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 105
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subject was prospered by virtue of hard work and good management, he added to his land until he possessed sixteen hun- dred acres, five hundred being under the plow, while the balance is in pasture and meadow land.
Our subject was born in Tennsssee, De- bember 4, 1828, and was the son of Jacob and Rebecca Coffman, natives of the Big Bend State-Tennessee, who had a family of three children-John T., Marion, and Pleasant, deceased. Our subject lived in Tennessee until ten years of age, when his parents removed to Appanoose County, Iowa, where they bought an improved farm,which they cultivated until 1864. He went to Virginia City, Col., remained one season and came to this county.
Mr. Coffman was united in marriage in January, 1849, to Malinda Croft, the daughter of John and Margaret Croft, na- tives of Virginia, who were the parents of John, Malinda, Louisa and Susan. By this marriage union two children were born-Josephine and Lafayette. The mother of these children, our subject's first wife, died from a snake bite.
For his second wife he married his first wife's sister, Susan Croft, April 25, 1858. By this marriage union six children were born-Don B., Charles Emero, Margaret R., Elmer, William, and Alfred, deceased.
After having spent over three score years in laboring to build for himself and family a home, where peace and plenty should abound, he met with an accident which caused his death, taking from his home circle and the community in which he had lived so many years as an honored member of society. In 1890 while en- gaged in operating a cornsheller, his hand was caught by the machinery, fracturing his hand and taking off his right finger, which accident necessitated part of its
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amputation. As a result lock-jaw set in, causing his death February 17, 1890.
He of whom we write this memoir was a member of the Magnolia Masonic Lodge, and both he and his estimable wife were identified with the Latter Day Saints Church.
Politically he held to the principles of the Democratic party, was a Justice of the Peace for many years and held other local office. He stood high in the community in which he had lived for so many years.
OHN D. GARRISON, ex-Sheriff of Harrison County, and ex-President of the Iowa Sheriff's Association, who has been a resident of the county since 1871, will form the subject of this biographical notice.
He was born in Orleans County, N. Y., June 3, 1837, the son of Ezra and Char- lotta (Butts) Garrison, natives of the Empire State, who trace their ancestry back to Holland. John D. is the youngest of a family of twelve children. His par- ents are both deceased, and buried in Rock County, Wis. He spent his early life, and received his early education, in the common schools of New York, and finished in Milton, Rock County, now quite a noted place as an educational town. The family came to Rock County, Wis., in 1848; and in 1854 our subject went to Illinois, and from there to Delbi, Delaware County, Iowa, where he was engaged on a brickyard one year, and then went to Butler County, remained until 1866, and engaged in the grain business at Madison, Wis. We next find our subject in the grain and stock business in Harrison County, Iowa, which he followed until
1879, and then went to Pottawattamie County. He was elected Sheriff of Har- rison County in 1883, by one hundred and eighty-seven majority; was re-elected in 1885 by a majority of forty-four; in 1887 by a majority of five hundred and thirty- seven; and in 1889 by a majority of four hundred and fifteen.
Politically, Mr. Garrison is a radical Democrat, of the old line stripe. He is a member of the Baptist Church at Logan, and belongs to Masonic Lodge No. 423, (Neola) A. F. & A. M. ; Avoca Royal Arch Chapter; and Neola Lodge, No. 410, of I. O. O. F.
He was united in marriage January 1, 1857, at Clarksville, Iowa, to Mary Farlow, daughter of Alfred and Sinah (Frakes) Farlow. Mr. and Mrs. Garrison are the parents of three living children-Tillie, born October 3, 1857; Orra A., November 11, 1860; and Sherman L., June 9, 1865.
Our subject enlisted August 20, 1862, at Waverly, Iowa, as a member of Company B., Thirty-eighth Iowa Infantry, as Fourth Sergeant. He was at the siege of Vicks- burg, and up the Yazoo on special service, and discharged at New Orleans November 1, 1863.
W ILLIAM H. COLLINS, a resident of section 9, Raglan Township, came to Harrison County in the autumn of 1878, first locating near Wood- bine, where he rented land for four.years. He states that upon his arrival in Harri- son County, he had but fifteen cents in his pocket. He succeeded in securing one hundred and twenty acres of wild land on section 10, of Raglan Township, which he improved by breaking, building
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a one-story and a half house 16x24 feet, together with accompanying outbuildings. He kept this place one year and sold it for twice what he had given. He then bought a quarter-section of wild land in Little Sioux Township, where he made improvements, building the necessary buildings, enclosed it all within a good fence, and set out shade trees and planted out a fine orchard. He still owns this place. In 1887 he bought his home farm which consisted of one hundred and sixty acres of partly improved land, upon which he has remained ever since.
Our subject was born in Monroe County W. Va., in September, 1856. He is the son of Edward and Elizabeth Collins, na- tives of Ireland and Virginia respectively, whose family were as follows: Mary, Pe- ter, deceased; James, John, Sarah, Will- iam H., and Elizabeth. Our subject's ed- ucational advantages were very limited, only having an opportunity to attend school two weeks.
He remained in the " Old Dominion " State until twenty-two years of age, and then came to Harrison County, Iowa.
April, 1876, marked a new era in this man's life, for it was during that month that he was united in marriage with Mary A. Macenur, daughter of Major Anson and Cynthia Macenur, natives of Vir- ginia, whose only child was our subject's wife.
For his second wife our subject married Susan South, February 26, 1880, daughter of Jackson and Rebecca South, natives of Ohio and Indiana respectively. They were the parents of nine children, of whom our subject's wife was the third child. The names of the children are as follows: Francis, deceased; William, Su- san, Jefferson, deceased; David Albert, Ransom, Minnie and Jane. Seven of these
children are still living ; all are in Iowa ex- cept Ransom, who is a resident of Ne- braska.
Our subject and his wife are the parents of five children, born and named in the following order: Connie, August 2, 1877 ; Thomas E., August 13, 1881, deceased ; Cora, May 27, 1883: Minnie, April 14, 1885; Edith, December 25, 1889; Nancy May, July 4, 1891.
S AMUEL I. KING, an attorney-at- law of Logan, Iowa, accompanied his parents, Hon. Stephen King and wife, to Harrison County in the spring of 1852, Judge King, as his father is familiarly called, having been the first Judge of Harrison County, located on section 18, of Cass Township. Samuel's early life was spent on his father's farm, having the privileges of the common- school system of this county. Concern- ing the ancestry of our subject, the reader is referred to the biography of Stephen King, elsewhere in this work. Samuel was born in Edinburgh, N. Y., September 8, 1848. He is a son of Stephen and Fran- ces L. (Marsh) King, natives of the Em- pire State, who were the parents of six children, four of whom still survive-Sam- uel I., our subject; Alva, deceased ; Reu- ben, of Jefferson Township; Clara M., now Mrs. Wolle, living in Bethlehem, Pa .; Minerva, now Mrs. Winter, a resi- dent of Woodbine, Iowa; and Willie, de- ceased.
In 1867. our subject began a classical course at the State University at Iowa City, continuing his studies for three years. From 1870 to 1875 his time was employed at teaching school, clerking in
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a store and traveling for a Council Bluffs dry-goods house. At that time he at- tended the Iowa College of Law at Des Moines, graduating in June, 1876, after which he practiced law at Magnolia until the autumn of 1879, when he removed to Logan and opened a law office where he still continues to practice his chosen pro- fession.
Mr. King was united in marriage De- cember 24, 1874, with Abbie M. Mark, who was the daughter of Dr. Andrew J. Mark. Her mother's maiden name being Hannah M. Corey. Her parents were natives of New York State. Two child- ren have blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. King-Mark D., born November 6, 1883; and Lucy Clare, June 16, 1887.
Our subject belongs to the Masonic Order, being a member of Chrysolite Lodge, No. 420, at Logan; Triune Chap- ter, No. 81, of Royal Arch Masons, at Missouri Valley and Ivanhoe Commandery of Knights Templar, No. 17, at Council Bluffs.
Politically, he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party.
M ICHAEL MURRAY, one of the largest land owners in Harrison County, and a resident of Little Sioux Township, may justly claim space in this connection for a biographi- cal notice, having lived in the county as he has, over a third of a century, coming in 1857.
He was born May 6, 1810, in Kilmar- nock, Scotland; the son of Michael and Mary (Craig) Murray. The father was born in Dublin, and the mother was of Scoth-Irish extraction. The father came
to the United States in 1860, and laid down the burden of life three years later. There were six children in his father's family-our subject and the following : Agnes, John, Rose, Mary, James.
When our subject first came to Harri- son County in 1857, he carried the mail on horseback from Calhoun to Magnolia for one year; drove stage from Onawa to Shipman two years; came to Harrison County again in 1861 and located a pre- emption claim, but the big flood of 1862, swept down the valley, driving them away, causing them to lose everything they had, after which our subject rented a farm of Sam Ellis for one year. In 1863 he went to Denver, Colo., drove stage for the Overland Stage Company. In 1864 he started a ranch one hundred miles east of Denver, known as the Douglass ranch, which furnished feed for the overland trains. He continued this until 1865, when the Indian war broke out, and had all the horses and cattle he had stolen by them. He remained there until 1867, and then went to Cheyenne and Salt Lake, where they were building the Union Pacific Railroad. After that highway was completed he went to Bitter Creek, where he had a contract for furnishing wood for the company. In 1868, we find our subject again back in Harrison County, Iowa, farming on section 18, Little Sioux Township, on land originally pre-empted by Amos S. Chase. Our subject now owns thirteen hundred and seventy acres of land in Harrison County, five hundred and seventy acres in one piece and eight hundred in another. The lowest price paid for any of this land was $10 per acre.
Mr. Murray was united in marriage, April 3, 1869, to Luella Ellis, a daughter of John and Hannah (Martin) Ellis. By
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this marriage union seven children have been born-Mary, Agnes, Lillie, Ada, James, Adolph and Thomas. The family belong to the Roman Catholic Church.
Politically, our subject believes in the principles of the Republican party.
Mr. Murray laid the foundation for his present well-to-do circumstances by driv- ing stage in Iowa, and working in the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, as well as on the great Western plains. A quarter of a century ago it took great courage and endurance to live west of the Missouri River, for civilization had not moulded - good society, or fashioned the laws, now found in that section. After accumulat- ing considerable means in the West, Mr. Murray very wisely returned to the Hawk- eye State and invested his earnings in valuable lands, the possession of which has now placed him in an independent position in life.
He established his mercantile business in the fall of 1868, purchasing a general stock of Benjamin Tabor in an old build- ing on the spot where Mr. Murray's pres- ent fine two-story frame now stands, which was erected in 1877, and the second story is used for a Masonic Hall.
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0 RVILLE GRANGER, (deceased) was born in Vermont, in 1827. He remained at home until the death of his mother, when he was sixteen years of age, after which he went to the pineries of Wisconsin, and then came to Chicago, which was but a small village at the time. He came to Harrison County, about 1856, and settled at Calhoun, remained two years and in the spring of 1859, moved to Cincinnati Township. His place was on
section 11. At the time of his death he had two hundred and eighty acres of land. The house in which he lived was among the first houses built in Harrison County, and although it is still in use, it was built a least forty years ago. Mr. Granger bought and moved it from Cincinnati. Our subject was married to Miss Eliza A. Smith in Wisconsin, and they were the parents of six children. Our subject died in the eastern part of the State, while on his way to Chicago in the autumn of 1883. The mother lives at Missouri Valley, at the French-American Chop-House.
HAMBERS HESTER. The mall who heads this sketch, and who is a farmer of section 15, of Clay Township, was born in Brown County, Ohio, May 15, 1838. His parents were Stephen A, and Sarah A. (Barnes) Hes- ter, both natives of Kentucky. In 1838 they left Ohio and moved to Montgomery County, Ind., remained two years and then came to Des Moines County, Iowa. After a four years' residence there, they moved to Jones County, and remained until the spring of 1853, and came to Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, remained until the fall and then came to Harrison County, locating on section 22, of Clay Township. Upon coming to the county they had nothing but a team of horses and a wagon. They liked the country very much and made arrangements with Cassady & Test, a money loaning firm of Council Bluffs, to borrow money enough to enter a half section of land, The firm furnished the money and gave a bond for a deed; in this land our subject had a one-third interest. It was timber land, and
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in the spring of 1854 they made arrange- ments witlı Thomas A. Dennis to bring in a sawmill, and go in company with him in the land, as well as in the mill. They sent to St. Louis for the mill, and in coming up the Missouri River it was thought the boat would sink, and they commenced throwing . things overboard, including much of the mill machinery. The boiler they corked up and rolled into the river, and it floated and was thus saved. In the summer of 1855 this mill was in oper- ation, but was burned in the autumn of 1856; however, the machinery was not injured except the wood-work and saws. This was the first mill located in Clay Township. Our subject sold his share in the mill in the fall of 1855, after which he followed various things. He bought a few calves, put up some hay and remained at home with his father until the fall of 1858. He entered eighty acres of land which belonged to the county, the same being heavily timbered. In 1862 he pur- chased forty acres more of county land on section 23, where he built a log house, and subsequently erected a frame house 16x24 feet, which burned a few years later, and was replaced by another 16x30 feet, with additions. His farm now con sists of one hundred and seventy acres. In 1883, in order to give his children bet- ter educational advantages, Mr. Hester moved to Blair, Neb., where he remained four years, and then moved to his pres- ent place, upon which he erected a house that year.
Concerning our subject's domestic life, it may be stated that he was united in marriage in Clay Township, in December, 1859, to Miss Sarah J. Sharpnack, the daughter of Samuel and Lucretia (Long) Sharpnack. Our subject and his wife are the parents of seven children-Jasper A.,
Laura L., Minnie M. (deceased), Levi F., Cancey A., Bertie C., Rena A. M.
Sarah J. (Sharpnack) Hester was born in Wetzel County, Va., and when quite small. accompanied her parents to Harri- son County, Iowa. She passed from the scenes of this life August 22, 1885. She was a member of the Advent Church.
Mr. Hester married for his second wife Miss Clara Hatcher, with whom he expe- rienced an incompatibility which caused a separation within a few months. June 28, 1891, he was united to Miss Sarah Sharley.
Politically our subject is a Democrat, and in religious belief and profession he and his wife are members of the Free Methodist Church.
Our subject's father left Harrison County about 1882, then moved to Wash- ington County, Neb., where he subse- quently died. The mother died in Burt County, Neb., and the remains of both parents are buried in the Blair Cemetery.
W ALTER A. GRANGER, of Cin- cinnati Township, was born on the farm he now lives upon, July 24, 1865, and has always lived on the same place. He is a son of Orville and Eliza A. Granger. He attended the High School at Missouri Valley, and gained a good education. He is now operating his mo- ther's farm. He was married in Boone County, Iowa, April 2, 1891, to Miss Anna B. Williams, the daughter of Austin and Belle (Cornwall) Williams. She was born in Canada, September 29, 1864. She ac- companied her parents to Boone County, when a small child, and at the age of
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eighteen years, commenced to teach school, which profession she followed un- til the date of her marriage.
Politically, our subject believes in the principles of the Democratic party.
ON. BENJAMIN F. ROBERTS, et al, will form the subject of this biographical notice. Among the early settlers of Harrison Township was William M. Roberts, a native of Ver- mont, of Welch and Scotch parentage. When a young man he left his native state and settled in Connecticut. In 1818 he was married to Miss Maria Mack, a native of Watertown, Conn. Thirteen children were the result of this marriage, nine sons and four daughters. Two sons two daughters having died previous to his removal to Iowa, they, therefore occupy no important place in this history. Of the remaining sons and daughters we will make especial mention hereafter.
Mr. Roberts, for many years after lo- cating in Connecticut, was engaged in the book trade, and for a term of years was manager of the Buckland Hotel, or tavern as called in those days. He was quite prominent in politics, and twice elected to the State Legislature of Connecticut, besides holding many other important po- sitions of trust. In Masonry he stood high and was for many years an active worker in the order. In the spring of 1860, with his wife, two daughters and one son he removed to Iowa, and settled in Harri- son Township, where four of his sons who had already preceded him were there liv- ing. Here he passed the remainder of his days and died in February of 1869, at the age of seventy-eight years.
His wife survived him three years and died at the age of seventy-two years. Mrs. Roberts was one of those quiet, unassum- ing women of New England type, who by her influence and example imparted to others those principles so necessary in the development of true character. She or- ganized the Farmer's Wives Society, a full description and history of which will be found elsewhere in this volume.
Jonathan W. Roberts, the oldest son, although at no time a resident of Iowa, manifested a deep interest in the early de- velopment of this portion of the state. In 1858, he employed a missionary, paying all his expenses for one year, to travel through Western Iowa establishing churches and Sabbath-schools, and other- wise encouraging religious societies among the early settlers.
George C. Roberts came to this place from Texas, in the spring of 1857, and purchased the James Welch farm, on sec- tion 33, the only land then under cultiva- tion in the township. In 1859, he mar- ried Miss Emma Johnson and settled on Mill Creek, where he continued farming until 1877, when he removed to California. Here he found schools sadly neglected and prompted by his Iowa ambition for schools he set about at once organizing a district and soon secured the erection of the first school building in that vicinity.
James L. Roberts was the first of the family to settle in the township. He came here in the fall of 1856 and after en- during the privations of that hard winter of 1856-57, opened up a farm the follow- ing spring on section 23, and built the first frame house on Mill Creek. In 1859, his family consisting of a wife and two sons joined him in his new home. Mr. Roberts was one of the organizers of the township and recorded the proceedings of
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the first meetings held for that purpose. For a term of years he held the position of County Supervisor. After engaging in agricultural pursuits for several years he entered the mercantile trade and finally in 1886 opened a ranch in Montana, where he engaged in cattle-raising.
J. H. Roberts, the only bachelor in the family, after spending many years in Cali- fornia and Mexico came to Iowa in 1868 and engaged in farming for a short period, but the monotony of farm life was more than his active and uneasy nature could withstand, he finally abandoned farming and engaged in more congenial pursuits in the Far West.
Albert F. Roberts settled in the town- ship in 1857. He with an ox-teanı made the first track down Mill Creek Valley. In 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Twenty- ninth Iowa Infantry, but his health soon gave away under the exposure of camp life, and many months of his service was passed in the hospital and convalescent camp. At the close of the war he married Clara Havens, and a few years later re- moved to Michigan.
Benjamin F. Roberts, from whom was obtained much of the early history of the township, was born in Tolland County, Conn., in 1839. When seventeen years of age he came to Iowa and began farm life on Mill Creek, in Harrison Township, working on a farm at $10 per month, which at that time was fair wages. Two years later he opened up a small farm on section 23, and sold the products of his first year's labor, after hauling it with ox- teams fifty miles to Council Bluffs, at the following prices: corn, eighteen cents ; wheat, forty cents; dressed hogs, $1.50 per hundred pounds. In response to the call for volunteers in 1862, he left his farm and enlisted as a private in Com-
pany C, Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry. He was soon promoted to be Corporal, and after the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, upon the recommendation of commanding offi- cers, was promoted to be Sergeant. During this engagement, while charging a Con- federate battery amid a shower of minie balls, his life was saved by the happy in- tervention of a frying-pan, which he car- ried in his haversack. He not only par- ticipated in every battle in which his regiment was engaged but was for three months almost constantly under fire, be- ing detached to sharp-shooters on the United States gunboat, "Prairie Bird," in Lower Mississippi Squadron. At the close of the war he returned to his farm, only to find his fences destroyed by prairie fires and buildings in a dilapidated condition. In the spring of 1866, he was married to Miss Ellen Rogers, a native of Michigan, but one of the pioneer school- teachers of Western Iowa, having taught her first school in a sawmill in North Grove, and her second term in a new barn built by Reuben Vore, of Crawford County. Mr. Roberts and his wife began house keeping in the house formerly oc- cupied by J. L. Roberts on section 23, and in which they still reside. . His deep in- terest in school matters led him to con- siaer the education of his children para- mount to all other interests. Although not an active politician, he was nominated by the Republican party and elected to represent Harrison County in the Twenty- Second General Assembly, but refused the candidacy for the second term. He is now one of the three among the first settlers of the township, who still reside within its borders.
Arthur S. Roberts, the youngest son, who came with his parents to Iowa, in 1860, was one of the youngest of the early
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settlers, being but fifteen years of age. In 1875, he married Miss Maggie Bentley, a native of Canada. For a number of years he was engaged in farming, occuping the old homestead on section 14, after which he removed to Dunlap, where he now re- sides.
The two daughters, then young ladies, who came with their friends to Iowa, in 1860, found wide contrast between New England society and pioneer life. They soon found a field of labor and in many households, in time of sickness, new hopes were kindled by the cheering words and heavy burdens lifted by their ready hands.
Harriet A. Roberts, the oldest daughter, was married in 1867 to C. O. Hatch, a na- tive of New York. She died eleven years later, leaving a family of five children, two of whom soon followed her.
Altha J. Roberts was married in 1869 to Perry J. Brown, of Clinton County, this State, and died September 7, 1873, leaving one child.
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