USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 33
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Sac county was heavily in debt and county warrants were at a discount. from fifty to sixty cents on a dollar being all they were actually worth, but when taken in payment for taxes were worth their face. He sokl his land and bought county warrants, doubling his money by using them in payment of taxes for his clients. At the end of Mr. Cory's term as treasurer and recorder. Mr. Early was elected to take that combined office, and was re- peatedly re-elected several years. He served as county judge one year, but refused further to hold such office, or any other, save that he did consent to serve as mayor of his city and was a national delegate for James G. Blaine in 1884. He drifted into the banking business and made money rapidly. He was director and president of the Sac County Bank-later known as the Sac County State Bank -- and was also director of both state and national banks in Sac City. He reaped his reward, as progress went for- ward in the new country, but he never forgot those less fortunate and was ever public spirited and generous. He put many thousand dollars into the old railroad line from Sac City to Wall Lake, and finally donated the same to the Chicago & Northwestern Company when they agreed to operate the road for not less than twenty years. The court houses, churches, the old
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institute and many other local enterprises received liberally from his purse. In 1876 he built his fine brick mansion-then the best in western Iowa-at a cost of twenty thousand dollars, and aided in building the opera house block, he owning three-fourths of the stock in the company.
D. Carr Early was happily married December 9, 1859, to Harriet V. Wren, who died March 26, 1864, and three days before her death her second child was born. The issue by this marriage was Ossian Carr, of San Jose, California, and Walter Francis, deceased at the age of twenty years, while attending college at Valparaiso, Indiana. On January 1, 1865, Mr. Early was married to Sarah A. Wren, who was born in Montgomery county, In- diana, and when a child of eleven years came to Iowa with her parents, Wash- ington Wade and Maria (Frame) Wren, in the fall of 1857 and settled on a farm five miles south of Sac City, where they pre-empted land. To Judge and Mrs. Early four children were born as follows: Quincy Eugene, who died in 1909: Lulu Maud, deceased; Lola Mae, wife of George B. Perkins; Doud Cady, who died at the age of nine years.
Judge Early was an enthusiastic Freemason, having united in 1852 and helped to develop the order in Sac City. He was an honored member of Occidental Lodge No. 178: Sac City Chapter No. 18, Order of the Eastern Star: Darius Chapter No. 58. Royal Arch Masons; Rose Croix Commandery No. 38, Knights Templar; Des Moines Consistory No. 37, Scottish Rite Masonry ; Za-Ga-Zig Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Judge Early's father and grandfather were both of the Presbyterian faith, but he was not truly a Christian by profession until aged about fifty years, when he united with the Presbyterian church at Sac City and gave liberally toward the support of that as well as towards all other denomina- tions in his vicinity.
Politically, he of whom this memoir is written was an uncompromising
. Republican-never scratched his ticket and always attended caucuses and primary elections. He was greatly beloved by the poor people in his com- munity, as well as by those upon whom fortune had smiled.
Of such worthy characters the world has none too many.
Judge Early was called by death August 4, 1903, and the community felt a distinct loss in the passing of this esteemed citizen. His influence had touched with beneficence the civic and business life of his home county and city and his name merits a place of honor on the roster of those who have contributed in generous measure to the development and progress of the city and county which was so long the scene of his earnest and effective endeavors.
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JACOB W. HARTSELL.
Clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort in the affairs of life will inevitably result in the attaining of a due measure of success, but in follow- ing out the career of one who has attained success by his own efforts there comes into view the intrinsic individuality which made such accomplishment possible, and thus there is granted an objective incentive and inspiration. The qualities which have made Mr. Hartsell, the mayor of Early, one of the prominent and sticcessful men of that city, have also brought him the esteem of his fellow townsmen, for his career has been one of well-directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods.
Jacob W. Hartsell, mayor of Early, Iowa, and prosperous farmer of Sac county, was born April 6, 1853, in Mercer county, Illinois. His parents were Harrison and Elizabeth ( Unangst ) Hartsell, who were both natives of New Jersey. They came west in the early history of Illinois and settled in Mercer county, that state, where they both died. They reared a family of six children: Charles, of Preston, Kansas; Mrs. Mary Shearer, of Lori- mer, lowa: Mrs. Elizabeth Moler, of Stuart, Iowa; Elijah, also of Stuart, lowa: Ezra, deceased, and Jacob W., with whom this narrative deals.
Jacob W. Hartsell was educated in the schools of Mercer county, Illi- nois, and. after marrying in that state, came to Sac county, Iowa, in 1882, and purchased three hundred and twenty acres in Cook township, and con- tintied to reside on this farm until he moved to Early in 1905. In 1909 he was elected mayor of Early and has been filling that important position up until the present time. Since taking charge of the executive chair he has in- stalled an electric light plant. at a cost of ten thousand dollars, and the city now boasts of handsome boulevard lights, which gives it a very attractive appearance at night. He has been a strong advocate of all town improve- ments and has given an administration to the citizens of Early which has been satisfactory in every way.
Mr. Hartsell was married in 1877 to Amanda Mclaughlin, the daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Mclaughlin, of Mercer county, Illinois, and to this union there have been born five children, James, Charles, Vernon, Nellie and Ruth. James and Charles are now on the home farm, Vernon is farm- ing near Early and Nellie resides on a farm near the same place. while Ruth remains with her parents.
Politically, Mr. Hartsell is a Democrat and is a firm believer of the prin- ciples as set forth by that party and advocated by President Wilson. His party has honored him by electing him to the office of mayor of Early. while
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he has honored his party by giving his services, not only for the benefit of the members of his own party, but for all the citizens of the city, irrespec- tive of their politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, while he belongs to the Mystic Shrine at Des Moines. The members of the family are all Presbyterians and render that church their earnest support. Mr. Hartsell is, first of all, distinctly a man of the people, whose interests he has at heart and for whom he wouldn't hesitate to make any reasonable sacrifice. He believes in the ultimate glorious destiny of our free institutions and that the best way to realize that destiny is for each member of the body politic to live up to his highest ideals of right, which, to the best of his ability, Mr. Hartsell has endeavored to do.
HON. EUGENE CRISS.
The name of Judge Eugene Criss figures closely within the pages devoted to the history of Sac county, and he is best remembered as "the father of Sac City." He, in fact, founded the city and assisted in its future development. He was the friend and adviser of scores of settlers, to whom his words of counsel were guiding stones in their pathway of redemption of the prairie lands and their emergence from the embryo state into a landscape of smiling meadows and substantial homes. His value to the county as a citizen and official during the pioneer days can not be properly estimated. He was a man among men in the old days when men of integrity and iron resolution were needed.
Judge Eugene Criss was born in West Virginia and reared in the state of Maryland, the son of Michael N. Criss. His birth occurred July 27, 1822, on a farm. After his marriage he and his wife resided on the parental farm until their removal to Illinois, in October of 1844. They rented a farm in north- western Illinois, Jo Daviess county, for a period of two years. In the mean- time, Mr. Criss worked in the lead mines of the vicinity for a period of three years while conducting his farming operations. He then engaged in the mercantile business in the town of Shullsburg. Wisconsin, for a period of eleven years. In the spring of 1855 he loaded his stock of merchandise on a covered wagon and commenced the long overland journey to Sac county, lowa. He varied the monotony of the journey by trading with the farmers on the way, replenishing his stock of goods from time to time. His ostensible purpose in
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leaving Wisconsin was to hunt for a location wherein he intended to establish himself with his business permanently. On the way he heard of the rich lands to the westward awaiting the magic touch of the settler's ax and the industry of the husbandman. He decided upon Sac county and arrived on the banks of the Raccoon in the month of October, 1855. He at once began the erection of a log building of a story and one-half to house his store of goods, and built a log cabin, which was pointed out for years as the first cabin built in Sac City. Judge Criss had a natural liking and an inborn aptitude for agricul- ture, and as soon as possible he became possessed of four hundred acres of excellent farm land. which he cultivated up to the time of his death. Seeing the possibilities of the development of the lumbering industry, he erected a saw mill, which he operated for a number of years, the output of the mill finding a ready sale among the incoming settlers. He erected the first flouring mill in Sac City and built the famous old mill dam, which is known as a noted landmark in Sac City to this day. In turn he was a miller, lumberman, suc- cessful merchant and farmer, filling these diversified and very necessary occu- pations with credit to himself, large personal benefit and for the convenience of his fellow citizens. Judge Criss naturally became the owner of a very large acreage of Sac county land, and was one of the largest land owners of west- ern Iowa previous to his death. He was the first postmaster of Sac City, and was likewise the first county judge, upon the initial organization of the county, in which he took an active part. He served several terms as county judge and performed duties very similar to those now devolving upon the county supervisors. In 1868 further honors were conferred upon him by his fellow citizens, who sent him to represent the district in the state Legislature. Later he was a candidate for state senator. During the Civil War he served as provost marshal of the district, with his headquarters at Fort Dodge. His terri- tory during the war embraced practically all of western lowa. Judge Criss was a prominent member of the Freemasons and a worshiper in the Metho- dist Episcopal faith.
Judge Eugene Criss was married July 27, 1843, to Frances Hall. daugh- ter of Jesse and Sarah Hall, who removed from their ancestral home to a farm in Preston county, West Virginia, in 1825. To this union were born the following children : Mary Jane Wine, who was born in February. 1844, and resides in Sac City : James L., born in November, 1846. and now a resident of Omaha, Nebraska : Helen V. Davis, deceased, born in the state of Illinois in 1848; William H. Criss, of Sac City; Lola M. Beimer, deceased. Three
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grandchildren, Miss Neva Beimer, Engene and Clifford Beimer, make their home with their grandmother.
Frances Hall Criss was born on a farm in Monongahela county, West Virginia, May 16, 1823. It is not given to many women to have lived to an extreme age and to have seen the development of a rich and prosperous sec- tion of country, and to have been the first resident of a beautiful and wealthy city and watched with loving gaze its expansion during the course of half a century of progress. We revere the pioneers and cherish them on account of their sterling qualities and long associations with the body politic. Frances Criss has been a resident of Sac City for upward of fifty years. She has at- tained the great age of ninety-one years and is yet in possession of all her faculties and in sound bodily health. She has seen the unfolding of a land- scape of wilderness and prairie into a thriving and populous community en- joying all the luxuries and conveniences of modern-day civilization. She has resided in Sac City since the inception of the town, and has taken an active part, in conjunction with her distinguished and able husband. in assisting in its settlement and development. "Grandma Criss," as she is af- fectionately called by her intimates and friends, is a living embodiment of all that is best and noblest of womankind. She cherishes the memories of by- gone, halcyon days, when her stalwart husband was taking such an important and energetic part in the building up of his adopted community.
One of the most notable occurrences in the history of Sac county oc- curred July 27, 1902, the occasion being the eightieth birthday anniversary of the honorable gentleman whom this biography chronicles. A great barbecue was held in honor of the Judge's birthday, to which he invited the people of the surrounding country. The scene of the immense gathering was in the beautiful Fair Grounds park, just east of the city. It was a gathering notable for the number of friends and pioneers who assembled to do honor to the aged citizen whose days on earth were even then numbered. The entire day was given over to partaking of the hospitality of the Judge, and it was long remembered as a gala occasion throughout the countryside. Several oxen were roasted whole, and other viands were supplied by the donor in pro- fusion. The people of the entire section for many miles around were invited whole-heartedly to come to Sac City, and three thousand five hundred assisted the Judge in celebrating his notable anniversary. He did not long survive the happy occasion, however. On March 11, 1903, was closed a most eventful and useful life, and the kindly old gentleman was mourned by thousands who would miss his benign presence for long years to come.
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SAMUEL L. WATT.
The pages of this volume abound with biographies of men who were pioneers in the true sense of the word. To have been a real pioneer in the development of such an important part of the great commonwealth of Iowa is a distinction of merit and a matter of pride for the one who is classed among the interesting group of men whose lives and deeds are recorded herein. In Sac county we have two classes of pioneers-those who were actually among the very first settlers and those who came later in the greater period of development. Not many of those who bore the brunt of the first battle of redeeming the land from a wilderness remain for the present genera- tion to honor. They were of a high type of manhood, and descended from a race of people who have been ever in the forefront of pushing onward the path of empire. Among the few "old settlers" remaining who occupy a high place in the esteem of their fellow men is Samuel L. Watt, a record of whose career since boyhood reads like romance rather than fact. He comes of the good old Buckeye stock, which in turn traces its forbears to Kentucky, and thence across the ocean to the North of Ireland and across the intervening waters to Scotland.
Samuel L. Watt, former secretary of the Sac County Fair Association. was born December 5, 1849, in Kenton, Hardin county, Ohio. He is the son of Samuel L. and Lydia Margaret (Leach) Watt, natives of Kentucky and Pennsylvania respectively. Samuel L .. Sr., was reared in Kentucky and on attaining his majority removed to Hardin county, Ohio, and was one of the pioneers in the settlement and development of this division of the state of Ohio. However, he was not satisfied to remain and spend his life in Ohio. and accordingly, in the prime of manhood, he migrated to Sac county in October. 1855. He was accompanied by his wife and several children on the journey to the new West. His family consisted of seven children by a first marriage as follows : James, Thomas, Deborah, Robert, Harriet, Nancy, and Christina (Leach ), wife of Andrew Leach. By a second marriage there were five children: Olive G., wife of William Conley (married in Sac county ) ; John J .; Samuel L .; Lydia M., wife of John Stocker; Sydney, the wife of G. L. Dobson; a daughter, Sarah Frances (Swan), who was born in Sac county.
The family set out from the old Hardin county home with a wagon or "prairie schooner," hauled by an ox-team, one horse and buggy, and a few milch cows and household effects. The trip was a source of continuous wonder to the several small children included in the happy family party. They
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traveled by easy stages across Ohio, northern Indiana and Illinois, by way of the regular traveled route taken by the pioneers who were coming in an ever-increasing stream to the great new lands of the Hawkeye country. Game was plentiful after they left the thickly settled and okler regions and the members of the Watt family feasted royally from the results of bunting forays into the prairie lands and timber. Arriving at their destination in Sac county, the men folks immediately set about the erection of a log cabin which served for their habitation for several years. The timber for this cabin was cut and hewn from the great forest trees of oak and walnut which were plentiful along the banks of the Raccoon river. Kind neighbors willingly lent their assistance in the erection of the cabin. This log house served as a habitation for the Watts for several years and was later sup- planted by a more pretentious frame dwelling.
The first winter was a very fine, open season and the immigrants from the East fared comfortably. The larder was always full of game and fish which could be obtained in abundance. The following winter of 1856-1857 was a terrible one for the settlers, however, and much suffering enstied on account of the extreme cold and the great depth of the snow which lay upon the ground from early fall until late in the spring. Mr. Watt states that they never experienced any trouble with the Indians who frequently camped in the neighborhood and that their greatest difficulty was in getting to market with produce and obtaining the necessary supplies of food and clothing. They hauled their first crop of wheat to the Cedar Falls market, one hun- (red miles away. The family actually subsisted on one dollar's worth of sugar during one whole year. The elder Watt was a cripple, and was dependent to a great extent upon his children for help about the farm. The oldest son, James, accompanied by his sister Harriet, journeyed to California in 1859, and thus deprived the family of a mainstay, which made it neces- sary for the younger children to assume the burden and assist the father in every way possible. Christina followed in 1862. For several years it was a hard pull for them to make ends meet, but they bore their troubles with true pioneer fortitude and things eventually righted themselves and prosperity smiled upon them. Samuel L., Sr., moved to Sac City after a number of years, but, after two years' residence in town, he returned to the farm and later removed to Ohio. He died at the residence of his daughter Sydney in 1875. Mrs. Watt died in 1873. It is recorded that the elder Watt took a sub-contract for carrying the mail from Fort Dodge to Sioux City for a term of years, but owing to the father's crippled condition it was necessary for the children to perform the task. Samuel L., the son, began at this task
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when but the menge. a mage. It was considerable responsibility tochons upon a young lad, but he successfully performed the work for a term of three years during the summer months, and attended the primitive district school in the vicinity during the winter months. Judge D. Carr Early was Mr. Watt's first teacher. Owing to the necessity of devoting the greater part of his time to the farm work, his school training was necessarily irregular and intermittent and was confined to the three R's.
When twenty-four years of age, in 1873, Mr. Watt purchased a tract of wild, unbroken land and embarked upon the occupation of herding and raising cattle for the markets. Previous to this time he had invested his savings in a small tract of land south of Sac City in 1871 and made a trip to the far West. For two years he drove freighting teams in the mining regions of California, Nevada and Colorado. His route reached from the region of Death Valley to Denver and the mountains north of the city. His experi- ence while performing his hazardous tasks in such a wild, unsettled country was very exciting and he met with many thrilling adventures.
Upon his return from the West to Sac county in 1873 he ranged cattle on his land until the fall of 1881. He would buy up large herds of feeders and fatten them for the markets. In the fall of 1881 Mr. Watt sold his live stock, rented out his land and removed to Buena Vista, where he embarked in the livery business for one year. In 1882 he removed to Sac City and has since been engaged in various business enterprises in which he has achieved marked success. At various times he has been the proprietor of a meat market, furniture store, etc., which he usually conducted for a time and sold out with profit to himself. Mr. Watt has been a capitalist in a large way for a number of years and has dealt extensively in Iowa land, having at one time owned over one thousand acres of good Hawkeye soil. His holdings but a few years back embraced one thousand acres of land in Sac county and over four hundred acres of South Dakota land. However, he has recently sold the greater part of his extensive farm holdings and given the proceeds to his children. He still retains a valuable tract of forty acres adjoining the prosperous and growing city of Sioux Falls, and owns four farms in Sac county totalling seven hundred acres. He has one hundre.l and sixty acres adjoining the corporation of Sac City on which he has raised live stock in large numbers. Mr. Watt is a lover of horses and an excellent judge of this useful animal, having as high as sixty head of draft and road animals on his nearby farm in one season.
Mr. Watt, since 1905, has been one of the largest stockholders and the efficient secretary of the Sac County Fair Association. He purchased the
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property of the old, decadent fair association at sheriff's sale and applied business methods to an enterprise which was destined to reflect credit upon himself and his associates. The association was immediately reorganized through his efforts, the grounds overhauled and placed in splendid condition and an era of prosperity soon set in for the fair association which has been continued from year to year. The Sac County Fair, during the past nine years, has been a wonderful success in every way. The live stock displays and the exhibits have been among the best in the state, and the attendance at the annual fair held each year has been constantly on the increase. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Savings Bank of Sac City. In politics, Mr. Watt is a Democrat, and has ever been an active worker in the ranks and a leader of his party. He has served as city councilman and assessor. He values his membership in the Ancient Order of United Worknien.
Mr. Watt's wedded life has been in keeping with his highly successful career in other lines. He was united in marriage in December, 1873, with Rosa P. Allen, of Sac City, who was born in the year 1853 and died in 1897. She was the daughter of Washington Allen, an early pioneer settler of Sac county.
The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Watt: Ina Belle (Maker), of Sac City, who is the mother of two children, Catherine Edna and Vivian. The second child born is Willis Walford Watt, a farmer re- siding northwest of Sac City. Willis served eight years in the United States regular army and spent four years in active warfare in the Philippine islands, having made two trips around the world while in the service. The third child is Edna Pearl ( Strohmeier ), wife of Gus W. Strohmeier, acting secre- tary of the Sac County Fair Association, and who is engaged in the auto- mobile business in Sac City.
HENRY HANSON.
There is no section of the United States which has held and still now holds greater promise for investors in lands than western Iowa and espe- cially Sac county. It is a fact that land values have trebled and quadrupled in value during the last decade and are still on the upward swing. Conse- quently the men who have had the foresight and the faith in the future of the country to continue to invest in the farm lands have become prosperous and wealthy. It was never designed by Providence that men should be poor
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