USA > Iowa > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 23
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Practically the entire life of Isaac W. Newland has been spent in Des Moines township, whose scenes are endeared to him by the associations of his boyhood and youth as well as those of his later manhood. Reared on his father's farm he first attended district No. 2 school in the acquire- ment of his education, but later went to the Beach school, both in Des Moines township. In common with other lads of that period he was early assigned duties about the home, while as he grew older his summer vaca- tions were largely devoted to assisting his father in the work of the fields. After attaining his majority he began farming for himself, but remained a member of the parental household until he was twenty-four years of age. After his marriage he bought forty acres of land, that he subse- quently sold, continuing to buy and sell, always benefiting thereby, until he is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent land, all under cultivation, located on sections 9, 10 and 15, and forty acres of timber on section 19. He has retired from the active work of the fields and is renting his farm, but he and his wife are still living in their old homestead.
On the 23d of September, 1877, Mr. Newland completed his arrange- ments for a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Frances Keim, a daughter of Louis and Jane (Peebler) Keim, the father a native of Pennsylvania of German extraction, while the mother was born in Missouri
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of American descent. Mr. Keim, who was a carpenter by trade, devoted the greater part of his active life to agricultural pursuits. Upon their arrival in Iowa he and his wife first located in Jefferson county, where they resided for many years, then went to Union county, this state. Disposing of their interests there a few years ago they removed to Missouri, and have ever since made that their home. To Mr. and Mrs. Keim were born three sons, all of whom are successful agriculturists, and four daughters : Charles, who is a resident of Decatur county, Iowa; Frank, who is living in Shannon City, this state; Ellis, who is a resident of Wray county, Missouri ; Mrs. Newland; Emma, the wife of Lyman Folzer, a farmer in the vicinity of Osceola, Iowa; Kitty, the wife of John Bowman, a farmer of Missouri; and Jennie, who married Ed Woods, a farmer living near Powersville, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Newland have one son, Elmer R., who graduated from the Medical College at Keokuk, Iowa, and is now engaged in the practice of his profession at Drakesville, this state. He married Miss Grace Knight, a daughter of Zack Knight, a farmer of Wapello county, Iowa.
Mr. Newland is not a member of any religious denomination, but his wife belongs to the Dunkard church of Des Moines township. In his political views he is a democrat, but is not strictly partisan, having of recent years more and more frequently cast his ballot in support of the man he deemed best qualified to serve the people and their highest interests. Mr. Newland is widely acquainted not only in Des Moines township but throughout Jefferson county, where he has many friends who have known him from childhood, their loyalty paying tribute to the character of this man, who is held in the highest esteem by all who ever came in contact with him.
GEORGE W. WATKINS.
George W. Watkins, a well known and enterprising farmer and stock- man of Round Prairie township, is the owner of a tract of land compris- ing one hundred and twenty-five acres. His birth occurred in that town- ship, on the 28th of February, 1862, his parents being Stephen and Mary (Watkins) Watkins, who are mentioned at greater length on another page of this work in connection with the sketch of Thomas J. Watkins, a brother of our subject. George W. Watkins was reared and educated in his native township and remained under the parental roof until he had at- tained his majority. Subsequently he spent ten years as a farm hand and then started out as an agriculturist on his own account, cultivating a
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rented tract of land until 1895. In that year he bought a farm of fifty- five acres but operated the same for only a brief period, disposing of the property and purchasing one hundred and twenty-five acres of the old home place. He cleared eighty acres of the tract and has been busily engaged in its further cultivation and improvement to the present time. He also erected buildings for the shelter of grain and stock and now has a model farming property. In connection with the production of cereals he raises about thirty head of hogs annually and keeps twenty head of cattle and ten head of horses.
On the 24th of March, 1898, Mr. Watkins was united in marriage to Miss Teresa Bartin, a daughter of Eli and Naomi (White) Bartin, who were natives of Ohio and Missouri respectively. The father came to Henry county, Iowa, in an early day, purchased and improved a farm and devoted his attention to its operation until called to his final rest in 1881. His widow, who is now sixty-four years of age, still resides on the old homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Watkins are the parents of seven children, as follows : Velma V., a maiden of thirteen ; Clifford C., who is eleven years old; Floyd J., a lad of ten ; Willis, George R. and Agnes P., who are eight, five and two years of age respectively ; and Fenton C., one year old.
Mr. Watkins gives his political allegiance to the democracy and has served as assessor of Round Prairie township. He is a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity and a devoted member of the Methodist church, to which his wife also belongs. In the county where his entire life has been spent he enjoys an enviable reputation as a substantial agriculturist and representative citizen.
J. C. THORNE.
In business circles in Fairfield, J. C. Thorne occupies a prominent and creditable position as a member of the dry-goods firm of J. C. Thorne & Son. This by no means, however, indicates the extent of his activities, for he is a man of resourceful ability whose efforts have reached out to various fields, his labors at all times proving a valuable factor in the successful conduct of any enterprise with which he became connected. His life record began in Butler county, Pennsylvania, in August, 1850. His parents were Robert and Elizabeth (Calhoun) Thorne, also natives of the Keystone state, the former born in Butler county and the latter in Westmoreland county. The father was well known as an educator of Pennsylvania, was a college graduate and remained throughout his life a man of studious habits and scholarly attainments. At the time of his
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death, which occurred in 1856, he was serving as principal of the schools at Kittanning, Pennsylvania. His widow still survives and yet makes her home in her native state.
J. C. Thorne was the younger of two children, his sister being Anna Mary, the wife of L. H. Walters, of Carnegie, Pennsylvania. He resided at the place of his birth until 1858 and then came to Iowa, making his home with his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. William Calhoun, who lived upon a farm near Winchester. He continued there upon the old homestead until after the war and was afforded good educational privileges, supplementing his common-school course by study in the Birm- ingham Academy. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for four terms, but thinking to find other pursuits more con- genial and profitable, he accepted a position as clerk in a general store in Tennessee. Since 1875 he has been a resident of Fairfield, in which year he began clerking for J. E. Roth, with whom he remained for five years. During that period he carefully saved his earnings until his capital was sufficient to enable him to embark in business on his own account. In 1880 he opened the dry-goods store of which he has since been pro- prietor, continuing at the same location on the north side of the square at the corner of Court street, throughout the entire period of more than thirty-one years. He now owns what is known as the Front building and occupies parts of three different buildings. His store has a depth of one hundred and twelve feet, with a frontage of twenty-two feet on the square, while the depth in the rear is forty-four feet. There is also an annex twenty by thirty feet which constitutes his cloak and suit department. Something of the growth of his business is indicated in the fact that when he entered mercantile circles here his store was but twenty by fifty feet in dimensions. Year by year his business has increased and he has long maintained a position among the most enterprising and progressve mer- chants of the city, keeping his store at all times supplied with an attractive, modern stock, showing all that is latest in style and manufacture. His value as a factor in business life is indicated by the fact that his coopera- tion has been sought in various other connections. Fourteen years ago he became one of the organizers of the Jefferson County Telephone Com- pany, was chosen one of its first directors and is now its president. He is also a director of the First National Bank and has recently been elected president of the Iowa Independent Telephone Company, of which he has served on the executive committee for a number of years. He is also interested in several enterprises of a semi-public nature, being a trustee of Parsons College and president of the Cemetery Association. He was likewise treasurer of the public library for many years and is a trustee of the Presbyterian church, of which he served as secretary for twenty years.
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For a period of six years he served on the school board and the cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart champion. His political alle- giance is given to the republican party and at all times in matters of citizenship and in other relations he has manifested a public-spirited devo- tion to the general good.
In 1878 Mr. Thorne was married to Miss Rose Pitkin, who was born in Birmingham, Iowa, in 1851, a daughter of Erastus Pitkin, a merchant and banker, now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Thorne have one son, Harry P., who is now his father's partner in business, the present firm of J. C. Thorne & Son having been organized in 1910. The junior partner was born in Fairfield in 1880, is a graduate of the public schools and also of Parsons College of the class of 1901. He married Grace Atkinson, and the young couple are prominent socially in the city. He served as clerk in his father's store until taken into partnership and is now active manager of the business. The firm constitutes a strong combination, for to the long experience and sound judgment of the senior partner is added the enterprise and progressiveness of the young man, so that the labors of one ably supplement the labors of the other. They well merit the high position which they occupy in commercial circles and in public regard, for the name of Thorne has been long and honorably associated with mercantile interests in Fairfield.
JAMES W. BROWN.
James W. Brown, a man of remarkable single mindedness in his un- ceasing devotion to the unremitting toil which falls to the lot of every farmer, owns and operates his old home farm which he has never left from the time of his birth, March 15, 1870, until the present. The farm is situated in Lockridge township, Jefferson county, Iowa, to which place his father came, on leaving Scotland, drawn thither by the coal fields of this region. His father, Mathew Brown, was a miner by occupation and settled at Coalport in Lockridge township, where, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Bankhead, he engaged in the business of coal mining. He followed this pursuit for thirty-five years, during which time he pur- chased, in company with his brother, four hundred and five acres of land, which he farmed in addition to taking care of his mining interests. After a long period, however, he discontinued mining and devoted himself wholly to farming. His death occurred in December, 1905, while his widow, now seventy-seven years of age, is still in good health despite her advanced years.
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James W. Brown was reared at home and educated in the district schools. When a boy he made himself useful in many ways about the farm and later shared with his father the heavy responsibilities of culti- vating so large a tract of land. After his father's death he bought out the other heirs who had inherited shares in the farm and now operates this land, of which ninety acres of rich soil is under cultivation, yielding abundant harvests.
On May 24, 1893, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Carrie Rizor. She was a daughter of Eli and Frances (Hickenbottom) Rizor, the former of whom was a native of Ohio, while the mother was born in Jefferson county, Iowa. Her father came to Jefferson county with his parents in the early days when Iowa was being rapidly populated by a steady flow of emigrants pouring in from states farther east. When he was old enough he engaged in farming for himself and operated his original land holdings until his death in 1888. His widow who still survives him lives at Fairfield, Iowa, and is fifty-four years of age.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown are the parents of four children: Marion B., seventeen years old; Sybil F., fifteen years old; Lazell M., eleven years of age; and Blanche A., aged eight. Mr. Brown is a member of the Baptist church in which he is an interested worker. In his political senti- ments he has usually given his support to the republicans. Although never eager to hold office he was elected to one term as a director of the local school district and he has also served as constable. As a man of earnest purposes and high moral ideals Mr. Brown has won the respect of all who know him.
JOHN HERON.
John Heron, who has been a resident of Jefferson county for fifty-five years, is numbered among the prosperous agriculturists of Lockridge town- ship, where he owns a valuable farm of two hundred and fifty-seven acres. He was born in Clinton county, Pennsylvania, on October 24, 1840, and is a son of David and Jeannette (McGee) Heron, natives of Scotland. The father, who engaged in mining in his native country, emigrated to America in 1828, first locating in Nova Scotia. After residing there about a year he removed to Pennsylvania, working in several mining districts and finally locating at a place called Queen's Run. There he became asso- ciated with two other men in mining operations, the general mercantile business and the manufacture of brick. This connection continued for nine years at the end of which time they disposed of their interests and each
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JOHN HERON
UBUIL . ESABY
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bought a farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Mr. Heron invested in two hundred acres of land that he cleared and improved devoting his energies to its cultivation for nine years. Disposing of his property in 1857 he again started westward, Iowa being his destination this time. Upon his arrival here he located in Jefferson county, buying two hundred acres of land in Lockridge township, but six acres of which was cleared, much time and labor being required to place the tract under cultivation. He later erected a grist mill upon the creek running through his land, its operation as well as that of his farm engaging his attention until his death, which occurred September 9, 1872, at the age of sixty-eight years. The mother survived fifteen years thereafter, her demise occurring on the 25th of June, after she had passed the eighty-first anniversary of her birth. Seven children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Heron, four of whom are living: Elizabeth, who is seventy-six years of age, residing upon the old homestead with her brother and sister ; Mary J., aged seventy- three, the widow of J. N. Bovee, of Seattle, Washington; Theresa I., who is fifty-eight years old, also living on the old homestead; and John, our subject.
John Heron was reared to the age of sixteen years in his native state, to whose public schools he is indebted for the greater part of his educa- tion, having attended school but one term after coming to Iowa. Being a son of pioneer settlers upon him early devolved the hardships and priva- tions incident to life in any new country. He remained at home with his parents until the breaking out of the war, when he enlisted and went to the front as a member of Company E, Second Iowa Infantry. He remained in the service for three years, receiving a wound at Atlanta that incapaci- tated him for a time. Upon receiving his discharge he returned to his father's farm and again resumed the duties of civil life. The property came into his possession upon the death of his father, and there he has ever since resided with his two unmarried sisters, engaging in general farming and stock-raising. He has intelligently and diligently applied himself to both branches of the business and as a result has met with a gratifying degree of success. In addition to his extensive realty holdings, Mr. Heron is president of the Lockridge Savings Bank, of which institu- tion he was one of the organizers. He has long been considered not only an able agriculturist and stock-raiser but a capable business man, whose efforts in the development of his personal interests have been so intelligently directed as to redound to the benefit of the community at large.
Mr. Heron has never married and with his two sisters makes his home upon his father's old farm. They affiliate with the Baptist church, and politically he is a republican, and has always taken an active part in local governmental matters. He is held in high esteem by his party and repre-
Vol. II-14
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sented his district in the Seventeenth general state assembly. Many changes have taken place in Lockridge township during the half century and more he has been a resident here, following the advent of a newer and more progressive period of development in which he has been one of the factors.
FINIS E. METZ.
Finis E. Metz, a native of Round Prairie township, Jefferson county, where he now resides, was born September 23, 1857. He is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (McCormick) Metz, the former a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, and the latter of Ohio. The father was a carpenter, having learned his trade in Ohio, where he followed this calling for some time, subsequently removing to Indiana and later to Illinois, where he continued to work at his trade until 1855. In this year he crossed the Mississippi and established his new home in Jefferson county, Iowa. He came with the intention of following agricultural pursuits and for this purpose bought one hundred and sixty acres in Round Prairie township. This he cleared and improved, devoting himself to the cultivation of the fields until 1891, when he sold out his holdings and retired to Glasgow. There he resided until his wife's death, in June, 1894, and after that time made his home with his son, the subject of this review. His death occurred in July, 1900.
The home farm was the playground for F. E. Metz in his boyhood days and in a near-by school he acquired the usual education. He took up farming as his life work and assisted his father in tilling the fields until the age of twenty-one years, when he rented the homestead and operated it during the ensuing twelve years. His father then sold the place and he removed to a farm of eighty acres in Round Prairie township, which he had purchased a few years previously. This he improved and has cul- tivated since that time, erecting upon the place some very handsome buildings. By additional purchases he increased the area of his holdings until now he has about three hundred and forty-five acres of land. He is thoroughgoing in his methods and understands every phase of the adminis- tration of a well conducted farm. To stock-raising he also devotes his attention and raises on an average seventy-five head of hogs a year and feeds fifty head of cattle and twelve horses.
Mr. Metz was united in wedlock to Miss Mary E. Emerson, the cere- mony being performed March 4, 1880. She is a daughter of John W. and Catherine (Wilson) Emerson, natives of Ohio. The father was an agri- culturist, coming to Jefferson county in the early days of its settlement. Here he rented a farm for some years and subsequently bought a tract of
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one hundred and forty acres in Round Prairie township and thirty acres in Van Buren county. To the cultivation of this place he devoted his ener- gies for the rest of his life, passing away in September, 1889. His wife, who is now in her seventy-fifth year, still lives on the old homestead. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Metz there were four children : Mabel A., the wife of George M. Phillips, a farmer of Round Prairie township; Chester E., who married Rose Watson and operates a farm in Round Prairie township; Elmer L., who is married to May Scovel and also operates a farm in Round Prairie township; and Harry W., who lives at home and is twenty-four years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Metz are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Glasgow. In his political persuasion Mr. Metz subscribes to the republican policies. He is at present clerk of the township and has served as school director for fifteen years, and for thir- teen years of this time was secretary of the school board. Devoted to the interests of his family, he has at all times performed his duty as he saw it and is held in high esteem by the whole community.
LOUIE BRUEY.
Louie Bruey, who engages in general farming and stock-raising in Cedar township, was born in Boise City, Idaho, on the 22d of January, 1876, and is a son of Peter and Philomene (Maries) Bruey. The father was born in Belfort, France, on the 27th of March, 1835, and there he spent the first twenty-three years of his life. In 1858 he emigrated to the United States locating in Jefferson county on the farm where our subject is now living. He subsequently purchased eighty acres from his father, Pacific Bruey, who in turn had bought it from Christopher Graber. Meeting with success in his agricultural pursuits, Peter Bruey was able to extend his holdings by the addition of another eighty acres, some of which he later sold, owning at the time of his death one hundred and forty acres of land. This land now belongs to his estate from whom it is rented by his son Louie. In the early '6os, Peter Bruey and his wife went west, locating in Utah, where he engaged in prospecting and gold mining until 1878, when he returned to his farm in this county, continu- ing to reside thereon until his death on October 5, 1905. The mother was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on the 28th of September, 1848, and passed away on their farm in Cedar township on the 21st of September, 1906. To Mr. and Mrs. Bruey were born five children: Anna, the widow of George E. Droz, of Fairfield, by whom she had three children: Ethel, Victor and Glen; Sylvia, the wife of Fred Raible, a cigar manufacturer
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of Fairfield; Louie, our subject; Peter, who is living with his sister in Fairfield; and Maggie, the wife of John Crawford, Jr., a farmer of Cedar township and the mother of one child, Lola Carmen.
As he was only a child of eighteen months when his parents brought him to Fairfield, Louie Bruey has spent practically his entire lite in Jefferson county. His education was obtained in the school of district No. 3, Cedar township, which he attended until he had mastered the common branches. While pursuing his studies he was qualifying himself for an agricultural career under the supervision of his father, whom he assisted with the operation of the farm. When he attained the age of twenty years, his father retired from the active work of the fields and the cultivation of the home place thereafter devolved upon the son. He has always been an industrious and enterprising man, who has applied himself intelligently to anything he undertook. In connection with the tilling of his fields he raises and feeds stock for the market, which he disposes of at a considerable profit. The farm is well kept up, the build- ings being thoroughly repaired and the fields in a high state of cultivation, everything about the place suggesting the thrift and capable management that accompanies prosperity.
On the 17th of April, 1907, Mr. Bruey established a home for himself by his marriage to Miss Marie Walmer, a daughter of Joseph and Eliza- beth (Pattison) Walmer. The father, who was of Pennsylvania-Dutch extraction, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, whence he removed in 1848 to Jefferson county, Iowa. Here he was married in 1869 to Miss Pattison, who was born and reared in Cedar township, where her father, who was a native of Ireland, engaged in farming for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Walmer began their domestic life on a farm he had subsequently acquired two and a half miles south of Fairfield, and there she passed away during the childhood of Mrs. Bruey. Farming always engaged the attention of the father, who at the time of his death owned one hundred and eighty-five acres of well improved land in Cedar township. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in Fairfield in 1863 in Company I, Forty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and gone to the front, where he remained for three months. Upon receiving his discharge he returned to his farm and there he passed away on the 15th of May, 1911. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Walmer numbered five, as follows: Etta, the wife of Joseph Farrell, a clerk in a hardware store in Birmingham, by whom she has had two children, Paul Dennis and Robert; Kate, who married David Collais, a farmer of Van Buren county by whom she has had one child, Mildred Louise; Mrs. Bruey; Anna, the wife of Clarence McElwain a ranchman of Montana, and the mother of two children, Alice Louise and Harry ; and Lee, who is living on the old homestead near
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