USA > Iowa > Sac County > History of Sac County, Iowa > Part 73
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For the benefit and inspiration of the young men and women of the pres- ent generation and as an appreciation of a fitting representation of the best citizenship with which Sac county is blessed. this foregoing review is pre- sented. Martin Sheley is wholly and fully entitled to proper recognition as one of the substantial and progressive members of this division of the con- monwealth.
MORRIS M. FYFE.
There is something about the life story of a pioneer settler in this west- ern section of our great country that especially appeals to the imagination and which we are prone to look upon from a romantic standpoint. For such it was. They came in the age of romance, when the prairie was as yet unconquered and wilderness reigned supreme, waiting for the labors of man to cause the rich earth to yield forth the sustenance for the support of the ever-increasing multitudes of the nation. The pioneers canie, they saw, they remained and conquered, and those who were strong enough to stay and fight the battle through the first lean years and endure the hardships of a
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life out on the great prairie, prospered exceedingly and their acres are now numbered in the hundreds.
Prominent among the sturdy pioneers who builded up a section of the great state of Iowa and caused it to blossom as a garden, was Morris M. Fyfe, late of Douglas township, Sac county. Mr. Fyfe was one of the early homesteaders in Douglas township, coming here from Wisconsin with his young wife when there were but few settlers in the county and residing here for a long period of years until his death, August 20, 1913. He was one of the Almighty's best creations and was universally respected and ad- mired for his many sterling qualities and departed this life sincerely mourned by the hundreds who knew him but to love him.
M. M. Fyfe was born in Orleans county, New York. September 27, 1834, and was the son of James Fyfe, a native of Vermont, and grandson of John Fyfe, a native of Scotland and a Revolutionary soldier. The mother of M. M Fyfe was Electra Sanford, a daughter of Reuben Sanford. of Ver- mont. James Fyfe and his wife removed to Sheboygan county. Wisconsin, where the wife died at the age of fifty years and the father died in 1863, at the age of sixty-nine. Here it was that M. M. Fyfe was reared and edu- cated in the primitive schools of this wilderness country. He spent three or more winters in the great woods of Wisconsin engaged in timbering and lumbering.
At the outbreak of the Civil War. Mr. Fyfe enlisted. in 1861, in the Fourth Wisconsin Infantry and was later transferred to the cavalry. His command formed a part of the Department of the Gulf, and the soldier par- ticipated in the battles around Baton Rouge and the capture of Port Hudson. He was wounded at Clinton, Louisiana, receiving a ball in the breast, which passed entirely through his body and emerged from the back. He was taken to the hospital and was discharged at Madison, Wisconsin, July 28. 1864.
Immediately after liis discharge Mr. Fyfe began to work in Wisconsin in order to get enough money to pay for transportation to the West. where he intended to found a home. He was married in the spring of 1866 and set out for the land of his desire and settled in Douglas township, Sac county, where he and his young wife located on a homestead. Their first home was a small affair. twelve by twenty feet in dimension. They set out fine groves of trees which are now monarchs in size. A fine orchard was soon growing on the place and later large and commodious barns housed his grain and live stock. Near their place was situated Lake Rush, which at that time was the habitue of ducks and fish, which furnished the settlers with plenty of game food. This lake has since been drained, as have been practically all
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the lakes and sloughs which formerly covered the fertile area of Douglas township to a considerable extent. The Fyfes kept a considerable dairy and Mr. Fyfe was one of the earliest fine stock breeders of Sac county. For many years he was a well-known breeder of Polled Angus cattle and had a fine herd. Mr. Fyfe was a man of tireless industry and. assisted by his faith- ful and noble helpmeet, he became the owner of a considerable estate of five hundred acres of fine land.
Mr. Fyfe was married on March 4, 1866, to Elizabeth Seekins, who was born on March 25. 1848, in Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, and is the daugh- ter of William E. and Lydia E. (Knapp) Seekins, natives of New York state. The mother of Mrs. Fyfe died in Sac county in 1869. Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Fyfe were the parents of a large family of children: Mrs. Jennie Horine, of North Dakota: Franklin M., of Sac county, and who is tilling a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Douglas township: Mrs. Celia E. Hunter, of Douglas township: William A., of Buena Vista county, Iowa; James Dennis, who is now living on the old home farm; Emma Dell and Mary A., deceased. M. M. Fyfe passed away August 20, 1913. He was a life-long Republican in his political convictions, but was so busy with his personal affairs and the management of his large farm that he never sought political preferment outside of accepting some local township office. He took a prominent part in the organization of Douglas township and held the honorable post of justice of the peace and served as township trustee for a number of years. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 416. His loss was felt by the members of his family and his many friends, and his demise marked the passing of one of the sturdy and familiar figures of the pioneer days of Sac county.
Frank M. Fyfe, a son of M. M. Fyfe, was born October 30, 1872. in Sac county. He was married January 28, 1901, to Sarah Wallace, daughter of John and Louisa Wallace. They have three daughters, Opal Alice, Fern May and Peryl Lucille.
ADELBERT E. WEBB.
To a great extent the prosperity of the agricultural sections of our country is due to the honest industry, the sturdy persistence, the unswerving perseverance and the wise economy which so prominently characterize the farming element of the state of Iowa. Among this class may be mentioned the subject of this brief review, who, by reason of years of indefatigable labor and honest effort, has not only acquired a well merited material pros-
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perity, but has also richly earned the highest esteem of all with whom he is associated.
Adelbert E. Webb, of Douglas township. Sac county, Iowa, was born November 9. 1861, in Lenawee county, Michigan, and was the son of J. B. and Ellen Webb, who were natives of New York. The Webb family came to Lenawee county, Michigan, early in its history and remained there until 1873. They then moved to Jasper county, lowa, and eight years later located in Cedar township. this county. J. B. Webb was born in 1830 and died in 1906 in this county. His wife was born in 1836 and died in 1910. They reared a family of two children, Mrs. Carrie Hamilton, of Lytton. Iowa, and Adelbert E., whose history is here portrayed.
Adelbert E. Webb was educated in the district schools of his native county in Michigan, and since he was only twelve years of age when his parents moved to lowa, he attended school for a few years after reaching this state. He assisted his father with the work of the farm until his mar- riage, at the age of twenty-eight, although he had bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres some time before his marriage. That land he sold and bought his present farm after marriage, for which he paid thirty-four dollars and thirty-seven and one-half cents an acre, and with the fine home, excellent barns and outbuildings, together with extensive fencing and ditch- ing which he has put upon the place, has increased the value of the tract until it is now worth at least five times what it cost him in the beginning. In addition to his one hundred and sixty acres in Douglas township. he has one hundred and sixty acres in Minnesota. He is a farmer of more than ordinary ability and successfully combines his grain and stock raising with the result that his farm affords a comfortable profit each year. He averages about twenty head of cattle and twelve head of horses each year for the market. besides hogs and other animals.
Mr. Webb was married December 4, 1889, to Barbara A. Carter, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James M. Carter. Mr. and Mrs. Webb have one daughter. Mary Jeannette, who is still with her parents. In his political affiliations, Mr. Webb has always allied himself with the Republican party. but has never aspired to public office. Fraternally, he is a member of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and takes an interest in the various local activities of that fraternal order. His well directed efforts in the practical affairs of life, his capable management of his agricultural interests and his sound judgment have brought his prosperity, and his life demonstrates what may be accomplished by a man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work. In all the relations of life he has commanded the confidence and respect of those with whom he has been brought into contact.
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WILLIAM R. POLAND.
The occupation of farming, to which the major part of the business life of William R. Poland, one of the well-known and popular citizens of Sac county, has been devoted, is the oldest pursuit for a livelihood of mankind, and the one in which he will ever be the most independent. Mr. Poland has long been inseparably connected with the general growth of Sac county, where, in fact, he has spent most of his life. While primarily attending to his own varied interests, his life has been largely devoted to his fellow man, having been untiring in his efforts to inspire a proper respect for law and order and ready at all times to uplift humanity among civic and social lines.
William R. Poland, the son of Chevalier Hamilton and Mary Jane ( Moore) Poland, was born within four miles of Iowa City, Iowa, on July 20, 1852. His parents were hoth natives of Ohio, and settled in that state when their farm was a wilderness. Chevalier H. Poland was one of the earliest settlers of Iowa. coming to this state when young, in 1849. He first settled in Johnson county, lowa, and then settled in Calhoun county and bought a farm a few years later, in or near Fonda, in 1868. In later years he returned to Johnson county, Iowa, where his death occurred in April, 1899, at the advanced age of eighty-seven. C. H. Poland and wife were the parents of seven children: S. H., who resides in California: J. W., of Oxford, Ontario, Canada: J. M .. of Battle Creek, Michigan: W. R., of Douglas township: Mrs. Samantha Bowers. of lowa City, Iowa; Hubert L. and Lorenzo, who both died in infancy. and Margaret Isahelle, who has made her home with Mr. Poland since 1892.
William R. Poland received all of his school education in the district schools of Johnson county, lewa. Sac City high school and Cornell College, and when sixteen years of age accompanied his parents to Calhoun county, this state, where he worked with his father on the home farm. In 1880 he bought a farm for himself in Calhoun county and managed it for nine years. He then sold this farm and came to Sac county, where he bought land in Douglas township at four dollars an acre. He later sold this tract and bought one hundred and sixty acres for twenty dollars an acre, and this farm he has improved hy erecting buildings of all kinds and putting up fences and installing a system of drainage, which adds greatly to the pro- ductivity of the soil.
Mr. Poland was married in 1890 to Eliza Jeannette Hughes, the daughter of Pinckney and Eliza Jane (Campbell) Hughes, and to this mar- riage have been born two daughters, who are still at home with their par-
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ents, Mabel Antoinette and Edith Laverne, graduates of Sac City high school in 1910 and both of whom have been teaching for the past four years.
Politically, Mr. Poland is a Republican, while his fraternal affiliations are with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr. Poland has won his success solely through his own efforts and, although he has had many dis- couragements to overcome, he has made a success of life and in his declining years has the gratification of knowing that the community in which he lives has been benefited by his residence. He has worked his way to a position of trust in the locality and has won the esteem of his friends and neighbors.
E. M. SCHNIRRING.
E. M. Schnirring, a prosperous farmer of Cedar township, this county, was born February 4, 1867, in Springfield, Illinois. His parents, Mathaus and Catherine Schnirring, were both natives of Wittenberg, Germany, where Mathaus Schnirring was born in 1838, coming to the United States when he was eighteen years of age. He was a brick maker by trade and worked at Springfield until 1867, when he moved to Decatur, Illinois, and remained there until his death in 1901. His wife, Catherine. came to America when she was nine years of age with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Mathaus Schnirring were the parents of eight children, two of whom died in infancy : George John. of Wall Lake township, this county; Emma. deceased; Louisa, deceased; Edward M., whose history is here related: Albert L. : Amelia; Fred () .; Walter H., of Cedar township.
E. M. Schnirring was reared and educated in the rural schools of Macon county, Illinois. In 1896, several years after his marriage, Mr. Schnirring left Illinois and came to Sac county, Iowa, where he bought eighty acres of land at thirty-six dollars an acre. In 1898 he bought another eighty at the same price and ten years later he added his third eighty acres, for which he had to pay eighty-five dollars an acre, and he is now the owner of two hun- dred and forty acres of excellent farming land, with two sets of buildings. He makes a specialty of stock raising, handling Aberdeen Angus and Jersey cattle. In 1913 he had twenty pure bred Aberdeen and two pure bred Jer- sey cows. In that year he raised one hundred and twenty-five hogs and twenty-five sheep. He has a residence which is one of the most attractive in the township.
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Mr. Schnirring was married in 1890 to Anna M. von Bargen, who was born in Germany, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry von Bargen, and to this marriage have been born three children : Milton G., born in February, 1893: Flora C., born in 1901, and Leo Henry, born in March, 1909. Mr. Schnirring is a Republican in politics. Fraternally, he is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men, Modern Woodmen of America, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Royal Neighbors.
Mr. Schnirring is a man who, while advancing his own interests, has not neglected his duty to be kind and considerate toward his neighbors and associates. He has always helped to further any laudable undertaking for the public welfare and has therefore enjoyed the good will and esteem of all classes of people.
JAMES B. DAKIN.
Trade and commerce have ever had an attraction for the class of indi- viduals who seem best adapted to succeed in this oldest of callings. Of neces- sity, man himself is compelled to buy ; likewise, it is necessary that others do the selling ; the raw material is previously prepared by skilled artisans so that the buyer can use it at first hand to supply his needs in every particular. A few out of the vast army of those engaged in merchandising seem chosen ironi among the aggregate for marked preference and are noted as being more suc- cessful than the average. We are often puzzled by this apparent discrepancy and wonder why more persons do not succeed in this attractive occupation ; but, upon investigation, we find that the underlying causes for the success of one individual and the possible failure of the other to advance is due, in part. to the possession of different qualifications, in some measure to heredity, and. above all, to the decided ability of the successful one to win where others may be contented with a mediocre return for his exertions. It is evident that he of whom the biographer is pleased to write is a successful business man and an excellent citizen. J. B. Dakin, merchant of Schaller, is one of those warm- hearted individuals, whose friends are loyal and who has succeeded beyond the average in building up a substantial and remunerative business. Coming of a long line of distinguished ancestors who figured prominently in the early history of the Eastern states, he is a fitting representative of a class who have been empire builders for centuries.
The Dakin department store occupies a large room, fronting on the two main streets of the town of Schaller, each room being eighty feet in extent.
JAMES B. DAKIN
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The shelves are filled with a complete line of staple goods, dry goods, clothing, groceries and other necessities arranged on the departmental plan. The base- ment floor of the building is also occupied with goods, and Mr. Dakin carries a stock exceeding fifteen thousand dollars in value. Mr. Dakin began busi- ness in Schaller with a small stock of goods located in a smaller room in the year 1900 and moved to his present location in 1905. He employs five sales- man.
J. B. Dakin was born in Dexter, Jefferson county, New York, August 15, 1859. He is the son of James B. and Mary L. ( Bassett ) Dakin, natives of Massachusetts and New York respectively.
The name "Dakin" is derived from the ancestral name of an old Norman estate near Louviers, a village which is still in existence and now bears the name Acquigny ( Akenney ). Lord D'Acquigny, a Frenchman, accompanied William the Conqueror on his victorious expedition for the conquest of Britain and fought in the battle of Hastings, October 14, 1066. The Battle Abby Roall gives his name as Dakeny. The battle was fought in a wheat field, the enemy hiding among the wheat stocks. The King called out "Strike, Dakin. strike, the devil's in the hemp." It was in this peculiar manner that the name came into existence. Sir Thomas Dakin, ex-lord mayor of the city of Lon- don, was a direct descendant of this historic ancestor.
The paternal parent of J. B. Dakin was born March 2, 1804, in Concord, New Hampshire, and married Mary L. Bassett, of Watertown, New York. He was the son of Amos and Phoebe Bowman Barrett Dakin. Amos Dakin was born August 20, 1770, and was the father of six children, Elbridge, James B., Phoebe, Hannah, George and Charles B. Amos was the son of Samuel, Jr., and Elizabeth Billings Dakin. Samuel (I) was the son of Joseph Dakin, who took to wife Dorothy Wooster, of Concord. Joseph Dakin was the offspring of Thomas Dakin, who married Susan Stratton, of Con- cord. Thomas Dakin, the founder of the family in America, was born in England, the son of John and Alice Dakin, who sailed from the land of their ancestors in the good ship "Abigail" July 2, 1635, with the ostensible purpose of locating in New England. They eventually became part of a colony which settled in the vicinity of Concord, Massachusetts.
James B. Dakin, father of J. B. Dakin, located in New York state, where he died. He was the father of three children : Mrs. Minnie L. Gilmore, of Sackett's Harbor, New York : Mrs. Katie Snook, of Watertown, New York ; James B.
James B. Dakin was educated in the public and high schools of Dexter,
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New York. At the early age of seventeen yars he moved westward and was employed in a merchandise store at Toledo, Ohio. Here he remained until he attained the age of nineteen years, then returned to New York and was employed for four years, at the end of which time he embarked in business for himself in the village of Barnes' Corners, New York. In the year 1898 he came to Des Moines and was engaged in the grocery business for two years, and in 1900 he located permanently in Schaller. It is here in Sac county that his greatest successes have been obtained, his previous experience being but the preliminary for the exercise of talents which have enabled him to forge ahead rapidly and take first rank among the business men of the county.
Mr. Dakin is a Republican in politics, is an active member of the city council and has served as a member of the school board. He takes a keen interest in municipal affairs and is always found in the forefront of innova- tions which will have a tendency to improve conditions in his adopted city. He is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and takes an active part in religious matters, being himself a moral and upright man in every sense of the word. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Yeomen.
Mr. Dakin has been twice married. In 1883 he married Jennie E. Can- field, who died in October, 1888, and was the mother of one child, James Chauncey, born April 26, 1887, and who is his father's right hand assistant in the store. His second marriage occurred in May, 1897, with Myrtle M. Snell, of New York. Two children have blessed this union, Mildred May, aged thirteen years, and Cora Fern, aged ten years.
This brief review is placed herein for the perusal of the many friends and acquaintances of this whole-souled, genial gentleman, who has lived a life of usefulness, is an exemplary citizen and is especially deserving of a tribute in the pages of this history.
ROBERT J. PAEPER.
It has always been a noticeable fact that the German people are thriftier than we and that, everything being equal, they, as a rule, become the possess- ors of property earlier than the young men of other nationalities. This fact need not be wondered at when we come to consider the matter from the proper viewpoint, owing to the fact that the German is more industrious and less extravagant, keeping in mind the aphorism that "a dollar saved is a dollar earned." However, he does not necessarily deny himself the neces-
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sities of everyday life, and believes in having a good sprinkle of its luxuries, but he has taught himself to get along with less of the so-called good things of the material world than we of the present generation especially. In other words, Americans are better spenders, and it is no credit to us to say that we are, as a rule, not willing to do whatever falls to our lot with equal grace, being inclined to rebel if we cannot secure just the precise line of work that suits our particular fancy, while, on the other hand, the young German com- ing to this country will work at whatever is honorable in order to get a foot hold in the world.
Robert J. Paeper, the son of Christopher and Caroline (Reno) Paeper was born August 15, 1860, near Berlin, Germany. His father was born in 1831. and died in this county, October 8, 1903. Caroline Reno, the mother of the subject of this review, died in 1868, in Michigan City, Indiana. Christopher Paeper and his family came to America in 1861, and first settled at Michigan City, Indiana, where Christopher Paeper secured employment with the Michigan Central railroad, and here the family remained through the war and until after the death of the mother in 1868. Christopher Paeper and his children then moved to Ford county, Illinois, where they lived on a farm owned by his brother for two years. While living here he was married to Mrs. Emma Bishop in the fall of 1872. The next spring Christopher Paeper and his family came to Sac county, Iowa, where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres in section 2, Richland township, and they lived on this farm until the spring of 1881, when Mr. Paeper sold out and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Douglas township, in section 22. To this tract he added more land from time to time until he was the owner of four hun- dred acres in the township at the time of his death in 1903. Christopher Paeper was a public-spirited man, was actively identified with the public affairs of his community and served his fellow citizens by filling very credit- ably several township offices. By his first marriage Christopher had six children: C. A., of Sac County; R. J., whose history is here portrayed ; Mrs. Louisa Schumaker, of Sioux county, this state: Caroline and Minnie, both deceased: Mrs. Mary Winkler, of Luverne, Minnesota. To Mr. Paeper's second marriage there were born four daughters, all of whom are living in Douglas township, Mrs. Emma Henrich, Mrs. August Henrich, Mrs. Anna Larsen and Mrs. Freda Anderson.
Robert J. Paeper was educated in the public schools of Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. Marrying at the age of twenty-three, he at once began to farm for himself and for the first fifteen years rented a farm in this county. He then bought one hundred and twenty acres of land at thirty dollars per acre,
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and now has this traet well improved in every way and in a condition where it yields satisfactory returns to the owner. He has built a fine residence and barn, as well as installed a system of drainage which has enabled him to raise better and larger crops. His income is largely augmented by the annual sales of his cattle and hogs. In 1913 he raised forty head of Shorthorn cattle for the market, besides a big drove of Chester White hogs.
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