USA > Iowa > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 22
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AXEL U. JOHNSON.
The Scandinavians have always been among the foremost of the nation- alities best suited for purposes of colonization since, through their industry and thrift and their adaptability in coping with the many hardships that must be encountered in a newly-settled country, they have proved that their virtues are of the stuff that endures. Axel U. Johnson belongs to the Swedish colony of settlers in Lockridge township, Jefferson county, Iowa, who have contributed no small share to the general upbuilding and growth of the agricultural interests of the state. His father, John John- son, never came to America but remained in Sweden, his native country, where he was engaged in farming until his death June 3, 1907. His mother Emma (Bergman) Johnson, now in her seventy-seventh year. still lives on the old homestead in Sweden.
Axel U. Johnson was educated in Sweden and remained with his par- ents until he was twenty-five years of age. Then, bidding farewell to his family and kindred, he set sail for the new world. From New York he made his way westward to Princeton, Illinois. In that town he found various employments at which he worked for a year and a half. He then worked at hire as a farm hand, after which he rented a farm and operated it for a period of fourteen years. At the end of this time he gave up his residence in Illinois and came to Jefferson county, Iowa, where he
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bought two hundred and thirty-five acres in Lockridge township. This land he has been operating ever since making extensive improvements on it. It is a valuable farm and a worthy monument to the indefatigable labor which Mr. Johnson has expended upon it. He raises about one hundred to one hundred and fifty hogs a year, feeds seventy-five head of cattle and keeps ten horses.
The marriage of Mr. Johnson and Augusta W. Larson occurred in November, 1882. She was the daughter of Swan and Stina (Caxo) Lar- son, natives of Sweden. She came to this country alone leaving her parents in the land of their birth where her father was a farmer until his death about 1896. Her mother died in 1901.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of nine children. The order of their birth and their ages are as follows: Arthur, twenty-eight; Emma D., twenty-six; Elmer S., twenty-four; Mabel, twenty-three; Walter, twenty-one; Seth, nineteen ; Ruth, seventeen ; Myrtle, fourteen ; and Irene, eight years.
Politically Mr. Johnson is a republican and in his religious faith he and his wife subscribe to the tenets of the Lutheran church which they attend. Fraternal associations he maintains with the brotherhood of the Modern Woodmen of America. Unwearied in his toil, patient, giving to every effort the best of the powers with which nature has endowed him, Mr. Johnson has moved towards his goal with the steady eye of the man who knows he has conquered.
M. S. RANDALL.
M. S. Randall has the distinction of being what the public calls a self- made man, for at the age of twelve years he was left an orphan and from that time forward has had to make his own way in the world. He had lost his mother when but two years of age and thus was deprived not only of many advantages but also of much of the home care which most children enjoy. The simple weight of his character and ability, however, have brought him into important relations with the public interests of Jefferson county, where he is now filling the position of county recorder. His birth occurred in Vermillion county, Indiana, in 1860, his parents being Jonathan and Evelyn (Smith) Randall, both of whom were natives of Indiana, where they spent their entire lives. The Smith family were very early settlers there and the parents of Mrs. Randall died on the farm which they had entered as a claim from the government. Like the Randall fam- ily they removed from Virginia to the Hoosier state and all followed the
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occupation of farming. Jonathan Randall had four children by a former marriage and two by his second union.
M. S. Randall spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Indiana and after being thrown upon his own resources, worked for his board and clothing, with the opportunity of attending school. He had no advantages beyond those offered by the common schools and had to work hard to get that. He continued a resident of his native state until 1887, when he re- moved to Keokuk, Iowa, where he spent eighteen months. On the ex- piration of that period he came to Fairfield and for twenty years engaged in farming east of the county seat, devoting his time and labors to the work of the fields until 1909, when he removed to the city. His energy and dili- gence were the factors that ever kept his farm in good condition. The soil was naturally rich and the labor which he bestowed upon the fields brought forth good harvests. Moreover, his ambition prompted him to keep everything about the farm in good condition and the buildings in good repair. Thus year by year his efforts brought him substantial returns and with a comfortable competence he retired from farm life. In November, 1910, he was elected to the office of county recorder on the republican ticket and is now the incumbent in that position, the duties of which he has discharged with the same promptness and fidelity that have character- ized him in every relation of life.
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Mr. Randall really had a home of his own for the first time since his early boyhood, when in 1881 he was united in marriage to Miss Tabitha Morgan, a native of Keokuk county, Iowa, and a daughter of William Morgan. As the years have passed four children have been added to the household, Loren C., Elsie G., Neil M. and Harold M. Mr. Randall holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the motive power of his life and principles is found in his membership in the Meth- odist Episcopal church. Those who know him recognize in him an upright man and public-spirited citizen whose influence is always found on the side of right, truth and progress.
HARLEY D. KREIGH.
Harley D. Kreigh, assistant cashier of the Batavia Savings Bank and one of the highly esteemed citizens of the town, was born in Knoxville, Illi- nois, on the 24th of May, 1881, and is a son of John S. and Eva (Allen) Kreigh. His father, a well known farmer of Jefferson county, was born in the vicinity of Hagerstown, Maryland, while the grandfather, John Kreigh, was a native of Pennsylvania of German extraction. The mother,
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who was of Scotch descent, was born and reared near Galesburg, Knox county, Illinois. In 1887, together with his wife and family, John S. Kreigh came to Jefferson county, locating on a farm in Locust Grove township, north of Batavia. After five years residence there he removed to a farm five miles northeast of Batavia, in Wapello county, where he continues to live. The mother, however, passed away in 1895. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Kreigh numbers seven children: Frank, who is deputy sheriff of Wapello county, now living near Ottumwa; Harley D., our subject ; Fred, who is operating his father's farm in Wapello county; and Mary and Alice, both of whom are still at home; James, an employe of the J. H. Marrell Company, of Ottumwa, Iowa; and John, who is attending Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois.
The first eighteen years of his life Harley D. Kreigh spent on his father's farm, his early education being acquired in the district schools of the neighborhood. After completing the course therein he attended the Knoxville high school for three years, then entered Brown's Business Col- lege at Galesburg, Illinois, from which institution he was graduated in 1898. He began his business career in the St. Louis store at Ottumwa, Iowa, being identified with that enterprise for eighteen months. In the fall of 1901 he came to Batavia to become assistant cashier of the Sav- ings Bank. During the ten years in which he has been identified with this position he has proven himself to be a business man of more than average capability and efficiency, whose trustworthiness and reliability has won him hosts of friends. The Batavia Savings Bank, which is now entering upon the twentieth year of its existence, was organized in 1892 with a capital stock of ten thousand dollars. It is recognized as one of the conserva- tive and substantial financial institutions of the county, whose directors and officials are highly regarded among the business men of the state. The di- rectors are : J. B. Mowry, George P. Israel, W. A. Lewis, Peter Nelson and E. M. Sterner, while J. B. Mowry, of Ottumwa, is president, George P. Israel, vice president and W. A. Lewis, cashier.
On the 30th of November, 1905, Mr. Kreigh was united in marriage to Miss Alta Israel, a daughter of Robert and Louisa (Gonterman) Israel, both of whom are still living. Mr. Israel was formerly an agriculturist of Chaffee county, Colorado, but at the present time is engaged in mercantile business in Ottumwa, Iowa. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kreigh, Evelyn Lucille, whose birth occurred on the 21st of June, 1907.
Mr. Kreigh is identified with various fraternal orders being a member of the Modern Woodmen and Masonic lodges of Batavia, as well as the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, belonging to Lodge No. 347, Ottumwa, Iowa. His political support he accords to the democratic party and has always taken an active and helpful interest in all municipal affairs. In
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1902 he was elected to the office of town clerk, which he held for one year, while he served as mayor of the town from 1904 to 1906. He is one of the popular young business men of the town whose future career gives every assurance of being most promising.
CAPTAIN JOHN A. SPIELMAN.
One of the best known men of Fairfield is Captain John A. Spielman. He is perhaps most widely known among those who wear the blue uniform with the brass buttons-the soldiers of the Civil war who today form the Grand Army of the Republic -- for he has been most active in the work of the order and has personal acquaintance not only with its leading members in Iowa but also many of its most prominent representatives throughout the nation. He is also widely known in the English Lutheran church, where his labors have been an effective force for good in Fairfield, and has figured as a leading merchant for many years although he is now en- joying well earned rest. A native of Ohio, Captain Spielman was born in Columbus, July 10, 1834, a son of John and Saloma (Berg) Spielman, the former a native of Schertzheim, Germany, born in 1808, and the latter of Lichtenau, Germany, born in 1809. They spent their youthful days in the fatherland and came to the United States with their respective parents, both families establishing their homes in Baltimore, Maryland. The young couple, however, were married in Fredericktown and in the year 1830 be- came residents of Columbus, Ohio, where they resided until 1840, which year witnessed their arrival in Jefferson county, Iowa. They journeyed with three other families to Iowa City, then the capital of Iowa territory, but, not liking that district, John Spielman brought his family to Jeffer- son county. This region was then largely wild and unimproved and he entered land from the government in Walnut township. Not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made upon the place, but he was indus- trious and diligent and at once began to break the sod and cultivate the fields, which in due time brought forth abundant harvests. He continued to reside upon that farm for many years, converting it into a valuable property, and it is still in the possession of one of his daughters, Mrs. Caro- line Craf. After devoting many years to general agricultural pursuits the father put aside the work of the fields and retired to Fairfield, where he passed away in 1889. He was associated with business interests here for ten years as a partner in a hardware store conducted under the firm name of J. A. Spielman & Company. A citizen of worth, he did much to pro- mote upbuilding and progress in Jefferson county and assisted many emi-
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grants and friends who came from Ohio to locate claims in Iowa. He was ever a man of kindly spirit, possessing many admirable traits of char- acter. He had no enemies and in large measure enjoyed the friendship and love of all with whom he came in contact. His wife died at the ad- vanced age of eighty-eight years and in their passing Jefferson county lost two of its most worthy and esteemed pioneer residents. In their family were six daughters and three sons but several of the children died in early life. Those still living are: Captain Spielman; Mrs. Craf; and Mrs. Re- pass, who is now a resident of Winona, Minnesota. Another sister, Mrs. Emma Heaton, died in Burlington, Iowa, in February, 1911. One son, Fred Spielman, enlisted for service in Company D, of the Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, and died at Corinth, Mississippi, on the 3d of September, 1862. Another brother, Lewis Spielman, died on a farm in Walnut town- ship fifteen years ago, leaving a family.
Captain Spielman came to Iowa with his parents in 1840, when but six years of age, and was here reared amid the conditions and environments of pioneer life, sharing with the family in the hardships and trials incident to establishing a home upon the frontier. As his age and strength per- mitted he aided more and more largely in the arduous task of developing a new farm until 1851, when, at the age of seventeen years, he returned to Columbus, Ohio, to attend school at Capital University, thus supplementing the knowledge that he had gained as a student in the public schools of this district. In early manhood he also learned the tinner's trade, which he followed for a year in Burlington. He then went to Mount Pleasant, where he secured a clerkship in a dry-goods store, there remaining until he located in Germanville, Jefferson county, where he began business on his own account, establishing a store which he conducted until after the out- break of the Civil war. Prior to his enlistment in the volunteer service he had joined the Home Guard and was captain of one of its companies. He went to the front in the Civil war with twenty of the boys who had served under him in the state militia, Captain Spielman enlisting as a pri- vate of Company K, Seventeenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in March, 1862. In May of that year he was made orderly sergeant. When doing picket duty the captain of the company was arrested for gambling, was court-mar- tialed and dismissed from the service and the officer of the day turned over the command of the company to Mr. Spielman, who on the 29th of September, 1862, was elected to the position of captain and thus com- manded the company until after the surrender of Vicksburg. He received a commission as second lieutenant but served as captain, for the man who had been discharged kept him out of a captain's commission although his service was virtually that of commander of the company. General McPher- son told Mr. Spielman to go home in September, 1863, and there wait for
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his commission as captain, but as the general was killed almost imme- diately afterward he did not have opportunity to exercise his influence and secure the commission for Mr. Spielman. Following his return from the army Mr. Spielman, in October, 1863, entered business circles in Fairfield as a dealer in hardware and stoves and continued in the business with suc- cess for thirty-two years, after which he sold out. He closely applied him- self to his work and his intense and well directed energy and activity brought him a substantial measure of success. Following his retirement from the hardware trade he became connected with the First National Bank as vice president and for a period was active in the management of the bank but, though he still retains the vice presidency, ill health has pre- vented him from taking part in its management in recent years. Before the condition of his health was such as to practically force his retirement from business he was prominently associated with many interests, including the gas company, of which he was treasurer. His hardware store was the largest in the city and the business was built up from a small beginning owing to the honorable methods and the earnest effort of the owner to please his patrons. His property interests include the Spielman Block, on the west side of the square, where in 1869 he erected a building which he rebuilt in 1885.
In the field of politics Captain Spielman had also exerted a beneficial and widely felt influence. He has been an earnest republican since the for- mation of the party and in association with United States Senator James F. Wilson and Waltus Collins organized the republican party in this county for the Fremont campaign. He has served as a member of the city coun- cil for a number of years, has filled township offices and has also occupied the position of county clerk. No trust reposed in him, political or other- wise, has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree and his labors in office have at all times been of a practical as well as progressive character.
On the 24th of April, 1860, Captain Spielman was united in marriage to Miss Christina Hershberger, who was born in Lancaster, Ohio, June 2, 1840, and in 1850 was brought to Jefferson county by her parents, God- frey and Caroline Hershberger, who were natives of Germany and are now deceased, the father passing away in this county while the mother's death occurred in Kansas. Unto Captain and Mrs. Spielman have been born six children. Henry A., who was born March 4, 1861, is now a merchant of Topeka, Kansas. John G., born January 2, 1863, is a draughtsman, hav- ing charge of the draughting department of the north plant of the Illinois Steel Company at Chicago. Carrie now resides with her father, having two years ago lost her husband, who was the Rev. C. S. McElhinny, a Presby- terian minister. Fred A. is a traveling salesman, residing in Fairfield. May is the wife of F. W. Harrison, a commercial traveler living in Los Angeles,
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California. Bella is the wife of Dillon Turney, mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Captain Spielman provided his children with excellent educational advantages, Carrie and John having been graduated from the State Uni- versity at Iowa City, while May is a graduate of Midland College at Atchi- son, Kansas; Fred and Bella of the high school at Fairfield and Henry of Carthage College, Carthage, Illinois.
Business activity by no means comprises the extent of Captain Spiel- man's helpful service in Jefferson county. His influence has always been found on the side of right, progress, reform and improvement. He has long held membership in the English Lutheran church and for fifteen years was treasurer of the Lutheran synod of Iowa and on six or eight different occasions was a delegate to the general synod of the United States. He likewise served as a member of the board of church extension of the gen- eral synod of the Lutheran church and was a member of the board of direc- tors of Carthage College, conducted under Lutheran auspices, serving as president of that board when ill health forced him to resign in 1888. For a number of years he filled the office of Sunday school superintendent of the Lutheran church in this city and during that period assisted in organizing the Jefferson County Sabbath School Association, becoming one of its char- ter members. He was also identified with the State Sunday School As- sociation and his efforts have always been untiring in support of any pro- ject which he has believed would prove of practical value in extending and promoting the church work in any of its different branches.
Captain Spielman is also widely known in the Iowa department of the Grand Army of the Republic and is very popular with his old army com- rades. He assisted in organizing George Strong Post, No. 19, G. A. R., at Fairfield, becoming one of its charter members and serving in its various offices, including that of commander.
A number of times he was sent as its delegate to the national encamp- ment and has always attended the state encampments. He was chief of staff of the Iowa department when the national encampment met at Wash- ington, D. C., on which occasion Iowa won the banner for having the best department in the parade that numbered one hundred thousand men. That year the Iowa badge was established as the result of the exhibit of the Iowa soldiers carrying an ear of corn for a canteen and a stalk of corn for a cane, the ear of corn becoming the Iowa badge. On the second day of the encampment the "boys" marched up to the home of Captain Spielman and he took the seat formerly occupied by Senator Wilson, his comrades unani- mously choosing him speaker of the house. He was called upon and made an intersting speech and the camp fire extended for two and one- half hours. On that occasion ex-Speaker Henderson dubbed Captain Spiel- man the first speaker of the house of representatives from Iowa. He
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was promoted to the rank of Colonel of the Grand Army by Commander in Chief Adams at Pittsburg and he has received many badges of honor in connection with his service in the Grand Army of the Republic, ex-Presi- dent Harrison presenting him with a badge at Indianapolis when he was at the head of the Iowa delegation at the national encampment there. He spent six months in gathering data and compiling the soldiers' and sailors' record of Jefferson county and there are few if any as familiar with the history of the Iowa department of the Grand Army of the Republic as is Captain Spielman. Throughout his entire life patriotism and progress might well be termed the keynote of his character. He is today as true and loyal to his country as when he followed the stars and stripes upon the battlefields of the south and he recalls many interesting incidents of the days when the boys sat around the camp fire at night, never knowing what hour the bugle might sound that would call them to arms to face danger and perhaps death. His loyalty, too, has been manifest in every other relation and thus he has been found a devoted husband and father, an enterprising and reliable business man and a faithful follower of the church.
ISAAC W. NEWLAND.
Among the highly successful agriculturists of Jefferson county who ยท are now living retired must be numbered Isaac W. Newland, who is a descendant of one of the pioneer settlers. He was born on his father's homestead in Des Moines township, this county, on the 21st of January, 1853, and is a son of Jacob and Angeline (Combs) Newland. His father was a native of Adams county, Ohio, and of American extraction, the great-grandfather, John Newland, having been born in New York, the mother, however, although a native of Pennsylvania, was of Irish descent. Jacob Newland in his early manhood moved from his native state to Iowa, locating here during the early pioneer period. He settled in Des Moines township, where for a time he made his home with Tobias Moore, until in a position to begin farming for himself. Later he purchased a forty acre tract of prairie land in this township, and after placing upon it some crude buildings that sufficed for his immediate needs began its cultivation. Not being fully satisfied with conditions as he found them, he subsequently went to Missouri, but after a year's residence in the latter state decided he could not improve upon his Jefferson county holding, so returned. He diligently applied himself to the cultivation and improve- ment of his farm with the unremitting energy that ever characterizes the
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ambitious young man, whose principal asset in life is his determination. Farming in those days was little more than drudgery, this being prior to the advent of the modern agricultural implements, by means of which it is possible to perform in a few hours tasks that formerly required many days of laborious toil. Despite the discouragements and misfortunes that ever assail the pioneer in any country, Mr. Newland by reason of his persistence gradually achieved success. As he was able from time to time he extended the boundary of his farm until he had acquired the title to two hundred and forty acres of fertile land, all of which he had under cultivation, and thirty acres of timber. He always made his home on this farm, that stood as a monument to his many years of toil and endeavor, and there he passed away in 1884, the mother surviving until the 3d of October, 1889, when she was laid to rest beside her husband. By the union of Mr. and Mrs. Newland there were born eight children, of whom our subject is the eldest; in order of birth the others are as follows: Henry, who is a farmer of Wapello county, Iowa; Frances, the deceased wife of Ezra Winsell, a farmer of Goodland, Kansas; Dorcas, the wife of George McBride, a farmer of Van Buren county, Iowa; Miriam, who married Charles McBride, a farmer of Des Moines township; Nancy, who makes her home with her sister, Mrs. Charles McBride; Noah, who died when a child ; and George, a retired farmer of Libertyville, Iowa.
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