Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 175

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

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Our subject has since given his time and energies to farming. His home is a pleasant one and is presided over by Mrs. Gillaspey, a most estimable lady who extends a warm- hearted hospitality to their many friends. In her maidenhood she was Miss E. J. McCoy, a native of Pennsylvania, although reared in Iowa, whither she accompanied her parents, John and Ann Maria McCoy. Mr. and Mrs. Gillaspey have four children-Effie, Arthur, Grace and Hazel.

In his political views Mr. Gillaspey is a Re- publican, and always casts his vote and in- fluence with that party. Like most of the veterans of the Civil war he holds a member-

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ship in the Grand Army of the Republic, being now connected with the post at Chariton. He is a whole-souled and genial man, and is well known and highly respected in White Breast township, where he has resided for a number of years. His wife is a member of the Meth- odist Church.

ILLIAM SEERLEY, a well-known and much respected farnier of Madi- son county, Iowa, whose residence is on section 28, Madison township, is a native of Frederick county, Maryland, born May 5, 1823.

Joseph Seerley, his father, it is supposed, was born in the western part of Pennsylvania. He went from there to Maryland when a young man, where he resided for a number of years. He took an active part in the war of 1812 and served in some of the important engagements of that war. In 1817 he was married, in Maryland, to Elizabeth Brown, and after their inarriage they located near the village of Mid- dletown, where they continued to reside until the fall of 1823, at which time they moved to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and settled in the village of Hempsfield. In 1836 they left that place and came as far west as Indiana, which was then on the frontier, and in Marion county they took up their abode on a farm, where he passed the closing years of his life, his death occurring there about 1841. Of the grandfather of our subject but little is known other than that his name was Thomas Seerley and that he was of French descent.

Mr. Seerley's mother, nec Elizabeth Brown, was born in Frederick county, Maryland, daughter of George P. Brown. It is the sup- position that Mr. Brown was a native of Mary- land. He was of German descent. During the Revolutionary war he served as a Guard. The mother of our subject survived the father a number of years and died in Iowa, at the home of her son William, being in her seventy- eighth year at the time of death. This worthy couple were the parents of five children, three

sons and two daughters, viz .: Martin, a resi- dent of Marion county, Indiana; Thomas, Iowa City; William, whose name graces this article; Elizabeth, widow of Peter Blue, Indi- anapolis, Indiana; and Catharine, deceased.

William Seerley was six months old at the time his parents removed to Pennsylvania, and at the time of their settlement in Marion county, Indiana, was thirteen. His boyhood days were spent in attendance at the district schools and in work on the farm, and his dis- trict-school education was supplemented by one term in Indianapolis. After his marriage, in 1852, he settled on a farm about five miles from Indianapolis, where he resided until 1855, that year coming out to Iowa. His first winter in this State was spent in Keokuk county. In the spring of the following year, 1856, he came to Madison county and has ever since been identified with the agricultural interests of this county. After renting land one sum- mer, he located on his present place in the fall of 1856. Here his first work was to build a log cabin, 16x 18 feet in dimensions, which served as his home until 1861, when he built his present residence; and from time to time he has made various other improvements. His farm comprises 260 acres, including timber and rough land, and all, with the exception of twenty acres, under fence. He gives his at- tention to both general farming and stock- raising, feeding all his grain product to his stock. One hundred acres of his land are under cultivation.

Mr. Seerley was married in Marion county, Indiana, in 1852, to Miss Mary Missersmith, who was born and reared in Connersville, In- diana, and they have had fourteen children, eleven of whom are now living, as follows: O. M .; Bayard P., Adair county, Iowa; Horace E., engaged in mining in Colorado; and Fran- cis H., Elwood, Charlie, Flora, Grace, Ida, Vick and Willie, at home.

Mr. Seerley is Democratic in his political views. In 1893 he was the Democratic can- didate for State Senator from his district, and. although lie received a strong vote, he was de-

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feated, his party being in the minority. He has served efficiently in several local offices. He was Township Clerk five years and for the same length of time was Assessor, both in Madison township. Personally, he is a man of retiring disposition, and has never sought office. The nomination for State Senator was tendered him without solicitation and he made no canvass whatever, nor did he ever ask a man for his vote.

ILLIAM PORTER MOULTON, the senior partner of the firm of Moulton & Thode, publishers and proprietors of the Stuart Locomo- tive, of Stuart, Iowa, and a man whose unpre- tentious but honorable life has won him the regard of many, was born December 16, 1838, in the town of Wenham, Essex county, Massa- chusetts.

His parents were William and Mary Ann (Porter) Moulton, the latter a daughter of Col- onel Paul Porter, of Wenham, who followed the occupation of farming and served as com- mander of a regiment of militia during the war of 1812 and also before and after that second struggle with England. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Captain John Moulton, a sea captain and a direct descend- ant of Deacon James Moulton, who came from England to America in 1638, landing at Salem, Essex county. He was one of the first set- tlers of Wenham and one of the sixteen to whom the General Court of Massachusetts granted the land on which the town was founded. The founder of the Porter family in America was Johan Porter, who purchased the land grant out of which the town of Danvers, Essex county, Massachusetts, sprang in 1640. He also was a native of England and resided at Hingham, Massachusetts, until his removal to Danvers. Members of the family have been prominent in the service of the country since the appointment of David Porter as a naval officer of the city of Boston, by Washington, who afterward commissioned him Captain

with instruction to capture British stores. David, the son of Captain David Porter, was the commander of the famous frigate Essex that destroyed so much of the British shipping in the Pacific ocean in the war of 1812. Ad- miral David D. Porter, who served with dis- tinguished ability during the Rebellion, and General Fitz-John Porter, were descendants of John Porter. Five members of the Porter family were descendants of John Porter and served as officers of the United States Navy.

No events of marked importance character- ized the early life of our subject. He attended the common schools, and in early life learned the trade of shoemaking, which he followed continuously until entering upon his journal- istic career. During that time he resided in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. He has always taken a deep and commendable interest in its welfare and upbuilding, and has done all in his power for its progress and further development. He arrived in the city January 24, 1870, and after following shoe- making for several years became the editor of the Stuart Locomotive, in 1877. At that time Captain Charles Stuart was the owner of the paper. Mr. Moulton was the successor of J. J. Flynn. In 1879, in connection with J. E. Thode, Mr. Moulton purchased the plant, and the two gentlemen have since carried on the paper. It is published weekly, and is devoted to the local interests of the community and to the cause of Republicanism. It is a bright, newsy sheet, ably edited, has a good circula- tion, and is well worthy of a liberal patronage.

Mr. Moulton has been honored by his fel- low townsmen with several local offices, in which he has ever discharged his duties with marked faithfulness. He was Justice of the Peace for eight years, and in all these posi- tions has proved a worthy official. On the Ist of January, 1882, he was appointed Postmas- ter of Stuart by President Arthur, and served until July 1, 1886, six months after his com- mission expired. President Cleveland then ap- pointed a successor; but on the return of' the Republicans to the control of the Government

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Mr. Moulton was again appointed Postmaster, by President Harrison, March 24, 1890, and he served a little more than four years, re- tiring April 14, 1894. .

Socially Mr. Moulton is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having been made a member in Racine Lodge, No. 8, of Racine, Wisconsin, in 1868. . He became a charter member of Stuart Lodge, No. 214, I. O. O. F., in 1871, and Stuart Encampment, No. 81, in 1876. He has filled all the offices both in the subordinate lodge and encamp- ment; has been District Deputy for four years, Representative to the Grand Lodge of the State of Iowa for two years, and for the past ten years he has been Treasurer of the subor- dinate lodge, and still fills that position. In his religious views he is a Unitarian.

On the 6th of September, 1862, Mr. Moul- ton was married to Rebecca S. Dudley, of Wenham, Massachusetts, and a representative of one of the old families of the Bay State, her ancestors residing mostly in Danvers and Andover. Mr. and Mrs. Moulton were school- mates together in early chilhood. They have four living children and have lost three. Those who still survive are Nettie L., Benjamin C., Ruth A. and Myron D.

J ACOB M. TOWNSEND, one of the esteemed and honored pioneer settlers of Dallas, was born in Delaware coun- ty, Ohio, on the 20th of April, 1827, and has almost reached the seventieth mile- stone on life's journey. Through these many years his upright, consistent life has won him the confidence and respect of all, and no one is more worthy of representation in the history of the Hawkeye State than this well known farmer, Jacob M. Townsend.

His parents were Alexander P. and Mary (Miller) Townsend, natives of Virginia. The father died in Dallas county, Iowa, in the eighty-seventh year of his age, and the mother passed away in Polk county, Iowa, at the advanced age of ninety-one. In the family

were five children, the two survivors being our subject and a brother now living in Wilkes county, Kansas. The paternal grandparents of Jacob M. Townsend were Solomon and Martha (Allen) Townsend, the former a native of Wales, while the latter was born amid the highlands of Scotland. Both died in Virginia, when well advanced in years.

The early life of Mr. Townsend, of this sketch, was passed in a manner similar to that of all boys of the neighborhood and time. He remained at home until twenty-one years of age, and spent the greater portion of that period in assisting in the arduous work of the farm, his labors sometimes varied by a short attendance at the district schools of the neigh- borhood during the winter season. About 1848 he determined to try his fortune in some other district than that in which he was reared, and he accordingly went to Wisconsin, which at that time had not been admitted to the Union.

For several years he lived in true pioneer style in that locality, and then returned to Indiana, where, on the 22d of August, 1852, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Griggs, 'a native of the Hoosier State. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend have four children, as fol- lows: Alexander E., who is married and has three children; Amy, who is married and has seven children; Sarah, a widow with one child; Roxie, still at home.

Soon after their marriage Mr. Townsend came with his wife to Iowa and took up his residence in Des Moines township, Dallas county, at the old town of Xenia, where he lived for about a year. He then removed to section 25, Beaver township, same county, and purchased eighty acres of wild land, partly covered with timber, and began the develop- ment of a farm on the frontier. He was one of the most progressive and successful farmers of the county, and to-day he is the owner of 320 acres of as fine land as can be found in the State. His first home was a hewed-log cabin, in which he lived until 1873, when he erected his present fine residence. His energy,

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perseverance and well directed efforts have been the conspicuous features in his prosperity, and have made his success well deserved.

Mr. Townsend has always taken a deep in- terest in whatever pertains to the welfare and upbuilding of his town and county, and is a public-spirited and progressive citizen. He aided in organizing the township in which he lives, and has been a promoter of all interests of public benefit. His political support was for many years given the Democracy, but on the organization of the Greenback party he joined its ranks and has since identified him- self with its interests. He is a warm advocate of its principles and does all he can to aid in its advancement. In manner he is genial, and his upright life, undimmed by any shadow of wrong, has made him one of the most valued citizens of his adopted county, in the growth of which he has been such an important factor.

ILLIAM S. PORTER, whose excel- lent management has contributed largely to the success of the Chi- cago, Iowa & Dakota Railroad, is a native of Plymouth, Indiana, and was born January 22, 1856. His parents, John and Marium (Stevens) Porter, were married in Warren, Ohio, the home of the latter. Judge Porter, the father of our subject, was a native of old Keystone State. In Plymouth he car- ried on a banking business, and soon after the birth of our subject removed to Mason City, Iowa, where he remained until 1859. A threat- ened outbreak from the Indians induced another change of residence, this time to El- dora, Iowa. Later he studied law and was Judge of the Eleventh Judicial district of Iowa for twelve years. He also engaged in the railroad business and built the St. Paul & St. Louis Railroad from Ackley north to Mason City, the road being subsequently purchased by other corporations.

Mr. William S. Porter, our subject, re- ceived his education at the Universal Seminary, which has since been destroyed by fire. While

here he made a special study of civil engineer- ing and higher mathematics and early devel- oped a fondness for surveying and similar work out-doors. On leaving school, his father pre- vailed upon him to study law, and offered himn a desk in his office. This was accepted, and at the end of two years he was formally ad- mitted to practice, and father and son formed a law partnership, which, however, survived but two years. The law office was anything but at- tractive after the taste of freedom in the open air, and young Porter began to pine for a change. His health began to suffer from the confine- ment, and resigning his desk he sought the field to which his inclinations naturally turned.

On the 28th of February, 1882, was begun the construction of the Chicago, Iowa & Da- kota Railroad from Eldora Junction to Alden, a distance of twenty-seven miles. Mr. Porter and his father were made directors and stock- holders at the organization of the company, his father subsequently becoming president. Our subject worked as civil engineer in the construction of this short line, and in January, 1884, was elected auditor and general freight and passenger agent. Since the organization of the company he has not ceased to be one of its directors. It is said that every individual has a natural aptitude for some particular vo- cation, and Mr. Porter has found his in the railroad business. In July, 1894, he was elected general manager of the road, in the place of his father, who retired about that time. The present plans of the corporation are to extend the road north to Elmore, Minnesota, at an early date. Mr. Porter has given. his entire time and attention to railroad interests, and fourteen years of continual labor in this line has rendered him an able official. He is vice-president of the City State Bank, of El- dora, in which he is a stockholder, and is also a stockholder in the Eldora electric-light plant, being one of seven who own and operate the institution.

On the 3d day of November, 1881, Mr. Porter was united in marriage to Miss Ella S. Bowe, of Toledo, Iowa, a daughter of Edward

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Bowe, now a resident of Eldora, Iowa. Mrs. Porter was educated at Western College and is an accomplished and entertaining hostess. One daughter, Hortense, a charming little miss of nine years, is alike the idol of father and mother and bids fair to develop the united ability of both her parents.

In the social world Mr. Porter takes a prom- inent position. He is a thirty-second degree member of the Masonic order and also a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias. He has always been a strong Democrat, and was president of the Tilden and Hendricks Club at the time they flourished. He takes active interest in politics, although never aggressive. His father had always been devoted to the Republican party until Cleveland's last term, when he be- came an independent.

In April, 1895, Mr. Porter was installed as Postmaster of Eldora, and since then the office has been placed in first-class condition. A complete new outfit, with competent and oblig- ing service, adds to the attractiveness of the town as well as to the convenience and pleas- ure of its citizens, and also gives testimony to the excellent business management of its head. He is a useful citizen, a benevolent and most helpful member of society and a genial com- panion and friend ..

ASHINGTON C. BIGGS is one of the extensive, enterprising and suc- cessful merchants of Guthrie Cen- ter, Iowa. He was born near Wheeling, Virginia, in the town of West Lib- erty, December 10, 1830, and is a son of Allen and Mary (Trimble) Biggs. The father was born in Virginia, Ohio county, in 1802, and the mother was born in the State of Pennsyl- vania, Cumberland county, in 1804, her par- ents having emigrated from Pennsylvania. The Biggs family is of English origin. The parents of our subject had seven children who attained to years of maturity while three died in infancy or early childhood. Margaret is now the wife of Captain W. H. Stoy and resides in Waynes-

burg, Greene county, Pennsylvania. John T. is a farmer living in Central City, Nebraska. Benjamin started for the gold fields of Califor- nia soon after the discovery of the precious metal there and died while crossing the plains, and is buried at the Pacific Springs in the Rocky mountains. Lemuel B., who was for- merly engaged in merchandising in Akron, Ohio, is now living retired there. Jennie died at the age of twenty-two years, and is buried at Shinston, Marion county, West Virginia. William W. is the proprietor of Hotel Biggs, of Guthrie Center, Iowa. In 1841, the parents removed to Ohio, locating in Middletown, Guernsey county, where the father engaged in hotel-keeping. He died in that place in his eighty-sixth year, and his wife died in Middle- town, at the age of forty years.

The gentleman whose name heads this re- view was a child of eleven summers when his parents went to the Buckeye State, and in the common schools near his home he obtained his education. He early became familiar with the duties of farm life and continued his work in the fields until twenty-one years of age, when he left home and entered upon a clerkship in Washington, Ohio. When his employer, W. P. Blackiston, removed to Geneseo, Illinois, Mr. Biggs accompanied him and continued in his service for six years, winning the confidence and highest regard of that gentleman. The two then formed a copartnership. In 1862, he retired to a farm which he purchased near Geneseo, and carried on agricultural pursuits until 1880, when he sold out and removed to Kansas, remaining there a short time. In 1881 he removed to Iowa, arriving at Guthrie Cen- ter, on the day of Garfield's assassination. Mr. Biggs has since been prominently identified with the mercantile interests of this place. In the autumn of 188t he entered into partner- ship with Charles G. Trent as a dealer in gro- ceries, the connection continuing with pleasure and profit for five years, when Mr. Biggs with- drew and entering into partnership with his son Frank W. established the present general store, of which he is now the head. The

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mercantile firm of Biggs & Son is one well known throughout this section of the country. They carry a large line of general merchan- dise and their honorable dealing and courteous treatment of their customers has secured them a liberal and constantly increasing patronage.

Mr. Biggs was married in Geneseo, Illi- nois, October 23, 1860, to Miss Emma Fouts, who was born March 22, 1838, in Morgan county, Ohio, where she grew to womanhood and received her education. Her parents were Absy and Nancy (Hedges) Fouts, and the family is of German lineage on the paternal side. Mr. and Mrs. Biggs have one son and one daughter. These children attended the public schools of Geneseo, and both were af- forded excellent educational advantages, Jen- nie E. graduating at the Geneseo high school, while Frank W. is a graduate of the North- western Normal College, of Geneseo. The former was married, March 17, 1887, to Elbert W. Weeks, a native of Ohio and a prominent lawyer of Guthrie Center, and. at the present time resides at that place. Mrs. Weeks is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, of the Rebekah degree and of the Rathbone Sisters, having held a State office in the Rebekahs in 1891-2. She held the office of State Treas- urer of the Rathbone Sisters one year; the following year, 1894, she was elected the State Secretary of that order, and is holding that office at this time. She has two children, - Seth Biggs and Elbert Wright.

Frank W. was married to Miss Abigail D. Anderson, a native of Monroe, Jasper county, Iowa, June 14, 1888, who had removed with her parents to Des Moines, in 1886, at which place she was married. They have one daugh- ter, Abigail.

Mr. Biggs has been a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity for many years, being initiated into the mysteries of that order in Washing- ton, Ohio, about 1855. His religious relations are in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife and daughter are also members. In politics he was formerly a Whig, but on the dissolution of that party and the organization

of the Republican party he joined the ranks of the new movement and has since been one of its stalwart advocates. His son is also a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity and the Knights of Pythias society. He is a past Chancellor of his lodge, was sent as representative to the Grand Lodge of Iowa, and served for one term as an officer of the Grand Lodge during the year of 1894.

DWARD O'NEILL, manufacturer of cigars at Stuart, was born in county Kerry, Ireland, December 15, 1854, a son of Michael and Abbie O'Neill. The family came to the United States in 1868, locating in Keokuk, Iowa. The father fol- lowed stone-cutting and farming in Ireland, but after coming to this country old age com- pelled his retirement from active business pur- suits, and his death occurred at Eddyville, this State, in 1873, at the age of about seventy- five years. The mother still resides in that city. They were the parents of eleven chil- dren, namely: Daniel, in the employ of the British government as civil engineer in the East Indies; John, who served as Lieutenant in the regular army when seventeen years of age, died at Newport Barracks, Kentucky, in 1869; Patrick, whose residence is unknown; Michael, engaged in railroad work in Ottumwa; James, deceased in Eddyville, Iowa; Eugene, engaged in railroad work in that city; Maurice, a fireman by occupation, was killed in a rail- road wreck at Ottumwa; Kate, wife of Patrick O'Connell, of Dallas county, Nebraska; Ed- ward, the subject of this sketch; Ella, de- ceased; and Maurice, who was killed during childhood.

Edward O'Neill, our subject, was em- ployed as a brakeman on the railroad for about eighteen months, after which he learned the trade of cigar-making in Eddyville, and later traveled and worked at that occupation in various States. In September, 1878, he came to Stuart, entering the employ of C. Rathman, and served as his foreman until he

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engaged in business for himself, in 1878. He now employs from five to eight men.

Mr. O'Neill was married in 1881, to Eu- genie Martin, a native of Holmes county, Ohio, and a daughter of August Martin, who was killed in the Civil war. Four children have been born to this union, namely: Eugene, Edwin, Maurice and Mary. Mr. O'Neill is in- dependent in his political views, and is a mnem- ber of the Roman Catholic Church.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 175

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