Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 42

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

USA > Iowa > Memorial and biographical record of Iowa > Part 42

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1803, located in Ohio, and finally moved over into Indiana, where he died, in 1837, at the age of eighty-seven. He was a pioneer in four States, a millwright and stock man, a noted hunter, and a hardy frontiersman. To such men is this country indebted for the early progress it made.

Tracing Mr. Haworth's ancestry back still further, we find that his great-grandfather, James Haworth, was a native of Pennsylvania, born at an early period in the history of that State, and that his (James Haworth's) grand- father was a native of England, who came over to America in the year 1698, settling in Pennsylvania and establishing there the Ameri- can branch of the Haworth family, which to- day is spread all over this broad land. In England the ancestry can be traced back to the twelfth century.

George D. Haworth, the immediate sub- ject of this review, is one of a family of nine, four of whom are still living, the other three being Jeremiah, Lydia and John H. George D. was born in Vermillion county, Indiana, December 10, 1835, and at the time the family removed to Iowa, as above recorded, he was a boy of ten years. Reared on the frontier, his educational advantages were not, as a matter of course, of the best. The log house in which he attended school had oiled paper for window lights, and its furnishings were of the most primitive kind. At the age of twenty-three he left the parental home and started out in life on his own responsibility, engaging in farming and making a specialty of buying and raising stock. For years he was an extensive shipper of stock to the Chicago market.

Mr. Haworth was married March 21, 1861, to Miss Anna M. Doane, a native of Indiana and a daughter of William and Sophia Doane, she being one of their family of three. Mr. and Mrs. Haworth have six children living, namely : Francis M., L. W., V. H., Minnie, Mary and Frederick.

Mr. Haworth has always given his support to the Republican party, taking an intelligent

262

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

and enthusiastic interest in public affairs. He is well known and is honored and esteemed for his many sterling qualities.

LBERTA I. DAVIS, a farmer of Lin- coln township, Warren county, was born in Brooke county, West Vir- ginia, March 31, 1853, a son of Thomas Graham and Nancy (McCreery) Davis. Alberta was one of four children, three of whom are now living, the others besides him- self being Gaston and William. Thomas Gra- ham, the father, was born in Virginia Febru- ary 28, 1815, where he lived until a young man. He learned and followed the black- smith and machinist trades for several years, was afterward an engineer on the Red river for seven years, and for the following seven years was engaged in farming in Virginia. In 1854 he located in what is now Lincoln town- ship, Warren county, Iowa, and from that time to the present this has been his home. Mr. Davis is justly classed among the pioneers of Warren county, there having been but few settlers in this region at the time he located here. The country was in a wild, uncultivated condition, and the noble record of those old settlers is written in the fertile fields and mar- velously developed farms which have made this region of Iowa famous; and here, at the ripe age of eighty years, Mr. Davis is spend- ing the evening of life in the midst of peace and plenty, a rest well earned after a long life of active effort. His wife, Nancy (McCreery) Davis, was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of William and Sarah (McCoy) McCreery. She was one of five children, namely: Isabel, widow of Levi Shipley; Mary, widow of Dr. Ramsey; Sarah, of this county; Rachel, now Mrs. Glass. Mrs. Davis died many years ago.

Alberta Irwin Davis was but three years old when the family located in Warren county, where he has lived to the present time. In his boyhood days he attended the common schools and the Simpson College, of Indianola.

When twenty-six years of age he started out in life for himself. Mr. Davis now owns a fine farm of 250 acres, where he makes a specialty of stock-raising. He is one of the enterprising young men of Warren county; an instance of that fact being shown in the resi- dence recently built by hini, which in its style and appointments is creditable to its owner and an ornament to Lincoln township. In political matters Mr. Davis is a Democrat in the full meaning of the term. He is a mem- ber of Three Rivers Lodge, A. O. U. W., at Indianola.

April 28, 1881, he was united in marriage with Juliet M. Moore, a native of Alabama, and a daughter of Dr. R. E. and Margaret (Minette) Moore. Mrs. Davis was one of six children, three of whom are now living,-the others besides herself being John R., a mem- ber of the Treasury Department at Washing- ton; and DeWitt, of Kentucky. The father was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1822, and his early life was spent in that city. He studied medicine at the Louisville (Kentucky) College, and later at Bellevue Hospital Medi- cal College in New York city. For sev- eral years the Doctor led a venturesome life in the Central American States of San Salvador and Guatemala. He was Medical Director during the building of the Panama Railroad, and he drove the spike which finished that notable work. His later life was spent in the North, he having at one time been physician to the Erie Railroad. Dr. Moore belonged to the profession by right of birth, it being repre- sented in the family for generations, extending back to the distinguished Dr. Moore of the British navy. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have two sons, -John Graham and Robert Gaylord.

J OHN T. WALLACE, a farmer of Jeffer- son township, is a member of a promi- nent and early family of Warren county. He was born in Fayette county, Indiana, February 23, 1847, one of seven children of John S. and Julia (Bilby) Wallace. Three of

263

RECORD OF IOWA.

the children are now living, -John T., the subject of this sketch; Joshua W., of Orleans, Nebraska; and Jane, wife of Jesse Black, of Norwalk, this State. John S. Wallace, the father, was born in Fayette county, Indiana, in 1822. He resided there until the fall of 1848, when he came West, locating in Jeffer- son township, Warren county, Iowa, and at that time this region of country was a wilder- ness, the early settlers having been obliged to deny themselves of nearly all the comforts and of many of the necessities of life. Mr. Wallace entered 400 acres of Government land, and devoted himself to the development of his property. A public-spirited, forceful man, he interested himself in the welfare of Warren county, having been one of its first grand jurors, the first Justice of the Peace of Jeffer- son township, and was always found ready to assist in every way in the development of this region. An earnest Christian man, he was an active member of the Methodist Church, of which he was a Class-leader during active life, and for many years his home was the meeting place of those living in this vicinity. His death occurred in 1873, from the effects of exposure during the trying years of his early life here, at the early age of fifty-one years.

The grandfather of our subject, Joshua Wallace, was born in Dover, Delaware, in 1785. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. In middle life he located in Indiana, where he engaged in farming and the sawmill business, and he lived to the age of eighty-five years. The remote ancestry of the family were natives of Scotland, and came to this country in early Colonial times.

The mother of our subject, nee Julia Bilby, was a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Stephen and Jane (Ludlow) Bilby. They were the parents of seven children, three now living. The father was a native of Pennsylvania and a blacksmith by trade. In 1830 he emigrated to Indiana, settling in the wooded wilderness, and there lived and died. His father, Richard Bilby, was a native of England, but came to this country when a boy, having been kid-

naped by the master of a ship and abandoned on arriving in America! He located in Penn- sylvania, where he raised a large family, and died there at an advanced age. Mrs. Wallace is now living in Indianola.

John T. Wallace, the subject of this sketch, came to Iowa in infancy, his earliest recollec- tions being associated with Jefferson township. From that time (1848) to the present Warren county has been his home. When twenty-one years of age he started out in life for himself, purchasing a fine team of cattle, and engaged in breaking prairie, having a plow of his own design, 300 pounds in weight, which did very superior work. He followed that occupation for two years successfully. After his marriage, Mr. Wallace engaged in farming and stock- raising, and for a number of years was known as a prominent raiser of short-horn cattle. At the present time, having discontinued the cattle business, he is deeply interested in the raising of fine driving horses, going into the matter as a business enterprise, and with un- usually fine facilities for the establishment of a first-class stock farın. He now owns about twenty-two head, many of them being well- bred stock. Deeply interested in the agricultural development of this region, Mr. Wallace has been an active member of the Warren County Agricultural Society for twelve years, and is now serving a sixth term as its president. It is an enterprise uniformly successful, even in years which were disastrous to other county associations. The Warren county fairs were noted as being second to none in the State. An instance of the marvelous fertility of the soil of Iowa is in a portion of the farm now owned by Mr. Wallace, which was broken in 1851, and has borne a crop of grain each year from that time to the present. The 1895 crop gave a yield of seventy-five bushels of oats per acre.

Mr. Wallace is well known as one of the successful, enterprising and public-spirited men of Warren county.

In 1869 he was united in marriage with Sarah S. Le Sourd, a native of Butler county, Ohio, and one of six children of Jesse and

264

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

Charity (McClung) Le Sourd. Her father was born near Baltimore, Maryland, in the year 1778. He was a member of the Southeastern Conference of the Methodist Church for many years, and his death occurred in 1866. He was respected and beloved by a large circle of friends. His wife, nee Charity McClung, was a native of Maryland, and a daughter of Sam- uel and Susanna McClung. The Le Sourd an- cestry were natives of France, the great-grand- father having come to this country with General LaFayette and located in Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Wallace have three children living: Rosa J., wife of Turner Carlton, of Jackson town- ship, this county; Celestia B., of Indianola; and LeEtta, at home.

OWARD C. DAVISSON, a farmer of Warren county, was born in Vir- ginia, October 8, 1863, a son of Josiah M. and Anna (Read) Davisson. How- ard is one of four living children, namely: Har- riet, wife of William Lawrence, of Norwalk; Granville G., of Des Moines; and Jesse B., also of that city. Josiah M., the father, was born in Indiana in 1818. In early life he lo- cated in Virginia, was married there, and his children were born there. For a number of years he served as Postmaster in West Vir- ginia. A strong Union man, and having a thorough knowledge of that region of country, he was of great service to the Union cause in guiding the army on many occasions. A large part of his farm was used as a camp ground and hospital for about three years of the war. Under those existing conditions, Mr. Davisson found it impossible to support his family on the farm, and accordingly, near the close of the struggle, he gave up the attempt and came West, purchasing the old John Smith farm on section 36, Jefferson township, Warren county, Iowa. There the remainder of his life was spent. He was a man of strong convictions, well informed and progressive. In political matters, he was a strong Republican, and in religion was an earnest adherent of the Meth-

odist Church. His death occurred in May, 1893, at the age of seventy-five years. Ann (Read) Davisson, his wife, was a native of Vir- ginia, and a member of an old and prominent family in that State. He was a large slave- owner, but gave them their freedom at the opening of the war. His death occurred in middle life, and his wife departed this life at the age of eighty-four years. Mrs. Davisson died in 1892, at the age of seventy-two years.

Howard C. Davisson, the subject of this sketch, was but an infant when the family left West Virginia for Iowa, and since that time Jefferson township has been his home. In his boyhood days he attended the district school, and was afterward a student at Indianola Col- lege. He remained at home and assisted in the care of his father's family until twenty- three years of age, when he practically started out in life for himself. He engaged in farm- ing on the same section as the family home- stead, where he still lives, an enterprising, ambitious young man. Earnest and aggress- ive, he has met with marked success in his chosen occupation. Mr. Davisson erected a commodious and modern home upon his place, and recently built a fine barn, which is an orna- ment to this region. Upon his farm of 225 acres he has two windmills and first-class facilities for carrying on farming and stock- raising. He keeps from fifty to seventy-five head of cattle, and about 100 head of hogs yearly. A firm believer in the improvement of stock, he has raised some very fine road horses on the farm.

In his social relations, Mr. Davisson is a member of Indianola Lodge, No. 70, and of Three Rivers Lodge, No. 94, A. O. U. W. Politically, he is a Republican of pronounced views, always interested and active in seeing his township properly represented.

Mr. Davisson was married June 16, 1887, to Carrie B. Crow, a native of Indianola, and a daughter of William and Sarah J. (Kelly) Crow, natives respectively of Kentucky and Indiana, but now residents of Norwalk, Iowa. Mrs. Davisson was one of seven children, five

9. B. Perry.

265

RECORD OF IOWA.

now living. Our subject and wife have three children, -Boyd Harlan, Earl H. and Etha May.

ON. THEODORE B. PERRY, ex- State Senator, capitalist and attor- ney at law, of Albia, Iowa, is one of the most prominent citizens of this locality, and his life cannot fail to prove of in- terest to the readers of this volume. Success in any calling is an indication of close applica- tion, industry and faithfulness. There are few professions more honorable and few which offer better opportunities than does that of the law for the display of character, sterling worth and ability. Though our subject lays claim to no particular honor for having fulfilled the. obligations of his profession, his fellow citizens freely accord him a high place in the ranks of his fraternity, and attest their appre- ciation of his skill by a liberal patronage.

Mr. Perry is. a native of Ohio. He was born in Cincinnati, on the Ist of April, 1832, and is a son of Lewis F. and Margaret (Nixon) Perry. The grandfather, Ruel Perry, was of English descent, and the maternal grandfather, John Nixon, was of Scotch descent. Lewis F. Perry was born in New Jersey, and his wife in Pennsylvania. He was a brick mason by oc- cupation, and in 1850 removed with his fam- ily to Iowa, locating first in Burlington. He afterward resided a short time near Agency City, Wapello county. In the spring of 1851. he removed to Clark county, and soon after located on a tract of wild land, where he car- ried on general farming and stock-raising, making his home there until 1874, when he removed to Osceola. His remaining days were spent in that city, and his death occurred in 1886. His wife died in Osceola in 1885.

Our subject was the second in order of birth in their family of five children. He ac- quired his education through attendance in the common schools. In the fall of 1851 he went to Polk county and engaged in teaching school at a place called Linn Grove, near the

city of Des Moines, and afterward taught at other places. In May, 1853, he came to Al- bia and commenced the study of law under the guidance of Judge John S. Townsend. The following year he was admitted to the bar, and and has since been ranked among the most able members of the profession in this section of the State. In 1854 he was elected Prose- cuting Attorney of Monroe county, and in 1858 was elected a member of the State Board of Education from the Second Judicial District. In the fall of 1891 he was elected to the Iowa State Senate from the Fifteenth Senatorial District, comprising Monroe and Marion coun- ties. He took an active part in the discussion of a number of important bills and served on a number of important committees. He is a man of broad mind, of liberal policy, and places principle above partisanship.

Through all these years Mr. Perry has en- joyed a very extensive law practice. People do not place their legal business in unskilled hands; it is the man of ability who receives the public patronage. His large business there- fore attests his superiority, and his fellow prac- titioners acknowledge that in him they meet a foeman worthy of their steel. He is a force- ful speaker and logical reasoner. In addition to his law practice he is connected with the banking interests of Albia, being vice-presi- dent of the State Bank of Albia, which was organized in 1891. He is closely allied with the welfare of the city and doing all in his power to promote its upbuilding and advance- ment. He erected the Perry Block, which includes the opera-house. He also has an ele- gant brick residence, surrounded by an exten- sive lawn. The cause of education has ever found in him a warm friend, and with the ex- ception of one year he has served as a member of the board since 1879. . In politics he is a pronounced Democrat, and takes an active part in State and national political affairs.

In November, 1855, Mr. Perry was united in marriage with Miss Minerva Allison, who died in 1869, leaving a daughter, Florence, now the wife of S. W. Pennington, of Albia,

266

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

who is cashier of the Albia State Bank. In October, 1870, Mr. Perry was again married, his second union being with Amanda Craig, of Albia, a daughter of Dr. Thomas and Mary E. Craig. Three children have been born of their union, two of whom are living-Grace and Theodore B.

S H. M. BYERS has had various claims to be known among the people, not only of his State but of the whole country. His song of "Sherman's March to the Sea " made his name familiar to nearly everybody. "The phrase, 'Sherman's March to the Sea,' said a recent magazine, " has become almost a household word in this country." Sherman himself said of the song, " It added a glamour and picturesqueness to the campaign that led the unmilitary public to make a romance out of it." "It was, too," continued the general, "a condensed but true story of the march." Hundreds of thousands of copies of the song were sold in the years following the war, and in its dignified measures it rivaled in popularity the comic and rattling song of "Marching through Georgia." The original music sung to it in prison was difficult, but the words pass easily enough to the air of "The Red, White and Blue." It gave its name to the campaign it celebrates, a name that will go down in history.

Mr. Byers' reputation, however, is based on something more than a mere song. His two volumes of poems received great praise from press and critics. Numbers of the poems were warmly commended by the poets Whittier, Holmes and Story. "They have brought tears to my eyes," says Holmes. "I have read them and re-read them," says Story; Ⅰ,, find them full of grace, refinement, delicacy of sentiment, and vigor."

Shortly there will appear from Mr. Byers' pen a new and more important poetical work. It is a verse narration of the great march to the sea. It embraces 2,000 lines of poetical pictures, lyrics and interludes. Personally the

author regards this as the best effort of his life. It is too early to judge how it will be received by the public, but literary men have given advance sheets the very highest praise.

Mr. Byers is also the author of "Iowa in War Times," an important military volume ; "' Switzerland and the Swiss," printed in Bos- ton and Paris; and a little book telling of his experiences in Southern prisons. He has written, off and on, for many of the best maga- zines in the country, Harper's, The Youth's Companion, North American Review, Atlantic, Magazine of History, The Midland, Lippin- cott's, and McClure's Magazine. The second article on Chattanooga in the Century's great war history is also from his pen.

Mr. Byers' military record is known to all the soldiers of the State. The regiment he served with (the Fifth Infantry) was one of the hard-fighting regiments of the West, and he was with it in its hardest battles. In a fierce charge on Missionary Ridge he was cap- tured and kept in Libby and other prisons of the South for fifteen months or more. It was while in prison at Columbia, South Carolina, that he wrote the song of "The March to the Sea." He escaped twice, but was retaken; on a third attempt, however, he got away, and joined Sherman's army. In one of these efforts at escape he donned a rebel uniform and went into the Southern army. He witnessed from the rebel side the awful battle of Atlanta, but was discovered during the conflict and came near being hung as a spy. The Atlantic Monthly some years since contained a graphic account of this incident. When Mr. Byers finally got away from prison, General Sherman gave him a provisional appointment on his staff (see Sherman's Memoirs), and later sent him to Grant and to President Lincoln as bearer of the first dispatches announcing the great victories in the Carolinas. He was now offered a Captaincy in the regular army. His former rank was that of Adjutant of the Fifth Regiment. He declined the Captaincy be- cause of health almost ruined while in prison, came home and spent two years at Dansville,

267

RECORD OF IOWA.

New York, trying to get well. Governor Stone about this time brevetted him as Major.

In 1869 he married Miss Margaret Gil- mour, a descendant of Governor Bradford, of the Mayflower and of later Revolutionary an- cestry. She is Scotch on her father's side. In the same summer he was appointed Consul to Switzerland, residence at Zurich. Here two children were born, Lawrence and Helen. The daughter died at Lake Zurich, at the age of eight years. Lawrence is a Yale graduate and a young lawyer in Des Moines.

After fifteen years of consular service at Zurich, Consul Byers was promoted, on merit, by President Arthur, to be Consul General for Italy. He now lived at Rome till Mr. Cleve- land's administration recalled him. Later President Harrison reappointed him to the service, this time at St. Gall, and quickly pro- moted him to be Consul General for Switzer- land. The rank of Consul General is by law equivalent to that of Brigadier General in the army. His promotions show how his services were regarded at Washington, though Mr. Cleveland on re-entering office recalled him again. Few Americans have had so many years of consular or diplomatic service abroad, and no officer has established a better record with the departments at Washington. . His home is now at St. Helens, Des Moines, a home embellished with art treasures collected during his long residence in Europe. Its doors are open to every one who has an interest in art. Though not possessed of wealth, as the term goes, he has nevertheless shared with others some of the advantages reaped while abroad. The collection of oil paintings in Penn College, Oskaloosa, is a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Byers. So too is the rare collection of the world's laces and embroideries known as the "lace room" at the museum in Fair- field. Other colleges have also received lesser gifts from them.

S. H. M. Byers was born in Pulaski, Penn- sylvania, in 1838. His father, J. M. Byers, now eighty-three years old, hale and hearty, is a resident of Oskaloosa, and is of Scotch-

Irish descent. On his mother's side S. H. M. Byers is a grand-nephew of Chief Justice John Marshall, of Virginia.

EORGE E. SILCOTT, Clerk of Lin-

coln township, was born in Washing- ton (now Lincoln) township, War- ren county, Iowa, December 8, 1869, a son of Robert and Mary (Stover) Silcott. They had seven children,-George, Edward, Robert, Homer, Clarence, Emmett and Mary. Homer resides with our subject, and the others live in Kansas. The father was born near Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1844, and resided there until twelve years of age, when, in 1855, the family located in War- ren county, Iowa. On account of ill health of both himself and wife, Mr. Silcott re- moved to Labette county, Kansas, in 1885. The climate realizing their brightest anticipations, they have located permanently in that State. He has been a life-long farmer and stock-raiser, and is universally successful as a business man. Although not in any sense a politician, he is uncommonly well informed on all matters of public interest. He was an ardent Whig in the early days, and has been an ardent Republican since the organization of that party. Grandfather Lewis Silcott was born in Indiana in 1812. In middle life he lo- cated in Warren county, Iowa, where he en- tered Government land, and took his full share in the rough life of a new and undeveloped country. Here he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1889, at the age of seventy-seven years. The remote ancestry of the Silcott family were of German descent, coming to this country at a very early day. The mother of our subject, nee Mary Stover, was a native of this State and a daughter of Joseph Stover, an early pioneer of Iowa. The ancestors of the Stover family were Virginians by birth.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 42

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