History of Poweshiek County, Iowa: a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II, Part 11

Author: Parker, Leonard F. (Leonard Fletcher), b. 1825; S.J. Clarke Publishing Company. pbl
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Chicago : The S. J. Clarke publishing co.
Number of Pages: 796


USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > History of Poweshiek County, Iowa: a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 11


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In early manhood David Norris was married to Miss Lizzie S. Gifford, a daughter of Edmund Gifford, who was graduated from the Harvard Law School and afterward located in Elgin, finnois, where his active life was spent. He enlisted in the Union army at the time of the Civil war and served for four years, rising to the rank of major. His declining years were passed in Grinnell, Iowa, where he made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Lizzie Norris, with whom he continued until his demise. Mrs. Norris is still living in Grinnell, where she has an extensive circle of warm friends.


Paul G. Norris was here reared and pursued his education in Grinnell Col- lege, being graduated with the class of 1899, at which time the Bachelor of Philosophy degree was conferred upon him. The following year he entered the law department of Harvard University and was graduated with the class of 1902. He then returned home and on the 9th of October, 1902, was ad- mitted to the bar. He became associated with his father in practice under the firm style of Norris & Norris and after his father's death was joined by Alfred Burroughs under the firm style of Norris & Burroughs, Mr. Burroughs having been associated with David Norris for over twenty years. His practice is large and of a distinctively representative character. He is faithful to his clients, fair to his adversaries and candid to the court. In many cases he has exhibited the possession of every faculty of which a lawyer may be proud --- skill in the presentation of his own evidence, marked ability in cross-examina- tion, persuasiveness before the jury, strong grasp of every feature of the case, ability to secure favorable rulings from the judge, unusual familiarity with human nature and untiring industry. Vol. II-6


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On the 20th of May, 1903, Mr. Norris was married to Miss Edna L. Hand. of Ottumwa, lowa, a daughter of the Rev. Leroy S. Hand, a Congregational minister now residing in Grinnell and filling a pulpit in Vancleve. Unto Mlr. and Mrs. Norris have been born three children: Paul G., Edmond H. and Elizabeth A. The Norris household is a hospitable one and the parents have a circle of friends in Grinnell almost coextensive with the circle of their acquaintance.


Mr. Norris votes with the republican party and has served for one term as city attorney but prefers to concentrate his energies upon the private practice of law. He belongs to the Commercial Club of Grinnell and is interested in all that pertains to public progress and improvement, therefore giving his support to many projects for the general good.


E. D. FORRHAND.


E. D. Forrhand was born on the farm where he now lives in Chester town- ship, Poweshiek county, April 16, 1872, and here he has spent his entire life ex- cept when absent attending school. He is a son of L. D. Forrhand, who was born at Croydon, New Hampshire, and who migrated to the west in 1869. He settled in Poweshiek county, Iowa, and was married to Mary J. Cocking, a native of Lincolnshire, England. Mr. Forrhand established his family upon a farm in Chester township and prospered in his business, being an energetic and capable manager. His wife died in August, 1887, when E. D., the subject of this review, was fifteen years of age, and a few years later the father re- moved to Grinnell. where he is now living retired. Of the original family but two children survive: E. D .; and Eva, who married Harry Parsons, a farmer of Charles Mix county, South Dakota.


E. D. Forrhand, the subject of this review, attended the common schools and later the Iowa Business College at Des Moines, graduating from that in- stitution in 1890. He also took a short course of two years at Grinnell College and laid the foundation of a literary education, upon which he has built by observation and reading. He continued from his boyhood upon the old family homestead and has applied himself to excellent advantage, being now in charge of a farm of one hundred and ninety-four acres. It produces bountiful crops, as the land is kept in splendid condition. He feeds stock for the market, and by working diligently and persistently and applying progressive methods he keeps well at the front as an agriculturist and stock-raiser.


On January 5, 1891, Mr. Forrhand was united in marriage, at Grinnell, to Miss Mina M. Harris, a daughter of Robert and Ellen Harris, both of whom were born in Ireland. Two children have been horn to Mr. and Mrs. Forrhand : Oliver Leroy, a graduate of the high school at Chester Center; and Ruth Ellen. who is attending the high school.


Mr. Forrhand has made a careful study of political subjects and as a result gives his support to the republican party, although he is not bound by party lines, often exercising independent proclivities in the selection of candidates.


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lle has served as road supervisor and school director, showing special adapta- bility for those positions. He is a valued member of Lodge No. 291, M. W. A., of Grinnell. Possessing the advantages of good educational training in his ear- lier years he has applied scientific methods to his work, and the result is to be perceived in the prosperous appearance of his farm and the success that at- tends his undertakings.


JOHN BRADLEY.


A good example of the self-made man who entirely through his own ef- forts has worked his way upward until today he is numbered among the sub- stantial residents of Jackson township, is John Bradley. Born on the 2d of April, 1864, in Bureau county, Illinois, he is a son of George and Ann ( Tim- brell) Bradley, who were both born in England in the year 1831. They were there reared and married, immediately after which they came to the United States, locating in Illinois in 1857. Later they came to Iowa, where the father followed the occupation of farming for a number of years, and both passed away in this state, the mother in February, 1905, and the father in April, 1908. In their family were eight children, as follows: Elizabeth, the wife of S. R. Dryden, of Cedar Falls, Iowa; Mary, now deceased ; William, residing in Jack- son township: John, of this review: Emma, who is engaged in teaching school in Des Moines: Alice, who married I. N. Hill, of Montana; George, of Jack- son township: and Charles, who passed away in infancy. All of this number were born in Illinois with the exception of the two youngest, who were born in Iowa.


John Bradley spent the first five years of his life in the state of his nativity, and then, in 1869 came with his parents to Iowa, the family home being es- tablished in Scott township, Poweshiek county. There he was reared to man- hood and, owing to the limited financial circumstances of his parents he was early forced to make his own way in the business world. He recognized, how- ever, the value of a good education in the attainment of success in any line of activity, and so attended Grinnell College and also took a business course in a business college at Burlington, lowa. He was thereafter engaged in teaching school for four or five terms during the winter season, and for four years car- ried on agricultural pursuits in Pleasant township. In 1894 he embarked in the clothing business with James E. Anderson, under the firm style of Anderson & Bradley, and for twelve years they conducted a most successful enterprise. At the end of that period, in 1906, Mr. Bradley sold his interest in the concern to Mr. Anderson and, deciding to turn his energies into the channel of agriculture, purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Scott township. That re- mained his home for four years, when he sold out and purchased his present farm in the spring of 1910. This farm, consisting of one hundred and twenty acres located on section 8, Jackson township, is a well improved property, its good state of development being due in large measure to the earnest labor and unfaltering industry of Mr. Bradley. He is meeting with a most creditable


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degree of success and is already numbered among the prosperous and progres- sive agriculturists of this section.


It was in 1896 that Mr. Bradley was united in marriage to Lillian Aikin, of Mahaska county, a daughter of Dr. Aikin, and by this union have been born three children, Grace, Harry and Helen.


Mr. Bradley gives his allegiance to the republican party, and, although not an office-seeker, he is serving at present at township trustee, taking a deep and active interest in the affairs of the community. He holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church of Montezuma, and for nearly twenty years has served as steward. He was also secretary of the building committee which erected the present handsome church edifice in that town. All matters bearing upon the material and moral development of the community have his considera- tion and indorsement, and no measure which has to do with the betterment of his community or fellowmen fails to win his aid. Since his residence in Poweshiek county he has been accorded a high place among the respected and valned citi- zens of this district. for he possesses those qualities which ever command re- spect and confidence.


JUDGE J. P. LYMAN.


Judge J. P. Lyman, who since January, 1909, has occupied the bench of the superior court of the city of Grinnell, and who for many years previous was regarded as one of the ablest and most distinguished representatives of the bar of central Iowa, was born in Arcade, Wyoming county, New York, on the 14th of February, 1844, a son of Ralston W. and Harriet N. (Tracy ) Lyman, both of whom were natives of New England. Their marriage, however, occurred in the Empire state. to which they had removed during the period of youth. On reaching manhood Ralston W. Lyman became identified with mercantile in- terests to which he gave his attention throughout the years of his active busi- ness life, being at different times located in the towns of Friendship, Castile, Arcade and Yorkshire, his death occurring in Arcade in 1900, when he had reached an advanced age. The mother passed away there some years prior to her husband's death.


Judge Lyman was reared at home, acquiring his education in the public schools of Arcade and in the academy of that place. The west seemed to offer better opportunities to young men than could be found in the older and more conservative east, and in 1860 he and his brother, Robert R. Lyman, made their way to Poweshiek county, Iowa, where their uncle, Alonzo Steel, had acquired some land. It was the intention of the brothers to locate upon this tract and engage in its cultivation, but J. P. Lyman did not remain on the farm with his brother after the summer had passed, coming to Grinnell in the fall and here continuing his education under Professor L. F. Parker. In 1863 he entered Iowa College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1867. During his college course he taught school through the vacations and following his graduation continued in the profession of teach-


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ing for three years. It was his intention at that time to take up the practice of medicine and in fact while engaged in teaching he gave much time to the read- ing of medical text-books in his leisure hours. Changing his plans, however, he entered the law department of the Iowa State University at Iowa City, in 1870, and was graduated with the class of 1871. Following his admission to the bar he returned to Grinnell where he formed a partnership with R. M. Haines, with whom he was associated in active practice under the style of Haines & Lyman until the death of the senior member of the firm in 1902. Subsequent to that time Judge Lyman continued in practice alone until after his son's graduation from Harvard, when he became a member of the firm under the style of Lyman & Lyman. Almost from the outset of his profes- sional career Judge Lyman was accorded a large practice for he soon demon- strated his ability to handle the intricate problems of the law. He carefully prepared his cases and his presentation has always been full and comprehensive yet not to the extent of redundancy. He marshals the facts of the case with the precision of a military commander and his clear and cogent reasoning has always commanded the attention of the jury, counsel and the court. In the fall of 1908 there came to him recognition of his ability in his election to the superior court bench, in which position he is now ably serving, his course upon the bench being in harmony with his record as a man and lawyer, distinguished by the utmost loyalty and by a masterful grasp of every problem presented for solution.


Other official honors have come to Judge Lyman through political channels. He has always been a stalwart republican in politics and was elected upon the party ticket to the office of county attorney, which position he filled for four years. He also represented his district in the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth general assemblies of the Iowa legislature. He has served almost continuously for years in some official capacity in Grinnell, acting as city attorney, as a member of the town council and as mayor, while at the present time he is a inember of the school board. His fidelity to his country was further mani- fested by his enlistment in 1864 for one hundred days' service in the Civil war with Company B, Forty-sixth Iowa Regiment, of which company Professor L. F. Parker was first lieutenant.


In October, 1873, Judge Lyman was married to Miss Elizabeth L. Little, of Grinnell, whose parents came to this city in 1867 from Kewanee, Illinois. Their only child, Henry G., is a graduate of the Harvard Law School of the class of 1906. He was first associated in practice with his father but since Judge Ly- man's elevation to the bench he has become a partner of W. C. Rayburn, prac- ticing under the firm name of Rayburn & Lyman. He married Miss Fae La Grange, of Storm Lake, Iowa. The death of Mrs. Elizabeth Lyman occurred in 1906 and was the occasion of deep and wide-spread regret throughout Grin- nell and Poweshiek county.


Judge Lyman maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in Gordon Granger Post, No. 64, G. A. R., of Grin- nell. He is a member of the Congregational church and chairman of its board of trustees. Interested in the material, intellectual, political and moral progress of his city, he does all in his power to further its interests and upbuilding, and,


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being a man of influence, his example is followed by many and thus he has be- come a potent force for good in the city with which he has been identified throughout the greater period of his residence in the west.


C. B. LINEWEAVER.


A well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, located on section 4, Scott township, paid tribute to the care and labor of C. B. Lineweaver for many years but since the spring of 1911 he has lived retired, although he still retains his residence on his farm. He was born in Rockingham county, Vir- ginia, September 24, 1846. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Lineweaver, spent his life as a farmer in Virginia and there reared his family, which included David Lineweaver, who became the father of our subject. He was likewise born in Rockingham county. Virginia, and followed farming in the south. He wedded Hetta Catharine Beard, whose father ran away from home at the age of fourteen years, emigrating from Ireland to the new world. He likewise settled in Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. David Lineweaver reared a family of five children: C. B., of this review; Jeremiah, who still makes his home in Rock- ingham county ; Catharine, who died at the age of thirteen years; De Witt C. of Poweshiek county ; and Sarah, the wife of Daniel Heatwole, a resident of Rockingham county.


C. B. Lineweaver was reared on the home farm to the age of seventeen years, when he was drafted for service in the Confederate army. In the fall of 1863 he became a member of Company C, Eleventh Virginia Cavalry, Ros- ser's Brigade. He took part in all of the engagements of his command in the Shenandoah valley and Virginia and served until the surrender of Lee.


Following his service at the front Mr. Lineweaver resumed work on the home farm and at the age of twenty-two years was married and began farming on his own account. In the spring of 1873 he came to Powesheik county, Iowa, and during the succeeding five years lived on a farm in Bear Creek township, since which time he has resided on his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 4. Scott township. For many years he was actively identified with the agricultural life of the community and in connection with general farming raised stock to some extent. However, in the spring of 1911, he rented his land to his son Fred and he is now living retired, although he retains his residence on the home place.


It was in 1868 that Mr. Lineweaver wedded Miss Rebecca C. Andes, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, December 12, 1844, a daughter of Eli and Sarah (Lowman) Andes, who spent their entire lives in the south. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Lineweaver have been born nine children: Jeremiah F., a resident of Brooklyn : Sarah, the wife of John A. Evans, of Scott township : Clara, the wife of John W. Wiley, also of Scott township; Boyd, of North Dakota: Fannie, the wife of John C. Johnston, also of Scott township; Nettie, the wife of George Lundy, of Malcom; Andrew, a resident of North Dakota; Pearl, still with her parents: and Fred, also at home and now operating the


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farm. The two eldest were born in Virginia but the others are all natives of Poweshiek county.


Mr. Lineweaver is a stanch supporter of the republican party and has been called by his fellow townsmen to fill some offices, having served as township trustee, assessor, road supervisor and as a member of the school board. He is a member of Fairmont Methodist Episcopal church in Scott township and is serving as a trustee of the church. His fraternal relations connect him with the Knights of Pythias lodge. He is a man of good priciples and upright char- acter, and both in public and private life he has ever been found the same genial gentleman, who in his relations with his fellowmen and in his treatment of his neighbors has never lost sight of the golden rule.


R. J. SMITH.


R. J. Smith, a member of the Montezuma bar, engages in the general prac- tice of law but specializes to some extent in the department of law relating to land titles and the settlement of estates, and his broad and discriminating study along those lines has largely made him an authority in this district for that branch of his profession.


Mr. Smith is a native of Johnson county, Iowa, his birth having occurred on a farm east of Iowa City, May 24, 1873. His parents were Robert B. and Ann (Smith) Smith, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They came to Iowa in the years 1853 and 1854 respectively in company with their parents, the journey of both families being made with wagons and ox teams. Both Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Smith are now residents of Iowa City, where he is living retired, having previously for many years engaged extensively and successfully in farming and stock-raising. He served for four years as a soldier in the Civil war with Company G, Second Iowa Cavalry, and is now one of the honored veterans of the state. The family numbered three sons, of whom R. J. Smith is the eldest. C. Horton, the second son, now a civil en- gineer at Minneapolis, Minnesota, was graduated from the State University in 1901 and received his advanced degree in 1905. The youngest son, Dr. Oakley Smith, is a physician of Chicago and is president of the Oakley Smith College of Naprapathy in that city. His academic education was acquired in the State University, his attention being especially given to scientific studies, and later he continued his education in Prague, Bohemia.


R. J. Smith spent the first nineteen years of his life amid the usual environ- ment and experiences of farm life and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Eugene, Oregon, where they remained for two years, during which period the subject of this review attended the State University of Oregon. In 1893 he returned to Iowa City and pursued the liberal arts course in the university of this state, winning the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy upon his graduation in the class of 1898. He completed the law course in the State Uni- versity in 1899 and then passed the state board examination, being admitted to practice in the summer of that year. He chose Montezuma as the scene of his


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labors and has since been a resident of this city and a well known and worthy representative of its bar. He engages in general practice in all the courts but, as previously stated, specializes to some extent in that branch of the law relat- ing to land titles and the settlement of estates. He holds membership with the County Bar Association and also with the Iowa State and American Associa- tions of Title Men. He has been accorded a liberal clientage and his work in the courts has been so carefully and successfully conducted that he has won many cases favorable to his clients.


On the Ist of January, 1901, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Addie G. Gray, a native of Cedar county, Iowa, and a daughter of Thomas and Ann (Gifford) Gray. Her mother is now deceased, while her father resides at West Liberty. His mother was reputed to be the first white woman to es- tablish a home in Iowa outside of Dubuque. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Smith has been born an only child, Mary Frances.


Mr. Smith has always given his political allegiance to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has served as a mem- ber of the town council and is always interested in progressive movements for the public good. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and has served on its official board, and his influence and aid are always found on the side of right, progress, truth and advancement.


CAPTAIN JOHN W. CARR.


There was one house in Montezuma when Captain John W. Carr came to Poweshiek county. He was then a lad of eight years and has therefore been a witness of the entire growth of the county seat and practically of the entire de- velopment and progress of the county and has himself borne an important part in its upbuilding, especially through his connection with the legal profession and with banking interests. His name is indelibly impressed upon the pages of its history.


His birth occurred in Logan county, Illinois, near Mount Pulaski, on the 26th of April, 1839, his parents being William and Catharine ( Moore) Carr, natives of Virginia and Ohio respectively. The former was the son of a planter and in carly manhood became a resident of Logan county, Illinois, where he developed and improved a farm, meeting the usual experiences and hardships of pioneer life during the early period of his residence there. When the war cry of the savages was heard and the Indians under the leadership of Black Hawk marched against the white settlers he did active duty as a soldier. His wife was born near Colum- bus, Ohio, and went to Logan county, Illinois, with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Moore, who became farming people of the locality. Later Mr. Moore came to Poweshiek county, Iowa, in 1845, his death occurring here the following year. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Downing. resided near Montezuma for a number of years and was one of the well known pioneer women of this part of the state. Her death occurred in 1875, her daughter, Mrs. Carr, passed away in Illinois in 1843 and William Carr died in 1845. They were the


J. W. CARR


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parents of four children. Sarah, who was born in 1832, became the wife of Jacob Deardorf, who died in Oklahoma about 1900. Kate, born in 1834, became the wife of Pleasant Deardorf, the brother of her sister's husband, and passed away in Madison county, Iowa, about 1899. Nicholas, born in 1836, was for about eighteen monthis a soldier of the Tenth Iowa Infantry during the Civil war. He was afterward sheriff of Poweshiek county, Iowa, for four years and later special examiner of tillable land in Nebraska under President Cleveland. He afteward became justice of the peace at Neligh, Nebraska, and died in that state in 1898.


Captain John W. Carr was the youngest of the family and was only six years of age when left an orphan. He lived with an uncle, William Moore, in Illinois until 1847, when with his brother and sisters he started for Iowa to make his home with his maternal grandmother, near Montezuma. They reached their destination on the 23d of December, after crossing the river at Warsaw because of the blockade at Fort Madison. Montezuma had not been platted at that time and contained but one house. The county was largely an unsettled and unde- veloped region, the home of Mrs. Moore being in Union township, near Forest Home. Hers was the best house in the county and was a log structure eighteen by twenty feet. Religious services were there held whenever a preacher would visit the neighborhood. When but a young man Captain Carr became inured to the arduous task of developing a new farm, driving oxen to the breaking plow, dropping the corn into the furrows and afterward cultivating the fields until crops were harvested. When school'was in session he pursued his education, be- ing a pupil in the first log schoolhouse of the county. : It was a primitive structure, having a puncheon floor and seats with windows made of greased paper. The school boys supplied the fuel which was burned in a huge fireplace. The methods of instruction, too, were most crude and it was only at intervals that Captain Carr could attend, as his services were needed upon the home farm. He was ambitious, however, to make advancement along educational lines and utilized his evening hours for study. Later he had the advantage of instruction in the preparatory department of Grinnell College and the following year recited his lessons in the first college building there erected. As opportunity offered he continued his studies until after the outbreak of the Civil war save for the summer of 1857 spent in Missouri.




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