USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > History of Muscatine County, Iowa, from the earliest settlements to the present time, Volume II > Part 30
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 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79
Mr. and Mrs. Ruess are faithful members of the Catholic church and Mr. Ruess is known as a public-spirited citizen who is ever ready to give his sup- port to any worthy object that will promote the general welfare. Politically he affiliates with the democratic party. He has never cared for the honors or emolu- ments of public office, but has served most creditably as a member of the school board.
N. M. PHILLIPS.
In the list of old soldiers of Muscatine county, the name of N. M. Phillips occupies an honored place, he having served with great credit in the thickest of the fray. He is also numbered among the prosperous farmers now living retired, and today on account of a well spent life no citizen of the county stands higher in the estimation of the community. Born in this county, March 22, 1840, he is a son of A. B. and Eliza J. (Meek) Phillips, both of whom were natives of Virginia. They were married in their native state and came to Muscatine county in 1839. The father leased a tract of land and moved with
299
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
his family into a log cabin which was covered with clapboards, had a dirt floor and chimney made of sticks held together with clay. In this primitive home the parents lived until 1858, when he purchased a farm of one hundred acres two miles south of West Liberty, to which he removed. After cultivating this place for five years he sold it and purchased another fine farm two miles southward, where he continued until his death, which occurred March 9, 1884. His wife departed this life nineteen years later, on May 30, 1903, at the age of ninety-five years. Ten children were born to them, one of whom died in infancy, and John, George, Julia, Eliza and Mary passed away after arriv- ing at maturity. Those still living are: William, of West Liberty; Solomon, of Muscatine county; N. M., of this review; and Preston, of Scott county, Iowa.
N. M. Phillips received his early education in the district schools and as- sisted his father upon the home farm until August, 1862, when he responded to the call of his country and enlisted in Company D, Thirty-fifth Iowa Infantry, for three years. The regiment was engaged in many of the great battles, among which were those of Nashville, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi ; Pleasant Hill, and many minor engagements. Mr. Phillips was also present at the siege of Vicksburg, and although he was many times exposed at close range to the fire of the enemy he was never wounded. At Davenport, Iowa, in 1865, he received his honorable discharge, and, returning to Muscatine county, he rented the old home farm, of which he later came into possession. There he lived until 1906, when he removed to West Liberty. He now owns the homestead of two hundred and five acres on sections 23 and 34. and also one hundred and thirty- seven acres on section 25, Wapsinonoc township. He made a specialty of rais- ing and feeding hogs and cattle and also of raising Percheron horses, gaining quite a reputation as a breeder of horses which compared favorably with the same stock produced elsewhere in the country.
On the 13th of January, 1867, Mr. Phillips was united in marriage to Miss Marie O'Hearn, who was born in Knox county, Ohio. Her parents, James and Mary (Hammond) O'Hearn, were natives of Ohio and Maryland re- spectively. Mr. O'Hearn died in Ohio, and subsequently his widow moved with her children to Muscatine county, where she located on a farm. She passed away in 1857. There were five children in the family, three of whom are now living : Mary F., the wife of Frank Hopkins of Chicago; Anna, now Mrs. WV. S. Hunter of Newell, Iowa, and Marie, now Mrs. Phillips. Two children have come to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Phillips: Chester A., who is engaged in farming in Madison county, Iowa; and Bertha F., wife of Dr. H. E. Martin, of Clinton, Iowa. There are also ten promising grandchildren, seven boys and three girls.
Mr. Phillips gives his support to the democratic party, and, although he has never sought public office, he has served to the general satisfaction of the people as a member of the school board. He is identified with Lodge No. 95, A. F. & A. M., at West Liberty, and Mrs. Phillips is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, being an active worker in that organization. They are both firm believers in the authority and inspiration of the Bible and are connected with the Christian church. He is a man of wide experience, a good conversationalist
300
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
and a pleasing companion. He has shown himself to be an able business man- ager and also to be the possessor of those characteristicc, without which suc- cess in life is hardly attainable. He has always been loyal and faithful to every trust and is justly entitled to a place in a work of permanent interest to people of Muscatine county.
JOHN A. HOOPES.
John A. Hoopes, the owner of a well improved farm of one hundred and fifty-four acres in Lake township, Muscatine county, upon which he has made all the improvements, was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, April 12, 1849, a son of Lindley and Mary Hoopes. He was reared under the kindly influences of a peaceable home and was educated in the district schools of Lake township, this county, and later in the city schools of Muscatine. He continued at home until twenty-one years of age and then began teaching school, continuing to follow that occupation for four years. On March 1, 1875, he entered into part- nership with his father in farming and the livestock business, and seven years later purchased the farm which he now owns, it being originally a part of the home place. Here he erected a substantial residence and a large barn, also add- ing in many other ways to the appearance and value of the place. Being a man of industry and good judgment, he has been highly successful, and is recognized as one of the substantial farmers of Lake township. In 1875 Mr. Hoopes es- tablished the well known High Prairie herd of registered shorthorn cattle. Such choicely bred sires as Prince of Denmark IV, 76965; Golden Hero, 119418; Gold Bug, 123043, having been used in the herd. The young bull, Scottish Lavender. 335284, now heads the herd.
On September 5. 1894. Mr. Hoopes was united in marriage to Miss Martha Butler, who was born in Lake township in 1858 and was a daughter of William L. and Martha A. (Baumgardner) Butler. Her father was a native of Ohio and her mother of Virginia. They came to Muscatine county, Iowa, in 1837, and were among its early settlers. Her grandfather, George Baumgardner, was also a pioneer of Muscatine county. He entered a large tract of land in Dallas county, Iowa, and was also an extensive landowner in this county. There were eleven children in the family of William L. and Martha A. Butler, and to Mr. and Mrs. Hoopes one child, Clarence B., was born. He is now living with his father. Mrs. Hoopes passed away August 3. 1895, and was buried in High Prairie cemetery. On December 29, 1897, Mr. Hoopes was again married, the lady of his choice being Miss Cornelia L. Hitchcock, a native of Lake township. who was born February 25, 1865. She is a daughter of Josiah and Phoebe Cas- sandra (Chapman) Hitchcock. Her father was born in Ohio and in 1847 came west to Muscatine county, Iowa, where he stopped for a short time, then going to California. Later he returned east to Ohio and in 1853 again came to Mus- catine county, where he rented a farm for five years. In 1858 Mr. Hitchcock was united in marriage to Miss Phoebe Cassandra Chapman and settled on his newly acquired farm of a quarter of a section in Lake township, where he made
301
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
his home until his death on the 15th of February, 1904. His wife passed away January 5, 1911. There were ten children in their family. Three children have come to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hoopes: Leslie W., J. Wendel and Ernest W.
Mr. Hoopes inherited from worthy parents many fine qualities, and in the course of an active life has contributed in many ways toward enhancing the comfort and happiness of those with whom he has associated. He and his es- timable wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which he has taken a great interest. He has for many years served as steward and trustee. Politically he affiliates with the republican party, accepting its prin- ciples as those best adapted for the prosperity of the country. His abilities have been recognized by his friends and acquaintances, and he has served for several years as justice of the peace and for three terms as clerk of his township. He is now serving as a member of the school board and, being a man of great public spirit, never withholds his support from any enterprise that he believes will ad- vance the permanent interest of the community.
EDWARD J. STAFFORD.
Among the faithful soldiers of the Civil war now living retired in Muscatine county should be named Edward J. Stafford, for forty-four years a resident of Nichols. He is a native of Ohio, born September 5, 1842, and is a son of Dr. James and Mary (Rowland) Stafford, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Pennsylvania. They were married in Ohio and remained there until the death of his wife, which occurred in 1845. There were six children in the family: Freeman, now living retired in California ; Amanda, who married Thomas Johns, of West Liberty, Iowa, and died at the age of fifty-five years; Annie and Mary, both deceased; Edward J., our subject ; and Andrew J., a car- penter of West Liberty, Iowa. Shortly after the death of the mother of these children, Dr. Stafford was married to Hannah Dickinson, also a native of Ohio, and by this union six children were born, namely : Mary A., the wife of Thomas Roland, of What Cheer, Iowa, now living retired; Thomas J., a barber of Audu- bon county, Iowa; Julia, the widow of Bert Hihbs of Victor, Iowa; Kate, who married Edward Gilbert, a farmer of Bellefontaine, Ohio; James R., a carpenter of Thornburg, Iowa; and William R., who died in infancy. After his second marriage, Dr. Stafford devoted his attention to the practice of medicine in Ohio and later in Iowa after his arrival in this state. He passed away in 1872, his widow departing this life eight years later. He was a man of many fine quali- ties and as a physician was eminently successful.
Edward J. Stafford received his education in the public schools and continued at home until he was nineteen years of age, when, on October 7, 1861, he en- listed for a period of three years in the Union service as a member of Company A, Second Iowa Cavalry. The regiment belonged to the Army of the West and participated in many of the leading battles along the Mississippi river and in the adjacent states. Mr. Stafford was present at the engagements at New Mad-
302
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
rid, Island No. 10, the battles of Farmington, Corinth, Boonville, Pocahontas, Memphis and others of importance, acquitting himself at all times in such a way as to receive the commendation of the officers of his company. He was honor- ably discharged at Davenport, Iowa, October 24, 1864. After leaving the army he followed farming in Muscatine county until 1875, when he retired to Nichols, where he has since lived. He is the owner of a handsome home in that place.
On the 25th of November, 1887, Mr. Stafford was united in marriage to Miss Anna B. Mizner, of Kansas, a native of Illinois and daughter of William Mizner. Her family removed from Illinois to Kansas in 1872 and the father is still living in that state at the age of seventy-two years. The mother is de- ceased. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Mizner, all of whom are living in Kansas except two who make their home in Iowa.
Politically Mr. Stafford is a stanch adherent of the republican party. He has held a number of offices of trust and responsibility and was postmaster at Nichols under Presidents Cleveland and Mckinley, serving a period of eight years. He was also assessor of his township for six years, township clerk for four years and justice of the peace for ten years. He filled the office of city clerk two years and was member of the council for four years. He is identified with Stainless Lodge, No. 445, A. F. & A. M., at Nichols, and for forty-three years past he has been connected with Nichols Lodge, No. 665, I. O. O. F. He has filled most of the chairs in the latter lodge and is now its treasurer. He also holds membership in the Knights of Pythias and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge of that organization, being at the present time the oldest mem- ber of the order in the state of Iowa. He and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist church, the latter being superintendent of the Junior League and an active church worker. Mr. Stafford has always been conscientious and faith- ful in the discharge of his duties, both public and private, and he therefore is greatly esteemed by his friends and neighbors and by all who are acquainted with his sterling qualities.
L. O. MOSHER.
The earliest record of any great authenticity we have of the Mosher family is found in the Manchester Court Leet records, Manchester, England. There it is recorded that on the 2d of September, 1616, William Mosyer was appointed "bylawman." In the records of the probate court, Chester,-Manchester being a part of the bishopric of Chester and all wills of Manchester and Lancashire hav- ing to be proved at Chester-it is found that the will of William Mosier was re- corded there in 1621. It is also found in the records of Manchester that there was living there from 1614 to 1620 one William Mosier, designated from 1614-5 to 1620 as a "silk weaver." and in 1619 as "gentleman." In his will made in 1620 he calls himself "a chapman," a term meaning merchant or general dealer. In his will it is shown that he was a man of a family as he names Tomasin, his wife, and two minor children, Mary, aged four years, and John, aged eighteen months It is also found in another record that a son Samuel had been buried
: منستهـ
-
MR. AND MRS. STEPHEN MOSHER
305
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
at Manchester. He had a mother living when he made his will as in it he be- queatlis to her "a piece of gold of two and twenty shillings." He also names four brothers, John, Thomas, Stephen and George. There the record of the family closes so far as is now certainly known, and to connect the family of Will- iam Mosier, of Manchester, England, with Hugh Mosier, of Dartmouth, Massa- chusetts, can only be done by the evidence of inference. Hugh Mosier was born in 1635 but where is not known. He certainly was not the son of William Mosier, but he may have been the son of one of the four brothers of William. The similarity of family names in England and in the colonies is evidence to justify the conclusion that they were of one and the same family. Of the authenticity of Hugh Mosier, of Dartmouth, there is no doubt. The dissimilarity of the spelling of the sir name of the different families is somewhat confusing as we find it spelled Mosyer, Mosier, Moshier, Mosher, but a careful study of records convinces that all had a common origin as attested by the similarity of the family names.
In America the Mosher family has an unbroken line of ancestry for two hun- dred and seventy-five years, beginning with Hugh Mosier, who was then living in Bristol, Rhode Island. The place of his birth is not known. Tradition says he was a descendant of Sir Hugh Mosier of England. In the colonial records and in the records of the Dartmonth ( Mass.) monthly meeting of the Friends is recorded the marriage of Hugh Mosier to Lydia Maxon or Dixon. This dis- crepancy in the records no doubt arose from the illegibility in the writing of one or the other of the records, as they agree as to the place of residence and the names of their children. He bought land in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1689, made his will in 1709 and died in 1713. John, the son of Hugh, was living in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1673, where he married Experience- last name not known. Tradition says she was one of a shipload of spinsters brought from Europe and traded to the colonists for a cargo of tobacco, and that they became wives to the colonists. John died August 1, 1739, and Experience, March 5, 1745. They had five children. By the time the fourth generation from Hugh Mosier came on the stage of action the family had scattered through Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York and possibly Maine. In 1794 Asa, descending from Hugh Mosier, through the line of his son John, was married to Bethiah, descending from Hugh Mosier through the line of his son Nicholas. They were married at Dartmouth, Massachusetts, February 27, 1794, and went to Granville, New York, where they made a home in the wilder- ness. There were there born to them eleven children, seven sons, namely : Obadiah, Robert, Asa, Peleg, Stephen, Joseph and John, and four daughters, Ruth, Esther, Peace and Hannah. All grew to adult age and all had families except Joseph, who died childless. The daughters all married widowers. John, the youngest son, lived to the age of ninety-seven years. The average age of these eleven children and their parents was more than seventy years.
In 1818 Asa, who followed agriculture, traded his farm for a stock of mer- chandise and with his entire family migrated by team to Marion, now Morrow county, Ohio, making the journey by team and sleds in the winter. In Ohio he cleared a farm in the beech woods, where he again engaged in farming, also in blacksmithing and milling. He lived to see all his children in homes of their own
306
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
in his immediate vicinity. The house he built on his farm more than eighty years ago is still standing and is occupied by a descendant. The nails with which it was fastened together he hammered out on his anvil. The doors were fash- ioned. railroad style, that is, they were double thick and the boards in their con- struction were placed at an angle across each other, thus making them of great strength. This precaution was taken as a safeguard against incursions of the Indians, which were liable to occur at any time. Indians were their most plenti- ful neighbors, some of them wild and some semi-civilized. One old Indian was a frequent visitor at the Mosher home and in discussing the problem of the civiliz- ing of the Indians would say: "The way to do it is for the white man to marry the squaws and the white women the Indians." There were, until recent years, orchards of apple trees all through that region, the seeds of which were planted by a character called Johnny Appleseed who traveled through the country from New York westward as a missionary. In his journeyings he carried with him a sack of apple seeds and would plant them wherever he found a spot suitable. Asa Mosher died in 1843 and his wife in 1856. While none of the family were strictly pioneers, their tendencies were ever to follow closely in the wake of the true pioneers. Being driven out of the old country by religious persecutions, they followed in the path of the Pilgrims and came to America. As the colonists spread over the adjacent country they followed. Thus Asa left the older settled portion of Massachusetts and settled in the newer region of New York. Then when Ohio became the Mecca of the settlers, he moved on to that state, from which point his descendants pushed on, Obadiah with his family of eight children migrating to Wisconsin in 1845. In 1853 Asa with a family of eight children, and Stephen, also with eight children, loaded their household goods into wagons and pushed on westward to the land of promise which was Iowa. Asa located in Warren county, where he died in 1886. Stephen stopped in Muscatine county, where he died in 1891. The other children of Asa and Bethiah Mosher remained in Ohio, where many of their descendants are yet to be found. From these cen- ters of habitation the descendants radiated to many sections still farther west and were only stopped when the Pacific barred their way.
It is now with Stephen Mosher's family we have to do. as they alone represent the family in this county. His wife, Ruth Smith, was of a long line of ancestry in America, which is lost from record save that she was born in Dutchess county, New York, the daughter of Israel and Elsy (Southwick) Smith. Her paternal grandparents were David and Mary (Yeomans) Smith. They came to Ohio at an early day where the eldest son Isaac entered a piece of land, on which they made their home. The family was much afflicted. The father for many years was blind and the three sons all died together in a well from damps. A daugh- ter, also died the same season and the mother the year following. Ruth Mosh- er's opportunities for school training were very limited, consisting of only three months all told. Her only book was a speller. But on that meager foundation she builded a liberal education, such as was attained by but few in those days. She lived to the age of ninety-one years, retaining her faculties and her interest in the world's doings to the day of her death. Mr. and Mrs. Mosher settled on a farm, long known as Edgewood, on the northern line of Muscatine county near
807
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
its western limit, which for fifty-eight years has been in the possession of the family and is now occupied by a granddaughter and her family.
Of the Mosher family there was an unbroken line of eight generations of Quakers. They were a plain people as their religious affiliations would denote and disposed to practice the simpler vocations of life, hence most of them fol- lowed agriculture and can boast with almost equal truth, like Henry Wallace, of the Wallace Farmer, that in the hundreds of years of American history there had been no officeholders among them. But in the later generations there have been many holders of minor offices of profit and trust, and some have even reached to legislative honors and one aspired as high-unsuccessfully-as to contest a seat in the national senate. On the subject of slavery they were openly known to be unequivocally opposed to it and deemed the law of human justice to be above the law of man and in that belief were persistent in their efforts to aid the oppressed African to liberty and to overthrow the iniquitous system of slavery. In Ohio they were on a line of the underground railway; some of the members kept stations on the line, while others acted as conductors, passing the fleeing slaves along from station to station on their way to safety and liberty. In the Stephen Mosher residence there was one room in which the children were at times not permitted to enter and much to their wonderment they saw plates of food passed into the room and empty plates handed out, but no explanation of this strange proceeding was vouchsafed them. Works of fiction were tabooed in that household until 1852, when Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin was published, when it was purchased, which proved an entering wedge for that class of literature to the household. Politically Stephen Mosher was origi- nally of the free soil party but with the organization of the republican party in 1856 he cast his ballot for John C. Fremont and from that time to the day of his death was an ardent republican. While as a non-combatant he could not engage in warfare, his sense of the "higher law" impelled him to aid in the amelioration of want and woe and anguish from whatever cause, and when the Civil war was waging his purse-string was loosened for the benefit of its suffer- ers, whether it were soldiers in the service or their families at home. Stephen Mosher and his wife were of the original members of the Hicksite meeting of Friends in the county and for many years the mid-week meeting of the society was at their home. This arrangement continued till the erection of their house of worship on the northwest quarter of section I, township 78 north, range 4 west, in 1862. It stood there for several years, when it was moved to West Liberty, where it now stands on Calhoun and Eighth streets and is still used as a meeting place for the remnant of the society still remaining. With the seventh generation from Hugh Mosher the religious trend of the family began to be affected by their environment and they became members of other religious orders with which they came in contact, the Methodist Protestants, the Baptists, the Bible Christians, the Presbyterians, the Disciples of Christ, the Congregational- ists, Progressive Friends, the Methodist Episcopals and perhaps others.
The children of Stephen and Ruth Mosher were as follows: Elizabeth, born October 18, 1829, passed away on the 3d of May, 1832. Lemuel, born May 25, 1831. died May 8. 1832. Elizabeth Jane, born May 20, 1833, in Morrow county, Ohio, married Isaac E. Schooley, a carpenter and farmer, the ceremony occur-
308
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
ring on the 28th of September, 1856. They settled on a farm in Cedar county. Their family were as follows: Mary, born October 25, 1857, died May 27, 1889. Stephen M., born April 2, 1859, married Louie Fenstermaker; they went to Sac county and opened a farm there; he died in West Liberty, February 3, 1889; they had one child, Claud O., who was a graduate of the West Liberty high school of the Iowa State College, in the electrical engineering department, and took a post-graduate course at Harvard; he is now in business in Pittsburg, Pennsylva- nia. Phineas M., born in January, 1862, married Nellie Crane, and they now live on a farm in Cedar county; their children are: Howard; Carl, who married Georgiana Conklin of Centerdale, Iowa, on the 22d of February, 1910; Clifford ; Harry ; Ralph; Earl; Fern and Ethel, both now deceased. Ruth, born April I, 1867; married I. D. Pownall of Centerdale, Iowa, where they live on a farm. Their children are: Paul, Everet and Elizabeth. Addison E., born in January, 1871, married Cora Stanton of New Sharon, Iowa; their child is Erma Rebecca ; they now live in Pasadena, California, where he is in the real-estate and other business. Rachel, born April 26, 1872, died August 9, 1872. Elizabeth Jane Schooley died August 9, 1892, and Isaac E. Schooley died on the 30th of March, 1903.
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.