USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 55
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Union. Doctor Fuller became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at nineteen years of age and was an active member until his death, holding official positions, including Sunday school superintendent and Bible class teacher, during the active years of his life. We quote the following extract in reference to his death from the West Union Gasette :
"All Saturday forenoon Dr. Levi Fuller was in his office or on the street following the daily routine of his life in this community for nearly fifty years.
"At 3:30 Saturday afternoon, December 8, 1900, he was dead. Through the morning he complained of not feeling well and attributed his condition to indigestion, to which he was often subject. He was persuaded to not come up town after dinner, occupying the lounge in conversation with Mrs. W. E. Fuller. Suddenly, in the midst of the talk, with no warning, without a struggle, he ceased to breathe. The shock, followed by consternation and grief, which accompanied the announcement that 'Doctor Fuller is dead' was not confined to his family, stricken as they were, but extended to all. For the moment it seemed as if the crowded streets were paralyzed and as the news spread throughout the county there was everywhere a feeling of grief suggesting the thought of a general demonstration of mourning. So much was he loved, admired, venerated and respected."
JAMES ALEXANDER CLAXTON.
No business man in Fayette, Iowa, is regarded with higher favor than is the gentleman whose interesting life record is briefly outlined in the fol- lowing paragraphs, who, while looking to his own interests, does not neglect to discharge his duties in fostering the upbuilding of the community in general, and, by thus possessing the qualities that inspire confidence and which at the same time win, he is held in high esteem by all who know him.
James Alexander Claxton, president of the State Bank at Fayette, was born in Oswego county, New York, in 1854. He is the scion of influential and sterling ancestors on both sides of the house, being the son of Isaac and Margaret (Holmes ) Claxton. In 1864 his parents moved to Dunhamas Grove, Center township, Fayette county, Iowa, where the father bought a farm of two hundred and eight acres, lying on the dividing line of Westfield town- ship, and here, amid primitive conditions, he developed a fine farm and estab- lished a comfortable home, prospering by reason of arduous toil and good
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
management ; and here it was that James A. Claxton, his son, grew to sturdy manhood amid healthful outdoor environment, alternating farming in the summer months with schooling in the neighboring schools in the winter time. In that way he received a very serviceable education, but, being ambi- tious to enter the business world properly equipped, he took a commercial course in the Upper Iowa University, and two terms in the collegiate work of the same institution. After leaving the University he taught school for two terms, but not finding this line of endeavor exactly to his liking he returned to farming, which he then followed on his own account, owning a fine place of one hundred and twenty acres, managing the same in a very successful man- ner.
Mr. Claxton's domestic life began in 1879, when he formed a matri- monial alliance with Emma Elphick, a very estimable lady and the daughter of James and Martha Elphick. She was born near Whitewater, Rock county. Wisconsin, where she spent her early childhood, coming to Fayette county, Iowa, with her parents. The family she represented was highly honored both in Wisconsin and in this county. After his marriage Mr. Claxton con- tinued farming on his place in Center township.
On April 1, 1901, the Bank of Fayette was reorganized as a state bank and Mr. Claxton became a stockholder in the same and was elected vice-presi- dent of the institution. In 1903, Judge Hoyt, the president of the bank, died, and Mr. Claxton succeeded him as president, his innate business ability and his record as a straightforward, conscientious business man qualifying him for this place, the duties of which he has discharged with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of stockholders and patrons, the prestige of the institution having been greatly augmented with the succeeding years. In 1906, in order that he might more properly discharge his official duties to the bank and partly in order that his children might enjoy better school ad- vantages, Mr. Claxton gave up active farming and moved to Fayette, where he has an attractive home. This bank is safely and conservatively managed and is in a flourishing condition, having at this writing about three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars of deposits. The capital stock is forty thousand dollars and there is a surplus of sixteen thousand dollars.
Besides his interests in the Bank of Fayette, Mr. Claxton is also inter- ested in the bank at Randalia, Iowa. He and his wife are the parents of four interesting children, named as follows: Bessie, Robert, Forest and Bernice. The first named married Ralph Thompson and lives on the home place at Dunham's Grove. Robert took a four years' course in the Agricultural College at Ames, from which he was graduated with a very creditable record
JAMES W. McLEAN.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
in June, 1906, and for two years thereafter he managed a big stock farm near Toledo, Ohio. He is now in partnership with William McFadden, secretary of the Poland-China Record Association. He and Mr. McFadden have a large stock farm about twenty-five miles from Chicago. Robert married Sarah Harwood, the daughter of a prominent family.
Mr. Claxton and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
JAMES WHARTON McLEAN, M. D.
In one of the most exacting of all callings Dr. James Wharton McLean, of Fayette, Iowa, has attained distinction, being recognized as one of the most successful physicians in the county of Fayette. He is a well educated, sym- metrically developed man, his work as a professional man having brought him prominently to the notice of the public, the result of which is a great demand for his services throughout this locality, where a high standard of professional excellence is required. He is a gentleman of scholarly tastes and studious habits, keeps abreast of the times in advanced materia medica, and his general knowledge is broad and comprehensive, yet he is one of the most unassuming of men, plain, genial and generous. He is, in short, a worthy descendant of a distinguished and sterling ancestry which the genealogist is able to trace back to the fourteenth century, the numerous branches of this fine old family being traced back without a missing link to the old Scottish clan, Mcleans, who possessed, by charter, as early as 1390, a part of the island of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland. This clan traced its origin to one Gillean, who flour- ished about 1250 and is named as its first chief. From that time until the breaking up of the clan, the McLeans were led by a succession of brave and warlike chiefs, who often found it necessary to defend their rights or revenge their wrongs at the point of the sword. Each clan enjoyed, in large degree, sovereign rights until the disastrous battle of Culloden, April 16, 1746, when the Highland army was defeated by the English. One of the results of the English victory was the taking away of the veritable jurisdiction of the pro- prietors and investing it in the crown, and the abolishing of the Highland garb. These and other inimical acts destroyed the distinct existence of the clans and caused many to seek homes in other lands. The United States alone has some twenty thousand Scotch descendants by the name of McLean, many having won prominence as statesmen, authors, lawyers, doctors, sol- diers and divines.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA,
A man of unusual sterling characteristics and the benefactor of his race was the father of Dr. James W. McLean, of this review, the Rev. John McLean, who was born July 22, 1805. Having been reared in an exceptionally religious home, he was early impressed with the idea of expounding the teach- ings of the Nazarene, in whom he confessed faith as the redeemer of man- kind when sixteen years of age. When about twenty-three years of age he began the work of the ministry in the Methodist Episcopal church, being re- ceived on trial at the conference held in Salem, Pennsylvania, in 1828. His lack of early text-book training seems to have greatly distressed him tempera- mentally and he became a very arduous student, educating himself, becoming in due course of time a well informed man, possessing a full store of knowledge. In 1830 he was ordained a deacon at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and two years later at the conference held at Wellsburg, West Virginia, was made elder. After fourteen years connection with the Pittsburg conference, it was divided, and he was transferred to that part composing the Erie conference, thus be- coming identified with Methodism on the Western Reserve. In 1876 these conferences were made into three and Rev. Mr. McLean cast his lot with the Eastern Ohio conference. After a period of nearly half a century, forty-seven years of faithful and devoted service in the ministry, he took a superannuated relation and located in Canfield, Ohio, where his death occurred February 15, 1887. He was widely and favorably known in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio and accomplished an incalculable amount of good in those early days. Nothing deterred him from his work, storms, bad roads, deep snows, unbridged streams, physical ailments-nothing was allowed to stand in his way when there was an appointment to be filled or some one was in need of his services. He married Laura Pryor, a woman of rare beauty of character and strength of mind, and this union proved a most happy one ; she was a wo- man of positive character, as one illustration will suffice to indicate. During the pastorate of her husband at Wesleyville, a saloon was opened in the village in spite of protest and defiance of law, so Mrs. McLean, assisted by a score of other local women, proceeded to demolish the saloon and its contents with axes and hatchets, and although the proprietor of the place attempted to have the despoilers of his place of business prosecuted, the grand jury refused to indict them.
Eight children were born to this worthy pioneer couple, of whom Dr. James W., of this review, was the sixth in order of birth. He is a native of Ravenna, Portage county, Ohio, and the date of his birth is recorded as Novem- ber 13, 1843. He received a good education in the common schools, after which he attended the academy at Waterford, Pennsylvania, and the Western
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Reserve Seminary at West Farmington, Ohio. He showed his patriotism when the war between the states began by offering his services to the Union army, but was rejected on examination, much to his regret. In 1863 he emi- grated to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and began teaching in the graded schools of Montfort, Beetown and Peach Grove, also clerked about two years in a store at the last named town. In the meantime he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. J. B. Cory, surgeon of the Convalescent Hospital at Prairie du Chien. In 1865 and 1866 he took a course of medical lectures at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in 1869 graduated from Rush Medical College of Chicago. Thus well equipped for his chosen life work, he soon afterwards located at Volga City, where he successfully practiced for a period of ten years. In 1881 he removed to Fayette, this county, and formed a partnership with Dr. C. C. Parker, which continued until in October, 1903, when Dr. McLean withdrew from the partnership. In 1876 he took a special course at Long Island Hospital and in 1890 took a course at the Polyclinical School in Chicago. In 1876 he represented the Fayette County Medical Society at the centennial meeting of the American Medical Association, and also at a meeting of the State Medical Society. In the county organization he has held the positions of president, secretary and treasurer. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, having held the highest office in the local lodge, and he is a Knight Templar Mason. He has been master of the blue lodge, and high priest in the chapter-in fact, he has passed all the chairs in the Masonic order. He has been representative to the grand lodge and the grand chapter. Politically, he is a Republican, and for four years was coro- ner. Both he and his wife belong to the Methodist church, of which he is chairman of the board of stewards. He was for years a member of the board of trustees of the Upper Iowa University and of the town school board, hav- ing voluntarily withdrawn from both. He is a member of the county med- ical board of pension examiners and is local surgeon for the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railroad. Company. It will thus be seen that Doctor Mc- Lean takes an abiding interest in all the institutions that have for their object the improvement of society.
The domestic life of Doctor McLean began on October 22, 1871, when he was united in marriage with Anna E. Miller, a native of New York and a woman of education and culture. To this union five children have been born, namely : Hattie L. is teaching vocal music in the graded schools of Miles City, Montana, having previously graduated from the Upper Iowa University and afterwards taken special musical training in both Minneapolis and Chi- cago; she is regarded as an instructor of high merit; Lester W. is married,
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lives in Miles City, Montana, and is traveling salesman for the Cudahy Pack- ing Company : Dr. Ray A., who holds a degree of Bachelor of Science from the Upper Iowa University and a degree of Doctor of Medicine from the Iowa State University, is associated with his father in the practice of medicine at Fayette and is making an excellent start ; Harry A. is married and is devoting his time to music. piano tuning, band and orchestra instructor, and is a cor- netist of much more than average ability : John P., who lives at home, is mak- ing a specialty of drawing, sketching, painting and other art work in this line, and his work is of a high order.
Doctor McLean has dignified his every station in life with a charm that has constantly added to his personal worth and has discharged the duties of citizenship with the earnestness and loyalty characteristic of the true American. His popularity extends wherever he is known, and his probity of character is recognized by his fellow men, who are free in according to him proper con- ficence and esteem.
HON. CHRISTIAN MILLER.
Hon. Christian Miller, familiarly known as "Chris," is one of the most influential factors in the present business interests of Clermont. Unlike the man who has slipped noiselessly through the world, unheard of, unthought of, and living solely for his own selfish motives, this man has been seen; heard and felt in every branch of industry-every channel of human goodness and activ- ity has felt the force of his courage and manly powers.
Christian Miller, who was but a lad of nine summers when he came to our shores, was born in Bern, Switzerland, December 21, 1847, a son of Benedict Miller, a native of the same county, born June 12, 1813, and was one of four children. Benedict was the youngest in his parents' family. Rudolph, the second of the children, came to America in 1851, and the following year he took up his residence in Pleasant Valley township, Fayette county, Iowa. Christian continued farming in his native land, and Elizabeth is now the wife of Christian Duby, of Switzerland. By occupation Benedict Miller was a carpenter and later in life carried on an extensive building and contracting business. He married Magdalena Shank.
In the spring of 1856, Mr. Miller, with his family, consisting of wife and five children, crossed the Atlantic to America and on his arrival in this country at once came to Fayette county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm of seventy acres in Pleasant Valley township, near the home of his brother Rudolph, who
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A unos Le Millis
Christian Miller
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
had located here some four years previously. This farm he improved, but it was some years before the income was sufficient to keep his family, hence he engaged in work at his trade. As time passed he not only provided well for his family, but was able to lay up some for investment, and at length possessed two hundred and twenty-seven acres of good land, one-half of which was under cultivation with good buildings. In 1872 he sold his entire farm to his son Christian for the sum of four thousand dollars. On May 22, 1880, in the sixty-sixth year of her age, his wife died. In 1882, accompanied by his son Christian, he returned to Switzerland, where he spent several months, and while he was visiting the scenes of his boyhood days, and renewing old ac- quaintances, Christian made quite an extensive tour over Europe, visiting places of interest and historic note. They then returned to their home in their adopted land, after which Mr. Miller resided with his children until his death, which occurred February 7, 1893, aged almost eighty-two years.
Christian Miller is the fourth in a family of six children. John F., the eldest, is married and owns a fine farm of two hundred acres in Pleasant Valley township. He is a well-to-do citizen and an earnest worker in the German Baptist church of Elgin. Benedict, at the age of twenty-five years, went with his family to Green county, Wisconsin, where he engaged in farming and be- came an extensive dairyman. He was also the prime mover in establishing in that neighborhood a cheese factory, one of the first in that county. Leav- ing Wisconsin in 1882, he removed to Moody county, South Dakota, where he is now carrying on farming on a large scale, and is a recognized leader in all the progressive movements for the public welfare. His family consists of his wife and eight children. Anna Mary, the next younger child, in 1866 married Peter Lehman, of Elgin, Iowa, and died in 1885, leaving three children and her husband. Christian is the next younger in his parents' family. Mag- delena became the wife of Jacob Frautchy, a prominent, prosperous and enter- prising citizen who died on February 7. 1904.
Christian Miller continued on the old homestead farm, purchased from his father, until March, 1906, when he removed to the village of Clermont, where he already had many business interests to demand his personal attention. Among his land ownings, in which his sons are joint owners, he has in Fay- ette county over two thousand acres of highly cultivated and improved land, besides seven hundred acres in Alamakee county, Iowa, all of which farm lands are rented and carried on by members of his own family and tenants. Within this large possession there are almost five hundred acres of excellent timber land, of great use and value at this date. A portable mill is on it. The fırın of Christian Miller & Sons also owns the largest hardware store in Cler-
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FAYETTE COUNTY, IOWA.
mont and one of the most modern and extensive brick-making plants in north- eastern Iowa. At this plant, which is in the village limits of Clermont, red and white brick of the common grades are made, as well as hollow brick, hollow blocks, for building purposes, and tiling in great quantities. During the year 1909 there were made over three million brick, which product finds a ready market at various Iowa towns and cities, even as far away as central Iowa, Cedar Rapids and Independence. The quality of these brick make a ready sale and the plant is being constantly enlarged to meet the demand. During the last season, the Millers also shipped five hundred cars of sand and gravel for cement work. These brick and tile works are supplied with an excellent grade of clay (white and red) from eighty acres owned by the Millers.
In 1901, Christian Miller purchased the old pioneer mill known as the Brick City Mills-the old Governor Larrabee flouring mills, the history of which during the Civil war period is mentioned elsewhere in this work. It was operated by his son, John F., for several years, and then was furnished with new machinery, consisting of the improved sifter system of flour making. It was then operated by the Millers until the autumn of 1909 for general grinding purposes, but is now being converted into an electric lighting and power plant. By it the towns of Clermont and Elgin, with possibly other nearby cities and towns, will be furnished with light and power, a franchise being held with Ossian and Calmar. The Turkey river, upon which this mill site is situated, at this point has a water power "head" of from twelve to fourteen feet, and with two immense horizontal turbine water wheels and a Corliss engine, ample power will be supplied to carry out the enterprise. When remodeled, this milling plant will be able to run during the daytime the heavy machinery to operate the brick and tile plant and propel the flouring mill, while at night-time the waters of the same stream will run the electric plant, this being one of the most thoroughly modern as well as unique arrangements known of in the entire country.
Mr. Miller also owns several business houses and dwellings in Clermont, which command good rentals. Whether one views his milling plant, his mercan- tile house, his many farms, with their immense modern barns and farm houses, his hundreds of head of stock, his great brick and tile works, or other business interests, he is impressed with the thought of good business sagacity and an endless amount of hard work to bring all these vast interests to their present state of perfection.
Some men are born rich in worldly goods, but in the case of Mr. Miller he has worked his way up from the bottom rung of the ladder. He put in the years from the time he was a boy of fourteen to past eighteen years of age
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at breaking up the virgin soil of this county, with five and six yoke of oxen and a twenty-four-inch breaking plow, where cutting roots and grubs as large as a man's arm was no uncommon occurrence. He trapped and hunted and sold the furs and game, and with it bought his first live stock (a small calf) ; now he can count by the hundreds his fat cattle and swine. He not only worked with good hard muscle, but also used his brain-power, with which he was highly favored by nature. These combined elements have enabled him to succeed in his life's career.
Politically, Mr. Miller has ever voted the Republican ticket, having cast his first vote for Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in 1868. In 1898 and 1900 he was the representative from Fayette county in the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth General Assemblies, where he did most excellent work for his constituents, so much so that not one line of newspaper criticism was ever penned against his conduct as a law-maker. After the termination of his duties at the state cap- ital, he resumed his business routine at home, although he could have been elected state senator, but has respectfully declined further political honors at the hands of his friends and neighbors. His own business and the care and comfort of his family have been with him of paramount importance, and yet he is a firm supporter of all that is wise and excellent in the party of his choice.
For many years Mr. Miller has been a devoted, consistent member of the German Baptist church, as is also his excellent wife, both of whom have been true to the faith they profess, and have reared their interesting and suc- cessful family in the way that they should go, hence are an honor to their par- ents and reliable, good citizens. Their children all live within the county in which they were born, and are men and women possessed of excellent minds and hearts.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Christian Miller are as follows: (1) John F., born February 13, 1872, attended college at Rochester, New York, and now occupies the old homestead in Pleasant Valley township. He is mar- ried and has six children, Walter, Edna, Carl, Wilma, Ervin and Clara. (2) Mary, born June 13, 1874, married William Haas, of Fayette county, and now resides at Clermont, being interested in the electric light and milling busi- ness. They have one child, Herbert. (3) Christian C., born February 19, 1876, married Louise Hoffer, and they are the parents of one daughter, Grace. Christian C. is in company with his father in the various branches of his business, especially that of milling, and the electric light plant. He has been mayor of Clermont for several years, and as such gives the highest possible satisfaction. (4) Eddie M., born July 17, 1877, died November 23, 1879.
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(5) William B., born November 9, 1880, married Jessie Bracken, of this county, and lives in Pleasant Valley township; they have one child, Mildred. (6) Alfred E., born July 5, 1882, married Hulda Hoffer and resides in Cler- mont. He is associated with his father in the milling industry. (7) Anna M., born August 12, 1885, died October 2, 1888. (8) Clara H., born Novem- ber 11, 1887, married Otto Krueger, now farming in Pleasant Valley town- ship. (9) Meta M., born February 7, 1889, also farming in Pleasant Valley township. (10) Lillie, born December 13, 1893, died in infancy. Mrs. Miller is the daughter of Freiling Haus, a native of Switzerland who came to America in 1867 and settled in Pleasant Valley township. He was a cabinet maker. He died in 1889. Mrs. Miller's mother died in Switzerland.
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