USA > Iowa > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Iowa. Containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county. Together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Iowa, and of the presidents of the United States > Part 102
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ity of four thousand bushels. He procured fine water by the digging of wells, over one of which he erected a nicely adjusted wind-mill. He has two tenant houses on his farm. The land under cultivation amounts to a half section, while the bal- ance is in meadow and pasture land, and about one hundred acres of timber. His whole landed estate is surrounded by a good fence, the drive-ways through which are provided with substantial wooden gates. For three years during our subject's residence in the county he was visited by an army of callers whose room was better than their company. In brief it may be said that the grasshoppers destroyed his crops during these years, teaching him the Scrtptural saying "that even a grass- hopper shall be a burden unto them." Yet he survived all of these discourage- ments and financial back-sets and to-day has one of the finest places in Harrison County, and the passer-by enjoys looking out upon his broad acres with their taste- fully painted buildings and his generally well kept premises; yet, little realizing the struggle through which our subject and his family have gone in order to bring this all about.
Mr. Robert's birthplace was England and the date of his birth was September 21, 1810, making him eighty-one years old at this time, eleven years beyond the al- lotted time of man. His parents were John and Martha Roberts, who were also natives of England. Their children were as follows, John, William, James, Thomas, Mary, Betsy, Sarah, Martha and Rebecca.
Our subject and his sister Rebeca are the ones surviving.
Our subject remained in England until he was forty-three years of age and then bid farewell to his native land and sailed for America. From New York he went
to Syracuse and there worked at the carpenter's trade. After following this for two years in the Empire State he went to Michigan and located at White Pigeon. He worked at his trade there for three years and then came to Iowa County, Iowa, and purchased six hundred acres of land, which he subsequently sold to a German Colony and removed to Monona County, where he purchased eleven hun- dred acres of land near Onawa. He bought a sawmill in that county, also, but through litigation he left Monona County, in the fall of 1858, without a dollar. He went to Colorado and settled at Denver, where he built two store buildings on Blake Street and two dwelling houses on Curtis Street. He remained there eight years and then disposed of his property and returned to Harrison County.
Our subject was married in December, 1853, to Charlotte Hagerman, a daughter of William Hagerman, a native of New York. Mrs. Robert's parents had nine children.
Our subject and his wife have three children-Mary A., Martha and Jemima. After being companions on the road of life for thirty-eight years the angel of death called the good wife and mother from the scenes of this life, during the month of February, 1891. .
W ILLIAM A. HUNT, came to Har- rison County in February, 1884, and rented land for five years, after which he bought the place he now occu- pies in Cass Township.
Mr. Hunt was born in the town of Day, Saratoga County, N. Y., May 20, 1837, and remained in that section until he came to
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Harrison County, Iowa. July 7, 1870, he was united in marriage to Crista A. Fuller, by whom six children have been born : Isaac L., Erwin E., John A., Ida M., Lester J., deceased ; and Angie E.
Our subject's father's name is Isaac, who was born in New York State, and married Angeline Corra, also a native of the Empire State. They reared a family of five children of whom our subject was the oldest. The father was engaged at lumbering and rafting logs and timber.
X AVIER ALECK, a resident of sect- ion 28, Cass Township, was of the pioneer band who found their way to Harrison County in 1856. He pur- chase lland on the site of his present home. He was a single man at thetime, and was a tailor by trade. He worked during 1857-8 at that trade, among the settlers, and March 1860, he was united in marriage to Christiana Gieger, a native of Germany, born July 9, 1839, coming to America with her parents in 1854. They came to Pennsylvania, and in 1860 to Harrison County, where the father died in 1883, the mother having died in 1863. Her . coffin was made by hand by E. Strauss.
Our subject and his wife are the parents of twelve children, ten of whom are living -A. Magdalena, born March 26, 1861; Frederick L., August 3, 1862: John X., March 9, 1864; Theresa M., January 13, 1866; Martha J., February 5, 1868; J. Adolphus, February 12, 1870; Creszenzia, born December 7, 1871, died September 16, 1872; Charley H., born September 17, 1873; Amelia J., April 21, 1876; Ida E., born March 30, 1878, died August 8, 1878;
Anna E., born December 12, 1879; and Rosa B., August 21, 1883.
Our subject was born in Grand Duchy of Baden, March 13, 1828, and is the son of Sorenz and Agadea (Schill) Aleck, and is the youngest son of a family of eight children. Our subject and one brother, George, came to America in 1849. George lived in Camden, near Philadelphia. The father was a turner and machinist, mak- ing spinning- wheels and doing iron work. He died in Germany, in 1841, aged fifty- six years. The mother died in the same country, aged seventy-one years.
In the Fatherland, and when fifteen years of age, our subject commenced to learn the tailor's trade, serving an appren- ticeship of two years, after which he fol- lowed the trade, working in various places in his native land until October, 1852, when he came to America, landing in New York harbor October 7, and three days later was found at Williamsburg, working at his trade, remaining there until Christmas, when he accompanied his brother to Philadelphia. He had not intended to let his brother know that he was there for fear he might think he wanted some favor of him. Soon after arriving at Philadelphia he resumed work at his trade, following the same until March, 1855, when he started West by railroad, having no particular point in view. From the last-named place he took a ticket to Chicago, with the stop-over privilege. But he finally landed in Chi- cago, where he worked three weeks, and then started for St. Paul, Minn. This was the last of April, and on arriving at Galena found that Lake Pepin was frozen over so that boats were not running, which gave him the impression that Min- nesota was too cold a country in which to live. Owing to the large number of
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travelers, our subject had hard work to find a place to sleep in Galena.
Abandoning the idea of going to St. Paul, he started by boat for St. Louis, ar- riving there the first week of May, and three days later headed for Council Bluffs, but stopped at Weston and worked for awhile at his trade, arriving at the Bluffs in July, and spent the remainder of the season working in a brick yard, and not being used to this kind of work, he found it very hard. Before going to work in the brick yard, however, he, with five others, started with ox-teams into Nebraska to take a claim. Their wagon was of the old linch-pin style, and while out on the prairies about two days' drive they lost one of their linch-pins, which at first seemed a serious accident, but by the use of their ingenuity a pin was provided from a piece of their whip stock.
This trip decided our subject's Ne- braska fever, as he said he would not live in a country where there was not enough wood with which to make a linch-pin. So after going to Fontanelle, he returned to Omaha and Council Bluffs and went into the brick yard, as before stated. In the following winter he worked as a cook for a gang of men who were erecting a saw- mill; the following spring he came to Harrison County. He was very favorably impressed with this country, finding the settlers here of a friendly class; and a man at that time was not obliged to tell a falsehood in order to procure a glass of liquor.
It will go without saying that our sub- ject is not in sympathy with the present prohibition laws of Iowa, believing, as he does, that it has not helped the moral condition of affairs and has taken away one feature of our personal rights vouch- safed under the Constitution, but does
not wish to complain of his treatment in America.
After our subject had been in this coun- try some time he wrote a friendly letter to his mother in the old country, in which he told her she need not worry about him, for he was as independent as Adam and Eve, the only difference being that he had to plant his own apple trees, a gentle reminder that he thought he was in the Garden of Eden.
Politically our subject is loyal to our American form of Goverment, and at the present time casts his vote with the Democratic party.
Our subject's present farm comprises seven hundred and twenty acres, and is drained by the waters of Pigeon Creek. He has a natural building site and his farm presents the appearance of order and thrift.
As a matter of historical interest ho wishes it recorded that the platform of the temperance party, which says the power of the Goverment comes from the Lord, is not correct; he believes that the power of our nation comes from the people, and that the laws are fixed by the education and ideas of those making up the Government.
I SAAC E. WHITNEY, one of the representative farmers of Jackson Township, now residing on section 16, came to Harrison County, in the spring of 1855, and first located on section 28, of Jackson Township. He came to the coun- try in company with his parents. His fa- ther bought eighty acres of wild land, built a "dug-out," and broke part of his
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land, and lived there for about two years. Our subject was thirteen years old at this time. The father sold this place, and re- moved to the north line of the township, and remained one year, and then moved back and bought forty acres near the old farm, and here built a log house, broke up the land and farmed for seven years. At this time, our subject went for himself. He went to Salt Lake City, and engaged at freighting for the Overland Stage Company, which business he followed three years. He worked one year in the mines at Virginia City, and two years at loging, in the mountains for Joseph A. a son of Brigham Young. In the spring of 1869, he returned to Harrison County,and settled on the place he now occupies. It then consisted of forty acres of wild land. He first lived in a log house 13x15 feet, which is still standing. After living in this fifteen years, he built a story and a half frame house 24x26 feet. His present farm consists of two hundred and fifty acres, fifty-five acres of which are under the plow, while the balance is in pasture and meadow land. He set out an orchard and a grove, built a barn 18x38 feet, a cattle barn 20x30 feet, a double crib 24x30 feet and made other useful improvements. He commenced on this place without much means, and was here during the grasshopper seasons, and endured the hardships of the never-to-be-forgotten, snow winter of 1856-57, when they had to draw wood on a hand-sled, and live chiefly on corn meal, which they had to draw on hand-sleds from Martin's mill, in the south part of the township.
Our subject was born May 7, 1841, in .England, and is a son of Edmund and Frances (Hope) Whitney, who had seven children: Isaac, George, deceased; Al- fred, Oliver; Thomas and Edmund, de-
ceased; and Sadina. The father and mother are both deceased ; the former died in 1850, and the latter in 1877.
Mr. Whitney landed in New York, when but a year old. His parents first settledin New Jersey, and in 1851 removed to Pot- tawattamie County, Iowa. They remained one year, returned to New Jersey, spent two years, and then removed to Troy, N. Y., and remained until the spring of 1855, when they returned to Iowa. Our subject's school advantages were poor, obtaining the most of his information from books that he picked up at odd times. He was united in marriage, August 17, 1865, to Jane L. Triplett, the daughter of George and Lovinia Triplett, natives of England, who had six children : Jane L., Caroline, deceased; Susan; Lovina, de- ceased ; Martha and Salina.
Our subject and his wife have no chil- dren. He and his wife are both members of the Brigham Young branch of the Lat- ter Day Saints Church. Our subject was a Road Supervisor for five years, and was Township Trustee nine years, and is Jus- tice of the Peace at this time.
IRAM ELLIS, deceased, was a na- tive of Brown County, Ohio, but became a resident of Harrison Coun- ty in March, 1871. The date of his birth was April 6, 1829, His parents were John and Hannah (Martin) Ellis, natives of Ohio. Hiram's early life was spent in the Buckeye State, and there he received a common school education. He worked on bis father's farm until he became of age, and in 1854 emigrated from Brown County, Ohio, to near Hennepin, Putnam County, Ill., where he farmed until he
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came to Harrison County, and rented a farm of Dave Gamet, in Little Sioux Township. The following year he pur- chased a farm on section 2, Township eighty-one, and now owns one hundred and seventy-five acres of land, one hun- dred acres of which are under the plow and all surrounded by a good fence.
March, 1851, was a new era in this man's life, for it was during that month that he married Eliza Porter, daughter of James B. and Mary (Pettijohn) Porter, who were natives of Ohio. By this marriage union five children were born: Luella, now Mrs. Hope; Maggie, now Mrs. Cadwell; Oliver J., of Wakefield, Neb .; James P., of Louisville, Neb. ; and William C., at home.
Politically, our subject was identified with the Republican party, and in religi- ous matters was a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. He passed from the scenes of this life July 23, 1888, being sixty years of age.
OMMODORE R. CONNYERS, a representative farmer and good citi- zen of Jackson Township, whose pleasant home is situated on section 10, came to Harrison County, in July, 1868 in company with his parents, who first located in Little Sioux Township, and bought forty acres of wild land near the Little Sioux River. Our subject remained at home until he was eighteen years of age, and then went to Utah and Montana
where he engaged in teaming and mining for three years, after which he came back to Iowa, and lived on rented land for nine years, when he purchased sixty acres of partly improved land. He now has one hundred and twenty acres under the plow
and the balance in pasture and meadow land. He built a good house 16x31 feet, together with other building improve- ments, set out shade trees, and a good or- chard.
Mr. Connyers, was born in Jefferson County, Iowa, the son of George W. and Sarah Connyers, natives of Tennessee and Illinois, respectively, who had a family of of twelve children: Mary A., deceased ; Rebecca J., Marion M., George W., de- ceased; Harriet A., deceased ; Commodore R .. Sarah M., William D., deceased ; John H .; Arantha, Minerva E., and Emeline, deceased.
Our subject lived with his parents in Lastern Iowa, until he came to Harrison County. He was united in marriage Sep- tember 25, 1867, to Nancy A. Patterson, the daughter of Berril and Priscilla Pat- terson, natives of Illinois, who had the following seven children: Sarah, Alma, Hulda, Nancy A., Etta, Emma, James and Alfred.
Our subject and his wife are the parents of twelve children: Sarah E., William D., Charles H., Joseph, Guy A., Marion, Clarence, Lillie, Pearly, Roy and John. Mr. and Mrs. Connyers are acceptable members of the Latter Day Saints Church.
OHN STEEN came to Harrison County, the latter part of March, 1856, and settled near Mondamin, and has been a resident of the county ever since. A man who has tilled the soil of Harrison County for twenty-six years is justly entitled to space. in this connec- for a biographical notice.
He was born in Pike County, Ohio, April 28, 1830, and is the son of William
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and Sarah (Sailor) Steen. His great-grand- father, William Steen, was a native of Scotland and emigrated to our shores about 1758, settling at Lynchburg, Va., where he spent the remainder of his days. He reared four sons, among whom was John, the grandfather of our subject, who was born in Lynchburg in 1761, married and reared a family of four children- Archibald, Robert, Sarah and William, the father of our subject, who was also born in Lynchburg, the date of his birth being October 24, 1804, and when eight years of age accompanies his parents to Ohio, settling on the Big Darby River, where they lived for some years and then removed to Jackson County, Ohio, where William, father of our subject, married Sa- rah Sailor, of Pike County, about 1827. About 1835 John removed to Chicago, took a claim and later removed to Ver- million County, Ill., where he remained until the date of his death, 1848. William Steen, father of our subject, remained in Pike County, Ohio, after his marriage and worked at the carpenter trade until Sep- tember, 1848, and then with horse teams emigrated to Polk County, Iowa, halted two years, then removed to Decatur County where he lived on a farm until his death in 1881, his wife dying April 11, 1889, aged eighty-two years; they were the parents of ten children.
Our subject remained at home until twenty-two years of age, when he com- menced working on the farm by the month, continued three years and then bought land in Decatur County, Iowa. In No- vember, 1858, was married to Jerusha A. Bird, a native of Illinois, and the daughter of Robert M. and Isabel (Campbell) Bird, remained in her native State until she who came to Harrison County, Mr. and Mrs. Steen are the parents of the following
children : Almeda, born November 4, 1859 ; Edwin, January 10, 1861; Willis, April, 11, 1862; Joseph A., October 28, 1863; Amanda. I., April 11, 1866; William E., April 22, 1869; Elintha A., May 15, 1870; Ada I., February 29, 1872; Serenus, Jan- uary 4, 1877, Franklin B., July 4, 1880, and John, April 20, 1885.
Almeda married O. S. Wadsworth and lives in Taylor Township; Willis married R. Arnold and lived in Magnolia Town- ship; Amanda J. married John Baker and lives in Calhoun Township; Elintha A. married John Hillis and lives in Jackson Township; William E. married Leonora Jewell.
Politically, our subject affiliates with Democratic party.
The first year Mr. Steen lived in this county he rented a farm of eighty acres which the same year he bought and lived upon three years, and then sold the same to F. M. Brooks and removed to what is now known as the Kellogg farm, remained there three years and bought sixty-three acres on section 19, Calhoun Township, upon which there was a three-room house and ten acres of breaking. After four years he sold this place for $1,000, rented land one year, and in the autumn of 1875 re- moved to Decatur, Iowa, remained over winter and then removed to Harrison County, Mo., where he raised one crop and in August of the same year returned to Calhoun Township, this county, rented land one year and in February, 1878, bought a farm in St. John's Township, north of Missouri Valley, consisting of one hundred and twenty acres of improved land. He was there two years and in March, 1880, sold and bought one hundred acres on which he lives, situated on sec- tion 30, of Calhoun Township. He paid $22 per acre for the land, which was un-
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der cultivation but without any other im- provements. He fenced the farm, erected a commodious farmhouse and remained in the place ten years, when he moved to a one hundred and twenty-acre farm on section 18, which he had bought in June, 1886, and upon which he now lives. His place is well improved and has a good house and an orchard of one hundred and sixty trees and about twenty acres under the plow, and one hundred acres in pas- ture.
ERRY MOTZ one of the pioneers of 1853, now residing on section 13, of Clay Township, first settled in Mag- nolia Township, where he purchased a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land which he entered that fall. There was no house upon the place and only twelve acres of breaking. He erected a hewed log house sixteen feet square, and made other improvements. He remained there until the spring of 1862, when he sold and moved to Taylor Township, pur- chasing a quarter of section 17, and two hundred and forty acres in sections 8 and 15 of Clay Township. He traded his farm in Magnolia Township for the wild land in Taylor and Clay Townships. He built a double log house 16x32 feet on his land in Taylor Township, where he broke fifty acres and remained until the spring of 1865, then sold that place and bought the place he now occupies ; which consisted of two hundred acres upon which there was a hewed log house 18x24 feet, in which he lived until November 1866, when he erect- ed his present residence which is a frame structure 16x26 feet and an ell 14x16 feet, which was one of the first frame houses
erected on the Missouri Bottoms, in this part of the county. This building was constructed with the old hewed frame style of architecture; the posts being eight inches square. He also erected a barn 36x60, with eighteen-foot posts: Of his two hundred acre home-farm, about one hundred and forty acres are under cultivation, while the balance is in timber and pasture land. His whole landed estate amounts to three hundred and seven - ty acres.
When he came to the county, Council Bluffs was his nearest trading point and post-office. The first school house built north of Boyer River was on the Cutler land in Magnolia Township, and was built by John Thompson and Jerry Motz, (our subject) in about 1854.
Mr. Motz was born in Center County, Pa., March 3, 1827. He is the son of George and Rachel (Harper) Motz, both natives of Pennsylvania. When our sub- lect was ten years of age his parents moved from the Keystone state, to Hamil- ton County, Ind., and after living there two years the parents both died, after which our subject had to shift for himself. He worked on a farm three years for one man, and then returned to his birth place in Pennsylvania, where he remained six months and then came back to Indiana, he remained a short time and went to Niles, Mich., where he worked on a brick- yard one season, returned to Indiana and remained until 1853; and then came to Harrison County, Iowa.
He was united in marriage, in Tipton County, Ind., Christmas Day 1851, with Miss Delcina Caywood, the daughter of Oracio and Zilla Caywood. Our subject and his wife are the parents of eleven chil- dren, born as follows-John M., Septem- ber 18, 1853; Adelia, May 4, 1855; George
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W., October 3, 1856; Zillah, January 21, 1858; Orrilla, April 15, 1859; Mary E., February 16, 1861; William C., December 22, 1862; Francis, August 2, 1865; Eliza, J., December 17, 1868; Linnie, February 4, 1871; Jacob L., August 27, 1873.
Orrilla, died September 1860; Adelia, June 1867 ; Zillah, February 1884; Linnie, October 1887; Eliza J., October 1889, and Francis, April 1890.
Delcina (Caywood) Motz, was born in Kentucky April 30, 1833, and in the au- tumn of that year her parents moved to Hendricks County, Ind., and from there to Tipton County, where she remained until married. William aud Francis, chil- dren of our subject, both graduated at Vinton Iowa College for the Blind, the former graduating in June 1889, and the latter in June 1887.
Mr. Motz is a member of the Masonic order, having joined in Indiana, in 1848, and was a Charter member of Magnolia Lodge No. 127.
Politically, he affiliates with the Demo- cratic party, and his wife is a consistent member of the Christian Church.
W ILLIAM E. WISLER, check clerk for the Sioux City & Pacific and Fremont & Elkhorn Railroads, came to that city, in November, 1880, and soon after, entered the employ of the rail- road company.
He was born in Adams County, Pa., July 27, 1847. He is the son of John and Mary (Stevens) Wisler, the former of German descent. The grandfather, Wisler, came to Pennsylvania when a small boy, and there spent his life. He reared a family of ten children, of whom our subject was
the oldest. Of the ten children seven are living. Two are in Pennsylvania ; one sis- ter, the wife of W. H. Bradley, residing at Missouri Valley; another sister, the wife of S. A. Miller, residing in Nebraska ; one brother in Omaha and one in Paw Paw, Ill.
The mother died in April, 1869, and was buried in Adams County, Pa. The father is living on a farm, seven miles from Gettysburg, Pa.
Our subject's early education was re- ceived in the common schools, of Adams County, Pa., and when seventeen years of age, commenced to learn the shoe maker's trade, and followed it for four years and a half, then followed common labor until about 1873, at which time he moved to Altoona, Pa., and followed carpenter work until 1880, then after making a short stay in his old home, in Adams County, he came to Missouri Valley, where he has since been permanently employed by the railroad company.
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