USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 39
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LEON R. WAYT.
We are living in an age of continuous achievement. It is likewise the Ha of opportunity in many lines for the young men of the present day who ure gifted with natural ability and the desire to progress ahead of their fel- iws in the race for supremacy. Yet, competition along certain well-defined lines is greater than ever before. Only the most diligent and the most hon- orable can achieve a substantial measure of success. Honesty of product and a rigid exactitude in conducting trade operations along the most upright paths of procedure will result in suitable and fitting rewards. In Sac City and county the pioneers in many occupations are making way for the younger element of the population; the younger generation are assuming the burdens of trade and business and are forging to the front with a wider scope than that exhibited by their predecessors owing to the fact that pres- ent-day pressure of business demands the widening out of their sphere of operations and the boundless ambition frequently possessed by the sons. 1 striking example of progressive young manhood is Leon R. Wayt, with whom the biographer is pleased to treat in a reminiscent way for insertion in the pages of this history. Mr. Wayt is undoubtedly one of the rising and promising young men of the city whose career is well defined and bids fair to be remarkably successful in future years as it has been in the past. Pos- sessed of a bright mental equipment, ability to grasp the details of a subject under his consideration, keenly alive to his opportunities, and endowed with the happy faculty of making friends and with business ability of a high
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order, he is making rapid progress in his chosen field as the junior mem- ber of the widely and favorably known firm of W. B. Wayt & Son, monu- ment manufacturers and dealers.
Leon R. Wayt was born December 14, 1878. in the town of Mechanics- ville, Iowa, the son of W. B. Wayt, whose biography is herein presented. He was educated in the public schools of Grand Junction, Jefferson and Sae City. He also studied the classics and science in the Sac City Institute and the Northern Indiana Normal University at Valparaiso. Indiana. He com- pleted his course in the latter institution of learning in 1898. He was then engaged for a period of two years in the grocery business in Sac City in partnership with his brother, W. E. Wayt. However, for some time after leaving school he was employed in the monument works conducted by his father. thus giving him an opportunity to learn the details of manufacture and selling which later stood him in good stead. In the year 1901 he was admitted to partnership with his father and assumed a considerable portion of the burdens of conducting a large and growing business which had at- tained state-wide reputation for the excellence and honesty of its product. His push and enterprise are assisting in great measure in extending and widening the scope of the business done by this important and growing concern. His activity is not exactly confined to the business in which he became primarily interested, and he is president of the Sac City Catering Company, a concern recently organized by a number of the young men of the city. Mr. Wayt has been especially active and influential in the civic af- fairs of Sac City. In every enterprise of community interest that makes for social interdependence and municipal solidarity he is found battling for its cause. He was one of the organizers of the Sac City Commercial Club, and is now chairman of its executive committee. He was chairman of the Com- mercial Club committee that gave to the city the handsome new Park Hotel, and it is no disparagement to others to say that the burden of promotion and the raising of the eighteen thousand dollars for this building fell upon him. He is now one of the trustees of this valuable hotel property. When the proposal to pave the streets of Sac City was being agitated, Mr. Wayt assumed the initiative in advocating this important public improvement. As chairman of the committee, he circulated the original petitions for street paving and personally secured every signer. Mr. Wayt was also chairman of the committee that raised the funds for the electrolier lighting systems that beautifies the city.
In numerous ways Mr. Wayt has performed a distinct public service in giving of his time and talents to every worthy enterprise that will make for
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a bigger and better town, and no citizen of Sae City is deserving of greater praise for unselfish work in behalf of civic pride and commercial supremacy. He takes a keen interest in local affairs and is at present a member of the school board. Politically, he is allied with the Republican party. He and his family are attendants of the Presbyterian church, and he is a fraternal member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, lodge, chapter and com- mandery of Sae City, and the Des Moines Consistory, being a Mason of the thirty-second degree.
Mr. Wayt was married November 1I, 1901, to Blaine Lamoreux, daughter of D. M. and Alice Lamoreux, of Sac City. They have three children, namely : Margaret Fern, born December 11, 1903; Vivian Louise, born February 5, 1905: Donald Eugene, born October 26, 1907.
We know of no young citizen of Sae county more worthy or more de- serving of mention in this volume than he of whom the foregoing is written. It is with the object in view of presenting a brief review of his life, ambitions and accomplishments that we present this compendium for perusal by his friends and well wishers, who are legion.
JOHN FUCHS.
Upon a county official rests a certain amount of responsibility which he assumes when he is ushered into one of the highest local offices within the gift of his friends and fellow citizens. The people usually weigh carefully the qualifications of the candidates for political preferment for important office. Upon the county supervisor devolves the business management of the county affairs. Naturally, the duties of the position require the energies of a very capable man. Sac county has such a man as a member of the county board of supervisors in John Fuchs, of Odebolt, who is likewise one of the most successful agriculturists in the county.
John Fuchs was born February 3, 1858, in Germany, the son of Henry and Martha Fuchs, who emigrated to America in 1867 and settled in Lee county, Illinois, locating at Lee Center. In 1879 the family moved to Dallas county, Iowa, where the father died in the winter of 1905. The mother died in 1904. They were the parents of six children, namely : George, living in Early; Hattie Ebner, living in Perry, Jowa; John: Mrs. Lizzie Frohm, deceased; Charles, of Laurens, Iowa; WV. A., of Bedford. lowa.
John Fuchs was reared and educated in Lee county, Illinois, where he
John Ducho
Mrs Elizabeth C. Fuche. tuche.
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resided until 1877, when he came to Sac county. For the first two years he worked on farms at a wage of twenty dollars per month. In 1879 he rented land and began farming on his own account. He had made his first purchase of land before marriage in Richland township, where he bought eighty acres of land at a purchase price of seven dollars an acre, but sold the same six months later for twelve dollars an acre. He then bought one hundred and sixty acres in Clinton township, on which he resided until 1912. He re- moved to Odebolt in that year where he has a very fine residence. He has a large farm of six hundred and eighty acres, well improved with fine build- ings and grounds. He has long been an extensive live stock producer, his large farm producing great numbers of marketable cattle.
Mr. Fuchs has been twice married : his first wife was Katharine Rein- hart, who died in 1901, and was the mother of six children, namely : Mrs. Lenore C. Hein, of Sac City : Ozro C., a farmer in Clinton township, who is a graduate of Ames College; Mrs. Lucillia Mehlebrech ; Iva B., a graduate of the domestic science department of Ames College in 1913 and is now the head of the department of domestic science in the Grand View Normal Col- lege, Tennessee ; Warren, a graduate of the Ames Agricultural College ; Vern, a student at Ames. Mr. Fuchs' second marriage occurred in 1907 with Lizzie Pfeiffer, who has borne him four children, as follows : Rufus John, Wayne. Martha and Aniber.
O. C. Fuchs, who is managing his father's large farm in Clinton town- ship. was born March 2, 1884. in Clinton township on the farm where he now lives. He was educated in the district schools and Morningside College, where he pursued the preparatory and business courses. He completed the course in animal husbandry at Ames College in 1909. After graduation he took up the vocation of farming and stock raising. He disposes of over fifty head of cattle annually and over twenty-five head of swine. He keeps a good grade of Angus cattle and specializes in Berkshire hogs. O. C. Fuchs is the owner of two hundred and sixty acres of land located south of the home farm in Clinton township. He is a Republican in politics and a men- ber of the German Reformed church. He is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
John Fuchs, with whom this narrative is directly concerned, has long been identified prominently with the Democratic party in Sac county and has been high in the councils of his party. He was elected county supervisor in the spring of 1910 and took up the duties of his office in January of 1911. It can be said of him that he is an excellent and conscientious public (26)
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official. He has been re-nominated to this office, without opposition, in 1914. He is a member and a ruling eller of the Odebolt Presbyterian church. His lodge connections are with the Ancient Free and AAccepted Masons, chapter and commandery, and the Mystic Shriners of Sioux City and the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen.
Mr. Fuchs is easily recognized as one of the leading and enterprising citizens of Sac county and is a representative of the large German class who have settled in the county and taken a high place among the citizen- ship of many neighborhoods. He is dignified, intelligent. progressive and lends his assistance to all matters of merit which have a tendency to promote the general welfare of the people of his community and county. No man is more fully entitled to representation in this history of Sac county than Mr. Fuchs.
ANDERSON MASON.
While notable and conspicuous achievements in the history of a com- munity will continue to occupy the attention of the lovers of history, it is with the accomplishments of the pioneer and the individual who has con- tributed his ability along the average lines of human endeavor that these annals of Sac county principally deal. Frequently, from among the mass of individuals with whom the writer is brought into intimate contact, there are certain figures which stand prominently in the forefront and have, through being endowed high above the average of native ability, carved a particular place of vantage among their fellows and hold an unshakable position in the community in which they reside. The pioneer life of Sac county is con- spicuous, because of the excellence of its personnel and having enrolled in its roster a number of genuinely advanced men of ideas and capabilities of leadership in their own particular sphere. One who has been identified with the history of this county for over forty years and enjoys a reputation and a popularity as a person of broad-minded proclivities and singular attain- ments, is Anderson Mason, of Early.
Mr. Mason was born December 5. 1838, in Clinton county, Ohio, and is one of a large quota of citizens which that state has contributed to the well being and progress of Sac county. His father was Bagwell AA. Mason, a native of Richmond, Virginia, and a scion of Scotch ancestry. His mother was Nancy B. Butler, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland. In the year 1851, B. A. Mason migrated to La Salle county, Illinois, and settled on a
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farm. He resided in this county until his death in 1854. His wife died there in 1864. They were the parents of fifteen children, namely: Henry B., Gertrude H., Sarah T., William T., Samuel R., Edward P., James B., Al- fred, Stephen, Martha Ann, Betsy Jane, Mary Ellen and Isaiah, all deceased; Anderson, and Mrs. Elizabeth Hoy, a resident of Sandwich, Illinois. James Stephen and Samuel were soldiers in the Union army and served throughout the Civil War.
During the War of the Rebellion, Anderson was the sole support of his widowed mother, and for this reason, as well as because of the fact that the required quota of soldiers was filled when he was drafted into the service in October, 1864, he was relieved from further duty after a few weeks spent in drilling. From the time he was sixteen years of age he became the head of the family and labored to support his mother and sister. In the fall of 1864 he removed to a farm in Grand Rapids township. La Salle county, which he cultivated for two years. He then journeyed to Franklin county, Kansas, in 1866, and lived on his sister's farm for one year. He returned to La Salle county in 1867 and, after a year's residence in his home county, settled on a farm in Livingston county, Illinois. Five years later he again decided to follow the star of empire westward and in 1871 came to Sac county. His first purchase was for one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 17, Boyer Valley township. He erected a small house, of one story, which sufficed for his home for some years and was later replaced by a hand- some farmi residence. The Mason family were the seventh to locate in the west part of Sac county. The country was very sparsely settled and settlers were few and far between. The Masons got along first rate and suffered few hardships. In 1878 Mr. Mason added the adjoining one hundred and sixty acres to his possessions and created what is widely and favorably known as Green Bush Stock Farm. It is now divided into two farms which are known as East and West Greenbush and are tilled by his two sons. He was a pioneer breeder of fine stock in Sac county. The farm became famous for the quality of its pure bred live stock and was a large producer of Short- horn cattle, Norman Percheron horses, and Poland China hogs. It is like- wise noted for its well-kept buiklings and barns. In 1888 he removed to the town of Early and purchased a fine residence. He is also the owner of a large brick business building situated on the main street of the town.
Mr. Mason has generally been allied with the Republican party and has figured prominently in the official life of Boyer Valley township, of which he was the first school treasurer, holding this office for several years. He also served as township trustee for a long period. Since making Early his
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residence he has filled the office of mayor for two terms. For several years he was vice-president of the Early State Bank. At one time he ran his op- ponent a very close race for the office of county supervisor and also held the important position of county road supervisor by appointment, and it was due to his suggestion and personal influence that the county roads were es- tablished along sectional lines. He is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church.
Mr. Mason's wedded life began on January 1, 1862, when he was mar- ried to Marion Elizabeth Hart, of La Salle county, the daughter of Jason and Juline ( Lewis) Hart, natives of Vermont and who were early pioneer settlers of Branch county, Michigan. Five children have been born to this highly esteemed couple : Grant, who died at the age of two years ; Arthur L., who resides on East Greenbush farm, and is the parent of four children, Chester, Virgie May, Emma Marian and Duane; Elmer, residing on West Greenbush farm, and has two children, Opal May and Elmer Ellsworth ; Mrs. May Evans, of Early, who is the mother of three children, Foy Dewey. Arla and Leland Anderson; Mrs. Rose Jackson, deceased, who is survived by two children, Verla Jeannette and James Alton.
Mr. Mason's family are a credit to him and his good wife, and are blessed with the same sterling qualities which have enabled him to achieve such success as has been his lot. This history of Sac county would be in- complete were it deficient in a proper estimate of his usefulness and this compendium is intended for a slight tribute to him and his for the part they have taken in making this county what it is today.
FRANCIS W. WEED.
When a great railroad thinks of expansion it examines crop conditions. When a great insurance company has money to invest, it examines crop conditions. When a general statement of business throughout the country is in process of preparation, the crop conditions are examined, and always the farmer's wealth is found to be the most secure and constantly increas- ing. Why? Because the land itself is the foundation of all true prosperity. The farmer not only feeds them all, but acts as the balance wheel and wealth builder of his nation and lives a more happy and contented life than his misguided brother. He is the final force that turns the wheels of factories ; his land is the basis of security, the foundation of credit, the great factor of
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prosperity and constitutes ninety per cent of our nation's wealth. Sac county is essentially an agricultural county : this volume, therefore, contains the biographies of more plain farmers than of any other class. What better reading could one desire? Who has made greater achievements in this wonderful land of the West than the farmer? None are more deserving of just tributes to their accomplishments than the farmers. One of the most advanced and progressive of the prosperous farmers of the county is Francis W. Weed, of Levey township, who is likewise the oldest living settler of the township. For forty-four years he has resided on his beautiful landed estate among the rolling hills of Levey township; for over forty years he has aided in the development of Sac county and taken an active part in the affairs of his township and county.
FF. W. Weed has one of the finest equipped farms in the western part of Iowa, situated in section 33. Levey township, and consisting of two hun- dred and forty acres of rich and fertile land. The Illinois Central and the Chicago & Northwestern Railroads cross his lands. His first residence, erected in 1871, was a small affair, sixteen by twenty feet in dimension and nine feet in height. This served as a habitation for his family until 1886, when he set about the building of a large, modern house which stands in a commanding and attractive position on the hilltop overlooking the fertile valley forming part of his domain. Three large barns, fitted with modern conveniences, occupy suitable places on the slope stretching away from the residence. The largest of these is fifty-six by sixty feet in extent, the second in size being forty by fifty-eight feet in dimension, and a third twenty-four by twenty-four feet in extent, and a corn crib having a capacity of over two thousand bushels of grain. Mr. Weed specialized in the breeding of Shorthorn cattle for ten years, but is now gradually replacing his Shorthorns with Improved Polled Durhams and is using his great skill as a breeder to evolve a breed of Shorthorn cattle without the semblance of horns. He has been successful in accomplishing his desire in this respect and now has a large herd of seventy-five registered thoroughbreds. His farm produces over two hundred head of swine annually. He prides himself on his fine horses. The Weed farm presents one of the most attractive views which it has been the privilege of the historian to view and is typical of the industry and taste of its owner.
Francis W. Weed was born in the town of Hampshire, Kane county, Illinois, June 7. 1847. His father was Elisha Weed, a native of Trumbull county, Ohio. His mother was Julia Ann Hartman Weed, a native of Pennsylvania, of the old Pennsylvania German stock. Elisha Weed was
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born in Bloomfield township. Trumbull county. Ohio, August 20, 1817. He was the son of John Weed, who was a native of New Bangor. Maine. John Weed was of Scotch-English descent. and served as a sergeant in the American army in the War of 1812, enlisting at the age of eighteen years, and fought in the battle of Sackett's Harbor. When Elisha Weed was a young man, he migrated to the state of Indiana and was employed on public construction works. From 1836 to 1842 he followed public construction employment in Bartholomew. Johnson, Floyd and Tippecanoe counties of Indiana. During this time he rented land and was likewise engaged in farming. He was married at Blue River, Bartholomew county, Indiana, March 10. 1842, to Julia A. Hartman, who was born near Little York, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1822, and was the daughter of Francis and Magda- lena Gilbert Hartman, who were of German ancestry. She died March 9. 1912, at the age of ninety years. ' Elisha, soon after his marriage, removed to Kane county, Illinois, in 1845. He traveled by ox wagon the whole dis- tance. On his arrival in the territory of his choice for a homestead, he pur- chased forty acres of land in section 27. Hampshire township. To this farm he eventually added one hundred and twenty acres more, which he brought to a high state of cultivation. He was a Freemason and a Whig, but was a Republican when the party was organized. He held many offices. He removed from the farm to the town of Hampshire in 1893, and departed this life in the fullness of years and honors, February 13, 1900. He was the father of four children, as follows: Mrs. Helen M. Starks, deceased ; Francis W .: George A., of Wall Lake, Iowa: Frederick Weed, a resident of Hampshire, Illinois.
It is of Francis W. Weed, however, that this biography is directly concerned. He had little opportunity to obtain an education and was placed at work when twelve years old. His father having settled in the timber country, a great amount of "grubbing" was necessary so as to in- crease the tillable area of land from year to year. Francis followed this arduous occupation for two years and was paid wages when he became of age by his father for his labor. Ile saved all money that he received for his work and conceived an ambition to journey to Sac county. Iowa, and there engage in farming for himself. He became afflicted with the "West- ern fever," which was then spreading in the neighborhood, and caused many of the best representatives of the Illinois farming gentry to come West and buy the cheap lands which were being offered to settlers. He came, saw, and was convinced to such an extent that he invested in two hundred acres of land where he now resides. This land cost him three and one-third dollars
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an acre. Later he added forty acres to his hoklings at a cost of eight dollars an acre. He has figured prominently in the organization of the county and was the first assessor of Levey township, having several times served in that capacity. He has filled the office of township trustee several terms and has served as secretary and treasurer and president of the township school board.
Mr. Weed is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is affiliated with the Masonic lodge at Wall Lake, Iowa. He became a Mason as soon as he had attained his majority -- in fact, he has retained his mem- bership since the year 1868. He was first connected with Westside Lodge, and later was enrolled a charter member of Wall Lake Lodge of Masons.
Mr. Weed was united in marriage with Rachel Dean, March 29, 1871. Mrs. Weed was born on a farm in McHenry county, Illinois, June 23, 1849, and is the daughter of Richard and Mary ( Brook) Dean. Richard Dean was a native of England who first settled in McHenry county, Illinois, and came to Sac county in 1878, settling in the same neighborhood as Mr. Weed. He was born October 23. 1813, and died May 15, 1880. He was the father of six children by two marriages: Sarah and Richard, deceased ; Thomas, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; John J., a farmer residing in Levey township; Mrs. Mary A. Dawson, of South Dakota; Mrs. Susanna Harri- son, of Mellenry county, Illinois, these being children of the first union. By the second marriage there were the following offspring: Henry and Edward L., deceased; Rachel B. Weed; Cary, a resident of Nebraska; Mrs. Maria Ocoek, of MeHenry county, Illinois; Charles B., former postmaster of Wall Lake, who died in August. 1912; and Mrs. Emma L. Marsh, residing in McHenry county, Illinois.
To the union of Francis and Rachel ( Dean) Weed have been born and reared four children, namely: Mrs. Carrie Hay, now residing with her parents, and who is the mother of one child, Berniee May; Harry E. Weed, a farmer in Levey township; Mrs. Edith A. Tounget, who resides on a farm near Odebolt, Iowa, and is the mother of one son, Claude Harold; Fred E., at home.
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