USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 68
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In 1899 Doctor Harrington married Elizabeth S. Thompson, of Eldo- rado, Iowa, and a son, Hawley R., was born to them on October 6, 1900, this son now attending the Independent Order of Odd Fellows School at Mason City, Iowa. On March 15, 1902, Doctor Harrington suffered a great mis- fortune in the death of his wife.
The Doctor is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of Wadena, Iowa, of the Royal Neighbors and of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
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lows of Arlington, Iowa. To his professional ability and capacity is added an attractive personality and those characteristics which attract and make friends, for Doctor Harrington has a host of friends, not only in Wadena, but throughout the entire county. Politically he is a Democrat.
JOHN STANSBARY.
Among the prominent citizens of Fayette county who have had a large part in the development and upbuilding of this section of the state, none stand higher in the community than John Stansbary, who, though now re- tired from active participation in business activities, is still numbered among the representative citizens of the county. Mr. Stansbary was born in Mus- kingum county, Ohio, in 1841, the son of George and Margaret ( Welch) Stans- bary and the grandson of Isaiah Stansbary. Isaiah Stansbary, who was a slaveholder and lived twelve miles from Baltimore, Maryland, married in Ohio. Margaret Welch was a native of Pennsylvania. George and Margaret Stansbary were the parents of eleven children, of whom three died in early childhood ; the others, who are all living, are as follows: Mary, the wife of William Bennett and living near Elgin, this county; Edmona, the wife of George West, lived near West Union, this county, until recently, when they moved to South Dakota; Isaiah lives at Maynard, this county ; L. L. has lived in Fayette county most of his life ; Milliron lives in Sioux City, Iowa ; William J. lives near Los Angeles, California ; J. J. is in Montana ; John is the imme- diate subject of this sketch.
The subject remained in Muskingum county, Ohio, with his parents until he was about eight years old. In 1849 George Stansbary brought his family to Fayette county, locating near the present site of West Union. The only other settlers in that neighborhood then were William Wells and Jacob Smith ; also a man named Uri or Ory. The government land had not yet been opened to entry. All kinds of game was plentiful and the family larder did not lack for fresh meat. The nearest flouring mill was twenty-six miles dis- tant and Mrs. Stansbary's father was engaged in making barrels for this mill. Indians were still to be seen occasionally, though from that time forward they gave the settlers no trouble. When the Stansbarys first came they lived for about three weeks with William Wells. Mr. Uri had broken thirty acres of land and had erected a rude shack. Mr. Stansbary paid him for the improve- ments he had made and took his place, and the following year he also entered
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two hundred acres of government land near by. During that summer (1850) he helped to build the first house erected on the original plat of West Union, it being a log house owned by J. W. Rogers. What is now the court house square was then a wheat field. Four years after Mr. Stansbary obtained this land he sold at a big advance and then made a prospecting trip of several hundred miles, taking his family with him in two wagons. After looking the country carefully over, he decided that Fayette county was the equal if not the best that he had seen, and he returned to West Union. Soon afterward he bought four hundred acres of land in Illyria township about seven miles east of West Union, and there he lived until the spring of 1892, when he sold his farm and moved to Oelwein, where he spent his remaining days, dying March 3, 1897.
John Stansbary was reared on the home farm and remained with his parents until his marriage, in 1863, when he went to farming on his own ac- count in Illyria township, where he bought a farm of eighty acres. He was a hard worker and a good manager and was prospered, so that from time to time he was enabled to add to his landed possessions, eventually becoming the owner of five hundred acres of good land. After he had gotten a good start as a farmer, he became interested in the stock business, buying hogs and rais- ing cattle, which he shipped to the Chicago market. On the 23d of August, 1887, he moved to Oelwein, where he has since resided. He had for nearly a quarter of a century devoted himself indefatigably to business and had suc- ceeded in acquiring a fair competence, so that now he is enabled to enjoy that rest which he so richly earned. During the past four years he has spent the winters near Los Angeles, California. Mr. Stansbary assisted in the organization of the Aetna State Bank at Oelwein and was a member of the board of directors until 1909, when his continued absence in California led him to resign from that official position, though he still remains a stockholder in the institution. He now owns a one-hundred-acre farm in this county, and has four hundred acres of land located near Milner, Sargent county, North Dakota.
On March 25, 1863, Mr. Stansbary was united in marriage to Finette Hopkins, who was born in Boone county, Illinois, the daughter of Henry and Nancy (Hinman) Hopkins. Her father was born in New York state Decem- ber 5, 1814, and her mother in the same state April 1, 1823. After Mrs. Stansbary's birth her family moved to Wisconsin, where they remained until June, 1849, when they came to Iowa, locating near Lima, Fayette county. Her parents lived in this county until 1863, when they went to Pennsylvania, where they lived for several years, eventually moving to Phelps county, Mis-
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souri, where they spent their remaining days, the father dying July 20, 1879, and the mother February 23, 1887. To Mr. and Mrs. Stansbary three children have been born, of whom one, a daughter, died in infancy. James K., who owns and operates a farm about two and a half miles north of Fayette, mar- ried Addie Butler, daughter of Lorin Butler, and they are the parents of six children, namely : Beulah E., Lola F., Blanche, Bernice, Milan and Leland. Clara Belle is the wife of James Sykes, a traveling salesman living in Kansas City, and they have one daughter, Lillian. Besides their own children, Mr. and Mrs. Stansbary have an adopted son, Albert C., who is unmarried and lives in this county, being engaged in farming.
In matters political Mr. Stansbary has given his support to the Demo- cratic party, and served as justice of the peace for several years, eventually resigning the position. He was for six years a useful member of the Oelwein city council. In 1908 he was a delegate from Fayette county to the Demo- cratic state convention. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The story of Mr. Stansbary's success is short and simple, containing no exciting chapters, but in it lies one of the valuable secrets of the marked prosperity which it records, and his private and business life are pregnant with interest and incentive, no matter how lacking in dramatic action, for in it we find the record of an honorable and useful life, consistent with itself and its possibilities in every particular.
HON. JOHN D. SHAFFER.
Among the most conspicuous and widely known citizens of Fayette county in recent years is Hon. John D. Shaffer, who was born in Black Hawk county, Iowa, May 18, 1858. His father, Rev. Israel Shaffer, for many years an eminent minister of the United Brethren church, was a native of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and his mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary M. Schrock, was also born and reared in Pennsylvania. Israel Shaffer went to Illinois in 1847, locating in Stevenson county, where his marriage occurred three years later, and immediately thereafter he engaged actively in the work of the ministry of the Albright Methodist church, with which he became identified in early youth. Later he withdrew from that body and joined the church of the United Brethren, in which he soon rose to a posi- tion of prominence and influence and with which he labored very successfully as a minister during the remainder of his life. About ten years after his
J. J. Shaffer
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marriage, Reverend Shaffer moved to Black Hawk county, Iowa, where he soon engaged in missionary work, traveling over the vast thinly-settled prairies, visiting many localities and founding a number of churches, not a few of which are still in existence and among the most successful organiza- tions of the above denomination in the state.
As a preacher Reverend Shaffer possessed much more than ordinary ability, having been a master of assemblages, and his earnest presentations of the truths of the gospel, reinforced by superior gifts of exhortation and power of song, never failed to move his audiences and render his labors effective. No minister in Iowa has done more to build up the United Brethren church than he, having been an active and influential member from the year 1856 until his death, during which period he traveled twenty-five circuits besides serving some years as presiding elder, his last field of labor being the Fayette circuit, where he was called from the church militant to the church triumphant on December 11, 1883, dying from a stroke of apoplexy while engaged in the active duties of his holy office.
The family of Israel and Mary M. Shaffer consisted of the following children : Sylvester, who married Nancy Jane Albright and lives at Alma, Nebraska; Charles Luther, whose wife was Maria Ogle, after whose death he married Mrs. Isabel (Nichols) Jacquette, of Fayette county ; John D., of this review ; Emeline, wife of T. J. Capper ; Sarah J., wife of J. I. Phillips, and Ella, now Mrs. Samuel Greenley, of Elgin, the mother dying at the latter place in March of the year 1905.
John D. Shaffer spent his early life on his father's farm and while still young was taught those sterling principles of rectitude and honor which tend to well rounded character and upright manhood. His education was obtained in the public schools, supplemented by a partial course at Western Iowa College, after which he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, which, with stock raising, he has since followed with success such as few achieve. Since the year 1866 he has lived in Illyria township, Fayette county, and from that time to the present he has been active in all matters pertaining to the advancement of the community and influential in inaugurating and carrying forward important enterprises for the welfare of his fellowmen. In politics Mr. Shaffer has always been an uncompromising Republican and his time, talents and, when necessary, his means have been generously devoted to the maintenance of his party's principles and candidates. His intelligence and well-balanced judgment were early recognized by his neighbors and fellow citizens as peculiarly fitting him for positions of honor and trust and some years ago he was elected assessor of his township, in addition to which he also
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served six years as a member of the county board of supervisors. The ability displayed in these offices made him widely and favorably known as a man to be trusted with still more important public duties, hence in 1903 he was chosen to represent Fayette county in the General Assembly, serving with marked distinction in the thirtieth, thirty-first and thirty-second sessions of that body. As a legislator he took high rank among his colleagues and performed an important part in the work of the sessions with which he was connected. In addition to serving on a number of committees and taking an active inter- est in the general deliberations on the floor of the House, he championed several important bills which gave him wide publicity, among them being one governing the introduction of diseased cattle into the state, which was bitterly opposed by the packing-house interests, but which, after much con- tention and debate, was passed and is now a law.
Mr. Shaffer's legislative career was creditable to himself and highly satisfactory to his constituents and at the expiration of his term he retired from office with the confidence of his fellow citizens irrespective of political affiliations, men of all parties uniting in pronouncing him an able, creditable and in every respect honorable and upright public servant. As an agricul- turist he easily ranks among the most enterprising and successful of the locality in which he resides, his fine place of three hundred twenty-seven acres being one of the most beautiful and desirable rural homes in Illyria and comparing favorably with the best improved and most valuable farms in the county of Fayette. As indicated in a preceding paragraph, he devotes considerable attention to live stock and during the past twenty-five years he has been dealing quite extensively in the finer breeds of horses, making a specialty of the Percheron breed besides doing much to improve those for coach and general road purposes. He is also a recognized authority on Short- horn cattle, which he breeds and raises in large numbers, his flocks of Shrop- shire sheep and fine grade of Poland China swine attesting the interest he takes in making the stock business one of his principal sources of income. In addition to his home-farm, he owns a fine tract of land in Minnesota, which has increased very materially in value since coming into his possession, this with his other interests making him not only independent but one of the well-to-do men of his community.
Mr. Shaffer's domestic life dates from September 19, 1878, at which time he was married to Susan C. Robbins, whose parents, Francis K. and Chris- tina (Peters) Robbins, were among the early pioneers of Clayton county, Iowa, both dying in the year 1909. Of the eleven children born to this esti- mable old couple, the following are living, viz: Jerome, a prosperous farmer
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of Clayton county ; Mrs. Maloa McCrea, of Alberta, Canada; John C., a farmer and representative citizen of Fayette county ; Arvilla, widow of George Stamp, of Cedar Rapids; Mrs. Susan Shaffer, wife of the subject: Mrs. Irvin Crane, of Elkader, this state; Mrs. Amy Layton, of West Union : James, of Volga, Iowa, and Nora, wife of Edward Klingman, of Elgin.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer has been blessed with eight off- spring, namely: Mable, now Mrs. Harry Gilson, of Alma, Nebraska ; they have three children, Donald, Dorothy and George. Israel, the second in or- der of birth, married Bessie Richards and is the father of two children, La- Fonda and Ralph. John M., whose wife was formerly Inez Howard, lives on the home farm in Illyria township. Raymond W. married Nora Crane, of Elgin, and has three children, Herschel, Irvin and Virgil. Myrtle and Ethel are students at the Upper Iowa University, Hazel and Mary, the youngest, being still under the parental roof.
The subject and wife, together with their children, are respected mem- bers of the United Brethren church and manifest an active interest in the local society to which they belong. As a neighbor and citizen Mr. Shaffer is loyal to the last degree, and stands high in the esteem of all with whom he is acquainted. He is a gentleman of genial quality and of a charitable and forgiving disposition, generous in all of his impulses, and those who known him well assert that no worthy friend or cause ever applied or was presented to him in vain. His influence has ever been on the right side of every moral issue and he stands today a creditable representative of the successful Ameri- can farmer and enterprising man of affairs.
PETER HOEPFNER.
No people that go to make up our cosmopolitan civilization have better habits of life than those who came originally from the great German em- pire for they and their descendants are distinguished for their thrift and honesty, and these two qualities in the inhabitants of any country will in the end alone make that country great. When with these two qualities is coupled the other quality of sound sense, which all classes of these people seem to possess, there are afforded such qualities as will enrich any land and place it at the top of the countries of the world in the scale of elevated humanity, and the gentleman whose. name initiates this biographical review may well be proud of the fact that he belongs to this noble race of mankind.
Peter Hoepfner, a farmer of Center township, Fayette county, was born in Germany, October 6, 1852, the son of Jonas and Mary (Tim) Hoepfner,
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both born in Germany, where they grew to maturity and married and there the father worked at various things in an effort to make an honest living, until 1870, when he brought his family, consisting of wife, two sons and one daughter, to America and located at Naperville, Illinois, and there the father found employment at various lines of work, spending the latter part of his life with his sons. Jonas Hoepfner died in 1875, and his oldest son came to Fayette county, Iowa, locating in Banks township, where the parents died and where the son, mentioned above, farmed for many years.
Peter Hoepfner received his education in the fatherland, being eighteen years old when he came to the United States. He began life here by farming in Illinois until 1892 when he came to Iowa and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Center township, Fayette county, where he still resides and which he has under a fine state of cultivation and improvement, having erected a large and substantial barn and made other noticeable changes. He is a general farmer and stock raiser and has been very successful in his chosen line of work.
Mr. Hoepfner was married in 1876 to Louisa Schulty, who was born in Germany, the daughter of Herman and Christina (Saase) Schulty, who came to America in 1868, and located at Naperville, Illinois, and there followed farming until he retired to the village of Naperville. The following chil- dren have born to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Hoepfner: Minnie (deceased), Lewis, Augusta, Emma (deceased), Nellie, Mary, Herman, Liza, Fred, Lulu (deceased) and Peter.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoepfner are members of the Lutheran church, and in political matters he is a Democrat; he has been school director and road supervisor for many years, very conscientiously performing the duties of these offices, for he is always interested in whatever tends to the betterment of his community.
HERMANN HENRY PIEPER.
After a life of honor and industry, fraught with good deeds to his fel- low men, Hermann Henry Pieper, late of Windsor township, Fayette county, closed his earthly accounts and took up his work anew in the unseen world, leaving behind him an ample competence for his family, a host of warm friends and, what is to be admired most of all, a good name. Although an American by adoption only, he was loyal to our flag and institutions, just the same as he was in his native country, Germany, having been born in Hanover, September 29, 1835. He was reared on a farm and in June, 1870,
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when thirty-five years of age, he was married. The following year he grati- fied an ambition of long standing and came to America to try his fortune, going direct to Grant county, Wisconsin, where he spent ten years. In March, 1881, he came to Iowa, locating on the farm now owned by his heirs in Windsor township, Fayette county, one mile south of Hawkeye. He pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres at thirty-four dollars per acre, includ- ing crops, etc. It was owned by Mary Probst. He went in debt for most of the place and he had but little property when he first came; however, he brought a team from Wisconsin, and he had about five hundred dollars in German money to start on. This was worth only about seventy-five cents on the dollar in our money, but he was a man of great courage, good management and was not afraid of hard work, so he soon transformed the old and inade- quate buildings on the place to new and substantial ones, improved the farm in every way and soon had it paid for and making a nice living by general farming. He and his wife were both members of the Lutheran church.
Mr. Pieper had served as a soldier in Hanover under King George before leaving Germany, having been in the army eighteen months. Two of his brothers served in the Franco-Prussian war.
Hermann H. Pieper passed to his rest on May 17, 1889, leaving a widow and six children, the oldest of whom was John Henry, then nineteen years of age. From the age of fourteen he had assisted in caring for the family, which consisted of the following children: John Henry; Hermann F., a farmer in Windsor township; William H., who lives in Hawkeye, being a contractor and builder; Maria Louisa, who married C. A. Bruil and lives in Oelwein; August, who died when eight years old; Clara Wil- helmina, who died May 16, 1908, at the age of twenty-two years and six months, a student at the Cedar Rapids Business College.
John Henry Pieper was born October 20, 1871, in Germany, being but an infant when his parents brought him to America. He has remained with his mother and has devoted his attention to the farm since a mere lad and he has been very successful in farming and stock raising. He began plowing when so small that it was necessary for him to reach up to hold the handles. He has made numerous improvements on the place and erected the present comfortable and substantial home some ten years ago and in 1909 he erected a large and well arranged barn. Besides general farming, he is carrying on dairying, milking about fourteen cows, keeping an excellent grade of shorthorn stock.
Mr. Pieper has very ably served as secretary of the local school board for several years. He is also secretary of the threshing association, being a stockholder in the Mutual Threshing Company, composed of eleven farm-
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ers. Politically, he is a Democrat, and, religiously, a member of the Lu- theran church. His mother lives with him and he has always been very at- tentive to her every want, preferring to be free to care for her in her de- clining years rather than assume the responsibilities of the married state.
WILLIAM E. DAVIS.
The record of Mr. Davis is that of a man who by his own unaided efforts worked his way from a modest beginning to a position of comparative affluence and influence in the business world. His life has been of unceasing industry and perseverance and the honorable methods which he followed while actively engaged in business won for him the unbounded confidence of his fellow citizens of Maynard.
William E. Davis was born March 5, 1840, in Velyncwm, Cardiganshire, Wales, and is the son of Daniel and Elenore (James) Davis, both also natives of the same place. The father was a farmer there and in the year of the subject's birth the family came to America, the slow-going sailing vessel in which they took passage requiring three months for the voyage, which was characterized by much rough weather. They landed in New York city, where they remained a year, at the end of which time they went to Carbon- dale, Pennsylvania. Here for a year he was employed in the mines, at the end of which time he secured a farm of one hundred and nineteen acres in Susquehanna county. At the time he secured possession the land was almost entirely covered with timber. Mr. Davis put up a log cabin on this place and entered at once on the task of improving it. After putting in three years' hard labor at this task, he moved to Pittston, where he lived the ensuing three years. He then returned to the farm, where he lived until seventy-five years old, when he retired from active labor and in 1876 came to Iowa, locating at Maynard, Fayette county. His death occurred in 1877 at Hazleton. His wife had died in 1852. In political belief he was an old-line Whig and later a Republican. Religiously he was a member of the Congregational church. They were the parents of twelve children.
William E. was reared by his parents and educated in the public schools of Pennsylvania, completing his education in the Hartford University, Hart- ford, Pennsylvania, and Poughkeepsie, New York. After his marriage, in 1867, Mr. Davis located in Adams, Minnesota, where for six years he was engaged in the mercantile, grain and stock business. In the fall of 1873 he came to Maynard, Iowa, where he opened a general store, in connection with which he also conducted the grain and stock business, meeting with excellent success. Eventually he formed a partnership with S. P. Cushman, which as-
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sociation was continued for four years. Later he was in partnership with C. B. Rich for two years, at the end of which time he disposed of his inter- ests to John H. Wells. He then bought four hundred and twenty acres of land, part of which he afterwards sold, now being the owner of one hundred and eighty acres, all of which is located in Harlan township. He has for some time been practically retired from active business life and is now en- joying the fruits of his former years of earnest toil. He is literally a self- made man and during his active years he performed much hard labor, never sparing himself when he had an object in view. His business life was characterized by absolute integrity and the highest sense of honor, so that at all times he has enjoyed the confidence of all who have had dealings with him. He is widely known in Fayette county and enjoys a large circle of warm and loyal friends.
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