USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 34
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and wretched. There are enough good things in the world for every one- and the best things come from the bosom of Mother Earth. He who gets close to the earth and uses skill in combining the elements of soil and air in producing the crops which are always in demand for the purpose of feed- ing the millions of inhabitants of this broad land is performing a high vocation and is certain of success. Henry Hanson, of Odebolt, is a citizen who began his career in Sac county in tilling the soil and has enlarged his operations to such an extent that he is one of the most important factors in the community and one of the largest estate holders in the county. Mr. Hanson is a native of a foreign land which has contributed some of the best citizens in many of the Western states. The Swedish-Americans of Sac county are among the leaders in all walks of life, and are universally re- spected as men of intelligence and pronounced ability everywhere they have settled.
Henry Hanson, farmer, of Odebolt, lowa, was born in Sweden June I. 1840. the son of Jens and Kirsty Hanson. Jens Hanson died a few weeks before Henry's birth. His mother later came to America and died here. At the age of nineteen years Mr. Hanson crossed the ocean and landed in New York City in September of 1868. He spent six years at various pursuits in New York City and then came westward. In the spring of 1874 he came to Sac county and, in partnership with A. E. Johnson, pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of land in Wheeler township. They operated this tract together until 1877. The land cost them six dollars and sixty cents an acre and was purchased on a time contract with five years' time allotted them in which to complete the payments. In 1877 each of the partners took one hundred and sixty acres for his own use. Mr. Hanson added eighty acres to his quarter in 1876 at a cost of five dollars and fifty cents an acre. In the year 1880 he disposed of his Wheeler township tract of two hundred and forty acres and invested in one hundred and fifty acres adjoining the town of Odebolt. Mr. Hanson has dealt considerably in farm lands since his first venture and at the present time is the owner of a total of eight hundred and ninety acres of land in Wheeler township. His home farm, occupied by his son, is the model farm of the southwest portion of Sac county and fitted with beautiful buildings and every convenience for the carrying on of scientific farming operations.
In 1877 he made his residence in Odebolt and located his family here in 1878, when the town was first started. He immediately took advantage of his opportunity and engaged in the buying of grain and live stock for shipment to the markets. He continued in this pursuit until 1883 and was
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the pioneer grain dealer of Odebolt. He began as manager of the Swedish Farmers' Elevator Company and soon bought out the business, which was the second grain buying establishment in the city. Since 1883 he has de- voted his time to looking after his Crawford and Sac county agricultural interests and his business affairs.
Mr. Hanson is a large stockholler and vice-president of the First Na- tional Bank of Odebolt. He has a large modern residence on Lincoln ave- nue. He is a Republican in politics and devotes a considerable portion of his time to civic affairs, being a member of the school board and having served on the city council. His family attend the Presbyterian church, and he is a member of the Ancient Free and .Accepted Masons and has taken the degrees in Masonry in the Sac City chapter and commandery.
Mr. Hanson's marriage occurred in 1872 to .Augusta Eckblom, a native of Sweden. They are the parents of four children, as follows: Mrs. Rob- ertina Von Marell, of Phoenix, Arizona: Lillian, the efficient librarian of the Odebolt public library: George, on the home farm in Wheeler township : Grace, at home.
By a life of persevering industry and fair and honest dealings Mr. Ilan- son has acquired a fair share of this work''s goods, and. what is of more value, the respect and esteem of every one with whom he has come in con- tact. He and his family occupy an enviable social standing in their com- munity, in which they are among the pioneers, and possess in a marked degree that happy faculty of making steadfast friendships.
CILARLES L. EARLY.
The annals of the West teem with stories of young men of ability and energy who have come from castern points and been successful in many lines of endeavor. Some have succeeded in commerce and as agriculturists, while others have made marked progress in the useful line of endeavor as public officials. The name of Early is one that is well and favorably known in Sac county. The name attaches to itself a significance that the bearer has achieved marked success along his chosen path of endeavor.
Charles L. Early, postmaster of Sac City, is ranked among the pioneers of the county, who came here and seized the opportunity which presented itself and has succeeded, not only in a worldlly way, but enjoys the respect and esteem of a large concourse of friends and well wishers. Public spirited to a
Chash Early 1914
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high degree, he has served the people in many capacities for a long period of years, as a county official. in the halls of the state Legislature, and lastly as an accommodating and conscientious postmaster.
Mr. Early is a native son of the Buckeye state and was born on a farm in Brown county, Ohio, July 27, 1854. He is the son of David Watson Early, a native of Kentucky, and was of Irish ancestry. The ancestors of Charles L. Early came from Ireland in 1740 and settled in the Old Dominion (Virginia ). Here they figured in the colonial and revolutionary perio'l as became natural to members of a race who became Americans easily. David Watson Early was the son of David Early, son of Thomas, who was son .f William Early, who is said to have emigrated from Ireland about the middle of the eighteenth century.
David was the youngest son of William Early, of Virginia, who migrated to Kentucky in about 1784 and took an active part in the stirring scenes inci- dental to the settlement of the state. Further research determines the fact that the original progenitors of the Early family in America were Jeremiah and William. From these two brothers have sprung the different members of the family, many of whom have achieved fame, not only in civic affairs but in the pursuit of war. Gen. Jubal Early, of Civil-war fame, was a direct descendant of Jeremiah Early.
The father of Charles L. Early was fifteen years of age when the family removed from Kentucky to Ohio, in the year 1835, and became one of the pioneer families of the state which has contributed her sons and daughters to the upbuilding of many of the greatest western commonwealths. David W. lived to a good old age and died in 1908 at his Brown county home. His wife was Sarah Jane Hook, a native of Adams county, Ohio, and who was reared on the farm adjoining that of the Earlys. She was born in the year 1824 and was deceased in 1885. They reared a family of four children : John Quincy, who resides on the old homestead in Brown county, Ohio; Walter David, de- ceased; Charles Lee, of whom we are writing; George Andrew, an agricul- turist in Brown county, Ohio.
Charles Lee Early was reared to young manhood on the farm. His primary schooling was obtained in the district school not far from the old homestead. Being ambitious, he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, and also studied in the Bentonville Normal College. For a period of three years he followed the profession of teaching in Brown and Adams counties, Ohio. Believing that the West offered a better and more prolific field for the exercise of his talents, in the year 1876 he came to lowa. first locating in Sac City, where he taught school for one term in Clinton
(23)
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township in the winter of 1876. The following year he was employed in the Sac County Bank, one of the pioneer banking institutions of the city. He served as deputy county treasurer from 1878 to 1882, inclusive. He then formed a partnership with Phil Schaller for the purpose of conducting a real estate and loan business, the firm being known for a period of six years as Schaller & Early. It is said that this firm accomplished a great deal in the promotion of the settlement of Sac county and assisted many farmers in various ways through the troublesome times incident to the settlement of the county.
Mr. Early turned his attention to civic affairs and. in the fall of 1888, was elected clerk of the district court, in which office he served the people ably and well for four years. This did not seem to be sufficient reward for his attainments, and in the fall of 1893 the people of Sac county sent him to the state capital to sit in the halls of the state Legislature. He was re-elected to this important office for the second term and served in the sessions of 1804 and 1806, and also during the extra session of 1897. It is to Mr. Early's credit that while in the legislative body as a member he carefully looked to the interests of the people and his constituents.
After serving in the Legislature he again turned his attention to the real estate and loan business, being rewarded with his usual success until his ap- pointment as postmaster of Sac City in 1906 under President Roosevelt. He was reappointed in 1910, and at this writing is serving his second term. His career in his official capacity has justified the confidence reposed in him by the government and his friends and fellow citizens. At no time in the history of the postoffice in Sac City has the office received greater undivided attention and been more ably conducted than during Mr. Early's regime. Mindful of the fact that land is the basis of all values and that nothing is more valuable than real estate ownership. Mr. Early has acquired three hundred and twenty acres of excellent land in his home county, and is also the owner of a half section of land in North Dakota. He has one of the finest homes in the city which he has recently remodeled and provided with accessories for the indulgence of his hobby. if it can be called such. For. be it known, like many other suc- cessful men, he has never neglected to follow up the development of mind commenced in his younger days. Mr. Early is an amateur astronomer of known ability and attainments. For years he has studied the heavens from a scientific point of view. He has probably the only privately equipped ob- servatory in western Iowa, and it is said that he loves nothing better than to ensconce himself in the glass enclosed chamber erected on the roof of his dwelling and spend hours in gazing through his telescope and making observa- tions of the heavenly bodies.
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Mr. Early is a man of considerable inventive ability and the present-day adding machines are constructed along lines originally designed by him about 1882. At that time he perfected a model embodying the essential features of the machine and filed a caveat in the patent office, but unfortunately permitted this to lapse, and thus lost the recognition deserved, though it is quite gen- erally known among those directly interested that his genius conceived the primary idea. He claims to be the original inventor of the adding feature of all the modern adding machines. His invention provided for a bank of eighty-one keys and the adding was automatic the same as the comtometer. He makes no claim to inventing the printing and listing features of the present day adding machines.
Mr. Early is a director in the Sac County State Bank, one of the strong- est financial institutions in western łowa. He has had considerable banking experience during his career, having at one time. from 1882 to 1884, operated a bank in the town of Schaller, Iowa. in partnership with Phil Schaller and which was known as the Schaller & Early Bank. During his residence in Schaller he had considerable to do in the upbuilding of the new municipality, taking an active part in the incorporation of the town and being one of the prime movers in planning the town and arranging the perspective of the beautiful city park of which every resident of Schaller is exceedingly proud. He is prominent in Masonic circles, being a member of the Sac City Blue Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, holding a membership in the chapter and commandery in Sac City, and valuing very highly his membership in the Mystic Shrine of Des Moines.
Mr. Early's home life has been a happy one in many ways. In June, 1888, he was wedded to Agnes Waddell, a native of Wisconsin and the daugli- ter of Christopher Waddell. To them were born two children: Ruth I., a graduate of St. Catherine's College of Davenport, Iowa, and Esther Early, who is deceased.
ASA PLATT.
To the mind of the historian and biographer the term "pioneer" appeals with an irresistible force and entices investigation which latter-day annals do not require. Such investigation is productive of a wealth of historical ma- terial which appeals to the general reader as no other inscribed records pre- sent. To his mind, to have been a pioneer and one of the great and noble army of men who have created a wealthy and prosperous neighborhood out of
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a raw prairie wilderness is the height of successful attainment. The aged pioneer belongs in a class of his own. Around him and his clusters the memory of halcyon days when the country was a wilderness awaiting the magic touch of the empire builders from the East, whose optimism and mighty endeavors have transformed the rich and fertile lands into a smiling land- scape of productive farms and beautiful towns and villages. Asa Platt, of whom these words are transcribed, is a pioneer of Sac county who enjoys the universal respect and friendship of his neighbors and fellow citizens. In many ways he is tenderly regarded as the oracle and final authority on the happenings which have taken place during his long residence in the county. Should a discussion come up regarding the date of some occurrence which has an intimate bearing upon local history, Mr. Platt's store of knowledge and his wonderful memory forms the court of last resort to decide the ques- tion at issue. Our historian is indebted to him for much valuable informa- tion which is written in the preceding pages of this Sac county history. However, Mr. Pratt's prestige is not based entirely upon his pioneer experi- ence, and it is well to record the fact that lie ranks as one of the wealthiest, as well as one of the kindliest and most useful citizens of the city.
Asa Platt, president of the Sac County State Bank, is a New Englander by virtue of his birth and ancestry. He was born June 20, 1830, in the beautiful old city of Saybrook, Connecticut. His father was Richard Platt and his mother was Maria Turner, both descendants from old colonial families. Richard was the son of Thomas Platt, who was one of five sons from whom the various branches of the family have descended in America. Two brothers located in the state of New York. Senator Thomas Platt was a member of the New York branch of the Platts. Asa's maternal parent, Maria Turner, was the daughter of William Turner, who served with bravery and distinction in the Revolutionary War.
Richard Platt reared a family of nine children : Asa, the eldest, of whom we take pleasure in writing; Catharine ( Tritchem), of New York; Eliza (Seeley), deceased; J. O. Platt, of Sac City : Caroline ( Baldwin ), deceased : J. C. Platt, who resides in Denver, Colorado: Eineline ( Trout ), deceased. Richard was a farmer, as were many of his relatives and descendants.
Asa Platt, with whom this record is more intimately concerned because of his long connection with the history of Sac county, was reared to carly manhood on the ancestral farm in Connecticut and western New York. It was in this practically new neighborhood that his father removed from Con- necticut on attaining his majority, and hewed a home from the wilderness. Asa attended school in a small log school house, a fitting place for the training
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ot one who was destined to become a pioneer in the great West. The family resided in western New York from 1840 to 1850, and then took up a residence on a farm in Erie county, Pennsylvania.
In the year 1855 Asa journeyed overland to Iowa with the intention of locating in Sac county. The country justified the young man's conception of the richness of the land and in 1856 he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of government land about one-half mile from Sac City, in Jackson township. This land was unbroken prairie and neighbors were few and far between. The only settlements were along the river in the timber lands. While pre-empting and proving up on his land he lived in Sac City, then an embryo village on the edge of the wilderness of woods and prairie. He built a small house and thus became one of the first citizens of the future city, and now ranks as one of its oldest citizens. Later, Mr. Platt pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of fine land adjoining the corpora- tion line which he farmed for a period of thirty years. Practically the greater part of the city is built upon Mr. Platt's original farm of three hun- dred and twenty acres. He disposed of his farming interests in 1893 and practically retired from active farming operations. However, during a long period of forty years he was an extensive live stock raiser and was interested in the mercantile business in Sac City. Mr. Platt built the first frame house in Sac City at a time when there were but two log cabins in the village. From this small beginning he has had the pleasure of seeing the development and growth of one of the most attractive and enterprising small cities of a state noted for its progressive municipalities. He became interested in banking very early in his career and for the past twenty-six years has been president of the Sac County State Bank, one of the solid financial concerns of western Iowa. During the Civil War he was one of a large number of men who voluntarily enrolled for the purpose of keeping watch of the Indians in order to provide against threatened outbreaks on the part of the red men in this section of Iowa. His activities in the building up of his beloved home city have been extensive and such as commend him favorably to his fellow citizens. He has a nice attractive home, situated upon the brow of the high land which forms the major portion of the site of Sac City and is the owner of several pieces of valuable real estate, consisting of business and residence property, much of which has been erected under his personal supervision in a substan- tial manner. The Platt building, on Main street of the city, is known as one of the most modern and best built buildings in the city.
Mr. Platt was originally a Whig in politics, and was the son of an old- fashioned Democrat of the Andrew Jackson type. When the Republican
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party was formed under the banner of John C. Fremont in 1856, he aligned himself with the party, voting four years later for Abraham Lincoln, and en- joys the distinction of having voted the Republican ticket continuously for nearly sixty years. In fact, he is the only living resident of Sac City who cast his vote for Fremont for President. He has served the people of the county in the important capacity of county supervisor. During the greater part of his life he has been identified with the Presbyterian church and is a liberal supporter of this and kindred denominations.
He of whom this chronicle reads was united in marriage with Adelaide Gray in the year 1851. This lady, who has been his faithful companion and loving wife for over sixty years, was born in the state of Maine, March 5. 1832. To this union have been born four children : Elma ( Criss). deceased ; Virginia ( Irwin), a resident of Long Beach, California; Milton, who was born in the year 1857 and died in 1885: Rosalie ( Hayge), of Sac City. The son Milton was the father of two children, one of whom is a contractor in Forrest, Illinois. Mr. Platt has three great-grandchildren, one of whom is twenty years of age.
JUDGE SAMUEL M. ELWOOD.
Iowa has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar. Perhaps none of the newer states can justly boast of abler jurists or attorneys. Many of them have been men of national fame, and among them whose lives have been passed on a quieter plane there is scarcely a town or city in the state but that boasts of one or more lawyers capable of crossing swords in forensic combat with many of the distinguished legal lights of the country. While the growth and development of the state in the last half century has been most marvelous, viewed from any standpoint, yet of no one class of her citizenship has she greater reason for just pride than her judges and attorneys. In Judge Elwood are found united many of the rare qualities which go to make the successful lawyer and jurist. He possesses perhaps few of these brilliant, dazzling meteoric qualities which have sometimes flashed along the legal horizon, riveting the gaze and blinding the vision for the moment. then disappearing, leaving little or no trace behind; but rather has those solid and more substantial qualities which shine with a constant luster, shedding light in the dark places with steadiness and continuity.
Samuel M. Elwood, ex-district judge and attorney of Sac City, Iowa,
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was born September 17. 1850, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. His parents were Thomas and Jane ( Henry ) Elwood, of English and Irish descent respectively. In 1854 his parents moved to Grinnell, Iowa, but shortly afterwards moved to a farm in Tama county, lowa. In 1881 Thomas Elwood moved to Sac City, where his death occurred on March 9, 1888, and his wife died September 14th of the same year. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Elwood were the parents of seven children: S. M., with whom this nara- tive deals: Mrs. Nancy J. Cowan, deceased; Mrs. Mary Ellen Martin, of Sac City. lowa: Mrs. AAsenath E. Miller, deceased; Mrs. Margaret I. Camp- field, of Sac City : Mrs. Flizabeth M. Newby, of Puyallup. Washington, and Mrs. Harriett M. Hayden, of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Judge Elwood was reared on the farm and attended the schools of his home neighborhood, after which he entered Iowa College at Grinnell, Iowa, being only sixteen years of age at the time of his matriculation. After three years' study at Grinnell, he attended the Agricultural College at Ames, lowa, where he studied one year. His mother was a cultured woman and was able to be of material assistance to her son in his studies. He studied law and later graduated from the Law School on June 24. 1873. at Ames. Iowa. After his graduation he began the active practice of law at Trayer, lowa, but after six months of experience he began to teach school, in which he was engaged four months at McPherson, Kansas, after which he traveled in the West for some time. He then returned to lowa, locating in Sac City on November 1, 1875, where he has continued to live until the present time. He has had a busy and useful career since locating in Sac City and has identified himself with every public movement which had for its end the welfare of his city. He has served as mayor of Sac City for two terms and also been a member of the city school board. In 1895 he was elected district judge of the court and was re-elected at the expiration of his first term, serving in all eight years. For the past twenty-one years he has been a director of the First State Bank and was one of the organizers of that financial institution. He is now a director of the Farmers Savings Bank, of Sac City, and was president of that bank for several years. For ten years he was engaged in the lightning rod business with Mr. Dodds. This business was organized in 1887, and manufactured lightning rods in Sac City for ten years, and later removed to Des Moines. Two years after the factory was removed to Des Moines, Mr. Elwood severed his connection with the firm. In 1898 he began the manufacture of lightning rods under the firm name of Chalfant & Elwood, and two years later this plant was moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where it was incorporated with a
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capital stock of forty thousand dollars, and is now known as the Omaha Lightning Rod & Electric Company, and Judge Elwood now owns a con- trolling interest in this prosperous business. He also started the Elwood Telephone Company on January 1, 1900, and it now has eight hundred phones in the city. The central plant is in a large brick block owned by Mr. Elwood. In addition to all of these interests, he has also invested in land and is at present the owner of one hundred acres in Sac county, one hundred and sixty acres in Minnesota, three hundred and twenty acres in Kansas, two hundred and eighty acres in Nebraska, one hundred and sixty acres in Colorado and twelve hundred acres in Idaho.
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