USA > Iowa > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 24
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Regina, of Fort Dodge; Agnes, of Randall; Martha, deceased; John, residing at Randall; and Carrie, at home.
Peter Lewis Peterson is a type of the native sons of Iowa, who have been successful in adding to the resources of the state. He grew to manhood in Hamilton county and has maintained a continuous residence in this section. He has been identified with agriculture since his early childhood, first assisting his father and finally as an inde- pendent farmer. He is now numbered among the substantial and prosperous citizens of his section, owning one hundred and sixty acres of land on section II, Liberty township. His farm is highly cultivated and equipped with all modern conveniences and accesso- ries, including the latest machinery to facilitate the work in all the departments of agriculture. He has given his own personal and practical efforts to making his farm flourishing and has been re- warded for his persistent and well directed industry by a comfortable fortune.
Mr. Peterson was married in Morris, Illinois, on December 17, 1890, to Miss Rena James, who was born in Norway on November 19, 1867. Her father, Jens Gard, was born in Norway and is still living at Etne, that country, at the age of seventy-seven years. Her mother, who was in her maidenhood Miss Engeboarg, lived and died in her native country, her death occurring in 1907. To them were born six children, as follows: Mrs. Anna Frette, of Norway; Mrs. Engebart Waagen, of Centerville, South Dakota; Mrs. Peterson; Mrs. Hallan Thorson, also of Centerville ; James, of Owatonna, Min- nesota; and Jacob, residing in Norway. All of these children were born in the land of the midnight sun. Mrs. Peterson passed away in Liberty township, on July 16, 1904, leaving five children, namely : Truman, born in 1891 ; Hendrick, born June 29, 1894; John, January 29, 1896; Carl, August 19, 1900; and Louisa, March 30, 1902. All are residing with their father on the home farm and received their education in the district schools of their native section.
Mr. Peterson is a consistent republican and is active in the affairs of the local party organization. He has served as delegate to several county conventions and has recently served in this capacity from Hamilton county in the state convention of 1912. He has been township trustee for twelve years and has done able and efficient work as school director. His public activities are distinguished by a high conscientiousness and a sense of his responsibility to his constituents which make him a remarkable type of broad-minded and intelligent official. He affiliates with the Norwegian Lutheran church of Rose
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Grove. Outside of his business interests Mr. Peterson's tastes incline toward the musical art. He was one of the organizers of the River- side Cornet Band of Randall, which was founded in 1879 and in which organization he has taken a deep interest until it was disbanded. For nine years Mr. Peterson was an active member of this band, in which he played an E-flat alto, and his virtuosity upon this instrument was perfected to a remarkable degree.
Agriculture requires for its successful development a practical knowledge of the details of soil cultivation in all its branches and personal experience in farming. It calls also for business discrimina- tion of a high order and for judicious supervision and management. Mr. Peterson has manifested these qualifications in his life as an agriculturist and his native state is today richer in resources and citizenship for his useful, straightforward and unassuming life.
FRANK O. SATTER.
Frank O. Satter, one of the proprietors of the Ellsworth News, which he has been publishing since 1906, was born in Cass county, Iowa, on the 22d of June, 1876. He is a son of Andrew and Ida (Ostrus) Satter, who were born and reared in Illinois and there they were also married. In 1874 they came to Iowa, first locating in Cass county, where the father engaged in farming until 1892, when he dis- posed of his interests there and went to Palo Alto county. He pur- chased eighty acres of government land in the latter place and dili- gently applied himself to its further improvement and cultivation un- til 1907, when he withdrew from active work and removed to Ells- worth. Here he lived retired until his death, which occurred on the 22d of December, 1910, in his sixty-second year. The mother, who is fifty-one, still resides in Ellsworth.
The second in order of birth in a family of six, Frank O. Satter was reared at home and educated in the common schools. After leav- ing school he learned the barber's trade, and when he was twenty-one left home and went to Cylinder, this state, where he opened a shop, which he conducted for seven years. During that period he extended the scope of his activities by establishing a newspaper known as the "Cylinder Press," in connection with which he also conducted a job printing plant. He disposed of his paper when he sold his barber shop, and subsequently returned to Ellsworth. In 1906 he bought
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the "Ellsworth News," which he conducted alone until the spring of 1912, when he took his brother, Otto A. Satter, into partnership with him. He possesses high standards of citizenship, upright principles and progressive ideas, and the columns of his paper heartily indorse every movement which will tend to promote the intellectual, moral, social or commercial welfare of the community. In connection with the publi- cation of his paper he operates a job plant, and as the quality of his work is good, his terms reasonable and deliveries prompt, he has built up a lucrative trade. His circulation list carries eleven hundred names, the majority of his subscribers being located in the southern part of the county. He has a better equipment than is to be found in the average newspaper office in a town of this size, and values his plant at twenty-five hundred dollars.
In 1898, Mr. Satter was married to Miss Grace Harrison, who is the third in order of birth in a family of four, and was born in Palo Alto county, Iowa, on the Ist of January, 1882. She is a daughter of George and Anna (Bumbee) Harrison, natives of Wisconsin, in which state they were married and passed the early years of their domestic life. They came to Iowa in 1877, locating in Palo Alto county, where the father bought two hundred and forty acres of gov- ernment land, and through diligence and perseverance converted it into one of the valuable farms of the county. He continued his agri- cultural pursuits until 1902, when he leased his homestead and bought a residence in Emmetsburg, where he is now living retired at the age of sixty-five years. The mother, who is also living, is fifty-five. Mr. and Mrs. Satter have had two children, both of whom died in infancy.
Politically Mr. Satter is a republican, and supports the candidates and principles of that party. Both he and Mrs. Satter manifest their religious faith through their affiliation with the United church, and number among the members of its congregation many stanch friends.
KNUD HANDLEND.
Knud Handlend, who is a well known and respected resident of Lincoln township, Hamilton county, is successfully engaged in the cultivation of one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he owns, located in Lincoln township. He was born in Norway, June 2, 1853, and is a son of Christopher and Engborough Handlend, both of whom were natives of Norway. The father followed farming for a
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livelihood in his native land, where he died in 1898 and the mother died December 25, 191I.
Knud Handlend was reared at home and received his early edu- cation in his native land, where he remained until he was twenty- seven years of age. He then emigrated to America and located first in Lee county, Illinois, where he was engaged at work as a farm hand for two years. He then came to Marshalltown, Iowa, and took up work in one of the factories in that place, continuing in that work for the seven following years. He then purchased a farm in Marshall county, on which he was engaged in general farming for three years, after which time he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land lo- cated in Lincoln township, Hamilton county. On that property he established his home and has since continued to give his entire time to the cultivation and improvement of his land. Among the other improvements he has made on the property is that of a perfect tile drainage system. In addition to his farm property he is a stockholder in the Randall Lumber Company and also a stockholder in the Ells- worth Creamery Company.
Mr. Handlend was united in marriage to Miss Anna Kaltveldt in 1884. She is a daughter of Even and Anna Kaltveldt, both of whom are natives of Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Handlend six children have been born, namely: Elmer; Eddie, deceased; Matilda; Elma; Eddie, second of the name; and Cora. Mr. Handlend is affiliated with the republican party and is one of the present road supervisors of the township in which he lives. He and his family are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Handlend is a man of well known in- tegrity in business matters and is numbered among the successful up- to-date and enterprising farmers of the community in which he lives.
HARVEY B. TROTTER.
Harvey B. Trotter, who is living retired in Blairsburg, was one of the first to respond to the country's call for volunteers in '61, re- maining in the service for more than three years. He was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of July, 1837, and is of Irish extraction, his parents, James and Eliza Trotter, having been born in the Emerald isle. In 1842, the family removed to Steubenville, Ohio, where they resided until after the opening of the war when they continued their journey westward to Iowa. The father passed
HARVEY B. TROTTER.
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away at Talleyrand, this state, at the age of seventy-two years, but the mother was ninety-two at the time of her death, which occurred at Des Moines in 1900. They were the parents of the following chil- dren: Thomas, William, Mrs. Elizabeth Cable, James and Alexander, all of whom are deceased; Harvey B., our subject ; Richard and John, twins, both of whom are deceased, the latter having died in infancy ; Letitia, whose death occurred in childhood; and Mrs. Sarah Miller, of Webster City. The elder members of the family were born in Pennsylvania, and the younger ones in Ohio.
Harvey B. Trotter was a child of five years when he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Ohio, where he was reared to manhood and acquired his education. After leaving school he learned the trade of paper finishing, which occupation he was following when Fort Sumter was fired upon. Together with several of his fellow employes he responded to the call for volunteers by enlisting for ninety days in Company I, Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Cable, theirs being one of the first regiments to go to the front. When discharged upon the expiration of his period of ser- vice he came to Iowa, where his parents had removed while he was at the front. In the community in which they were residing the citi- zens were organizing a company for the infantry service and asked Mr. Trotter to join them, offering him a lieutenancy. He accepted, becoming a member of Company F, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, their regiment subsequently being attached to Crocker's famous brigade.
He remained in the service for three years, three months and eighteen days this time, and during that period participated in many notable conflicts, including Vicksburg and Corinth, and he was also with Sherman when he made his famous march to the sea. When mustered out he joined his brother in California, and finding plenty of work, for which he was well remunerated, and a delightful cli- mate, remained on the Pacific coast for fifteen years. At the expira- tion of that time he returned to Iowa, and located on a farm in Blairs- burg township, this county, where he followed agricultural pursuits until 1890. In the latter year, he disposed of his farming interests and went to Woolstock, Wright county, this state, and engaged in the restaurant business. Two years later he withdrew from this en- terprise and returning to Hamilton county, purchased a residence in Blairsburg, which has ever since been his home.
Mr. Trotter has been married twice. His first union was with Miss Jane Dennison and they became the parents of three children : Charles B .; Mrs. Almira Fairbank, who is residing in Washington;
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and Mrs. Laura May Worley, of Keokuk county, Iowa. The wife and mother passed away in 1882, and Mr. Trotter subsequently mar- ried Miss Nancy A. Moore, of Coatesville, Missouri, and to them have been born the following children: Ernest and Fred, who re- side in Blairsburg; Elmer, who makes his home in Wisconsin; Har- vey, who is a resident of Illinois; and May, Ralph and Dale, who are living at home. Mr. Trotter is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to the Webster City post, and his political allegiance is given to the republican party.
CLIFFORD A. WILKINSON.
Clifford A. Wilkinson, of the firm of Wilkinson Brothers, is re- garded as one of the highly capable and promising young business men of Williams, where he has been identified with commercial activi- ties for the past three years. He was born on a farm near Alden, Hardin county, Iowa, on November 19, 1884, and is the youngest son of William Austin and Elizabeth (Tomlinson) Wilkinson. The father is a native of Missouri and the mother of Grant county, Wis- consin, where they passed the early years of their married life. They subsequently came to Iowa and settled on a farm in Hardin county, in the cultivation of which the father was actively engaged for many years. He has now retired from the work of the fields and he and the mother are making their home in Alden. The other children of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson are as follows: Maude, who was born July 2, 1869, and married John H. Watson, of Hardin county; J. W., who is mentioned at greater length elsewhere in this work; and Walter, who was born on the 5th of March, 1876, and is residing in Quincy, Illinois.
The early years in the life of Clifford A. Wilkinson were passed on the home farm. In the acquirement of his preliminary education he attended the graded and high schools of Alden and subsequently matriculated in the dental department of the Iowa State University at Iowa City. He was a member of the United States Marine Corps for four years, spending half of that period in the Philippines, and has visited many of the principal ports of the world, and seen a large por- tion of the United States. In 1909, he became associated in the gen- eral mercantile business with his brother, J. William Wilkinson, in Williams, and they have met with gratifying success in the develop-
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ment of their enterprise. They have an attractive store and through their diligence, accommodating methods and reasonable prices have managed to build up a trade that under their policy will prove sub- stantial and permanent.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the 15th of May, 1910, Mr. Wil- kinson was married to Miss Mabel Nielsen, who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on the 20th of September, 1892, and is a daughter of N. C. and Anna ( Petersen) Nielsen, natives of Denmark. The father makes his home in Minneapolis, but the mother is deceased, her death having occurred on January 2, 1901. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Nielsen number seven: Anna, the wife of Adolph Skog- land, of Minneapolis; Jennie, now Mrs. J. K. Wynne, of Hopkins, Minnesota; Ada, who married George Schnelle, of St. Paul; Mrs. Wilkinson; Harold, who died on the 30th of May, 1907, at the age of fourteen years; and Ella and Helen, who are living in Minneapolis. Mrs. Wilkinson completed her education in the Minneapolis high school, which she attended for one year. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilkin- son has been born one daughter, Irene Agatha, whose birth occurred in Williams, April 22, 191I.
Fraternally Mr. Wilkinson is affiliated with Radiant Lodge, No. 266, A. F. & A. M., and his political allegiance is given to the re- publican party. He is a wide-awake, enterprising young man, who has made a very favorable impression in the business circles of Wil- liams and has won many stanch friends during the period of his resi- dence here.
CHARLES M. ARTHUR.
Charles M. Arthur, who resides at 826 Second street, Webster City, owns and operates a farm of two hundred and sixty-four acres, lo- cated on section 17, Cass township. He was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on the 29th of April, 1847, and is the eldest in a family of six children. His parents, Horace and Mary (Green) Arthur, were born, reared and married in the state of New York, whence they later removed to Wisconsin. There the father died in 1864, and four years later, the mother removed to Hamilton county, Iowa. She is still liv- ing at the venerable age of eighty-four years, and now makes her home with a daughter.
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The first seventeen years in the life of Charles M. Arthur were passed in the state of his birth, where he was given the advantages of a common-school education. In 1864, he came to Hamilton county and for four years thereafter worked for a stock buyer. He subsequently embarked in the livery business on his own account, but seven years later disposed of his stable and engaged in buying and selling stock. He followed this occupation for eight years, and at the expiration of that period bought a creamery which he operated until 1887. In the latter year he disposed of his interests here and went to the Black Hills coun- try, where for thirteen years he engaged in ranching and stock-raising. In 1900, he returned to Hamilton county and opened a restaurant in Webster City, which he successfully conducted for twelve years, and then sold it. He is now devoting his entire attention to the operation of his farm, which comprises two hundred and sixty-four acres and is located on section 17, Cass township. The entire tract is fenced, eighty acres of it hog tight and is well improved and equipped. His land is naturally drained and one hundred and fifty acres is under high culti- vation and planted to such cereals as are used for the feeding ot cattle. In connection with general farming he raises and buys and sells stocks and feeds cattle for the market, using for that purpose all the hay and grain he raises. His place is well adapted to stock-raising, as he has fine pasture and an abundance of water, his supply being obtained from a drilled well and the river. Mr. Arthur owns his residence in Webster City and a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres in Hancock county, this state, which he rents out.
On the 13th of October, 1868, Mr. Arthur was married to Miss Martha Frank, a daughter of John and Anna (Bear) Frank. They were natives of Pennsylvania and there they were also reared and married, coming to Iowa in 1853. Upon their arrival here the father bought one hundred and twenty acres of land in the vicinity of Web- ster City, for which he paid eight dollars per acre. His energies were devoted to the improvement and cultivation of his farm during the re- mainder of his active life, and there he passed away in 1907, at the age of, eighty-five years. He was survived by the mother who was ninety- one, when she died in May, 1911. They are buried in Graceland cemetery, this city. Mrs. Arthur, who was born on the 3d of Novem- ber, 1848, is the second in order of birth in a family of four, and be- came the mother of one daughter, Kittie. Kittie Arthur married Ward Moore, of Pueblo, Colorado, in which city she passed away on August 22, 1893, and was laid to rest in the family lot in Graceland cemetery, this city. At her death she left a little daughter, Edna E.,
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who was born on the 17th of August, 1893, and has been reared by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur, with whom she still makes her home.
The family affiliate with the Congregational church, and fraternally Mr. Arthur holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, Brotherhood of American Yeomen and Woodmen of the World. In politics he is republican. He is widely known in Hamilton county, where he first located more than forty-eight years ago, and enjoys the esteem and respect of a large circle of acquaintances, as a man of high principles and integrity, who conducts his business transactions in a straightforward, upright manner.
JOTHAM N. LYON.
High in the annals of pioneerdom in Hamilton county stands the name of Jotham N: Lyon, who for more than forty years was actively and prominently identified with the progress and development of Boone township, where he owned a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he had converted from raw prairie land into one of the best improved and most highly cultivated properties in the county.
Mr. Lyon was a native of the state of Indiana, his birth having occurred in Fountain county on the Ist of August, 1837. His father, Peter Lyon, was born in the vicinity of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1811, but in his early manhood he went to Illinois, and there he was married in 1833 to Miss Margaret Black, also a native of Ohio. Very soon after their marriage the young couple went to Wisconsin, but a year later they located in Indiana, making that their place of residence for two years. At the expiration of that time they returned to Illinois, settling in Vermilion county, where they made their home until 1852. In the latter year they came to Hamilton county and the father took up a half section of government land which he industriously culti- vated with the assistance of his sons for sixteen years. There were very few settlers in Hamilton county at that time, and only one house stood on the present site of Webster City. The woods abounded with wild game of all kinds, deer being very plentiful, while herds of buf- falo were frequently seen on the prairies. Peter Lyon soon became an expert hunter, his skill being developed very largely through his efforts to exterminate the wolves, which killed many pigs and smaller stock. In 1868 the father disposed of his interests here and again started westward, Jefferson county, Kansas, being his destination on
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this occasion. There the mother passed away in February, 1885, and in April, 1889, Mr. Lyon disposed of his interests and returned to Hamilton county, making his home with his son, the subject of this review, until his death on the 20th of February, 1897. He is buried in the family lot in Graceland cemetery, Webster City. Nine chil- dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lyon, all of whom are now deceased with the exception of three, as follows: Mary A., the wife of Rufus Butler; Richard T., who is living in the state of Washington; and George, who is a resident of Hamilton county. Mr. Lyon gave his political support to the republican party and took an active interest in all local affairs, but never held office.
Jotham N. Lyon, who was the second child born to his parents, was a lad of fifteen years when the family located in Hamilton county. He remained at home until after the opening of the Civil war, when he enlisted in the Sixth Iowa Regiment of the Frontier Guards, where he served for fifteen months. After the Spirit Lake massacre in 1863 and 1864 his regiment was stationed at that point to guard the settlers whose safety was still menaced by the Indians. When mustered out Mr. Lyon returned home and resumed his agricultural pursuits. In 1865, he was married and soon after this event settled on the farm in Boone township, where his widow still resides. The remainder of his life was passed on his homestead, the further cultivation and im- provement of which claimed his time and energies until his death on March 21, 1899. His youngest son, Wyatt E., has succeeded him in the management of the property and is engaging in both general farming and stock-raising, making a specialty of breeding Poland China hogs, and he also buys and feeds cattle for the market. The entire holding is fenced, the greater portion of it hog tight, while the fields are tiled and under high cultivation. The appearance and value of the property has been greatly enhanced by the recent erection of a nine-room residence, which is heated with a furnace and is thoroughly modern in all of its appointments.
On the 19th of October, 1865, Mr. Lyon was married to Miss Mary Willis, who was born in Adamsville, Ohio, March 15, 1844, and is the eldest of six children born to Robert and Louisa (Stanger) Willis, natives of Ohio. They came to Hamilton county in 1856 and Mr. Willis entered a homestead on a land warrant presented by the government to his father, who was a veteran of the War of 1812. Mr. Willis passed away in 1865, but he was long 'survived by his widow, whose death occurred in 1901. They are both buried in Webster City. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lyon:
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