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 31
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Mrs. Foster spent her early girlhood in her parents' home and afterward engaged in teaching school, which profession she followed for seven years. She is a valued member and active worker in the Eastern Star at Wellman and is now serving as its worthy matron and is also grand marshal of the state lodge. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Foster have been born five children : Burrell C., who was born August 31, 1886, and is a graduate of the Wellman high school; Ellery N., who was born February 14, 1889, and also completed the
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high-school course in Wellman ; Wayne J., who was born June 19, 1891, and is a graduate of the Wellman high school; Warren H., who was born August 24, 1894, and is now a pupil in the high school of Wellman; and Morgan J., who was born August 25, 1897.
The family is one of prominence in the community and the hospitality of the best homes of this portion of the county is freely extended to the mem- bers of the Foster household. Both Mr. and Mrs. Foster have a large circle of friends and acquaintances and wherever known are held in high esteem. Mr. Foster has long ranked with the leading farmers of this part of the state, his enterprise and ability bringing him a large measure of success in his chosen field of labor.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM A. WILSON.
Captain William A. Wilson, now well known as a prominent stock-raiser and farmer, residing in Washington, started out in life for himself at the age of twenty-two years with a cash capital of but ten dollars. He began operating a rented farm and as the years have passed his well directed industry and capable management have brought him into prominent con- nections with the agricultural interests of southeastern Iowa.
He was born in Shelby county, Indiana, August 18, 1831, and is a son of Allen and Henrietta (Dryden) Wilson. He comes of English ancestry in the paternal line, and Scotch on maternal side, although the family was founded in America at an early day. His grandfather, Ammon Wilson, was a native of the state of New York, where he followed farming for many years. He served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812 and was ever loyal to the best interests of his home locality, his state and nation. He lived to a ripe old age and reared a family that included Allen. Abijah, Abner, Ammon, Margaret and Lucy Wilson.
The maternal grandfather of Captain Wilson was William Dryden, a native of Ohio and a farmer by occupation. He, too, espoused the cause of the country in the second war with England. Both he and his wife. Mrs. Henrietta Dryden, lived to advanced years. Their family numbered six sons and six daughters, including Henrietta Dryden, who was born in Ohio and in early womanhood gave her hand in marriage to Allen Wilson, a native of New York. This worthy couple were the parents of Captain Wilson. The father devoted his life to general agricultural pursuits and on his removal from the Empire state established his home in Shelby county, Indiana, among its early settlers. He afterward removed to Mercer county, Illinois, in 1835 and there died in 1855 at the age of seventy-five years. His wife sur- vived him for a long period and passed away in 1895. at the remarkable old age of one hundred and three years. She retained wonderful vigor to the last, walking three or four blocks the day prior to her death. She was a member of the Methodist church from early womanhood, while Mr. Wilson was reared in the Presbyterian faith. However, after his marriage he went with
WILLIAM A. WILSON
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATION
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his wife to the Methodist church. Unto them were born seven children, four sons and three daughters: Sarah K., the deceased wife of Richard Shield; William A .; Chauncey B., deceased; Lovena, the wife of L. H. Woodard, of Clinton, Iowa; Jay, who has passed away; Allen, also de- ceased ; and Louisa, the wife of John Stevens, of Mercer county, Illinois. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were married twice. The father had no children by his first marriage. After losing her husband Mrs. Henrietta Wilson became the wife of Noble L. Grimes, and they had two children, Rachel and Noble L.
Captain William A. Wilson was a little lad of but four years when he ac- companied his parents on their removal to Illinois. His youthful days were spent on the home farm in Mercer county and in the district schools he mastered the common branches of learning. Ambitious for an education he would frequently sit up until midnight and read or study by the light of burning hickory bark. His days were filled with the work of the fields as he aided in plowing, planting and harvesting. When he left the parental roof at the age of twenty-two years and started out in life on his own ac- count he had a cash capital of only ten dollars, but he possessed certain qualities which are indispensable to success-energy, industry and laudable ambition. His previous experiences, too, well qualified him for farm work, and, renting a tract of land, he thus engaged in farming for two years, after which he bought eighty acres of land in Mercer county, where he lived for three years. On disposing of that property he invested in one hundred and sixty acres, which he cultivated until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when, feeling that his duty to his country was paramount to all others, he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Second Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, with which he served for about three years. He went to the front as second lieutenant, was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and later com- missioned captain, while subsequently he was brevetted major. He took part in a number of hotly contested engagements, including the battles of Buz- zard's Roost, Resaca, Burnt Hickory, Kenesaw Mountain, the second battle of Lookout Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and the Atlanta campaign. He also participated in many of the long, hard marches and in all the campaigning that constitutes the life of the soldier on the field.
When the war was over Captain Wilson returned to Mercer county, Illinois, where he resumed farming which he conducted with notable success, making investments in land from time to time until he had accumulated nine hundred and sixty acres, when he disposed of his property in 1884 and removed to Lane county, Kansas. There he and his sons had five thousand acres of land, but the hot winds destroyed their crops and, disposing of his farm, Mr. Wilson purchased forty teams and aided in building the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the extension of the Rock Island road to Colorado. He was likewise engaged in the construction of a road from Garden City, Kan- sas, to the line of the Missouri Pacific. A private company was engaged in that enterprise and through its failure Captain Wilson lost six thousand dol- lars, which he has never recovered. In 1889 he came to Washington county, Jowa, having traded his Kansas land for three farms in this locality, two in
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Highland township comprising two hundred and eighty acres, and one in Marion township of one hundred and twenty acres. Bending his energies to their further cultivation and development he was busily employed in the work of improving those properties until 1903, when he sold out and purchased the Brockway farm of four hundred acres in Highland township. His son Sheridan was his partner in that deal and they still own the farm. Since 1903, however, Captain Wilson has made his home in Washington.
On the 24th of September. 1857, Captain Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Keziah Woodward, a daughter of Lofland H. and Keziah Wood- ward. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson became parents of eight sons and three daugh- ters: Allen J., now deceased, married Emma Clark and had two children, one of whom, Fred, survives; Edward S., wedded Cassie Willets; Dick Yates, who for four years was clerk of Republic county, Kansas, and chief clerk of the state assembly for two terms and is now living in Chattanooga. Oklahoma, wedded Mary Puckett and they have six living children, Louisa, Flo, Alberta, Dick Yates, Ressa and Mary Alice ; Ressa is the wife of Bert Willits, of this county, and they have six children, Edward, Cloyd, Grace, Roy, Glenn and Stella : Sheridan, who operates the home farm, married Maggie Brady, who died leaving four children, William P., Dick Y., Louisa and Ed- ward, and after her death he married Ola Crone, by whom he has three chil- dren, Alice, Fay and Merle : John S., who was county recorder of Washington county for four years and now resides in the city of Washington, married Eva Palmer and has five children, Elizabeth, Leila, Palmer, Frances and Helen ; Harvey P., who follows farming in Jackson township, wedded Mary Logue and has three children, Ressa, Glenn and Harold; Louie and Gracie both died in childhood : Bert M., formerly a farmer and now an auctioneer of Alberta, Canada, married Maud Fordyce and has four children, Eilene, Madge, Jay and Max ; and Frank M., a resident farmer of Highland town- ship, married Della Owens and has three children, Mabel, Oma and Mildred. Mrs. Keziah Wilson, the mother of this family, who was born October 28, 1841, died May 7, 1884.
On the 18th of August, 1885, Captain Wilson was again married, his second union being with Miss Emma Hagan, a native of Highland town- ship, Washington county, Jowa, and a daughter of Joseph and Hannah (Leffler) Hagan, who were natives of Germany. The mother was brought to this country when four years of age and was reared and married in this county. Mr. Hagan came to this county when a young man. There were four children of that marriage, all of whom died in infancy with the exception of Mrs. Wilson. The mother died in 1867 when Mrs. Wilson was four years old and she was reared by her maternal grandparents. Her father died in 1893 at the age of sixty-two years. Unto Captain and Mrs. Wilson two chil- dren have been born: Emma, who died in infancy : and Ruth Schley.
The parents are members of the Methodist church, and Captain Wilson belongs to the Masonic lodge and to the Grand Army of the Republic. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and while in Mercer county, Illinois, he served as county commissioner for twenty years. While he has met with some reverses in life he has never allowed himself to be-
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come discouraged by these and with resolute spirit has overcome the diffi- culties and obstacles which he has met. Thus year by year he has made sub- ington county, not alone by reason of the prosperity he has achieved but also stantial progress and is now numbered among the valued citizens of Waslı- owing to the straightforward business methods he has ever followed.
GOTTLIEB KREBS.
lowa with its splendid agricultural possibilities offers excellent opportun- ity to him who wishes to earn his living by the tilling of the soil. Devoting his time and energies in successful manner to the cultivation and improve- ment of a farm. Gottlieb Krebs has become well known as a prominent and progressive citizen of Iowa township, where he owns and operates two hun- dred acres of land. He was born on the farm where he now resides. January 7, 1874. a son of Frederick and Rachel (Hagen ) Krebs. The parents were natives of Germany and came to the United States in the '50s, locating first in New York, where the father was engaged as a farm hand. They later removed to Massachusetts and subsequently came west, establishing their home in Washington county, this state, where the father purchased forty acres of farm land. He became a very successful farmer and as he pros- pered he extended his possessions until he was an extensive owner of valu- able land. He passed away on the 27th of March, 1904. and is still sur- vived by his wife, who, at the age of seventy-three years, resides in River- side, Iowa. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Krebs were the follow- ing children : Mary, deceased: Louise, the wife of Jacob Franks, of Iowa township: Jane, who wedded Jacob Lawser and resides in Kalona, Iowa; Rachel, the wife of Charles Gerot, living in Riverside : Henry, a farmer of Washington county ; Frederick and John, living in Iowa township ; Wil- liam : and Charles, also residents of Iowa township; and Gottlieb. of this review.
Gottlieb Krebs spent the days of his boyhood and youth upon the home farm, acquiring his education in the district schools of the neighborhood. The periods of vacation were devoted to the work of the fields and he early became familiar with the tasks that commonly fall to the farm lad. When he laid aside his text-books he chose as a life work the occupation to which he had been reared. He therefore remained at home, operating the farm in partnership with his father until the latter's demise, when the old homestead was deeded to him and he has continued to reside thereon to the present time. It is a finely improved place of two hundred acres of valuable land, while he also owns ten acres of timberland. He carries on general agricul- tural pursuits, having brought his fields under a high state of cultivation, and also devotes a large portion of his time and attention to the raising of cattle and hogs. This branch of his business interests has been most suc- cessful and is proving a very substantial source of revenue.
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Mr. Krebs was united in marriage in September, 1902, to Miss Mary Shebeck, of Riverside, Washington county. He is democratic in politics and is a stalwart supporter of the principles of that party. although neither desiring nor seeking public office as a reward for party fealty. lle has never allied himself with any fraternal organization but prefers the pleasures and companionship offered at his own fireside. He has never sought to figure prominently in any public light, but in business has proven capable and re- liable and his intense and well directed activity is now bringing him a grati- fying measure of prosperity which ranks him among the prosperous and representative farmers of this district. Having passed his entire life in the place where he now resides, his circle of acquaintances has become very extensive and the fact that he is most highly respected where he is best known is an indication that his salient characteristics are such as command the respect, trust and good will of all with whom he has come in contact.
MARTIN P. MILLER.
On the list of Washington county's honored dead appears the name of Martin P. Miller who for many years figured as one of the most prominent, prosperous and honored merchants of the city of Washington, where he owned and conducted the New York Store. In all things he measured up to the full standard of manhood and the warm regard entertained for him throughout the county caused the news of his demise to be received with deep and sincere sorrow in this portion of the state.
He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, December 28, 1858, and was a son of Samuel and Barbara (Finnefrock) Miller, who were likewise natives of the Keystone state. The family is an old one of Pennsylvania, the grandfather having been born there, while for many years he followed farming about eight miles from the city of Lancaster. The Finnefrock fam- ily was also represented in Lancaster county, where the maternal grand- father of our subject was born and carried on general agricultural pursuits.
Samuel Miller, who has made the occupation of farming his life work is still living in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Having lost his first wife in 1855, he has since married a Mrs. Crawford. The children of the first union were: George : Mary, who was the wife of the Rev. John Royer : Martin P., deceased ; Rev. Benjamin Miller : Anna, the wife of Harry Dennis ; Amanda, the wife of Alfred Collins; Frances, the deceased wife of Charles Jenks : Alice, the wife of the Rev. Charles Wiles ; Emma, the wife of Frank AcKain ; and Samuel, of Chicago.
Martin P. Miller was reared in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the old home farm and lessons of industry and diligence were early impressed upon his mind. He attended the district schools in the acquirement of his early education, afterward continued his studies at Mount Joy, Pennsyl- vania, and later taught school for a time. On his removal to the west in 1880 he located in Washington, where he began clerking for T. Saeger, and
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subsequently became a salesman in the store of Glaze & Ball. He with his brother-in-law, C. R. Daugherty, afterward purchased Mr. Ball's interests and he eventually became sole proprietor of the store. From a small be- ginning he built up the business until it was the largest dry-goods store in this section of the country, known as the New York Store. He conducted it along modern business lines, actuated in all that he did by a progressive spirit, his labors being the expression of well formulated and carefully exe- cuted plans.
On the 8th of July, 1884, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Willie Daugherty, a daughter of Captain Thomas S. and Christiana ( Rhodes) Daugherty. Mrs. Miller was born in Rock Island county, Illinois. Her pa- ternal grandfather, William Daugherty, was reared in Ohio and followed the occupation of farming as a life work. He married Susan Scott and in their later years they came to Iowa, where Mr. Daughetry died at an ad- vanced age. His wife survived him for a number of years and passed away in 1890. They were the parents of eight children: Jane and Thomas, both deceased; Susan, the deceased wife of Lewis Quinn; Charity, deceased wife of I. N. Watt, of Moline, Illinois; Rebecca, the deceased wife of John W. Maxwell; Lydia, who has also passed away; Martha, the wife of the Rev. M. A. Head ; and Della, deceased.
Of this family Captain Thomas S. Daugherty was born in Ohio and became one of the early settlers of Muscatine, Iowa. He engaged in teach- ing school in early manhood and afterward conducted a grocery store in Muscatine. His business activity, however, was interrupted at the time of the Civil war by his active service in defense of the Union. He became captain of Company 1, Twenty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in 1864, and while at the front was largely engaged in duty at Mobile, Alabama, and Brownsville, Texas. On leaving Muscatine he came to Wash- ington in 1867 and here established a grocery store, that he conducted until his death, which occurred in the '8os when he was forty-six years of age. In early manhood he had wedded Christiana Rhodes, a native of Kentucky. Her father, Thomas Rhodes, was a native of Ohio and married Elizabeth Ragan, who was born in Kentucky. He died in the state of his nativity when yet a young man. Mrs. Daugherty was their only child. She still survives her husband and yet lives in Washington. They were the parents of four children who reached adult age: Maude I., the deceased wife of Frank W. Maxwell; Willie Elizabeth, now Mrs. Miller; Charles R., of New York city ; and Docela, who died in early womanhood.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Miller was blessed with four children, three sons and a daughter, but the second child, Charles, died in infancy. Thomas S., the eldest, is a graduate of the Chicago University ; Dorothy is a sopho- more in the same institution ; and Maxwell P. is a graduate of the Washing- ton high school and now a student of the Chicago University.
The husband and father died February 6, 1904, and the news of his death brought a sense of personal bereavement to his many friends as well as his immediate family. Since her husband's death Mrs. Miller has carried on the New York Store and displays excellent business ability, executive
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management and sound judgment in the control of her affairs. She is also well known socially and is a member of the Methodist church, to which Mr. Miller likewise belonged. He was, moreover, a prominent Mason and held the office of grand treasurer of the state in 1892 and 1893. Politically he was a republican and served for a few years as a member of the city council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of all public measures which he deemed would prove beneficial to the community at large. His life was indeed a busy and useful one and he was justly accounted one of the repre- sentative and honored citizens of Washington. He was loyal in all public relations, faithful in friendship and devoted to the welfare of his family. He won his success by straightforward methods and his record constituted an example well worthy of emulation.
F. G. SANDS.
One of the well appointed mercantile establishments of Ainsworth is conducted by F. G. Sands, the senior partner of the firm of Sands Brothers. Early realizing that there is no royal road to wealth and that there is no excellence without labor he has put forth strenuous effort to build up a trade along the legitimate lines of business and throughout his entire career his course has conformed closely to a high standard of commercial ethics. He represents one of the old families of the county, his grandparents locating within its borders fifty-eight years ago. His birth occurred in Oregon town- ship. January 3, 1869, and he was the third in order of birth in a family of four children, whose parents were John W. and Martha (Shaw) Sands. His grandparents were Benjamin and Rosanna ( Hudson) Sands, who were natives of Tennessee, where the father of our subject was also born and lived to his twelfth year. when he accompanied his parents to Iowa, the family home being established in Washington county in 1851. Extended mention of the parents and grandparents is made on another page of this volume in connection with the history of A. E. Sands, a brother of our subject. The youthful days of Frank G. Sands were spent in the usual manner of farm lads of the locality and period. At the usual age he entered the public schools, pursuing his studies in Ainsworth and during the periods of vacation he worked in the fields, early becoming familiar with the best methods of plow- ing, planting and harvesting. He afterward supplemented his public-school course by a pharmaceutical course in lowa City, Iowa, and in 1892 he em- barked in the drug business at Thornburg, Keokuk county, Iowa, where he conducted a well appointed store until 1897. In that year he located in Ains- worth to become identified with its commercial interests. opening a grocery and drug store under the name of Sands Brothers. Since that time a stock of jewelry has been added, also a line of men's furnishing goods, a furniture department and an undertaking department. The firm has about sixty-five hundred square feet of floor space and owns a two-story brick business block. which is well equipped with a large line of goods in the different departments
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mentioned. They are well equipped to meet the various demands of the trade, closely study the wishes of their patrons and by the most reliable and enterprising business methods have met with splendid success. F. G. Sands is practically the manager of the business, while his brother, A. E. Sands, concentrates his energies upon banking interests as cashier of the Ainsworth Bank.
In his political views Mr. Sands is a stalwart republican. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as a trustee and his wife is also a member of that organization. His fraternal relations connect him with the Masonic lodge of Ainsworth.
On the 2d of August, 1895, Mr. Sands was married to Miss Mabel M. Keller, a resident of Washington county, and they have one son, Rex, who was born March 19. 1897. They occupy a leading position in the social circles of the town and the hospitality of the best homes is freely accorded them, for their genuine personal worth is widely recognized.
JOHN KENNEDY.
John Kennedy, who is one of the successful agriculturists of Washington township, engaged in general farming and stock-raising on section 23, was born in Herkimer county, New York, March 18, 1853, and is a son of James and Sarah Jane (McComb) Kennedy. His father was a native of County Down, Ireland, and of Scotch descent, his mother having been born and reared near Glasgow, Scotland. It was about the year 1850 that James Ken- nedy came to the United States, when he located in Herkimer county, New York, where he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Jane McComb, who was also a native of the Emerald isle. In 1850 they came to Washington county, Iowa, where he followed the occupation of a stone and brick mason and to some extent engaged in contract work. At the outbreak of the war of the rebellion he responded to the call for troops and enlisted in the Union army. becoming a member of Company F, Eleventh Iowa Volunteer Infan- try. He was present at the siege of Vicksburg and died in that city from illness contracted through exposure. His wife passed away on the 4th of March, 1857. leaving one child, the subject of this review.
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