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 88
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Our subject and wife were the parents of eleven children as follows-James M., Mary J., David, George E., William, Joseph D., Charles R., Emma E., Albert H., Margaret A. and Minnie M., (twins) ; the former now deceased.
Mr. Maule, in his religious convictions believes in the teachings of the Latter Day Saints Church, of which he is a mem- ber.
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Politically, he affiliates with the Demo- cratic party, and at one time was a candi- date for County Auditor, of Harrison County. He has assessed his township fifteen times and served in the capacity of Township Clerk, Township Trustee, Sec- cretary of the School Board since 1860, and was also a Supervisor.
AVID D. LOCKLING, now a resi- dent of Cedar County, Mo., was born in Vermont, February 28, 1822; came to Harrison County, Iowa, in the autumn of 1857. He first located in Magnolia Township, where he rented a farm for one year and in the spring of 1859 he came to Taylor Town- ship and rented a farm for one year. He bought a quarter-section of school land on section 16, which he improved and lived upon until the fall of 1890, and then removed to Cedar County, Mo. His wife, Marisa (Lewis) Lockling is a native of New Hampshire, born November 24, 1823. They were united in marriage March 29, 1849, and are the parents of ten children, eight of whom are living : Ostinnelli, born December 29, 1849; Eugene, February 8, 1851; Julia, October 24, 1853; Duane and Belle, (twins) August 10, 1858; Geneva, November 19, 1860; Calvin, March 17, 1864; Sherman, August 26, 1866; Maria, September 29, 1856, died at the age of four months and twenty-four days; Lewis, born January 22, 1879, died at the age of sixteen years.
After Mrs. Marisa (Lewis) Lockling was eight years of age she took care of herself. She went to Lowell, Mass., and worked in the great mills until the date of hermar- riage, after which she lived four yearsin Ver-
mont, then removed to Wisconsin, in 1853, remained four years and then taking Gree- ley's advice, to "Go West,"the family emi- grated to Iowa. They came by means of an ox-cart, the wheels of which were six feet high- and the gauge of the track as wide. They left Wisconsin on this cart, leading two cows behind. The family consisted of himself, his wife and a pair of twins, two weeks old. The journey lasted four weeks, and the last day's drive it was twenty-two miles between houses. It was night before they arrived at Shelby- ville and so close did wolves follow on their trail that their eyes could be seen gleaming through the darkness. They finally arrived at A. W. Lockling's, who was a half brother to David. In the fall of 1859 David removed to the Missouri Bottoms, located and remained thirty- three years and then removed to Missouri.
OLOMON HESTER, a representa- tive farmer of Taylor Township, whose home is located on section 9, came to Harrison County in the autumn of 1869, and settled where he now lives. Some time prior to his settlement he had purchased a quarter section of wild land, which has been converted into a fine farm. His farm now consists of two hundred acres. His farm-house consists of an up- right 16x28 feet, and a kitchen 16x18 feet. At the time of his coming to this place, the bottom lands on the Missouri were but little settled.
To acquaint the reader with our sub- ject's earlier life, it should here be stated, that he was born in Fleming County, Ky., January 20, 1812. He remained at home with his parents until he was about twen-
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ty-four years of age. In 1839 he came to Montgomery County, Ind., with his father's family, and worked upon his father's farm. About 1840 he was married in Montgomery County, Ind., to Miss Margaret Hillis. By this marriage union seven children were born: Paulina A., now Mrs. Hauger; William, Ellen, Mrs. Archer; Martha, now Mrs. Archer; Alex- ander, Sarah, Mrs. Penrod ; and James A. Hester.
Mr. and Mrs. Hester belong to the Con- gregational Church, and in his political belief he is a Republican.
Of our subject's wife, it may be said that she was born in March, 1815, in Flem- ing County, Ky., and accompanied her parents to Putnam County, Ind., where she remained until the date of her mar- riage.
Our subject left Indiana in 1851, and lo- cated in Jones County, Iowa, where he bought a farm, improved it and remained there until the time of his coming to Har- rison County, in 1869.
S HERMAN LOCKLING, son of David D. and Marisa Lockling, was born in Harrison County, Iowa, August 22. 1866, and remained at home with his parents until they removed to Missouri, in the autumn of 1890, at which time he took charge of the farm, which consists of one hundred and sixty acres of well-improved land. His education was received at the common schools, and po- litically he affiliates with the Republican party. He has one brother living in Har- rison County, Calvin, a resident of Clay Township, and one sister, Geneva, now Mrs. Merchant, of Magnolia Township,
another sister, Belle (Kerns) in Wisner, Neb .; Duane, in Howell County, Mo .; Julia, Mrs. Middleton, living in St. Louis, Mo .; Eugene, living in Osage County, Kan., and Ostinelli, residing in Cedar County, Mo.
AMES T. SORICK, a farmer living on section 25, Cincinnati Township, came to Harrison County, with his father in the spring of 1864, and rented a farm in St. John's Township, and lived there that season, but his father bought eighty acres of wild land the same season he came and in the fall built a frame house upon it out of cottonwood lumber. The family removed into this the fall of 1864, and our subject remained at home with his parents for some time, and then went to work by the month on a farm, continuing two years. The next two years we find him engaged at break- ing prairie with ox-teams for two seasons, since which time he has farmed. In 1877 he went to northwestern Kansas, where he took a homestead and remained two years, and then came back to Harrison County.
Our subject was born in Pittsburg, Pa., February 22, 1851. When he was a mere babe his parents removed to Mercer County, Ill., where his father took Gov- ernment land and remained until his re- moval to this county.
Our subject was married in Harrison County, Iowa, March 2, 1879, to Miss Eliza E. Losh, and they are the parents of four children : Harvey L., born Feb- ruary 15, 1880; Della M., May 14, 1881; Charles H., November 22, 1884; and Ida M., February 24, 1889. Charles H., died
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April 21, 1886. His death was caused by accidentally falling into a cistern.
Eliza E. (Losh) Sorick was born in Henry County, Iowa, July 22, 1862, and in the fall of 1870 came with her parents to Harrison County, Iowa.
Michael Sorick, father of our subject (now deceased), was born in Germany in 1800, and in 1814 came with a sister to Pittsburg, Pa., where he went to work in a rolling mill; was there until about 1852, when he went to Illinois. He died in Har- rison County, Iowa, November 12, 1884. The mother of our subject, Lois (Blank) Sorick, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., in 1816, and was married when sixteen years of age, and was the mother of ten children, seven sons and three daughters, our sub ject being the eighth child. The mother was a member of the Methodist Church, while the father belonged to the Presby- terian Church.
S YLVESTER J. LINN, a highly respected citizen, whose farm home is on section 12, of Clay Township, came to Harrison County during the · month of May, 1870 and settled in Taylor Township, where he rented a house. He is a millwright by trade, and was engaged to repair Theodore Mahoney's mill. He remained there until the spring of 1872, and then moved to the Jerry Motz farm, in Clay Township, which he farmed one one year and lived in his house three years; during that time he bought forty acres of the farm he now occupies. It was wild land and upon it he built a story and a half house, boarded up and down; with various additions made tothis house, it served as a residence until February
27, 1888, when it was consumed by fire, together with its contents. His shop also burned in which were his carpenter and millwright tools, worth about $500, besides machinery, coal and seven hundred pounds of flour. Our subject was teach- ing school that winter. and was at the neighbor's during the fire, which occurred in the evening. After this misfortune he purchased a small frame building in which he lived until April, 1889, and that year made additions to his house.
Mr. Linn was born in Gettysburg, Pa., September 18, 1844 and remained with his parents until he was sixteen years of age, assisting in his father's mill. At the age just named he entered Greasonville Normal School, of Cumberland County, Pa., and remained until July 19, 1862, just as the Civil War cloud was casting its darkest shadows over this Nation, when he enlisted in Company F, Thirteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry. In the grammar class to which he belonged there were twenty-one young men, and twenty of this number, including our subject, en- listed in the Union army the same day. They went South and operated in Vir- gina and North Carolina. Mr. Linn was in thirty-one regular engagements, besides a great many skirmishes. In one battle our subject's horse fell and crushed his left arm and wrist so that he was given thirty-five days' furlough. It took him two days to make the trip home, and in nine days after leaving headquarters, he was again with his regiment. Out of the twenty classmates who closed their school books and put on the loyal blue and went forth in the strength and pride of their noble young manhood, in defense of the flag of their country, the man of whom we write this sketch was the only one who returned to his home after peace
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had been declared, to assume the duties of life-they all sleep beneath the sod of old Virginia. "They sleep the sleep that knows no waking, and dream of battle- fields no more." . Mr. Linn was dis- charged July 27, 1865, at Camp Cadwall- ader, Pa. Out of the original one hun- dred and seven men in our subject's company only seven returned.
While Mr. Linn was in the army, his father removed to Du Page County, Ill., and after his coming home he remained at that point about five months, after which he returned to the Keystone State, and learned the millwright's trade. After eighteen months we find him again in Illi- nois, and shortly after in Wisconsin, where he remained until the autumn of 1868, when he again returned to his fath- er's home in Illinois, where he remained until his coming to this county in the spring of 1870.
February 14, 1869, he was united in marriage to Miss Katie H. Mather, the daughter of Ralph and Anna Mather. Her parents died when she was a small child, and she made her home with her older sister, until the date of her mar- riage. Mr. and Mrs. Linn are the parents of four children-Georgie E., born March 6, 1870; Sylvester J., January 29, 1872; Absalom, November 25, 1873; and Zayda M., September 20, 1879.
Katie H. (Mather) Linn, is a native of Canada, born September 9, 1842. She was reared, however, in Massachusetts.
Mr. Linn affiliates with the Republican party, and has held every office in Clay Township, except Road Commissioner and Constable. He has been Justice of the Peace twelve years, and is still hold- ing such position. He took the census in the spring of 1875, and at the same time executed a plat of the township. He be-
longs to Mondamin Lodge No. 103, I. O. O. F., and is also a prominent member of Barnes Post No. 392, G. A. R., at Mon- damin.
Including his army record, our subject has had an eventful life; it was he, who at the battle of Jefferson, October 12, 1863, picked up the regimental colors, which had been shot from the hands of the color bearer, who was killed. He carried the colors until the falling of his horse in June, 1864, disabled him, but did not cool his patriotic zeal, as has been seen by the above sketch. He is now past forty-seven years of age, but just as loyal as in 1862, and says he is yet willing to defend "Old Glory" if need be. He still follows his trade during the summer and teaches school in the winter. He is the second oldest acting teacher in the county.
R EUBEN OLINGER, a farmer living on section 2, of Cincinnati Town- ship, came to Harrison County in the autumn of 1868, and settled in St. John's Township, where he rented land for about four years, then moved into. Cincinnati Township, and rented there until 1883, when he bought his present farm, which then consisted of one hun- dred and sixty acres of improved land, upon which he has lived ever since. All was new and wild when he came to the county, and while he was only three miles and a half from the Valley, on account of there being no bridges, he was compelled to go twelve miles to get there. Fish Lake is about forty yards wide and he lived on the north side of the lake, and sometimes he would swim
De Chambers
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his horse across the lake to get to and from town.
Our subject was born in Armstrong County, Pa., January 15, 1839, and he remained with his father until he was twenty-one years of age, then went for himself, following farming and boating for four years. He ran from Oil City to Pittsburg, and remained there in that county until 1868, when he came West and located in St. John's Township, Harri- son County.
Among the important events of his life, may be. mentioned that of his marriage to Miss Margaret Zuver, in December 1860. They are the parents of twelve children- William, Anna, George, Joseph, Sarah, Andrew J., Julia E., Margaret, Josie M., Guy, Reuben, Elizabeth, all living. Mrs. Olinger is a daughter of Jacob and Catherine Zuver, who were born in Arm- strong County, Pa., in 1821. George Olinger, father of our subject, was born in Somerset County, Pa., in 1798, and re- mained there until he grew to manhood, and then went to Armstrong County, where he spent the remainder of his days, dying when he was sixty-six years of age, in 1859. His wife, Annie (Stuyvesant) Olinger, was also born in Somerset County, where she remained until the date of her marriage and died in Arm- strong County, in 1887, aged about eighty- two years. They were the parents of fourteen children, our subject being the ninth. They were members of the Lutheran Church, as is our subject.
D AVID CHAMBERS, one of the most extensive land owners in Harrison County, came to this section in the spring of 1869, and settled on section 4, of Washington Township, which at that
time was included in Union Township. At first he bought forty acres of wild land and hauled the frame of a house which was to be 12x14 feet, from Council Bluffs, where he bought the lumber and framed it. This building served as a residence for about four years, when he built a frame house 24x32 feet, with ten-foot posts. Mr. Chambers lived on that farm until the spring of 1883, when he bought forty acres more of section 4, which he improved and from time to time added to it until he now owns four hundred and thirty-two acres of finely improved land in that locality, besides enough elsewhere to make six hundred acres in all.
Mr. Chambers named Washington Township, as he got úp the petition to have it set off from Union Township. All was then new and wild, and not a single wagon bridge had been built in that part of the county.
It may be of interest to the reader to know something of our subject's ances- tors and his earlier life. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, June 16, 1841, and in March, 1856, sailed with his parents for America, arriving at Iowa City, Iowa, during the month of May that year, and from that point, which was then the capi- tal of the State, they joined the handcart overland expedition, made up of Mor- mons en route for Utah Territory. They started in May and arrived in Salt Lake City, in October, 1856-walking the entire distance-men, women and children-the smaller children being carried by their mothers, or hauled in the carts.
Those of whom we write remained in Utah until April, 1861, when our subject came back to Iowa, arriving at Council Bluffs in July, and remained in that vicin- ity until 1869, when, as above stated, he came to Harrison County.
69
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HARRISON COUNTY.
He was married June 21, 1867, in Potta- wattamie County, to Mary McKee, who was born in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, August 18, 1849, and remained there with her parents until the date of her mar- riage.
David Chambers Sr., father of our sub- ject, was born in the North of Ireland, and came to this country as above de- scribed, and spent several years in Salt Lake City, and returned to Harrison County, Iowa, and in February, 1880. His wife, the mother of our subject, Mary (Malcomb) Chambers, was also born in the North of Ireland, and departed this life in Harrison County, in February, 1872.
In explanation as to how the Mormon handcart caravan subsisted while crossing the great plains, it may be stated that ox- teams, sufficient to haul provisions, were driven, with cows giving milk, and other cattle which were killed for beef while en- route.
Politically our subject is a supporter of the Democratic party. Both he and his wife are devout members of the Latter Day Saints Church. He united with the Re-organized Church in 1863, and he is now Presiding Elder of the Little Sioux District, extending to the State Line north.
SAAC M. ATKINS, one of the respec- ed farmers of Washington Town- ship, and at present a resident of section 17, has been a resident of Harrison County for thirty-eight years, coming in March 1853, about the time the county was being organized. At first he located near Little Sioux, but in March 1854
removed to Pottawattamie County, where he followed farming until the spring of 1880, and then came to the site of his present home, which he bought as wild land, his first purchase being eighty acres.
Mr. Atkins was born in Bradley County, Tenn., April 27, 1832, and when eight years of age left the Big Bend State with his parents, who emigrated to Putnam County, Mo., where he remained at home until 1851, and then came to Council Bluffs, which was then known as Kanes- ville, and from there moved to Little Sioux in 1853.
He was married in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, October 17, 1852, to Mrs. Hannah Douglas, daughter of A. Q. Barnes, of Missouri, the widow of John Douglas.
Mr. and Mrs. Atkins were the parents of the following children :- Charles M., born December 26, 1854; Archibald, April 2, 1857; Ellen, April 1, 1860, and Isaac B., March 24, 1863.
Archibald died December 14, 1860, and his mother, Hannah (Barnes) (Douglas) Atkins departed this life October 13, 1868, and October 17, 1869, Mr. Atkins married Miss Margaret C. Spears, and as a result of this union six children were born -- George W., March 22, 1871; Sylvia J, December 2, 1873; Sarah M., November 15, 1874; Stephen A., November 23, 1875; Simeon S., February 16, 1878; Oscar J., February 12, 1881. Sarah M. died August 5, 1875.
Margaret C. (Spears) Atkins was born in Mercer County, Penn., February 1, 1838. Her parents came to Florence, Neb., in 1847, having lived seven years at - Nauvoo, Ill., the place then being known as Winter Quarters. There they remained until the spring of 1849, and then moved to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where
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she remained until the time of her marriage.
It should be added in this connection that the father of our subject was Charles Atkins, and that he was born in Kentucky in about 1807, and died in Putnam County, Mo., in October 1846. The mother, Sarah (Brewer) Atkins, was born in Tennessee, about 1813, and is now living in Potta- wattamie County, Iowa, with her daughter, Ann Birchell. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Atkins were the parents of eight children, the oldest of whom was our subject.
Politically, Mr. Atkins affiliates with the Democratic party. In religious mat- ters he and his wife are Latter Day Saints.
When Mr. Atkins came to the county in 1853 there were but few settlers anywhere in this part of the country. The spot where Magnolia now stands was graced by one double log house, in one end of which lived a family-that of John W. Cooper-and in the other end was operated a small store. There was only one house at Little Sioux also. As our subject views Harrison County in its present state of perfection, with its four lines of rail- roads, its busy towns and cities, its numer- ous watercourses spanned by bridges of architectural beauty, great must be the contrast with that day in 1853 (nearly two score years ago) when he looked out upon that wild yet charming landscape.
ALEM TOWN has been a resident of Harrison County for a quarter of a century, effecting his settle- ment as he did in 1866.
He is a native of Monroe County, N. Y., born February 5, 1820, at Henrietta.
He is the son of James and Almira (Wilder) Town, and the grandson of James Town and David Wilder, of Massachu- setts and Connecticut, respectively, and of Scotch and Irish extraction. The pa- rents of our subject passed their lives principally in the State of New York, the father dying in 1838. and the mother in 1827. They reared a family of six chil- dren, our subject being the fourth child. His parents being farmers, he was brought up midst the scenes of rural life and edu- cated in the subscription schools common to that day. At the age of sixteen he started on life's journey for himself, and followed farming in New York and Ver- mont, but after he was of age he engaged at boat-building, which took him over a large scope of territory. He followed this until he was twenty- seven years old; spent one year at his old home in the Empire State, and in 1847 made his acquaintance with the rules and regulations of a pioneer life in the Badger State, locating at Lafayette, Wis., where he passed about two years, then went to Jo Daviess County, Ill., and remained four years, and transacted business of an im- portant character, for on April 4, 1850, Eliza J. Reed became his wife, the mar- riage ceremony being performed at Ga- lena. His wife was born in Ireland, June, 1833, and reared a family of six children- Almira J., wife of William H. Moore, a native of Woodbine; William R., a resi- dent of Page County, Iowa; Willis, re- siding with his father; George. a resident of the State of Washington; Anna, resid- in Washington; Ida B., wife of Walter J. Mc Williams, residing at Charter Oak, Iowa.
Our subject remained in Jo Daviess County, Ill., until 1855, and then moved to Fillmore County, Minn., where he re-
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mained until 1866, during which time he. followed farming. From there he removed to Harrison County, Iowa, and in 1877 purchased an eighty-acre tract on section 33, of Harrison Township, which was wild land at the time. . He rented a farm until 1870, adjoining his present place, and dur- ing that year removed to his own land into a small house that now does duty as a stable. In 1876 he erected his present residence, which is a frame building 20x 28 feet, with an ell 12x16 feet. His farm is finely improved and is made beautiful and valuable by the presence of groves, orchards, etc. Our subject has done much toward the improvement of the country in general. When he came to the county it was little less than a wilderness, and a few years after the Indian had bid a long farewell to this domain, and wolves, deer and prairie chicken abounded in great numbers. Great are the changes of a quarter of a century, especially when the keen plowshare of civilization cuts its multiplied furrows.
Mr. Town is in the true sense of the term a self-made man, having started with nothing but pluck to carry him through, and "under his own vine and fig tree," surrounded with the comforts of a beautiful farm home, he en- joys the fruits of his labor. Politically, he is a Republican, and has always taken a deep interest in educational matters in- cluding the establishment of early schools. In his religious belief, for many years he was associated with the Methodist Epis- copal Church, but of late years has ac- cepted the Universalists' doctrine. He was one of the organizers of the Dunlap Methodist Church, and aided in the con- struction of their church edifice.
After a companionship of forty years along the meandering journey of life, our
subject was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed to the unseen world February 7, 1890-a true friend, a faithful wife, and a loving mother.
ONATHAN V. WATSON, a farmer and highly respected citizen of Washington Township, whose pleas- ant home is situated on section 14, came to Harrison County, February 4, 1874, and settled on the site of his present home, where he purchased forty acres of wild land upon which there had been built a small shanty, surrounded by about five acres of breaking. He occupied that rude abode until August, 1880, when he built a frame house 16x24 feet, with twelve-foot posts. In June, 1885, he built a barn 20x40 feet, and has kept add- ing by the way of improvements until he now possesses a fine farm home, with land amounting to two hundred acres. When he came to the county the town- ship had been but little improved, there being but two schoolhouses in the town- ship; one on the northwest quarter of sec- tion 16 and the other at Walker's Grove. The first farm work our subject did in the county was the sowing of twenty acres of wheat on Andrew Graybill's place, at Walker's Grove. This was in 1874, one of the grasshopper years, and these little winged pests destroyed his crop. The same year he broke twenty acres on his own place and planted it to sod corn, but July 9, a hailstorm cut it to pieces, and he then left home and went to work by the day near Avoca, continuing through harvest and stacking. He was not a lit- tle discouraged at the outlook and had it
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