USA > Iowa > Page County > History of Page County, Iowa : also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county, Vol. II > Part 4
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JOSEPH BURWELL.
Joseph Burwell owns and cultivates a tract of land of forty acres on section 26, Nodaway township. He has now passed the seventy-fifth mile- stone on life's journey and his record is in many respects a highly ereditable one worthy of emulation. He was born in Crawford county, Ohio, August 19, 1834, and his parents, William and Nancy ( Morris) Burwell, were also natives of that state. In 1865 they came to Iowa and the mother died in Linn county during the first year of their residence in this state. The father afterward came to Page county and here spent his remaining days. He was a farmer by occupation, always following that pursuit in order to provide for his family which numbered eight children, namely : Mrs. Mary Ann Brokaw. who died in 1909; Joseph, of this review ; Jolin, Morgan, Job, William and Thomas, all now deceased ; and Mrs. Elizabeth Worden, living in Wisconsin.
Joseph Burwell was reared in the place of his nativity, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He resided in Crawford county, Ohio, until his removal to Iowa in 1866. For a year he lived in Linn county, and then came to Page county, having made his home continuously within its borders for forty-two years. He has always engaged in the tilling of the soil and his farm is now comprised of forty aeres on section 26. Nodaway township, in addition to which he has five aeres in Gravity. Iowa, on which good improvements have been made. He has lived a life of well directed industry and thrift and whatever suc- cess he has achieved or advantage he has enjoyed are attributable to his own labors.
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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY
On the 3d of December, 1856, Mr. Burwell was married to Miss Sarah Eby, who was born in Crawford county, Ohio, in July, 1837, and was a daughter of Peter and Rebecca Eby, who spent their entire lives in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Burwell became the parents of eight children and the family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death. Their sons and daugh- ters are as follows: A. W., who resides in Gravity, Iowa; Ida R., the wife of A. J. Heniger, living in Yorktown, Page county ; Elmer M., who is lo- cated at Gravity : Emma, the wife of A. J. Walker, of Kansas ; L. W., living in Nodaway township; J. O. of Hollyville; Carrie, the wife of Frank Brokaw, of Nodaway township ; and C. A., of Taylor county. Mr. and Mrs. Burwell have twenty-seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Their three eldest children were born in Ohio and the others in Iowa. They also reared an adopted daughter, Iona, who was legally adopted. She is now the widow of Charles Heninger and resides with Mr. and Mrs. Burwell. She has one child, Cecil.
In his political views Mr. Burwell is a prohibitionist, for he believes firmly in the temperance cause and does what he can for its promotion. He was a member of the United Brethren church while living in Ohio but has become a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since living in this county. He is one of the respected citizens of southwestern Iowa, where he has now lived for more than four decades, during which period he has witnessed many changes as the county has been developed, the work of reclamation being carried on until Page county now ranks with the leading counties of this great commonwealth in all of its opportunities, its interests and its advantages.
ALFRED FRANKLIN BEAL.
Not so abnormally developed in any direction as to be called a genius, Alfred Franklin Beal however has been one of the active men of Clarinda, identified for many years with its business interests and its public concerns. IIc is preeminently a man of affairs and one who has and is still wielding a wide influence. With no aids at the outset of his career he has worked his way steadily upward until he is now at the head of one of the leading com- mercial interests of Clarinda and at once gives the impression of alertness, enterprise and strong force of character.
He was born in Union county, Ohio, September 27, 1849, his parents be- ing Jeremiah and Mary A. ( Hartford) Beal, who were natives of Pennsyl- vania and Ohio respectively. About 1823 the father accompanied his parents on their removal to the Buckeye state, and in the year 185.3 emi- grated to Ilenderson county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming for many years. In 1874 he took up his abode in Mahaska county, Iowa, where he resided until his life's labors were ended in death in 1896. He was a member of the Society of Friends or Quakers and lived his life in harmony with the teachings of that religious sect. He died at the venerable age of
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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY
eighty-five years, while his wife was but thirty-two years of age at the time of her demise.
A. F. Beal was a little motherless lad of three years when he accompanied his father on the removal from Union county, Ohio, to Illinois. He ac- quired his preliminary education in the common schools and after he had devoted a few years to business he entered the Denmark Academy at Den- mark, lowa. He also attended the Prairie City Academy at Prairie City, Illinois, and when but fifteen years of age he cut wood at a dollar per cord in order to earn the funds necessary to enable him to pursue his further studies. In 1869, at the age of nineteen years, he entered business circles while becoming identified with a general mercantile enterprise in Terre Haute, Illinois. He began doing business on credit but in 1877 changed his methods and has since carried on all business concerns on a strictly cash basis, never swerving from this rule. In 1881 he came to Clarinda, where he opened a general store, which he has since conducted and developed for a period of over forty years. He has been very successful, winning a constantly growing trade by his reliable methods and his earnest desire to please his patrons. In 1893 he erected a store building on the north side of the square, where he has since conducted his store, having now a well selected line of goods attractively displayed in a two-story brick building, twenty-four by one hundred and forty feet. His name is prominent in commercial cir- cles and has always stood as a synonym for business integrity, enterprise and successful management.
Mr. Beal has also figured in connection with other important public in- terests. In 1897 he was made a director of the Clarinda Chautauqua Asso- ciation and has been a member of the board since that time with the excep- tion of a period of two years. He was once school director but has never been an office seeker, preferring to do his public service in a private capacity. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and for a number of years has served on its finance committee.
On the 16th of September, 1873, Mr. Beal was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Foresman, of Prairie City, Illinois, a daughter of Arthur and Eliza- beth Boyd ( Hayes) Foresman, the father a millwright by trade. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Beal were born six children, of whom one died in infancy. The others are : Tacie, the wife of Dr. C. C. Klumph, of Chicago; Winifred, the wife of Marion D. Looney, a farmer of Salem, Oregon ; E. Clyde, a civil engineer, who is residing in Spokane, Washington ; George Hamilton, a teacher in the high school at Chicago; and Blanche, wife of Wilson C. Hanna, a chemist in Colton, California.
Mr. Beal is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having taken the de- grees of the lodge, chapter and council. He has also been a member of the Modern Woodmen Camp for twenty years. Indolence and idleness are ut- terly foreign to his nature. He is a man of enterprise, positive character, indomitable energy and liberal views. Throughout his life he has per- severed in the pursuit of a persistent purpose and he gained a most satis- factory reward. His life has been exemplary in many respects and he has the esteem of his friends and the confidence of those with whom he has had
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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY
business relations. Always courteous and cheerful, displaying deference for the opinions of others, yet it is known that his loyalty to his beliefs can- not be shaken.
JAMES G. WILLIAMS, M. D.
Dr. James G. Williams, deceased, who for a number of years was a successful practitioner of medicine in Braddyville, Page county, lowa, was born in Ohio on the 12th of July, 1830. He spent the period of his boyhood and youth in his parents' home and attended the district schools in the acquirement of his early education. When eighteen years of age he went to Richland, Keokuk county, Iowa, where he enrolled as a student in the high school of that city. After completing his high-school course he entered the Keokuk Medical College in preparation for a professional career. He later attended the St. Louis Medical University, from which he was graduated in 1856 with high honors in a large class. Thus well equipped to meet the duties of his chosen life work, he opened an office in Richland, where he engaged in the general practice of medicine for six years, and then in 1862 he removed to Kirkville, Iowa, where he prac- ticed until 1870.
In the early part of that year Dr. Williams came to Page county, locating , in Clarinda, where he remained for about three months, and then took up his residence in Braddyville in August, 1870. For a period of twenty-six years he remained in active practice of his profession in this city, during which time he built up an extensive and representative practice. He was peculiarly adapted to the profession which he chose as a life work and was well equipped both by training and long years of practical experience to success- fully and satisfactorily meet the demands made upon him by the large patronage accorded him. Realizing fully the obligations that devolved upon him in his professional capacity, he performed all duties with a sense of conscientious obligation and won favorable regard by reason of his skill and his personal worth. He was widely recognized as one of the leading physicians of the community and was well known in the medical fraternity throughout Page county and also lowa.
It was in the year of 1849 that Dr. Williams was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hardin, a daughter of the Rev. Henry Hardin, of Richland, Iowa. To this union were born the following children: Mary, the wife of C. W. Reece. of Sharon Springs, Wallace county, Kansas; Catharine D., who wedded J. L. Page and makes her home in Wallace, Kansas; Henry J., residing in Sharon Springs : and Harvey B., of Denver, Colorado. In 1860 the mother and wife passed away and in 1870 Dr. Williams was again married, his second union being with Miss Frances M. Comstock. a daughter of Dr. A. B. and Sarah A. (Sullivan) Comstock, pioncer settlers of Wap- pelo county, lowa. The mother had the distinction of being the first white child born in the state of Iowa.
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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY
Dr. Williams gave his political allegiance to the republican party and during his residence in Braddyville he took a very active part in public affairs, while his fellow citizens, recognizing his sterling traits of charac- ter, called him to various offices of trust and honor. He served for a num- ber of years as notary public and justice of the peace and was also elected mayor of the town. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons and the Odd Fellows of Richland, Iowa, and the spirit of brotherly kindness and helpfulness of those orders found exemplification in his entire life record. He was not only a skillful physician but was also a keen business man and during his lifetime had accumulated considerable property, at the time of his death owning a large amount of city and country real estate. He passed away on the 2d of May, 1896, and in his death the community lost one of its valued and representative citizens. His widow now resides in a comfortable home in Braddyville, and aside from the property which she owns in Buchanan township she owns one hundred and forty acres near Ottumwa, this state. She is a lady of excellent traits of character and occupies a high place in the social circles of Braddyville.
EZRA M. FLEENOR.
Ezra M. Fleenor, a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Valley town- ship, Page county, is one of Iowa's native sons, his birth occurring in Henry county on the 27th of June, 1860. He is a son of George and Elizabeth (Shidler) Fleenor, natives of Iowa and of Pennsylvania respectively, both of whom still survive and make their home in Clarinda. In their family were seven children, all of whom are living but one.
Reared amid the scenes and environments of rural life, Ezra M. Flee- nor devoted the years of his boyhood and youth to the acquirement of a common-school education and to the work of the farm. He early became familiar with the best methods of plowing, planting and harvesting, and the experience thus gained proved of inestimable value to him when later he entered business on his own account. He remained at home until twenty- four years of age, and then, seeking to earn his own livelihood, he rented land in Page county, which he continued to operate for two years. At the expiration of that time he went west to Nebraska and purchased a farm, upon which he resided for five years. He then sold that property and re- turned to Page county, where he again became a renter for three years, and then purchased the farm upon which he now resides. It consists of one hun- dred and sixteen acres located on section 32, Valley township, and is a well improved farm, Mr. Fleenor having brought the fields under a high state of cultivation. In connection with his general farming he makes a specialty of raising and feeding hogs, the high grade of which insures them a ready sale upon the market. He is progressive and up-to-date in his methods and his close application and capable management of his business affairs are securing for him most gratifying prosperity.
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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY
On the 27th of February, 1884, Mr. Fleenor was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Williams, a daughter of John and Amy ( Rogers) Williams, a sketch of whom appears on another page of this volume. She was born in England and came to this country when but five years of age. By her marriage she became the mother of four children, as follows : Ralph W., re- siding in Page county ; Winifred, deceased ; Gerene M .; and Bertha.
The parents are members of the United Brethren church while Mr. Flee- nor is fraternally connected with the Woodmen of the World. Politically he gives his support to the democracy. Aside from that he has held no pub- lic office, neither seeking nor desiring political preferment. Mr. Fleenor stands high in the agricultural circles of Valley township and his progressive spirit and his true worth of character have won him the confidence and re- spect of the community.
J. EDGAR SAWHILL.
J. Edgar Sawhill, owning and operating one of the finest and most productive farms of Page county, is thereon engaged in general agricultural pursuits and is meeting with excellent success in his undertaking. He is a well known figure in agricultural circles throughout the county, being actively connected with the Farmers' Institute and also with the experi- mental station for a number of years. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of October, 1858, a son of John and Jane ( Pol- lock) Sawhill, the former born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1812, and the latter in Ohio county, West Virginia, in 1824. The father was an extensive farmer in his native county and was the owner of several hun- dred acres. He was very prominent in the community in which he resided, active alike in church and politics, and he settled many estates throughout the county. He and his wife both passed away in Washington county, his death occurring in 1887, while she survived until 1903.
In their family were seven children, namely: Anna, the widow of J. C. McConahey, of Washington county, Pennsylvania ; Mary, who passed away in 1870: T. A., residing in Corcordia, Kansas; Elizabeth, the widow of J. M. Post, of Washington county, Pennsylvania ; W. F., a resident physi- cian of Concordia, Kansas : J. Edgar, of this review ; and Rev. E. O. Saw- hill, a Presbyterian minister of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. With the excep- tion of our subject all the members of this family received college educa- tions.
In the public schools of his native county J. Edgar Sawhill acquired his education, passing through consecutive grades until he became a student in the high school. After his graduation therefrom he engaged in general farming in the Keystone state until 1892, in which year he came to l'age county, lowa, locating in Clarinda. There he remained for one year and in the spring of 1893 he removed to his present farm in Nodaway town- ship, consisting of one hundred and ten acres of land on section 36, one mile
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Jogar Sawhill
"7
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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY
west of the courthouse. In 1907 Mr. Sawhill erected a fine large house, and the excellent barns and outbuildings which stand upon the place have all been built by him within the last ten years. The fields are under a high state of cultivation, fences are kept in excellent repair and the grounds are well kept, so that his place is one of the best improved and most attractive properties in the county. Mr. Sawhill practices intensified farming and the gross receipts from his farm are probably greater than those of any other farm of similar size in Page county. He also raises all kinds of stock and is interested to some extent in the dairy business, while he cul- tivates all of the various kinds of fruits which find a ready demand in the town. In the conduct of these various interests Mr. Sawhill displays keen business discernment and excellent management and as a result he is today ranked among the substantial, progressive and influential farmers of Page county.
His farm adjoins the county farm, whereon is conducted the experi- mental station of Page county. This station is operated by the County Farmers' Institute and Mr. Sawhill has been on the committee of this in- stitution since its organization. He has also been active in the affairs of the Farmers' Institute of this county for the past ten years and has thus gained a wide acquaintance throughout Page county.
It was on the 17th of October, 1883, that Mr. Sawhill was united in marriage to Minnie A. Garrett, of College Springs, Iowa. She is a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, born on the 22d of November 1859, and a daughter of W. G. Garrett, formerly of Washington county but now residing in College Springs. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Sawhill has been blessed with two children, namely : W. Herbert, engaged in the animal industry, being connected with the agricultural bureau of the United States, located at present in New Mexico; and Eldwin, who is yet under the parental roof.
Mr. and Mrs. Sawhill hold membership in the Presbyterian church of Clarinda and he is an elder therein. In politics he is a stalwart republican. and although he is deeply interested in the progress of the party and does all in his power to extend its influence in the community, he has never de- sired nor sought public office as a reward for party fealty. His life has been preeminently that of a business man who is concentrating his time and energies upon his private affairs in the acquirement of a gratifying measure of success, which he well merits.
HON. O. H. FRINK.
Hon. O. H. Frink is one of Page county's representative citizens who has never allowed personal interest or ambition to dwarf his public spirit. His feelings have ever found expression in prompt action rather than in theory and as mayor of Shenandoah he is now doing effective work in promoting needed restrictive, regulative and constructive measures. He
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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY
also stands as one who has been prominent in business circles, his previous activity and well directed energy bringing him the competence that makes possible his present retirement.
A native of Indiana, Mr. Frink was born in the city of Elkhart, May 26, 1848, a son of Hannibal and Eliza ( Armstrong) Frink, natives of Herkimer county, New York, and of Detroit, Michigan, respectively. They were married, however, in Ohio, to which state they had previously removed. After their marriage they began their domestic life there and continued residence in that state until their removal to Elkhart, Indiana, where the father died in 1848. He was a shipbuilder and carpenter by trade. His widow survived him for only five years and departed this life in Lafayette, Illinois, in 1853.
O. H. Frink, left an orphan when but five years of age, was reared by a guardian in Elkhart, Indiana, and remained with him until the marriage of his elder sister, with whom he then took up his abode in Kewanee, Illinois. It was there he largely acquired his education in the common schools but when only fourteen years of age he started out in the business world on his own account, being first employed at farm labor. He was but sixteen years of age when, in 1864, he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting as a member of Company A, One hundred and Twenty- fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He served through the last year of the war and was transferred from the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth to the Thirty-third Regiment in July, 1865, continuing with that command until he received his honorable discharge in November following. He was but a boy in years but his military service made him a man in experience for he had not only suffered the hardships and privations that fall to the lot of the soldier but had also faced danger and death on the battlefields of the south.
When the country no longer needed his aid Mr. Frink returned to Kewanee, Illinois, where ne secured a clerkship in a mercantile establishment, with which he was identified for six years. He then came to Page county, Iowa. He has since been numbered among its residents and as the years have passed his activities and interests have constituted an important feature in the general growth and improvement of this part of the state. He first located on a tract of unbroken prairie land near Shenandoah, pur- chasing eighty acres, to the improvement of which he gave his energies through many years, converting the place into fertile fields, from which he annually gathered abundant harvests. He became recognized as one of the practical, progressive and representative farmers of the locality and resided upon his land until 1890, when he was elected to the office of county treasurer and removed his family to Clarinda. He filled the position for three terms in most acceptable and creditable manner and throughout that period maintained his residence at the county seat. In November, 1895, higher politi- cal honors were conferred upon him in his election to the state legislature but prior to taking his seat in the general assembly he removed his family back to the farm. For two terms he was a member of the house of representatives, serving in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh general assemblies and also
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HISTORY OF PAGE COUNTY
in an extra session to revise the code. His work as a legislator covered the years of 1896, 1897 and 1898, during which period he served on a number of important committees and was connected with a number of leading regulative and constructive measures which found their way to the statute books of the state.
Following his retirement from office Mr. Frink returned to the farm, where he resided until the spring of 1903, when he sold that property and removed to Shenandoah, there associating himself with C. A. Hamilton un- der the firm name of Frink & Hamilton for the purpose of conducting a heating and plumbing business. This partnership existed for about four years, at the end of which time Mr. Frink purchased his partner's interest and for about eighteen months conducted the enterprise independently. In July, 1908, however, he disposed of his business and since that time has not been actively connected with commercial interests. In the previous years of his identification with agricultural and mercantile affairs he had so managed his business as to win a substantial measure of success and with a comfortable competence he retired to private life.
On the 12th of April, 1870, in Kewanee, Illinois, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Frink and Miss Barbara Ellen Minnick. As the years passed ten children were added to the household, of whom seven are yet living, namely: Nettie, the wife of Dr. George O. Cogley, a practicing dentist of Shenandoah; Elizabeth, the wife of Dr. W. F. Stotler, of Shen- andoah; Bertha, the wife of F. M. Stotler, who is superintendent of the public schools of Lebanon, Oregon; Grace, the wife of W. R. Worden, of Fairbury, Nebraska: O. Harvey, living in Lebanon, Oregon; Irene, a teacher in the district schools of Page county; and Warren M., who is attending school.
The family attends the Baptist church, in which Mr. Frink holds mem- bership. He is now acting as one of the board of trustees of this church and was president of the building committee at the time of the erection of the new house of worship. In community affairs he takes a most active and helpful part, cooperating in all measures for the general good. He is today as true and loyal to his duties of citizenship as when he followed the old flag on southern battlefields and he maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in Burnside Post, No. 56, G. A. R., of Shenandoah. He stands at all times for progress and improvement and while he holds to high ideals of citizenship, utilizes prac- tical methods for their attainment. His substantial qualities being widely recognized by his fellow townsmen, he was urged by many of Shenan- doah's leading citizens to become the republican candidate for mayor in March, 1909, and at the ensuing election he was chosen as the chief execu- tive of the city, in which position he is now serving. He has been identified with the republican party almost from its organization, has been an in- fluential factor in its local councils and has done effective work for its ad- vancement. He has served in various township offices in Page county and now as mayor of the city he is giving to Shenandoah a public-spirited and business like administration, manifesting the same quality of energy, per-
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