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 99
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Our subject is the son of Patrick and Elizabeth Morrow, natives of Ireland, who are the parents of eight children- Jane, William, Elizabeth, Anna, Hugh P., David, Salathiel S., and Matilda.
Mr. Morrow was married November 26, 1874, to Rosa A. Ferguson, daughter of W. P. and Susan Ferguson, natives of Ireland, who reared twelve children-Rosa A., Thomas J., Bridget M., Hugh D., William W., John B., Susan E., Joseph E., Mary J., Frank A., Catherine A., and Mark. Mrs. Ferguson was born in New York, September 6, 1853.
Mr. and Mrs. Morrow are the parents of nine children born as follows: Eliza- beth S., September 6, 1876; Patrick, De- cember 4, 1877; Anna J., November 19, 1880; Evaline M., July 8, 1882; Rosa I., October 30, 1883; Helen C., August 31, 1885; Teresa B., August 20, 1887; Agnes M., January 17, 1889; and Hugh P., Jan- uary 22, 1891.
Our subject and his family are members of the Roman Catholic Church. He be- longs to the Grand Army of the Republic, and politically is identified with the Dem- ocratic party. He has held the offices of Justice of the Peace, Township Trustee, Township Clerk, Roadmaster, and Post- master.
OHN F. DICK, a farmer living on section 18, of Allen Township, came to Harrison County in August, 1877, and located on the farm he now occupies in 1878, which consisted of forty acres of wild land, which he broke and erected buildings upon. His house was 14 x 24 feet, with a wing 12 x 16 feet. He has since added to his estate, until he
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has one hundred and sixty acres, fifty-five acres of which are under the plow, while the balance is in pasture and meadow land. The whole tract is surrounded by a good fence. With the exception of a year and a half spent in Kansas, our subject has remained on this farm ever since he came to the county.
He was born in Harford County, Md., November 25, 1852. He is the son of James and Mary R. Dick, natives of Maryland, who had a family of nine children as follows: Robert, Mary, James T., Albert, Charles, William, Elizabeth, (deceased), John F., Martha. Our subject remained in Maryland with his parents until he was seventeen years of age, and then accompanied them to Washington County, Iowa, where he went to work by the month on a farm and fol- lowed it for two years. We next find him in Adair County, where he followed farm- ing and breaking prairie for six years. From there he came to Harrison County.
Our subject was married December 2, 1877, to Clara B. Ertel, the daughter of Phillip and Mary Ertel, natives of Germany and Pennsylvania, respectively, who were the parents of the following children : Kate, Sally, Christena, Eliza- beth, Elvira, (deceased), Clara B., wife of our subject, and Charles.
Mr. and Mrs. Dick are the parents of six children, born as follows: Bertha, January 9, 1880; Maude, April 24, 1881; Jessie, November 30, 1882; Bessie, born August 8, 1884, died January 23, 8891, of diphtheria; Charles, born January 11, 1887; and Lewis, September 4, 1890.
Our subject's advantages for obtaining an education were very limited, and what schooling he had, he obtained during a few weeks of each term of winter school.
Politically, he is identified with the
Republican party, and at present is Town- ship Clerk and School Treasurer of Allen Township. He belongs to Lodge No. 389, I. O. O. F. at Little Sioux.
W ILLIAM COULTHARD, a farmer living on section 10, of Cincinnati Township, came to Harrison County in the spring of 1865, and made his home with George Richardson for one year and then moved to section 3, and re- mained there until about 1874, when he sold his interest in the place to his brother, George, and then rented for three years. He then bought one hundred and twenty acres of his present farm upon which he made substantial improvements, and has added to his farm until he now has two hundred and twenty acres, all under cul- tivation.
He was born in Middlesex County, Canada, August 19, 1844 and remained there until the spring of 1865, and then came to Harrison County. In January, 1868, he married Miss Eddie and they are the the parents of ten children-Anna D., Robert L., deceased, Laolla W., Wil- liam E., deceased; Lillie I., George H., Mary L., infant, deceased, and David L.
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0 SCAR D. WILSON, proprietor of of the livery, feed and sale stable at Modale,came to Harrison County in the fall of 1869, and worked on the Sioux City and Pacific Railway, from Missouri to Sioux City, and from the Valley to Fremont, Neb., part of the time as an engineer and part of the time as a bag- gage master and also helped in the con- struction of the telegraph line. He was in the company's employ until the autumn
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of 1873, when he built his livery barn at Modale. In connection with his livery business he also practices as a veterinary surgeon. He attended the Chicago Veterinary School. In October 1886, his barn burned, but he immediately rebuilt, 30x60 feet with five box stalls outside. In the fall of 1888 he built a residence 24x28 feet.
To acquaint the reader with our sub- ject's carlier days it may be said that he was born July 7, 1840, at Chicago, Ill. He is the son of Thomas and Mary (Nor- ton) Wilson. The father was a native of Ireland, while the mother was born in New York State, and was of German ori- gin. He left home at the age of thirteen and went to firing on the Wisconsin division of the Northwestern Railway. About 1861, he got an engine to run, con- tinuing to pull the throttle until Septem- ber 1863, when he enlisted in Company A, of the Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, and went South, and was on detached service most of the time. He was on both of the Price raids, was at the battles of Lone Jack, Big Blue, Mulligan's fight at Lexington and a great many smaller engagements. He was discharged January 26, 1866, at Little Rock, Ark., and then returned to Chicago and again became an engineer on the road he had left, when he doffed the greasy garb of an engineer and put on the loyal blue, as a soldier in the Union army. He was locomotive engineer until the autumn of 1869 and then came to Harrison County.
He was united in marriage at Missouri Valley, March 17, 1871, to Miss Jennie R. Barber, the daughter of George and Sarah (Blackburn) Barber. By this marriage nine children were born in the following order-Abbie M., June 26, 1872; Albert D., June 26, 1872 (twins) ; Thomas J., Aug-
ust 30, 1873; John W., October 26, 1875; George O., January 28, 1878; Lottie L., May 2, 1882; Ella E., July 26, 1884; Cora J., May 29, 1886; Oscar D., January 29,1889. Abbie and Albert, (twins), died July 16, 1872; George O., October 9, 1878. All three died with whooping cough.
Jennie R. (Barber) Wilson, was born in Grant County, Wis., October 11, 1848, accompanied her parents to Harrison County, Iowa, and located in Cincinnati Township, where she remained until her marriage. She died at Modale June 17, 1890, and was buried at Missouri Valley. In her religious belief she was a Methodist.
Mr. Wilson was married August 26, 1890, in Missouri Valley to Miss Mary E. Phillips, the daughter of Alexander and Emily (Burries) Phillips, natives of Ger- many.
Mary E. (Phillips) Wilson, was born March 8, 1850, and the same year came with her parents to America, located in Greene County, Pa., in 1858, and came to Washington County, Ohio, in the autumn of 1875. She left home and came to Ford County, where she remained until 1878, and then came to Mills County, Iowa, and in 1874, went to Jefferson County, Neb., and was there until 1888, then went to Saline County, Neb., and in June 1890, came to this county where she was mar- ried. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Politically our subject is a Republican.
LVA W. BROWN, of Modale, came to Harrison County in the spring of 1866, when he settled on section 29, of Taylor Township, where he purchased a quarter section of
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wild land. His first residence was built of cottonwood lumber, 12x16 feet, on the ground, and twelve feet high. He erected this house himself, and not making any pretensions toward being a first-class me- chanic, he says this structure was "more useful than ornamental." The first year he broke fourteen acres of his land and commenced to farm. The first house re- ferred to served as a residence for ten years. In 1876 he built a fine two-story house, 16x26 feet, with an ell 14x16 feet, having a veranda extending around the upright and ell. He has since built a kitchen twelve feet square, under which is a cemented cellar. He has added to his land until he has two hundred and forty acres on his home farm and forty acres on section 31. The home farm has ninety acres under the plow and the bal- ance in pasture and meadow, and upon this place he has erected a good barn 24x30 feet. His land on section 31 is all under cultivation, and in addition he also has a log house 18x28 feet, and a frame barn 24x30 feet. Both of his farms are provided with good orchards. In 1886 our subject moved to town and took charge of the hotel, which he operated until the fall of 1891.
He was born in Stark County, Ill., Oc- tober 29, 1839, and when five years of age, his parents moved to DuPage County, Ill., where he remained until he was four- teen, and then went to Leeds County, Canada, and worked on a farm two years and one-half. The next three years he spent on a farm in Kent County, Mich., after which he returned to Stark County, Ill., where he remained until August, 1861, and then enlisted as a member of Com- pany B, Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and went to Missouri. He participated in the following engagements : Pea Ridge,
Arkansas Post, Duvall's Bluff, went through the siege of Vicksburg, and was at the battle of Jackson, Miss. After the siege of Vicksburg, he went to New Orleans, remained until August, 1864,and was discharged at Chicago, September 25, 1864. He then returned to Stark County, Ill., and remained until February, 1865, when he re-enlisted in the First United States Veteran Corps, known as Hancock's Corp. He went to Washington, D. C., and from there to Winchester, Va., and was on the march to Lynchburg, when they received the intelligence of Lee's surrender, upon which they returned to Washington, and he was one of the guards at the prison when the Lincoln conspirators were hung. From Wash- ington they went to Elmira, N. Y., and were there until November of the same year and then went to New Haven, Conn., and were discharged at Hartford, Febru- ary 25, 1866. He at once returned to Stark County, Ill., coming to Harrison County, Iowa, however, in a few weeks.
Our subject was married in Stark County, May 14, 1866, to Miss Frances Hodgson, by which marriage union two children have been born-Cora E., born November 27, 1868, died April 22, 1869; Olive P., born July 15, 1878, died October 21, 1891, with the much dreaded disease, diphtheria.
Frances (Hodgson) Brown was born in Stark County, Ill., April 7, 1841. She re- mained there until the date of her mar- riage, and died in Harrison County, Iowa, June 23, 1888. She was buried at the Calhoun Cemetery. Mr. Brown was mar- ried March 4, 1890, to Mrs. Lucy Haskin, whose maiden name was Barnes. She was married to Joseph Haskin, by whom she had four children-Charles M., Eva (now deceased), Joseph F., and Harry B.
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Lucy (Barnes) Brown was born in Leeds County, Canada, October 6, 1837, and came to Harrison County in the autumn of 1865.
The father of our subject, David W. Brown, was born in Leeds County, Can- ada, July 12, 1801, and came to Illinois in 1837, and moved to DuPage County, of that State, remained nine years, and moved to Kent County, Mich., spent four years, and then moved to Lansing, Mich., from there to Lake St. Clair, where he died in 1862.
Olive (Parish) Brown, the mother of our subject, was also a native of Leeds County, Canada, born January 14, 1803, and remained there until she was mar- ried. She laid down the burdens of life in DuPage County, Ill., in September, 1847. They were the parents of four children- Lucy, born March 30, 1830; Benjamin R., July 13, 1834; Sarah S., January 14, 1837; Alva W., October 29, 1839.
Lucy married Robert Nicholson, and lives in Platte County, Neb .; Benjamin R. is married and lives in Stark County, Ill. ; Sarah S. marrried Joseph H. Watts, and lives in Platte County, Neb. All of these children were born in Leeds County, Canada, except our subject.
Politically, Mr. Brown is identified with the Republican party "first, last, and all the time," or as long as the party main- tains the principles it now advocates.
Mr. Brown was one of the three (E. Brandriff, Mathias Rager and Mr. Brown), when the Grange was in its palmiest days, appointed as a committee to solicit L. Brunett, who was then Superintendent of the Sioux City & Pacific Railway, to put in a side-track and plat the town of Martinsville (now Modale), which was granted them, by securing a right-of-way.
Mr. Brown assessed his township three
times and the town of Modale five times. He has held the office of Township Trustee three terms; was road commis- sioner one term; Justice of the Peace two years, and has been School Treasurer fivé years for the Independent District of Modale.
E DGAR TAYLOR, an enterprising farmer of section 20, Lincoln Town- ship, has been a resident of the county since the autumn of 1873. He first bought eighty acres of wild land in Clay Township. Here he bought a farm house, 16x24 feet, one story and a half high; built a barn 18x24 feet, dug two wells, set out an orchard and fenced his place with wire. He farmed this place for four years, when he sold it and leased land near Missouri Valley for two years, and then moved to his present home.
He was born in Ashtabula County. Ohio, November 26, 1845, and is the son of John and Elizabeth Taylor, natives of Connecticut, who were the parents of three children, he being the youngest. The children were Electa, Mary, (de- ceased), and Edgar.
Our subject's father and mother died when he was eight years of age, and he lived with an uncle until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he enlisted in Company K, of the Third New York Cavalry, at Poolsville, Md., and served in the Army of the Potomac, taking part in the battles of the Wilderness, Peters- burg and Gettysburg. He lost his hearing while in the service of his country, which he served four years and eight months, and received an honorable discharge at Albany, N. Y. After the war, he moved
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to Iowa, and was married in June 1866, to Sarah Williams, a daughter of Phelix and Rachel Williams, natives of Kentucky, who were the parents of the following children, five of whom are still living- Rebecca, Catharine, (deceased), William, Mary, Sarah and Julia.
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have been blessed with five children-Mary, born April 7, 1867; Belle, March 1, 1869; Hattie, April 15, 1871; Charles, April 29, 1872; Ella, August 20, 1875.
Politically, our subject is identified with the Republican party, and stands high in the community in which he lives, for his many good traits of character.
ACOB S. FOUNTAIN, a retired farmer, living on section 14, of Cin- cinnati Township, came to Harris- on County in the summer of 1857, and settled in the village of Cincinnati, which town site.is now being farmed by our subject, who operated a general store there for about four years, and sold out in 1861, when he went to hauling logs to the saw-mill, and floated the lumber to Coun- cil Bluffs. During the construction of the Union Pacific railroad, he made ties and sent them down to Omaha by the river. Upon coming to the county, Mr. Foun- tain bought between fifteen hundred and two thousand acres of land, most of which was swamp land. He lived in Parish City, until the summer of 1880, when he moved to his present home. To our sub- ject belongs the honor of naming Cincin- nati Township. In about 1858, he took a contract to drain that township, by the construction of swamp land ditches. Capt. John Noyes had the contract for
all the swamp land, and being the Swamp Land Commissioner, he sublet the con- tract of this township to our subject, who finished the contract in 1861. He has sold off all of his land but five hundred and sixty acres, which is improved and divided into several farms, one of which has three hundred and twenty acres in it, and is used for a dairy farm by our sub- ject and his son A. M. They keep fifty head of cows, and one hundred head of young stock, and expect to feed seventy head of steers this season (1891-2).
When Mr. Fountain came to this place (California Junction) the place was all improved and had a two-story brick house with corresponding improvements upon the place, which was indeed a great con- trast to the time when he first came to the county, at which time this portion of the county was a vast sea of prairie grass, which stood as high as a man's head. The first house he built in the county, was of cottonwood lumber, and now does good service as a stable. It stands on
the old site of Prairie City. The first school taught in Cincinnati Township, was held at our subject's house, in the winter of 1858-59. Miss Phoebe J. Holdz- kom, now Mrs. Dilley, was the person who taught. The first religious services were also held in this house, and contin- ued to for several years. Mr. Fountain donated a part of the lumber and hauled it to Calhoun, to help build the Magnolia Methodist Parsonage.
When our subject first came to the county, the teams used were almost uni- versally the kind which worked best under a yoke, and were guided by the words "haw" and "gee", with sometimes the additional words Buck! and Bright! Many are the trips he made to Council Bluffs with his ox-team, which would in-
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deed seem a slow way of transportation to the present generation.
Mr. Fountain held many of the local offices since coming to Harrison County, including that of Justice of the Peace, and Township Trustee, and during the Civil War, interested himself in getting allowances for soldiers and soldiers' families. Times were very hard and this good man would go before the Board of Supervisors and speak for soldiers' wives, in the matter of having a few dollars ap- propriated to them, to assist them in pur- chasing the necessities of life. He was appointed Postmaster, at Parish City, under James Buchanan's administration, and held the position eleven years, and a part of the time was compelled to go to Magnolia for the mail.
In relating pioneer hardships, Mr. Fountain states how that at the begin- ning of the Civil War, the principal diet was corn bread, and upon one occasion, this food had to be produced by grat- ing the ears of corn on a tin grater. He also speaks of taking three bushels of corn fifteen miles to mill, and made three trips before hegot his meal, causing him to travel ninety miles. It is no uncom :- mon thingin those days to use browned rye and burnt bran as a substitute for coffee.
To go back to our subject's earlier life, and inform the reader as to his domestic relations, his parentage, etc., it may be stated that he was born in New Castle County, Del., April 2, 1817. His parents died when he was young, and about 1830, he went to Canıden, N. J., where he learn- ed the harness trade. In 1832, the man for whom he worked went to Baltimore, and took him with him, and there remain- ed until 1836, and then returned to New Jersey, where for three years he worked
at his trade, and also in Pennsylvania. In the autumn of 1839, he went to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where he opened a shop, and carried on business until the fall of · 1855, when he sold out. We next find our subject during the summer of 1856, on a visit in Kansas, and having a friend in Council Bluffs, he also visited him, and at the same time pre-empted a piece of land nine miles from that place, and re- turned to Cincinnati, Ohio, going by stage to St. Joseph, and from there by steamboat. The following spring he bought a horse team, and came overland, to Pottawattamie County, while his wife and family came by railroad, and boat to Council Bluffs. He remained on his claim a few weeks, proved up on it, and then came to Harrison County.
Mr. Fountain was married in Cincin- nati, Ohio, March 20, 1845, to Miss Atha- linda B. Cook, and they are the parents of eight children-Mary E., William M., America E., Andrew N.,Jacob (deceased), Charles A., and Rachel C.,(twins), Anna L.
Athalinda B. (Cook) Fountain was born in Butler County, Ohio, September 26, 1826, and when small accompanied her parents to Indiana, and from there to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she remained until she grew to womanhood. Her fath- er was Zachies Cook, who was born in New Jersey, and died in Indiana, about 1830. The mother, Mary A. (Murphy) Cook, was also a native of New Jersey, and now lives with her daughter, Mrs. Fountain.
Our subject's father was Thomas Fount- ain, a native of England. He died in New Castle County, Del., in the autumn of 1829, at the age of about forty-five years. Our subject's mother was Christ- iana (Streets) Fountain, was born in New Castle County, Del., where she died in
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the fall of 1827. They were the parents of nine children, five sons and four daugh- ters, of whom our subject was the fourth child. His mother was a member of the Christian Church, while Mrs. Fountain and her mother are members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church.
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Mr. Fountain is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, believing that party best serves the interests of the masses.
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Charles A. Fountain, of the firm of Fountain Bros., dealers in dry-goods and groceries at California Junction, (who also handles all kinds of general goods, such as are needed for the country trade,) is a son of our subject. He was born in Harrison, Iowa, June 14, 1862, and has always made his home with his parents. He engaged in trade with his brother A. N., in August 1883. He is a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars at Missouri Valley, and stands high as a young rising business man.
= LFRED N. WARREN. of Harri- son Township, will form the sub- ject of this sketch. He is a native of East Hartford, Conn., and .was born August 8, 1835. He a son of Na- thaniel and Sarah (Bidwell). Warren, na- tives of the same town. The family trace their ancestry back several generations in this country, and find its origin to be in England. Our subject's parents were reared, lived, labored and died in East Hartford, the father passing away when eighty-five years of age, and the mother, who was born in 1800, died in 1885. The father, at an early day, was a shoemaker, but later in life turned his attention to agriculture. The grandfather of our sub-
ject was also a shoemaker, as well as a tanner by trade. Alfred N. was reared to farm life until he was sixteen years of age receiving a common-school education in the public schools of his native State, and at that age worked one year at painting clock dials in a clock factory. After this he engaged at the carpenter trade, and after having mastered it, spent one year in Connecticut working at this trade, but in the spring of 1857, saw visions of the new West, and came to Harrison County, Iowa, arriving April 28. That was thirty- four years ago, and this has been his home ever since. He at once took up a pre-emption of one hundred and sixty acres on section 14, where he still makes his home. However, he did not locate at once on this land, but hired out to Henry Olmsted to do carpenter work, or what- ever there was to be done about the prem- ises. The never-to-be-forgotten hard times came on and there was not any great amount of work in erecting new buildings, so our subject concluded to open up his farm, so in March, 1858, he erected a house upon his claim, and Jan- uary 22, of the same year, he was united in marriage with Miss Anna Eliza Stow, this being the first marriage in Harrison Township. She was born in Cheshire, Conn., in 1840, and is the daughter of Al- fred and Mary Stow. After their mar- riage our subject spent two years at farm- ing, and in 1860, his services as a carpen- ter were in more of a demand, and he has turned his attention in that direction from that time to this. He is a thorough me- chauic, ranking among the best in liis trade. His farm he has improved with the passing years as he could find oppor- tunity, and has succeeded in making a pleasant and valuable home. Mr. War- ren has always taken an active part in
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everything that has tended to the up- building and general welfare of the county. Politically he is identified with the Democratic party, and well remem- bers when he was the only voter in Har- rison Township who voted that ticket. He was the first Township Clerk, and was Trustee of the township for a number of years, as well as member of the School Board for over twenty years, ever mani- festing great interest in educational mat- ters. He belongs to the Masonic frater- nity, and is a member of Hospitable Lodge No. 244, A. F. & A. M., Ark Chapter No. 89, and is Past Master.
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