USA > Iowa > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 10
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gaged in farming in his native land until 1852, when together with his wife and family he emigrated to the United States, locating in Jefferson county. Upon his arrival here he invested a portion of his limited capital in forty acres of government land in Lockridge township, where he and his wife spent the remainder of their days. He erected a few crude buildings to suffice for the immediate needs of his family and as a protection for his stock when he began clearing and cultivating his land. He was an indus- trious man and applied himself with unremitting energy to the improve- ment of his farm, his efforts being abetted by the thrift his wife practiced in the management of the household affairs. As time passed he was able to extend his holdings, increasing the value of his place by the erection of better buildings and the development of his fields. Here he passed away in February, 1887, while the mother survived until July, 1899.
Fifty-nine years have elapsed since, a child of two years, Victor Swan- son emigrated to the United States with his parents. He was reared on the farm where he is now residing, obtaining his education in the district schools of Lockridge township. While engaged in the mastery of the ele- mentary branches of English learning he was being trained in the tilling of the fields and care of the crops, having begun to assist his father when little more than a child. When he was a lad of twelve years the entire responsibility of the cultivation of the farm and support of the family de- volved upon him, his father being helpless with rheumatism and his elder brother away at the war, where he served for four years with Bissell's en- gineers. Nothing daunted he resolutely assumed the duties necessity forced upon him, the determination that has ever characterized his actions enabling him to meet the requirements of the situation. At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Swanson left the parental roof westward bound and located in Omaha where for ten years he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany. At the expiration of that period he returned home and bought the old farm on which he has ever since resided. He has worked with the in- defatigable energy and definite purpose that invariably bring success, so in- telligently directing his efforts, that he has been able to increase his holdings from time to time, until he now has two hundred and forty acres of as highly cultivated and well improved land as is to be found in that section of the county. His homestead bears little resemblance to the place where he spent his boyhood, the old log buildings having given way to large, sub- stantially constructed barns and outbuildings providing ample shelter for both stock and farming implements, while his residence is both comfortable and convenient in its arrangements.
On the 28th of August, 1875, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Swan- son and Miss Ida Sophia Lakestrom, a daughter of Martin and Anna (Johnson) Lakestrom, also natives of Sweden. The father, who was a car-
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penter in the old country, emigrated to the United States with his wife and family settling in Jefferson county. After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Swanson the old people made their home with them for a time but later went to Burlington, where Mr. Lakestrom passed away in September, 1886. Soon after Mr. Lakestrom's demise his widow came to live with Mrs. Swan- son and continued to make her home with her daughter until her death on the 20th of July, 1896. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Swanson: Eva, the deceased wife of the Rev. J. J. Jones, who passed away in Colorado on the 21st of May, 1891 ; Stella, who married J. A. Anderson, a farmer of Nebraska; Charles, who is living at home; Clara, who passed away on December 30, 1895; and William, who is at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Swanson hold membership in the Lutheran church, and politically he is a republican. He has always taken an active interest in af- fairs of the township, particularly those of an educational nature, having served for many years as a school director, while for ten years he was presi- dent of the board. In addition to his fine homestead Mr. Swanson is a stock- holder and director of the Lockridge Savings Bank, and for ten years he was president of the Four Corners Creamery Company. He is one of the highly esteemed and respected men of Lockridge township, whose success is recognized as the well merited reward of capably and intelligently directed effort.
MONTGOMERY LA TOURETTE.
Montgomery La Tourette, who operates a farm of one hundred and fifty-four acres in Locust Grove township, is one of the more recent acquisi- tions among the residents of Jefferson county having lived here little more than half a dozen years. He is descended from an old Huguenot family and traced his lineage back to the Count and Countess de La Tourette who lived in splendor in an old chateau in La Vendee at the time of the revoca- tion of the Edict of Nantes. The count learning that his name was on the list of the proscribed ones and that it would fare sorely with him if he at- tempted to escape was forced to use much ingenuity to devise a plan where- by he might secure his safety. Accordingly he invited all the neighboring gentry to a levee at his chateau and when the gayety was at its height he and the countess made their escape, under cover of the night, going on foot to the sea where a vessel bound for Charleston lay at anchor. On this they embarked, taking with them only the family jewels and a Huguenot Bible, and in 1693 landed at Staten Island, New York. Montgomery La Tourette was born in Tippecanoe county,, Indiana, November 15, 1846.
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The grandfather, John La Tourette, a weaver by occupation, was a native of New York state where he lived until middle life when he came west and settled in Ohio and later in Indiana. His death occurred near Coving- ton, Fountain county, Indiana. The father. Garrett La Tourette, was a native of Germantown, Ohio, where he was reared, and when grown to manhood became a steam engineer. He was united in marriage to Margaret Ann Sherry, who was of Irish descent and was born in Indiana. They were the parents of three children: Montgomery, the subject of this biog- raphy ; Henry, a carpenter in Benton county, lowa ; and Sarah, deceased, who was the wife of John Heath. In 1851 the father, Garrett La Tourette, died near La Fayette, Indiana, and three years later, in 1854, his widow and the children came with relatives to Iowa, making their home in Ben- ton county. There Mrs. La Tourette entered upon a second marriage, the union being with William Cline, a farmer, by whom she had one child, Albert Cline who is engaged in agriculture at Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Montgomery La Tourette attended school in Benton county, Iowa, and afterwards assisted with the work of tilling the fields on the home place. He then bought a farm adjoining his mother's and developed this devoting himself especially to the raising of grain which he shipped in large quanti- ties to the local market. In 1895 he sold out this farmi and bought another in Van Buren county, Iowa, which he operated until 1902, situated east of Birmingham. He then removed his family to Jefferson county, Iowa, and established his home on the old Daniel Warner farm in Center town- ship, remaining there until March 1, 1911, when he bought the tract of land on which he lives at the present time, one hundred and fifty-four acres in Locust Grove township. Here he is engaged in the various lines of general farming and also raises a good grade of stock, feeding grain and hay which he raises. The farm includes fifteen acres of timber land of considerable value.
For his helpmate Mr. La Tourette chose Miss Sarah E. Carver to whom he was married on June 12, 1879. On her mother's side she was descended from an old colonial family, the great-grandmother having been a native of Virginia where the Deans were of much importance in the early part of the nineteenth century. They were planters and large property owners employing many slaves on their land freeing them, however, long before the Civil war broke out. The grandfather of Mrs. La Tourette, James Carver, was born in America of English parents and came from Pennsyl- vania to Franklin county, Ohio where he was engaged in tilling the soil. Her father, Thomas Carver, was a farmer born in Franklin county, Ohio, who came to Iowa as one of the pioneer settlers of Linn county. He en- listed in Company I, Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served two years when he was taken ill with typhoid fever and passed away in the
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spring of 1864, at New Orleans. Mrs. La Tourette's mother was Elizabeth A. Dean before her marriage. A native of Ohio, she was married in Linn county, Iowa, and now lives with her granddaughter, Leta Carver, in Ben- ton county, Iowa. There were four children in the Carver family: Sarah, now Mrs. La Tourette ; John Franklin, who died in infancy; Tabitha Jane, the wife of E. H. Skinner of Birmingham, Iowa, whom she married when a widow, a former marriage having taken place with George Reynolds of Wapello county, who died in 1904; and Thomas A., an editor at Concep- tion Junction, Missouri, whose present wife is a Mrs. Hodgen, his former wife, who was Ella Dixon, having died twenty-four years ago.
Mr. and Mrs. La Tourette are the parents of four children : Schuyler, a farmer at Canby, Oregon, who is married to Lena Erickson, a daughter of Charles Erickson, and has one child, Dwight; Clifford C., who lives at home with his parents ; Fred, who is a farmer in North Dakota; and Mary, a pupil in the Fairfield high school. Mr. La Tourette and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Fairfield, and he is con- nected with the Masonic order having joined the Benton City Lodge, No. 181, A. F. & A. M., at Shellsburg, while his daughter Mary belongs to the Rebecca Lodge of Batavia. In politics his sympathies are with the demo- cratic party and the principles for which it stands, but at elections he is not fettered by blind partisanship, preferring to exercise his own judg- ment in regard to the candidate whom he chooses to support with his vote. Large in his views and unopinionated, Mr. La Tourette stands for the type of citizenship of which our body politics is in crying need-the open- minded man who can think for himself and has the moral stamina to abide by his convictions.
CARL S. BISHOP, M. D.
Dr. Carl S. Bishop, who for more than seventeen years has been suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of medicine in Glasgow, was born in Van Buren county, this state, on October, 21, 1864, a son of John and Mary (Huffman) Bishop. His father was a native of Virginia, his birth occurring there in 1826, while the mother, whose natal day was in 1835, was the first white child born in Van Buren county. In 1850, when he was twenty-four years of age, John Bishop removed from Ohio to Iowa, locating in Van Buren county, where he followed the carpenter's trade and also engaged in farming. He subsequently acquired the title to two hun- dred acres of unimproved and uncultivated land in Jefferson county, that he energetically applied himself to clearing and operating. His efforts met
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with such lucrative returns that he was later able to extend the boundaries of his farm by the addition of another quarter section, thus making the aggregate of his holdings three hundred and sixty acres. Being both enter- prising and diligent Mr. Bishop so intelligently applied his energies that he brought his land under a high state of cultivation, making it one of the attractive and valuable farms of the county. Here he spent the remainder of his life, his demise occurring in October, 1904, at the age of seventy- eight years. The mother survived until January 12, 1910, and was seventy- five years of age when she passed away. They were both most estimable people and were highly regarded in the community where they had re- sided for many years and had always exercised a goodly influence.
Reared on his father's farm, the boyhood and youth of Dr. Bishop were not particularly unlike those of the average farmer lad of that period. In the acquirement of his early education he attended the district schools in the vicinity of his neighborhood until qualified to enter Parsons College. He became a student of that institution in 1883, and in 1888, at the expira- tion of a five-years period of study, was graduated. The succeeding three years he devoted to teaching, being principal of the school at Abbington for a year and that of Libertyville for two years. As he had previously decided to adopt the medical profession for his life vocation, in the autumn of 1891 he entered the Keokuk Medical College, being awarded the degree of M. D. three years later. He first located in Fairfield, where he main- tained an office until June 5, 1894, then came to Glasgow, where he has ever since resided. Dr. Bishop is well qualified for the profession he is following both because of his natural aptitude and by reason of his con- stant study and thorough preparation. He is most conscientious in his de- votion to his patients, thorough in his diagnosis and tireless in his adminis- trations in the effort to mitigate their suffering. He is the only physician in the town and in Round Prairie township so naturally in consideration of his excellent qualifications has succeeded in building up a very large practice.
On the 14th of April, 1897, Dr. Bishop was united in marriage to Miss Prudence K. Gregg, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Billings) Gregg, the father a native of Indiana and the mother of Ohio. James Gregg came to Iowa with his parents, who located in Jefferson county during the pioneer days. Having attained man's estate he bought some land that he cleared and operated until 1899, when he withdrew from the active work of the . fields and retired to Fairfield, where he now resides, and where his wife passed away in April, 1910. To Dr. and Mrs. Bishop five children were born, as follows: J. Paul, Mildred Elizabeth, Carl Gregg, Robert Huffman, who are respectively thirteen, eleven, seven and three years of age, and James Frederick, who has passed the first anniversary of his birth. The
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wife and mother after an illness covering one week, passed away with pneu- monia, her death occurring on the 30th of March, 1911.
Dr. Bishop and his family affiliate with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which the mother was also a member, and fraternally he is a Modern Woodman of America, belonging to the Fairfield Camp. His political sup- port Dr. Bishop accords to the republican party whose policy receives his unqualified indorsement, although he does not actively participate in town- ship governmental affairs, preferring to give his undivided attention to his profession. His connection with his fellow practitioners he maintains through the medium of his membership in the Jefferson County Medical Society and the Iowa State and American Medical Associations. Good financial success has attended his efforts professionally and he is the owner of a finely improved farm of one hundred and thirty acres in Round Prai- rie township, in addition to which he also has an interest in the old family homestead. He has a very attractive residence and four lots in Glasgow and he also owns his office building. Charitable in his judgments, just in his criticisms and helpful in his attitude toward all, Dr. Bishop has won and retained the friendship of many since locating here by reason of these substantial qualities.
REV. AUGUST WALGREN.
No history of Jefferson county would be complete were there failure to make mention of Rev. August Walgren, now one of the most venerable citizens, having passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life's journey. The greater part of this period has been spent in Iowa and Jefferson county has long numbered him among its most worthy citizens. He attained a high degree of success in life through earnest, persistent labor, and at the same time developed a Christian character in keeping with his professions as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Rev. Walgren was born in Sweden, September II, 1827, a son of Peter and Christine (Walgren) Peterson. The father died on his way to Iowa in 1849. He was a tailor by trade and also owned and cultivated a farm. Following his demise his widow came with her children to the new world, reaching Burlington, Iowa, in 1850. There were four sons and a daughter in the family and all that they had left when they arrived at Burlington was ten dollars in cash. Of the children August was the eldest and the others were: John, who died in California; Andrew, who served for ninety days in the First Iowa In- fantry during the Civil war and is now living in Burlington ; Louis P., who enlisted in the Seventh Iowa Cavalry and afterward served for about two
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years in a Nebraska regiment, becoming subsequent to the war a resident of Texas, where his death occurred; and Mrs. Caroline Hillery, who died in Jefferson county.
Rev. August Walgren was a young man of about twenty-three years when he came with his mother and the younger members of the family to the new world. His education had been acquired in his native land at his mother's knee and his home training taught him the value of industry and perseverance. There were so many Petersons living in the county that after his arrival in the United States he changed his name to Walgren. The first work that he did was to chop wood at fifty cents per cord and thus he made enough money to pay his board. In 1851 he went to Lock- ridge township, Jefferson county, where he bargained for sixty acres of land. He had no money with which to make payment but agreed to pay twenty per cent interest and thus at the outset of his career assumed an indebtedness that under the circumstances would have utterly discouraged and disheartened many a man of less resolute purpose. He at once sought employment, working for from forty cents to a dollar per day and using whatever time he could to develop his own farm. He walked to and from Burlington, a distance of forty-two miles, in order to cultivate his land which was covered with timber that he cleared away as he found opportun- ity. In time the fields were ready for cultivation, crops were planted and in due time substantial harvests were gathered. Taking up his abode upon the property he continued to make his home there until the time of his en- listment for service in the Civil war. In the opening year of the contest between the north and the south he joined Company M of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry and was at the front for three years and three months, serving in the hospital corps toward the end of the time. His health became so im- paired through the rigors and hardships of war that for about three years after the cessation of hostilities he was unable to work. However he labored earnestly in behalf of Christianity, serving for ten years as a minis- ter of the Methodist Episcopal church. When his health had so improved that he could once more undertake the task of cultivating the fields he bent his energies toward the further development and improvement of his prop- erty and as his financial resources increased he added to his holdings until he had six hundred acres north of Lockridge, becoming one of the exten- sive farmers of the community. Of this he has since sold one hundred and twenty acres so that his holdings at the present writing are four hundred and eighty acres. He engaged in farming until advanced age came upon him when he retired to Fairfield about seven years ago. He had erected a fine residence upon his land and left it well improved for he had brought his fields under a high state of cultivation and had added all of the equipment and accessories of a model farm. His home was a large three-story resi-
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dence with French roof, the first story being built of dimension rock and the remainder of brick. The house contains eleven rooms and was erected in 1890. He put in an artificial pond by the house covering two acres which was well stocked with fish and he set out a fine grove, making personal selection of all the trees. The lawn, too, was kept in splendid condition and his home was the finest in Lockridge township. Everything about the place indicated his progressive spirit and practical methods. In 1888 he built a large bank barn, fifty by sixty feet, there being a stone wall on an average of nine feet under this for the superstructure was of heavy timbers. He spared neither time nor expense in beautifying his home as well as mak- ing it comfortable and convenient and the Walgren farm became one of the finest in the county. In his business affairs Mr. Walgren displayed keen sagacity and discernment and to indefatigable industry he added careful management so that the years brought him substantial, well merited and gratifying success.
On the 28th of January, 1851, occurred the marriage of August Wal- gren and Miss Anna Peterson, who was born in Sweden in 1829 and came to Burlington in 1849 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Peterson, the journey being made in a lumber wagon from Chicago, for there were no railroads at that day. The father died soon after his arrival here. Mr. and Mrs. Walgren became the parents of a large family: Andrew, living in Galesburg, Illinois; Albert, who occupies his father's farm in Lockridge township; Joseph Oscar, a resident of California ; Arthur, of Idaho; Louis, residing in Denver ; Wesley Grant, who occupies one of his father's farms ; Franklin B., a resident farmer of Lockridge township; Anna Caroline, at home ; Emma, the wife of William Crunpoltz, of Lockridge; Etta, residing in Wyoming ; and Boswick, at home. There was also a daughter who died in infancy ; another, Emily, who died at the age of eight years ; while Frances passed away at the age of five years, there being altogether fourteen cltil- dren in the family. Mr. and Mrs. Walgren also have reared four of their grandchildren. For more than sixty years they have traveled life's journey together, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity. In politics Mr. Walgren is a stanch republican, never fal- tering in his advocacy of the principles of the party which was the defense of the Union in the dark days of the Civil war and has always been the party of reform and progress. He maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in George Strong Post No. 19, G. A. R., of Fairfield. His has indeed been a well spent life. He came to the new world a young man empty-handed, unfamiliar with the language and the customs of the people, and in the early period of his residence in Iowa he worked near Burlington for Hon. Charles Mason, the first supreme court judge of the state. Carefully saving his earnings he was enabled at
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length to make his payments upon his property and later to add to his hold- ings until a notable measure of success was his. The record of his life commands admiration for it indicates the strength of his character and the extent of his resources and ability. He has today passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life's journey and can look back over the past without regret for he has neglected few opportunities, having on the contrary made wise use of his time and talents, nor has he been self-centered in his work for his labors have been an element in the agricultural development of the dis- trict and in various other ways he has cooperated in the work of general improvement and upbuilding.
GEORGE LIBLIN.
That the life history of George Liblin is a record of success is due to the persistent effort and intelligently directed industry which he has displayed through the many years of his connection with agricultural interests of Jef- ferson county. He is one of France's contributions to the citizenship of Iowa, his birth there occurring on the 13th of October 1841. His parents, James and Julian Liblin, were also natives of France and came to the new world in 1846, arriving in St. Louis, Missouri, in the spring of that year. There they resided for about ten years, after which they came to Cedar township, Jefferson county, where the father entered forty acres of govern- ment land. He at once directed his energies toward agricultural pursuits and as he could, he added other small tracts to his original purchase until eventually he became the owner of one hundred and five acres, all of which he brought under development. Both he and his wife passed away on this farm, the former when he had reached the age of sixty-seven years, eleven months and thirteen days, and the latter at the age of eighty-six years. In their family were five children, as follows: James, a resident of Salina, Iowa: George, of this review; Alexander, of Arizona; Christina Isel, a widow, of Cedar township; and Martin, now deceased.
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