Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 61

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

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At the close of his army life the subject of our sketch went to Harrison county, Ohio, and resumed the study of medicine, and in 1866 came from there to Iowa, locating in Pella, Marion county, where he opened an office and entered upon the practice of his pro- fession. After coming to Iowa, he took a course of study in the. College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, of which institution he is a graduate. In 1876 he came to Atlantic. After practicing medicine at this place a few years, he opened a drug store and has since given his attention to the drug business.

Dr. Wilkin was married in 1866 to Miss Verinia Watson, of Harrisonville, Ohio, daughter of J. P. Watson, of that place. She was educated in the Female Seminary of Washington, Pennsylvania, and is a lady of

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much culture and amiability. Both the Doc- tor and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For many years he has been prominent and active in church work, at one tinie serving as chairman of the Board of Supervisors and at this writing officiating as a Class Leader.

In his political affiliations Dr. Wilkin is a Republican. He has always taken a deep interest in public affairs, especially those of a local nature, and on various occasions has been honored by official preferment. He was elected to his present position, that of County Supervisor, in 1893, for a term of three years. He has served as a member of the City Coun- cil of Atlantic, and in 1888 was Mayor of the town. That he is recognized as a business man of more than ordinary ability was demon- strated by his being elected president of the Business Men's Club of Atlantic. While en- gaged in the active practice of his profession, Dr. Wilkin maintained a membership in the State Medical Society, of Iowa. He has long been identified with the Masonic order and is a member of Pymosa Lodge, Atlantic Chapter and Kedron Commandery.

J OHN FLETCHER PAYTON has been a resident of Madison county a little less than thirty years. Notwithstand- ing this he has yet been an eye-witness of most of the growth of the county and has assisted materially in its development. He was born in Blackford county, Indiana, May 30, 1843. His father, Jacob Payton, is a na- tive of Ohio, who at an early day emigrated to Delaware county, Indiana, where he helped build the first house erected in Hartford City. He was a farmer by occupation and followed that calling until old age incapacitated him for farm work. His father, the grandfather of our subject, was William Payton, a native of Penn- sylvania, who as a private distinguished him- self in the war of 1812. In Delaware county, In- diana, Jacob Payton was united in marriage with Miss Catharine Dungan, a native of Penn-

sylvania and of German descent. They resided in Delaware and Blackford counties until 1866, when they emigrated to Iowa and located on a farm in Jefferson township. The father is now living a retired life in the village of De Soto, in his eighty-third year. The mother died at the age of about sixty-three years. They were the parents of eight children.

The subject of this sketch was reared in Huntington county, Indiana, from the age of five years, his parents at that time removing from Blackford county. Here he grew to manhood and in winter seasons attended the district school and in summer assisted in the labors of the farm. In addition to the district school he attended the seminary at Roanoke, Indiana, for nine months. He then taught two terms in the public schools of Huntington county, after which he began his life work of farming.

On the Ist of March, 1866, Mr. Payton was united in marriage with Miss Lottie Rich- ards, a native of Stark county, Ohio, born April 20, 1844, and a daughter of Warner and Magdalene (Smith) Richards. When but seven years of age, she came with her parents to Huntington county, Indiana, but, her mother dying the following year, she returned to Ohio, where she was reared by her uncle, Benjamin Richards. The day following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Payton started for Madison county, Iowa, and on their arrival located on the farm where he now resides, and on which he has made all the improvements. They were the parents of eight children: William E., who married Kitty Christy, now resides in Des Moines, Iowa; Minnie E., now the wife of B. C. Clayton, Dallas county, Iowa; Warren B., who married Jennie Dodge, of Dallas county, Iowa; Rosa C., Byron W., Emma L., Della M., and Roy D., at home.

Mr. Payton is now the possessor of 240 acres and is engaged in general farming and stock-raising. He makes no specialty of any particular branch of farming, preferring to give his attention each season to that which he is inclined to think will be most profitable.

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He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is Trustee and Steward. In politics he is a thorough Republican, and has filled various local offices, including Trus- tee and School Director, serving as president of the school board. In educational matters he has ever taken great interest and has made more than one sacrifice in favor of the public schools. As a citizen he is highly esteemed, and few men in Madison county have a larger circle of friends and acquaintances.

EORGE FISHER worthily represents the great body of agriculturists who in pioneer times came to Iowa with but little means but with strong hearts, and who have given their adopted State a lead- ing position among the States of the Union.

He is a native of Edgar county, Illinois, born September 18, 1838. His father, George Fisher, was born in Brown county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood and married Sarah Mears, also a native of the same county and State. In an early day they removed to Edgar county, Illinois, where they remained until 1847, then went to Indiana, and in 1855 came to Madison county, Iowa. George Fisher was a wagon-maker by trade and followed that oc- cupation for many years, but in his latter life he engaged principally in farming. On coming to Madison county, Iowa, he entered a tract of land in Jefferson township and also secured an- other tract by purchase, and followed farming until his death, at the age of seventy-five years. His wife, the mother of our subject, is yet liv- ing, now in her eighty-eighth year. They were the parents of ten children, -five sons and five daughters, -all of whom grew to maturity, ---- with the exception of one daughter, that died at the age of thirteen.

The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood days in his native county, where he received a limited education in its public schools. He was nine years of age when his parents re- moved to Indiana, and but seventeen on their removal to Madison county, Iowa. He remained

at home, assisting in the farm work until his marriage in 1860, in Dallas county, Iowa, to Miss Phœbe Hester, a native of Vermilion county, Illinois. She died the mother of the following children: Edwin M .; Sarah Belle, now the wife of W. Rigden, of Adair county, Iowa; Ida E., wife of Cameron Shackelford, of Harrison county, Missouri; Lewis Frank, of Jasper county, Iowa; Albert Warren; Alice N., who died in childhood; Wilbur and Owen E., at home. In 1883 Mr. Fisher was again married, his second union being with Miss Ag- gie Drabelle, a native of Warren county, Iowa.

The farm of Mr. Fisher, consisting of 21I acres, is on section 4, Jefferson township, Mad- ison county. He is engaged in general farm- ing and stock-raising. On his arrival here the land was wild prairie, on which were no im- provements whatever. By his industry he has made of it one of the most productive farms in this section of the country.

Politically he is a Republican, and has held various local offices, including Township Trus- tee, School Director, Road Supervisor and Constable. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and takes great interest in the work of the Master. A pioneer of the county, he has witnessed the entire growth and deserves much of the credit for its excellent standing among the counties of this fair State.

ERHART STORCK .- A list of the prominent and wealthy farmers of Madison county, Iowa, would be in- complete did it not contain the name of Gerhart Storck, whose broad acres and beautiful home are located on section 9 of Jefferson township. And as he is a self-made man, a history of his life cannot fail to be of interest in this connection.

Gerhart Storck was born in Germany, De- cember 10, 1835, the second in order of birth in the family of six children of George and Bridget (Wencel) Storck, both natives of that country. They emigrated with their family to America in 1848, coming direct to Iowa, and

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located in Clayton county, where the father entered a tract of land, 200 acres in extent, and where he remained until his death at the age of forty-two years. The mother lived to the advanced age of seventy-five years, her death occurring in Delaware county, Iowa. Gerhart accompanied his parents to America and remained a member of the home circle until his twenty-fifth year, when he married and established a home for himself. He was reared to farm life, and continued farmning in Clayton county until 1870, when he came to his present location in Madison county. Twen- ty-five years ago this now magnificent farm was almost in its primitive state, about its only im- provements being a little shanty, and a small . patch of ground broken. But with the lapse of a quarter of a century, in which Mr. Storck has been busy at work, a marvelous change has been wrought. He now owns 480 acres, all in one body, has a fine residence, good barns, fences, etc., and everything about the whole premises is indicative of the prosperity which has attended the well directed efforts of the owner. Both general farming and stock-rais- ing are carried on extensively by him, and in the stock business especially has he been suc- cessful.

Mr. Storck was married in Clayton county, Iowa, in 1860, to Miss Minnie Marquardt, a native of Germany who came from there to Clayton county, Iowa, with her parents about the year 1857. To them have been born ten children, namely: Ida, wife of Fritz Meyer; Amanda, wife of William Dimler; Hannah, wife of Henry Wehrkamp; Clara, wife of Peter Linemann; William, Katherine, Josie, Albert, Paul and Albertina, at home.

Mr. Storck has been a hard-working man all his life. To this fact and to that of his good management may be attributed the suc- cess he has attained. Since his location on his present farm he has paid out for hired help and taxes no less than $7,000 -- a little fortune in itself. Of his political affiliations, be it re- corded that he is a stanch Democrat. He served two years as Justice of the Peace, and

he has been many times Director of his school district, always active in advancing the interests of the schools. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, prominent and active in the same, and at this writing is Trustee of the local or- ganization of Lutherans.

RS. MARIE WESTPHAL, widow of the late John Westphal, owns and occupies one of the pleasant rural homes of Jefferson township, Madi- son county, Iowa.

She was born in Germany, June 18, 1840, daughter of German parents. Lewis Schlarke, her father, came to America in 1842, coming direct to Clayton county, Iowa, and was never heard from afterward. He left his family in the old country, and, after waiting anxiously for some years for news of him, they, too, came to the United States. It was in 1857 that Mrs. Westphal accompanied her mother to America and to Clayton county, Iowa, and here for two years she was employed as a domestic. At the end of that time she was united in marriage to Mr. Ernest Meyer, a native of Germany, and they settled down on a farm in Clayton county. But after four short years she was left a widow with one child, Frederick Meyer, who is now engaged in farm- ing in Madison county. He married Allie Rod- rick. In 1864 Mrs. Meyer became the wife of Mr. John Westphal, also a native of Ger- many, who had come to this country the same year she did. They continued to reside in Clay- ton county until 1875, when they removed to Madison county and located on the farm where she now lives. At the time of their removal here this land was wholly unimproved, and the work of erecting buildings and cultivating the land was carried forward by them until they had a comfortable home and pleasant surroundings. Since Mr. Westphal's death, which occurred in 1880, Mrs. Westphal has superintended the farming operations, and in her able management of the same has shown herself to be a woman of more than ordinary ability. Her farın com-

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prises 240 acres. Of her children by her sec- ond husband, we make record as follows: Au- gust is a resident of Des Moines, Iowa; Eliza- beth is the wife of Frederick Jensen, Jefferson township, Madison county; Ella, wife of Henry Mandelkon, of Clayton county, Iowa; and Her- man, Frederick W. and Albert, at home.

Of Mr. Westphal, we would further record that he was a man well known and most highly respected. For some years, in addition to car- rying on his farming operations, he served as secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Fire & Light- ning Insurance Company, of Madison county. Politically, he was a Democrat, and while in Clayton county served as School Director. He was a consistent member of the Lutheran Church, with which Mrs. Westphal also is identified.

ERDINAND A. MARQUARDT is one of the substantial farmers and respected citizens of Madison county, Iowa, his home being on section 3, of Jefferson township. As his name indicates, he is of German birth and ancestry. He was born near the city of Berlin, Germany, May 28, 1847, fourth child and second son in the family of seven children of Carl and Doratha (Schaka) Marquardt. Of the other members of the family, we record that William is a resident of Tama county, Iowa; Williamina is the wife of Gerhart Storck; Augusta is de- ceased; Henrietta is the wife of George Storck; Herman is a resident of Jefferson township, Madison county; and Alberta is the wife of William Burger, Jefferson township, Madison county. The father is still living and is now ninety-one years of age. He has been a resi- dent of Iowa for many years. The good wife and mother passed away at the age of seventy- eight.

At the time the Marquardt family emigrated to this country and settled in Clayton county, F. A., the subject of our sketch, was a lad of nine years, and in Clayton county he was reared, remaining there until 1870, the year of

his removal to Madison county. In 1870 he purchased land on section 10 of Jefferson town- ship, raised the first crop on the place and made some improvements, but since 1873 has resided on his present farm in section 3. At the time he purchased this farm it was all wild prairie. Here he built a little house, 16 x 26 feet, to which he took his bride and where they began housekeeping, and on this farm they have since lived and prospered. By subsequent purchase he has acquired other lands, and besides his home farm, which now comprises 160 acres of land, he has 320 acres in Pipestone county, Minnesota, which he rents. His life here has been one of honest toil and has been rewarded with a fair degree of success.

It was in the fall of 1874 that he was mar- ried. Mrs. Marquardt, whose maiden name was Miss Augusta Green, is also a native of Germany, her birthplace being near his. Eight children have been born to them, four sons and four daughters, namely: William, Rufus, Dora, Amanda, Bertie, Carl, Emma and August.

Mr. Marquardt has always taken a laudable interest in public affairs, especially those of a local nature, and at one time served his dis- trict as Road Supervisor. Politically, he gives his support to the Democratic party. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church.

S AMUEL WASHINGTON NICHOL- SON, deceased, figured prominently in the early history of Jefferson town- ship, Madison county, Iowa, and was well known and highly respected throughout the county. A review of his life gives the fol- lowing facts:

S. W. Nicholson was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, November 3, 1825, seventh in order of birth in the family of ten children of Samuel and Permelia (Argo) Nicholson. In Muskingum county, that State, he was reared, his education being received in the common

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schools and in the Zanesville and Concord Col- leges. In June, 1850, he married Miss Minerva White, and four years later moved out to Iowa. In Jefferson township, Madison coun- ty, he purchased a farm and in the spring of the following year, 1855, located on it. Here the rest of his life was passed. Previous to his removal to Iowa he had been for a few years engaged in teaching in Ohio, and after locating here he for a number of years spent his winters in the schoolroom while in the summer he cultivated his land. He was one of the first settlers in the northern part of the county, and his name is found recorded on the first poll-books that were used here. He was a Republican. At the first election for town- ship officers in Jefferson township he was chosen Clerk, and served as such, being re- elected from time to time for a period of ten years. With church work also was he prom- inently identified, for years being a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and serving as Class-leader in the same. After an active and useful life he passed away, Oc- tober 27, 1874, at the age of nearly fifty years, and his mortal remains were interred in the Fairview cemetery.

Mrs. Nicholson, the widow of this worthy citizen, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, October 15, 1831. Her father, M. E. White, was a native of Maryland, born in 1805, son of John White, who was of English descent and, it is supposed, a native of Maryland. M. E. White left Maryland when a young man and sought a home in the Western Reserve, Belmont county, Ohio, being his place of loca- tion. There in 1829 he was married to Mary A. Winthrode, a native of Maryland and a daughter of Frederick Winthrode, of that State, he being of German descent. She was reared in the same neighborhood in which Mr. White was. After their marriage they returned to Maryland, but two years later they again turned their faces westward, this time Muskin- gum county, Ohio, being their objective point, which place continued to be their home until 1864, when they came to Madison county,

Iowa, and settled in Madison township. Here they passed the residue of their lives and died, his death occurring at the age of seventy-six years; hers at eighty-one. They were the parents of nine children, four daughters and five sons, all of whom reached adult years, Mrs. Nicholson being the second child and eldest daughter. Mrs. Nicholson accompanied her husband to Madison county, Iowa, in 1854; shared with him the many privations incident to life in a new country, still survives and re- sides at the old homestead. Like her hus- band, she has always been interested in educa- tional matters. In her own home she taught the first school between Council Bluffs and Des Moines, on the "Coon Divide." And she has long been actively identified with the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. While she has had no children of her own, she has reared four, two girls and two boys, namely: Almira J., James H., Sarah L. and William M. The first named is now the wife of I. W. Rinard. In addition to her home farm, Mrs. Nicholson owns two others, -360 acres all told.

a ZRA WILLARD, a prominent attor- ney of Atlantic, Iowa, and familiarly known as " Judge " Willard, was born in Wyoming county, New York, De- cember 21, 1840, and is of English descent on both the paternal and maternal side. His father, Russel Willard, was a native of Ver- mont and a son of Russel Willard. The mother of our subject, Phoebe Rich by maiden naine, was likewise a native of the Green Moun- tain State, and when a child removed with her parents to New York, where she was reared and married. The younger Rossell Willard was by occupation a farmer. He died when his only child, our subject, was a babe, and thus early in life was Judge Willard deprived of a father's protection and support. He re- mained with his mother until he was fifteen, being taken by her when he was four years old to Williams county, Ohio, where his boyhood days were spent in attending the public schools.

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At fifteen he went to live with an uncle in Elkhart, Indiana, with whom he remained until attaining his majority. Up to 1858 he at- tended the common schools, then he spent one year at Notre Dame, and in 1860 was at Elkhart, engaged in the study of law.

When the great Civil war came on, young Willard was among the first to enlist for serv- ice in the Union army. That was in 1861. He had just been admitted to the bar and was ambitious for success in his chosen profession, but he dropped his law-books and, as a mem- ber of Company C, Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, went to the front .. He enlisted as a private in the three-months service, and at the expiration of his term re-enlisted in the same company and for a period of three years, at this time being appointed Second Lieutenant. This appointment was soon followed by pro- motion to the rank of First Lieutenant, and it in turn by that of Adjutant of the regiment. The last named position he held until he ten- dered his resignation in 1863, on account of his physical condition, he having been wounded in the battle of Shiloh, a ball passing through his right limb. Besides Shiloh, he fought at Stone River and was a participant in many other prominent engagements.

After receiving an honorable discharge, Mr. Willard returned to Elkhart, Indiana, and en- gaged in the practice of law, but shortly after, in 1864, came west to Iowa and located at Adel in Dallas county, where he remained until 1876. Between 1876 and 1881 he was a res- ident of Dallas, Texas, and in the latter year returned to Iowa and this time took up his abode in Atlantic, where he has since remained and where he has conducted a large and re- munerative law practice.

Mr. Willard was married in Elkhart, In- diana, in 1861, to Miss Harriet Hooper, a native of Michigan, and a daughter of Isaac Hooper, one of the early settlers of that State. Their union has been blessed in the birth of one son, Edward, who chose his father's pro- fession, was admitted to the bar in 1888, and is now engaged in practice with his father.

Fraternally, Judge Willard is identified with the Masonic order, in which he has ad- vanced to the Royal Arch degrees. Polit- ically, he has long affiliated with the Demo- cratic party, and has been honored by his party with the nomination for Attorney Gen- eral and also for the Legislature; but, while in each instance he received a vote that was highly complimentary, he was defeated. Both as a lawyer and citizen he is held in high re- pute, and justly so, for his life has been so ordered that it entitles him to this high standing.

PILSON PRALL .- Among the at- tractive modern homes which adorn the pretty city of Atlantic, Iowa, is found the abode of Wilson Prall, a retired farmer and stock-dealer and one of the wealthy men of Cass county. His history is that of a self-made man and is well worthy a place in this volume. Briefly, it is as follows:

Wilson Prall was born in the State of Ohio, April 20, 1839, the eighth in a family of twelve children. When he was quite small his father moved over into Indiana, and in the Hoosier State young Prall remained until his nineteenth year. He began to take care of himself when only nine years old, at first working for his board and clothes. When he was nineteen he left Indiana and came to Iowa, making the journey hither on horseback and stopping first at Grove City, where he soon found employ- ment, working first for David Barnett and R. D. McGinn, and one winter for Albert Wakefield. In August, 1859, he took to himself a wife, and hand in hand the young couple set to work with a will to make a home, determined to stop short of nothing but success. At that time all the money he had was $2.50. They chose for their location a place ten miles south- east of Atlantic, where they built a little shanty, 14 x 16 feet, and their furniture, of his own manufacture, was made of poles. For eight years they made that place their home,

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he working out at the rate of fifty cents per day to support his wife and the little ones that came to brighten their humble home. And at the end of the eight years he moved to section 26, Grove township, this same county, and bought forty acres of land, to which he added by subsequent purchase until his landed estate now comprises a fine tract of 800 acres, -all the result of his own honest toil. On this land he carried on general farming and stock-raising until 1891, when he retired, and has since made his home in Atlantic.

Mrs. Prall, whose maiden name was Miss Mary E. Judd, was born in Jefferson county, Iowa, April 9, 1842, daughter of William, familiarly known as "Uncle Billy," Judd, one of the well-known early settlers of Cass county, he having located here in 1855. Mr. Judd was an educated man, taught school for some years, figured prominently in local poli- tics, and for a time served as Justice of the Peace. Mr. and Mrs. Prall have six children living, namely: George B., who wedded Miss Helena J. Pearson, has a family of four chil- dren; Thomas W. and wife, whose maiden name was Callie McKissok, have four chil- dren; Mary E., wife of R. R. Bell, has five children; Eva V., wife of C. A. Morgan, has one child; John B. married Elsie B. McKnight, and they have three children; and Martha V. is the wife of James M. Darling and has two children. They have three children deceased -Henry T. and Freddie, and one that died in infancy. All are natives of Cass county.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 61

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