USA > Iowa > Humboldt County > History of Kossuth and Humbolt counties, Iowa : together with sketches of their cities, villages, and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 47
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M. W. Stough was the immediate suc- cessor of Mr. Blackford, entering npon the duties of the office with the begin- ning of the year 1872, and served four years, having been re-elected in 1873. Mr. Stongh is yet among the most prominent and influencial men in the county.
M. W. Stough was born May 31, 1815, in Portage C'o., Ohio. His parents, Jacob and Margaret (Ward) Stough, were among the early settlers of Portage county. Mr. Stough was an active and industrions man, always taking a prominent part in anything that was beneficial to the inter- ests of the county. M. W. Stough was
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reared on his father's farm, receiving his education in the pioneer log cabins of his native State. In October, 1844, he mar- ried Mabel Hine, of Summit county. In October, 1855, he emigrated to Fayette Co., Iowa, Clermont township, and en- gaged in mercantile business as the firm of Stedman & Stough. In June, 1869, he came to Kossuth county, locating in Al- gona and engaging in the machine trade, as the firm of Stongh & Hutchins. In 1871 he was elected county treasurer, and held the office four years, since which time he has been engaged in the harness and boot and shoe trade.
M. D. Blanchard was elected to the office of treasurer in 1875, and re-elected in 1877, serving in that capacity four years.
M. D. Blanchard is a native of Canada, born Nov. 22, 1827. He lived there until 1856, at which time he emigrated to Iowa, stopping at Waterloo during the winter of 1856-57. In July, 1857, he came to Kossuth county, having moved across the prairies, from Waterloo, with an ox team, and settled on the northwest quarter of section 26, township 96, range 29, Algona township, where he now resides. He has 160 acres of land, seventy-five of which is under cultivation. Hle combines stock raising with regular farming. Mr. Blanch- ard was married Feb. 27, 1851, at Green- bush, Canada West, to Garfelia Waite, born Jan. 12, 1828, in Genesee Co., N. Y. They have had six children, five of whom are living-Adelbert W. married Milcah Williams; Edward C. married Hattie E. Miller; Charles S. married Mary Math- ers; Helen E., wife of Andrew Barr; Edith C. and Ida L. Ida L. died June 9, 1876.
Mrs. Blanchard is a member of the Con- gregational Church. Mr. Blanchard has held the offices of county treasurer and county superintendent.
Sylvester S. Rist, the present treasurer, was elected for his first term at the gen- eral election of 1879, and re-elected in 1881.
S. S. Rist, the present county treasurer, was born in Worcester Co., Mass., Dec. 18, 1833. He is a machinist by trade. In 1856 he came to Kossuth county with his parents. He married Mary A. Millen, Aug. 31, 1858. They have six children. In 1879, he was elected to the office of county treasurer, and re-elected in 1881 and 1883.
COUNTY RECORDER.
As before mentioned, J. E. Stacy was the first to occupy this office after its separation from that of treasurer, and served two years, when he was succeeded by HI. M. Taft, who was elected in 1866. He was re-elected in 1868 and 1870 and made a most efficient officer.
A. M. Horton was the successor of Mr. Taft, entering upon the duties of the of- fice the 1st of January, 1873. He was re-elected in 1874, and occupied the place for four years. Mr. Horton, is at the pres- ent writing, in Washington territory, al- though he is still a resident of this county.
John Reed, the present recorder, was elected in 1876 and has made such an ex- emplary officer that he has been re-elected at each succeeding election, in 1876, 1878, 1880 and 1882.
John Reed, county recorder and one of the early settlers of the county, was born in Logan Co., Ill., Oct. 18, 1842, where his parents settled in 1832. They were na-
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tives of Kentucky. In 1853 the family removed to Marshall Co., Iowa, and in 1858 to Kossuth county. John, the snb- ject of this sketch, was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion, enlisting in the 32d Iowa Volunteer Infantry, company A, participating in all the engagements of the company. In 1867 he was elected county superintendent of schools, In 1868 he was married to Ilattie M. Parsons. Three children blessed this union, one son and two daughters. In the fall of 1876 he was elected recorder, which office he holds at the present time, 1884.
CLERK OF THE COURTS.
Robert Cogley was the first clerk of the courts, being elected at the date of the or- ganization of the county, in August, 1855. He served one year when he gave way to a successor.
J. E. Stacy was elected to fill this office, in 1856, and re-elected in 1858, and when in January, 1860, he 'qualified for the office of county judge, he appointed T. D. Stacy to fill the vacancy. The latter did not hold it very long as it is recorded that upon the 9th day of May, 1860, J. W. Moore was appointed to fill the office. Mr. Moore held the position until the Ist of January, 1861.
At the general election of 1860, Dr. Francis McCoy was elected to the office of clerk of the court, and occupied the position for two years.
James L. Paine was the next incumbent of this office and was elected in 1862. Ile was re-elected twice, once in 1864 and again in 1866, holding the office for six years.
In 1868, A. E. Wheelock was elected to fill the office and re-elected in 1870 and
1872. During his term of office, Mr. Wheelock managed to hold both this and the office of county auditor.
Jolin Wallace was the immediate suc- cessor of Mr. Wheelock, and was elected in 1874, re-elected in 1876, holding the office for four years. Mr. Wallace is still a resident of Kossuth county.
John Wallace, of the firm of J. Wal- lace & Co., creamery and produce bnsi- ness, is a native of Livingston Co., N. Y., born Dec. 10, 1836. His parents, James and Lucy (Thompson) Wallace, were na- tives of Scotland, and in 1841 removed to Waukesha Co., Wis., where they were early settlers. Here John was reared and educated and there resided till 1861, when he enlisted in company A, Ist Wis- consin Cavalry, serving until the fall of 1864. He then returned to Wisconsin, where he resided till the spring of 1866, when he came to Kossuth county and en- gaged in teaching and farming, and was 80 engaged until 1873. Ile was then elected circuit clerk of this county and served in that capacity four years. Dur- ing this time he was also engaged in the manufacture of cheese, having no less than ten cheese factories running at one time. He held the office of treasurer of Algona township for eight years, and was one of the projectors and is secretary of the Kossuth County Insurance Company. He was united in marriage April 27, 1866, with Nancy A. Reed, a native of Wis- cousin. They have five children-Lucy J., Amy, Tina, Lizzie and Nellie. Mr. Wallace is a member of the G. A. R.
N. B. Benham, the present incumbent of the . office of clerk of the courts was first elected at the general election of
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1878 and has been twice re-elected since, once in 1880 and in 1882.
SHERIFF.
HI. W. Watson was elected to the office of sheriff at the April election of 1857, but held it but a short time, giving way to a successor, at the beginning of the year 1858.
O. W. Robinson was elected the next sheriff of Kossuth county and served from Jannary, 1858, until the beginning of 1860. Shortly after the expiration of the term of Mr. Robinson's office, he left the county and has passed from the knowl- edge of the people of this locality.
O. Benschoter was the next to fill this office, being elected in 1859. He was re- elected at the succeeding elections of 1861 and 1863 and served in all six years. Mr. Benschoter is at present one of the prom- inent citizens of the county of Kossuth.
Samnel Reed was elected sheriff of Kossuth county in 1865, and served in that capacity for two years. He is still a citizen of this locality and carries the re- spect of all who know him.
In 1867 was elected John M. Pinker- ton, to the office of sheriff, and a better officer never was found. He is a cousin of the celebrated Allen Pinkerton, of detective fame, and can hardly be con- sidered as second to him. No man has attained such a reputation as a terror to evil doers in all northern Iowa as has Mr. Pinkerton, and no matter how fierce and desperate the man was, that he laid hand on, he knew enough to go willingly with the redoubtable sheriff of Kossuth county. His keen eye was sure to find out the fugi- tive from justice, or spot the criminal, no matter how well disguised. Such a jewel
of a sheriff of course the people could not let go, so they re-elected him time and time again his own successor, until he held the office for fourteen years. He is now in that Eldorado of the west, Da- kota, engaged in some branch of the lum- bering business.
D. A. Haggard, the present sheriff of Kossuth connty, was elected to that office in 1881.
D. A. Haggard, sheriff of Kossuth county, was born May 27, 1840, in Dubuque Co., Iowa. His parents, Dr. John Hag- gard and Elizabeth (Lyman) Haggard, located in Dubuque at an early day, be- ing among the pioneers. There being no ferries, they were obliged to cross the Mississippi river in canoes, swimming their teams. At the time of their com- ing, Iowa was a vast nnbroken territory, there being one small cabin in Dubuque, which is now a city of 25,000 inhabitants. Dr. Haggard settled on a farm, and com- menced the practice of medicine. In 1843 Mrs. Haggard died. In 1844 he went to California, crossing the plains with three yoke of oxen. Remaining there one year, he returned to Dubuque, and afterwards married Irena Shaw. D. A. Haggard, after the death of his moth- er, was reared by his grandparents. In 1862 he enlisted in the 21st Iowa Volun- teer Infantry, company C. Being appoint- ed color sergeant, for two years he car- ried the flag. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg; battle of Jackson, Miss., where he had command of the company, at Spanish Fort, and Fort Blakely. Soon after leaving the ser- vice, he came to Kossuth county. He married Susan E. Wilmott, of Dnbnqne.
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They have five children-Benjamin W., John W., Melzar P., Mattie M. and Mag- gie. In 1881 he was elected sheriff of Kossuth county, and re-elected in 1883. Mr. Ilaggard is a Royal Arch Mason, Prudence Chapter, No. 70, also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS.
The gentlemen who have held this posi- tion at the head of the educational iu- terests of the county are treated of at length in the chapter on educational mat- ters, to which the reader is referred.
PROSECUTING ATTORNEY.
The first to fill this office in Kossuth county was Eber Stone, who was elected April 7, 1856. Mr. Stone was a farmer and not one of the legal fraternity as his office would lead to be supposed. He was a man thrifty and economical, and close in all his dealings, but strictly upright and honest. He died a resident of this county some years ago.
Charles Osgood was the ouly other per- son who held the office. He was elected in August, 1856. Hle filled the position until July 5, 1858, when he resigned, and immediately ou the acceptance of the same, returned to his old home in Massa- chusetts, and has passed out of the mem- ory of the people of Kossuth county. About this time the office was abolished, so nobody was elected to fill the short vacancy that existed between the date of Mr. Osgood's resignation and the incom. ing of the new law.
SURVEYOR.
The first surveyor of Kossuth county was Lewis II. Smith, who was elected at the time of the organization of the county in 1855. Ile held the office this time only
one term, or two years, when he was suc- ceeded by William II. Ingham, who was inducted into the duties of the office at the beginning of the year 1858, but only served in that capacity one year.
Capt. W. H. Ingham was born Nov. 27, 1827, in Herkimer Co., N. Y., and there he was reared, receiving a liberal educa- tion. In 1849 he started for the west, traveled extensively over the north west- ern States, and located temporarily at Cedar Rapids. He came to Kossuth county Nov. 24, 1854, in company with Mr. Stine, who located land on sections 16, 24, 29, and erected a log cabin. In 1857 he married Caroline A. Rice, of Herkimer Co., N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Ing- ham have seven children, three sons and four daughters. In 1862 he raised a com- pany to protect the frontier, and was commissioned captain by Gov. Kirk wood. After leaving the service, he returned to Algona, and embarked in the real estate business, forming a partnership with Lewis HI. Smith afterwards in banking, which business he now follows. Mr. Ingham has been closely connected with the county for more than one-fourth of a century, and probably no man in the county deserves more credit than he, for its growth and development.
A. F. Willoughby, who was elected in the fall of 1858, was the next to fill the office of surveyor of the county. Mr. Willoughby was the occupant of the posi- tion but a short time, as he left the county, going to that of Grundy, where he is believed to be at present.
W. L. Miller was elected in 1859, and served a year in this capacity. Shortly after the expiration of his term of office
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he removed from this county and his after movements have been lost sight of.
In 1860 L. H. Smith was again called on to perform the duties of this office, which he did for two years.
Jason Dunton was elected surveyor in 1863, and re-elected in 1864, and served two years. Some time since Mr. Dunton left Kossuth county and emigrated to Kansas, where he at present resides.
Once more, in 1865, was L. H. Smith elected to fulfill the ardnous duties of county surveyor, but declined to qualify at the beginning of the year, and that im- portant office continned vacant until the 4th of June, 1866, when the board of supervisors appointed O. F. Hale to fill the vacancy.
Mr. Hale was elected to the office the following fall and filled the place al- together, at this time, eighteen months.
HI. Durant was the following incumbent of the office, serving during the year 1868.
In 1869 W. HI. Ingham was the surveyor and served through the year, when he re- tired to make room for a successor.
In the fall of 1869, the people, at the polls, declared in favor of placing J. B. Jones in this office, he having filled that position for a short time by appointment, and he was inducted into the duties of it with the beginning of the year 1870. In 1871 he was re-elected and filled the office for three years in an able manner. Mr. Jones is one of the honored members of the legal fraternity.
As Mr. Jones had resigned before his last term of office was ont, C. B. Hutch- ins was appointed by the county board of
supervisors to fill the vacancy, which he did for one year.
A. D. Clark was the next successful as- pirant for this position, being elected thereto in 1873. He held the office, how- ever, but one year, when he resigned it.
The board in January, 1875, finding a vacancy in the office of surveyor, caused by the resignation of Mr. Clarke, ap- pointed O. F. Hale in the place, which he appears to have held until 1878, at which time he was succeeded by J. B. Jones, the former surveyor, who served two years.
At the election of 1879, C. B. Hutchins was the choice of the voters for this office, and he entered upon the duties of the office and transacted the business for two years.
In 1881 D. P. Mayer was elected to the office of surveyor, but he did not qualify, thereupon the board of supervisors ap- pointed the present incumbent of that office to fill the vacancy. This gentleman is O. F. Hale who has so often filled the position with credit to all concerned.
Oscar F. Hale, county surveyor, was born in Scioto Co., Ohio, April 1, 1839. His parents, Daniel aud Ada (Aldrich) HIale, were from the New England States, and emigrated from Ohio in the fall of 1844 to Indiana, and settled in Cass connty where they spent the remainder of their days. Here Mr. Hale received his early education in the common schools, and in the fall of 1861 graduated from the State Normal School of Ohio, at Leb- anon, and immediate enlisted as a private in company D, 44th Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. During his service, he participa- ted in the engagements at Lewisburg, W. Va., May 23, 1862 ; capture of Cum-
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berland Gap, east Tenn., July 9, 1863 ; siege of Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 17 to 29, 1863 ; Lynchburg, W. Va., June 18, 1864, and surprise at Beverly, W. Va., Dec. 24 and 25, 1864. In January, 1864, he re- enlisted as a veteran, and his regiment was organized as the 8th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. Mr. Hale was promoted to zd lieutenant and acting adjutant of his regi- ment. He was three times a prisoner, twice making his escape and once paroled. He was mustered out of service Aug. 5, 1865, having served nearly four years. In the fall of 1865, he came to Kossuth connty, and in the spring of 1866, was married to Mrs. Mary (Clarke) Steele, widow of George Steele, by whom he has one child-Cora A. During his eighteen years' residence in the county, he has spent most of the time on his farm, but is at present living in Algona. He has sev- eral times been chosen to positions of trust, and is at present serving his third term as county surveyor.
CORONERS.
The first to fill this office in Kossuth county, was Francis Brown, who was elected in April, 1856. He never made anything ont of the office, and before the expiration of the first six months of the office, removed from the county.
He was succeeded by Alexander Brown, who was elected in August, 1856, and who served about a year.
Joseph Thompson was the next elected, but having failed to qualify, the office continued vacant throughout the year.
Luther Bullis was the next to fill the office, entering upon its duties upon the Ist of Jannary, 1858, and serving therein ahout a year.
Kinsey Carlon, one of the best known men in the community, was elected cor- oner in 1858, and served in this capacity one year. Mr. Carlon is still a resident of the county, and is well known to every- body in this locality.
Kinsey Carlon was born in Mercer Co., Penn., May 3, 1824. He moved to Jack- son Co., Iowa, in 1854, with a drove of horses, crossing the river at Lyons, Clin- ton county, going through Clinton and Jackson, thence to Dubuque City, Du- buque county, thence to Jones county, thence to Marion, Lynn county, thence to Cedar Rapids and east again, by way of Keokuk, lowa. - He remained in Jackson county until Christmas, 1855, returned Jan. 1, 1856, to Pennsylvania, came west again in the fall of 1856, locating on Sept. 1. 1856, on section 20, Irvington township, Kossuth county. He sold ' this to J. K. Fill, and settled on the southwest quar- ter of section 29. He afterwards bought, of G. C. Callon, the northwest quarter of section 32, which he now makes his home. Mr. Carlon owns, in all, 1,140 acres, situ- ated in Sherman, Irvington and Cresco townships. He was married, in 1850, to Lavina Ramsey, of Mercer Co., Penn. She died and he married, July 23, 1857, Henrietta Mallord, of Jackson Co., Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Carlon have four children- William V., attending school at Ames' Agricultural College; Lavina, living in California; Josephine, at Normal School; Emily, wife of Harry Dodge, of Cresco township. Mr. Carlon is a democrat in politics, and has held the office of justice of the peace for six years.
In 1859 Luther Bullis was again elected coroner and again filled the duties of the
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office for a year. Some years after this, Mr. Bullis, who was like many of the early pioneers of some sections, of a rov- ing disposition, pulled up his stakes and departed for some other location. An old settler in describing him said "he was a loose-footed sort of a man," which per- haps defines him better than a whole par- agraph would.
'A. B. Mason was elected coroner in 1860, and appears to have served about a year. From this county he went to Wa- terloo, but did not stay there long and his present whereabouts are unknown.
John Summers, a printer, was the suc- cessor of Mr. Mason, serving as coroner during the year 1862. He has long since left this locality.
Luther Bullis was again honored with this office, during the year 1863, and it is believed that on the expiration of his term of office, or before, that he left Kos- suth county.
Judge Asa C. Call was the recipient of the honors of this office during the year 1866, and held it for the year.
Dr. L. A. Sheetz was the next elected to the dignity of coroner, although there seems to be a blank of several years be- tween him and his predecessor, Mr. Call. The doctor was elected in 1869, and re- elected in 1871 and 1873. For fuller de- tails of Dr. Sheetz, the reader is referred
to the chapter entitled "Medical Profes- sion of Kossuth County."
Dr. H. C. McCoy was elected coroner, in 1875, and held the office for two years.
In 1877 S. G. A. Read was elected cor- oner, and held the position for the full term.
Dr. H. C. McCoy was again elected to this office in 1879, and in 1881 was suc- ceeded by Dr. L. K. Garfield, who is the present incumbent.
DRAINAGE COMMISSIONERS.
There were but few elected to fill this position in Kossuth county. The first who was called upon, however, to fulfill the few duties that devolved upon the office; was Joseph P. Sharp, who was elected in 1857. After serving about two years, he removed from the county and passed out of sight of the people of this county.
H. Kellogg was the successor of Mr. Sharp, serving throughout the year 1860. He was a gentle, genial man and had many friends, but died before his term of office had expired and left a vacancy.
This was filled by the election of Hor- ace Schenck, who held the office for five years. Mr. Schenck is still a resident of the county.
The last to occupy this office was Kinsey Carlon, who was elected in 1865, and held it until it was abolished by act of General Assembly.
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CHAPTER XV.
ALGONA TOWNSHIP.
When the county of Kossuth was or- ganized, in 1855, the township of Algona comprised the whole of what is now Kor- wuth county. Successive boards of super- visors have cut off from it first one town- ship and then another, until it consists at present of township 96 north, range 29 west, and all of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, and the north half of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of township 95 north, range 29 west. It is bounded on the north by Burt, on the south by Cresco, on the east by Portland and Irvington, and on the west by Lott's Creek township. The East Fork of the Des Moines enters this township on the east line of section 24, and flowing in a general south westerly course, traverses sections 24, 25, 36 and 35, in township 96, range 29, and sec- tions 2, 3, 10 and 11, in township 95, range 29. This stream, the principal one in the connty, forms a beautiful loop or bend in the lower part of its course in this township, and in this loop lies the large and thriving city of Algona, the seat of county government. The surface is beautifully rolling, the swales growing more abrupt as they near the river. The township, however, contains some of the finest agricultural land in the county, and is pretty well settled up by a thrifty class of American and German settlers. Some
of the finest buildings are seen in the neighborhood of Algona, on farms that are found in northern Iowa.
Algona township appears to have been organized at the time that the county was, in 1855, but no record exists of the officers elected at that time. At the election of Ang. 4, 1856, however, D. W. King was chosen township clerk; Benjamin Hens- ley, assessor; J. E. Blackford, justice of the peace; W. A. Wilson and O. J. Smith, constables. At this election but thirty- one ballots were cast, although the town- ship at that time comprised all of what is now Kossuth county.
The earliest settlement of this town- ship, and the events connected with it, are, in a great measure, identical with those of the town of Algona, and will be found in connection with the history of that place further on. Before speaking of the settlement of it, therefore, it be- comes necessary to relate all the history of the agricultural and rural portion of the township first.
Horace Schenck is said to have been one of the first settlers north of Algona who had his family with him. On the 4th of June, 1856, he located on section 23, and proceeded to open up a farm. Be- tween him and the Minnesota line there
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was no settler, and nothing but a vast wilderness of grass and weeds.
Shortly after this, Joseph Thompson, in the year 1856, built a log cabin on the prairie east of the village. Here he con- tinued to reside until the following Christ- mas, when he removed to town.
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