USA > Iowa > Washington County > History of Washington County, Iowa from the first white settlements to 1908. Also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county, Vol. II > Part 19
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Dr. Arthaud was brought by his parents to this county when but a few months old and lived in Marion township until he reached the age of seven years when the family removed to Henry county, Iowa. There his boyhood and youth were passed on the home farm and he early became familiar with all of the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He at- tended the district schools and when not busy with his text-books gave his attention to general farming. He remained under the parental roof until he had reached his majority when he made his way westward to Taylor county, lowa, where he carried on agricultural pursuits on his own account. having one hundred and eighty acres of rich and productive land. In 1896 he retired from active farm life, sold his property and in 1898 took up the study of osteopathy, being graduated from the Kirksville (Mo.) College in January, 1900. He located for practice in Burlington, where he remained for two years and in 1902 came to Washington, where he has remained con- tinnonsly since, enjoying a constantly growing practice as he demonstrates the worth of his school of healing and his capability in following its methods of practice.
In December, 1881, Daniel Arthaud was married to Miss Mary A. Henry. of Lee county, Iowa, a daughter of Robert and Mary Henry. They are the parents of two children : Bessie E. and Lee K. Mrs. Arthand is a member
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of the Methodist church. She presides with gracious hospitality over her pleasant home and entertainment there is always a source of delight to their many friends. Dr. Arthaud belongs to Orion Lodge. K. P., while in pro- fessional lines he is connected with the Southeastern lowa Osteopathic As- sociation. Politically he is an earnest republican, thoroughly conversant with the questions and issues of the day and has filled some local offices, serving as school director in Taylor county and also as township trustee and assessor. No trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree and he is most loyal in his official service. He represents one of the old families of this part of the state and has himself been an interested witness of the progress and development of Iowa for more than a half cen- tury. He can well remember when much of the land in this district was wild and unimproved and when the homes were widely scattered. He has lived to see a notable transformation and the Arthaud family has not been negligent while the work of general improvement has been carried forward but on the contrary its members have ever borne their full share in promoting the general improvement and upbuilding.
J. J. AYERS.
Among the venerable citizens of this county is numbered J. J. Ayers, who has now reached the age of eighty-five years. His has been an honorable and useful life and one which has gained for him the well merited regard and confidence of those with whom he has come in contact. He was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, February 8, 1824, and was the third in order of birth in a family of seven children whose parents were John and Rachel (Dunek) Ayers, both of whom were natives of Maryland, where they re- sided until 1831, when they left that state and removed to Ohio. After a residence of twenty years there they came to Washington county, Iowa, in 1851, settling in Lime Creek township, where they remained until called to their final rest, both passing away in 1875. In their family were seven children, as follows: Elizabeth and John T., both of whom are deceased : J. J., of this review ; Rachel A. and Benjamin, who have also passed away : Ruth, the wife of Reuben Rickey, who is mentioned on another page of this work : and Darcus S., a resident of Oklahoma.
J. J. Ayers spent his youthful days in his father's home, accompanying his parents on their removal to Ohio when a lad of seven years. He also came with them to Iowa fifty-eight years ago and continued to assist his father in the operation of the home farm in Lime Creek township until thirty-four years of age, when he was married and began farming on his own account. He wedded Miss Louisa Baker, who was born in Pickaway county. Ohio, in 1838 and was a daughter of Jacob and Anna (Davis) Baker. The father was born in Delaware and the mother was a native of Maryland. The former died in Ohio in 1860, while the mother passed away in 1868 while visiting at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Ayers. In the family of that
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worthy couple were nine children: Minerva, Treasie, Catharine, James D, Louisa, Warren, Harriet, Tricilla and one who died in infancy.
Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Avers began their domestic life on the farm where they now reside, Mr. Ayers owning here a tract of land of eighty acres in Lime Creek township. His time and energies are given to its continuous cultivation and development and his industry and enterprise are manifest in the well improved appearance of the place. He is reliable in all of his business dealings, active and energetic, and his well directed labors have brought him his success.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Ayers has been blessed with three children : Dora, who was born December 23, 1858, and died on the 6th of August, 1881 ; Perry L., living in English River township : and Eva E .. who is the wife of J. C. Rowe. The parents are well known in this part of the county, where they have an extensive circle of warm friends. Mr. Ayers votes with the democracy and is in sympathy with its purposes but does not seek nor desire office. He is not remiss in the duties of citizenship, however, but in a quiet way supports whatever measure or movement he deems will prove of benefit to the community.
EDWARD L. JONES.
An accident of the past year which brought poignantly home to the people of Wellman the uncertainty of man's life, was that which was the occasion of the death of Edward L. Jones. He and his son were driving a friend to the train, when the team took fright at some stumps by the road- side and started to run at such a speed that the occupants of the carriage were thrown from the vehicle, as it turned a corner. Mr. Jones had three ribs broken, one of them piercing his lungs, and experienced other internal in- juries, all of which combined resulted in his death, despite the best medical attention and constant efficient nursing. His last two days were filled with pain and suffering, which he sustained with the courage and fortitude that had distinguished him in his assumption of life's burdens.
Mr. Jones was born in Washington county, September 11, 1855, the son of J. C. and Maria ( Carris ) Jones. The father was a native of Ohio and the mother of New York, and they came to Washington county, Iowa, after their marriage. This was in 1854, before the days of adequate railway transpor- tation, and the little party, which numbered thirteen, including an adopted son, traversed the distance in a canvas-covered wagon. It was an experience replete with stirring reminiscences, of the kind which have now passed into history. The family were among the pioneers of Washington county and did their share in the development of its resources. The mother, it would seem, has had more than her share of hardships and sorrow, for in the past few years those who were dearest to her have been taken suddenly. Her first trial was in witnessing the death of her eldest son ; this was followed. after only a short interval, by the death of Dan Jack, the adopted son pre-
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viously referred to. The death of her husband made an even greater demand upon her faith and fortitude, and now her son's death crowns her measure of sorrow.
Edward L. Jones was the second son in a family of five children, of whom Mrs. Henry Foster and Mirs. T. J. Moon, both of Wellman, alone survive ; Frank C., the eldest, having died some years ago, and Mary Georgiana, not living through the period of infancy. Mr. Jones spent all of his life in the neighborhood of his birth-place, where his hard toil and careful manage- ment enabled him to secure two good farms, one of four hundred acres in this county and another of two hundred acres in Missouri. During the later years of his life he devoted more and more time to the stock business, and had established a name for himself as the breeder of full-blood hogs and cattle.
On the 29th of November. 1877, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Darling, who bore him six children : Mrs. Bertha Bower, Spring- field. Illinois ; Giles, of Wellman ; Glyn, of Kalona ; Edward Forest, Omer and Lester L., at home. Mrs. Jones died April 8, 1901, and on the 30th of December, 1903, Mr. Jones married Miss Georgiana Folger, of Washing- ton, Iowa. Of this union there have been born three children, Mary Mar- garet, Frank Folger and Edward L.
Mr. Jones was a man well thought of in the community. In his business dealings he was always found to be honest and upright, a man whose word was as good as his note. To his wife. he was ever aikind and loving husband, and to his children, an affectionate father .: The large company of friends who on June 24, 1908, accompanied his remains to their last resting-place, was but one token of the love and esteem his noble qualities as a man had won for him in the hearts of those who had opportunity to know him best.
D. S. COLE.
D. S. Cole, a photographer of Washington, who has here been engaged in business since 1865, has done much notable work in the line of his pro- fession as representative of different railroad companies and also in con- nection with military movements in the Philippines. He had but recently attained his majority when he located his studio in Washington, his birth having occurred in Franklin county, Ohio, November 22, 1843. His father, David P. Cole, was born in New Jersey in 1813 and in early life learned and followed the blacksmith's trade. When a young man he removed to Ohio and later became a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church but did not abandon the trade which he had learned. In 1855 he came to Iowa and for many years carried on blacksmithing in Washington. His business activity was interrupted, however, by his service in the Union army in the Civil war. In September, 1861, he offered his services to the government and at the same time his son, D. S. Cole, joined the army. The father, however, was rejected on account of his age. He later enlisted in the Thirty-seventh
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Fowa Volunteer Infantry, known as the Graybeard Regiment, serving his full time doing garrison duty at Columbus, Ohio, and at Rock Island, Illi- nois. He died in the soldiers' home in Marshalltown, lowa, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Martha Wright, was born in New Jersey in 1812 and they were married in Ohio. Her death occurred in Washington when she had reached the age of eighty-seven years. Their family numbered eight children: Emma C., deceased ; Owen, Lucy and Benjamin, all of whom died in childhood; Mrs. Sarah J. Beaty, living in Washington, Iowa ; D. S. ; William K., a resident of Michigan; and C. O., now deceased, who for seventeen years was a machinist on Government Island at Rock Island, Illinois.
D. S. Cole was only twelve years of age when brought to Washington and in the common schools here he continued his education and also assisted his father in the shop, learning blacksmithing when quite young. His taste, however, was along more artistic lines and he took up the study of photography, establishing his studio in Washington in 1865. He has done much notable work in the line of his profession, spending five years in mak- ing views for the Northwestern Railway and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company in Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. In 1903 he was appointed by Secretary Root as official photographer for the Thirteenth Cavalry and spent a year and a half in the Philippines. He is an expert in his chosen line, thoroughly conversant with the most modern processes of the art and with clear understanding of the value of light, shade. form and color. He has in his possession many interesting views of the places he has visited and his mind is stored with pleasing, amusing and instructive recollections of his trips.
There is another chapter in the life history of Mr. Cole that is worthy of more than passing notice. In September. 1861, when he was yet a youth of seventeen years, he offered his services to the government, enlisting as a member of Company K, Thirteenth lowa Volunteer Infantry. He was with that regiment in all of the engagements up to and including the battle of Atlanta, in which he was captured on the 22d of July, 1864. He was then sent to Andersonville prison, where he remained until April 28, 1865, when he was released fourteen days after the assassination of President Lincoln.
Mr. Cole was mustered out at Davenport, Iowa, and then returned to Washington, where he has since made his home. On the 2d of November. 1867, he wedded Miss M. C. Auld, who was born in Brighton, this county, in 1848 and is a daughter of J. H. and Hannah Auld, who settled in Wash- ington county in the early '405. The death of Mrs. Cole occurred December 27. 1882. Three children had been born of that marriage: Henry, who died in infancy; Ivy I., the wife of F. V. Boyce, of St. Louis: and M. C., a photographer of Alliance, Nebraska.
Mr. Cole cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln and has never wavered in his allegiance to the republican party since that time, for he regards its policy as most conductive to bring about needed reform and improvement and to secure the passage of necessary regulative and con- structive legislation. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and with
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the Grand Army Post at Columbus Junction, lowa, and finds pleasure in the camp fires of that organization. His chosen life work has been one of in- tense interest to him, appealing strongly as it does to the artistic side of his nature, at the same time giving opportunity for the attainment of that success which follows as a logical sequence of laudable ambition and per- sistent effort.
N. L. DORRANCE.
N. L. Dorrance has spent almost his entire life in this county where he arrived in 1854. Great changes have since occurred and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. At the time of his arrival much of the country was wild prairie district cov- ered with the native grasses, amid which bloomed thousands of wild flowers in the spring and summer months while in the winter seasons the district was covered with one unbroken expanse of snow. The labors of man have wrought a wonderful change. even seeming to have an influence on climatic conditions. Mr. Dorrance relates many interesting incidents of the carly days, and as the years have passed he has borne his full share in the arduous labor that has wrought the transformation.
A native of Ohio, his birth occurred in Huron county on the 25th of September, 1837, his parents being William and Naomi (Robinson) Dor- rance, the former a native of Vermont while the latter was born in the state of New York. They were numbered among the early residents of Ohio, the father there purchasing a tract of timber land whereon he at once began the work of development and improvement. In order to shelter the family a little log cabin was built and then the arduous task of clearing away the trees was begun. As acre after acre was cleared it was put under the plow and in due course of time substantial harvests were garnered. Mr. Dorrance there lived and labored until 1854, when he started for the great district west of the Mississippi river. In June he arrived in Washington county, Iowa, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land in Lime Creek township. On the tract was a little log cabin sixteen by sixteen feet. in which the family lived for some time but later the energy and enterprise of the family enabled them to supplant the frontier dwelling by a more commodious and substantial residence. The father, however, did not long enjoy his new home for he died the fall following his arrival in Iowa. Ilis wife long survived him and passed away in 1896 at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years. She was a most worthy woman whose many good qualities endeared her to those with whom she came in contact. In the family were seven children, but only two are now living : N. L. and Tamer. now the wife of Thomas P. McReynolds.
N. L. Dorrance was but a youth of sixteen years when the family bade adieu to their Ohio home and started for Iowa, settling on the farm which is now his place of residence. He at once became an active factor in the development and improvement of the farm. Owing to the death of the
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father the task of making this a productive property devolved upon the children, and N. L. Dorrance was foremost in the work. He remained at home until 1856 when he removed to Madison county, Iowa, where he re- mained for two years, and then returned to Washington county, where he has since continued.
As a companion and helpmate for the journey of life Mr. Dorrance chose Miss Chloe Dodge, whom he wedded on the 22d of December, 1870. She was a native of Stephenson county, Illinois, born on the 23d of September, 1853. and was a daughter of Edward and Mary E. (Wilson) Dodge, who were natives of Virginia. In their family were ten children. The parents both lived to reach an advanced age, the father passing away in 1902 while the mother's death occurred on the 20th of March, 1909. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Dorrance was blessed with five children. Dora Ann, who was born October 4, 1872, became the wife of Charles F. Mayer, of this county, and died June 6, 1906, leaving a husband and one son, Paul F., to mourn her loss. William H. is now a resident of Keokuk county, Iowa. Nellie E. is at home. Ralph G. is a resident of Missouri and Sylvia N. is now a student in the high school at Wellman.
Mr. Dorrance received only a common-school education but has given his children good opportunities in that direction. He has reared his family on the old homestead farin which comprises ninety-two acres of rich and arable land in Lime Creek township. Here he carefully tilled the fields year after year, working earnestly for the success which has come to him. He has never taken advantage of the necessities of another in a business trans- action, but has sought his prosperity in the legitimate lines of labor. Both he and his wife attend the United Brethren church and in politics he is a republican with firm belief in the principles of the party. He served as con- stable for six years and has been a member of the school board but does not seek nor desire political preference although always interested in every- thing pertaining to general progress. While he has now passed the age of seventy-one years he still gives active supervision to his farm in a com- munity where for more than half a century he has been numbered among its agriculturists, placing his dependence in the attainment of success upon the substantial qualities of energy, endurance and determination.
HARRY DYE.
Harry Dye, devoting his time and energies to agricultural pursuits, owns a tract of land of one hundred and fifty-eight acres in Highland township, which is generally conceded to be one of the best improved and most pro- ductive farms in the entire county. He was born in Morgan county, Ohio, on the 5th of October, 1875, a son of Joseph and Nancy (McFarland) Dye, who are natives of Muskingum county and Morgan county, Ohio, respec- tively. The great-grandfather on the paternal side was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and participated in the battle of Monmouth under Wash-
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ington. The marriage of Joseph Dye and Nancy McFarland was celebrated in Ohio and they continued to reside in Morgan county until 1882, when they journeyed westward, locating in Oregon township, Washington county, Iowa. Here they have since made their home, being well known and highly esteemed residents of the community.
Harry Dye was reared under the parental roof and after completing the course of study in the common schools he entered the Ainsworth high school, from which institution he was graduated in 1896. After returning home he gave his father the benefit of his services in the work of the fields, being thus actively engaged until 1902, when he left the farm to attend the Pan American Exposition. While on this trip he was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Elizabeth Parmiter, of McConnelsville, Morgan county, Ohio, to whom he had plighted his troth sometime previously. On returning to this county he made his home on his aunt's farm for a year and then spent two years on the farm of his father. The death of his aunt, Mrs. Eleanor Boden, occurred about that time and her property reverted to the Dye family, our subject receiving an eighty-acre tract of land, together with bank stock, etc. Mrs. Boden was a sister of the mother of Harry Dye and the widow of Nathaniel Boden, who came to Washington county in 1856. Mr. Dye sold the eighty-acre farm which he had inherited and in 1905 bought his present place of one hundred and fifty-eight acres in Highland township, to the cultivation and improvement of which he has since given his attention. He is thoroughly familiar with the best methods of farming and in his agricul- tural interests has won a measure of success that entitles him to recognition among the leading and prosperous citizens of the county.
Politically Mr. Dye gives unfaltering allegiance to the democracy and is at present serving as a member of the board of township trustees. Both he and his wife are devoted and faithful members of the Bethel Presbyterian church, in which he is acting as an elder. In all life's relations, whether in public office, in business or in social circles he has gained the good will and regard of those with whom he has been associated and his friends speak of him in terms of high praise and kindly esteem.
GEORGE WHETSTINE.
George Whetstine has been aptly termed a man of purpose and the story of his life is a story of honesty, industry and thrift. He is numbered among this county's native sons and the day of his birth was March 18, 1857. His parents were John and Mary J. ( Norman) Whetstine, natives of Indiana and of Tennessee respectively. The father came to this county in 1852 when it was still a pioneer district and from the government entered land in Lime Creek township, whereon he built a log cabin, covering the same with clap- board roof. The little dwelling had a puncheon floor and a door on which was fastened the old-fashioned wooden latch with a string which hung out in the daytime and was drawn in at night so that the door could not be opened
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from the outside. For a few years that pioneer home remained the abode of the family. The efforts required to live in those ungenerous surround- ings, the necessity of making every blow tell and to exercise every inventive faculty developed powers of mind and habit which have established honored names on the Iowa prairies. The Whetstine family have borne their full part in the work of general progress and improvement here and the father continued his residence in Lime Creek township until called to his final rest, on the 24th of March, 1905. His widow still survives and yet lives in this county at the age of seventy-three years. In their family were eleven chil- dren : Henry, a resident of Kansas ; George, of this review : Robert. now in Idaho ; Joseph, deceased ; Ida, the wife of Jack Goodwin, of this county ; William, also a resident of Idaho; Newton and Melvin, who make their home in this county ; and the three youngest, who have passed away.
George Whetstine during the period of his youth spent upon his father's farm, attended the common schools in order to acquire an education and by his father was trained in the work of the fields, his experiences in that direc- tion being by no means meager. The practical knowledge of farm work which he gained has since proven of immense value to him and well quali- fied him for carrying on the work of the farm when he started out in life on his own account. On attaining his majority he and his father leased a tract of timber land from T. J. Allen and cleared it, receiving as a compensa- tion the use of the land rent free for three years. At the end of that time George Whetstine rented another farm which he cultivated for two years, and carefully saving his earnings in the meantime he was then able to pur- chase forty acres of the farm upon which he now resides. As his financial resources have increased he has added to the property from time to time, extending the boundaries of his farm until it now comprises one hundred and twenty acres on section 36, Lime Creek township. All of the improvements upon it are the work of his hands and the buildings stand as monuments to his labor and enterprise, while the fields reward his energy and activity by good harvests. He has lived a very busy and useful life, winning that suc- cess which comes as the direct result of close application and unfaltering perseverance.
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