USA > Iowa > Taylor County > History of Taylor County, Iowa; from the earliest historic times to 1910, biographical sketches of some prominent citizens > Part 40
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died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Beck, at the age of eighty-one years. He was a farmer by occupation, devoting his life to the tilling of the soil. In their family were eleven children: Mary, deceased; Joseph, living in Hayes, Kansas ; Jane, the widow of Isaac Price, of Spencer, Indiana; James, of Almena, Kan- sas ; George, of Fairmount, Illinois; Mrs. Beck; Suzanne, of Bedford; Eliza, the deceased wife of Jacob K. Champer ; and three who died in early childhood.
Mr. and Mrs. Beck are consistent members of the Methodist church and have been very active in the work of both church and Sunday-school. Mr. Beck is serving as one of the church stewards and is a liberal contributer to the support of the church. He also belongs to Sedgewick Post, No. 10, G. A. R., and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades. He gives unfaltering allegiance to the republican party which was the defense of the Union in the dark days of the Civil war and has always been the party of re- form and progress. On that ticket he was elected county recorder in 1892 and was reelected in 1894, serving altogether for four years, discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity. In his business affairs his reliability, enterprise and diligence won him success that now enables him to live retired in the enjoy- ment of well earned rest.
HARVEY A. WINN RAYNOR.
Harvey A. Winn Raynor, whose activity and enterprise in agricultural lines are bringing to him a most gratifying degree of success, was born in Mason township, Taylor county, November 12, 1861, a son of Henry and Miriam (Westenhofer) Raynor. The paternal grandfather, Henry Raynor, Sr., origin- ally came from England, founding the family in Ohio, where his death occurred. His brother was Gabriel Raynor, while his son, Henry Raynor, Jr., was one of a family of four sons, the other three. Joseph, William and Lafayette, having all passed away. Henry Raynor, Jr., the father of our subject, was a pioneer farmer of Taylor county, who married Miriam Westenhofer, a daughter of George Westenhofer, who came of German lineage. She was one of a family of five children born to her parents, the others being Henry, George, James and Rhodes. She became the mother of the following children: Harvey A., of this review ; William; Lafayette; Parker, now deceased; Ferdinand, who has also passed away ; Austin ; Lewis and Ulysses.
Reared under the parental roof, Harvey A. Raynor acquired his educa- tion in the district schools of Mason township, remaining a pupil therein until twenty-one years of age, and then, after laying aside his text-books, he assisted his father in the work of the farm until twenty-two years of age. A year sub- sequent to his leaving home he purchased a farm in Kansas, which he operated for a year. and then returned to his home and for a number of years was en- gaged in working the old homestead. Later he purchased the farm and has since devoted his energies to its further development. He carries on general farming and also engages in stock-raising, and has been signally successful in his business interests. He has made all of the improvements upon the farm, and
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everything about the place indicates that he is in touch with the modern spirit of progress which is manifest in agricultural lines. The farm consists of one hundred and twenty acres of land, and is one of the valuable and highly im- proved properties in the township.
Mr. Raynor was united in marriage in Mason township on the 25th of De- cember. 1883. to Miss Cora Smith, a daughter of Rev. Daniel T. and Frances ( Jones) Smith. The Smith family originally came from Kentucky, D. T. Smith, the grandfather of Mrs. Raynor, having been identified with agricultural in- terests in that state. Rev. Daniel T. Smith was a minister of the Baptist church of Grainfield. Gove county, Kansas, and was a man of excellent character, whose life and influence were an inspiration to all with whom he came in contact. Mrs. Raynor was the sister of the following: Thomas J .; George W .; Theodosha; Mary: Edgar : Myrta; Abigail ; James ; and Dollie. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Ray- nor have been born four children, namely: Myrtle, the wife of R. C. Pittman, principal of the New Market high school: Lloyd; Flossie and Frank. The par- ents are members of the Baptist church of New Market, being actively inter- ested in the various phases of the church work, while their lives are at all times in sympathy with their professions. Mr. Raynor gives his political allegiance to the republican party and does all in his power to further the interests thereof, while he has served as a director of the school board, the cause of education finding in him a warm champion. Fraternally he is a Master Mason, and his various interests have. served to make his a well rounded nature. keenly alive to life's contacts and life's relations.
K. C. LESTER.
Among the residents of Taylor county, who have gained high rank as pros- perous and progressive farmers and stock raisers, is numbered K. C. Lester, who owns and operates a farm of three hundred and twenty acres on section 8, Jack- son township. Of German ancestry, he was born July 3, 1867, in Floyd county, Virginia, a son of William S. and Rebecca (Cooke) Lester, the father's birth occurring in the same county on the 23d of January, 1832. William S. Lester was a farmer by occupation and also owned and operated a saw and gristmill in the Old Dominion. He remained in his native state until 1883. in which year he removed to Oklahoma, where he opened up a new farm which he operated for some time. He is now living retired, however, and makes his home with the subject of this review. His wife, who passed away in Oklahoma, was born and educated in Virginia, and there their entire family was reared.
The boyhood days of K. C. Lester were spent on his father's farm and he acquired his early education in the common schools of his native state. When about sixteen years of age he accompanied his parents on their removal to Oklahoma, where he assisted his father in the work of breaking and cultivating new land. The farm which they operated and upon which the family resided for some time is now a part of the property belonging to the State Agricultural College of Oklahoma, which institution K. C. Lester attended as a student for
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four years. He was married in that state on the 2d of March, 1898, to Miss Dora Miller, who is a daughter of Jacob Miller of Nodaway county. Missouri, and was born and reared in that county.
Mr. and Mrs. Lester began their domestic life in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where Mr. Lester owned and operated two farms near that village. He resided in Stillwater for four years and then purchased his present place, to which he removed in 1902. His farm is a model one, large and finely improved, in the midst of which stands a large and comfortable residence, while he has also erected substantial barns and outbuildings. The farm is equipped with all modern conveniences as well as the latest devices for facilitating labor and is one of the finest to be found in the county. Mr. Lester, who is eminently up-to-date and progressive in his methods, is one of the very few farmers of Taylor county who attended an agricultural college, and the theoretical knowledge which he there acquired has been of the utmost value to him in his practical experience. In addition to general farming he engages extensively in raising and feeding stock and this branch of his business is proving a profitable source of revenue. His stock is of an excellent grade, which insures it a ready sale upon the market.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Lester was blessed with two children but they lost the eldest son, Worth J., who passed away at the age of fourteen months. The surviving son, Noble, is at home and is a student of the common schools.
In politics Mr. Lester casts his ballot in support of the democratic party on national issues, but in all matters of local interest he reserves the right to vote for the men and measures which in his judgment will best conserve public good. He has been closely identified with school interests, having served for some years on the school board, doing all in his power to bring about better condi- tions along educational lines. He holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Bedford, joining the order during his residence in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He has served as one of the officials and is in entire sympathy with the principles of the craft. Widely recognized as a man of true personal worth, he is honored and respected for his strict integrity, while he and his estimable wife are known near and far for their genuine hospitality. A man of keen business ability, he has made rapid progress along the highway of success. Quick to recognize and utilize the opportunities that have come to him, he has made the best of his possibilities and today ranks among the most prosperous, progres- sive and honored citizens of Taylor county.
GEORGE S. MCKINLEY.
Among those whose activities have been important factors in the material growth and prosperity of Bedford may be classed George S. McKinley, well known brick-manufacturer and ex-mayor of this city. A native of Indiana, he was born February 12, 1857, a son of John L. and Elizabeth (Schwartz) Mc- Kinley, both natives of Juniata county, Pennsylvania. The family is of Scotch- Irish descent, although represented in America for a number of years. The paternal grandfather of George S. Mckinley was John McKinley, a native of
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Pennsylvania, who died in Juniata county, November 25, 1841, when still com- paratively young. His wife also passed away in that county. They were parents of six children. Nothing is known of the maternal grandfather of our subject save that he was a native of Pennsylvania and the father of nine sons and one daughter. John L. Mckinley, the father of George S., was a miller by trade, and upon leaving his native county in Pennsylvania, removed with his wife west- ward to Indiana where he engaged in the milling business for some time when, in 1857, he located in Topeka, Kansas, where he entered a homestead claim. Here he engaged actively in agricultural pursuits for four years when he removed to' Afton, Iowa, where he conducted a mill for a time. Later he went to Clarinda, Iowa, and there he followed his trade as miller for nine or ten years. In the meantime he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in that vicinity and this farm was operated by his sons, with the aid of hired help. while his energies were directed toward the management of his milling enterprise. He died in 1904 when more than seventy-five years of age, having survived his wife for eight years, her death occurring in 1896 when she was about sixty-two years old. They were both members of the Methodist church, and in their family were six children, two of whom died in infancy. Those now living are: George S., of this review ; Margaret A., the wife of J. F. Pearson of Pitkin, Colorado; William F., also of Pitkin ; and John A., of Cripple Creek, Colorado.
The boyhood days of George S. McKinley, whose name introduces this record, were spent on his father's farm in Page county, Iowa, where he attended the district schools and aided his brothers in the conduct of the farm. Here he re- mained until twenty-two years of age, when, thinking to find broader fields of activity in other lines of business, he took the overland route to the Rocky Mountains and there engaged in gold mining for about fourteen years. In 1893, however, he returned to Iowa and resided near Clarinda until 1897, in which year he came to Bedford and purchased the brickyard of H. U. Greenlee. Here he has continued to manufacture brick and as the years have come and gone, his business has steadily increased until it has reached very gratifying proportions, the output of the enterprise averaging about six hundred thousand brick annually. 'A's he has prospered he has invested to some extent in real estate, and he now owns a fine home in Bedford, a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Lane county, Kansas, and a brick cottage and thirteen acres of land within the corpora- tion limits of Bedford, while the success to which he has attained ranks him among the prosperous and influential citizens of this city.
On the 28th of March, 1894, Mr. Mckinley was united in marriage to Miss Ella Cunning, a daughter of William J. and Elizabeth (Good) Cunning, and they have four children : Ralph Edwin, Jesse Harlan, Harry and Charles H., the last-named having died in infancy. Mrs. McKinley was born in Taylor county, Iowa, while her mother was a native of Ohio. Her father, a soldier of the Civil war, was one of the early settlers in Iowa. He lived in Page county, Iowa, until his marriage, when he removed to Taylor county and later to McPherson county, Kansas, where he resided for twelve years. Upon returning to Iowa he located in Page county, making his home there until 1900, since which time he has lived in Bedford. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, eight of whom are now living, namely : Ira B .; Ella Frances, the wife of George S. Mckinley ;
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Harry; Alretta, the wife of R. F. Miller of St. Louis, Missouri; Maggie, the wife of Joseph Meredith of Bedford; William W. of Taylor county; Grace Elizabeth ; and Myrtle. William J. Cunning was one of eight children born to Ira and Catherine Cunning, the others being: Elizabeth, the wife of Allen Long; Melissa, the wife of Christopher Claytor; Mary, who wedded Jesse Wickett; Josephine, the wife of Moses Turner; Sarah, who died when a young lady ; Amos; and Wilson. The father died in middle life, while his wife survived him, living to a ripe old age. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Mc- Kinley was Noah Good, a farmer and early settler in Iowa, who later removed to Kansas. He and his wife both lived beyond the Psalmist's allotted span of life, his death occurring when he was eighty-four years of age, while she died when eighty-two years old. They had a large family, four of whom are yet living : Maggie, the wife of Benjamin Bare; Elizabeth, the mother of Mrs. McKinley; Fannie, who wedded Daniel Kilmer; and Joseph Good.
Mr. and Mrs. McKinley are both members of the Christian church, in which Mr. McKinley is serving as an elder. In his fraternal relations he is associated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while politically he gives his alle- giance to the republican party. He served as councilman for four years, and that his efforts received the endorsement of his party and the community at large is indicated in the fact that he was honored with election to the highest office within the gift of his fellow citizens, and for four years served as mayor of Bedford. In his business he is straightforward and reliable, his success coming through legitimate business channels, and he enjoys and richly merits in the highest degree the confidence and respect of the entire community.
J. E. CAMERON.
J. E. Cameron, a well known and prosperous agriculturist of Grant township, owning a valuable farm of two hundred and forty acres on section 5, is now capably discharging the duties devolving upon him in the position of township trustee. He was born near Monmouth, Warren county, Illinois, on the 24th of April, 1860, his parents being John and Phebe P. (Higgins) Cameron, the former a native of the north of Ireland and the latter of Pennsylvania. In early manhood the father crossed the Atlantic to the United States and afterward loyally de- fended the interests of his adopted country as a soldier in the Mexican war. He was first employed as a clerk in a store at Philadelphia, and subsequently removed to Warren county, Illinois, where he developed a farm and reared his family. Later he disposed of the property and came to Taylor county, Iowa, where he made his home with a son until called to his final rest about 1891. His wife, surviving him for a number of years, passed away in 1904.
J. E. Cameron was reared on the home farm in Warren county and obtained his education in the common schools. He remained under the parental roof until he had attained the age of twenty-one years, when he removed westward to Page county, Iowa, there operating a farm for one year. The year 1882 witnessed his arrival in Taylor county, where he was actively engaged in the cultivation of a
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rented farm for some time. Subsequently he purchased the place of one hundred and sixty acres on section 5. Grant township, on which he now resides, giving his attention to its cultivation and further improvement. Later he bought an eighty-acre tract adjoining. so that his farm now embraces two hundred and forty acres of well improved and productive land. In addition to his work as an agriculturist he also devotes some attention to the raising and feeding of stock, fattening from one to two carloads of cattle and hogs annually. Owing to his well directed labor and excellent management, he has met with a gratifying meas- ure of success in both branches of his business and is well entitled to a foremost place among the prosperous and representative citizens of the community. On his farm he has erected a substantial two-story residence, a large round barn (sixty-four feet in diameter) for hay, grain and stock, likwise a machine shed, buggy house, hay barracks, etc. He has also set out fruit trees and altogether has a most attractive and highly improved farming property, which in its neat and thrifty appearance indicates the supervision of a practical and progressive owner.
On the 4th of March, 1889, in Adams county, Iowa, Mr. Cameron was united in marriage to Miss Maggie Haley, who was born and reared in this state. She was well educated and prior to her marriage taught school in both Adams and Taylor counties. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cameron have been born two children, George R. and May, both of whom are still under the parental roof.
Mr. Cameron gives his political allegiance to the men and measures of the republican party and has served in the position of road supervisor and also as a school director. In 1908 he was elected a member of the board to trustees of Grant township and is now discharging the duties devolving upon him in that connection in a highly satisfactory manner. The period of his residence in this county now covers more than a quarter of a century, and upright character and sterling worth have gained him a favorable place in the regard of many friends.
DANIEL LEONARD.
Few men of Taylor county have endured greater hardships in the early settlement of this part of the state or have borne their experiences with greater courage and derived from them a larger share of the prosperity of the world and the gifts of the spirit than has Daniel Leonard, who for more than a half a cen- tury has farmed in what is now Holt township. The memories of the day on which he arrived here and of the struggles and discouragements of the first few years are still vivid, and sometimes. as he looks back over the past he wonders not so much how he surmounted them, but how his loyal wife, gently born and reared amid luxury, had the courage to brave conditions to which he all unwillingly had to submit her. He was born in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, in June, 1830.
His father, William Leonard, was a farmer throughout his life and five years before his death moved to Ohio, where he passed away at the advanced age of eighty. His mother, who had been Miss Mary Van Nort before her marriage,
2
DANIEL LEONARD
MRS. DANIEL LEONARD
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was also a native of Pennsylvania and lived to be sixty years of age. The family of Leonard was of English descent and Daniel can remember that his grandparents frequently spoke of the "log book," from which he infers that his ancestors were sea-faring people, though he was too young to find out at that time. However that may be they were able to transmit to their descendant strong qualities of character which have been the making of him.
About three miles from the birthplace of James G. Blaine, Daniel Leonard opened his eyes upon the world and there grew to maturity. His parents were. very poor people and he was able to acquire but a limited education, though he was early initiated into the realm of toil. At the age or twenty-two he left his home and started in life for himself. He went first to Delaware county, Ohio, where he remained two years and was married, and then moved to Fulton county, Illinois, where he lived for about nine months. In 1856, with a team of horses and all their household possessions loaded upon a wagon, he and his wife started on their journey across the country to Iowa. On the 25th of September, stopped at the place where his home has been ever since and where he preempted one hundred and sixty acres of government land. No shelter of any kind was to be seen, so they took off the bows and the cover from the wagon, fastening them to the ground so that they would not blow away, for a storm seemed to be rising, and then inverted the wagon box on the ground. Under this the wife crawled, and after handing her a few clothes Mr. Leonard crawled under himself. During the night the threatened storm arrived and al- though the rain poured down harder than he had ever known it to do before or has seen it since they were as dry and cozy under their improvised shelter as if they were provided with more comforts. Mr. Leonard had in his pockets only thirty-seven dollars and thirty-seven cents, but with that rare foresight which has distinguished him in his acquisition of land since, he traded his team for ninety acres. For four years he managed to do without any horses, although he bought a couple of calves which he broke into work. They were well broken, too, as one incident will show. In the early morning Mr. Leonard would take them to the timber, fell a tree, trim it, put the butt and larger limbs together, fasten a chain about them, and then hitch the young oxen to the whole. Forth- with they would "mozey" to the cabin, where Mrs. Leonard would "untoggle" the chain, turn them around and start them on the road to the woods which they would reach by themselves. On the next trip Mr. Leonard would accompany them, as he went to his dinner, and in the afternoon would bring up the third load. They were also of value in the plowing when they were fastened with a yoke eight feet long, and with them he was able to plant his corn. The animals grew to be oxen of mammoth size and when he disposed of them they brought a price of two hundred and seventy-five dollars.
From the trees he felled Mr. Leonard built a cabin sixteen feet square, and as the logs were short in this part of the state he had to splice them to make the cabin large enough. In that rude home he and his wife lived for a number of years, until he erected his present residence, the lumber for which he hauled from St. Joseph, Missouri. But even when their cabin was built their hardships were not lightened very much, and many a time Mr. Leonard said he wept at the thought of the severity of the life to which he brought his wife so tenderly
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reared in her girlhood and now bearing the struggle of a pioneersman's wife cheerfully, without complaint. On one occasion he came to the shanty from the fields and found her clad in her nightdress, washing the only outside gar- ments she had. She was using a brass kettle given her by her mother the only utensil among their few possessions large enough for the purpose. Mr. Leonard returned to the fields, sat down in the furrow and cried, heart sick enough to commit suicide. But he thought to himself, "Leonard, you won't be such a coward. Get up, pull yourself together and get out of this condition." It was a long time, however, before ready money found a place in his pocket. On one occasion he wrote a letter to his people in Ohio, but could not send it for lack of the price of postage, which in those days would have been fifteen cents. Nor could that amount be found in Taylor county. At different seasons of the year hogs were gathered together at some place and driven to Ottumwa to be sold. One time Mr. Leonard had twelve to dispose of, but they weighed three hun- dred pounds and were too heavy to drive. Accordingly he butchered them himself and sold the hams in Bedford for two and a half cents a pound but could not sell the shoulders at any price. So he left two with a blacksmith and said he would take their value out in work, later receiving for them a pair of hinges, which anywhere today could be procured for a quarter.
That these conditions have passed and that Mr. Leonard is in the enjoyment of a handsome income are due not only to his capacity for work and his deter- mination to get ahead. but equally to the native sagacity which enabled him to discern the increase in the value of land, for besides the location he chose for his own home whenever he saw opportunity he bought land until at one time he held over a thousand acres, of which he gave generously to each of six sons, whom he assisted in improving their farms and in stocking them. His own farm is situated on an elevation, from which, before the trees were so thick he could look southwest into Missouri, west into Page county, northwest into Montgomery county, north into Adams county, northeast into Union county, east into Ring- gold county, and southeast and south over Taylor county, obtaining a beautiful view in whatever direction he gazed. In addition to his purely agricultural in- terests, for more than fifty years Mr. Leonard has given especial attention to the breeding of sheep, and with his sons under the firm name of Daniel Leonard & Sons, became the pioneer importers of Shropshire sheep, and they are now noted all over the southwest for the quality of their animals. Farm work and the air from his fields are his life, as he learned when at one time he retired to Corning. It was not for long, however, as he was not made for a life of com- fort, and he came back to the farm, determined not to relinquish its cares until the last moment.
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