USA > Iowa > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 43
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Ephraim Stout, who was only a lad of eight years when his father died remained at home with his mother until he was seventeen years of age, devoting his youthful energies to assisting in the cultivation of the farm. His boyhood and youth were hard, as were those of the majority of the pioneer lads, his schooling being confined to a term of three months held during the summer in the school located on what is now known as the Bowers farm, three miles from his home. In 1848, when he was in his nineteenth year, in common with every ambitious, enterprising youth he longed to see the world, the goldfields of California seeming to him to be most alluring, holding forth promise of adventure and excitement and of untold wealth to be found there. In company with his brother William, James Sears and John E. Mars he started for the new Eldorado, their out- fit comprising four yoke of oxen, two wagons and two cows. They spent three and a half months en route, and upon their arrival spent one hundred and nine days in placer-mining, which did not prove very remunerative. At Sacramento, Mr. Stout and his brother received a letter advising them of the death of their mother, so very soon thereafter they started home- ward. Upon his return he became associated with his brother John in conducting a meat market at Ottumwa, Iowa, but at the expiration of eight months he disposed of his interest and returned to California in 1852. He made the journey by water this time, taking the boat at Keokuk for New Orleans, where he sailed for San Francisco. He remained in the west seven years, meeting with good success, and returning to Jeffer- son county, he bought forty-seven and a half acres of land in Cedar township, upon which he has ever since resided. Later he extended the boundaries of his farm by the addition of another twenty acres, all of it being well improved and under high cultivation. Although diversified farming always engaged the attention of Mr. Stout, he has devoted much attention to the cultivation of a fine apple orchard, said to be one of the
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best in the county. Through his grafting he has developed a new variety of apple, named by a prominent nurseryman "The Stout," that is to be commonly found in orchards throughout this part of the country.
At the old Miller homestead in Round Prairie township, on the 22d of September, 1859, Mr. Stout was married to Miss Angeline Miller, by the Rev. Mr. Heaton, father of Hiram Heaton, of the advisory board. Mrs. Stout is a daughter of Thomas and Eliza (Moore) Miller, natives of Erie county, Pennsylvania, the father's birth occurring on August 8, 1806, and that of the mother on the 16th of June, 1810. They were the parents of the following: John, who was born on March 13, 1834; Jane, born on the 18th of September, 1835; Benjamin, born on March 24, 1837; Elizabeth, born June 19, 1839; Angeline, who became Mrs. Stout, born March 31, 1841; Louisa, born January 8, 1843 ; Henry, who died in early youth, born on the 8th of September, 1845: Altha born on May 3, 1847; Thomas, born on September 20, 1848; Frances, who was born on the 25th of June, 1850; Alice, born on the 3d of May, 1852; and Ada, born on February 13, 1854. Mr. Miller came to Jefferson county with his family in 1837, locating at Glasgow, where he became associated with a Mr. Glasgow in conducting a general mercantile business, the first store in the town, all of their goods being hauled from Keokuk. In 1851, when Mrs. Stout was about ten years of age he removed to a farm that he owned, located a mile and a quarter west of Glasgow, where the mother passed away on January 14, 1879. The father continued to live there for some years thereafter, when he made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Stout, passing away on the 4th of Jan- uary, 1892, at the venerable age of eighty-five years. To Mr. and Mrs. Stout have been born the following children. Ellen M. married Warren Fry, a farmer of Cedar township, and has three children : Chester D., Clara and Guy. Albert married Elizabeth Huffman and is living on a farm just south of his father. They have seven children: Ludwig .; Arthur; Elsie; Helen ; John ; Clifford ; and Lena, who died at the age of seven years. Their second son, who is a farmer near Mount Pleasant, married Birdie Parker and they have two children, Harold and a baby, not yet named. William C., who owns a farm just south of his father, married Cornelia Edwards of Van Buren county and they have one son, Ralph. Eliza married H. C. Pattison, a farmer of Cedar township, and they have three children : Earl, Paul and Edna. Effie became the wife of William McWhirter, a farmer of Cedar township, and they have five children: Florence, Nina, Hugh, Clifford, and a baby. Bertha married Adrian Frame, a farmer of North Dakota, by whom she has had four children : George, Ralph, Ruth and Opal.
Mr. and Mrs. Stout are members of the Christian denomination and belong to Ebenezer church in Cedar township, of which he has been a deacon for more than twenty years. In his political views Mr. Stout is a
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democrat, and has always given his unqualified support to that party and its candidates. He has never prominently participated in township affairs, but he served for four years as director of school district No. 4 in Cedar township, and he was trustee of the township school fund for two years. He has always been a very energetic man and until about three years ago was actively engaged in farming, but he has given up the work of the fields now and devotes his entire attention to his chickens and stock. De- spite his eighty-one years he can accomplish a good day's work, posses- sing the vitality of a man many years his junior, while his eyesight is so good that he has never found it necessary to wear glasses. Many and marvelous are the changes that have taken place in Jefferson county, since Mr. Stout located here, not least of these being the wonderful agricultural development in which he has been an influential and helpful factor.
WILLIAM E. BLACK.
William E. Black, who has been a lifelong resident of Jefferson county, is a descendant of one of its pioneer families, whose members have aided materially in developing the agricultural resources of the county and have also been intimately associated with the wars which have been important in the national history of the United States, his grandfather, Samuel Black, having been a soldier in the Revolutionary war and his uncle William Black having served in the Mexican war.
William E. Black's birth occurred on the 17th of May, 1856, in Polk township, upon the farm which is his present home, his parents being Jacob H. and Sally (McReynolds) Black, the former of Dutch and the latter of Dutch and Yankee descent. The father, who was a native of Ohio, went to Indiana with his parents when only twelve years of age and in 1849 came to Polk township, Jefferson county, and located upon the two-hundred-acre farm which his father had entered from the gov- ernment. This farm was Jacob Black's home until his death on the 28th of August, 1911. He gave up active farming in 1901, turning his farm of two hundred and seventy-six acres over to his son William E. Black and his son-in-law Levi A. Harrison. Throughout his career he was closely connected with the social life and development of his community and took an active part in the capture and execution of Keppart, the infamous mur- derer who was hanged in the presence of five hundred witnesses many years ago, after he had murdered a woman and two children in Wapello county. The murderer had brought the bodies of his victims in a covered wagon and thrown them in Cedar creek, an act which so enraged the com-
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munity that a posse of farmers from Polk and Des Moines townships set out in pursuit and after having captured him near Birmingham, placed him in jail at Fairfield, but public opinion was so strong against him that he was taken from the jail forcibly and brought to the spot where he had disposed of his victims and there paid the penalty for his crime.
William E. Black has spent his entire life in Polk township, first at- tending school in district No. 2 and then assisting his father in the cul- tivation of his farm until 1879, when he removed to a home of his own, which is on his father's farm. Throughout his active career William E. Black has devoted his time and energies to the cultivation of the home place, a task which he has accomplished with a good measure of success because of his labor, well planned methods and good judgment.
On December 5, 1878, Mr. Black was married to Miss Rachel A. Sut- ton, who is a daughter of Amariah and Narissa (McCreery) Sutton, both of whom were of Dutch and Yankee descent. Their eldest son, James A. Sutton, served in the Civil war. The father was a native of Ohio and came west in the early '50s, locating on a farm one mile north of Martins- burg, Keokuk county, Iowa. About 1874 he came to Jefferson county and settled on a farm in Polk township, where the family resided until the death of the father and mother, in 1903 and 1885 respectively. To Mr. and Mrs. Black one child has been born, Bessie, who is the wife of Aurel Spry, a farmer of Keokuk county, and they have been the parents of two children : Grace, aged three years; and Merle, who died at the age of ten months.
Mr. Black gives his political support to the democratic party and has served as a director of the schools of his district for nine years. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Pekin, Iowa. As a citizen Mr. Black is active in promoting any measures which pertain to the educational and social development of his community and because of his. consistent stand for the right has won the respect and re- gard due to a man whose life has been devoted to the best interests of his fellowmen.
SCOTT McCORMICK.
Scott McCormick, one of the representative and successful farmers and stockmen of Round Prairie township, is also numbered among the worthy native sons of Jefferson county, within the borders of which he has always remained. His birth occurred in Cedar township in May, 1861, his parents being George and Sarah (Howard) McCormick, both of whom
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were natives of Indiana. When a lad of twelve years George McCormick came to this county with his parents, here continuing his education. As soon as his age and strength permitted he turned his attention to the work of the fields, operating the home place for some time. Subsequently he purchased a tract of eighty acres in Buchanan township from his father, placing many substantial improvements on the property and being actively engaged in its cultivation until 1886. In that year he took up his abode in Beckwith and there spent the remainder of his life in honorable retirement, passing away on the 9th of July, 1911, when seventy-three years of age. His demise was the occasion of deep and widespread regret, for he had won an extensive circle of friends during the period of his residence here, covering more than six decades. His widow, who still makes her home in Beckwith, has attained the age of seventy-one years.
Scott McCormick attended the district schools in the acquirement of an education and remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority. Subsequently he worked as a farm hand for one season and was then married, after which he devoted his attention to the operation of a rented farm for five years. On the expiration of that period he rented another place, being busily engaged in its cultivation for four and a half years. In 1891 he purchased a tract of one hundred acres in Round Prai- rie township and began its improvement. Later he extended the boundaries of his farm by additional purchase until it now embraces two hundred and fifty acres of rich and productive land. Recently, however, he has traded one hundred acres of the property for a quarter section of land in Buchanan township, where he expects to take up his abode in the coming March. In addition to cultivating the cereals best adapted to soil and climate he raises annually eighty head of hogs and also keeps forty head of cattle and fifteen head of horses, both branches of his business returning to him a gratifying income.
On the 21st of September, 1882, Mr. McCormick was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie A. Williams, a daughter of John and Dora (Diers) Williams, both of whom were natives of Germany. They crossed the Atlantic to the United States in an early day, locating first in New Orleans. Subse- quently they made their way to Burlington, Iowa, where John Williams worked as a carpenter and also at the cabinet-maker's trade for a number of years, making furniture and coffins. Coming to Jefferson county, he purchased eighty acres of land in Walnut township and undertook the task of clearing and improving the place. As his financial resources in- creased, owing to his untiring industry and capable management, he augmented his holdings by additional purchase until they embraced two hundred and thirty acres of valuable land. The operation of that farm claimed his attention until he was called to his final rest in June, 1905, at
.
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the age of seventy-eight years. His wife passed away in September, 1899, when sixty-eight years of age. Unto Mr. and Mrs. McCormick have been born nine children, as follows : Dora, whose demise occurred on the 16th of March, 1884; Nellie, born June 8, 1885, who is now the wife of Arthur Schwarm and resides in Indianapolis; Guy, Glenn and Minnie, all of whom are at home; Bessie, who passed away on the 15th of January, 1895; and Mildred, Mary and Florence.
Mr. McCormick gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He has served as trustee of Round Prairie township and has also held the office of school director for nineteen years, while for several years he acted as president of the board. He is likewise a stockholder in the Fairfield Chautauqua Association. His religious faith is that of the Methodist church and he has been superintendent of a successful Sunday school for several years, at Parsonville, near his home, of which church he is a member. He is highly esteemed in the community in which he makes his home, and as an enterprising, energetic and prosperous agriculturist he well deserves mention in this volume.
JOSEPH W. FULTON, JR.
Joseph W. Fulton, Jr., belonging to a family of progressive farmers for many years closely connected with the agricultural development of Jefferson county, Iowa, is one of the successful young farmers in this vicinity and is doing his share towards perpetuating the reputation estab- lished by his father and grandfather before him. He was born on the farm where he now resides, on section 15, Des Moines township, on January 7, 1873. He was the son of Joseph W. and Sarah E. (Minear) Fulton. His father, descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry, was a native of Delaware county, Ohio; his mother was of German origin and was born near Chilli- cothe, Ohio. Joseph W. Fulton, Sr., came to Jefferson county, Iowa, in 1843, accompanying his parents who settled one mile west of Fairfield. In 1858, after his marriage, he removed to Des Moines township, where he operated a farm until 1888 then returning to the farm one mile west of Fairfield. There he spent the remaining years of his life, living in com- fort and traveling whenever he felt so inclined. He was a man of energy and initiative and had had many interesting experiences in his lifetime. From 1850 to 1866 he carried the mail on horseback between Fairfield and Bloomfield, during which time he had a number of hairbreadth escapes especially at the time of the high water in 1851. In 1853 and 1854 he had charge of a party of government officials who were making a tour of Kan-
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sas and Nebraska for the purpose of ascertaining detailed and accurate information regarding the Indian situation. He also had the distinction of being one of the original promoters of the Iowa State Fair at Fair- field. At the first state fair he exhibited a collection of Iowa and Jeffer- son county agricultural products which he personally owned, composed chiefly of grains and grasses. In 1875 he sold this exhibit to the state of Iowa for two hundred dollars and received a commission from the state to show this collection at the exposition of 1876 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The grandfather of Joseph W. Fulton, Jr., was also very progressive in advancing the agricultural interests of Iowa. His name, Alexander Fulton, was well known throughout the state to which he had come with the early pioneers. He had a celebrated truck garden and exhibited speci- mens of his fine vegetables at the Iowa State Fair in the years when that institution, which he helped to found, was still in its infancy. At one of - the early fairs, held at Keokuk, he won a prize for milch cows the interest- ing fact being that he drove the herd himself from Fairfield to the exhibit.
Joseph W. Fulton had a common-school education at the district schools near his home and later had the advantage of part of a year at Parsons College at Fairfield, Iowa. After his marriage he lived on the home farm and rented land from his father. In the fall of 1899 he went to Fairfield and for three and a half years was in the employ of the Louden Manu- facturing Company. He then entered the hardware business in Fairfield but in 1907 returned to farming. Several years previously, in 1904, he had purchased the old home place of one hundred and sixty acres and in 1907 removed to this farm where he has been living since that time. He is engaged in general farming and in raising and selling stock, and has been very prosperous during the past four years in this work.
In the Fulton family there were seven brothers and sisters. The oldest child died in infancy. The others are: Charles J. of Fairfield, the editor of this history ; Will A., living on section 15, Des Moines township, Jeffer- son county, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume; T. L., of Fairfield; Albert M., a physician of Thomas City, Oklahoma; Joseph W., Jr .; and Lila, the wife of J. J. Morrissey of Ottumwa, Iowa.
Joseph W. Fulton was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Mary Donahay, on September 27, 1893. Her parents were George W. and Sarah Donahay. The former is now deceased, while the latter is a resident of Kansas. To Mr. and Mrs. Fulton were born four children as follows: Ruth, Joseph Warren, Albert M., and Helen Cecelia, all of whom are liv- ing at home.
In politics Mr. Fulton is a progressive republican, voting according to his convictions rather for the man than the party. He is a member of the
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school board of district No. 8, of Des Moines township. He worships in the Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal church, of Des Moines township, in which his wife and two oldest children are also members. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias of Libertyville, Iowa. In all his varied relations in his business affairs and his social life Mr. Fulton has maintained strict adherence to moral and ethical principles which he has made the guiding rule of his life and thereby has won the respect and warm regard of all who know him.
MAHLON HESTON.
Mahlon Heston, who devoted his attention to general agricultural pur- suits throughout his entire business career, was operating a farm of sixty acres in Penn township when called to his final rest, in September, 1901. His birth occurred in Jefferson county, Iowa, in April, 1847, his parents being Mahlon and Ann (Hockett) Heston, both of whom were natives of Ohio. The father came to this county at an early day, entered a tract of land and improved and cultivated the same for several years. Subse- quently he took up his abode near Oskaloosa, Iowa, there carrying on his farming interests until he passed away.
Mahlon Heston, Jr., was reared and educated in Oskaloosa and re- mained on the home farm with his parents until their demise. He then disposed of the property and removed to Nebraska, in which state he pur- chased and improved a homestead and carried on agricultural pursuits for twelve years. On the expiration of that period he sold his farm and came to Jefferson county, Iowa, purchasing sixty acres of land in Penn township, in the further cultivation and improvement of which he was busily engaged throughout the remainder of his life.
On the 18th of February, 1879, Mr. Heston was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Hodson, a daughter of James F. and Rhoda (Talbert) Hodson, both of whom were natives of Ohio. James F. Hodson, who was but a small child when he came to Jefferson county with his parents, here obtained his education. As soon as old enough he learned the blacksmith's trade, following that occupation throughout his active business career. He also owned a small farm but employed others to do the active work of the fields. He passed away in March, 1893, having long survived his wife, whose demise occurred in September, 1855. Mr. and Mrs. Heston had no children of their own but reared two boys, Frank and Edmund, who are still with their adopted mother.
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Mr. Heston stanchly advocated the cause of temperance and supported the prohibition party at the polls. His religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Friends church, to which his widow also belongs. Mrs. Heston is well known in this county and the circle of her friends is almost coextensive with the circle of her acquaintances.
B. E. CLARK.
Prominent among the citizens of Linby is B. E. Clark, who has been conducting a general store in that town for the last six years. He was born near Dodgeville, ten miles north of Burlington, in Des Moines county, Iowa, November 15, 1848, his parents being John Milton and Mary (Jones) Clark. The father was born and reared in Hamilton county, Ohio, and was of English and Dutch ancestry, his forefathers having come to Ohio from New York at an early day. The mother was born near Norfolk, Virginia, and was of English ancestry. Their marriage occurred in In- diana, after which they went to Des Moines county in 1846, where they re- sided two years, at the end of this time coming to Jefferson county and locating on a farm, two miles south of Linby. This was their home until 1880, when they removed to Kansas, where Mr. Clark passed away in 1884. Mrs. Clark is now eighty-four years of age and is still enjoying good health, residing at the home of her son B. E. Clark, who is one of six children : Mary, who is the wife of David Smith, a liveryman of Linby ; Margaret, the wife of Ollie Smith, an agriculturist of Abingdon ; Elizabeth, who was married to John Hudson, also of Abingdon ; John Allen, a retired merchant of Mount Pleasant, who is now engaged in the real-estate busi- ness ; and Matilda, who became the wife of Theodore Cuddy, a land agent of Hedrick, Iowa.
B. E. Clark spent his early years upon the home farm, attending school and assisting his father until he was eighteen years of age, when he en- tered the Iowa Central University at Pella, Marion county. He attended this institution for two and a half years and then took up teaching, a pro- fession which he followed for a period of twenty-three years, the last three years of which were spent in Kansas. At the end of that time he pur- chased a farm in the Sunflower state and spent the next thirty-three years of his life in agricultural pursuits, returning to Jefferson county in 1905 and opening the general store at Linby which he still conducts. In his various activities Mr. Clark has always aided the advancement of his com- munity, having worked according to aggressive and modern methods which
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have been so prominent in the educational and industrial development of the county.
Mr. Clark has been twice married. His first union was with Miss Lydia Catharine Witham, of Mitchell county, Kansas, and to them five children were born, namely : James Walter, who is a graduate of the Osborne County high school and the Washburn College of Topeka, and at present is city attorney of that city; Leah, who is the wife of Samuel McCall, a retired farmer of Downs, Kansas, who is at present in the service of the United States postoffice; Chloris, the wife of William Barger, an agriculturist of Osborne county, Kansas; Oland, who is a student at the medical col- lege of Topeka, Kansas, from which institution he will graduate in 1912; and Mary, who is residing in Topeka. Mr. Clark's second marriage oc- curred in 1904 to Miss Elizabeth Hale, of Osborne county, Kansas, and to them one child has been born, Magdalene, whose birth occurred Feb- ruary 14, 1908.
In politics Mr. Clark is an ardent socialist and devotes all of his leisure time to the study and the advocacy of socialistic principles, firmly believing that the best form of government would be one which would provide for a more equal distribution of labor and wealth. He is strongly opposed to any and all secret orders and has severed his connection with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Having known the advantages to be derived from an advanced education himself, it is his desire and purpose to give each of his children equal advantages in that line. Mrs. Clark holds membership in the Methodist church and both are well known in their community as being upright and honorable and ready at all times to support any movements from which benefits to the community might accrue.
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