USA > Iowa > Jones County > History of Jones County, Iowa, past and present, Volume II > Part 62
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
643
HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
John Gillman, the father, was a man of independent thought, who formed his own conclusions after the careful consideration of a vital question. He was fearless in the expression of his honest convictions and was known for his strict probity in all his dealings. He was, moreover, a kind and devoted hus- band and father and a good neighbor, so that he left to his family the priceless heritage of an untarnished name.
William Gillman, as previously stated, was in his thirteenth year when he came to Iowa and upon the frontier of Jones county he was reared, assisting in the development of the home farm. His education was acquired in the public schools and when he had arrived at years of maturity he wedded Miss Ida Rogers, their marriage being celebrated on the 19th of December, 1875. Unto this marriage were born four children, but the eldest died in infancy. Allen Benton, the next of the family, was born in Olin, February 10, 1878, and met deatlı by accident at Cedar Rapids. February 14, 1901, when twenty-three years of age. He had prepared himself for life's work in the public schools of Olin and Rhodes and had pursued special work in the Commercial College of Des Moines. He was converted in the Methodist Episcopal church at Rhodes and was a faithful member of that denomination. Caddie, the - third child, was born March 10, 1880, was educated in Olin and Rhodes and after completing the course of study in the latter place was married, on the 19th of December, 1904, to Ellis Tribley of Rhodes. They have become the parents of three children : Ruth, three years of age; and Charles Lester and Clarice Esther, twins, who were born January 7, 1907. John Rogers Gillman, the youngest son of the family, was born in Olin, January 2, 1891, was graduated from the Rhodes high school in June. 1906, and then taking up the study of pharmacy has made rapid advance therein and will soon become a registered pharmacist.
William Gillman through an active and busy life has been called to various offices, the duties of which he has discharged with promptness and fidelity. He has held the position of township clerk for four years, was deputy postmaster four years and is now acting as rural mail carrier on route No. I, in which connection his obliging manner and unfailing courtesy have rendered him very popular to the people on the line. In 1865 he joined Putnam Lodge, No. 155, A. F. & A. M., at Mechanicsville, and later transferred his membership to An- cient Landmark Lodge, No. 200, and afterward to Eden Lodge, No. 466. He is also a member of Mount Olivet commandery at Anamosa, having attained the Knight Templar degree in the York Rite. He and his wife, as well as their daughter Caddie and her husband, are members of Crystal Chapter, No. II, O. E. S. S. of Rhodes. Mr. Gillman is a republican of the pronounced type and has voted for every candidate of the party with the exception of Fremont, when he was too young to have the right of franchise. During their residence of thirty- three years in Olin, Mr. and Mrs. Gillman affiliated with the Christian church, . but on coming to Rhodes fifteen years ago united with the Methodist Episcopal church. They are both people of general personal worth, having the high regard of all who know them, by reason of their many excellent traits of character and the kindly spirit which they display on all occasions.
It will be interesting in this connection to note something of the family of which Mrs. Gillman is a representative. Her father, Frederick C. Rogers, was
644
HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
born in Herkimer county, New York, May 27, 1819, and died in Olin, Iowa, March 8, 1882, at the age of sixty-two years, nine months, and eleven days. On the 14th of September. 1842, lie was married to Mercy Ann Allen, of How- ard, Steuben county, New York. Unto them were born the following named : Helen M., who became the wife of William Thuston in 1862; Charles E., who married Alice Barton in 1866 and resides at Boone, Iowa : Benton S., who died October 19, 1866; Julia Ann, who was born in 1848 and was married in September, 1866, to A. J. Comstock; William Henry, who died in infancy ; Mary Jane, who was born March 10, 1852, and was married in 1870 to Dan- iel Smith: Ida, who was born April 8, 1855; Fannie M., who was born June 8, 1857. and is the wife of Columbus Rose; William Allen, who was born March 8. 1859, and died in 1880; Henry Ellsworth, who was born in June, 1862, and wedded Mary Allen. Of the father, Frederick C. Rogers, it has been truthfully said that he was a man universally respected by all who knew him, who possessed a big heart and kindly manner and, moreover, had a keen appreciation for the beautiful as well as the true and the good. He was a man of more than ordinary ability and sound judgment. His charitable nature was manifest in the assistance which he rendered to all in need who applied to him for aid. His wife. too, was a favorite in the community, esteemed and loved by her neighbors as well as her family, to whom she was most. devoted. She belonged to the Christian church and died in that faith. She had become a resident of Hale township in the year 1854. Benton S. Rogers, Charles E. Rogers and their brother-in-law, Daniel Smith, were all members of Company G. Thirty-first Iowa Infantry, during the Civil war. H. E. Rogers, the youngest of the family, has resided in Albu- querque. New Mexico, for the past sixteen years and has been honored with selection for various important offices, including that of councilman and city treasurer.
ASA W. SMITH.
The fine farm to the south of the village of Anamosa, which is the home of Asa W. Smith, is one of the attractive places of Fairview township. Bounded in part by the Wapsipinicon river and situated upon an elevation, it commands a view enjoyed by few homes in its vicinity, for up and down the course of the river, and over well tilled fields and shady woods the eye may travel and be refreshed. Although this tract has been Mr. Smith's possession for almost a quarter of a century, it is only within the last five years that he has taken up his residence upon it and been numbered among the agriculturists of the town- ship. He was born in Ashland county, Ohio, December 7. 1867. His father was also a native of that state, where for years he followed farming. He married Miss Mina Newkirk, who was born in Wayne county. Ohio, and was a daughter of Reuben Newkirk. They became the parents of three children: Asa W .. of this sketch ; Josephine, who married Jones Freeman, of Independence, Iowa; and Jessie L., who is living in Anamosa. Mr. Smith died when his son was but three years of age and his widow with her children came to Jones county. locating in Anamosa.
645
HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
It was in 1869 that Asa W. Smith came with his mother to Anamosa, where he made his home throughout his youth and through many years of his young manhood. He attended the public schools there until he reached the age of sixteen, when he entered upon his own career as a man of business. Stock first commanded his interests, and for about thirteen years he was engaged in shipping horses to North Dakota, his operations in this field of activity being the outgrowth of his early employment in a livery in the town. Twenty-two years ago he purchased his farm, of three hundred and twenty-six acres, and has prepared one hundred and forty acres of this for agricultural purposes, the rest being pasture and timber land. As he won success in business and ever looked for- ward to the day when he might own a tract of his own and during the five years he has followed farming, he has met with most excellent success. He possesses t le skill of the born husbandman, but he is also endowed with the love of nature a id of life in the outdoors. Since exercising his right of franchise he has stead- f istly given his support to the republican candidate, for he feels in greater sympathy with its principles, but he has evinced no desire to enter the arena of public affairs. He enjoys the respect of many friends, who coming to know him intimately esteem him highly for the man he is.
ALVA BENJAMIN CAFFEE.
Alva Benjamin Caffee belongs to that type of energetic, industrious and per- severing men who through their own well directed efforts in business lines are meeting with substantial success. A native of Jones county, Iowa, he was born two miles south of Fairview on the 12th of November, 1853, a son of John and Eliza Ruth (Reid) Caffee. The father was one of the early settlers of Fairview township, where he located in 1840, entering land from the government and continuing to make his home thereon until his death. He was a brick- maker by trade and made the brick used in the state buildings at Iowa City, ,. which were erected in 1837 and 1838. It was in the fall of 1838 that the mother of our subject came to Fairfield township where her brother, Calvin Reid, had located the previous spring. He was a millwright in the employ of the govern- ment and constructed a bridge and dam across the Wapsipinicon river just above the location of the present bridge. Miss Reid was married to Mr. Caffee at Iowa City in 1839, and unto this union were born six children, namely: Mrs. Vesty, sixty-seven years of age, who was formerly the wife of Ben Holden, a soldier who was killed in the Civil war; Ezra Delos, sixty-six years of age, residing in Washington; Thomas Jefferson who, at the age of sixty-two years, is living in Sioux City, Iowa ; Frances Langstaff, who passed away at the age of thirty years; Alva Benjamin, of this review; and John Calvin, who was forty- six years of age at the time of his demise.
In the township of his nativity Alva Benjamin Caffee spent the first twenty- six years of his life, the days of his boyhood and youth being passed under the parental roof. At the usual age he was sent as a pupil to the district schools and after laying aside his text-books he remained at home, giving his father the bene-
646
HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
fit of his assistance, until he attained years of maturity. In 1881 he went to northeastern Nebraska, where he resided for eleven years, being engaged during that time, in agricultural pursuits, and at the expiration of this period removed to Missouri where he made his home for two years. He then returned to Jones county, Iowa, taking up his abode in Martelle, where he has since continued to reside. After his return to Iowa he engaged to some extent in agricultural pur- suits, but at present is confining his attention entirely to buying and selling live- stock, his operations in this field of activity being both extensive and successful. He possesses excellent business ability, is careful and discriminating in the man- agement of his affairs and through close application and intelligently directed energies has won a most creditable place among the business men of Martelle.
Mr. Caffee was united in marriage in 1877 to Miss Cassie G. Belden, a daugh- ter of Dr. G. W. and Louisa (Hotchkiss) Belden, of Mount Vernon, Iowa. Un- to this union have been born four children, as follows: Gladys, the wife of John Ireland; Alta, who wedded Charles Darsee : Alva Belden, who married Evelyn Harn; and Olive, residing at home. In his fraternal relations Mr. Caffee holds membership in White Rose Lodge, N. 279, K. P., of Martelle, and has held all of the offices in that order. His fellow citizens, recognizing his sterling worth, honored him with election to the office of mayor. During his incumbency in office he gave the town a businesslike, progressive and beneficial administration, inaugurating various needed reforms and improvements, the excellent perfor- mance of his duties being a source of honor to himself and of credit to his con- stituents. He is at present acting as a member of the board of education, Mar- telle possessing a very good, up-to-date graded school. Preeminently public spirited in his citizenship, he at all times has the best interests of the community at heart and the record which he has made for himself during his residence in Martelle is such as has gained for him the unqualified respect, confidence and good will of all with whom he has come in contact.
HERMAN BROCKMAN.
Herman Brockman, who has the distinction of being the oldest man in Jones county, is now living in the little town of Martelle, Greenfield township, where his wants are ministered to by his daughters Catherine and Josephine. He was born in Prussia, December 14, 1823, and is the son of Anton and Elizabeth Berg. The parents are both dead as are his three sisters and three brothers, viz: Anton, Frank, Mrs. Elizabeth Droll, Mrs. Dina Droll, Mrs. Josephine Voss and Theodore.
In his Prussian home Herman Brockman learned the tailor's trade, which he followed there and in the many cities he visited when he started to make a place for himself in the world. At the age of twenty-seven he went to Paris, France, and three years later sailed for America. On the 22d of May, 1854, he arrived in Iowa City, which remained his home for nine years. He next went to Solon, Iowa, and one year later moved to Lisbon, where he made his home for two years. He moved next to Chicago, but after two years' residence returned to Iowa, locating in Lisbon, where he lived until 1883, when, on August 19, he came
647
HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
to Martelle, which has since been his home and the home of his daughters Cather- ine and Mrs. Josephine Cech. The latter, besides caring for her aged father with a devotion that excites the deepest admiration of all who know of hier, conducts the Hotel Brockman, the principal hostelry of Martelle. Hospitable in their reception of guests, they are kind and charitable to a fault, and no case of need comes to their attention but receives alleviation from their hands.
In Brokal, Germany, November 21, 1851, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Brockman and Miss Francisca Berghana. For almost sixteen years Mrs. Brockman fulfilled the duties of a devoted wife and mother, and on the 22d of July, 1867, at Lisbon, was released from the cares of this world. She left several children, the care and rearing of whom fell in large part upon the eldest daughter Catherine. She was born in Neiheim, Germany, October 22. 1852, and is now residing in Martelle, where she assists in the conduct of the Hotel Brockman. Frank was born in Iowa City, November 19, 1854, and died September 4, 1855. Herman, Jr., and Lena were twins, born September 18, 1856. Lena died five days after birth, but Herman grew to manhood and is living in Martelle. On the 29th of November, 1893, he wedded Miss Augusta M. Zachary, whose parents settled in Linn county, Iowa, about forty-four years ago. They lived to be about eighty-one years of age and at their death were buried in Oak Shade cemetery. Marion, Iowa. Mrs. Herman Brockman, Jr., has also passed away, her death having occurred April 4, 1906, in Anamosa, and is buried in Marion. Mrs. Brockman was a faithful wife, mother and neighbor, loved by all who knew her, and was always ready to help where she was needed. She left two daughters, Mary Magdalene, born March 15, 1900, and Catherine Regina, born August 15, 1902, who live with their father in Martelle. Frank, the second of Mr. Brock- man's children of that name, was born April 18. 1858, and died May 30, 1861. Lena, the second of that name, was born July 18, 1859, and died February II, 1862. Anna was born October 15, 1860, and died March 26, 1862. Louisa was born February 11, 1862, and lives in Tama, Iowa. She was twice married. Her first husband, Charles O'Neal, died in 1891, leaving her with five children : Herman, Edmund, Josephine, Charley and Freddie. In 1901 she married John Hackett and they have two children: Irene and Frances. Josephine, the eighth of Mr. Brockman's family, was born in Chicago, December 6, 1865, and November 12, 1887, married John Cech. Two daughters were born of this union: Mrs. Isadore McDonnell, of Martelle, who has a daughter, Margaret, aged seven, and a son, Leo, aged five : and Mrs. Frances Thompson, of Martelle, who has three children : Wilhelmina, aged five: Gretta, three and a half years old; and Harold, two years old. Mary M., the youngest of this large family, was born at Lisbon, Iowa, April 26, 1867. She was married, September 19, 1891, to Michael Walsh, and they live in North Yakima, Washington.
All the members of this family have been reared in the Catholic faith and are all living useful lives, but Catherine and Mrs. Cech have especially endeared themselves to the citizens of Martelle. They have devoted their lives to caring for others, for their father, for their brother Herman and his orphaned daughters, and for all, in fact, who are in need. Four generations gather around their fire- side, and the happiness of the youngest seems to repay these noble women for all their toil. As she looks back over the long stretch of years, many incidents
648
HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
stand forth in Miss Catherine Brockman's mind as momentous or awe-inspiring. One of these was the day when, still a young girl, she and her brother Herman viewed the remains of Abraham Lincoln, the martyred president and the free- man's friend, as they lay in state in Chicago. Many are the changes that have transpired since she came to Iowa. They have left their impress upon her character and made her one of the noblest women of Martelle, whose life though lived silently and unostentatiously, has not been without its compensations.
JOHN NEELANS.
In a history of Jones county mention should be made of John Neelans, one of the prosperous and substantial farmers and highly respected citizens of Clay township, who claims Ireland as the place of his nativity, his birth there occur- ring in September, 1842. His parents were James and Martha (Warnic) Nee- lans, natives of Ireland. The father was born in County Derry in 1779, while the mother's birth occurred in 1799. There they were married in 1819 and reared their family of seven children. In 1850, thinking to obtain better oppor- tunities for business advancement in the new world, the father crossed the Atlantic and landed in New York on the 12th of July, that year, and from there made his way to Pennsylvania. His wife, however, who had suffered a severe sunstroke during the journey, lived for only a week after their arrival in Easton, Pennsylvania, leaving her husband and seven children to mourn her loss. James Neelans, who had followed the occupation of farming prior to his coming to the new world, was well along in years at the time of his arrival in America. hav- ing already reached the seventy-first milestone on life's journey. The sons, how- ever, most of whom had attained man's estate, obtained employment in the coal mines of Pennsylvania and cared for him and kept the family together for a number of years. Six years after leaving Ireland the father passed away in the Keystone state, his remains being laid to rest in Mauch Chunk. One son, Robert, lost his life in the coal mines while later another son, James, was killed in an explosion in the powder mills of Harford. Pennsylvania. Rachel, the youngest member of the family, became the wife of George Maddock, of Con- necticut, and died in 1908, her remains being interred in Thompsonville, that state. Samuel, another son, now makes his home in Connecticut.
John Neelans was a lad of eight years when he accompanied his parents on their removal to the United States and the remaining years of his boyhood and youth were passed in Pennsylvania. When only nine years old he had the mis- fortune to lose his left leg, and was therefore debarred from many of the activi- ties engaged in by other lads. Something of his determination of spirit, however, was manifest in the fact that when about twenty years of age he stood on his one leg and chopped cord wood until he had earned one hundred and thirty dol- lars with which to purchase an artificial limb. He started out in business for himself at the age of twenty-two years, with a capital of but one dollar, obtaining employment with the Old Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, and remained with that company continuously for twelve years, a fact which indicates clearly
649
HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
his ability, faithfulness and trustworthiness. At the expiration of that period he came to Iowa, residing in a house belonging to John Dennison. At the end of a year he was so pleased with the country and the opportunties offered in this state that he purchased his present farm of one hundred and seventy-one acres, at first investing in one hundred and twenty acres and latter adding another tract of fifty-one acres. His fields today are under an excellent state of cultivation, for he has made a close study of agriculture, is systematic, methodical and pro- gressive in his methods and manifests a business ability and careful management of his affairs that have gained him a high place among the substantial and pros- perous farmers of the township.
It was on the 25th of November, 1869, that Mr. Neelans was united in mar- riage to Miss Sarah Watkins, who was born in Wales on the 22d of June, 1850, a daughter of John Watkins. Unto this union have been born three children, namely: Lottie J., born on the 4th of November, 1870; John, whose birth oc- curred on the 20th of January, 1872, and who passed away July 5, 1877; and James, who passed away in infancy. On the 27th of May, 1906, Mr. Neelans was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife and the daughter has since taken charge of the home and is keeping house for the father.
In politics he is a stalwart supporter of the democracy, while his religious faith is indicated in his membership in the Presbyterian church, in which he has served as an elder for almost twenty years. A gentleman of excellent morals and high principles, his record has ever measured up to a high standard of honorable manhood and he ranks foremost among the valued and respected citi- zens of the community. Starting out in the business world empty-handed and physically handicapped, the struggle for success was hard and oftentimes dis- couraging, and only at the expense of a vast amount of energy, diligence, per- severance and good management has he attained to his present gratifying meas- ure of success, few meriting in greater degree the proud American title of a self-made man.
JOHN H. ANTONS.
John H. Antons, who at the time of his death was one of the most sub- stantial and well-to-do farmers of Scotch Grove township, was one of those representative American citizens who claimed Germany as the land of their na- tivity and who in the new world found opportunity for advancement and pro- gress. He was born in the province of Hanover, Germany, in 1830, and was therefore seventy-eight years of age at the time of his death, which occurred on the 10th of November, 1908. Reared in the fatherland, he was there educated and married, and came to the United States in 1881, attracted by the advantages here offered for advancement in business lines. Upon arriving in this country he came direct to Jones county, Iowa, taking up his abode in Wayne township, where he was engaged in agriculture until 1892. In that year he removed to the present home farm in Scotch Grove township, lying about one mile north of Cen- ter Junction, upon which he resided until his demise. It consisted of two hundred
650
HISTORY OF JONES COUNTY
acres of land which, under his careful management, was brought under a fine state of cultivation, becoming one of the most highly improved and valuable farming properties in Jones county. Industrious and energetic. he was one of those sturdy Germans who know no such word as fail, and who brook no obstacles that can be overcome by diligence and perseverance. Arriving in the United States a poor man, he steadily worked his way upward in the business world until he had amassed a very comfortable fortune and ranked among the progressive and well-to-do farmers of the county, earning and well deserving the proud American title of a self-made man. Although he won most gratifying prosperity in the business world, it all came to him as the result of well directed efforts, unswerving integrity and honest and upright methods, and his life record is but another indication of the fact that success and a good name can be won simultaneously.
Before leaving the fatherland Mr. Antons was united in marriage to Miss Gesche Catherine Johnson, who still survives him and makes her home on the old farm. In their family were six children, namely: John and Gerhard, operat- ing the home farm; Sophia, the wife of John Stahlberg, of Scotch Grove town- ship; Henry, residing in Delware county, Iowa; Catherine, the wife of Charles Teten, of Laurel, Nebraska; and Anna, who married John Radloff and resides in Madison township, Jones county. The two eldest sons who are now managing the home farm, are very skilled agriculturists, progressive and up-to-date in their farming and business transactions. Upon their place are found only the best breeds of stock and the consensus of public opinion accords them a foremost place among the enterprising and substantial farmers and stock raisers of the county. They are stalwart republicans in their political allegiance and are members of the German Lutheran church, both standing very high in the com- munity where they have resided for almost two decades. The younger of the two, Gerhard, was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Lurkens, of Scotch Grove township, and unto this union have been born four children, namely : Gesche Catherine, Maria Christina, Ann Margaret and John Henry.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.