Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 35

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

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Mr. Ellsworth of this review attended the public schools of Milwaukee until thirteen years of age, when he went to the war as a drummer boy in the company which his father commanded. There he remained until a severe illness forced him to go to the hospital and eventually caused his return home. In De- cember, 1863, he came to Iowa and located at Iowa Falls, where he engaged in teaming, hauling lumber, supplies and all kinds of goods to that place from the nearest railroad station, then more than fifty miles distant. For two years he was thus employed, during which time he gained an excellent knowledge of the country and of real-estate values. He afterward pursued a short course of study in the Bayless Commercial College, of Dubuque, Iowa. He saw that this State was the natural home of the husbandman, and the question of its early settlement and development being but a matter of time, he foresaw and believed that the real-estate business would prove a profit- able one. In consequence he turned his efforts

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in that direction with such energy and diligence that he soon secured a liberal patronage and was reaping therefrom a good income. He also did a very extensive business in loaning money for Eastern capitalists on Iowa improved farms, and. he can be justly proud of the mag- nificent record that he has made in the years of his active business in this line. Not a single dollar of any investor has been lost through him, nor did a single piece of real estate sold by him prove unsatisfactory to the purchaser. As Mr. Ellsworth carried on this line of busi- ness and saw advantageous opportunities to make good investments in real estate, he did so, and is now one of the largest individual land owners in Iowa. Much of his property is very valuable and, as is well known, he has among other holdings three of the best im- proved and largest farms in the State, which stand as monuments to his faith.

In 1880 Mr. Ellsworth organized and was elected secretary and treasurer of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & Northwestern Land & Town Lot Company, an organization created for the purpose of purchasing lands and town sites on the line of the Burlington, Cedar Rap- ids & Northern Railroad, covering a distance of over 300 miles. He had the entire management of the business for eight years and justly claims to be the founder of more than thirty cities and towns in Iowa. In this connection and through the prosecution of his vast business interests he has probably done more than any other one man in the State for the development, growth and upbuilding of Iowa. Its rapid progress caused his business to assume such extensive proportions that it was beyond the management of one man and in 1884 Mr. Ellsworth admitted to a partner- ship in his business Mr. L. E. Jones, of Iowa Falls, who for seven years previous had been his confidential clerk, which relationship still exists.

Mr. Ellsworth is a man of broad capabil- ities and his efforts have by no means been limited to one line of endeavor. He is a most able financier, and in 1890 was elected vice-

president of the First National Bank, of Iowa Falls, which position he held until the annual meeting of the bank in January, 1896, when he was unanimously elected its president. . He is also a stockholder and director in several other of the leading banks in Central Iowa which he has assisted in organizing.

In his political views, Mr. Ellsworth is an unswerving Republican, and though his private interests have been extensive and varied, demanding much of his attention, he has yet found time to aid his fellow citizens in the ad- ministration of public affairs, and served as Mayor of Iowa Falls from June 15, 1876, until March 5, 1877. He was also a member of the town Board of Trustees of Iowa Falls from 1877 to 1888. The cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend and stal- wart supporter, and "Ellsworth College," which was established in Iowa Falls in 1890, was named in his honor and is now one of the lead- ing educational institutions in the State. He takes a deep interest in Masonic affairs, having been initiated into the order in 1878, since which time he hastaken all of the degrees up to and including the thirty-second. On the 18th of September, 1879, he became a Knight Templar, and was chosen one of the charter members and the second Eminent Commander of St. Elmo Commandery, No. 48, K. T., of Iowa Falls. He also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Mystic Shrine.

The home relations of Mr. Ellsworth have been most pleasant and he takes great delight in advancing the interests and happiness of his family. In September, 1872, he led to the marriage altar Miss Hattie A. Northrup, of Otisville, Franklin county, Iowa. They have two children, a son and daughter,-Ernest Orlando, who is a graduate of Shattuck School, of Faribault, Minnesota, and who is now tak- ing an active part in the management of his father's business affairs; and Carrie Pearl, who is a graduate of the Grant Collegiate Institute, of Chicago, and who is now about to enter Vassar. Mr. Ellsworth has traveled quite extensively,

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both in this country and abroad, and in 1878 crossed the ocean to England, traveling thence to Ireland, Scotland and continental Europe. In 1891 he spent several months abroad, prin- cipally in France, Germany and Switzerland, visiting various points of interest. In social life Mr. Ellsworth displays a kindly, genial nature that has won him a host of friends. In business he is decisive, energetic and thoroughly reliable, and he considers that one of the best features of his success is not the good that it brought to him but to others. He has been instrumental in building up numerous indus- tries, each of which has added its full share to. the general welfare, and he is numbered among those who have made Iowa what it is to-day.

F. DORA, whose postoffice address is Chariton, Iowa, and who is ranked with the representative farmers of Warren township, Lucas county, has made his home here since 1855. Following is a brief review of his life :

B. F. Dora was born in Bracken county, Kentucky, forty miles above Cincinnati, De- cember 12, 1829. John Dora, his father, was born in Maryland, son of Talmi Dora, the latter also a native of Maryland and a repre- sentative of a highly respected family. His father, a native of England, in some way in- curred the displeasure of the king and on that account fled for refuge to America and never returned to his native land. His son John was reared in Maryland, where he learned the trade of cooper and became an expert me- chanic. He married Hester Truitt, also a native of Maryland, and after their marriage they removed to Kentucky and located in Bracken county, where, as already stated, the subject of our sketch was born. The names of their other children are Susan, Anna, William, John, Sarah, James and Augustus G. The father died in Bracken county, at the advanced age of ninety years. In politics he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican, and in re- ligion both he and his wife were Methodists.

Benjamin F., the subject of our sketch, was reared in his native county and there acquired the blacksmith's trade which he followed several years. Emigrating to Iowa in 1853, he first located at West Point, Lee county, where he worked at his trade about eighteen months. In 1855 he came to his present lo- cation, then all wild land, and here he built a cabin and settled down to the work of develop- ing a farm. He is now the owner of 1 50 acres of excellent land, well fenced and under a high state of cultivation, and provided with com- fortable residence, good barn, orchard and grove, and all having an air of general pros- perity.

Mr. Dora was married in Brown county, Ohio, to Catherine Miller, a native of that county and a daughter of D. J. and Mary Miller. Her parents settled in Warren town- ship, Lucas county, Iowa, in 1855, and here they passed the closing years of their lives. Following are the names of the children com- posing their family : James, William, Sophia, Catherine, Josiah, Mary, Henry, Augusta, and LaFayette. Two of the sons, Henry and LaFayette, were participants in the late war. William is deceased. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Dora, we make record as follows : Alvin, a resident of Galena, Kansas, is engaged in lead mining; Mary is the wife of C. W. McCullough, of this township; Luversa is the wife of G. L. Mccullough, also of this township; and Miss Lillie is engaged in the milinery business in Kingsley, Iowa. They had one child, John, who died at the age of three years; and they also have an adopted son, Earnest Dora, who is now sixteen years old and whom they have had since he was a babe of three months, bestowing upon him the same kind care that their own children have received.

Mr. Dora has been a Republican ever since this party was organized. During the war he showed his patriotism by joining the Union ranks and acting well his part as a brave, true soldier. It was in August, 1862, and as a member of Company E, Thirty-fourth Iowa

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Volunteer Infantry, that he entered the army. He was at the siege of Vicksburg, in General Banks' expedition up Red river, and at various other points in the South, and at the close of the war received an honorable discharge. Of a genial, jovial, honest nature, he has the happy faculity of making friends with all with whom he comes in contact.

HOMAS CROSTON, M. D., as Mayor of Lucas, Iowa, as president of its School Board, and as one of its lead- ing physicians and surgeons, occupies a position of distinguished importance here, and is a fit subject for biographical honors. For fifteen years he has maintained his residence in Lucas, and has all this time been a prominent factor in the town.

Like a number of the leading citizens of Iowa, Dr. Croston is a native of England. He was born near Manchester, December 12, 1846. His father, Henry Croston, was a na- tive of the same place, and was by occupation a contractor and manager of mines, his opera- tions being carried on near Bolton. He met his death through an accident in the mines, in England, when sixty-six years of age. The Doctor's mother died in England, at the age of seventy. He was their only child, and was reared in his native place, having the advan- tages of a fair education in his youth. Choos- ing the medical profession, he pursued his studies under the instructions of Professor John Skelton, a prominent physician and sur- geon, and the author of some popular medical works, of the Eclectic school.

After completing his medical studies, Dr. Croston left his native land, crossed the At- lantic and established himself in the United States, settling first in Steubenville, Ohio, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession for four years. At the end of that time he returned to England, and in 1880 came back to America, this time selecting for a place of location the prosperous town of Lucas, Iowa, which has since been his home.

Here by his skill as a physician and surgeon he has built up and maintained an excellent practice, and has an enviable reputation throughout the town and surrounding coun- try. From the date of his settlement here he became thoroughly identified with the affairs of Lucas, and for the deep interest he has shown in its educational and municipal matters has been honored with official position. For four years he was Health Officer for the town of Lucas, and for eight years he has been a member of the School Board, of which he is at this writing its president. Much credit and praise is due him and his colaborers for the high standard the schools of Lucas have at- tained. In 1889 he was elected a member of the City Council, was twice re-elected, and re- mained as a member six years. In 1895 Dr. Croston was honored by election to the office of Mayor of this city, which office he is now filling most efficiently.

The Doctor was married in England to Miss Eliza Fletcher, a native of that place and an accomplished and charming woman. They have three children,-Ellen, Earnest and George. All have received good education, and George is a graduate of the Lucas high school, with the class of 1895, being seventeen at the time of his graduation.

Dr. Croston was reared a Wesleyan Meth- odist, but is not a church member. He has been initiated into the mysteries of Masonry, and has a membership in Good Shepherd Lodge, No. 424, F. & A. M., of Lucas. He is a man of broad and progressive views, is generous and public-spirited, and is in every sense a thorough gentleman.

3 AMES H. ADAMSON deserves men- tion among the honored citizens of Iowa, for he belongs to that class of men whose devotion to public and private duty make them important factors in the development and upbuilding of any locality. It is, therefore, with pleasure that we present the record of his life to

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our readers, knowing that it will prove of interest to many. He was born in Ohio, July 21, . 1839, the third in a family of five children, whose parents were John and Sarah (Erwin) Adainson. The former is of English descent, and from the "Merrie Isle" crossed the Atlantic to the New World. He was married in Ohio, and throughout the greater part of his life carried on agricultural pursuits. He reached his seventy-fourth year, dying in Cass county, Michigan, in 1853. Prior to the war he was a stanch abolitionist, and on the formation of the Republican party joined its ranks. His religious belief was that of the Society of Friends, with which his wife was also connected. She was a native of Ohio, and passed away in 1876, at the age of seventy years, being laid to rest by the side of her husband. Their children are William, a farmer and stock-raiser of Cass county, Michi- gan; Susan, wife of Morris Richardson, a resi- dent of Cassopolis, Michigan, and the Treas- urer of Cass county, being elected on the Republican ticket; J. H., of this sketch; Sarah Cowgill, who is in an abstract office in Cassopolis, Michigan; Erwin, a popular farmer of Kansas.

The gentleman whose name begins this review acquired a good education in the coin- mon schools, also attended select schools and academies. At the age of nineteen he began teaching district schools, and for several win- ter seasons followed that profession, while in the summer months he devoted his time and energies to farming. He also dealt in stock, buying, feeding and shipping to the city mar- kets. His residence in Iowa dates from 1867, at which time he located in Marion county, where he made his home until the spring of 1893.

On the 26th day of August, 1870, was celebrated the marriage which united the des- tinies of J. H. Adamson and Miss Mary Etta Adamson, a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, and a daughter of Samuel and Libby Ann (Cobbs) Adamson, whose family num- bered two sons and two daughters, all yet liv-

ing. The mother is a native of Columbiana county, and makes her home with her daugh- ter Mary. The father died in Hardin county, Iowa, October 4, 1875. Our subject and his wife now have three children: Sarah J., who was born August 13, 1871, and died on the 29th of December of the same year, being buried in Waveland cemetery; Nora D., who was born April 19, 1875, and is the wife of G. W. Hukill, of Marion county; and Isabel L., who was born December 21, 1881. Mr. Adamson was one of the organizers of the Citizens' Bank of Milo, and is an able financier and representative business man.

J OHN ALLEN NOTESTINE, presi- dent of the Citizens' Bank of Milo and one of the most honored and progress- ive business men of Warren county, has taken an active part in all that pertains to the welfare of his community, and has been a prominent factor in its growth and develop- ment.

He was born in Juniata county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 26th of October, 1833, and is a son of John and Mary (Wimer) Notestine. The family numbered three children: Samuel, who is now living. a retired life in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Jane, widow of David Barber and a resident of Peoria county, Illinois; and J. A., of this sketch. The father of this family was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, and wedded Miss Wimer in Juniata county. In his political sympathies he was a Democrat of the Jeffersonian stripe and very earnest in his convictions. In the Methodist Episcopal Church he held his religious membership, and at the age of sixty-five years he passed to his reward, his grave being in the county seat of Juniata county. His estimable wife was also a native of Perry county, Pennsylvania, a member of the German Lutheran Church, and died at the age of thirty-four, being laid to rest in Church Hill cemetery. The grandfather of our subject, John Notestine, was a native of Perry county, but his father was from the

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other side of the Atlantic, becoming the founder of the family in the New World. The maternal grandfather was likewise born in Perry county, and served throughout the war of 1812, under General Scott. He also. had two brothers in the service, one of whom lost his life at the battle of Lundy's Lane.

J. A. Notestine, of this record, was reared in Turbett township, Juniata county, and ac- quired his education in the subscription schools, pursuing his studies in a log house furnished with rude benches. David Powell was one of his first instructors, and was a good teacher. He generally attended school during the three months of the winter season. He ·began to earn his own livelihood by working in the harvest field, and was thus employed at the time of the Civil war. On the 13th of December, 1861, he offered his services to the Government, enlisting at Trivoli, Illinois, as a member of Company C, Fifty-seventh Illi- nois Infantry, under Captain William S. Swan, of Chicago, and Colonel S. D. Baldwin. He participated in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, the Adamsville campaign, the battles of Shiloh and second battle of Corinth, the Lexington campaign to the relief of Colonel Ingersoll, and made a raid into Alabama and northwestern Mississippi, where they met Forrest and Chalmers. They were also in the Atlanta campaign, and from Atlanta Mr. Note- stine was sent to Nashville, and mustered out at Springfield, Illinios, January 27, 1865. He was wounded in the right leg at Town creek during the Alabama raid, which incapacitated him for a month, and he is still lame from the effects of this wound.

On being honorably discharged, Mr. Note- stine returned to his home in Peoria county, Illinois, where he had located in 1854, and be- gan cultivating eighty acres of land, his market being the city of Peoria, eighteen miles dis- tant. In 1865 he came to Warren county, Iowa, settling on section 23, Otter township, where he purchased eighty-five acres of land, still retaining an interest in the same. He now owns altogether 340 acres of rich land, of

which 280 acres lie within three and a half miles of Milo, while the remainder is com- prised within the corporation limits of the city.

On the Ist of June, 1854, Mr. Notestine was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Barber, a native of New York and a daughter of John Barber, a descendant of one of the oldest families of the Empire State. Five chil- dren were born to them, viz .: John, who was born in Peoria county and is now an engineer on the Texas Pacific Railroad, where he has spent fifteen years; William J., who died at the age of eighteen months, in Peoria county, Illinois; Prudence Jane, who is the wife of Leander Westerfield, a farmer of Belmont township, Warren county; Mary, who is the wife of Frank Runyan, a farmer of the same township; and Catherine, commonly known as Kittie, is the wife of Charles F. Scott, an agri- culturist of Otter township, Warren county, and has considerable talent both in vocal and instrumental music.

Mr. Notestine has long been prominently identified with the development and upbuild- ing of Milo. The present site of the city was originally owned by David Davis, the United States Senator, and the grant was made Feb- ruary 1, 1865. The first owner was Wayman Crow, of St. Louis, and among others who purchased interests were Fayette Crain, Hi- ram Alger, Peter and Dinah A. Monfore, Josiah Wilbur and his wife, Abraham Wil- bur and wife, Jeremiah Long and wife, and John A. Notestine. The business inter- ests of the city have largely been promoted through the efforts of the last named, who was one of the founders of the Citizens' Bank, which was organized March 27, 1893, the charter members being Elisha Hardin, James Adamson, Silas Westerfield, R. B. McClel- land, Henry Sommers, C. M. Condit and J. A. Notestine. The officers are J. A. Note- stine, president; J. F. Good, vice-president; and C. M. Condit, cashier. The stockholders in connection with the officers are J. M. Tur- ner, R. B. McClelland, Silas Westerfield, John Wikle, James Schee and Samuel Shaw. This

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has become one of the solid and leading finan- ncial institutions of this section of the State, and a safe conservative policy is followed that commands confidence and insures the public patronage.

In his political connections, Mr. Notestein is a Republican, having supported that party since casting his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, but he has never sought or desired political preferment, wishing to give his entire attention to his business interests. He is an ardent supporter of the public-school system, and is deeply interested in everything pertain- ing to the progress and advancement of his adopted county. Socially, he is connected with Milo Post, No. 275, G. A. R., Milan Lodge, No. 409, A. F. & A. M., and Orient Chapter, No. 95, R. A. M., of which he was one of the charter members; also a charter meinber of Lilly Lodge, No. 160, K. of P.

a LARENCE MILTON CONDIT, the efficient and popular cashier of the Citizens' Bank of Milo, is numbered among the native sons of Warren county. He was born in Liberty township, August 8, 1860, and is a son of Daniel M. and Sarah (Martindale) Condit. They had but two children, one of whom, Esther V., mar- ried Enoch Trimble, a farmer of Liberty township, and died in her forty-fifth year, leav- ing seven children; and a monument marks her last resting place in the cemetery of Lib- erty Center.

The father, Daniel M. Condit, was born in Orange county, New Jersey, May 9, 1819, served an apprenticeship as a millwright, and followed that occupation throughout his busi- ness career. He was one of a family of four sons and three daughters, and accompanied his parents to Iowa in 1856, locating in Jasper county, whence after a short time they came to Warren county. Here Mr. Condit pur- chased eighty acres of prairie land in Liberty township and began the development of a farm. There were few families living in the locality,

the region was yet quite wild and he had ample opportunity of indulging his taste for hunting, bringing down many fine deer. He built a small frame house, made from timber that was sawed by the mill erected in 1854 and owned by Lawrence & Childs. Mr. Con- dit was an old line Whig until the organization of the Republican party, when he joined its ranks. He served as Postmaster during the war and carried the mail on horseback, a dis- tance of twelve miles, to Indianola. For eighteen years he was part owner in the grist and saw mill known as the Lawrenceburg Mill, carrying on business along this line in connection with farming. He took an active part in the development of this region and was recognized as one of the prominent citizens of the community during the early days. He died September 1, 1873, and was buried in the cemetery of Liberty Center. His widow still survives him and at the age of seventy- five makes her home with her son. She is a charter member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and her earnest Christian life is an example that might well be followed.

C. M. Condit was reared in the township of his birth and began his education in a school in the Lawrenceburg district, his sister being his first teacher. He afterward attended the Ackworth Academy for two years. To his father he gave the benefit of his services until the latter's death, when the management and care of the old homestead devolved largely upon his young shoulders. He resided there until 1887, when he went to Liberty Center and entered in mercantile pursuits for a year, removing thence to Belmont township, War- ren county, where he became associated in business with J. M. Turner, a farmer and stock- raiser, handling Percheron and Norman horses and shorthorn cattle. He followed this busi- ness until the spring of 1893, when he removed to Milo and took an active part in the organi- zation of the Citizens' Bank, which was estab- lished on the 27th of March. He has since been its cashier, and the success of the insti- tution is due in no small degree to this wide-

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 35

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