USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. I > Part 29
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of the democratic committee of the ninth congressional district, of which he is still a member. In 1893 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners of Pottawattamie county and during that year was chairman of the board. In 1897 he was elected city solicitor of Council Bluffs, in which capacity he served until 1901, and in the fall of 1900 was the democratic can- didate for congress from the ninth congressional district but was defeated. He was a delegate at large to the democratic national convention in 1904 and is a recognized leader in the ranks of his party in this section of the state. Such in brief is the life history of Mr. Wadsworth. In whatever relation of life we find him-in the government service, in political circles, in business or social relations-he is always the same honorable and honored gentleman, whose worth well merits the high regard which is uniformly given him.
HON. JOSEPH REA REED.
Joseph Rea Reed was born in Ashland county, Ohio, on the 12th of March, 1835, his parents being William and Rosanna L. (Lyle) Reed, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. He is a lineal descendant of Joseph Reed, who became a resident of Pennsylvania in an early day, settling in Chanceford, York county. Ile was a member of the convention of the colony of Pennsylvania at its session in Carpenter's hall at the time of the convention which formulated the Declaration of Independence was in session in Independ- ence hall. Hle subsequently served as a colonel in the Revolutionary war and was still later a member of the legislative assembly, where he introduced and secured the passage of a bill for the manumission of slaves in the Keystone state. This was adopted about 1793-4. In his private business interests he was a farmer, landowner and miller, and his wife, who was a worthy and reso- lute woman, during her husband's absence in the army, operated a mill and ground flour to feed the soldiers. Colonel Reed and his wife were Presby- terians in religious faith. They reared a large family, including James Reed, who removed to Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farm- ing. He wedded Elizabeth Reed, a distant relative, and their family of four sons and two daughters included William Reed, the father of Hon. Joseph R. Reed. William Reed married Rosanna Lyle, daughter of Robert Lyle, a sol- dier in the Continental army in the Revolutionary war. In 1829 be removed to what is now Ashland county, Ohio, where he secured a farm and both he and his wife remained residents of that locality until death. Their family num- bered three sons and three daughters, who reached adult age: James R., a farmer in his youth and later a teacher, died on his farm in St. Landry parish, Louisiana. Sarah J. resides with her brother Joseph in Council Bluffs. Eliza- beth is the wife of the Rev. D. A. Newell. William is a merchant of Loudon- ville, Ohio, and Rosanna is the wife of Jesse R. Hissem, also of Loudonville.
Upon the home farm in the county of his nativity Joseph Rea Reed spent the days of his boyhood and youth, remaining at home until eighteen years of age, after which time he attended school and taught alternately, mcet-
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Joseph R. Reef
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDIN FOUNDATIONS.
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ing the expense of his academic course by the money earned in teaching. After completing his studies at Hayesville Academy in Ohio he became a student in the law office of the firm of Dodge & Boyle, at Adel, Iowa, to which city he had removed when twenty-one years of age, and there he was admitted to the bar in 1859. He then practiced his profession in Adel until after the out- break of the Civil war in 1861, when he offered his services to the government, enlisting in the Second Iowa Battery of Light Artillery, of which he was com- missioned first lieutenant. He commanded the battery in all of its engage- ments after the 1st of December, 1862, but was not mustered in as captain until the 1st of October, 1864. The battery was engaged against New Madrid, Island No. 10, and in Halleck's advance on Corinth, in which were fought the two battles of Farmington. With his command he was also in the engage- ments at Iuka, Corinth, Jackson and the siege of Vicksburg, where the flag of the Second Iowa Battery was for many days the colors nearest to the Confeder- ate works. Later came the battles of Tupelo, Hurricane Creek, Abbeville, Nashville and the siege and capture of Mobile.
Captain Reed was mustered out of service in June, 1865, and returned to Adel to resume the practice of his profession. His ability won recognition and led to his selection for political as well as professional honors. In 1866 he was elected to the state senate for a term of two years. In 1869 he removed to Council Bluffs, where he practieed law for a year as a member of the firm of Montgomery, Reed & James, after which the withdrawal of the senior partner left the firm of Reed & James. No dreary novitiate awaited Mr. Reed in Coun- cil Bluffs. On the contrary he won almost immediate success and in 1872 he was appointed to fill the vacancy on the bench of the third judicial district. The ability with which he discharged his duties as judge led to his election at three successive terms and his continuance upon the bench as district judge until 1884. He was then elected to the supreme bench of Iowa and his record 'of appeals was in harmony with his record as a man and lawyer, being dis- tinguished by the utmost fidelity to duty as well as by a masterful grasp of every question which was presented for solution. After five years' service as a member of the supreme court, Judge Reed was elected to congress from the ninth Iowa district and further political honors awaited him on the expira- tion of his term in Washington, for in 1891 he was appointed chief justice of the court of private land claims by President Harrison. This court had juris- diction of claims of lands received under grants from Spain and Mexico in the territory acquired by the United States from Mexico under the Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty of 1848 and the Gadsden purchase in 1853. Upon his retire- ment from that office Judge Reed resumed the private practice of law in Coun- cil Bluffs and is numbered among the most successful and distinguished mem- bers of the Iowa bar. In 1901 he was elected president of the Commercial Bank of Council Bluffs.
On the 1st of November, 1865, was celebrated the marriage of Judge Reed and Miss Jeanette E. Dinsmore, of Ashland county, Ohio, who died on the 27th of July, 1887, and on the Sth of February, 1893, he was again married, his second union being with Edith M. Evans, of Malvern, Ohio. There is one daughter of this union.
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Judge Reed is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is interested in the social as well as the political life of his home city. His record is another proof of the fact that the path to public honor is the road to publie usefulness. His official service has been characterized by the utmost devotion to the general good and has won him high encomiums, commanding for him the respect of people of all parties. Earnest effort, close application and the exereise of his native talents have won him prestige as a lawyer and judge at a bar which has numbered many distinguished men and Council Bluffs is proud to number him among her citizens.
ISAAC T. VAN NESS, M. D.
Isaae T. Van Ness, a physician and surgeon of Neola, dates his residence in this county from September, 1880. He was born October 23, 1845, in Stand- ingstone township, Bradford eounty, Pennsylvania. His father, Isaae Hankin- son Van Ness, was a native of Newark, New Jersey, and a descendant of Hol- land Dutch ancestry. When a young man he went with his parents to Brad- ford county, Pennsylvania, where he learned and followed the blacksmith's trade. In that state he married Rachel Whipple, a native of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, where her father had extensive eoal interests. After his marriage Isaae H. Van Ness engaged in lumbering and farming, owning and operating two large sawmills. He continued a resident of Bradford county and one of its prominent business men up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1881, when he was seventy-seven years of age .. His wife had passed away long years before, dying in 1852 at the age of thirty-five years, when her son Isaac was a lad of seven. There were six children in the family, three of whom still sur- vive.
Dr. Van Ness was the third in order of birth and is the eldest of the sur- vivors. He was reared on a small farm and aided with its development in eon- nection with the work of the lumber camp prior to the age of eighteen years, when he began elerking in a drug store at Towanda, Pennsylvania, for Dr. Porter, under whose direction he also read medicine for five years. On the expiration of that period he went to Philadelphia and attended medical lectures at the Eclectic College, from which he was graduated in the class of 1871. Thinking to find a better field of labor in the middle west, he removed to Dixon, Illinois, where he located for practice, remaining there for several years.
While there Dr. Van Ness was married, on the 24th of June, 1875, to Miss Helen Gertrude Fletcher, a native of Lee county, Illinois, and a daughter of James Fletcher, a capitalist of Dixon who owned the electric light and water plant there and a large estate in that locality. Following his marriage Dr. Van Ness removed to Burrton, Harvey county, Kansas, where he practiced for two and a half years and also homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of gov- ernment land. He then went to Colorado, where he remained for a brief period, but the rarified condition of the air proved detrimental to him and in
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consequence he came to Iowa in 1880, locating at Minden, Pottawattamie county. A year later he removed to Neola, where he purchased a tract of land and built a drug store and residence. Three times he has suffered loss by fire, once at Dixon and twice in Neola. He carries a large and well selected line of drugs. At the same time he is an active practitioner of medicine and surgery and for twenty-three years he has been surgeon for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. For two years he practiced his profession in Council Bluffs, living there at the time. For twenty-seven years he has resided in this county and is now the oldest practitioner in Neola. As his financial re- sources have increased he has made judicious investments in property and has now large landed interests in Huron, South Dakota.
Dr. and Mrs. Van Ness are the parents of three children but they lost their first born, Robert, at the age of one year. The others are Helen Ger- trude, the wife of T. A. Mitchell, of Neola, who is engaged in the insurance business and is local manager for the Hawkeye Insurance Company; and Henry George, who is in the drug business with his father. He is a graduate of the Neola high school and is attending college at Ames, pursuing a scientific course. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have two children-Mary Elizabeth, a daughter of Mr. Mitchell's first marriage, and Myron Thomas, born of the present mar- riage.
Dr. Van Ness has been a life-long republican but without aspiration for office. He belongs to the Masonic lodge at Neola. In professional life he is connected with the Pottawattamie County Medical Society and the Iowa State Medical Society. In his profession he has made continuous advancement by his broad research and study, keeping in touch with the onward march of progress made by the medical fraternity. As a merchant and physician he has made a most creditable record, not only for success but also by reason of the straightforward business principles he has followed and by his close conformity to a high standard of professional ethics. Wherever known, and his ac- quaintance is a wide one, he has the high esteem of those with whom he has been brought in contact.
WILLIAM WELCH.
William Welch, conducting a transfer business in Council Bluffs, has spent his entire life in the middle west. Ile was born in Champion county, Michigan, in 1866, and in 1869 was brought to Council Bluffs by his parents. The family is of Irish descent and was founded in America by the grandfather of our subject. William Welch, the father of our subject, was born in County Sligo, Ireland, in 1837, and when the family came to the new world in 1842 establishing a home at Toronto, Canada, he became a pupil of the public schools of that city and resided there for about twenty-one years, or until his removal to Michigan in 1863. Hle was connected with the copper mines of that state and there remained until 1869, when he brought his family to Council Bluffs. He had been married in Michigan, in 1864, to Miss Mary
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Connelly, and subsequent to their arrival in Council Bluffs he started out sell- ing goods with a pack. Later he bought a wagon with which to make his trips and as the years passed he prospered in his undertakings so that after a decade or more he was enabled to open a grocery store and coal yard. Thus he became a prominent factor in the business life of the city, receiving a liberal patronage, which brought to him a goodly measure of success. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Welch were born eight children of whom six reached maturity and are yet living: William, of this review; Joseph H .; Margaret, the wife of Herman Peeper; Elizabeth, the wife of James Glenn; Thomas; and Edward. The mother still survives and is now living with her eldest son in Council Bluffs.
Brought to this city when only three years of age, William Welch, when a little lad of six years, entered the public schools and was here educated. He left school at the age of eighteen and entered the grocery store of his father, with whom he continued until the latter's death in 1887. He then disposed of the store but has conducted the coal yard up to the present time and has a large patronage in this line. Just before his father's death he had established a transfer business, which William Welch has since carried on. He has suc- ceeded well in this undertaking and in connection with teaming he also con- ducts a storage warehouse. The various branches of his business are now bringing to him a merited success.
Mr. Welch is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and belongs to the Catholic church. He is not actively interested in politics, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business, and by reason of liis close applica- tion and unfaltering diligence he has progressed to a point where he now stands in advance of the great majority, being classed among the successful residents of Council Bluffs.
JOHN F. GARNER.
No history of Pottawattamie county would be complete without mention of John F. Garner and the family of which he is a representative. He was born in the township which bears the family name, being so called in honor of his father, who was its first settler, and of whom mention is made on an- other page of this work. The birth of John F. Garner there occurred on the 27th of February, 1849, and amid the wild scenes and environments of pioneer life he was reared, early becoming familiar with the arduous toil incident to the development of a new farm. He attended the public schools as opportunity offered and worked upon the old homestead until the time of his marriage, which was celebrated in October, 1868, the lady of his choice being Miss Mary Elizabeth Dial. Her father, William H. Dial, was one of the early settlers of the county, arriving here during the period of the Civil war. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Garner have been born six children: Lillie, now the wife of Joseph Young ; Halcyon, deceased; John, who resides in Garner township; James, who lias also departed this life; Maude, the wife of Eli Jones, of Harrison county ; and Edna, at home.
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At the time of his marriage John F. Garner began farming on one of his father's properties, for William- Garner was one of the largest landowners in the township at the time of his demise. The subject of this review improved a part of the land on which he located and later built a good house and barns there. He lived upon that place for about thirty-two years, transforming it from wild prairie into richly cultivated fields and then, retiring from active agricultural pursuits, removed to Council Bluffs about 1901. There he lived for three years and in 1904 returned to farm life, taking up his abode on sec- tion 17, Garner township, where he now makes his home. He owns three hun- dred and twenty-five acres of rich and productive land in this township and formerly his possessions were more extensive, for in the summer of 1906 he sold one hundred and twenty-five acres. He now has about fifty acres in his home place. Great indeed have been the changes which have occurred during the period of his residence here. Ile can remember a day when there were many deer and some bears in this locality but owing to the severity of the winter of 1856-7 the deer mostly perished. Indians still visited the neighbor- hood to some extent and wild animals roamed at will over the prairie or sought shelter in the timber which bordered the streams. Only here and there had a habitation been placed, showing that the seeds of modern civilization were be- ing planted on the western frontier. In his boyhood and youth Mr. Garner bore his full share in the work of reclaiming wild land for the purposes of civilization and as the years have gone by he has continued to carry on agri- cultural pursuits with excellent results, being now one of the substantial farm- ers of his community.
CAPTAIN JOHN P. WILLIAMS.
Captain John P. Williams is an honored veteran of the Civil war, who at one time was associated with the building interests of Council Bluffs as a con- tractor and builder but is now living retired. His natal day was January 2, 1825, and the place of his birth Windsor county, Vermont. His father, Henry Williams, was born in Springfield, Vermont, and died in 1832 at the compara- tively early age of twenty-eight years. His wife bore the maiden name of Abigail C. Cram, and was born in the Green Mountain state in 1806. There she gave her hand in marriage to Henry Williams in 1824.
Their son John was but seven years of age at the time of the father's death. He was reared, however, in Vermont, where he lived to the age of thirty years, and in the common schools he acquired his education, the little log schoolhouses affording him the privileges he enjoyed for the mastery of different branches of English learning. He was on the farm for a few years, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist, and when twenty years of age he established a sawmill and feed business in Perkinsville, Vermont, where he remained for three years. On the expiration of that period he went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he drove a coach for the Eastern Railroad Company for two years. After returning
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to his native county he again engaged in farming for five years and subse- quently turned his attention to the business of shipping poultry, eagerly em- braeing every opportunity that offered for his business advancement and that contributed to his success.
In 1854 Captain Williams came to Council Bluffs, which was then a town upon the western frontier, giving little promise of future development and yet containing large possibilities in that direction. Soon after his arrival here he took up a claim iu Washington county, Nebraska, where he engaged in raising grain. In 1855 he again came to Council Bluffs and turned his atten- tion to carpentering. Since that time he has been more or less closely associated with building interests but his business life has been interrupted by official and military service. In 1860 he was elected sheriff of Potta- wattamie county on the republican ticket and filled the office for two years. He then responded to the country's call for aid and raised Company A of the Twenty-ninth Iowa Volunteers, of which he was elected captain. Going to the front he served for eighteen months, after which he was discharged on account of physical disability.
Following his return to Council Bluffs, Captain Williams was engaged in the meat business for two years and then resumed work at the carpenter's trade. In 1872 he went to Salt Lake City. Utah, where he engaged in min- ing and building for two years, and on the expiration of that period lie con- tinued his journey down the Pacific coast, spending about four years on the seaport at different places. Once more he came to Council Bluffs, where he entered the registered mail service under Postmaster Phil Armour, serving until the elose of the latter's term. On the expiration of that period Captain Williams entered the office of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, doing night transfer service for two years. Once more he took up carpentering and continued actively in building operations until the early '90s. Since then he has devoted only a portion of his time to that work, largely living retired. His life has been an active and useful one and in all of his business operations he has been found honorable and trustworthy.
On the 14th of May, 1851, Captain Williams was married to Miss Hannah Dewey, a relative of Admiral Dewey. She was born April 1, 1833, in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and acquired her education in the common schools there. She was a granddaughter of one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war and her father served his country in the war of 1812. Unto Captain and Mrs. Wil- liams have been born the following named: Mrs. Harriet Gray is the widow of Henry Gray. She was born in Hartford, Vermont, in 1852 and now lives in San Francisco, California, being a teacher in the public schools of that city. She is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution and of the Order of the Eastern Star. For more than thirty years she has made her home in San Francisco and she was very fortunate in escaping all loss during the earth- quake and fire disaster, her home being just outside the destroyed dis- trict. John P. Williams, Jr., the second of the family, born in 1854, died in 1855. Mrs. Kate Spangler, born in 1856, is living in Walnut, Pottawattamie county, and is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Ida, born in 1858, departed this life in 1863. Edmund Otis,
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born in 1860, died in 1863, only a few days after his sister's death. Charles, whose birth occurred in 1864, passed away in 1873. Fred C., born in 1866, is living at Florence, Colorado, where he is engaged in the cigar and tobacco business. Nellie, born in 1875, died when only a few months eld.
Captain Williams is a member of the Masonic lodge, having affiliated with the order since 1856. He is likewise a member of Abe Lincoln post, No. 29, G. A. R., and his wife holds membership in the First Presbyterian church of this city. He owns several rental properties and a comfortable home at No. 605 West Washington street. He had the honor of erecting the first building in Omaha and has been to a greater or less extent associated with building operations in Council Bluffs for many years. He came to this city more than a half century ago and although his residence here has not been continuous he has spent the greater part of his time here and has been an interested witness of the changes which have been wrought, making this one of the leading cities of the great west. He has passed the eighty-second mile- stone on life's journey and his life has been fraught with many good deeds and actuated by many kindly purposes that have made him a most respected and honored man.
DRAYTON W. BUSHNELL.
On the roll of Council Bluffs successful and enterprising citizens appears the name of Drayton W. Bushnell, a bookseller and stationer, carrying a large and well selected line of goods. His wide acquaintance and the favorable regard in which he is universally held renders his life history a matter of interest to the community, and it is therefore with pleasure that we present to our readers this record of his career. He was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, December 22, 1844, the family home being in the little town of Cherry Valley. His ancestors had long resided in the Buckeye state. His paternal grandfather was Alexander Bushnell, a native of Connecticut, who, on remev- ing to the middle west, settled in Trumbull county, Ohio. He died during the period of the Civil war, when about sixty-five years of age. His son Luman J. Bushnell was born in Hartford, Ohie, in 1820, and was a country merchant. He was married in 1842 to Miss Eliza McFarland, who died in 1859.
Drayton W. Bushnell, their only child, remained a resident of Cherry Valley, Ohio, to the age of sixteen years and then came to Boone county, Iowa, where for a year he remained upon a farm. He watched with interest the progress of events in the south brought about by the momentous questions that involved the country in civil war. After the outbreak of hostilities he watched the course of the war and on the 24th of January, 1862, he offered his services to the government in defense of the Union, enlisting as a private in Company B, Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out at Newberne, North Carolina, on the 17th of March, 1865, after having par- ticipated in the battle of Shiloh, the advance on Corinth, the Atlanta campaign from Big Shanty until after the fall of Atlanta, subsequent to which time
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