USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 64
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Mr. McCorkindale was born on the 14th day of the month of March, 1842, in Killean parish, Argyleshire, Scotland, the son of Donald and Jean- nette ( McNevin) McCorkindale. His father was a farmer in the old country who emigrated to America in the year 1865 with his family and settled in Clinton county. Iowa. Here Donald, Jr., worked in a sawmill for a period of five years and in 1870 Donald, Sr., removed to White county, Illinois, and purchased a farm. He resided in White county for five years and then moved to Odebolt, Sac county, in 1875. He was doubtless in- fluenced to make this move because of the fact that nearly all of his children were settled in Sac county near Odebolt and he wished to be near them in his remaining days. The father died in 1895. He reared five sons and two daughters, namely: Donald; Neil, deceased; Malcolm, now a resident of Nebraska : Mrs. Richard Shileto, of Alberta, Canada; Mrs. Catharine Stuart, of Wall Lake, Iowa: Angus, who died in Clinton township in June, 1912; John, a rancher in Alberta, Canada, deceased in the spring of 1914.
Donald McCorkindale was twenty-three years of age when he came to America, landing in New York City in the month of June. 1865. He came west and was employed in the saw mills at Clinton. Iowa. for a period of five years. He went to Illinois in 1870 and spent two years there engaged in
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farming in White county. In the spring of 1874 he came to Sac county and invested his savings in three hundred and twenty acres of land in Clinton township at four dollars and fifty cents an acre. During the first two years of his residence here he boarded and then married. Several years after mar- riage he made his next purchase of land and continued making additions to his holdings until he had over two thousand eight hundred acres in all. His most recent purchase was a portion of the Cook ranch, which he bought in 1909, and consisting of five hundred and sixty acres at prices ranging from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and thirty-five dollars an acre. As early as 1885 he began breeding fine draft horses and met with wonderful success in this venture, having been at the time of his death the largest live stock breeder in the county. On his farm are two imported Clydesdale stal- lions which cost in the thousands of dollars to import; thirty-five head of fine thoroughbred draft animals which have been exhibited at the county fairs and have carried off ribbons on several occasions. „He was also a breeder of Aberdeen Angus cattle and had over three hundred and fifty head of pure breds on his home farm. In addition he was an extensive feeder and shipper of live stock, handling from three to five carloads annually.
Mr. McCorkindale was the owner of a total of two thousand seven hun- dred acres of farm lands, two thousand five hundred acres of which is in Sac county and two hundred acres in Crawford county. This land is now being farmed entirely by the sons of Mr. McCorkindale. Practically all of the land is being devoted to the live stock breeding and now is rented out ex- cept the Cook and Wall Lake lands. It is the second largest farm in the county which has been cultivated almost entirely by the owner and is at the present time the second largest farm in Sac county in the number of acres devoted to exclusive farming and live stock raising.
Mr. McCorkindale was married in October, 1876, to Mary Bremner, also a native of Scotland, born December 10, 1856, a daughter of James and Margaret (Kennard) Bremner, who emigrated to America from Scotland in 1866 and settled in Cedar county for seven years and then came to Craw- ford county in 1873, where both lie buried. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McCorkindale: Mrs. Jennie Morton, of Alberta, Canada ; Daniel, on one of the home farms: Mrs. Margaret McQuistin, of Nebraska; Mrs. Mary Nicholson, of Jefferson, Dakota; James, at home; Isabel, William and Anna, at home with their parents.
Mr. McCorkindale was an independent in politics and had definite and pronounced views on matters affecting the government of the people. He usually voted for the man who seemed best fitted for the office than for the
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representative of any political party. He and the members of his family have naturally espoused the religion of their forbears and were members of the Presbyterian church of Odebolt. His devoted and competent wife, who has been a wise and careful mother to her children, is still hale, hearty and intelligent, despite her advanced age. It might well be said of them that they were not old excepting in years. The home is a comfortable and hospitable one and, despite the tendency of the times for the farmer to retire to a life of ease and comfort in the towns, they preferred to remain on the farnı. Donald desiring to be near the farm work and his fine live stock, and the mother desiring to care for and look after the welfare of her sons.
Donald McCorkindale passed away Monday night, May 18, 1914, at about ten-thirty o'clock before medical aid could be summoned. On the Sunday preceding he had attended church, as was his custom, and had ap- peared to be in the best of health. The funeral services were held on the Thursday following. May 21st, from the Odebolt Presbyterian church in the presence of a large concourse of relatives and friends. Rev. Robert Mc- Inturff officiated at the ceremony. Burial followed in the Odebolt cemetery. Rendition of the services with song and discourse was beautiful and im- pressive and in keeping with the character of the deceased.
WILLIAM LEWIS FRIESNER.
Among the native sons of Sac county, who have spent their entire lives within the limits of this county is William Lewis Friesner, whose many years of residence here have but served to strengthen the feeling of admiration on the part of his fellow men owing to the honorable life he has led and the worthy example he has set to the younger generation. He has ever en- joyed the respect and esteem of those with whom he has associated and no one stands higher in the admiration of his fellow citizens than he whose life is here presented.
William Lewis Friesner, a farmer of Coon Valley township, was born February 26, 1870, in the township where he has spent practically all of his life. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Friesner. After receiving a good common school education in the school of his neighborhood, he con- tinued to reside with his parents until his marriage, at the age of twenty- three years, and since that time he has lived on part of the old home farm which he received from his father, and, with the exception of one year when
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he lived in Greene county, this state, he has spent his entire life on the same farm. He is a practical and methodical man in all he does and his efforts have been rewarded by a fair share of success. He knows no such thing as idleness and has never slackened his efforts in order to maintain his farm at the highest possible standard of cultivation and agricultural excellence.
Mr. Friesner was married in 1803 to Gertrude Richards, of Sac county, and to this union have been born four children, Viva, Gladys, Ruby and Dorothy, all of whom are under the parental roof.
Mr. Friesner has always identified himself with the Republican party and, because of his recognized ability, his party has called upon him to serve in various official positions. He has been a school director for ten years in his township, and is now serving as trustee of Coon Valley township, filling the latter position with eminent satisfaction to his fellow citizens, irrespec- tive of party affiliations, because he takes an active interest in all of the duties which is a part of this important office. In his religious relations he and his family are all loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. His actions have always been the result of careful and conscientious thought and in all the relations of life he has done his full duty. He is active in social life and as a citizen and neighbor he discharges his duty in a manner becoming an intelligent American citi- zen, and has earned and retains the good will and regard of all who know him.
AUGUST BETTIN.
The German immigrants to this country have been distinguished above all others for their thrift, economy and perseverance, qualities which have gained for them success almost without fail in whatever situation they have been placed and have made the communities settled by them prosperous be- yond the average. These men have become devoted to their adopted coun- try and take as active an interest in the welfare of this nation as they did in their native land. AAmong the typical German citizens of Sac county, Iowa, a man widely and favorably known among the people of Clinton town- ship, and much beloved for his excellent character is August Bettin, who was born in Germany in 1853.
August Bettin was reared to young manhood in his native land, his father dying while he was young, after which his mother, Wilhelmina
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Bettin, came to America. When he was eighteen years of age his mother and her husband and Mrs. Ernestine Kuhn, a sister of August, and now a resident of Benton county, lowa, came to America, settling in Lee county, Illinois, in 1874, where his mother spent the rest of her life.
August Bettin married in Lee county, Illinois, in 1876, and in 1884 moved to Sac county, Iowa, and rented a farmi for the first three years after his arrival here. He then purchased one hundred and sixty acres in section 23. Clinton township, for which he paid thirty-one and a quarter dollars an acre, and to this original purchase he has added other tracts at intervals un- til he is now the owner of four hundred acres in this township. The dates of his purchases and the prices paid for the land are here set forth, and are especially interesting in view of the fact that the land has increased so rap- idly in value. His second purchase of eighty acres in 1896 cost him forty- two and a half dollars an acre: the first purchase of one hundred and sixty acres in 1901 was bought for fifty-six dollars an acre : the last purchase of forty acres in 1909. necessitated an outlay of ninety dollars an acre, and this gives him a total of four hundred and forty acres of fine farming land. which today is easily worth one hundred and fifty dollars an acre. He now has three sets of buiklings on his land and every improvement which makes for better farming. He came to this county a poor man and is now one of the wealthiest men of his township, and has only one regret, namely. that he did not buy more land when it was cheap. When he came here and bought his first land in 1887. it was a prairie tract, destitute of trees, buildings or any improvements. He has erected the buildings, fenced and drained the land, set out orchards and planted several groves of trees. He raises large crops of grain and feeds most of it to his live stock, marketing at least twenty head of cattle and eighty head of hogs annually. Mr. Bettin possesses a keen sense of humor and believes in everybody enjoying themselves. He has now reached a position where he is able to take life easy and has turned the management of his farms over to his sons. He believes in providing well for his children, so that he can have them near him in his later days.
Mr. Bettin was married in 1876, in Illinois, to Kate Glein, a native of Germany, and to this marriage have been born four daughters and four sons. all of whom are living and are useful members of society: Charles, a farmer of Boyer Valley township: Will, a farmer of Clinton township, this county; Mrs. Mary Ogren, of this township: Mrs. Emmie Lentz, of Clinton Valley township; John E., who lives in Clinton township: Mrs. Lizzie Blass, of Boyer Valley township, and Fred and Caroline, who are still with their parents.
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The Democratic party has claimed Mr. Bettin's vote from the time that he cast his first ballot, and he has never seen any reason why he should vote for the principles of any other party. The members of his family are all loyal adherents of the Reformed German church, and give to it their zealous support. Mr. Bettin is a man who contributes his success solely to the fact that he has worked early and late and treated his neighbors as he would have them treat him. In other words, he has applied the Golden Rule to his life and, as a result, has earned the warm commendations of his friends and neighbors.
CHRISTOPHER M. HOPKINS, M. D.
In delving into the past history of Sac county, it is found that in the building-up period of the county's growth there were a few talented profes- sional men who devoted the better part of their lives in behalf of their fel- low men. The pioneer physicians, for instance, were men of hardihood who braved the terrible storms and cold of the severe winters to alleviate the sufferings of the settlers and unselfishly gave of the best that they were able in healing the sick and relieving the suffering. Their careers in the main were exemplary, for while there were not many educated medical men who ministered to the sick and ill during this earlier period, these physicians were men of energy and wide experience who were able to take advantage of the opportunities presented for the exercise of business talents and who had the good fortune to amass a competence aside from the pecuniary re- ward for the practice of their profession, which, very often, was of small consequence in comparison with the labor and hardships involved in prac- ticing in a new country.
Dr. Christopher M. Hopkins, deceased, was a notable representative of this class of pioneer physicians, and his record as a citizen and physician of eminence and more than ordinary attainments is thrice worthy of repre- sentation in this volume, dedicated to the pioneers long since departed and about whom hangs a halo of honor and glory for the noble tasks which they accomplished singly and in concert for the redemption of a wilderness.
Doctor Hopkins was born in the year 1853 on a farm in DeKalb county, Illinois. He was the son of Thomas M. and Julia A. Hopkins, the former a native of New York and the latter a native of Missouri. The parents were early pioneer settlers in De Kalb county.
Christopher M. Hopkins was educated in the common schools of his
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native county, attended the nearby high school and entered the Chicago Medical College, it being early decided by himself and his ambitions parents that he should become a physician. During his school days it developed that he was an apt and diligent scholar, who imbibed learning easily, so it was natural that his career should thus be decided for him. Later developments proved the wisdom of his choice in seeking to become a member of the oldest and noblest of all professions. After his graduation from the Chicago Medical College, he first essayed the practice of his calling in the town of Lake City, Iowa, whither he came in the year 1876. One year later, in 1877, he came to the new town of Wall Lake and here made his permanent home. The town was then in the infancy of its growth and of necessity the young doctor had an extensive country practice among the farmers. He was the earliest pioneer doctor of the southern portion of Sac county and the very first physician to locate in Wall Lake. At that time there were but very few houses in the embryo city, but it had great expectations for growth inasmuch as the railroad had just entered the town site.
Doctor Hopkins practiced medicine here continuously until the year 1890, when he removed with his family to Omaha. He resided in the me- tropolis for three years only and then returned to Wall Lake. For some time his eyesight had been failing him and medical treatment received in Omaha had failed to prevent the gradual failure of his powers of vision. Conse- quently, on his return to Wall Lake he decided to abandon his practice and thereupon engaged in the implement and machinery business. In this voca- tion he achieved a considerable degree of marked success. It is not often that a professional man, who has spent the best years of his life in the prac- tice of his profession, can, on the attainment of middle life, abandon his calling and enter the realms of business and achieve success, but Doctor Hop- kins was one of those individuals who were endowed with unusual talents which enabled him to succeed in spite of misfortune. He likewise turned his attention to land investment. Like other wise men in his time, he fore- saw the inevitable rise in land values and invested heavily in lands, which are still held by Mrs. Hopkins and which have steadily increased in value as the years have passed. He left an estate of over six hundred acres of good land. the greater part of which is now owned by his widow. The demise of Chris- topher M. Hopkins occurred on June 11 of 1901.
Doctor Hopkins' wedded life began June 20, 1877, when he espoused for his life helpmeet Viola Reynolds, who survives him. Mrs. Hopkins was born June 6. 1860, at Lake City. Calhoun county, Iowa. She is the daughter of James and Olive ( Hutchinson ) Reynolds, natives of Cass county, Michi-
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gan, and who were early settlers in Calhoun county. James Reynolds was a soldier in the great Rebellion and gave his life in defense of the Union. He enlisted in 1861 as a soldier in the Thirty-Sixth lowa Volunteer In- fantry Regiment and died at Bird's Point, Missouri, in 1862. Doctor Hop- kins was the father of three children, as follows: Alice K., a graduate of the De Kalb State Normal School and who resides with her mother ; Roscoe C., who was educated in the Iowa State University and resides at home : Julia, who died in February, 1893, at the age of seven years.
Mrs. Hopkins, with her son and daughter, resides in the beautiful home erected by her husband during his latter years in Wall Lake and carefully looks after the interests left in her charge. Her home is the abode of refine- ment and culture and she is active in church work and social affairs and is loved and respected by her friends and neighbors, as was her talented and lamented husband, whose memory is revered by those who knew him in life.
Doctor Hopkins was a Republican in politics; he served two terms as coroner of his county, and was a member of the Missouri Valley Medical Association and the Iowa State Medical Association. He was affiliated with the Presbyterian church and assisted in the building and organization of the Presbyterian church at Wall Lake. to which he was a liberal donator. He was a Mason, having taken many degrees, including that of the Knights Templar commandery at Sac City.
CHARLES W. IRWIN.
The life story of every successful man contains a lesson which in itself is an inspiration. While each man, in all probability, works out his destiny along a different line than that followed by others, the summing up of the aggregate indicates that energy, good judgment, native ability and ambition are the principal requisites for achievement. This is taken for granted by the philosophic student and the biographer and is the conclusion which has been reached by a study of the life records of many men of consequence. However, while there may be a similarity in the successes and methods em- ployed by individuals in general, while attaining the goal as they are engaged in the same vocation, each individual chronicle brings out a specific lesson which better explains the character of the man and proves that he is en- dowed with a distinctive ability somewhat different from the others. In Charles W. Irwin, agriculturist and banker, recently of Clinton township.
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but now a resident of Sac City, we find embodied the highest essentials of citizenship and progressive ability. The life story of Mr. Irwin is an inter- esting one and is a presentation of what can be accomplished by the indi- vidual who steadily sets his mind to the attainment of a certain object and accomplishes results which are gratifying to his own ambition and which in the doing have likewise benefited his fellow men.
Charles W. Irwin was born April 22, 1858, on a farm in Mercer county, Pennsylvania. He is the son of William H. and Mary ( Waugh) Irwin, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter a native of Ireland. In the year 1867 the Irwin family removed from the old home in Pennsylvania and located in Clinton county, Iowa. The children are as follows: George A., deceased; L. E. Irwin, a resident of Sac City; Charles W .: Waller D., a farmer in Wall Lake township; Mrs. Letta M. Vaughn, of Sioux City; William H., of Clinton township: James T., a farmer in Boyer Valley town- ship: A. J., a resident of Odebolt; Mrs. Eva Jane Davenport, of Richland township.
L. E. Irwin was the first member of the family to come to Sac county, locating here in 1878: C. W. followed two years later; then came the other members of the family. It was only natural that the parents should dispose of their holdings in Clinton county and eventually come to Sac county for their final resting place, so as to be near their children and grandchildren. In 1895 they came here and made their residence in Odebolt, where William H., Sr., died on December 21, 1911. The mother still holds her home in Odebolt. but resides with her daughter in Sioux City the greater part of the time.
Charles W., while the son of a pioneer settler of Clinton county, is like- wise a pioneer himself in Sac county. In March of 1880 he came to Clinton township and purchased eighty acres of unbroken prairie land at five dollars an acre. Hle and his brother L. E. farmed their lands together for a period of ten years, bringing it up to a good state of cultivation and gradually adding to their holdings until at the time of the dissolution of their part- nership in 1800 each received two hundred acres as his share of the general hoklings. Each brother has alike prospered and both are large landed estate hollers at the present time.
.At the present time Mr. Irwin has over eight hundred acres of the best land in Sac county. There are two hundred and forty acres in his home farm. The total acreage comprises five hundred and sixty acres in Clinton township and two hundred and forty acres in Boyer Valley township. There are four sets of good farm buildings on his land. For a good many years
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Mr. Irwin has been a large stockman, rarely selling the products of his farms, but preferring to feed the grain and hay into live stock production and ship- ping his cattle and hogs to the markets by the carload. This plan of farm- ing is conceded to be the surest way of insuring the fertility of the soil, and is in many respect the most profitable in the end. Mr. Irwin makes a prac- tice of buying feeders and stockers and fattening them for market. He dis- poses of four car loads of cattle from his home farm each year. His total production of cattle for any one year will exceed eight carloads, while the total production of hogs will reach four carloads.
Mr. Irwin has been connected with the State Bank of Lake View since its organization and is at present a director of the bank; he has also been connected with the Early and Cushing banks. He has always taken an active and interested part in the Sac County Fair Association, having served as a director since 1911, and has been superintendent of the poultry de- partment of the annual county fair for some time. Mr. Irwin has the dis- tinction of being one of the pioneer promoters in the establishment of the first mutual telephone line systems in Sac county. In 1890 he and twenty other citizens organized themselves into the first independent mutual tele- phone company in Sac county and since that time the mutual companies have multiplied until the county is practically gridironed with telephone systems.
In October, 1882, Charles W. Irwin was wedded to Sarah C. Crozer, who was born on May 6, 1858, the daughter of Reason Crozer, an early set- tler of Wall Lake township, whose wife was Hannah Hawley. Reason Crozer was a native of Columbiana county. Ohio, the son of Thomas and Sarah Crozer. Reason Crozer was born August 22, 1830, and died August 25, 1896. The marriage of Mrs. Irwin's parents occurred in Cedar county, Iowa, September 9, 1854. Hannah Hawley Crozer was born .August 20, 1835, the daughter of Caleb and Catharine Hawley, of Stark county. Ohio. and came to Cedar county, Iowa, in 1851 with her parents. The Crozer family came to Sac county and settled in Wall Lake township in 1879. The children of this pioneer family were as follows: James Emmet, deceased : Mrs. Sarah Catharine Irwin; Orison E., a resident of Marengo. Illinois; Louis, of Salem, Oregon: Charles, of Minnesota ; Thomas, a citizen of Cali- fornia: Edna. deceased: Albert. in Pawnee Station, Kansas; Wilfred, at Newberg, Oregon.
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