USA > Iowa > Madison County > History of Madison County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 28
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In 1902 Mr. Wilkinson married Miss Mary Cridling, who was born in Worth county, Missouri, a daughter of John and Laura (Evans) Cridling, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson have two daugh- ters, Muriel and Bernice. The name of Wilkinson has been associated with the Vol. II-14
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development of Madison county since its earliest days and our subject is worthy of the heritage of honor left by his father and is in this day and generation mani- festing the same spirit of progressiveness, scrupulous honesty and concern for the public welfare. He is independent in politics and usually votes for the man whom he thinks best qualified for office.
ADDISON C. DOUGLASS.
Among the retired farmers and veterans of the Civil war living in Truro is Addison C. Douglass, who was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 8th of September, 1841, a son of John and Nancy ( Moody ) Douglass. The father, a native of Wales and a carpenter by trade, was married in Ohio, where his wife was born of Yankee descent. They remained in the Buckeye state until our sub- ject was nine years of age and then removed to Lee county, Iowa, where Mr. Douglass bought a farm at a dollar and a quarter per acre. After living there for a year he sold the place and removed with his family to Van Buren county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and resided several years, after which he again sold and removed to Afton, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his life retired from active work. Both he and his wife passed away there.
Addison C. Douglass acquired his education in the district schools four miles from his home and remained with his parents until August, 1862, when he joined the Union army at Winchester, Iowa, being enrolled as a member of Company I, Nineteenth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel McFarland, who was killed in the battle of Prairie Grove. The regiment rendezvoused at Keokuk and then went to St. Louis, Missouri, whence they were sent successively to Rolla and Springfield, Missouri, and to Prairie Grove, Arkansas. At the last named place there was a hard battle, in which our subject was shot in the ear and his cousin, John Douglass, was killed at his side. Mr. Douglass of this review was often under fire and participated in much hard fighting at Baltimore, Mary- land, and Springfield, Missouri. On the 5th of July, 1865, he was mustered out of the service at Indianapolis, Indiana, and received his honorable discharge. He then returned to Van Buren county, Iowa, and engaged in farming on the home place.
In 1867 Mr. Douglass came to Madison county and bought eighty acres of land on section 12, Ohio township, paying four dollars and fifty-five cents per acre. He located upon the place and devoted his entire time and energy to its cultivation. He planned his work wisely and was prompt in the execution of his plans; his crops were abundant and brought a good price on the market. He also raised stock, the sale of which added materially to his income. He resided upon his farm in Ohio township about four decades and was recognized as a progressive and successful agriculturist. As he prospered he purchased more land and ac- quired in all two hundred acres. In the spring of 1905 he rented his property to his youngest son and bought town property in Truro, building a comfortable home, and he and his wife are now living retired there.
On the 3d of February, 1867, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Douglass and Miss Mary Jane Christy, a daughter of John and Nancy (Perkins) Christy,
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both natives of Indiana, the former of Yankee descent. They were married in the Hoosier state and in 1854 removed to Missouri, where John Christy pur- chased a large tract of land. At the outbreak of the war he was driven out of his community because of his northern sympathies and lost everything that he possessed. He came to Iowa, locating in Van Buren county, where he became a landowner. Subsequently he removed to Kansas and both he and his wife died at Belleville, that state, at the home of their daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Douglass have four children. Stephen A. Douglass, who was born on the 17th of Decem- ber, 1867, is now postmaster at Adel, Iowa. He married Miss Minnie Halloway and they have two children, Carroll Christy and Eleanor Virginia. Ernest Edwin, whose birth occurred on the 27th of August, 1870, is employed in the harness shop of John Catterlin at Winterset in the capacity of manager. Fred Lloyd, who was born on the 8th of May, 1872, and is now farming in Ohio township, married Miss Carrie Phillips and they have three children, Ansel Russell, Velma Ethel and Orville Phillips. Martin Luther, born January 17, 1874, now rents the home- stead in Ohio township from his father. He is a leading stockman of his town- ship, feeding and buying stock which he ships to Chicago.
Until late years Mr. Douglass supported the republican party, but he is now independent in politics, considering rather the qualifications of the candidate than his party affiliations. He served for two terms as school director in his district in Ohio township. His wife is a member of the Baptist church and was for some years identified with the Woman's Relief Corps of Truro. While there was a Grand Army post at Truro Mr. Douglass belonged there, but after the post sur- rendered its charter he became a member of the St. Charles post. He has at all times taken a commendable interest in public affairs and his public spirit has prompted him to place the general welfare above individual gain, and he has thus manifested the same patriotism that led to his enlistment in the army at the time of the Civil war.
W. P. LOVE.
W. P. Love, senior member of the firm of W. P. Love & Company, who own a general store in Macksburg, was born in Knox county, Illinois, in 1853, a son of John D. and Phoebe (Jones) Love, natives respectively of North Carolina and of Ohio. The father removed with his parents to Indiana and thence to Knox- ville, Illinois, where he engaged in carpentering and contracting. In 1864 he took up his residence in Madison county and in addition to working as a carpenter contractor conducted a sawmill on Grand river for some time. In 1872 he re- moved to Macksburg, where he established the store now conducted by W. P. Love & Company. He was active in its management for more than two decades but eventually retired and for ten years before his demise was an invalid. He passed away on the 20th of November, 1906, and was survived until the Ist of March, 1908, by his widow.
W. P. Love was reared in Illinois and in Grand River township, this county, and received a common-school education. In 1872 he became associated with his father in the management of the latter's store and was later taken into partner-
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ship. At length he succeeded his father and has now admitted his son Clyde to the business, the firm name being W. P. Love & Company. They carry a stock of groceries, dry goods and shoes, and as their trade is good and as they manage their affairs wisely they receive a gratifying profit from their store.
Mr. Love married Miss Elizabeth Rowe, who was born in Davis county, this state, and is a daughter of Martin Rowe, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Love have five children, Clyde, Eugene, Myrtle, Onie and Ethel.
Mr. Love exercises his right of franchise, believing it to be every citizen's duty to do so, and his ballot is cast for the candidates of the democratic party. He holds membership in Fern Lodge, No. 558, A. F. & A. M., at Lorimor, and those who are associated with him most intimately know best that the spirit of fraternity is the guiding principle of his life. He is one of the progressive mer- chants of Macksburg and is a factor in the commercial expansion of his village.
JOHN S. TAYLOR.
John S. Taylor, eighty years of age, is still active in the management of his real-estate interests in Des Moines, possessing the vigor, energy and ambition of a man of much younger years. His efforts in the real-estate field have been an element in the city's development and improvement as well as a source of indi- vidual success. He laid out Taylor Park, an attractive residence district, and there he now resides, his home being at Forty-second street and John Lynde road. He was born in Addison county, Vermont, February 20, 1835, a son of N. S. Tay- lor, who was also a native of Vermont, where he was reared. When about twen- ty-eight or thirty years of age N. S. Taylor removed to Cleveland, Ohio, by wagon and in that state engaged in farming, remaining there for about twenty years, or until 1856, when he came to Iowa and settled in Madison county. He conducted a hotel in Winterset for a time but afterward removed to Adair, Iowa, where he conducted a stage station until elected county judge. He afterward served as county auditor for several terms and made a most creditable record in public office. His political allegiance was given to the whig party in his early life. When the question of slavery became a paramount issue before the people he was an abolitionist and afterward a freesoiler and when the republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery into the north he joined its ranks. For many years he remained a most active and prominent political worker and he served as justice of the peace until ninety years of age. His death occurred in Casey, Iowa, when he had reached the age of ninety-four. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Naomi Streeter, was a native of New York, where she was reared. She with her husband came to Iowa in 1856 from Ohio, making the trip by wagon, and she died at Fontanelle, Iowa, at the age of eighty-five years. By her marriage she had become the mother of six children.
John S. Taylor, the third in order of birth, was but a child when the family removed to Ohio. Upon the home farm he was reared and when about eleven years of age he entered Berea College, near Cleveland, where he continued his studies until he reached the age of twenty years, his parents having removed to
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that locality in order to educate their children. In 1855 he made his way west- ward to Chicago and drove a team from there to Burlington, where he got an order to go to Keokuk and get a load of groceries for J. G. Vawter, of Winterset. There were no bridges at that time and teaming was much more difficult than in this age of well built bridges and improved roads. Mr. Taylor afterward engaged in clerking in the store of Mr. Vawter, of Winterset, for a time and subsequently was sent by him to Nebraska to look after his interests in that state, where for several years he occupied a most responsible position. He was only a boy in years and moreover he had to conduct the business during the troublous times following the financial panic of 1857. Soon afterward he began operating in stock and ran a freight train to Colorado, outfitting in the spring at Omaha. He continued freighting during the period of gold excitement through the summer seasons and during the winter months he taught school in Winterset and Madison county for several years. In 1865 he made his last freighting trip, for soon after- ward he purchased a farm in Madison township, Madison county, and engaged in the cultivation of the soil and in the stock business. He engaged extensively in feeding horses, cattle and hogs and he raised many Herefords, having a large herd for those days. He became a very prominent stock raiser, dealer and shipper, conducting business at Winterset for many years. He remained upon the farm for seven years and then took up his abode in the city of Winterset, from which point he managed his farm and live-stock business. He also embarked in the mercantile business with a partner, the firm of Pitzer & Taylor continuing for several years. He was likewise proprietor of a livery stable in Winterset, em- ploying a number of capable and responsible men to assist him in the various branches of his business. He continued his merchandising, his farm and his live-stock business in and near Winterset for many years and met with a most creditable and gratifying measure of prosperity in his undertakings.
In 1884 Mr. Taylor removed to Des Moines but still retained his farms and continued to cultivate them and to feed and sell stock. After taking up his abode in the capital city he began dealing in real estate and he was also proprietor of a grocery store there for two years and of another at Earlham, Madison county. Several years ago, however, he disposed of his mercantile interests. During the early period of his residence in Des Moines he purchased acreage property and he owned the ground where Grant Park is now located. 'He sold in lots one hun- dred and ninety-two acres known as Thompson's Bend and at one time he was the owner of Union Park and the grounds of the Gun Club and the ball park. He had a large tract of land known as Taylor Park, which he divided and sold in town lots, transforming it into a fine residence district. He also handled consid- erable property in the downtown district, buying and selling. He still retains the ownership of acreage property at Twenty-ninth and Tiffin streets and owns considerable other city realty. He has been very successful and is still an active and prominent real-estate dealer, devoting his time now to the collection of his rents and to the supervision of his interests. Although he is now past eighty years of age, he is still hale and hearty and is as active as most men at sixty-five.
On the 20th of January, 1861, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Etna Bennett, who was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, January 3, 1841, a daughter of Jacob Bennett, a pioneer of Madison township, Madison county, Iowa, mention of whom is found elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Taylor was reared in Madison
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township and also survives. They never had any children of their own but have educated seven girls and five boys, providing liberal intellectual training for them. It must be a matter of immense satisfaction to them that they have so liberally provided for young people in a manner that will enable them to make the most of life.
In politics Mr. Taylor is a stanch republican and although he has often been solicited to accept the candidacy for office he has always declined. He was made a Mason at De Soto, Iowa, in 1868, and later took a demit to Evening Star Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Winterset. He also joined the Royal Arch chapter, the Knight Templar commandery and the consistory of Des Moines. He is likewise a charter member of the Mystic Shrine and of the Eastern Star of Des Moines, and Mrs. Taylor was the first elected matron of the Eastern Star chapter, being called to that office in 1889. Mr. Taylor is likewise a charter member of the Masonic Vet- erans Association of Iowa. Before the Civil war Mr. Taylor took an active part in the movement whereby many negroes were conveyed northward secretly and at night from one point to another until they were able to win freedom in Canada. This system was known as the underground railway and Mr. Taylor did much to aid various slaves to escape. His influence has always been on the side of prog- ress and improvement, of reform and of right; and his has been an upright, hon- orable life, which has gained for him the enduring regard of many friends. Wherever he is known he is held in high esteem and most of all where he is best known. Today at the venerable age of eighty years he is still numbered among Des Moines' representative business men and citizens and his life record should put to shame many a man who, grown weary of the struggles and hardships of life, would relegate to others the burdens that he should bear.
NOEL M. BEARDSLEY.
The farmers of Madison county are, on the whole, characterized by progres- siveness and energy and such an agriculturist was Noel M. Beardsley, who was born on the 16th of May, 1831, in Ohio. When a young man he removed to Chandlerville, Illinois, where he was married. Later he became a resident of Boone county, Iowa, settling at the old town of Boonesboro, where he worked at the butcher's trade and also operated a small farm which he owned. In 1874 he came to Madison county and bought one hundred and twenty acres of land in Scott township. There was already a small log house upon the place and there the family took up their residence. Much remained to be done before the farm could be successfully cultivated and first of all it was necessary to clear it of the hazel brush which abounded and which was as high as a man's head. A year after his removal to this county he was called to Chandlerville, Illinois, by the death of his father. He resided there for two years, settling up the estate, and then returned to his farm in this county. His crops were good and brought a good price upon the market and, as he was careful to save as much as pos- sible each year, he was able to add to his holdings from time to time, owning at the time of his death two hundred and forty acres. He improved his place, erected a fine frame residence and good outbuildings and did much to make his
MR. AND MRS. NOEL M. BEARDSLEY
A TILL R
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farm an attractive one. He carried on general farming until his health failed and for the last nine years of his life was unable to work. He passed away on the 3d of October, 1905, on the anniversary of his marriage and about the same hour of the day.
Mr. Beardsley was twice married, his first wife being Miss Julia A. Bonnet, who became his wife on the 26th of March, 1856, when about twenty years of age, her birth having occurred on the 12th of September, 1836. The marriage was solemnized in Chandlerville, Illinois, but the greater part of their wedded life was passed in this state. She died in 1869, leaving three children, namely : James M., who was born on the 31st of March, 1860, and passed away on the 27th of March, 1907 : Louis W., who was born October 9, 1861, and is living at College View, Nebraska ; and Wilamina, who was born February 18, 1867, and is now the wife of Smith Hann, a hotel man of Winterset. Three children pre- ceded their mother in death; one who died in infancy; David M., whose birth occurred on the 18th of May, 1858, and who died on the 26th of December, 1862; and Cynthia, who was born April 20, 1864, and died May 16, 1866.
Mr. Beardsley was married on the 3d of October, 1869, to Miss Martha J. White, who was born on the 29th of January, 1841, a daughter of Ozias and Sarah ( Thompson) White. The father, who was born in the state of New York on the banks of the Niagara river, came to Iowa in 1851, settling in Buchanan county, where he engaged in blacksmithing. His wife was a native of Indiana. Six children were born of the second marriage of Mr. Beardsley, namely : Sissy, whose birth occurred on the 24th of July, 1870, and who died on the 2d of August, 1870; Altha, who was born on the 15th of August, 1871, and is now the wife of Austin Reed, of Peru, Iowa; Almena, whose birth occurred on the 23d of August, 1872, and who died on the 2d of September, of the year following; Eddie, who was born May 31, 1875, and is living with his mother ; Theodore, whose birth occurred on the 26th of May, 1876, and who lives on a part of the home farm; and Almon, who was born July 28, 1880, and died on the 21st of August, of that year.
Mr. Beardsley was a democrat and served on the school board, in which con- nection he did everything in his power to secure the advancement of the public schools. He was upright and industrious and merited and received the respect of those who were brought in contact with him. Mrs. Beardsley gave him the best of care during the nine years of his illness and proved in all respects a true helpmate. She has always been a hard worker and still does her house work, as she could not be content with a life of inactivity and as she is in excellent health. She sold her share of the old home a number of years ago and now resides in a comfortable residence on North Fourth street, Winterset.
OLIVER M. ARCHER.
Oliver M. Archer, a veteran of the Civil war and a retired farmer now living in Truro, was born April 30, 1841, in Putnam county, Indiana, a son of Asa and Margaret ( Miller) Archer, natives respectively of New York and of Kentucky. The father was of English descent and the mother of German ancestry. They
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removed westward to Indiana, where the father farmed, although in his early manhood he had devoted the greater part of his time to carpenter work. In April, 1846, they removed to Monroe county, lowa, where he preempted land, and the family home was maintained in that county until September, 1892, when they came to Madison county. The father purchased a farm in South township and resided there until he passed away at the age of ninety-one years, having long survived his wife, her demise occurring in Monroe county.
Oliver M. Archer accompanied his parents on their removal to Monroe county and remained under the parental roof during the period of his minority. He attended the district schools and thus gained a common-school education. On the 25th of March, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Seventeenth Iowa Volun- teer Infantry at Albia, Monroe county, under Colonel Hallock. The command rendezvoused at Keokuk, Iowa, and thence were sent to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, where they drew their arms and embarked for Shiloh. They landed at Hamburg and in the fall of that year Mr. Archer participated in the following engagements : Corinth, Iuka and Wilson's Creek. During the charge at Corinth he was so badly jarred by a cannon that he was left on the battlefield as dead. One of the members of his company, detailed to bury the dead, noticed him move and took him to the hospital. He was unconscious for three days and was in the hospital three months before he was well enough to be discharged. He was reported dead and in after years when endeavoring to get a pension it re- quired six years to prove that he was alive. He was discharged at Corinth, Mississippi, and returned home but for two years was unable to do any work. As soon as his health permitted he learned the blacksmith's trade and for eight years followed it. At the end of that time he purchased a farm on Jones creek in South township, Madison county, and resided there for eleven years, after which he removed to the vicinity of Greenfield, Adair county, Iowa, living there for five years. He then returned to Madison county and purchased a farm one and a half miles south of Truro and continued active in its operation until 1906,
when he rented his farm to his two sons and removed to Truro, there living retired until the death of his wife, which occurred July 10, 1910. He afterward made his home with his children until 1913, when he returned to Truro, where he has since lived. He rents the eighty acres which he still owns, deriving there- from a good financial return. As a farmer he was foresighted, industrious and capable, and the competence that he has accumulated is the reward of his wisely directed industry.
Mr. Archer was married in 1865 to Miss Sarah Jane Hinkle. To this union were born four sons: Dalbert Henry, a stockman of Hanley, Iowa, married Miss Venice Alcock, and has one child, Raymond Edward. Gabriel Lewes, who is en- gaged in the real-estate and insurance business in St. Charles, lowa, married Miss Hattie Houston, and has four children, Hazel, Frank, Gwendolyn and Margaret. Noah Oliver, a lumber dealer of Truro, being a member of the firm of Atkinson & Archer, affiliated with the Truro Lumber Company, married Miss Maude Scott. John William, a well known farmer of Ohio township, married Miss Henrietta Larrington, by whom he has a daughter, Dorothy Ruth.
Mr. Archer was married in 1914 to Mrs. Jennie ( McDonald) Scholes, the widow of G. W. Scholes, a harnessmaker of Victor, Iowa. Her parents were William and Jane (Drake) McDonald, both natives of Ohio, the former of Irish
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descent and the latter of German and Welsh stock. They were married in 1868 and two years later located in Dixon county, Nebraska, where the father engaged in farming near Ponca. They continued to reside there until death, the demise of the father occurring in 1877, and that of the mother in 1878.
Mr. Archer is a republican and steadfast in his devotion to the party prin- ciples. Both he and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and he also holds membership in the Masonic blue lodge at Truro. He helped to organize the Grand Army of the Republic Post at that place and for seven years served as commander. After the post there was discontinued he joined the one at St. Charles, of which he is now a member, and his wife is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps of that place. Mr. Archer has always taken the keenest interest in everything relating to the Grand Army of the Republic and feels that it would be a great loss to the nation if the story of the heroic deeds of the Civil war should ever be suffered to be forgotten. He was a personal friend of General U. S. Grant and often visited him at his headquarters and has always been his sincere admirer. He says of him that he was "an ideal commander-good to his men." Mr. Archer has at all times realized that a man's duty to his country does not consist alone in fighting her battles, but that patriotism may be expressed in the conscientious use of the ballot and in the faithful performance of everyday duty and he has discharged his obligations as a citizen in time of peace as fully as he did in time of war.
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