USA > Iowa > Buena Vista County > Past and present of Buena Vista County, Iowa > Part 60
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THOMAS ROBERTS.
Situated a few miles north of Marathon, in Poland township, stands a commodious home nestled amid the trees that were planted there many years ago by the present owner. Thomas Roberts. It is the seat of a family where love is not imagined to be a selfish thing of the flesh, nor a childish demand to be served but where it is a fountain of unwearied ministries to its beloved. The family who occupy this home are numbered among the most valuied, prominent and honored residents of the county and Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are people who, by their blameless lives and purity of their motives, by genial disposition and kindly nature, are leaving their impress for good upon the community.
Mr. Roberts, a native of Oswego county, New York, was born December 27, 1841, and is of Welsh lineage. His parents. Tudr and Elizabeth (Jones)
THOMAS ROBERTS AND FAMILY
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HISTORY OF BUENA VISTA COUNTY
Roberts, were natives of Wales and in the year 1830 came to the United States. They resided for some time in New York and finally removed westward to Black Hawk county, Iowa, where their remaining days were passed. the father departing this life in 1866 when he was sixty-four years of age, while the mother died in 1892. This worthy couple were the parents of seven children, namely: Mary Jane, who died in childhood; Humphrey Tudr. who married Sarah Ellen Bird and lives in Arkansas City, Kansas; Elizabeth, who died in December. 1870; Thomas, of this review; Susan, who married Nathan Parish and is residing in Sae City, Iowa ; Mary J., who in 1870 became the wife of Clark Ravlin and died Deeember 8. 1876; and Olive. the wife of Thomas Humphrey. a resident of Marshalltown, Iowa.
Reared under the parental roof, Thomas Roberts was early trained to habits of industry, perseverance and integrity and in the course of time these have borne rich fruit in his life of usefulness and honor. He acquired his education in the public schools and gave to his father the benefit of his services on the home farm until twenty-one years of age, when. in answer to his country's call, he offered his services to the government, enlisting as a member of Company C, One Hundred and Tenth Regiment of New York Volunteers, under the command of Colonel D. C. Littlejohn. The regiment was assigned to duty with the Army of the Gulf and after a short stay at Baltimore was sent -o New Orleans, where they arrived on the twenty-first anniversary of Mi. Roberts' birth. He was all through the active service of the war from the time of his enlistment in 1862 until his honorable discharge, ombraeing a period of three years and one month.
Soon after Mr. Roberts returned from the war the family decided to try their fortunes in the middle west and in the latter part of February. 1866, arrived in Black Hawk county, Iowa, where they settled on a farm. Sixteen years were passed on that place, at the end of which time a removal was made to Buena Vista county. In 1881 Mr. Roberts purchased land in this county. but it was not until the following year that the family arrived and took possession of the farm. The locality in which they settled was still a frontier distriet in which the evidences of modern civilization were few. Their goods were shipped to Newell, Iowa, which at that time was the nearest railroad point, and from there were hanled by team to the farm. Mr. Roberts paid only six and a half dollars per aere for the land which is today a valuable and productive tract, owing to the care and labor which he has spent upon it and the unusual rise in value following the rapid settlement of the county. As his financial resources have inereased he has extended the boundaries of the place until he owns three hundred acres of as fine land as can be found in the country. He owns also three hundred and twenty acres in Clay county. Fowa. and a tract of valuable land in North Dakota and his property interests are the visible evidence of well directed thrift and energy.
On the 30th of December, 1869. occurred the most important event in the life of Mr. Roberts-his marriage to Miss Mary L. Landis, a daughter of Alexander and Delia (Bowman) Landis. both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. He was born in Landisburg. April 4. 1818. and his wife in Summit. November 12, 1826. They were married March 2. 1847. and the
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mother died in Pennsylvania, June 18, 1857. and after residing there until 1864, the father came to the west and now makes his home with Mr. Roberts at the advanced age of ninety-one years. In the maternal line the ancestry of the Landis family is traced back to a very early period. Hans Peter Summay was a Palatine Mennonite exile from Canton Aurgan, Switzerland. The name in Europe is writen Summe, which would indicate a French origin from the river or county Somme, in northern France, but judging from their religion and other characteristics of these people it is more likely that they were of the western exiles of Italy in the earlier history of the church and assumed the name of the place whereunto they escaped from their Italian expatriation .. Like many of the other Palatine Mennonites they became set- tlers of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. From our accounts the members of the family, to escape the relentless persecution, fled from Augan to Offenberg. in middle Baden, and on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV of France in 1665. they removed to Alsace for the same canse, and again on the cession of France upon the treaty of Ryswie in 1697, they removed to Holland for protection, becoming refugees under the rule of William of Orange or his successor, the people there enjoying religious freedom.
Leaving Rotterdam the exiled ancestor of the Summay family made his way to Plymouth, England, and thence sailed on the brigatine Richmond and Elizabeth, arriving in Philadelphia in 1733. Hans Peter Summay was accompanied by his wife and sons. Ilans Jacob, Hans Peter, Otto Fritz, Johannas and Hans Michial. If there were any daughter in the family the name was not given on the colonial records, nor is the name of the wife re- corded, but in a will executed by Hans Jacob Summay in 1761 he made provision for the maintenance of his wife and aged mother, which is proof that she came with him to America. On his arrival Hans Peter Summay joined the Mennonites in Lancaster county. They were the first settlers in the valleys of Pequea and Conestoga, leaving the fatherland at the beginning of the eighteenth century to find in the American wilderness a refuge from relentless persecution such as no other people have suffered and to gain peace and spiritual freedom among the red men that the bigotry and intolerance of civilized Europe would not allow them.
How or why the change of the spelling of the name occurred is not known, but it is no unusual thing for a surname to take a different form upon the change from one langnage to another. Some of the family went south, lo- eating on the Columbus river in North Carolina, where their descendants are still found, including Dr. Albert F. Summay, of Asheville, North Carolina. To the same family belongs the Rev. George Summay of Covington, Kentucky, while the Summays of Tennessee are also descendants of the same ancestry.
Johannes Simay long resided in Pennsylvania. His children were Abraham, John and Michial and the last named reared a family in southern Pennsylvania. The Rev. Abraham Summay, of Regenew, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, is a descendant and the Summays of Jo Daviess county, Illinois, sprang from the same branch.
ITans Jacob Summay, like most of the Palatine Mennonites with double names, was known in this country as Jacob. With his parents he settled
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in Graffdale, Erie county, Pennsylvania, purchased land and engaged in farming like his fellow exiles who, with strong arm and clear heads, hegan converting the wilderness into a rich agricultural district. Hans Jacob Summay married Barbara Roeland Bear, the widow of John Bear, and their children were John. Henry, Jacob. Susanna. Peter and Margaret. Jacob Summay and his wife both died at an old age and were laid to rest in the churchyard of the Graffdale Mennonite meetinghouse. Henry Summay their second son, died in 1783, leaving no children. Jacob, the third, married Margaret Maekly and to them were born three daughters and one son. Peter, the fourth son, wedded Mary Deitriek, and their children were John. Barbara. Peter, Jacob, Samuel, Daniel. Christian and Henry. The three eldest were mutes and lived upon a part of the old homestead and were buried with their parents and grandparents near the Graffdale meetinghouse. Jacob died in York county, Pennsylvania, at the age of ninety-four years, leaving a son and daughter who live in Indiana. Samuel died in Maryland, leaving no deseend- ants, and of Daniel there is no record. Christian Summay died in Virginia at the venerable age of ninety-seven years. The Rev. Christian Summay, of the reform church, is a son of Christian Summay. Jr., and their descendants live in Iowa.
While the ancestry of the Landis family cannot be traced back to so remote a period as the Summay family, it is definitely known that they have been represented in America from colonial days. for Henry Landis, the great- grandfather of Mrs. Roberts, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Landis, the parents of Mrs. Roberts, there were born the following named: Mary, born December 29. 1847, in Summit, Pennsylvania : Elizabeth, who was born December 2. 1849. and is the wife of H. P. Stanley, a resident of Nucla, Colorado ; Henry Nicholas, who was born February 17. 1852, and died October 20. 1854; Harriett, who was born August 29, 1854. and on the 4th of April. 1875, became the wife of J. M. Noyer of Wyoming, by whom she has one son and one daughter. After the death of his first wife, Alexander Landis married Rose Ann Marteeny. November 3. 1857, and the children born to them were: Charles II., who was born August 11, 1858, and died May 24, 1870; John F., who was born February 17, 1860. and died October 23, 1869; William A., who was born June 16, 1862. and was married to Ida Rock, who was born in 1857 and died in 1888; James S .. who was born January 28, 1865, in Waterloo, lowa. and married Lena Metcalf : Lester C., married Mabel McClelland ; Ephraim R., who was born December 4. 1870, in Black Hawk county, and married Nellie Barrett, making their home in Melrose, lowa; billy May, born May 23, 1872. and died June 21. 1881; and Sarah J., the wife of David Gibson. a resident of Waterloo, Iowa. Mrs. Gibson died July 13. 1907, in a railroad accident.
As the years passed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts was blessed with the following named sons and daughters: Tudr Landis, the eldest, born Feb- ruary 4, 1871. married Laura Stevens and is engaged in the real-estate business in Marathon, Iowa. Hugh E., born December 29, 1872, married Laura Griffiths and they reside at Storm Lake, lowa, with their four children : Clar- ence Errol, Cedric, Guy and Tressa Fay. Guy, the third son of Mr. and Mrs.
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Roberts. was born December 2. 1874, and married Hazel Davis, now making his home in Poland township. They have three children : Clarence Kenneth, Ruby Hortense and Osman Boyd. Humphrey, born in Black Hawk county, December 8. 1876, was married July 7, 1908, to Tura A. Hawk and resides in Marathon, Iowa. where he is engaged in merchandising. Thomas G., born September 1. 1880, is attending medical college in Des Moines. George 1., born April 24. 1883, is a missionary. He was sent out by the Methodist church and since November. 1907, has been located at Rhodesia, Africa. James B .. born May 20, 1884, is living at home. Coral, born August 5, 1886, is now a student in Ames, Iowa. Benjamin B., born November 13, 1888, is living at home.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Roberts is connected with Marathon Lodge, No. 417. I. O. O. F., and also belongs to James Miller Post, G. A. R .. of Mara- thon, taking an active interest in the welfare of his old army comrades. ITis political allegiance has always been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. The family hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
For forty years Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Roberts have journeyed along the great highway of life together. The path has not been one of continuous sunshine nor has it been all shadow. They have witnessed the many chang- ing scenes of life, have known its smiles and tears. its hopes and fears. They have known the happiness and sweet content of dear companionship, of well appointed lives ; the satisfaction of seeing their family of well trained ehildren grow up around them and who have taken their place in the world's work. Sometimes they have been summoned to part from some cherished one that they loved while grief sat supreme in the heart. yet they were ever sustained by an unfaltering trust in Him in whom they had believed. One has but to look into their kindly faves to see the spirit of gentleness there and to realize that theirs is a friendship that would be ever true and which would last be- yond the flight of years. Friendship is the tie that binds the world. While they have been blessed with much of the material wealth of earth, to their children and their children's children they will leave a more priceless heritage than all else besides- the benediction and blessing of a Christian home. The son who has gone out from this home as a soldier of the Cross to do battle for others in far away Africa and away from friends and loved ones, bearing the message of redeeming love to the darkened minds of earth, is the produet of such a home and there flows in his veins the blood that will prove the story of a noble ancestry and the love and training of Christian parents.
ALFRED A. WELLS.
Alfred A. Wells, owner of the Marathon Telephone Company and widely recognized as a representative and prosperous citizen of Buena Vista county, was born in Columbia county. Wisconsin, in 1861, his parents being Walter and Jane (Robinson) Wells, natives of Vermont and Liverpool, England. re-
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spectively. The father, who has now attained the age of eighty-four years, makes his home in Marathon.
The year 1870 witnessed the arrival of Alfred A. Wells in Buena Vista County, Iowa. When a young man he entered business circles as a dealer in grain lumber and coal, being a member of the firm of Wells Brothers, and was thus successfully engaged until 1894, when he disposed of the store and es- tablished the hardware business which he has since conducted. In 1898 he first became interested in telephone lines but subsequently sold out and in 1906 purchased and built the Marathon Telephone Company, of which he has been the owner to the present time. His connection with any undertaking insures a prosperous outcome of the same, for it is in his nature to earry for- ward to suceessful completion whatever he is associated with. He has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a careful man of business, and in his dealings is known for his prompt and honorable methods, which have won him the deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellowmen.
In 1900 Mr. Wells was united in marriage to Miss Mattie Todd, a daugh- ter or W. J. Todd, a native of Ohio. They now have six children : Willard L., Alfred Albert, Edward Anson, Mary Belle, Dorothy Agnes and Catherine Jane, all at home.
Mr. Wells is a stalwart republican in his political views, while fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His loyalty to the public good is above question, being continually manifest in his coopera- tion with various movements tending to promote the moral, intellectual and material welfare of the community. Ile has now made his home in this county for thirty-eight years and that his life has ever been an upright and honorable one is indicated by the fact that the associates of his boyhood and youth are still numbered among his stanch friends and admirers.
CARL J. BENNA.
Carl J. Benna, who owns and operates a valuable and well improved farm of eighty acres on section 12, Fairfield township, was born in Sweden on the 22d of January, 1870. His father, August Anderson, also a native of Sweden, followed the miller's trade in that country and after his emigration to the United States was employed on the railroad. His demise occurred at Calmar, Iowa, in 1871, soon after his arrival in the new world. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Matilda Johnson, was also born in Sweden and ae- companied him on his emigration to America. Unto Angust and Matilda (Johnson) Anderson were born two children: Carl J., of this review ; and Axel, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. These children took the name of their mother's second husband. Following the demise of August Anderson, his widow became the wife of Nels Benna, whose birth occurred in Sweden, May 20, 1836. In the year 1869 he crossed the Atlantic to the United States, locating in Illinois, where he worked on a farm for two years, on the expiration of which period he came to Buena Vista county. Iowa.
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and entered a claim of one hundred and sixty acres. This property he brought under a high state of cultivation and has since been the home of the family, his widow still residing thereon. As his financial resources inereased he added to his original purchase until he owned more than five hundred aeres at the time of his death, which occurred in Fairfield township in 1895. The estate is still undivided. It was in 1873 that Nels Benna wedded Mrs. Matilda Anderson, by whom he had the following children : Allen and Selma, both at home; Hilma, deceased; Sigird, the wife of Olaf Nelson, of Albert City; Gust, who is operating the home farm; Berthold, who has also passed away; and George, at home.
Carl J. Benna was brought by his parents to the United States, the family home being established in Calmar, lowa, and later accompanied his mother and stepfather on their removal to Buena Vista county. After attending the country schools he was a student in a graded school at Peterson, Iowa, for two terms, and in 1895 was graduated from the business department of Au- gustana College at Rock Island, Illinois. He then turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits, to which line of activity he has since devoted his time and energies, being widely recognized as a most progressive and enterprising farmer of Fairfield township. His place comprises eighty acres of rich and productive land and the many substantial improvements on the property stand as monuments to his thrift and well directed energy.
On the 13th of November, 1892, Mr. Benna was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Johnson. a daughter of Gustav and Matilda (Hard) Johnson. They have two children, Lillian and May, aged respectively four and three years.
Politically Mr. Benna is a stanch republican, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Swedish Lutheran church, with which his wife is also identified. Both Mr. and Mrs. Benna have ever displayed those sterling traits of character which in every land and clime awaken ad. miration and regard and they have many warm friends throughout their home community.
GEORGE M. SHERMAN.
Not the least valuable of the legacies left to a community by the citizens of an earlier generation are the sons who bear their names and maintain their standards by vigorous effort. Something of the iron of this courageous band has entered into the lives of their progeny. who though placed in different and less exacting circumstances fulfill their destiny with equally commendable zeal and ability. Belonging to this class is the subject of this sketch, George M. Sherman. lle comes from a pioneer family, his parents having braved the hardships and privations of the earlier days in western lowa and were among the advance gnard who paved the way for the present day advantages.
George M. Sherman was born in Calhou county, lowa, Angust 29, 1881. son of Eber B. and Sarah (Brown) Sherman, both natives of the Berkshire
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hills of Massachusetts. They came from Williamstown. Massachusetts to Calhoun county, Towa, in 1875 and here they passed through all the experiences of pioneer life. The father died July 23, 1908, aged seventy-one years. The mother now resides in Manson, lowa. The father was a farmer but for the last fourteen years of his life lived retired in Manson, Iowa.
George M. Sherman after attending the public schools for some years en- tered the high school at Manson, from which he was graduated, and then became a student of the Highland Park school at Des Moines, Iowa. After completing his course at this school he began learning the printer's trade in 1900 in Manson, remaining there about five years. After that he was em- ployed in different offices in Des Moines and Oklahoma City for a short time each. On November 1, 1907, he arrived in Sioux Rapids and in company with C. E. Ryder, became engaged in the newspaper business, and they are now the owners and publishers of the Republican Press.
Mr. Sherman is closely identified with the republican party in his political career. He is a member of Enterprise Lodge, No. 332. A. F. & A. M., of Sioux Rapids, and is one of the rising, progressive young men of the day.
HENRY ALBERT DANFORTH.
Henry Albert Danforth, who owns a well improved and valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Grant township, where he is successfully en- gaged in farming and stock-raising. was born in Livingston county, Illinois. November 15, 1881. The father Henry P. Danforth, was a native of Maine and when a child accompanied his parents on their removal to Woodford county, Illinois. His first wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Lanpher passed away in 1888 and he afterward married Lucy M. Scott, a native of Illinois. The record of his children is as follows: William L., a resident of Grant township; Henry Albert, of this review; and Leroy A., who makes his home in Illinois.
Henry Albert Danforth attended the district schools of his native state until sixteen years of age and then studied at Bloomington for a year, on the expiration of which period he returned to the home farm. On the 31st of December, 1902, he was united in marriage to Miss Carrie M. Kellar, whose birth occurred in Illinois, March 21, 1881, her parents being now deceased. Her brothers and sisters are : Dorothy, the wife of Homer J. Morrison; Mary, who is the wife of Walter A. Kesber; George, who is a street car conductor; and Harry, who is employed as a motorman by the street railway company. Our subject and his wife have one child, Edith A., whose natal day was November 7, 1905.
In February, 1903, Mr. Danforth came to Iowa, purchasing his present farm of one hundred and sixty aeres in Grant township, Buena Vista county, in the cultivation of which he has since been engaged. The fields annually return golden harvests in return for the care and labor which he bestows upon them and in the conduet of his agricultural interests he has gained a measure
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of prosperity which well entitles him to representation among the substantial and progressive farmers of the community.
Sinee age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Danforth has given his political allegiance to the republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America. His genial nature and upright. honorable manhood have gained him the esteem and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact and the circle of his friends is almost co-extensive with the circle of his acquaintances.
PAUL WINTHER.
Paul Winther, residing on section 23, Newell township, is the owner of a farm of three hundred acres and is an extensive breeder of stoek, making a specialty of the raising of polled Angus cattle. Denmark claims him among her native sons but no resident of Buena Vista county is more loyal to the interests of America and her institutions than Paul Winther. He was born in Vuxlev Sogn, May 4, 1842, his parents being Christian Kjarsgaard and Maria (Winther) Kjarsgaard, both of whom were natives of Denmark. The father was a farmer in Demark and there spent his entire life. The paternal grandfather was named Peterson and died in Denmark when well advanced in years. He had devoted his life to farming and gardening. The maternal grandfather was Ole Winther, who also followed farming in Denmark throughout his entire life. The death of Christian Kjarsgaard ocenrred in December, 1870, when he was seventy-five years of age and his wife passed away about eight years later when seventy-six years of age. He served his country as a soldier in the regular army for seven years. Both parents of our subject were Lutherans in religious faith. The father was twice married and by his first marriage had two children: Catharine, who is now the wife of Bek Toft ; and Metta, who is deceased. Paul Winther was one of a fam- ily of four sons and a daughter: Ole, who is living in Denmark; Peter, also of the same country; Nels, whose home is in Newell township; Paul, of this review; and Kerstina, the wife of Christ Jensen, of Denmark.
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