USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 21
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On a 280-acre farm in the northeast part of Fremont town- ship in the above mentioned county is written in the latest county map the name of August Kranz. On that farm for about twenty-eight years the subject of this sketch pursued the peaceful occupation of a farmer. His first purchase of land was in 1881, when he took possession of the 160 acres where the old home stands. He gradually added to his hold- ings till at one time he owned in Johnson county 420 acres and in Louisa county 137 acres. In 1909 he retired and moved to Lone Tree, where he has a beautiful residence at the time of this writing.
Angust Kranz was born in Germany February 4, 1848, and is the son of Frederick and Sophia ( Freilasky) Kranz. He came to America with his parents when twelve years of age. The family landed at New York city, and, after spending three months in the Empire state, removed to Muscatine, Iowa.
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where they resided between three and four years. The next move was to Rock Island county, where the parents remained until their death. At the age of twenty-one, in Rock Island county, August Kranz began business as a farmer on his own account. His entire residence in that connty covers a period of abont ten years. In 1879, as above stated, he removed to Fremont township, Johnson county.
Six children were born to Frederick and Sophia Kranz, of whom four reached maturity, two having died in infancy. Only two now remain -- Mary (now Mrs. John Collnar, of Rock Island), and the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Kranz was married September 5, 1872, to Miss Kath-
RESIDENCE OF AUGUST KRANTZ
erine Stamm, a native of Rock Island county, of German par- entage. Miss Stamm's parents came to Rock Island county at a very early day, were married there and resided continu- ously in the county until the death of the father, about twenty- two years ago. Thereafter the Widow Stamm removed to Muscatine, residing there about ten years, after which she went to Davenport, where she died in the fall of 1910. Mrs. Kranz had four brothers and five sisters: Maggie, George, Michael, Mary, Elizabeth, Adam, Ara, Nicholas, and Louisa. All are living except Maggie, who died when two years of age, and Michael, who died at eighteen.
Mr. and Mrs. Kranz have six children, all of whom are
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living. Of these George, married, resides at Iowa City ; Mary (Mrs. Fred Lentz) lives on a farm in Lincoln township; Emma (Mrs. Joseph Kral) resides in Lincoln township; Lonisa (Mrs. Frank Kral) lives in Louisa county; Minnie (Mrs. John Jones) lives in Muscatine county, and Clarence, married, re- sides on the old home farm in Lincoln township.
Mr. Kranz is a republican, a member of the Reformed church and of Omega lodge No. 728, I. O. O. F., of Lone Tree. Still in the prime of life, he daily enjoys the association of lifelong friends and enters heartily into the activities of his residence city.
HENRY WALKER
In numerous places on the township map of Johnson county, Iowa, may be seen the name of Henry Walker. In all, accord- ing to the latest deeds of record, 1,100 acres are included in the ownership of this successful farmer. These represent, in part, the accumulations of fifty-eight years of industry and frugality as an agriculturist in eastern Iowa. If further proof is needed that an energetic American citizen, under the favor- able conditions of rural life in the great west, may become wealthy, the reader is cited to the accomplishments of num- bers of Mr. Walker's neighbors in that productive section of the Hawkeye state known as Johnson county. Scores of bronzed farmers in Fremont, Lincoln, and Pleasant Valley townships can write their wealth in six figures, and yet other scores can crowd five figures to the limit. The advocates of the "back-to-the-farm" movement need look no further than this region for arguments that are convincing of the profit- able nature of agriculture at its best.
Henry Walker took his elementary education in farming in Indiana, to which state his father and mother removed from Portage county, Ohio, which was his birthplace, when he was four years of age. That was in 1833, and seven years later, in 1840, the family settled in Johnson county, Iowa. James Walker, the father (a native of Virginia), and his wife, Betsey Burnett, determined to have a home of their own in the new west, and so the head of the family visited the government land office at Dubuque and entered his application for a home-
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stead in Johnson county. The couple spent the remainder of their days in this county.
Henry (born March 9, 1829, twenty miles east of Cleveland, Ohio) is the sole survivor of his father's family of nine chil- dren. The birth roster, which (pathetic indeed) is also a death-roll, is as follows: Robert, married and died years ago ; Nancy, dead many years; Samuel, married, and a successful farmer near River Junction for years, dead; Eliza, died in Indiana ; Amos Wortinger, dead ; James, Joseph, Laura, and Fannie - all dead; Henry, alone of all his father's household,
RESIDENCE OF HENRY WALKER
survives at the age of eighty-three. There must inevitably be a last man in every family. Comforting the thought to the survivor (as in this case) that old age has brought peace and prosperity, with honor and a good conscience.
At twenty-four years of age Henry Walker bought his first farm, which is now his old homestead. His purchase con- sisted of 200 acres, and his deed bears date of 1853. Additions from time to time, as stated in the first paragraph of this article, have swelled his holdings to 1,100 acres in Fremont and Pleasant Valley townships. A rich man in the midst of
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his acres, there is no man in all the region of River Junction and vicinity who is more thoroughly respected and esteemed than Henry Walker. Hard by the village of River Junction stands the modest little Methodist chapel with its beautiful, well-kept "God's acre" adjoining. Henry Walker donated the land for both, and his active membership of many years in the church has added to his beneficence the benediction of his faith. Mrs. Walker was a member of the Unitarian church.
On Friday, June 30, 1911, the old settlers of Johnson coun- ty held their annual picnic in the beautiful grove adjoining the River Junction M. E. chapel, and the speakers on that oc- casion made reference in their encomiums to the generosity and thoughtfulness of llenry Walker in donating for the per- manent use of the organization the picturesque three acres where, under the shade of the great oaks, maples, and hicko- ries, the first fathers of Johnson county, with their wives and descendants, could fittingly celebrate the anniversaries of their vesterdays and meet together in neighborly feasting and con- versation. Henry Walker was present on that occasion, and he was one of the "young men" of the company - several pioneers being there who had passed their ninetieth year.
The marriage of Henry Walker to Miss Harriet MeComas, a native of Indiana, who came to Johnson county with her parents, took place in 1854. The couple were blessed with two children : Laura, married to William Fairall, of Iowa City, died in 1909; Mary, now Mrs. Charles Shellady, of Fremont township. Harriet McComas Walker died in 1880. Mr. Walker was married again to Miss Martha Sweet, daughter of David and Lydia Sweet, who died April 26, 1911, aged 74 years. Primitive democracy and fundamental honesty go hand in hand; it is therefore not surprising that Henry Walker is an old-fashioned democrat. He is one of the "undaunted mi- nority" which holds the balance-wheel of the republic true.
It is a far look backward across the years when the children made merry at the fireside of James Walker. In that time the Rocky Mountain Limited has displaced the patient oxen; the traction thresher has crushed the flail to a pulp; the loyal blood of the north has washed the black stain of slavery from the nation's escutcheon; and everywhere that men once crept
HENRY WALKER
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in arduous, footsore journeyings their descendants are chasing the eagle in his native air, looking down on the primitive paths of their fathers; electricity, speaking daily of a world's ar- tivities, has long-time flashed across the post-horse's grave, and the hastening feet of a great procession of Americans pestle the dust in the mortar where the forefathers sleep. Henry Walker has lived in remnants of two great centuries, and his soul is big with memories; but who doubts that in the eventime of life his eyes feast in reverie on the faces of the brothers and sisters and the father and mother of the years ago, while mystic voices echo from the ingleside whose embers have died and grown cold? "AAt eventime it shall be light," and the torch of faith shall blazen the pathway of the surviv- ing member of James Walker's family to reunion with his own.
GEORGE W. JOHNSTON
One of the successful farmers of Fremont township is George W. Johnston, who has been engaged in business for himself since 1876. With the exception of a few years spent in Nebraska, his entire agricultural experience has been confined to Johnson county. Our subject was born in Lonisa county, lowa, in October, 1853. His parents, who were natives of Tennessee, came to lowa in 1851 and settled in Louisa county, where the father engaged in farming. There were ten children in the family, all of whom reached maturity. Father Johnston died in 1898, his wife having preceded him two years. The names of the children in the order of birth are as follows: A. D., married and living in Taylor county, Iowa, was a sol- dier in the Civil War, having enlisted in the fall of 1861 in Company C, Eleventh lowa, and served until honorably dis- charged in the summer of 1865; Kisia, deceased wife of J. C. Wilcox; Anne, now Mrs. J. C. Duncan, living in California ; J. C., living in Valley, Oregon ; Margaret, now Mrs. Jasper Cox, residing at Seattle, Washington ; our subject ; Belle, now Mrs. L. L. Siverly, living near Diagonal, Iowa; Samuel H., living at Seymour, Missouri; Arvilla, deceased wife of C. C. Blake, of Oklahoma ; Elizabeth, now Mrs. W. M. Blake, living in Oklahoma.
George W. Johnston was married in September, 1880, to
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Miss Amanda Edmonds, a native of Johnson county. She was a daughter of William and Hannah (Evens) Edmonds, former- ly of Ohio. There were two children in the father's family, wife of our subject and Even, now married and living at Can- yon City, Texas. When a child of about three years her father died, and later her mother married Mr. Westfall, who enlisted in an Iowa regiment and died in the service of his country. Mr. and Mrs. Westfall had one son, George, living in Fremont township. After the war Mrs. Westfall married Wm. Shep- pard. They were parents of two sons, both now deceased. Mrs. Sheppard died about 1885, Mr. Sheppard in the fall of 1911.
The names of their seven children are: Alta, now Mrs. Charles Miller, of Pleasant Valley township; Roy M., residing in Pleasant Valley township : Edgar E., a veterinary surgeon, practicing at Centerville, Iowa ; Bessie, a trained nurse in the Methodist Hospital at Des Moines : Leota, keeping house for her brother Roy M. in Pleasant Valley township; Glenn and Holly, both living at home.
Mr. Johnston has been honored by his fellow citizens with numerous township offices, all of which he has administered with ability and satisfaction. He is one of the straightfor- ward, four-square men of Johnson county, who can be de- pended on three hundred and sixty-five days of every year. In politics he is a democrat. ITis family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN LUTZ
One of the well known business men of Lone Tree, Iowa, is William Franklin Lutz, the subject of this sketch. Born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, November 7, 1856, he came with his parents, John Lutz and Margaret Huskins, direct from his native state to Johnson county, when four years of age. There he has resided continuously ever since, with the exception of two short periods. A residence of forty years in any com- munity is sufficient test-furnace for any character, and the fact that William F. Lutz today is universally respected and esteemed by his neighbors proves his worth as a citizen, neigh- bor, and friend.
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John Entz and Margaret Huskins were the parents of three children, our subject being the second child. The others were : Georgia Anna, now Mrs. W. S. Potter, of Lone Tree, and John, living at Lone Tree.
John Lutz died in 1859, and his widow remarried in 1862, her second husband being S. J. Devoe, one of the prominent early settlers of Johnson county. Mr. Devoe made his en- trance to the county on the first railroad train that came into Iowa City. In company with a few others he laid out the original townsite of Lone Tree. Ilis business was that of general farming and stock raising, and he was always a quiet,
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM FRANKLIN LUTZ
industrious man and a good citizen. Both he and his wife are now dead.
Seven children were born to S. J. Devoe and Margaret Lutz, their names being Richard, Henry, Elizabeth, Alfred, Mar- garet, Julia, and Mary - all of whom are living except the last two mentioned.
William F. Lutz began farming on his own account when twenty-three years of age, and continued for eleven years, after which he entered the employ of M. Baker, of Lone Tree, a storekeeper. At the expiration of five years of service with Mr. Baker, he began the general mercantile business for him- self, which business he has continued until the present time.
On February 1, 1884, our subject was married to Miss Mac Buser, a native of Oskaloosa, Iowa.
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Mr. Lutz is a democrat, and has occupied the position of city councilman of Lone Tree for eight years; also that of township trustee for four years, as well as other positions of trust. He is a member of the local Masonie lodge of Lone Tree, of which he has been master.
THOMAS JEFFERSON McCOLLISTER
The ancestry and genealogy of the MeCollister family is quite fully set forth in the sketch of James McCollister, the father of our subject, which appears elsewhere in this volume. The reader's attention is called to this in connection with the
RESIDENCE OF THOMAS J. MC COLLISTER
present biography of Thomas Jefferson MeCollister, of Lone Tree, Iowa.
Our subject was born in Johnson county December 4, 1862. He attended the public schools of the county, receiving there- from a good fundamental education. This he supplemented by courses at the Iowa City Academy and the Williams Com- mercial College, graduating from the latter institution in 1884. Thereafter he took up the business of farming on the old home- stead below lowa City in connection with his father. When he was twenty-two years of age he moved to his present location, near Lone Tree, and, with the exception of five years spent at Towa City, has resided there ever since. For several years
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past Mr. McCollister has made a specialty of raising pure- bred Aberdeen Angus cattle, and his name stands high among stock men and cattle buyers for the excellence of his product.
Mr. McCollister has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Lettie Briggs, a native of JJohnson county, Iowa. Three children were born to this union: Oscar, married and living in Rock Island, Ill. ; James and Glenn. The latter married and living in Dubuque, Iowa. Mr. McCollister was married again, 1901 to Miss Julia E. Hynes, a native of Louisa county, Iowa. Their only child a bright winsome little boy died May 19, 1913, aged 5 years, 1 month and 20 days.
Mrs. McCollister is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Eden) Hynes, natives of Ireland and England, respectively. The father was born in County Clare, Ireland, September 29, 1821, and came to America when 17 years of age and died in Johnson county, April 9, 1907. He was the parent of nineteen children.
The home life of Mr. and Mrs. McCollister is filled with comfort and good cheer, and is typical of the prosperous sec- tion of Johnson county in which they reside.
Politically, like his father, Mr. McCollister has always been a democrat. He is a member of the M. W. A. of Lone Tree, Camp 2505. Is a member of the Episcopal church. His wife is a member of the Catholic church.
ALBERT H. DELANO, M. D.
One of the objects most frequently seen on the streets and highways of Lone Tree, Iowa, and vicinity is a gasoline run- about directed by a man of middle age, whose speed invariably is that of an individual who has some place to go quickly and knows just where he is going. That is the machine of Dr. Albert H. DeLano, and the driver is the doctor himself. Were the doctor a young medico, just entering the practice of medi- cine, this activity might in part be attributed to a desire for
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pleasure-riding or an effort to counterfeit a condition of heavy patronage; but in the present instance the runabout journeys are in every case the response to a practice extending to all sections of Johnson and adjoining counties, for Dr. DeLano has been a successful practitioner in Lone Tree, Iowa, for up- wards of twenty-four years.
Dr. DeLano, by birth, is a "way down east yankee," being born in Bath, Maine, March 13, 1854. His "yankee" compo-
RESIDENCE OF ALBERT H. DELANO, M. D.
sition is further emphasized by the fact that both his father and mother were natives of the same state, their birthplace being Huron county. The mother (Mary Ann Norton) died when Dr. DeLano was a baby; his father (H. M. DeLano) re- moved to Ohio in 1865 and remained there until his death, March 26, 1910. Our subject and a sister, Ella G., now Mrs. H. S. Vaughn, of Denver, Colorado, were the only children.
Dr. DeLano attended high school at Norwalk, Ohio. He supplemented his common school education by a course at the State University of Iowa, graduating from the Medical De- partment March 2, 1887. In 1903 he completed a short course at the Post Graduate Medical School and Hospital at Chicago.
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He first hung out his shingle at Lisbon, Iowa, in March, 1887; but in July, 1888, he removed to Lone Tree.
April 2, 1879, he married a charming young woman, Miss Elsie S. Goodsell, a native of Ohio, who is the honored queen of the doctor's beautiful home at Lone Tree, an active, useful factor in social and church life, beloved by all who know her. Two children are the fruit of this marriage : Courtland A., a graduate of the dental department of the S. U. I., now prac- ticing at Lone Tree, and Mildred L., residing at home.
The doctor is a republican ; a member of the Masonie order, Knights of Pythias, and the Odd Fellows. His church connec- tion and that of his family is with the Methodist Episcopal, of Lone Tree. He has several times filled important offices at the behest of his fellow citizens, and, in the prime of manhood, commands the universal respect of his neighbors and the members of his profession. Able, alert, and energetic. he has reason to look forward expectantly to many years of useful- ness in Johnson county and vicinity.
CHARLES BYRON SHELLADAY
Among the prosperous and successful farmers of Johnson county is Charles Byron Shelladay, whose entire active life has been devoted to this pursuit. He belongs to the best type of citizen and has always evinced great interest in the welfare and development of his community, having filled various of- fices of public honor and trust. He is well known in many circles and has friends in all. He is a native of the county, born August 10, 1861, son of Robert and Isabelle (Russell) Shelladay. The father, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Shel- lady, was born in Ireland, and came to America with his parents when a young man. They settled at Iowa City, where they lived a number of years. Robert Shelladay was a farmer of Johnson county until 1865, when he sold his farm near Iowa City and moved to Washington county, buying a farm there and residing on it until his death in 1898. ITis widow survived until 1904. They were the parents of seven children : George, died in Oklahoma in 1910; Sarah Jane, died in 1889: Samuel, died in Iowa City in 1901 ; Katherine is the wife of Neal Me-
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Ewen, of Formoso, Kansas; Robert, of Washington county; Charles Byron, of this sketch ; Isabelle, Mrs. John Wallace, of Monte Vista, Colorado.
Mr. Shelladay's first enterprise on his own account was in the line of farming, and his active career has been spent on the farm he now ocenpies, which he has improved and de- veloped in a high degree. In 1893 his house was destroyed by fire, and soon afterwards he erected the comfortable and con- venient farm residence the family now occupies, a cut of which appears in this publication. In 1881 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Walker, daughter of Henry Walker and wife.
RESIDENCE OF CHARLES BYRON SHELLADAY
The Walker family are mentioned at length elsewhere in these pages. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Shel- lady : Georgia Harriet is attending school at Glenwood, Iowa; Effie Meryl, wife of Gilbert Matthews, lives at River Junction, where she is acting as agent for the Rock Island Company, has one son, Marsh Earl; Cecil Henry, living on a farm adjoining that of his father, married Nora Crim, and they have one son, LeRoy Charles ; Walker Day, now twelve years of age.
Mr. Shelladay is a democrat in political faith and is now serving his third term as township trustee. He is president of the Palestine Telephone Company and has been identified with various other local enterprises. He is a member of the
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Christian church and fraternally is connected with Omega lodge No. 728, 1. O. O. F., of Lone Tree, and his wife belongs to Lone Tree lodge No. 160, M. B. A. Both are wholesouled, generous, and hospitable, being model neighbors and having a host of friends. Although quiet and unassuming in manner, they have been most influential in the life of the community and spare no pains to entertain their guests. They take es- pecial pleasure in being kind and sympathetic to all, believing in the worth of the golden rule, to "de unto others as ye would that they should do unto you."
CALEB JOSHUA SWEET
Probably no family has figured more prominently in the early history of Johnson county, Iowa, than that of David and Lydia Sweet. Five children were born to this honored couple, and each one has written a worthy page upon the historical record of the county and state. Four of the five have left the impress of their personalities upon Fremont township, and three of them still reside therein, respected and esteemed. David Sweet lived only seven years after his settlement in the county in 1838, but his memory is green to this day among his offspring and the friends of his youth who survive. Mother Sweet departed January 3, 1884, but those who knew and loved her remember and love her still. Who can forget the saintly character of Martha Jane, the departed wife of Henry Walker? Louisa Ann is the helpful companion of Zephaniah Cray, of Lone Tree. William Thomas is a respected farmer of the same neighborhood. Angeline is the wife of George W. Maxwell, of Cambridge, Iowa, and our subject, crippled for years by rheumatism resulting from exposure during the Civil War, lives in honorable old age on the original homestead of his parents in Fremont township. Thus the name and the blood of David and Lydia Sweet are mingled with the memo- ries and the activities of the state of their adoption.
David Sweet was a native of Kentucky, but he removed when a child with his parents to Ohio. Later he resided in In- diana. He married in Champaign county, Ohio. In May, 1838, as above stated, the couple settled in lowa. They lived and died upon the old homestead near Lone Tree, now ocen-
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pied by our subject. Their remains are interred in the quiet cemetery at River Junction.
Caleb Sweet contracted the gold fever in 1853, and went to California in quest of the yellow metal. He mingled with the argonauts for six years, and came back to the old home in Fre- mont township just in time to catch the spirit of the Lincoln- Douglas debates and the ante-bellum campaign of 1860. For about a year he labored as a farmer on the old homestead, and then the frenzy of conflict swept over him and he united with his brother-in-law. Zephaniah Cray, and enlisted in Company G of the famous Second Towa Cavalry. Three years and two months he devoted to the service of his country. He took part in many hard-fought battles, among them being the memorable
RESIDENCE OF CALEB JOSHUA SWEET
charge at Farmington. In May, 1862, he was taken prisoner at Booneville, Mississippi, and confined for four months and twenty days in a rebel prison. He was held in Mobile, Ala- bama, Macon, Georgia, Libby, Richmond, Virginia, and signed his parole in Libby prison. After his honorable discharge in October, 1864, he returned to the old farm, where he has re- sided ever since.
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