USA > Iowa > Marion County > History of Marion County, Iowa, and its people, Volume II > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
62
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
present farm, which is situated in Knoxville township, near White Breast creek, and comprises one hundred and eighty acres. It is rich and productive, lying mostly in the bottoms. He has made most of the improvements thereon and has one of the valuable farming prop- erties of his locality. He carries on general farming and stock-rais- ing and as he is energetic and progressive his labors yield him a gratifying annual income.
On the 22d of March, 1867, Mr. Fee was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Octavia Clark, who was born in Dade county, Georgia, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1844. Her parents were James and Minerva (McKaig) Clark, the former a native of Ten- nessee. They were married on the 18th of April, 1841, and in the spring of 1849 came to Marion county, locating in the northwestern part of Knoxville township, where the father entered land which he owned and operated until his death on the 19th of April, 1901, when he was eighty-three years, six months and sixteen days of age. The mother died on the 4th of September, 1853, leaving seven small chil- dren, four sons and three daughters. On the 24th of December of the following year Mr. Clark married Mrs. Marinda Miller, by whom he had seven children, three sons and four daughters. She had also been previously married and had two children by her first union. She passed away on the 11th of June, 1896. Five of the chil- dren of the first marriage are still living. Of the second family of children two died young, another daughter died after her marriage and four are still living. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Fee was an Old-School Baptist preacher. She has resided in this county since 1849 and is widely known and highly respected. Mr. and Mrs. Fee have four children, as follows: James, born in 1867, is a farmer of Knoxville township. He married Miss Cora Workman and they have three daughters, Grace B., Letha Verna and lone Octavia. Wal- ter F., born April 8, 1880, is at home. He married Emma Alberta Fisher, who passed away June 20, 1914, leaving one son, Wilbur J. Annabel, who was born January 6, 1870, passed away on the rith of August, 1873. Alonzo Everett, whose birth occurred on the 18th of February, 1875, died November 2d of the year following.
Mr. Fee is a democrat and has served in some school and district offices. He enjoys his association with his old army comrades through his membership in Knoxville Post, No. 49, G. A. R., and his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church of Knoxville. They have both resided in the county since 1849 and their reminiscences serve to make real for many of the younger generation the earlier
63
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
days in the history of this section, when pioneer conditions still pre- vailed. Throughout their long lives they have devoted their ener- gies to useful activities, have conformed their conduct to high moral standards, and in the evening of their lives they are rich in friends and honor as well as in years.
ORA LEE WRIGHT.
No history of the banking business in Iowa would be complete were there failure to make reference to the Wright family, for grandfather, father and son have been most active and prominent factors in shaping the records of the state in this regard. The work instituted by the grandfather and continued by the father, Oliver P. Wright, who is now president of the Marion County National Bank, is being carried on still further by Ora L. Wright, whose name intro- duces this review. He belongs to that younger generation of busi- ness men called upon to shoulder responsibilities differing materially from those resting upon their predecessors. In a broader field of enterprise they find themselves obliged to deal with affairs of greater magnitude and to solve more difficult and complicated financial and economic problems. To such work Ora L. Wright is devoting his energies and the excellent result achieved is a familiar one to all who know aught of his career.
He was born in Knoxville on the 13th of June, 1870, and with the usual school training of the lad of that age and period he quali- fied for the duties of later life and in 1886 entered the employ of the Marion County National Bank as bookkeeper. Parental authority was not exercised to win him advancement. On the contrary, he knew that he must win his promotion and it came to him in 1888, when, after two years' experience, he was made assistant cashier. Three years later he was promoted to the position of cashier. From that time forward his activities in banking circles have constantly broadened in scope and importance. In 1900 he organized the Lovilia Exchange Bank at Lovilia, lowa, and since it opened its doors for business on the 10th of December of that year he has been its vice president. He also organized the Columbia Savings Bank at Columbia, Iowa, of which he is the vice president, and he was the organizer of the Iowa Savings Bank at Tracy, of which he is the president. On the 25th of June, 1903, he organized the Peoples Bank of Dallas, Iowa, of which he was president, which was formed
64
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
as a private bank but was later converted into a state bank under the name of the Peoples Savings Bank. Subsequently it was reorgan- ized with Mr. Wright as its president, as the First Trust & Savings Bank of Melcher, being removed to the town of Melcher. Mr. Wright is likewise a stockholder in the Citizens Bank and the First National Bank of Pleasantville, lowa, and he is extensively engaged in the farm loan business, having a very large clientage in that con- nection. His financial interests have ever been most carefully con- ducted, for his sagacity is keen, his judgment sound and his energy indefatigable.
On the 11th of September, 1895, Mr. Wright was married to Miss Estella Dorcas Woodruff, the only daughter of Elias B. and Elizabeth Esther (Parker) Woodruff. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have become parents of two children, Esther Elizabeth and Florence Marjorie, the latter now a high-school pupil. The former, having graduated from the high school of Knoxville, is attending the Ward Belmont College at Nashville, Tennessee, where she is specializing in the study of expression.
The family is a very prominent one in the social circles of Knox- ville and Mr. Wright stands as one of the foremost representatives of Masonry in his native city. Having taken the degrees of the blue lodge, he passed on through the York Rite, becoming a Knight Tem- plar. It was in 1891 that he became an entered apprentice in Ori- ental Lodge, No. 61, A. F. & A. M. He now has membership in Tadmor Chapter, No. 18, R. A. M., and in 1894 he attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Des Moines Consistory, No. 3, A. & A. S. R. In 1896 he became a Knight Templar in De Payne's Commandery, No. 6, K. T., of Oskaloosa, lowa. In '1895 he crossed the sands of the desert with the nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Kaaba Temple at Davenport, but afterward demitted and aided in the organization of Za-Ga-Zig Temple of Des Moines, of which he is a charter member. He has held all of the chairs in the blue lodge, was master three years and since 1899 has been its treas- urer, and is a life member of the grand lodge of the state. He has held all the offices in the chapter and was high priest for several years. In 1912 he organized Melita Commandery, No. 64, K. T., of Knoxville, of which he has since been the eminent commander. In 1899 and 1900 he was treasurer of the grand lodge of Iowa and he is an influential factor in Masonic circles, being one of the well known representatives of the order in the state. He is likewise a past chancellor of Knoxville Lodge, No. 72, K. P., and has been master of the exchequer for the past eighteen years.
65
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
In politics Mr. Wright is an active, earnest republican but is in no sense a politician as regards office seeking. He has never held political office but in 1914 was elected school director. It is well known that his aid and influence have ever been given on the side of advancement and improvement and he resolutely and generously supports all those movements which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. The subjective and objective forces of life are in him well balanced, making him cognizant of his own capabilities and powers, while at the same time he thoroughly understands his oppor- tunities and his obligations. To make his native talents subserve the demands which conditions of society impose at the present time is the purpose of his life, and by reason of the mature judgment which characterizes his efforts at all times, he stands today as a splendid representative of the banker and investor to whom business is but one phase of life and does not exclude his active participation in and support of the other vital interests which go to make up human existence.
OSA BUTCHER.
Osa Butcher is devoting his life to farming and stock-raising in Swan township, where he owns a farm of two hundred and two and a half acres on section 25. His business interests are carefully con- ducted, for he knows that industry is the basis of all honorable suc- cess.
Marion county numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred October 25, 1869, on the farm which is now his home, his parents being John and Celia (Ballard) Butcher, who came to this county at an early date and were here married. His great-grandfather, John Butcher, was one of the founders of the noted Wade & Butcher Company, razor manufacturers. He was an expert mechanic and early made razors by hand.
The father of our subject was born in Ireland, March 10, 1823, not far from the city of Dublin, and he came to America in his teens. After living in Ohio for a time he removed to Iowa in 1841, when eighteen years of age, and for three years was a resident of Wapello county, his home being near Eddyville, where for a time he engaged in merchandising. In 1844 he came to Marion county, which was then a frontier district in which there was little evidence that the seeds of civilization had been planted. The prairies were covered
66
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
with the native grasses, the forests were uncut and there was much wild game and many wild animals to be seen in the district. Much of the land was still in possession of the government and Mr. Butcher entered a claim in Swan township, thus becoming the owner of the property which is still in the possession of his son Osa. He per- formed the arduous task of developing a new farm, breaking the sod and converting the wild land into productive fields. He was an energetic man, however, and there were indeed few idle moments in his life. Soon his place showed the results of his handiwork in well tilled fields and substantial buildings. He continued to operate his farm successfully until his death, which occurred March 11, 1876. Many years before he had wedded Celia ( Ballard ) Amos, the widow of Pleasant Amos, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this vol- ume. After the death of Mr. Butcher his widow removed to Knox- ville, establishing her home in the northern part of the city about 1894. There she still resides and is widely and favorably known. She belongs to the Baptist church, of which Mr. Butcher was also a consistent member, and in politics he was an earnest republican. He had a wide acquaintance and all who knew him spoke of him in terms of high regard. He, too, was married twice and by his first wife, whom he married in Wapello county, he had three chil- dren, one of whom is yet living, Mrs. Margaret Oldham, a resident of Oklahoma. Osa Butcher has one full brother, Richard, who is living near Indianola, where he follows farming. The other chil- dren of the second marriage are deceased.
Osa Butcher was reared on the old homestead farm upon which he now resides and which has always been his place of residence. He attended the district schools and mastered the branches of learn- ing taught therein. He was trained in the work of the farm and early became familiar with the practical methods of tilling the soil, so that he was well qualified to take charge of the farm when it came into his possession. His entire life has been given to general agri- cultural pursuits and he has today a valuable property of two hun- dred and two and a half acres pleasantly and conveniently sit- uated not far from the town of Pleasantville, on section 25, Swan township. He is always ready to adopt any new method which he believes will improve the farm or add to the productiveness of the fields, and he is equally successful as a stock-raiser.
On the 30th of November, 1890, Mr. Butcher was united in mar- riage to Miss Elsie C. Miner, who was born in Swan township, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Miner, now living retired at Pleas- antville. Mrs. Butcher was reared and educated there and taught
67
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
for several years in the country schools. She has three brothers and one sister; Charles, who is a merchant of Percy, Iowa; Mrs. Annie Acklin, of Des Moines; Edward, who is engaged in the real-estate business in Loup City, Nebraska; and Garfield, residing at Carlock, South Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Butcher have become the parents of five children : Dean, who formerly engaged in teaching and was for some time in the railway mail service out of Chicago but is now at home; and Glen, Emma, Mary and John, all at home.
Mr. Butcher votes with the republican party and is a stalwart advocate of its principles. He has served for seven years as a trustee of Swan township. Socially he is. connected with the Knights of Pythias of Pleasantville, holding membership in both the subordi- nate lodge and the Uniformed Rank. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity and his sons, Dean and Glen, are both Master Masons at Pleasantville. Dean is also connected with the Red Men. The family attend the Christian church, of which Mrs. Butcher is a member. They are widely and favorably known, occupying a prominent social position and enjoying the hospitality of the best homes in this part of the county.
ANDREW F. ROUZE.
Andrew F. Rouze is a progressive and enterprising young agri- culturist of Marion county, cultivating a farm of fifty acres on sec- tion 25, Clay township. His birth occurred in that township on the 18th of June, 1885. his parents being H. N. and Cordelia (Black) Rouze. The father, a retired agriculturist residing in Tracy, is mentioned at greater length on another page of this work.
Andrew F. Rouze enjoyed the advantage of a college education in his youth and remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority. Subsequently he cultivated a rented tract of land for one year and then purchased a farm in Clay township which he operated for three years. On the expiration of that period he disposed of the property and took up his abode on the farm of his father-in-law on section 25, Clay township, where he has carried on agricultural pursuits with excellent success to the present time.
On March 25, 1908, Mr. Rouze was united in marriage to Miss Bessie E. Hill, a native of Clay township, this county, born March 13, 1884, and a daughter of L. A. and Alice (Scott) Hill, the former born in Clay township and the latter in Mahaska county, Iowa.
68
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
They still make their home on a farm in Clay township, and three of their four children also survive. Mr. and Mrs. Rouze have one daughter, Freda Hill, whose natal day was June 14, 1911.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Rouze has supported the men and measures of the republican party. He has ably served in the capacity of road supervisor for three years and now holds the office of township assessor, making a creditable record in that connection. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, belonging to Camp No. 1695, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, with which his wife is also affiliated. They have always remained residents of this county and are a popular and highly esteemed young couple.
JOSEPH H. YOUNG.
Joseph H. Young, a retired farmer living in Knoxville, is a veteran of the Civil war and represents a generation of men who unhesitatingly offered themselves in defense of the Union during its hour of danger. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 9th of December, 1839, a son of John and Frances (Hargrave) Young. The father was born in Yorkshire, England, on the 23d of Novem- ber. 1812, and the mother in the same shire in June of that year. As a young man and young woman they came to this country and both settled in Cincinnati, where their marriage occurred. They contin- ued to reside in that city for three or four years but removed to Shelby county, Indiana, in 1843. The father engaged in farming in that locality during the rest of his active life and when he retired removed to Shelbyville, where his death occurred in 1890. He had for many years survived the mother, who died upon the farm in 1858. He received but limited schooling in his youth but his energy and native intelligence made him a successful farmer and he became the owner of two hundred and forty acres of fine land. Both he and his wife were Methodists in religious faith. The subject of this review is the fifth in order of birth of their family of twelve children, the others who survive being: John, a resident of Sheridan, Hamilton county, Indiana; Anderson A., of Shelbyville, that state; and Charles, of Lovilia, Monroe county, Iowa. There is also a half-brother, Mar- quis J., who lives in Shelby county, Indiana. After the death of the mother of our subject the father married again, Mrs. Martha
69
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
Ogden becoming his wife in 1861. She survived him for two years and also passed away at Shelbyville.
Joseph H. Young was reared in Indiana, his time being occupied by attendance at the country schools and the work of the farm, in which he aided as soon as old enough to be of use. In September 1861, he enlisted in the Union army, being one of the first three hun- dred thousand enrolled for service. He was with the army for three years and ten months as a member of Company D, Thirty-third Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry, under Captain E. T. McCray and Colonel John Coburn, of Indianapolis. The command was for a part of the time attached to the Army of the Cumberland and during the re- mainder of that period to the Army of the Ohio. Mr. Young par- ticipated in many engagements but was never wounded although he had a number of narrow escapes. He was, however, incapacitated by disease for about a year. Three of his brothers were also Union soldiers, one being in the same company and another in the Ninety- third Indiana Infantry, while Charles responded to the hundred-day call in 1864 at the age of sixteen years.
At the close of the struggle Joseph H. Young returned to Indi- ana, where he farmed for a year, but in September, 1866, he came to Marion county, Iowa, locating in Liberty township, near Tracy, where he purchased a farm which he operated for twenty years and then removed to Pella in order to educate his children. He resided there for a score of years but in March, 1912, came to Knoxville, buying his present comfortable home. He is nearly seventy-five years of age and can look back upon a long life of useful endeavor and worthy accomplishment. He has said: "I wish to live, no pre- venting Providence, until 'Uncle Sam' pays me thirty dollars per month, which will come to pass if I survive to December 9, 1914."
Mr. Young was married in 1870, in this county, to Miss Lavina Jolliffe, a native of Illinois and a daughter of the late Collins Jolliffe. She passed away in March, 1874, when but twenty-seven years of age, leaving a son, W. A., who resides in Pella. A year later Mr. Young married Mrs. Eliza M. Garrison, a native of Decatur, Indi- ana, who removed as a young girl to Davis county, Iowa, subsc- quently to Wapello county and finally to this county. She was the widow of Alonzo Garrison, a veteran of the Civil war and a resi- dent of Wapello county, lowa, up to the time of his death in 1872. By her first marriage she had three children: Mary Gertrude, the wife of Wallace Read of Ames, Iowa; Jane, the wife of Dr. David Christ of Ames, Iowa, where they both are practising physicians ; and Lemuel Addison, a Baptist minister of Caldwell, Idaho, and a
70
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
well known educator. Mrs. Young was sixty-five years of age in January, 1914, and her well spent life entitles her to the respect of all. By the second union five children were born. Mrs. Anna Ken- dall is residing near Bussey, Iowa; Henry, editor and publisher of a paper at Boulder, Jefferson county, Montana, is married and has two children ; J. Le Roy, a dentist of Rolfe, Pocahontas county, Iowa, is also married and has three children; Fern is the wife of Dr. How- ard Garberson, of Miles City, Montana, and they have a daughter who is now five years of age; and Eliza is a bookkeeper in the employ of the Taber Lumber Company and resides at home.
Mr. Young is a republican and is zealous in his work to further the interests of that organization. For forty years he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is active in all move- ments that have as their aim the moral betterment of the community. He keeps alive the memories of his service in the army through his connection with the Grand Army of the Republic and derives much enjoyment from his association with his one-time comrades. He has performed well the duties incumbent upon him in all relations of life and has contributed to the welfare of the county in more ways than one. His children have emulated his example and have proved efficient in their various lines of work and public-spirited in their citizenship. His son, W. A. Young, is one of the editors of this his- tory. The family name is highly honored in Marion county and stands for integrity and honor.
JOHN L. MORGAN.
John L. Morgan is a veteran of the Civil war and a well known and highly respected resident of Marion county, making his home in Hamilton. He was born in Burlington, Iowa, June 14, 1844, and is a son of Joseph V. and Anna (Scott) Morgan, both of whom were natives of Indiana, whence they came to Iowa in 1838 when this part of the country was still under territorial rule. They settled near Burlington upon a farm, and the father later entered this land from the government when it was placed upon the market and a land office opened. The most farsighted could not have dreamed of the great changes which were soon to occur, making this one of the populous and prosperous sections of the Union. The father built a log cabin, which he and his family occupied until 1848, when they removed to
71
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY
Wapello county, lowa. The following year they came to Marion county and settled upon a farm, where the parents continued to reside until called to the home beyond. In their family were five children, of whom three are now living.
John L. Morgan accompanied his parents on their removal to Wapello county and thence to Marion county and upon the home farm was reared amid the conditions and environment of pioneer life. He shared with the others of the household in all of the hard- ships and privations incident to the establishment of a home upon the frontier and through the period of his boyhood he worked in the fields and acquired an education by attending the district schools. After the outbreak of the Civil war, however, the monotony of farm life was broken for him, as he enlisted for service in defense of the Union, joining Company C, Seventh Iowa Infantry, with which he served for four years. He participated in the battle of Belmont, Mis- souri, of Fairfax, Georgia, and also in the battle of Atlanta and the siege of that city. After its capitulation he started with Sherman on the march to the sea. During his long service he was twice wounded and at Belmont, Missouri, was captured and held a prisoner of war for eleven months. He was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, in 1865, after which he returned to his home in Marion county, settling upon a farm here. He has since remained a resident of this county with the exception of a period of eight years spent in Nebraska. His work as a farmer has been attended with a large and gratifying measure of success. He has recognized opportunities and improved them to good advantage, and as the years have gone by his labors have brought to him a well merited reward.
Mr. Morgan has been married twice. In 1866 he wedded Miss Sarah E. Ross, a native of Iowa, who died in the year 1876, leaving two children: Cora, now the wife of G. W. York, a resident of Kirksville, Missouri; and Eva, the wife of J. B. Bolton, of this county. In 1887 Mr. Morgan was again married, his second union being with Miss Flora Schnack, who was born in Hamilton, Iowa, a daughter of P. A. and Susan (Barley) Schnack. Her father was a native of Germany and came to America when a youth of seventeen ·years. He is now deceased, but his wife, who was born in Indiana, still survives at the age of seventy-nine years. In their family were eight children, of whom six are yet living. To Mr. and Mrs. Mor- gan have been born four children, but they lost their eldest, Frank A. The others are Keith, at home; and George D. and Grace C., twins, of whom the latter has passed away. In early womanhood Mrs. Morgan engaged successfully in teaching school in this county.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.