USA > Iowa > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 12
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Dr. Hall has been married twice. In June, 1876, he wedded Miss Frankie McFerren, a daughter of W. D. McFerren, who is a re- tired agriculturist residing in Webster City. She passed away in August, 1884, leaving one child, Ray E., whose birth occurred on the 18th of December, 1881, and who is now a practicing physician of Portland, Oregon. Dr. Ray E. Hall married Miss Susan Baker and has two sons. On the 10th of November, 1885, Dr. O. A. Hall was again married, his second union being with Miss Ida McFerren, a native of Webster City and a sister of his first wife. They are the parents of three children, as follows: Forrest F., who was born on the 30th of August, 1886; Ralph, whose birth occurred on the 24th of December, 1887; and Clyde W., whose natal day was June 27, 1890. Dr. Forrest F. Hall, a practicing physician of Webster City, wedded Miss. Lorena Quackenbush in August, 191I.
Dr. Hall and his family reside at No. 745 Bank street and theirs is an attractive home-a favorite resort among their friends. Dr. Hall gives his political allegiance to the republican party and in addition to serving as county physician he was county coroner at one time. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church.
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At all times he is interested in the material, intellectual, social, politi- cal and moral progress of the community and ever casts his influence on the side of right and progress. His position is never an equivocal one. He stands as a loyal supporter of all principles in which he believes and of all projects which he deems beneficial to the commun- ity. Almost his entire life has been passed in Iowa. He was a lad of only eight years when his parents removed to Webster county and through the ensuing period, covering fifty-six years, he has witnessed many changes here, rejoicing ever at what has been accomplished along the lines of progress and bearing his part in the work of gen- eral development.
OLIVER GROVE METCALF.
In his active, useful and busy life as one of the leading dry-goods merchants of Webster City, Iowa, Oliver Grove Metcalf is carrying out the honorable traditions upon which his father founded the busi- ness. He has been identified with this line of activity during practi- cally all his business career, and by his intelligent use of favorable opportunity, his unflagging industry and integrity of a high order, has built up a flourishing business and won for himself a high place in the regard of his community. His store is located at 620-22 Second street, and is one of the prosperous dry-goods concerns of Webster City.
Mr. Metcalf is a native of Ohio, having been born in Belmont county in 1870. His parents, Jesse P. and Clara (Grove) Metcalf, left Ohio and came to Iowa in 1871. Their first residence was in West Liberty and later they made their home in Stuart, Iowa. The family removed to California and spent a few years in that state be- fore they returned to Iowa in 1894. In that year they settled in Webster City, where Mr. Metcalf's parents are still living. The father was a merchant during his active life and built up during the course of his career a flourishing and prosperous dry-goods business. He has been prominent in commercial circles of many different cities and is a veteran of the Civil war, having served in an Ohio regiment. On the maternal side Mr. Metcalf is a descendant of General John B. Grove, who wrote the first peace petition during the time of the Re- bellion and was a prominent officer in an Ohio regiment.
O. G. METCALF
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Oliver G. Metcalf was educated in the public schools of Stuart, Iowa, and supplemented this by a course at the Dexter Normal Col- lege and study at the Davenport Business College. He has been con- nected with mercantile business during his active career, beginning in a humble capacity and advancing to a prosperous position. His active career began in Stuart, Iowa, where he was employed by a dry-goods firm. After a short time he went to California, and returning east to Chicago was engaged for three years as an employe of the Boston Store. Another year he was connected with Mandel Brothers of the same city. For a short time after this he abandoned the dry-goods business and mined in Summit county, Colorado, until 1904. On the 25th of January in that year he came to Webster City and became a partner in his father's mercantile enterprise under the firm name of J. P. Metcalf & Son. His influence was immediately felt in the rapid development of the business and his energies and activities directed along progressive and systematic lines soon made the institution flour- ishing and prosperous. In 1909 Mr. Metcalf purchased his father's interest and moved the store to its present location at 620-22 Second street. He did not change the firmn name but continues the active conduct of the business under the old title although he is now the sole owner.
On June 4, 1905, Mr. Metcalf was united in marriage to Miss Veda Caraway, a daughter of W. A. Caraway, a retired merchant of Webster City. They have two children : Wendell Oliver, born March 22, 1906; and Miriam Caraway, born on the 10th of February, 1908.
Mr. Metcalf is one of the prosperous merchants of Webster City. Through undeviating allegiance to high principles of business moral- ity he has added to the city in which he resides a well developed and expanding enterprise and to the ranks of her citizenship a thoroughly honest man.
CHARLES CASTNER.
Charles Castner cultivates eighty-six acres of fertile and highly improved land adjacent to Blairsburg, where he success- fully engages in agricultural pursuits. He was born in Blairs- burg, then known as Rose Grove township, on the 29th of March, 1872, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Blair) Castner. The father was born in New Jersey on the 25th of November, 1842,
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and there passed the first five years of his life. The family re- moved to Illinois in 1847, and six years later continued their journey westward to Iowa. George Castner, who has been con- tinuously a resident of Hamilton county since 1860, was one of the early stage drivers of Iowa. He drove the stage from Nevada in 1865, and later from Iowa Falls to Fort Dodge, but after the railroads were completed in this section of the state, he gave up this occupation and turned his attention to agricultural pur- suits and now owns one of the best improved and most valuable farms in Hamilton county. The mother was a native of Ohio, having been born in Delhi, that state, on March 15, 1842. She came to Iowa with her parents in 1856, and thereafter made this state her home, her death occurring in Blairsburg in January, 1910. To Mr. and Mrs. Castner were born three sons, of whom our subject is the eldest. The second son, Roy, was born on the 25th of April, 1875, and is now residing in New Mexico; and Daniel, whose natal day was March 8, 1878, is living in Blairs- burg.
The entire life of Charles Castner has been passed in the vicinity in which he now resides. His early years were not dis- tinguished by any unusual occurrence from those of other lads who were reared in the rural sections of Iowa at that period. In the acquirement of his education he attended the common schools, and while still pursuing his studies began assisting his father with the lighter work of the farm, his duties being in- creased with the passing years until he was thoroughly familiar with the work and responsibilities of the agriculturist. By the time he had attained his maturity he was well qualified to engage in farming on his own account and has always devoted his ener- gies to this line of activity. He is enterprising and progressive in his methods as is evidenced by the general appearance of the farm, which is well improved and equipped. The fields are sub- stantially fenced and under high cultivation, and he raises a good grade of stock. He gives his personal supervision to everything about the place, directing his undertakings with intelligence and foresight, and is meeting with a corresponding degree of success.
Mr. Castner was married in 1896, to Miss Grace Walsworth, who was born in Manchester, Delaware county, Iowa, on April 25, 1872. She is a daughter of John C. and Sybil (Abbey) Wals- worth, the former a native of Adams, Jefferson county, New York, his birth there occurring on December 26. 1830; and the
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latter of Middlebury, Vermont, her natal day having been April 5, 1830. They removed to Hamilton county in 1886, locating on a farm in Blairsburg township, which the father cultivated during the remainder of his active life. He passed away on the 29th of January, 1900, on the old homestead, and there the mother's death occurred the year following. They were the parents of two daughters, the elder being Mrs. Elizabeth Keith, also a resident of Blairsburg, who was born on January 25, 1858.
To Mr. and Mrs. Castner there have been born two children : George Frank, who was born on the 29th of June, 1898; and Marie Helen, whose birth occurred March 2, 1900. They are both attending the public schools of Blairsburg.
The family attend the Congregational church, in which the parents hold membership, and fraternally Mr. Castner belongs to Blairsburg Camp, No. 7848, M. W. A. He votes the repub- lican ticket and takes an active interest in local politics. He was for a time constable of Blairsburg township, and was a member of the council when the town was first organized and is now serving on the board of education. Having passed his entire life in the county, Mr. Castner enjoys a wide acquaintance among its citizens, by whom he is accorded the respect and esteem he well merits by reason of his high principles, integrity and hon- orable methods of conducting his business transactions.
CHARLES A. DEO.
Charles A. Deo, who owns and operates a popular, up-to-date hotel in Stratford, was born December 5, 1867, in Clinton county, Iowa, and is a son of Anson and Mary (McCreary) Deo, the former a native of Canada and the latter of Clinton county. The mother has the distinction of having been the first child born in that county. Mr. and Mrs. Anson Deo were married in Clinton county but in 1870 removed to Hamilton county, where the father engaged in farming for a period of five years. He then moved with his family to Hooks Point and there built the first hotel established in that place, suc- cessfully carrying on the business for seven years. He then removed to Stratford-the year in which that town was started- and estab- lished himself in the hotel business. He conducted his hotel for one
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year and then sold out and removed to Dayton, at which place he conducted a hotel for one year. He next moved to Coon Rapids and carried on an eating house for one year. He then went to Mad- rid, where he was engaged in the lumber and wood business for a period of six months after which he returned to Stratford and re- purchased the hotel which he originally built in that place and suc- cessfully conducted the house until his death, which occurred in 1907, at the age of seventy-four. His wife is still living at the age of seventy-three and maintains her residence with the subject of this review.
Charles A. Deo is the fourth in order of birth in a family of six children, the others being: Claud and Adalaska, both deceased; and Albert A., Harry and Hally, all residents of Stratford. Our subject was reared in his parents' home and received his early education in the public schools of Iowa. He remained under the parental roof and as a young man assisted his father in the operation of the sev- eral hotels with which the latter was identified. At the time of the father's death he took charge of the hotel which he has since success- fully conducted. He is now the owner of the hotel property and is also the owner of the Nassig business block in Stratford. Mr. Deo is affiliated with the republican party and is one of the substantial, enterprising and trusted business men of his town.
HOWARD HALE.
Howard Hale, a successful real-estate dealer of Blairsburg, who is also selling automobiles, was born in Arlington Heights, Illinois, on October 10, 1860. He is a son of Anthony and Jane (Crouch) Hale, the former a native of England, his birth having there occurred on the 20th of September, 1833, while the mother was born in Jefferson county, New York, on March 31, 1833. They removed to Iowa in 1871, locating on a farm in Collins township, Story county, where for many years the father was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. He is now living retired, however, and he and the mother make their home in Blairsburg where they own a very pleasant and attractive resi- dence, and enjoy the ease and comfort provided by a substantial competence. They are the parents of three children, of whom
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our subject is the eldest. Alice, the second member of the family, became the wife of Isaac Day, a well known resident of Ham- ilton county, who is mentioned at greater length elsewhere in this work; and James, the younger son, whose birth occurred on December 17, 1873, is a resident of Collins township, Story county.
The education of Howard Hale was begun in his native state, where he passed the first eleven years of his life, and completed in Story county, Iowa. As is usual with farmer lads he early became familiar with the duties of the agriculturist and the prac- tical methods of tilling the fields and caring for the crops. When ready to begin his independent career he naturally adopted the vocation for which he was best qualified, and subsequently engaged in farming for himself in Collins township, Story county. In February, 1896, he came to this county and purchased eighty acres of land in Williams township, to which he subsequently added another eighty, and then began improving it. He applied himself to its further cultivation and improvement until March, 1912, when he withdrew from the work of the fields and removed to Blairsburg, where he owns a residence. He is now devoting his entire time to the buying and selling of real estate, in con- nection with which he is also dealing in automobiles and is the owner of one of the finest cars in the county. He is prospering in his undertakings and has recently acquired a hundred and sixty acres of well improved land located on section 1, Blairsburg town- ship.
In Story county, this state, on October 17, 1885, Mr. Hale was married to Miss Etta J. Marsh, who was born in Eden town- ship, Marshall county, Iowa, September 18, 1868, and was there reared to womanhood. She is a daughter of Louis W. and Laura (Milholland) Marsh, who were for many years residents of Mar- shall county, whence they later removed to Story county, but are now residing in Pasadena, California. The father, who is seventy-five years of age was born in England, but came to Iowa in his early manhood and was one of the pioneer settlers of Mar- shall county. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Marsh is as follows : Ralph, who is a resident of Collins, this state; Walter, of Granite, Oklahoma; Scott, who makes his home in Mitchell County, Iowa; Mrs. Hale; Mrs. Laura Keagles, of Collins; Mrs. Grace Weiss, also of Collins; and Minnie and Blanche, both of whom died in
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California. The children were all born in Marshall county, but the younger members of the family were reared in Story county.
Mr. and Mrs. Hale have six children: Arthur, who resides in Blairsburg ; Mrs. Myrtle Burton, of Webster City; and Truman, Rachel, Ruth and Millard. The four eldest were born in Collins township, Story county, and the last two named in Williams township, this county.
The family are members of the Congregational church, in the work of which they take a helpful and active interest. Mr. Hale votes the republican ticket and for two years served as assessor in Williams township, and he has also been a member of the school board. He is an excellent type of citizen, public-spirited and progressive and always ready to cooperate in forwarding every worthy movement, and is accorded the esteem and regard of a large circle of acquaintances.
THEODORE CUTLER.
Farming in Hamilton county offers rich reward to well directed energy and industry. The soil is fertile and productive and an able and intelligent man is sure of acquiring through its cultivation a comfortable competency. There were, however, days when this victory over natural conditions was not so easy of accomplishment, days when the land was a discouraging waste, when the country was sparsely settled and when broad prairies stretched endlessly between the scattered houses. Agriculture under these conditions presented more difficulties and it was in these times that Theodore Cutler did his most constructive and useful work. He is now living in comparative retirement after a long life spent in the cultivation of the soil and his intelligent labor in a highly useful field of activity has won him many friends whom his genial and kindly nature binds to him more closely.
He was born March 19, 1845, at Sunbury, Delaware county, Ohio. The family has been in North America for many genera .- tions and was represented in the War of 1812 by General Cutler, grandfather of our subject, who did distinguished service at the battle of Sacket Harbor. Robert O. Cutler, the father of our subject, was born in Canada and at an early date removed to
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Ohio, where he taught school and farmed for some time. He spent a few years in Illinois and came to Iowa in 1855, settling in Clinton county where he remained for one year. His next removal was to Jones county and the twelve years which he spent in that vicinity resulted in his acquiring a high and respected place among its citizens. In 1869 he moved to Hamilton county and bought a farm on section 33, Fremont township, where he was active in the cultivation of the soil until his death, on March I, 1876, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. His wife, Lydia (Black) Cutler, survived him many years, dying on June 5, 1910, at the age of ninety-two.
Theodore Cutler was the only child born to his parents and received an ordinary country school education. He early became familiar with the details of farming by his work upon his father's property. When the latter died, in 1876, Mr. Cutler took full charge of the management and direction of his large and con- stantly growing enterprise. He is now the owner of three hun- dred and forty-three acres of highly improved land in Fremont township and through his efficient and intelligent work this prop- erty has been converted from raw prairie land into a modern, sanitary and highly productive farm. In the early days of Mr. Cutler's activities, at the period of his first settlement in Iowa, there was only one house east of his holdings as far as Maxwell's lane and only one between the Cutler farm and the little town of Duncombe on the west. The intervening territory was prairie land which had never been touched by the plow. The farm which Mr. Cutler and his father cultivated was at that time entirely unimproved. There were no buildings, no farm equipment and scarcely any facilities for the cultivation of the soil. The three hundred and forty-three acres which constitute the homestead are today tiled, fenced and equipped with large and commodious buildings, and comprise one of the model properties in Hamilton county. To this happy result the efficient management and skill of Theodore Cutler has been a contributing cause and the stan- dards which have influenced his activities during the years have been influential factors in the upbuilding of Fremont township. Mr. Cutler continued personally to supervise his farm until 1908, when he met with an unfortunate accident. When he was feed- ing his hogs one of the animals bit him on the knee and this wound eventually necessitated the amputation of his leg. He is now practically retired from active work and has rented the farm
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to his son-in-law, Frank J. Webb. However, he still maintains his residence upon the property and is the oldest pioneer in Fre- mont township.
On January 15, 1868, Mr. Cutler was united in marriage to Miss Belle Carter, of Monticello, Jones county, Iowa. The orig- inal residence of the Carter family was in Virginia and Mrs. Cut- ler's grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war in a Virginia regiment. Joshua and Hannah Eliza (Randall) Carter, the parents of Mrs. Cutler, came to Iowa at an early date and settled in Jones county, removing in 1851 to Dubuque county. where they remained until they returned to Jones county. Late in life they moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and thence to Chicago, where the father's death occurred when he was eighty-one years of age and where the mother died when she was eighty years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Cutler have been born three children. Cora married on January I, 1902, Frank J. Webb, a farmer in Fremont township, by whom she has one daughter, Elma Iona, born in September, 1903. Harry married Miss Myrtle Arm- strong. He is now assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Webster City, Iowa. The youngest child, Roy Verne, married Sadie Sparks, by whom he has two children, Harold and Veva. He resides with his family in La Veta, Colorado, where he occu- pies the position of postmaster.
Mr. Cutler although he has retired from active life is still prominent in agricultural circles of Hamilton county. The state of Iowa owes him a debt of gratitude for his services as a capable organizer and developer and it is paying the obligation in the coin of universal honor and esteem.
FRANK E. LANDERS.
Frank E. Landers, who since the Ist of May, 1899, has been con- nected with the First National Bank at Webster City, and since May I, 1910, has been its auditor, and whose record as a soldier and citi- zen measures up to the high standard which he has attained as a business man, was born at Upper Lisle, Broome county, New York, July 17, 1844, his parents being John and Mary P. (Bidwell) Landers. The father remained upon the farm on which he was born in Broome county until 1864 and then, removing to the middle west,
FRANK E. LANDERS
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
settled in Woodstock, Illinois, where he remained for about four years. In 1869 he removed to Hamilton county, Iowa, where his remaining days were passed.
Frank E. Landers was a pupil in the public schools of his native county, dividing his time between the acquirement of his education and the work of the home farm to the time of his enlistment for serv- ice in the Civil war. For a year or more the country had been in- volved in a sanguinary conflict when he felt that he could no longer content himself to remain at home and, although but a boy in his teens, he offered his services to the government, enlisting in 1862 as a member of the Sixteenth New York Battery, with which he served for nineteen months, when he was honorably discharged on account of physical disability. He then returned to the Empire state and in 1869 he came to Hamilton county, Iowa, with his father. For ten years thereafter he was engaged in general farming and on the expira- tion of that decade was elected auditor of the county, in which position he served from the Ist of January, 1880, until the Ist of January, 1884. On his retirement from office he spent a year in a clerical position in the Farmers' National Bank and in 1889 he went to Des Moines, where he was employed for nine years as clerk of the executive coun- cil of the state of Iowa, continuing in that capacity until 1897. He then returned to Hamilton county and became connected with the First National Bank, of Webster City, of which he is now auditor.
In 1874 Mr. Landers was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Olive Barrows, a daughter of Lathrop H. S. Barrows, who was a manufacturer of millwork in Woodstock, Illinois, and now resides at Pasadena, California. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lan- ders have been born four children, as follows: Leonora, whose birth occurred in 1875 and who is now living in Pasadena, California; Lou Cornelia, who was born in 1877 and passed away in 1908; John Clem- ent, who was born in 1879 and wedded Miss Sarah L. Yoeckel, by whom he has a son and daughter; and Frank Lathrop, whose birth occurred in 1888, and who resides in Webster City. John Clement Landers, a civil engineer by profession, is engaged in the United States irrigation work. These children are not only entitled to mem- bership with the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution but are also descended from soldiers who fought in the Pequot war, the King Philip's war, and the French and Indian war, while one of the founders of the family in America came to this country as one of the passengers on the Mayflower.
Vol. II-9
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The military spirit of his ancestors found expression in Frank E. Landers not only in his service in defense of the Union but again in 1884, when he organized Company C of the Sixth Regiment of the Iowa National Guard, now the Fifty-sixth regiment. He was its first captain and resigned only when he went to Des Moines. He be- longs to Winfield Scott Post, No. 66, G. A. R., and is its present com- mander, which position he also occupied twenty-nine years ago. His political support is given to the republican party and for four years he served as councilman of Webster City. His religious faith is that of the Congregational church. His interest in all that pertains to the material, political, social and moral welfare of the community is deep and sincere and is manifest in many tangible and helpful ways.
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