train to Utah but subse- quently returned east and after residing in Wisconsin for seven years took up their residence in Fayette township, Decatur county, Iowa. Two years later they purchased a farm in that township and there the father died in July, 1896, when sixty-seven years of age. He engaged in teaching to some extent but devoted the greater part of his life to farming and was very successful in that occupation. He was a member of the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints and
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took an active part in its work. His wife is still living at Lamoni, at the age of seventy-three years, and is also a member of that church. Her mother recently died at the remarkable age of one hundred years. To Mr. and Mrs. Rew were born twelve children, as follows: Charles, of Lamoni; William, a resident of Oklahoma; Vet, deceased; O. M .; Mrs. Abbie Cooper, who resides in Nebraska; Mrs. Jessie Lafaunce, of Chicago; Mrs. Mamie Glenney, a resident of Nebraska; Arthur, who is living in Lamoni; Peter, who resides near that city; Lewis, also of Lamoni; Roy, whose home is in Nebraska; and Eddie, deceased.
O. M. Rew was reared and attended school in Wisconsin and Iowa but when but ten or twelve years of age put aside his textbooks and gave his father his entire time. He continued to reside under the parental roof until he was twenty-two years of age, after which he engaged in farming independently in this county for two years. At the end of that time he went to Nebraska, where he resided for four years, and on returning to this county he rented land in Fayette township. In 1901 he purchased his first land, an eighty acre tract, and took up his residence thereon. He has since bought one hundred and sixty acres additional and owns and operates a fine home farm of two hundred and forty acres on sections 7, 17 and 18, Fayette township. He is energetic and progressive and uses the most ad- vanced methods and the latest machinery in the work of cultivating the fields.
In December, 1889, Mr. Rew married Miss Janie Johnson, who was born in Crawford county, Iowa, in 1869, of the marriage of George and Louisa Johnson, who about 1879 removed with their family to Decatur county. The father has passed away but the mother is living in Nebraska. They reared twelve children, of whom ten survive. Mr. and Mrs. Rew have become the parents of twelve children, namely: Claude, a farmer of Bloomington township, who married Miss Daisy Smith, by whom he has one living child; Ada, the wife of Ray Hubbard, a resident of Colorado; Ralph, who is homesteading land in that state; Elzie, at home; Harold, a farmer of Fayette township, who married Miss Elsie Kinder, by whom he has one child; and Minnie, Harvey, Osmer, Wayne, Vera, Gladys and Ruby, all at home.
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