USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. II > Part 27
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patrons have been the salient features in winning him the liberal trade which is accorded him.
Mr. Keller, in 1877, was married in Belvidere, Illinois, to Miss Flora Sellerd. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has filled all of the chairs in lodge No. 606, at Council Bluffs. In politics he is independent, voting for men and measures rather than for party. In re- ligious faith he is a Congregationalist and is serving as one of the trustees of the church, in which he holds membership. His prosperity is well deserved, as in him are embraced the characteristics of an unbending integrity, un- abating industry and energy that never flags.
LEWIS CASS GREENE.
Lewis Cass Greene is a highly respected and leading agriculturist of Knox township. deriving his income from a valuable property of two hun- dred and ten acres on section 27. He was born in Ashtabula county, Ohio, November 17, 1858, a son of H. S. Greene, whose birth occurred in New York in 1828. He was only about two years of age when, in 1830, he was taken by his parents to Ohio, where he spent the days of his boyhood and youth under the parental roof. After he had attained his majority he en- gaged in teaching school for several years. He married Miss Sarah J. Wood, a native of the Empire state, born in 1829. They resided for a number of years in Ohio and in 1870 left that state for Iowa, settling in Pottawattamie county. Here Mr. Greene purchased two hundred acres of land in Knox township, upon which his son. Lewis Cass Greene, now resides. With char- aeteristic energy he began the development and improvement of the farm and continued to engage actively in its cultivation until his life's labors were ended in death in 1886. In the family were four children but only two are now living, the younger being Woody D., who is located at Ashta- bula Harbor, Ohio. The mother still survives and is yet living in the Buckeye state.
Lewis Cass Greene was reared to the occupation of farming, which he has always followed, and he is indebted to the public school system of Ohio and of Iowa for the educational privileges he enjoyed. He has always fol- lowed farming and remained at home, working for his father until twenty- three years of age, after which he rented and for one year cultivated his father's farm. On the expiration of that period he purchased the homestead property of two hundred and ten acres lying on section 27. Knox township. He is quite well known because of his live-stock interests, making a specialty of raising shorthorn cattle and also Percheron horses and roadsters. He has owned and sold some fine stock. both horses and cattle, and is an excellent judge thereof, being seldom, if ever, at error in his estimation of the value of live-stock. He is, moreover, a man of keen business discernment and strong purpose, who is meeting with success in his chosen field of labor and well merits the prosperity which has come to him.
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In 1881 Mr. Greene was united in marriage to Miss Martha E. Martin, who was born at Green Castle, Jasper county, Iowa, a daughter of James J. and Catharine (Given) Martin, who were natives of the Buckeye state. They went to Jasper county, Iowa, at an early day and later came to Pottawattamie county, the father trading two old mares and a colt for eighty acres of prairie land located on section 12, Knox township. There he built a log house with puncheon floor, puncheon door and puncheon roof, and in true pioneer style the family began life on the western prairie, being closely associated with the early development and progress of that part of the county. The family numbered nine children. The father is now de- ceased, while at this writing the mother makes her home with her daugh- ter, Mrs. Greene. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Greene has been born one son, Harry Martin, who is a graduate of the Avoca high school and of the law depart- ment of the State University of Iowa. He was also admitted to the bar and is recognized as a man of strong intellectual force. He possesses superior oratorical ability and the consensus of public opinion says that he has no equal in this regard in the locality in which he lives. Undoubtedly a bright future awaits him.
Mr. and Mrs. Greene are people of culture, widely and favorably known in the locality where they reside. They enjoy the hospitality of the best homes and the circle of their friends is a very extensive one. In his political views Mr. Greene is a demoerat and has served as township trustee but other- wise has never sought nor held office, preferring that his time and energies should be devoted to his business interests, whereby he is meeting with success that enables him to provide well for his family.
THOMAS G. GREEN.
Thomas G. Green, of the firm of Green & Riker, real-estate and insur- ance agents, was born in the outskirts of Council Bluffs, July 27, 1876. He was reared to manhood under the parental roof and received his education in the public schools, from which he was graduated in 1894. He imme- diately secured employment in the First National Bank, where he remained for two years, and then entered the office of Lougee & Lougee, dealers in real estate and loans, continuing there for nine and one-half years. He was actively interested in every detail of their business and most popular with their patrons. The firm took great interest in giving him the benefit of their experience and he was wise enough to make the best of these oppor- tunities.
In 1905 Mr. Green formed a partnership with Mr. Riker and has been busy since that time in building up an enterprising business. Though the firm has been in existence but two years it has by elose attention to business secured a large patronage. His keen eye and instinetive business judgment enables Mr. Green to be a competent judge of real-estate values and his advice on these matters is often sought. In the line of insurance he has
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always given satisfaction both to the companies which he represents and to the patrons who have taken out insurance in those companies. Outside of his immediate business he has been interested in the Bloomer Ice & Cold Storage Company, of which he is the efficient secretary. Fraternally he is well known in Council Bluffs, being an active member of the Elks lodge, the Masonic order, the Royal Arcanum, and one of the executive committee of the Commercial club. His excellent judgment is largely depended upon in the enterprises which this club promotes. In politics he is independent and has never sought political preferment in any way.
WILLIAM HUSZ.
The German-American element in our citizenship has long been rec- ognized as a valuable one. The sons of the fatherland coming to the new world have adapted themselves to the altered conditions found here and through the national characteristic of diligence and perseverance have usually worked their way upward. A splendid example of this class of citizens is found in William Husz, now the largest farmer of Silver Creek township, deriving his income from seven hundred acres of rich and valuable land.
He was born in Holstein, Germany, August 24, 1854, and his entire life record is marked by progress. He was the youngest of three sons and remained a resident of his native country until sixteen years of age, when he came with his parents to the United States. They settled in Davenport, Iowa, in 1870, and after five years the subject of this review came to Potta- wattamie county in 1875. His father, Detlef Husz, had died in Davenport soon after the arrival of the family in this state. The mother, Mrs. Anna Husz, came with her sons William and Fred, now of Council Bluffs, to Pot- tawattamie county. One son, Henry Husz, is a shoemaker of Davenport. The mother died in this county at the age of seventy-three years.
Fred Husz purchased eighty acres of the farm on which our subject now resides, the latter renting one half of it, and in partnership they carried on the work of cultivation and development for four years. William Husz then bought fifty-four acres of prairie land, which is now part of his present fine farm, giving eight dollars per acre for the tract. Two years later he gave twenty-one dollars per acre for a tract of eighty acres and twelve years ago he purchased his present place from his brother for thirty-five dollars per acre. As opportunity has afforded he has further extended the boun- daries of this farm until he now has four hundred and ninety-four acres on sections 4 and 5, Silver Creek township, while in Washington township he has two hundred acres. His landed possessions, therefore, aggregate nearly seven hundred acres and the entire tract is well improved. Upon it are three sets of good farm buildings. Mr. Husz cultivates the cereals best adapted to the soil and climate and, moreover, is known as an extensive dealer in live stock, raising Durham cattle and feeding about two hundred
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head of cattle per year and three hundred head of hogs annually. Besides his farm property he has six lots and three dwellings in Treynor. His busi- ness interests are capably managed and his laudable ambition has led him constantly onward until he has long since left the ranks of the many to stand among the successful few.
In 1884 was celebrated the marriage of William Husz and Miss Dora Olderog, a native of Germany, who came to this county in 1882 with her widowed mother and sister. Her brother, August Olderog, is mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Husz have been born nine children : Anastina, the wife of Fritz Brenning, who is living on her father's farm in Washington township; Claus, Amelia, Herman, Lena, Bertie, Detlef, Harry and Rudolph, all yet at home.
The family hold membership in the Lutheran church at Treynor and Mr. Husz is loyal to its interests and equally faithful to the republican party, for he believes that its platform contains the best elements of good govern- ment. He is pre-eminently a self-made man, and as the architect of his own fortune has built wisely and well. As the years have gone by he has utilized his opportunities and has given due consideration to the value of industry and perseverance as factors in a successful career. In this country where labor is unhampered by caste or class he has become recognized as one of the foremost representatives of agricultural interests in his adopted county and the most exensive farmer of his township.
JOHN MEYER.
John Meyer derives a good income from a farm of two hundred and forty acres which he owns on section 15, Norwalk township. This is well improved and valuable land on which are two sets of farm buildings. An air of neatness and thrift pervades the place and indicates to the passerby the careful super- vision and progressive methods of the owner, who since 1882 has made his home in Pottawattamie county. Previously he lived for a time in Jackson county, Iowa, while his birth occurred in Hanover, Germany, August 31, 1852. There he was reared to the age of seventeen years and enjoyed such educational privileges as were afforded by the public schools. In 1870 he crossed the Atlantic to the new world and in the years which have since come and gone he has never regretted the step which he then took, for in this country he has found good business opportunities and has gradually advanced in business life until he is now one of the men of affluence of his community. He came direct to Iowa and began work on a farm in Jackson county. In the fall, however, he devoted two or three months to railroad construction and after- ward spent a few years at farm labor.
On the 12th of February, 1882, in Jackson county, Mr. Meyer was mar- ried to Christena Berg, a native of Iowa. Soon after their marriage they removed to Pottawattamie county and Mr. Meyer purchased one hundred and sixty acres, constituting an improved farm in Minden township. Later he
MR. AND MRS. JOHN MEYER.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS,
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY
bought one hundred acres adjoining in York township and cultivated this place of two hundred and sixty acres for twelve years. On the expiration of that period, in 1895, he removed to Underwood, where he engaged in the live- stock business, buying and shipping stock. His attention was thus occupied for five years and in 1901 he took up his abode on his present home farin on section 15, Norwalk township. He purchased this place while living upon his old farm. He has since improved the property in many substantial ways, has erected a nice residence here, a substantial barn and two corn eribs. He has also added considerable fruit to the place and he makes a business of raising and feeding stock, the annual sale of which brings to him a good income. In the spring of 1903 he purchased eight hundred acres of raw prairie land in Gray county, Texas,-the Panhandle country. Mr. Meyer is a stock- holder and director in the Underwood Farmers & Merchants Bank. He was one of its promoters, the institution being organized in 1903 by Mr. Meyer, Henry Shields, of Underwood, who is president, and James Shaff, who is cashier.
Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have a family of four sons and one daughter: John. who is living on the old home farm in Minden township; George, who is associated with his brother; Walter and Julius both at home; and Emma, the wife of John Cohen, a lumber and grain dealer of Luton, Iowa.
Mr. Meyer, formerly gave his political allegiance to the republican party but is now a stanch democrat and a supporter of William Jennings Bryan. He served on the school board for several years and for two terms was town- ship trustee, discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity. Both he and his wife are members of the Underwood Lutheran church and are greatly esteemed in the community as people of genuine personal worth.
TOM S. FARNSWORTH.
Tom S. Farnsworth, vice president of the Keller-Farnsworth Furniture Company of Council Bluffs, his native city, was born in 1877 and is a son of Shepard Farnsworth, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work. As most of his life has here been passed his history is largely known to his fellow townsmen, who have noted in his life record much that is worthy of commendation. His boyhood days were spent under the parental roof and the public schools afforded him his educational privileges. He passed through grade after grade here until he entered Shattuck Military School. at Faribault, Minnesota, where he remained as a student until 1895. He then returned home and became a factor in business life. He entered the Council Bluffs Savings Bank, where he occupied a clerical position for three years. On the 31st of December, 1901, the present firm was incorporated under the name of the Keller-Farnsworth Furniture Company, as succes- sors to S. S. Keller, and Mr. Farnsworth was made vice president, which position he has since occupied. His progressive ideas. his forceful char-
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acter and his unfaltering determination constitute the strong elements in the success of the house.
Socially Mr. Farnsworth is connected with the Elks and the Eagles. He enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war, becoming a private of Company L, Fifty-first Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He then went to the Philippines, where he continued for about eighteen months, when he was mustered out, having served on detached duty most of the time.
HENRY A. VAN BECK.
Henry A. Van Beck, who is connected with the R. J. Martin hardware business at Hancock and is the owner of valuable farming interests and other properties, was born in the kingdom of Holland, August 2, 1860, his parents being Cornelius and Henrietta (Valkenberg) Van Beck, of whose family of five children two are yet living, the younger being Ida, the wife of Matthias Verros, of Marion county, Iowa. The parents were natives of Hol- land, where they were reared and married, and in 1855 the father came to the United States, settling at Keokuk, Iowa, where he engaged in conducting a livery and sales stable. His family, however, remained in Holland, and in 1859 he returned to his native land. He did not again come to the United States until 1861, when he brought his family to this country. He had not disposed of his business in Keokuk and resumed its management upon his return, remaining a member of the firm of McKee & Simpson Company until 1873. His death occurred the following year and the mother and her children removed to Hancock county, Illinois, but in 1875 returned to Iowa and again located in Keokuk. In 1887 the family came to Pottawattamie county, purchasing a farm of eighty acres in Valley township, and later bought an adjoining tract of eighty acres, upon which the mother spent her remaining days, passing away in February, 1894.
Henry A. Van Beck was only about a year old when his parents came to the United States and was a youth of fourteen at the time of his father's death. At the age of nineteen he took charge of the whole farm and became the head of the family, continuing in the active control of the business for some time. His education was limited to the opportunities offered by the public schools but he was a student and made the most of his advantages, while through reading and observation in later years he greatly broadened his knowledge. On coming to Pottawattamie county he purchased the farm which he still owns, and he likewise has a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Merrick county, Nebraska, as well as extensive holdings in village property in Hancock, where he maintains his home. In 1902 he left the farm and removed to the town, since which time he has been in the employ of R. J. Martin, a hardware merchant.
On the 28th of December, 1892, Mr. Van Beck was married to Miss Leah Ann Griffith, of Valley township, who was his second wife. He had
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formerly wedded Anna Bottens, of Keokuk, in 1884, but after about two years she passed away on the 7th of July, 1886, leaving one son, Farnam G., who operates his father's farm in Valley township.
In his political views Mr. Van Beck is a democrat and was candidate for township trustee. Although the township is strongly republican he was defeated by only nine votes, a fact which indicates his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. He is now a member of the town council of Hancock and one of the leading represent- ative citizens of the community, taking an active and helpful interests in all matters pertaining to the public good. Socially he is connected with Valley lodge, No. 439, I. O. O. F .; Garrett camp, M. W. A., of Hancock ; and the Farmers encampment, No. 204, I. O. O. F. Starting out in life for himself at an early age because of his father's demise, dependent upon his own resources, as the years have gone by he has won a creditable measure of success and is today one of the substantial residents of the county, having made judicious investments in real estate. Moreover his devotion to the public good, his loyalty in citizenship, his fidelity in friendship, and his trustworthiness in the discharge of every duty that devolves upon him, have gained for him the confidence and good will of all with whom he has come in contact.
FRANK EARL BELLINGER, M. D.
Dr. Frank Earl Bellinger, of Council Bluffs, was born in Ogdensburg. New York, in 1874, and it was there that he received his primary education in the public schools, supplementing this by his attendance at the public schools of Pocahontas county, Iowa, whither the family had removed. His father was a farmer by occupation. With the natural instinct which seemed to aid so many boys in deciding upon their career, Dr. Bellinger deter- mined to become a physician. He afterward went to Creighton University. Omaha, graduating from the medical department in 1900. For one year he practiced medicine in Council Bluffs and at the end of that time decided to pursue a post-graduate course in the Chicago Post Graduate College and in 1907 he took a course in the Post Graduate Hospital and College in New York city. At all of these institutions he acquired an enviable reputation as a student, being quick of perception, which is so necessary in the medical profession.
Dr. Bellinger was married, April 6. 1907, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Edna Hunt, a daughter of Pardon B. Hunt, of Harlan, Iowa. Though a young man of thirty-three, Dr. Bellinger is so well equipped for his profes- sional work by education and natural endowment that a life of large use- fulness may be predicted for him. He loves the profession and in his char- acter he combines those qualities of mind and heart that render him popular and have secured for him the warm friendship and genuine esteem of all who know him. He is well known to the profession and is a very popular
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member not only of the Council Bluffs Medical Society but of the Potta- wattamie County Medical Society, the lowa State Medical Society, the Mis- souri Valley Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. He has always been prominent in fraternal organizations, holding membership with the Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights Templar, and he has the honor of being a noble of the Mystic Shrine in Tangier Temple, Omaha, Nebraska. His political affiliations have been with the democratic party but he has always kept out of politics and would never consent to be a candidate for office. He has a disposition which is proverbially cheery and which makes men feel that all is right and all is going to be right, a natural endowment which means a fortune to men of the medical profession.
JOHN D. FELTON. 1
.
John D. Felton, of Neola, dates his residence in this town from 1891 and in the county from 1875. He was born in Lancashire, England, June 6, 1834. His father, Thomas Felton, was also a native of that place and a saddler by trade. He married Miss Elizabeth Bradley and they became the parents of three children, of whom John D. Felton is the second in order of birth. Reared in England to the age of fifteen years, he then came to Amer- ica with his father's family, sailing from Liverpool on a voyage which covered six weeks. They established their home at Boston, Massachusetts, and John D. Felton continued his education in the schools there, while his father worked at his trade in that city. After putting aside his text-books the son learned the machinist's trade in Boston. entering upon an apprenticeship thereto when fifteen years of age. He followed that pursuit until forty years of age, living a life of untiring activity and industry.
Mr. Felton was married in Rhode Island, July 7, 1861, to Miss Harriet Johnson, a native of Lancashire, England, and a daughter of James John- son, who came to America in 1852. Mr. Felton subsequent to his marriage continued to work at the machinist's trade until 1875. He then came to Iowa and bought forty acres in Neola township, which was then a traet of prairie, largely unimproved. With characteristic energy he began its devel- opment and soon brought the fields under a high state of cultivation. His next purchase added forty acres to the original farm and at different times he added other tracts of sixty and forty acres but at one time sold forty aeres. He continued to reside upon the farm and carefully conduct the work thereof until 1891, when he removed to Neola, partly on account of illness and partly to provide his children with better educational privileges. After living in the town for several years he bought where he now resides, securing a block of land, building a good home and setting out fruit trees. He was formerly quite extensively engaged in market gardening, finding this a profitable source of income.
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Unto Mr. and Mrs. Felton have been born five sons and a daughter but they lost their fourth born, Royal B. Felton, who died in February, 1907, at the age of twenty-eight years. He was cashier of the Bank of Underwood and a prominent and enterprising young business man. He married Mabel Rishton and left a wife and one son, Bradley. Sophia Felton is the wife of Kennedy Buchanan, a resident farmer of Minden township. and they have two children, Harriet and John. William married Verna Rishton. lives in Neola and is a rural mail carrier. They have two children. Miles and Harold. The next member of the Felton family is James, a farmer of Neola township, who married Sina Christison, of this township, by whom he has six children : Anna, Royal. James, Lester, Paul and Sophia. John Felton, who was graduated from the engineering course at Ames College and is now an electrical engineer of Spokane, Washington, married Myrtle Bardsley, of Neola, and has two children, Lois and Bessie. Thomas Felton married Emma Mass, by whom he has one child. Mabel. and he is now engaged in cultivating the old home farm at Neola.
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