USA > Iowa > Story County > History of Story County, Iowa; a record of organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 45
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T. C. SIME.
T. C. Sime, successfully engaged in farming in Nevada township, where, in connection with his sister, he owns and cultivates two hundred acres of productive and highly improved land, was born near Vossevangen, Norway, September 19, 1856, a son of Colben C. and Betsy (Sime) Sime, who were also natives of that place. In the year 1864 the family sailed for America, made their way to Chicago and thence to Shelby county, Illinois, where they resided for six years. On the expiration of that period they returned to Chicago, where another period of six years was passed, on the expiration of which they removed to Story county, Iowa, settling three miles north of Nevada. After residing there for seven years a removal was made to Hardin county, Iowa, where they remained for fourteen years, at which time the family home was established on what is still known as the Sime farm, adjoining the corporation limits of Nevada on the south. Upon this place the father resided until his death. He was a life-long farmer. always devoting his energies to the work of the fiekls with the exception of a period spent in Chicago, when he was employed in a planing mill, and a few years of his early life, which was spent upon the ocean as a fisherman off the coast of Norway. That was a very hazard- ous business, however, and he determined to turn his attention to other pur- suits. He found in the new world the opportunities which he sought and Vol. II-25
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by reason of his unfaltering industry became the possessor of a comfortable competence. He died in 1895, while his wife passed away April 20, 1901. Unto him and his wife were born ten children: Jennie, now the wife of I. A. Ringheim, of Nevada : John, who died in Illinois; T. C., of this re- view; Lewis, who died in Story county; Colben, who died in Hardin county : Sarah, who became the wife of Frank Lee and passed away in Har- din county ; Martha, who resides with her brother T. C. Sime; and three who died in infancy.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for T. C. Sime in his boyhood and youth. He worked with his father in the fields and in the public schools acquired his education, devoting his attention to the crops when not busy with his text-books. He continued at home up to the time of his marriage and then engaged in teaching school for a time.
On the Ist of March, 1877, in Nevada, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Sime and Miss Fannie J. Patrick, who was born in Kentucky, June 10, 1854, and spent a portion of her girlhood in Illinois, coming from Ful- ton, that state, to lowa in 1873. On the paternal side she traces her an- cestry back to :685, when Elder Patrick, a very wealthy gentleman, emi- grated to America from the north of Ireland. He had sixteen grandsons, to all of whom he gave college educations, requiring each to select a profes- sion and graduate in the same. Mrs. Sime's grandfather, Dr. Asa Pat- rick, was born in Worchester, Massachusetts, in 1778, but lived the greater part of his life near Toronto, Canada. His son William was a Metho- clist Episcopal clergyman and for many years, up to the time of his death, was a member of parliament. At that time the seat of government alter- nated between Toronto and Quebec. Mrs. Sime's father, who was an art- ist by profession, died during her youth, as did also her mother and brother. Her maternal grandfather, Thomas Exley, was an Englishman by birth. who came to this country in early manhood and established and success- fully operated two woolen mills in New Jersey. In 1845, in company with his wife. Betsey, and their children, he removed to Whiteside county, Illi- nois. His wife was born in Bloomfield. New Jersey, and was the mother of ten children, including Jane, the mother of Mrs. Sime.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sime have been born five children: C. Earl, who is now conducting a sheep ranch near Glendive. Montana : Bessie L., the wife of Wallace Miller, a farmer, of Mitchell, South Dakota; Ella J., the wife of J. L. Krogstad, who is engaged in the lumber business at Winona, Min- nesota ; Arthur G., who is engaged in conducting a sheep and horse ranch near Glendive, Montana ; Nettie E., a student in the State Normal School at Winona, Minnesota.
Mr. Sime has devoted the greater part of his life to farming with the exception of a period of eleven years spent in well drilling and prospecting for coal, during which period he resided in Hubbard, Hardin county. lowa. lle is now the joint owner with his sister Martha of two hundred
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acres of land. comprising the old Sime homestead adjoining Nevada on the south, and here he devotes his attention to general agricultural pur- suits. His farm presents a neat and thrifty appearance and everything about his place indicates his supervision and progressive methods. He has been a member of the Lutheran church during much of his life and he also holds membership with the Modern Woodmen of America. He is recognized in the community as a man of sterling worth and high regard is entertained for him by all who know him.
JOHN WILLIAM HUFFMAN.
One of the best farms in Indian Creek township belongs to John William Huffman, who has been a resident of this county for the past six years. He is a native of this state, having been born in Iowa county on the 31st of March, 1859. His parents, David S. and Rachel (Ford) Huffman, were both natives of the Buckeye state, the father coming from Belmont county and the mother Harrison county. They were married in Smyrna, Ohio, in 1856 and immediately thereafter came to Iowa, locating on a farm of eighty acres, which two years previously the father had entered from the govern- ment. They had driven across the country from Ohio, bringing their few household goods with them, and on arriving here Mr. Huffman, with the assistance of his brother-in-law, J. P. Moore, cut the timber from which. after it had been sawed, they erected a house, which was little more than a shanty but they continued to live in it until they could secure a better and more comfortable home. During the Civil war when the call came for more troops to go to the front in 1864, the father responded and on the 2Ist of February enlisted in Company I, Twenty-second Iowa Volunteers. The exposure and privations, together with the long marches and hard- ships of camp life, undermined a constitution inured to the hard life of the frontiersman and on the 25th of July, 1865, he returned home, dis- charged on account of disability, and here on the 11th of October, 1866, he died of quick consumption.
Much was required of John William Huffman after the death of his father, as he was the oldest member of the family, but he was fully equal to all demands and at the age of fourteen years was practically running the home farm. For eighteen years he continued to operate the farm for his mother, but in 1888 he rented it and for eleven years worked inde- pendently.
On the 12th of December, 1888, Mr. Huffman was united in marriage to Miss Ida Huntsberger, of Iowa county, a daughter of John and Mary (Addinger) Huntsberger, who came from their native state of Pennsyl- vania to Iowa in an early day and after living for several years in Musca- tine county they removed to Iowa county, where they resided up to the time of their deaths.
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In 1900 Mr. Huffman purchased eighty acres of land in Polk county, Iowa, five miles south of Maxwell, but after living there for five years he traded his place for a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Indian Creek township, this county, where he continues to reside. He owns one of the best improved and most valuable farms in the county and here he raises Duroc Jersey hogs and shorthorn cattle and is known as one of the suc- cessful and substantial agriculturists of Story county.
Mr. and Mrs. Huffman are the parents of three children: Roy S., who is a senior in the Maxwell high school; Mark R., deceased ; and Blanche M., a sophomore in the Maxwell high school. The family attend the Metho- dist Episcopal church, of which the parents are members. Mr. Huffman's fraternal relations are confined to the Masonic order, his present member- ship being in Herakl Lodge, No. 455, A. F. & A. M.
The republican party has always claimed his political allegiance, its issues at all times receiving his hearty support. That his party fealty has been appreciated is indicated by the fact that while a citizen of lowa county he served as township assessor and at the last election in Story county he was elected to the board of township trustees. Although he never neglects his private interests, at the same time he is always ready and willing to fulfill his duties as a citizen by giving such assistance as he can to the furtherance of any movement which promises the betterment of local conditions, and this fact alone would entitle him to the position he holds in the community where he resides.
JASON T. STANTON.
As a young man Jason T. Stanton, now seventy-nine years of age and living retired at Collins, became acquainted with the trials and adventures of frontier life. Later he located in lowa and for forty-five years has been a witness of the development of Jasper and Story counties, being actively identified with the agricultural and stock-raising interests. He was born in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1832, a son of Henry and Minerva (Smith) Stanton, both of whom were natives of Connecticut. They were married in their native state and soon afterward removed to Wayne county, Pennsylvania, and about 1840 to Lake county, Ohio. There Mr. Stanton cleared away the forest and established a farm but later he removed to Geauga county, where he continued until his death, which oc- curred when he reached the advanced age of ninety-six years. The Stan- ton family in America is descended from Thomas Stanton who on the 2d of January. 1635. took passage from England on the merchantman Bona- ventura and landed in Virginia. Later he removed to Connecticut. Our subject's grandfather, Jason Stanton, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and also of the war of 1812. He was born in Preston, Connecticut.
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in 1761, and died at Clinton, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1843. The family is now well distributed over the United States and in- cludes many honorable names in business and professional circles.
Jason T. Stanton received his early education in a log schoolhouse, which was provided with slab benches, puncheon floor and stick chimney, but from such an institution have come many of the noblest characters in American history. After the death of his mother, which occurred when he was a little past eighteen years of age, he started out in life on his own account. Possessing the pioneer instinct, he was attracted to the Minne- sota frontier and located a claim upon government land in McLeod county, near the town of Hutchinson. He built a cabin upon his place and while in Minnesota passed through many exciting experiences. He was there at the time when Hutchinson was surrounded by a band of Sioux Indians and a number of the inhabitants were killed. He had previously received an invitation to come into the fort which had been prepared for the pro- tection of the town, but as he had been associated with the Indians on friendly terms he had no fear of them and therefore remained at his cabin. A large band of Sioux in full war regalia camped in the woods in the immediate region of Mr. Stanton's cabin, and he did not hesitate to go out and meet them, being able to extend friendly service to their old chief. He was well received and left entirely unmolested. After spending four years in Minnesota he sold his claim to a brother and returned to Ohio, be- ing subsequently connected with a Mr. Deming in mercantile business in Wayne county, Pennsylvania.
While in the Keystone state he enlisted in 1864 in Company I, Four- teenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, and was assigned to duty under General Phil Sheridan, serving under that redoubtable commander for nine months. After receiving his honorable discharge he ran a wholesale merchandise wagon in Ohio, but in 1866 he removed to Clear Creek township, Jasper county, Iowa, and bought one hundred and forty acres of land, which he improved and cultivated with highly satisfactory results. In 1892 he retired from active farming and removed to Collins, where he has since lived. He has disposed of his Jasper county farm and now owns a valuable place of one hundred and twenty acres in Collins township, three and one-half miles northwest of the town.
On the 18th of December, 1869, Mr. Stanton was united in marriage to Miss Naomi E. Petefish, a native of Cass county, Illinois, whose parents became residents of Jasper county, Iowa. Four children came to bless the union of Mr. and Mrs. Stanton, namely : Charles N., who is now living on his father's farm; Cora Belle, deceased ; J. T., also deceased; and Jes- sie M., the wife of W. F. Deming of Hale county, Texas.
Mr. Stanton gives his earnest adherence to the republican party and in Jasper county served for six years most acceptably as justice of the peace. He is not connected with any religious denomination, being friendly to them all, but his estimable wife is an active worker in the Methodist
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Protestant church. Ile is now taking the world easy, having performed his part in the active duties of life, and in possession of a comfortable com- petence, enjoys the association of his family and friends, being accorded the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
JOSEPH S. NELSON.
Joseph S. Nelson, a hardware dealer of Cambridge, has conducted an enterprise of this character for the past twelve years and is widely recog- nized as a successful and representative business man of the town. He has long been a prominent factor in the public life of the community, having acted as mayor of Cambridge for five years and now serving as justice of the peace. His birth occurred in Kendall county, Illinois, on the 25th of March, 1853. his parents being Sebert and Jane ( Ilill) Nelson, who were born, reared and married in Norway. They crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1848, purchasing and locating on a farm in Kendall county, Illinois, where Mr. Nelson passed away in 1863. He and his wife and a daughter all died of typhoid fever within three weeks of each other.
Joseph S. Nelson was reared under the parental roof; obtaining his early education in the Norwegian schools of his native county. Subse- quently he attended the Lutheran College at Decorah, Jowa, studying the English, German, Latin and Norwegian languages. After leaving that institution he came to Story county in 1871 and during the following two years taught in the district schools. On abandoning educational interests he became identified with general agricultural pursuits, being engaged in farming until 1892. In that year he accepted a position as traveling salesman with the Deering Harvester Company, representing the concern for about six years. On the expiration of that period he embarked in business on his own account as a hardware merchant, opening a store at Cambridge, where he has remained for the past twelve years, enjoying an extensive patronage.
In 1873 Mr. Nelson was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Thompson, of Lee county. Illinois, by whom he had eight children, four of whom still survive, namely : Jennie, the wife of the Rev. Ole Norem, a Lutheran minister of St. Paul, Minnesota; Amanda, the wife of Carl Anderson, a jeweler of Sioux City, Iowa; Tillie. the wife of Dr. George Ingledne, an osteopathic physician of Sioux City, lowa ; and Andrew, who is now in his senior year at Still College of Des Moines.
Mr. Nelson is a republican in politics and has long been an active worker in the local ranks of the party. llis fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to several positions of public trust. Ile has served as assessor of Union township for four years, likewise held the office of assessor in Palestine township for a similar period and has
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been justice of the peace in both townships. He also acted as mayor of Cambridge for five years and it was during his administration that the city water works were built. Since leaving the mayor's chair he has served. continuously as justice of the peace, his decisions being strictly fair and impartial and winning for him "golden opinions from all sorts of people." Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Tabernacle Lodge, No. 452. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Lutheran church, to which his wife also belongs. They are highly respected. for the circle of their friends is almost coextensive with that of their acquaintances.
HENRY NEWTON BURROUGHS.
Henry Newton Burroughs, a well known resident of Story county, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, on the 3d of December, 1844, a son of Thomas H. and Hannah (Cole) Burroughs. The father was also a native of the Buckeye state, having been born in Fairfield county. The mother was born in Chautauqua county, New York, and accompanied her parents on their removal to Delaware county, Ohio, where she was united in mar- riage to Thomas H. Burroughs. In 1854 Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs went to what was then termed the west, locating on a farm in Jones county, Iowa, near the Cedar county line, their post-office address was Pioneer. They made their home there for over twenty years and about 1876 removed to Marshall county, where they continued to live until 1891, when they re- moved to Pocahontas county. Here in 1896 the father died, having passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life's journey. The mother is still living at the venerable age of eighty-five years and makes her home with a daughter at Rolfe.
Henry Newton Burroughs was reared on the farm, acquiring his edu- cation in the district schools. His introduction to the mysteries of the three "R's" took place in a little log schoolhouse, where rough slab benches served for seats and the rod played a very conspicuous part in the curri- culum. Work formed a very important feature in the education of the young people of that period, each member of the family being assigned regular duties which they were expected to perform. Mr. Burroughs re- mained at home assisting his father in the work of the farm until he was twenty-five years of age, when he engaged in farming for himself, operating a portion of the homestead. At the end of a year he and his brother, A. C. Burroughs, bought two hundred and forty acres in Jones county, which they cultivated in partnership for eighteen years. In 1889 they sold their land and for the following nine years Mr. Burroughs farmed on rented land. In the spring of 1899 he bought eighty acres on section 23, Indian Creek township, this county, and here he has ever since resided. In re-
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cent years he has leased the most of his tillable land, doing but little farm- ing himself.
In 1895 Mr. Burroughs was united in marriage to Miss Martha Clemen- tine Byers, of Maxwell, Jowa. They attend the Presbyterian church, in which they hold membership and of which Mr. Burroughs has been an elder for years. He casts his ballot with the democratic party, feeling the policy of that party best subserves the interests of the public at large. He has never aspired to public office as a reward of party fealty but has devoted his life to private rather than public interests. He is identified with the Ma- sonic fraternity through membership in Herald Lodge, No. 455, A. F. & A. M. Mr. Burroughs is one of the representative men of Indian Creek township and by his high standard of life and honorable business dealings has won and held the respect and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact.
ELLIS J. PENFIELD.
Ellis J. Penfield is sole owner and manager of the Bank of Kelley and is also engaged in the real-estate and insurance business in the town. He is one of the most enterprising citizens here, and the spirit of public progress which characterizes his business life is also manifest in his citizenship. His labors have therefore been an element in the growth and development of this com- munity, and his worth is widely acknowledged by his fellow townsmen.
Ilis birth occurred in Tazewell county, Illinois, on the 15th of May, 1873, his parents being F. W. and Betty J. (Nutty) Penfield, natives of Tazewell county, Illinois, and of Virginia, respectively. They are now resi- dents of Kelley but for many years the father followed farming, gaining thereby a comfortable competence that now enables him to live retired. Their family numbered two sons and a daughter: L. R., now a resident of Des Moines; Mrs. Esther V. Wood, a widow, who is living with her parents in Kelley : and Ellis J., of this review.
The last named was reared upon the old home farm in the county of his nativity to the age of sixteen years. He attended the public schools of the neighborhood and in vacation periods assisted in the work of the farm as far as age and strength qualified him. In 1889 he went to Wallace, Ne- braska, and secured a clerical position in the Wallace Security Bank, where he was employed for six years, gaining comprehensive knowledge of the banking business in its various departments. In 1895 he established his home in Nevada, lowa, where he engaged in the real-estate and insurance business for a period of seven years. In July, 1902, however, he removed to Kelley and purchased of W. P. Starr the Bank of Kelley, of which he is now sole owner and manager. He maintains a high standard of service to the public, and the bank is regarded as a perfectly safe and reliable finan-
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cial institution. It has become the depository of the savings and earnings of many, being now accorded a liberal patronage. Mr. Penfield also engages in the real-estate and insurance business here and in both lines has secured a good clientage. An enterprising spirit characterizes all that he does in business, and he is at all times prompt and reliable, never hesitating or vacillating.
On Christmas day of 1900 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Pen- field and Miss Mary L. Banks, who was born in Grant township, this county, in January, 1881, and is a daughter of Henry and Amanda (Taylor) Banks, who are residents of Grant township. Mr. and Mrs. Penfield have an adopted daughter, Genevieve Lucile, who was born January 5, 1909, and became a member of their household when but four days old. Theirs is a hospitable home and Mr. and Mrs. Penfield are prominently known in the best social circles of Kelley and other parts of the county.
In his political views Mr. Penfield has ever been a stalwart republican, giving unfaltering support to the party. Upon its ticket he was elected a member of the city council in Nevada, resigning that position upon his re- moval to Kelley. He has also filled the office of justice of the peace and during most of his residence in Kelley has been mayor of the town, which position he is now filling. His administration is businesslike and progres- sive and has brought about many needed reforms and improvements in municipal government. Whatever he undertakes he carries forward to completion whether in connection with public office or in the pursuit of his private business affairs.
SILAS I. McQUISTON.
There are few men in Story county who retain a more vivid recollection of the decade preceding the Civil war than Silas I. MeQuiston. For fifty- five years he has been a resident of Iowa, forty-five of which he has spent in Collins township, and his mind carries him back to the time when deer roamed freely on the prairies and wild turkeys were plentiful. He was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, March 4, 1833, a son of John and Naney (Bowers) MeQuiston, a record of whom is presented elsewhere in this work in the sketch of Commodore Perry McQuiston.
Silas I. McQuiston was reared under the parental roof and acquired his early education in a log schoolhouse of his native county. In 1853, having received very favorable reports concerning opportunities for farmers in Iowa from several families whom he had known in Lagrange county, In- diana, he came to Jasper county, Iowa, arriving on the Ist day of August. After looking over the country carefully and determining to make this state his permanent home, he started on foot to Chicago, which he thought was the nearest railway terminus from points in the east. He walked with his
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gripsack in hand until he reached Mount Morris, Illinois, where he learned from the landlord of the hotel that a railroad had been built through to Rockford, Illinois. He accordingly went to Rockford, from which point he was enabled to journey by rail to Chicago and by the Lake Shore road to his destination, which was in Lagrange county, Indiana. On the 25th of September, 1855, five families set out from Lagrange county with the object of locating in lowa, the heads of the families being the subject of this re- view, his brothers, C. P. and William, his mother and a brother-in-law, Samuel Guthrie. The travelers arrived in Jasper county, October 26, com- ing through with five wagons and ox teams, the trip requiring one month. Upon reaching the last stopping place Mr. MeQuiston counted up his earthly possessions and found that his total cash resources amounted to twenty-five cents. For two years he worked by the day at whatever he could find to do. Times were hard for several years before the Civil war and there was little money in the west, Mr. McQuiston recalling the fact that the total amount of money he received during the entire year of 1857 was two dollars. Deer and wild turkeys were plentiful and he kept the larder well supplied with meat. After two years he and his brother C. P., purchased a farm of seventy-eight acres in Jasper county on the Story county line and divided the land, cultivating it separately. Two years later he sold this property and for about five years lived near Greencastle, cultivating rented land. In 1865, having attained a measure of prosperity, he purchased forty acres in Collins township, to which he removed the following spring, this land cost- ing him five dollars per acre. Subsequently he acquired fifty acres adjoin- ing at eighteen dollars per acre and later bought eighteen acres, but disposed of a portion of his land, leaving a farm of one hundred acres, which he cul- tivated to excellent advantage for many years. Hle recently disposed of this farm at one hundred dollars per acre and will soon move to Maxwell, where he will live retired. There is an oldl log house on the farm in a good state of preservation which originally stood in Jasper county. It was pur- chased by Mr. MeQuiston and removed to his farm in 1876.
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