History of Page County, Iowa : also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county, Vol. II, Part 21

Author: Kershaw, W. L
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 656


USA > Iowa > Page County > History of Page County, Iowa : also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county, Vol. II > Part 21


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Norman W. Cline, who was a little lad of eight years when he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Boone county, Iowa, there remained until 1877, when he made his way to Kansas. In that state he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he successfully operated for a year and a half and then sold the property for six hundred dollars. In 1879 he took up his abode on a partially improved farm of three hundred and eighty acres in Buchanan township, Page county, and during the period of his residence thereon brought the fields under a high state of cultivation, built a dwelling and substantial farm and also fenced the place. He made his home on this farm for twelve years, devoting his time and energies to general agricultural pursuits and the raising of cattle. hogs and horses with gratifying success. On disposing of the property he bought a tract of land of four hundred acres in East River township, where he was exten- sively engaged in the buying, feeding and shipping of stock until 1001, when he sold the place. Subsequently he took up his abode on a farm of one hundred and ninety acres which he owned in East River township, making his home thereon until 1906, when he came to Clarinda and has here since resided in his handsome residence at No. 105 Garfield street. He


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was also the owner of a farm of three hundred and seventy acres in Tay- lor county, which he disposed of before coming to Clarinda, and in 1908 he sold his one hundred and ninety-eight acre farm in East River township and purchased three hundred and fifty acres of land in Taylor county, which is still in his possession. The prosperity which has crowned his efforts and which now enables him to spend his remaining days in well earned ease has come as the direct result of his earnest, persistent and indefatigable labor in former years.


In June, 1872, in Boone county, Iowa, Mr. Cline was joined in wedlock to Miss Sarah C. Phipps, a daughter of George W. and Margaret ( Ben- bow) Phipps, the former a native of South Carolina and the latter of Indiana. This union has been blessed with three children. Mack A., who is engaged in the real-estate business at Lovell, Wyoming, married Miss Maud Luker, by whom he has five daughters : May. Leta, Opal, Mildred and Carrie. George W. wedded Miss Eva Linebaugh and makes his home in Clarinda. They had four children, namely: Elva, Cleo and two who died in infancy. Nola A., the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Cline, is still under the parental roof.


Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Cline has given his political allegiance to the men and measures of the democracy and has served as trustee and school director in both Buchanan and East River townships. Both he and his wife are highly esteemed throughout the entire community by reason of their genuine worth and have won the admiration and respect of all with whom they have come in contact. Through the successful conduct of agricultural and stock-raising interests he won the competence that now enables him to live retired, without re- course to further labor, in his beautiful home in Clarinda.


J. B. RUCKER.


J. B. Rucker is a self-made man, who has worked his way up in business circles from a position as a farm hand to the owner of one hundred and fifty-seven acres of fine farming land located on section 25, Valley town- ship. He was born in Monroe county, Ohio, August 28, 1856, a son of John and Jane (Windham) Rucker, who were likewise natives of the Buckeye state, where they were reared and married. They had a family of four children but two of the number are now deceased and both parents have also departed this life.


It was in 1882 that J. B. Rucker of this review made a permanent loca- tion in Page county, he being then a young man of about twenty-six years. He had acquired his education in the common schools of his native state. When he started out on his own account he sought a location in the west, believing that the newer districts offered better opportunities than the more thickly settled eastern country. Accordingly, as above stated, he came to Page county and for three years worked as a farm hand. During this


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time he carefully saved his earnings, for the object uppermost in his mind was to become the owner of land, and with this as an incentive to stimulate his efforts he worked earnestly until he found himself in possession of a sum sufficient to invest in one hundred and seventeen acres situated on scetion 25. Valley township. He has improved this place with modern and substantial buildings for the comfort of his family as well as shelter for his crops and stock, and altogether his is one of the splendid farms of this section of Page county. He carries on general farming and raises stock of all kinds, both branches of his business proving a profitable source of revenue to him.


To further establish a home of his own, about the time Mr. Rucker purchased his farm he also, in 1885, wedded Miss Emma B. Orme, who was born in Page county, a daughter of Nathan and Lucinda ( Sharp) Orme, who were natives of Ohio but came to Page county in the early '50s. The father has departed this life but the mother is still living and makes her home in New Market, Iowa. They reared a family of six children. Two sons grace the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Rucker: Allen, who graduated from the Shenandoah schools and is now on the home farm ; and Windham B., who is a student at the Western Normal College at Shenandoah. Mrs. Rucker is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.


Mr. Rucker is a democrat in politics and although he keeps himself in- formed on all public affairs he is not an office sceker. He is a man of exem- plary habits and strict integrity, one who has passed from a humble position to one of the prominent and reliable farmers and citizens of Page county.


WILLIAM L. LUNDY.


Widely known and highly esteemed in the business circles of Clarinda, William L. Lundy is conducting a real-estate, loan and insurance office in connection with J. W. Cozad, under the name of the Clarinda Real Estate Company. He has resided in this city since 1880, coming to Page county from Lacon, Marshall county, Illinois. He is one of the native sons of that state, his birth having occurred in Putnam county, Illinois, on the 3dl of March, 1856. His parents were Benjamin C. and Catharine ( Haines ) Lundy, the former a practicing physician. While spending his boyhood days in his parents' home, William L. Lundy pursued his education and then qualified for the conduct of a drug business, being admitted to that field of labor by license from the state board of pharmacists, successfully passing the pharmacists' examination in 1880. Ile then entered the drug business and for a number of years engaged in elerking in different drug stores but subsequently purchased a store which he conducted with con- tinned success under his own name for nineteen years. His business enter- prise stands as an unquestioned fact in his career. He has never regarded any position as final but rather as the starting point for new endeavor and his ready discrimination between the essential and non-essential has been


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one of the most important elements in his success. Not all of his time has been given to individual interests in business affairs, for he has devoted considerable attention to public service. He acted for eight years as city clerk, his continuance in the office being proof of the trust and confidence reposed in him by his fellow-townsmen. In 1901 he was elected county treasurer and again for the succeeding three terms, making a total of seven years in that office. He retired from the position in January, 1909, with the confidence and good will of all concerned, for in the faithful dis- charge of his duties he had proven his loyalty and capability. For a long period he has been a recognized leader in republican eireles and for three terms was chairman of the Page county republican committee. His work for his party has been of an effective nature but while he is a firm believer in its principles he never sacrifices the general good to partisanship nor does he place personal aggrandizement before the general welfare. Since retiring from office he has engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance busi- ness under the name of the Clarinda Real Estate Company and is now as- sociated with J. W. Cozad in the conduct of important interests of that character.


On the 21st of October, 1885, Mr. Lundy was married to Miss Alice C. Clement, a daughter of A. T. Clement, a leading merchant of Clarinda. They now have one child, Lorene, at home. Mr. Lundy is a member of the Masonie fraternity, in which he has taken high rank, having attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite. He also belongs to the Mystic Shrine. Few men in Clarinda are more prominent or more widely known in business circles than Mr. Lundy, for through a considerable period he has been associated with its development while by his own capable manage- ment and close application he has worked his way upward until he now occupies a place among the substantial and well-to-do citizens.


ANDREW T. IRWIN.


Andrew T. Irwin, who for many years was closely associated with business interests, his careful control thereof leading to success that now enables him to live retired in the enjoyment of well earned rest, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1833. He is a son of William B. and Jane (Ten Brook) Irwin, natives of Pennsylvania. The latter was a daughter of Andrew Ten Brook, who was born in New Jersey in 1772. Her mother bore the maiden name of Eleanor Correy and was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1776.


William B. Irwin was a blacksmith of McEwensville, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and was thus closely associated with the industrial life of the community for many years. He died in 1888 at the age of eighty years. His political allegience had been given to the democracy and for forty-five years he had served as justice of the peace, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial, so that he "won golden opinions from all sorts of people." A lifelong member of the Presbyterian church he served


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as one of its elders for many years and took a most active and helpful interest in its work. His first wife, the mother of our subject, died in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, at the early age of twenty-five years when her son, Andrew, was but two years of age. There was also a daughter in the family, Mrs. Jane Smith, who died in Oklahoma in 1903. After the death of the mother the father married again, his second union being with Mary Reeder, a native of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, born in 1839. By this marriage there were five sons: Ellis L., who was a member of the Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry during the Civil war and is now deceased; John C., who became a member of the Fifty-third Penn- sylvania Infantry and died while being held as a prisoner of war at Millen, Georgia, in 1864; James C., who was a member of the Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry and died in Louisville, Kentucky, about 1862, while serving his country ; Henry R .; and Edward P., who is living in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.


Andrew T. Irwin was reared in Pennsylvania, remaining in that state until he attained his majority. He supplemented his preliminary education, acquired in the district schools, by study at McEwensville Acad- emy, with the intention of preparing for the ministry but gave this up. Leaving school at the age of nineteen years, he afterward carried on farm- ing until twenty-one years of age, when he removed westward to McDon- ough county, Illinois, where he acted as station agent for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad at Prairie City, for sixteen years. In 1881 he removed to Shenandoah and accepted a clerkship with a grain firm- Burr & Randolph-with whom he continued for two years. He was after- ward employed by another grain firm for six months, at the end of which time he became bookkeeper in the First National Bank and so continued for five and a half years. He next became assistant cashier of the bank in Templeton, Carroll county, Iowa, after which he returned to Shenandoah and acted as bookkeeper in the Shenandoah bank for several months. He then took charge of the business of the Home Building & Loan Associa- tion, acting as its secretary for eleven and a half years, at the end of which time he resigned on the Ist of January. 1909, and is now living retired. He has led a busy and useful life and his well directed energy. thrift and perseverance have brought to him the creditable measure of success which he is now enjoying.


On the IIth of December, 1856, in Northumberland county, Pennsyl- vania, Mr. Irwin was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Everitt, a native of that county. Unto them were born two children: Kate, who is now prin- cipal of the Forest Park school of Shenandoah; and William E., who is manager of the Andrew's dry-goods store, the leading establishment of that character in Shenandoah. The family residence is at No. 402 West street and is one of the attractive homes of the city.


The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and take an active and helpful interest in its work and make generous contributions to its sup- port. Mr. Irwin has for twenty-eight years been one of the elders in the church and has also been one of its trustees. His political support is given


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to the democracy and he is much interested in the political questions and issues of the day. Ile has served as secretary of the school board since 1895 and the cause of education finds in him a warm and stalwart friend. He has been again and again called upon for official service in various con- nections and since 1888 has been honored as the secretary of the Odd Fel- lows lodge. He is much interested in literature, Dickens and Thackery being among his favorite authors, and he has also been a great reader of history. He is today recognized as a man of broad intelligence and general culture, whose life in all of its salient characteristics is well worthy of emulation and regard. Without invidious distinction he may well be termed one of the foremost residents of Shenandoah.


LEWIS ANNAN.


Lewis Annan was born near Page Center in Page county. July 14, 1863, and has always resided in this locality, making his home continuously in Nodaway township save for his first year. He is now busily engaged in the conduct of Evergreen Farm, a valuable property north of Clarinda, and is likewise conducting a successful nursery business. He represents one of the old families of the county, his parents being John and Sophia (Myers) Annan, who came here at an early date. The father removed westward to Iowa from Jackson county, Indiana, in 1855, and is now one of the most extensive land owners of the state, having about fifteen hun- dred acres which is now occupied and cultivated by his children. It is all situated in this county and comprises some of the finest farm land in Iowa. He and his wife make their home in Clarinda, his extensive realty interests returning to him a very substantial and gratifying income which supplies him with all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He is classed with the foremost citizens of southwestern Iowa and his success is the merited reward of persistent and earnest labor, careful investment and keen discrimination in business affairs.


Lewis Annan was reared under the parental roof and in his youthful days acquired his education in the public schools. His business training was received under the direction of his father, who gave to his children the benefit of his experience and sound judgment. Lewis Annan was only a year old when his parents removed to Nodaway township and he has since lived within its borders, devoting his attention to farming and to the nursery business since he attained his majority. He now conducts a farm of two hundred and sixty-five acres just north of the corporation limits of Clarinda which belongs to his father and is known as the Evergreen Farm, appro- priately thus styled because of the many beautiful evergreen trees upon it. He has conducted an extensive and profitable nursery business for the past sev- enteen years, handling fruit, shade and ornamental trees, about thirty-eight acres of the place being devoted to nursery stock, for which he finds a ready


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sale on the market, as he has made a close study of the kinds of a ees adapted to soil and climate. He likewise engages in raising Shetland ponies and has shorthorn cattle and Percheron horses. He exhibits his stock at the fairs where he has won many premiums for he handles only those of high grade. Upon his farm he has excellent buildings, including a fine home, and the farm has been brought to its present high state of perfection through the efforts of himself and his father. Mr. Annan is now a stockholder in the Percheron Association of America and in the Columbus Percheron Asso- ciation of Ohio.


On the 2d of April, 1891, Mr. Annan was united in marriage to Miss Nevada L. Behm, a native of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, born August 17, 1873. She came to this county when four years of age with her parents, William and Sally Behm. Her mother is now deceased but her father still survives and makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Annan, who are now the parents of six children, Ethel, Catharine, John, Helen, Gladys and Mary. The family is prominent socially and the Evergreen Farm is one of the most hospitable of the county, their home being ever open for the reception of their many friends. The name of Annan stands as a synonym for busi- ness enterprise and progress, for the well directed efforts of its representa- tives have gained them a position of distinction among the successful men of the county.


MRS. SARAH M. TURNER.


Mrs. Sarah M. Turner, residing in Coin, has many warm friends in the town and throughout this part of the county. She is the widow of William H. Turner, who was born in Vinton county, Ohio, August 3, 1842. and was a son of Andrew and Mary ( Dixon) Turner, who were early settlers of Vinton county. The father was a miller by trade and during the boyhood of his son William he was accidentally killed in a grist mill. so that William Turner had to assume the burden and responsibilities of supporting the family, managing the property interests and attending to the farm, for he was the eldest son. There were seven children: Nancy and Amy, both deceased ; Sarah; William II .; David; Mary J. and Andrew, who have also passed away. The mother died in 1862.


Soon after the death of the father the family removed to Stark county, Illinois, and there William H. Turner attended the public schools. He was a farmer throughout his entire life, which was a busy and useful one, his labors being crowned with a creditable measure of success. After arriv- ing at years of maturity he married Miss Sarah M. Fantz, who was born in Stark county, Illinois, and was a daughter of George and Sallie ( Spring- er) Fantz. Her father was born in Baden, Germany, and when thirteen years of age came to the United States with his parents, Michael and Eliza- beth Fantz. They settled in Ohio, near Columbus, where the grandfather rented land, he and his wife spending their remaining days there. George Fantz and a younger brother then removed to Illinois, settling in Stark


MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM H. TURNER


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county, where they purchased land. They traveled westward with a family in a covered wagon and Mr. Fantz became identified with agricultural in- terests in Stark county, where he continued to engage in general farming until his death in November, 1888. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sallie Springer, was born in Pennsylvania and was a daughter of George and Elizabeth Springer, carly settlers of the Keystone state. Later they be- came residents of Illinois. Unto Mr. and Mrs. George Fantz were born twelve children: John, who is now living in California; Elizabeth, the de- ceased wife of Richard Hare; Pollie, the wife of Joseph Armantrout, living at Duncan, Illinios; Noah, who died in Andersonville prison during the Civil war ; Andrew, who died in Arkansas ; Catherine, deceased ; Lavina, the deceased wife of Wallace Steele ; Mrs. Turner ; Henry, who has also passed away; David, who is living in Atchison county, Missouri; Ellen, the wife of Arthur Wheeler, of Ellenwood, Stark county, Illinois; and Martha, the wife of Thomas Standard, whose home is in Pomona, California.


Mrs. Turner was reared in the county of her nativity, where she re- mained until nineteen years of age and during her girlhood days she mas- tered the branches of learning taught in the district schools. She was mar- ried in Stark county, Illinois, May 31, 1868, and for a year they remained in that county, after which they removed to Iowa, settling in Nodaway county. A year was there passed, at the end of which time they went to Atchison county, Missouri, where they purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. Upon that place they lived for nine years, when they sold their property there and returned to Illinois, settling in Peoria county, where Mr. Turner purchased two hundred acres of land. Through the succeeding decade his time and energies were devoted to the cultivation and improvement of that property and on the expiration of that period they dis- posed of their interests in Illinois and in December, 1888, came to Page county, Iowa, settling just west of Northboro, where they purchased one hundred and sixty acres. Upon that farm they lived until 1899, when they again sold out and removed to the vicinity of Shenandoah, purchasing the old John Ross farm of one hundred and sixty acres. While living upon that place Mr. Turner died on the 13th of August, 1907, his remains be- ing interred in the Blanchard cemetery. Recently Mrs. Turner has sold the farm for one hundred and forty dollars per acre. Following her husband's death, she removed to Coin in 1907 and has since made her home in the town.


Unto Mr. and Mrs. Turner were born nine children: Mary, the eldest, is the wife of Peter C. Currey, living at Hopkins, Missouri. Hattie became the wife of Otto Miller, a resident of Oklahoma, and died in March, 1907, at the age of thirty-seven years, leaving two children-Andrew and Fred. Virgil O. married Hattie McGarry and resides at Vivian, South Dakota, with his wife and two sons-Olin and Virgil. Delia is an accomplished young lady who resides at home with her mother, to whom she is most de- voted ; Alice is the wife of Mark Bloom, who resides on a farm formerly owned by Mrs. Turner near Shenandoah, and they had four children, of whom Lyman and Glenda are living, while Otto and Melvin are deceased.


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Andrew married Maud McCord and with their two sons, Marvin and Tal, they reside at Coin. Marvin, who married Grace McGarry and has one son, Edward, makes his home near Blanchard, Iowa. Richard died at the age of four years and one child died in infancy.


Mrs. Turner is a member of the Methodist church and in past years took an active and helpful interest in its work. She first became a resident of Iowa in 1868 and has lived in Page county since 1888. In the inter- vening years she has become widely known and her many good qualities have won her a host of warm friends.


J. REN LEE.


J. Ren Lee, numbered among the enterprising and progressive argicul- turists of Harlan township, his home being on section 14, was born in Fremont, Nebraska, December 20, 1869. His parents were James M. and Sarah M. (Johnson) Lee. The father was a native of the province of Ulster in the county of Monaghan, Ireland, born in 1833, and when twenty years of age he left the Emerald Isle and sailed for America, taking up his abode in Pennsylvania. Subsequently he removed westward to Wis- consin and afterward established his home in Nebraska but later came to Iowa and his death occurred August 16, 1909. in Clarinda. His widow is a native of Ohio.


J. Ren Lee was the second in order of birth in a family of mme children and was but two years of age when his parents removed from Fremont to Wahoo, Nebraska. He resided with them until twenty-five years of age and through the period of his youth attended the public schools and enjoyed such pleasures as the youth of the day indulged in. He also performed such duties as were assigned him by parental authority, spending some time as clerk in his father's general store. He was qualified for the com- mercial world by a course in the high school and in a business college, from which he was graduated. When twenty-five years of age he left home and began farming in Nebraska, where he remained until 1897, when he came to Page county and has since lived on the farm which is now his home and which was formerly the property of the Rev. David Mckee. It is known as the Orchard Grove farm and is a valuable property of one hun- dred and sixty acres, on which is seen a fine grove together with a substan- tial dwelling that was erected by Mr. MeKee and two barns that were built by Mr. Lee. He carries on general farming and stock raising and also owns an adjoining tract of land, known as the Lee Grove farm, of two hundred and fifty acres. Ile cultivates both places and is thus extensively engaged in general agricultural pursuits. In all of his work he is practical, enterprising and progressive and accomplishes what he undertakes, as the result of his determined purpose and unfaltering energy. In addition to his farming interests he is known as an active factor in business circles and his judgment is sound and reliable. He is now one of the directors




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