Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 109

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1360

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ILLIAM H. DAVIS, proprietor of the Bloomfield Creamery, is the successor of Jacob Hartzler, who established the business here in 1882 and sold to Mr. Davis in 1889. At this institution Mr. Davis makes a superior quality of butter, which he ships to the New York market. Although the building is not a large one, it is equipped with a fine separator and other modern improvements for separat- ing milk and converting its products into the most delicious and healthful articles of food, and in the best style. In connection with his creamery he also buys and ships eggs in con- siderable quantities, making consignments to the New York and other Eastern markets. In the collection of cream he runs six wagons during the milk season. His store and cool- ing rooms are well arranged for his entire business. He is a practical butter-maker, of shrewd judgment and extended experience.

Mr. Davis was born in Carroll county, Maryland, August 28, 1856, a son of Hiram and Mary (Wilson) Davis. His father, a farmer most of his days, died in 1892, in Mary- land, and his mother departed this life in 1875. William H. passed his boyhood and youth in his native county, receiving a common-school education. Emigrating West in 1881, he first located in Keokuk county, Iowa, where he established the Keswick Creamery and oper- ated it until 1889. In June of this year he came to Bloomfield, where, in July he pur- chased the creamery above described.

In his political principles Mr. Davis is a Democrat, is a gentleman of general intelli- gence and business enterprise. He was elected a member of the City Council in the spring of 1895.

In 1878 he was united in marriage with Miss Sallie Herman, a daughter of David Her- man, of Maryland, in which State she was born and reared. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have three sons and one daughter: Joseph H., Elmer M., Harry W. and Anna A. The fam- ily have a nice residence, which is attractively furnished.

S AMUEL F. McCONNELL, editor and proprietor of the Bloomfield Dem- ocrat, at Bloomfield, is a young, act- ive and intelligent man, capable of winning the race for success in the field of jour- nalism.

He is a native of Ohio, born in Muskingum county, that State, near Zanesville, on the 9th of November, 1864. His parents, Samuel and Maria (Craig) McConnell, are also both natives of the same county and are still living. In 1851, the father emigrated with his family to Iowa and located upon a farm in Soap Creek township, Davis county, at which time there were but few houses in this section of country, and the place he first selected is the one he still occupies. Commencing with 120 acres of wild, unimproved land, he proceeded indus- triously to improve it until he made of it a comfortable home. The grandfather of our subject, Thomas McConnell, was a native of Pennsylvania and of Scotch descent.

On the farm above mentioned, the young man of genius and ambition whose sketch we give, grew up to years of maturity, engaged in agricultural pursuits and in attending the com- mon schools. He also taught in the country a common school for four years. After that he learned the printer's trade and in 1887, went to Kearney, Nebraska, and purchased the Kearney Courier and managed and edited it until September of the next year. Selling out, he returned to Bloomfield, Iowa, where, May 1, 1890, he purchased and undertook the man- agement of the Bloomfield Democrat, t l.e owned by Walker & Evans, which paper he is now conducting with success and promise of a

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greater future. The paper comprises eight pages, 34x40 inches, and is neatly and well printed. This journal is a great power in the community. The editor is, of course, a thor- ough, intelligent and zealous Democrat, and in the essentials of Democracy he is a thorough believer. He has taken an active part in local, State and national politics. For three years he was chairman of the Democratic county central committee. December 14, 1893, he was appointed Postmaster of Bloomfield, which office he now holds.

November 17, 1887, is the date of Mr. Mc- Connell's marriage to Miss Effie Allen, daugh- ter of W. W. Allen, who was then a citizen of Davis county.

In his social relations Mr. McConnell is a member of Calanthe Lodge, No. 26, Knights of Pythias.

a LIJAH J. SHELTON, M. D., proprie- tor of the Bloomfield Hospital, Bloom- field, Iowa, is a gentleman well known in this part of Iowa and one who needs no introduction here. He is a fit sub- ject for biographical honors, and in this con- nection we are pleased to present the follow- ing resume of his life:

Dr. Shelton is a native of the Hoosier State. He was born in Decatur county, Indi- ana, in the year 1831, son of Hiram and Eliza- beth (Hopkins) Shelton, the former a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, and the latter of Lexington, Kentucky. The Doctor's maternal grandfather, William Hopkins, was an early pioneer of Kentucky, having removed there from his native State, Massachusetts. The Hopkins family were related to General Hous- ton. In the family of Hiram and Elizabeth Shelton were seven children, five sons and two daughters. of whom five are now living.

Elijah J. was reared chiefly in Bartholo- mew county of his native State, his youth be- ing spent on the farm and his early education received in the common schools and at Colum- bus. While yet his years were numbered by

the 'teens, he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. William Wood, of Milford, Decatur county, and in 1849 he came West to Iowa, locating in Davis county, where he sub- sequently entered upon his professional career. At different times he returned East for the pur- pose of further preparing himself for his life work. In 1856 he graduated at the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati, in 1864 at the Keokuk Medical College, and in 1874 at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College of New York city. In the meantime, in 1869, he es- tablished his infirmary at Bloomfield, Davis county, Iowa, and by his able and successful management of the same soon built up for it a substantial and enviable reputation. In 1892 his building was destroyed by fire, entailing a heavy loss to the Doctor. It was large enough to accommodate one hundred patients, was well furnished and equipped throughout, and had only a small insurance. Immediately after the fire Dr. Shelton removed to his pres- ent quarters in the northeastern part of the city, where he has accommodation for from thirty to forty guests, having forty comfort- able and well furnished rooms, and being as- sisted by a corps of efficient trained nurses and also by his wife, who is herself a graduate of medicine and surgery. During his long expe- rience here Dr. Shelton has performed many difficult surgical operations, has effected many wonderful cures, and on the whole his career has been a remarkably successful one.

Dr. Shelton was first married in 1852, to Miss Altie J. Fenton, who was born in Co- lumbia, Missouri, in 1836, and who departed this life in 1888, leaving the following chil- dren: Dr. E. K., a practicing physician of Ottumwa, Iowa, and a graduate of the Cincin- nati Medical College; Lucy, wife of Dr. J. W. Caldwell, of Steamboat Rock, Iowa; E. Cass, a graduate of the St. Louis Medical College; and Charles and Maude, attending college in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1893 Dr. Shelton wed- ded Miss May A. Lockman, of Davis county, Iowa, a lady of rare accomplishments and a graduate of the Woman's College, of Chicago,

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and of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, and, as already stated, she is a valued assistant to her husband in the perform- ance of difficult surgical operations and in his other professional work.

· For a period of twenty-six years Dr. Shel- ton served as examining physician on the United States Pension Board, but on account of political reasons was removed during the Cleve- land administration. He has been a member of numerous medical societies. In 1873 he made quite an extended trip abroad.

AVID GIBSON, who traces his an- cestral history through a long line of American representatives to good old Irish and Scotch origin,. is a well- known and influential resident of Davis county, retaining his abode in Bloomfield, and is to be distinctly considered as one of the pioneers of the county and State, since he has been a' resi- dent of Iowa since March, 1851, and has now attained to a venerable and well preserved age. He has been conspicuously identified with the agricultural interests of the county and has de- voted particular attention to the raising of fine draft and coach horses, in which line he has gained a wide reputation. Though now living in practical retirement from business he is known as one of the influential men of this sec- tion of the State and is held in the highest es- teem in the community.

A native of the old Buckeye State, Mr. Gibson was born in the vicinity of Liberty (now Kimbolton), Guernsey county, Ohio, on the 2d of January, 1828, being the son of John Gibson, who likewise was a native of Ohio, his parents having settled on Wills creek, Guernsey county, in a very early day and hav- ing been pioneers of that section. John Gib- son was a farmer during his entire adult life and he laid out the town of Liberty, previously mentioned. He espoused in marriage Miss Hannah Douglass, of Guernsey county, the daughter of David Douglass, of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where she was born. The pa-

ternal grandfather of our subject was William Gibson, a native of Virginia, his father having emigrated to the Old Dominion State from Ire- land. On the maternal side the lineage of our subject traces to Scotch origin.

David was the fifth in order of birth of a family of seven children, comprising five girls and two boys. He was reared on a farm and early became inured to the sturdy discipline and the free and untrammeled pastoral life, receiving his educational training in the com- mon or district schools at and near Liberty, Ohio. He remained with his parents until their removal to Iowa, in 1851, his father rent- ing a farm near Burlington and within a short time returning to Ohio on business and there dying, the mother also being summoned into eternal rest in July, 1851, her death having oc- curred on the afore mentioned farm near Bur- lington.

After the death of his parents our subject came to Davis county, in 1853, locating near Stiles, Grove township, where he purchased a tract of 160 acres of prairie land, subsequently adding to the area of his possessions until he was the owner of 560 acres. He thoroughly improved his farm and devoted his attention to its cultivation and to the raising of live- stock, in both of which lines his efforts were attended with success. In 1864 he took up his abode on the 350-acre tract, which was located about half a mile from his initial pur- chase. In 1872 Mr. Gibson began his opera- tions in the shipping of live-stock to St. Louis and Chicago, and in this line of enterprise he continued for twenty years, doing a very ex- tensive and profitable business and devoting almost his entire attention to the same from 1876 until 1882. In the year last mentioned he initiated that line of enterprise which has proved of inestimable value as considered in connection with the industrial activities of the county, engaging in the breeding of Norman draft horses and German coach horses, having been the first to introduce the latter breed in Davis county. In this enterprise he was also very successful, having at one time a herd of

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fifty-two horses, and he did not relinquish his identification with the industry until 1891, when he disposed of his property. In Febru- ary of that year he removed to Bloomfield, where he effected the purchase of the magnifi - cent homestead of General James B. Weaver. The residence is a substantial and spacious brick structure, surrounded with beautiful grounds of wide extent and ornamented with forest trees, shrubbery, etc., making a really idyllic home. Mr. Gibson still retains a farm of II0 acres, located one and one-half miles southeast of Bloomfield, and this property he rents. He still retains two coach stallions, which are inagnificent specimens. His labors in the way of stock-raising have been of much value to the county, and he made a successful effort to raise the standard in cattle and hogs as well as horses, breeding Short-horn cattle of the best registered strain. Since coming to Bloomfield he has devoted his attention to his general interests, but feels that he is entitled to a measure of rest and to the enjoyment of the fruits of his labors, protracted over a course of so many years.

The marriage of Mr. Gibson was celebrated October 28, 1852, when he was united to Miss Martha W. Frame, daughter of John Frame, of Liberty, Guernsey county, Ohio, where she was born. Mr. and Mrs. Gibson became the parents of six children, of whom four are living at the present time: Ellen, the wife of J. H. Collins, a prosperous merchant at Stiles, this county; Hannah is the wife of Rev. A. H. Collins, who is a cousin of her sister's hus- band, and who resides at Chariton, Iowa, be- ing a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church; John F. is a clergyman of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church; and Robert M. is a druggist at Ottumwa, Iowa. Two children died in early youth. Mr. and Mrs. Gibson are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Bloomfield, and are people who oc- cupy a high position in the esteem of the com- munity.

In politics our subject is a stanch Repub- lican, and supports the principles and policies

advanced by that party. His ability and worth were recognized by his election to the office of Supervisor of his township, in which capacity he served with faithfulness and interest for four years.

RANK W. EICHELBERGER, Judge of the Second Judicial District of Iowa and a resident of Bloomfield, is a native of Ohio, born in Piqua, Mi- ami county, August 7, 1841. John Eichel- berger, his father, was a native of Maryland and an early settler of Ohio. In 1854 he moved to Muscatine, Iowa, and afterward to Daven- port, and finally, in 1868, to Bloomfield, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1886, in his seventy-seventh year. His wife, Christena B., was born in Germantown, Ohio, a daughter of Rev. Thomas Winters, who was a missionary in the Miami valley as minister of the German Reformed Church. She is still living, making her home with the Judge, and is now in her seventy-ninth year.

The gentleman whose name honors the in- troduction of this brief record passed his boy- hood at Springfield, Ohio, and at Muscatine, Iowa, he received his education in the public schools and at the Muscatine Academy. After quitting school his first employment was in the office of the Muscatine Journal, where he con- tinued four years, and he was also a corre- spondent for Chicago papers during the war. Next he went to Ottumwa, this State, where his father at the time resided, and was a clerk for his father, in the meantime studying law of evenings and at other times of leisure. He was admitted to the bar at Ottumwa, in 1868; but within the same year he came to Bloom- field and opened out in law practice in part- nership with Hon. H. C. Traverse, the firm being Traverse & Eichelberger. This partner- ship relation continued for eleven years, when Mr. Traverse was elected Judge, and our sub- ject then continued alone in practice until 1894, when he, too, was elected Judge, for the regular term of four years; and he entered

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upon the duties of the office January 1, 1894. The constantly onward and upward career of Judge Eichelberger in the popular esteem is sufficient evidence of his intellectual capacity and moral integrity. In his political views he is a Republican.

In 1867 he was united in matrimony with Miss Ella A. Pratt, of Muscatine. Her father, H. A. Pratt, was during his life a well-to-do citizen of that place. The Judge has had one daughter, whose death, at the age of nine years, was an indescribably sad affliction to her kind and worthy parents.

ENRY CLAY TRAVERSE, ex-Dis- trict Judge, residing at Bloomfield, was born in White county, Illinois, near Graysville, August 28, 1839. He was a son of Charles Traverse and Sarah, nee Forrest, natives of Kentucky. His paternal grandfather was a native of Virginia, to which State his first American ancestors emigrated from old Ireland. Charles Traverse was an early settler of White county, Illinois, was a farmer by occupation, and died in 1843; but his wife still survives, being now in her eighty- seventh year.

In 1846, after the death of the father, the mother removed with her family to Iowa, first locating in Monroe county, where young Henry attended the common school and at length the high school. Going to Keokuk he learned there the printer's trade, after which he taught school for a time. Then he began the study of law in that city, under the preceptorship of Hon. George W. McCrary, who, under Presi- dent Hayes' administration was Secretary of War. Mr. Traverse was admitted to the bar in 1862, at Bloomfield; but, the clouds of war becoming more frightful, he enlisted in Com- pany F, Thirtieth Iowa Infantry. The regi- ment, commanded by Colonel Abbott, was at- tached to the Fifteenth Army Corps, then commanded by General Sherman and after- ward by General John A. Logan. This regi- ment participated in a number of important

battles, as Haynes Bluff, Arkansas Post, etc., and all through the siege of Vicksburg, the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, etc. After three years of faithful serv- ice he was discharged, having been promoted to the rank of Orderly Sergeant.

Returning to Bloomfield, he in the next year (1866) opened out in law practice, for which his mental capabilities so well qualified him, and he correspondingly earned for himself a fine reputation as a conscientious and pains- taking lawyer.

In his political principles he is a Repub- lican. In 1868 and also in 1870 he was elected State Senator, and in 1880 was again returned to the State Senate. In this body he exhibited a conscientious faithfulness to duty rarely wit- nessed. In 1881 he was elected Judge of the Second Judicial District of Iowa, and by suc- cessive re-elections he held that responsible office for fourteen years. Retiring from the bench he resumed his law practice, forming a partnership with H. C. Taylor, thereby estab- lishing the firm of Traverse & Taylor, which still continues. This is of course a strong law firm, having a good patronage. The Judge's law library is very extensive and well selected.

Judge Traverse owns a good farm of 220 acres, well improved; and he is also the pro- prietor of the Traverse block in Bloomfield, a fine two-story structure, which he built in 1893.

In the year 1870 Judge Traverse was mar- ried to Miss Ellen Presson, of Bloomfield, a daughter of Bradford Presson, formerly of Massachusetts. The Judge has a son and a daughter: Frank C., a court reporter, residing in Bloomfield; and Belle. The Judge is a member of Elisha Townsend Post, G. A. R.

S IMPSON J. CHESTER .- A recapitu- lation of the salient points in the ca- reer of the honored subject of this review will bear evidence of his long and prominent identification with the interests of Jefferson county, will bear record of his having held offices of distinctive trust and re-

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sponsibility, will bespeak the valiant service and the loyal patriotism which gives him rank among the honored veterans of the late war of the Rebellion, and will pronounce unmistaka- bly as to his sterling worth of character and his position as one of the representative citizens of Fairfield and of Jefferson county.

A native of the Hoosier State, Mr. Chester was born in the vicinity of Warsaw, Kosciusko county, on the 16th of March, 1841, the son of Joseph and Jane (Robinson) Chester, the former of whom was born in New Jersey, March 16, 1806, being the son of Thomas Chester, a native of Pennsylvania and of Ger- man extraction; while the mother of our sub- ject was born in Pennsylvania, June 2, 1807, the daughter of Joseph and Rebecca Robinson, of Scotch-Irish lineage. The marriage of our subject's parents was consummated in Ohio, whence they removed to Indiana, where they remained until 1850, when they emigrated Westward and took up their abode on a farm in Linn county, Iowa. In the fall of 1856, they removed to Jefferson county and located on a farm in Buchanan township, being among the early pioneer settlers of the State. The father died on the 4th of March, 1891, having attained the venerable age of eighty-four years, while she who had been his cherished and de- voted companion during so many years died April 4th of the preceding year, her summons into eternal rest having thus come only eleven months before her husband's, so that in death they were not long divided. They were peo- ple of sterling integrity and lofty ideals, and their lives were fruitful in good works and evinced the deep charity and human sympathy which endeared them to a large circle of friends. Of their children four sons and one daughter lived to attain maturity, a brief record concerning thein being as follows: Em- eline is the wife of W. R. Neven, of Carthage, Missouri; Simpson J. is the immediate subject of this review; Orange V. L. is a practicing physician at Carthage, Missouri; Oliver F. is a resident of Kansas City, Missouri; and Robert N. resides at Carthage, that State.

Simpson J. Chester passed the first nine years of his life in his native State of Indiana, accompanying his parents upon their removal to Linn county, Iowa, and subsequently to Jefferson county. He had attended the dis- trict schools in Indiana, and after his parents located in Iowa he still continued his educa- tional discipline through this medium, and eventually became a student in the Fairfield Academy. After leaving school he turned his undivided attention to agricultural pursuits in this county, and was thus concerned until the year 1862, when his intrinsically loyal nature was roused to respond to the call of a higher duty, and he enlisted as a member of Company G, Thirtieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Colonel Charles Abbott commanding. Upon the or- ganization of his company Mr. Chester was elected Second Lieutenant. The regiment was forthwith sent to St. Louis, Missouri; from there to Helena, Arkansas; thence proceeding to Yazoo Pass, and taking part in the raid on Oakland, battle of Haynes Bluff, Arkansas Post, thence to Young's Point, opposite Vicks- burg, taking part in the canal project, where the health of the regiment became greatly im- paired on account of exposure and miserable water, surrounded as they were by swamps and overflow of the river caused by breaks in the levee. In May, 1863, Lieutenant Chester, with his company and regiment, went on the march through Louisiana, crossing the Mis- sissippi river at Grand Gulf, taking part in the battles of Raymond, Jackson and the siege of Vicksburg, where during the charge on that fatal 22d day of May he received a gunshot wound through his left lung-an injury which it was believed would prove fatal. In course of time he was able to return to his regiment, and took part in the Cherokee Station fight, where their brave and much loved Colonel Torrence, with others of the regiment, fell a victim to the enemies' bullets. On went our subject, taking part in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, and Ringgold, in the meantime having been promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant. The regiment subse-

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quently marched with Sherman to the sea, participating in many battles. Lieutenant Chester, on account of wounds and ill health, resigned his office in April, 1864, and on re- turning to his home in Jefferson county again engaged in farming and stock-raising to such extent as his health would permit, with which lines of industry he was intimately concerned until 1870, when he moved to Fairfield, where he has since maintained his abode.

In 1879 Mr. Chester was elected, on the Republican ticket, to the shrievalty of the county, and assumed the discharge of his du- ties as Sheriff on the Ist of January, 1880, his term of office extending over two years. That his administration of the affairs of office gave satisfaction to the people of the county is shown in the fact that they again reposed this impor- tant trust in the keeping of Mr. Chester by electing him by an increased majority his own successor for a second term of two years. In July, 1890, distinctive recognition of the abil- ity and popularity of our subject was shown in his receiving the appointment as Postmaster of Fairfield, in which position he served four years, proving a most capable incumbent and doing much to improve the postal service of his office. Since the expiration of his term of service in this capacity Mr. Chester has prac- tically retired from business life. He has al- ways maintained a lively and well informed in- terest in the political affairs of the State, and has been an uncompromising Republican and an active worker in the party cause.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 109

Author: Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1360

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1360