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 66
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122
Mr. and Mrs. Magnet are the parents of five children, born as follows: Paul, born March 28, 1862; Charles, September 25, 1872; Arthur, July 4, 1875; Henry, December 8, 1878; Aleck, January 12, 1881. All are living in Harrison County, except Paul, who is in the Black Hills. Our subject and his family are members of the Roman Catholic Church.
When our subject came to Harrison County, he settled in St. John's Town- ship, on Honey Creek, where he bought forty acres of land of George McGavren, for which he paid $200. He came in poor, and did not have a pair of shoes to wear. He had plenty of meat and flour, but says he did not have five cents in money in three years. That was at a time when the farmers did not use steam threshing- machines and ride in buggies. He could see steamboats ply the waters of the Mis- souri River every day.
Game was plenty, but there was no money to be had. He remained here four years, went to Missouri and lived a year, returned and went to work near Missouri
-
597
HARRISON COUNTY.
Valley, where he rented a forty-acre farm and continued to labor for three years, and then came to Allen Township, where he purchased forty acres of land on sec- tion 17, and there lived for eight years. We next find our subject in the Black Hills, remained one year, after which he re- turned and purchased thefarm, consisting of eighty acres, which he now occupies, and sixty-four acres of timber and pasture land on section 5. He built a barn, set out an orchard of one hundred and thirty- three trees, planted out a beautiful grove, and has remained here ever since.
ARCELLUS HOLBROOK, an ex- banker of Missouri Valley, came to Harrison County in 1866, and first settled at Magnolia, coming to Missouri Valley in 1872. He was born in Somerset County, Pa., March 18, 1838, and is the son of Henry L. and Mary (Connelly) Holbrook, and is a descendant of one of the first colonists of New Eng- land. From Morse's Genealogical Regis- ter we find that Thomas Holbrook, a na- tive of Dorsetshire, England, sailed from Weymouth, on the south coast of "white- cliffed Albion," on the the 20th of March, 1635, with his wife, Jane Holbrook, and four children-John, Thomas, Ann and Elizabeth, and came to the Plymouth Colony, Mass., and settled at Weymouth. He died in 1674. Thomas, his second son, who was born in England in 1625, and was therefore ten years old when he crossed the water, became one of the lead- ing citizens of the towns of Scituate, Weymouth and Braintree, and died in the latter place in 1697, leaving a family of children, among whom we may find
Deacon Peter Holbrook. The latter was born in 1655, and died May 3, 1712, at or near Mendon, in the old Bay State. Among his children was John, who was born September 24, 1679. He married Miss Hannah Chapin, and after rearing a family departed this life, full of years, May 11, 1765, at Bellingham. His widow died at the same place, April 12, 1770, in her eighty-sixth year. Josiah, the son of John and Hannah Holbrook, was born January 17, 1714. He served in the Co- lonial militia through both of the French wars, and in the latter years of his life transplanted his family from Massachu- setts to New York State, settling at Pom- pey. There he died February 4, 1873. He was the husband of two wives, Peggy Ives and Mary Moffet, and had a family of children. One of these, David, whose birth occurred July 28, 1760, served as a soldier during our struggle for indepen- dence, receiving a severe wound at the battle of Bennington. After the Revolu- tion he settled at Lafayette, N. Y., where he engaged in the practice of medicine, and there died November 29, 1832.
Henry L., the fourth child of Dr. David and Mehitabel (Wells) Holbrook, was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., Febru- ary 28, 1799. He received the elements of his education in that part of the great Empire State, principally at Pompey Hill. While there, in his younger manhood, he spent several years in teaching school, but about 1828 he removed to Somerset County, Pa., and for several years was Principal of the Somerset Academy. While residing there, May 12, 1829, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Connelly, a native of that county, who was born in 1804. In 1834 he removed to a farm which he had purchased in the vi- cinity, where he made his home until
598
HARRISON COUNTY.
1865. In the spring of that year, with his family, he removed to the State of Iowa and settled in Monona County, where he made his home until called away by death February 11, 1874, his wife only surviving him until the 30th of May following. Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Holbrook were the parents of seven children : Charles H., of the firm of Holbrook & Bro., bankers, of Onawa; Eggleton W .; Bernard D., banker at Onawa; Norman Bruce, now President of the Iowa County Savings Bank, at Marengo, Iowa; Marcellus, of whom this sketch is written; Emily J., the wife of Herbert E. Morrison, of Onawa: and Mary B., the wife of M. A. Freeland, one of the leading business men of Onawa. Henry L. Holbrook was, during his resi- dence in Somerset County, one of its leading citizens and a stanch and trusted member of the Democratic party and filled the office of County Surveyor there for many years. He never engaged actively in business after moving to Iowa. Of sterling integrity and simple tastes, like most of the race from which he sprang, the result of his life, upright and simple, has had its influence upon those left be- hind, and will prove "footprints on the sands of time" to lead his descendants for many generations in the path of moral rectitude.
Marcellus Holbrook's early education was received in his native county, in the common schools, and afterward he took a course of study at Morgantown, Va. He taught school a few years, and then began the study of law in 1861, and was admitted to the bar at Iowa City in 1863. He commenced to practice at Marengo, Iowa, and two years later removed to Magnolia, where he formed a law partnership with Henry Ford. In the spring of 1870, he engaged in the banking business with W.
F. Clark, at Magnolia, and two years later went to Missouri Valley, and bought the banking interests of William Pelan & Co., and operated a private bank until 1889, when the Valley Bank was formed of which he was made President. July 1, 1891, he sold his interest in this concern, and is now located at Springfield, Mo.
Politically, he is a Democrat. He be- longs to the Masonic order at Missouri Valley.
He was united in marriage June 11, 1866, to Ellen Berkey, the daughter of Dr. Michael Berkey, of German ancestry. This marriage union resulted in the birth of six children, five of whom are living : Anna, wife of M. W. Coolbaugh, cashier of the Valley Bank; Bruce, deceased when nine years old; Richard, Nellie, Katie and Burke. The three last named are still at home.
That no better citizen or business man ever lived in Harrison County seems to be the opinion of all who have been acquaint- ed with Mr. Holbrook for the last quarter of a century.
OSEPH S. MILLS, located on sec- tion 24 of Allen Township, accom- panied his parents to Harrison Coun- ty in 1868. They located in Lincoln Township and bought eighty acres of land, where they still live. Our subject lived with his parents until he was of age, and then went on a fortune-seeking expedition, and acted as a scout in Montana, Black Hills, Wyoming, and parts of Nebraska, and spent four years freighting in and out of Deadwood, making eight years in all. He then drifted back to Iowa, where he worked a year and a half by the month,
.
Je bare.
601
HARRISON COUNTY.
and then bought the farm he now occu- pics, consisting of one hundred and twenty acres, which was partly improved at the time. Among the improvements he added may be named fifty fruit trees, nine hundred and fifty grape vines, and a fence around the entire place.
He was born in Franklin County, N. Y., in March 1858. His parents were Charles and Mehitable Mills, natives of the Empire State, who reared a family of ten children, of whom our subject was the fourth-Harriet E., Frances M., Walter T., Joseph S., Mehitable S., Elias E., Lilly E., Roxy A., Eva and Charles.
Our subject remained in New York until ten years of age, and then as above related, came to Harrison County. He was married July 21, 1887, to Nettie J. Glover, the daughter of William and Nancy L. Glover. The father was a native of Illinois, while the mother was born in Vermont. They reared a family of ten children, our subject's wife being the second child. The children were as follows: Wilbur A., Nettie J,, Hattie B .. Elizabeth M .. Fannie, Katie A., Thomas W., George C., Nora M., and James I.
Mr. and Mrs. Mills are the parents of two children-Ward T., born June 27, 1888; and Elsie V., April 3, 1890.
Mr. and Mrs. Mills are both acceptable members of the Methodist Church, and he belongs to the Farmers' Alliance.
금수사는음
W ILLIAM F. VORE, one of the pio- neer boys who found their way to Harrison County in the autumn of 1855, settling in Harris Grove, will form the subject of this sketch.
His father, Pierson Vore, was born in
Pennsylvania, April 2, 1799, and was one of the eldest children of Peter and Re- becca Vore. Peter was a shoemaker by trade, and was of German descent, and when Pierson was a small boy his people removed to Maryland, where he received a limited school education, his father being a poor man, as were most of the people in those days. He never attended school but three months in his life, but having a good memory, and using his leisure hours in gathering up what he could. he became a fairly well-informed man. Later on his parents removed to Athens County, Ohio, where they both died. Pierson remained at home until he was married to Cyntha Joy, who was born April 4, 1804. They were married October 10, 1822. Some years after his marriage he rented land and finally bought forty acres of timber land and commenced clearing up a farm, upon which he lived about five years, and then sold and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Athens County, Ohio, and three years later sold that and bought an- other farm to which he added until he had two hundred and fifty acres, which he sold in 1850, and removed to another part of the same county, and purchased a farm on which he lived some years, and sold for $25 per acre. We next find him fitted out with three wagons and seven horses, emigrating with his family to Harrison County, Iowa, arriving November 8, 1855. He had been here the August before and purchased the place on which he first lo- cated. His son, John, had been here a year ahead of him. The family moved into a log cabin on a forty-acre tract, and the following season erected a frame ad- dition to this house, which was one of the first frame buildings in the Grove. He was a successful farmer and was never in debt unless it was on land. He was a
.
47
602
HARRISON COUNTY.
hard working-man and took pride in see- ing his family well situated, helping eachı boy to land as fast as he could.
About seven years before his death a cataract commenced growing over his eyes which caused him to become blind. He went to Ohio on a visit, and died there January 29, 1882, but his remains were brought back to Harrison County, and deposited in Linnwood Cemetery, La Grange Township, by the side of his wife.
William F. Vore, our subject, received his education in the district schools of Athens County, where he was born De- cember 26, 1835. He was married April 19, 1861, to Elvira A. Baughn, who was born near Cincinnati, Ohio, July 8, 1843, and is the daughter of Charles and Pen- sela Baughn, and was the third child of a family of twelve-six boys and six girls. Her parents came to Harrison County in 1856. Mr. and Mrs. Vore are the parents of eight children, six of whom died in in- fancy. The living children are Fannie E. and Mattie Maud. Fannie attended the district schools of La Grange Township, and the High School at Logan, after which she taught several years. March 4, 1886, she was married to Edward Bowen, who now lives in Union Township.
After the marriage of our subject he settled on land his father had given him, moving into a cabin that had been erected by some of the early Mormons. In this he lived three years, and then erected a brick and frame house, in which he lived about twenty years, and then erected his present fino two-story frame house. He now has five hundred and fifty-five acres of land, one hundred and thirty-five of which is kept under the plow, while one hundred acres are timber and pasture land,
Politically our subject is a supporter of the Republican party. He is a member of Crysolite Lodge, A. F. & A. M. at Lo- gan.
Great has been the change in Harrison County since Mr. Vore first looked upon its sloping hill sides and fertile valleys. When he came here wild game, including deer, elk and turkeys, were in abundance. Council Bluffs was the nearest trading point. Building material was very high when he built his brick house; it burned June 13, 1887.
0 SCAR LEWIS, a farmer located on section 4, of Allen Township, came to Harrison County in the autumn of 1881. The first year he worked land on section 11, and then in company with his brother, bought land on section 15. Here he made improvements and remained two years. He then sold out and purchased forty acres of partly improved land upon which he built a house 14x16 feet, to which was attached a kitchen 10x20 feet. Our subject lived on this place for five years, during which time he leased lands near by. He fenced and broke his own place, and harvested three crops from it, and then sold out and bought the place he now occupies, which consisted of one hundred and twenty acres of partly im- proved land. Here he made improve- ments, including the removal of his house to more desirable grounds.
Our subject was born in Sweden, and is the son of John F., and Christina Lewis, natives of Sweden, who had three child- ren-Charles, Oscar and Gustaf. Our subject remained in the land of his nativity, and with his parents until he
603
HIARRISON COUNTY.
was of age, and then came to America, and froin New York, came direct to Henry County, Iowa. He hired out to work by the month on a farm and fol- lowed this for one year and then came to Harrison County. He was married Feb- ruary 1885, to Emma C. Wolfe, a daughter of Henry C, and Caroline Wolfe natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. They had a family of two children-Emma and Ella, both living in Dakota. Our subject and his wife are the parents of three children-Emmet, born October 17, 1887 ; Alma, February 25, 1889 ; and Edith, July 11, 1891.
ASPER WALTER BONNEY, a na- tive of the Empire State, came to Harrison County in 1856, and is now a resident of Little Sioux Town- ship. He was born in Genesee County, N. Y., April 22, 1833, and is a son of Benjamin and Betsy (Jinks) Bonney, who were natives of New York. The parents are both deceased. Our subject is the second of a family of seven children, six of whom are still liv- ing. His early life was spent in Pennsyl- vania, the family having located in Craw- ford County, of that State, in 1835. Jas- per received his education at the common schools and two terms at the High School.
" -and when he became of age went to Dane County, Wis., where he rented a farm for one season and returned to Pennsylvania, where he purchased some horses, and then came back to Wisconsin, remained one summer, and that fall came to Buchanan County, Iowa, his first trip in the State consequently being made in 1854. He re- mained during the winter in Buchanan
County, and drove two yoke of oxen from there to Harrison County in the spring. On the road West he overtook A. H. Gleason and- a Mr. Phillips, together with their families, and as none knew their destination they kept together and passed through Cherokee County, and from there down the Little Sioux Valley. and finally took claims on the north and west side of the river, on sections 12 and 13.
In the spring of 1857 Mr. Bonney bought one hundred and sixty acres east of the village of Little Sioux, on section 24, and laid out forty acres in town lots, the same being known as Jinks and Bon- ney's addition. Subsequently he traded this with his father for the land he now lives upon, on section 24, the same con- sisting of eighty acres of well improved land.
On July 23, 1861, he enlisted at Little Sioux in Company B, of the Fourth Iowa Infantry, and was assigned to the Army of the West, and participated in the fol- lowing battles : Pea Ridge, Helena, Ark., Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post and Young's Point, and remained there until after the siege of Vicksburg. At the battle of Jackson, after the sur- render of Vicksburg, our subject was taken with typhoid fever, resigned and came home August 11, 1863. He entered as a private and returned as First Lieu- tenant. He remained in Pennsylvania until 1864, and then came to Harrison County, Iowa, but returned to Pennsyl- vania for his father and mother and brought them out the same year, driving the entire distance from Pennsylvania to Iowa.
- Our subject was married in 1865 at Little Sioux to Hannah Ellis, the daugh- ter of John and Hannah Ellis, of Ohio, who came to Harrison County in 1854.
604
HARRISON COUNTY.
By this marriage union two children were born-Aggie and Guy. Mrs. Bonney died in 1870, and was buried in the Little Sioux Cemetery. Seven years later, in 1877, our subject married Addie Fuller, of Little Sioux, the daughter of Russell and Caroline Fuller. By this marriage six children were born-Gaile, Mary, Carl, Ray, Pern and Lynn. Mary, Ray and Pern are now deceased.
Mr. Bonney has been a Republican for many years, but now favors the third party movement.
Mrs. Bonney is a consistent member of the Latter Day Saints Church .:
ENRY HARRISON BONNEY, one of the representative citizens of Little Sioux, came to Harrison County in 1865. He was born in Crawford County, Pa., December 27, 1839, and is the son of Benjamin and Betsy (Jinks) Bonney. The father is a native of Massachusetts, and the mother, of Rhode Island, both of whom are de- ceased. The father's parents were Wal- ter and Elizabeth Bonney, of Massachu- setts. Our subject's father and mother had a family of eight children-Helen F., (deceased in 1887); Jasper W., in Little Sioux ; Benjamin F., in Little Sioux; Su- san B., (Stocker), of Logan; Henry H., our subject; George W., (deceased) ; Alice L. now Mrs. Ellis, of Little Sioux; Isadore M., now Mrs. McArthur, of Ta- coma.
Our subject,'s early life was spent in the old Keystone State, where he received his education. In July, 1861, he enlisted in the Second Ohio Independent Battery, and was assigned to the Army of the
West, participating in the battles of Pea Ridge, Port Gibson, Champion Hills, Vicksburg, Jackson, Mississippi, and was also on the famous Red River expedition into Texas. He was discharged with the honors of a true loyal Union soldier Au- gust 19, 1864, at Columbus, Ohio, and re- mained in that State until the spring of 1865, and then came to Little Sioux, where he was engaged in the hotel busi- ness for several years, conducting the Bonney House. He has a farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres in the fertile valley of the Little Sioux River in Har- rison County, and eighty acres in Monona County.
Politically, Mr. Bonney is a stanch sup- porter of the Republican party. He was elected to the office of Mayor of Little Sioux in 1883. He belongs to Masonic Lodge No. 382; Odd Fellows Lodge No. 389, and Neitzsch Post No. 139, G. A. R. at Little Sioux.
He was married March 10, 1867, in Pennsylvania, to Miss Elsie Ross, the daughter of Norman C. and Eunice Ross, of Ohio. Their living children are : Philip S., Eva E., and Alice H.
ENRY DEYWALT, a resident of Little Sioux Township, came to Harrison County in 1862. He was born in Franklin County, Pa., Au- gust 7, 1825, and is the son of Daniel and Isabel (Stooks) Deywalt, natives of the Keystone State, who reared a family of fifteen children, seven of whom are now living. Our subject spent his early life in Adams County, Pa., and obtained his ed- ucation at the common schools, and when he became of age began working at the
605
HARRISON COUNTY.
carpenter's trade and followed that for some time in Pennsylvania and also after he came to Iowa. After coming to Har- rison County, he worked on the Henry Hernig farm for three years, and then bought the farm he now owns, on section 2, of Little Sioux Township.
Our subject was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Herring, the daughter of Michael and Mary Herring, of Pennsyl- vania. By this marriage union eleven children have been born, six of whom are still living and are named as follows: David, Samuel, William, Henry, Sarah, Ellen, John C., Nancy, Jane, Anna, and Margaret.
Politically, our subject believes in the principles of the Republican party.
W ILLIAM G. FISHER, who re- sides on section 3, of Jackson Township, has been a resident of the county twenty-one years, coming as he did in the spring of 1870. He com- menced at the bottom round of the ladder, and rented land the first two years of William Arthur. He then bought fifty acres of land he now occupies, which was wild land at the time. Here he built a story and a half house, 14x18 feet, to which he has since added an apartment, 22x28 feet. Also constructed a barn, 20x 40 feet. His farm now comprises three hundred acres, seventy-five acres of which has felt the keen edge of his plow - share, while the remainder is in meadow and pasture land. He is amply provided with fruit from his apple orchard, which contains seventy-five trees. The grounds about his farm-house are beautified and made attractive by various varieties of
shade trees. He has a bank cellar cost- ing him $60.
Clermont County, Ohio, in the land of the "Buckeyes," was the birthplace of our subject. The date of his birth was April, 1846. His parents were David Y. and Delia Fisher, natives of Ohio, who had a family of thirteen children named as follows: Nancy J., Leonidas, Caroline H., William E., Hamilton B., Mary E., deceased, David N., Martha E., Cather- ine A., Anna; Susan, Maria and Truman are deceased.
Our subject remained under the pater- nal roof until thirteen years of age when he enlisted at Cincinnati, Ohio, in the Naval Department, under Capt. Rog- ers with Admiral Farragut. Was in the service nineteen months and was in the naval engagement at Mobile, Ala., where their vessel was lost. Our subject was wounded and sent to the hospital, at Pen- sacola, Fla., where he remained one month and then went back and served his country, as one of those who manned the "Meteor" and later the "Fear-naught," and was discharged from the service July, . 1866, at New York City, and spent the next four years farming in Ohio, then coming to Harrison County. The vessel upon which our subject was wounded was blown up by a torpedo, fired by the rebels, killing nine men outright.
After our subject had served his coun- try as a brave soldier, as one of the ma- rines, and peace had perched upon our banners, he saw many of his comrades en- joying the comforts of a home, so he sought the hand and heart of Elizabeth Abrams, to whom he was united in mar- riage in the month of February, 1870. She is the daughter of George and Rachel Abrams, the former a native of New Jer- sey and the latter of Ohio, who reared the
606
HARRISON COUNTY.
following children : Louisa, Louis, Eliza- beth, Isaphena, Vilena, Marcellus, Tran- sylvania and John.
Our subject and his wife have their home circle made cheerful by four intelli- gent children-William A., born July 23, 1871; George W., September 17, 1873; David, September 28, 1875; and Frank, January 5, 1877.
L. LIVERMORE, M. D., has been one of the medical fraternity of Har- rison County since June, 1879. He came from Onawa, Iowa, where he had practiced his profession up to within a year of the time he came to Dunlap, during which period he was unable to practice, on account of sickness in his own family.
His ancestors were English people, and his forefathers on both sides were among the oldest families of the East. He was born in New York City, September 15, 1840, the son of Lorenzo and Susan (Hat -- field) Livermore, natives of Massachu- setts and New Jersey respectively. He was reared and educated in New York State and in Massachusetts. He attended the public schools and read medicine un- der a tutor, and graduated in Buffalo, in 1867, locating in Kansas City. But pre- vious to this and during the War of the Rebellion, he practiced in the hospitals, going on his own responsibility, as he had been rejected by the Government on ac- count of his health. After the war closed he returned to Kansas City, where he re- mained until the latter part of 1869, and then removed to Richmond, Mo., but later removed to Kansas, just in time to enjoy the benefits of the drouth and grasshopper years, which plague years caused him to
remove to Council Bluffs. It was at this time that he concluded to leave the Allo- pathic school and take up that of Home- opathy, from which school he graduated in Chicago in 1879, having attended the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospi- tal of Chicago, from which school he went to Onawa, Ia.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.