USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Past and present of Appanoose County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 16
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four children, Claudius C., Marian Mildred, Max and Neil. William Russell was born September 6, 1875, and died February 2, 1876. After the death of her husband Mrs. Baker moved to the home of her daughter, Mrs. William Miller, of Udell township, and there resided for one year, after which she sold her farm and purchased a residence in Unionville, where she now makes her home.
Mr. Baker was a firm democrat in his political beliefs and his religious views were in accord with the doctrines of the Missionary Baptist church, to which his wife also belonged. She has now, however, transferred her membership to the church in Unionville. Mr. Baker was for many years assessor of Udell township and school director of his home district. Frat- ernally he was affiliated with the Masonic lodge of Unionville and he was a diligent, enterprising and resourceful business man, whose labors along constructive lines brought substantial results. Whatever he under- took he carried forward to successful completion and became one of the most progressive factors in local affairs. His death occurred on the 28th of July, 1905, after a residence of over fifty years in this county. He was in all things loyal to high ideals, progressive in citizenship, able in business, and prized above all the companionship and regard of his wife and children. He was known throughout the community as an exemplary citizen.
PIERCE WILSON.
Among the residents of Centerville who at one time were closely asso- ciated with agricultural and coal-mining interests of the surrounding dis- tricts and who are now enjoying the fruits of their former toil is num- bered Pierce Wilson. He is a native of lowa and a son of one of its earliest and most prominent pioneers, and his entire life has been spent in the state where he makes his home. His birth occurred in Lee county. on May 23, 1852, his parents being Robert P. and Mahala (Harper) Wilson. The father was born in Cabell county, Virginia, on the 11th of July, 1813, and the mother in Pendleton county, in the same state, on May 12, 1820. The paternal branch of this family is of Scotch ancestry and has been for two generations in America. The mother is of German stock. her grand- parents having been born in the fatherland. Robert P. Wilson remained in what is now 'West Virginia until he grew to manhood and then moved to Wisconsin, where for a number of years he worked in the lead mines. In 1839 he came to Lee county, Iowa, among the early settlers in the
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state. He took up government land and in 1841 brought his young wife to live upon the farm. They remained there until 1847, in which year they came to Appanoose county and entered nine hundred acres of land in Lincoln township. After building a log cabin upon this property the father returned with his family to Lee county and there remained until 1852, when he made a permanent settlement in Appanoose county. From that time until his death he made substantial contributions to the develop- ment and advancement of this section of the state of lowa and when he passed away in 1896 his death was felt as a distinct public loss. In every relation of his life he was true to the obligations and responsi- bilities which rested upon him. He served his state faithfully in the Black Hawk war under General Henry Dodge and was for one term a repre- sentative in the lowa state legislature, displaying in his official life the same high courage and conscientiousness which marked his activities upon the battlefield. His wife died in 1894. She had come to Iowa with her uncle. Abe Hinkle, in 1838, having made the journey from West Vir- ginia on horseback. She remained a resident of this state until her demise.
Pierce Wilson acquired his education in the district schools of Appa- noose county and remained with his parents until his marriage, which occurred in 1879. In that year he purchased two hundred acres of land in Franklin township and made his home upon it. To this he later added three hundred adjoining acres and one hundred and twenty acres of his father's estate. The last tract was valuable coal land and is now leased to the Numa Block Coal Company. Upon the remaining portion of his farm Mr. Wilson resided until 1909 and during the period transformed it into a rich and productive property, supplied with modern equipment and accessory. In 1909 he rented the farm and moved into Centerville, where he has since resided.
In 1879 Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Sarah G. Hol- brook, a daughter of Luther R. and Mary A. (Mitchell) Holbrook, the former born in Tolland county, Connecticut, on the 27th of August. 1813. and the latter in New York state, February 3, 1814, both of old New England families. Their marriage occurred in 1838 and in the same year they removed to Lee county, Iowa, where the father entered a tract of government land, which he developed and improved until 1850. when he came to Appanoose county and took up a large tract in Pleasant town- ship, upon which he built the first log cabin on the prairie. In 1863 he changed the trend of his activities from general farming to the conduct of a nursery and he continued in that business for over twenty years, start- ing as a pioneer and becoming in time one of the leading representatives of this occupation. He remained upon his farm in Appanoose county until
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his death, which occurred in 1891. He had survived his wife for some time, her death having occurred in 1880. The wife of our subject is a native of Appanoose county, where she was born on the 27th of August, 1853. She was educated in the Centerville graded schools and supple- mented this by a two years' course in the Iowa State College at Ames. Previous to her marriage she taught in the public schools of her native county, doing able work for twenty terms. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson became the parents of three children. Mary was born in Appanoose county, Octo- ber 4, 1885, and is the wife of B. W. Crossley, a dairyman of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Both are graduates of the Iowa State College. Halle was born February 20, 1888, and is now in training at the Murray Hospital in Butte, Montana. The youngest child, Faye, was born March 28, 1892, and after completing the course in the Centerville high school, in 1911. entered the Iowa State College, taking a course in domestic science. Mrs. Wilson and all the children in this family are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Centerville.
Fraternally Mr. Wilson is affiliated with Centerville Lodge, No. 940. B. P. O. E., and in politics is a democrat. He has, however, never sought nor desired public office, although he is public-spirited in matters of citi- zenship and loyal in his support of progressive public measures. He is interested in the welfare of Centerville and as the years have gone by has won for himself a creditable position as a valued citizen and business man.
WILLARD JOSHUA FENTON, M. D.
Careful training and conscientious service in the practice of medicine has made Dr. Willard Joshua Fenton one of the leading physicians not only of Mystic but of Appanoose county. He was born in Lancaster. Missouri, February 1, 1881, and is a son of J. B. and Susan E. (Tucker) Fenton, both of whom were natives of Missouri, and now reside in Columbia, that state. Their entire lives have been passed in Missouri, where Mr. Fenton for many years followed farming but is now living retired. In the family were three children, of whom Dr. Fenton is the eldest, the others being: Oden L., also of Columbia; and Laura Campbell. who is doing post-graduate work at the State University of Missouri.
Dr. Fenton was reared at the place of his birth and in the acquirement of his education passed through consecutive grades in the public schools until graduated from the high school at Lancaster, with the class of 1900.
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He then entered the medical department of the Missouri State University, in which he spent one year, and further prepared for his chosen profession by study in the Keokuk College of Physicians &' Surgeons, from which he was graduated with the class of 1904. He then located for practice in Mystic, opening an office here in May, 1904, and in the intervening period of eight years he has successfully followed his profession, proving his capability as a factor in successfully combating disease. He is one of the local surgeons for the Milwaukee railroad and he is a member of the County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society and the Amer- ican Medical Association. His connection with the different medical societies keeps him in close touch with the advanced work that is being done by the profession, and he is quick to adopt new methods which his judgment sanctions as of vital worth and force in checking the ravages of disease. He has business interests aside from the practice of medicine. being now president of the Mystic Mutual Telephone Company. He is also local examiner for four of the leading insurance companies.
In June. 1903, Dr. Fenton was united in marriage to Miss Zilla Heaton, a native of Lancaster, Missouri, and a daughter of J. J. Heaton, a druggist of that place. They now have two children, Heaton J. and Dorothy M. Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. Dr. Fenton has supported the democratic party but manifests only a citizen's interest in politics, his time and attention being fully occupied by his professional duties, which are constantly growing in volume and import- ance. Dr. Fenton is a Mason and has taken the degrees of both the lodge and chapter. He also holds membership with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights and Ladies of Security, and both he and his wife are connected with the Eastern Star and with the Rebekahs. His acquaintance is wide and the opinion entertained for him by those who know him is most favorable. arising from his admirable personal qualities and his close adherence to high professional standards.
WILLIAM EDWARDS.
Among the honored veterans of the Civil war in Appanoose county appears the name of William Edwards, who for more than forty years has been identified with the agricultural and business interests of Moulton. Although the greater part of his life has been passed in Iowa, he is a native of Kentucky, having been born in Lauret county, that state, on the 19th
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of December, 1843. He is a son of William and Marilla (Elliott) Edwards, who are likewise natives of Kentucky, the father's birth having occurred in Laurel county on the 29th of January, 1811, while the mother's natal day was January 29, 1816. The Edwards family orig- inally came from Tennessee, but they were among the early pioneers of Kentucky, locating in Laurel county, where they took up some government land. There the grandfather, William Edwards, lived and died. Wil- liam and Marilla Edwards were reared and married in Kentucky, where they made their home until 1850, when they came to Iowa. They first settled in Van Buren county, but in the spring of 1851, they came to Ap- panoose county, and the father took up a tract of government land in Wells township .. He continued to increase his acreage from time to time until he owned about five hundred acres, a hundred and sixty of which was timber land. Upon retiring from active life he removed to Moulton, where he passed away. The mother is also deceased. Of their marriage were born nine children, one of whom, Andrew, died in infancy. The other members of the family were: Elizabeth, the widow of S. P. Elam, of Moulton ; James Wesley, a captain in Company B, Second Missouri Cavalry, who passed away in the Indian territory in the vicinity of Caney, Kansas, from injuries received in the service; Mary Ann, the deceased wife of Isaac A. Coffman, of Wheatland, Missouri; Lewis, a member of the lowa Home Guards during the Civil war, who is now residing in Erie, Kansas; Daniel, a member of a Missouri regiment during the Civil war, now residing in Moulton; William, our subject; Isaac C., a former resident of Appanoose county, who is deceased; and Matison S., who is more fully mentioned elsewhere in this work.
William Edwards was a lad of about seven years when he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Iowa, where he has ever since made his home. He obtained his education in the public schools and assisted with the cultivation of the home farm until the breaking out of the Civil war. When the first call came for troops he responded by enlisting for six months as a member of Company B. Second Missouri Cavalry, in which he was promoted to the rank of sergeant. At the expiration of his period of enlistment he reenlisted and remained at the front until the close of hostilities. He participated in many of the notable conflicts of the war, having been .present at Pierce's Mills. Kirksville, Cape Girardeau, Pilot Knob, Bloomfield, Hickory Ridge, and he also took part in the campaigns against Generals Marmaduke. Price and Quantrell. When mustered out he returned to Iowa and continued his education in the high school at Centerville, following which he taught for two terms. In 1870, he came to Moulton and engaged in buying, feeding and ship-
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ping cattle and hogs, in which business he has continued to engage winter and summer for forty-two years. He has met with more than an average degree of success and during the intervening years has acquired a valuable farm of three hundred and twenty acres located a half mile from Moulton. He engaged in the cultivation of this place until four years ago, when he turned it over to his son, and has since been devoting his entire attention to his stock business.
On the ist of January, 1867, Mr. Edwards was married to Miss Mary A. Floyd, a daughter of William and Martha (Storms) Floyd, natives of Laurel county, Kentucky. The family came to lowa about 1850, locating near Bloomfield, Davis county, where they resided for nearly fifteen years. At the expiration of that time they went to Hilltown, Iowa, and about 1870 they removed from there to Milan, Missouri. In 1880, they went to Peru, Kansas, where the mother continues to reside, but the father passed away in 1909. They had seven children, the second in order of birth being Mrs. Edwards. The others are as follows: Frank, who resides in Peru, Kansas; Jesse, who lives in Syracuse, Kansas; James, also of Peru; Addie, the wife of George Baker, of Caney, Kansas; Hattie, who married John Mertz, of Sedan, Kansas; and Effie, the wife of Claude Clements, of Peru. To Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were born nine children, three of whom are deceased: Belle, whose death occurred at the age of ten years; and two, who died in infancy. Those living are as follows: Ulysses, a farmer, who married Martha Black and is residing in Paw- huska, Oklahoma; Martha May, the wife of the Rev. George E. Tifft, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, located at Parsons, Kansas, and the mother of one child; Charles Wesley, a member of the United States navy for four years and a veteran of the Spanish-American war, having served on the Montgomery, who married Jessie Elam and has one child. now managing his father's farm; Clyde V., who married Carrie Knittle and has one child, a resident of Moulton; Clarence, a real-estate dealer at Ness City, Kansas, who married Nellie Baldridge and has one child; and James H., operating a farm near Moulton, who married Iva Gary and has two children. The wife and mother passed away on the 3d of March, 1898, and in 1901, Mr. Edwards was married to his present wife, whose maiden name was Maude M. Taylor. She is a daughter of Phineas and Susan M. Taylor, and is descended from one of the pioneer families of Appanoose county. The paternal grandfather, William Taylor, removed to this county from near Cleveland, Ohio, in the early '50s, and located in Washington township, where all of his children were born.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards express their religious belief through their con-
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nection with the Methodist Episcopal church with which he united in 1857. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has never figured prominently in political affairs, but served as justice of the peace and township trustce, discharging his duties in both capacities in a capable manner. He assisted in the organization and is a director of the Moulton State Savings Bank. Mr. Edwards has always led an active life, directing his undertakings with the foresight and sagacity which invariably bring success in any field of endeavor, and is numbered among the substantial citizens of his com- munity. His honesty of purpose, fidelity to duty and honorable method of conducting his transactions have won him the esteem and respect of his fellow townsmen and business associates, among whom he numbers many friends of long years' standing.
JOHN J. TAYLOR.
John J. Taylor, a prominent and influential resident of Udell, is engaged in business as a banker and farmer, owning five hundred and forty acres of well improved and valuable land. His birth occurred in Guernsey county, Ohio, on the 3d of June, 1861, his parents being King P. and Asenath (Cox) Taylor, who were of English and German descent respectively. The father was born in the northern part of North Carolina in 1815, while the mother's birth occurred in Guernsey county, Ohio. The paternal great-grandfather of our subject was a native of England and a Quaker. James Taylor, the grandfather, served in the Revolutionary war and was wounded in the battle of Brandywine, dying a few years later as a result of his injuries. King P. Taylor, the father of John J. Taylor, removed to Ohio with his widowed mother when a youth of eighteen, having lost his father in North Carolina when he was but eight- een months old. He was married in the Buckeye state and in 1865 removed to MeDonough county, Illinois, where he purchased land. In 1874 he took up his abode in Clarke county, Iowa, and purchased a farm of three hundred and sixty acres, continuing its operation until called to his final rest in 1891. The demise of his wife occurred in 1889. Both were devoted and consistent members of the Baptist church of Science Hill, in Clarke county, lowa.
John J. Taylor obtained his education in the district schools and when a youth of sixteen began teaching, acting as a public school instructor for two years and spending the summer seasons in the normal schools at
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Aurora, Illinois, and Valparaiso, Indiana. In 1880 he was elected prin- cipal of the high school at Murray, Clarke county, serving in that capacity for five years, at the end of which time he was chosen county superin- tendent of schools. In 1886 he resigned that position and removed to Broken Bow, Custer county, Nebraska, where he took charge of the public schools. In the fall of 1888 he went upon the road as traveling salesman for Harper Brothers, publishers of New York city, remaining in the service of that concern for one year. In 1889, because of the failing health of his parents, he returned home and took charge of the farm, con- tinuing its operation until after the death of both his father and mother. In 1900 the home place was sold and Mr. Taylor came to Udell, buying one hundred acres on section 17 and engaging in the real-estate business. In 1903 he purchased his present bank of R. P. Jordan and has since conducted the institution in a manner that has insured its continued growth and success. He has augmented his landed holdings by additional pur- chase and now owns five hundred and forty acres that yield him a gratify- ing annual income. Enterprising. alert and energetic. his undertakings both as a banker and agriculturist have been attended with prosperity and have won him a place among the leading and substantial citizens of the community.
In 1890 Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss Chastina Elliott, who was born in Illinois on the 25th of April, 1864, her parents being William and Sarah (Andrews) Elliott, natives of Ohio. William Elliott lost his father when a small boy. His mother was a school teacher. Re- moving to Oswego, Iowa, William Elliott purchased two hundred and forty acres of land and through its cultivation made sufficient money to educate his brothers and sisters. Sarah Andrews removed to Illinois about the same time and in that state gave her hand in marriage to William Elliott, and they resided on the same farm for fifty years. Prior to her marriage she had followed the profession of teaching. She passed away in Illinois, in 1907, but Mr. Elliott survives and makes his home with our subject. Mrs. Taylor was graduated from JJennings Seminary at Aurora, Illinois, in 1884, and prepared for the profession of teaching in Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana, acting as a teacher for three years altogether. In 1885 she went to Murray, Iowa, as principal of the high school at that place and the two following years served as school superintendent. She likewise taught in a summer school in Custer county, Nebraska, and was very successful as an educator, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge that she had acquired. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have four children. Isabella Asenath, who was born on the 31st of October, 1891, completed the high-school course at Des
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Moines in 1909, assisted her father in the bank for three years and is now editor of the Udell American. William King, whose birth occurred on the 6th of March, 1893, is a senior in the Centerville high school. Mary Ida, whose natal day was March 28, 1895, is a senior in the Des Moines high school. John Judson was born on the 6th of March, 1909.
Mr. Taylor has given his political allegiance to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to the blue lodge at Unionville, Appanoose county, and the commandery at Osceola, Clarke county. He is also a member of Lodge No. 713 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Udell, while his wife belongs to the Rebekah Lodge at that place. His religious faith is indicated by his affiliation with the Brethren church at Udell, to which his wife and children likewise belong .. What he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of the innate talents which are his and the directing of his efforts along lines where mature judgment is leading the way.
LINCOLN KNAPP.
Probably no man is better known throughout Appanoose county as a breeder of high-grade heavy draft horses than Lincoln Knapp, who has made his home in Centerville since 1881 and in the intervening years has become widely recognized as a progressive, able and resourceful business man. He is a native of Appanoose county, born August 22, 1861, and is a son of Jacob and Frances (Allen) Knapp, the former a native of Ohio, where his birth occurred May 3, 1827, and the latter of Massachusetts, born January 13, 1824. The father was of German ancestry and when he had reached maturity worked in his father's tannery in Madison county, Ohio, for some time. Later he learned the shoemaker's trade, but after his marriage, which occurred January 1, 1846, he went farther west, locating in Centerville, Appanoose county, where he purchased land. He bought forty acres, upon which a part of the city now stands, and there opened a shoe shop which he conducted for two years with gratifying
success. He invested the profits of this enterprise in five hundred acres of land in Chariton township and began farming and dealing in horses. Gradually he abandoned the general aspects of his agricultural pursuits and centered his attention upon horse breeding, becoming well known as an importer and raiser of heavy draft horses. Being a man of excellent training and with a gift for writing, he made his knowledge more truly
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effective by contributing many articles to the breeders' journals and gazettes. In 1881 he rented out his farm and returned to the city, buying twenty-four acres within the town limits. The property which he pur- chased was the old Waddington homestead, a beautiful, picturesque home built in the southern style of architecture and one of the largest houses in the city. The father of our subject took up his residence there and continued his horse-breeding business until his death, which occurred on the 6th of March, 1896. His widow resides in Independence township with her daughter, Mrs. D. O. Scott.
Lincoln Knapp acquired his education in the country schools in Chari- ton township and from his childhood was familiar with the principles of scientific stock-breeding. He remained on the farm with his father until 1881 and then accompanied his parents into the city, where he has lived continuously since that time. After his marriage, which occurred in 1882, he bought a home at No. 903 West Maple street and went into partner- ship with his father in the breeding of draft horses. After the death of Jacob Knapp his son carried forward the work which he had begun and now gives his entire attention to the breeding of Percheron horses. In this he has met with a success which is the natural result of his long familiarity with his business, his great natural ability and his scientific methods.
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