USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 53
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Politically, Mr. Huelman is a Democrat, but has never been fascinated by the game of politics, preferring to devote his time and energies to his agri- cultural interests. His family are loyal members of the Catholic church and contribute liberally of their substance to its support. Mr. Huelman is a man who attends strictly to his own affairs, and by his genial and unassuming manner has won a host of friends in the community where he has lived for the past twenty years.
ELI HARADON.
One of the old patriarchs and Civil-war veterans and highly respected citizens of Sac county is Eli Haradon, who is now living a retired life on his farm in Boyer Valley township, in Sac county, Iowa. His life for many years was a strenuous one, and, whether engaged on the field of battle in defense of his country's integrity or in the more peaceful pursuits of civil life, he has ever been found faithful to his calling and today he enjoys to a notable degree the respect of his fellow citizens.
There is no more picturesque figure in the history of Sac county than Eli Haradon, who has passed his four score years, and is now patiently wait- ing for the final mustering in and the roll call which will terminate his long and useful career. He was born June 20, 1831, in Vermont, the son of Eli and Maria ( Perkins) Haradon. In 1845 Eli Haradon, Sr., and his family left Vermont and settled on a farm near Joliet, Illinois, where Eli Haradon, Sr., and his wife died.
Eli Haradon, Jr., learned the blacksmith trade when a young man, and after the death of his parents moved to Bremer county, Iowa, in 1857, where he followed the blacksmithing trade. He married and began farming, al- though he still worked in his shop, and continued to live in Bremer county until his wife's death, leaving him with one daughter, Susan Ellen. After his wife's death he returned to his old home in Illinois, where he was living at the outbreak of the Civil War. On August 22. 1862, he enlisted in Com-
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pany K. One Hundredth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was mus- tered in at Camp Irwin, Joliet, Illinois, under Capt. David Kelly and Col. F. A. Bartleson. His regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cumber- land in the west, and was a part of the First Brigade, Second Division and Fourth and Twentieth Corps. His career in the army was of short duration, but while it lasted it was full of severe fighting and exciting incidents. He participated in the battle of Bairdstown and Perryville in the fall of 1862 in Kentucky and in the battle at Stone River, Tennessee, in December of 1863. On January 3d, that year, he was injured by a gunshot wound in his right thigh. The company to which Mr. Haradon was attached was guarding a battery of cannon and were on the ground near the cannon one evening about sundown, when a bursting bomb partially destroyed his hearing. After the battle he was picked up off the field and taken to the hospital at Nashville, where he lay until August 3, 1863. He was then discharged on account of disability and for two years was unable to walk without the aid of crutches.
Immediately after his discharge he returned to Bremer county, lowa, and after recuperating from his wound, rented a farm and began farming. As soon as his strength was regained he opened his blacksmith shop and followed that occupation for eight years. In the meantime he had married and in 1871 he decided to go to Kansas, where he lived for the next four years. In 1875 he came to Sac county, locating in the town of Early, when that town was started. He opened the blacksmith shop and conducted it continuously until 1901, when he retired to a farm which he had purchased in this township. He has lived on his one-hundred-and-twenty-acre farm, two miles south of Early, for the past thirteen years and takes an active interest in the superintending of his place.
The second marriage of Mr. Haradon occurred in 1864, when he was united in marriage to Julia Davis, of Bremer county, Iowa. His second wife died in 1910. To this second marriage were born five children: Leslie, Ellis, Everett, Mrs. Edith Wilson and Mrs. Etna Hair. All of the children are residing in Early, except Ellis, who is on the farm with his father. Mrs. Susan Helen Bedell, Mr. Haradon's daughter by his first wife, is also living in Early.
Mr. Haradon has always identified himself with the Republican party, and has the satisfaction and honor of knowing that he was old enough to vote when John C. Fremont was the first candidate on the Republican ticket in 1856. While he has always taken an intelligent interest in the affairs of his party, yet the nature of his business has kept him from being an aspirant for any public office. He is a member of the Christian church and renders
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it his zealous support at all times. He is one of the most loyal members of the Grand Army post at Early and takes a keen delight in the meetings of the post. Mr. Haradon is one of the grand old patriarchs of Sac county and a man who has lived a life singularly free from blame and censure in every way. His life has been marked by many discouragements, and yet through it all he has been optimistic and done his duty as he best saw it. He is highly honored and respected by everyone who know him, and there is probably no man in the township who has more friends than he.
WALDEN E. PURDY.
The pioneer settlers of Sac county enjoyed one advantage which will never come to the future settlers of this county, and that is cheap land. In the seventies there was plenty of five and ten-dollar land for sale in this county and today there are few farms which could be bought for less than one hun- dred and fifty dollars an acre. While the early settlers enjoyed this one advantage they suffered a number of disadvantages, and it is probably true that a farmer today can pay for his land in almost the same length of time which the farmer of thirty years ago could pay for the land at the price at which it was then purchased. The Purdy family were among the early settlers of this county, and is one of the few families in the county who are able to trace their ancestry back through three generations.
The Purdys have traced their family history in the United States hack to the year 1656, when three brothers of the family came from Norway to America and settled in Vermont. One member of the family, Reverend Will- iam Purdy, settled in Pennsylvania. He became the progenitor of the Purdys who came to Sac county, lowa. The family have been prominent in many states from the earliest history of the country. Members of the family fought in the Revolutionary War and also in the War of 1812, while a number of them were in the Civil War. Rev. William Purdy, a Baptist min- ister of Pennsylvania, had a son by the name of Peter, who in turn was the father of Marshall. the father of Walden E., whose history is here delineated.
Walden E. Purdy was born August 14, 1840, in Wayne county, Penn- sylvania, and is the son of Marshall and Sally Ann ( Rude) Purdy, both of whom are natives of Pennsylvania. Peter Purdy, the father of Rev. William Purdy, migrated from Connecticut to Wayne county, Pennsylvania, in 1792.
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WALDEN E. PURDY AND FAMILY
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Marshall Purdy lived and died in Pennsylvania, dying in Wayne county in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Purdy were the parents of nine children : Newman D., Walden E., Elmer N., Mahlon D., Chester, Emeline, Lucinda, Celeste and Melissa.
Walden E. Purdy was educated in Abbington Academy in Pennsylvania and in 1861 came to Floyd county, lowa, from his native state. The next year he bought eighty acres in this county of his father-in-law, and lived on it for the next ten years. In 1873 he came to Sac county, where he purchased ninety-seven acres at five dollars and a half an acre. This land had never been broken, and, as Mr. Purdy says, "there was nothing but prairie grass and mosquitoes" to be found on the farm. Since purchasing this farm he has added to his land holdings from time to time, until he now owns one hundred and ninety-four acres in Wall Lake township. His son has forty acres in Jackson township and eighty-seven acres in Wall Lake township, making a total of three hundred and forty-one acres in this county.
Mr. Purdy was married March 17, 1854. to Sarah A. Pelton, who was born October 23, 1842, in Lake county, Illinois. She is the daughter of Thomas and Lovilla ( Graves) Pelton, natives of Tompkins and Washington counties. New York, respectively. Thomas Pelton pre-empted his land in Lake county, Illinois, and at one time had an opportunity to buy land at Chicago, but refused the opportunity. He did not realize at that time that the land would become very valuable. In 1850 the Pelton family moved to Floyd county, lowa. where they lived the remainder of their days. Thomas Pelton was born in 1811 and died in 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pelton were the parents of two children, Susan and Sarah, the wife of Mr. Purdy. They also reared one adopted son, Frank. Mr. and Mrs. Purdy are the parents of nine children : Mrs. Carrie Platt, of Minnesota ; Mrs. May Della Stanzel, of Wall Lake township; Mrs. Nettie Benson, who lives in Texas, near Galveston; Frank, at home; Mrs. Cora McClintock, of South Dakota; Mrs. Grace Jen- nett, deceased: Clarence, at home; Mrs. Ada Thaw, deceased, and Mrs. Vernie Ellwanger, of Wall Lake, Iowa.
Mr. Purdy is a stanch Democrat and a firm believer in the principles of his party. He and his family are all members of the Baptist church and contribute of their means to its support. Mr. Purdy is a musician of ability and has reared a family of musicians. At one time the family organized an orchestra, which was known as the Purdy orchestra. Mr. Purdy has taught a singing school since coming to this county. He is a vocal teacher of merit and because of his musical ability has taught vocal music in the Methodist
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church. The family has long been recognized as one which is interested in the development of their community along such lines as would make a com- munity a better place in which to live.
JOHN E. SANBORN
Among the oldest pioneers of Sac county, Iowa, is John E. Sanborn, a retired farmer of Early. His memory goes back to the time when he hauled and sold corn for ten cents a bushel and oats at the same price. He recalls the time before barns and cribs when he piled oats in his front door yard and at one time piled eight hundred bushels up until he sold it at ten cents a bushel. Mr. Sanborn is a pioneer of those days when all produce sold at ruinously low prices, and again when there were other seasons when there was nothing raised at all.
John E. Sanborn was born April 29, 1835, in New York state, and is a son of Tristram C. and Abbie ( Edgerton ) Sanborn. His father was a native of Maine and his mother of New York state. His parents never left New York. They reared a family of eight children: Elizabeth, George, Katie, Josephine, Mrs. Abbie E. Wright, John E., with whom this narrative deals, and Alice B. The only living children of this number are Mrs. Wright and John E. Sanborn.
In 1862 John E. Sanborn came to DeKalb county, Illinois, and located near Sycamore, where he lived for seven years on a farm. In 1869 he and another farm hand met one evening and, after talking the situation over, finally decided to come to Sac county, lowa, and enter a homestead, and accordingly he and his friend, James Mayclam, came to Sac county and located homesteads in Boyer Valley township. They bought the first land in the township, and paid three dollars and a half an acre for it. Mr. Sanbodn, J. V. Roe, James Mayclam and Alfred Hawley were the first settlers in the township. There was only one house in the township when they came there, and that was built by Nathaniel Prentice in 1869. During the winter of 1870 Mr. Sanborn returned to Illinois, but came back to Sac county in the spring and built a little house, twelve by fourteen feet in size, being compelled to haul the lumber forty-five miles from Carroll. The first year he broke about forty acres of his land, and it was some time before he had the money to get all of his land in cultivation. He lived on this farm for eight years and then sold it at a cash sale for eighteen dollars an acre,
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clearing fourteen dollars and a half an acre on his investment. He then bought eighty acres near where the city of Early is now located, at a cost of ten dollars and sixty cents an acre, and six years later he sold this tract for thirty dollars an acre. Three years later this same land was sold for fifty dollars an acre and in 1913 it sold for two hundred and fifty dollars an acre. In 1884 Mr. Sanborn bought one hundred and twenty acres two miles south of Early for twenty dollars an acre and five years later sold it for thirty dollars an acre, then for three years he managed a produce wagon. In 1892 he retired from active work and settled in Early, where he has since resided.
Mr. Sanborn was married February 8, 1858, to Roby J. Bennett, of DeKalb county, Illinois, and they are the parents of one daughter, Mrs. Jennie Stevens Berkey, of West Union, Iowa, and she has two daughters, Lottie and Gertrude.
Mr. Sanborn has been an independent voter and has never felt obligated to cast his ballot for the candidates of any one party. Mr. Sanborn is one of the most highly respected pioneer citizens of the county and the exper- iences through which he has passed since his residence here would fill a small sized volume. He is an interesting conversationalist and can tell many interesting incidents of the early days in the history of this county. His life has been singularly free from all those temptations which sometimes mar the lives of men, and his life has been as an open book, where his friends and neighbors may see his career as he has lived it.
ALBERT F. LASHIER.
It is proper to judge of the success and status of a man's life by the es- timation in which he is held by his fellow citizens. They see him at his work, in his family circle, in his church, at his devotions, hear his views on public questions, observe the outcome of his code of morals, witness how he conducts himself in all the relations of society and civilization and thus be- come competent to judge of his merits and demerits. After a long course of years of such daily observation it would be out of the question for his neighbors not to know his worth, because, as has been said, "Actions speak louder than words." In this county there is nothing heard concerning the subject of this sketch but good words. He has passed so many years here that his worth is well known, but it will be of interest to run over the busy events of his life in these pages.
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Albert F. Lashier, a prominent real estate agent of Early, Iowa, was born February 11, 1861, in DeKalb county, Illinois. His parents were P. W. and Elizabeth ( Hubbell ) Lashier, natives of New York state. Brewer Hub- bell, the father of Mrs. P. W. Lashier, drove from New York state with an ox team to DeKalb county, Illinois, and settled on a farm, where he lived for sixty-six years. P. W. Lashier was a stage driver and one of the earliest pioneers of DeKalb county, Illinois. Brewer Hubbell lived among the In- clians for many years and was on friendly terms with them. In 1870, P. W. Lashier and family moved to Poweshiek county, lowa, and four years later moved to what is now Cook township, Sac county, Fowa. At that time there were three families in Cook township, the Lashiers, the Wilsons and the Gor- clons. In 1876, P. W. Lashier was trustee of old Boyer Valley township, at the time Cook township was created into a congressional township, and he later served as trustee of Cook township for a number of years. P. W. Lashier moved from Cook township to Boyer Valley township, where he died November 30, 1907. He was born in 1820, and his wife, Elizabeth flubbell, was born in 1831. and her death occurred February 19, 1913. Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Lashier were the parents of four children: W. H., who lives in Colorado: Perry H., of Cook township, this county; Mrs. Ursula Douglas, of South Dakota, and Albert F.
Albert F. Lashier was thirteen years of age when his parents moved from Illinois to Iowa. He received his education in the schools of Illinois and later attended a few years in Sac county, Iowa. He remained at home and cared for his parents until he was twenty-eight years of age. He then married and bought a farm of one hundred and forty acres in Cook town- ship, on which he lived for five years. He also owned three hundred and twenty acres east of Early, where he lived for six years. He then bought one hundred and sixty acres adjoining the city of Early and lived in the city for two years, after which he returned to the farm, but in the spring of 1913 he permanently settled in Early. He has been dealing heavily in real estate for several years, handling land in Canada, Iowa and Minnesota. He now owns three hundred and twenty acres of land in Canada, three hundred and twenty acres in Montana and two hundred acres in Iowa.
Mr. Lashier was married in 1887 to Celeste Weaver, and to this mar- riage have been born four children, Edson, Charles H., Roe and Delmar, the last two of whom are still at home with their parents in Early.
Mr. Lashier has been a life-long Republican, and has always been interested in the local campaigns of his party. He has never held any other office than that of school director. The family are members of the Presby-
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terian church, and give liberally of their substance to its support. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Personally, he possesses to an eminent degree those characteristics which gain friendship, and he is deservedly popular in the community in which he has lived for so many years.
EDGAR C. MERKLEY.
A farmer of today should be the most contented man in the country, since he is the only one who lives an independent career. Every other pro- fession looks to the farmer for support and as long as the farmer is success- ful the country at large is prosperous. If the farmers of the United States should go on a strike and for one year refuse to raise any crops, a panic would sweep across this country which would totally demoralize every other business. In fact, it is the farmer who makes it possible for the banker, the manufacturer, the lawyer and even the minister, to live, and without the noble occupation of farming this country could not exist.
Edgar C. Merkley, a prosperous farmer of Eden township, Sac county, Iowa, was born March 28, 1861, in Ontario, Canada. His parents were William and Elizabeth ( Castleman ) Merkley. William Merkley was born in 1833 in Canada, where he is now living. His wife also was a native of Canada, born in 1836, and to the union of Mr. and Mrs. William Merkley were born the following children: Mrs. Eva Whittaker, who is in Canada; Mrs. Ella Castleman and Mrs. Lucy Castleman, both now residing in the state of California: Aden, also of California; Mrs. Sarah Whittaker, of Canada, and Edgar C., whose history is herewith presented.
Edgar C. Merkley was reared and educated in the schools of Canada, came to Sac county when he was twenty-two years of age, and in 1884 he moved to Eden township, where he has since resided. He has bought land from time to time in this township until he is now the owner of four hun- dred and eighty acres in sections 20 and 30 of this township. His annual output of stock includes ninety head of cattle, one hundred head of hogs and twenty head of horses. He is the owner of a Percheron stallion and is a breeder of Percheron horses. He has a modern and attractive home and good buildings of all kinds on his farm, his place being well improved in every way.
Mr. Merkley was married January 17. 1885, to Matilda Wiley, a native of Canada, and to this marriage have been born seven children, six sons and one daughter : Merle, of Eden township; Isaac, who is in Minnesota; Mrs.
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Stella Adams, whose husband is a farmer of this township; Lorne, Rosa, V'ernon and Glen, the last four named being still with their parents at home.
Politically, Mr. Merkley is a Democrat, while all the family are loyal and consistent members of the Lutheran church. In his fraternal relations he is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Merkley is a man who always takes an interest in the welfare of his community and identifies himself with such enterprises as have for their object the bettering of the community in which he lives, and is regarded by all who know him with honor and esteem.
DAVID SHELMERDINE.
It is no small honor to be a pioneer in a new country, and this is the honor which belongs to the Shelmerdine family. David Shelmerdine is one of the few native-born farmers of this county, while his father, James, is today the oldest settler of Sac county, Iowa. This family has been closely identified with the growth of the county from its beginning, and today can look back over more than a half century of history, in which they have had no small part.
David Shelmerdine, a prosperous farmer of Boyer Valley township, this county, was born September 24. 1867, in Jackson township, about two and a half miles south of Sac City. He is the son of James and Nancy ( Maulsby ) Shelmerdine. In 1869 James Shelmerdine moved onto his present farm in Boyer Valley township, where his son, David, is now living. David has recently purchased forty acres of land adjoining his father's farm, for which he paid one hundred and fifty dollars an acre.
James Shelmerdine, the oldest settler of Sac county, a veteran of the Civil War. a public-spirited citizen and one of the best loved old patriarchs in the county, was born in England, July 13, 1821. He is the son of William and Isabel ( Brunton ) Shelmerdine and was one of ten children born to his parents. When a mere youth he learned the trade of dyer and worked in the cotton mills of his native land. In 1855 he came to America, landing in New York City, where he worked in the print works near that city. In 1856 he went west and settled temporarily in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and shortly afterwards came, with Robert Browning, to Sac county and located near Sac City. At that time there was one house in Sac City, and that was a log house which was being built by Judge Eugene Criss. Here James Shel- merdine decided to locate, and secured employment from Mr. Watt, who had
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a government contract for carrying the mail from Ida Grove to Sac City. He was in the performance of this duty at the opening of the Civil War, when he accidentally met a Mr. Treadway, a recruiting officer, who told him of the war and of the imperative need for men to go to the front. Although Mr. Shelmerdine had been in this county only two years, he was always at- tached to his adopted country, accordingly he enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Regiment of Fowa Volunteer Infantry for the three-year service and was immediately sent to the front. He participated in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas. December 28-29, 1862: Arkansas Post. January 11, 1863; Mill Creek. April 8-12: Jackson. May 14: siege of Vicksburg, May 18 to July 4: Jackson, July 9. 16: Brandon. July 18. 20: Dickson Station, October 20; Tuscombia, October 26: Cherokee Station, October 21: Chattanooga. Tennessee. November 23: Lookout Mountain. November 24: Mission Ridge. November 25: Ringgold, Georgia. November 27; Resaca, May 13, 16. 1864; Dallas, Georgia, May 25 to June 4: Kenesaw Mountain, June 9. 30.
In the course of the rebellion. Mr. Shelmerdine was twice wounded. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain he was wounded in the right shoulder: in the battle of Resaca he was shot in the left knee. After being wounded at Kenesaw Mountain he was sent to a hospital in Alabama, but rapidly re- covered and joined his regiment at Atlanta. He participated in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., in the summer of 1865, and received his final discharge at Clinton, lowa, in the fall of that year.
.At the close of the Civil War, Mr. Shelmerdine settled on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Boyer Valley township, three miles south of Early, where he lived until March, 1904. when he took up his home with his danghter, Mrs. John Anthony, at Sac City. He was married in August, 1866. to Nancy Maulsby, the daughter of David and Isabella ( Case) Maulsby, of Miami county, Indiana. To this marriage have been born six children : David Simpson, Mrs. Isabel Haradon ( Flora ), Mrs. Mary Eliza- beth Haradon, Mrs. Nancy Anthony. Arthur, deceased, and James, deceased. Mr. Shelmerdine is a member of the Gen. W. T. Sherman Grand Army post of Sac City and also a loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His wife died February 16. 1905.
Mr. and Mrs. John Anthony were married in Boyer Valley township February 22. 1899. John Anthony was born February 12. 1871. in Illinois, and is the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Anthony, who are now residents of Early. Mr. Anthony has operated the Palm Cafe, in Sac City, since 1907, and is one of the successful business men of the town. Before engaging in this business, he was a farmer in this township. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony
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