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 45
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ENRY O. BEEBE, a farmer living on section 28, Taylor Township, came to the county in the autumn of 1859, and rented a farm in Mag- nolia Township the following year. He had obtained the place he now lives upon
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HARRISON COUNTY.
in 1858. He traded for eighty acres and entered sixty acres and commenced to im- prove his placo in 1861. He built a little shanty, having to sleep in his covered wagon, the fore part of the season. With his ox-team he broke forty acres of land and put it in sod corn, potatoes and sugar- cane.
In the fall of 1861 he traded for a house in Cincinnati Township, which he moved to his place. This building, 14x20 feet, served the family until 1884, when he built his present residence, the upright of which is 24x30 feet, with an ell 16x24 feet. Aside from his one hundred and twenty-acre home farm, he has a quarter section in Cin- cinnati Township; forty acres of meadow in the same township; eighty acres of pasture land in Taylor Township, besides sixty acres of pasture land in Cincinnati Township.
August 18, 1862, he enlisted as a member of Company C, Twenty-ninth Iowa In- fantry. He went South and was on de- tached service much of the time. His regiment was in several battles, in which he did not take part. They were with Gens. Steele and Prentice most of the time, in Arkansas and Louisiana. Our subject was discharged at New Orleans, August 24, 1865, and was paid off at Daven- port, Iowa. After coming out of the ser- vice he went to Hampden, Mass., and re- mained until the spring of 1866, and tlien came to this county.
Mr. Beebe was born in Hampshire Coun- ty, Mass., June 16, 1832, the son of Abner L. and Dolly (Miller) Beebe. The father was a native of Connecticut, while the mother was born in Massachusetts. When our subject was quite young his parents moved to Hampden County, Mass., and in 1853 he went to Bureau County, Ill., re- turning to the "Bay State" that fall; re-
mained at home until the spring of 1856, when he again came West, with the ex- pectation of locating in Illinois, but was unable to obtain Government land, so pushed on as far West as Omaha. He spent the winter of 1856-57 in De Soto, and in the spring took a claim of one hun- dred and sixty acres, in company with his brother Lyman, at a po'nt near where Blair now stands. They did not keep this land, however, only one year, and in the summer of 1858, he farmed in Washington County, Neb., and the following season, 1859, on April 1, he stated for Pike's Peak, crossing the plains with ox teams, return- ing to Harrison County the next fall.
Mr. Beebe was united in marriage in Hampden County, Mass., to Mary A. Win- ter, the daughter of Alpheus and Prudence Winter. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Boyd Post, No. 379, at Modale. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. Mr. Beebe is no office-seeker, but has held the position of Trustee and Assessor of his Township.
Our subject and his estimable wife are the parents of five children: Charles L., Ora A., Lena R., George H., and Wells W., (deceased).
E LIDA BARRETT, one of the lead- ing farmers in Harrison Township, who resides on section 4, where he owns two hundred and eighty-six acres of land, which he purchased in- July, 1883, and the following October moved to the same, will form the subject of this notice.
He was born in Monroe County, N. Y., February 25, 1823, and is the son of Dyer and Sarah (Rob) Barrett, natives of New York and New Hampshire respectively,
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HARRISON COUNTY.
and of English-Irish extraction, but whose American history is of many generations. Our subject's parents are both deceased. The father was a farmer, consequently our subject was raised midst the scenes of rural life. Elida was the fourth child of a family of thirteen children, and is the only one, in this part of the country. When fourteen years of age he accompanied his parents to Ohio, and they located in Huron County.
Mr. Barrett was united in September 3, 1850, to Miss Wealthy A. Blackman, who was a native of Huron County, Ohio, born December 11, 1829. and is the daughter of Simeon and Wealthy (Barret) Blackman, who were natives of the Empire State, and of Scotch-English ancestry. The father has laid down the burden of life, but the mother still survives and is living in. Huron County, Ohio, at the exception- ally advanced age of ninety-one years.
After the marriage of Mr. Barrett, he located upon a farm and through the united efforts of himself and good wife they accumulated and purchased more real-estate, which they disposed of before they came to Iowa, when they purchased their present home. Our subject origin- ally bought one hundred and ninety-six acres, to which he has since added ninety acres, the whole constituting one of the finest farm homes in eastern Harrison County. Mr. Barrett, like most intelligent farmers of to-day, turns his attention to a good grade of stock in connection with his general farming.
Politically, our subject exercises his right of franchise by casting his ballot with the Republican party. In 1865, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Nintety-first, Ohio Infantry. He belongs to Shields Post, No. 89, Grand Army of the Republic, Is a member of New Lon-
don (Ohio) Lodge, No. 615, of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. The fam- ily attend the Congregational Church, and are classed among the worthy and representative families of Harrison
County.
Mr. and Mrs. Barrett are the parents of two children,-Cassius E., who is married and the father of one child; is a traveling salesman residing in Illinois. Frank B., is a resident of Omaha, Nebraska, the pro- prietor of a merchant tailoring establish- ment, No. 318, S. 15th Street.
W ILLIAM REED, one of the later settlers of Harrison County, loca- ted at the village of Persia in the spring of 1882, engaging at blacksmithing. At that time there was nothing to mark a town site, aside from Mc Williams' store, the hotel and blacksmith shop-the latter being run by Mr. Peterson. Mr. Reed's family was the second family to locate in the place. He built a shop during that winter, which was 14x20 feet, but subse- quently made an addition making his shop 20x44 feet. He also has a good dwelling on the place.
Our subject was born at Waterloo, Canada, March 10, 1837, and when he was twelve years old, his parents removed to Port Huron, Mich., and there remained about eight years, then removed to Saginaw County, Mich., where the family lived until 1862, when our subject came to McHenry County, Ill. Was there five years, at which time he went back to the Wolverine State, remaining until July 1870, then went by team to Kansas and Colorado, but finding nothing to
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HARRISON COUNTY.
suit him, he came back to Clay County Mo., and from there to Fort Scott, Kan., where he was laid up two months by illness. We next find him in McDonough County, Ill., working at the blacksmithing trade, at the town of Macomb, where he remained six years, then came to Potta- wattamie County, Iowa, lived on a rented farm one year, and from there moved over into Shelby County, where he lived a year, and then became a resident of Persia.
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He was first united in marriage at Grand Haven, Mich., July 13, 1868 to Miss Alvira Greene by whom three child- ren were born-Mary, Warner and James ; the latter is deceased. His wife died in McDonough County, Ill. Mr. Reed mar- ried for his second wife Vinia Harvey, of Macomb, Ill., by whom two children were born-Essie and Charles M. Their mother died in Pottawattamie County, April 9, 1880, and four years later, January 28, 1884, Mr. Reed married Miss Lizzie John- son, of Harrison County, who was born in Denmark, August 11, 1854 and came direct to Shelby County, Iowa, May 1881. By this marriage one child was born-Eddie, born September 5, 1885.
Mr. and Mrs. Reed are consistent mem- bers of the Church of Latter Day Saints, uniting June- 8, 1887. Three of their children-Essie, Christina, and Charles are also members.
G ILES L. CHAPMAN, a leading citizen, and an old settler of Harri- rison County, was born in New Lon- don County, Conn., November 19, 1845. He is the son of Joseph N. and Elizabeth A. (Roth) Chapman, both natives of Con- necticut, but of English descent. The father, Joseph N., was the son of Joseph
and Betsy Chapman, and was born in Oc- tober 1815, and the mother was born March 2, 1819, and was the daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Shoals) Roth.
Joseph N. and Elizabeth Chapman were married November 23, 1839, in Connecti- cut, where they remained until 1869, and then moved to Iowa, and settled in Doug- las Township, Harrison County, on a farm, after first having spent one year in and around Dunlap. This farm is situated on section 5, and here they erected a fine framé residence, in 1870, and made other valuable improvements on the premises. They lived upon this place until 1880, and then moved to Dunlap, where they now reside. They have been associated with the Baptist Church formany years, having united early in life and have always been active, consistent members of that denom- ination. Mr. Chapman has been a Deacon in this church for some fifty years. Was Superintendent of the Sabbath-school for a number of years. His family consists of three children : Rosanna, wife of Lucius Eggleston, a resident of Dunlap; George N., deceased, at the age of thirty-three years; he was Principal of the Baltic schools at the time of his death and was in the Civil War four years and sixteen days; Giles L., our subject,. This ven- erable couple sailed over the changeable sea of life, reared a family of children, who do honor to their name. They were compan- ions on the road until they had passed the fiftieth milestone of their married life, and in the month of October, 1889, when nature was putting on her robes of beauty, and the earlier leaves were falling to the ground, they celebrated their golden wed- ding and renewed the marriage covenant, that had been solemnized on a like day in 1839.
Giles L. Chapman, the subject of this
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HARRISON COUNTY.
sketch, came to Harrison County in the spring of 1868. He was reared on his father's farm, educated at the public schools, and at the age of eighteen com- menced teaching himself, and followed it for two years. May 30, 1866, he was mar- ried to Juliett Young, who was born in Plainfield, Conn., June 24,1843. She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Mary(Wood) Young, who were natives of Connecticut and Massachusetts, respectively, and died in the former State. They were the par- ents of ten children, four of whom died in infancy. The second year following the marriage of our subject, he located in Har- rison County, Iowa, and took charge of the County Poor Farm for one year, and then removed to Douglas Township, where they purchased forty acres of land, built a house and made other necessary improvements, and lived there for twelve years. He added to his first purchase until he now owns one hundred acres. In 1880 he moved to Dun- lap, where he lived four years engaged at various pursuits, including buying and selling property, and also in the butcher business. In 1885 he purchased the farm he now occupies on section 8, the same consisting of seventy acres, upon which he has erected a handsome residence which overlooks the Boyer Valley, presenting a most charming rural landscape, the scene extending for twelve miles. He turns his attention to farming, money-loaning and general brokerage business, and is looked upon as among the far-seeing business men of Harrison County. While he lived in Douglas Township he farmed summers and taught school winters, and was Asses- sor of the township for four years, and after moving to Harrison Township, was a member of the School Board.
Politically, Mr. Chapman casts his vote with the Republican party, He is a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows Order, belonging to Lodge No. 178, at Dunlap, and has passed all the Chairs in that Lodge. Both he and his wife are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, having united in 1876, and are also active workers in the Sabbath-school cause. Our subject and his wife are the parents of four children : Nellie I., born in 1870; George N., in 1876; both of whom died and were buried the same day, December 3, 1879. The living children are: Bessie, born September 16, 1881, and Charles, August 1, 1882.
LVIN SEELEY, a farmer of sect- ion 21, Magnolia Township, has been a resident of Harrison County since the autumn of 1866, when he bought a quarter section, a part of his present farm. There were about thirty acres under the plow, and a frame house 16x24 feet on the place, in which he lived until 1884, and then built his present farm house. He sold eighty acres of his original place and bought forty more, making one hundred and twenty in his farm, be- sides forty acres of timber land. When he came to the county, he supposed that he would have a range for his cattle, as long as he lived, believing that the hill sides and uneven surface of Magnolia Township, would never be settled in his day.
Mr. Seeley was born in Erie County, Pa., March 6, 1830, and in 1843, his parents removed to Knox County, Ohio, and lived there until 1850, then moved to Hillsdale County, Mich., where his father cleared up and improved a farm. In 1852, our subject left the paternal roof
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HARRISON COUNTY.
and went to work at $14 per month, and bought forty acres of land with his wages. He remained there until 1866, sold out and came to Harrison County, Iowa.
He was married in Hillsdale County, Mich., August 26, 1855, to Miss Julia Palmer. Mr. and Mrs. Seeley are the parents of five children, born as follows : Jennie M., March 3, 1857; Jerome F., February 13, 1860; Anna, August 20, 1863; Clara M., March 16, 1866; and Roy A., September 27, 1873. Mrs. (Palmer) Seeley was born in Ohio, May 24, 1837, and when a girl moved to Hillsdale, Mich.
Daniel Seeley, father of our subject, was born in Vermont in 1800, and when a small boy his parents removed to Erie County, Penn., and in 1843 moved to Ohio, and in 1850 to Hillsdale County, Mich., where he died in 1889.
Sophia (Hart) Seeley was born in Rhode Island about 1810, and she came to Erie County, Pa., with her parents where she was married. Mr. and Mrs. Seeley are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
W ILLIAM GANZHORN, a success- ful farmer and stock-grower resid- ing on section 1, of Magnolia Town- ship, has been a resident of the county for twenty-one years, coming as he did in the spring of 1870, and worked by the month for Frank Clark, remaining with him ten months. In the spring of 1871, he rented a farm in Magnolia Township, for one year, in partnership with Uncle Henry Zanker, who, the following year, bought a half of section 36, in Allen Township. This was wild prairie land, which they improved and farmed for three
years, at the end of which time " Uncle Henry " got away with our subject finan- cially, when he again became a renter, having lost everything except one horse. But being possessed with the genuine grit he rented two years and then bought eighty acres where he now lives. He built a frame house 16x24 feet, with an addition of 14x16 feet, and the same year (1880) erected a barn 24x26 feet, to which he has since added. Year by year this good manager and hard worker has ac- cumulated until he has four hundred and eighty acres in Magnolia Township, and eighty acres in Allen, with two hun- dred and fifty-five acres under the plow. He usually feeds two car loads of cattle a season.
Mr. Ganzhorn was born in Wurtem- berg, Germany, May 2, 1848. When eight years of age he accompanied his sister to America, having an uncle in Lancaster County, Pa. In 1865 they both came to Johnson County, Iowa. Our subject re- mained with his uncle two years, receiv- ing $5 through the season, and working for his board in the winter. The next three years he worked for another farmer, at $20 per month, and then came to Har- rison County.
He was married in this county, January 1, 1873, to Miss Bertha Bollier, and they were the parents of seven children-Caro- line, Magdalena, Arthur, Ernest, Anna, Henry and Effie.
Bertha (Bollier) Ganzhorn was born in Switzerland, May 1, 1855, and accompan- ied her parents to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 1863, and to Harrison County, in 1868. Her parents settled in Mag- nolia.
Mr. and Mrs. Ganzhorn are members of the Evangelical Church at Magnolia.
Mr. Ganzhorn has. seen many a hard
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HARRISON COUNTY.
year, and knows full well the cost of every dollar's worth of property he possesses. Coming as he did to this country from the Old World, working by the month at low wages and then losing all that he had gained by reason of a faithless part- ner, and then rising again to become one of the largest landholders in his township, he is entitled to much credit, and the writer believes that he does have the re- spect of all within his community.
W ILLIAM T. FALLON, a farmer living in Magnolia Township came to Harrison County, in January, 1857, settling at Magnolia, where he clerked in the store for J. W. Bates for about two years, then went into business on his own account, handling general mer- chandise at Magnolia. He continued this for about three years, and then sold out and went to Colorado. This was in August, 1860. He engaged in freignting with a mule-team making his first trip to Denver. In 1861 he made four trips, and all told he has made thirty-one trips across the plains. Upon one occasion he drove one hundred and twenty-five head of cattle through to Denver. Among his overland freighting trips he made one to Salt Lake and one to Idaho City, and, while it will be remembered that this was dur- ing the Indian trouble in the West, he was never molested by them; but upon one occasion they passed where three men had been burned and their wagons destroyed, a few days before they got there. Mr. Fallon quit the plains in the autumn of 1865, and returned to Mag- nolia, and went to farming on a farm he
had purchased on section 33, containing one hundred and sixty acres : this he had purchased in 1855. He improved this farm partly before he went to freighting on the plains, but mostly after he re- turned. After running this farm for five years he came to Magnolia and operated the Bates House for five years, leaving that in November, 1876. He returned to his farm where he remained until March, 1880, when he returned to the village of Magnolia again, still carrying on his farm. The first house built on his place was a frame structure 14x24 feet, built out of cottonwood lumber. Afterward he built an addition to this house and it is now used as a storehouse for his machinery and also for granery purposes.
He was born in Cecil County, Md., No- vember 15, 1834, and in 1851 came with his parents to Mills County, Iowa, where he remained until 1857, and then came to Harrison County.
He was married at Magnolia, Iowa, January 28, 1866, to Miss Amelia E. Patch, and they are the parents of four children born as follows : Lloyd W., Au- gust. 15, 1867; Willard B., May 5, 1872; Hattie I., September 28, 1873, and Augus- tus E., February 5, 1877.
Amelia E. (Patch) Fallon was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, January 19, 1843, and in 1853 her father came to Har- rison County, Iowa. Her mother died in Ohio.
The father of our subject (Lloyd Fallon) was born in Chester County, Pa., in 1804, and when a young man went to Mary- land, where he was foreman in the Elk Rolling Mills. He worked at this. busi- ness until 1851, and then left for Mills County, Iowa, where he died in March, 1883. His wife, Sarah (Furgeson) Fallon was born in Cecil County, Md., Decem-
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HARRISON COUNTY.
ber 15, 1805, and remained there with her parents until the date of her marriage.
Of the parents of our subject's wife let it be said that Joel H. Patch, the father, was born in Massachusetts, October 10, 1814, and when four years of age his par- ents moved to Lake County, Ohio, where he remained until 1853, during which year he settled in Magnolia Township, and there remained on his farm until his death, January 21, 1879. He was one of the first pioneers who came to Harrison County, and was one in whom all had confidence.
Hannah (Robinson) Patch was born in Connecticut, August 18, 1817, and came with her parents to Ohio, where she was married. She died in Ohio, June 29, 1847. She and her husband were the par- ents of four children, of whom our sub- ject's wife was the third child.
Mr. Fallon's parents had six children, he being the eldest. His mother was a widow prior to her marriage to his father, and by her first husband she had two children.
Mr. and Mrs. Fallon are members of the Latter Day Saints Church, he unit- ing in May 1875, and his wife a year later. The three youngest children are also me m- bers of the same church.
W ILLIAM CHAMBERS, who came to Harrison County in the spring of 1869, located on section 5, of Washington Township, where he now lives. At first he bought forty acres, but his present farm consists of one hundred and fifty acres. He at one time owned three hundred acres, but finally sold and helped his children by getting teams, etc.,
for them. When he came to the town- ship there was no school nearer than Union Grove, but being desirous to have a school for his children, he informed the School Board that if they would furnish the teacher he would provide the school- room, which they concurred in, and a part of his house was used for a school- room. This was in the fall of 1870, and there were five terms of school taught in this place, before a schoolhouse was pro- vided.
It may also be said that at the time of our subject's moving to Washington Township that subdivision of the county was not provided with a single wagon bridge. Mr. Chambers built and kept in repair the bridge across Spring Creek, near his house, for fifteen years. His nearest market town was Council Bluffs, and his nearest postoffice Unionburg, at Union Grove, with Howard Smith as Postmaster. When Woodbine was started this provided a new trading point, and upon one occasion he and his brother David went to Woodbine with hogs, and there being no bridges they laid boards down and hauled their wagons across by hand. They could cross with teams but not with a load.
Mr. Chambers was born in Glasgow, Scotland, December 29, 1830, and in 1853 came to America, working his passage across the ocean, landing at New Orleans ; he remained there a short time and then came up the river to where Kansas City now stands, and where there was no evi- dances of a town except a sawmilll and a frame store building. The mill was owned by a Mr. McGee, and our subject worked for him hauling logs and goods to the store driving an ox-team. In July. 1853, or 1854, he hired to drive a team across the plains to Salt Lake City, Utah. He was on
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HARRISON COUNTY.
the road three months, and while there worked in a sawmill, which was the first job that presented itself to him.
In 1856 Mr. Chambers.sent to Scotland for his father, mother and brother David, who came across the ocean and on by rail to Iowa City, Iowa, and joined the hand-cart caravan, in which the Mor- mons went across the plains to Utah, and they all came back to Council Bluffs in the spring of 1861, where they re- mained until our subject came to Har- rison County. While at Council Bluffs he started a rope factory, which employed his time there; he also worked at that some after coming to Harrison County.
Our subject was married at Spanish Fork City, Utah, October 5, 1858, to Miss Louisa M. McKee. The ceremony was performed by Col. Stephen Markham. They are the parents of twelve chil- dren-David R., born August 17, 1859; Thomas, October 21, 1861; William, Octo- ber 27, 1863; William J., January 16, 1865; Mary J., June 3, 1867; James, December 15, 1869; Anna L., August 12, 1872; Robert, May 24, 1875; Elizabeth L., De- cember 31, 1877; Flora M., June 29, 1880; Alfred, August 1, 1883, and Mabel F., Oc- tober 18, 1886. William and Alfred are deceased.
Mrs. Chambers was born in Hancock County, Ohio, January 13, 1842, and in 1854 her parents crossed the plains to Utah, where she remained until married.
David Chambers, father of our subject, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1798, and died in Washington Township, Har- rison County, Iowa, February 16, 1878. The mother of our subject, Mary (Mal- colm) Chambers, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, 1798, and died in Washington Township February 14, 1872. Mr. and Mrs. David Chambers were the parents
of nine children, of whom our subject was the fifth child. Mr. Chambers united with the Latter Day Saints' Church in the fall of 1862, and is now President of the "second quorum" of Elders.
There are but few men in any commu- nity who have passed through a more varied and checkered experience than the man of whom this sketch is written. Starting from his home in Scotland, in 1852, without means, making his pas- sage across the ocean; becoming a day laborer and driver of ox-teams on the site of what now has grown to be the great metropolis of the West-Kansas City, when there were but two houses and one bond store in the place, and on across the plains of Nebraska and Colo- rado into the wilds of Utah, and back into the Hawkeye State, where he settled on forty acres of wild land, which through good management finally brought about his present well-to do circumstances, this is a record not to be ashamed of, and may well be looked at with pride by those who come after him.
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