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 89
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not been for his good wife, who did not want to go, he would have abandoned the place forever.
Mr. Watson was born in Fountain County, Ind., May 17, 1844, and four years later removed to Henderson County, Ill., and in 1853 to Shelby County, Iowa. Here he remained until October 12, 1863, at the time when the Civil War cloud hung the lowest and looked the blackest-a time when it seemed as though a permanent division of our Union of States was imminent. It wasat this date that our subject enlisted in Company M, of the Ninth Iowa Cavalry. He went from Harlem to Davenport, was there a short time and was sent to St. Louis, and from there ordered on South, stopping at Memphis, Tenn., and from thence to De- vall's Bluff, where they were thrown out on the skirmish line. He was at Bayou Prairie, Augusta and Pine Bluffs, and was then sent to Louisburg where they remained three months; was at Little Rock at two different times and finally stationed at Camden, where they were to receive their muster papers, which they did not get, however, until they got to Davenport, where they were finally dis- charged, February 12, after which our subject came to Shelby County, where he remained until 1874, when he came to Harrison County.
He was married in Pottawattamie County, August 30, 1866, to Miss Mary E. Ellis, by whom eleven children have been born-Frances E., Kittie A., Charles A., Abraham S. and Martha M., deceased ; James D., Maggie E., deceased; Clara B., Emmert A., Mary E., and Freddie H., de- ceased.
Our subject's wife, Mary E. (Ellis) Watson, was born in Putnam County, State of Indiana, March 17, 1847, and
came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, with her parents, in 1863; lived in Shelby County two years and then removed back to Pottawattamie County. Her father, Abraham S. Ellis, was born in Clermont County, Ohio, in March, 1819, and was a pioneer in Shelby County, Iowa, in 1852, and lived there until 1883, but died in Pottawattamie County, April 1, 1889. His wife was Margaret E. 'Vancleve a native of Kentucky, born May 9, 1823.
To make this family sketch more com- plete it should here be stated that the father of our subject was born in Virginia August 27, 1817, and came to Shelby County, Iowa, in 1864. He removed to Pottawattamie County, in 1866, where he still lives. His wife, the mother of our subject, Francis Cochran before her marriage, was born in Kentucky, in June, 1811, her parents coming to Missouri where she was married. She died in Pot- tawatamie County, February 2, 1875.
Mr. Watson and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Per- sia, Iowa.
OSEPH W. NILES, a representa- tive farmer of Raglan Township, residing on section 12, is numbered among the pioneers who found their way to Harrison County in the autumn of 1856. He pre-empted eighty acres of land and commenced improving it, and remained there four years. He entered the land on time, and finally lost the title to it. Upon coming to the county he did not possess a dollar, and went without his breakfast the first morning because he was too proud to make his case known to the pioneers. He rented land for one
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year, and was drafted into the Union Army in 1864, reported at Council Bluffs and was rejected on account of disability. He then purchased the farm he now occupies, upon which he built a log cabin 12x24 feet, in which the family lived fifteen years, when his present brick house was erected. The brick in his residence he manufactured himself. Upon his premises may be seen a good barn, granary and cribs; wells provided with wind-mills, and an orchard of fifty trees. His present farm comprises two-hundred and sixty acres, ninety of which are under the plow, while the balance is in pasture, meadow and timber land, all surrounded by a substantial and good fence. Our subject's experience in Harrison County, may be divided into three eras-the hard winter of 1856-57; the War period and the Rail- road era.
He was born in Lyndon, Caledonia County, Vi., September 7, 1829. He is the son of Oliver and Sarah Niles, natives of the Green Mountain State, who had a family of eight children, who were born in the following order : Sarah A., Luther A., Joseph W .; Lucius C., Clarinda D., and Annette J., deceased; Sophrona and Wil- bur F.
He of whom we write this sketch re- mained in Vermont with his parents until he reached the years of his majority, at which time he went to Massachusetts and for one year followed the bakery bus- iness. We next find him working by the month in Philadelphia, but soon after re- turned to Vermont, and from there came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, arriving November 1, 1856. From there he came to Harrison County, in company with his brother, and rented land one year of Lucius Merchant, in Magnolia Township, he acting as "matron and general house-
keeper." Subsequently he took a claim in Raglan Township, as above referred to.
Believing in the Scripture that "it is not good for man to be alone," on Octo- ber 28, 1858, he was united in marriage to Nancy M. Alexander, daughter of Napo- leon and Lydia C. (Marshall) Alexander, natives of New Hampshire, whose nine children were as follows: Nancy M., Ann, Josephine, Eliza, deceased; Prin- cetta, Flora, Joseph, deceased; Levi W., and Henry, deccased.
The children of our subject and his wife are as follows : Lydia R., born June 2, 1859 ; Joseph Oliver, September 28, 1861; Lu- cius C., March 21, 1863; Clara E., April 15, 1865; Mary A., March 3, 1867; Will- iam Oscar, August 30, 1870; Albert F., July 30, 1872 and Sarah S., September 3, 1875.
Mr. Niles politically, affiliates with the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union, while in religious matters he is identified with the Christian Church.
RTHUR S. RICE was born in Magnolia Township, Harrison County, Iowa, April 6, 1859, and remained at home on the farm un- til the spring of 1880, then worked on the farm for his mother until 1882, when he bought one hundred and twenty acres of land, on sections . 3 and 4, of Magnolia Township, which had been fenced and farmed but had no house upon it. He built a frame house upon the place in 1883, which was a 16x24 feet story and a half structure,
Our subject attended Tabor College one year, going there in the autumn of 1879. He was married in Magnolia July 19,
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1883, to Miss Mabel Brainard. They have two adopted children-Charles A., born February 18, 1884, and Eva M. born July 11, 1890.
Mabel (Brainard) Rice, was born in Magnolia, September 9, 1861, and re- mained with her parents until she was married.
Mr. Rice belongs to the Congregational Church while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United Work- men, at Magnolia.
ILAS RICE, (deceased) came to Harrison County, in June 1855, and that year bought a farm on section 4, of Magnolia Township. In the spring of 1856 he built a story and a half log house, 16x24 feet, now used as a tool house. They lived in that cabin until 1879, when was erected a frame house, two stories high, the upright being 24x30 feet, and an addition 16x20 feet. Upon coming to the county, Mr. Rice bought six- ty-six acres of land, without any improve- ments upon it, and shortly afterwards took a quarter section more, under the Swamp Land Act, and at the time of his death had four hundred and twenty-seven acres. One hundred and twenty-five of this was under cultivation, while the balance was in pasture and meadow land. He was born May 19, 1822, in Franklin County, Vermont, where he remained on his father's farm until 1842, then taught school two terms, and worked at lumber- ing and quarrying a few years after leav- ing home. He went to Massachusetts, and remained until 1855, and then came to Harrison County, He was married
in New Hampshire., June 11, 1850, to Miss Eleanor S. Taylor and they had seven children-Emma M., Della S., Eu- gene T., Arthur S., Wilber B., Mamie E., and Hattie E. Emma and Hattie are the deceased.
Mr. Rice died March 9, 1874. All who knew him held him in the highest esteem, as a man of the most solid convictions, who loved the right and despised the wrong ; an upright character moulded un- der the severely correct ideas of New England. A character which stands out with the prominence of the lofty white oak of the forest.
He was chosen Deacon of the Congre- gational Church in 1856 and was such at time of death.
Eleanor S. (Taylor) Rice, was born October 19, 1829, in Franklin County, Vt., and when a small girl her parents died, and she went to live with her uncle William Bucknam, with whom she re- mained until the date of her marriage.
32436
W ILBER B. RICE was born at Mag- nolia, Iowa, April 23, 1862, and remained at home with his parents until the spring of 1884, when he went to Brown County, Neb., and took a home- stead, remained one year and then sold and came back to Harrison County, and bought one hundred and twenty acres of home-farm, where he still lives. He car- ries on the whole farm including his own land.
In 1882 -83 he attended the Iowa Agri- cultural College, at Ames, and was mar- ried September 1, 1887, to Miss Susie L. Morris, and they are the parents of two children-Carl M., born June 11, 1888;
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and Clara T., born March 8, 1891, died March 11, 1891.
Susie L. (Morris) Rice, was born at Woodbine, Iowa, October 25, 1865, and the following year her parents moved to Magnolia.
Mr. Wilbur Rice is a member of Mag- nolia Lodge, No. 126, of A. F. & A. M. He and his wife, as well as his father and mother, are members of the Congrega- tional Church.
S AMUEL MOORE, ex-County Judge, now a farmer located on sec- tion 9, of Taylor Township, has been a resident of Harrison County since September, 1856, when he settled at Mag- nolia, where he followed farming and also worked at the carpenter business until the fall of 1864. While he was in Magnolia, and about 1857, he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 9, of Taylor Township, the same being swamp land. In 1864 he traded his house and lot in Magnolia for eighty acres of partly im- proved land in Taylor Township. It had all been broken, but not cultivated. He lived on that place from the fall of 1864 to May, 1866, when he moved to his pres- ent farm. He first erected on this farm a frame shanty 14x16 feet. It was con- structed of cottonwood lumber, and was boarded up and down. The following autumn he built a log house 16x20 feet, in which he lived until October, 1876, which season he built his present residence. It is a frame structure, the upright of which is 18x26 feet and two stories high, to- gether with a kitchen 16x20 feet. At the present time he owns two hundred and eighty acres of land in Taylor Township,
one hundred and thirty of which is under the plow and the balance in pasture and meadow land. He also owns thirty acres of timber in Raglan Township.
When our subject came to the county, Magnolia had just sprang into existence, and most of the trading was done at Coun- cil Bluffs. When he moved to Taylor Township,he was a mile and one-half from schools, and whenever religious services were held, they were at the school house.
Mr. Moore was born in Sullivan County, N. Y., August 17, 1827. He is the son of Simeon and Mary (Low) Moore, both na- tives of the Empire State. The father was born February 3, 1802, and the mother about 1805. He remained at home until the spring of 1848, and during the summer of that year worked on a farm in Massa- chusetts. The following spring he went to Delaware County, N. Y., and worked in the lumber regions, continuing for three years rafting logs in the summer down the river to Trenton and Philadel- phia. We next find him in Sullivan County, N. Y., where he peeled tan-bark until July, and after the season for that was over, he engaged at harvesting. This brings our subject down to the autumn of 1853, when he came to Franklin Connty, Ohio, in company with his brother, S. S. Moore. He remained there until Sep- tember, 1856, being employed in a turning factory. He then came West and located in Harrison County, Iowa. Our subject was united in marriage in Boyer Town- ship, Harrison County, Iowa, April 17, 1859, to Miss Eliza J. Holeton, the daughter of John and Caroline (Millage) Holeton. Our subject and his wife are the parents of eight children-Mary C., Mrs. Fuller; Alden S .; Laura A., Mrs. Bronson; Sarah E., died January 9, 1868; Otis H., died April 16, 1869; Robert M .;
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Florence A., and S. S., died December 9, 1884.
Eliza J. (Holeton) Moore was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, October 20, 1841, and came to Harrison County with her parents in 1853. They settled in Boyer Township, and she remained at home until the date of her marriage. The mother died in Apanoose County, Iowa, in 1846, and the father in Harrison County in April, 1858.
Our subject's father still lives in Sulli- van County, N. Y. The mother died in that county March 26, 1884. They reared a family of twelve children-eight sons · and four daughters, our subject being the oldest child. He received his early edu- cation in the common schools.
Politically, our subject has been iden- tified with the Democratic party, but now is in sympathy with the Farmers' Alliance movement.
He was elected Sheriff, on the Demo- cratic ticket, in the fall of 1862, and held the office one term. He also held the office of County Judge for the years of 1864-65. He was candidate for County Supervisor on the Alliance ticket: He is a member of Magnolia Lodge, No. 126, of the Masonic order, and was a charter member of the same.
UDAH CHAPMAN, a resident of Cass Township, was born in Wilt- shire, England, October 8, 1843, and in company with his parents sailed for America when he was eighteen years of age. The family went to Utah, where they remained until the spring of 1864. On his way back from Salt Lake he stop- ped at Ft. Bridger and worked at farming
one summer, and in the fall came to Flor- ence, Neb., where he was engaged at railroad work the following winter.
December 25, 1867, he was united in marriage with Deborah Blair, a native of England, born June 16, 1848, the daugh- ter of David and Deborah J. Blair. She was the fourth of a family of seven chil- dren, and is now the only survivor. She accompanied her parents from England, in 1856, and the father died while cross- ing the the plains on their way to Utah. The mother is now the wife of Thomas Chapman.
Our subject and his wife have reared a family of seven children-Rebecca J., born July 22, 1868; Elizabeth, I, born Feb- ruary 28, 1870, died September 4, 1873; David T., August 11, 1873; James B., born July 26, 1876, died February 23, 1881; Ella Z., January 21, 1879; Louisa B., No- vember 24, 1882; one died in infancy, born November 19, 1887.
Upon coming to Harrison County in 1865, the Chapman family rented a part of the Lindley Evans farm for two years, after which time our subject purchased eighty acres of land in Union Township, on section 10, and there remained for seven years after which he rented for five years, and then purchased his present place, con- sisting of one hundred and twenty acres, on sections 28 and 33, the same being wild land. He at once began improving and erected his spacious farm house, the up- right of which is 14x24 feet, one and a half stories high and an addition 14x14 feet.
When. Mr. Chapman first started for himself he had one pony, which he traded for a span of colts and out of these grew a team. By working other men's land, using their team to work his own land, with good management and a great amount of hard work, and materially aided
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HARRISON COUNTY.
by the labors of his good wife, they are now in possession of a comfortable and happy home.
At the time when Mrs. Chapman crossed the plains, then known as the Great Ameri- can Desert, their household goods were hauled by hand-carts the entire distance, from Iowa City through to the wilds of Utah. Many of the famous band of Mor- mon believers perished through hunger and exposure, the details of which the pages of history will never have anything like a comprehensive account of. When about two hundred miles from Salt Lake President Brigham Young sent teams out and conveyed the almost perishing rem- nant of the band the remainder of their journey. Mrs. Chapman's father died at the point known as Rocky Ridge.
Mr. and Mrs. Chapman are both devout and consistent members of the Latter Day Saint's Church, she having been a member since eight years of age, while her husband has been identified with this denomination for the past twenty years. It may be added that Mrs. Chapman's father was an Elder (minister) in this church and died in the abiding convic- tions of his faith. Politically, our subject is a Democrat.
LBERT B. VINING. The Empire State has furnished very many representative men who have become citizens of Harrison County, among whom may be named the subject of this sketch, who was born in Eastern New York, February 6, 1833. He is the son of Robert and Polly (Waters) Vining, of Dutch and English extraction. Albert B. was one of a family of four
children, one of whom is deceased. His brother Richard resides in Woodbine, this county ; his sister, Mrs. Rachel Walker, resides in Adams County, Iowa. The parents died in their native State. Our subject was reared on a farm and .educa- ted in the public schools of New York, and at the age of twelve years engaged in the hatter's trade, which he followed until he was twenty-two years of age and then came West, locating where Wood- bine now stands. This was in October, 1855. After he had located in the county he commenced farm life again, and two years later, on June 14, 1857, he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Finch, who was born in Greene County, N. Y., August 14, 1839. She was the daughter of Abraham and Laura (Merwin) Finch, and is of English origin. She was of a family of ten children.
Our subject purchased forty acres of land and kept adding until he had one hundred and sixty acres on sections 18, 19 and 20, and later on purchased two "forties" more, all in. Harrison Town- ship, and all of which he has disposed of. In 1859 he, with his wife, returned to New York, where they spent some four or five years, and in the spring of 1864 went to Wisconsin and remained until 1866, when they returned to Iowa and again located in Harrison Township, and there remained until 1882, when they moved into the town of Dunlap, remained eighteen months, and in the spring of 1884 pur- chased the farm they now occupy, on sec- tion 16. The farm consists of eighty acres.
Politically, Mr. Vining is an advocate and supporter of the Republican party. He is a member of Hospitable Lodge, No. 244, of A. F. & A. M. He was presented for service September 30, 1863, by draft,
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but owing to physical disability was ex- empted from service after holding a month or so. He was one of the promoters of the organization of Vineland school dis- trict, and has done much toward building up this part of the county.
Mr. and Mrs. Vining are the parents of five children-Mary L., wife of James Atherton, of Harrison Township, who was ·born April 11, 1858, and married March 14, 1880, by Rev. J. E. Lisle; Myran, born December 28, 1859, and now resides on a farm in Buchanan County; Albert R., born October 3, 1861, now a resident of Monona County; Laura J., born April 9, 1866, wife of Charles Atherton, mar- ried November 11, 1883, and now residing in Crawford County; Robert, born De- cember 28, 1868, still at home.
Our subject and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and have always manifested great interest in educational matters.
The subjoined incident, connected with early days in Harrison Csunty, cannot fail to be of interest to every reader: When our subject first came to the county; wolves and game of all kinds were very nu- merous, and not unfrequently has our subject, after a toilsome day's work, been followed to his very door by hungry wolves. A rather amusing incident oc- curred while he was yet a young man and keeping bachelors' hall in company with his brother and another man. One night in the winter of 1855, when the snow was about six inches deep, after having re- tired for the night, Mr. Vining heard a noise on the roof of their " dug-out," so he quietly stole out of bed, got his musket, and sallied forth with nothing on but his shirt. He longed for sport, and now was his opportunity, so he did not stop for clothing. Upon going out of doors he
saw a wolf, which started down the hill- side slowly, and our subject took delib- erate aim, fired and crippled the wolf, which ran with its fore-parts, dragging its hind-parts; observing this, Mr. Vining started for the wolf in hot (or rather cold) pursuit, giving chase some sixty yards. It will be remembered that he was bare- footed, and in fact the greater portion of his anatomy was in the same condition, but he kept on running through the snow with the sharp crust breaking at every step, but finally he overtook and captured his prize, and bore him triumphantly back to the dug-out.
In the winter of 1856-57 he had a comi- cal experience with a nimble-footed deer, which he endeavored to ride, but as the animal strenuously objected, he concluded he would abandon the idea, but it was after he had been thrown violently from its back three times, and came near get- ting tramped into the deep snow by the frightened and enraged animal.
G EORGE A. CASE, who has been a resident of Harrison County since 1865, and who is now a resident of Cass Township, living on section 9, will form the subject of this biographical no- tice.
He came to the county with his parents, who remained at Twelve-Mile Grove for one year, and then moved to Jefferson Township, near the village of Jeddo. After four or five years, our subject pur- chased land north of Jeddo, where he re- mained until his removal to Cass Town- ship, in the spring of 1889. He began working out when about sixteen years of age, following this for six years, and after
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HARRISON COUNTY.
reaching his majority he rented land for five years, and in the spring of 1883, pur- chased a piece of land on section 3, of Cass Township, which he farmed for three years. He sold this place, or rather ex- changed, for his present farm of eighty eighty acres, on sections 9 and 10, upon which there was a small house, to which he added an upright, 14x20 feet and a kitchen 14x22. He later built a good barn, provided his stock-yard with a windmill and made general improvements such as one sees on most of the Harrison County farms.
Our subject was born in Jones County, Iowa, August 4, 1854, and is the son of James R., and Alice B., (Hearn) Case. He is the third child of a family of seven children. He accompanied his parents from Jasper County to Harrison County, in 1865.
He was married February 18, 1885, to Ella M. Hunt, daughter of Jasen Z. and Mary (King) Hunt, who was born Feb- ruary 15, 1861. Their children are, Hume, born August 9, 1888 and Orvill L., March 26, 1890. Politically, Mr. Case is identi- fied with the Republican party.
OHN CHAPMAN, JR., a resident farmer of section 6, in Washington Township, has been a resident of the county for twenty-one years, coming as he did in the autumn of 1870, and settling on the Pigeon, in Union Township (section 4), where he bought forty acres of wild land, which he im- proved and lived upon until the spring of 1877. He sold this place in the fall of 1877, and the following spring moved to Harrison County, Mo., where he pur-
chased a farm and remained until July, 1880, when he sold and came back to this county, and purchased a farm on section 4, the same being but partly improved, there being about thirty acres of breaking, but no house upon it. To this he added forty acres more, upon which he built a small house, and remained there one winter, and the following spring bought the Fry farm in the same section, which . was an improved forty-acre tract. The buildings he had erected upon his other place, he moved, and tore down those that were on the Fry farm and built new ones. Here he remained until the spring of 1891, when he moved to his present place, which he bought in the autumn of 1890, it be- longing to two different parties. One of his farms contains one hundred and thirty- six acres, and the other eighty acres, both of which are well improved. The one on section 4, he rents.
Our subject was born in Wilkshire, England, at the town of Westlavington, September 20, 1845, where he remained until 1861, and then emigrated to America, coming direct to Florence, Neb., at which point he remained a few days, and then went to Rockport, Neb. His parents and the family went to Salt Lake, Utah."
He enlisted in the United States ser- vice, at Omaha, Neb., October 20, 1863, as a member of Company D, First Neb- raska Cavalry, and was on the frontier, fighting Indians, and guarding emigrant trains. He was honorably discharged at Omaha, August 18, 1864, then returned to Florence, where he remained until winter and then hired out to drive ox-teams in a freight train across the plains, his older brother, James, being with him in the same train. They got as far as Cotton Wood Springs, but there were snow- bound, and had to return to Florence,
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