USA > Iowa > Jones County > History of Jones County, Iowa, past and present, Volume II > Part 50
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It was in the year 1878 that Mr. Lorenzen was united in marriage to B. Jo- hanna Christophersen, who was born in 1859 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and came alone to the United States about 1871. Unto this union have been born six children, namely: Helena, the wife of Rudolph C. Dethman, of Hale township; Julius B., at home; Anna, the wife of Jacob Levesen, also residing in this township; Amanda,' Bernhart and Louis, all at home.
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Since becoming a naturalized American citizen Mr. Lorenzen has given stal- wart allegiance to the democracy, and is serving as a school director, the cause of education finding in him a warm champion. He has never found occasion to regret his determination to seek his fortune in this country, for here where individual effort is unhampered by caste or class he has attained a most creditable degree of success so that he is numbered among the substantial and representative farmers of his section of the county.
P. E. STRONG.
Among the progressive farmers for which Madison township is distinguished is P. E. Strong, who was born in Scotland, March 28, 1852, and is the only son of Peter and Margaret (Smith) Strong. His father dying shortly after his birth, his mother joined her parents and brothers and sisters when, in 1855, they set out to make a home for themselves in the United States. They settled first in Columbiana county, Ohio, and then, three years later, came to this county, locating near Center Junction. There Mrs. Strong met and married Andrew Mc- Donald, and P. E. Strong was taken by an uncle. Peter Strong, by whom he was reared to manhood.
The education P. E. Strong received in the district schools was amply supple- mented by careful training in the cultivation of the soil to which his uncle sub- jected him, so that when, at the age of twenty-three, he was anxious to embark in business for himself he was fully equipped to meet the problems that would confront him and to attain a marked success in his chosen line of work. Until 1897 he farmed as a renter and then purchased his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, a fine tract of land, known in earlier years as the Sommerby homestead. On it he pursues a general line of agriculture and has been very suc- cessful in his operations, for he has proceeded along scientific lines, has made a study of the soil and the principle of the rotation of crops and has spared no labor nor expense which would contribute to the improvement of his fields and the increase in the value of his crops.
On the 15th of December, 1876, were pronounced the words that made P. E. Strong and Miss Amanda Letze man and wife. At the time of their marriage Mrs. Strong was living in Scotch Grove, this county, but she was a native of Pennsylvania, which was the home of her parents until after the close of the Civil war when they came to Iowa. To Mr. and Mrs. Strong have been born five chil- dren : Mary Ellen, who lives at home: William E., who is a farmer of Madison township; John D., also a farmer of that township; and Edna May and Hattie Ruth, who are at home. Mr. Strong, his wife and eldest daughter are members of the Presbyterian church and are active in its work. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Modern Wood- men of America, being a member of the Wyoming Camp, No. 183, of the latter organization. His sympathies in political matters are with the republican party, and he is ever stanch in his support of its candidates, but he is not an office seeker. He is one of the leading and representative citizens of his township,
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whose life, filled with earnest endeavor, has won the respect of his fellowmen, while his success, the result of his own efforts, has gained for him their admira- tion. Frugal, industrious and progressive, he stands for the best type of agricul- turist of today.
FRED JURGENSEN.
Some of the best business houses have both father and son as partners and such associations have constantly proved desirable, the experience of the elder man fusing well with the energy and enterprise of the younger. The Olin Lum- ber Company is one of the firms thus constituted, two of its owners being father and son, Hans and Fred Jurgensen. The latter was born in Hale town- ship, August 30, 1887, a son of Hans and Minnie (Peters) Jurgensen. He resided on the farm until the family removed to Olin and the lad had the advantages offered by the town school. His first work was clerking in the store of Mershon & Son, where he secured a good business training. He then went to Cedar Rapids and took a commercial course there, being graduated in 1904. Returning home, he entered the lumber business with his father, the two con- ducting it as Jurgensen & Son for three years, but when W. D. Hart was admitted to partnership, the name was changed to The Olin Lumber Company, which it still bears.
Mr. Jurgensen married Tessie Chase in December, 1905. She was born in Cedar county, April 17, 1888, and lived with her grandparents until her mar- riage, as she was an orphan. Mr. and Mrs. Jurgensen have a little daughter, Norma Ellen, born May 30, 1909, the darling of her grandfather's heart.
Mr. Jurgensen is justly numbered among the enterprising young business men of Jones county. He understands his business and knows how to conduct it successfully. Much of the active management falls to his share and he is proving his ability to handle large contracts to the satisfaction of all parties concerned.
MICHAEL BERGER.
Though not one of Iowa's native farmers and one who has taken up his present occupation comparatively late in life, Michael Berger has been success- ful beyond the average and by his work has added to the reputation of Madison township, as a progressive agricultural locality. He was born October 2, 1860, in Bavaria, Germany, and is the son of George and Catherine (Iseman) Berger, who were also natives of that land and there lived and died. He acquired his education in the public schools of his birthplace, completing the prescribed course of study in the common branches when in his fourteenth year. Thereupon he went to Nurnberg, where he apprenticed himself to a baker that he might learn the trade, which he followed about twenty-two years both in his native land and
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in the United States. He served for six weeks in the Laeb regiment at Munich (or Munchin) Bavaria, in 1882. In 1885 he came to America and, after traversing the country, located in Wyoming, Iowa, where he pursued his vocation for some eleven years, but in 1895 began his career as a farmer. For the first nine years he worked on rented land, and then, in 1901, he purchased one hundred and thirty-five acres of the Kinsey Elwood estate and has since resided on it. Endowed with those qualities of industry and frugality which are the proverbial possession of members of his race he has been very successful in his agricultural undertakings and is now one of the substantial men of this community as he was one of its poorest when he came here twenty-four years ago. He still retains his skill as a baker, however, and nearly every fall follows his trade in Anamosa, where the products that come from his hands, and especially the German kuchen he delights to make at Christmas time, are in great demand.
In the year 1888, Mr. Berger married Mrs. Amelia (Grimm) Schullman, of Madison township, a native of Coal Valley. Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Berger have been born five children, all of whom live at home. They are John, Emma, Caroline, Walter and Lueverne. By her first marriage Mrs. Berger also had five children: George, a farmer of Madison township; Fred and William, of Omaha, Nebraska; Tillie, the wife of Charles Fiddler, a farmer of Wyoming township ; and Ida, who has remained unmarried and lives in Omaha.
Since becoming a citizen of this republic Mr. Berger has supported the demo- cratic party. He is liberal in his political views, however, and at local elections votes for measures and men as he thinks best. He has not aspired to public preferment, though he is vitally interested in the welfare of his townspeople and in advancing educational opportunies in particular. He has served the community by acting as a member of the school board. A man who has been accustomed from his youth to win success, it was for him not an unusual thing to find his . agricultural undertakings fraught with so much profit to himself. In his old country home he made bread that was good enough to be placed upon the table of the Emperor and on that of the Iron Chancellor, Bismarck; here the fruits of his labors do not come so directly into the lives of those who know him, but as they see the results of his toil, look at the excellent condition of his fields and regard the substantial income which his harvests bring him, they bestow upon him ungrudgingly their praise and their admiration. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Lutheran church, that being the faith in which they were reared.
T. L. GREEN.
T. L. Green is the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and five acres, situated in Scotch Grove township, and to its cultivation he has given his attention for many years. He is a native of Jones county, born February 22, 1855, the second in order of birth in a family of five children, whose parents were Reuben and Maria (Hall) Green. The father was born in Ohio, where he made his home until 1853, when he removed to Jones county and here entered land from the government. He continued to make his home here and to engage in farming
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until his demise, on the 28th of March, 1902, when the county lost one of its valued and highly respected pioneer residents. The mother still survives and makes her home in this county. She became the mother of five children : O. E., a resident of Decatur county, Iowa; T. L., of this review; E. A., also of Jones county ; Isabel, who has passed away; and Minnie, the wife of George R. Reed, also of Jones county.
T. L. Green was given the advantages of a common-school education and during the periods of vacation was instructed by his father in the work of the home farm and through this means he gained a knowledge of farm life that fitted him for carrying on work on his own account when starting upon an independent business venture. In 1873 he wedded Miss Mabel Debois, who was born in Jones county in 1857. She is one of a family of eleven children born unto Hiram and Fannie (Howard) Debois, the former a native of New York, and the latter of Pennsylvania. They came to Jones county in 1854 and entered land in Scotch Grove township. Both are now deceased, the father passing away in 1882, while the mothier, surviving for many years, departed this life in January, 1904.
Following his marriage Mr. Green continued work with his father on the home farm for several years. Eventually, having carefully saved his earnings, he invested in his present home place, consisting of one hundred and five acres in Scotch Grove township. He has since improved this property and now has a val- uable place, while the fields respond readily to the care and labor which he be- stows upon them.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Green has been blessed with six children, namely: Olive, at home; Fannie, who after her graduation at Cedar Falls, en- gaged in teaching, and is now the wife of W. A. Hicks of Jones county; Gertie, deceased ; Alice, who is a graduate of the Onslow schools and is now engaged in teaching; Howard, who is a high-school student; and one who died in infancy.
Mr. Green is a democrat in his political views but has filled no public office except that of director of the schools. He is a member of M. W. A. Camp, No. 2120, at Onslow, and he and his wife are identified with the Presbyterian church. His success has been gained by hard work and strict integrity and he well de- serves the respect which he now enjoys.
ALVIN RICKETTS BYERLY.
Alvin Ricketts Byerly, now of Fredonia, Kansas, but for many years a lead- ing farmer of Jackson township, Jones county, Iowa, and a man who participated in many of the incidents surrounding pioneer life in this state, was born in Fair- field county, Ohio, October 4, 1841, a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Jeffries) Byerly, a history of whom is given elsewhere in this work He is the eldest of their six children who grew to maturity and therefore the brunt of the hardships fell upon his shoulders after the family arrived in Jackson township in 1846. In- dians were numerous and had to be contended with as well as other wild things, and the boy grew to manhood sturdy and self-reliant because of his struggles, se-
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curing such educational advantages as the primitive schools afforded. Later he attended Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa.
When he felt his country had need of his services, Mr. Byerly enlisted Sep- tember 12, 1862, in Company K, Sixth Iowa Cavalry, at Marion, Iowa, and was sent up the Missouri river to look after hostile Indians. He was in several skirm- ishes with them and participated in the battle of White Stone Hills, North Dakota, September 3, 1863. On October 1, 1865, he was mustered out at Sioux City, Iowa, with the rank of sergeant.
After these exciting experiences, Mr. Byerly returned home and resumed his farming operations. On August 28, 1862, he married Emarilla Beam, who was born in Indiana in 1845, and was brought to Jones county by her parents, Joseph and Barbara Ann (Fall) Beam. On May 28, 1871, Mr. Byerly went to Wilson county, Kansas, and had the misfortune to lose his wife September 13, of that year. He returned home and in 1873 married Ella Mary Armitage, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1853, and was also brought to Iowa by her parents.
By his first marriage Mr. Byerly had three children, namely : Jennie Josephine, who married M. T. Fleming, of Maquoketa, Iowa, and has three children, Mabel, Parke and Joseph Dale; Joseph Michael, a resident of Jackson township, who married Carrie Benadom and has two children, Ina and Alvin; and Nora May, who married John Landis, of Jackson township, and has two children, Miles and Jennie. There are four children by the second union: Roy, a lumber dealer of Parsons, Kansas, who married Daisy Tarr and has three children, Harold, Keith and Doris; Mabel Imogene, now the wife of Frank Clifford Carter, of St. Paul, Minnesota ; Bessie, a photographer at Fredonia, Kansas ; and Clifford J., a printer living in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Mr. Byerly came to Anamosa in 1846 when there was but one log house here, known as the Lexington Tavern. He returned to Kansas in 1875 and located in Wilson county at a time when Fredonia, now the county seat, was but a postoffice. Several years ago he sold his farm and removed to that city, where he is now enjoying a well earned rest, although for some time he was a dealer in queens- ware but has now retired from all active business. Like the other members of his family, he is a strong democrat and served as deputy sheriff for four years. Mr. Byerly is a Mason, joining that order in Anamosa in 1872. Although he no longer lives in Jones county, he has a tender spot in his heart for his old home and is always interested in anything that tends toward advancing the interests of his relatives and old neighbors.
ROBERT McCLAIN CORBIT.
Robert McClain Corbit, of Wyoming, Iowa, third son of John and Eliza Pat- ton Corbit, was born at Weehawken, New Jersey, July 15, 1871.
John Corbit was born in Tobehead, County Derry, Ireland, March 5, 1827, and came to America January 8, 1864. He was the fifth child of John and Eliza- beth McMaster Corbit, who likewise were born in County Derry, Ireland. The latter John Corbit was the son of John and Mollie Carr Corbit, who removed
DR. AILEEN B. CORBIT
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to Ireland from Scotland at the time of the religious persecution. William Cor- bit, a half-brother of the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a soldier under Wellington in the battle of Waterloo and had six horses shot under him but the seventh brought its rider through the remainder of the battle without a scratch. The Corbit family are related to the Dale, McMaster, McAllister, Lacock, Brown and other families now living at Kelinkessey, County Derry, Ireland.
Elizabeth McMaster Corbit was a daughter of John and Rebecca Davis Mc- Master, who also removed from Scotland to Ireland at the time of the religious persecution.
Eliza Patton Corbit was born at Limavaddy, County Derry, Ireland, June 20, 1837, and was the second child in the family of seven children of Thomas and Elizabeth McClain Patton, and was born in the same house as her father, Thomas Patton. Thomas Patton was the oldest son of James and Elizabeth Les- lie Patton, of County Derry, Ireland. Elizabeth McClain Patton was the daugh- ter of William and Lettie Allison McClain, of County Derry, Ireland.
Eliza Patton Corbit came to America in April, 1863, and was married to John Corbit, in New York city, November 30, 1865. Four children were born to them, namely: Thomas, born in February, 1867, a farmer now living east of On- slow; William, born December, 1869, a farmer living northwest of Onslow; Robert, born July, 1871, a lawyer of Wyoming; Lettie, who was born September, 1873, and died August 10, 1909.
John Corbit with his wife and four children came to Iowa, September 10, 1881, locating near Onslow in Jones county, Iowa, which place has been their home ever since. John Corbit died November 14, 1901. Eliza Corbit survives and resides on the home farm one mile east of Onslow.
R. M. Corbit attended the public schools at Weehawken, New Jersey, and upon his removal to Jones county, Iowa, also attended the district schools in the Sutton district, Clay township, and the Valley district, Wyoming township. He attended the Onslow school two winters and later entered Lenox College at Hop- kinton, Iowa, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of B. S. While pursuing his studies at college, he engaged in literary work, taking part in the oratorical and debating contests of the college, always being graded high in his work. He was awarded the first prize in a contest debate, receiving the highest per cent from all six judges. He also won the college oratorical contest. He was one of three debaters to represent the college in a debate with the State Normal College. While in college he was local editor of The Lenox Nutshell, a college publication, for two years.
In January, 1899, he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he graduated from the three year course in law in June, 1901, with the degree of LL. B. He was admitted to the Michigan state bar in June, 1901, and in October of the same year he successfully passed the Iowa bar examination and was admitted to practice in the state, and later was admitted to practice in the United States courts. In October, 1901, he began the practice of law at Ana- mosa, Iowa, having his office with Judge J. S. Stacy. In June, 1902, he removed to Clarence, Cedar county, Iowa, where he remained in the practice of law until May, 1903, when he removed to Wyoming, Iowa, where he has continued the
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practice of his profession and has steadily grown in the estimation and confidence of the people.
In March 1904, Mr. Corbit was elected treasurer of the town of Wyoming, which office he has held ever since. During his term of office he has systematized the financial affairs of the town, and by his ready grasp of the financial interests of the municipality, he has been able to render the town council valuable assistance, and by his monthly reports keeps the town officials posted on the present financial condition of the treasury. In March, 1906, he was elected a trustee of the Wy- oming Cemetery Association, and in the election of officers he was unanimously elected secretary of the association, and this office he still holds. The records of the association were in considerable confusion, the management was without method or system. The affairs of the cemetery association were at once classified and placed on a business basis. Any lot owner or other member of the associa- tion can now tell at a glance what his relations are and how his financial account stands, in the records. In March, 1905, Mr. Corbit was elected secretary of the Wyoming Civic League at its organization, and he has been continued in this office. He took an active part in arranging for the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of the town in that year and has also done his part in the furtherance of the ac- tivities of the league. He has been a member of the board of trustees of the Presbyterian church for several years and has been a member of the Presbyterian church since boyhood, having first been a member of the Presbyterian church at Onslow. In politics he is a republican. He has entered into the several cam- paigns with enthusiasm, and by organization and public addresses has sought to promote the policies of his party.
Mr. Corbit has a ready Irish wit, a keen imagination, a discerning and an an- alytic mind and a facile pen, all gifts that lead to the making of a good lawyer. He has a splendid voice for public speaking and an easy delivery, which attributes, coupled with the fact that he always has something worth saying, makes him a speaker of no mean ability. As a youth, his future bade fair to be a brilliant one, and the passing years are bringing to a full fruition the promise of his early career. When the publishers of the Jones County History were casting about to determine upon whom should fall the mantle and distinction of being the editor- in-chief of the new history, they were not long in singling out Mr. Corbit, who by his residence in the county since boyhood, by education, by adaptation, by his established ability as a writer and thinker, by his knowledge and grasp of the general affairs of the county in all its phases, was the one man who could lead the historical forces to triumph and victory. How well he has done his work, the perusal of the pages of the first volume of this work will demonstrate and prove that he has fully vindicated the judgment of the publishers and is entitled to the welcome plaudit "Well Done."
On October 22, 1902, R. M. Corbit was married to Aileen Marjory Betteys, at Oxford, Michigan.
Aileen Marjory Betteys Corbit, oldest child of John Wetmore and Clara Craw- ford Betteys, was born at Oxford, Oakland county, Michigan, October 25, 1877.
John Wetmore Betteys was born at Oxford, Michigan, September 13, 1846, and lived there his entire life, being a farmer by occupation. He was married to Clara Crawford, at Oxford, Michigan, November 30. 1875, by Rev. J. M. Titter-
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ington. They lived at Oxford and had two children, Aileen and Mildred, the lat- ter being born April 27, 1885, and is now Mrs. P. E. Dennis, living at Marine City, Michigan. John Wetmore Betteys died at Oxford, Michigan, July 30, 1906. He was the second child of William H. and Nancy Colby Niles Betteys, who were pioneers of Oxford, Michigan. William H. Betteys was born at Charlton, Saratoga county, New York, March 8, 1815. He removed to Oxford, Michigan, in June, 1836, and settled on a farm which he owned the remainder of his life and which is still owned by his heirs, the deed of which land bears the signature of President Martin Van Buren. He was married to Nancy Colby Niles Sep- tember 20, 1843, at Oxford, Michigan, by Rev. S. Gardner. They celebrated their golden wedding September 20, 1893, the officiating minister, Rev. Gardner, being present. There were eight children, all being born at Oxford, Michigan. Wil- liam H. Betteys died at Oxford, Michigan, January 9, 1896, after a continuous residence there of more than fifty-nine years. Nancy Colby Niles Betteys was born October 19, 1824, at Pontiac, Michigan, the county seat of Oakland county. She lived in this county all her life and died at Oxford, Michigan, December 25, 1893. She was the only child of Amos and Mehitable Wetmore Niles. Mehitable Wetmore was the daughter of Captain Wetmore who was famed for his bravery and service in the war of 1812.
William H. Betteys was the fourth child of Joseph and Hannah Betsey Fields Betteys. Joseph Betteys was born in Maine, December 9, 1782, and died at Ox- ford, Michigan, March 10, 1863. He was married to Hannah Betsy Fields, Sep- tember 14, 1805. She was born in Rhode Island, January 9, 1789. They lived in Charlton, New York, and later moved to Oxford, Michigan. There were five children. Joseph Betteys was the son of Joseph Betteys, who was the son of Wil- liam, who spelled his name Bettys. Others of the family, spelling the name Bettis, distinguishing themselves as the whigs of the Revolutionary times. Originally the family came from France. But the Betteys' ancestors had more Holland blood, Joseph Betteys Jr., speaking the Dutch language, and his ancestors came from Holland.
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