USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 45
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Hon. Will Drury, of Clinton township, was born October 2, 1862. in Clinton county, Iowa. and is the son of Thomas Drury, born in England in the year 1834. His mother was Elizabeth Davis, born in the province of Ontario, Canada, the daughter of John G. Davis and Sarah ( Hopkins) Davis, early pioneer settlers of Clinton county, Iowa, who settled in the county at a time when Freeport was the nearest trading point.
Thomas Drury emigrated from England, when seventeen years of age, made his way to Clinton county and there settled on a farm. In 1863 he was killed by an accident while working with a piece of machinery. He was the father of three children, namely: Mrs. Nettie Wolf, residing in Louisiana : John T., deceased in 1893; and Will. The mother of these children died in 1906.
Will Drury came to Sac county in the fall of 1880 in company of Robert Wilson, who afterwards became county treasurer of Sac county. In December of the same year he purchased one hundred and sixty acres in section 5 of Clinton township at fifteen dollars an acre, on a time contract. For this land he made a cash payment of two hundred dollars and agreed to pay the remainder in ten years time. During the first two years he "bached" on his land, while making improvements. He managed to pay for the farm in the required time by exercise of tireless industry and frugality.
HON. WILL DRURY
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Mr. Wilson purchased the adjoining quarter on section 5. Mr. Drury lived on his first farm until the spring of 1895 and then disposed of it for forty-five dollars an acre, which was at that time the highest known price ever paid for farm land in Sac county.
Previously, in the fall of 1893, he had purchased two hundred and twenty acres in Clinton township at thirty-five dollars an acre and one hundred and sixty acres in Boyer Valley township at twenty-five dollars an acre. He at once commenced improving his new place, remodelling the buildings and erecting necessary new ones, at a cost of several thousand dollars. This farm is widely and favorably known as "West Riverside Farm," the buildings of which are situated on the west bank of the Boyer river and command a pleasing outlook over a wide expanse of fertile territory. The residence is a comfortable one, reached by a driveway lined with stately trees. Three large barns are located to the west and somewhat in the rear of the home and are flanked by a modern cement silo. This farm produces two hun- dred cattle and three hundred hogs annually. Mr. Drury believes in selling the products of his farm on the hoof and thus building up the fertility of his land and increasing its productiveness. He was formerly a breeder of Aberdeen Angus cattle. He owns a total of three hundred acres of land in Clinton and Boyer Valley townships and, in partnership with his son, owns two hundred and forty acres in Delaware township. For over twelve years he was in the live stock and grain business in the nearby town of Early, having not been engaged in grain buying and shipping for eight years past.
Mr. Drury is allied with the Republican party and his convictions are decidedly of the progressive order. He has been given high political pre- ferment by his fellow citizens in Sac county, and in every instance when called to public office has acquitted himself with credit to himself and his constituents. He was elected as representative in the state Legislature in the fall of 1906 and was a member of the thirty-second General Assembly. While serving in the thirty-second session of the Legislature he was a member of the committees on railroad and commerce and the ways and means committee. He was again elected in 1908 and served in the thirty-third General Assembly. In this assembly he was a member of the committee on public officers, at that time one of the most important committees, owing to the fact that several changes in salaries of the state offices were imminent ; was a member of the ways and means committee : and the committees of railroad and transportation, com- merce and trade, telephone, public lands and horticulture. It can truthfully he said of him that he served the people faithfully and conscientiously during his two terms in the state legislative body. Mr. Drury has always taken an
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active part in state and county politics and has attended both county and state conventions in the capacity of delegate. His influence has always been ex- erted for the bringing about of the greatest good to the greatest number of people. In addition to holding the high office of representative, he has practically filled all township offices, having served faithfully as township clerk, school director, assessor and town trustee. In addition to his various activities as business man and farmer he is a stockholder and director of the Citizens State Bank of Early.
Hon. Will Drury has been three times married. His first marriage was on December 28, 1882, with Sarah Wilson, who died June 5. 1895, and who bore him four children, as follows: Mrs. Maud L. Smith, of Clinton town- ship ; Millard, a farmer in Delaware township: Blanche M., who is a nurse and makes her home with her father when not on duty; Clara, formerly a teacher in district 8 of Boyer Valley township and wife of Elmer Evans, of Early, assistant cashier in the Citizens State Bank.
He was again married January 26. 1897. to Mae C. Dell, of Buffalo, New York. Six children were born to this union as follows: C. Merrill. born in November of 1897, and is a graduate of the Early high school ; Grover E., aged fourteen years : Will. aged twelve years ; Sarah, aged nine ; Howard and Homer, twins, born June 12, 1908. The mother of these children de- parted this life on June 30, 1908. just eighteen days after the birth of the twins.
On September 29, 1909, Mr. Drury was wedded to Laura Gathman, of Sac county, and who was born in the county and was the daughter of Frank and Catharine (Billenberg) Gatliman, early settlers of Sac county. This marriage has resulted in the birth of one child. Joyce, aged three years.
Mr. Drury is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and values highly his membership in the Knights Templar commandery of Sac City and the Scottish Rite. thirty-second degree, and is a Shriner, being a mem- ber of Za-Ga-Zig Temple, at Des Moines. He was formerly a member of the Knights of Pythias of Odebolt. While his family are attendants of the Methodist church. Mr. Drury himself does not belong to any religious organization. Ile aims to lead an exemplary life and is a firm believer in the principles of right living as embodied in the Golden Rule enunciated by the greatest of all moral teachers and takes this as his code to follow. He believes in assisting his fellowmen where help is needed and there are many instances in which his helping hand has been extended in behalf of some fellow creature in need. He is a well read man who has practically educated
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himself along broad lines of thought. He has decided progressive leanings and sees nothing but eventual good for all the people in the great reform movements which are now sweeping the country and causing an awaken- ing in the business, civic and moral life of the people everywhere in this great free country of ours. He is emphatically in favor of government supervision and control of business and public utilities to such an extent that the producer and the product of his labor can be brought into closer contact with the consumer and he predicts that in the near future there will be more tillers of the soil because of the economic necessity of the times which demands a greater increase and a cheapening of the supplies of food stuffs. Mr. Drury is emphatically a man of pronounced ideas along broad lines of thought and has the faculty of expression and the ability to enunciate clearly so as to have considerable influence in spreading abroad the ad- vancing waves for better and more equitable living and a wider distribu- tion of the good things of life. His home is one of the most hospitable in the county and the personnel of his interesting family reflects the attributes of the father of the house to a great extent. His sons and daughters are alike intelligent and are becoming valued members of the community. This biography is written as an appreciation at first hand of this excellent and distinguished gentleman and to serve as a permanent record for the benefit of his children and for the perusal by his many warm friends, who are legion.
GEORGE H. HANSON.
Several things must be taken into consideration in the preparation of a biography of an individual. The writer must necessarily study the attri- butes and character of the person under review and present to the best pos- sible advantage as a matter of permanent record his abilities and accom- plishments. Young men, as a rule, have their careers yet ahead of them and are often confronted with the difficulty of choosing the right vocation and the one which seems best adapted to their powers and, above all, the occupa- tion which is most likely to yield the greater measure of substantial return in exchange for their efforts. While many young men have turned away from the farm and entered the learned professions, there to achieve success or fail. as the case may be, a gradually increasing number are embracing the science of agriculture in its truest sense and adopting farming as a permanent pursuit. They are wise in their generation and are assured of a
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permanent occupation and a comfortable and contented existence, with a practical certainty of wealth ahead of them. The young farmer of today is usually well educated and has had the opportunity of special preparation along the lines of his chosen work not possessed by his father who pre- ceded him. A farmer with well developed tastes for the work and whose faculties have received cultivation in other lines to his personal advantage is found in the person of George Hanson, manager of Echo Valley farin in Wheeler township.
George H. Hanson was born March 2, 1883. in Odebolt, the son of Henry Hanson, a pioneer settler of Sac county and native of Sweden, and of whom extended mention is made in this volume. He was a student of the Odebolt high school, and then studied for three years, 1899, 1900 and 1903, in the State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa. After finishing his course at Ames he went to the city of Chicago and studied for a term of one year in the famous Art Institute of that city. On his return he engaged in farming in Wheeler township.
Mr. Hanson's farm embraces three hundred and seventy acres in the southern part of Wheeler township and is decidedly one of the best equipped farming establishments in Sac county or western Iowa. The buildings are located in a valley and are all practically new and constructed modernly with every convenience for facilitating agricultural operations and insuring home comforts. A beautiful cottage lies on the north side of the road, be- ing a nine-room structure built mostly of concrete. Another substantial ten- ant building is located on the south side of the road which divides the land and separates the home from the barns and farm buildings, which are prac- tically built of concrete at considerable expense. The farm buildings com- prise a horse barn, fifty-four by sixty-four feet in dimension, a cattle barn sixty-four by fifty-two feet in extent, and a granary or crib with a capacity of six thousand bushels of grain. The buildings were practically all erected in 1907.
Mr. Hanson is a well-known breeder of Aberdeen Angus cattle, of which he has a herd of sixty pure breds; he has twenty head of grade horses and one hundred and fifty head of Poland-China hogs.
Politically, George H. Hanson is allied with the Republican party; he is a member of the Presbyterian church and is fraternally connected with the Masonic lodge at Odebolt.
Mr. Hanson was married June 12, 1907, to Zella Hardy, of Denison, Iowa, a daughter of A. P. Hardy. Their home life and furnishings bc- token refinement and education. Mr. Hanson is still a student and a reader
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who aims to keep abreast of the times as well as being a successful farmer. It is a safe prediction that his career will prove to be an honorable and tise- ful one and that his influence among his fellow men will prove to be the best evidence of inherited and developed ability.
ALLIE J. PAUL.
It is with marked satisfaction that the biographer adverts to the life of one who has attained success in any vocation requiring definiteness of purpose and determined action. Such a life, whether it be one of calin, consecutive endeavor or of sudden meteoric accomplishments, must abound in both lesson and incentive and prove a guide to young men whose fortunes and destinies are still matters for the future to determine. The subject of this sketch is distinctively one of the representative agriculturists of Sac county. For a number of years he directed his efforts toward the goal of success and by patient continuance in well doing succeeded at last in over- coming the many obstacles by which his pathway was beset, and is today considered one of the foremost farmers and stock dealers of the county.
Allie J. Paul, a prominent farmer and live stock dealer of Odebolt, Sac county, Iowa, was born December 5, 1869, in the state of Wisconsin. His parents were William C. and Hannah ( Biddick ) Paul. The Paul ancestry is presented in the sketch of C. A. Paul, which is found elsewhere in this volume. Allie J. Paul was an infant when the family moved to Hardin county, Iowa, from Wisconsin. In 1892 the Paul family moved to Sac county, Iowa, and settled in Wheeler township.
Allie J. Paul was educated in the schools of Hardin county, Iowa, and assisted with the labor on the farm when not in attendance at school. After the family moved to Sac county, Iowa, he remained on the home farm until 1895, then married and rented the tract known as the Mitts farm for three years, 1895 to 1898, at which time he returned to his father's farm and resided on that place for ten years, but removed to Odebolt, where he is now living, and in 1901 he purchased two hundred acres of land in this county known as the Martin Miller farm and paid seventy-five dollars an acre for the farm. His land holdings now are two hundred acres in Wheeler town- ship, two hundred acres in Dickinson county, Iowa, and eighty acres in Levey township, this county. In addition to his land holdings, he also owns an entire block in Odebolt, in which his home is located, opposite the city
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park. Here he has a fine, modern home which is equipped with all the up- to-date conveniences. He is now buying and shipping a large amount of live stock annually, and buys in this immediate neighborhood at least forty cars of stock each year.
Mr. Paul was married February 18, 1896, to Edith Sheldon, who was born in Delaware county, Iowa, June 6, 1876. Her parents were Charles Field and Jeannette (Coquillette) Sheldon, natives of Ohio and Chicago, Illinois, respectively. Her parents on both sides were early settlers in Dela- ware county, Iowa, and were married in that county. They came to Sac county in March, 1877, locating in Cedar township. They are now living in Texhoma, Oklahoma, where they moved in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Paul are the parents of six children: Vern Allie, born December 12, 1896; Archie Lawrence, born November 19, 1898; Grace Ella, born August 13, 1904; Winnie Evelyn, born November 6, 1906; Milton AArthur, born March 29, 1010, and Thelma Eloise, born February 7, 1912.
Politically, Mr. Paul is a Progressive, feeling that the interests of the nation at large demand such principles as are advocated by that party. He and all of his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and render it faithful service. Mr. Paul has been true to his ideals in every turn of his life and the respect and esteem in which he is held by his friends and neighbors shows that he has lived a life which has been marked by honest and sound business principles. He is a man of genial personality and easily makes and retains friends and no man in the township is more widely and favorably known and respected than is he. He and his family are the cen- ters of a circle of friends who delight to be entertained in their hospitable home.
CHARLIE A. PAUL.
While this book contains specific mention of many of the older citizens of Sac county, Iowa, men who have figured in the growth and development of this favored locality, there are yet others who, while they can not be num- bered among the pioneers, yet have wielded a definite influence on the best growth and development of later years. Among this class of influential citizens may be mentioned the subject of this sketch. Charlie A. Paul re- sides in Wheeler township where he farms a tract of one hundred and forty- three acres, being a portion of the William C. Paul estate of four hundred and eighty acres. Mr. Paul devotes his time to the raising of grain and
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hogs, and annually disposes of from eighty to one hundred head. He also has twenty head of cattle and for doing the work of the farm he has six head of horses.
Mr. Paul was born in Wisconsin, Grant county, on October 9, 1867, the son of William C. and Hannah Paul, both of whom were natives of England. William C. was born in 1846 and died in Wheeler township, this county, on November 6, 1902. Hannah, his wife, was born in 1844 and at present resides in Odebolt. They were married in 1865, William C. having emigrated to this country in 1857 and Hannah in 1849, being but a small child when her parents left their native country. The family first resided in Grant county, Wisconsin, and in 1870 came to Hardin county, this state. There they remained until 1893, when they became citizens of Sac county, William C. Paul having come here in the previous year and purchased the tract of four hundred and eighty acres above mentioned. There were orig- inally five children in the family, but four of whom are living. Those other than Charlie A., the immediate subject of this sketch, are Ella (Mrs. Sar- gisson), who lives in Luton, Iowa: Allie J., a stock buyer and farmer, lo- cated at Odebolt, and Myron H., also of Odebolt. and engaged in the retail meat business.
Charlie A. Paul received his elemental instruction in the district schools, later supplemented by individual study and a course at the Crescent City Commercial College at Des Moines, this state. The labor of his mature years has been wholly devoted to agricultural duties. He has been farming the homestead since shortly after the father purchased it and in the fall of 1901 the father moved to Odebolt, leaving the subject in full charge of the management of the farm. His activities in this direction have proclaimed him a man of excellent business ability and undoubted integrity. Politically, he is aligned with the Progressive party and, aside from his private duties, finds time to assume something of the burden of public service. He is a trustee and school director for Wheeler township, and is also a director in the Farmers Savings Bank of Odebolt. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal church, to the support of which he contributes gener- ously of both time and means.
On March 20, 1901, Mr. Paul was united in marriage with Sarah Emma Crawford, who departed this life on November 26, 1912, at the age of thirty-four years. Mrs. Paul was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church and was highly esteemed by those who had the pleasure of her acquaintance. She left a family of five children. Iola J. is eleven years of age: Veryl C., nine years old; Myrtle H., six years old, and Lloyd
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W. and Lyle J. are a fine pair of twin boys aged four years. To the proper rearing of this interesting family Mr. Paul is bringing to bear every elevat- ing influence at his command.
It is always pleasant as well as profitable to contemplate the career of a man who has won a definite station in life and whose influence is extended only in behalf of the most beneficial phases of community life. Since com- ing to this county, Mr. Paul has exhibited a sincere interest in all that re- lates to the best good of the community and has discharged such duties of citizenship as have fallen upon him in a manner worthy of commendation from all.
MARSHALL D. FOX.
The majority of men who have spent the better part of their alloted three score years and ten in the active pursuit of agriculture, or in almost any other vocation which requires close application and the expenditure of energy, are ready for rest when they attain such an age. We take it for granted that this is the acceptable thing for the worthy retired citizens found in practically every community to do and do not expect much activity in the affairs of the community on their part. There are found, however, some notable exceptions to what seems to have become the general custom among us. Frequently, we have individuals. who, while practically retired from active pursuits because there is no longer a necessity for a continuance of their labors, are still active in the affairs which concern mankind and, while old in years, they will be found young in deeds, with hearts still glowing earnestly for the well-being of their neighbors and still taking a lively interest in the doings of the body politic. An example of this class of citizens is found in the personage of Marshall D. Fox, retired veteran farmer of Odebolt.
Mr. Fox was born May 7, 1842, in Trumbull county, Ohio. His father was Samuel S. Fox, a native of New Hampshire, and who was a son of Amos Fox, of English parentage. Samuel S. was born in 1796 and died in 1878. He was reared to manhood in old New Hampshire and there mar- ried Dorothy Bullock, who was a member of the famous Shaker colony of New Hampshire. In the early twenties he migrated to Trumbull county, Ohio, and figured as a prominent factor in the pioneer life of eastern Ohio. He served his country in the War of 1812, and it is recorded of him that he was a brave and gallant soldier. He was twice married and was the father
MR. AND MRS. MARSHALL D. FOX
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of fourteen children by his first wife and three by his second marriage. All the children of Samuel S. grew to maturity and were married. Five of theri are yet living. The Fox family removed from the farm to Mentor. Ohio, and from there journeyed to Illinois in 1854. The mother died in the year 1856. In 1856 they moved to Minnesota, but. being dissatisfied with the outlook in this newer locality. they returned in 1857 and migrated to Clinton county, Iowa, in 1859.
Marshall D. Fox enlisted August 10, 1864. in Company A, Eleventh lowa Infantry, and served nine months. During his term of service it was his good fortune to participate in two great battles and several skirmishes. He was a member of the army that conducted the siege and capture of the city of Atlanta, and fought in the battle of Jonesboro, Georgia.
After the close of hostilities he returned to his home, in Clinton county, and took up the vocation of farming. Here he was married, May 7, 1867, to Lydia F. Bennett, who was born March 9, 1850, in the city of Brownsville. Fayette county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of William H. Ben- nett, the son of William Bennett, a scion of an old Virginia family. The wife of William H. was Mary Ann Wood, the daughter of Quaker par- ents. It is recorded that William H. Bennett was a tanner by trade and made an overland trip to the West via the water routes down the Monon- gahela and Ohio rivers and thence up the Mississippi and tributary streams. Ile bought an ox teani which he drove to lowa City in 1837, then the capital of the state, and later returned to Pennsylvania. He returned from Pennsylvania in the fall of 1854 and located on one hundred and sixty acres of government preemption land in Clinton county.
Many Clinton county people were talking of the newer and cheaper lands to be had in Sac county, and it was only natural that a number should become permanent settlers in the county. Among them was Marshall D. Fox, who was among the first to settle in Clinton township. March 27, 1874, he arrived in Clinton township, Sac county, preceding his wife, who came to join him in the following May, after he had finished the erection of a one and one-half storied house, sixteen by twenty-four feet in size. On October 3, 1874, disaster overtook them in the form of a holocaust which swept away the house and barns and consumed practically all of their furni- ture and outfit. The family barely escaped with their lives. This calamity left Mr. Fox in exceedingly hard circumstances, but "a friend in need is a friend indeed", and it was a very good friend who came to his rescue in this time of privation. A lumber man of Clinton county, who was his
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