USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading events in Johnson County, Iowa history, biographical > Part 40
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Our subject attended the country schools of his home neigh- borhood, and early in life began to farm. This business he continued for a number of years after leaving school. Feeling a desire for work in the city, he removed to Iowa City, where he engaged in the grocery business for two and one-half years. Following this, he took up the livery business for two years. He then returned to the farm west of Iowa City, where he resided for nineteen years, or until he removed to his present location about six years ago, to Iowa City, there for two years,
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then bought 142 acres in East Lucas township, where he lived for four years, then moved to his present home March 1, 1912.
Mr. Fry was married on September 30, 1875, in Iowa City by Rev. D. P. Grossenp, a brother of Mrs. Fry, and both are cousins of Judge Grossenp, of Chicago, to Miss Fianna M. Grosseup, a native of Ohio. She has borne him eight children : Hayes Allen, born October 10, 1876, married and living in Iowa City, one child, Margaret; Edna Grace, born February 4, 1878, now Mrs. Roscoe Wilson, of Iowa City, one child, Robert; Jessie May, born March 10, 1880, now Mrs. Stoner, living near North Liberty, four children, Helen F., Edna, Irma, and Samuel F .; Mary Edith, born March 1. 1882, wife of L. B. Beeson, engaged in the agricultural department, Wash- ington, D. C., two children, John A. and Edith V .; Stella B., born September 25, 1885, now Mrs. William Rowland, living four miles west of Iowa City, two children, Mabel and Ger- trude; Annastatia, born May 31, 1887, now Mrs. Ward Row- land, lives near her sister Stella, west of Iowa City; Glenn G., born May 16, 1890, unmarried, residing at home; Ella Leera, born August 20, 1892, now Mrs. Lynn, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, one child, Laurance.
Our subject was the owner of a fine home in East Lucas township. west of Iowa City, which he sold in the fall of 1911, an engraving of which is given in connection with this sketch. He is a republican politically and in every sense a citizen of worth. He has held the position of assessor, and has been prominently identified with the Johnson County Agricultural Society. He and his entire family are members of the Chris- tian church.
WILLIAM HENRY JAMES
William Henry James, born in Providence, Rhode Island, September 4, 1857, is a son of John and Katherine (Milward) James, The latter was a native of England, and came to Providence, Rhode Island, in 1867. Three years later he removed to Johnson county, Iowa, where for a time he carried on the business of a contractor. He afterwards took up pho- tography, and continued in this line until his death, which took place at Des Moines in 1882. Mrs. James was also a
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native of England, and the couple were married in that coun- try. She died in 1893.
Our subject attended the public schools of Iowa City, and when old enough to enter business took up his father's profes- sion of photography, in which occupation he continued for thirty-five years, most of the time in Iowa City. He retired from active business May 1, 1909, and since that date has de- voted his attention to his property interests.
RESIDENCE OF W. H. JAMES
Mr. James was married October 2, 1881, to Miss Nancy W. Fairall, a native of Iowa City, daughter of Judge Fairall. They have no children.
His brother, Tom James, and his sister, Nell, reside at Des Moines, Iowa.
CLARENCE K. WOLFE
Maple Grove Farm is one of the oldest farms in Madison township, Johnson county, and its present owner and operator, Clarence K. Wolfe, belongs to the third generation of his fam- ily who have occupied it and added to its value and productive- ness. His grandfather, Captain L. Wolfe, located on this place in 1854 and took part in the pioneer activities of the region. The father, Mahlon K. Wolfe, now retired from active life and residing in Iowa City, was formerly the operator of the
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farm above mentioned and has taken a prominent part in the life of the county. A sketch of his life appears in this work.
Captain L. Wolfe was born in Knox county, Ohio, April 22, 1825, and was a son of Christopher Wolfe, who was a native of New Jersey, born July 11, 1791. Christopher Wolfe was a farmer by occupation and died in 1888, when in his ninety- fourth year. He was a democrat in politics and served as county commissioner and justice of the peace. His wife died at the age of seventy-three years. Their eight children were : John, Mary Ann, George, Captain Lonis R., William, Thomas J., Eliza, and Samuel C. Louis R. was the fourth child and third son of his parents, and on April 29, 1846, married Eliza-
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RESIDENCE OF C. K. WOLFE
beth Lindsley. In 1854 he brought his family to Iowa and lo- cated on Section 33 of Madison township, on the farm above mentioned. The region abounded in wild game and he became well known as a successful deer hunter. His wife was a sister of the mother of W. S. Files. Mr. Wolfe recruited a company for an Indian war in the west, was elected captain of the same, and served until 1865. He and his wife had three sons and two daughters, of whom Mahlon K. was the eldest. The others were: C. Douglas, Lewis A., Phoebe, wife of William Hardy, Lucinda, deceased. Captain Wolfe was highly respected by the pioneer settlers in Johnson county and was recognized as
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a man of strong character and high principles. His fellow citizens delighted to honor his ability and fitness for office and he was given several local positions of trust, as well as others of more importance. He served three terms as a supervisor of the township board and two years on the county board. He was elected to the general assembly of the state in 1880 and reelected two years later. In 1887 he moved to Oxford town- ship. He became active in various business operations and was one of the organizers of the Oxford State Bank. He was a strong democrat and most of his descendants have adhered to the principles of the same party with firm conviction. He was outspoken in his defense of the right as he saw it, and was a powerful factor for good in his township and county, as well as in the affairs of the state.
To Mahlon K. Wolfe children were born as follows: L. O. of Madison township; C. B., of Pottawatomie county ; M. M., of Penn township; M. I. is the owner of a large ranch in Okla- homa ; Clarence is the subject of this sketch, and was born on the home farm in 1881; Edith is the wife of Dr. Albert Brock, a dentist of Grinnell ; Glee is the wife of Emery Schultz, a den- tist at Storm Lake, Iowa.
Clarence K. Wolfe is the youngest son of his parents and remained on the home farm until attaining his majority. He received his early education in the rural schools and later took a course in Iowa City Academy and in a commercial college of Towa City. After he was twenty-one years old he began farming on his own account, working for others until he was able to buy land of his own. In 1910 he purchased the old home farm of 200 acres in Madison township, where he carries on general farming, with special attention to stock raising. He furnishes employment to some three or four men throughout the year and carries on his agricultural operations in a scien- tific and business-like manner. He has about 140 acres in corn and has considerable land in pasture for his cattle, horses, and other stock. He keeps some 200 head of hogs and finds this branch of his business very profitable. In 1911 he erected a fine modern barn, with two cupalos, thirty-five feet high inside, 40x62 feet in ground space, with cement floors, and conceded to be one of the finest in that part of Johnson county, being planned by himself. The farm is well supplied with water and
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contains a handsome maple grove. No expense has been spared to make this a model estate and modern machinery and appliances are in use wherever they will facilitate the work. Mr. Wolfe is a keen business man and an excellent judge of stock. He is recognized as an enterprising farmer and an up- right citizen, interested in everything appertaining to the wel- fare of his community, and proud of the name he bears.
Mr. Wolfe was married in Madison township to Miss Belle Wray, daughter of David W. Wray, a sketch of whom appears in this work. She was the recognized belle of her neighbor- hood, being widely known for her beauty and estimable quali- ties of mind and heart. One child has blessed this union, Miss Catherine Wray Wolfe, born on March 1, 1909. Mr. Wolfe and his family are well known in social circles and he is a member of the M. W. A., of North Liberty. Like his father and grand- father, he is a strong democrat.
LEWIS ORVILLE WOLFE
Among the well-to-do farmers of Johnson county who have become extensively interested in stock-raising is L. Orville Wolfe, who has been successful in his operations in a gratify- ing degree. He has spent his entire life in the county, having been born on Section 33, Madison township, in 1873, seventh child of Mahlon K. and Mary Elizabeth (Babcock) Wolfe, a sketch of whom appears in this work. The father is a native of Ohio and now resides in Iowa City, and the mother was born in Iowa. They have been residents of Johnson county since 1855.
In early boyhood Mr. Wolfe attended the district schools in Madison township, at the same time learning the details of farm work. Upon reaching maturity he decided to make farm- ing his career and began operations on his own account. He has always been interested in stock and is a good judge of cat- tle and hogs. A few years since he sold his farm in the northi- western part of Madison township and bought 180 acres in Penn township, which he sold later and purchased his present farm of 240 acres in the same township, which is located two miles west of North Liberty, He has a large crop of corn each
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year, having about ninety acres planted in this manner, and also has about eighty-three acres of small grain. In 1911 he had thirty acres planted in oats, in two fields, from one of which he had a yield of 42 bushels to the acre, and from the other, 35 bushels. His fall wheat yielded some 22 bushels to the acre. He has a high-grade line of cattle and keeps about 150 head of hogs. He is an expert judge of horses and has some nineteen head of high-grade Norman horses and colts, for which he has won a local reputation. He is a man of ex- cellent business judgment and manages his affairs in a manner that insures his financial success. He is active in the councils
RESIDENCE OF L. ORVILLE WOLFE
of the democratic party and takes great interest in the affairs and issues of the township, county, and state. He is one of the best-known men in his township and is popular with his many friends. The family have a high standing in the community, being prominent in social circles. They have a pleasant home in which they dispense a gracious hospitality.
Mr. Wolfe was married February 11, 1897, by Rev. Hickman, of the Church of God, to Miss Florence Moreland, youngest daughter of Alexander Moreland, of North Liberty. A sketch of Mr. Moreland appears within these pages. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe have three children: Floyd, born September 12, 1902. Mary, born May 30, 1903, and Edith, born September 5, 190S,
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all bright young people, and the last named is an especially beautiful child.
Mrs. Wolfe is a member of Purcella and King's Daughters. He is a member of the North Liberty Commercial Club.
CHARLES ROBARTS
The man who has the distinction of being the oldest continu- ous resident of Madison township, Johnson county, is Charles Robarts, who has lived from the time of the flint musket, the tomahawk, and the spinning wheel, to the day of the automo- bile and the coming aeroplane. Ile and his wife have a beauti- ful home, made famous throughout the county by the culture of rare and handsome flowers, in which she takes great plea- sure. They have named the place Robarts Rest, a most appro- priate cognomen for it. This is part of the home farm which his father began to cultivate and improve in 1848. Mr, Robarts was born at Black Hawk, Louisa county, Iowa, July 9, 1844, son of Adolph and Elizabeth (Crosby) Robarts, the former a native of Ohio.
Adolph Robarts was born November 2, 1802, and died in September, 1872. He was the second child born to Amos Rob- arts, who was the father of three sons and three daughters, all of whom reached maturity. With his wife and seven chil- dren, Adolph Robarts came to Iowa in 1843, spending some six weeks on the way. The trip was made in a covered wagon drawn by horses. They first went to Louisa county, and in 1844 removed to Linn county, and in 1849 came to Johnson county. Cedar Rapids at that time was but a hamlet. His wife, who was born in 1803 and died March 9, 1899, was a daughter of Edward and Phoebe (Shreves) Crosby. She and Mr. Robarts were married in 1826. Both were stanch Metho- dists and they helped to build a church at Greencastle and later the U. B. church at the cross roads in Madison township. They had children as follows: John, died in California ; Isaac, lives in that state ; William, lives at Bucyrus, Kansas ; Thomas, who served in Company E, Twenty-eighth Iowa Infantry, lives at Bucyrus; Phoebe, married William H. Morse, who was killed in the battle of Mansfield, during the Civil War; Mary,
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married James Paintin, lives in Kansas; Daniel, of Kansas. John crossed the plains in 1851 and William and Isaac in 1854; Daniel P. served in Company E, Twenty-eighth Iowa Infantry, was wounded at the battle of Champion Hills, May 16, 1863, now lives in western Kansas; and Charles, our subject.
Adolph Robarts entered land in Section 34 of Madison town- ship, in 1849. This comprised the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter. The Robarts home was below Robarts Ferry and the iron bridge, the first cabin being southeast of the bridge, being some thirty-five rods from that point. In 1851 the high water rose to within twenty feet of the cabin. Wild turkeys and other game abounded. The home was erect-
THE OLD ROBARTS HOMESTEAD
ed of round logs, was 16x24 feet in the main part, with a kitchen eight feet wide on one side, one story high, with a puncheon floor. The chimney, of stone and clay, was on the west side, and a door on the east side, and in each of the two rooms was a six-light window. 'The iron kettle in which their baking was done was brought from Ohio. About 1857-58 this building was replaced by a frame house which still stands and is a landmark in the neighborhood.
Mr. Robarts broke the prairie with four or six yoke of oxen at a time, using a 20-inch plow for the former and a 28-inch one for the latter. He also helped other farmers to break up their land, having several good teams for this work. His son
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
Charles helped with this work after he was able, and was al- ways much interested in all the operations which were going forward on the home place. Mrs. Robarts raised flax, which she heckled, spun, and wove, making linsey dresses for her daughters and shirts and jeans for her sons. Bloomington, now Muscatine, was their nearest trading point. They went to a mill at Cedar Rapids, and in early days Mr. Robarts hauled dressed hogs to Iowa City and sold them, sometimes as low as $1.50 per hundred weight. He also sold corn sometimes as low as fifteen cents per bushel. Money was scarce and trade was carried on by an exchange of commodities, except in rare instances. In the fall of 1853 he established Robarts Ferry, his first boat being forty feet long and eighteen wide, fitted with ropes and pulleys, coupled to wire, which was fastened to trees on either side of the river. He made his first fences by splitting rails, and by this work paid for a part of his land. He erected a weaving shop on his land, which is still standing on the farm of his son Charles. There a daughter. now Mrs. Paintin, of Kansas, became the weaver for the neighborhood. These noble pioneers deserve praise for the hardships they endured and for the Christian fortitude with which they made the best of every situation and helped pave the way for future improvement and development. They reared a large family to honorable manhood and womanhood and are held in grate- ful remembrance by their descendants and surviving friends.
In early boyhood Charles Robarts attended school in a log building in Penn township and later attended the Wray school, erected in 1854. In later years Mr. Robarts hauled the latter building to his home place, in 1892 having made the purchase, and it is now a part of his cozy home. In his later school days he attended school at the Cross Roads, where a building was erected in 1863. He remained on the home farm until one year after his marriage, in 1871, when he brought his wife and one child to the present home of forty acres. He remodeled and added to the old house, and Robarts Rest is one of the most picturesque spots in the county. When his father moved from the original location in Madison township to Section 34, he had an orchard of 120 fine trees, arranged in twelve rows of ten each, and a portion of this orchard is now the property of the son. The latter now has nearly every fruit for which local
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conditions are suitable, including a great variety of apples. The estate now consists of forty acres and was first cultivated in 1854, the first crop of sod corn on the place being entirely destroyed by wild game. In 1911 Mrs. Robarts says her ground cherries were eaten by quail, of which there were many in the neighborhood.
Mrs. Robarts has many visitors who come to view her flowers, and they are a source of much pleasure to her, growing profusely under her ministrations. She has a natural gift for horticulture, and many handsome bouquets from her garden have found their way to a sick-room or funeral. She has a vegetable garden of which she may well be proud.
In 1869 Mr. Robarts was united in marriage with Anna Horak, a native of Bohemia, who crossed the ocean when she was between eight and nine years of age. She is a daughter of Wesley Horak, deceased, who died while on the voyage to America, and one of her brothers had the plague aboard the ship. Her first home was with the Swisher family in Jeffer- son township, after reaching Johnson county. The first child of this union, Florence, was born in the old log house, but the others were born in the new home. She married Charles W. Babcock, of Walford, Iowa, an importer of fine horses, and they have six children : Lee Orville, Jesse Clarence, James Ar- thur, Irvin Robarts, Lucy Ella, and Charles Raymond. The other children born to Mr. and Mrs. Robarts are : Ernest, died in infancy; Esther Adele, married Henry Beyer, of Benton county, and they have two children, Floyd and Nellie Isabel ; Hortense Isabel, married S. L. Myers, living near Amana, and they have three children, Robarts Cree, Cleo Adele, and Otis Harry; Nellie Lee, died at the age of four years.
Mr. Robarts has witnessed remarkable changes and remem- bers when he saw as many as thirteen deer at a time near the river from the old home where his father first settled in John- son county. What was known as Deer Lick stood at the place now occupied by D. A. Gould's crossing on the Interurban line. The last time he remembers seeing deer in the neighbor- hood was in 1870, one year prior to his locating on his present farm. One of his brothers marked on an elm tree the high water of 1851 and in 1881 the water reached approximately the same height. During the latter season of high water it backed
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east of Mr. Robarts's barn, a mile and a quarter from the river, a half mile west and a mile and a quarter sonth of the old home- stead in Section 27. In early days when he and his brother Daniel were ascending a hill the latter heard a peculiar noise behind him and warned Charles that a hoop snake was close by and they had better seek shelter. The snake formed itself into a hoop and strnek a tree near where they were. It was a cur- ious fact that the tree died soon afterwards. Mr. Robarts has seen forest fires five miles in length. In early days he wore jeans and other homespun garments. His sister, Mrs. Mary Paintin, above mentioned as the neighborhood weaver, fash- ioned him a suit when he was in his teens, the sewing, which was beautiful hand work, testifying most eloquently to her skill as a seamstress. His first real suit was his wedding suit of clothes, made by hand by his sister.
Mr. and Mrs. Robarts are Methodists and in politics he is a strong democrat. He was one of the best road supervisors who ever served in that office in Madison township. His work has been highly satisfactory and has been of much greater ex- tent than usually done by others. He and his wife have a host of friends, being very well known, and have always taken an active part in local affairs. They are much interested in any- thing affecting the general welfare and ready to give their in- fluence on the side of what they believe to be right and just.
MARTIN VAN BUREN BUTLER
Among the veterans of the Civil War who are deserving of more than passing mention may be included the name of Mar- tin Van Buren Butler, who served in the gallant Fifth Iowa Volunteers. He was born in Henderson county, Illinois, Feb- ruary 14, 1837, son of that venerable pioneer, Walter Butler, and wife. Walter Butler took a prominent part in the early history of Johnson county, being the man who erected the first Iowa capitol building, and who is given somewhat exten- sive mention in the first chapters of Volume I, of this work. He was a native of Tennessee and in that state was married in 1823, to Miss Elizabeth Galbreath, soon afterward removing to Henderson county, Illinois, with horses and a wagon. In
MARTIN V. BUTLER
EMILY P. BUTLER
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September, 1839, they moved to Iowa City, Iowa, then only a hamlet, and his death occurred in that place in January, 1844, in a log house in front of the Iowa Milling Company's plant. Mr. Butler erected the capitol building in 1841, the timber for its stout foundations being hand-hewed in the forest and the lumber laboriously rip-sawed by hand. The building was lo- cated on Washington street, Iowa City, on the space between Whetstone's drug store and the entrance to Murphy Brothers' livery stable. Later this building was removed to Dubuque street south of College and used for an eating and lodging house. In the Iowa Capital Recorder, dated December 11, 1841, was printed an article written by General Van Antwerp, regarding the first meeting of the legislature in Iowa City (then containing some seven or eight hundred inhabitants), in which he says: "This honorable body found halls, thanks to the public-spirited fellow-citizen, Walter Butler, ready for the assembly." He was thus identified with very important events in the early history of the state and is worthy a tribute of respect for his activity in this regard.
The widow of Walter Butler survived him many years and passed away January 18, 1888, at the stone residence at But- ler's Landing, where she had removed from the present site of Coralville, having occupied a double log house at the latter place. She and her husband were among the very early set- tlers and met all the vicissitudes of pioneer life with bravery and unfaltering faith in the future of the region. Mr. Gilbert R. Irish, who has written the pioneer history of Johnson coun- ty, has given this venerable woman a tribute in relating her kindness of heart, piety, and ready sympathy for all. To Mr. and Mrs. Butler children were born as follows: Newton, was a sawyer in the Iowa Company mills until 1850, when he, with Joseph K. Hemphill and others went to California, leaving his widowed mother and her other three children ; Mary Margaret, Mrs. Ward, of Denver; Thomas, John W., and Marion, who died at the age of twenty years, was a printer on the Iowa State Reporter; John W., of West Branch, Cedar county ; Martin Van Buren, of this sketch.
During the high water of 1851 Mrs. Butler and her daughter, Mary Margaret, had to climb from the bed through the door of their double log house (being occupants of the north half),
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HISTORY OF JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA
and into a boat. They got out of bed to make their escape, and the boat had drifted across a field and was caught and tied to the door of the cabin near the present site of Coralville. Thomas and Martin Butler are the ones who made the rescue. Mrs. Butler kept a boarding house for the mill hands and was married (second) to Martin Montgomery, about 1853. Mr. Montgomery moved the south half of the log house opposite Ezekiel Clark and the Kirkwood residence in Coralville, in 1854. She was left a widow the second time, surviving Mr. Montgomery some time. The old stone house where she died is now standing (1912), an illustration of which is to be found in this work. Mr. Montgomery owned 18 acres where the stone house was located.
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