USA > Iowa > Taylor County > History of Taylor County, Iowa; from the earliest historic times to 1910, biographical sketches of some prominent citizens > Part 42
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Following his marriage Mr. Bowers located on the old homestead, which he continued to operate until 1899. Believing that the west offered better opportu- nities to the farmer, he decided to make a change in his abode and accordingly located in Bedford, Iowa, in that year. A year later he purchased his present farm of three hundred and twenty acres, on sections 20, 29 and 30, Marshall township. After taking up his abode here, he built to and remodeled the house, erected a fine barn and granary, built fences and made many other needed im- provements and the place today is lacking in none of the accessories essential to successful farming. In addition to raising wheat, corn and oats, he also fattens three carloads of cattle and one load of hogs each year for the market. While busily engaged in his private business, he also finds time for public interests and was prominent in the organization of the Farmers Mutual Telephone Company, of which he is a stockholder.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bowers was blessed with three children : William O., who assists his father on the home farm; Dora May, the wife of William Ritchie, a resident of Nebraska; and Benjamin, who died at the age of three years.
Mr. Bowers is a democrat in his political belief and endorsement but he has never desired public office. He is affiliated with the Fraternal Aid and Insurance Company, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist church at Gravity. He is watchful of every opportunity pointing to success and feels that
E. L. BOWERS AND FAMILY
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he made no mistake in coming to Taylor county, for the rich soil of this district furnishes ample scope for his energies, and he is numbered among the well-to-do and substantial citizens of Marshall township.
EDWARD G. STRAIGHT.
Among the prominent and representative citizens of Taylor county who are devoting their time and attention to general farming and stock raising, is Edward G. Straight, the owner and operator of two hundred and forty acres of fine land on section 23, Jackson township. A native of Taylor county, his entire life has been passed in this township, and he is therefore well known throughout the community. Born on a farm adjoining the one upon which he now resides, the date of his nativity is May 3, 1868, and he is a son of Truman and Mary Straight and a brother of H. S. Straight, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this volume. His father, a native of New York, was born near Oswego, that state, and late in life came west, settling in Taylor county, where he purchased a farm and was engaged in cultivating, developing and improving the same until his death. He passed away in 1868, leaving his wife to rear their family of five sons and two daughters, of whom one son is now deceased.
Reared amid the scenes and environments of rural life, Edward G. Straight passed the days of his boyhood and youth on the home farm. His educational advantages were somewhat limited, as he was compelled to depend upon his own efforts for the privileges enjoyed, but his training in farm work, however, was not meager and he early learned lessons pertaining to the value of energy, industry and perseverance. He remained at home, assisting his mother in the work of the farm until he attained his majority, when he decided to enter busi- ness on his own account. Wisely choosing as a life work the occupation to which he had been reared, he purchased, in 1897, eighty acres of the farm which is now his home. It now consists of two hundred and forty acres of land situ- ated on section 23, Jackson township, and constitutes one of the valuable and desirable properties of the township. In its midst stands a comfortable two- story house and substantial barns and outbuildings, while all modern improve- ments and accessories for facilitating the work of the farm have been introduced. His fields have been brought under a high state of cultivation and the entire place, well fenced with woven and barbed wire, presents a neat and attractive appear- ance that bespeaks thrift and progress on the part of the owner. In connection with general agricultural pursuits he has devoted much time to the raising and feeding of stock, fattening a carload of hogs annually. This branch of his business is proving a very gratifying source of profit to him. He has also found opportunity to engage in other interests and he is now one of the stockholders in the Sheridan Bank, his connection therewith furnishing an additional source of revenue.
In his political relations Mr. Straight has given his support to the republican party since : erred upon him the right of franchise, but he has never >1gh+ public office as a reward for party fealty, preferring to de-
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vote his undivided time and energies to his personal interests. He is well known and highly esteemed in Bedford and throughout Taylor county, where his entire life has been passed, and during this period has not only witnessed the develop- ment of large tracts of prairie land into rich fields but has also taken his full share in the work of cultivation and improvement, and today he stands among the prominent and representative citizens of Taylor county.
ALBERT E. LAKE.
Albert E. Lake, secretary of the Bedford Creamery at Bedford, Iowa, was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts, September 28, 1850, a grandson of Enos and Annie (Gould) Lake, in whose family were three sons and three daughters, namely : Alpheus A. ; Hulda, who was the wife of Miles Sweeney; Mrs. Nancy Sweeney; John B., the father of Albert E. Lake; Mehitabel, who also married a Mr. Lake; and one son who died at sea.
John B. Lake was a native of Massachusetts and for some time was con- nected with the business interests of Topsfield as a shoe merchant but after the outbreak of the Civil war he put aside all business and personal considerations and enlisted as a member of Company F, Twenty-third Massachusettts Volun- teer Infantry, with which he served for ten months. He was wounded in the battle of Roanoke Island-the first engagement in which he participated-and later returned home on a furlough. He soon rejoined his regiment, however, but was taken ill and was discharged for disability. After the war he cultivated a small farm but never fully recovered from the effects of his army service, and died in Boxford, Massachusetts, in March, 1878. He was married three times, his first two wives being sisters. For his third wife he chose Amelia H. Norwood, also a native of Massachusetts and a daughter of George Norwood, who was a fisherman residing in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He also served as a soldier in the war of 1812 and died in the east at an advanced age, while his wife also died in Massachusetts at an old age. They were the parents of five chil- dren : Amelia, who became the mother of Albert E. Lake; George; Nathan; Eunice, the wife of Edward Lane; and Mrs. Adaline Tarr. Unto John B. and Amelia H. (Norwood) Lake there were born four children: Albert E .; Herbert L., who is now living in Sparks. Oklahoma; Ada W., the wife of W. A. Brock, of Rupert, Idaho; and Howard W., who died in early childhood. The death of the father occurred in Boxfield, Massachusetts, in March, 1878, while the mother survived until 1900. Both were members of the Methodist church.
Albert E. Lake spent his boyhood days in Topsfield and in Roxford, Massa- chusetts, and attended the Putnam Free School at Newburyport. He after- ward went to Boston where he engaged in bookkeeping for five years and in 1876 he came to the west. The following year he located on a farm near Con- way. where he resided for three years, after which he carried on merchandising for some years in Conway. In 1900, he arrived in Bedford, having been elected county treasurer, in which position he served for two terms, since which time he has been secretary of the Bedford Creamery. He has made steady
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progress since starting out in business on his own account and his present con- nection is one of importance and profit.
In November, 1874, Mr. Lake was married to Miss Sarah L. Reed and unto them have been born two sons, Walter H. and Harry C. The former married Eva Carr and at the present writing is filling the position of county auditor. The younger son is attending Cornell College.
Both Mr. and Mrs."Lake are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as steward. The work of the church is ably promoted by them for they are interested in its progress. Mr. Lake belongs to Bedford Lodge, No. 91, I. O. O. F., and is also connected with Bedford Encampment, No. 73. His political endorsement has always been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and in the various offices which he has filled he has discharged his duties with promptness and fidelity. For two years he served as mayor of Conway and at the present writing is a member of the city council at Bedford. He is alive to the interests and vital questions of the day relative to the welfare of city and county and his coopera- tion with many movements for the general bood as well as his business activity has made him one of the representative men of this part of the state.
GEORGE REID.
Among those who in former years were identified with agricultural pursuits and whose labors had brought them the prosperity that now enables them to live retired, is numbered George Reid. He was born in Crawford county, Ohio, August 30, 1841, his parents being George and Mary Ann (Foster) Reid, both of whom were natives of Ireland. The grandfather, Robert Reid, likewise born on the Eemerald Isle, crossed the Atlantic to America and spent his last days in Ohio, where he died at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. He had devoted his entire active life to the occupation of farming. His wife, Mrs. Margaret Reid, had passed middle life when called to her final rest. Their only child was George Reid, father of our subject. The maternal grandparent. Robert Foster, was likewise born in Ireland and on coming to America abount 1812, settled in Crawford county, Ohio, where he followed farming until he passed away when in middle life. His wife, Mrs. Margaret Foster, died in Kansas City. Missouri, at an advanced age. They were the parents of fifteen children.
It was about the year 1812 that George Reid, Sr., arrived in America. set- tling in Virginia but soon afterward removing to Ohio. He came in posses- sion of land entered by his father, Robert Reid, in Crawford county and with characteristic energy began its cultivation and improvement, converting the wild tract into a productive farm. He made his home in that county until his death which occurred in 1888 when he was seventy-two years of age. His wife died there about 1860. Both were members of the Methodist church and their many excellent traits of character won for them the friendship and regard of those with whom they were associated. Their family numbered six children :
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Robert, now deceased; William, living in Bucyrus, Ohio; George; Hugh; Rachel and James H., all of whom have passed away.
George Reid, whose name introduces this review, was reared upon his father's farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. His education was acquired in the district schools, in the public schools of Bucyrus, Ohio, and also in the normal school. He was yet pursuing his studies when in response to the country's call for aid he enlisted as a member of Company B, One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for two years and nine months, doing duty as a private. He was engaged on guard duty, guarding prisoners on Johnson's is- land. After the war he returned to Bucyrus and assisted his brother William in the grain business until he came to Iowa, when he took up his abode on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Clayton township, Taylor county. Later he extended the boundaries of his place by the additional purchase of eighty acres and on that farm he reared his family, there living for forty-one years. His agricultural interests were carefully conducted, for he practiced the rotation of crops, paid careful attention to the condition of the soil and in his farm work met with success which results from untiring diligence and progressive methods. On leaving the farm he removed to Bedford, where he purchased a good home but he still owns two hundred acres of valuable land which is finely improved and from which he derives a substantial income.
On the 14th of March, 1867, Mr. Reid was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Gardner, a daughter of Nathan G. and Elizabeth Mary (Bigelow) Gardner. Mrs. Reid was born in Stephentown, Rensselaer county, New York, and her parents were also natives of the Empire state. They had four children, of whom Mrs. Reid was the eldest, the others being: Charlotte, the wife of Reuben P. Willard, of Dillon, Montana ; James R., deceased; and Esther, the wife of Samuel Young, of Woodstock, Minnesota. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Reid was James R. Gardner, a native of Rhode Island and of Irish descent. He made farming his life work and died in the state of New York well advanced in years. His wife. Mrs. Roxcena (Hawley) Gardner, was over eighty years of age at the time of her demise. They were the parents of two sons and two daughters : Lavica. Sarah, Nathan Green and Hawley Gardner. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Reid was Gale Bigelow, a native of France, who came to America, and entered three hundred acres of land in Columbia county, New York, where he died in middle life. His wife, Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth (Pratt) Bigelow, was more than seventy years of age at the time of her demise. They had twelve children all now deceased: Ralph, an architect, who died when about one hun- dred years of age : Rachel, who died at the age of ninety-six; Charlotte; Sarah; Esther ; Luvina ; Allen ; Joseph ; Elizabeth ; Obediah ; and two who died in infancy.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Reid has been blessed with eight children : Nathan George, who died in infancy; Roxcena M., at home ; Le Roy Emerson, who was killed by a gasoline engine when thirty-two years of age; Anna, who died when but six months old; Albert Gale, in Idaho; Frank Alvin and Alice, both at home ; and one who died in infancy. They also have an adopted daughter, Mary.
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Mr. and Mrs. Reid are devoted members of the Methodist church and he is serving as one of the church trustees. He also belongs to Sedgwick Post, G. A. R., and greatly enjoys its camp fires where are recalled the long hard marches of the campaigns that were features of the Civil war and led to the establishment of the Union upon a firmer basis than ever before. Politically Mr. Reid has always been a republican and has been called to a number of local offices, the duties of which he discharged with promptness and fidelity. He has been road super- visor and township and school trustee. He is now comfortably situated in life as the result of his energy, perseverance and capably directed efforts and is now one of the most respected citizens of Bedford.
D. C. HUGHES.
D. C. Hughes, living on section 4, Platte township, is one of the active and prosperous farmers of Taylor county, and is numbered among the veterans of the Civil war, having espoused the cause of the Union during the dark days of the strife between the north and the south. In the years of his residence here he has come to be widely respected for his sterling worth and his business enter- prise. He now owns and occupies a neat and well-improved place on the north line of Taylor county adjoining Adams county, having here lived since the 24th of February, 1874.
Mr. Hughes was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, June 1, 1835. His father, John Hughes, was also a native of that county and there wedded Nancy Crago, who was likewise born in the Keystone State. The father was a cooper by trade, following that pursuit throughout his active life. He reared his family in Pennsylvania and died there about 1847. His wife survived him and joined her son in Iowa, spending her last days in this state. Only two of their seven children yet survive, the brother of our subject being Thomas Hughes, also a resident farmer of Taylor county.
D. C. Hughes spent his youthful days in his native state and was but a young lad at the time of his father's death in 1847. Starting out in life for himself, he was employed in a woolen factory for about eleven years and early developed the spirit of self-reliance and energy, which have constituted the safe and strong foundation upon which he has builded his later success. At the time of the Civil war he put aside business and personal considerations, enlisting on the Ist of May, 1861, as a member of the Thirty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He was assigned to Company D and joined the forces under General McClellan and was afterward under commands of Generals Meade and Grant in the army of the Potomac. Later he was under fire in the Peninsular campaign, continuing for seven days, and was also in the battles of Mechanicsburg, Gaines Mill, Peach Orchard, Malvern Hill, the second battle of Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, the Wilderness campaign and was with Grant in the military movements that led up to the battles of Spottsylvania Courthouse. Becoming ill he was in the hospital for three months and on the 27th of May, 1864, was honor- ably discharged at Pittsburg, one month after the expiration of his term of
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enlistment. His military service was varied and he saw arduous duty on many of the hotly contested battlefields. After being mustered out he returned home and worked in the woolen mills until the time of his marriage.
It was on the 24th of February, 1869. in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, that Mr. Hughes was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary J. Sharpnack, who was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, but was reared in Fayette county. After their marriage they removed westward to Knox county, Illinois, where Mr. Hughes rented a farm, which he cultivated for four years. He then came to Iowa, set- tling in Taylor county, where he cultivated rented land for several years and then purchased the place where he now resides. This he broke and improved, placing the fields under a high state of cultivation. He has erected a good, neat residence here, together with substantial barns and cribs with wagon and buggy shed and granary. He has also set out a good orchard and now has a valuable property. although there was not a stick nor an improvement on the place when the land came into his possession. In connection with his farming he raises and feeds stock, and both branches of his business are proving profitable.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hughes has been born one son. John N., who occupies the position of assistant cashier in the Citizens Bank of Lenox. He wedded Ada Telly of Adams county, Iowa, and they have two children, David T. and Burtson Evelyn. Their father is a well-educated man, formerly a teacher, and is recognized as one of the prominent representatives of business life in Lenox.
In his political views, Mr. Hughes is a republican and has supported the party since casting his first presidential ballot for John C. Fremont in 1856, giving his allegiance to every presidential candidate in the intervening years. He has never sought nor desired office but has been honored with official pre- ferment in the Grand Army post at Lenox, in which he has served as senior vice commander. He has been a resident of the county for thirty-five years and has witnessed its transformation as the land has been claimed and culti- vated and towns built. As a soldier of the Civil war the country owes to him a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid and in times of peace he has been equally loyal in citizenship, putting forth earnest and effective effort in behalf of public progress as well as for the advancement of his private business interests.
LEVI P. WILLITS.
Great changes have occurred in this section of the state since Levi P. Willits took up his home in the district. He has lived in Adam and Taylor counties for thirty-eight years and was formerly the owner of a farm of two hundred and forty acres within three miles of Lenox. He took up his abode in Adams county in October, 1871, and in Taylor county in 1893, and throughout the years has carried on general agricultural pursuits.
Mr. Willits was born in Wayne county, Indiana, on the 12th of November, 1841. His father, James Monroe Willits, was a native of the same county and after arriving at years of maturity was married there to Miss Sarah Ann Myers, also born in that locality. On removing to Illinois they settled in Mercer county,
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where Mr. Willits opened up a new farm. In connection with the tilling of the soil he imported and dealt in Norman horses and became one of the prominent stock dealers and horsemen of that section of the state. He continued to reside there until his death, which occurred in 1907, when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-seven years. His wife had passed away some years previous. They were the parents of three sons and two daughters, all of whom are yet living. After the death of his first wife the father married again and there are five children of the second marriage.
Levi P. Willits was reared to manhood on the home farm in Mercer county and assisted his father in the work of the farm from the time of early spring planting until crops were harvested in the late autumn. He was twenty-two years of age when on the 21st of December, 1863, he joined Company I, of the Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and went south with the Western Army. He was first under fire in different skirmishes up and down the Mississippi River, doing guard and scouting duty and fighting bushwhackers. He participated in the battle of Fort Blakely and continued at the front after the close of the war, being on military duty in Texas for a time. He was mustered out at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was there honorably discharged May 15, 1866. He never lost time from sickness or other cause, but stacked arms every night with his company and he still has his army musket and side arms, which are cherished possessions and mementos of his military experience.
When the war was over Mr. Willits returned to Mercer county, Illinois, where he was employed as a farm hand by the month for several years, and was married there March 16, 1871, to Miss Maria Shields, who was born and reared in that county and was a daughter of William Shields, a prominent farmer and stockraiser of Mercer county. He was born in Wayne county, Indiana, but when a young man of twenty-one years went to Illinois, becoming one of the pioneer settlers of Mercer county. He was married there to Lucy Wilson, who was born and reared in Illinois, and there they reared their family, the death of Mr. Shields occurring in 1892, while his wife passed away only a few months before.
Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Willits removed to Iowa, reaching Lenox in October, 1871. About the time of the great fire in Chicago a fire swept over the prairie here, burning the hay and everything. Mr. Willits purchased land in Grant township, Adams county, becoming owner of one hundred and twenty acres, on which he turned the first furrows and made the first improve- ments. Subsequently he purchased one hundred and twenty acres adjoining. He later built a good house, barns and cribs, also a house for his machinery, hay barracks and other equipments which are accessories of a model farm. He en- closed his place with wire fencing and divided it into fields of convenient size. In connection with general farming he raised and fed cattle and hogs, which he fattened for market. There he carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1893, when he sold that property and bought a farm in Platte township, Taylor county, pleasantly and conveniently located within a mile of Lenox. It comprised one hundred and sixty acres, but the farm and the buildings were both run down. He at once began the work of improvement, built a commodious residence, thirty- two by thirty-two feet and two stories in height, a cattle barn and other necessary
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outbuildings, fenced the fields and today has one of the neatest and best-improved places in the township. In fact, it is a model farm, on which he continuously resided until 1903, when he rented the place and removed to Lenox. Here he now has a nice home. He continued to own this farm until 1907 and he is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in western Canada, near North Dakota.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Willits have been born six children : Victor, who is over- seer for a mining company at Clifton, Arizona; Britt L., a farmer living north of Prescott; Dott, the wife of Frank McCoy, of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Glen, living in Charles City, lowa, where for the past two years he has been principal of the Cromwell Schools and is also engaged in the newspaper business, having formerly conducted a paper in Lenox; Blaine, now a traveling salesman for the Swift Packing Company : and Burr, a student in the Lenox high school. All of the children have been provided with liberal educational advantages.
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