USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > History of Muscatine County, Iowa, from the earliest settlements to the present time, Volume II > Part 20
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aside the active work of the fields he purchased a fine residence at West Liberty, where he has since lived in honorable retirement.
In May, 1864, Mr. Fenstermaker enlisted for service in the Union army as a member of Company D, Forty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, remaining with that command for one hundred days and participating in several skirmishes. He still maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his mem- bership in Post No. 255 at West Liberty.
In 1870 Mr. Fenstermaker was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Wells, who was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, on the 3d of May, 1847, and was brought to this county as a child by her parents, George and Eliza Wells, both of whom are now deceased. Mrs. Fenstermaker, who was one of a family of five children, is now the mother of five sons, as follows: Harry, who is still at home; Ephraim, who resides on his father's farm in Cedar county; Charles who is a resident of Bucyrus, Ohio; Sidney, living in Indianapolis; and Raymond, who also lives on his father's farm.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Fenstermaker has supported the men and measures of the republican party but has never desired political preferment for himself. The cause of education, however, has ever found in him a stanch champion and he has served as a school director. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to both the lodge and chapter at West Liberty. The greater part of his life has been passed in this portion of the state and the favorable regard entertained for him by his fellow townsmen is proof that his career has been an honorable one.
JOHN CUNNIFF.
Although over eighty years of age, John Cunniff, a respected citizen of West Liberty, now retired, enjoys a goodly measure of health and strength. He can look back upon a long life of usefulness and honor during which he has con- tributed to the extent of his ability toward the progress of his adopted state. Coming to America as a young man, he has witnessed great changes and has lived to appreciate the benefits which are the result of the many discoveries of the last half century and also of the remarkable adaptation of the soil to the uses of man.
He was born in County Galway, Ireland, January 6, 1830, a son of Luke and Sarah (Carr) Cunniff, also natives of the Emerald isle, where they spent their entire lives. There were eight children in their family : Patrick; John, of this re- view ; Roger, now a resident of Chicago; and Edward, Mary, Margaret, Hannah and Catherine, all of whom are deceased.
John Cunniff received his early education in the select schools of his native land and continued at home with his parents until twenty-one years of age, when he went to England for three years and then came to America. Possessed of a good constitution and of a worthy ambition to perform his part manfully in the world, he decided to seek his fortune in a foreign country and accordingly bade farewell to familiar scenes and turned his face toward the United States. He crossed the ocean in a slow-going sailing vessel and after landing in New York
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traveled by rail to Dunkirk, then by boat to Chicago, where he joined an emigrant train which came as far west as Rock Island, Illinois. Going aboard a steam- boat, he proceeded to his destination, which was Muscatine, and remained there for one year, when he removed to West Liberty, living in the town or in its vicinity for the next nine years. About 1864 he became a citizen of Cedar county and engaged for more than forty years as a farmer and stock-raiser. By the application of industry and good judgment he gained a responsible position in his chosen calling and attained a financial independence that would scarcely have been possible had he remained in his native land. In 1902 he took up his residence in West Liberty, where he has since remained, being the possessor of a com- modious and well appointed home, surrounded by two acres of ground.
In 1861 Mr. Cunniff was united in marriage to Miss Helen Dobson and thir- teen children blessed this union, namely : Edward, Roger, Daniel and David, of Chicago; Thomas, of Portland, Oregon; Luke, deceased; Mary E. and Sarah, also of Chicago; Catherine, of Denver, Colorado; Margaret, deceased; Luke J., of Chicago; James, deceased; and one who died in infancy.
As the head of a large and promising family Mr. Cunniff endeavored to set an example of industry, patience and perseverance and it is a pleasure to know that his efforts were not in vain. He inherited many of the genial qualities of his ancestry and a spirit of helpfulness has won for him many friends whose esteem is one of the rewards which he now receives as the result of his many kindly acts. Politically he is affiliated with the democratic party, and in religious belief he and his estimable wife give their earnest support to the Catholic church.
LINDLEY L. BIRKETT.
Lindley L. Birkett, who is numbered among the worthy native sons of Mus- catine county, has won a gratifying measure of prosperity in his undertakings as an agriculturist, being now the owner of two hundred and ninety acres of rich and arable land in Wapsinonoc township. His birth occurred on the 25th of June, 1875, his parents being Thomas and Susan (Hargraves) Birkett, the for- mer a native of England and the latter of New Jersey. The father crossed the Atlantic to the United States when about twenty-one years of age, settling first in New York. He is now a retired agriculturist of West Liberty, and a complete review of his life is given on another page of this work. He was twice married, his first union being with Miss Lucy Hargraves, by whom he had two children, namely : Lucy, the wife of J. J. Nichols; and Charles E., who is deceased. By his marriage to Miss Susan Hargraves he had seven children, as follows: Lilla B., the wife of Edward Fitzgerald, of West Liberty; Edith M., who is the wife of Charles Mosher and resides in West Liberty; Bertha I., who gave her hand in marriage to Walter G. Mosher and makes her home in West Liberty; Leslie R., who has passed away ; Vincent H., living on the old homestead; Lindley L., of this review ; and Fred T., a resident of Kansas.
Lindley L. Birkett attended the public schools and was graduated from the West Liberty high school in 1893, after which he pursued a course of study in
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the Iowa State College at Ames. When twenty-one years of age he started farm- ing for himself on the old homestead place in Wapsinonoc township, whereon he has resided continuously since. His holdings embrace two hundred and ninety acres of land, all of which he has brought under a high state of cultivation. The property is lacking in none of the improvements and conveniences of a model farm of the twentieth century and in its neat and thrifty appearance indicates the supervision of a practical and progressive owner. In connection with the till- ing of the soil Mr. Birkett makes a specialty of raising cattle, which branch of his business adds materially to his income.
In politics Mr. Birkett is a republican, while fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias. He was reared in the faith of the Methodist church. His entire life has been spent in Muscatine county and his good qualities have gained him the favorable regard and commendation of friends and neighbors.
THOMAS H. BRANNAN.
Thomas H. Brannan, city recorder of Muscatine and one of its most popular young men, was born in this city, January 23, 1883. He is a son of Judge Will- iam F. and Mary Helen (McColm) Brannan, a record of whom appears else- where in this work. In the family are two children: William F., Jr., of New York city, and Thomas H. John Brannan, the paternal grandfather, was born near Dublin, Ireland, and received a good education, becoming a school teacher in his native land. In 1822 he came to America and located at Washington, D. C., where he entered the government service as clerk in the pension depart- ment. He wedded Mary McLeod and three sons were born to them: John, Thomas and William F. Our subject's Grandfather McColm was a native of Portsmouth, Ohio, where he entered the dry-goods business and studied law, becoming county judge of his county. He came to Muscatine in 1866 and was for a number of years identified with the dry-goods business in this city. He married Miss Mary Davidson and they became the parents of the following children : Mary Helen, the mother of our subject; Louise, who married W. D. Ament and is now deceased; Frank, also deceased; Lydia, the widow of Henry D. Wycoff, of Chillicothe, Missouri; John Leroy, of Muscatine; and A. Green- ley, of Waterloo, Iowa.
Thomas H. Brannan was reared in Muscatine and attended the public schools, then becoming a student at St. Albans Military Academy, of Knoxville, Illinois. After leaving that institution he studied law in the offices of J. W. McKee and E. P. Ingham, of Muscatine, later entering the Northern Illinois College of Law, at Dixon, Illinois, from which he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1901. Desiring to pursue his studies further, he became a student in the law de- partment of the State University of Iowa at Iowa City, where he continued for a little more than a year. Returning again to Muscatine, he entered newspaper work as a reporter on the Muscatine Journal and after a short experience on that paper, accepted a position on The Nonpareil at Council Bluffs, Iowa. One more he became identified with the Muscatine Journal but, desiring to see something
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of the world, he went west and was connected with papers in Seattle and Ta- coma, Washington ; Ogden and Salt Lake, Utah. In 1907 he became city editor of the Muscatine Journal and continued in that position until March, 1910, when he was elected city recorder. This office he now occupies, discharging its duties in 'a way that meets his hearty approval of the people of the city regardless of party affiliation.
On the 18th of May, 1909, Mr. Brannan was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude L. Legler, a native of Seventy-six township, Muscatine county, and the only child of John J. and Ida (Geiger) Legler. Her parents were both born in Muscatine county, Mr. Legler becoming one of its well known farmers and stock-raisers. They are now living in Muscatine. One child, Margaret, has come to brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs. Brannan.
Mr. Brannan is a member of the Phi Delta Theta college fraternity and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and he and his wife are both identified with the Presbyterian church. Politically he adheres to the republican party, believing that the permanent interests of the country are best subserved by its principles. Having possessed unusual advantages of home training and of education and also having traveled extensively in the United States, in the course of which he made many interesting observations, Mr. Brannan has a mind well stored with knowl- edge and as a conversationalist has few superiors anywhere. Socially he pos- sesses qualities which readily attract friends and it is freely prophesied by those who know him best that in the years to come he will prove a worthy successor to his father in the estimation of the people of his native state.
PROFESSOR FINLEY MILLER WITTER.
Professor Finley Miller Witter, "for so long a time the best known and most universally and justly loved, esteemed and honored citizen of Muscatine county," was identified with the educational development of the city and county of Mus- catine for nearly a half century and ranked with the ablest educators of the state. His life work was of inestimable value to the community in which he lived and labored. He ever held to the highest standards in his profession and endeavored at all times to promote the work of the schools so that the system of public instruction should give the young people a substantial basis and foundation for the building of character and success. Moreover, his life in its various phases constituted for them an example well worthy of emula- tion. Almost his entire life had been passed in Iowa. His parents, Jacob and Rebecca (Miller) Witter, were early settlers of Indiana and subsequently became pioneer residents of Leon, Decatur county, Iowa, whence they removed to Iowa City, Iowa, in order that their sons might be educated in the Iowa University Later the family home was established at Des Moines, where the death of Jacob Witter occurred. His widow afterward returned to Leon and lived there with a daughter until her demise. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom the following are living: Matilda, David F., William L. and John P.
PROF. F. M. WITTER
THE NEW Y. ' PUBLIC LIBRA!
ASTOR, LENOX AN' TILDEN FOUNDAT
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
At the death of Professor Witter, Professor W. F. Chevalier penned the following account of his life, which was read before the Iowa State Teachers Association : "Superintendent Witter was born August 15, 1839, at St. Joseph, near South Bend, Indiana, and with his parents in 1850 removed to Delaware county, Iowa, making the trip overland in covered wagons, assisting his father in opening a farm on Elk creek. There was almost no opportunity to attend school there for four years. Again calling into service the covered wagons, the family removed to Lcon, Decatur county, where they settled on government land. A log schoolhouse was built in the neighborhood the same year and win- ter school of about four months was maintained, which he attended. In 1858, when yet a mere boy, he went as a herdsman with a division of the United States army from Fort Worth to Fort Lorraine, in the Rocky Mountains. From there he drove a team of six yoke of oxen in a train of twenty-six wagons back to Nebraska City, Nebraska. He had a rich experience among animals, buf- falo and Indians, and became familiar with the overland stage and pony ex- press. He returned to Leon in the late fall of 1858 and was soon appointed to represent Decatur county at the normal department of the State University at Iowa City. He attended an academy at Leon in the winter of 1858-59, to pre- pare for this work. In the summer of 1859 he taught a country school. Later he entered the State University :at Iowa; City, receiving therefrom the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts: After leaving the university, he taught school in Johnson county for five months, then he went to Davenport, where he served as principal of one of the ward schools for two years. He then came to Muscatine, having been elected to the principalship of the school then called No. 2. This was in the fall of 1864. He then began the organization of the schools of Muscatine, putting them upon a plane of equality with the best schools of the state. His heart was in the work. With him it was a labor of love. The Muscatine Journal fitly expresses what the citizens of Muscatine gen- erally feel toward his work in the city schools in the following words: 'The organization and the present high standard of the Muscatine schools are the result in a large measure of his ability and energetic work and are a fitting tribute to the man who through nearly half a century never lost sight of the needs of the school children and never failed to devote his best efforts to increase their op- portunities for learning.' Later he established the high school and was its first principal. The fame of the Muscatine high school under his management and tuition was known far and wide, for he was preeminently a teacher. Conse- quently in this work he was most happy. For many years he was both principal of the high school and superintendent of the city schools. In 1873 he made an extended tour of the middle land and New England states and attended the sum- mer school of natural science on Penikese Island in Buzzard's Bay, under the management of Louis Agassiz. Here he sat at the feet of this great teacher and became one of his devoted disciples. The scientific spirit and inspiration that he there imbibed, he has since transmitted to a large number of equally devoted disciples of his own. Mr. Witter's reputation in biology and geology was more than local. At the close of the winter of 1881, Mr. Witter resigned his school in this city to accept the superintendency of a coal company organized in Mus- catine, to operate in What Cheer. He spent two years in opening and operating
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coal mines. In the spring of 1883 he bought a small farm three miles from this city on the Moscow road, intending to engage in small fruit growing and bee cul- ture. The board of education in Muscatine, in August, 1885, without solicitation on his part, unanimously invited him to the superintendency of the schools, which invitation he accepted. He served the city in this capacity until June, 1901. Fol- lowing his retirement from the management of the city schools, he was elected to the position of county superintendent. He served three terms, a total of seven years."
The Muscatine News-Tribune spoke of his work as county superintendent in the following words: "He was exceptionally well equipped for the office, both mentally and morally, and never considered that politics had anything to do with his incumbency or administration. His work in the position was more than that of an officeholder. He cared more to please than to perpetuate his tenure. He loved children and children loved him, as the throngs in his office on Sat- urdays attested. His whole life had been spent in educational work, devoted to organizing and directing the teachers under him to give their best efforts to their pupils, and to increase the efficiency of the educational system. He spent most of his time visiting the rural schools (not once a year nor once in two years) but once or twice a term, and spent nights with the parents and patrons discussing plans for the further improvement of the schools. That his work and interest were appreciated was shown by the absence of opposition in the party conven- tion and splendid majorities given him at three successive elections."
Mr. Witter was an active member of the Iowa State Teachers' Association from 1863 until his removal to Mississippi in the winter of 1908. He filled various offices in the gift of the association. He was its honored president at the forty-ninth session in 1903. He was very proud of the fact that it came to him unsolicited on his part. He was at the home of his brother, David Witter, in Des Moines, the morning after his election, wholly unaware that anything personal to himself had transpired at the association, when his brother picked up the Des Moines Register and read to him the notice of his election, much to his astonishment. But this was thoroughly characteristic of the man. He was wholly unselfish and as far removed from self-seeking as it is possible for a man to be. Whatever honor came to Mr. Witter came to him because of his sterling worth. He was, also, an active member of the National Association and attended regularly its meetings in various parts of the United States. He was especially interested in the meetings of the department of superintendents of the National Association. In all phases of his educational work, he was:
"One who never turned his back but marched breastforward
Never doubted clouds would break.
Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph
Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,
Sleep to wake."
On the 10th of July, 1867, Professor Witter was united in marriage to Miss Harriet H. Cook, a daughter of George and Sarah (Brewster) Cook, of whom mention is made in connection with the biography of S. B. Cook on another page of this work. Professor and Mrs. Witter became the parents of two daughters and a son: Anna, who is the wife of Herbert Howe, of Jackson,
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Mississippi, and has two sons, Donald Witter and Joshua Brewster Howe; Nel- lie, who is the widow of Clyde Lewis Dove and resides at Biloxi, Mississippi, with one son, Wilbur Reece Dove; and Louis A. Witter, a grocer of Biloxi, Mississippi, who married Florence Morrison and has two children, Louis Finley and Mary Brewster Witter.
At his own fireside Professor Witter was a devoted husband and father and in his home love was a ruling element. There it was that his loss was most deeply felt and yet there was perhaps no one among the many students who came under his instruction that did not feel deep regret at his passing, he had done so much for Iowa in an educational way. He was one of the founders of the Iowa Academy of Science, was for a time its president and until recently a member of the Association for the Advancement of Science and the Conchologi- cal Society of Great Britain and Ireland. He became a recognized authority on conchology and was equally versed on geology and botany, in which connections he gathered many rare and interesting relics and specimens. He was also a taxidermist and his bird mountings constituted a valuable collection. The spirit of science became a paramount one in the schools and the splendid botanical, physical and chemical laboratories of the school indicated the planning and su- pervision of a trained scientist.
In this connection one who knew him well said: "But he was more than a skilled scientist, he was a great teacher. His teaching was of that type com- mended by our friend Mr. Sabin which is saturated with life-giving energy and so reproduces its own spirit in the learner and multiplies itself in many hearts. I have met many men whose hair, whitened with the frosts of many winters, still delight to make known their obligations to Mr. Witter and to call themselves his boys. I see daily a great corps of teachers, most of whom received their educa- tional nurture under him and whose spirit still lives in them. What a tribute to the worth of the man, that after fifty years of labor in one community, his spirit is still potent and multiplying itself in a host of active, capable teachers of a new generation. As these strong men were proud to call themselves Mr. Witter's boys, so just as truly are these young teachers Mr. Witter's girls. It is said that the great Swiss-American biologist, Louis Agassiz, who touched Mr. Witter's lips and life with the teaching spirit, asked that his epitaph should be the single word 'Teacher.' So were I to write the epitaph of him whose life we commemorate today I would have carved upon the memorial that marks his resting place, 'Finley M. Witter, Teacher, Friend and Guide to Teachers.'"
C. S. BARCLAY.
It is to men like C. S. Barclay, now living at West Liberty, that the live-stock interests have been greatly advanced and farming made more profitable than in earlier times. As a breeder of fine cattle Mr. Barclay attained a fine reputation in the country and now he is enjoying at ease the results of many years of ard- uous labor. He was born in Knox county, Ohio, October 23, 1842, a son of M. S. and Amy (Traer) Barclay. The father was a native of New York state but
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lived for a number of years in Ohio, coming to Wapsinonoc township, Musca- tine county, Iowa, in 1851. Here he successfully engaged in farming until 1893, when he was called to his reward. The mother of our subject was born in Penn- sylvania and died in this county in 1891. There were six children in the family : Liddie, who died in 1909; C. S., of this review; James, deceased; Preston, now a salesman of Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. Ella Reynolds, of Norfolk, Nebraska; and Cora V., now the wife of Professor Noble of Iowa State College at Ames.
C. S. Barclay received his early education in the common schools and was just preparing for the active duties of life when the great Rebellion cast its shadows over the land. In response to the call for men to defend the Union, lie enlisted in August, 1862, in Company D, Thirty-fifth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, to serve for three years or during the war and took part in many of the great engagements and movements including the siege of Vicksburg, the battle of Jackson, Mississippi ; Mobile, Alabama; Pleasant Hill, Louisiana; Yel- low Bayou, Nashville and others, also taking part in many skirmishes and hard marches under Generals A. J. Smith and Joseph Mower. He was wounded at the battle of the Old River Lake. While making a charge he saw a beautiful stand of Confederate colors just over a stone wall, and jumping the wall he started to seize the coveted treasure when a party of Confederates concealed in a clump of bushes opened fire. Had it not been for the immediate arrival of his comrades Private Barclay would surely have lost his life. He was in many dangerous positions during the war but this was the most critical that he ever experienced. At the time of his honorable discharge he was second ranking duty sergeant of his company and was acting as orderly sergeant.
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