USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 19
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cording to the judgment of their neighbors of half a century, are a credit to the profession.
Five children were born to Luther Hinkley and Eunice Bur- dick: Amila, born in 1805, married a Mr. Clark and raised a family in New York, but died in Kansas, where she had gone to visit relatives ; Alva, lived in the east until 1860, when he came to Johnson county, Iowa, acquired property and finally died; Ley, who lived and died in New York; Samuel, who came to Johnson county, Iowa, with his brother Henry L., married, raised a family, and died at the ripe old age of ninety, being at that time the oldest person in Fremont township; Henry Luther, the subject of this sketch.
RESIDENCE OF HENRY LUTHER HINKLEY
It was near the Christmas season in 1855 that Henry L. Hinkley and his brother Samuel arrived in Johnson county from their old boyhood home in Madison county, New York. Henry was also accompanied by his newly-wedded wife, Miss Hannah Collins, a native of New York. As soon after arriving as practicable, he settled on a farm in Fremont township, and there the couple resided continuously until about three years ago, when they retired and removed to Lone Tree, their pres- ent place of residence.
Mr. Ilinkley states that he paid $880.00 for 160 acres of land, and in the spring of 1856, when he began farming, not a
MR. AND MRS. SAMUEL HINKLEY
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bush or tree of any kind as high as his head could be seen on the place; now there are willow trees fifteen feet in circum- ference, and cottonwood, elm, and maple trees four feet in diameter. His training as a practical farmer in New York en- abled him to take hold on his new place with intelligence, and this fact, coupled with great energy, persistence, and economy, gave him the right start in his new home. He states that he began by "raising a few horses, cattle, sheep, swine, and chick- ens, getting a little ahead by economy and laying it out in improvements." Today the farm is fully equipped with every necessary building and has "three miles of woven-wire, hog- tight fence in the best of condition." The first activities on the new place were of pioneer character. There being no trees on the farm, Mr. Hinkley bought eight and one-half acres of timber land, from which he hewed logs for a house 15x24; the rafters, sheeting, and flooring being sawed from logs cut on his timber tract. A journey of twenty miles to Muscatine was necessary to obtain the shingles and flooring. The young couple moved into their new house, all completed, on April 2, 1856. The building has been in daily use ever since and today seems to be in as good condition as ever. In 1875 a new resi- dence 26x30, two-story, with a kitchen annex 16x16, was built. As land is now selling in the vicinity, Mr. Hinkley estimates the value of his farm at $200.00 per acre.
Hannah C. Collins, wife of Henry L. Hinkley, is the daugh- ter of Hoxie and Deborah Collins, and was born at Brookfield, New York, June 1, 1829, being married at Waterville, same state, on September 27, 1855. Hoxie Collins was born Novem- ber 7, 1796, and his wife Deborah May 9, 1800. Both were Americans, and were farmers by occupation, making a special- ty of dairying. Father Collins died at Brookfield, New York, July 14, 1873, and his wife at the same place March 29, 1860. Father Collins's grandfather, Stephen Hoxie, was one of the first settlers and the first justice of the peace in the Unnidilla valley, New York. He died at the remarkable age of 101. Father Collins' family of eleven have all passed to the be- yond with the exception of Mrs. Hinkley and her youngest brother, who lives at Poolville, Madison county, New York. On September 27, 1905, Mr. and Mrs. Hinkley celebrated their
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
golden wedding anniversary, with all their living children and many friends present.
The children of Henry L. and Hannah C. Hinkley are eight in number, and all were born on the home farm, near Lone Tree, Iowa. Their names are as follows :
Henry Duane and Hoxie Eugene, twins, the former born May 14 and the latter May 15, 1858. Hoxie Eugene died Au- gust 2, 1878. Henry Duane was educated at the State Uni- versity of Iowa, graduating from the School of Law in 1888, and is a prosperous lawyer at Sterling, Colorado. He has held the offices of deputy district attorney, city attorney, county judge, and county attorney, and is now Grand Master of the Odd Fellows of his state. He was married to Georgia A. Olds January 1, 1891, at Moorhead, Minnesota. They have three children, Lelia May, Tracy, and Henry Lawrence.
Hobart DeLoss, born March 26, 1860, attended the commer- cial college at lowa City and graduated; then entered the State University and took a dental course ; is now practicing at Williamsburg, Iowa. He married Carolyne L. Thompson October 17, 1893.
Ellen Henrietta, born December 8, 1862, was educated at Iowa City and taught school several years. Was married to Dr. L. B. Oliver June 27, 1888, and died May 10, 1895, at Sigourney, Iowa. Three children were born to them, Ervin, Earl and Pearl (twins). Ervin is attending the S. U. T., studying for a physician.
Hannah Jane, born November 15. 1864: died November 11, 1891, at Sigourney, Iowa.
Luther Harley, born July 28, 1866, attended the S. U. L., taking a dental course; he located at Sigourney, Iowa, where he practiced until June, 1911, when he was appointed post- master at Sigourney. He was married to Bertha O. Stuck June 16, 1897. She died December 6, 1911.
Harminia Deborah, born July 8, 1868, was married to Charles E. Cipperly March 25, 1896. They resided on a farm for several years, and he is now a hardware merchant at Lone Tree.
Howard Collins, born August 15, 1870, was married to Effie Patten October 30, 1901. They live on the home farm. Four children were born to them, all dying in infancy.
H. L. HINKLEY
MR3. H. L. HINKLEY
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Mrs. Hinkley has been a member of the Reformed church of the United States for a number of years, holding affiliation at Lone Tree. Several of the children are members of the same church, and Mr. Hinkley attends there.
In the twilight of life this beloved couple, conscious of duty well done, await the summons of the Pilot Eternal. The dear ones gone over the tideless sea beckon with love's gleaming hands, while the cherished children of earth cling with fond affection to the garments of their sires.
"In the Silent Sea of the Silent West We will all sail out some day ; We will ernise 'mid the Isles of Eternal Rest In the Sunset Sea for aye ;- In the Sunset Sea - Time's evening time, But Eternity's morning sky ;- We shall hear forever Love's golden chime And the answer to our ery."
FREDERICK T. CARL
In one grave in Lone Tree cemetery, Fremont township, lie the remains of George Carl and Cordelia Wright, his wife. They are the mortal remnants of the father and mother of Frederick T. Carl. Five children remain to honor the memory of the deceased ; five others have accompanied their parents to the great beyond. The silent occupants of this twin tomb were a part of the great tide of immigration which settled Iowa in the '30s and '40s of the nineteenth century. Born in New York state, George Carl went with his parents to Ohio when five years of age. There he met and married Cordelia Wright, a native of the Buckeye state. When abont twenty- three years of age, Mr. Carl and his young wife went to Indiana, where Frederick T. was born in Le Grange county April 18, 1837. Three years later, hearing the call of the west, he joined the caravans bound for the broad prairies of Towa. The family settled in Cedar county, near Tipton, where they lived until 1867, when they sold out and went to Kansas. They only resided one year there, when they came back to lowa and settled in Lone Tree, where they lived one and one-half years.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
The names of the ten children of George Carl and Cordelia Wright are as follows :
Elizabeth, born in April, 1831, married Andrew J. Craw- ford, of Cedar county; both are now dead.
E. Y., born in 1833, was a Methodist minister; he died in Appanoose county and was buried at Centerville, Iowa.
J. W., born 1835, was a farmer; died February 4, 1876. Frederick T., residing at Lone Tree, Iowa.
Mary Ann, married to James Nelson ; living in California.
George W., born 1843; died in state of Washington Novem- ber 10, 1910.
RESIDENCE OF FREDERICK T. CARL
Henry L., born in 1846; living at Portland, Oregon.
Amanda, born in 1847, now Mrs. A. M. Leonard; resides at Lone Tree, Iowa. Mr. Leonard died in 1896.
Sophia, born in 1855, now Mrs. Nute Roberts; lives in North Dakota.
Joseph, born in Cedar county, Iowa, in 1857; died in 1897 and is buried at Iowa City.
Frederick T. Carl commenced farming for himself in Cedar county when eighteen years of age and continued to farm there for twenty years, when he removed to Johnson county and settled on a farm one and one-half miles north of Lone Tree.
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There he made another record of twenty years farming, when he retired and entered the clothing business at Lone Tree. This occupation he followed for thirteen years, when he per- manently withdrew from active business, the date of his re- tirement being January 5, 1909.
In 1855 Mr. Carl was married to Miss Emiline Soper, a native of New York, who came to Iowa when she was twelve years of age. She died in October, 1880. Eight children were born of this union, as follows :
Minerva, now Mrs. William Dunham; living in Muscatine county, Iowa.
James R., living in Fremont county, Iowa.
Dr. F. F. Carl, a physician, practicing at Nichols, Iowa.
Lucina, now Mrs. Henry Colbert; living in Fremont town- ship.
Addie, now Mrs. G. W. Baker; living in Fremont township. Elard, living in Elk county, Kansas.
E. D., engaged in clothing business at Lone Tree.
In 1887 Mr. Carl was again married, to Ava C. Farnum, who was a native of Maine. Two children, both deceased, hal .. lowed this union. The mother is also dead, expiring Septem- ber 23, 1890.
On May 3, 1898, Mr. Carl was married to Lily A. Brown, a native of England, born September 16, 1864. One daughter, Marian, has been born to them.
Mr. Carl has established a reputation as a good business man, a kind neighbor, and a true friend. He is of a very happy disposition, being always jolly, with a cheery word for everyone - a trait of character worthy of wide emulation. A democrat in national polities, he is liberal in local govern- ment.
ZEPHANIAH STOUT CRAY
The Civil War drew its heroes from every rank and pro- fession. The stock broker on 'change, the merchant behind the counter, the lawyer in the court room, the minister in the pulpit, the farmer in his field, all heard the nation's call to arms. What pen can portray the emotions, the enthusiasm, the patriotism of the days of '61-'65? The issue was the su-
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
preme climax in the nation's life; the test the touchstone of citizenship. There were other factors than the mere exercise of courage and self-sacrifice. There were the conflicting opin- ions of the day, for the words of the great orators and the great editors had strewn the arena of discussion with interro- gation marks as thickly as the leaves of Vallambrosa. What is right, what is wrong? These were the questions with which patriots wrestled. And then, the family question. Must it be brother against brother, father against son, friend against friend? Ah! the heart-tugs had to be reckoned with also. It was a time of tremendous wrestling. not with the physical
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RESIDENCE OF ZEPHANIAH STOUT CRAY
fears of combat, but with the moral fears of mistake. It was a time of hesitation, not through lack of unflagging love for one's country, but through dread of entering upon a program fraught with possibilities of disaster. Surely, we who are privileged to read the complete history of that conflict are ready to say that the men who grappled with its perplexing problems, found the difficult pathway of duty amid the laby- rinth of discussion, and, having decided, mounted with courage long held in leash the black steeds of war, were heroes worthy of a nation's gratitude. Ont of the roar and the smoke and
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BIOGRAPHICAL
the blood and the imprisomnents of that conflict thousands re- turned again to the exchange, to the store, to the office, to the farm - there to take up the homely duties of life. Their names should be held in eternal remembrance.
Zephaniah Stout Cray was one of the young farmers of Iowa who grappled with that problem and decided to stand by the old flag. The pruning hook and the plowshare had been his weapons from boyhood, but he grasped the grim sword of confliet and went out as a volunteer in the famous Second lowa Cavalry, a member of Company G. Ile enlisted in 1861, and he saw three years of the hell of war, including exposure. hunger, battle, and suffering. He was in his twentieth year when he was mustered in: he was twenty-four when he again took up the pursuits of peace, with an honorable discharge in his pocket. Since that time he has been an honored farmer of Page county, lowa, until three years ago, when he returned to Johnson county.
Mr. Cray's parents were Christopher Cray and Priscilla Ulich, both natives of New Jersey, in which state our subject also was born October 19, 1841. The family came to Johnson county in 1856, the father surviving only about one year after his arrival. The mother died about twelve years ago at the age of eighty-four. Nine children were born to them : Lydia. deceased about twenty years ago, was the wife of C. Rieket : John, died about eight years ago; Zephaniah, our subject : Elizabeth, wife of J. Brown, residing in St. Charles, Illinois : Abraham, a farmer in Johnson county, died in 1875; Jerry, a farmer in Johnson county, died in January, 1911 ; Jane, now Mrs. Dexter Fowls, resides at Newton, lowa; Mary, wife of John St. Clair, resides in Missouri ; Hattie, died when young in 1875.
Our subject was married in 1876 to Miss Louisa Sweet, a native of Iowa (born October 21, 1839), whose parents, David and Lydia R. Sweet, were among the oldest settlers of John- son county, having arrived in 1838. The children of the Sweet family were: Caleb JJoshua, born February 12, 1835; Martha Jane, born December 10, 1837; Lonisa Ann, born October 21. 1839; Angeline, born September, 1842. Father Sweet died September 19, 1845. His wife survived until January 3, 1884.
Mr. Cray is a man of quiet manners, delights in his chosen
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
occupation of farming, and is highly esteemed among his neighbors of Fremont township. Escaping the fatalities of war, though in peril often, he is enjoying the sweets of a peace- ful life among the friends and neighbors of a lifetime, who wish him long lease of life and happiness withal.
HONORABLE THOMAS HUGHES
The honor of establishing the second newspaper in Iowa City, which, by reason of the early death of its senior con- temporary, is really entitled to rank as the first newspaper, belongs to Honorable Thomas Hughes and General Verplanck Van Antwerp. The paper was known as the Iowa Capital Re- porter, and is still published under the name of the Press. General Van Antwerp was a protege of President Van Buren (who was his personal as well as political friend). and had been appointed in 1838 to the position of receiver of public" moneys in the United States Land Office at Burlington, Iowa. He and Mr. Hughes became acquainted at Bloomington (now Muscatine), Iowa, abont 1840, in which year (October 27th) Mr. Hughes, in connection with John B. Russell, formerly of Dubuque, began the publication of the Bloomington Herald, the seventh newspaper established in Iowa. The acquaintance formed ripened into friendship, and so, when the establishment of the territorial capital at Iowa City made that field an invit- ing one for newspaper enterprise, Messrs. Van Antwerp and Hughes associated themselves together as partners, shipped their material from Burlington via Bloomington (Muscatine) to Iowa City and began the publication of the Iowa Capital Reporter just prior to the assembling of the territorial legis- lature on December 6, 1841. A lively contest was on between the Argus, a contemporary started in August, 1841, and the Reporter for the "public printing, " the plum for which in fact both papers had been started. The latter was successful in this competition, and the Argus, having insufficient support to justify its publication, was discontinued.
Thomas Hughes was born in Catawissa, Montour county, Pennsylvania, September 22, 1814. His parents were Ellis and Wilhelmina Hughes, Quakers, whose ancestors had at an
Ros. Hughes
MRS. LOUISA HUGHES
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BIOGRAPHICAL
early day settled in the colony of William Penn, and, like their great leader, were of English and Welsh origin. Young Hughes' boyhood was passed among the foothills of the Alle- ghenies on one of the picturesque tributaries of the Susque- hanna. Later the family removed to Danville, the county seat of Montour county, and there Thomas Hughes attended the village school taught by his father, acquiring a good knowledge of the English branches. Our subject, however, was wont to attribute to the printing office the greater credit for the practi- cal education he acquired, and always looked back to his first day in the local newspaper office at Danville as the beginning of his "higher education." Danville was near enough to
RESIDENCE OF MISS ANNA HUGHES
Harrisburg, the capital of the state, to receive a decided liter- ary and political advantage, and so the conditions surround- ing the young apprentice were such as to incite and spur him on to industrious efforts. Needless to say, he became a master in the art preservative, with an unusual knowledge of books, men, and affairs. With his increase of knowledge came an increase of ambition, and a few years later found young Hughes in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, in both of which cities he worked as a "journeyman printer." In 1838 he caught the western fever, and, although Horace Greeley had not yet uttered his historie advice to young men, Mr. Hughes
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
turned his face to the setting sun and reached Iowa territory in the fall of the year last mentioned.
A most interesting chapter of Iowa newspaper history opens coincidentally with the arrival of Mr. Hughes. We be- lieve we cannot do better than to reproduce verbatim an ac- count of these early conditions as set forth by Mr. T. S. Parvin, now deceased, a warm personal friend of our subject, and published in the Iowa Historical Record for April, 1890. Mr. Parvin says :
"Iowa had been organized as a territory in July (4), 1838, at which time there was published at Dubuque the News (by W. W. Corriell), the successor to the Dubuque Visitor (by Judge King), the first newspaper published in Iowa, while it was Wisconsin, in 1836. The Iowa Territorial Gazette was published at Burlington, being also in its second year, by James Clarke, afterward the third and last territorial gover- nor. The Fort Madison Patriot, which in the fall of 1838 was removed to Burlington and became the Hawkeye, was pub- lished by James G. Edwards, its founder.
"At the time of Mr. Hughes' arrival in Iowa, which was at Davenport the 27th of October, 1838, there was published by Mr. Logan the Iowa Sun, and the Davenport and Rock Island News. All these papers were edited by the publishers, and all except Mr. Edwards, who was a whig, were democrats of the Jacksonian school. The Sun was founded in the August (15) preceding Mr. Hughes' arrival in Davenport. The 'Rock Island' in the title had reference to the island on which stood the ruins of Fort Armstrong, and not to the present city of that name, which was then called Stephenson, and the paper purported to be published 'simultaneously' at both places, country villages of that day.
"Mr. Hughes entered the office of the Sun as a journeyman, bringing with him but little capital other than a strong deter- mination to succeed in his business. He worked in this office with Mr. Logan and his sons till in November, when the con- vening of the legislature (the first territorial) promising a better prospect in the printing business, he went to Burlington, the territorial capital, and engaged with Mr. Clarke, also a Pennsylvanian, upon the Gazette. In that office Mr. Paul (city postmaster, 1890) also worked that winter, and like Mr.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Hughes later removed to this (Iowa) City and engaged in the newspaper business. In the spring of '39, when the legislature had adjourned, and the river opened, Mr. Hughes moved to Dubuque and entered the office of the Dubuque News, upon which he worked until his removal to Bloomington (Musca- tine), in October, 1840. The Express is still published at Du- buque under the name of the Herald - the Gazette and Hawk- eye at Burlington, under their old names. The Sun, previous- ly mentioned, was, in 1842, sold, removed and became a Mor- mon paper under the significant title of The Bride and the Lamb's Wife. As its title was in the singular number, it is presumed that polygamy had not then become engrafted upon the Latter Day Saints' church policy. . . While at work in
Dubuque, if not before, Mr. Hughes became acquainted with John B. Russell, also engaged in the News office, and the two agreed to go into business for themselves, and established a paper at Bloomington. Mr. Hughes, in 1840, returned to Pennsylvania, purchased the material and forwarded it by boat from Pittsburgh to Bloomington, where, under the firm name of Hughes & Russell, they published, on the 27th of Oc- tober, 1840, the Bloomington Herald, the seventh paper pub- lished in Iowa.
"The Herald had been preceded four days by the publica- tion of the Iowa Standard, at Bloomington, by Messrs. Crum and Bailey, from Pennsylvania also, whose first number had made its appearance on the 23rd of October. The publication of the Herald had been delayed over a week, awaiting the com- pletion of a room they were to occupy, but they had tempo- rarily set up their press and printed the tickets for the demo- cratic party, at that October election. . . Messrs. Hughes & Russell were democrats and published a democratic paper, while the Standard was whig in its politics. A few months later the Standard was removed to Iowa City and issued under the name of the Iowa City Standard, and for a time it pur- ported to be issued 'simultaneously' at Iowa City and Bloom- ington, until a wag of a devil in the office changed it to 'spon- taneously,' when it was dropped. In the fall (November 20) of 1840, Mr. Hughes, having sold his interest in the Herald to his partner, Mr. Russell, also removed to Iowa City."
In October, 1842, Colonel Jesse Williams, who had been a
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clerk in Governor Lucas' office in 1838, and later, in 1846, be- came the secretary of the territory, purchased General Van Antwerp's interest in the Iowa Capital Reporter and became a partner with Mr. Hughes and joint editor and publisher. Later, Mr. Hughes retired, having sold his interest to Colonel Williams, who became sole editor and proprietor. This was Mr. Hughes' last venture in the newspaper business as editor and publisher. Mr. Parvin, however, recalls that "some years later (after the war) he returned to the case and worked for a season;" also, that, "during the war, while the Twenty- eighth Regiment, of which Mr. Hughes was quartermaster, was stationed at Alexandria, Louisiana, Colonel Connell, its commander, confiscated the rebel press of that town. Mr. (now Lieutenant) Hughes, being a practical printer, opened the office and issued for awhile a 'live' daily journal from the abandoned office, in the interest of the Union and the Union Army of Occupation."
Iowa having in the winter of 1846 ( December 27th) become a state, Mr. Hughes was elected a senator to the first state legislature from Muscatine and Jowa counties, which then in- cluded the present territory of Johnson county, and took his seat as a democrat, which party had a majority in both houses. Mr. Hughes was honored as chairman of the committee on incorporations and the committee on enrolled bills. He took an active interest in schools and school lands, but made no pretensions as a public speaker. An extra session was held January 3, 1848, at which Senator Hughes was elected presi- dent of the senate. A singular coincidence was that his old partner at Bloomington, John B. Russell, was elected secre- tary of the senate at both these sessions.
In 1856 Mr. Hughes, in company with Samuel J. Kirkwood and many other democrats, swung away from the democratic party on the slavery question involved in the Kansas-Nebras- ka bill, and thenceforth acted with the republican party. From 1869 to 1872 and again from 1878 to 1880 he served by annual and successive elections as city clerk of Iowa City, a position which he filled at the time of his death in 1881. For two terms, 1856-60, he served as county treasurer of Johnson county, and was an efficient and faithful officer. Senator Hughes was an active and prominent Odd Fellow, having joined the order at
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