USA > Iowa > Wapello County > History of Wapello County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 27
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
In his business affairs William Shepherd displayed careful management and sound judgment and made judicious invest- ment, becoming in time the owner of six hundred and forty acres of valuable land in this county. His holdings were the visible evidence of his life of well directed energy and thrift and he made many improvements upon his property, all of which indi- cated his practical and progressive spirit. At all times he kept in touch with the trend of modern farming and on his place could be seen the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of the fields.
Unto him and his wife were born ten children: Jennie, now the deceased wife of William Baker; Lucinda, who married Hamilton Wilson and has passed away; Mrs. Emma Cody, whose home is in Sargent, Nebraska; Anna, the deceased wife
369
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
of James E. Law; Mrs. Mattie Bennett, of Richland township; John A., of Ottumwa; Charles W., also of Richland township; Maggie, the wife of Frank Mast, deceased; Mrs. Nettie Smith, of Ottumwa; and George W.
The usual experiences of the farm boy came to George W. Shepherd in his youthful days. As soon as old enough to handle the plow he began work in the fields, dividing his time between the cultivation of the home farm and attendance at school. He has made farming and stock-raising his life work and for some time engaged in buying, feeding and shipping stock, while now he raises and feeds stock, handling cattle, horses, hogs and sheep. He owns one hundred and twenty acres of land, which was a part of his father's estate, his placing being the original home- stead.
On the 21st of February, 1901, Mr. Shepherd was united in marriage to Miss Emma Jane Drake, who was born October 27, 1874, in Minnesota, and there resided until her marriage. She is a daughter of I. T. Drake. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd have been born four children, William Harold, Herbert Isaac, Charles Edward and Alice Elizabeth.
Mr. Shepherd belongs to the Grange and is interested in its purpose of stimulating agricultural activity along progressive lines. His political allegiance is given the republican party and his religious faith is manifest in his membership in the Wilson Presbyterian church, of which he is one of the elders. His life has ever been honorable and he has attempted to follow the Golden Rule in all of his relations with his fellowmen. The place upon which he resides is dear to him through the associa- tions of boyhood as well as of manhood, and he takes genuine delight in improving his farm and rendering it one of the attrac- tive places of Center township.
ALBERT J. FAIRCHILD.
Albert J. Fairchild owns and operates a farm of seventy acres on sections 15 and 22, Center township. Here he took up his abode on the 25th of November, 1913. He had previously been the owner of other farm property in the county and in fact has long been numbered among its representative agriculturists. He was born in Richland township on the 6th of October. 1858, and
370
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
is a son of Seth and Mary (Parks) Fairchild, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Pennsylvania. In early life Seth Fairchild removed to Tennessee and afterward came to Iowa, and it was in this state that he was married. His wife came here with her parents from Pennsylvania, the family home being established near Agency. They were among the first white settlers in this part of the state and resided in a bark tent until a more suitable habitation could be prepared. Mary Parks became the wife of James Sellers, who died about sixty-five years ago. There were seven children of that marriage, one of whom, John Sellers, was born in Indiana and at nineteen years of age enlisted from Ottumwa, the date of his enlistment being August 24, 1861. He was killed in the battle of Pea Ridge on the 7th of March, 1862, and was buried in the National cemetery in Arkansas, his being grave No. 46 in section 2. The other six children of the first marriage are still living, and Isaiah Sellers resides on the old home place in Richland township.
It was in this county that Seth Fairchild married Mrs. Mary (Parks) Sellers, and the remainder of their lives was spent upon the home farm in Richland township. He reared the chil- dren of his wife's first marriage, giving to them the same parental care and affection which he bestowed upon his own children, who were two in number: Jane, who is living in Eldon; and Albert J. The father departed this life in April, 1862, at the age of seventy-eight years, while the mother, surviv- ing until 1898, died at the age of eighty-four years.
Albert J. Fairchild has spent his entire life in Wapello county. He was reared in the usual manner of farm lads, early becoming familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops. The occupation to which he was reared he has made his life work. He continued in Richland township until the 28th of January, 1913, when he removed to Ottumwa, where he lived until November, 1913. He then located upon his present farm, comprising seventy acres on sections 15 and 22, Center township. He has sold his farm of one hundred and forty-five acres in Richland township, and devotes his atten- tion to his present place, which is well developed and indicates his careful supervision and progressive methods. He has always stood for advancement in farm work, and his industry and energy have been crowned with a measure of success that is most gratifying.
371
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
At the same time Mr. Fairchild has cooperated in many movements for the general good and has filled a number of pub- lic offices. He acted as township trustee, was also justice of the peace, and in 1909 was elected county supervisor, which position he filled for three years, being chairman of the board at the time the present jail was built. It was he who cast the deciding vote in favor of the clock in the court house. In public office, as in private life, he has ever stood for advancement and improvement, yet he has never believed in the useless expenditure of public funds, but rather in the economical and businesslike administra- tion of public affairs.
On the 22d of December, 1881, Mr. Fairchild was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Hardesty, who was born in Richland township, June 24, 1858, a daughter of Thomas and Maria (Stevenson) Hardesty. The father was a native of North Caro- lina and an early settler of Wapello county. Both he and his wife spent their last days in Richland township. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild have been born ten children, five of whom survive, as follows: Thomas C., now living in Minnesota; Man- ley A., at home; S. Ray, who is attending a medical college in Louisville, Kentucky; Opal, a student in the Ottumwa schools; and Mary, also in school. The family is widely and favorably known in Center township.
Mr. Fairchild has been a resident of this county for almost fifty-six years and has therefore witnessed much of its progress and development as time has passed on. Many events which are to others matters of history are known to him from actual experi- ence, and he has ever rejoiced in the changes which have oc- curred where progress has been made. He has deep attachment for the county and may well be termed one of its representative citizens.
JOSEPH BROWN.
Years of arduous labor along agricultural lines have brought Joseph Brown a handsome fortune. He is a farmer of Rich- land township, and there he has resided for many years, having been a factor in its agricultural development. He was born in the north of England, May 16, 1831, and is a son of James and Jane (Moffett) Brown, natives of the motherland. The mother
372
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
died there in 1841 and the father with his children emigrated to America in 1845 and located at first in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a trained and experienced coal miner and while in Pitts- burgh held a position as pit man, continuing to make his home in that city until 1865, when he sought the opportunities of the middle west, removing to Missouri, where he settled in Macon county. Later he returned to Pennsylvania, and there he passed away. He had seven children as follows: Hannah, who married William Black of Pennsylvania; Joseph, of this review; Janc, the wife of John Graham of northern Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, who married A. Ruphard of Ohio, now deceased; James, de- ceased ; and two who died in infancy.
Joseph Brown continued to reside with his father until he reached his majority, having acquired his education in the schools of his native land and this county. He then followed mining for twenty years, being a scientifically trained pit man, and spent nine years of this time in Oregon and the gold fields of California. He then operated a grist and sawmill in Davis county, Iowa, for three years. At the end of that time he had acquired the means which enabled him to buy a farm in Davis county and for several years he cultivated the same, selling his property to advantage at the end of that period and then moving to Mahaska county, where for two years he was engaged in min- ing operations. He subsequently bought the farm in Richland township upon which he now lives and which comprises two hundred and twelve and a half acres on section 22. He has devoted his whole attention to its cultivation and by years of arduous labor has succeeded in making it one of the most valu- able farms in his neighborhood. His buildings are in good re- pair and his acres are planted to the crops most suitable to soil and climate. He is ever ready to embrace new methods and ideas and, while he has attained individual prosperity has also created new agricultural standards in his section.
On April 17, 1860, in Pennsylvania Mr. Brown married Miss Susanna Black, a native of the Keystone state and a daughter of James and Sarah (Marks) Black, the mother of Pennsylvania and the father of Ohio. In their family were twelve children, of whom Mrs. Brown is the only one now living. The latter bore her husband six children: George F., of Wapello county; Lincoln and Charles, both of whom also reside in this county; Joseph, who makes his home in Mahaska county; James, of Wapello county; and Albert, who assists his father in the opera-
373
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
tion of the homestead. The latter is now practically retired, leaving the active farm labors to younger hands, and finding in his son Albert a worthy successor. Mr. Brown has been a valu- able factor in the development of his section and has ever coop- erated in promoting valuable public measures. However, he is not a politician and has never actively entered the field of poli- tics. All who know him speak of him in the highest terms of appreciation, and he has many friends in Wapello county.
F. M. HENRY.
F. M. Henry, a representative and successful agriculturist of Competine township, residing on section 15, owns and culti- vates eighty-seven and a half acres of rich and productive land. His birth occurred in Indiana on the 10th of June, 1851, his par- ents being Patrick and Mary (Farnum) Henry, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of New Hampshire. The father was a representative of the fifth generation in direct line of descent from Patrick Henry, the celebrated American orator and patriot. The parents of our subject came to Iowa in 1853, settling on a farm in Wapello county on which they spent the remainder of their lives. They had eleven children, five of whom survive.
F. M. Henry, who was but two years old when brought to this county by his parents, acquired his education in the com- mon schools and remained at home until twenty years of age or until the time of his marriage. Subsequently he cultivated rented land for three years and on the expiration of that period removed to Kansas, where he took up a claim and made his home for six years. At the end of that time he disposed of the property and made his way to Nebraska, residing in that state for four years and then returning to Wapello county, Iowa. Here he purchased a farm of eighty-seven and a half acres on section 15, Competine township, in the operation of which he has been continuously engaged to the present time. As the years have passed he has brought the place to a high state of cultiva- tion and improvement and annually gathers rich crops which find a ready sale on the market.
As a companion and helpmate on the journey of life Mr. Henry chose Miss Lucinda Lamb, who was born in Competine
374
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
township in 1855, her parents being John and Sarah (Grace) Lamb, natives of Alabama and Kentucky respectively. They came to Wapello county, Iowa, in 1852 and settled on a farm in Competine township which remained their home until they passed away. Unto them were born ten children, eight of whom are yet living. Our subject and his wife have three children, as follows: Dr. Clyde A., who is a resident of Farson, Iowa; Gertrude B., a dressmaker residing in Seattle, Washing- ton; and Harry A., living in Farson, this state. Mr. and Mrs. Henry have one grandson, Lyle Kenneth Henry, who was born May 10, 1904. Mr. Henry gives his political allegiance to the democracy and has ably served in the capacity of road supervisor. He is a man of high principles, his life being actuated by worthy purposes and characterized by honorable conduct in every rela- tion. Thus he has won the respect of his fellowmen and is num- bered among the worthy residents of Wapello county.
SAMUEL H. BURTON.
For an extended period Samuel H. Burton was identified with agricultural interests in Wapello county but is now living retired in Ottumwa. At the present writing, however, he is filling the office of county highway engineer, which position was created under the new road law in April, 1913. Fifty-two years have come and gone since he arrived in this section of the state.
Mr. Burton is a native of Waterloo, Seneca county, New York, born January 29, 1841, his parents being John and Eliza- beth (Hooper) Burton. The father served as a captain in the War of 1812 and participated in the battle of Lundy's Lane. He was the son of an Episcopal minister, who came with his family to the new world from Manchester, England, in 1798. John Burton, who was then in his minority, came with his parents to the United States and afterward studied law, becoming a prominent and able member of the bar. His wife was a lineal descendant of General Clark, a prominent figure during the Revolutionary war. This branch of the Clark family has long been a prominent one and was first established in America by Samuel Clark, who located in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 1630, possibly having .come from Devon, England. Ten years subsequent to his arrival in the new world he removed to Rippo-
SAMUEL H. BURTON
377
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
wams, now Stamford, Connecticut, and his death occurred in Bedford in 1690. The ancestral line to the present generation has been traced as follows: "His son, William Clark, was born in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1645, and died in Bedford in 1712; he was the father of Nathan Clark, who was born in 1676 and died in 1738. The latter was father of Jehiel Clark, born at Bedford, New York, in 1710, and died near Newbury, Ulster county, in 1743. Samuel Clark, a son of Jehiel Clark, was born February 17, 1741, and was commissioned lieutenant by General Washington at White Plains, captain at Poughkeepsie, June 16, 1778, and major May 6, 1779, lieutenant colonel at East Line, Saratoga county, New York, in 1786, colonel at East Line, May 10, 1792, brigadier general of the Ninth Brigade at Saratoga, July 3, 1804, and major general on March 8, 1814. Lydia Clark, second daughter of Samuel Clark, married Pontius Hooper and lived the latter years of her life ten miles west of Clinton, Michi- gan. This union resulted in the birth of Elizabeth Hooper, mother of our subject, September 25, 1799. The latter died in 1875 at Waterloo, New York."
Samuel H. Burton was a student in the Waterloo Academy of Waterloo, New York, and at the age of eighteen took up the profession of teaching. Later he engaged in land surveying and when in his twenty-first year came to Wapello county, where he pursued the study of law, under Judge Burton and H. B. Hendershott. In June, 1862, he was admitted to the bar and for a brief period engaged in law practice, but soon afterward be- came part owner of the Mercury, a Democratic paper published weekly. In 1865 a daily edition was brought forth in addition to the weekly, published by Samuel H. Burton and S. B. Evans. During that period when the Republican party was guiding the destinies of the nation through a most momentous period of its history it required great courage for a man to espouse Demo- cratic principles, but Mr. Burton was so fair in his judgments and so honorable in all that he did that he accomplished great good for his party. He continued to publish the Mercury until 1869, after which he followed the profession of teaching through the winter seasons and spent the summer months in survey work. Subsequently he engaged in the grocery business, but trusted his patrons to too great an extent and was forced to dispose of his business, as the method he pursued was unprofitable. In 1873 he opened an office as surveyor and civil engineer and subse- quently was elected and served as city engineer and county sur-
Vol. II-19
378
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
veyor for a number of years, continuing in those offices until 1893.
In 1886 Mr. Burton turned his attention to agricultural pur- suits and settled upon a farm, dividing his time between its cultivation and his official duties. The land was almost wholly undeveloped when it came into his possession, and its improve- ments were little more than a log cabin when he purchased the place in 1868. He occupied the log house during 1870 and 1871, after which he lived in his city home on Elm street until 1886. He then erected a commodious residence upon his farm and occupied it for a number of years, during which time he success- fully engaged in gardening and fruit-raising in addition to culti- vating the various cereals best adapted to soil and climate. At the present writing Mr. Burton makes his home at No. 1103 North Elm street, which property he owns, while his son Frank resides upon a farm a mile east on Pennsylvania avenue. For a half century Mr. Burton has been connected with the office of county surveyor, acting as deputy or as county surveyor through- out that long period, having been first elected to the position on the 14th of October, 1862. He has also been city engineer for many years and at the present writing he is acting as county highway engineer, the office having been created in April, 1913, under the new road law.
Mr. Burton was united in marriage in 1861 to Miss Julia Day, and they became the parents of four children : Mabel, who was born November 11, 1863, and is the wife of Joseph Carr, of Portland, Oregon; Grace, who was born July 22, 1865, and became the wife of Fred Milligan, but died in Wisconsin in 1906; Frances Mary, who was born December 18, 1869, and is the wife of George M. Bissell, living a mile east of Ottumwa; and Edward, who was born in 1871 and died in childhood. The wife and mother passed away in 1875 and in 1885 Mr. Burton married Rhoda E. Garbry, by whom he has two sons : Frank H., who was born March 30, 1886, and Claude Cleve- land, born July 11, 1888. The former married Ruth A. John- son. He attended a business college in Ottumwa and is now assisting his father in engineering work. The younger son, a bridge carpenter and engineer in Montana with the Milwaukee Railroad Company, wedded Mary Finn, and they have one child, Francis Emmett.
Throughout the entire period of his manhood Mr. Burton has been a resident of Wapello county and in the fifty-two years
379
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
which have come and gone since his arrival he has become very widely and favorably known, substantial qualities of citizenship and of upright manhood having gained for him the warm regard and good-will of those with whom he has been associated.
WILBERN C. BRADEN.
Wilbern C. Braden is an enterprising young business man of Farson, where he conducts a successful general mercantile establishment and also serves in the capacity of postmaster. His birth occurred in Keokuk county, Iowa, on the 11th of March, 1887, his parents being J. L. and Lucinda (Cowger) Braden, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Wapello county, Iowa. J. L. Braden came to this state about 1860, locating in Keokuk county, where he passed away on the 5th of December, 1909. His wife was called to her final rest on the 15th of No- vember, 1908. They were the parents of two children: Sadie, who is now the wife of L. A. Steel and resides in South Dakota; and Wilbern C., of this review.
The latter supplemented his common-school education by commercial training at Burlington, Iowa, and remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority. He was then married and subsequently purchased a farm in Pleasant township, residing thereon for two years, on the expiration of which period he traded the property for a stock of general merchandise at Linby, Jefferson county, Iowa. At the end of a year he sold out and came to Farson, where he again embarked in business as a general merchant and where he has since con- ducted his store with gratifying success. He carries a large and well selected line of goods and has won a liberal patronage by reason of fair prices, courteous treatment of customers and re- `liable business methods. Mr. Braden owns the store building and also a handsome residence in Farson.
.
At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Braden was united in marriage to Miss Estella Warder, a native of Wapello county and a daughter of John C. and Nancy A. (Goudy) Warder. She is a sister of F. L. Warder, cashier of the Farson Savings Bank. By her marriage she has become the mother of one son, Waldom W., whose natal day was March 7, 1911.
380
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
Mr. Braden is a republican in politics and serves as post- master of Farson, ably discharging the duties devolving upon him in this connection. He has likewise served as a member of . the school board, the cause of education ever finding in him a stanch champion. Both he and his wife belong to the Baptist church and take an active and helpful interest in its work. At all times his life has been active, useful and honorable, and it is his genuine personal worth that has gained for him the favor- able position which he occupies in the regard of those who know him.
JOHN WESLEY MILLISACK.
John Wesley Millisack is one of the venerable citizens of Wapello county, now living with his daughter Mrs. McCarroll at the age of eighty-seven years. He was one of a large family and was born in Leesville, Carroll county, Ohio, August 4, 1827, his parents being Jacob and Sarah (Holms) Millisack. The father was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, January 9, 1800. His parents were in humble circumstances. The father died when the son was but five years and he was reared by his mother in a home where it was necessary to practice the strictest econ- omy. In early life he was apprenticed to a hatter and learned the trade. After the death of his mother, which occurred when he was nineteen years of age, he removed to what was then the far west, his destination being Indiana. Finally, however, he settled for a short time at Smithfield, Ohio, where he worked at his trade, making his home with a good old Quaker family, where refined and uplifting Christian influences made deep impress upon his life. In 1820 he removed to Leesville, Carroll county, Ohio, where he began business on his own account in the line of his trade in 1821. He was then married to Miss Sarah Holms, who was born in Harrison county, Ohio, June 21, 1799, their wedding being celebrated on the 12th of July, 1821. They lived happily together as husband and wife for sixty-three years and reared a family of ten children. Mrs. Millisack passed away on her eighty-fifth birthday, the 21st of June, 1884.
After several years devoted to work at his trade Jacob Milli- sack turned his attention to merchandising. He made stage trips once or twice a year to Philadelphia to buy goods and in the
.
381
HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
course of years so capably and successfully did he manage his commercial interests that he amassed a very comfortable com- petence and retired to a farm near Leesville in 1845. At length, several of his children having come to Iowa, he sold his home in Ohio and removed to this state in 1864. He was one of the pio- neers in the anti-slavery movement at Leesville, Ohio, becoming actively identified with that work in 1834. He was also an early advocate of temperance and of woman suffrage, thus taking an advanced stand upon many questions which are still agitating the public thought. At his own home he entertained William Lloyd Garrison, Parker Pittsburg, Wendell Phillips, Stephen and Abby K. Foster, Frederick Douglas and others. He re- tained his mental faculties unto the last, spoke of his earthly life as at an end and called by name his wife, his eldest daugh- ter and others of the departed ones as present at his bedside to meet him on the shores of the spirit land. He passed away so quietly that there was not a movement of limb, a gasp or change in the expression of the countenance which at all times bore a pleasing composure. He left a request that he be buried cheaply and inexpensively, as the poor are buried, and that the money which might have gone for interment and funeral services be spent upon the poor. The details of his request were carried out by his friend Major A. H. Hamilton, and thus passed on a good man, whose life was ever actuated by high and honorable pur- poses. Unto him and his wife were born the following named : Martha, Thomas O., John W., Wilbur F., Jeremiah, Isaac, Mary, Jacob C., Phoebe, William P. and Edward S.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.