USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. II > Part 29
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ANDREW McMILLEN.
Andrew MeMillen, cashier of the freight department at the transfer depot of the Union Pacific Railroad, has worked his way steadily upward to his present position of responsibility. Throughout his entire business career, dating from July 26, 1886, he has been in the employ of the railroad com- pany and no higher testimonial could be given of capable service and relia- bility. His life record began May 21, 1868, at Kenton, Hardin county, Ohio.
His father, James McMillen, who resides at No. 1700 Ninth avenne, Council Bluffs, was born near Antrim, Ireland, about twenty miles from Belfast, November 8, 1837. He acquired his early education on the Emerald isle and came to America at the age of fourteen years. Here he entered business life as a water boy for the Fort Wayne Railroad Company in Ohio,
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working for fifty cents per day. Gradually he was advanced in recognition of his usefulness and trustworthiness and when he attained his majority he was serving as section foreman for the same road at ninety cents per day. He continued there until 1869, when he came to Council Bluffs and here engaged in railroad work as foreman of a gang of men loading material for the construction of the Union Pacific bridge over the Missouri river. For several years he continued in the employ of that railroad company, having in charge the ticket offices of this and various other railroads running into Council Bluffs until 1877. He then took charge of the transfer depot as its master and continued in that position until 1900, when he retired from ac- tive business life and has since enjoyed a well earned rest. On the 10th of June, 1866, at Elyria, Ohio, James MeMillen married Miss Kathryn Baker, who died in Council Bluffs, November 20, 1905. She was a member of the Baptist church in early life, also belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star and to the Degree of Honor. She was born in Vermilion, Ohio, May 21, 1848, and pursued her education in a Baptist seminary at that place. Five children were born unto Mr. and Mrs. McMillen, of whom Andrew was the second. The father has usually supported the democracy since casting his first presidential ballot for James Buchanan but voted for William McKinley. In 1861 he went to Cleveland, Ohio, to enlist for service in the Civil war but his mother also made her way to that city and persuaded him not to join the army. Three months later he was drafted but secured a substitute to go in his stead.
Andrew MeMillen has spent almost his entire life in Council Bluffs and is indebted to its public-school system for the educational privileges he en- joyed. On the 26th of July, 1886, he entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Railroad Company as a clerk in the freight office and later was appointed cashier, in which capacity he has since served. That he is one of the trusted employes of the road is indicated by the fact that he has remained with the company for twenty-one years, discharging his duties with dispatch and accuracy.
On the 28th of September, 1898, Mr. McMillen was married in Council Bluffs to Miss Lola May Odell, a daughter of Alfred and Marilla (Stevens) Odell, natives of Indiana and of Illinois respectively. The father was a farmer by occupation and served as a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war. At one time he was captured and incarcerated in Andersonville prison. He died when Mrs. McMillen was only a year old and his wife survived for only eight years, so that Mrs. MeMillen was left an orphan when a little maiden of nine summers. In 1887 she came to Council Bluffs and was educated in the public schools here. She has won many warm friends and is a popular member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Degree of Honor, while her religious faith is indicated by her membership in the Presbyterian church.
Mr. McMillen affiliates with the Masons and the women's auxiliary of that order, with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Yeomen. He is a stockholder in the Odd Fel- lows temple. Politically his support is given to the republican party. Unto
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Mr. and Mrs. MeMillen have been born two children: Gerald Odell, born September 23, 1899; and Kathryn Frances, born December 18, 1902. Both are natives of Council Bluffs. The family home is a beautiful residence at No. 1113 Fourth avenue and its hospitality is greatly enjoyed by their many friends.
CYRUS TRUE.
Cyrus True needs no introduction to the readers of this volume, for the True family is most widely known in this section of the state. Its representatives have been actively connected with agricultural interests here from pioneer times and none are more worthy of public regard than Cyrus True, now one of the venerable citizens of Pottawattamie county, within whose borders he has made his home since the fall of 1857. He has now attained the venerable age of seventy-nine years, his birth having occurred in Lincoln county, Maine, on the 26th of September, 1828.
His parents were Samuel and Jane (Beal) True, of whose family of six children only two are now living, the sister of our subject being Mrs. Mary J. Chase, a widow, who resides in Putnam, Connecticut. The father was born in Lisbon, Maine, and the mother in Boardingham, that state. Samuel True continued to reside in his native state until 1834, when he removed to Bradford, and in later life became a resident of Waterloo, Maine, where he and his wife made their home with a daughter. He attained to the very advanced age of eighty-five years, while his wife was more than eighty years of age at the time of her demise.
Under the parental roof Cyrus True spent his boyhood days, remain- ing in Maine until his twenty-third year. He learned the carpenter's trade in Bangor, and in 1851 removed to New Haven, Connecticut, where he fol- lowed carpentering for three years. On the expiration of that period he went to Boston, Massachusetts, where he was connected with building opera- tions for two years and in the fall of 1857 he arrived in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, coming through St. Louis by boat to St. Joseph, Missouri, and thence by stage to Council Bluffs. From the county seat he hired a man to drive him across the country by wagon to what was then Big Grove but is now Oakland, and from that point he made his way to his present loca- tion in Knox township. Here he invested in eighty acres of land, upon which he has since lived, and later he bought eighty acres just across the road from his present farm. On the original tract he built a small frame dwelling, occupying that modest home for several years, when he erected a more commodious frame building on the farm just across the road from his first residence. There he took up his abode but after a number of years he sold that farm and built on his first location, where he now makes his home.
On the 20th of March, 1857, Cyrus True was married to Mrs. Sarah J. Hunting, a daughter of Ephraim Barrows, living near Dover, Maine. By
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this marriage there were three children: Ella, the wife of Arthur F. Conner, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Charles A., living in Osceola, Iowa; and Albertine E., the wife of M. Guy Martin, of Avoca. The wife and mother died in 1896, and in 1901 Mr. True married Mrs. Melinda R. Pope, formerly a Miss Cowder, a native of Fayette county, Ohio.
In his political views Mr. True has been a stalwart republican since the organization of the party and for years has served in various township offices. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and a man who throughout his entire life has been highly esteemed because of his fidelity to honorable pur- poses and manly conduct. He is today one of the oldest residents of the county, having for a half century here made his home, during which period he has witnessed its development from a wild region into one of fertility, its natural resources having been claimed for the uses of the white man. The little pioneer cabin is today a thing of the past and no longer one can ride for miles through the prairie grasses, adorned with flowers of spring and summer. Today one journeys over well kept roads amid fine fields, in the midst of which, here and there, are seen beautiful homes, while the county, too, is rich in its manufacturing, commercial and industrial in- terests. Mr. True's memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present and as an honored pioneer he well deserves mention in this volume.
MRS. FANNY PETERSON.
Mrs. Fanny Peterson, well known in Avoca and Pottawattamie county, was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, on the 13th of February, 1831, her parents being Carson and Mary (Taylor) Wood, the former a native of North Carolina, and the latter of Georgia. In their family were twelve children, of whom seven are yet living, namely: Mrs. Peterson ; Nancy, the wife of Joseph Moore, of Dallas county, Iowa; John, living in South Dakota; Lucinda, the wife of Isaac Reed, of the state of Washington ; Almeda, the wife of Lorenzo Hall; and Thomas and William, who are in Mexico. It was in the year 1843 that Carson Wood came to Iowa, settling first near Des Moines and afterward he removed to Greene county, this state. Later he became a resident of Mis- souri, where his last days were passed, but his wife died in Pottawattamie county, Iowa.
Fanny Wood was a maiden of twelve years when she came to Iowa with her family. She was reared under the parental roof and in 1852, when twenty- one years of age, gave her hand in marriage to Henry H. Peterson, a native of Maine, who was of English and Irish descent. He was the youngest of a family of fourteen children and arrived in Iowa in the early '40s. The marrage was celebrated in Dallas county and three years later Mr. and Mrs. Peterson became residents of Pottawattamie county, where he purchased a tract of land, on which he built a log house fourteen by sixteen feet. It had a puncheon floor and a puncheon door and there was one window in the little cabin. They
RESIDENCE OF MRS. FANNY PETERSON.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILD N FOUNDATIONS.
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occupied this primitive dwelling for several years and at that time Mr. Peter- son had to haul all of his crops to Council Bluffs, which was not only the nearest market but also the nearest trading point where they could obtain sup- plies. It required from three to four days to make the trip, according to the condition of the roads and the weather. Many hardships and difficulties inci- dent to frontier life were borne by this worthy couple, but they possessed strong purpose and indomitable courage and the years brought pleasing changes in the pioneer conditions. As time passed Mr. Peterson bought more property, becoming the owner of large landed interests, having two hundred and sixty-five acres, and his widow still has in her possession one hundred and forty-two acres of the land which they first purchased on coming to the county more than a half century ago. This farm is situated on seetion 21, Knox township and is a valuable property, bearing little resemblance today to the wild and unimproved tract of land which came into their possession. It is now a valuable farm, supplied with all modern equipments and indicating in its excellent appearance the careful supervision which is given it.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Peterson were born eight children, of whom six are yet living: Fanny Jane, now the wife of Winfield Scott, a resident of Avoca; William C., who is a widower and lives with his mother and daughter Ceeil on the old home farm; Charles M., now in Canada; Mary, the wife of M. L. Gordon of Iowa; Almeda, the wife of Charles True, whose home is near Avoca; and Minnie, at home. Mr. and Mrs. True had two sons: Harold A., who died September 17, 1907, and Warren C., at home.
The husband and father died May 16, 1897. A happy married life of forty-five years was vouchsafed to Mr. and Mrs. Peterson and during this long period they shared with each other its joys and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity, their mutual love and confidence inereasing as the years were added to the cycle of the centuries. They knew what it was to be denied many of the comforts known to the older east, for during their pioneer experiences in Pottawattamie county it was difficult to secure supplies which are now considered an essential feature of every home. Much that the farmers lived upon they raised and they were dependent upon their own labors for various articles of utility in the home. Neighbors, however, in those days were very kindly and were willing to help each other and there were many pleasures to be enjoyed that are unknown at the present day. Mrs. Peterson has long witnessed the growth and development of the county and may well be men- tioned among its worthy pioneer ladies.
THOMAS J. MALONEY.
Thomas J. Maloney, the well known cigar and tobacco dealer of Council Bluffs, was born in Warsaw, Illinois, September 4, 1861. His father was Thomas J. Maloney, a native of County Tipperary, Ireland, where he was born in 1822. He emigrated to America in 1848 and located in Vincennes. Indiana, where he was a railroad contractor for many years. He removed
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to Warsaw, Illinois, at a later period and there he was engaged in the same business up to the time of his death, September 4, 1886. He was married in New York in 1849 to Margaret MeGraw, who passed away in Council Bluffs in 1906. This worthy couple were the parents of four children : John, deceased; William, of Omaha, Nebraska; Thomas J., the subject of this sketch; Mollie Maloney, of Council Bluffs.
It was in the district schools of his native city that Thomas J. Maloney received his early education and was there reared until he attained his ma- jority. He had the advantage of attending the Gem City College, at Quincy, Illinois, and made the most of his opportunities while there. In 1883 he came to Council Bluffs to accept a position as clerk in the Bechtel Hotel on Broadway. He was in this position, as well as others, up to the year 1895, when he entered the cigar business, in which he has since been engaged. He. has built up his present excellent business from a small beginning by means of honest methods.
In 1889, in Council Bluffs, occurred the marriage of Thomas J. Maloney and Dean Lentzinger. Their union has been blessed with two children: Emma M. and Gladys. Mr. Maloney, though attending carefully to all duties of his business, has never been remiss in his duties as a citizen. He is a stanch democrat and has served as alderman from the second ward, a position in which he gave such satisfaction that he was re-elected. He is prominent in a large number of fraternal organizations, holding member- ship in the Maccabees, Eagles, Knights of Columbus, Improved Order of Red Men, and he is state vice president of the Ancient Order of Hi- bernians of Iowa. Mr. Maloney is a self-made man and as such has acquired distinction for stalwart character and sterling worth. He is much honored by a large circle of friends and well deserves all of the esteem in which he is held.
RUDOLPH LEHNHARDT.
In a careful review of the history of this country it becomes a noticeable fact that the German-American element in our citizenship has been a strong and beneficial one and that a large percentage. of our best citizens are of German birth or trace their lineage to the fatherland. Of this class Rudolph Lehnhardt is a representative. His father, James Lehnhardt, was born in Holstein, Germany, March 19, 1798, and in 1856 came to the United States, after which he engaged in the butchering business in New York city. About 1860 he removed to Iowa, settling in Buffalo, Scott county, where he de- voted his time to the raising of sheep. After making his home in the town of Buffalo for a few years he removed to a small farm which he purchased in that locality and there resided up to the time of his death, whiel occurred on the 5th of February, 1877. His wife, Mrs. Doris Lehnhardt, survived him for about twelve years, making her home among her children until her own demise on the 14th of May, 1889. The father was three times mar-
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ried, Mrs. Doris Lehnhardt being his third wife. By that marriage there were five children but Rudolph Lehnhardt now alone survives.
In his parents' home the subject of this review spent his boyhood days and in the common schools acquired his education. When nineteen years of age he started out in life on his own account and for two years worked by the month on a farm in Scott county, afterward going to Iowa City, where he was employed as a farm hand for five years. He made preparation for having a home of his own by his marriage, in January, 1887, to Miss Chris- tina Westfall, of Iowa City, whose parents came to this state from Mecklen- burg, Germany, in an early day.
In the spring following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lehnhardt came to Pottawattamie county and for six years lived upon a rented farm but their economy, frugality and industry during that period enabled them to secure capital sufficient to purchase their present home farm in 1893. It com- prises two hundred and forty acres of rich and productive land situated on section 31, Lincoln township, and is a valuable property, lacking in none of the accessories of the model farm of the twentieth century. Moreover, the home has been blessed with four children: Frederick, now a resident farmer of Lincoln township; Harry, who cultivates a portion of his father's farm; Albert, deceased; and Elmer, at home.
Mr. Lehnhardt votes with the republican party and is in thorough sym- pathy with its principles and purposes. He has served for the past four- teen years as road supervisor and for the same period as treasurer of the school board. His long continuance in these positions indicates the trust and confidence reposed in him and that he is worthy of this trust is a widely acknowledged fact. Matters of public concern are of interest to him and his co-operation can always be counted upon to further any movement for the general good. In his business life he has been very prosperous. yet there is no esoteric phase in his career. On the contrary he has secured his suc- cess by honorable methods which neither seek nor require disguise and he is now justly accounted one of the leading and representative farmers of his community.
WILLIAM HENRY BURKEY.
William H. Burkey is engaged in the cultivation of his farm of one hundred and sixty acres, constituting the northeast quarter of section 34, Layton township, and operates his father's farm adjoining. which also em- braces one hundred and sixty acres. He is diligent, practical and progres- sive, and his labors result in the production of large crops annually.
A native of Clinton county, Iowa, he was born June 22, 1872, and is a son of David Burkey, of whom mention is made on another page of this work, in connection with the sketch of John B. Burkey. He was but an infant at the time of the removal of the family to Pottawattamie county, and it was here that he was reared while the public schools afforded him his
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educational privileges. Through the periods of vacation and after his school days were over he remained at home, assisting in the labors of the farm and gaining that practical experience in the task of plowing, planting and har- vesting which well qualified him to take up farm work on his own account at the time of his marriage.
That important event in his life was celebrated February 24, 1897, Miss Sarah J. Allen becoming his wife. The young couple located on the farm which has since been their home-the northeast quarter of section 34, Lay- ton township, and the care and labor which he has bestowed upon the fields find evidence in the rich crops which he annually garners. He purchased this farm the winter prior to his marriage and in addition to this place he cultivates his father's farm of one hundred and sixty acres, adjoining his own farm on the east. He is extensively engaged in raising cattle and dur- ing the past two years he has been feeding his own cattle for the market.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Burkey have been born three children: Fern Lewis, Rachel Arlene and Howard David. Mrs. Burkey is a member of the Metho- dist Protestant church and Mr. Burkey attends its services and contributes to its support. In politics he is independent and has never been an office seeker. He finds in his home, family and farm interests sufficient to claim his time and attention and in the community is numbered among the sub- ยท stantial and respected citizens.
WILLIAM B. FISIIER.
William B. Fisher, whose liberal patronage as proprietor of the Frank- lin Printing House, of Council Bluffs, is well merited because he conducts one of the leading establishments of the kind in the city, was born in Ana- mosa, Iowa, on the 3d of October, 1861. He represents one of the oldest families of Ohio, his grandfather, Joseph Fisher, having been born in that state in 1786. In early manhood he, too, became a resident of Iowa, settling in Anamosa, where he died in 1884, at the very venerable age of ninety- eight years. In connection with his son Darius he conducted a mill, was also proprietor of a wholesale and retail dry-goods store and carried on a hotel business. They were very prominent and influential business men of their locality and contributed in large measure to its substantial development and prosperity.
Darius Fisher, father of our subject, was born in Iowa City, in 1835- some years before the admission of the state into the Union-and died at Atlantic, Iowa, in 1887. He was at that time one of the oldest pioneers of the state, having for more than a half century witnessed its growth as it emerged from pioneer conditions to become one of the leading common- wealths of this great Union. He was reared amid the wild scenes and en- vironments of the frontier and as the years passed did his full share in bring- ing about public progress. In October, 1860, he was married in Anamosa. Iowa, to Miss Frances Zair Simmons. They became the parents of two sons,
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the younger being Charles S., who is engaged in the printing business in Kansas City, Missouri. The mother is still living and is now the wife of D. R. Olmsted, of Council Bluffs.
William B. Fisher was only five years of age when brought to this city by his parents. Here he was reared, acquiring his education in the public schools, which he attended to the age of sixteen years. Ile then began learn- ing the printer's trade in the office of the Bugle, a weekly paper, where he worked for three years, and later he secured a situation in the Globe office, becoming foreman there. He was with the Globe until 1884, when he was made foreman of the Nonpareil, a daily paper, with which he was connected for seven or eight years. In 1890 he established a job printing office, which he has since conducted with constantly growing success. He turns out an excellent grade of work and keeps in touch with the progress which has characterized the printing business.
In 1887, in Omaha, Nebraska, Mr. Fisher was united in marriage to Miss Grace A. Whittlesey, and they have two children, Cecil May and Helen Childs. Mr. Fisher belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias fraternity, the Modern Woodmen camp, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Typographical Union. He has twice been a dele- gate to the state and twice to the national conventions of the International Typographical Union, and in 1885 he was elected a delegate of the Mis- souri Valley Union of the western branch of the International Typo- graphical Union. His political views are in accord with the principles of democracy where national issues are involved and he is recognized as one of the leaders of his party, serving as chairman of the Council Bluffs democratie central committee for several terms. His strong individuality and marked force of character well qualify him for the position he occupies in political circles, while the perseverance and close application that he has manifested in business well entitle him to the success he has gained.
JOHN F. WALTER, M. D.
No other man of Dr. Walter's years can claim that he was wounded on the battle-field of Gettysburg, but although only six years of age at the time, he sustained injuries there, from the effects of which he has never recov- ered. The family home in which he was born on the 6th of May, 1857. stood at the outskirts of the city in a district which was included within the battle-ground, and and on the second day of the engagement which raged around his home. the house was several times pierced with cannon balls. The family fled for safety to the basement but the Doctor, then a venture- some boy of six years, escaped his mother's notice and made his way outside of the house, where he was struck in the left leg with a minie-ball that shattered the bone and has caused a slight lameness all his life. The mother. soon missing her young son, started in search of him and took him back to shelter but it was months ere he had recovered from the injury. Three
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