USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 22
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In 1888 he was married to Miss Margaret S. Hanthorne, a native of Iowa, who has been a true companion and helpmeet. Politically he has always been a republican. He is a member of Kirkwood Post, G. A. R., of Iowa City. No man stands
CALEB SWEET
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
beth, wife of J. D. Musser, both dead: William, residing at Lone Tree; Frank, a farmer, married and living in Fremont township.
Joseph Raynor, our subject, was married in 1864 to Miss Jemima J. Musser, a native of Pennsylvania. Their children are: Chris, engaged in brick and tile business at Marengo, Iowa; Elizabeth, now Mrs. A. II. Hinkley, living in Fremont township ; Jemima Jane, now Mrs. Kline, living in Hills, Iowa ; Clara, now Mrs. Cecil Mullinix, living in Fremont township.
Mr. Raynor is a republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
WILLIAM EDEN
"Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe hath broke" was literally true of the parents of William Eden, for, following his settlement in Johnson county in 1859, Charles Eden, the father, engaged for a number of years in the business of "breaking" the virgin Iowa prairies. Both the parents of our
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM EDEN
subject, Charles Eden and Jane Allen, were natives of Eng- land. They emigrated to Wisconsin in 1846, in which state our subject was born November 21, 1852. The latter was therefore seven years old when the family removed to Johnson county. There were twelve children in all : Betsey, Mary, Emma, Wil- liam, Albert, Alfred, John, Sarah, Charles, George, Thomas,
JOHN LUTZ
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and Rosette. All are living except Emma, Sarah, and Albert. Father Eden still survives and resides upon the old farm. The mother died in 1906.
William Eden chose the business of farming and began "on his own hook" in 1886. He has continued in the same line ever since, and has made a success. On February 25, 1886, he was married to Miss Mary Alcock, a native of England, born May 31, 1855. They have been blessed with seven children, three of whom died in infancy. The names of the survivors are : Eliza Jane, Mary Rose, Charles Thomas, and Frank Edwin, all re- siding at home. The family are members of the Reformed church.
Thomas Alcock and his wife, Eliza Brothers, parents of Mrs. William Eden, came from England to America in 1879, and settled upon the farm now the property of Mrs. Eden. They both died on this farm in 1900, and are buried in the little cemetery adjoining the Union church. Their children were: Joseph P., Charles T., and Mary B. Charles T. died in 1875.
JOHN LUTZ
Jolin Lutz is one of the best-known farmers of Johnson county, where most of his life has been spent. He was brought there by his parents when but two years old, and there became interested in agricultural pursuits at an early age. He is a member of one of the pioneer families --- one that has always been identified with the best interests of the region, and has a strong affection for his home county. He was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July 15, 1859, the elder of the two sons of John and Margaret ( Huskins) Lutz, natives of Pennsylvania. There were two other children born of this union : William Franklin, a successful merchant of Lone Tree, Iowa, a sketch of whom appears in this volume, and Georgia Anna, wife of W. S. Potter, also of Lone Tree.
John Lutz died in 1859 and his widow afterwards became the wife of S. J. Devoe, of an old Johnson county family, who was among the number to lay out the townsite of Lone Tree. He was prominent in local affairs and by occupation was a farmer and stock-raiser. He was a worthy man, a good citizen and highly respected. Five children were born of this union:
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Richard, Henry, Elizabeth, Alfred, and Margaret. All of these children survive, but both parents are now deceased.
John Lutz was reared to farm work and educated in the schools near his boyhood home. When he was twenty-four years old he began farming on his own account, and since that time he has successfully continued in this line. He makes a specialty of handling and raising pure-bred Percheron horses, and has been engaged in this line for the past twenty years. He is an influential man in his community and stands well with his friends and associates. He is a democrat in politics and fraternally belongs to Omega lodge No. 728, I. O. O. F., of Lone Tree, and to Lone Tree lodge No. 160, M. B. A.
In 1886 Mr. Lutz was united in marriage with Miss Ada
RESIDENCE OF JOHN LUTZ
Dunham, whose parents were early settlers of Johnson county, having come there from Illinois and settled on a farm in Fre- mont township. Mrs. Lutz died about 1895-96. She, like her husband, was well known in Johnson county, and had a large number of firm friends, who sincerely mourned her loss. In December, 1911, Mr. Lutz married Margaret Ann Carter, a native of Champaign county, Illinois.
CHARLES EDEN
The township of Eden in Buena Vista county, Towa, is named in honor of Charles Eden, the subject of this sketch, he
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having built the first wooden house in that township. Mr. Eden was twenty-one years of age when he left his native place of Oxfordshire, England, and came to America in 1846. He first sojourned for a time in Wisconsin, and then, hearing of land for entry in Iowa, came to Iowa City in Johnson county. He purchased his present home in Johnson county in 1870, where he has lived continuously since. He now owns a con- siderable body of land in Johnson county.
Mr. Eden was married in England to Miss Jane Allen, a native of that country. They were blessed with twelve chil- dren : Betsey, Mary, Emma, Sarah, Rose, William, Alfred, Al-
RESIDENCE OF CHARLES EDEN, SR.
bert, John, Charles, George W., and Thomas. Of these Emma, Sarah, and Albert are deceased.
Mr. Eden has always adhered to the democratic political faith. He and his wife are members of the Episcopal church.
ROBERT SWANK
Robert Swank is a prosperous farmer of Fremont township, who was born in Ohio October 4, 1845, and came with his father to Louisa county, Iowa, in 1864. His parents, George and Margaret (Moore) Swank, were both natives of Ohio. The mother died when Robert was a small boy. There were two other children in the family: Katherine, now Mrs.
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F. J. Hank, living in Ohio, and Miria, wife of Mr. Dickinson, died about twenty years ago. George Swank and family re- sided in Louisa county about four years and then moved into Johnson county, where they lived twenty years. The father then removed to Kansas and later to Indian Territory, where he died.
Mr. Swank took up farming as his occupation at an early age, and has followed it continuously until the present. He was married in 1878 to Miss Mary C. Elliott, a native of Ohio,
RESIDENCE OF ROBERT SWANK
who has borne him three children: Edward, married and liv- ing in Lone Tree; Alma and Earl, both living at home.
Mr. Swank is a republican. He is a member of Omega lodge No. 728, I. O. O. F., and Lone Tree lodge No. 160, M. B. A., of Lone Tree. His standing and character as a citizen are unimpeachable.
GEORGE W. EDEN
Fruit trees grown in the nurseries of George W. Eden, of Fremont township, are shipped to all parts of the United States and Canada. Mr. Eden has originated several new and popular varieties of fruit, among which are the Lone Tree peach, which is grown all over the state of Iowa and in many other states, the Eden plum, and the Red Wild crab-apple. Mr.
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Eden grows fruit trees by the thousands. His nursery enter- prise dates from 1900, and his farm in Fremont township has been transformed into a fruit paradise, for in addition to pro- ducing stock for transplanting Mr. Eden has developed im- portant fruit orchards. He has forty aeres in bearing apple trees, besides many other varieties of fruit. Our subject began farming when he was twenty-one years of age, and has con- tinned on the old farm in Fremont township ever since. Aside from his abilities as a nurseryman and horticulturist, he takes great pleasure and pride in antiquarianism. Ile has a re- markable collection of pre-historie Indian relies made of stone ; also a collection of old tools of all kinds. In numismatics he
RESIDENCE OF GEO. W. EDEN
has made considerable progress, having a very complete and valuable collection of old and rare coins.
George W. Eden is the eleventh child of Charles and Jane (Allen) Eden, and was born in Iowa City February 22, 1864 (see sketch of Charles Eden - Ed.). He was married in 1885 to Miss Frances L. Gould, a native of Louisa county, Iowa, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Gould, who came from Ohio at an early day and settled in Louisa county. Mr. and Mrs. Eden have eleven children. Large families are a character- istic of the Eden line, Charles, the father of our subject, being the father of twelve children. The names of George W. Eden's
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children are: Arthur L., Oscar A., George W., Jr., Clem W., Otto M., Homer E., Dayton, Clayton, Lorena M., Lucy, and Frances L. The first named, Arthur L., is prominent in the Odd Fellows order.
George W. Eden is a democrat, and has taken a prominent part in the councils of his party. In 1904 he was an alternate delegate to the democratic national convention at Kansas City. In 1908 he was official usher of the democratic national con- vention at Denver. He has filled the office of assessor of Fre- mont township. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal church. He takes an active interest in fraternal orders, being a member of Middle Link lodge No. 245, I. O. O. F., Riverside, Fowa, Encampment No. 112, Columbus Junction I. O. O. F., also Rebecca lodge 416, of Towa City ; M. B. A., No. 160, Lone Tree. Mrs. Eden is also a member of the latter order.
JOHN BELL
The centennial year of American independence witnessed the arrival in Boston, Massachusetts, of a young Irishman twenty-four years of age named John Bell, a native of County Down. He was a stranger in a strange land, but his heart was filled with the love of liberty and in his soul burned the prin- ciples of true patriotism. He had the right stuff out of which to make a good American. For four years he worked in the city containing Faneuil Hall, and his daily view of Bunker Hill monument gave strength to his purposes of patriotism and warmed his heart towards the country of the oppressed. Hav- ing worshipped at Liberty's cradle, he determined to journey to the heart of the great west, and in March, 1880, came to Johnson county, lowa, where he bought and settled upon a farm of eighty acres. His present home stands upon those eighty acres, but he has added to his holdings yet other three hundred and forty acres, so that today he is the possessor of four hundred and twenty acres of as fine land as the sun shines on in the Mississippi valley. From this it will be rightly in- ferred that the young Irishman of 1856 has made good in the land of Liberty.
John Bell liked farming from the beginning, and in addi-
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tion to the ordinary work of tilling the soil he took up the special business of stock raising. In this he was eminently successful. Today he is rated as one of the wealthy farmers of Johnson county. But in addition to making money and acquiring property, he has also made friends. Always a good fellow, he has not been spoiled by the increase of wealth, and he is held in high esteem by those who have the good fortune of his acquaintance, and their name is legion.
In 1879, in Boston, a romance of the young Irishman's former residence there was revealed in his marriage in Novem- ber of that year to Miss Susan Kane, who, be it known, is also a native of Ireland and came to America in that same centen-
RESIDENCE OF JOHN BELL
nial year, being then a young lady. The union of John Bell and Susan Kane was the joining of two faithful hearts that have beat true as steel during all these thirty-five years. Eleven children have made glad their fireside, eight of whom are living: James H., married and living on a farm in Fre- mont township; John A., died when seventeen years old; Mary E., now Mrs. Chester M. Estel, living in Muscatine county on a farm; Susan Jane, now Mrs. Ben Keeler, living in Fremont township; Charles S., residing at home, but he has recently purchased a farm in Fremont township; William, re- siding at home; Anne R., attending high school and residing
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at home; Margaret, attending school and living at home; Robert John, living at home; two others died in infancy.
In polities Mr. Bell is a republican. He is a member of the Reformed church of the United States. He still resides on the original eighty acres which he bought. in 1880, in Fremont township.
CLAUS LUTZE
Motherless at three years and fatherless at thirteen years of age, Clans Lutze was left to face the realities of life's hat- tle in his native Germany. At the age of twenty-one he decid-
RESIDENCE OF CLAUS LUTZE
ed to cast his fortunes in America. He left Holstein, his birthplace, in 1855, and came direct to Davenport, Iowa, where he resided eleven years. Then he made a visit to his native land, remaining one year, when he returned to Davenport, where he resided another year. In 1869 he sold his farm of eighty acres near Davenport and moved to Lincoln township in Johnson county. There he settled upon the farm upon which he now lives. He takes great interest in agricultural matters, to which he is devoted by natural inclination as well as training. He retired from active business in 1891, and has since devoted his time in looking after property interests. He continues to live at the old homestead.
CLAUS LUTZE
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Our subject's parents were John and Ida (Kleinworth) Lutze, natives of Germany. They had three children besides Claus, namely : Henry, who now resides on his father's old homestead in Germany; Wibke, wife of Claus Behrens, died ten years ago; Anna, wife of Henry Kruse, died about six years ago. Neither of the deceased sisters ever left Germany.
Mr. Lutze was married in 1868 to Miss Anna Dieckmann, born in the same place in Germany as himself. They have had five children, two of whom died in infancy. The names of the others are: Annie, living at home; Clare, who died in 1900 at the age of twenty-three; Minnie, living at home.
Mr. Lutze is a republican, and has occupied the position of township trustee for six years. He and his family are mem- bers of the German Lutheran church. This German orphan boy, by the exercise of industry and economy, coupled with serupulous honesty, has become one of the prosperous farmers of Johnson county; he bears an untarnished reputation, and numbers his friends as legion.
WILLIAM JOHN KIRKPATRICK
The American-born Irishman takes as naturally to the in- stitutions of free goverment as "a young duck to water." Breathing the atmosphere of liberty and educated amid the progressive mentality of the American public schools, all those instincts of the Irishman tending to generosity, neighborliness, integrity, patriotism, and intellectual progress are fully aroused and given free rein for development and expression. It has been quaintly said of the American Celt that "he is not a chip off the old block - he is a new tree throughout." Cer- tain it is that the world has come to recognize in the true Irishman, born on American soil, a type of rare citizenship worthy of the sacred name American. Almost without excep- tion such men rise to distinction in their communities and be- come moving factors in intellectual, social, and political life.
William John Kirkpatrick is an American of pure Irish blood. His father, David Kirkpatrick, and his mother, Eliza Jane Corbett, were born on the "ould sod." The history of both these honored children of Ireland has been told in the biography of David Kirkpatrick, published elsewhere in this
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volume. It is a record to inspire pride and satisfaction in the minds of their descendants. Next to the fact of his Irish par- entage the matter which gives William John Kirkpatrick the greatest feeling of pleasure is the fact that he was born in Fremont township, Johnson county, Iowa, on the old farm which was the scene of his father's early struggles and victo- ries. This event occurred February 13, 1866.
Mr. Kirkpatrick had the advantages of an academic educa- tion, coupled with the business training of a thorough course in the Iowa City Academy and Commercial College, from which he graduated in 1893. Possessing fine qualities as a
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RESIDENCE OF W. J. KIRKPATRICK
business man, the love of the farm predominated, and William John today resides upon his farm southeast of Lone Tree, a prosperous man, happy in the possession of a most estimable wife and five bright children. His marriage, in 1905, to Miss Anna McCabe, a native of Seymour, Iowa, daughter of William McCabe and Elizabeth Lowry, pioneers of Appanoose county, was most fortunate. Five children, as above indicated, have blessed the union : William David, born June 30, 1906; Eliza- beth Margaret, born November 30, 1907; Annabelle, born March 30, 1909; Maybell Eula, born July 23, 1910; Helen Gladys, born February 7, 1912.
WM.J. KIRKPATRICK
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ACTOR. LENOX TILD N FOU . DA . IONS
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Mr. Kirkpatrick's first experience at farming was with his father, an occupation which he renewed after his graduation. With the exception of a period following 1895, when he en- gaged in the grain business at Lone Tree, practically his en- tire life has been spent as a tiller of the soil. And there is no more honorable occupation. While a resident of Lone Tree Mr. Kirkpatrick was honored by the election to the position of city councilman, a place which he filled with credit. In politics a republican, he has stood always for good government and progress.
Mr. Kirkpatrick is an honored member of the Masonic fra- ternity. His local lodge is Abner No. 535, of Lone Tree, but he is also a member of West Liberty Chapter, Iowa City Knights Templar, and Davenport Consistory Scottish Rites. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine of Davenport. He is a member of Eureka lodge No. 44, I. O. O. F., Iowa City, and of the Modern Woodmen of America, Lone Tree.
The traits peculiar to a true American Irishman predomi- nate in William John Kirkpatrick. Love of country (which involves pride of birth), love of home, generosity, loyalty to friends - these are the attributes which have made him a popular, beloved citizen of Fremont township. Some day the mantle of his honored father will fall upon this only surviving son. That it will be borne unsullied and with distinction is without question. The name and the honor of the Kirkpat- ricks will rest secure under the roof-tree of William John, of Fremont township.
JACKSON CORBETT
Jackson Corbett is an Irishman who has thrived in the con- genial atmosphere of American institutions. Like multitudes of his countrymen, he only needed the boon of civil and relig- ious liberty and the virgin soil of opportunity to enable him to reach the terminal of success. His life, since he landed in Johnson county in 1875, then a lad of eight years, has been spent in the neighborhood of Lone Tree, and is an open book. The fact that he numbers his friends by scores and that his reputation for integrity in every walk of life is unimpeach- able, tells the story of the progress of the Irish lad in Towa.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
Robert Corbett, the father of Jackson, came to America in 1865 and settled in Johnson county upon a farm. When he had gotten the enterprise well under way, he sent for his fam- ily, and in 1873 his wife, Jane MeMullin, and our subject came over and joined the father in the new home. There the family
RESIDENCE OF JACKSON CORBETT
has continued to reside until the present. Father Corbett died in 1896, but the mother is still living.
Jackson Corbett is a republican ; a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Odd Fellows of Lone Tree. His church membership is with the Reformed congregation of Lone Tree.
JOSEPH R. GUTHRIE
Joseph R. Guthrie has continued the business of farming on the old homestead taken up by his father and mother in Fre- mont township in 1865. In this particular he gives an example of continuity worthy of emulation by the young men of this generation, and the success which has crowned his efforts and faithfulness would seem to be sufficient reward for almost any ordinary ambition. Mr. Guthrie was born in Boston, Massa- chusetts, August 25, 1864. His parents were Andrew and Isa- bella (Corbett) Guthrie, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Ireland. The father and mother came to America about the same time (1860) and were married in this country.
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(See sketch of the Kirkpatrick family. - Ed.) J. R. Guthrie's parents came direct from Boston to Fremont township in 1865, he being then about one year old, and settled on a part of the present farm, owned and operated by their son. They had two children : Joseph R., and Elizabeth, teacher in the public schools of Lone Tree. The father and mother are both dead.
RESIDENCE OF J. R. GUTHRIE
Mr. Guthrie married Miss Nellie Babbitt, a native of Appa- noose county, Iowa. They have six children: Andrew S., Alida Grace, Isabella, May, John Wesley, and Margaret Jane. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a republican in politics. His fraternal affiliation is with the Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, M. B. A., and M. W. A., be- ing a member of the local lodges of Lone Tree, Iowa.
LEVI P. BURR
A statement of the history of Nelson and Lydia Burr, the parents of Levi P. Burr, will be found in the biography of John P. Burr, youngest brother of Levi P. Burr, published in this volume. The attention of the reader is called thereto in connection with this sketch. Levi P. Burr is the oldest sur- viving child of Nelson and Lydia Burr, and was born in the native state of his parents, Massachusetts, December 9, 1846, in Berkshire county. He attended the "village school not far
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away 'mid Berkshire hills," and devoted his first practical energies industrially in assisting his father, who was a farmer. He accompanied his parents to Rock Island county, Illinois, in 1860, where he continued the business of farming until 1865. On April 5th of that year he enlisted in Company H of the Forty-fifth Illinois Regiment of Veteran Volunteers, answer- ing Abraham Lincoln's last call for volunteers "for one year, or until the close of the war." The surrender of Lee on April 9th virtnally closed the rebellion, and Mr. Burr was honorably discharged on July 12th of the same year. He immediately returned to the old home in Rock Island county, Illinois, and
RESIDENCE OF LEVI P. BURR
again took up the business of farming. This he continued until 1872, when he went to Nebraska and took up a homestead of 160 acres, remaining thereupon until 1882, when he sold his homestead and bought the farm in Lincoln township where he now resides. This he has farmed continuously until the pres- ent time.
In 1882 Mr. Burr was married to Miss Elizabeth Matthie- son, a native of Germany, who came to America with her par- ents when seven years of age. They have three sons: Clar- ence N. and Charles H., living at home ; Glenn W., married, to Miss Lilian Holdeman of Lone Tree, and residing on a farm near Iowa City. (See sketch of Jesse Holdeman in this vol- ume .- Ed.)
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Mr. Burr's first purchase of land in Lincoln townsinp con- sisted of 120 acres. This is his present home. He has added to his holdings, and now owns 450 acres in Johnson county and fifty acres in Washington county. He is a stockholder in the River Junction Lumber company and the Lone Tree Savings bank. This bank was the first one organized at Lone Tree. Mr. Burr is one of its directors. Of late years he has been directing his attention to the feeding and shipping of cattle for the market, the shipments from his farms annually being in excess of one hundred head. Mr. Burr may be fairly said to be a typical successful Iowa farmer. He is a fine type of manhood, an example to young men of what can be accom- plished by industry and honesty.
His political convictions have aligned him with the repub- lican party, and he has been honored with numerous local offices. The family attend the Reformed church of Lone Tree.
DAVID H. THOMAS
David H. Thomas, deceased, late of Lone Tree, Iowa, was a carpenter by trade and worked at that occupation until about eight months prior to his death, July 4, 1903. Ile was a native of Marcy, New York, where he was born in August, 1833. Ilis father, Even D. Thomas, was a native of Wales, and was twelve months of age when his parents came to America. On subject's mother, Sarah Owens, was a native of Rhode Island. Following their marriage, this excellent couple settled at Marcy, New York, where they resided until their death. They had seven children, John, William, Jesse, Even, our subject, Benjamin, and Sarah Ann. All are now deceased, except Even who is residing in Utica, New York.
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