USA > Iowa > Madison County > History of Madison County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 25
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In his political views Mr. Sole is a democrat and his fellow townsmen, rec- ognizing his worth and ability, have called him to positions of public trust. He served as assessor of Madison township for eight years, was township clerk of Union township for two years and also acted as trustee of Union and Webster townships. He is now secretary of the school board and has held that position for several years, while in the fall of 1914 he was his party's candidate for the office of county treasurer. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church. He has always shown great interest in all that pertains to the general welfare and has been known as a public-spirited man who has ever found time and inclina- tion to cooperate in the movements for the public good. In all the relations of life he has been honorable and straightforward, and his example is well worthy of emulation.
WILLIAM DUNLAP.
William Dunlap, a retired farmer living in Earlham, was born in Canada on the 24th of February, 1842, a son of John and Isabelle (Johnson) Dunlap, who were also natives of that country. The father worked during his entire life at the trade of shoemaking and passed away about 1848, being survived by his widow but two weeks.
William Dunlap, who was but six years of age when orphaned, was reared and educated in Knox county, Illinois, among strangers. He was early trained in farm work and followed agricultural pursuits in Knox county until 1886, when he came to this county and bought eighty acres of land on section 1, Jackson township. After a year he bought another eighty acre tract on section 2 and continued to operate his land until 1905. He then rented the farm but continued to reside upon the place until October 1, 1914, when he removed to Earlham and
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purchased a good residence, which is now his home. He was very energetic and industrious while actively engaged in farming and, as he practiced thrift and gave much thought to the management of his affairs, he accumulated a compe- tence that more than suffices for his needs.
On the 26th of November, 1868, Miss Harriet Mathews became the wife of Mr. Dunlap. Her parents, Samuel and Caroline Mathews, were pioneers of Knox county, Illinois, and were well known in that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Dun- lap became the parents of a daughter, Minnie, who died in 1872 when but three years of age. Mrs. Dunlap was called to her last rest on the 16th of August, 1910. On the 16th of April, 1914, Mr. Dunlap was married again, Miss Mollie Henry becoming his wife.
When twenty years of age Mr. Dunlap gave indisputable proof of his patriot- ism by enlisting in Company D, One Hundred and Second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served with that command until the close of the struggle between the north and south. He keeps up his association with his comrades in blue by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a Mason, being the oldest member of the Masonic fraternity in Earlham. Mrs. Dunlap holds membership in the Christian church and in its teachings finds the guiding princi- ples of her life. Politically Mr. Dunlap is a stanch democrat.
WILLIAM BRINSON.
William Brinson, who is living retired in Winterset, gave the years of his active manhood to agricultural pursuits and won a gratifying measure of success in that connection. He is a native of Switzerland county, Indiana, born February 28, 1833, of the marriage of Joseph and Rebecca ( Myers) Brinson. The father was born in Kentucky but was taken by his parents to Indiana when butt seven years of age, the family home being established in the uncut timber of that state. When about twenty years old his marriage occurred in Switzerland county, his bride being a resident of Ripley county, to which she had removed with her par- ents from Kentucky. In 1849 Mr. and Mrs. Brinson and their family came to Madison county, Iowa, having made the journey with a wagon and four-horse team and one two-horse team. Mr. Brinson rode the wheel horse and drove the head team with a single line, which was called a jerk line. The Mississippi river was crossed by ferry at Burlington and the family settled in Lincoln township. Mr. Brinson had traded his farm in Indiana for two Mexican war land warrants of one hundred and sixty acres each, but the land which he had hoped to take up was not yet on the market. He purchased of another man a claim which comprised three hundred and twenty acres and later entered it. It was prairie and timber land that had never been touched by the plow and there was much to do before it would be the well improved farm and good home that Mr. Brinson hoped to make it. He set to work resolutely and as time passed he brought his land to a high state of cultivation and also erected commodious buildings. He lived there many years but after the death of his wife in 1868 he removed to Kan- sas, where he resided until called to his reward. He was a member of the Church of Christ and as in the early days there were no schoolhouses nor churches in the
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county the local church was organized in his home. His son William was prob- ably the first person baptized in the county, the ceremony occurring in July, 1854. Mr. Brinson was a whig in his early manhood and after the dissolution of that party voted the republican ticket. To him and his wife were born six children : William; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Eli Wilson and passed away at Afton, Iowa; Nancy, now the wife of John Bertholf, a resident of the state of Washington ; Thomas, who is living at Idaho Falls, Idaho; David, whose home is at Pocatello, Idaho; and Jonathan, a resident of Oklahoma.
William Brinson was a youth of about sixteen years when he accompanied his parents on the overland journey from Indiana to this county. He assisted his father in the arduous work of developing his tract of wild land and learned thoroughly the methods of agriculture best suited to the soil and climate of Iowa. In August, 1862, he became a member of Company F, Fourth Iowa Vol- unteer Infantry, joining the company at Helena, Arkansas. He served in the army for three years lacking a month and nine days. He was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, and then returned to Madison county and again assisted his father in the farm work. He also learned to make chairs, selling a set for four dollars and a half, and gave his father half of what he earned. He saved seven dollars and a half and borrowed five dollars from a neighbor, which enabled him to enter forty acres of school land. He later borrowed twelve dollars and a half and entered the adjoining forty acres. The whole eighty acres was wild land and it was necessary to break the virgin prairie sod before crops could be planted. His first home was a small frame house fourteen by sixteen feet in dimensions. He devoted his attention assiduously to the cultivation of his land and the care of his crops for many years. Sixteen years ago he retired from active life and has since lived in honorable retirement in Winterset, residing in a comfortable home on West Jefferson street. Six years ago he sold his land. He bought his land for one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre and sold it for one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre.
Mr. Brinson was married in April, 1855, to Miss Caroline Burd, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, on the 27th of August, 1834, a daughter of Isaac and Susanna ( Williams) Burd, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. In 1851 they removed to this county and were highly esteemed among its early residents. To Mr. and Mrs. Brinson have been born two daughters : Mary, the wife of William F. Hircock, of Lincoln township, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; and Sarah E., the wife of Culy Hircock, a resident of Kansas.
Mr. Brinson voted for John C. Fremont as president and has supported every republican president since that time. In 1854 he joined the Church of Christ and the record of his long and honorable life is the best testimony to the sincerity of his belief. He devoted the greater part of his time to farming but was a car- penter by trade and in his early manhood worked in the mills on Middle river. He is thoroughly familiar with the early history of the county and has many interesting reminiscences of events and people in the pioneer days of this section of the state. He relates a story that will recall the names of some old timers remembered by many. Jacob Leinard, an early settler of Lincoln township, had a cow and calf tied out in front of his cabin. It was in the spring and the grass was beginning to get green. When he came out after breakfast the cow and calf
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were missing. It was in the early '50s when the Mormons were crossing the state on their way to Utah. The larger number of them passed through the county south of Madison, but a few passed through Winterset. Remembering having seen a covered wagon pass and suspecting his cow and calf had been taken by them, he started in pursuit. He was joined by a neighbor, Uncle Sammy Duncan, and a little later Uncle Dicky Bruce was a member of the searching party. Some- where on the prairie they overtook the covered wagon and tied to it was the cow. Down in the brush they discovered a man skinning the calf. At the point of a gun Uncle Sammy Duncan made him get on the horse behind Uncle Dicky Bruce. They brought him to Winterset and hunted up a justice .. Lou Davis was then sheriff of the county. They hunted up M. L. McPherson, a lawyer, to be pris- oner's counsel. This McPherson was an uncle to Judge Smith McPherson, who died recently at Red Oak. Mr. McPherson took the prisoner to one side of the building and asked him how much money he had. The prisoner named a small amount and gave the same to the lawyer. McPherson then told him to hike and get away. The prisoner followed this advice and as it was getting dark was soon out of sight. Thus the case was settled and caused a little indignation on the part of those who had hoped to see justice done.
Mr. Brinson and his wife both enjoy good health and attribute it largely to their simple normal habits of living. They have performed all of the duties that have devolved upon them, have worked diligently, have taken pleasure in worthy accomplishment and in their relations with their fellowmen, and it is but fitting that their old age should be rich in honor as well as in years.
BEN DAY.
The excellent condition of his farm of one hundred and forty acres on sec- tion 5, Scott township, testifies to the efficiency and energy of Ben Day, who was born in Henry county, Illinois, November 18, 1869. James Day, his father, was born in England but in early manhood emigrated to America, being accompanied by his sister. He had been a coachman and hostler in England but after coming to this country he gave his attention chiefly to farming. He first settled in New Jersey, where he was married, but at length came westward and for ten years lived in Henry, Bureau and Livingston counties, Illinois. His last years were spent with a daughter at Tiskilwa, that state, where he passed away at the age of seventy-two years. His wife, who was before her marriage Miss Jane Red- den, was born in New Jersey and died at Tiskilwa, Illinois, when seventy-six years old. Those of their eleven children who still survive are as follows: George, who resides in Story county, Iowa; Emma, the wife of R. Drake, of Tiskilwa, Illinois; Lizzie, who married A. J. Page, of Nevada, Iowa; William, who is residing in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Ben, of this review; Ed, whose home is in Waterloo, Jowa : Charles, of Tiskilwa, Illinois; and Mary, the wife of James Tissue, of Springfield, Illinois.
As there was a large family and as he felt that he did not wish to remain a burden upon his father any longer than was necessary, Ben Day asked to be allowed to earn his own way when he was but eleven years of age, and accordingly
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left home and began working by the month in Bureau county, Illinois. He was so employed in that county and in Story county, Iowa, for eleven years. At the end of that time he rented land in Story county, which he operated successfully. In 1907 he arrived in Madison county and bought eighty acres of improved land in Ohio township. Five years later he traded that land in on one hundred and forty acres in Scott township, which was known as the Theodore Cox farm. The place was splendidly improved when it came into the possession of Mr. Day but he has still further developed it and takes pride in its neat, attractive appearance. He does general farming, finding that more profitable than specializing along any one line. He is rightly numbered among the progressive and well-to-do farmers of the county, and his success is due entirely to his industry and good manage- ment.
On the 7th of December, 1892, Mr. Day married Miss Jennie McCain, who was born in Story county, Iowa, a daughter of John McCain, whose birth occurred in Ohio. Her paternal grandparents were William and Isabel McCain, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Pennsylvania. The grandfather removed from Ohio to Story county, this state, in an early day and entered land from the government. John McCain was married three times and had children by all of his unions. His second wife, who was in her maidenhood Miss Jane Spur- geon, was the mother of Mrs. Day and passed away when her daughter was but a child. The other children born of the union of John and Jane (Spurgeon) McCain were William, Samuel, John Neal, Van Burt and Nettie. Mrs. Day was reared by Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Page, of Nevada, Iowa, who gave her the same loving care as if she had been their own child. Mr. and Mrs. Day have had five children, four of whom are living: Lydia, the wife of Ernie Holmes, of Truro, Iowa ; and Virgil De Loss, Myrtle M. and Russell B., all at home. Leota died in infancy.
Mr. Day is a republican and has served acceptably as a member of the school board. He manifests a laudable interest in public affairs and since coming to this county has taken his place among its public-spirited and valued citizens. He is indeed a self-made man as since the early age of eleven years he has depended upon his own resources and his present prosperity is proof of his ability.
JOHN CRIDLING.
John Cridling is a retired farmer of Winterset, where he is well and favorably known. His birth occurred in Ripley county, Indiana, on the 6th of September, 1855, and his parents were Samuel and Frances Jane (Jackson) Cridling, natives of Delaware and of Ripley county, Indiana, respectively. Upon their arrival in Madison county, Iowa, they settled upon a farm in Scott township and there the mother passed away in 1877. The father died in 1884 in Dakota at the home of our subject, who was then a resident of that territory. Both parents were mem- bers in good standing of the Baptist church. The record of their nine children is as follows : William died in infancy ; Mary is also deceased ; Amos married Caro- line Boyd and passed away in Missouri about a year ago; George is residing in Kansas ; Margaret passed away in Scott township two weeks after the death of her
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mother; Samuel is living in California; Diana, who became the wife of F. M. Crawford, was killed by falling from a street car in Kansas City; John, of this review, is the next in order of birth; anid Mary E. died in infancy.
John Cridling was a child of nine years when the family removed from Indi- ana to Clinton county, Iowa, where they remained four years and then removed to Clay county, Illinois, but in 1870 came to Madison county, Iowa. The children became scattered after the mother's death in 1877, and our subject and his broth- ers farmed in Pottawattamie county, this state, for a few years. Subsequent to his marriage Mr. Cridling removed to De Kalb county, Missouri, and thence to Worth county, that state, where he bought land. Still later he went to Holt county, Nebraska, and entered a quarter section of land, which he proved up and subsequently traded for land in Dakota, upon which he lived for some time. In 1891 he came back to Madison county and purchased the J. W. Beem farm in Scott township. He later bought a farm in Douglas township and until his retire- ment utilized his energies in the cultivation of the fields and the care of stock. For the last twelve years he has lived retired in a comfortable home in Winterset. He still owns eighty acres of land in Crawford township, from which he derives a gratifying addition to his income.
Mr. Cridling was married in Madison county to Miss Laura Ann Evans, who was born in Kansas on the 6th of December, 1858, and is a daughter of Henry Evans, an account of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Crid- ling have three children : Sarah Frances, the wife of Sale Darnall, of Winterset, by whom she has a son, Harold ; Ethel, the wife of Fred Clopton, a farmer of Mon- roe township, by whom she has three children, Agnes, Alice Lovina and Laura Ruth; and Mary E., who gave her hand in marriage to Fred Wilkinson, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
Mr. Cridling's political adherence is given to the democratic party and lie takes a commendable interest in matters of public concern. His life has been one of useful activity and has conformed to high standards of morality, and his last years are being spent in honorable and well deserved retirement.
H. C. IRVIN, M. D.
Dr. H. C. Irvin has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine at Earl- ham for the past quarter of a century and enjoys an enviable reputation as a successful and skilled representative of the profession. His birth occurred in Laporte, Indiana, on the 4th of August, 1868, his parents being James F. and Martha E. (Andrews) Irvin, who were natives of Ohio and Indiana respectively. The father, who completed a medical course by graduation in Philadelphia in 1854, took up his abode at Laporte, Indiana, in a very early day and there re- mained in the active practice of his profession until 1868. In that year he came to Iowa and opened an office in Adel, Dallas county, where he was continuously engaged in practice for seventeen years. Subsequently he spent fifteen years as a physician of Earlham and then removed to Des Moines, where he remained in practice for twelve years, or until his demise, which occurred in September,
DR. H. C. IRVIN
A. 01 TILD R
L
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1909, when he had attained the age of eighty-two years. His wife passed away on the 24th of January, 1896.
H. C. Irvin pursued a high-school course in Adel and afterward spent two years in the study of medicine under the direction of his father, then entering the Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri at St. Louis, from which insti- tution he was graduated with the class of 1890. In March of that year he began practice in association with his father at Earlham, which town has since remained the scene of his professional labors. He has demonstrated his skill and ability in the successful treatment of many difficult cases and an extensive and grati- fying practice has therefore been accorded him. He belongs to the Iowa State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and acts as city physi- cian and health officer, having thus ably served for several years.
Dr. Irvin has been married twice. In September, 1889, he wedded Miss Hen- rietta Vittinghoff, her father being William Vittinghoff, a native of Germany and a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, where he was engaged in the undertaking and livery business for a number of years and where he passed away in 1911. To H. C. and Henrietta (Vittinghoff ) Irvin were born five children, as follows: Harry, who is a practicing physician of Adel, Iowa; James, a resident of Okla- homa ; and Hiram, Fred and Gerald, all at home. The wife and mother passed away on the 24th of December, 1908, and in November, 1912, Dr. Irvin was again married, his second union being with Miss Ethel Dudley, a daughter of Abraham B. and Mary Dudley. Her father went to Kansas City in an early day and was there engaged in the packing business for a number of years. He is now a coal-mine operator of Centerville, Iowa.
Dr. Irvin gives his political allegiance to the democracy, loyally supporting the men and measures of that party at the polls. He has not allied himself with any particular church but is a man of upright and honorable life who guides his actions by the Golden Rule. He enjoys an enviable reputation in both profes- sional and social circles of his community and has made a host of warm friends here.
J. C. TRAWVER.
J. C. Trawver is owner of a valuable tract of land, to which he has given the name of Lake Park Farm, the place comprising seventy-eight acres, and its value may be attributed not only to the splendid improvements which are here found but also to its close proximity to the city, being located one mile west of Winter- set. For the past five years, however, Mr. Trawver has given his attention to construction work on the county roads. He was born in Edgar county, Illinois, on the Ist of June, 1850, a son of David and Elizabeth (Sheets) Trawver, the former a native of Virginia, while the latter was born in the state of Ohio. The father followed carpentry during his active business career, and both he and his wife passed away in Edgar county.
J. C. Trawver spent the period of his boyhood and youth in the county of his nativity and was there educated in the common schools. After reaching years of maturity he took up farming and eventually became the owner of one hundred Vol. II-13
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and twenty acres in Edgar county, Illinois. In 1901 he came to Iowa, spending the succeeding two years on a farm which he rented near Clarinda, Page county. He then came to Madison county and spent one year on a farm in Union town- ship, after which he spent two years in farming in Douglas township, this county. On the expiration of that period he purchased land in Lincoln township, where he farmed for four years, when he traded that place for his present property of seventy-eight acres in the same township, known as Lake Park Farm. Here he occupies a modern and substantial country home, surrounded by good outbuild- ings, and the general appearance of his place is indicative of the enterprise and thrift of its owner. He is now renting his land and is acting as foreman of con- struction work on county roads, in which connection he is not only adding to his financial income but is doing a work which is vastly beneficial to the community at large.
Mr. Trawver was married to Miss Sophia Davis, who was born in Virginia, and this union has been blessed with four children : Claude, who is in the auto- mobile business in Des Moines; Harry, who is a veterinary surgeon in Clarinda, Iowa; Willard, who is now studying veterinary surgery in a Kansas City college ; and Roy, who met death by drowning at Clarinda when fourteen years of age.
Mr. Trawver gives his political support to the men and measures of the repub- lican party, while his fraternal relations connect him with the Knights of Pythias lodge in Winterset. Although his residence in Madison county is of compara- tively brief duration, he has made many friends here, owing to his genial, cour- teous manner and his honorable methods in all his business dealings.
FRANCIS M. BRUCE.
Francis M. Bruce, a retired farmer of Winterset, was born in Brown county. Illinois, on the 23d of October, 1843, a son of Richard P. Bruce, whose birth occurred in Garrett county, Kentucky, in 1818. When a young man the father removed to Illinois and engaged in farming in Brown county until 1851, in which year he came to Madison county, Iowa, settling in Lincoln township. He first rented land but by carefully husbanding his resources was at length able to buy a farm. Later he purchased land in Douglas township and held title to four hun- dred acres in all. He followed general farming and stock-raising and was very successful in those occupations. He eventually sold his holdings and removed to a place a half mile west of Winterset, where he died at the venerable age of ninety-one years and eight months. He was very popular and was familiarly known as Uncle Dicky. In his active life he was quite prominent in public affairs and held a number of township offices and was also a member of the county board for one term. He was well known in local Masonic circles, being one of the or- ganizers and a charter member of Evening Star Lodge, No. 43, A. F. & A. M., at Winterset. He was married in Brown county, Illinois, to Miss Judith A. Keith, whose birth occurred in Clark county, Kentucky. She passed away about a quarter of a century ago when about sixty-five years of age. To their union were born the following children: John R., deceased; Francis M .; Mary Jane, the deceased wife of Timothy Conner ; Kate, who is now Mrs. William Underwood and resides
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