Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 34

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

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John Hartzler, the father, was born in Lan- caster county, near the city of that name, in the year 1800, and when five years of age re- moved with his father's family to Cumberland county, where his life was spent. He was a farmer, enterprising and successful, and after he was retired from active life spent his closing years in the city of Carlisle, where

he died at the age of seventy-seven. His wife, nee Fannie Erb, was also a native of Lancaster county, born in the year 1805, daughter of Rev. John Erb and Catherine, his wife, both natives of Lancaster county. Her father was a Mennonite preacher, and lived to be sixty years of age. Mrs. Hartzler died at the age of seventy-five. Grandfather Abram Hartzler was born in Lancaster county in the year 1769. That place continued to be his home until 1805, when he removed to Cumberland coun- ty, where he died at the age of eighty-seven years. He was a well-known and highly re- spected man. His father, the great-grand- father of our subject, was the progenitor of the Hartzler family in this country, having emigrated from his native land, Switzerland, to America far back in the Colonial period, and made settlement among the earliest pio- neers of the Keystone State. He died in Penn- sylvania, at a good old age. .

Abram Hartzler, whose name graces this sketch, started out on his own responsibility early in life. He was married in October, 1868, to Miss Fannie Strickler, a native of Carlisle and a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Brenneman) Strickler, she being one of their six children. £ Her parents were Lancaster people by birth, and by occupation her father was a fariner. He died at the age of seventy- six years; her mother, at forty-two. Mr. and Mrs. Hartzler have nine children living, namely: Traub, Lincoln township, Warren county, Iowa; Ada; Effie, wife of William Spray, Indianola, Iowa; Harry, also of Indianola; and John, Lula, Berty, Frank and Katie, at home.

Mr. Hartzler has always been engaged in farming, and on a large scale. In the year 1887 he came West to Iowa and took charge of the noted Bozler farm near Indianola, a. property comprising about 1,000 acres, where he has since carried on his operations, cultivating some 250 acres, chiefly in corn and oats, and utilizing the rest of the land for stock purposes. He is one of the noted stock men of this region. He keeps from 1 50 to 200 head of cattle, a large flock of sheep, and between

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100 and 150 hogs. Also he deals to a great extent in horses, owning, buying and selling, and frequently inaking shipments to Pennsyl- vania. His cattle market is Chicago.

In politics Mr. Hartzler is a strong Repub- lican, deeply interested in the principles repre- sented by his party. During the war he en- listed in the Two Hundred and Ninth Regi- ment of Pennsylvania, Company A, and went to the front, where he rendered the Union valiant service until he was honorably dis- charged in June, 1865, at Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania. Such, in brief, is a review of the life of one of Warren county's most enterpris- ing and broad-gauge men.

EORGE M. BARTHOLOMEW, of Palmyra, Iowa, is one of the old and honored citizens of Warren county, and few names are more intimately connected with its history than his. Mr. Bar- tholomew was born in Owen county, Indiana, July 25, 1825, one of the seven children of John and Nancy (McNaught) Bartholomew. Of this number only three are now living: Joseph, of Utah; Amelia, wife of Albert Daw- son, of Colorado; and George M.

John Bartholomew, his father, was a na- tive of Ohio, born on the frontier in 1788. In early life he was a riverman and pilot upon the Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi rivers. At the same time he owned a large tract of land and carried on farming operations. On reach- ing middle life he left Ohio and moved over into Indiana, where the country was still more of a wilderness, and in Indiana he spent the rest of his years, and died at a good old age. His wife's death preceded his about four years. Her people, the McNaughts, were among the early settlers of Indiana. The grandfather, Joseph Bartholomew, was a man of national reputation. He was born in New Jersey, March 15, 1766, was left fatherless in early boyhood, and for the most part inade his own way in the world. Necessity required him to learn the use of the rifle, and, being possessed

of an indomitable courage, he is found at the age of ten years fighting the Indians, and a little later serving in the Revolutionary army as a patrol. After the close of the war he went to Ohio, and subsequently to Kentucky, and in the latter State gained a great reputation as an Indian fighter. The years 1793 and 1794 he spent as a scout and guide under General Wayne against the Maumee Indians. In 1800 he settled in Indiana. In 1803 he was com- missioned by Governor Harrison as Major of militia; later was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and in ISII was made Colonel. In the historic battle of Tippecanoe, although he was severely wounded, he bravely held his post, and in recognition of the distinguished service he rendered at that battle he was pro- moted and commissioned Brigadier General of Indiana Territory by the United States Gov- ernment. Later he served as Representative and Senator, filled various other prominent positions, and was one of the men most active in the organization of the State. Also, he was one of the Commissioners who laid out the city of Indianapolis in 1821. The county of Bar- tholomew in Indiana was named in honor of him by the Legislature. He lived to a good old age and died in Illinois, leaving behind a record as a patriotic soldier, a legislator and a leading citizen, a record to which his descend- ants can point with pardonable pride. The name of General Bartholomew has gone down in history with the early development of the great State of Indiana. Tracing the ancestry of our subject even further back than this, we find that his great-grandfather, Daniel Bar- tholomew, was a native of Germantown, Penn- sylvania, and was a member of one of the oldest families of that State.

George M. Bartholomew, with whose name we introduced this sketch, was five years of age when his parents left Indiana and settled in McLean county, Illinois, where they lived from 1831 to 1851. On the 24th of October of the last namned year he came to Iowa and settled in the town of Palmyra, Warren county, where he has maintained his residence from that

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time up to the present. This county was then but scarcely settled, he being counted among its pioneers. Here for a period of thirty-three years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In the early days he was obliged to haul his goods from Keokuk, the mouth of the Des Moines river, and this freighting business was fre- quently attended with delays and no little trouble. On first settling here he entered 200 acres of land, and subsequently bought and sold land extensively for years. At this writ- ing he owns 230 acres in this county, and one of the finest farming regions in the United States. After a long and active career as a general merchant, Mr. Bartholomew retired from active life in 1885, and is spending his later years amid the scenes of his former ac- tivity, enjoying a hearty old age among his children and friends.

Mr. Bartholomew was married September 15, 1848, to Miss Mary Flesher, a native of Ohio, and a member of the large family of children of Solomon Flesher, also a native of that State. They have had nine children, namely: W. N., Palmyra township, this county; Ezra, Palmyra; Noah, Des Moines; Laura, wife of J. W .. Morris, Palmyra township; James, a merchant of Palmyra; Minnie, at home; Joseph, John Albert and Grant, deceased.

Mr. Bartholomew's political views have been in harmony with the Republican party ever since it was organized, and for twenty- eight years he served as Postmaster of Pal- myra, his service as such beginning with his appointment under President Franklin Pierce.

N. BARTHOLOMEW, one of the leading farmers and stock men of Warren county, Iowa, is a gentle- man to whom Iowa owes much for the part he has taken in advancing the stock interests of the State.

He is a native of McLean county, Illinois, born September 25, 1850, one of the six chil- dren now living of George M. and Mary

(Flesher) Bartholomew. The Bartholomew fam- ily is one that has figured conspicuously in the history of several of the Northern States, espe- cially Indiana. For facts regarding the ances- try of our subject, the reader is directed to the biography of George M. Bartholomew, which appears on another page of this volume. When W. N. Bartholomew was two years old his parents left Illinois and moved over into Iowa, making settlement at Palmyra, one of the oldest villages in Warren county. He lived and worked at home until he attained his majority, although he practically started out for himself when only fifteen years of age, as a merchant, and when seventeen was taken in as a partner with his father. He continued merchandising up to 1881, at which time he purchased a farm two miles south of the town. Soon after, however, he moved back to Pal- myra and for several years thereafter rented his farm. Some twelve years ago he became deeply interested in improving the breed of horses for farm and general purposes, and from that time to the present his efforts in this direction have been untiring and have resulted in signal success. He has owned many of the finest heavy-draft horses ever imported to this country. Returning to the farm, he has recently added to its equipment a horse barn fitted up with the most modern conveniences for stock; and has made numerous other im- provements. His home place comprises 320 acres and is particularly adapted for a grain and stock farm. Among his draft horses the young "British Flag 2d" is one of the finest in the land, and his mare, "Black Dutchess," which was imported especially for him, is the largest and heaviest of all the horses ever brought into the State. He has a magnificent imported, French, thorough- bred coach horse, and a very fine herd of Shet- land ponies. All together he has upon his farm about sixty head of horses and colts, among them being several standard-bred colts, giving promise of great speed, Cinchona, a three- year-old, being particularly promising. Also Mr. Bartholomew has for years paid consider-

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able attention to the breeding of fine cattle, having tried consecutively the Shorthorns, Red Polls and Herefords. He has recently purchased a herd of the noted Galloways, a notably hardy and thrifty breed. Hogs, too, have received no little attention from him, and in this business he is likewise successful, breeding the Poland-China and Jersey Reds, now having about 200 head.

And Mr. Bartholomew has worked in more ways than one in his efforts to improve the breed of stock in this parto of the State. Through his individual efforts the Breeders' Gazette, the leading stock journal of the United States, has been widely introduced, he for three years having been the champion agent of that journal in the United States. Many of the fine herds to be seen all over this region are the direct result of his work along this line.

Aside from his home interests, Mr. Bar- tholomnew owns farms in Missouri and Ne- braska, owning in all no less than 1, 040 acres. He is a director of the Farmers' Mutual Insur- ance Company of Polk and Warren counties. Associated with John T. Wallace and Lee Talbot, he was largely. influential in bringing the Warren County Agricultural Society up to the point where its fairs were second to none in the State.

In March, 1870, Mr. Bartholomew married Miss Mary B. Payne, a native of Palmyra and daughter 'of A. and Nancy (Glimpse) Payne. Her father was the first blacksmith in War- ren county. He is still living in Palmyra. Her mother died in 1893. They were the parents of three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Bartholomew have eight children, namely: Lenora, Viola, Nellie, Archie, Lula, Camma, Paul and Walter. The eldest daughter, Lenora, is the wife of W. S. Igo, of Palmyra. The other children are all at home.

In politics Mr. Bartholomew has always been a Republican, stanch and true to the prin- ciples advocated by that party. He is a member of College Camp, Modern Woodmen, and the I. O. O. F. In the prime of life, enterprising

and earnest in all he undertakes, W. N. Bar- tholomew is one of the men to whom this sec- tion of the State owes much.

M. TROUTMAN. - Among the prom- inent early settlers of Lucas county, Iowa, and solid financial men, none are better known than he whose name heads this article. Mr. Troutman was born in Highland county, Ohio, June 26, 1842, and traces his ancestry back to the very earliest period in the history of this country, his fore- fathers figuring prominently in Colonial days and being noted for longevity.

George W. Troutman, the father of our subject, was born near Uniontown, Pennsylva- nia, March 17, 1812, son of John Troutman, also a native of Pennsylvania. John Trout- man lived to the age of ninety-five years, and his father, George Troutman, was 101 at the time of death, the latter, a native of Maryland, born near Hagerstown, in the year 1632. The Troutmans were among the very earliest peo- ple who landed in Maryland. They were Germans. All of the original family of Trout- mans that settled there were killed by the In- dians, except a boy of twelve years and his sister, and they were held in captivity by the red men for a number of years. The boy sub- sequently returned to the white settlement, but the girl remained with the Indians all her life. Representatives of the Troutman family have taken an honorable part in all the principal wars of this country. George W. Troutman was reared on a farm in Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, and was there married to Miss Han- nah McClellan, who was of Scotch blood, and whose people, like his own, were prominent and patriotic. Her father, Andrew Mcclellan, was an officer in the war of 1812, and her grand- father McClellan was a Revolutionary officer. George W. and his wife' moved to Highland county, Ohio, in 1842, and settled near New Market, where they lived until 1855, that year moving out to Iowa and taking up their abode near Bonaparte, Van Buren county. Here he

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bought a farm which was partly improved and had a good orchard. He also owned a half section of wild land in Union township, Lucas county, the same which is now owned and oc- cupied by Joseph Sprott and George Sutton. In Van Buren county George W. Troutman passed the remainder of his life and died, being sixty-seven years of age at the time of death; his wife died at the age of sixty. They had nine children, six of whom are living, namely: A. M., Priscilla, Mary, Margaret, William and Frank. The deceased are John, George and Julia, the last named having died in Iowa, and the other two in Oregon. The father of this family was a farmer and mer- chant, attained a fair degree of success in life, and at the time of his death was the owner of considerable property. He was a. Demo- crat and a Baptist.

At the time of the removal of the Trout- man family to Iowa, A. M., the subject of our sketch, was a boy of twelve years. His edu- cation was received in the public schools of Ohio and Iowa, and he early in life showed a disposition for adventure. When only eighteen years of age he made the overland journey to California, leaving Van Buren county April 27, 1860, making the long and tedious journey with an ox team, and after six months of travel landed on the Pacific coast. He spent two years in the far West. A portion of this time he was at Virginia City, Nevada, where he was employed in cutting cord-wood, at $8 per day, this being better than he could do in the mines. The return trip he made by water and the isthmus of Panama.

Then until 1870 he lived in Van Buren county, and that year came to his present lo- cation in Lucas county. It was not, however, until 1885 that he purchased his present farm. This place comprises 700 acres of choice land in Union township, his home being on section 15. He has a comfortable frame house, good orchard and grove, and a barn that is worthy of special mention. This barn is 36 x 60 feet, and has an eight-foot basement built of rock- a red bowlder. A single stone broken in pieces

was sufficient to build this whole wall. He also has another smaller barn. Both as a farmer and stock-raiser and breeder, Mr. Troutman is meeting with signal success, and is to-day ranked with the most solid financial men of the county.

Mr. Troutman was married April 4, 1869, in Union township, Lucas county, to Martha Westfall, a representative of one of the leading families of the township. Her father, Gran- ville Westfall, deceased, was a Virginian by birth and one of the early pioneers of Iowa. Her mother, Jennetta Westfall, was also a na- tive of Virginia and is deceased. Mrs. Trout- man was born in Monroe county, this State. Of the nine children of our subject and his wife, we make the following record: Mary, wife of Timothy Cartwright, Union township, this county; Jessie, wife of George Connor; Maggie, at home; Flora, wife of B. Souder, Union township; McClellan, John, Don, Lou, and Vernie.

Mr. Troutman casts his ballot with the Democratic party, and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church.

J OSEPH R. BELL, the present Sheriff of Warren county, Iowa, and ex-bridge contractor and mechanic of Indianola, Iowa, was born in Stark county, Ohio, June 9, 1844, and is a son of Joseph and Susanna (Coleman) Bell, both of whom are natives of Washington county, Pennsylvania, the father born in 1806, the mother in 1811. They were married in their native county in 1832, and had one child ere their emigration to Ohio. They became ultimately the parents of eight chil- dren, seven of whom are now living: Jane, born in the Keystone State, married T. H. Mc- Caughey, and resides in Champaign county, Ohio; Charles is a farmer living in Nebraska; Agnes is the wife of Sam Wasson, of Adams county, Ohio; William Coleman is a fariner of northern Kansas; Susan A. is the wife of T. J. Beatty, a hardware merchant of Nebraska; Joseph R. is the next younger; Mrs. R. J.

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Smith died December 5, 1881; John, who is living in Champaign county, Ohio, completes the family.

Joseph R. Bell was educated in the district schools of Adams county, Ohio, and grew to manhood upon his father's farm, remaining at home until twenty years of age, when he joined the Union army. Enlisting in 1864 as a mem- ber of Company E, First Ohio Heavy Artillery, he joined his regiment at Knoxville and went on the Atlanta campaign. He was sent back to guard the Georgia railroad for a time and later joined the Twenty-third Army Corps, re- turning then to Knoxville. He took part in the campaign in Tennessee and on into North Carolina, and was with General Stoneman when he made his famous raid into Virginia, captur- ing the salt works, thus cutting off the supply of that much needed article from the Confed- eracy. The troops then retired to Greenville, Tennessee, and soon after were ordered into North Carolina, where their work was termi- nated by the surrender of the rebel forces. Going to Knoxville, Mr. Bell was there mus- tered out of service, and on the 30th of June, 1865, reached Cincinnati, whence he went at once to his father's home in Adams county.

Mr. Bell there carried on farming until the spring of 1867, when the family removed to Hamilton county, Indiana. He was married there on the 12th of August, 1869, the lady of his choice being Miss Martha M. Wheeler, a daughter of John and Mary (Stoops) Wheeler, both natives of Kentucky, the father born Sep- tember 29, 1807, the mother on the 3d of March of the same year. They were married in 1828, and their family numbered ten chil- dren: Philip S., who is living in Noblesville, Indiana; William T., who resides near that place; Ann, who became the wife of John Fisher, and died in Noblesville, leaving a family; John H., a farmer and stock dealer of Nobles- ville; George W., who carries on farming near that city; Mrs. Jane Foland, a resident of In- dianola, Iowa; Sarah, wife of Isaac Fisher, who carries on farming near Noblesville; James W., a stock dealer, farmer and miller residing

in Noblesville; Mrs. Bell, wife of our subject; Henry P., who is engaged in the lumber busi- ness in Noblesville. The parents of this family were of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and the family was established in America in Colonial days. Two uncles of Mrs. Bell were heroes of the Revolution, enlisting from Kentucky, and two of her brothers, John H. and James W., were soldiers of the Union during the Civil war. Mr. Bell also had two brothers, Charles and William C., who were in the same regiment to which he belonged, and the former also served for six months in Company G, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Mr. Bell has been a resident of Iowa since 1869, and his parents located here the same year. His mother died in April, 1871, and in 1882 his father returned to Ohio, where he passed away at the home of his daughter in March, 1890. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Bell has been blessed with a family of three chil- dren: Orville J., born July 13, 1870; and Floss A., born February 27, 1879, are still with their parents. The second child, Mary L., born September 7, 1877, died June 10, 1879.

For thirteen years after his arrival in War- ren county, Mr. Bell followed farming, his home being in Jefferson township. In the spring of 1881 he sold his land and purchased his pres- ent home on Third avenue, a handsome and convenient cottage situated on spacious grounds. In November, 1895, he was elected Sheriff by the Republican party for a term of two years. On coming to Indianola he engaged in mechan- ical pursuits, which he had previously followed to some extent. He and his son do a general building and contracting business. Orville is a young man of bright intellect and industrious disposition, who completed the high-school course in this city when seventeen years of age. The daughter will also graduate at the age of seventeen. Mr. Bell is an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is now serving as Past Commander of James Randolph Post, No. 116. He also holds membership in the Modern Woodmen of America. His wife belongs to James Randolph Corps, No. 115,

Goumonth

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W. R. C., and is a faithful member of the Christian Church. In politics Mr. Bell has been a lifelong Republican, is a recognized leader in local political circles and has served for two terms as Alderman of his ward. The story of his life is not filled with exciting ad- venture, but is that of a man who, true to the duties of both public and private life, has fol- lowed the even tenor of his way, becoming one of those reliable substantial citizens in whom the community places entire dependence, his career furnishing an example that is well worthy of emulation by those who desire to be- come straightforward, honorable and prosper- ous members of the business world.

e UGENE STAFFORD ELLS- WORTH .- A man not of Iowa alone, but of the entire West, whose interests have been closely interwoven with those of the central Mississippi valley, whose enterprises have promoted the material welfare of this section of the country, and who has been largely instrumental in the rapid de- velopment and upbuilding of the Hawkeye State, is Mr. Ellsworth. His life has been one of eminent success. Singleness of purpose, intelligence, and an ability to seize opportuni- ties are among his marked characteristics. The success of his life is due to no inherited fortune or to any happy succession of advan- tageous circumstances, but to his own sturdy will, steady application, studious habits, tire- less industry and sterling integrity. He can claim no university as his alma mater, his edu- cation having been acquired in the public schools and a business college, but he has made the most of his opportunities through life, and to-day is numbered among the most eminent real-estate dealers and bankers of the West.

Eugene Stafford Ellsworth was born in Mil- waukee county, Wisconsin, on the 2d of No- vember, 1848, being a son of Orlando and Al- mira Shaw (Hinds) Ellsworth. His grand- father, Stukley Stafford Ellsworth, was born in Otsego county, New York, and became quite 14

prominent in the commercial and political cir- cles of that State, having served for many years as a member of the State Senate. His son, Orlando, was reared and married in Otsego county, but is numbered among Wisconsin's honored pioneers, having located in Milwaukee county in the summer of 1836, when Milwau- kee was but an Indian village. He, too, was honored by his fellow townsmen by an election to the State Legislature, on the Republican ticket, for the term of 1857-8. A loyal, patri- otic citizen, he at once responded to his coun- try's call for troops at the breaking out of the Civil. war, raised a company of volunteers and was elected its Captain. It became Company K, of the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin Infantry, which in September, 1862, went to the front with the Army of the Tennessee. Captain Ellsworth commanded his company until stricken by disease, when he was honorably discharged. He then took up his residence in Iowa Falls, Iowa, where he made his home until his death, which occurred on the 27th of June; 1872.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 34

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