Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 14

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

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In 1855, with his wife and two children, Mr. Stumbaugh moved to Iowa, the journey hither being made with horse teams, and while on this journey they slept at night in their wagon. Arrived in Lucas county, Mr. Stum- baugh entered Government land, acquiring title to forty acres in Jackson township and fifty-six acres in Union township; and on his land the first thing he did was to build a cabin, its dimensions being 16x18 feet. Here he has since lived and prospered. His present frame residence is something on the Southern plan, being located about forty rods back from the highway. A neat lawn in front of the house and a grove and orchard near by render the place an attractive one.

Other sons and daughters have been added to the family of this worthy couple since they took up their abode in Iowa, and a brief record of their children is as follows : Arminda, the wife of Fred Thulander, of Union township, this county ; Adam C., Rock county, Ne- braska; Permia Ann, wife of Isaac Riggs, Henry county, Missouri ; William D., this county ; Theodosia D., wife of E. C. Canfield, Derby, Iowa; Staten J., Jackson township, this county ; Louisa, wife of R. T. Mundell, same township, and Margaret L., wife of J. P. Mundell, also of this township. They had three children that died in childhood-Rhoda, Jane and Mahala.

Like his father, Mr. Stumbaugh has always acted with the Democratic party. During 1861-2-3 he served as one of the Supervisors of Lucas county, and while filling that office rendered much effective service. He has always taken a deep interest in matters pertaining to education, temperance and religion, and in his

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

efforts in this direction has had the sympathy and assistance of his good wife. They have been members of the Missionary Baptist Church for many years and since 1860 he has been an ordained minister of the gospel in this church, preaching frequently and being the means of accomplishing great good. To know Mr. Stumbaugh is to honor and esteem him.

ON. CHARLES TRUMBULL GRANGER, one of the most emin- ent jurists of Iowa, now serving as Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, has risen to his exalted position solely through his own merit. Cultivating the abilities with which nature endowed him and adding to these by deep and earnest study, he is the pos- sessor of an analytical mind, keen perception and sound judgment which well fit him for the position which he is now so acceptably filling.

Judge Granger was born in Monroe county, New York, not far from the city of Rochester, October 9, 1835, being a son of Trumbull and Sallie (Dibble) Granger, both of whom were natives of Connecticut and early residents of the Empire State. Their family numbered eight children, five sons and three daughters, but the Judge-the youngest of the family-is the only one now living. He lost his mother when he was quite young. She was a mem- ber of the Methodist Church, and was unself- ishly devoted to the interest and welfare of her family. Trumbull Granger served as Captain of the State militia at an early day, and by occupation was a farmer. He removed to Ohio, thence to Illinois, and in 1854 came to Iowa, locating in Allamakee county, where he carried on agricultural pursuits. He died while visiting a daughter in Ohio, in 1869, at the age of sixty-nine years. He was twice married, his second union being with Mrs. Mary Young, by whom he had nine children, five yet living, namely: Elizabeth, widow of Asa Bradway; Charlotte, wife of Stephen Meriau; Thoeodore, Maurice and Wallace. The Granger family is of English origin and

the grandfather of the Judge, Pearce Granger, was a native of Connecticut. By occupation he was a farmer and also engaged in the work of the ministry as a preacher of the Methodist Church. He lived to an advanced age and reared a large family. The inaternal grand- father died in New York.

Although an Eastern man by birth, Judge Granger has spent the greater part of his life in the West. He was reared in Ohio and Illi- nois, and acquired his education in the public schools of those States, completing his literary course in the seminary of Waukegan, Illinois. Like many men who have become prominent in professional circles, his childhood and youth were passed on the farm amid quiet and une- ventful scenes, but that early training undoubt- edly did much to develop his stability of char- acter and self-reliance. He came to Iowa in 1854, but the following year returned to Illi- nois and subsequently finished his education as before stated. Attracted toward the legal pro- fession, he began reading law while on the farm near Antioch. In the spring of 1860 he again came to the Hawkeye State, continuing his legal studies, which were only interrupted by a season of school-teaching in the winter in order that he might have the funds necessary for his expenses.

In October, 1860, Mr. Granger was ad- mitted to the bar and then went to Mitchell county, Iowa, where he engaged in teaching until 1862. The Civil war was now in prog- ress, and not content to remain quietly at home while his country needed the service of all her loyal sons, he joined Company K, of the Twenty-seventh Iowa Infantry, and was commissioned its Captain. Going to the front he entered into active duty, and during the next three years participated in the many im- portant engagements, including the capture of Little Rock, the campaign under Sherman to Meridian, the Red river campaign under Gen- eral Banks, and the battles of Yellow Bayou, Tupelo, Nashville and Mobile. His courage and fearlessness on the field of battle did much to inspire his men, and commander and con-

RECORD OF IOWA.

pany made a creditable military record. Upon the close of the war Captain Granger returned to Waukon, Iowa, which has since been his home, and at once entered upon the practice of law.

In 1855 was celebrated the marriage of Judge Granger and Miss Sarah J. Warner, daughter of Samuel Warner. She died in 1862, just before he entered the army, and in 1868 he married Miss Anna Maxwell, whose death oc- curred in 1890. They had two children, - Ula A., who died in 1891, at the age of twenty-one, and Rollo S., who is living with his father.

The Judge has for several years been prom- inently identified with the Masonic order. He is a member of Waukon Lodge, No. 154, A. F. & A. M., of Waukon, in which he held the office of Worshipful Master for a number of years. He is also a member of Markavell Chapter, R. A. M., of Waukon, and Beausent Commandery, K. T., of Decorah, Iowa. In 1880 he entered the Grand Lodge of the State of Iowa, and in the years 1884 and 1885 served as Grand Master of that honorable body, and is now serving his second term, of six years, as one of the three custodians of the order in the State of Iowa.

He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to John J. Stillman Post, of Waukon. In politics he is a stalwart Re- publican, having supported that party since its organization, and frequently he has been honored with election to public office. For four years he served as District Attorney, was on the cir- cuit bench of the State for fourteen years, or until the office was abolished, and then he was elected District Judge and served two years. In 1888 he was elected to the office of Supreme Judge of the State, and has now entered upon the first year of his second term, each term covering a period of six years. He has been continuously upon the bench since January 1, 1873, and no higher testimonial of his efficient public service could be given than his long continuance in office. His fine legal mind and thorough knowledge of the law well fit him for the position. The language of his

decisions is always plain, simple and clear, vig- orous and decided. The decisions themselves are models of perspicuity and judicial sound- ness. He started out to make his own way in the world with no capital, and with a laudable ambition he has grasped eagerly every oppor- tunity of raising himself to the high standard which he set up, and, by his resolute purpose and commendable diligence he has attained the goal of his hopes.

ON. DAVID JONES McCOY is a gentleman who has long been a prom- inent factor in Lucas county, Iowa, for many years residing on a farm in Cedar township, and of recent years maintain- ing his home in Russell.

Major McCoy, as he is called, was born in Jefferson county, Indiana, April 6, 1830. Moses McCoy, his father, was a native of Ken- tucky, and early in the present century ac- companied his parents, John and Nancy Mc- Coy, to Indiana. Grandmother McCoy has been twice married, and her first husband, a Mr. Hayes, was killed by the red men, and she subsequently married John McCoy. She was a true Christian and a typical pioneer woman, the mother of seven children, one by her first marriage. Of her fainily, we make record as follows: John, who passed his life in Indiana, engaged in agricultural pursuits; George, a vet- eran of the war of 1812, removed from Indiana to Lucas county, Iowa, in the spring of 1856, bringing his wife and five children, his death occurring in 1863 and his wife's eleven years later; Daniel spent many years in Jefferson county and late in life removed to Hendricks county, same State, where he died; Moses, the father of our subject; William removed from Jefferson to Monroe county, Indiana, where he died after a long and useful life, spent chiefly in agricultural pursuits; Mary was twice mar- ried, first to James Courtney and after his death to a Mr. Griffith, she and Mr. Griffith both having passed away; Stephen and his wife, nce Susan Heron, both died in Indiana,

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

he in Montgomery county and she in Jefferson; and Mrs. McCoy's son by her first marriage was killed by the Indians in Indiana. The mother was at her ninetieth inile-post when she passed away.

Moses McCoy, the father of our subject, was born February 11, 1799, and was reared on the frontier farm in Indiana, and on reach- ing man's estate he entered a claim of 160 acres in Jefferson county, and was united in marriage to Selona Jones, who was born in Kentucky February 12, 1804. The children of their union were six in number, four sons and two daughters, all natives of Jefferson county, namely: John G., a farmer of Mon - roe county, Iowa; Lydia, wife of Jeremiah Salyers, is deceased, as also is her husband; Mary, deceased wife of Aaron Robins, a farmer of Jefferson county, Indiana; William, who spent his life in Indiana; D. J., the subject of this article; and James, who resided in Iowa for a short time, but returned to Indiana and died there. Tho mother of these children died September 3, 1878, and the father passed away November 17, 1834, when D. J. was a child of four years.

Having thus briefly referred to his parents and their family, we now come to the life of our immediate subject, Hon. D. J. McCoy. His boyhood days were spent on a farm in his native county, and his winters, until he was sixteen, were spent in attending subscription school in the log school-house near his home. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to the trade of plasterer, which occupation he followed until the opening of the Civil war. In 1856 he emigrated to Iowa, coming in com- pany with his aunt, Mrs. Rebecca Lott, and her adopted son, Anthony Gray, their journey being made by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers from Madison to Keokuk and thence by wagon to Lucas county, to the home of an uncle, James Hayes. Mr. Hayes lived in a log cabin, 14 x 18 feet, with a puncheon floor, two little windows, stick-and-mud-chimney, and covered with clapboards, and through the crevices both the sunbeams and the moon-

beams found their way, as also did the snow and rain. Here Mr. McCoy spent the winter of 1855-6, and, owing to limited room, made his bed at night upon the floor. When spring came on Mr. McCoy found work at his trade. Later he attended school for a time, and in the winter of 1860-1 he taught the Greenville dis- trict school, having about forty-five pupils of various ages. As a school-teacher he was pop- ular.

When the war broke out Mr. McCoy was not slow to show his patriotismn. He enlisted in Company B, Captain Isiminger, July 17, 1861, at Burlington, Iowa, and at once went to the front, remaining in almost continuous service throughout that sanguinary struggle. To give a detailed account of his army life would be to write a history of the greater part of the war, as he participated in niany of its most important engagements. This, of course, can not be done in a work of this character. Suffice it to say that he was an active partici- pant in the memorable battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Atlanta, Resaca, and Kenesaw mountain, and that for meritorious conduct he was promoted, in 1862, to the position of Second Lieutenant; 1863, to that of First Lieutenant; 1864, as Captain, and the same year as Major. The war over, he par- ticipated in the grand review of the victorious soldiers at Washington and returned to his home in Iowa a veteran and a victor. He was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, July 23, 1865.

Returning to Iowa, Mr. McCoy went to the home of his brother in Monroe county and gave his attention to the stock business. In the fall of 1866 he removed to Cedar town- ship, Lucas county, having married in the meantime, and here his family were reared. For the past seven years he has made his home in Russell.

Mr. McCoy was married November 19, 1865, to Miss Ann M. Kells, daughter of Rob- ert and Lavina (Bay) Kells. She was born in Defiance county, Ohio, April 25, 1845, next to the youngest in a family of six children, four

L.S. Huntley.

RECORD OF IOWA.

sons and two daughters, and of this number only two besides herself are living: Mary J. Trowbridge, Orange county, Florida; and Ezra C. Kells, Washington township, Lucas county, Iowa. Mrs. McCoy has a half brother, Rob- ert C. Kells, a vineyardist of Yuba City, Cali- fornia. Her parents were both natives of Ohio; her father, born October 19, 1811, and . died in Ohio December 20, 1853; and her mother, born December 4, 1817, died in Ohio, January 25, 1848. Mrs. McCoy came to Mon- roe county, Iowa, in 1854, and before her marriage was a successful teacher. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. McCoy, we make the following record: Sherman E., born October II, 1866, is a farmer of Chase county, Ne- braska; Clara M. is the wife of C. E. Werts, a farmer of Benton township, this county; Charles D., at home; Guy L., a farmer of Dwight, North Dakota; and Myrtle G. and Susan E., at home. Then there are two de- ceased: Mary S., born November 29, 1867, and died September 15, 1868; and Edith, born July 22, 1871, and died August 16, 1873.

Mr. McCoy has always given his influence, politically, to the Republican party. , He cast his first presidential vote for Fremont, going · eight miles north into Cedar township to get his ticket and voting in Washington township, it being the only Republican vote cast in that township. From time to time he has been called upon to fill various positions of impor- tance and trust, and has ever discharged his duty faithfully and efficiently. At the time the war broke out he was serving as Justice of the Peace and resigned this office in order to enter the ranks. In later years he was appointed Justice of the Peace to fill a vacancy, and has been elected to the office ever since. He has also served as Township Assessor and Super- visor. In 1872 he was elected- a Representa- tive to the Iowa State Legislature, where he acquitted himself creditably, while a member of that body helping to pass the bill for the appropriation of the courthouse of Lucas county, and voting for the repeal of corporal punishment. During his residence in Russell 6

Mr. McCoy was from 1887 until 1892 engaged in mercantile pursuits, but is now living re- tired. He has served as Mayor of the city, has in many ways been prominently identified with its interests, and is regarded as one of its best citizens. Socially, he is connected with Frank Knowlan Post, No. 208 G. A. R., and was for many years an active Odd Fellow.

C APTAIN LYMAN SOUTHARD HUNTLEY .- The Scotch type is one which has found many repre- sentatives in the New World, and is one that has ever been found foremost in giv- ing impetus to the march of progress, in re- taining a clear mental grasp and in directing affairs along safe and conservative lines. America owes much to the Scotch stock, and has honored and been honored by noble men and women of this extraction. The gentleman with whose name we are pleased to grace this article, Mr. L. S. Huntley, is the descendant of a Scotchman, and in him are found many of the sterling characteristics of his worthy an- cestors. As a prominent and honored citizen of Lucas county, Iowa, he is entitled to spe- cific consideration here, and we take pleasure in presenting the following resume of his life:

L. S. Huntley was born in Sullivan county, in the State of New Hampshire, November 27, 1838. His father, Sebra Huntley, was a na- tive of New Hampshire and a son of General Luman Huntley, a Scotchman by birth and an officer in the war of 1812, who was one of the early settlers of the Granite State. Sebra Huntley was reared in New Hampshire, and was a maker of musical instruments of all kinds. He married Nancy Nesmith, like him- self, a native of New Hampshire, and when their son L. S. was a babe the father died, leaving his widow with three children, the other two being Janette C. and Harriet. Of these daughters we record that the former be- came the wife of Dr. E. Y. Chase, of Oregon, and is now deceased, and that the latter, the wife of D. W. Jones, of Red Oak, Iowa, died

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

in r892. The mother was afterward married to Nathan Dustin, of Galena, Ohio, and died at Red Oak, Iowa, in 1893, at the age of sev- enty-six years.

Thus in early life deprived of a father's care, the subject of our sketch was reared to farm life by Mr. Samuel Clark and son. At the age of seventeen he went to Galena, Dela- ware county, Ohio, where his common-school education was supplemented by an academy course. When the Civil war broke out he was not slow to show his patriotism. At Lin- coln's call for 300,000, he responded and be- came a member of Company G, Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front, leaving behind his wife and babe. He was first under fire at Arkansas Post. To give a detailed account of the engagements in which he participated would be to write a his- tory of much of the war. Suffice it here to state that he took part in no less than twenty- two battles and skirmishes, many of them hotly contested; that he went in as a private and was from time to time promoted for his gallant conduct on the battle-field until he reached the Captaincy. On one occasion, at the engagement at Sabine Cross Roads, he was reported by a comrade as killed, and the news reached his home in Ohio.

The war over, Mr. Huntley decided to lo- cate in Iowa and accordingly came hither. He purchased 320 acres of land on section IO, Warren township, Lucas county, and to-day has one of the finest farms in all the country round. He has a comfortable residence nicely located, a large barn, two modern windmills, and his land is divided into. broad pastures of bluegrass and well cultivated fields of grain. Not only as a farmer, but also as a stock man has he been successful, raising the best of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs.

He was married March 23, 1860, at Ga- lena, Ohio, to Mary E. Allen, a native of that place and a daughter of prominent early set- tlers of Ohio. Her father, Harlow Allen, was born in Vermont, a relative of the distinguished Col. Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame. Her

inother, whose maiden name was Eveline Car- penter, was a daughter of Moses Carpenter, a native of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and one of the early pioneers of Delaware county, Ohio. Mr. Allen died in Galena and Mrs. Al- len in Chariton, Iowa. Their family was com- posed of seven children, viz .: Heman W., who died at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri, was a member of the Ninety-sixth Ohio Infan- . try and was Hospital Steward; Mrs. Huntley; Hattie F., of Chariton, Iowa; Mattie C., a popular and successful teacher of Hot Springs, South Dakota; J. C., of Springfield, Missouri; Frances, deceased in early life; Lou E., wife of S. E. Wilson, Hot Springs, South Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Huntley have four children liv- ing, as follows: Clark W., a successful teacher and engineer; Edith J., wife of William Brewer, of Chariton, Iowa; Frank S. and Mary E., at home. They had one son, Will- ard A., who died at the age of twenty years.

Captain Huntley is a Republican. Indeed, he is one of the most active and zealous work- ers for his party and may well be termed a "wheelhorse." He has been Assessor for seven years, has served in most. of the town- ship offices, and has been a delegate to county, Congressional and State conventions, and in every position to which he has been .called he has performed faithful and effective service, al- ways acquitting himself with credit. He is a

man with a clean record. Recently he has been brought out as a candidate for the State Legislature, his friends believing him to be the most available man for the office, and his present prospects are indeed most flattering. A veteran of the late war, he is, of course, identified with that popular organization known as the G. A. R. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F.

EVI HOLLINGSWORTH, one of the well-known pioneer farmers of Otter township, located within the borders of Warren county before it was organized. He has therefore been an eye-

RECORD OF IOWA.

witness of almost its entire development, has seen its wild lands transformed into beautiful homes and farms, while towns and villages have sprung up and the work of civilization has been carried forward until to-day the county bears little resemblance to the region in which Mr. Hollingsworth settled many years ago.

A native of Ohio, he was born in Mont- gomery county, July 31, 1817. It was a front- ier region and the family lived in true pioneer style. His father, George Hollingsworth, was a native of North Carolina, and his mother was born in South Carolina. Early in the present century they accompanied their re- spective families to Montgomery county, Ohio, where they were afterward married and became the parents of six children, namely: Mary, who became the wife of James Shaw and died at the age of eighty-six; Eli, who died when a young man; Zimry, who lost his life in the gold mines of California, being there mur- dered by Indians; Hannah, who died in early girlhood; Levi, of this sketch; and Sallie, wife of Alexander Canutt, of Colfax, Washington. The father of this family died at Attica, Foun- tain county, Indiana, where he was the owner of extensive tracts of land. In politics he was an old-line Whig, and was an honorable gen- tleman whose excellencies of character won him the regard of all. His wife died in the same place several years previous to the death of her husband.

Levi Hollingsworth was thus thrown upon his own resources. Early in life he was bound out as an apprentice to a tanner, but he did not serve his term, for his employer was a very dissipated man and he preferred other associations. Subsequently he was appren- ticed to some millers, with whom he contin- ued for two years. He then started out to fight life's battle single-handed. Whatever success he has achieved in life has been due to his own efforts, and he may truly be called a self-made man.

On the 26th of March, 1838, Mr. Hollings- worth was joined in wedlock with Miss Anna

Benge, a native of Indiana, born in 1821, and a daughter of Thomas Benge, a native of Clay county, Kentucky. Her people were in lim- ited circumstances and early in life she was trained to habits of frugality and economy, learning lessons that later proved of incalcul- able benefit to her. She was thus fitted to be- come an able assistant to her husband, and was indeed a helpmeet. Her life has been filled with many acts of kindness and generos- ity and now in her seventy-fourth year she rests content in the care and love of her chil- dren and a large circle of friends. She is a member of the Christian Union Church, and has been an earnest worker in the Master's vineyard. In the family were seven children, six sons and a daughter: Thomas, the owner of a good farm in Clarke county, Washington; James J., a resident of Belmont township, Warren county; George, who resides in Squaw township, Warren county; Sallie Jane, wife of John R. Milligan; John W., who is living in Wheatland, Wyoming; Charles G. and W. C., who are both residents of Otter township, Warren county.

Mr. and Mrs. Hollingsworth began their domestic life in Warren county, Indiana, and on the 19th of March, 1848, arrived in Warren county, Iowa, where our subject made a claim of 200 acres in Otter township, entering the same at the land office in Fairfield. He after- ward entered more land and ultimately became the owner of 1,000 acres. Farming has been his life work, and his energy and enterprise have been the means of bringing to him a handsome competence. He is familiar with all the history of pioneer life in this locality. Many a deer has he brought down with his un- erring rifle; wolves were still numerous in the neighborhood and made several inroads on his stock; the land was all wild; and the work of civilization seemed scarcely begun. There were only five or six families living in Otter township, no roads had been cut, markets were long distances away, and few indeed were the comforts and luxuries enjoyed in those pioneer days; there was, however, a warm-

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 14

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