USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 36
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township offices and served as county supervisor of Sac county. He was an able and capable citizen whose demise was deeply mourned by a host of friends. His wife, Caroline Travis, was born September 2. 1836, in Laporte county, Indiana, and died September 4. 1900. They were blessed with the following children: Cassina M., who died of diphtheria at the age of seven years ; Curtis Orville, the two first named being twins: Mrs. Lenora Keir. of Douglas township; William Lamont Lee, of Mason City, Iowa, and Mrs. W. E. Wayt, of Chandler, North Dakota.
Curtis Orville Lee was educated in the common schools and Cornell College of Mt. Vernon, Iowa. After completing his education he took charge of one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land on coming of age, which his father gave him outright. This farm was located in Douglas township. He improved it to the best of his ability and added to the acreage until the land now totals three hundred and thirty-six acres. On August 2, 1892, he pur- chased the grain elevators at Sac City and operated them for nine years, re- moving his family to the city in February. 1893. He has a fine residence in the choice residential section of the city. Mr. 1.ee has been eminently success- ful as an auctioneer and real estate operator. Since 1895 he has made a business of crying auction sales and has a reputation as a very successful auctioneer among the farmers of the neighborhood. His dealings in farm lands run into the thousands of acres. He is the owner of one thousand and seventy acres of land in Sac county over which he exercises personal super- vision, by conducting his farming operations on the hired help and the co- operative basis. He lias a large stock farm northwest of Sac City on which he feeds hundreds of cattle and hogs. Mr. Lee's shipments of cattle will aver- age fifteen carloads annually. in addition to ten carloads of hogs. During the season of 1912 he shipped over thirty carloads of swine to the Chicago markets.
Mr. Lee is not only a practical, but a scientific farmer, who takes a keen interest in the betterment of conditions for the agriculturists, and is a strong advocate of better and more intensive farming methods. We are indebted to his literary talent for the excellent chapter on the Evolution of Agriculture which is found in this volume. He is allied with the Republican party and has served as mayor of the municipality, and has been a member of the school board. He is a member of the Baptist church, and is connected fraternally with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, blue lodge, chapter and com- mandery of Sac City ; the Yeomanry and the Ancient Order of United Work- men. Ile was united in marriage with Ccelia Rogers, March 16. 1884. Mrs
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Lee is the daughter of Mrs. E. A. Knapp, of Sac City. They have two sons : La Verne Lee, born February 26, 1887, and who is traveling salesman for and treasurer of the Conger-Ball Seed Company of Sac City; Ward Forrester, aged thirteen years.
ABNER L. CHANDLER.
No intelligent student of the rise and progress of the great state of Iowa will deny that the pioneer element, with their descendants, constitutes the back-bone and the mainstay of civilization. They boldly entered the wilderness, encountered its hardships, dangers and privations and carved out new homes and new destinies. Abner L. Chandler is one of those sub- stantial citizens of Sac county whose long residence and interesting family history contains much of value to his descendants.
Abner L. Chandler is a native of Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, born April 2. 1845, and he is a son of Ezra and Florinda ( Lewis) Chandler, both also natives of the Keystone state. In 1850 Ezra Chandler and family located in Lake county, Illinois, where they became pioneer farmers of that section, and in 1856, still following the star of empire westward, removed to Fort Scott, Kansas, where they purchased a farm. They were not destined to remain long in their new home in a new country, as death soon called both Ezra Chandler and his good wife, she dying there in 1857 and he in 1858. Their children were: Frederick, who was a soldier in the Civil War, now deceased : George, deceased ; Eliza, deceased; Levi, deceased ; Ann, deceased; Viola, deceased: Abner L., the immediate subject of this sketch; Luther, who is a veteran of the Union army, lives in the state of Washington: Mrs. Hattie Woodruff and Mrs. Amelia Carr live in the state of Washington, and Charles also lives in that state, being located at Cannas.
After the death of the parents, the family was dispersed and Abner L. returned to the state of Illinois, where he worked on a farm until the break- ing ont of our great civil conflict, when he enlisted at Waukegan in Com- pany D. Ninety-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and patriotically served his country for three years. He participated in several very important en- gagements and many minor skirmishes, among them being the battles of Resaca, Buzzard Roost, Pine Mountain, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Marietta and Dalton. At the siege of Atlanta he was severely wounded in the abdomen and was sick for eighty days, returning to his regiment a few days before the battle of Franklin. He returned to active
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service before his wound was properly healed and served with bravery and distinction in the two-days battle of Nashville.
After the war, Mr. Chandler again settled in Lake county, Illinois, working on a farm, and later farming for himself. In 1872 he came to Sac county, lowa, and located in Wheeler township, and he has the distinc- tion now of being the oldest living settler in Wheeler township. He came here in a primitive day, and there were no houses or dugouts within five miles of him. He moved onto the big Wheeler farm in section 10 and for seven years worked there for a Mr. Ellis, who was renting land. He then, in 1879, bought one hundred and twenty acres in section 12, paying four dollars and five dollars per acre for the land. He made his permanent home on this land, adding to his acreage as he prospered, first buying one hundred and twenty acres of the west one-half and later buying eighty acres of the south one-half, making his total acreage three hundred and twenty acres. In 1906 he sold one hundred and sixty acres of this land and later disposed of the remainder. In December, 1907, he removed to Ode- bolt, and here he erected a beautiful bungalow residence on Maple street.
Abner L. Chandler was married, December 1, 1867, to Henrietta Dunn, who was born October 21, 1847, in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Joseph and Olive (Witter) Dunn, descendants of an old Con- necticut family who lived and died in Pennsylvania. Mrs. Chandler came to Lake county, Illinois, when twenty years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Chandler have been born a fine family of ten children, named as follows: Sydney Levi, born December 5. 1868, is a graduate of Morningside College. Sioux City, Iowa, and is now dean of this college, but is at present taking a post- graduate course in New York City. He was married November 5. 1890, to Mary A. Smith, of Clinton township, and has three children, Harry Abner, Asa Lewis and Olive Lyle. Frank A., born July 2, 1870, died in infancy. Olive F., born August 18, 1871, is the wife of Charles Smith, and they live in Clinton township, Sac county, Iowa, and have five children, Anna, Sadie, Hobart, Lawrence and Esther. Anna L., born February 9. 1875, died in 1889. Etta, born September 18, 1878, died in infancy. Philip L., born January 12, 1880, is a farmer in Nebraska, married Etta Epperson and they have two children, Keith and Kenneth. Arthur G., born September 23, 1881, resides on a farm at Lyons, Nebraska, and married Maggie McLean. Cordelia, born November 20, 1883, lives in Richland township in this county, and is the wife of Sebastian Buehler. They have two children, May and Fern. Harry .A., born February 10, 1886, died February 10, 1888. Forest H., born March 28, 1887, is a graduate of
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Morningside College, Sioux City, lowa, and is now superintendent of West Bend. Iowa, schools; he married Francis Horn, of Sioux City, Iowa, also a graduate of Morningside College and principal of the West Bend high school. They have one great-grandchild, Earl Wayne Gilbert.
Politically, Abner L. Chandler is a Progressive. In an early day he served Wheeler township in the capacity of trustee. At other times he was also township clerk and supervisor. A warm-hearted, affable gentleman, he is one of those esteemed old pioneers who have done so much for the opening up and development of this favored section of western Iowa, and he is deservedly popular in the community where he has lived so long and labored to such good purpose.
GEORGE B. PERKINS.
Banking is well considered the highest of our commercial occupations. No institutions have contributed more to the development and building of the West than the banking concerns. The banks of Sac City without ex- ceptions are bulwarks of strength and stability and have been the mainstay and support of the city and the rich farming community around about in important ways. The First National Bank, of which Mr. Perkins is the official head, takes first rank among the banking concerns of the county. To be the titular head of such an important financial concern calls for ability of a high order and attainments such as will command the respect of similar institutions and the patrons of the bank. The president of the First National Bank of Sac City, while yet a young man in years, carries easily and in a dignified manner the responsibilities engendered by the importance of his duties. His ability is unquestioned; while reserved to a certain degree, Mr. Perkins, by virtue of his education and attainments, and through possessing a pronounced aptitude for the banking business, has achieved a primary success in his chosen field.
George B. Perkins, president of the First National Bank of Sac City, is a native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he was born August 11, 1874, the son of George and Emeline M. ( Larrabee ) Perkins. His father, George Perkins, was born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania, May 8, 1820, and died May 3. 1906. George. Sr., was the son of Francis Perkins, whose wife was Re- becca Sherman, both being natives of Pennsylvania. The father of Francis
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Perkins was Jacob Perkins. Francis and his wife Amy were likewise na- tives of the same state.
It is thus seen that the family resided in Pennsylvania from a very early day and the ancestors were numbered among the pioneers and builders of the great commonwealth whose people have been such important factors in the settlement and development of the Middle West and the Western states.
Emeline Larrabee, mother of George P. Perkins, was born February 9, 1837, in the state of Connecticut, and was the daughter of Adam and Han- nah Gallup ( Lester ) Larrabee, descendants of old New England families The father of Adam Larrabee was Frederick, who took for his helpmeet Abigail Allen, of Connecticut. Frederick Larrabee was the son of Timothy and Abigail (Wood) Larrabee .. The beginning of the Larrabee and Wood families has been traced to the year 1730. The names, Larrabee, Lester, Allen and Wood figure prominently in the genealogical records of the state of Connecticut and the descendants are numerous throughout the length and breadth of the United States.
George Perkins, Sr., like many New Englanders of the better class, was well educated and early fitted himself for the practice of the legal pro- fession. Believing rightly that the West offered a more attractive field for the exercise of his talents in this respect, he removed, when yet a young man, to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and soon became one of the prominent and commanding figures of this growing community. The office of probate or county judge was conferred upon him by his fellow citizens and he served the people in this important capacity for a period of twelve years in succes- sion. Ile also filled the office of district attorney in a capable and able manner. He was twice married. By his first marriage there were two children : offered a position as French instructor in her alma mater of Neff College and Abbie, deceased, and Nellie ( Gerpheide), who resides in Michigan. By his second marriage, with Emeline Larrabee, there were born and reared four children : Lester, deceased; George B., of whom we are writing; Frances G., who resides with her mother in the old homestead at Fond du Lac, Wiscon- sin : Jehdeiah B., of Fond du Lac.
George B. Perkins, with whom this narrative is directly concerned. re- ceived his early education in the public schools of his native city. He, too. learning of the opportunities which presented themselves to young men of ability and determination in the newer and richer country to the westward, became imbued with the idea of moving onward across the great state of Iowa, as many of the people of his neighborhood had done before him. . Ac-
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cordingly, he set out for Sac City to try his fortunes in the growing and beautiful town on the banks of the Coon river. He sought and immediately obtained employment, on his arrival in July, 1896, in the Sac County State Bank. He remained with this concern in the capacity of bookkeeper, until . February, 1901, when he resigned his position to take up his duties as clerk of the district court, to which important office he had been elected in the fall of 1900. He was again re-elected to fill the office in 1902 and served in all for a period of four years. He performed his duties in this public capacity in a manner to justify the confidence imposed in him by his fellow citizens. At the conclusion of his four-year term as a public official he became con- nected with the First National Bank as president. Aside from his bank- ing duties he has dealt extensively in Sac county and Iowa lands, and still handles considerable farm lands. Mr. Perkins keeps closely in touch with the farming interests of his adopted county and has a wide and favorable acquaintance among the prosperous agricultural population of the neighbor- ing territory. It is his diversion to serve as clerk of various farm sales which are continually taking place in the territory contiguous to Sac City. He is active in civic affairs in a modest and unassuming way and is ever ready to lend a helping hand in matters which have an important bearing on the pub- lic welfare and the upbuilding of his home city.
Mr. Perkins is a Republican in politics and was mayor of Sac City in 1906. He was an alternate delegate to the Republican national convention in 1908 at Chicago. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and is a leading Mason. He hokls a membership in the Sac City blue lodge of Ma- sons and the Rose Croix Chapter, and Commandery No. 38. Knights Temp- lar, of Sac City, of which he is the present commander.
Mr. Perkins was united in marriage with Lola May Early in June, 1899. His wife is the daughter of Judge D. Carr Early, one of the impor- tant figures in the pioneer and subsequent decades of the annals of Sac county. A considerable chapter is devoted elsewhere to the life and ac- complishments of Judge Early in the pages of this volume. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Perkins: George Early, who was born March 8, 1900: Miriam Larrabee, who was born March 8, 1902: Eloise Loraine, born March 19, 1914. Mrs. Perkins is one of Sac City's most tal- ented and estimable women and is active in church, social and club life. She is native born to Sac county and received her primary education in the Sac City high school. after which she studied for three years in Drake Univer- sity, pursuing a musical and commercial course, and then, continuing her studies in Philadelphia, she graduated from the National School of Elocu-
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tion. She graduated from Neff College of Philadelphia and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts. She made a tour of Europe with a company of young ladies and studied for two years in the Mmle. Tribou Finishing School for Young Ladies in Paris and became a proficient linguist in the French language. Returning home from her studies abroad, she was pre- vailed upon to give private lessons in French to Sac City students and was offered a position as French instructor in her alma mater of Neff College and was offered the position of teacher of foreign languages, especially French, in Drake University. Home life appeals to her in its truest sense and she is active in the social doings of the community in which she has spent her life from childhood.
SAMUEL M. AND FRANK E. STOUFFER.
The press is the most powerful instrument in the shaping and molding of public opinion which we have today. It enlightens the people and fights their battles individually and collectively. It makes and unmakes men at will. Likewise it creates or tears down statutes intended for the good or ill being of the people at large. There is no one power its equal in the length and breadth of the land in this respect. In this land of free speech and the free press, it is a potent factor in the building up of communities. It is con- ceded that the newspapers of the inland cities enjoy a greater and wider prestige in their locality of circulation and accomplish more direct and real and lasting good than even the great metropolitan press of today. The local editor chronicles our successes ; he smoothes over our failures; he tells us what our neighbors and friends are doing : he advises us out of the stores of wisdom gained through years of experience. He espouses the cause of reform where needed ; he advocates publicly in a clarion voice the need of improve- ments and assists us in pushing forward. The newspaper of today has ad- vanced with the times and ever keeps abreast and even ahead of the procession.
Sac county boasts one of the best of weekly newspapers published in Iowa or the West. Its standing reflects credit upon its editors and publishers whose names head this biography. S. M. and F. E. Stouffer hold high rank among the journalists and publishers of lowa by virtue of the success they have made in the publication of The Sac Sun since the year 1893, when they first came to Sac City and purchased the newspaper.
They are the sons of Andrew and Lucinda ( Rhinehart ) Stouffer, natives of Washington county, Maryland, who were married in Ogle county, Illinois.
FRANK E. STOUFFER
SAMUEL M. STOUFFER
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At the age of fifteen, Andrew removed from Maryland to Ogle county in 1845, with his parents, George and Elizabeth (Welty ) Stouffer. His wife Lucinda was the daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Bovey) Rhinehart, who migrated from Maryland to Ogle county in about 1845. Andrew Stouffer moved with his family to Marshall county, Iowa, in March of 1869. after dis- posing of his farming interests in Ogle county. Ilere he engaged in farming, in which he was successful to a marked degree. He insisted on the thorough education of his children, because he realized the value of their being thor- oughly equipped and mentally developed for the battle of life. He was very active in church work and a stanch Methodist, having been connected in his earlier years with the United Brethren denomination. He died at State Cen- ter. Marshall county, Iowa, in March, 1910, at the age of eighty years. His wife Lucinda was born in 1841 and died in 1807. They were the parents of the following children : Samuel M. and Frank E. ; Elmina L., wife of William Ellis, of State Center, Iowa; James Elmer, deceased ; Raymond, State Center, Iowa; Cora Estella, of State Center; Albert Russell, who died in youth; Wesley Rhinehart, a teacher in the Capital City Commercial College, Des Moines. John Andrew, who is employed in the furniture business in Mar- shalltown, Iowa; Edith Elsie, wife of Herbert G. Monroe, of State Center, Iowa.
Samuel M., the efficient and capable editor of The Sac Sun, was born on the Ogle county farm November 1, 1865, and was educated primarily in the district schools. He and his brother Frank attended the same district school out on the Iowa prairie at the same time. This school was then known as the Washington Center school and is still familiarly and affectionately known by that name in Marshall county. Samuel M. entered Leander Clark College at Toledo, Iowa, and graduated therefrom in the class of 1890. For a period of two years he taught school, teaching only one year after his graduation in the classical course of Leander Clark College. In 1891 he became associate editor and editorial writer of the Toledo ( Iowa) Chronicle, in which position he remained until 1893, when he and his brother Frank took charge of The Sac Sun. Samuel M. Stouffer is recognized as one of the capable young men of Sac county. He is usually found in the forefront of matters which have their origin in the desire for the advancement and betterment of the city, county or state. His editorial ability is recognized as above the average and his friends are legion.
His political affiliations and sympathies are with the Republican party, of which body he is a stanch supporter, and he is a firm believer in the principles as enunciated in the party platforms. While he has pronounced progressive
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ideas, he believes with all his heart and mind that the welfare of the rank and file of the party can best be cared for by allegiance to the party of Abraliam Lincoln and his followers. His writings in the editorial columns of The Sac Sun are straightforward in their scope without equivocation or denuncia- tion of political opponents. He has never been possessed with a desire for public office and firmly believes that the province of the editor lies within the sanctum of his office and is best exercised in behalf of his fellowmen by the use of his pen in presenting his views in a calm, impartial manner. Mr. Stouffer likewise believes that the best way to achieve success in his chosen profession is to give the people within the scope of influence of his journal such a com- plete newspaper as they demand, feeling sure that the business end of the journal will profit accordingly. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has been the efficient superintendent of the Sunday school for the past sixteen years. He was married September 8, 1898, to Irene O. Holmes, of Charter Oak, Iowa. He is the father of two children : Samuel Andrew, born June 6, 1900, and William Holmes, born April 27, 1909.
He has been the corresponding secretary and the president of the North- west lowa Laymen's Association of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has served as secretary of the county central committee of the Republican party. An evidence of Mr. Stouffer's decided literary ability is found in the press chapter of this publication, of which he is the author and for which the pub- lishers are indebted.
Frank E. Stouffer, business manager of The Sac Sun, was born February 14, 1867, on the farm in Ogle county, Illinois. He likewise attended the Washington Center district school. and entered Leander Clark College at Toledo, Iowa. with his brother, graduating in the same class in 1890. For awhile their paths diverged somewhat. Frank taking up the profession of teaching, beginning in the country schools and rising to the position of prin- cipal. He was called to Kansas in 1890, and took charge of the Attica school for one year and later became principal of the Dillon, Montana. schools, dur- ing the years of 1892 and 1893. He was connected in the meantime with a government surveying corps in various parts of Montana until his departure for Sac City in 1893 to join his brother in the purchase of The Sac Sun. Ile is active in various business enterprises in Sac City, being a director and stockholder of the Sac City Electric Company, of which prosperous concern he is the president. He is allied politically with the Republican party, and is secretary of the county central committee. He is fraternally associated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, blue lodge, chapter and commandery of Sac City, and the Mystic Shriners. Mrs. Stouffer is a member of the East-
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ern Star lodge. He was married September 21, 1904. at Dillon, Montana, to May Baxter, of that city, the daughter of Anson Baxter, formerly of Sac City, but now a resident of Buhl, Idaho. Anson Baxter was an early pioneer in Sac county.
When S. M. and F. E. Stouffer took charge of The Sac Sun, the news- paper was a small six-column sheet, supplied weekly with an auxiliary service or "patent insides," with hardly one thousand subscribers on the list. It is now published as an eight- or twelve-page publication, with seven columns of reading matter, all home print, with over three thousand subscribers and enjoys an excellent advertising patronage. Further encomium is unnecessary -the work of the publishers and their standing in the community is evidence of their well-deserved success.
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