USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 30
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
Mr. Nesmith was married in Fayette county, Pennsyl- vania, to Miss Sarah J. Wyatt, daughter of Aaron Wyatt. Eight children were born to them, of whom six are living. Thirteen grandchildren and one great grandchild swell the number of his posterity. The names of the surviving chil- dren are : Nancy, widow of John Nesmith, resides at Wilmar, Iowa ; James, Jr., unmarried, resides at Oxford, employed in steam shovel department C., R. I. & P. R. R .; Mary, wife of Ed. Linkhardt, a prominent farmer of Oxford township: Thomas, married to Flora Schmidt, of Kellogg, Iowa ; Libbie. wife of Robert Sherlock, son of the county supervisor of Iowa county.
THOMAS J. NESMITH, father of James H., was born in Washington, D. C., during the first administration of Presi- dent Washington. He received a practical education and in early life was a comb-maker by trade. He took a great in- terest in religious matters, and during the greater part of his life was an exhorter and local preacher in the Methodist Protestant church of Pennsylvania. He lived to see his large family grown to manhood and womanhood. His wife was Nancy Hibbins, born near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, their marriage taking place at Uniontown, Pennsylvania. This venerable couple removed to Illinois, and both are buried in Putnam county, having left the heritage of a well-spent and useful life. Father Nesmith lived to the age of ninety, his mental faculties being clear to the last. An estimate of the esteem in which he was held by his neighbors is shown by the fact that he was justice of the peace of South Union township, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, for forty years consecutively. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and when the Civil War laid claim upon the patriotism of the North, three of his sons enlisted to fight for the preservation of the Union. These were : William D. Nesmith, of the Eighth Pennsylvania, who died in the service at Alexandria, Virginia ; John H. Nesmith, formerly with the Pennsylvania Reserves 1861-62, and after discharge reenlisted in the Fourteenth Cavalry, serving with his brother, our subject, until severely wounded at Mt. Carmel church, Ashby Gap, February 17, 1865; James H. Nesmith, whose war record has been already given. Mary E. Nesmith, a daughter, was the wife of a Civil War veteran, and she her-
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self did service at Camp Douglas. In all our subject had five brothers-in-law and two nephews in the Union army, which places the family unquestionably in the ranks of the nation's warriors. The three surviving members of this fam- ily of eight are: Mary E., widow of the veteran William G. Bardsley, residing at Tonika, Illinois; Dorcas, widow of Rev. Brown, residing at Confluence, Pennsylvania; and James H., the subject of this sketch. The ancestry of the family is pure American, and that they have worthily honored the country of their birth will not be denied. Their place in the annals of the nation's history is assured.
DR. ELMER AUSTIN DOTY
James Doty, the paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born near Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1802, and was of Scotch-Irish descent, his ancestors having settled in that region prior to the close of the American Revolution. His father was Abraham Doty, who moved with his family in 1815 to Milton township, Richland (now Ashland) county, Ohio. In 1834 James Doty married Miss Sarah Croninger. Ten children were born of this union, eight of whom (five sons and three daughters) survived up to 1880. James Doty died January 4, 1879, aged seventy-seven years. Lewis Mar- tin Doty, the father of our subject, was born May 18, 1825, in Ashland county, O., and died at Oxford, Iowa, September 26, 1901. He made the trip from Ohio to Iowa in 1849 on horse- back and located land in Oxford township, Johnson county, taking up two quarter sections, purchasing one with Mexican land warrants. The region was raw prairie at that time, Iowa City being the postoffice for the entire district. The nearest neighbor was three miles and others from seven to ten miles distant. Indians were numerous. Mr. Doty's first dwelling was a rude structure built of round logs without the use of a nail in its construction. Game was plentiful, the prairies being literally filled with wild turkeys and prairie chickens, with occasional deer. Lewis M. Doty was a citizen of progressive and public spirited ideas. One of his first en- terprises was the erection of a sawmill in Oxford township,
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from which he supplied the settlers with lumber - a greatly- needed commodity. Later he owned a sawmill at Boone, Iowa. Mr. Doty is on record as one of four settlers who, in the fall of 1852, erected a school house on the site of what was known as "Wolf Corner," west of the residence of L. R. Wolf. The house was a small log affair, and in addition to its use for school purposes was used as a place of worship until 1861. Up to the latter date no regular organization had been perfected. In that year, 1861, school house, District No. 2, was built. Mr. Doty interested himself in the cause of religion also, and was among the original members of the Methodist Episcopal church in the township. Lewis MI. Doty was married to Hannah Mason, daughter of Martin and Mary Mason, born in Ashland county, Ohio, March 19, 1828. Mrs. Doty's sister, Anna Mason, was a pioneer school teacher in Oxford township in 1851. For two winters she taught in a room of Mr. Williams's residence. Mrs. Doty reached Ox- ford township with her son, Elmer A., in 1851, having re- mained in Ohio during her husband's preliminary work in the new west. The other children of the family are: Charles F., auctioneer, Oxford, Iowa; Vilda Ann, wife of Dr. F. R. Ward, Omaha, Nebraska, at whose home Mrs. Lewis M. Doty now resides; Ida C., wife of Charles E. Frost, Wapello, Towa: Arta M., deceased. All these, with the exception of Elmer A., were born in Oxford township.
Charles F. Doty, our subject's only brother, was born in the original log cabin on the homestead in Oxford township, November 2, 1852. He was raised a farmer and educated in the dietriet schools and the Iowa City Academy. In 1876 he began business as an auctioneer and has been engaged therein over since. He was married in 1875 to Miss Amanda Bab- cock, daughter of Orville G. and Julia (Steele) Babcock, of North Liberty, both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Doty have one son, Fred E., living at San Diego, California, and an adopted daughter, Belle, graduate of the Oxford high school and the Capital City Commercial College, of Des Moines, who is now a stenographer at Portland, Oregon. Mr. Doty is a member of the I. O. O. F.
Dr. Elmer A. Doty, our subject, was born in Ashland conn- ty, Ohio, in 1850, and, as heretofore stated, came with his
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mother to Johnson county in 1851, his father having left for the west before the birth of his first son in order to provide a homestead. The early life of young Doty was spent upon the farm. His education was received in the common schools. He graduated from the high school and entered the medical department of the State University of Iowa, from which he graduated in 1885. The same year he began his practice and since that time has been a general practitioner in Oxford. He established a drugstore in connection with his practice, which has developed into one of the prosperous institutions of the town. The Doty building, a fine two-story structure, is the ontgrowth of Dr. Doty's thirty-six years of honest, in- dustrious effort. The first floor of this building contains the drug store, while on the second floor are located the doctor's offices. Dr. Doty is also the owner of a fine residence on "Quality Hill," Oxford, and rich farm lands near the town. He is a director of the Oxford State bank. He has held many positions of trust in his township, and was health officer for ten consecutive years. Politically he is a republican, and has taken an active interest in the affairs of his party as delegate to county, state, and congressional conventions. Dr. Doty is a member of the Iowa State and Johnson County Medical Societies and the Cedar Valley Medical Association. He has read papers before the first two societies on the subject of "Diabetes" and kindred topies. The doctor is a trustee of the Oxford lodge of Odd Fellows, in which his father was also an officer; is an active worker in the M. E. church and a mem- ber of the Lincoln Farm Association. Dr. Doty was married in Boone county in 1871 to Nancy A. Myers, born in Indiana, daughter of Michael and Sarah (Latham) Myers, and is the father of two children : Lewis M., married to Lney McDonnell, father of two daughters, Esther and Ruth; Nellie B., wife of Daniel MeCleery, of South Dakota.
THE REV. GEORGE BENNETT
The minister of the United Brethren church, Shueyville, the Rev. George Bennett, was born at Carlean Farm, Cam- borne, county of Cornwall, England, on January 19, 1852.
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
Carlean is on the wild and precipitous sea-coast that forms the northern boundary of Cornwall, where from dizzy heights one looks down on the incoming waters of the Atlantic, as they are churned to foam and hurled hither and thither from rock to rock, or dashed high up the grim cliffs that stand as sentinels keeping eternal watch over nature in one of her grandest domains. His father also bore the name of George, and grandfather, too, in addition to three previous genera- tions, the same name coming down from father to son for a long series of years and through a number of individual families.
The father was the eldest son of his family and was also born at the Carlean homestead, which his father farmed. His mother bore the maiden name of Mary Kendall, and there were many brothers and sisters. Among the former two died in childhood, Samuel and James settled in Australia, while William and Alfred made their home in the vicinity of the old birth-place. The eldest brother, George, the father of the subject of our sketch, after moving to the eastern section of the county of Cornwall, where he lived several years, left England, accompanied by his wife and joined a son in Cheshire, Connecticut, U. S. A. He had been a preacher from early manhood among the Wesleyan Methodists in England, and after coming to Cheshire rendered effective service in the ministry of the New York East Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. He died in Cheshire, Connecticut, on the 31st of March, 1911, having reached the good age of 86. Of the two sisters, one, Catherine, passed away in girlhood, while Mary, who married Stephen Polkinghorne of Gonwin Farm, Cornwall, England, is a resident of Portreath, in the same county, and the sole survivor of the family.
The mother of the subject of our sketch bore the maiden name of Emma Edmonds, and was the eldest daughter of Richard Edmonds of Treswithan Farm, Cornwall. Her mother's maiden name was Mary Lanyon. She had a brother, Alfred, and a younger sister, Susan. The former married Mary G. Hosking of Birkenhead, England, and the latter, Josiah Hosking of the same place, the two last named being brother and sister. Another sister died in early life. This family was related to Charlotte Bronte, the famous writer.
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Mrs. Enna Bennett died at Polstrong Farm, Camborne. at the age of 33, leaving a husband and five young boys. The previous March a little baby girl, Mary Emma, an only daugh- ter, had passed away. The father afterwards married Ellen Vivian, of Pengegon, Camborne, who lived but a brief year or two following her wedding-day. He was subsequently again united in marriage to Thyrza Hicks, of St. Kew, Corn- wall, England, who survives him and is a resident of Cheshire, Connecticut.
Mr. Bennett of our sketch was the eldest of the five boys mentioned. The second brother, Richard Edmonds, married Jane Martyn of St. Columb Porth, Cornwall, England, and is a minister of the Protestant Episcopal church in Mobile, Ala- bama; the third, William Lanyon, is a minister of the Wes- leyan Methodist church and stationed at Budleigh Salterton, Devonshire, England, his wife being formerly Clara James, of Camborne, England; Alfred Samuel is the fourth brother. He married Annie Cleave of St. Kew, Cornwall, England, and is engaged in business in Cheshire, Connectient ; the youngest of the five, James, is a citizen of South Meriden, Connectient, where he also is established in business; his wife bore the name of Julia Andrew, her parents having been residents in the neighborhood of his home town. Boys and girls have been born into each of five families of the five brothers.
After a course of education in private schools, and some years of life on the farm, Mr. Bennett took up business pur- suits, during which period he lived in various parts of Eng- land. In the spring of 1893 he left the mother country for the state of Connecticut, where his father and two younger brothers had preceded him. He had been from young man- hood a preacher in the Wesleyan Methodist church in Eng- land, and a few months after reaching America entered the active work of the pastorate, being stationed at West Hart- land, a methodist appointment in Connectiont. It is a note- worthy fact that his ancestry were distinctly of a preaching stock and of a strong Methodist type. They were identified with the early history of John Wesley's remarkable work, as Cornwall, the native county, was the scene of some of his ardent and devoted efforts and the territory today bears abid- ing evidence of this.
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Various pastorates in the state were filled till Stamford was reached, where Mr. Bennett spent a number of years, his time being divided there between the pulpit and other pur- suits. It was at this period that he took a special interest in the country sections outside the city, and promoted a move- ment and organization which brought these together in united effort towards what tended to advance all along social and civic lines. Various village improvement associations were formed, and the whole affiliated in a central body that bore the name of "Stamford Rural Association." He served for years as secretary of this movement, contributed much to the press, and was also active in grange circles in the community, being both a member of subordinate, county and state organ- izations.
He became identified with religious effort in the village of Turn-of-River, Stamford, and after ministering to a congre- gation there for several years, a church was organized on a union basis, embracing all denominations, Mr. Bennett being the officiating elergyman and its first pastor. The mutual re- gard characterizing people and pastor was most cordial, and when the latter at the close of 1909 resigned his work pre- paratory to leaving for the west, he was made Pastor Emer- itus of the church by unanimous vote.
On January 3, 1882, Mr. Bennett was united in marriage to Alice, the youngest daughter of Joseph Wilson, of Hull, England, who was a well-known business man in the eastern section of that city for a period of more than fifty years. Her mother's name was Ann Kirk; she was a native of Hull and died at the age of sixty-eight. Her husband outlived her eighteen years and passed away at the ripe age of ninety. Besides Mrs. Bennett there were two sons and three daugh- ters. Joseph, the eldest, passed away in early life and un- married, while the younger, William Henry, also died com- paratively young and unmarried. The eldest daughter, Ellen. is Mrs. Henry Rippon, of Hull, while Emma is the other sur- viving sister. Annie, who never had been strong, died some years ago.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have had six children, five of whom are living. The eldest hoy, George Bronte, did not outlive infancy, and his twin sister, Mary Ellen, thus leads the fam-
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ily. The second daughter is Alice Mabel. A son, George, who is the seventh generation to bear his name in direct line, comes next; he was married on August 21, 1911, to May, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Thomas and Mrs. Booth of Hamilton, Texas. Muriel Kathleen is the third daughter, while the last of the five is Henry Arnold, the only child of the family born in the United States.
As a christian minister Mr. Bennett realizes his. supreme privilege and duty to be, to focus the individual aspiration on the greatness and glory of personal service for the Creator, but he recognizes life to be a sacred thing in its material as well as moral aspects. He believes acceptable service with God to consist not only in reverent obedience to the teachings of the Book of Books, but in filling well one's allotted place in life, whatever the legitimate vocation may be. Hence, he contends the preacher should be a leader in the community at large, and while intelligently presenting the message of in- spired truth, at the same time should aid the cause of progres- sive culture, civic government, community improvement, and general uplift, as opportunity presents itself. And that is just the program he has outlined for himself and others in his rural charge in Johnson county. He is a member of the Iowa State Conference of the United Brethren church and came to Shueyville October 24, 1910, in accordance with the appointment assigned to him by that body on the previous day, at its annual session convened in Toledo.
REVEREND HENRY ALOYSIUS KNEBEL
Rev. Henry Aloysius Knebel is well known for his activity in behalf of the interests of St. Mary's church, of Tipton, Iowa. He is a native of Sharon township, Johnson county, born May 12, 1873, tenth of the thirteen children of Rochus and Elizabeth (Wumbacher) Knebel, now living retired, at Hills. They were emigrants from Germany, and early settlers of Johnson county, coming there about 1850. Their trip across the ocean was made in a sailing vessel, which took thirteen weeks to make the trip. They became highly respected and successful farmers and reared a fine family of children to do
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them credit, and who remember with pleasure the pleasant life in their childhood home.
To Rochus and Elizabeth Knebel the following children were born: Louis, married Walburger Hise, and they have one son, Charles, who married Mary Dalmage, who have three children, Ambrose, Earl, and Ralph - was the first blacksmith of Hills, Iowa, where he still resides; James, of Richmond, Towa, married Anna Dantremont, and their children are Wini- fred and Robert : Mary, who became the wife of Frank Dautre- mont, and died at her residence at Monticello, Iowa, at the age of forty-nine years, on August 9, 1907, left ten children -- Adelbert, Gertrude, Margaret, Clotilde (Mrs. Murphy, who has two sons), Frank, Jr., Lillian, Leona, Leroy, Lorraine, and Verena, the last of whom was about four or five years old when the mother died ; Lavina, who married Joseph N. Schnoc- belen, a farmer living near Riverside, Washington county, and their thirteen children, who form a part of the congregation of St. Mary's Catholic church at Riverside, are Linus, Hubert, Guy, Stella, Ililda, Louis, Oswald, Bernadette, Verodina, Mello, Perey, Urban, and Rita ; John, of Liberty township, a separate sketch of whom will be found in this work; Miss Anna lives with her parents at Hills and looks ont for their comfort and welfare; George, a successful farmer of Liberty township, married Mary Hise. a sister of Mrs. Lonis Knebe! ; Frank, formerly a partner of his brother Louis, has a lunch room at Hills, attends St. Joseph's Catholic church, Hills, married Elizabeth Gringer, and they have three children -- Zeno, Mary, and Amelia : Amelia, ninth in order of birth, he- came a member of the order of Franciscan Sisters of Perpet- ual Adoration, of St. Rose Convent. LaCrosse, Wisconsin, assumed the name of Sister Mary Amanda, and is at present a teacher in St. Angelns Institute, Carroll, Iowa : Rev. Henry A. is the tenth child, as mentioned above; Joseph Knebel is a prosperous farmer three miles southeast of Riverside, mar- ried Catherine Bauer, and they became parents of twins, Lo- retta and Claretta. the latter of whom is deceased, and two other daughters living, Celeste and Norma: Linns, married Adaline Beatsch, and they became parents of two sons, Clem- ent and Edward, who live on the old farm in Sharon town-
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ship; the thirteenth and youngest of this large family is Wil- liam Knebel, who married Nellie Bauer, sister of the wife of his brother Joseph, and they have a daughter, Bertha.
The Knebel family became identified with the best interests of Johnson county and were active in promoting the general welfare and progress. They played an important part in the early history of the region and all members of this large fan- ily are devout members of the Catholic church and are earnest workers in the cause. As shown above, some of them have de- voted their lives and energies to the service of the beloved cause, and have done important work in this connection.
Reverend Knebel was raised on the home farm and re- ceived his preliminary education in the district schools of Sharon township. At the age of twenty-one he entered St. Ambrose College, Davenport, where he remained six years, four of which were devoted to the classical course and two to the philosophical. One of his tutors was the Reverend R. J. Renihan, the present rector of Oxford, Iowa. In 1900 he en- tered the famous Kenrick's Seminary at St. Louis, where he took a three year's course in theology, being ordained to the priesthood June 13, 1903, by the Rt. Rev. J. J. Glennon, D. D. He received his first appointment from Rt. Rev. Henry Cos- grove, Bishop of Davenport, on July 18, 1893, being made as- sistant to Rev. J. P. Ryan, rector of St. Mary's church, Dav- enport. Iowa. He remained in that parish six years and three months. On October 27, 1909, he was appointed regular pastor at St. Mary's church, Tipton, to succeed Rev. Thomas Francis Galligan, the appointment being made by Bishop Davis, of Davenport, successor to Bishop Cosgrove.
June 18, 1903, was a memorable occasion in the Catholic church at Riverside, Iowa, that being jointly the celebration of Father Knebel's first mass and the golden wedding anniver- sary of his aged parents. The wedding anniversary should properly have occurred sooner, but the parents desired to have it occur jointly with the celebration by their son of his first mass as a Catholic priest. The church edifice was filled by the relatives and friends of the young priest and his fam- ily, and it is said that the reception and dinner, taken in con- neetion with the religious ceremony, constituted an occasion
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long to be remembered. It was the first time in eighteen years that the members of the Knebel family had all met together, and these, with the classmates of the young priest, made a memorable company.
In addition to his offices as priest of the important charges of Tipton and Cedar Valley, Father Knebel is a member of the Western Catholic Union and of the Knights of Columbus. While in Davenport, Iowa, he was chaplain of the court of the Knights of Father Matthew. He takes a very active interest in the societies of his church, which are : Rosary and Altar So- ciety, Willing Workers Society and the League of the Sacred Heart. In his religious work he is characterized by great zeal accompanied by extreme modesty, insisting that all the glory of his work shall be given directly to Ahnighty God. His con- gregation at Tipton consists of forty-five families and that at Cedar Valley of thirty families. Both churches are making marked progress under his vigorous and efficient administra- tion.
ROCHUS KNEBEL, father of Reverend Henry A. Knebel, was born in Baden, Germany, and at the age of fourteen years with his parents sailed for America. They sailed from Havre in the early part of 1843, and crossed the ocean, then through the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans, thence up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, Missouri, where a stop of three months was made. At the end of three months, accompanied by his par- ents, Rochus went to Centerville, Illinois (now called Mild- stadt), St. Clair county. He remained here for nearly seven years, then came to Iowa at the age of twenty-one years. The first stop was at Bloomington (now Muscatine). From there he came to Sharon township, Johnson county, where he bought the "old homestead" of 120 acres from the government at $1.25 per acre. After remaining in Iowa six months he re- turned to Centerville, Illinois, where he remained for nearly two years. He then returned again to Towa, where he still lives.
One year after his second trip to Iowa he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Wombacher, by Father McCormick at Iowa City, Iowa.
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ELIZABETH (WOMBACHER) KNEBEL was born in Bavaria, Germany, and came to America with her parents when she was five years old. Sailing from Bremen, Germany, they landed at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1838, being on the ocean six weeks. She and her parents remained at Baltimore three years, then they moved to Cumberland, Maryland, where they lived for eight years. Their next move was to Wheeling, West Virginia, where they resided a short time, then took passage on a boat down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi river to Burlington, Iowa. From Burlington to Washington, Iowa, the trip was made overland by team. During three years Elizabeth, with her parents, lived just a short distance south of Washington, Iowa. Later they moved to the farm that is known as the F. Heitzman farm, about four miles north of Riverside, lowa. Finally her parents bought the farm which is now owned by Nielaus Sueppel. Part of this farm is in Johnson county and part in Washington county. This farm was purchased from the government at $1.25 per acre, and Elizabeth Wombacher lived here until her marriage to Rochus Knebel.
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