USA > Iowa > Wapello County > History of Wapello County, Iowa, and representative citizens > Part 45
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going a different way. The party of which Mr. Schwartz was a member went through a wheat field and ran across an Austrian sleep- ing with two guns by his side. He was com- manded to surrender, but refused to comply without a fight. He was overpowered and taken prisoner, but they had not proceeded far upen their way when they were subjected to the fire of the enemy, two of the party being shot and severely wounded. Mr. Schwartz lay down close to the ground, but the ballets fell so near him on all sides as to fill his eyes and cars with dust. Realizing that he would soon be shut. he decided to take the chance of run- ning under their deadly fire, slender as it scomed to be : but the balls sped harmlessly by him. He escaped unscathed, and soon the com- pany of which he was a member came to the rescue. The company numbered 260 men, but so vigorous was their onslaught that they de- ceived the Austrians as to their strength and forced them. 5.000 in number. to retreat. It was a great achievement for so small a force. and. upon establishing themselves on the Aus- trian camping ground, so great was their re- joicing that they spent the night in merry- making. Recnforcements came, and on the following day the Germans followed in pur- suit of the enemy, and engaged in one of the fiercest battles of the war. In it 80,000 men were killed or wounded, and the fighting lasted from two o'clock A. M. until eight o'clock P. M. The Austrians were forced to retreat and were followed for twenty-seven days. Upon the day of battle the Germans were halted to wait for rations, which did not arrive until
HON. GEORGE W. DICKINS.
MRS. MARTHA E. DICKINS.
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three days later. Mr. Schwartz was detailed to get the rations and was happy in the thought that he at least would soon have something to satisfy his hunger, but his disappointment was great when he found there was nothing to be had but hard-tack, which could not be caten until soaked in hot water. It was carried to the camp, and a porridge made of it. and thus many were saved from the peril of over-cat- ing. Soon afterward the war was terminated, and upon completing his term of service Mr. Schwartz returned to his home. In 1868 he came to America with his father, his mother having died in Germany. Coming west, after their arrival. they located in Adams township. Wapello county, Iowa, where they cleared 25 acres during the first winter. John Schwartz remained with his father several years, until there was a division of the property, of which he did not receive his full share. However, he did not complain, as he was young and in- dustrious, and soon had a fine farm of 100 acres,-one of the best in the township .- and also a good house. barn and outbuildings. He has been engaged in general farming, and feeds his grain to hi, cattle and hugs, from which he derives his profits.
August 20. 1872. Mr. Schwartz was united in marriage with Margaret S. Smith, and 12 children were born : Mary J., born August 8. 1874. deceased November 7. 1880: Rosa E. born : " uch 31. 1876: Sarah F., born October 16. 18;8; Henry W., who was born January 30, 188), and died February 13. 1880: James T'dell. born June 12, 1881: Prince Carl. born January 9, 1883 : Laura IL., born June 2, 1885 :
John J., who was born August 27. 1886, and died October 20, 1802 ; Ethel F., who was born AAugust 14, 1888, and died June 12. 1895: Luday V., who was born June 13, 1891, and died November 18, 1802; Gertie V., born Au- gust 20. 1893; and Leo V., born September 21, 1896. Politically, Mr. Schwartz is a Dem- ocrat, and has served two terms as supervisor of his township, and two terms as school di- rector. Religiously, he belongs to the Catholic church.
ON. GEORGE W. DICKINS, one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Wapello county, lowa. was born in Wyandotte county. Ohio, September 18, 1843, and left that state with his parents in 1846. They came to Com- petine township. Wapello county, and he now resides on section 17, township 73. range 12. where he owns and manages a farm of Goo LereS.
Thomas Martin Dickins, his father, famil- iarly known as "Martin," was born in North Carolina, March 12, 1802, and went to Vir- ginia in 1855 with his parents. James and Mary ( Haskell) Dickins, When he was four teen years of age his parents died, and he was bound as apprentice to a preacher, who eloped with the wife of one of his parishioners, and this released the young man from his articles of apprenticeship. Taking advantage of his freedom, he walked roo miles to the Kanawha salt works, where he found employment for a
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number of years. He finally journeyed to Ohio, where he married Elizabeth Staley, born in 1807. a daughter of Malachi and Elizabeth (Coons) Staley. This union resulted in the following offspring: Mary, wife of John Hooker, who died in Wyandotte county, Ohio. in 1847: James M. and Thomas .A., both of whom died of lung fever May 21, 1847 ; Cath- erine A., wife of J. B. Harmon, who died in Competine township, this county ; Anthony, who died in childhood in Ohio; Malachi and llarvey, of Competine township: Elizabeth ; George W., the subject of this biography ; and lliram H., who died November 21, 1854. Mrs. Diekins died in 1863. and was buried in what is now called Dickins cemetery. Mr. Dickins formed a second matrimonial alliance by wed- ding Margaret A. Williams, and they became parents of two children : Eunice and Dexter, both of whom are deceased. Eunice married Edward Durbin, and left a son, Jesse. Thomas Martin Dickins came to Wapello county, Iowa, in 1845, secured 320 acres in Competine town- ship, and planted crops in the virgin soil. He finally became one of the largest land owners of this section of the state and lived until 1890. when he died and was buried in the Dickins cemetery.
George W. Dickins enlisted August 12. 1862, at Davenport, lowa, in the Ist Reg .. Iowa Vol. Cav., and served principally in the west- ern army, participating in most of the can- paigns of the West. He was mustered out of the service at Austin, Texas, February 14. 1866. Hle was with the army of 60,000 sent to the Texas border to watch Maximilian and
Marshal Bazaine, and remained there until the collapse of the French scheme to establish a monarchy of American soil and to place Maxi- milian on the throne. Mr. Dickins has al- ways been extensively engaged in farming, and is a large dealer in cattle, fine draft horses and hogs. Ile has a beautiful home and capacious and numerous farm buildings.
Mr. Dickins was united in marriage on June 21, 1824. with Elizabeth M. Hawthorn, and they had four children, as follows: Wil- bur T .. who died in June, 1871; Anthony, who died in infancy; Mary, born July 10, 1869. who married O. E. Dickey and lives in Com- petine township: and Hiram H., born October 7. 1871, who married Vinnie Ulry and lives in Competine township. Mrs. Dickins died June 10, 1874, and Martha C. Eller became Mr. Dickins' second wife. She was born Septem- ber 19, 1855, and is a daughter of Harvey and Mary C. Eller. Three children have been born to them: Scott M., born Angust 1, 1876, who married Makel C. Cook, and lives in Com- petine township: Rella M., born February 5. 1879. who married C. A. Dickey and lives in Competine township; and Kate, born May 30. 1881. Politically Mr. Dickins has always been a Republican and has held many township of- fices. In 1881 he was elected to the 19th gen- eral assembly of lowa, and in 1897 to the 27th general assembly, and served in a most credit- able manner. Both he and his wife are mem- bers of the Baptist church. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is a past commander. Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Dickins accompany this sketch.
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ALTER ABEGG. a gentleman well known in the financial circles of W'apello county, lowa, is cashier of the Blakesburg Savings Bank, which, under his careful administration, has shown a wonderful increase in business during the past year. He has been engaged in farming and stock dealing for many years, and owns a fine farm of 200 acres in section 29, township 71, range 15. Adams township. He was born on his present farm. February 10, 1868, and is a son of Jacob and Ann (Tubangh ) Abegg.
Jacob Abegg and his wife were born in Switzerland, and after their marriage came to this country, and located on the oldl home- stead farm in AAdams township in 1851. They were the parents of 10 children, as follows: Benjamin; Henry: Jacob; William; Walter ; Bertha: Susan : Milly ; Mary : and Libby. . All are living and are located in this county, with the exception of Jacob, who went to Mexico and was there murdered by a Mexican.
Walter .\begg attended district school and at an early age displayed an aptitude for math- ematics, soon absorbing all there was to learn in that school. He possessed natural business ability, and at the age of eighteen years com- menced buying and selling stock in association with M. H. Abernathy, with whom he con- tinued in partnership for twelve years, and niet with much success. At the age of twenty- one years he took charge of his father's farm, which he shortly afterward purchased, giving his note in payment. He applied himself dil- igently to his work, soon paid off his indebted-
ness, and was on the highway to prosperity, owning 200 acres of land as fine as can be found in Wapello county. He remained on this farm until his associates started the Blakes- burg Savings Bank, which was organized on June 18, 1900, by the following substantial business men : W. H. H. Asbury, J. B. Mow- rey, J. T. Hackworth, A. G. Harrow. T. D. Foster and J. H. Morrell, all of Ottumwa ; and Heman Snow, J. S. Elerick, M. H. Abernathy, C. N. Udell, David Jay, Paris Smith, H. F. Derby, William Fritz, J. T. De Hoven and Walter \begg, of Adams township. The of- ficers elected were as follows: J. B. Mowrey, president : David Jay, vice-president ; and Wal- ter Abegg, cashier. The directors are as fol- lows: J. B. Mowrey, David Jay, J. 11. Mor- rell, W. H. Abernathy and Heman Snow. Their choice of cashier was a wise one. Mr. . \begg has had charge of all the affairs of the bank in its dealings with customers, and each month has shown an increase of business over the previous month, until now the monthly amount transacted is twice that of the corresponding month of luoc.
Mr. Abegg was united in marriage. Sep- tember 10. 1890, with Jessie C. Smith, a daughter of Paris and Nancy Smith, both na- tives of Ohio. her father being a successful farmer of Adams township. Three children have blessed this union: Jacob, born March 7. 1893: Frank, born April 7, 1895 ; and Eu- gene, born October 10, 1897. Politically, Mr. Abegg is a Republican. In religious attach- ments he is a member of the Christian church.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
N. UDELL, M. D., is a prominent physician and surgeon of Blakes- burg, Wapella county, Iowa, where he has been engaged in practice for many years. He is widely known throughout this section of the state, and has taken a deep interest in the affairs of the town and county. He was born in a log cabin in Guernsey county, Ohio. in 1842, and is a son of Dr. N. Udell.
Dr. N. Udell was born in 1817, and is a son of John Udell, who was born in New England and served in the War of 1812. The father of John was born in England, but was of French descent. Dr. N. U'dell stands at the head of the medical profession here. although eighty-five years of age, and is an old pioneer of this state. He became a member of the Des Moines Valley Medical Association, and the American Medical Association, and has held the position of president of the former Indy. Ile was elected a state senator in 1855. and served his constituents most faithfully. be- ing twice reelected to that office. He served for three years as surgeon in the army, during the Civil War.
Dr. C. N. Udell received his early mental training in the common schools, and, being naturally of a studious mind, soon began to read medicine in his father's office. He ac- quired a fair knowledge of medicine, but re- alized the benefits of a better education, and as a result entered Hiram College in the Western Reserve, in Ohio, where at that time James . 1. Garfield was president of the faculty. After finishing a course there he attended Keokuk Medical College for two terms. He went to
St. Louis, where he took a polyclinic course. and finally graduated at the school of medi- cine at Louisville, Kentucky. He then began the practice of medicine at Centerville, lowa. and remained in ppanoose county ten years. Deciding upon Blakesburg as a larger field for his professional work, he came here at a time when there were two other physicians with whom to compete. His reputation at Centerville preceded him and he soon became the leading physician here .- the other two leaving in the course of two years. He estab- lished an excellent practice, and is considered the leading consulting physician in the lo- cality.
Dr. Udell enlisted as a private in the 3d Reg., lowa Vol. Cav .. in 1861, and served seventeen months, when the governor of the state sent him a commission to come home and recruit a company for the 8th Reg .. lowa Vol. Cav., which gave him the right to serve as i's captain. Wishing a class friend to accompany him, he tendered the captaincy to him, and it was accepted. Captain Walden, who com- manded the company, upon his return from the service, was elected lieutenant-governor, and later served the people as a member of Con- gress. Dr. C. N. Udell took the next position in rank, that of first lieutenant, and accom- panied the command to the South. They were in active service for three years, and were in many hard-fought battles. While at Florence the company was surrounded, and was obliged to cut its way out. At Pea Ridge it lost 27 men, killed by General Pike's brigade of In- clians, who also scalped the dead. At or near
LORENZO D. BAKER.
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Franklin the Doctor participated in an engage- ment with Hood's army, in which 6,000 men were killed and wounded. The company to which he belonged was in the thick of the battle, and followed Hood in his retreat .- fighting every day for a month or more. At Pulaski they fought General Forrest's army, which had reinforced General Wheeler, and the Union troops were forced to retreat. They got reenforcements from Murfreesboro, and then the tables were turned, and the Federal forces regained all the lost ground. For six weeks the horses were not unsaddled, and the men went to sleep with the halter straps in their hands, ready to mount at an instant's notice. At Lost Mountain while in the thick- est of the fight, Dr. Udell was taken sick with cholera and sent to the rear, and thus he es- caped capture, as his entire company was cap- tured, and confined in Andersonville Prison for nearly a year. Upon recovering, he was placed in command of another company, and served as captain until he returned home. His company participated in 34 engagements, many to tell friend from for, and they won a reputa- tion in that, when surrounded by the enemy. they always fought their way out in some man- ner, although it required fierce fighting.
In 1868 Dr. U'dell was united in marriage with Harriet C. Wilson, a daughter of T. (. and Mary ( Cupp) Wilson, who were natives of Virginia and Ohio, respectively. Mr. Wil-
and Mrs. Udell became the parents of the fol- lowing children: Myrtle, who died in 1893; Orrin, who died in 1900; Lola P., who is the wife of Ernest Finney ; Roy C., a government clerk, residing in Washington, D. C .: Valena 11., the wife of Rex E. Davis; Zarella: and Mary G. Dr. Udell is a Republican in poli- tics, but has taken but a passing interest in party affairs. He is a member of the Big Four Old Settlers' Club, which comprises four coun- ties. Ile has always been an enthusiastic work- er in this club, and at a meeting held in Blakes- burg was selected as historian .- an office he has filled with pleasing results. He is, and has been for the past thirty-two years, a member of the Christian church.
ORENZO D. BAKER. This gentle- man owns 365 acres of land in sec- tions 22, 20 and 27. Highland town- ship. Wapello county, lowa. He was born March 1. 1845. in Chautauqua county, of them cavalry charges in which it was difficult . New York, and located in lowa in 1857.
Samuel P. Baker, his father, was born in New York in 1824. He married Jane Wood. and they reared nine children, five of whom reached maturity, as follows: Lorenzo !.. James K., William, Oliver and Lydia. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are now living in Frontier county, Nebraska.
Lorenzo D. Baker enlisted in the Civil War
son was a cabinetmaker by occupation, and also in 1861. He entered the army at Burlington. a contractor, and moved to lowa in 1856, being lowa, and served in the 14th Reg. Jona Vol. Inf., with which he remained eighteen months. one of the pioneers of his neighborhood. Dr ...
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
Ile was taken prisoner at the battle of Shiloh and paroled at Macon, Georgia. He was mus- tered out of service at St. Louis, March 5. 1863. In September, 1864, he re-enlisted in the 4th Reg., Ilinois Vol. Cav., at Joliet. Illi- nois, and was discharged at Memphis, Ten- nessee, June 15. 1865. He saw much active service, but never received so much as a scratch during all his service.
In 18 %. in company with his father, Mr. Baker located in Wapello county. He settled on section 20, township 73, range 13. in lligh- land township, and in 1883 be bought his farm, which consists of 365 acres of fine farming land. Mr. Baker is engaged in general farm- ing and is much interested in raising cattle. lle has always taken a deep interest in the growth and development of the county in which he lives, and is always ready to assist in any enterprise which is for the advancement of the community.
In 1869. Mr. Baker married Mary Stough- ton and they reared six children: Jessie L .. Nellie, James, Samuel, William and Ellsworth. Mr. Baker married, secondly, Sarah Dennis, and they had one child .- Eva. He formed a third union by wedding. in February, 1893. Rhoda McCormick, a daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Stevens) McCormick. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are the parents of three children. namely: Searle. Warren and Noel. They are members of the Baptist church.
Politically Mr. Baker is a member of the Republican party. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow. He has a wide circle of friends in the
community in which he resides, who will view with interest his portrait that appears on a foregoing page.
L. COHAGAN, one of the most pros- perous farmers of Adams township. Wapelle county, lowa, is located on sections 30 and 31. township 71, range 15. where he has lived since 1885. He was born in Ohio, and is a sen of Thomas Co- hagan.
Thomas Cohagan was born in West Vir- ginia, and was a son of William Cohagan, who was born in Virginia, was engaged in farm- ing, and lived to a very old age. The ma- ternal grandfather of Mr. Cohagan, James Huff, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and his father was a Revolutionary soklier.
S. L. Cohagan was six years of age when he accompanied his parents to lowa, and set- tled in Davis county, where he underwent his early mental training. The schoolhouses were primitive, and oftentimes there were no school- houses, but any vacant room obtainable was used. He spent his early manhood in farm- ing with his father, and began saving the money he made, which gave him his start when he wished to buy a farm for himself. After his marriage he rented a place, but finally pur- chased a farm for himself. He and his sec- ond wife acquired their present large farm in 1885. He is a hard and consistent worker. and a clever manager, and has made consid- erable money out of general farming and stock
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raising. He is a breeder of Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs. He has 100 head of cattle. 125 head of Shropshire sheep, and 80 head of hogs, and feeds them all the grain he produces.
Mr. Cohagan was first united in marriage with Amanda Edwards, in 1869. and they be- came the parents of the following children : Bertha, born December 9, 1870; Bessie, born March 12, 1873: Mary, born March 14. 1876; Ellet, born February 20, 1880; and Thomas, who was born in 1872, and died in 1874. Mr. Cohagan was married, secondly, to Martha Jay. February 13. 1883. Mrs. Cohagan's father. Job P. Jay. married Rachel Commons, whose father was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Cohagan are the parents of three children : Orval, born in 1884: Arthur, born in 1885: and David J .. born in 1889. Mr. Cohagan has always been a Republican in politics. He identified himself with the M. E. church years ago, when the min- isters came on horseback with their saddlebags to preach. He has been an active member of the M. E. church for the past thirty-two years.
IIE DEVIN FAMILY name is one which has been most closely identified with the history of Ottumwa and Wapello county for many years.
Thomas Devin, who came west and located in central Illinois, in 1836, was born in the im- mediate vicinity of Hagerstown. Maryland. June 17. 1792. His grandparents were of the Huguenots driven from France, who settled in
Ireland, and his father came to America and located in Maryland.
Thomas Devin went as a young man to the Ohio country, located near Beverly, Ohio, at a place then known as Ludlow, and was there engaged in the produce and commission busi- ness on the Ohio River, between Louisville and Pittsburg. In 1833 he removed to Oxford. Ohio, where his children attended school, and he was engaged in mercantile pursuits up to about 1836, when he removed to the vicinity of Decatur, Illinois. About 1839 we find him at Pittsburg, lowa, near which place he purchased a large farm. Extending his mercantile inter- ests, he came to Ottumwa in 1854 and built his home, which still remains in the family as the property of his grandson. James C. Devin, and is occupied by the Wapello Club. His sons had preceded him some years, and were en- gaged in business. He died at Ottumwa in 1873. aged eighty-two years, and left large landed interests in Wapello and other Jow counties.
Mr. Devin was married at what is now Lowell, Ohio, to Lucena Davis, who was born near Lowell, and died at Pittsburg, Iowa, in 1846. A daughter was born to them who died quite young, but six boys were reared to ma- turity, their names being as follows: John D .; Michael L. : Thomas J. : James D. : George W. : and William D. John D., of Seattle, Wash- ington, who is now retired from active life at the age of over eighty years, was an attorney, and at one time engaged in business at Ottum- wa. Michael L. was a farmer near Des Moines, lowa, and died August 6, 1899.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
Thomas J. born May 20, 1826, at McConnells- ville, Ohio, has been for some years past in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company at Ottumwa. James D., born March 20, 1830, was an attorney and died at Ottumwa in 1866. George W., who died in Ottumwa. August 20, 1868, was born .August 27, 1832, and was a soldier during the Rebel- lion with the rank of major. William D., born March 16, 1819, and died in 1886, was in busi- ness in Cincinnati, and later on resided at North Bend. Ohio. By marriage with his sec- ond wife, Elizabeth B. Chambers, who died at Ottumwa April 17. 1886, Thomas Devin had a son, Brooks C., who died at Ottumwa on August 6, 1802.
The firm of Thomas J. Devin & Brothers was engaged in business in Ottumwa in the "forties." After its members induced their fa- ther to come to Ottumwa the firm became Thomas Devin & Sons, in 1856-57. In 1858 Thomas J. Devin purchased his father's inter- est, and conducted the business alone for one year, when he was joined by his brother, James. A year later they began wholesaling. which they continued throughout the Civil War, their trade extending over a large aren. In 1887 a fire destroyed the building and stock, and the business was closed out to Garner & Lawrence.
As a fitting termination of this sketch of Thomas Devin and his sons it may be recalled to the memory of the citizens of Ottumwa that the head of the family gave to the school dis- trict the sightly location on which now stands the Adam's school.
RS. WEALTHY CLOYD, who re- sides on a farm of 80 acres in sec- m tion 8. Adams township. Wapello county, Iowa, was born in 1839. ller parents were natives of New York. They had a family of In children, and the father, thinking he could better his condition finan- cially decided to settle in a new country where land could be obtained cheap. He removed from New York to Michigan, thence to Van Buren county, lowa, and in 1843, to Wapello county, lowa, where he bought some land in AAdams township. There he lived for a number of years, highly respected by all who knew him.
The subject of this sketch married Caleb Cloyd. Caleb came to Iowa with his father in 1844. He was raised on a farm, and had but slight educational advantages, having attende.1 the primitive district schools only a few months. Mr. Cloyd bought the farm on which Mrs. Cloyd now lives, and this, with the assist- ance of his father, he cleared and began to im- prove. Ile was a very successful farmer, and when he died. in i891. he left to his widow and children a comfortable ho and income. Ile was a man of upright honest character, and his death was sincerely mourned by all in the con- munity in which he lived. lle was a kind and loving husband and father, and a charitable and generous neighbor. Mr. and Mrs. Cloyd had five children, all of whom are living. Man- ford is a farmer in Adams township, Wapello county : Caroline is the wife of Sanford Ross. a farmer, of Davis county, lowa ; Caleb S. is a farmer of Monroe county, lowa : Lee is a farm- er of Adams township. Wapello county ; and
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