USA > Iowa > Taylor County > History of Taylor County, Iowa; from the earliest historic times to 1910, biographical sketches of some prominent citizens > Part 36
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Charles E. Brown, the younger son, was reared in the usual manner of farm lads, aiding more and more largely in the work of the fields as his years and strength increased. He also embraced the opportunities offered by the public schools for the acquirement of an education and as he neared manhood con- centrated his energies upon the work of the farm with his father until the lat- ter's death. He inherited a part of the farm and now operates the entire place, which comprises two hundred acres of rich and productive land, situated on section I and 12, Jackson township. With the farm he raises sheep, hogs and cattle, keeping on hand high grades of stock and thus doing much to improve the kind of stock raised in the county and to maintain high prices. In business matters his judgment is sound and reliable and it needs no gift of prophecy to foretell for him continued success in the future.
Mr. Brown was married in Jackson township, September 30, 1897, to Miss Hattie Craig, who was born in Taylor county and is a daughter of Orten Craig, now living in Clarinda, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have six children: Andy L., Roxie, Bernice, Burrel, Gale and a baby boy, who are all yet at home. They also lost a son, Charles E., who died in infancy.
The parents are both highly esteemed in the community, and the hospitality of their own home is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. Mr. Brown is a stanch republican in politics, supporting the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has always lived in this county, where he is recognized as a man of good business ability and as a successful and progres- sive farmer.
ALFRED BORDNER.
One by one the veterans of the Civil war are answering to their last roll call and as the years go by the country is coming more and more to realize the debt of gratitude which she owes to those who were the preservers of the Union through the dark period of the Civil war. Mr. Bordner is numbered among the men who wore the blue uniform and following the stars and stripes on
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southern battlefields and he has always been loyal in his citizenship, as stanchly advocating the country's interests in days of peace as in days of war. He is now classed with the leading and representative farmers and stock-raisers of Polk township, living on section 23, where he owns and cultivates a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He has lived in Taylor county since 1881 and is numbered among the native sons of the Mississippi valley, his birth having oc- curred in Fulton county, Illinois, on the 20th of November, 1844.
His father, Jonathan Bordner, was a native of Pennsylvania and when a lad of twelve years went to Ohio with his father, Peter Bordner, who settled in Licking county, where his son, Jonathan, was reared and educated. In early manhood he removed westward to Fulton county, Illinois, where he opened up a new farm which, at the time of his purchase, was heavily timbered land. He had about two hundred and eighty acres and the task of clearing away the forest and developing the fields was no sinecure. With characteristic energy, however, he pursued his work and upon the excellent farm which resulted from his labors he reared his family and spent his last years. He was married in Illinois to Miss Lucinda Bearce, a native of Fulton county, Illinois, who sur- vived her husband for about twenty years. Their family numbered four sons and seven daughters who reached adult age and the eldest son Harvey, who was a soldier of the One Hundred and Third Illinois Infantry, was killed at the battle of Missionary Ridge. The others are still living.
Alfred Bordner spent his youthful days on the old home farm in Illinois and to some extent attended the common schools but is largely self-educated, hav- ing learned many valuable lessons in the school of experience. He was only abount twenty years of age when he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in 1864 in the one hundred days' service as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The regiment went south to Kentucky, where he participated in numerous skirmishes with the guerrillas and buskwhackers. He served out the time of his enlistment and was then honorably discharged at Chicago.
Mr. Bordner returned to the old home farm whereon he remained until the time of his marriage. On the 16th of October, 1866, he wedded Miss Harriet G. Scrivner, a daughter of John Scrivner, one of the early settlers of Polk town- ship, Taylor county, locating here about 1870. Mrs. Bordner was born in Ohio and was reared in Fulton county, Illinois. Following his marriage Mr. Bordner carried on general farming in Fulton county for several years but in 1881 came to Iowa, where he joined his wife's father and in 1882 he made purchase of eighty acres of the land on which he now resides. He has since invested in forty acres so that he now has a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres. The neat and well built two-story residence upon the place stands as a monument to his enterprise as do the two good barns and the various outbuildings which he has erected, making this a model property of Polk township. There is also an orchard on the place of his own planting and many rods of fence have been built by him dividing the farm into fields of convenient size. He annually harvests abundant crops for the land is rich and productive and he keeps it in good condition through rotation. He likewise raises and feeds high grade stock, making a specialty of hogs and horses. The various branches of his
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business are carefully managed and his success . is the legitimate and logical outcome of his earnest labor.
Mr. and Mrs. Bordner are now the parents of nine living children: Nellie, the wife of James Williams, now of Coldwater, Kansas; Emsy, the wife of M. J. Sheley, a resident farmer of Polk township; Anna, the wife of E. E. Orme, who also follows farming in Polk township; Lucy, the wife of J. H. Quigley, of Fulton county, Illinois; Bertha, the wife of L. J. Davidson, of Ross township: Mary, the wife of S. B. Webb, of Bedford; John, who assists in carrying on the home farm and is also cultivating other land; Harry, who is married and is a farmer of Ross township; and Frank, who also follows farm- ing in Ross township. They also lost one son, Harvey, who died at the age of two years. Mr. and Mrs. Bordner are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the faith of which they were reared and Mr. Bordner belongs to the Grand Army Post at Hopkins, thus maintaining pleasant relations with his old army comrades among whom he loyally served. He has been a stalwart repub- lican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him as he regards his business affairs as more important and gives to them his undivided time and attention.
J. A. LOMAX.
J. A. Lomax is known as a citizen whose cooperation can always be counted upon, where public interests are involved. His influence is always on the side of progress and advancement and he has thus become recognized as one of the valuable representatives of the community in which he lives. His home is on section 7, Jefferson township, and his business activity is directed in the line of general farming and stock-raising. He was born in Knox county, Illinois, Decem- ber 18, 1858, and was reared to manhood upon a farm near Abingdon, in the same county. His educational privileges were those offered by the public-school system and he was early trained to the work of the fields, rendering to his father efficient aid in the tasks of plowing, planting and harvesting. When he had reached man's estate he was married in that locality on the 4th of July, 1881, to Miss Rilla Hawkins, also a native of Illinois.
Following his marriage Mr. Lomax engaged in farming in Knox county, Illinois, for about four years and during that period two children were added to the family. He then made his way west of the Mississippi, thinking to find in the less thickly settled country better advantages for the rapid attainment of success. Accordingly, in 1886, he made his way to Kansas and locating in Thomas county, which was then largely unimproved, he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he at once began to cultivate and develop. The breaking plow and the harrow were soon at work and in due course of time the fields were made productive and brought forth good crops but the location was not all that he desired and after nine years spent in Kansas he journeyed eastward in 1895 to Worth county, Missouri, settling near Sheridan. There he cultivated a rented farm until 1901, when he came across the border into Iowa and purchased
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and located upon the farm upon which he now resides. It comprises one hundred and thirty acres of well improved and valuable land on section 7, Jefferson town- ship, and when he took possession thereof he at once began its further development. He has since remodeled the dwelling and the barn and has fenced the place, putting in seven hundred posts the first year. He has also set out a young orchard and now has a fine variety of apples, peaches, cherries and plums. He likewise raises considerable small fruit and has displayed much ability along horticultural lines. The fields annually produce rich harvests and he likewise raises, feeds and ships stock, having upon his place a high grade of shorthorn cattle and Poland China hogs. He keeps a pure-blooded Poland China male for breeding purposes and also a full-blooded shorthorn bull. His stock-raising interests have brought him desirable success and he has upon his place some very fine specimens of both cattle and hogs.
Mr. and Mrs. Lomax have become parents of five children : Earl; Lloyd; Ada, the wife of Hiram Pope, a farmer of Gay township, Taylor county; Lula, the wife of John Fluke, of Van Wert, Decatur county, Iowa; and Edith, at home. They also lost an infant daughter Gertie, who was the second born.
Mr. Lomax is well known in fraternal circles. He joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Sheridan, Missouri, served through the chairs at that place and is a past grand. His membership is now in Blockton lodge. He also became a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity while in Kansas but is not affiliated with the organization at the present time. His political views are in accordance with the principles of democracy, where state and national questions are involved, but locally he casts an independent ballot. He has been identified with educational interests in Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa, served as school treasurer in the first named state and is now president of the school board. He believes in the employment of competent teachers that the interests of the young people may be furthered along educational lines, realizing how valuable is mental disci- pline as a preparation for life's responsible duties. Mrs. Lomax belongs to the Christian church and both are people of genuine personal worth widely and favorably known in this part of the state.
JOHN I. LARISON.
John I. Larison is living on section 26, Clayton township, and he and his brother, G. W. Larison, are numbered among the energetic, wide-awake and progressive farmers of Taylor county, where they own four hundred acres of rich and productive land. The farm has been transformed into a valuable prop- erty, owing to the care and labor which they have bestowed upon it. The brothers are both natives of Iowa, having been born in Taylor county near Bedford. The birth of G. W. Larison occurred December 29, 1864, while J. I. Larison was born June 10, 1866. They were sons of Enoch B. Larison, a native of Shelby county, Indiana, where he was reared and educated. In that county he married Catherine Smith, also a native of Shelby county, and following their marriage he began farming there but in 1854 removed to Taylor
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county. Iowa. He then purchased land in Bedford township, after which he opened up a new farm and reared his family thereon. Carefully and persistently he continued the arduous task of developing new land until the wild prairie was transformed into productive fields, the wild flowers being replaced by the rich, golden harvests. Upon his farm Enoch Larison passed away in 1882, while his wife, surviving him for some years, died in 1900. In their family were six sons and a daughter, all of whom were reared in Bedford township. The two older sons were born in Indiana but the others are all natives of Taylor county. William W., the oldest member of the family, is a resident of Rich Valley in Alberta, Canada. Robert is living at Stanberry, Missouri, David J. is in Sheridan, Wyoming, where he is filling the office of county assessor. Maggie M. died in 1904. aged thirty-six years.
J. I. and G. W. Larison are representative farmers of Taylor county. John I. Larison was educated in the Bedford schools and in early manhood was trained in the work of the farm and assisted his father until the latter's death, after which he carried on the home place. About 1889 he was joined in a partnership by his brother, G. W. Larison, and together they rented and carried on the home place, and also rented and cultivated other land. In the fall of 1896 they pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of land and located where they now reside, on section 26, Clayton township. Their continuous and well directed labor is evidenced in the excellent appearance of their place, for the fields are care- fully cultivated and everything about the farm is neat and thrifty. They have built a large feed shed, ninety-six by eighteen feet, and they have a barn, seventy- two by seventy-two feet. They also have a sheep barn and a hog house and in 1909 built a silo, twenty by thirty feet with five feet in the ground, having a capacity of over two hundred tons ensilage. The most modern improvements are found upon their place, including two gasoline engines, one of eight horse power for grinding feed, and the other of two horse power to operate the water- works. The churning and the laundry work are also furnished with power from these engines and machinery for shearing sheep is operated in the same way, so that the manual work is greatly lessened. There is a fine system of water- works upon the place and every lot or field on the farm is enclosed with woven wire fence. The brother are extensively engaged in raising stock, having three hundred head of hogs upon their place, and feed and fatten about a thousand head of sheep annually. Last year they raised five hundred head of Poland China hogs, mostly pure blood. They also keep about one hundred and twenty- five head of cattle and thirty-eight head of horses and are numbered among the most extensive, successful and prosperous stock raisers, feeders and shippers of the county. In addition to cultivating their own land the brothers lease and operate three hundred and twenty acres not far from their home farm and give personal supervision to all of the work.
John I. Larison was married near Bedford, January 3, 1894, to Miss Rose Ernest, who was born in Kansas and was reared in Iowa. They have no chil- dren of their own but are rearing and educating an orphan boy and girl.
Politically the brothers are republicans, stalwart in support of the party and doing all in their power to promote its growth and extend its influence. John I. Larison is now serving as township clerk but they have always preferred to de-
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vote their time and energies to the interests of their business. They are mem- bers of the East Mission Baptist church and also of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Bedford, while John I. Larison and his wife are both connected with the Rebekah degree. The brothers also hold membership with the Modern Woodmen of America. They are both active, enterprising and progressive farmers and stock raisers, recognized as good and reliable business men, and their keen discernment and energy have constituted the foundation upon which they have builded their success.
MARTIN V. PACE.
Martin V. Pace, a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Mason township, is the owner of a rich and productive tract of land of eighty acres, which has been in his possession since 1884. He was born in Dubois, Indiana, on the 8th of October, 1855, a son of Richard Foster and Nancy Jane (Wininger) Pace. The family is an old one in this country, having been represented in the United States for several centuries. Richard F. Pace, the father of our sub- ject, is a native of Virginia and came to Taylor county, Iowa, in the year 1857, as one of its pioneer settlers. He has now attained the venerable age of eighty- eight years and is well known and highly esteemed throughout the community as a most worthy and respected citizen. His brothers, William, Charles Wesley, Elisha Center, Lewis Clark and Edward Melbourn, all participated in the Civil war with the exception of Elisha Center. Edward Melbourn was killed while in the service, thus laying down his life on the altar of his country.
Martin V. Pace, who was but two years of age when brought by his parents to this county, obtained his education in the public schools of Mason township. When not busy with his text-books he assisted in the work of the old home farm, and after leaving school at the age of nineteen years, he gave his father the benefit of his services as a farm hand until he had attained his majority. He then started out as an agriculturist on his own account by renting a tract of land of eighty acres and, by dint of untiring industry and good management, at length accumulated sufficient capital with which to purchase the property. It has since remained in his possession and he has placed many substantial im- provements thereon, so that the place is now lacking in none of the equipments and accessories of a model farm of the twentieth century. He built a new barn and fences, and the general air of neatness and thrift which pervades the place indicates the supervision of a practical and progressive owner. In addi- tion to cultivating the cereals best adapted to soil and climate, he also gives much of his time to the raising of stock and this branch of his business is proving a profitable source of revenue to him.
On the 13th of September, 1881, in Page county, Mr. Pace was united in marriage to Miss Clara Eliza Holton, a daughter of D. B. and Margaret Holton. Her father is a prominent hardware merchant of Bradleyville, Iowa. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Pace have been born three daughters, namely: Nellie May, now
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the wife of Clarence E. Mason, who follows farming and makes his home with his father; Shirley Clara; and Vera Maud, who died at the age of two years.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Pace has cast his ballot in support of the men and measures of the republican party. He is a valued member of the Baptist church at New Market, in which he served as deacon for some years. He has spent practically his entire life in this county and the friends of his boyhood have remained the friends of his manhood-a fact which indicates that his life has been at all times upright and honorable.
J. H. POOR.
Persistent, earnest labor has constituted the foundation upon which J. H. Poor has builded his success, making him one of the substantial farmers of Gay township. He now resides on section 25. and is busily employed with the care of a farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He has resided there for thirty- five years, having in 1874, come to Taylor county from Ringgold county, Iowa, where he located in 1870. He has lived in the middle west although the place of his birth was east of the Mississippi. He first opened his eyes to the light of day on the 27th of March, 1843, in Jackson county, Indiana. His father, Sam- uel Poor, was also a native of that state and having arrived at years of maturity was married there to Julia Ann Winegar, a native of Tennessee. Mr. Poor fol- lowed farming in the Hoosier state and there reared his family. At the time of the Civil war he espoused the cause of the Union and served at the front until honorably discharged on account of disability. He passed away in 1895, and is still survived by his widow who resides with a daughter, Mrs. Sutton, in Missouri.
The boyhood days of J. H. Poor were quietly passed upon the home farm in Jackson county, Indiana. Through the period of his boyhood and youth he worked in the fields through the summer months and in the winter seasons acquired his education. He was married in 1862 when twenty years of age to Miss Harriet McCain, who was a native of Ohio, but was reared in Indiana. After their marriage the young couple began their domestic life upon a tract of rented land which Mr. Poor cultivated until 1864. In February of that year, constrained by a spirit of patriotism, he offered his services to the government, enlisting as a member of Company H, One Hundred and Twentieth Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry. With that command he went south, the regiment joining the Army of the Cumberland. He was first under fire at Buzzard's Roost, a hotly contested battle in which Mr. Poor had the first finger of his right hand shot away. thus becoming permanently disabled. He was in the hospital for a time but later joined his regiment and subsequently participated in the battles of Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain and the Atlanta campaign. He was also present at the bat- tle of Jonesboro and after the capture of Atlanta was with his regiment when it was sent back to Nashville, participating in the last engagement there. Later he was sent to Washington, D. C., and subsequently to Morehead City. He after- ward joined General Sherman at Raleigh, where he was held on guard duty until
MR. AND MRS. J. H. POOR
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1866, when he was mustered out and sent home, receiving his honorable discharge at Indianapolis on the 9th of January of that year.
When the war was over and the country no longer needed his military aid Mr. Poor returned home and later purchased a tract of land in Jackson county Indiana, where he carried on general farming until 1870. In that year he came to lowa, settling first in Ringgold county, where he purchased forty acres of land which he broke and fenced. He there carried on farming for four years when he sold the property and bought forty acres of his present farm. Only a small por- tion of this had been broken while there was upon the place a small box house which he and his family occupied for four or five years or until he was able to erect a more commodious and modern residence. Desirous of becoming the owner of a more extensive farm he added to his original tract from time to time as his financial resources increased and broke the sod and tilled the soil until his place was converted into rich and productive fields. He also built a substantial dwelling and likewise a good barn and hog shed. He had also set out fruit trees, planted a grove and made the place what it is today, a well improved property. He raises high grade stock, including hogs, cattle and horses and his fields an- nually bring forth rich harvests.
Mr. and Mrs. Poor have become the parents of nine children : J. C., a young man at home, who assists in carrying on the farm; Charles, a resident farmer of Gay township; Benjamin B., of Blockton, who was a soldier of the Philippine war and had his left thumb shot away; John, who is doing for himself; James and Jesse, at home; Charlotta, the wife of Delta Ketch, of Blockton; Jennie, the wife of William Hensley, a farmer of Gay township; and Emma, who died in September, 1908, at the age of twenty-four years.
In his political views Mr. Poor has been a republican since casting his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. With one exception he has supported every presidential nominee of the party since that time. He belongs to the United Brethren church and to the Grand Army Post and is highly esteemed in both organizations. For nearly forty years he has lived in this part of the country and since 1874 has been actively concerned in the development and progress of Taylor county, especially along the lines of agricultural development.
He has worked earnestly and persistently to attain the success which is now his and which makes him one of the representative agriculturists of the community.
RICHARD T. BURRELL.
Richard T. Burrell, who is engaged in the practice of law at Bedford as a member of the firm of McConn & Burrell, was born in Holt township, Taylor county, Iowa, April 6, 1867. The paternal grandparents were Fred W. and Lucinda (Miller) Burrell, the former a native of Pennsylvania. He followed farming as a life work and passed away in middle life in Ohio, of which state he had become an early settler. The maternal grandfather, Elihu Baker, whose birth occurred in Georgia, became an early settler of Tennessee. The year
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