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 7
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Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Vincent began their domestic life on their present farm, which then belonged to his father and later became his property on the division of the estate. Here they have lived continuously since. Mr. Vincent giving his undivided time and attention to the further development and cultivation of the place, which comprises one hundred and sixty acres of land. The soil is very rich and good harvests are annually gathered for Mr. Vincent is practical in his methods of tilling the soil. He does not hesitate to adopt any new measure or method which he believes will be of real value in his work and his well directed labors and energies have brought him substantial success. He endorses the republican party by his ballot at the polls and has served for several years as a member of the school board. He has also acted as supervisor and his official record has been char- acterized by unfaltering loyalty to duty. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are numbered among the county's well known and highly respected citizens.
WARREN L. BISHOP.
Warren L. Bishop, who is conducting a feed yard in Wellman, was born in Cedar township, this county, on the 4th of April. 1868, and is a son of Sanders E. and Mary E. (Livingston ) Bishop. His youthful days were spent under the parental roof. He remained at home until twenty-one years of age and acquired his early education in the public schools. He early be- came familiar with the duties and labors of the farm from the time of early spring planting until crops were harvested in the late autumn and when he attained his majority he rented the old homestead, which he continued to cultivate and improve until 1908. In 1900, with the money which he had carefully saved from his earnings he purchased eighty acres on section 8, Cedar township, and with characteristic energy began to develop his own
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property, cultivating it successfully until December, 1908. At that date he built a feed yard in Wellman, one hundred and twenty feet square, and re- moved to the city, where he has since conducted business, having a gratifying and growing patronage at this point.
Mr. Bishop was married in 1901 to Miss Anna L. Armacost, who was born in Ohio in 1877. Her parents are still living and make their home in Appanoose county, Iowa. They had a family of four children, including Mrs. Bishop, who by her marriage has become the mother of three children : Hilma, born November 24, 1903; Florence, who first opened her eyes to the light of day on the 21st of October, 1905 ; and Hugh A., whose birth occurred March 1, 1909. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are consistent and faithful mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church and his political support is given to the democracy. He has served as road supervisor and was a member of the school board for two terms. He is always interested in matters relative to the public welfare and especially in anything which relates to the progress and upbuilding of his native county, within whose borders he has spent his entire life. Industry and perseverance have ever been numbered among his salient characteristics and have brought him whatever measure of success he has enjoyed in his business career.
L. E. NAGLEY.
The farming interests of this state have always been in the hands of ener- getic and enterprising men and the soil has graciously responded to their efforts, surrounding those who have trusted to it with a measure of pros- perity which enables them to enjoy the comforts of life with no fear for the future. Among those who have been successful in tilling the soil here is L. E. Nagley, who operates a valuable farm in Washington township. He is a native of Madison county, Ohio, born May 11, 1862, and a son of Wil- liam and Mary (Bradley) Nagley. His father, who is also a native of that county, removed to Kirksville, Missouri, in 1865, and there he engaged in general agriculture until he departed this life three years later. He was a distant relative of General Nagley, who lives in Moberly, Missouri, at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. The mother of our subject was also born in Madison county, Ohio, where she was married, and she passed away at Piqua, that state, in 1900, her remains being there interred. She had three children, namely: L. E .; William Harley, a restaurant keeper of Ar- kansas ; and F. I., and agriculturist of that state. Upon the death of her hus- band. Mrs. Nagley wedded G. W. Looney, by whom she had four children : George, an agriculturist of Miami county, Ohio; L. W., who follows farming in Piqua, that state ; William, a telegraph operator residing in Indiana ; and Earl, a veterinary surgeon of Piqua, Ohio.
In his native town L. E. Nagley was accorded the advantage of an educa- tion in the common schools and remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-five years of age. At that period of his life he commenced farm-
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ing, which occupation he has since pursued with the exception of six months spent as a clerk in a general merchandise store. To this county he came in 1888, locating on one hundred acres of land in section 1, Washington town- ship, upon which he lias made all of the present improvements, his farm re- ceiving excellent attention and indicating that its owner is thrifty and pro- gressive. He follows general farming, raising various crops and also engag- ing in stock-breeding, raising cattle and hogs in particular. He also carries on a lucrative shipping business.
In 1888 Mr. Nagley was united in marriage to Miss Ida A. Phillips and they have one daughter, Mary Ethel, who lives with her parents. Mr. Nag- ley's political views are with the republican party and he is loyal to its can- didates particularly at national and state elections, and, taking quite an interest in local affairs, he has served the township as trustee for the past seven years. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and also to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife and daughter are also members, and he deserves mention among Washington township's represen- tative men.
JACKSON ROBERTS.
On the honor roll of Washington county appears the name of Jackson Roberts, who for many years was a leading lawyer of the city of Washing- ton and also one of the prominent and influential representatives of the republican party in this portion of the state, his qualities as a man and citizen gaining him warm friendships and kindly regard, and there were many who received with deep regret the news of his demise, feeling that fate should have rendered him many more years.
Mr. Roberts was a native of Groton, Vermont, born May 9, 1836. He was a direct descendant of Governor Thomas Roberts, the last colonial gov- ernor of New Hampshire, whose ancestors came to this country on the vessel Ann in 1623. He was reared at the Vermont home in the association of a family of brothers and sisters, the surviving members of which are: Mrs. John Plummer, of Lenox, Iowa ; Mrs. John Whitcher, of Passumpsic, Vermont ; J. H. Roberts, of Hastings, Nebraska; and Dr. T. G. Roberts, of Chicago. His home was amid the Vermont hills and one of his earliest teachers was D. N. Richardson, afterward editor of the Davenport Democrat, who in writing of Mr. Roberts many years afterward said: "I best remem- ber him as a boy of fourteen when he came to my school forty-seven years ago-remember him best at the blackboard, where he never seemed to lose his head or become confused but was always cool and self-possessed ; never assuming to know anything unless he was quite sure that he knew it and could explain it in chalk. He was not a boisterous, egotistical youth and I always liked him for methods and manners in school; have respected him always and hoped that he would somehow arrive at the farthest allowable milestone post on the road to the far off beyond."
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He supplemented his early educational advantages by study in Peacham Academy and in Bath Academy, at Bath, New Hampshire. Thus Jackson Roberts passed from youth to early manhood but long ere he had attained his majority he had become an active factor in the world's work in his home locality. He was but sixteen years of age when he began teaching and his wife's first two terms of school were under his instruction. He taught for six winters before he was twenty-one years of age, his work covering the range from the district school to the academies. In the fall of 1855 he went to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he engaged in teaching and saved a portion of his earnings. On his return to New England he engaged in clerking in a store but in 1857 accompanied his brother Daniel to California. They made the trip by way of the isthmus route, setting sail in September, and for eight years thereafter Jackson Roberts was engaged in mining and other pursuits in California and Nevada. He became an influential factor in those mining communities and was called to public office, serving as justice of the peace and as judge of the court of sessions. In later years he filled the offices of mayor, alderman and coroner in Iowa, and at no time was the trust reposed in him ever betrayed. He was always loyal in his citizenship and whether in office or out of it sought the best interests of the community.
It was on New Year's day of 1867 that Mr. Roberts was united in mar- riage to Miss Margaret J. Gibson, who was born in Ryegate, Vermont. Her paternal ancestors came to this country with a Scotch colony in 1774. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were born three children: Ida C., Frank W., and Carl J. The last named wedded Maud A. Hoover, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, and they have one child. Mary, who is with them in their pleasant home in Washington.
For thirty years Jackson Roberts was a resident of Washington. After coming to this city he engaged in the grocery business for some time and during that time utilized his leisure hours in reading law until he was quali- fied for and secured admission to the bar in 1876. He then entered upon the practice of the profession and for a long period was recognized as an able and successful lawyer, preparing his cases with great thoroughness and care and presenting them with clearness and precision. He also handled consid- erable real estate. While engaged in the grocery business he began buying furs and the success which he won in both lines enabled him from time to time to invest in town property. Later he began buying farms and eventually became the owner of twenty-two hundred acres of land lying in Washington, Louisa and Kossuth counties, of Iowa. He also had one hundred and sixty acres of land in Nebraska and his holdings of this character returned to him a very substantial annual income and made his real estate a valuable one.
At all times, from the organization of the party, Jackson Roberts was a stalwart advocate of republican principles, believing firmly in the party plat- form. He was confident that it contained the best elements of good govern- ment and he never failed to give it his stalwart support. He was intensely interested in the currency campaign of 1896 when Bryan promulgated his doctrine of bi-metalism and the free coinage of silver at a ratio of sixteen to one. In that campaign he made frequent addresses throughout the county
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and his logic was strong and convincing. He was a genial companion, hum- orous, witty and entertaining, and could tell and appreciate a good story. Out of business hours, when he gave himself up to frolic he was full of a hearty boy's love of fun and turned an humorous eye on every incident. His continuous good nature made him a valued companion in all circles. He was also a man of wide information, ever finding time for reading and study, and it has been said that he was the best read man in Washington county. Al- though reared in the faith of the Universalist church he afterward expressed his belief in the evangelical doctrines. Death came to him May 24, 1897, after an illness of about six months. From the beginning of his sickness he seemed to feel that the end was near and faced the situation with the same spirit of courage and determination that characterized him in every depart- ment of life. He had a strong personality and marked individuality and a splendidly developed mind. The language of Shakespeare was as familiar to him as was the discourse of the present day and the classic quotations of the master bard of Avon continually enriched his conversation. He was a prominent representative of the Masonic fraternity, having been made a Master Mason at North San Juan, Nevada county. California, in the early '6os, when he was initiated into Manzanita Lodge, No. 104. He advanced to the Knight Templar degree in Bethlehem Commandery, No. 45. K. T .. and was its prelate for about twelve years. He also held a number of other offices in the order and was in hearty sympathy with the beneficent spirit of the craft. The earthly pilgrimage of Jackson Roberts was ended when he had reached the age of sixty-one years but his memory will be cherished for long years to come, while his influence will remain as a factor in the lives of those with whom he was brought in contact. Mrs. Roberts and her family make their home in Colorado Springs.
GEORGE H. PAUL.
George H. Paul, capable of managing affairs of great breadth, is now president of the George H. Paul Company. He is yet a young man, having not yet completed a third of a century, but a strong purpose, clear insight and initiative spirit have carried him into important relations until he is today at the head of the most extensive emigration business in the United States. He has been and is distinctively a man of affairs and one who wields a wide influence.
Washington county has reason to be proud to number him among her native sons. He was born on a farm in Oregon township, May 6, 1877, a son of James and Sarah E. (Stewart) Paul, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Iowa. His paternal grandparents spent their entire lives on the Emerald isle but in 1836 James Paul crossed the Atlantic to the United States, establishing his home in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where he lived for a number of years. On the IIth of April, 1859, he came to Washington county, Iowa, being at that time twenty-three years of age.
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He took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Oregon township which he immediately placed under the plow and as the years went by he brought his fields under a high state of cultivation, continuing the management of his farm until 1891, when he retired from active life and took up his abode in Washington, where he died May 13, 1895, when eighty years of age. He had long survived his wife who died in 1881. Both were imembers of the United Presbyterian church and were consistent Christian people. Their family of four children included three sons and one daughter, namely: William E., of Ainsworth, lowa: Samuel S., also residing near Ainsworth; Mary Evelyn, the wife of Charles Anderson, residing near Washington ; and George H.
George H. Paul was reared in Washington county on the home farm to the age of fifteen years and attended the district schools. Later he was em- ployed at farm labor by the month for seven years and it has been charac- teristic of him throughout his entire life that he has never failed in the per- formance of any duty devolving upon him but has displayed marked in- dustry and enterprise in all of his undertakings, whether working for him- self or in the employ of another. After seven years spent as a farm hand he was married and established his home in Washington, where he con- ducted a dairy business for about eighteen months. He afterward engaged in clerking in a grocery store for a year and spent the succeeding year in agricultural pursuits. At the end of that time he turned his attention to the emigration business and has-gradually reached out in this line, constantly ex- panding his interests, until today the George H. Paul Company is controlling the most extensive business of the kind in the entire country. He has agents all over the United States, his force of representatives numbering about seven hundred. He owns one thousand acres of land in Washington county and has land in all of the central and some of the southern states. He con- ducts excursions twice each month to the gulf coast of Texas and is doing a most important work in promoting the settlement and improvement of the west. On the 5th of January, 1909, he took to Texas the largest emigra- tion train that was ever moved under one management. On that occasion twelve coaches -- ten Pullmans and two hotel cars-beside a dining car and baggage car, altogether making a solid vestibule train of fourteen cars, pro- ceeded to the Lone Star state with four hundred home-seekers aboard, nearly all of whom came from points outside of Texas. There was one car each from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ; Chicago, Illinois; Muscatine and Des Moines, Iowa : Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska ; and four from Kansas City, Missouri. On that occasion Mr. Paul's sale of land amounted to nearly five hundred thousand dollars. He handles only property the value of which he himself knows, and, realizing the advantages and natural resources of the great west, he is doing a most important work in advancing the settlement of regions west of the Mississippi and is playing a most prominent part in shaping the history of this great section of the country. In connection with the excursion which he took south on the 5th of January, 1909, the Corpus Christi Caller said: "During the last two days the people of Corpus Christi have had an opportunity to observe and feel the tremendous influence a great
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organization can exert for the development of a section of country upon which it concentrates its efforts. The land agent in these days is second only to the railroad as a promoter of progress. When the railroad has made ac- cessible a desirable section of country the land agent brings in people and makes it to blossom as a rose. What the George H. Paul Company has done and is now doing for this section constitutes a splended example of the land agent as a developing factor. It also shows what can be accomplished by means of highly perfected organization. The George H. Paul Company is unquestionably the most perfect and powerful organization of its kind in the United States and the people of this section, and particularly of Corpus Christi, may count themselves as exceedingly fortunate that this locality is the scene of its activity. No individual, organization or institution is doing so much for the development of this section and the growth of Corpus Christi as is the George H. Paul Company. It is deserving not only of the liearty cooperation, but of the gratitude as well of every citizen of Corpus Christi."
On the 24th of July, 1899, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Paul to Miss Eva J. Hunter, a daughter of Albert and Sarah E. (Ingersoll) Hunter. They now have two interesting children, Maurice Hunter and Dwight Har- vey. The parents are members of the First United Presbyterian church, in which Mr. Paul is serving as a trustee. They are also prominent socially, the hospitality of the best homes of Washington being most freely acorded them, while their home is the center of a cultured society circle. In politics Mr. Paul is a republican, but the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him, even if his business left him leisure for participation in political activity. In all personal relations he is modest and unassuming but in business life is most progressive and enterprising. A man of well balanced activities and powers, he inspires confidence in others and is cap- able of mature judgment of his own capacities and of the people and circum- stances that make up his life, contacts and experiences. He is eminently a man of business sense and easily avoids the mistakes and disasters that come to those who are liable to erratic movements, resulting in unwarranted risk and failure. Viewing the record of the country in a day when scien- tific investigation has made known the wonderful possibilities of the great west, one is thrilled by the story of an individual who has taken so active, prominent and helpful a part in promoting, developing and shaping the history of this great country.
JAMES JONES.
James Jones is engaged in business as a dealer in lumber and building materials in the village of Brighton, which enterprise his industry and good management have so extended until the volume of trade he handles makes the concern one of the largest and most prosperous of the kind in this part of the state. He was born in Clay township, this county, January 2, 1862.
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a son of John Wesley and Melissa Jane (Davidson) Jones. His father, a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, came here about 1856, locating in Clay township, where he resided until 1885, and then removed to Linn county. Missouri, where he pursued general agriculture until death called him, July 27. 1908, being laid to rest in that place. The family came orig- inally from Wales and he belonged to the third generation in this country. Politically he was a republican, having voted for Abraham Lincoln, and after marking his first ballot was always loyal to the candidates of his party and an ardent admirer and supporter of Theodore Roosevelt for the chief execu- tive office of the land. His wife, who was born in Hardin county, Ohio, near Bellefontaine, where they were united in marriage, still survives, residing at Tarkio, Atchison county, Missouri. In their family were twelve children, namely: Margaret, deceased, who was the wife of George Hyde and the mother of eight children ; Arabella, the widow of A. H. Waterhouse, whose farm lies five miles west of Brighton : Mary Ella, the wife of D. H. Hosick, of Jennings, Oklahoma ; James ; John C., who departed this life in 1901 ; Anna Matilda, the wife of William Neal, residing in Linn county, Missouri ; Wil- liam Elmer, who passed away in infancy; Emma, deceased ; Helen, who married E. W. Wise, of Tarkio, Missouri, and died April 9, 1909, leaving a son two years old who now makes his home with our subject; Eddie, who passed away in infancy ; Hester Agnes, the wife of Ralph McCormick, resid- ing on a farm in Linn county, Missouri ; and Isaac Wilfred, who died in his fourteenth year.
James Jones was reared to agricultural pursuits, acquiring his education during his boyhood days in the district schools. He resided upon the home farm, assisting in its various duties, until he was married, at which time his capital consisted of but two dollars. He rented a farm for about four years and during that time his incessant application and enterprise won him the success that enabled him to lay by sufficient means with which to buy eighty acres of land in Penn township, Jefferson county. This he still owns and was actively engaged in its operation until six years ago, when he removed to the village of Brighton, where he purchased the lumberyard formerly owned by R. H. Pringle. At once he turned his energies toward developing the business and his trade grew so rapidly that he was compelled to seek larger quarters. He purchased his present location in 1907, to which he. moved his entire stock of lumber, having razed the sheds and other buildings which were originally on the property and constructed new ones, at the same time erecting for himself an elegant residence in which he lives. His business has proved very profitable, and since commencing the enterprise his accumu- lations have gradually increased until now he owns two fine dwelling houses, the property upon which he conducts his business and a number of valuable building lots. Moreover, he possesses a half interest in the old homestead in Missouri and owns a farm of eighty acres in Penn township. Jefferson county, Iowa. He conducts his business under the firm title of the Jones Lumber Company, which is the only enterprise of the kind here, and he car- ries a full line of building materials for inside and outside work and various kinds of roofing and fencing materials.
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In 1885 Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Baldersen, a native of Lincolnshire, England, who came to Washington county with her parents when she was five years of age. To them have been born two chil- dren, Linna Rha, the wife of Albert C. Saunders ; and Bertha, deceased.
Mr. Jones has been a life-long supporter of the republican party, finding in its principles those policies which he deems fully adequate to enhance and promote the business interests of the country, and since casting his first vote has always been a loyal supporter of its candidates. He belongs to the Meth- odist Episcopal church, in which he is a leading member, serving on the board of trustees, and as a business man he is entitled to honorable mention as a representative citizen of the community.
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