USA > Iowa > Louisa County > History of Louisa County, Iowa, from its earliest settlement to 1911, Volume II > Part 9
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The family manifest their religious views through their membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Yotter gives his political support to the men and measures of the republican party. A public-spirited citizen, Mr. Yot- ter renders such service as he is able in the administration of the township gov- ernment, and is now serving as trustee. He is an ex-member of the school board. Mr. Yotter is a man of energy and perseverance and has met with a fair degree of success in his vocation, being the owner of one of the good farms of the township.
JOHN B. MCCULLOUGH.
John B. Mccullough, who has lived retired in Wapello for the past twenty- eight years, was successfully identified with general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career and still owns five hundred and eighty- five acres of valuable land in association with his son. Ilis birth occurred in Rush county, Indiana, on the 16th of April, 1828, his parents being Simeon and Mary ( Sydener ) Mccullough, who were born in Kentucky in 1794. The mother was born on the 3d of May of that year. Their children were eleven in number. as follows : William, whose natal year was 1816; Andrew; Catherine ; Elizabeth ; Margaret : James: John B., of this review ; Simeon; Mary ; Nancy ; and Jacob, whose birth occurred in 1836.
John B. Mccullough attended the common schools in the acquirement of an education and when sixteen years of age began working by the month, buying eighty acres of land with the money which he earned. By additional purchase he extended the boundaries of his farm to include one hundred and twenty acres and remained thereon until he had attained the age of fifty-three years, being busily engaged in its further cultivation and improvement. In 1864 he removed to Monmouth, Illinois, where he was engaged in mercantile business until 1878. He then went to Nebraska, where he lived on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres for three years. In 1881 he came to Wapello, Louisa county, Iowa, and, as above stated, has here resided continuously since, enjoying the fruits of his former toil in well earned ease. He still owns five hundred and eighty-five acres of rich and productive land in association with his son and is widely rec- ognized as one of the substantial and respected citizens of the community.
Mr. Mccullough has been married three times. On the 30th of January, 1851, he wedded Miss Margaret R. Wright, a daughter of Silas M. and Annie ( Hamilton ) Wright. Their union was blessed with four children, as follows : Mary, the deceased wife of Rev. U. Z. Gilner, of Warren county, Illinois ; Will- iam W., of Monmouth, Illinois, who was the builder of the interurban railroad from Monmouth to Galesburg: Silas S., who died in infancy ; and Thomas, born February 18, 1864, who is engaged in the lumber business at Mathersville, Illi- nois. The wife and mother was called to her final rest on the 13th of November, 1870, and on the 23d of October, 1872, Mr. Mccullough was again married, his
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second union being with Miss Mary J. Davison, by whom he had two children : Roy, a banker of Wapello; and Cora Blanch, who died on the 12th of August, 1887, at the age of six years. Mr. Mccullough lost his second wife on the 3d of March, 1901, and on the 11th of November, 1903, wedded Miss Alice Thomas, a daughter of George F. and Elizabeth Reardon ( Minton ) Thomas. George F. Thomas formerly served as postmaster of Wapello.
Mr. Mccullough gave his early political allegiance to the democracy but at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war became a republican and has since remained a stalwart advocate of the men and measures of that party. In 1853 he was elected county surveyor of Bush county, Indiana, serving for a term of four years. In 1871 he was chosen county surveyor of Warren county, Illinois, for a term of four years, his duties including the testing of scales and the examination of coal mines and railroads. The cause of education has ever found in him a stanch champion and for fifteen years he held the office of school director. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist church. He has now passed the eighty-third milestone on this earthly pilgrimage and has so lived that he can look back upon the past without regret and for- ward to the future without fear.
JAMES GEDDES BAKER.
James Geddes Baker, who is successfully engaged as a photographer at Col- umbus Junction, was born in Louisa county March 12, 1868, a son of Benjamin Stephen and Nancy Agnes ( Wykert ) Baker. The father was a native of New York state and the mother of West Virginia, later becoming a resident of Louisa county in 1835. Mr. Baker, Sr., was a carpenter, but during the later years of his life devoted his attention to farming. He died in 1882, the mother being called away three years later. They were the parents of two children: Benja- min Franklin, who is now living in Louisa county ; and James Geddes.
Mr. Baker, of this review, possessed advantages of education in the dis- trict schools until he was fourteen years of age. Not being attracted to farm- ing, he learned the printer's trade, which he followed for fifteen years. In the meantime his natural artistics talents began to manifest themselves and he took up the study of photography, to which he has given his attention for the last fourteen years. He has had an extensive experience and has attained high proficiency in the art, being now the owner of the leading photograph gallery of Columbus Junction, where he has been located since 1907.
In 1895 Mr. Baker was married to Miss Clara Elizabeth Grafe, a daughter of Theodore and Elizabeth Grafe. Mrs. Baker died in the fall of 1898, leaving a son, James Walter, who was born in February of the same year. On May 11, 1907. Mr. Baker was again married, the lady of his choice being Miss Bessie Forbes, a daughter of William C. and Henrietta ( Kincaid) Forbes. She was a member of a family of thirteen children, of whom the first two, Maud and
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George, are deceased, the others in the order of their birth being: Bessie, Mildred, who is the wife of Claude Lamar, of Muscatine, Iowa; and Frank, Addie, Ora, Lydia, Willie, Verda, Rowena, Nina and Zelma, all of whom are living in Muscatine.
Politically Mr. Baker is an earnest supporter of the republican party and fraternally is connected with the Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Aid Society. Mrs. Baker attends the Reformed church. The success of Mr. Baker in his business has been due to natural talents, and an ambition to excel which has not permitted him to rest satisfied with an ordinary measure of proficiency. He has made a close study of his art from every practical standpoint and his work attracts favorable comment wherever it is shown, his patrons being among the best people in this part of the state.
HARRIS HOWEY, M. D.
Dr. Harris Howey, deceased, was for many years one of the most honored and highly esteemed citizens of Wapello, where he made his home for almost seven decades, and throughout his active professional career enjoyed an exten- sive and lucrative practice. His birth occurred in Canandaigua, New York, on the 3d of May, 1817, his parents being Thomas and Lodema (Harris) Howey. On the maternal side, his ancestors came from England to the new world in 1647 with the Plymouth Pilgrims and located in New London, Connecticut, but sub- sequently removed to New York, taking up their abode on the Susquehanna river. The Doctor's father was born in the north of Ireland and on coming to America located in Coldwater, Michigan, where he worked at the blacksmith's trade. About the year 1776 he removed to Ohio and from there to Canandaigua, New York, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of timber land He cleared and improved his property and in connection with farming conducted a blacksmith shop. His wife was an expert weaver and wove most of the cloth for her bed clothes, clothing, etc. She died in New York in 1833 and the father passed away in 1838 at Columbus, Ohio, where he was then making his home. In their family were twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, all of whom are now deceased, and of whom our subject was the seventh, in order of birth.
Dr. Harris Howey passed his boyhood in his native state, procuring the best education obtainable in the public schools. When a youth of fifteen he began earning his own livelihood, clerking in a dry goods store for one year. On the expiration of that period he took up the study of medicine and was graduated from the Geneva Medical College, at Geneva, New York, with the class of 1837. During the years 1845 and 1846 he also attended the St. Louis Medical College, of which institution he was likewise a graduate. He began practice at Coldwater, Michigan, but remained there only a short time and on the 16th of December, 1839, took up his residence in New Boston, Illinois, where he taught school for two months. He then turned his attention to the practice of medicine and rode
DR. HARRIS HOWEY
ASTOR
FADY AND TIL DES F B
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over the country night and day, covering a large territory in the discharge of his professional duties. Finding that his practice was principally on the west side of the Mississippi river, he removed to Wapello, Iowa, in the spring of 1841, becoming a pioneer physician of Louisa county where he rapidly built up an extensive practice, to which he devoted himself for the greater part of twenty- two years.
Dr. Howey was first married in New Boston, Illinois, in 1840, to Miss Susan Dellabarr, who died in less than two years, and their only child. a daughter, died at the age of eight years. The Doctor was again married March 24, 1844, his second union being with Miss Sarah J. Marshall, a native of Wellsburg, West Virginia, who came to Iowa in 1840 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Marshall, early and prominent pioneers of Louisa county. She died November 29, 1880. The children born to them were: Mrs. Virginia Inger- soll, now a resident of Clarksville, Missouri; Thomas, deceased, whose wife and daughter reside in Chicago; Frank, a resident of Lemmon, South Dakota; and Charles of St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1851, during the gold excitement on the Pacific coast, Dr. Howey went overland by ox team to California, being away from Iowa about one year and returning by way of the Isthmus of Panama and Cuba. On his return trip he became quite familiar with the institution of slavery and was greatly im- pressed by the wrongs surrounding it, and his heart was enlisted for its suppres- sion. Answering to his country's call. he was commissioned surgeon of the Twentieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry on the 17th of August, 1863, and did active and efficient service with his regiment until March, 1865, when he was forced to resign on account of physical disabilities. He then returned to Wapello, in- capacitated by continued ill health for pursuing the practice of his chosen profession. In 1865 he was appointed examining surgeon for pension applicants and held that position for several years. In 1870 he removed to a farm in Marshall township where he engaged in farming for several years He was appointed United States gauger in 1873 and served until the following year, when he removed from his farm to Wapello and there engaged in the drug business until his retirement from active life. With the exception of ten years, while living in Burlington, Iowa, he continued a resident of Wapello until his death, which occurred May 13, 1911, when he had reached the advanced age of ninety-four years and ten days.
On the 15th of March, 1883, Dr. Howey was united in marriage to Miss Lida McMahill, to whom he was greatly attached, and during the whole of their married life they were never separated even for a single night. They became the parents of one daughter, Sadie Lodema, who was born May 19, 1891, and died on the 29th of the following August. Mrs. Howey is one of the most highly esteemed ladies of the county, is very intellectual, possesses a fine memory, and is a good writer.
William McMahill, the father of Mrs. Howey, was born in Lexington, Ken- tucky, June 22, 1824, and was married in Pike county, Illinois, in 1847, to Miss Mary Walker, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, August 24, 1824, and
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whose father belonged to the nobility of Scotland. After his marriage Mr. McMahill engaged in farming in Pike county, Illinois, until 1855, when he removed to the northern part of that state and in 1860 came to Louisa county, Iowa, here buying two hundred and fifty acres of land, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted his energies throughout the remainder of his life. He died on the 22nd of April, 1904. and his widow, who will be eighty-four years of age in August. 1911, now resides in Wapello. In politics he was a Republican, and being one of the leading men of his community, was. called upon to serve as county supervisor, school director, and in other local offices. He was a member of the Christian church and was also identified with the Grange. In his family were eight children, four sons and four daughters, namely : James, now a resident of Moberly, Missouri; Erastus, living in Louisa county, lowa; Mahala, the wife of Asa Knight, of Wapello; Mrs. Howey; Minnie, the wife of Lou Hart, of Wapello; John, of Louisa county ; AAnna, the wife of Lee Bishop, of Muscatine, Iowa; and William, also of Wapello.
Dr. Howey cast his first vote for Harrison and Tyler, the whig candidates, and later became identified with the Republican party. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while in religious belief he was a Methodist. During his last years he was unable to take an active part in public affairs, but was always glad to meet his old friends and talk over old times. He often recalled the erection of the first Methodist church in Wapello, a brick structure which for many years served as a house of worship. For over six years before his death he was the oldest resident of Wapello and was the only living war physician and surgeon within the borders of Louisa county. For several years his birthday was made the occasion for the gathering of a number of his friends, where kind commemorat- ive words were spoken in his honor and gifts were presented to him as tokens of esteem. He was a man of strong personality, enduring vitality and positive opinions, but warm and generous-hearted. Whatever mistakes he may have made in life he would have gladly corrected them all, desiring to go out of the world wholly at peace with all men and with God.
JOHN HARDMAN.
The late John Hardman, who was one of the capable agriculturists of Port Louisa township, was born in Cedar county, Iowa, on the 14th of April, 1865. He was a son of Silas and Amanda ( Fulwider ) Hardman, also natives of Cedar county, where the father was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1885, at which time he disposed of his homestead and came to Louisa county, where he bought another farm, in the operation of which he engaged for five years. At the expiration of that period he sold his property and he and his wife removed to Grand View, where they are now living retired. Unto them were born font
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children, the order of their birth being as follows: Charles, who is a resident of Louisa county; John; Ella, the wife of David Woodruff, of Louisa county ; and Jane, who married William Khone, a resident of Muscatine county.
The early years of John Hardman's life were not unlike those of the ma- jority of lads who are born and reared in the rural districts. His education was acquired in the common schools of his native county, following which he engaged in farm work with the expectation of making it his vocation. For - eleven years after his marriage he rented land and during that time he man- aged to save enough from his income to purchase one hundred and twenty acres on section 3, Port Louisa township, in the cultivation of which he engaged until his demise in February, 1907.
Mr. Hardman was married at the age of twenty-seven to Miss Mollie Beik. on the Irth of February, 1892. Mrs. Hardman is a native of Louisa county, her natal day being the 5th of July, 1868, a daughter of Jacob and Emma ( Jack- son ) Beik, whose complete biography appears on another page of this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Hardman became the parents of three children: Guy H., who was born on the 30th of August, 1893. and is now a student in the high school. still residing at home; Milton B., whose birth occurred on the 30th of October, 1890, and who is also attending school; and Grace Lucille, who was born No- vember 15, 1904.
The family continue to reside upon the homestead to which Mrs. Hardman has added another forty acres since the demise of her husband. She now owns one hundred and sixty acres of finely improved land, all of which is under a high state of cultivation. They are all earnest Christians, as was also Mr. Hardman, and are highly regarded and esteemed in the community where they reside.
J. A. SWAN.
The late J. A. Swan, who for over forty years was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Louisa county, was born in Preble county, Ohio, on the 7th of De- cember, 1837, being a son of James M. and Nancy A. (Rouse) Swan. The parents, who were both natives of Pennsylvania, came to Iowa in 1846, locating on a farm in Louisa county.
J. A. Swan, who was only a iad of nine years when his parents settled in Iowa, acquired the greater part of his education in this county. He attended the first school established in Morning Sun township, which was held in a log house, poorly ventilated and inadequately lighted, but little provision having been made at that period for educational facilities. His boyhood and youth were very similar to those of the majority of farmer lads of that period, much of his time, when not in school, being devoted to the work of the fields. He remained a member of the parental household until the breaking out of the Civil war in 1861 at which time he enlisted and went to the front with the
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Eighth Iowa Cavalry. Although he served for three years, during which time he participated in some of the most hotly contested battles of the war, Mr. Swan never sustained an injury. He was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, fol- lowing which he returned home and again engaged in farming, continuing in that occupation until his demise on the 6th of July, 1900.
On January 31, 1867, he was married to Miss Anna E. Paisley, who was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1848. She is a daughter of S. M. and Sarah Ann ( Savage) Paisley, also natives of the Buckeye state. Her mother lied near Athens, Ohio, in 1855, and in 1862, her father married Sarah Skinner, near Winfield, Fowa. He came to Louisa county in 1859 and resided here for fifteen years, when he removed to Adair county, lowa, going from there to Taylor county, lowa. His second wife died in Lenox, Iowa, and he was living with his daughter, Mrs. J. A. Swan, at the time of his demise, which oc- curred January 28, 1911, when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-nine years. Mr. Paisley had twelve children, six by each marriage.
Mrs. Swan, who is living in Morning Sun, where she owns a nice residence, continues to hold the title to one hundred and twenty acres of the original Swan homestead, which was entered from the government over sixty years ago and has ever since been in the family. It is well improved and under a good state of cultivation, being considered one of the valuable properties of Morning Sun township.
Mr. Swan was a member of the Presbyterian church, with which Mrs. Swan is also affiliated, and always took an earnest and helpful interest in its work and administration. He was a member of the board of trustees for over forty years and during more than half of that period he was also an elder of the church. Mrs. Swan has always taken a prominent and active part in the work of the Missionary Society and for more than a quarter of a century she has been a teacher in the Sunday school. She has many warm friends in Morning Sun, whose regard she has won and retained through her kindly helpful nature and thoughtful ministrations in time of trouble.
GEORGE W. MELLINGER.
One of Louisa county's pioneer settlers who for many years was identified with the agricultural development of the county is George W. Mellinger, who is now living retired in Oakville. A native of Germany, he was born in Baden on the 28th of March, 1828, and is a son of Joseph and Margaret ( Hoak) Mellinger, who spent their entire lives in the fatherland. Of their nine child- dren only two are living: Michael, who is also a resident of this county ; and George W., our subject.
Educated in the common schools of his native land, George W. Mellinger continued to reside there until twenty-two years of age, at which time he de- cided to test the truth of the wonderful stories he had heard about the oppor-
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tunities of acquiring riches in America. He took passage for the United States in 1851, and landed in New York, in which state he remained for three years thereafter. At the end of that period he returned to the old country for three months. On again coming to America, he was married in New York in 1855 and the following year came to Iowa, locating in Burlington, where he remained for a year. He then came to Louisa county and when he first settled in this county Mr. Mellinger rented land, but by close application, careful management and frugal living he acquired the capital in six years to buy eighty acres of prairie. He cultivated and improved this, adding to his holdings from time to time as he was able until, when he retired in 1906, he owned three hundred and twenty acres of land. Since he has been residing in Oakville he has sold two hundred and twenty acres but still owns one hundred acres on section 30, Elliott township, and he also has a fine residence in the village in which he is now living.
In 1855, while living in Orange county, New York, Mr. Mellinger was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Herr, also a native of Germany, and they are the parents of twelve children : Barbara, who married John Kreimer, of Wisconsin ; Elizabeth, the wife of R. Linden, of Montana; Henry, who is living in Louisa county ; Frank, of Oakville; Margaret, who is deceased; John, residing in Missouri: George E., of Louisa county; Fred, who is deceased; Michael, also living in this county; Rosie, who is at home; and Anna and Emma, both of whom are deceased.
The family are all communicants of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Mellinger is a democrat and for many years served as trustee and school director in his township. Careful consideration of his life but confirms the statement that the only requisite capital necessary for success in America is energy sus- tained by perseverance and determination of purpose. He came to this country, possessing practically no capital, but he had an inexhaustible supply of dili- gence, and although he met with obstacles and defeats, discouragements and misfortunes, persistence won the battle, and he is now living retired in full enjoyment of the mental ease and physical comfort provided by his many years of toil.
BERT F. SNYDER.
Youth has proved no obstacle in the pathway to success in the case of Bert F. Snyder who, although but twenty-four years of age, is joint partner in the principal merchandise store in Letts. He is a native son of Iowa, his birth occurring in Muscatine county on the 9th of August, 1887. His parents, John and Phoebe ( Griffin) Snyder, were born in Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively, the former of German descent and the latter of Yankee parentage. They were married in Iowa, of which state they were early settlers, having made their home in Louisa county practically ever since 1849. The father followed farm-
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ing throughout his active life, but since 1902 he has lived retired, making his home in Letts, owning an attractive dwelling in this town where he and his wife reside. Their family consisted of two sons, the brother of our subject being Charles C., associated with him in business.
At the usual age Bert F. Snyder entered the public schools, passing through consecutive grades until his graduation from high school, being thus equipped with a good education for the practical and responsible duties of life. He was but fifteen years of age when he entered the business world. his first step being in the capacity of clerk in a general merchandise store, having charge and gen- eral supervision of the grocery department. He was thus employed for six years and then, on the 4th of March, 1907, he embarked in business for him- self in connection with his brother, establishing a merchandise store in Letts. From the first the enterprise has been signally successful. The brothers, still actuated by the enthusiasm and ambition of youth, are exerting their strongest efforts toward the development and growth of the business, which has already become the principal concern of its kind in the town. They possess in large de- gree those qualities which are essential elements in the attainment of success- industry, perseverance, close application and a capacity for hard work-qualities which are proving salient features in their present prosperity.
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