Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 87

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

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Ira D. grew up on his father's farm, spend- ing his summers in farm work and the winters in attending school at Adel until he was twenty-one. On attaining his majority he left home, went west and took contracts for shear- ing sheep, and in that way in one year made money enough to enable him to return to Iowa and attend college one year. At the close of the school year, his funds being exhausted, he returned to Colorado, where in eight months' time he earned enough to carry him through another college year. In the spring of 1879 he again went to Colorado, and the next fall

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and winter was a student at the State Uni- versity Medical College, Iowa City, from which institution he received his diploma March 3, 1880. Immediately after his graduation he came to Linden and opened an office for the practice of his profession, has worked up a fine practice, and has earned an enviable repu- tation as a skilled practitioner. The winter of 1885-6 he attended lectures at Bellevue Hos- pital Medical College in New York city, re- ceiving his degree from that noted institution March 15, 1886. Dr. Payne's parents from the first objected seriously to his studying medicine, it being their desire that he should enter the ministry, and for this reason he had many difficulties to overcome in securing his education and getting fairly started in his pro- fession; but notwithstanding all this he has pressed steadily onward and has reached the height of his ambition-that of becoming a physician of recognized ability and high repu- tation.

Dr. Payne was married March 16, 1883, to Miss Cora M. Patty, who was born and reared in Lynn township, Dallas county. They have two children: Paul Marvin, born April 26, 1884, and Mary Patty, born November 10, 1887.

Dr. Payne casts his franchise with the Re- publican party and takes a laudable interest in public affairs, but has no political aspirations, his whole time and attention being devoted to his profession. At this writing he is serving as Health Commissioner of Linn township.

ANIEL NELSON TICE, who has his abiding place on a farm on section IO, Union township, Dallas county, Iowa, is one of the best known and most highly respected men in this section of the State. A review of his life gives the fol- lowing facts :

Daniel Nelson Tice was born on his fa- ther's farm, in Chenango county, New York, May 10, 1835, the second in a family of four- teen children, his parents being Daniel and Delaney (Smith) Tice, both born and reared in

the Empire State, and of German origin. When he was eleven years of age his parents moved to Michigan and settled on a farm, which they purchased, and he remained with them until attaining his majority, when, in 1856, he left home and started West to make his own way in the world. Coming direct to Dallas county, Iowa, he here secured work as a farm hand near Redfield. Redfield at that time was known as Irish Town. After eighteen months spent at this place, he continued his way Westward to Jefferson county, Kansas, where the following summer he was employed in breaking sod. In the fall of 1858 he was a victim of the "gold fever," then so prevalent all over the country, and joined a party bound for Pike's Peak. This party, which was com- posed of fifty-five men, had twenty-five wagons and a suitable outfit and they were forty-two days in accomplishing their journey, the time being longer than was usually taken on account of their not knowing the trail and their conse- quent encounter with many difficulties. While in Colorado Mr. Tice bought a piece of land which is now occupied by some of the largest and finest business blocks in the great city of Denver. But at that time the outlook to him was anything but bright, and he was glad to trade his land for a ten-dollar gold piece and an old mule. Nobody at that time believed that the railroad would ever be extended as far west as Denver. Mr. Tice witnessed the ar- rival of the first mail that was ever delivered in Denver, and has good reason for remember- ing it, too, for it brought him the first letter he had received during his absence from home. Before leaving home he had told his father to . write to him and address the letter to Pike's Peak, and the letter thus addressed was deliv- ered to him in Denver four months after it was written. It may here be incidentally stated that the letter cost Mr. Tice two silver dollars.

In 1859 he returned to Kansas, and the following year was spent in farm work near Leavenworth. In 1858, before starting West, he and a man by the name of Homer E. Wood had purchased 160 acres of land in Colfax

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township, Dallas county, Iowa, and in 1860 they divided their land, and the subject of our sketch moved on to his portion. That same fall he took two wagonloads of flour down into Kansas for the famine-stricken people there. He continued his residence on his Dallas coun- ty farm, improving and cultivating the same, until 1862. In July of that year he returned to Leavenworth and hired out to the Govern- ment as a teamster, he was sent to Corinth, where he remained during the siege of that place. About this time he was taken seriously ill and returned to Kansas, where he lay help- less for a long time. This was at a country hotel three miles from Oskaloosa. After he was able to be up and around, he remained until he was fully recovered, and for the work he did during this time was paid by the pro- prietor at the rate of $18 per month. After this he made a trip to Michigan, spent a month in visiting there, after which he returned to Oskaloosa and shortly afterward to his farm near Redfield, Iowa, making the journey hither on a pony. In 1863 he bought an ad- joining forty acres, built another house, and had his father and mother come out from Michigan to live with him, his father having had financial reverses the previous year. Oc- tober 10, 1864, Mr. Tice was enrolled in Com- pany K, Fifteenth Iowa Regiment, as a sub- stitute for Dr. Rust, of Redfield, and was in the service from that time until he was honorably discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, July 24, 1865.

On his return from the army he made some improvements in his home, in anticipa- tion of "bringing home the bride." He was married in Ingham county, Michigan, January 31, 1866, to Miss Pernina Carpenter, a native of New York State and a descendant of En- glish and German ancestry, her father being of English extraction and her mother of German. They have two children: Ida J., born July 31, 1867, is the wife of L. F. Newhouse, the date of their marriage having been August 24, 1890: Mr. Newhouse is a prosperous young farmer and at this writing is serving as Road

Supervisor; Maggie, born April 15, 1870, was married October 16, 1887, to Eldon Coulter, a native of Indiana. Mr. Coulter died June 3, 1894, leaving his widow and a little son.

In 1876 Mr. Tice deeded to his father the forty acres upon which the parents lived, and sold the rest of his land and went to Arkansas with the intention of locating permanently in that State. He was disappointed, however, in some payments on his land and was com- pelled to return to Iowa. He then purchased 140 acres where he now lives, twenty acres of which he afterward sold, his present farm com- prising 120 acres. In 1888 he moved to Louis- iana, on account of the ill health of one of his daughters, and in that State bought a home- stead right fourteen miles from railroad or post-office, where he lived two years. During this time he was engaged in raising sugar-cane, rice and sweet potatoes. He returned in 1890 to his Dallas county farm, where he expects to spend the rest of his life. Here he is engaged in diversified farming, and feeds most of his grain to his stock.

Mr. Tice is a member of the G. A. R. Post, No. 43, of Redfield, maintains a membership in good standing in the Masonic order, and both he and his wife are consistent and active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Redfield. His political views are those advo- cated by the Republican party.

3 OEL H. ADAMS is one of the early pioneers of his locality, few men having witnessed more varied conditions or greater transformation than he, and only those whose hair has whitened on the bleak plains of Lucas county in the days before it was united in bands of steel can more readily portray these conditions. He has viewed the now beautiful city of Russell when there was noth- ing but high prairie grass. He was born in Oldham county, Kentucky, August 22, 1816, a son of Evan and Sarah (Schuler) Adams. His grandfather, Wharton Adams, crossed the ocean and found a home in Culpeper county,

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Virginia. James Ireland was residing with him when he was taken to the Culpeper Court- house and there received such atrocious pun- ishment for preaching the gospel. Wharton Adams was a member of the Baptist Church, and his death occurred in Oldham county. His wife preceded him to the grave by many years. Evan Adams, the father of our sub- ject, was born in Culpeper county, and served in the war of the Revolution, having been within a half day's walk of Cornwallis at the closing siege of that struggle. He was an old- time Whig, and was converted to the Baptist faith by the Rev. Ireland. He observed those doctrines throughout his life, and passed away in Bartholomew county, Indiana, November 19, 1841, having been laid to rest in the pretty little cemetery known as the Ebenezer church- yard, his wife being interred by his side. Mr. Adams was twice married and was the father of twenty children, eight by his first wife and twelve by the second.

Joel 'Adams, the eleventh of twelve chil- dren, six sons and six daughters, remained under the parental roof until his father's death, after which the estate was divided. Leaving his old homestead in 1843, he purchased a farm of sixty acres in the same neighborhood. On coming to Lucas county, Iowa, Mr. Adams secured & tract of land about five miles south of Chariton, his farm consisting of eighty acres of prairie and the same number of acres of timber. He erected a log cabin eighteen feet square, making a place for their beds above, and the one room below served as a kitchen, dining-room and parlor. Here Mr. Adams entertained the early travelers seeking homes in Iowa, and, amid joys and sorrows, trials and pleasures, the esteemed settler spent about eight years.

In his political relations, Mr. Adams has been a life-long Republican, and his first presidential vote was cast for William Henry Harrison. Although never seeking political preferment, he has been called upon to serve as Constable two years, as Supervisor both in this State and Indiana, and was elected Jus-

tice of the Peace, but would not qualify. Mr. Adams' life has been a busy one indeed from the early days on the bleak prairies, and his associations with conditions and affairs make him one of the eligible and desirable men to deserve recognition at the hands of the citizens of Lucas county. During his busy life he has been employed as a carpenter and a shoe- maker, and had made coffins as early as 1844. He still conducts an undertaking establish- ment.

Mr. Adams was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Threlkeld, born in Kentucky, Octo- ber 9, 1814, a daughter of Moses and Eliza- beth (Weekly) Threlkeld. She buried her mother in what is known as the Rag Town cemetery, the latter having attained her ninety- third year. Mrs. Adams' father died in Jack- son county, Indiana, many years ago. Mrs. Adams has celebrated her eighty-first birthday. She is a sweet-tempered Christian lady, has known little sickness, and has been a great helpmate to her honored husband. She has been somewhat afflicted with rheumatisın, and has sustained the loss of the use of her right limb.

.ON. LAFAYETTE YOUNG, pub- lisher and editor of the Daily Iowa Capital, Des Moines, Iowa, is a gen- tleman well known all over the State and is eminently deserving of biographical honors in this work.

He was born in Monroe county, Iowa, May 10, 1848, and the first eleven years of his life were spent on a farm and in attendance at the country schools. In 1859 he removed with his parents to Albia, the county seat, and in Janu- ary of the following year he became an ap- prentice to the trade of printer in an office owned by his brother. From that time until the present, a period of thirty-five years, he has been engaged in some work connected with printing. In 1866 he came to Des Moines and entered the employ of Mills & Company, a job printing firm. In 1868-9 he worked at his

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trade in St. Louis. During the year 1870 he was city editor of the Iowa State Register. In January, 1871, he removed to the new town of Atlantic, Cass county, which had shortly before been selected as the county seat, and there he established a weekly paper called the Tele- graph, which he edited for nearly twenty years. During all this time he took an active part in political matters, being an enthusiastic sup- porter of the Republican party and frequently making political speeches. In 1873, when only twenty-five years of age, he was chosen State Senator, for a term of four years, for the dis- trict composed of the counties of Cass, Adair, Adams and Union. He was the first native of the State ever elected to the office of State Senator. In 1877 he was re-elected, repre- senting Cass, Madison and Adair counties. At the end of this term he was not a candidate for re-election, but in 1885 he was again brought out as a candidate for Senator, this time to represent the district composed of Cass, Adair and Adams counties, and was elected. In 1889 he was unanimously renominated in the district composed of Cass and Shelby counties; but was defeated at the polls, the State going Democratic for the first time in forty years. In March, 1890, Mr. Young re- moved to Des Moines and purchased the Daily Iowa Capital, then a struggling, unsuccessful newspaper, which has since been made a pro- nounced success and has grown to be one of the great newspapers of the State. In 1893, in compliance with the earnest solicitation of his many friends, he made a campaign of one week for the Republican nomination for Gov- ernor, and in the race came out second to Mr. Jackson, who was nominated. The General Assembly of Iowa, in January, 1894, by an almost unanimous vote, elected Mr. Young State Binder for a term of two years, which office he now holds. In the various positions which he has held, his service has ever been characterized by strict fidelity, and as a news- paper man and citizen his life has ever been so conducted that he has won and maintained the confidence and respect of all.

Mr. Young was married in 1870 to Joseph- ine Bolton, of Jones county, Iowa, and they have three children, a daughter and two sons, the youngest being seventeen years of age (1895.)

ILLIAM HENRY FLEMING, asso- ciate editor of the Iowa Daily Cap- ital, Des Moines, Iowa, is a gentle- man who has had a broad experience in the journalistic field.

He was born in New York city, in the year 1833, and is a son of William and Margaret (Chambers) Fleming, both natives of Ireland, the father born in Waterford and the mother in county Fermanagh: Four sons and one daughter composed their family, and of this number two are now living: William H. and David D., the latter a resident of West Des Moines. William Fleming, the father of our subject, was by occupation a printer. He came to America about 1815 and settled in New York city, where he was married and where he passed the rest of his life. He died there July 26, 1845, at the age of about forty-three years. His wife survived him till May 26, 1874, when she died in Des Moines. She was an Episco- palian. Grandfather Fleming was a Scotch- man, was a sea captain for many years, lived to an advanced age and died in New York city. He and his wife were the parents of three sons and two daughters. Of the maternal grand- father of our subject, John Chambers, be it recorded that he was a native of the Emerald Isle, was a farmer by occupation, and emi- grated to America and located in New York city as the war of 1812 was beginning, being on the ocean when war was declared. In this conflict he was for a short time a participant.

William H. Fleming, whose name intro- duces this article, was reared in New York and received his early training partly in a private school, but mostly in Public School No. 7 of that city. At the age of fourteen he became an apprentice to the trade of printer in the office of John A. Gray, and subsequently he

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was in the employ of John F. Trow, who was connected with the city directory work for some years. After seven years spent with Mr. Trow, young Fleming came West, stopping first at Davenport, Scott county, Iowa, where he ac- cepted a position in the office of Luse & Coles. He remained in Scott county eleven years. Within that time he published a paper at Le Claire, Iowa, for three years. For one year he was city editor of the Davenport Gazette. Later he was clerk in the office of the Adju- tant-General of the State, and while in that position moved to Clinton. In January, 1867, he became Deputy Secretary of State under General Ed Wright, which position he held two years and three months, when he was tendered the position of private secretary to Governor Merrill, and continued in that office through successive terms until January, 1882, serving under Merrill, Carpenter, Kirkwood, Newbold and Gear. In 1882 he was invited by Captain Hull to find and compile the Federal census of Iowa and all the enumerations from 1836 until 1880, which he accomplished in a period of eighteen months. In 1883 Mr. Fleming purchased an interest in the Iowa Weekly Capital, and on the Ist of September of that year started the Daily Capital, but in January of the following year disposed of his interest in this publication, and-for some time thereafter was variously employed. In the campaign of 1884 he served as secretary of the State Republican Central Committee. In 1885 he was acting deputy Auditor of State. Dur- ing the following three or four years he was engaged in journalistic work, and in 1890-92 was secretary of the Iowa Building & Loan Association. In 1893 we find him serving as clerk of the commission which revised the reve- nue laws of the State. For a number of years, in connection with other employ- ment, he has been more or less engaged in journalistic work, writing for numerous publi- cations, and, as above stated, is now serving as associate editor of the Iowa Daily Capital.

Mr. Fleming has for years been deeply in- terested in temperance work, has been a mem-

ber of the Order of Good Templars thirty-six years, and has been honored with official posi- tion in the organization, serving five years as Grand Treasurer, and also filling the office of Grand Chief Templar. He is also a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in which he has served officially in the Grand Lodge. His religious views are those ad- vanced by the Universalists.

EORGE WEINY, who is a well-known and popular resident of Keosauqua, and who holds distinctive official pre- ferment as Sheriff of Van Buren coun- ty, is particularly worthy of representation in this volume, for he has practically passed his entire life in this county, with whose early progress and development his honored father was prominently concerned, while there is to be recorded to the credit of our subject him- self not only a business career of honor and in- tegrity, but a valiant and loyal service to the nation during the crucial epoch of the late war of the Rebellion.

Mr. Weiny dates his birth at Columbus, the capital city of the State of Ohio, on the 23d of August, 1839, his parents having been John and Sarah (Johnson) Weiny. The father was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1792, and for many years he was engaged in contracting and building, having been a man of exceptional ability. His marriage to Sarah Johnson was consummated in Pennsylvania, she having been a native of that State.

In 1830 John Weiny removed with his family to Columbus, Ohio, and he was there engaged in work at his trade until 1852, when he emigrated to the West, and located on a farm four iniles west of Lebanon, Van Buren county, Iowa, where he engaged in general farming; also finding much demand for his services as a builder, in which line he erected many buildings in all parts of the county. His death occurred on the homestead farm in 1872, his devoted wife having entered into eternal rest in 1860. Of their nine children

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our subject was the youngest, there having been five daughters and four sons. Of the number four brothers and two sisters still sur- vive: Henry is a resident of Columbus, Ohio; Lucy died in November, 1895; while the two remaining brothers and the other sister reside in Bloomfield, this State, namely: Sarah, Jo- seph, and John. The two brothers last men- tioned are successful contractors and builders.

George Weiny was but fourteen years of age at the time when he accompanied his par- ents on their removal to Iowa, and the re- mainder of his youthful days was passed on the homestead farm in Chequest township, this county, while he was incidentally afforded such educational advantages as were offered by the primitive district schools. He eventu- ally supplemented this discipline by a course of study in the Troy Academy, at Troy, Iowa. He was in the full vigor of his young manhood at the time when the dark shadow of civil war began to obscure the national horizon, and with the ardor of a leal and loyal nature he made ready to go forth in defense of the Union, enlisting as a member of Company E, Third Iowa Cavalry, under command of Colonel Cyrus Bussy. The regiment was sent to Mis- souri, and thence into Arkansas, where it par- ticipated in the battle at Moore's Mills as well as that at Pea Ridge. From Little Rock our subject returned home on a furlough, at the expiration of which he rejoined his regiment at . Memphis, Tennessee, whence they were par- ticipants in Price's famous raid, this service being continuous for 119 days and terminating at St. Louis, Missouri. Thence the command proceeded to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1864, and was finally ordered back to Benton Bar- racks, thence by rail to Cairo and on to Louis- ville, Kentucky, where the winter was passed. In the spring the regiment was ordered to Gravelly Spring, Alabama, and thence accom- panied General Wilson on the memorable raid through Alabama and Georgia, after which the Third Iowa Cavalry was stationed at Augusta, in the latter State, for the purpose of guarding the military posts. In June, 1865, they were

relieved by Eastern troops, and on August 9 of that year Mr. Weiny was mustered out of the Federal service, at Atlanta, Georgia.

Returning to his home, he turned his at- tention to carpentering and building, and in this vocation he continued until 1892, proving very successful in his efforts. He owns a fine farm of 120 acres in this county and this he rents, the place being under excellent cultiva- tion and well improved. In 1893 an acknowl- edgment of our subject's popularity and ster- ling worth was shown in his election to the responsible office as Sheriff of his county, in which capacity he has served with a high de- gree of efficiency and has done much to con- serve the ends of justice.

In his political allegiance Mr. Weiny is strongly arrayed in support of the Republican party and its principles, while in his fraternal relations he is a member of Fisher Post, No. 433, Grand Army of the Republic, at Milton, of which organization he served for one term as Commander.

In 1869 were celebrated the nuptials of Mr. Weiny and Miss Margaret A. Campbell, she being the daughter of Aaron S. Campbell, who became a resident of Van Buren county in 1865 .. The two children of this union are Frank E. and Mabel L. Our subject and his wife attend and give liberal support to the Congregational Church in Keosauqua, and are highly esteemed in local social circles.

EORGE EDMONDSON WALKER, attorney at law, of Waverly, Iowa, is one of the able representatives of the Iowa bar.

Our subject was born in New York city, October 14, 1837, being the son of Thomas E. and Ann (Thomas) Walker. He is descended from an honored ancestry. His mother was the eldest child of the late Philip E. Thomas, who was the first president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and also a leading merchant and phil- anthropist of Baltimore, Maryland; his father, Evan Thomas, was a member of the Colonial

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Convention of Maryland, which convened at the time of the war of the Revolution, and the latter was a direct descendant of Evan Thomas, who came from England with George Calvert, brother of Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, and founded the Maryland Colony.

Thomas Walker, the grandfather of our subject, was a very prominent merchant of New York city, and a son of Robert Walker, a native of Leeds, England, who came to America in 1765, locating in Philadelphia, in which city and in New York he established a very large mercantile house, which business was continued by his descendants until 1871. Thomas E. Walker, father of the subject of this review, was born in New York city, in 1798, and at a very early age entered his father's counting house, where his earnest ap- plication and his abilities, both natural and ac- quired, soon made him master of the business. On attaining his majority he went to England to represent the house of Thomas Walker & Sons in London, and there he remained for ten years, looking after the foreign affairs of their immense business. He then returned to his native land, and assumed charge of the estab- lishment in Philadelphia, and several years later he assumed the management of the New York house, while his brother John, who had been in charge there, went to Philadelphia. In 1855 the firm was dissolved, and the father of our subject turned his attention to banking and railroads. He had become a wealthy man, through inheritance and successful mercantile pursuits, and now invested his capital in the two lines of business noted. He became vice- president of the Illinois Central Railroad, trus- tee of the Cliicago & Rock Island Railroad, and a director and trustee of the Pennsylvania Rail- road. With other New York capitalists, he became largely interested in the railroad sys- tem of Iowa, which includes the Illinois Cen- tral and the branches of the Rock Island, and the representative of a large percentage of the English capital invested in American railroads at that time.

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Memorial and biographical record of Iowa, Part 87

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