USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > History of Poweshiek County, Iowa: a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 58
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On the 18th of June. 1907, Mr. Bray was married to Miss Myma E. Ryan, of Des Moines, who died on the 14th of May of the following year. His political support is given to the republican party and he has been a prominent figure in Iowa politics for a number of years. He was one of the originators of the progressive movement in the party in this state and was one of the man- agers of Senator Cummins' campaigns. In 1901 he made the first public speech against the political railroad pass in Iowa and has lived to see the course which he advocated become a law. He was a member of the interstate commerce
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convention held in Chicago in October, 1905, and was one of the originators of the pledge requiring all the delegates to sign an agreement to support Roose- velt's rate bill before accepting their credentials, which resulted in the Rump convention and was the means of creating a public sentiment which forced the bill through congress. Mr. Bray, however, has never sought nor held public office himself, yet has served as chairman of the republican county central com- mittee, and is untiring in his efforts to secure the adoption of the political prin- ciples in which he so firmly believes.
He is also decply interested in agriculture and development along that line and he owns a large tract of land east of Grinnell, where he carries on farm- ing pursuits on a scientific basis. He belongs to Marshalltown Lodge, No. 312, B. P. O. E., of Marshalltown, Iowa, is a member of the Catholic church and of the Knights of Columbus. From a poor boy he has worked his way up- ward, largely providing for his own education and winning in life that suc- cess which is the result of earnest, persistent effort, intelligently directed. While various interests claim his attention and have been promoted through his activity, his attention is chiefly given to his profession and his practice is a very exten- sive one, extending from New York to California. He is a most eloquent, earnest and able pleader and his work is largely given to pleading his cases before the courts. He has a comprehensive knowledge of the law, eloquence expressed in well modulated tones, and the sympathetic quality of his voice com- bined with wide understanding of legal principles enables him to not only sway but to convince auditors and the court.
GODFREY CRIDER.
Godfrey Crider, who is engaged in breeding and raising Chester White hogs and shorthorn cattle as well as feeding hogs for the market on his home- stead in Lincoln township, Poweshiek county, was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. on the 23d of February, 1847. He is of Swiss extraction, his parents Nicholas and Maria (Stober) Crider, having been natives of the land of the Alps, and there they were reared and married. Nicholas Crider, who was a weaver by trade, emigrated to the United States with his wife in 1845. They located in Ohio, where the father cleared forty acres of land, erected a log house and out-buildings, and there they resided for ten years. At the end of that period they removed to Iowa, locating upon one hundred and sixty acres of government land which Mr. Crider purchased in Poweshiek county in 1856. Upon this property he erected the same primitive structures of logs as were to be found on the majority of the homesteads of that period, placing his land under cultivation gradually as he cleared it. Here he continued to reside until his demise at the age of seventy-seven years. He was a democrat in politics, considering the principles of that party to more closely resemble the govern- mental policy of his native land. In Switzerland and Ohio he affiliated with the Lutheran denomination but after coming to lowa he united with the Morav- ian church, in the faith of which he passed away.
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HISTORY OF POWESHIER COUNTY
Godfrey Crider was nine years of age when his parents settled in Poweshiek county, so that his education was acquired in the district school, of Ohio and Iowa. After laying aside his text-books he engaged with his father in the cultivation of the homestead, where he has ever since continued to live. He now owns seventy-two and one-half acres of this land, which is well improved and under a good state of cultivation. Although Mr. Crider engages in gen- eral farming the greater part of his attention is directed to his stock-raising, in which he has met with a very fair degree of success. For the past twelve years he has been engaged in the real-estate and insurance business and is a member of the executive committee of the Poweshiek County Mutual Fire Insurance Company.
In this county on the 6th of January, 1871, occurred the marriage of Mr. Crider and Miss Mary F. Conley, a daughter of Evan D. and Lucy Conley, natives of the state of New York, from which they removed to Ohio. Later they came to Iowa, settling in Poweshick county, whee the father was identified with general farming, but the latter years of his life were spent in Kansas, where he passed away. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Crider were born the following children : Alfred L., an engineer on the railroad with headquarters at Mason City, is married and has four children, Lester, Mabel, Verne and a baby not named. Charles O., who is married and has one child, Thearal, lives at Brook- lyn, Iowa. William D., who is a farmer in Lincoln township, is also married and has two children, Gladys and George W. Eva M. married John Armstrong, of Brooklyn, Iowa, and has two children, Ross O. and Louis. Fred, who is living on a farm northwest of Brooklyn, is married and has two children, Anna and Edna May. Guy E., who is a blacksmith, lives on the homestead with his parents. Robert E. is a resident of Brooklyn. Elsie married William Kilmer, a farmer of Lincoln township. Louis is connected with a grocery store at Brooklyn. Clair, who is unmarried, lives at home.
The church relationship of the family is with the Moravian denomination, and the political views of Mr. Crider coincide with the principles of the demo- cratic party, but he was elected assessor, which office he held for three terms, by the republicans. He was for many years a trustee and school director in Lincoln township and for nineteen years he was treasurer of the board of school directors. Mr. Crider has always been recognized as one of the enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Lincoln township, where he and his family are well regarded.
THOMAS S. CRAVER.
Thomas S. Craver, who for eighteen years has been engaged in the cultiva- tion of his home farm in Sugar Grove township, was born in the state of New Jersey on the 21st of April, 1848. He is a son of the late Samuel P. and Eliza- beth (Nelson) Craver, both of whom were natives of New Jersey, where the father engaged in farming until about 1852. In that year, accompanied by his wife and children, he removed westward, settling on a farm in Franklin county,
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Indiana, which he cultivated for three years. In 1855 he became a resident of Iowa, taking up his abode upon a farm which he purchased in Union town- ship, Poweshiek county. The cultivation and improvement of that property engaged his attention until he passed away in 1894. He had long survived his wife, whose demise had occurred in August, 1872. Mr. Craver ever manifested a loyal and patriotic spirit and when the Civil war broke out he sent six sons to the defense of their country, five returning at the close of the war with honor- able discharges, while one was left to rest in a grave in the sunny south. Both Mr. and Mrs. Craver were active members of the Methodist Episcopal church and theirs was a Christian home, their children being surrounded by such in -. fluences and teachings as developed high principles and honorable manhood and womanhood.
Their sons and daughters in order of birth were as follows: George W., now deceased; Henry, a resident of Marshalltown, Iowa; John W., who has also passed away ; Cornelius C., who resides on his farm in Deep River town- ship; Joseph A., living on a fine farm in Sugar Grove township; Mary, now de- ceased : Theophilus, who owns an extensive sheep and cattle ranch near Red Rock, Montana; Thomas S., Jervis, living in Sioux City, Iowa; Jacob N., a resident of Centerville, Iowa ; Rachel J., the wife of Mitchell Thomas, a wealthy retired farmer of Grinnell, Iowa; Jesse and Frank, who are deceased; and Della, who lives in New Hampshire.
Reared on the homestead in Union township, Thomas S. Craver acquired his preliminary education in the schools of that locality and supplemented this by a three years' course in Iowa College at Grinnell. After teaching in rural schools for several terms he then pursued a commercial course in Eastman's Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he was graduated with the class of 1875. He then returned to Grinnell, where he engaged in clerking for three and a half years, and on the expiration of that period he entered the employ of Goss & Carney Brothers, lumber dealers, with whom he continued for thirteen years. In 1893 he decided to sever his connection with commercial interests and devote his time to agricultural pursuits, in con- sequence of which he removed to his present farm upon which the family took up their abode two years later. He has an excellent homestead of five hundred and eighty acres which is well improved, and his attention is now given to general farming in connection with stockraising and feeding.
Mr. Craver has been married twice, his first union being with Miss Edna Verbeck, whom he wedded in May, 1879. She was a daughter of Luther Ver- beck, of Grinnell, Iowa, and died in Poweshiek county on the 5th of December, 1898. There were three sons and three daughters of that marriage. Luther T., a resident of Des Moines, and now editor and manager of the Underwriters Review ; Merrill H., who is living on his farm near Forest Home ; Lucy E .. who became the wife of Lee Inman, of Grinnell; Mary E., the wife of Omer Good- ner, of Mahaska county, Iowa; Grace, the wife of F. E. Rodgers, of Omaha, Nebraska; and S. Grant, who is living at home. For his second wife Mr. Craver chose Miss Cassie Irene Frye, who is a daughter of the late Dr. J. H. Frye, of Mahaska county, and was formerly a teacher in the public schools of Des Moines, Iowa.
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His political support Mr. Craver accords to the candidates of the republican party. He is an honorable, upright citizen, whose character is above reproach. His ideas are practical and intelligent, his methods progressive and he is meet- ing with substantial success in his pursuits, being recognized as one of the pros- perous farmers of the community. His wife is a member of the Methodist church, having been an active worker in church societies until the removal of the family to the farm in 1906.
JOHN D. WICHMANN.
John D. Wichmann, a prominent farmer of Malcom township and a veteran of the Civil war, was born in the grand duchy of Oldenburg, Germany, on the 12th of January, 1836. His parents, John and Margaret ( Kohler) Wichmann, were lifelong residents of Germany, carrying on agricultural pursuits on a small rented farm there. In their family were four children, as follows: Henry, who passed away in the fatherland : Margaret, who married Henry Litte, of Adair county. Iowa : John D., of this review : and John Frederick, of lowa county, Iowa.
John D. Wichmann continued a resident of his native country until 1861, in which year he came to the United States and at once made his way to Iowa, locat- ing in Iowa county, where he remained for one year. He then came to Poweshick county in the spring of 1862. and on the 12th of August of that year enlisted from this county as a soldier of Company H, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He remained a member of that regiment throughout the remainder of the war and in the meantime participated in all engagements in which it took part. On the 3Ist of July, 1865, he was mustered out at Savannah, Georgia, after having given brave and loyal service to his adopted country during her hour of need. After the close of the war he again went to lowa county, lowa, and there worked for one year at what was known as Dutch Colony. In the fall of 1866 he returned to Germany to see his parents, spending six months in the fatherland, and during that visit, in April, 1867, was united in marriage to Miss Anna Kate Haase, who was also born in the grand duchy of Oldenburg, on the 31st of August, 1841.
Returning to lowa with his bride he began farming on his own account in Iowa county, there renting a farm for four years, after which he purchased a tract of eighty acres which he continued to operate for five years. At the expiration of that period he sold the farm to his brother, John Frederick Wichmann, who still resides thereon, and bought one hundred and sixty acres adjoining that tract. There he engaged in general agricultural pursuits until 1882, when he leased his farm for six years, after which he sold it. In the spring of 1883 he came to his present home, a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres located on sections 13, 14 and 11, Malcom township, Poweshiek county. He is a progressive farmer, has erected substantial barns and outbuildings on the place, and is con- ducting his affairs according to the most modern and practical methods. The suc- cess which has come to him as the result of his well directed efforts and earnest labors is creditable and gratifying and he is numbered among the prosperous agri- culturists of Malcom township. He also owns a farm of one hundred and twenty
MR. AND MRS. JOHN D. WICHMANN
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTER IX AND TL FOUNDATIONS
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY
acres located on the state road in section 24, this township, which is the source of a good annual income.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Wichmann has been blessed with seven children, as follows : Matilda, now the wife of T. Cady, of Lyon county, Minnesota ; Clause. a farmer residing near Malcom; Lizzie, who married Charles Bostin, of Malcom township ; Molly Augusta, the wife of Gust Shiler, of Scott township, Poweshiek county ; Diedrich, of Sheridan township : Louis, at home ; and Henry, who makes his home in Malcom township.
The parents attend the German Lutheran church and are held in high esteem throughout the community in which they reside. Mr. Wichmann maintains pleas- ant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in John Drake Post. G. A. R., of Brooklyn. He gave his political allegiance to the democracy until 1896, since which time he has been a stanch republican, giving hearty sup- port to that party, although not desirous of public office for himself. The only offices which he has filled have been those connected with school and road affairs, for he has ever had the best interests of the community at heart, doing all in his power to further the material, intellectual and moral growth of his section. He has many excellent traits of character which commend him to the regard of his fellowmen, exemplifying in his life many of the stalwart qualities which are rec- ognized as the birthright of the German race, and all who know him hold him in high esteem.
C. N. COX.
Few men possess the activity, the alertness and the enterprise of C. N. Cox, whose name is a synonym for all that is standard and all that is progressive in mercantile life in Deep River. . Success has come to him as the gradual develop- ment and unfolding of his powers, the wise use of opportunities and the execu- tion of carefully formed plans, until today he stands at the head of the well known firm of C. N. Cox & Company, conducting the largest enterprise of its kind in Deep River and one of the largest in Poweshiek county. He is a native son of Deep River township, born on a farm a half mile east of the town of Deep River, his natal day being December 26, 1868. He is a son of George and Catharine (Funk) Cox, of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this work.
C. N. Cox is the eldest in a family of four children, and his boyhood and youth were spent on the home farm in Deep River township. His early education was acquired in the public schools of Poweshiek county, his studies there being supplemented by a three years' course in Cornell College at Mount Vernon, Iowa. . At the age of nineteen he entered the store of his father in Deep River. first working as a clerk. He was thus employed for six or seven years. during which period he gained a thorough knowledge of the business. At the end of that time he was given an interest in the business, the other members of the firm being his father, George Cox, and E. C. Cochran, business being conducted under the name of Cox & Cochran. In 1898 the father and son
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purchased Mr. Cochran's interest and the name of the firm was changed to C. N. Cox & Company, but the son has complete management of the concern, the father having only a financial interest. In 1900 the business had grown to such proportions that it was found necessary to enlarge its quarters and the father at that time erected a modern two-story brick building with basement, the main room being fifty by eighty feet, with warehouse twenty-four by forty feet in dimensions. The basement, first floor and a portion of the second story are used for the stock of goods, while the remaining portion on the second floor is devoted to office purposes. The firm carries a complete line of general mier- chandise and seven clerks are employed in the conduct of the enterprise. Mr. Cox is ever watchful of the needs of liis patrons and his modern methods, push and square dealing have been the elements in building up a trade that now makes this firm the largest of its kind in Deep River and one of the largest mercantile concerns in Poweshiek county. Mr. Cox is a principal stockholder in the State Bank at Deep River and for the past five years has served as vice president of that institution. He also owns stock in the Deep River Brick & Tile Company.
Mr. Cox was married in 1893 to Miss Margaret Crowder, of Oskaloosa, a daughter of Dr. Crowder of that city. They have a daughter and son, Kath- ryn and Howard. Mr. Cox is a prominent Mason, belonging to Golden Rod Lodge. No. 512. at Deep River; to the chapter at What Cheer ; and to the con- sistory and to El Kahir Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Cedar Rapids. He is quick, positive, exacting and comprehensive of every detail of affairs that comes within the scope of his action. He is a modest, unassuming man, whose time has been devoted to the welfare of his family and his business. He is, how- ever, an interesting man personally and one who has learned well life's lessons and put them to practical account. His store is the expression of himself, his ideals, his character and his quiet, persistent industry and ability.
M. J. CAIN.
Probably few men are better known throughout Poweshiek county in con- nection with the union labor cause than is M. J. Cain, now living retired in Brook- lyn. He was born near Morristown, Belmont county, Ohio, on the 15th of January, 1835, a son of Daniel Cain, who was a soldier of the war of 1812, and a grandson of Richard Cain, who served for four years in the Revolu- tionary war. Our subject's mother, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth McClain was a daughter of William McClain, also a Revolutionary hero, having for eight long years aided the colonies in their struggle for independence.
M. J. Cain remained on the home farm in his native county until twelve years of age, when he became an apprentice to the tailor's trade. After thor- oughly mastering that occupation he followed it until he had saved sufficient money to enable him to complete a dental course, after which he was engaged in the practice of dentistry for eight years. That profession, however, proved detrimental to his health and in 1855 he abandoned it and started for Iowa.
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reaching Burlington on the 13th of February. From that place he went to Jefferson county and there followed the tailor's trade until 1860, when he made his way to Missouri. He soon returned to Iowa, however, locating at Leon, Decatur county. He was residing at the latter place at the time of the Civil war, and in 1862 he organized a company of Union soldiers which became known as Company K, Thirty-ninth Iowa Infantry. In August of that year he was mustered into service as first lieutenant of his company and continued in that capacity throughout the remainder of the war. He took part in all of the engagements of his regiment, went with Sherman to the sea and during that great march was engaged in fighting for four days without any sleep or rest whatever, a strain which permanently affected his health.
After the cessation of hostilities Mr. Cain came to Brooklyn and was here successfully engaged in the grocery business until 1873, in which year he sold out and purchased a farm about two miles east of town, upon which he resided until October, 1894, when he again took up his abode in Brooklyn and has since lived retired. However, he did not sell his farm, which consisted of two hundred acres of valuable land, until 1906. Prior to his withdrawal from active life his career had been one of continuous activity in the various channels into which he had directed his efforts and was characterized at all times by a close application, keen business ability and sound judgment which proved potent forces in the accumulation of a competency which ranks him among the sub- stantial and prosperous citizens of Brooklyn.
It is probably through his activity along political lines, however, that Mr. Cain has become best known to the residents of Poweshiek county. At an early day he became interested in the labor question and has ever remained a stal- wart anti-monopolist. For a long period he was president of the Farmers Alliance and early became a member of the Knights of Labor, while for some time he served as master workman of his assembly. He was a delegate from his county to the union labor convention held in Cincinnati, and at that time was chosen to organize the district in Iowa, in which task he was most success- ful. He made a thorough study of and became well posted on the needs of farmers and laborers and became intensely interested in the cause of union labor. Possessing much ability as an orator, he carried on an extensive cam- paign throughout this and adjoining states and in 1887 was the candidate of the union labor party for governor of Iowa. Something of his popularity among the laboring classes is indicated by the fact that at that time he was supported by fourteen thousand, five hundred votes, the largest vote received by any union labor or greenback candidate for governor or for any other office in Iowa since the time of General Weaver. In more recent years, however, Mr. Cain has withdrawn from active politics, and since 1890 has been identified with the republican party.
Mr. Cain was united in marriage in Libertyville, Jefferson county, Iowa, on the 30th of July, 1857, to Miss Nancy Elizabeth Morey, who was born in Athens, Athens county, Ohio, on the 16th of February, 1840. She is a daughter of the Rev. Cyrus and Elizabeth (Martin) Morey, natives of New York and Ohio respectively. Her father began his ministerial work in connection with the Methodist Episcopal church in West Virginia in 1851. In 1855 he became a
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member of the lowa conference, his first appointment being Troy, this state. For one year during the war he preached at the Brooklyn church and continued his connection with the lowa conference until the time of his death, which oc- curred on the 27th of March, 1890. He was a man of most excellent traits and was loved and respected by all who came under his influence. Joseph K. Morey. a brother of Mrs. Cain, entered the Union army during the Civil war as a member of the Sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded at the battle of Shiloh and was afterward transferred to the Eighteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, being mustered out as lieutenant colonel of his regiment. He was a lawyer by profession but died only one year after his return from the war.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cain were born eleven children, as follows: Flora May. the wife of L. W. Perham, of Wichita Falls, Texas; Charles Clifford, who died at the age of nineteen months and was buried at Corinth, Mississippi, while his mother was visiting her husband in the army; Carrie, the deceased wife of Homer D. Lee; Edward Lowell, general transportation clerk of mails for the United States, stationed at Omaha, Nebraska; U. S., a farmer of Bear Creek township, who formerly engaged in teaching: Arthur Cyrus, conducting a restaurant at Kansas City, Missouri; Ira M., a traveling man with headquar- ters at Kansas City: Eva Frances, the wife of Grant Il. Miller, who resides on a ranch near Iola, Kansas; Charles C., engaged in the drug business in Deep River, Iowa; Edyth Myrtle, who married Dr. John Ringena, of Deep River ; and Dr. Raymond W., practicing medicine in Denver, Colorado.
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