Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 81

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

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Mr. and Mrs. McElroy have had but one child, Elsie, an exceptionally bright and intel- ligent young lady, who died at the age of nine- teen and a half years, while a student in Simp- son College. Her death was a sad blow to her parents and to her many friends, for she was greatly loved by those who knew her. Mr.

and Mrs. McElroy are worthy and consistent members of the Presbyterian Church. He has been a life-long Republican in politics, having cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln and supporting each candidate of the party since that time. He has held the office of Township Assessor for several years, served for about twenty years as Treasurer of the school district, and has now for several years served as Treasurer of Warren county. On the death of S. Conrad, he was appointed to fill that position, was then re-elected for a year to fill out the unexpired term, and in the fall of 1893 was elected for a full term, and in November, 1895, he was re-elected for a full term of two years. It is needless to say to those who know Mr. McElroy that his duties have been faithfully and conscientiously per- formed, for he is recognized as a valued citizen and one who has the best interests of the community at heart.

ON. MARK ANTONY DASHIELL, M. D., one of the few living pioneers of Warren county, was born in Dear- born county, Indiana, October 7, 1826, a son of Charles and Nancy (Mosten) Dashiell. The father was a native of Balti- more, Maryland, where he received a collegi- ate education, and became a surveyor by pro- fession. After coming North, he was County Surveyor of Dearborn county, Indiana, and also of Will county, Illinois, where he died. He was married in Ohio to Nancy Mosten, a native of Pennsylvania and of German descent. After her husband's death she lived in the home of our subject, and her death occurred in Warren county. The parents became resi- dents of Indiana before its admission as a State. Mr. and Mrs. Dashiell had fifteen children, as follows: Mosten is a retired mer- chant at Indianapolis; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Sherman, a widow, resides at Portland, Ore- gon; Cynthia became Mrs. McCreary, and died recently at Seymour, Indiana; John died in middle life at Kankakee, Illinois; Mark A. is

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the subject of this sketch; Malina, widow of Mr. Harris, resides in St. Louis, Missouri; Ma- hala died in infancy; Charles Wesley, an ex- soldier, died at Kansas City, Missouri; Re- becca, widow of Mr. Davis, lives in Chicago; George, also an ex-soldier, resides at Portland, Oregon; Henry, three years a Captain in the army, is a resident of Spokane Falls, Wash- ington; Virgil Williams, also a Captain in the army, resides in Chicago; and twin brothers, as well as the remaining number of the chil- dren, died in infancy. Our subject can well remember when the family table was spread for fourteen. Of the nine brothers, five of them served an aggregate of sixteen years dur- ing the late Civil war.

Mark Antony Dashiell was reared to man- hood in his native State. After graduating at the Indianapolis high school, he entered Green- castle College, but retired from that institution before completing the course. His medical tu- tor was the well known Dr. Sutton, of Aurora, Indiana, in whose office he spent some time in preparatory work. In 1851 Mr. Dashiell grad- uated at the Indianapolis Medical College, practicing two years in his native county, and came to Warren county, Iowa, in 1853. Thirty years of his professional life were spent at Hartford, in the northeast corner of Warren county. The Doctor has been longer in prac- tice in the county than any other physician here. The pioneer physician had many hard- ships to endure not known to the practitioners of modern days. His rides were often not only long but very hazardous, there being no traveled roads, settlers widely separated, and the winters were much more rigorous than now. Under these unfavorable circumstances it is not strange that the name of the faithful physician was honored and revered by the early settlers, and he came to be regarded as an angel of mercy. No day was too cold or night too dark and dreary for him to go to the bedside of the sick and dying.

Dr. Dashiell built up an excellent practice at Hartford, but as the years came creeping on he found that his extensive country practice

was more than his physical condition could well bear. In 1868 he accepted the nomina- tion as a candidate for the State Legislature, at the hands of the Republican party, and was elected by an overwhelming majority. He was returned to the Senate in 1872, and re-elected to the same honorable position in 1878. He assisted in organizing the Republican party in Iowa, attended-the first State convention of the party in the State, and has also been present at most of the conventions held here since. The Doctor has long been recognized as one of the strong men of the party, and has sustained this distinguished position through all the years of his active life. As a campaign orator he was forceful and eloquent, and to him is largely due the honor of bringing the prohibition amendment prominently before the people of the State, he being chairman of the committee which presented it to the Legislature. He then took the stump as an advocate for its passage, and has sustained every laudable effort to make it more effective in the later years. Few men have been more prominent or influential in the development of the State and in protecting her people with wise laws.

As a physician and surgeon Dr. Dashiell has always sustained an honorable distinction both at home and abroad. In extreme and dangerous cases his counsel is sought by the younger physicians of the city, as a dutiful child would advise and counsel with its father. He also enjoys another distinction-that of having served continuously on the Board of United States Pension Examiners since 1863. Prob- ably no other physician in Iowa has served as long a period. While the emoluments of this responsible position are not large, yet his con- tinuance therein is complimentary to him in every sense. If the pensioner and the Gov- ernment are satisfied, the examiner inust of necessity be a man of sound judgment, profes- sional skill and unquestioned honesty. The Doctor has also been prominent in the social orders, having served twenty consecutive years as the Master of the Masonic lodge at Hart- ford. He has also been prominently identified

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with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having attained to the highest degree in the order, and filled the various official stations in the subordinate lodge and encampment.

At Indianapolis, in 1851, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Louisiana, a daughter of Dr. S. F. Noble, a prominent phy- sician of that city. His brother was Governor of Indiana. She received a liberal education in her native city. Dr. and Mrs. Dashiell have had eleven children, namely: Mary Jane, wife of Mr. Spaulding, Secretary of the State Board of Pharmacy, and a resident of Des Moines; Jessie Benton, who had attained the age of twenty years, a bright and promising young lady, when she was called to her reward; Mar- tha, wife of Seigel Burberry, a merchant of Indianola; Noble, engaged in farming and stock- raising on land owned by his father near Indi- anola; Mark Antony, Jr., a medical student, and now attending medical college in Des Moines; and six children deceased in infancy.

The Dashiell family were generally given to long life, were of medium stature, though both extremes are represented, and followed pro- fessional pursuits. Dr. Dashiell is a man of medium stature, a fluent and easy talker, well posted on current topics, and especially inter- esting in reciting experiences of the pioneer days, not susceptible to flattery, and altogether a genial, companionable old gentleman, whose counterpart we do not often meet. Both he and his wife are prominently identified with the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a member from early manhood. He is inter- ested in the development of medical science, owns a well selected library of professional -works, and is a prominent member of the State, District and County Medical Associations, hav- ing served as president of the latter for two or three years. Since moving to Indianola in 1887, his practice has been largely confined to his office, although he still attends professional calls at seasonable times. A history of the prominent families of Warren county would certainly be incomplete without a sketch of this venerable pioneer, as he has been promi-

nently connected with the county in profes- sional, political, social and religious affairs for forty-two years. May he go down to a happy old age, and his life be an inspiration to strug- gling humanity in the generations to come.

ON. EBENEZER WILLIAMS HARTMAN, who has been closely identified with the interests of War- ren county for almost half a century, was born at Mansfield, Ohio, January 24, 1834, a son of John D. and Margaret (Parker) Hartman, natives of Pennsylvania. The par- ents were married in Ohio, whither they had accompanied their parents with the tide of Westward emigration. The father was a merchant at Mansfield until the time of his departure for the West, and after he located in Iowa he continued that occupation, to- gether with farming and the real-estate busi- ness. He entered Government land, and sub- sequently laid out a town upon a portion of his farm, which became the thriving village of Hartford, in the northeast corner of Warren county. There he erected the family home, which he maintained for many years, finally selling out and removing to California. In October, 1878, while on a visit to his children here, he was stricken with disease, and died at the home of our subject in Indianola. His wife, who was seventeen years his- junior, still lives with her son at Clarkson, and is now sev- enty-nine years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Hart- man were the parents of six children, namely: Ebenezer W., the subject of this sketch; William H., a farmer, merchant and Postmas- ter at Clarkson, Warren county; Sarah J., wife of Thomas J. Deacon, of Des Moines; David H., a successful agriculturist of Iron Mountain, Missouri; Vienna M., wife of James E. Deacon, a brother of Thomas J., and a resident of Napa, California; and one de- ceased in infancy. William H. and David H. each shouldered a musket and went to the front in defense of the Union during the late Civil war, and Ebenezer W. was rejected on

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physical examination when a candidate for like honors.

Ebenezer Williams Hartman accompanied his parents to Iowa before the State was ad- mitted to the Union, in August, 1846. At that time the Territory was not blessed with a "schoolhouse on every hilltop and a saloon in the valley," and the early education of our subject was somewhat limited. However, he attained a fair. knowledge of the elementary branches, to which, by careful systematic study, he has added a most thorough profes- sional education. He is also exceptionally well informed upon current events. Much of his life work is of a semi-public character. He learned the mercantile business with his fa- ther, and, on attaining his majority, estab- lished himself in business at Hartford, remain- ing there until 1862. Having been previously selected as Deputy Sheriff of Warren county, he then disposed of his stock of goods and moved his family to Indianola. Since coming to this city Mr. Hartman has devoted much of his time to public life. He served seven con- secutive years as Justice of the Peace in this city, held the position of Mayor for a time, and after its organization as a city of the sec- ond class he served nine years as City Clerk. In 1873 Mr. Hartman was admitted to the bar as a practicing attorney, and at once formed a partnership with Hon. Lewis Todhunter, which existed until the retirement from practice of the senior member of the firm. Mr. Hart- . man and his son Harry have a complete and valuable set of abstract books of Warren coun- ty, and their principal business at present is in the line of insurance, abstracting and loaning money.

For many years our subject has taken great interest in the principles of Odd Fellowship, and has been honored by the order as have but few. He has filled every position from the humblest in a subordinate lodge to the highest within the gift of the State, having filled most of the minor positions in the Grand Encamp- ment and Grand Lodge of Iowa, and has on two occasions attained the prominence of the

highest official stations in these grand bodies. Mr. Hartman was elected Grand Patriarch of Iowa, serving in 1870-1, following which he was twice elected to the office of Grand Represent- ative, meeting with and being a member of the Sovereign Grand Lodge at its meeting in Baltimore in 1873; at Atlanta, Georgia, in 1874; at Indianapolis in 1875, and at Phila- delphia in 1876. In 1887 the crowning glory of Odd Fellowship in Iowa was conferred upon him, in his selection as Grand Master. In 1890 he was again returned to the Sovereign Grand Lodge as Grand Representative of the Iowa Grand Lodge, attending the meeting at Topeka, Kansas, in 1890, and at St. Louis in the following year. No man in Iowa stands higher in the estimation of the brotherhood than does Past Grand Master Hartman. As a presiding officer he was always prompt, accu- rate and just. His decisions were never hasty, but always sustained by the law of the order; for, like the hero of old, he believed in the doc- trine, "Be sure you are right, then go ahead." His reports and addresses to the order always evinced thoughtful and careful preparation, and commanded the profound respect and consid- eration of his superiors in office. In politics Mr. Hartman is not aggressive, but has been a life-long Republican. In religious affairs he is an active and influential member of the Mis- sionary Baptist Church.

Mr. Hartman has been thrice married, his first wife being Miss Celia McKinney, a native of Ohio. They had two children: Charles Walton, of Los Angeles, California; and Hat- tie Maude, deceased in early childhood. A year after his removal to Indianola Mr. Hart- man was called to mourn the death of his wife. In 1864 he wedded Miss Sallie McKee, a native of Indiana, and they had three children: Es- tella A., at home; Ida E., deceased in young womanhood; and Harry H., who is now asso- ciated with his father in business. After four- teen years of happy wedded life the home was again invaded by the dread destroyer, death, and the wife and mother was removed. The present companion of Mr. Hartman was Mrs.

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Anna R. Dale, nec Sullenberger, a native of West Virginia. She had two sons by her for- mer marriage: Harry M., a practicing physi- cian of Indianola; and William A., a printer in Indiana.

R. DUNN is one of the honored pio- neers of Warren county, and a devout Christian gentleman, who is recognized throughout the community as one of the faithful laborers in the Lord's vineyard, furnishing an example to others well worthy of emulation. He was born on his father's farm in Greene county, Ohio, August 30, 1830, being the eldest of the seven children of Thomas and Hester (Benson) Dunn. The former was a native of Virginia, born in March, 1806. In 1831 he removed with his family to Warren county, Indiana. There thirteen years later his wife died, leaving him with a family of lit- tle children. Subsequently he wedded Miss Cynthia Berry, a native of Ohio. During the greater part of his life he carried on agricul- tural pursuits. In 1845 he determined to make his home in Green county, Wisconsin, then a wild and unimproved region, where he entered land from the Government, building a log cabin from timber which he cut on the place. His family numbered fourteen children, there being five survivors of the first marriage and five of the second. In order of birth they are as follows: J. R., of this sketch; Louise J., widow of James Grant, of Colorado; Emeline Rebecca, widow of Daniel Miller, and a resi- dent of Indianola, Iowa; William C., of Adel, Dallas county, Iowa; Charles W., of Warren county; Maggie, wife of Mr. Thornton, a well- known and properous merchant of Adel; Mar- tin L., who resides in Dallas county; Sylvester S., a farmer of Nodaway county, Missouri; Frank, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now located at Churdan, Iowa; and Baldwin, who is living with his brother Frank. The father of this family died in Dallas county, . Iowa, in February, 1885.

Our subject spent his early childhood in

Warren county, Indiana, and under the in- struction of Henry C. Benson began his educa- tion in a log school-house with slab seats and other primitive furniture. After the removal of the family to Wisconsin he again attended school, but the privileges of a pioneer region are not the best. He has, however, largely added to his store of knowledge by experience and observation, and is now well informed.

Mr. Dunn gave his father the benefit of his services and remained under the parental roof until his marriage to Miss Emily Thomas, the wedding being celebrated in the Methodist church, in Warren county, Indiana, in March, 1857. To them were born the following-named children: Virginia A., who was born March 29, 1858, and is the wife of William Shaw, a merchant of Milo; Florence D., who was born December 26, 1859, and died August 22, 1868; Thomas J., who was born May 9, 1862, and is living in Los Angeles, California; Charles P., who was born February 9, 1864, and is living in Squaw township, Warren county; Wallace, who was born February 3, 1866, and is a min- ister of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Alonzo, who was born September 3, 1868, and is engaged in mercantile pursuits in Milo.

In 1859 Mr. Dunn came to Warren county, purchasing eighty acres of land in White Breast township. There he made his home until 1864, when he purchased eighty acres of land on section 18, Belmont township. The farm now comprises 200 acres, and is well im- proved and under a high state of cultivation. . He has witnessed almost the entire development of this region, and has ever borne his part in the work of public improvement. His earnest and industrious labors have been blessed with a competence that has enabled him to provide his family with a comfortable home.

On the 2d of July, 1869, Mr. Dunn was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, a most estimable lady, who was born in Tennes- see, February 1, 1836. On the 18th of June, 1872, he wedded Miss Mary E. Burson, daugh- ter of Cyrus Burson, and a native of Loudoun county, Virginia. They have one child, Iver-

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son, who was born May 21, 1873, and is of great assistance to his father in the work of the farm, enabling Mr. Dunn to practically rest from all business cares in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former labors.

Our subject votes with the Republican party on matters of State and national importance, but at local elections is not bound by party ties. His first presidential vote was cast for John C. Fremont. He has been a liberal con- tributor to all interests calculated to prove of public benefit, and he and his family are faith- ful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a man of deep religious con- victions, and in early life became a laborer in the Master's vineyard. He afterward, how- ever, went back to the world, but in 1857 he was married, and through the influence of his earnest Christian wife was again led back to the fold. As the years have passed, he has studied the Bible more and more, and is now devoting his life and service to the cause of Christianity.

C. FLINN, one of Belmont town- ship's earliest settlers, has been an eye witness of Warren county's de- velopment, has seen Milo grow from a wild prairie of waving grass to a city of beautiful homes, business blocks, free schools and churches, and has seen his adopted coun- try bound by bands of steel, and its bosom studded with telephone and telegraph poles. Few men are now left in Warren county who date an earlier settlement, or who have felt a greater pride in the continued prosperous growth of the county.

Mr. Flinn was born in Cass county, Illinois, January 20, 1830, a son of Josiah and Eliza- beth (Smith) Flinn. They were the parents of four children, -Nancy, widow of Andrew Bertram, who died in Jasper county, Iowa; Eveline Jane, deceased at the age of twenty- five years, was the wife of Jacob Schrader, who resides near Fort Scott, Kansas; W. C., the subject of this sketch; and Mary, deceased, was

the wife of John Lang, a farmer of north- eastern Kansas. The father, Josiah Flinn, was born in North Carolina, and was there mar- ried. They afterward located in Cass county, Illinois, when that section was a comparative wilderness. There he erected a small log cabin, in which our subject first saw the light of day. The father passed away there, and shortly afterward his widow married Joshua Ad- kins. She also buried her second husband, and had this grand old lady lived eight days longer she would have celebrated her ninetieth birth- day. She was a Christian woman, and for sixty years worshiped in church from her home where she had resided those many years.

W. C. Flinn, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the subscrip- tion schools of Cass county. In the fall of 1855 he emigrated to Warren county, Iowa, where he practically lived an isolated life for a number of years, his nearest neighbor having been a mile and a quarter distant. Not a stick of timber was on the place when he came here, but to-day he is surrounded by beautiful groves, and has a fine young orchard, having already outlived one. Although he has prac- tically paved his way to civilization, and has witnessed many trials and sorrows, joys and privations, Mr. Flinn is still apparently in the prime of life. He is a strict adherent of the Populist party.

January 10, 1851, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Mahala Joyce, a native of Ken- tucky and a daughter of Alexander Joyce. She accompanied her parents to Illinois when a child. Mr. and Mrs. Flinn have had ten children, namely: Josiah, of Lyons, Colorado; John, a farmer of Belmont township; William Henry, who has been an invalid for years, is at home; Mary, wife of Frank DeSandy, of Lyons, Colorado; Louisa, wife of James Johns, also of that city; Adeline, wife of Elisha Johns; Flor- ence, wife of Cyrus Duncan, engaged in farm- ing the home place; Charles, at home; Frank, deceased at the age of six months; and Amanda, who died at the age of fourteen months. Mr. Flinn is a member of the Freewill Baptist Church.

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J OHN D. SMITH, one of the well known young men of Belmont township, War- ren county, Iowa, and at present the popular Assessor of the township, is a native of this county, and has witnessed nearly the whole of its development. It was in Rich- land township and on the 23d of February, 1855, that he first saw the light of day, his parents being Jacob and Mary A. (Sypher) Smith, and he being the fourth in their family of nine children. Their names in order of birth are as follows: Martha A., wife of Na- than C. McDole, is a resident of Madison county, Iowa; Isaac L. died in Osborne county, Kansas, at the age of twenty-eight years; Sarah J., wife of G. W. Lewis, lives in Carlisle, Iowa; John D .; Samantha, who died at the age of four years; Harriet A., who died at the age of twenty-five, was the wife of William Park, of Polk county, Iowa; Willie, who died at the age of two years; Elizabeth D., who died . when three years old; and Ella M., wife of Isaac Halderman, lives in Richland township, War- ren county. Both the father and the mother were born in Summit county, Ohio. A monu- ment in Hartford cemetery, in Warren county, marks the last resting place of the mother, her death having occurred in 1871. She was a de- voted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and her whole life was such that it en- deared her to her family and to a large circle of friends.

On his father's farm John D. spent his boy- hood days, and in a log school-house on the Freel farm, and known as the Freel district, he received his education. This was one of the primitive school-houses of the vicinity and was furnished with slab seats and writing desks, and here our subject spent six months during each year until he was fourteen, after which he attended only during the winter months when he could not work on the farm. He early became familiar with the use of the plow, and, in fact, with every detail of the farm work, and he remained at home assisting his father until his twenty-third year. At that time he started out in life on his own responsi-

bility. The first year he had charge of a farm on sections 1 and 2, of Belmont township, and while cultivating this land boarded with Mr. N. C. McDole, who is now a resident of Madison county. The next year Mr. Smith went to Kansas, and with his father's aid purchased eighty acres of land in Mitchell county. He, however, did not remain long in the Sunflower State, and on his return to Warren county en- tered the coal fields, accepting a position at Ford as the local agent for the Watson Coal Company, of Des Moines. For three years he remained with this firm, and next went to Polk county and at Runnells spent one year as local agent for the Central Iowa Coal Com- pany, later known as the Runnells Coal Com- pany. Following his experience in the coal business, he worked at the carpenter's trade about two years in Warren county, and after this resumed farming. He purchased eighty acres of land on section 23, of Belmont town- ship, and in the fall of 1889 erected thereon a pretty cottage, in which he and his family have resided since the Ist of January, 1890. It was in January, 1886, that he purchased this land.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 81

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