USA > Iowa > Taylor County > History of Taylor County, Iowa; from the earliest historic times to 1910, biographical sketches of some prominent citizens > Part 62
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HENRY D. COULTHARD.
Henry D. Coulthard, a farmer residing on section 12, Holt township, was born in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, December 6, 1866, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Hutchinson) Coulthard, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. He is the second in order of birth in a family of ten children. As he was about five years of age when he came to this county he can remember some of the struggles of the early years, and at an early age he began to assist in the work on the farm. He received a fair education in the district schools but his prac- tical preparation for life and for the vocation to which he has devoted his energies was obtained under the guidance of his father. At the age of nineteen he married and set out to make his own way in the world. He now owns one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he bought from his father under con- tract. On this he follows general farming, which has brought him substantial returns for his labor. His farm is well improved and the fields are cultivated
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in accordance with modern methods, their appearance demonstrating the skill of their owner.
On the 6th of February, 1885, Mr. Coulthard was united in marriage to Miss Clara Burch, a native of this county and a daughter of John and Brazelda (Greggs) Burch. Four children have been born to them: Cecil Francis, George D., John H. and Harold, all of whom are at home.
The family are members of the Christian church and are closely identified with its interests. When exercising his franchise as a citizen of this republic Mr. Coulthard invariably casts his vote for the candidates of the republican party, as a man who will be guided in his political actions by principles in which he puts the greatest confidence. He has not held office nor sought for public distinction, although he has served very efficiently as a school director.
GEORGE W. HOUGH.
George W. Hough, who is one of the prosperous farmers and stock feeders of Taylor county, owns three farms, which cover altogether four hundred and thirty-four acres of land. He is a man of resolute spirit, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, and his business interests have been so capably managed as to make him one of the prominent representatives of agricultural life in southwestern Iowa. He now makes his home in Conway and has been a resident of the county since 1873, while his residence in the state dates from 1868. He was a lad of about eight years at the time of his arrival in Iowa, his birth having occurred in Mercer county, Missouri, on the IIth of January, 1860.
His father, Jeremiah Hough, was a native of Pennsylvania and when a young man removed westward to Iowa. He was married in Davis county, this state, to Miss Elizabeth Brown, also a native of Pennsylvania. Following his marriage he engaged in farming in lowa for several years and then removed to Missouri. At the time of the Civil war he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in defense of the Union cause and continuing at the front for more than three years. His wife died while he was in the army. After the war he returned to Iowa, locating in Monroe county, where he lived for five years, and then removed to Taylor county, settling in Marshall township, where he pur- chased land and opened up a new farm. Upon that place he reared his family and as the years passed he transformed the property into a valuable place, from which he annually gathered rich harvests. At length with a handsome com- petence he retired and is now living in Bedford.
George W. Hough came to Taylor county when a lad of thirteen years. He was educated in the public schools of Iowa and engaged in teaching for one winter term, but the greater part of his life has been devoted to general agricul- tural pursuits. Following his marriage he began farming on his own account with one hundred and thirty-five acres of land and, resolutely taking up the task of improving the property, he brought the fields under a high state of cultivation. Subsequently he bought more land, securing at different times tracts of one
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hundred and eighty-five, forty-five and one hundred and sixty acres. The last mentioned is all pasture land. He built and remodeled the house upon his farm and also built two good barns together with sheds and cribs sufficient for the shelter of his products. He likewise set out a grove and planted a good orchard and made the farm a valuable and productive property. There he continuously and successfully carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1905, when he rented his place and bought a new residence in Conway. He had previously purchased forty acres just south of the town and also four acres of pasture within the corporation limits. With the production of crops he also raised and fed stock and was quite successful in that department of his business.
It was on the 23d of March, 1882, in Marshall township, that Mr. Hough was united in marriage to Miss Anna Boyd, who was born and reared in this county and pursued her education in the common schools of Bedford. She is a daughter of John Boyd, one of the first settlers and early farmers of the county. He became a pioneer teacher and was also county surveyor and county superin- tendent of schools. His activity in varied lines has made him a valued and representative citizen of this part of the state for his labors have been far reaching and beneficial and he now lives retired in Bedford and is numbered among the valued residents there. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hough have been born two sons and a daughter: Harry, who follows farming in Oregon, is married and has one son, Donald B .; Carl, a surveyor, resides in the state of Washing- ton ; and Maud, the wife of C. M. Norton, of Conway, and they have one son, Russell Clair.
In his political views Mr. Hough is a republican, stalwart in support of the party and while on the farm served for two terms as assessor. He is now township trustee and he has frequently been a delegate to the county and state conventions. His wife is a member of the Methodist church and takes an . active and helpful part in the work of the church and Sunday school. Mr. Hough belongs to the Odd Fellows lodge in Conway, and is one of the present officers. He has been a resident of Iowa from his early youth and has witnessed much of the growth and development of this part of the state. He has helped to improve. and make the county one of the leading counties of this common- wealth and his own labors have been an influential factor especially in the development of Taylor county. As a business man he displays keen discernment and unfaltering enterprise and is, moreover, widely known and respected for his reliability which none have questioned.
SIDNEY P. WEBB.
Sidney P. Webb, one of the prosperous merchants and public-spirited citizens of Bedford, was born near this city, February 3, 1878, and his entire life has been spent here. He is a son of Henry and Agnes (Smith) Webb, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. He acquired his education in the public schools of Bedford, passing through consecutive grades until he completed the high-school course. After leaving school he engaged in various occupations until
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1902, in which year, in partnership with George McGinnis, he bought out the grocery business of M. F. Fowler, and later he purchased his partner's interest, becoming sole proprietor of the store, which he conducted until February 1, 1909. Selling his grocery, he then purchased the Fair store of J. E. Moody and now handles all kinds of general merchandise, carrying a large and complete stock.
Mr. Webb has also won prominence through his military career, having served in the Philippines as a member of Company I, Fifty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was ninety-five days on the transport Pennsylvania en route to the islands. Enlisting as a private, he was later promoted to corporal and after his return home was elected captain of the National Guards.
On the 25th of June, 1905, Mr. Webb was united in marriage to Miss Mary Bordner, a native of Taylor county and a daughter of Al and Harriet ( Scribner) Bordner. They have one child, a daughter, Marjorie. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Webb belongs to Bedford Lodge, No. 10I, K. P. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party, and his fellow citizens, recognizing his sterling worth, have elected him to the position of city treasurer, the duties of which office he is performing efficiently and faith- fully. Deeply interested in all that pertains to the welfare and prosperity of the city, Mr. Webb exerts his influence toward the furtherance of all measures that tend to promote the improvement, progress and upbuilding of the community. He holds an enviable place in the regard and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact.
DAVID F. FORD.
David F. Ford may well be classed among the prominent pioneer citizens of Taylor county for since he located here in 1880, he has not only seen the county developed and improved into a rich and thriving section, but he has been an active participant in what has here been accomplished, especially along agricul- tural lines. Throughout a long period he lived a very busy and active life but he is now living retired in a beautiful home in Blockton, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former labors.
Mr. Ford was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1845, a son of Amos H. and Margaret (Bastras) Ford, both of whom were born in the Keystone State, the former in Lycoming county. The latter was a daughter of Judge Bastras, formerly supreme judge of Pennsylvania. Amos H. Ford was a jeweler by trade and for many years engaged in that business in Pennsylvania. Later, however, he removed to Ashland county, Ohio, and engaged in farming for a number of years. He located on an unimproved tract but in due course of time through his own labors made it a highly improved farm. He spent his re- maining years in Ashland county and there passed away in 1854. His wife survived him many years and departed this life in Bowling Green, Ohio, in 1900, when she had reached an advanced age.
David F. Ford was but a young lad when he accompanied his parents on their removal from Pennsylvania to Ashland county, Ohio, and here he was
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:eared and pursued his education in the public schools. After the Civil war, when her children were grown, his widowed mother removed to Bowling Green, in Wood county, that state. Mr. Ford is, however, largely a self-educated man, having greatly broadened his knowledge in later years through reading, experi- ence and investigation. He was but nineteen years of age, when in 1864, his patriotic spirit being aroused, he enlisted as a member of the One Hundred and Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, becoming a member of Company A. With General Hancock's Corps he went to Virginia and participated in a number of skirmishes. He was ill for a time in a hospital but when able to be on the field of battle rendered valiant service in defense of his country. He enlisted for but one year but served until the close of hostilities, being mustered out at Baltimore, Maryland, and he was honorably discharged at Columbus, Ohio, in August, 1865.
Returning to his home in Wood county, that state, Mr. Ford then opened a photograph gallery, conducting the same one winter. Subsequently, in the spring of 1866, he went to Fulton county, Illinois, and there worked on a farm two years. Believing that Iowa offered good opportunity to the agriculturist, he then went to Dallas county, this state, and purchased a farm near Adel, and cul- tivated his place two years, after which he returned once more to Fulton county, Illinois, his wife, having in the meantime, inherited a farm of one hundred and thirty acres at that place. He cultivated that place for a decade and subsequently returned once more to Iowa, purchasing a farm of three hundred and nine acres in Jefferson township, Taylor county. Taking up his abode thereon, he gave his attention to the further development and improvement of the tract and as his financial resources permitted he added to his holdings until his place embraced four hundred and forty acres. In addition to carrying on general farming he also raised and fed stock on quite an extensive scale and through this means greatly enhanced his financial condition. In 1892 he decided to leave the farm, which he rented to his children, while later he divided his property among them, and Mr. Ford removed to Blockton, having in the meantime purchased thirty- seven acres within the corporation limits. After adding many improvements thereto, he traded the property for a nice home in this city and here he has con- tinued to live to the present time. For two years after coming to this city Mr. Ford engaged in the real-estate and insurance business but has now put aside all business cares and is living retired, his invested interests bringing to him an in- come which supplies him with all the comforts of life.
It was while a resident of Fulton county, Illinois, that Mr. Ford was married June 9, 1868, to Miss Eliza Brown, who was there born and reared. She is a daughter of John Brown, whose parents were among the first settlers of Fulton county, he having been taken to that county as a child. His maternal grand- father, Peter Barrows, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. John Brown was reared in Fulton county and was there married to Miss Delila Hoffman, who was born in the Buckeye State. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ford has been blessed with five children, two sons and three daughters, namely: Ernest and Thomas, who are farmers of Jefferson township, Taylor county; Flora, the wife of Edward Raper, who also follows farming in Jefferson township; Nellie, the wife of U. S. Severns, a resident of
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Fairmont, Nebraska; and Effie, the wife of Warren Sharp, of Jefferson town- ship. Mr. Sharp is a son of William Sharp, a well known resident of Blockton.
A democrat in principle and practice, Mr. Ford has ever taken a deep interest in public affairs and while living on the farm served for several years as justice of the peace and was also identified with the school board. He likewise filled the office of mayor several terms and has been a member of the city council a number of years. In all these public positions he has ever discharged his duties efficiently and has thereby gained and retained the full confidence of his fellow citizens. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ford are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and for a number of years Mr. Ford served as Sunday-school superintendent. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Blockton and maintains pleasant relations with his army comrades through his membership in the G. A. R. post at this place. A man of tried integrity and worth, Mr. Ford is numbered among Taylor county's most progressive and public-spirited men and Blockton takes great pride in numbering him among her most worthy and respected citi- zens.
DAVID E. CLAYTON.
In a history of those men whose loyalty was fully proven by active service at the front throughout the Civil war, mention must be made of David E. Clayton, who is numbered among the veterans who are now residing in Taylor county. Moreover he is extensively engaged in farming here, having three hundred and ten acres of valuable land which is carefully cultivated under his direction and is devoted to the raising of cereals and stock. He is numbered among Iowa's pioneers, dating his residence here from 1858, and has therefore been a witness of the greater part of the growth and progress of Taylor county, while his co- operation in many movements for the public good has been a material factor in the work of general advancement.
Mr. Clayton was born in Washington county, Ohio, July 17, 1836, and was reared to manhood there upon a farm. At the time he attained his majority he sought a home in Iowa, coming to the west as the result of an arrangement which he made to drive a team for a man who was removing to Gentry county, Mis- souri. Later he came to Taylor county, Iowa, and worked by the month as a farm hand at thirteen dollars per month, never losing a day's time in two years. He was ambitious to engage in business for himself and on the expiration of that period he came to Polk township and bought four yoke of steers, which he broke and trained to the plow. During the season he then engaged in breaking the prairie until 1862, turning the furrows on one hundred acres of same each sea- son. It was an arduous life but his undaunted energy and perseverance prompted him to this labor for he felt it to be a forward step in a business career which he hoped would ultimately lead him to prosperity. In 1862 he traded teams for land in Polk township, becoming the owner of about two hundred and forty acres of raw prairie. When he had thus made arrangements for having a farm of his own he returned to Ohio to visit his mother and while in that state, constrained by a spirit of patriotism, he offered his services to the government, enlisting on the
D. E. CLAYTON AND FAMILY
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2Ist of August, 1862, as a member of Company G, Ninety-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. With this command he went south into Virginia and the first fight in which he participated was on the Kanawha River, in which one man of the company was killed. He was afterward in Virginia until the winter 1862, and subsequently proceeded with the troops to Tennessee and participated in the battles of Fort Donelson and Stone River. As the war progressed he took part in other important engagements including the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and the Atlanta campaign. He assisted in the capture of Jonesboro and Atlanta and later went with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea. He likewise took part in the last regular battle of the war at Bentonville and then marched northward to Richmond and on to Washington, D. C., where he par- ticipated in the grand review, he most celebrated military pageant ever seen in the western hemisphere. Later he was mustered out in the capital city, was hon- orably discharged there and then sent to Columbus, Ohio, where he was paid off, after which he returned home. He lost no time through illness or other causes but stacked his arms with his company every night and responded to the roll call each morning. His military record is a creditable one and of it he has every rea- son to be proud.
On the 23d of February, 1866, Mr. Clayton was married in Perry county, Ohio, to Miss Harriet E. Griffith, a native of that county, where her girlhood days were passed. Following their marriage they came to Taylor county, locating upon land south of Siam, which Mr. Clayton had previously purchased. With characteristic energy he began to develop the farm and continued to improve the property for two years, after which he sold out and took up his abode on another tract of land further to the north. In 1869 he sold that property and took up his abode upon the place which is now his home on section 5, Polk town- ship. He began here with one hundred and sixty acres of land which he broke and tilled, fencing the place and making substantial improvements as the years went by. Upon the farm he built a large house and good barn, a wagon shed and cribs. He has also set out fruit trees and a fine grove and he laid out a road. Working diligently and persistently, he continued to prosper as the years passed and from time to time bought more land until he became the owner of a tract which extended along the divide for a mile, having five hundred and ten acres. He is now numbered among the extensive landowners of the county and his fields have been brought under a high state of cultivation and present a most pleasing ap- pearance. In his pastures are found good grades of hogs, cattle and horses and his stock raising and feeding interests constitute an important source of revenue.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clayton have been born three sons and a daughter: Ora G., who is married and owns a farm in Polk township; Mary H., the wife of Ora Scrivner, a farmer of Holt county, Missouri, living near Craig; Alva J., who is married and carries on general agricultural pursuits in Polk township; and Elzie E., who is married and follows farming in the same township.
Mr. Clayton votes with the republican party when national issues are involved but casts an independent local ballot, nor does he seek nor desire office. He and his wife are members of the Siam Methodist Episcopal church and he belongs to Sedgwick Post, No. 10, G. A. R. One of Taylor county's best known farmers and business men, he is also numbered among its earliest settlers and has done his
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full share toward promoting the work of general progress and improvement here. He has opened up and developed two different farms and his labors have there- fore been an important factor in the agricultural progress of the community. Moreover his life has at all times been honorable and upright and no man more fully merits the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens or enjoys in larger measure the respect and honor of those with whom he has been associated than does David E. Clayton.
W. D. HOGG. -
Iowa is preeminently an agricultural state. Its broad undulating prairies, formed of a rich. alluvial soil, offer splendid opportunity to him who is adapted for the work of general farming. Stock raising, too, goes hand in hand with the tilling of the soil and the state has not only established its reputation as the lead- ing corn-producing center of the world but is also making an equally creditable record for its live-stock interests. Those who are working along these lines in Taylor county are on the whole winning success and the number includes W. D. Hogg, who resides on section 35. Gay township. He raises and tends stock and his excellent judgment concerning cattle, horses and hogs enables him to make good investments and profitable sales. His home place comprises two hundred acres on section 18. Gay township, and he is also cultivating the old Ballou farm of two hundred and forty acres.
Almost half a century has come and gone since W. D. Hogg arrived in this state, for in 1861 he took up his abode in Jackson county and through the in- tervening years has been an interested witness and cooperant factor in the growth and development which have occurred. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born August 27, 1856, and is a son of William R. Hogg, who was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, and was reared in that state. He there married Nancy A. McMurray. also of Pennsylvanian birth, and in the year 1861 they sought a home on the western frontier, the father opening up a new farm in Jackson county, Towa, whereon he reared his family. He was busily employed during the passing years in converting the wild land into productive fields, and in course of time he brought his place under a very high state of cultivation. He died there about 1899, having for six years survived his wife, who passed away in 1893.
WV. D. Hogg was about four years of age when the family settled in Jack- son county, and he made his home under the parental roof until twenty-four years of age, although in the meantime he worked to some extent as a farm hand in the neighborhood. He then went to Page county, Iowa, where he owned and cultivated eighty acres of land for eleven years. On the expiration of that pe- riod he came to Taylor county and bought the farm upon which he now resides, making it his place of residence since 1894. His has been a happy married life which had its beginning on the Ist of April, 1883, when he was joined in wed- lock to Miss Eleanor Ballou, a daughter of George and Phoebe Anna (Perkins) Ballou, who came to Taylor county in the early '50s and were therefore pioneers
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of this section of the state. Both were natives of New York State and the father is still a resident of Bedford, Iowa, but the mother died on the 8th of June, 1870. She was an earnest and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Hogg was born in Bedford and was reared on the farm which is yet her home. Four children have been born of this union but they lost their eldest, George, who died when eleven months old in Page county. The others are: James Richie, who aids in carrying on the home farm; Clarence B .; and Myrtle Ruth.
Mr. and Mrs. Hogg began their domestic life on the farm in Page county which he owned and which remained their place of residence until the fall of 1894, when they took up their abode upon the Ballou farm. Seven years later they removed to their own place, which Mr. Hogg cultivated for five years, but in 1906 they returned to the Ballou farm. Mr. Hogg cultivates both tracts and makes a business of raising and feeding cattle and hogs. His fields, too, are a good source of income to him for crop failures are very infrequent in Iowa and the rich land responds in generous harvests to the care and labor which he be- stows upon it. He practices the rotation of crops and employs all modern methods to till his fields. A glance at his place indicates his careful supervision and his success is the evidence of an active and well spent life.
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