USA > Iowa > Wright County > History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions > Part 37
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JOHN WASEM.
This is an account of one of Wright county's well-known early-day citizen pioneers. He and his father settled in Eagle Grove township in 1856, the son locating in section 29. The father, Adam Wasem, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, in 1800. He was a man of much note in the Fatherland. He was an officer in his home town during the revolution of 1848. John Wasem also took part in the revolution, but not liking the trend of matters in Germany he embarked for America and landed in New York city in the spring of 1850. In 1856 the remainder of the family arrived in America, and soon found their way west and located as above mentioned.
John Wasem was born on March 5. 1820, and was reared to the culti- vation of grapes. He was married, in New York, to Anna Cass, a native of Philadelphia, by whom twelve children were born. Mr. Wasem had three hundred acres of choice land in this county in 1889, and was one of the best stock farmers in the county many years ago. His farm was com- monly styled "Mineral Spring Farm," owing to numerous fine springs on the tract. He served this county as member of the board of supervisors from 1884 to 1880; was a director in the First National Bank at Eagle Grove; also president of the Eagle Grove District Agricultural Society. Mr. Wasem was a Republican. He died in 1906, respected by all who knew him.
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WRIGIIT COUNTY, IOWA.
OLIVER C. McINTOSH.
There are individuals in nearly every community who, by reason of their ability and force of character, have risen above the heads of the masses of the people. Such individuals are characteried by perseverance, initiative, good judgment and sterling integrity. Men of this character always make their presence felt in a community and this presence serves as a stimulant and an incentive to the young and rising generation. Oliver C. Melntosh, who during his life was well known in Wright county, lowa, was a merchant, banker and public official, having served two terms as sheriff of Wright county and about fifteen years in all as mayor of Goldfield.
The late Oliver C. McIntosh was born in : Albany county, New York, April 9, 1832, and was the son of Alexander and Betsey ( Wood) McIntosh. Mr. McIntosh's father was reared on a farm and, subsequently, when he grew to manhood. came to own a farm in New York state, where he lived his entire life. The McIntosh family is of Scotch descent. Alexander and Betsey ( Wood ) Mcintosh had eight children, Millis, Lewis, Reuben, Clarke, Omer, Oliver, Julia and Adeline.
Oliver C. McIntosh received a limited education in the public schools of Albany county, New York, and after finishing his education operated his father's farm for a time. In 1857 he came west to Wright county, Iowa, and rented a farm near Belmond, where he lived for one year. He then purchased land in sections 34 and 35. of Liberty township, and lived upon this farm for two years. In the spring of 1860 he was impelled by the opportunity of the gold mines of the west to visit Colorado. The journey westward was made with an ox team. Mr. Mcintosh remained in the west one season and then came back to Wright county and established a saw-mill at Goldfield in partnership with .A. L. Dean. Although his family moved to Goldfield, Mr. McIntosh continued to operate his farm for a number of years, eventually purchasing land in Eagle Grove township. After having been engaged in the mercantile business in Goldfield in partnership with J. S. Braden for three years, Mr. Melntosh, in 1888, established the first bank in Goldfield. Many years previously, in 1861, he had been elected sheriff of Wright county and had served two terms. During his life he also held most all of the offices within the gift of the people of his township, and besides having served as mayor of Goldfield for a great many years he served as school director. The late Oliver C. Melntosh died on April 7. 1910. honored and respected by the people of Wright county for the many
MC INTOSH
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things he had achieved during his life in behalf of the development of this great county.
On September 25, 1856, Oliver C. MeIntosh was married to Selina Dietz, a daughter of Joseph and Eliza ( Oliver ) Dietz. Mrs. McIntosh's father and mother were natives of New York state. Her father was a farmer in New York and there reared a family of six children, Selina, Catherine, Harriet. Emily, Ophelia and Myron. Mrs. McIntosh was edu- cated in the country schools of New York. To Mr. and Mrs. McIntosh was born one child. Ophelia K., who was born in Wright county in 1857 and married G. W. Hanna, of Lavern, lowa, where they now live. Mr. Hanna is a banker at Lavern. They have four children, three daughters and one son, Eugenia, W. Scott, Genneva, Consuelo.
The late Oliver C. McIntosh was an active worker in the Christian church, and was one of the founders and builders of this church. He was a charter member in Goldfield Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and passed through all of the chairs. Mrs. Meintosh is now living in a comfortable and modern home in Goldfield. Her husband, during his life, was identified with the Republican party and was prominent in the local organization of the party.
GEORGE A. MCKAY.
A man so well known in the history-building of Wright county, though now passed from earth's busy throng, is entitled to a place in this volume. George A. Mckay was born in Montgomery county, New York, of Scotch ancestry. He attended the common schools and when nineteen years of age attended school at Kingston, New York, for about two years. When about twenty-three years of age, he came west and engaged in surveying in one of the northeast counties of lowa and in Minnesota. In 1857 he came to Wright county and made his home at Belmond about three years, and during this time was engaged at surveying and speculating in lands and town lots. In 1860 he moved to Goldfield and there followed the same business. In 1858 he was elected county surveyor which position he held several years. In 1862 he was elected to the office of county clerk, and held this office six years.
During all these years Mr. Mckay was gradually increasing his real- estate business and was always ready for a trade, and being a good judge of property his trades usually resulted to his benefit. He was not only a dis-
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tinguished worker, but an intense thinker. He frequently would look upon a tract of land where the title was defective or where there were adverse claims, study how the matter could be reconciled, correspond with the party, get each of their prices, save them litigation-and get a good title for the property. He was a lover of a good horse and at the time of his death had over thirty, some of them high-bred and very valuable animals.
In 1866 George A. Mckay was married to llelen L. Eastman, of Gold- field. They had two children: Eugene, who died aged four years; and Jessie, now living in Los Angeles, California, the wife of a Mr. Horn.
In 1872, R. K. Eastman, G. A. Mckay and William W. Gates, entered into partnership under the firm name of R. K. Eastman & Company, for the purpose of transacting a realty. loan and banking business. This con- tinued for about three years when Mr. Mckay bought the entire interest of his partners, and up to his death had continued in the above line and made a handsome fortune. He was an ardent Republican. He enjoyed life and was considered "the picture of health" until about two years before his death, which occurred on July 15, 1887.
R. K. EASTMAN.
The subject of this sketch was one of the pioneers of Wright county, and became the first settler in Clarion, in 1866, when that town was sur- veyed out in the center of the county as the seat of justice. He lived and died an honor to mankind and his family.
R. K. Eastman was born in Piermont, New Hampshire, July 31, 1808, a son of llenry and Sarah ( Kimball ) Eastman, natives of New Hamp- shire, and of English ancestry. The father was killed during the War of 1812, being wounded at the battle of French Mills, and died at Halifax, leaving his widow and four children, of whom R. K. was the youngest. He remained with his mother until he was sixteen years of age, when he went to learn the trade of carding and cloth-dressing, serving an apprentice- ship of three years and teaching school in the winter-, following this voca- tion for five years.
In the years 1832-33-34 Mr. Eastman traveled for the celebrated firm of Fairbanks in the scale business. He then went to Havana. New York, and there engaged in the mercantile business, which he followed about twenty years. In 1856 he emigrated to lowa, and located in what was then
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known as Horse Grove, arriving there on May 3, 1856, and engaged in farming for two years. In the fall of 1857 he was elected treasurer and recorder of Wright county. The county seat was then in contest and he held his office at Horse Grove, now Iowa township. The county judge being located at Goldfield, in the spring of 1860 he removed his office to Goldfield, where he remained till the county seat was removed to Clarion. The first building was the court house and Mr. Eastman, with the county property, was for three days the only resident of Clarion, soon removing his family to this town.
Mr. Eastman served as treasurer and recorder of this county for a period of ten years, and afterward engaged in the real-estate business with his son, O. K. Eastman, which he followed until he became associated with George A. MeKay, his son-in-law, and a Mr. Gates, in the realty and bank- ing business. In 1875 he moved to Webster City, and there embarked in the mercantile business, which he followed for nine years, then removed to Arkansas and engaged in the fruit business, which he pursued until the autumn of 1886, when he returned to Wright county, where he died. Other reference is made to this noble man in various chapters of this volume, especially in the Early Settlement chapter.
R. K. Eastman was twice married, first to Elizabeth MeNeal, by whom three children were born: Cornelia, widow of G. N. Hancock, now of Los Angeles, California; Helen Lauretta, wife of George A. Mckay, both of whom are now deceased; Oliver K., who was a banker in Iowa and a mer- chant in Nebraska, where he died in October, 1913. Mr. Eastman was a devoted Christian and a member of the Congregational church. He was an abolitionist and a Republican.
WILLIAM F. GIBBS.
William F. Gibbs was identified with the best interests of Wright county from 1868 till the time of his death, in November, 1905. He was born in 1828, in Otsego county, New York. He was a pioneer both in Wisconsin and Iowa, receiving his schooling in an okl-time log school house. Ile remained with his parents until he reached his majority, then engaged in the manufacture of wagons and farm implements, until the date of the Civil War, when he raised a company in the Sixteenth Regiment, Wiscon- sin Volunteer Infantry, serving under Sherman, and participated in the
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march to the sea. After the war closed he moved to lowa, purchasing fifty acres of land in Troy township. Wright county. In 1869 he was elected county recorder and moved to Clarion. He served as recorder for four years, after which he embarked in the real-estate business. He was a mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic; was identified with the Congrega- tional church, and was a stanch Republican.
GEORGE H. HARDY.
Professor Roberts, of Cornell University, in discussing the advantages of farming as an occupation, says: "A young man who chooses farming as his vocation should be prepared to be content with moderate financial returns from his labors; yet if independence, a comfortable and adequate livelihood, and an assurance against want in old age are the things desired, farming pays in the broadest and most satisfying way." The successful farmer, as every-day observation will indicate, must be resourceful, and he must have executive ability. The subject of this sketch has both require- ments, as his success and prominence in the county prove. George H. Hardy, a retired farmer of Woolstock township, was born in Oneida county, the state of New York, June 27, 1841, his parents being Robert and Sarah ( Laclair ) Hardy.
Robert Hardy accompanied his parents to America when he was only ten years of age, and grew to manhood in Oneida county, New York, attending the local schools. Ilis education, which was as good as the aver- age at that time, did not extend beyond his early youth, for he was needed on his father's farm, where he worked until 1848. In that year his father sold out his real estate hollings and moved to Lee Center, New York, and Robert Hardy purchased a farm in Oneida county. He lived there, how- ever, only a short time, when he returned to Lee Center, and after farming there for a year went to live at Elmer Hill, where he farmed for two years. He then established a small grocery store near Westernville, on the Black River canal, and remained there a short time. Later he moved west to engage in railroading and contracting, finally locating in Wisconsin, where he remained until the time of his death. His wife passed away on October 6, 1860. The children born of this marriage were George I., William R .. Francis and Sarah, besides a child that died in infancy. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Hardy married, secondly, Harriett (Green ) Lamphyer.
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One son was born of this union, James. This family, on the paternal side, is descended from English ancestry, for the grandfather was born near Market Wheaton, England. He was a farmer and a veterinary surgeon, and was the father of nine children.
Owing to the conditions which surrounded his early life the schooling of George H. Hardy was necessarily limited. A part of his education he received in the states of New York and Wisconsin, and during his service in the army during the Civil War. In the same regiment in which he was enlisted Prof. E. M. Gurley was also a soldier, and the latter for nearly two years conducted a night school for the boys whom he gathered together in the camp, in which the time was devoted to spelling and arithmetic princi- pally. One cannot but admire the ambition thus displayed by this youth, for many a time he sat up late in the night to study after a hard day's work in the trenches. He enlisted at first for three months, on April 8, 1861, at Berlin, Wisconsin. When orders came to discharge all men enlisted for the three-months service, Mr. Hardy was mustered out. In spite of his father's opposition, however, and in spite of this mustering out, his determination to go to war remained unchanged. He first went to Madison, Wisconsin, expecting to re-enlist. but the captain of the company there was a friend of his father's, and knowing that the father was opposed to his son joining the army, refused to enlist the lad. Undaunted by this chilling experience, the young man then sought out another company, and finding that his family troubles were not known, he enrolled with the Beaver Dam Rifles, Company D. Fifth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Catlin. This enlistment occurred on June 27. 1801, and he served four years lacking six days. He was in all of the battles on the Peninsula ; his first battle being at Lees Mills, this being followed by the battle of Williamsburg. With General Mcclelland he returned to Alexandria, Virginia, and later went to Centerville, which is near Bull Run, and was engaged in a number of skir- mishes. He was also in the battle of Antietam. After this battle he returned to Virginia, and the last two years of his service was assigned to the com- missariat department. his time expiring on June 21, 1865. He soon re-en- listed at Brandies Station and was promoted from assistant commissary sergeant to regimental commissary sergeant. In the famous Army of the Potomac he was a member of the First Brigade under General Hancock, at Camp Griffin, being mustered out at Balls Bluff, Virginia.
Mr. Hardy then returned to Berlin, Wisconsin, and after assisting his father for a short time, he went to Pleasant Grove, Minnesota, where he
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WRIGIIT COUNTY, IOW.1.
purchased a farin of one hundred and sixty acres and worked for himself for about a year. He then divided his time between his farm and the farm of mus father, and after his marriage, in 1868, to Margaret J. Hanson, he remamed there a short time, locating finally at Pleasant Grove, Minnesota, where he remained for one year. His wife is the daughter of Robert and Martha ( Wetherill ) Hanson. Mr. and Mrs. Hardy then located in Butler county, lowa, on a rented farm, where they resided for three years and then took up residence in Wisconsin for a brief time with Mr. Hardy's family.
While living in Butler county, Mr. Hardy purchased a farm of eighty- six acres in Woolstock township and became so successful as a general farmer that he increased his property to two hundred and forty acres. He and his wife grew accustomed to the privation and dangers of pioneer life, for they frequently had to fight prairie fires in order to protect their humble dwelling, a shack of twelve by fourteen feet. They never lost any property by reason of fires, however. Included in their early adventures was the killing of rattle-snakes, perhaps the record being the killing of five at one time within one rod of ground. It was Mr. Hardy's practice to feed all his grain to hogs and cattle. In 1908 he retired from active work and moved to Clarion, having by this time placed upon his property several thousand dollars' worth of improvements.
Mr. and Mrs. Hardy are the parents of five children, one of whom died when an infant. The others are George A., Wesley W., Frank H. and Eva M. George A. Hardy married AAlma Dahlgren, and to them two children, Mabel M. and Dale, were born. Wesley W. Hardy became the husband of Lottie Rumford, and their children are: Lila, Kenneth and Etta. Frank H. Hardy married Nina Jordon, and they have one child, Margaret Jane. Eva M. Hardy became Mrs. Carl Dahlgren, and her children are Verna M. and Viola.
Mrs. Margaret ( Hanson ) Hardy was born in Oneida county, New York, but her parents were natives of England, the father having been born in Scarborough, the mother in Pickering. Mr. Hanson was a farmer all of his life. He was married in New York state and later moved to Wis- consin, where he engaged in farming until the time of his death. The nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hanson are Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, Will- iam, John, Margaret, Frank, George and Albert.
Mr. Hardy and his estimable wife have not only had their names on church books but have been sincerely and actively interested in the welfare of the church. Mr. Hardy has been the treasurer for eight years, was
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steward and class leader for seven years, and was Sunday school superin- tendent of Woolstock township for a number of years. Ilis war experience, in which he made a record for bravery and fidelity, would naturally make him an enthusiastic member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He has been junior commander of General Lyons Post No. 133 for seven years. Mr. Hardy is a stanch Republican.
The gentleman whose biography has been briefly indicated here is a conspicuous figure in local history, for he possesses that type of personality which must find expression in activity. As a soldier, he never flinched from duty no matter how dangerous; as a citizen, he is honest, upright and trustworthy ; as a man, he is sincere and altruistic. He has those traits of character which make him a man of influence wherever his lot may be cast.
MAJOR MINTER BRASSFIELD.
This is the way this pioneer of Wright county usually wrote his name -either M. or Minter Brassfield-but his daughter informs us that his true name in full was Othnal Minter Brassfield. The title "Major" is a mis- nomer, he never having served in any military capacity, other than accom- panying a detachment of soldiers over the prairies of Wright county to Ft. Dodge, in the early fifties; after that he was dubbed "Major."
Minter Brassfield, of Liberty township, who died many years ago, arrived in that township on August 12, 1854. Mr. Brassfield. William Stryker, of Troy township, and William S. Montgomery, of Liberty town- ship, were the first of the pioneer band who located in what is now Wright county. All came with families within a few weeks of one another. Mr. Brassfield settled on the farm, where he spent the remainder of his days. lle was a native of Claiborne county, Tennessee, where he was born in 1811. His father, George Brassfield, and his wife, Mary, removed from Tennessee to Randolph county, Missouri, where the father died. His wife, Mary, later came to lowa. whither her children had moved and lived with them for a time, but finally returned to Missouri, where she died. George Brassfield and wife had nine children, who grew to manhood and woman- hood. Minter Brassfield was the oldest of the family. He had lived in Wright county from its earliest settlement and saw it wonderfully trans- formed into a rich, well-developed farming section before his death.
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JELSKE CRAMER.
Success is of so many varieties that the word itself is capable of many. interpretations. But speaking purely from a commercial and utilitarian viewpoint, the man who can come to a strange country, and with seventy- five cents in his pocket can assert his right to live, and who, by his own soli- tary efforts can acquire fourteen hundred acres of land, surely may be accred- ited with some degree of success. Such a man is Jelske Cramer, a native of Hanover, Germany, who is now a well-known retired farmer, formerly of Wall Lake township. He was born on June 7, 1843, his parents being Her- man and Anna Cramer.
Herman Cramer, who was educated in his native land, was a farmer during his entire lifetime, having a farm of forty acres. He died in Ger- many, where his wife also passed away in 1847. Of their eleven children, Jelska is the only one living in this country.
Mr. Cramer's early environment and education were not different from that of many other farmers' boys of that time and locality. His school days were varied by work on the farm. However, when the war between Prussia and Austria broke out, he, with true patrotic ardor, hastened to enlist and served all through that dreadful war. All this happened before he was twenty-four years of age, and at that time he ceased to be a soldier. Coming to this country he located in Freeport, Illinois, obtaining employ- ment on the railroad for a short time. When he landed here he had just seventy-five cents as his capital stock. Leaving Freeport he went to Dubu- que, lowa, where he obtained temporary work of various kinds and then went to Ackley, lowa, where he remained for one year. At the end of that time he obtained employment as a farm hand, an occupation which he fol- lowed two years, until he was able to rent a farm. This farm he cultivated for a period of five years, when he was attracted to this county, buying one hundred and sixty acres in Vernon township, where, after farming for one year, he bought a similar amount of land in Wall Lake township, where he moved. In Wall Lake township he added various tracts of land until he became the owner of fourteen hundred acres in this county. He has always fed most of his grain to hogs and cattle, feeding out about two or three car- loads of cattle and three or four hundred head of hogs annually. In April. 1912, Mr. Cramer retired from active farm duties and became a resident of Clarion, where his splendid modern home is considered one of the finest in the county. He is also owner of the Cramer Apartments.
MR. AND MRS. JELSKE CRAMER.
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Jelske Cramer and Hattie Eggers were married on November 13, 1873. Mrs. Cramer is a daughter of Herman and Taulga ( Steinblock ) Eggers. To Mr. and Mrs. Cramer have been boru eleven children, namely : Anna, Thresia, Minnie, Margaret, Herman, Ernest, Elsie, John, Jelske, Dalla and Ray. Anna, the eldest daughter, has remained single; Thresia married J. G. Groenenwold, and is the mother of two children, Gertrude and Nettie; Min- nie married Fred Pahlman, and to them four children were born, these being Jelske, Clara, Nettie and Edna : Margaret married J. Groenenwold, and their children are Etta and George; Herman became the husband of Sophia Schmidt; Earnest married Cleo Chapman; Elsie married William Meyer ; the other children are single.
Mr. Cramer, since his residence here, has become identified with various public interests, one of which is the school system, of which he has been a director. His political affiliations have been with the Democratic party, of which he has been a prominent member. Such has been Mr. Cramer's fitness for public service that he has been one of Clarion's most popular school directors. He has given much time and study to the question of education, and is keenly interested in all that pertains to the welfare of the town in which he lives. Both he and Mrs. Cramer are active members of the Ger- man Lutheran church.
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