USA > Iowa > Madison County > History of Madison County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 52
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ARTHUR E. GOSHORN
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Farmers Insurance Company of Cedar Rapids. In 1884 he resigned that position and went to Lincoln, Nebraska, as secretary of a Nebraska insurance com- pany. He has since made his home in that state and has acquired quite extensive landed holdings. In 1900 he retired from active life and is now living with his daughter, Mrs. Laura Hudson. He has always taken an active part in political affairs and represented Thayer county in the Nebraska state legis- lature. While a resident of Winterset he was a leading member of the Pres- byterian church here. To him and his wife were born four children: Robert M., who is a newspaper man of Calispell, Montana; Arthur E., of this review : Mrs. Laura Hudson ; and Mrs. Nell Paxson, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Arthur E. Goshorn first attended his father's school and then the Winterset high school, from which he was graduated under Professor Zeller. He continued his education in the State University of Iowa, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1880. In that year he went to Helena, Montana, and was employed at various things until 1881, when he returned to Winterset. He was elected teacher of the sixth grade in the city schools and made such an excellent record in that capacity that in the following year he was made principal of the South ward school and eighth grade teacher. In the same year he was a candidate for county superintendent of schools and was defeated by but one vote. In 1883 he removed to Pierce, Nebraska, and established the Pierce Times, a democratic newspaper. He disposed of his paper in 1887 and returned to Winterset. On the 4th of February of the following year he pur- chased the Winterset News, which he has ably conducted for more than a quarter of a century. It is the official organ of the democratic party in Madison county and the only democratic paper in the county. It has a large circulation and gives its readers not only all the local news of interest but also brief accounts of the more important events in the world at large. It is a force in securing community progress and advancement, as it often initiates movements for the public welfare and is whole-hearted in its support of all efforts to promote the general good. Mr. Goshorn gave his undivided attention to his journalistic work until the 2d of June, 1913, when he was appointed postmaster of Winterset by President Wilson. He is the present incumbent in that position and is proving systematic and capable, performing with accuracy and dispatch the duties devolving upon him.
Mr. Goshorn was married in 1883 to Miss Kate Shriver, a native of this county. More detailed mention of the Shriver family is found elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Goshorn passed away in July, 1911, leaving four children. Mabel is the wife of Horace G. Tate, who is in the electrical department of a large garage in Cedar Rapids. Mrs. Tate received an excellent education as after graduating from the Winterset high school she was for one year a student in Western College at Oxford, Ohio. Robert, who was born May 8, 1890, graduated from the Winterset high school and attended the State University of lowa for one year. He is manager of the Winterset News and part owner of the Iowa Theatre. Katharine is a graduate of the Winterset high school and is now taking a course in domestic science at Ames. Martha, the youngest, is at home and is attending school. In July, 1914, Mr. Goshorn married Miss Gertrude Rhodes, of Grinnell, Iowa, who previous to her marriage taught science in the Winterset high school.
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Mr. Goshorn is a member of the Masonic order, having joined that organiza- tion at Pierce, Nebraska. For twenty years or more he was chairman of the county democratic central committee and has done much to strengthen his party throughout the county. His interest in manly outdoor sports is attested by the fact that he was for a number of years catcher of the Winterset baseball team and was only beaten once from 1877 to 1884. While a student at the State University he was catcher on the university team. He invariably caught with his bare hand, never using a glove, and his fingers still show marks. He is very fond of hunting and has one of the finest dogs in the state. He often goes to Canada or to the American Rocky mountains for big game and has mounted specimens which he has killed of deer, elk, mountain lions, Rocky mountain sheep and goats, in fact, practically all kinds of big game save the grizzly bear. He is also an enthusiastic fisherman and was the first to go from this county to Northern Minnesota for bass. Many others have since followed his example. From his boyhood he has been much interested in the out-of-doors and while in the State University specialized in geology and zoology. For many years he has made a specialty of the study of the geology of Madison county and was employed by a Chicago syndicate to make a special report on the available quarry sites on all the streams in the county, which he considers the finest piece of work that he has done along that line. His life has been one of well directed activity and Madison county is the richer in many ways for his having lived in it, and the high regard in which he is held is fully merited.
MARQUIS LAFAYETTE McPHERSON.
Marquis Lafayette McPherson, as the name McPherson implies, was of Scotch descent. He was born May 29, 1822, at a place near the line between the two states of Carolina, probably within the state of North Carolina. His parents, William and Mary McPherson, with their four small sons, Oliver, Marquis Lafayette, Enoch and John, removed to Morgan county, Indiana, about the year 1830. The father in a small way was a farmer as well as a harnessmaker.
In Indiana in those days the people were poor. There were no free schools, with the result that schools were in session but a few months of the year, con- ducted by teachers who received their pay on the subscription plan. A Mr. Preston, an Englishman, taught for quite a time the country school near the McPherson home, and, being highly educated, he had much to do in directing the habits and mind of M. L. McPherson. During the school years of 1846 and 1847 he attended Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana. He then studied law, as was the custom of those days, in a law office. Algernon Sidney Griggs, a lawyer of prominence at the county seat, Martinsville, Indiana, was his in- structor in law. After remaining with him for a year, Mr. McPherson removed to Arkansas to engage in the practice of law, but after staying there two years he returned to his old home in Indiana, where he remained about a year, teaching school. His brother John had located near Carthage, Illinois, and Mr. Mc- Pherson of this review followed him. While in western Illinois he became ac- quainted with Miss Mary E. Tibbles, who later became his wife.
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MI. L. McPherson conceived the idea that Iowa was the place for him to re- side. Accordingly, without money and without friends with money or influence, he walked from Carthage, Illinois, to Winterset, Iowa, then but a village, where he arrived in the spring of 1850. He taught a term of school in the old log court- house at Winterset; he cut cordwood along some streams and split some rails, but it was not long until he had clients. He soon became quite prominent in the new republican party but although much of his time was taken up by politics he continued his law practice, which increased until he was in every suit of import- ance in Madison county as well as in a fair percentage of the litigation not only in the surrounding counties but in many of the counties of western Iowa. It has been said that he had but few equals in power with both courts and juries. He had an unusual vocabulary, his pronunciation was good, and his reading had been extensive, particularly in history and in the literature of oratory, both ancient and modern. His powers of wit and humor, of sarcasm and invective and denun- ciation as well as of declamation and reasoning and his universally high repute enabled him to hold his own, even in counties where he was largely a stranger, with a host of the old-time lawyers, and in those days there were many strong men in the legal profession in central and western Iowa. His partner from 1859 to 1862 was G. N. Elliott. His practice was interrupted by his military service dur- ing the Civil war but following his return to civil life he resumed his practice, forming a partnership with B. F. Murray. He was in many of the important cases tried in western Iowa, civil as well as criminal. In 1869 he removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and formed a partnership for the practice of law with Cap- tain D. W. Price, one of the most brilliant public speakers that Iowa ever pro- duced. In 1870 Mr. McPherson was elected district attorney for the third Iowa judicial distriet and in the following January entered upon the duties of that office. The district included the counties of Pottawattamie, Mills, Fremont, Montgom- ery, Page, Adams, Taylor, Union, Ringgold, Decatur and Clarke and his official duties required him to attend court in each county twice a year. Although his health failed him soon after he took office he attended several terms of court during the first half of 1871. In the summer of that year he went to New York city for treatment but his health was unimproved and he returned home, going in the latter part of 1871 to St. Louis, where he passed away in a hospital on the 29th of December of that year. His body was taken to Council Bluffs and inter- ment was made in Fair View cemetery.
Mr. McPherson was a man of the highest principles and was an uncompro- mising enemy of evil in all forms. He had a bitter hatred of saloons and the liquor traffic and delivered temperance addresses in the villages and at the country settle- ments in Madison and adjoining counties while living in Winterset. A few years after his arrival in this city he became a leader in the formation of the new re- publican party, which was grounded on morality and the freedom of every human being. He took part in the campaign of 1856, supporting Fremont for the presi- dency, and in 1857 he unofficially called a mass convention for Madison county of all those who were opposed to the extension of slavery and was the principal speaker at the convention. He aroused the people by declamation and by his extraordinary powers of reasoning and in a few years became one of the idols of central Iowa in the political field. He was a delegate at large at the Chicago convention of 1860, at which Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the republican
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candidate for president. During the campaign that followed Mr. McPherson worked sincerely and heartily for the election of Mr. Lincoln and was a presi- dential elector on the republican ticket. In those days the position of elector was one of great prominence and, although then, as now, it was a position of honor only, men were often selected because of ability and willingness to make a politi- cal campaign. Mr. McPherson traveled the west half of the state and delivered speeches in many of the counties and those who heard him say that but few, if any, republican orators in Iowa eclipsed him in brilliancy and power of public speech.
He was twice elected to the state senate from the district comprising Madi- son, Adair, Guthrie and Dallas counties, serving eight years. The last session of which he was a member was in the winter of 1862. That was the formative period for building railroads and the railroad committee, of which he was a member, was one of the most important committees. He was also a member of the judiciary committee. He was one of the leaders in securing legislation which gave a married woman the right to own property, to make contracts, to sue and be sned, and which gave her the same right in her husband's prop- erty as the linsband had in the wife's property at death. The legislation then adopted with reference to the rights of women has remained upon the statute books until the present day. The name of Mr. McPherson was urged for the office of secretary of state by Madison county in 1860 and in 1861 that county supported him for the nomination for congress. Five years later he was again a candidate for nomination to congress but on the second day of the convention his name was withdrawn at his request.
Mr. McPherson was with the Union army for three years, receiving the ap- pointment, over the signature of President Lincoln, of captain of commissary subsistence, his commission being dated March 6, 1862. Later he was promoted to the office of major and left the service by resignation with the brevet of lieu- tenant colonel, June 12, 1865. The greater part of the time he was with the armies in Kentucky and Tennessee. In October, 1866, he organized the first Grand Army post in Winterset and was made its first commander.
Mr. McPherson was survived by his widow, who, however, also passed away a number of years ago. A daughter, Ida, died when a child. His eldest daughter, Ada, married a civil engineer, W. R. Morley, a man of much eminence, who ran the line of the Santa Fe Railroad over the mountains in New Mexico. He was building the line of the Mexican Central from El Paso, Texas, to the city of Mexico, Mexico, when in 1883 he was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun. The youngest daughter, Mary, married Professor Schaper, of one of the German universities, who died several years ago, leaving his widow and a son.
Mr. McPherson lived a life in part of gentleness and with peace of mind and contentment, but like many men who have been active practitioners of law, he engaged in politics and public life and there came inevitable conflicts. How- ever, there was never any question as to his integrity or sincerity and even those who differed from him in opinion respected him highly. As one of the leaders in the formation of the republican party in his part of Iowa he demonstrated the qualities of aggressiveness, fearlessness and moral enthusiasm. He became known as a public speaker of unusual effectiveness and his work was an important factor in the success of his party. His record in public office was a very creditable one
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
and as a lawyer he was not only successful in a marked degree but there was never the slightest doubt of his fidelity to a client or to the calling in which he was engaged.
LESTER J. HILL.
Among those who have found farming and stock-raising to be profitable occupations is numbered Lester J. Hill, of section II, Penn township, who was born in that township on the 4th of April, 1876, a son of Benoni and Mazana (Pickett) Hill. The father was born in Randolph county, Indiana, on the 15th of May, 1844, of the marriage of Mathew and Fanny ( Diggs) Hill. Mathew Hill, a native of North Carolina, became one of the first settlers of Indiana, where he purchased land, which he operated until some time in the 'Sos, when he came to Madison county, Iowa, where his children were residing, and built a comfortable residence in Earlham. He passed away there in the late 'Sos and was survived by his widow for a number of years, her demise occurring in the 'gos. She was a native of Randolph county, Indiana.
Benoni Hill was reared and educated in Indiana and attended school until eighteen years of age, when he enlisted in Company H, Eighty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He served in the Union army from August, 1862, until the close of the war. In March, 1867, he took up his residence in Madison county, Iowa, and rented land for five years. At the end of that time he bought eighty acres in Penn township, but after seven years sold that tract and turned his atten- tion to operating a farm of two hundred and forty acres near Earlham belonging to his uncle. He was so employed for eighteen years and was a well known stockman, dealing chiefly in Hereford cattle. He was a republican and served as trustee of Penn township. His religious faith was indicated by his membership in the Friends church and all who knew him esteemed him. He passed away on the 23d of July, 1901. His wife was born on July 3, 1844, a daughter of John B. and Merab (Cox) Pickett, natives respectively of North Carolina and Ran- dolph county, Indiana. Her father removed to Indiana with his parents when but eight years of age and was there reared and educated. Upon starting out for himself he entered land from the government and before he could cultivate it had to clear it of timber. After much hard work he had his land all under cultiva- tion and his farm became one of the well improved places of his locality. His demise occurred on the 19th of August, 1897, and that of his wife on the 17th of April, 1859. Mr. and Mrs. Benoni Hill had three children: Effie, who died when eight months old; Frank, who died on the 9th of September, 1892, when twenty-one years of age ; and Lester.
The last named was reared in Penn township and acquired his education in the district schools and in Earlham Academy. When twenty-four years of age he left home and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land on section II, Penn township, which he has since cultivated and improved. He feeds considerable stock each year, usually shipping three or four carloads annually. He is not only industrious but so plans his work that he avoids all unnecessary waste of time or energy, thus receiving the largest possible return from his labor.
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On the 7th of November, 1900, Mr. Hill was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Fleming, a daughter of William and Deborah ( Kilbourn) Fleming, natives of Darke county, Ohio. In 1858 they arrived in Madison county and entered three hundred and twenty acres of land on section II, Penn township. The father continued to cultivate this land until he was incapacitated for further farm work by losing both legs as a result of freezing his feet. He then removed to Earlham, where he resided until death called him on the 28th of August, 1911. His wife died on the 27th of March, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have four children : Frank M., thirteen years of age ; Bruce B., ten years old; Gladys F., seven ; and Howard L., three.
Mr. Hill is a republican and is unwavering in his loyalty to the party that stood by the Union when it was assailed by foes. He has been honored with a number of local positions of trust, having served as township trustee and clerk. His parents were among the early settlers of the county and performed well the work that was given their generation to do and Mr. Hill of this review is doing his part to further the development of the county in the present day, thus adding to the honor in which the family name is held.
ROBERT E. PHILLIPS.
Robert E. Phillips, a farmer and stockman residing on section 36, Walnut township, is a native of Iowa, born in Muscatine county on the Ist of November, 1865, a son of George W. and Mary ( Loy ) Phillips, both of German descent. The father was a native of Virginia and the mother of Ohio but they were mar- ried in Muscatine county, Iowa, and continued to reside there until called by death. The father was a farmer and was quite successful in that occupation. His demise occurred on the 2d of January, 1907, and that of his wife in Feb- ruary, 1905.
Robert E. Phillips was given a common-school education and was also care- fully trained in agricultural work. He remained upon the farm with his parents until twenty-one years of age and then started out for himself, renting land which he operated for four years. He saved his money carefully and at the end of that time purchased a quarter section of land just across the road from the old homestead. He resided there for eight years, when he sold his land and in 1899 came to Madison county, Iowa, purchasing two hundred and forty acres on section 36, Walnut township, and eighty-three aeres on section 31, Ohio township. He resides in Walnut township and his activities as a farmer and stock-raiser yield him a handsome income. In fact he is one of the most sub- stantial men in his locality and as he displays excellent business judgment in the management of his affairs his resources are steadily increasing.
On the 5th of January, 1887, Mr. Phillips married Miss Elizabeth Windus, a daughter of Thomas G. and Orpha (Drew ) Windus, the former a native of England and the latter of Allegany county, New York. Her family was of Yankee stock and possessed the sturdy characteristics of the residents of New England. Mr. Windus was a shoemaker by trade but after his removal to Mus- catine county, Iowa, which oceurred in 1860, he engaged in farming. He re-
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sided upon his land until 1901, when he rented the farm and removed to West Liberty, where he lived retired until his death in 1904. His widow survives and still makes her home in that town.
Mr. and Mrs. Phillips are the parents of five children. Eva married Ben Allen, a farmer of Clark county, Iowa, and they have four children, Ruth, Harold, Nola and Wendell. Elmer married Catherine Patterson and is a farmer of Wal- nut township. Wilma is the wife of Fred Beeler, a farmer of Ohio township. Edwin is assisting his father with the work of the homestead. Ada married Harry Lowe, who is engaged in the garage business in Winterset.
Mr. Phillips is a republican and for seven years has served as trustee in Wal- nut township and as a member of the district school board for ten years. Both he and his wife attend the Oak Run Christian church, in the work of which they take a praiseworthy interest. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Wood- men of America of Truro and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at West Liberty. His wife is a prominent member of the Rebekah Lodge at West Liberty and is a past grand. Mr. Phillips has taken considerable interest in the business expansion of the town of Peru and helped to organize the Peru Savings Bank, of which he is a stockholder. His attention is, however, in the main con- centrated upon his farming and stockraising. He feeds a large number of hogs annually, specializing in the Poland China breed, and he also raises a number of shorthorn cattle which he sells to a stock buyer. All of his stock is of high grade and he takes considerable pride in his Percheron Norman horses. It is to such men as he, men who put into their farming operations the same energy, intelli- gence, good judgment and progressiveness that business men give to their inter- ests, that the agricultural development of the county and state is due and it is but natural that his labors have made him financially independent.
FRED C. HERREN.
Fred C. Herren, who is a member of the real-estate firm of Callison & Herren, of Macksburg, also gives considerable attention to the supervision of his farming interests. A native of Vermont, he was born on the 19th of January, 1860, and is a son of Robert Herren, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this work. When he was nine years of age he was brought to Madison county, the family home being established in the vicinity of Winterset, but in 1876 a removal was made to a farm in Grand River township, where Fred C. Herren remained with his parents until he was twenty-five years of age. He was then married and began farming on his own account. He owns land in Monroe and Walnut town- ships and his wife inherited three quarter sections from her father, on one of which Mr. and Mrs. Herren reside. Mr. Herren understands thoroughly the principles that underlie successful farming and is also an excellent business man, deriving a good financial return from his land. He is engaged in the real-estate business as a member of the firm of Callison & Herren, of Macksburg, and in that connection is influential in bringing about many transfers of realty that are satisfactory alike to purchaser and seller. Vol. II-26
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Mr. Herren was married in 1885 to Miss Allie Mack, a daughter of Dr. J. H. Mack, and they have five children: C. R., who is farming in Grand River township; Mrs. Alpha Wolf and Mrs. Glen Wolf, also residing upon farms in that township; and Ray and Dean, at home.
The parents are members of the Congregational church and Mr. Herren is a republican in his political belief. He is not indifferent to anything that affects the public good and has held a number of minor offices, discharging his duties with credit to himself. He has succeeded in business and in agriculture and is justly considered one of the progressive citizens of his township.
WILLIAM H. DUDLEY.
William H. Dudley, holding the office of postmaster at Earlham, was ap- pointed to that position in July, 1913, and has since ably discharged the duties devolving upon him in that capacity. His birth occurred in Panora, Guthrie county, Iowa, on the Ist of December, 1869, his parents being Elisha and Fran- ces (Whisler) Dudley, the former a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, and the latter of Virginia. Elisha Dudley came to this county with his parents in 1854, when seventeen years of age, and after carrying on agricultural pursuits for some time, his father removed to Guthrie county, Iowa, there entering a tract of land which he cultivated until 1884. In that year he made his way to Nebraska, where he was engaged in farming for some time and lived with his son until he passed away in 1889, when seventy-nine years of age. The demise of his wife occurred in 1904, when she had reached the ripe old age of ninety years. Elisha Dudley, father of our subject, also purchased a tract of land in Guthrie county, Iowa, which he improved and operated until 1912, since which time he has lived retired with his children, being now seventy-nine years of age. His wife was called to her final rest on the 30th of January, 1912, at the age of seventy-two years.
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