USA > Iowa > Jones County > History of Jones County, Iowa, past and present, Volume II > Part 49
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In 1882 Mr. Byerly married Marie J. Johnson, who was born in Fairview township, Jones county, March 25, 1863, a daughter of the Rev. J. H. and Kath- erine (Bowlby) Johnson, natives of Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Johnson was a clergy- man of the Christian church and came here in 1860. In addition to his pastoral
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duties, he also engaged in farming and he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives here.
A stanch supporter of the principles of democracy, Mr. Byerly has held all of the important township offices, including those of township clerk and assessor and is now township committeeman. As a public official, a business man or an educator Mr. Byerly has always done his full duty as he has seen it, and has won the confidence and respect of those with whom he has been brought into contact. For a number of years he has been a member of the United Brethren church at Antioch, and is one of the liberal contributors to that body. He and his wife had charge of the music in that church for a quarter of a century. For a year and a half they made their home in Denver, Colorado.
ROBERT CLARK.
Robert Clark, who is one of the most extensive landowners in Scotch Grove township, was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of November, 1834. and is a son of David and Margaret (Bell) Clark, both natives of the Key- stone state. There the father died in 1853, after which the mother came to Jones county, Iowa, arriving here in 1856, where her remaining days were passed. She was the mother of eight children, as follows: Elizabeth, the wife of John Gibson, residing in Monticello, Iowa; Margaret J., the widow of James Dawson, now making her home in Boston with her son; Robert, of this review; and five who have passed away.
No event of special importance came to vary the routine of daily life for Robert Clark through the period of his boyhood and early youth, which was spent in his native county, and to the public schools of Pennsylvania he is in- debted for the educational advantages which he enjoyed. At the early age of seventeen years he started out to earn his own livelihood, at first being em- ployed as a farm hand. In 1854, when twenty years of age, he came to Jones county and here worked as a hired hand on the farm which later became his home. and upon which he now resides. Two years later, in 1856, he purchased forty acres in Wayne township, for which he paid seventy-five cents per acre, and a year later invested in eighty acres adjoining his original purchase. This tract of one hundred and twenty acres he improved and put in good condition, after which he sold it and bought his present farm. It consists of one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land located on section 20 which, under the careful and wise management of Mr. Clark has been brought under a high state of culti- vation. As the years have come and gone he has been able to add to his original purchase, so that the home farm now comprises three hundred and forty acres. He is also the owner of twelve hundred and twenty acres on sections 1, 2, and 3, Scotch Grove township, constituting him one of the most extensive landowners in his section of the county. Aside from his present possessions he has given his oldest son a good farm. He is engaged in general agricultural pursuits and has always been a large stock raiser and shipper. He has become very successful
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ROBERT CLARK
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in his business ventures, industry, energy and close application being salient ele- ments in the gratifying degree of prospertiy which he today enjoys.
Mr. Clark laid the foundation for a happy home life in his marriage in 1877 to Miss Alicia Warner, a native of Mercer county, Pennsylvania, who came to Jones county with her parents in the early '50s. She is one of the six children born unto Paul and Mary (Hannah) Warner, the former having now passed away and while the later still survives at the advanced age of eighty-two years and makes her home with our subject. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clark have been born four children, namely : Margaret B., at home, who is a graduate of Coe College, of Cedar Rapids, and for several years has been engaged in teaching; Mary Alice, who is also a school teacher and makes her home with her parents; R. P., residing in this township, further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume; and William B., still under the parental roof. The entire family are members of the Presbyterian church and are prominent in the social circles of the community, their home being a favorite resort with a large number of warm friends.
Mr. Clark gives his political allegiance to the republican party, having sup- ported that organization since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has served as supervisor and also as school director, the cause of education finding in him a warm champion, while in all matters of citizenship he is ever loyal and public-spirited. Starting out at an early age to earn his own living, without any specially favorable advantages at the outset of his career, he has steadily worked his way upward in the business world, realizing at all times that there is no royal road to wealth and that success can be most quickly and surely se- cured through unfaltering perseverance and close application. Industry, energy and integrity have characterized him throughout his entire life and have made him one of the valued and representative farmers and successful business men of Scotch Grove township
J. C. BALSTER.
J. C. Balster is one of the representative farmers of Scotch Grove township, his home place comprising one hundred and sixty acres, which is the old family homestead. He was born on this farm December 2, 1869, a son of Arend and Mary (Jacobs) Balster, who were natives of Hanover, Germany, whence they emigrated to the new world in 1854. After arriving in the new world they made their way to Michigan, where they lived for thirteen years, and in July, 1867, removed to Jones county and located on the farm on which our subject now makes his home. The father is a shipbuilder by trade and throughout much of his life has engaged in that work. Unto him and his wife were born five chil- dren, namely : George H., deceased ; Mary, the wife of Johnson Poppey, of Jones county ; Anna, who has also departed this life; Louise, the wife of Fred Plueger, of Jones county ; and J. C. of this review. The mother passed away in 1895, but the father is still living and makes his home on the farm with his son J. C. He is highly respected in the community and has ever taken a deep interest in his
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adopted country and in this section of the state where he has so long made his home.
J. C. Balster, the immediate subject of this review, was educated in the common schools near his father's home and he assisted in the work of the farm during the periods of vacation. In early life he learned the blacksmith's trade and followed that pursuit for several years. He is now giving his attention to farming, making a specialty of stock raising, feeding horses, cattle and hogs, For the past sixteen years he has operated a threshing machine and in this con- nection has become widely known in various sections of the county. In all branches of his business he is meeting with success and is numbered among Jones county's most representative citizens.
Mr. Balster was married in January, 1892, to Miss Gecena Heyen, who was born in Germany and accompanied a brother to the new world in 1888. The family numbers three sons and four daughters, Arend, Mary, Anna, Robert, Louisa, Louis and Johanna. The parents are members of the Lutheran church, in the work of which they take an active part. Having spent his entire life in Jones county, Mr. Balster is not unknown to many of our readers and his worth as a citizen is widely acknowledged.
EDWARD JACKSON HEAD.
Edward Jackson Head, a progressive and enterprising agriculturist of Cass township, Jones county, where he owns and operates a good farm of one hun- dred and forty acres, was born in Clinton county, Iowa, on the 22d of August, 1852. He is a son of W. A. and Ann Head, both natives of England, where the former was born in 1812 and the latter in 1818. They were married across the waters and came to Iowa in 1850, locating in Clinton. The father was a carpenter, cabinet-maker and upholsterer, and followed that line of activity after his arrival in this country, while he also devoted some time to farming. He and his wife both passed away in Jackson county, Iowa, his death occurring when he had reached the seventy-fifth milestone on life's journey, while his wife was called to her final rest at about the same age. Their family consisted of eight children, namely: Ann Gregory, of Dewitt, Iowa: Ellen, who married Walter Johnson and resides in Rock Island, Illinois; W. A., deceased, who served for two years in the Civil war as a member of the Eighth Iowa Cavalry; George, who has also passed away; Martha, of Welton, Clinton county, Iowa; Edward Jackson, of this review; John, who makes his home in Jackson county ; and Frank, also of that county.
Edward Jackson Head was but a small lad when he removed with his parents to Jackson county, the family home being established near Fulton, and within the borders of that county he was reared to manhood. He acquired his education in the district schools and at the same time assisted his father in the work of the fields, thus acquiring a good knowledge of the best methods of plowing, planting and harvesting. He remained under the parental roof until 1880, in which year he came to Jones county and for one year was engaged as a farm hand by the
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month. He then carried on agricultural pursuits as a renter for a similar period, at the expiration of which time he purchased eighty acres of his present farm, lo- cated on section 1. Later he added another eighty-acre tract on section 2 and then sold twenty acres, so that his property today consists of one hundred and forty acres. The soil is naturally rich and productive, and under his careful management has been brought to a high state of cultivation. He has made many improvements upon the place and everything about it indicates that he keeps in touch with the modern spirit of progress.
Mr. Head was united in marriage in 1881 to Miss Sarah Mahala Mayberry, a daughter of Alexander and Jane (Walker) Mayberry, natives of Pennsylvania. She was born in Jackson county, Iowa, in 1856, and passed away in 1900, her loss being mourned by a large number of warm friends. By her marriage with Mr. Head she had become the mother of two children, namely : Nettie Jane, the wife of W. I. Darrow, of Adair county, Iowa, by whom she has one son, Edward; and Mamie Ann, who resides at home with her father.
In politics Mr. Head is a republican, giving stalwart support to the principles of that party, while fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America at Monticello. He has gained an extensive circle of friends during the period of his residence in Cass township, his genuine personal worth commending him to the confidence and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
JOHN WILLIAM JAMES.
John William James, one of the early settlers of Madison township and, un- til he retired from active life, one of its most successful farmers, was born near Harper's Ferry, in what is now Jefferson county, West Virginia, June 16, 1833. He is the son of Walter and Susanna (Ault) James, both natives of Maryland, in which state they grew up and were married, but shortly after their union they removed to West Virginia. In 1855 they came west to Iowa, locating in Jones county, where Walter James procured a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Madison township. He paid but two dollars and a half an acre for the property for it was virgin soil which he had to prepare for cultivation. There he built the log house which served him as a home for many years. In 1860 his wife died and several years later he sold the farm and removed to Wyoming, Iowa, where he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1893 in his eighty-ninth year. He was a lifelong democrat, though never an office-seeker. He took a real interest in community affairs, however, and for a number of years was a member of the school board, using his influence to advance the cause of education in Jones county. In the words and deeds of their daily lives both he and his wife were consistent Christians, finding their religious guidance in the Methodist faith.
John Williams James was reared at home and acquired his education in the district schools of his native place and upon the home farm under the guidance of his father. He was a young man when his parents came to Iowa and for two years he participated in the rugged life of the pioneers. In 1857, however,
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he went to Maryland to wed the woman he had chosen for his wife. Until 1865 he remained in the east, working by the month, for the most part in West Vir- ginia, and then came west, reaching Jones county, Iowa, November 3 of that year. For about two years he worked for various men by the month and then purchased eighty acres in Madison township for ten dollars an acre. As he had only one hundred dollars with which to make the first payment, he rented the farm to another man, and shortly after traded the land for a piece of property adjoining. There he resided for about four years when he again traded, obtain- ing the farm on which his son Smith James lives today. It was his home until 1893, when, on the occasion of his son's marriage, he went to live on another farm about one mile west of the old place. In 1899 he relinquished the heavier of life's cares and retired to Wyoming, Iowa, which has since been his home.
On the Ist of March, 1857, Mr. James was married to Miss Martha Ann Smith, a native of Sharpsburg, Maryland, where the battle of Antietam, one of the important engagements of the Civil war, was fought. Of this union there have been born five children, four of whom now survive. Eleanora, the eldest, became the wife of O. H. Peck, a farmer and stockman of Madison township. Kate married George W. Mead, who lives near Anamosa, this county. Smith, is accorded extended mention in another part of this volume. John W. is a resident of Aurora county, South Dakota.
At one time Mr. James owned three hundred and thirty acres of some of the richest land in this locality and well improved. He has disposed of all save a small piece of timber land, however, for he felt that to be the wiser policy since his active farming days were over. But he is still the successful agriculturist in the minds of his friends and neighbors, who say that he, more than any other man, had the skill to renew the fertility of the soil and to win from it the most boun- tiful harvests. Highly respected, he was one to whom the people would turn naturally for their leader in political and public affairs, but aside from filling the position of school director for a number of terms he constantly refused to accept any office tendered him. His political ideas accorded with the platform of the prohibition party, while he and his wife worshiped with the Methodist Epis- copal church.
ARTHUR LISTER.
In the history of Jones county's representative and progressive citizens mention should be made of Arthur Lister, one of the owners of the Ridgewood Stock Farm, a valuable property of four hundred acres in Fairview township. The place is pleasantly and conveniently located within three miles of Anamosa and here Mr. Lister has spent his entire life, having erected a nice residence on the farm just across the road from his brother's home. He was born in 1872 and spent his boyhood and youth on the farm where he now lives, his time being divided between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. After arriving at years of maturity he joined his brother Thomas in business and they are now the owners of an excellent farm
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property of four hundred acres, the Ridgewood Stock Farm being regarded as one of the representative interests of this character in the county. The place is well equipped with large barns and sheds, giving ample shelter for grain and stock, and they handle cattle and horses of high grades, while their shipments are now quite extensive.
On the 13th of April, 1908, Mr. Lister was united in marriage to Miss Janet McLean, a daughter of Alexander and Christina McLean, both of whom are natives of Scotland. They came to America in early life and have here since resided. Mr. and Mrs. Lister have a hospitable home, its good cheer being greatly enjoyed by their many friends. Mr. Lister belongs to Anamosa Lodge, No. 40, I. O. O. F., and is a republican, with firm faith in the principles of the party but without desire for office. He and his brother are numbered among the most progressive and successful farmers of Jones county and are highly esteemed as honorable and worthy citizens.
DAVID STANTON.
David Stanton, a prosperous member of the agrucultural community of Wash- ington township, was born upon the place where he now lives in the year 1857. His father, William Stanton, was born in Ireland in 1815 and came to Wash- ington township, Jones county, Iowa, in 1838, settling upon part of what is now known as the Stanton homestead. It was raw land when he first obtained it, but through the diligent cultivation to which he subjected it the farm soon became one of the most fertile in the locality, returning such large rewards for his expenditure of time and labor that in the course of years he was able to increase its area to two hundred and forty acres. Although he enjoyed a gratify- ing income himself he was not permitted to see his sons win a success of equal proportion, for he died in 1864, leaving a widow and nine children. Only five of these are now alive, but Mrs. Stanton was allowed to witness the advancement of her sons, and had the cheerful knowledge that they were well established in life. She had been Miss Mary Gunand in her maidenhood, was born in Paris, France, in 1818, and died in 1894, about half a century after she had linked her fortune with those of her husband.
Associated as his home has been with the dearest memories of childhood and youth and with the first endeavors of young manhood, David Stanton could not find it possible to part with the homestead. And yet there are other rea- sons beside those of sentiment to make him satisfied with his father's investment. The religious, educational, moral and social advantages of Washington township are unexcelled in rural life. As the eldest of the sons at home considerable of the responsibility for its operation devolved upon his shoulders even during the period when he was a pupil in the district school, for he was only seven years of age when his father died. He now owns one hundred and twenty acres devoted to general farming, and at one time he was also dealing in horses, but recently he has given up that part of his business. He has, however, achieved a pronounced and gratifying success in his work, so that he well deserves the
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name of being one of the more prosperous men of a community in which the energetic and industrious have won rich rewards for their labor.
It was in 1892 that Mr. Stanton was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Curran, a daughter of Timothy Curran. They are the parents of seven children, namely : Annetta, born in 1892; Viola, in 1895; Harriett, in 1897; Johanna, in 1899; William, in 1901; Ellena, in 1903; and David, in 1908. For almost fifty years, the citizens of Washington township have witnessed the steady advancement of Mr. Stanton along the treacherous road of life. While they have seen his many endeavors meet with unequivocal success, they have also noted that it was by his own efforts that he has prospered, and that in his work, or his achievements there has been nothing that need be withheld from their gaze. In consequence they are unanimous in according him praise as a farmer and fellow citizen.
NICHOLAS C. HOLST.
Nicholas C. Holst is a well known and successful agriculurist of Scotch Grove township and in association with his brother, Cornelius M., cwns and op- erates a highly improved and valuable farm of three hundred and seventy-five acres. His birth occurred in Clinton county, Iowa, on the 6th of October, 1881, his parents being Nicholas and Sabina (Hansen) Holst, both of whom were natives of Germany.
When a young man of eighteen years the father crossed the Atlantic to the United States, locating in Clinton county, Iowa, where he worked as a farm hand- until the outbreak of the Civil war. Joining the army, he loyally fought for the interests of the Union during a period of four years, participating in many hotly contested engagements. When hostilities had ceased he returned to Clinton county, where he purchased a tract of forty acres of timber land, while later he bought one hundred and twenty acres more, making his home thereon until 1884. In that year he disposed of the property and came to Jones county, purchasing a farm of three hundred and seventy-five acres in Scotch Grove township, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted his attention throughout the remainder of his life. He also became the owner of another tract of four hun- dred and eighty acres and was widely recognized as one of the most extensive landowners and prosperous agriculturists of the county. His demise occurred on the 25th of November, 1906, and his wife had been called to her final rest on the 24th of April of the same year. Their children were three in number, as follows: Anna, the wife of John H. Reimers, of Jones county ; Nicholas C., · of this review ; and Cornelius M., who is in partnership with his brother.
Nicholas C. Holst and his brother, Cornelius M., both obtained their education in the common schools and when not busy with their text-books assisted in the work of the home place, thus early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. They now own and operate the old home- stead farm of three hundred and seventy-five acres in Scotch Grove township and in addition to cultivating the cereals best adapted to soil and climate, they
MR. AND MRS. NICHOLAS HOLST
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also make a specialty of raising and feeding stock of all kinds, both branches of their business proving a gratifying source of remuneration to them.
On the 29th of April, 1908, Nicholas C. Holst was united in marriage to Miss Toni M. Rohwedder, a native of Madison township, this county, and a daughter of John H. Rohwedder, who is mentioned on another page of this volume.
Politically the Holst brothers are stalwart advocates of the democratic party. They are young men of enterprise, unfaltering energy and good business ability and have a wide and favorable acquaintance throughout the county in which they have spent practically their entire lives.
S. M. LORENZEN.
S. M. Lorenzen, an enterprising and progressive farmer of Jones county, be- longs to that class of representative American citizens who claim Germany as the land of their nativity and who in the new world have found opportunity for ad- vancement and progress. He was born in Schleswig-Holstein on the 15th of May, 1843, his parents being Barney and Helen Lorenzen, who spent their entire lives in the fatherland, where the father was a laborer. The subject of this re- view was next to the youngest in a family of three sons and two daughters. One brother, N. B., came to the United States and passed away in Ohio.
In the common schools of his native country S. M. Lorenzen acquired his education and he remained under the parental roof until the year 1865, when, having previously heard rumors concerning the good opportunities offered in the new world, and thinking to find better business advantages in this country, he crossed the Atlantic and upon his arrival in America came direct to Iowa, locat- ing in Clinton county. He was employed by the month as a farm hand, continu- ing in that capacity until 1881, when he came to Jones county, locating in Oxford township, where for fifteen years he carried on agricultural pursuits as a renter. That he was industrious, persevering and thrifty is indicated by the fact that at the expiration of that period he had accumulated sufficient means wherewith to purchase a farm of his own, and he now owns a fine farming property of two hundred and forty acres on sections 31 and 32, Hale township, and ten acres of timber land located three miles north of the farm. The unceasing effort and intelligently directed diligence of Mr. Lorenzen have made of his place a highly cultivated farm, the appearance of which indicates a spirit of progress and thrift upon the part of the owner. In its midst stand good buildings and it is equipped with all of the modern accessories of a model farm, most of the improvements having been placed thereupon by our subject.
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