USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, from the earliest historic times to 1907, Vol. II > Part 32
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THOMAS W. PHILLIPS.
Thomas W. Phillips, one of the leading and influential citizens of Neola, who for forty-three years has been a resident of Pottawattamie county, is now engaged in the hardware business, which he has conducted for more thán a decade and in commercial cireles, as in other walks of life, he has maintained a reputation for business integrity, honor and enterprise that is most commendable. He was born in Utah, December 12, 1860. His father, William Phillips, was a native of Carmarthenshire, Wales, born October 27, 1836, and came to America in 1854 with his father, William Phillips, Sr., who in southern Wales had married Gwenfred Thomas. Following the voyage across the Atlantic the family made their way to northern Utah, where .William Phillips, Sr., died in 1862, his wife surviving him until 1873. her death occurring in Idaho.
William Phillips, Jr., was a college-bred man, having been educated in King Edward University. For some time he followed the vocation of cabi- net-making in Utah and in that section of the country he married Amelia Morgan, a native of Glamorganshire, South Wales, the wedding being cele- brated on the 19th of March, 1859. He afterward gave up his trade to engage in freighting between points in Utah and Wyoming, following that pursuit for seven years. In 1866 he returned to the east, settling in Potta- wattamie county, Iowa, where he took up a claim in Norwalk township. He is still living at the age of seventy-two years but his wife died in 1885, at the age of forty-two years. He was again married to Victoria Weirich, a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, and a daughter of Samuel Weirich, who served through the Civil war and in 1865 came to Pottawattamie county. Here he followed the brick-mason's trade until his death, which occurred in
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1883, when he was sixty years of age, while his wife died in Council Bluffs, at the age of fifty-six years. Following his arrival in Pottawattamie county, William Phillips bought a farm, whereon he resided for a quarter of a cen- tury. He greatly improved that property, comprising four hundred acres, converting the land into rich and productive fields, from which he annually gathered rich crops. At a later day he removed to Council Bluffs, where he lived retired but now makes his home in Neola. IIe had eight children, five of whom are yet living.
Thomas Phillips, the eldest of the family, was four years of age when the family came to this county. He was reared on the home farm and re- ceived such educational advantages as were afforded by the common schools, pursuing his studies through the winter months, while in the summer seasons he worked in the fields. He continued to assist his father until he had attained his majority and then rented land and followed farming for six years. He made further preparations for having a home of his own by his marriage in November, 1885, to Miss Mary Agnes Chambers, a native of Ottumwa. Iowa, and a daughter of Benjamin Chambers, who also settled in this county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Phillips have been born four children : William P., born October 20, 1886, is a graduate of the Neola high school and for three years pursued his studies at Mount Vernon, Iowa, but is now at Lexington, Oklahoma, as assistant cashier in Hawk Brothers Bank there; Frank Benjamin, born November 8, 1888, is a graduate of the Neola high school and is now principal of the Oshkosh (Nebraska) school; Thomas Ward, born November 25, 1890, will complete the high-school course in Neola in 1908; and Celia, born February 8, 1893, is at home.
In March, 1890, Mr. Phillips, retiring from farm life, purchased a hardware business in Neola and for eleven years was a representative of its mercantile interests as a dealer in hardware, implements and furniture. In 1901 he sold out and has since been agent for the Farmers Fire Insurance Company of Cedar Rapids, for the Merchants and Bankers of Des Moines, and the Security Fire Insurance Company of Davenport. He has built up a good clientage in this particular, writing a large amount of insurance an- nually.
Mr. Phillips has been a member of the Odd Fellows society for twenty- six years and is prominent in the local organization. He has filled all of the chairs and is a past grand of Neola lodge and for one term was district deputy grand master. In politics he has been a life-long republican where questions of state and national interest are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. For six years he served as alderman of Neola and exercises his official prerogatives in support of progressive municipal measures. He attends the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is a mem- ber, and in the community where they reside, they are both held in the high- est esteem, manifesting sterling traits of character in every relation of life. They have a wide acquaintance in Neola, Council Bluffs and throughout the county. and Mr. Phillips is largely familiar with the history of this part of the state, having spent almost his entire life here. He has lived here
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during the period of its greatest development and as the years have come and gone he has endorsed all the progressive movements which have been instituted for its further improvement.
GEORGE M. ALLINGHAM.
George M. Allingham, who died on the 6th of October, 1907, was born in Canada in 1861 and was there reared and educated. He came to the United States in 1881, locating in Council Bluffs, and after spending several years upon the road as a traveling salesman for a shoe house of Cedar Rapids he entered the employ of J. R. Snyder, a commission merchant of Council Bluffs, in 1888. Five years later he became manager here for the Grape Growers Association and so continued throughout the remainder of his life, capably controlling the business of the house.
In 1894 Mr. Allingham was married in Council Bluffs to Miss Cara L. Stimson, and they had one son, Roger S., born in 1904.
J. FRANK STEVENSON.
J. Frank Stevenson, who carries on general agricultural pursuits, is the owner of an excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Valley township, whereon he is raising full blooded shorthorn cattle, having now a herd of thirty-five head for registration. He was born in Greene county, Ohio, on the 6th of February, 1861, and is a son of William and Emily Stevenson, who, during the pioneer epoch in the history of Pottawattamie county, came to this locality. The father died in June, 1899, and the mother is still living in Han- cock. Further mention of the family is made in connection with the sketch of Benjamin T. Stevenson on another page of this work.
The subject of this review was a pupil in the public schools in early youth and completed his education as a high-school student in Council Bluffs. Being the youngest child in his father's family, he remained at home until thirty years of age and assisted his father in carrying on the work of the farm. He then started out upon an independent business career, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Valley township, upon which he has since resided. It is a rich traet of land, responding readily to the care and labor which he bestows upon it, and in addition to tilling the soil he is quite extensively and successfully engaged in raising full blooded shorthorn cattle, having today a fine herd of thirty-five head. His business interests are capably managed and his methodical habits, his laudable ambition and his unabating diligence con- stitute the foundation upon which he is building a gratifying success.
On May 29, 1901, Mr. Stevenson chose a companion and helpmate for · life's journey in his marriage to Miss Mary Swire, who was born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, November 14. 1858. and is a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Swire,
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM STEVENSON.
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC 11:APY
ASTU , ' TILDEN FULL
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both deceased. She completed her education in the schools of Council Bluffs and afterward engaged in teaching for one year in the district schools and for seven years in the city schools of Council Bluffs, proving a most capable educa- tor. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Swire were born four children: Jennie, living in Denver, Colorado; Henry, of Missouri; Fanny, the wife of E. E. Oehler, of St. Louis, Missouri ; and Mrs. Stevenson. Our subject and his wife have one daugh- ter, Dorothy.
The parents attend the Presbyterian church and are much esteemed so- cially in the community, the hospitality of the best homes being freely accorded them. Politically Mr. Stevenson is a republican, with firm faith in the party, and he has been called to some local offices, serving as township clerk for three years and as assessor for six years. He belongs to Valley lodge, No. 439, I. O. O. F., and has filled all of its chairs, a fact which indicates his standing among his fellow members of the order. His salient traits of character are such as commend him to the confidence, good will and friendship of all with whom he comes in contact, and he is a worthy representative of an honored old pio- neer family.
FRANK B. LIGGETT.
Frank B. Liggett, well known as a prominent representative of industrial interests, his intense and well directed activity bringing him a large meas- ure of success, is now connected with the Council Bluffs Box & Basket Com- pany. He is pre-eminently a man of affairs and his indomitable energy and unabating perseverance are numbered among his salient characteristics.
He was born upon a farm in Center county. Pennsylvania, March 25, 1871, and there lived to the age of thirteen years, when he went to Law- rence, Kansas, with his parents. His father, Benjamin Liggett, Sr., was also a native of Center county, Pennsylvania, born about 1829, and his death occurred in Oklahoma, in 1905, when he had passed the seventy-fifth mile- stone on life's journey. He had been married in the Keystone state in 1861 to Miss Sara Adams and they became the parents of seven children, of whom six are now living, the youngest son, Edward Liggett, having been killed at the battle of Las Guamas, in the Philippines, when serving with the Rough Riders. The surviving members of the family are: Wilbur Fisk, a resident of Ouray, Colorado: Susan E., the wife of Richard Vanderhoff. of Canal Fulton, Ohio: John McClellan, a prominent business man of Kansas City: Carrie M .; Frank B .; and Sarah. The mother of this family died in Pennsylvania about 1882.
Following the removal of the family to Lawrence, Kansas, Frank B. Liggett there remained for four years and during that period entered the employ of J. N. Roberts, a box and basket manufacturer, with whom he continued in Lawrence until he was transferred to the main factory in St. Louis about 1888. There he continued for six years, winning advancement from time to time in recognition of his efficiency, ability and trustworthi-
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ness. On the expiration of that period he was transferred to the factory at Poplar Bluff, Missouri, where he continued for two years, when he went to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for the purpose of attending the State Normal School. He had become imbued with a strong desire to attain a more ad- vanced education than had previously been accorded him and he completed a three years' course in the normal, devoting the first thousand dollars, whichi he had saved, to that purpose. He left the Normal School in 1897 and went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was employed by his brother, John MI. Liggett in the plant there, conducted under the name of the Kansas City Box & Basket Manufacturing Company. Two years were there passed and in 1899 he removed to Council Bluffs, where he established the present business under the name of the Council Bluffs Box & Basket Company. His entire life has been devoted to this line of industrial undertaking and he is therefore thoroughly acquainted with the trade in every particular from the time the raw material is purchased until the finished product is placed in the hands of the purchaser. The enterprise at Council Bluffs has been steadily developed along healthful lines and the business is now large and profitable.
Mr. Liggett is a member of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and is now serving as exalted ruler of lodge No. 531. His political sup- port is given to the republican party but while he is interested in its suc- cess and has thoroughly acquainted himself with its principles he has never sought or desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his busi- ness interests. Undoubtedly one element of his prosperity is the fact that he has persevered in the pursuit in which he embarked as a young trades- Inan, thus gaining an intimate and comprehensive knowledge of the business that has proven one of the salient features of his growth in industrial circles.
FRED H. ORCUTT.
Fred H. Orcutt, senior partner of the firm of F. H. Orcutt & Son Com- pany, wholesale dealers in carpets and rugs at Council Bluffs, was born in Bucksport, Maine, September 24, 1852, and is descended from good old Revo- lutionary stock, his great-great-grandfather on both sides of the family hav- ing fought for American independence. His father, Hosea Orcutt, was a native of Cohasset, Massachusetts, born in 1821, and died in Bueksport, Maine, in 1855, at the comparatively early age of thirty-three years. He was a carpenter and builder by trade, thus, providing for his family. In 1843 he was married in Bueksport, Maine, to Miss Sarah Abigail Lake, and they had seven children, as follows: Sarah A., the deceased wife of Leander Hancock; Julia W., the deceased wife of James Colby; Hosea L., who died in 1889; Fred H., of this review; and three who died in infancy. The mother still survives and is now living in Lynn, Massachusetts, at the very advanced age of eighty-five years.
Fred H. Orcutt was less than three years old at the time of his father's death. His boyhood and youth were spent in his native city and at the
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usual age he entered the public schools there. Ile arrived in Council Bluffs in 1873, and seeking employment, secured a situation in the wholesale dry- goods house of Smith & Crittenden, with whom he continued in the capacity of salesman for ten years. During that period he carefully husbanded his financial resources until at the end of a decade he was able to establish the Council Bluffs Carpet Company, carrying on the business for eight years. On the expiration of that period he accepted the agency of nine carpet mills for lowa and Nebraska, and in 1902 he embarked in his present business as the senior partner of the firm of F. H. Orcutt & Son Company, dealers in carpets and rugs. As much of his business life has been spent in connec- tion with the carpet trade he is an excellent judge of the value and wear- ing qualities of any article of this character. He has made a close study of the business and since establishing the present firm has met with excel- lent success, the house enjoying a continually increasing trade during the five years of its existence. The business methods and policy inaugurated commend the firm to the support and trust of all and their patronage is steadily increasing.
In 1876 Mr. Orcutt was married in Villisca, lowa, to Almira A. Schriver, and unto them have been born two children, Louis E. and Edna I. Mr. Orcutt belongs to the Royal Arcanum and to the Modern Woodmen camp. He gives his political support to the republican party and he is one of the official board of the Broadway Methodist Episcopal church. He is interested in all that pertains to the material. intellectual, social and moral progress of his community and his efforts have ever been on the side of good citizen- ship and of progressive business conditions.
CHARLES M. NICHOLSON.
There is no department of public service which more nearly concerns the welfare of the entire population than that of which Mr. Nicholson is chief-the fire department, and in this connection he has rendered most capable service. winning encomiums by reason of the high standard of effi- ciency which he has introduced into the department. A native of Ohio, he was born in Washington, that state, on the 27th of January, 1852, and there spent the first six years of his life. In 1858 the family removed to Payson, Illinois, where he was reared and acquired his education as a pub- lic-school student.
In 1872. when a young man of twenty years, Mr. Nicholson came to Council Bluffs. He established a meat market here in 1895, which he con- ducted for two years. or until about 1897. In 1892 he had been made chief of the fire department and served in that capacity for three years. In 1901 he returned to the department as captain of Company No. 4. Truck No. 1. and so served for two years, when he resigned and went to Montana. where he engaged in the cattle business. Some time afterward he again came to Council Bluffs and in 1907 was once more made chief of the fire depart-
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ment, in which capacity he is now rendering signal service to his fellow townsmen.
Mr. Nicholson was married in Council Bluffs in 1877 to Miss Mary Schiferli. and they have two sons, William and Harry F. Mr. Nicholson belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to the Knights of Pythias fraternity, the Woodmen of the World and is past president of Aerie No. 104, Fraternal Order of Eagles. His political allegiance is given to the democracy but while he has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking he has made a creditable record in public service and in his present position is well entitled to mention among those who are loyal to the public good.
J. J. GORDON.
J. J. Gordon claims Scotland as the land of his nativity, his birth hav- ing occurred in Aberdeenshire on the 24th of December, 1856. His parents were Andrew and Mary (Chyne) Gordon, also natives of Scotland, and in their family were seven children. of whom five are still living: Andrew; J. J., Mary, Helen and Anna. The children are all residents of Scotland with the exception of our subject but the parents are now deceased.
J. J. Gordon may well claim the prond AAmerican title of a self-made man, for he started out to earn his own living when only nine years of age. He was employed in various ways in Scotland until he reached the age of eighteen, when thinking that he might have better business opportunities to win success in the new world he bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for America in 1874. He first located at Lincoln, Nebraska, and sought employment in the service of the Burlington & Missouri Rail- road but remained there for only five days, for the work proved too heavy for him. He was given a pay check but could not get it cashed, so that he never realized anything for that service. He then walked to Clay county, Nebraska, where he was first employed on the construction of a sod house and while thus engaged he and the other workmen lived on crackers and bacon alone. The conditions which Mr. Gordon met were discouraging and he longed at times for his native land and his old home but he possessed a spirit of perseverance and determined to remain. Going to Mills county. Towa, he there found employment as a farm hand with a Mr. Shields and worked by the month there for six years.
On the expiration of that period Mr. Gordon was married to Miss Ada Harrington, who was born in the state of New York. They became the parents of four children. of whom three are now living: Myrtle, the wife of Arthur Carter, a resident of Omaha; Ada, the wife of P. B. O'Neil of Hancock; George W., of Council Bluffs; and Harry, now deceased.
After his marriage Mr. Gordon rented a farm for two years and in the meantime lived frugally and economically, so that on the expiration of that period he was enabled to purchase eighty acres of land in York township.
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This he at once began to improve, living thereon for twelve years. He then sold out and removed to Mills county. lowa, where he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he resided for six years. Dis- posing of that property he next purchased and cultivated a tract of land in James township, Pottawattamie county, on which he resided until after the death of his wife, who passed away in 1894, leaving a husband and three children to mourn her loss. In 1893 Mr. Gordon was again married, his second union being with Miss Anna Hughes, who was born in Shelby county, Iowa, while her father was a native of Canada and her mother of England. They still survive and are now residents of this county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gordon have been born two children, Harry Bryan and Helen M.
Mr. Gordon remained upon his farm in James township for four years and on selling that property removed to Hancock. where he purchased a grain elevator, continuing in the grain trade there for three years. After selling out in that line he bought a farm east of Hancock, which he im- proved and cultivated for three years, when he sold out and took up his abode on his farm in Valley township. Here he had a good tract of land under a high state of cultivation and in all of his farm work he is practi- cal and progressive, meeting with merited success in his undertakings. He engaged in raising and feeding hogs and this branch of his business is prov- ing profitable. Recently he sold his farm in Valley township and in the spring of 1908 expects to remove to a fruit farm which he has purchased a mile and a half northeast of Council Bluffs. He also owns two residences and the creamery in Hancock.
Politically Mr. Gordon is a democrat and for two years has served on the village board of Hancock. Socially he is connected with the Odd Fel- lows lodge, No. 439. Local advancement and national progress are causes both dear to his heart and he has the strongest attachment for the stars and stripes, being most loyal to his adopted country, where he has made his home from early manhood. Realizing that in America labor is king, he has acknowledged her sovereignty and been one of her willing subjects. Year after year he has worked persistently and energetically and his dili- gence and capable management have made his one of the substantial eiti- zens of Valley township, his present financial resources being in marked contrast to his financial condition when as a boy of nine years he started out to make his own way in the world.
JOHN FREDERICK AUGUST KOHLSCHEEN.
John Frederick August Kohlscheen is one of the extensive landowners of Pottawattamie county, eight hundred and sixty-seven acres paying tribute to the care and labor which he bestows upon them. He is also well known and successful in raising and feeding cattle and is accounted today one of the leading stockmen of this part of the state. He belongs to Towa's citizens of foreign birth who have sought homes in America and in this land have
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found the opportunities which have enabled them to rise from a humble financial position to one of affluence.
Mr. Kohlscheen was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, January 3, 1843, and was educated in the public schools of that country. He was reared to farming and chose this as a life occupation when he attained his majority. In 1870 he came to the United States, arriving at Davenport, lowa, with a capital of about forty dollars. Immediately he sought employment and for one year worked as a farm hand in Scott county, after which he removed to Johnson county, Iowa, where he again worked at farm labor for a year. On the expiration of that period he rented land and began raising onions and potatoes. He was very successful in that work, producing large crops, and after carrying on gardening for two years he purchased a team and came to Pottawattamie county, in the spring of 1874. Here he invested his earnings in eighty acres of land, whereon he now resides. In that summer he formed a partnership with a Mr. Russman in Layton township, and dur- ing that year he had a man break about fifty acres of the sod of his prairie farm. In the spring of 1875, in partnership with Nick and John Sievers, he built a shanty on their land and for two years they kept bachelor's hall and cultivated their fields.
In 1877 Mr. Kohlscheen was united in marriage to Miss Magrada Paasch, a native of Germany, who came to the United States in 1876. Fol- lowing his marriage, Mr. Kohlscheen rented eighty acres of land adjoining his eighty acre tract and farmed the entire place of one hundred and sixty acres.
In the fall of 1881 he purchased two hundred acres adjoining his original farm and in 1883 he built his present handsome farm residence, while since that time he has put up commodious barns and cribs. His place is today one of the best improved farms in the county, giving every evidence of the careful supervision and labor of the owner. Mr. Kohlscheen now owns eight hundred and sixty-seven acres of land, of which three hundred and sixty acres lie in Knox township, two hundred and forty acres in Lin- coln township, two hundred in Pleasant township and sixty-seven acres in James township. Mr. Kohlscheen has been very successful as a raiser and feeder of cattle but he got his real start in life in gardening, which placed him in a position to buy land. Since making his first purchase steady progress has followed and he is today one of the prominent representatives of agricultural life in Pottawattamie county.
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