USA > Iowa > Warren County > History of Warren County, Iowa : from its earliest settlement to 1908; with biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county > Part 57
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ship, Warren county, where Mr. Starr purchased land and in the course of years became a very successful farmer and stock-raiser. He did not trust to chance or influence to aid him in his business career, but placed his dependence in the substantial qualities of energy and determination and as the years went by he won the just reward of persistent, persevering labor. He died OL Thanksgiving day of 1907, at the age of eighty-two years, and is still survived by his wife, who is now living in Milo.
Frank H. Starr was educated in the common schools and when about twenty years of age made his initial independent step in the business world by taking charge of the old home place. He has since been closely associated with agricultural interests and is now the owner of three hundred and forty- two acres of fine farming land in Belmont township. This is highly cultivated and in fact constitutes one of the largest and best farms in Warren county. The place presents a most neat and attractive appearance, because the fields are well tilled and all of the buildings are kept in excellent repair. On the 15th of April, 1908. Mr. Starr was elected cashier of the Citizens Bank of Milo, and is now giving much of his attention to the management of the finan- cial interests of the town.
On the 12th of August. 1884. occurred the marriage of Mr. Starr and Miss Harriet L. Reeves, a daughter of Robert F. and Sarah (Chick) Reeves, who are mentioned at length on another page of this work. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Starr have been born five children : Robert T .. Fred C .. Eva E .. Nellie M., and Charles F., all yet at home.
Mr. Starr belongs to Milo Lodge. No. 160. K. P. He votes with the do- mocracy and has served as assessor and as township trustee. He takes an ar- tive part in all affairs of public interest and his loyal citizenship is manifest in his active cooperation in every movement or measure for the public good. He has never found that there was not time in his life to aid in matters of public progress. and yet he is known as a most busy and energetic man, realiz- ing the fact that there is no excellence without labor and that individual advancement must depend upon personal effort and close application.
WILLIAM ALVA BARNES.
William Alva Barnes, of Indianola, is conducting a prosperous business in the purchase and sale of cattle, which he handles upon his farm in Otter township, where he owns three hundred and forty acres of rich and produc- tive land. Towa claims him as a native son and in 1881 he came to Warren county. During a later period he resided in St. Charles but again came to Warren county and is now classed with its progressive and representative busi- ness men. His birth ocenrred in Van Buren county, this state, Angust 31, 1852.
His father, Hiram Barnes. was born in Ohio and the blood of Irish and French ancestors flowed in his veins. He acquired a common-school education and afterward learned the carpenter's trade. He arrived in Towa in 1839
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when it was still under territorial rule, taking up his abode where the town of Birmingham now stands in Van Buren county. The entire district was wild and unimproved and he entered a tract of raw prairie from the gov- ernment, which with characteristic energy he converted into a good farm. He had lived in this state for about ten years when, attracted by the discovery of gold in California, he crossed the plains in 1850. After a brief season spent in the mines, however, he returned to this state and for over forty years was proprietor of a livery stable in Birmingham and also engaged in the pur- chase and sale of horses. He built the first frame house in Oskaloosa and was closely associated with the substantial development and improvement of his section of the state during pioneer times and also in the era of latter progress. When the country became involved in Civil war he espoused the Union cause. enlisting in 1861 as a member of Company H. Third Iowa Cavalry. He thus served until toward the close of the war. when he developed dropsy and was thus obliged to resign. He assisted in organizing his company and was made its first lieutenant. While at the front he participated in a number of im- portant skirmishes in Arkansas and Missouri.
In politics he was an earnest republican and was mayor of Birmingham. His official prerogatives were exercised for the benefit of the community and never for personal aggrandizement and his citizenship was always character- ized by a lofty patriotism. His life. too. was at all times in harmony with his profession as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which he took an active part. serving for some time as one of its officers. His death resulted from a railroad accident June 23. 1899. when he was eighty-one years of age. His widow still survives him and resides upon the old family homestead at Birmingham. at the age of eighty-six years. She bore the maiden name of Hannah Loomis, and was born in Ohio in 1822 and is of New England ancestry. She. too, has been a lifelong member of the Methodist church. Their family numbered eight children.
William Alva Barnes, who was a twin and was the second in order of birth. attended the public schools of Birmingham and was also a student in the college there. He afterward pursued a course in the Keokuk Business College in 1873-74, and later went to Colorado, spending two years in that state and in Wyoming, engaged in sheep and cattle raising. On his return to Iowa he joined his father in the livery business and they were thus asso- ciated for about two years. On the expiration of that period Mr. Barnes again went to the west and became a bookkeeper in a mercantile house in California. He also purchased a ranch in Mono county. that state, and re- mained in California for three years. In the spring of 1881 he arrived in Warren county, Iowa, settling on a farm in Jackson township. where he car- ried on the work of tilling the soil until the fall of 1895 .. In that year he re- moved to St. Charles. Madison county. where he engaged in farming and also bought and sold cattle. After a period of ten years he came to Indianola and has since engaged in buying and selling cattle here. handling the stock on his farm in Otter township. which comprises three hundred and forty acres of rich and productive land. providing him with ample pasturage. while the
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fields return rich crops. He has been quite successful in his undertakings, his business affairs being capably managed. so that he is now numbered among the substantial citizens of his county. He is also the vice president of the J. F. Johnson Bank at St. Charles, Iowa.
On the 15th of March, 1878, occurred the marriage of Mr. Barnes and Miss Ida M. Wood, who was born in Lee county, Iowa, and died on the 13th of November, 1896, leaving three children : Edwin H., of California, who is cap- tain of a dredge boat ; Lelia, who is in the Chicago Training School for Mis- sions, and William Alva, a fruit-grower of California. On the 28th of Novem- ber. 1900. Mr. Barnes was again married. his second union being with Mrs. Mary Phillips, the widow of W. S. Phillips and a daughter of Elias and Har- riet Peterman. Her father. a harnessmaker by trade, is now postmaster of Lemonville, Missouri. By her first marriage Mrs. Barnes had four sons, of whom two are living: Maurice, who is a clerk in a store in Indianola. and Wil- liam. By the present marriage there is one daughter. Harriet Lane. Mr. Barnes and his wife both hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and he is equally loyal to the teachings of the craft. belonging to the Masonic lodge at St. Charles. while both he and his wife are connected with the Eastern Star. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he has held some local offices. As a business man he has been conspicuous among his associates. not only for his success but for his probity. fairness and honorable methods. In everything he has been eminently practical and this has been manifest not only in his business undertakings but also in his social and private life.
ALEXANDER BUCHANAN.
Alexander Buchanan, a well known farmer of Allen township, residing on section 27, was born in Peoria county, Illinois, on the 19th of October, 1842. His father. John Buchanan, was a native of Scotland, born in Glasgow, and descended from a long line of Scotch ancestry. He came to the United States when a young man and was married in New York city to Miss Elida Wimple, who was born and reared in Holland. On coming to the west they located in Peoria county, Illinois, where the father secured one hundred and sixty acres of land and opened up a farm, to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted his energies throughout the remainder of his life. His wife also died in that county. They were the parents of eight children, three sons and five daughters, of whom three are living. namely: Alexander, Hester and Helen.
In the county of his nativity. Alexander Buchanan passed the days of his boyhood and youth in the usual manner of farm boys, and there he was married in December, 1860, to Miss Caroline Walsh, who was born in Ohio and was reared in that state and Illinois. The children born of this union are as follows: William, who follows farming; Mary, who is engaged in teaching school in Montana; Hester, the wife of Charles Silcott, of Lincoln township;
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Edward, at home; Laura, the wife of Charles Deits, of Lincoln township; and Edith, the wife of W. A. Simons, of the same township.
After farming in Peoria county, Illinois, for some years, Mr. Buchanan came to Warren county, Iowa, and purchased a farm in Palmyra township. which he operated for two years and which he then traded for his present farm of seventy-two acres on section 27, Allen township. He has since remodeled the residence, fenced the land and made many other improvements which add greatly to the value and attractive appearance of the place. Politically he follows in the footsteps of his father, always voting the democratic ticket and he was called upon to serve as trustee of Palmyra township for four years. Fraternally he is an honored member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Palmyra.
F. WILLIAM MARTENS.
F. William Martens, commonly called by his numerous friends by the name of Will, is one of the most active and enterprising business men and farmers of Jefferson township. He has a model farm, and attractive home, and fully sustains the high reputation which has always been borne by the Martens family in connection with the business development and substantial upbuilding of this part of the county. Moreover, he deserves mention in this volume from the fact that he has always lived in the county, his birth having occurred on the farm which is yet his home. ITis natal day was October 2. 1871, and his parents were Fred and Margaret (Huss) Martens, both of whom were natives of Ger- many but were married in this country. The father was a participant in the war of 1848 in his native country, after which he came to the United States, attracted by the spirit of liberty which here prevails. He did not relish living under monarchieal rule, and because of this sailed for the United States. establishing his home in Will county, Illinois, where he married and resided until his removal to this county in 1861.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for F. William Martens in his boyhood and youth. He acquired his educa- tion through the medium of the public schools and worked in the fields when not busy with his text-books, early learning the value of industry and perse- verance. He was married September 2, 1891. to Miss Anna Russ, a native of Germany, and a daughter of John Russ, who in 1870 became a resident of this county. After his marriage Mr. Martens took charge of the home farm and he cared for his parents as long as they lived. He has three hundred and twenty acres of rich land which responds readily to the care and cultivation he bestows upon it. He has since erected a substantial two-story residence which is neat and attractive in appearance, and has also built three good barns. one of which is seventy-two by fifty-two feet, with twenty foot posts, and is the largest barn in the county. He also has other good outbuildings, with seales, windpump, and other accessories of the model farm are here found. The entire
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MR. AND MRS. F. WILLIAM MARTENS
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RESIDENCE OF F. WILLIAM MARTENS
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farm is well tilled and he has four miles of woven wire fence. To his original holdings he has added until he now has six hundred and eighty acres. He makes a specialty of raising shorthorn cattle, keeping from two to three carloads per year, and two carloads of hogs. He raises Poland China hogs and Norman Percheron horses. He also keeps some cows and conducts a dairy business. In all of his farming pursuits he is active and energetic, making good use of his opportunities and the success which he now enjoys has come to him as the merited reward of his labor.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Martens have been born six sons: John, Louis, Fred, William, Clarence and Grant, all of whom are yet at home. The parents are members of the Lutheran church of Churchville, of which Mr. Martens has been a representative since its organization, while he has also served as an officer in the church. He belongs to the Bankers Life and Insurance Society and to the Modern Woodmen Camp at Wick. Political honors and offices have never attracted him, yet he keeps well informed on the questions of the day, and supports the republican party. The Martens family is well known in this part of the state, and the members, John and William, are representative agri- culturists who have deserved and met with gratifying success.
W. R. MeCLURE.
W. R. MeClure, engaged in general farming on section 28, Lincoln town- ship, is one of the native sons of the county. His birth occurred July 14. 1856, on the farm where he now resides. His father, Nathaniel MeClure, was a native of Grant county, Kentucky, where he was reared and carried on general agricultural pursuits. He was also married there to Miss Louisa Childress, a native of that county and state. They remained residents of Ken- tueky until after the birth of two of their children, when they made their way northward arriving in Warren county. Iowa. in 1850. Here the father opened up the farm on which W. R. MeClure now resides. In was entirely destitute of improvement when he took possession of it, but he transformed it into a tract that responded readily to his care and cultivation. the planting of early spring being followed by rich and abundant harvests in the late autumn. Year after year he continued the work of the farm until his son, W. R. Me- Clure. was able to relieve him of much of the care of the place. He made it his home until his death which occurred in 1890, when he was eighty-two years of age. His wife died in 1887 at the age of seventy-five years. Their family numbered seven children. five of whom reached adult age.
W. R. MeClure, the youngest of the family was reared to manhood here and acquired a good education. being a graduate of the Baptist College of Des Moines. He also aided in the work of the home farm and the experience which he gained in youth enabled him to carefully conduct the farm work in later years.
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Mr. MeClure was married in 1875 to Miss Mary Romback, a native of Lincoln township and a daughter of Gerson Romback, one of the early resi- dents of this part of the state. Mr. McClure afterward removed to Phillips county, Kansas, where he entered a claim and opened up a farm. This he improved as the years passed, making his home thereon for five years, after which he sold the property in the Sunflower state and returned to Iowa. He then purchased the interest of the other heirs in the old home farm of eighty acres, which is pleasantly and conveniently located on section 28, Lincoln town- ship. He has further improved and developed this property, has built a home and keeps all of his buildings in a state of good repair. He raises high grades of stock, including road and draft horses and he has engaged in the dairy business to some extent for a number of years, making a specialty of Jersey cows. All branches of his business are profitable because he works earnestly and untiringly in the management of his affairs.
Although reared in the faith of the democratic party. Mr. MeCInre votes with the republican party where questions of national importance are in- volved. At local elections, however, he does not regard party ties. but gives his support to the candidate whom he believes best qualified for office. For seven years he served as a school director. He belongs to Central Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal church in which he is serving as an officer. Both he and his wife are charter members of this church and he has been a teacher in the Sunday school and assistant superintendent of the school for a number of years. His father was one of the organizers of the First Presbyterian church of Indianola and also of the Masonic lodge. He attained the Knight Templar degree of Scottish Rite, was very prominent in Masonry and organized sev- eral lodges in the county.
W. R. MeClure was reared in this county where he has spent his entire life. He has witnessed almost its entire growth and development. He herded cattle here before the roads were laid out or the prairies fenced. He has lived to see many notable changes in the county as the work of improvement and de- velopment has been carried steadily forward and he relates many interesting incidents of the early days. His worth as a business man and as a citizen. well entitle him to representation in this volume, while admirable social qual- ities render him popular with his many friends.
JOHN H. DERROUGH.
John H. Derrongh, one of Warren county's prominent citizens, is a leading factor in financial circles, filling the position of cashier of the Warren County State Bank at Indianola. He was born in Brown county, Ohio, March 16. 1847, and his parents. Gordon and Nancy (Dixon) Derrough, were natives of Adams and Brown counties. Ohio, respectively. The father was a farmer by occupation and was reared, educated and married in his native state. In 1856
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J. H. DERROUGH
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he removed westward to Warren county, Iowa, traveling for six weeks with a party that had a train of nine wagons. He settled three miles west of Palmyra, where he engaged in the cultivation of a rented farm for one year and then removed to Belmont township, where he owned a farm upon which he lived several years. He spent his remaining days on his farm in Otter township. He was born in the year 1817 and passed away in 1885. His political support was first given to the whig party, while later he became a stanch advocate of the republican party. His family numbered nine children : Mary, the wife of William Silcott; Francis M .; Alice J., the wife of William C. Howe; John H. of this review ; Mrs. Georgiana Shaver; Jemima F., who married H. P. Spence and is now deceased; Sarah Ellen, who is now Mrs. Judkins; George W .; and William C., who died in infancy.
In the public schools of Ohio John H. Derrough began his education and afterward attended Simpson College at Indianola. Much of his life has been devoted to educational work for he taught school for twenty terms. He proved both a capable instructor and disciplinarian and the interest of the schools of the locality was largely promoted through his efforts. Following his marriage he accepted a clerkship in a store at Hammondsburg. He was also employed in a similar manner at Milo and in 1882 removed to Indianola. where for four years he filled the position of deputy county clerk. He was elerk of the district court for six years and discharged the duties of both positions in a most prompt and capable manner. He afterward engaged in the furniture and undertaking business as senior partner of the firm of Der- rough & Proudfoot but subsequently he sold his interests to J. H. Dyke. He next became assistant cashier in the Warren County State Bank and has been cashier since 1905. while he also is serving as one of its directors. During the years of his residence here, through his connection with official. mercantile and financial interests, he has maintained an unassailable reputation, enjoying to the fullest extent the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been associated.
On the 17th of October, 1874. Mr. Derrough was married to Miss Lue A. Kinsley, a native of Marion county. Indiana, and a daughter of Robert and Ruth (Hollingsworth) Kinsley, both of whom were natives of the Hoosier state. The father was a farmer by occupation and in 1856 eame to Iowa. driving across the country and casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers who aided in reclaiming this region for the purpose of development and civilization. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kinsley were born nine children : Mrs. Derrough. George W .. Robert L .. John C., Eliza E .. deceased ; William F., deceased ; Alwilda and Appolis. also deceased. and Melvin. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Derrough have been born six children, of whom four are now living : Fred O., Nora E .. Harry E. and Mande. Their second child. Roy. died at the age of four and one-half years and their last daughter. Nellie. is also deceased.
Mr. Derrough gives his political allegiance to the republican party but. while he is deeply interested in its snecess and has been faithful in the discharge of publie duties. he cannot be said to be a politician in the sense of office seeking. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons. Odd Fellows and the
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Ancient Order of United Workmen, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
Long a resident of the county his life history is largely familiar to his fellow townsmen who find in his record naught that does not command re- spect and confidence, so that he is classed with the representative and valued citizens of the community.
G. E. HATFIELD, M. D.
Dr. G. E. Hatfield. who since 1892 has been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in bacona. has gained a large and lucrative patronage during these years. He is a native of Oregon. Holt county, Missouri, born April 21. 1868. a son of Rev. J. L. and Helen M. (Carpenter) Hatfield. The father is a native of the Buckeye state, where he was reared. acquiring his edneation in the Ohio State University, while later he was ordained to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was first identified with the Missouri conference, being located at Oregon, that state and later was pastor of the churches at Trenton and at Chillicothe, Missouri. Later he was elected to a chair in the Ohio State University and for fourteen years was a noted educator in that institution of learning but resigned and removed to Indianola. where he now makes his home. His sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Hatfield is the daughter of Dr. E. G. Carpenter, a noted physician and surgeon of the Buckeye state.
Dr. G. E. Hatfield accompanied his parents on their various removals and was mostly reared and educated in Indianola. he entered Simpson College. where he spent four years. Deciding upon the profession of medicine as a life work he then began to study under Dr. L. Baker. a prominent physician and surgeon of that place and later took a course of lectures in the State University. He then spent three years in Rush Medical College, at Chicago, Illinois, being graduated from that institution in the class of 1892. During the periods of vacation he practiced with his preceptor. Dr. Baker, and after completing his course located for practice in Lacona. where he has been located ever since. He is meeting with excellent success, his services being sought not only in the city but also in the surrounding districts.
Dr. Hatfield was married in 1896 to Miss Olive Snuggs, a native of Iowa. who was born and reared in Warren county, where she was engaged in teach- ing prior to her marriage.
The Doctor and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal churchi and are workers in the church and Sunday school. In his fraternal rela- tions he is identified with the blue lodge at Lacona, in which he attained the degree of Master Mason, and has served as master of the lodge at Lacona three times during the last fifteen years, while both he and his wife are men- bers of the Eastern Star. in which the latter has served through all the chairs. In the strict path of his profession the Doctor is identified with the
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