USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Past and present of Fayette County, Iowa, Volume II > Part 72
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In 1902 Mr. Baechler married Rosa Baumgardner, daughter of Benedict Baumgardner, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume. Three children have been born to them, Selma, John Alfred and Mebbert, who was born October 9, 1909 ..
Mr. and Mrs. Baechler are members of the Baptist church and are active- ly interested in the work which the church carries on. The parents of Mr. Baechler were charter members of the Baptist church of Elgin. Mr. Baech- ler is a Republican in politics, although he is not an office aspirant.
JOHN HOSFORD.
John Hosford, grandfather of Mrs. Hance Shipton, was born in Frank- lin county, New York, December 27, 1821, the son of John and Hepsy (Gil- bert) Hosford, his mother a native of Connecticut, his father of Vermont.
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John, senior, was drafted in the war of 1812 and was present at the battle of Lake Champlain. He farmed throughout life. John, junior, was one of ten children, and received a very limited education in New York. He began life as a farmer in New York, then in 1852 went to California, mined until the winter of 1853-4, which he spent in New York, and in May, 1854, came to Fayette county and located at Clermont, bringing with him his wife and one child. Here he built the first brick house in the township. For several years he was engaged in a grocery store, and from that got into general business. The quality of his support of the Republican party is shown by the fact that he has voted for every Republican candidate for president save one. For fifteen years he was the efficient justice of the peace for Clermont. He was married in New York in 1853, to Cload Martin and they were the par- ents of four children : Henry G., Dewitt Clinton, Ellen I. and Flora D. Mr. Hosford is one of the most respected citizens of his village, and is now one of the oldest. His declining years can be spent in the happy consciousness of a past life full of endeavor.
JACOB WHORLEY, SR.
On the 16th of December, 1816, in Menthal Brugg, canton Aargau, the beautiful vineyard region of Switzerland, Jacob Whorley was born. His par- ents dying in his seventh year, he was placed in the care of his grandmother. Under these adverse conditions, however, he secured a good education in the fatherland and was early christened and confirmed into the faith by the church of Martin Luther.
He proved to be a young man of abstemious habits, and was very ambi- tious to do something for himself in the world's battle for place. He, like many in the Old World, had heard of the opportunities in America, and in 1838 he emigrated, alone, to this country. At that time the voyage required at least a month, but stormy seas prolonged the journey to six weeks. Finally, he reached Utica, New York, armed with nothing but willing hands and a de- termination to better himself in any way possible.
He remained in this place four years, clerking much of the time. Then, attracted by the opening in the West, he again migrated and settled in Stoton, Wisconsin. Here he spent ten years, working, for the most part, at farm labor. He became acquainted there with many people who, in 1853, moved with him, by means of ox teams, to this part of Iowa.
Just previously, he had united in marriage with Eunice Bevins, who pre-
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JACOB WHORLEY.
FRED J. WHORLEY AND SON, JACOB WHORLEY, JR.
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ceded him in death eighteen years ago. Through this union seven children were born, three of whom died in early life, the remaining ones being Frank E., of West Union ; Luzette F., Frances G., and Fred J., of Hawkeye, the sub- ject of the following sketch. Seventeen years ago Mr. Whorley was again united in marriage with Mrs. Louisa Stebbins, who followed him within three days to the Great Beyond. They, together, spent these years in the home at Waucoma.
. Jacob Whorley became a successful farmer and for forty years lived on the old place, near Smoketown. He was one of the hardy pioneers who did much to transform the virgin prairie of this country into the present state of high value and productivity, and his departure is regretted deeply by his scores of old friends and neighbors who worked with him in this transformation. He was a true friend to all true to him. His example of constant industry was a benefit to many, and his bright disposition, even in his most mature years, was a matter of comment by all who knew him.
FRED J. WHORLEY.
Fred J. Whorley, the subject of this sketch, was born near Hawkeye, Fayette county, Iowa, in 1865. He was reared in Bethel township, on the old home farm where his birth occurred, and, excepting one year spent in Cali- fornia, he has always remained a resident of Fayette county. The old place is historically remarkable in that it was granted to Jacob Whorley by the fed- eral government in 1851 by a patent bearing the signature and seal of Millard Fillmore, then the thirteenth President of the United States. The improve- ments were originally made of stone taken from quarries on the place, and these unique buildings will continue to stand for generations because of their unusual construction. The place has recently received additional improve- ments which make it modern in every respect. It is now known as Fairview Farm.
Fred Whorley received his education in the local district school, and, adopting the life of a farmer, he remained such until the fall of 1899, when, at the request of his father, he moved to Waucoma to care for his aged par- ents. In 1910 he moved to Hawkeye, of which place he is now a resident.
In 1886 Mr. Whorley was united in marriage to Anna M. Kirkendall, who was born and reared in Eden township, Fayette county. Her father, John Kirkendall, was born in Pennsylvania, and her mother, Katheryn Ben-
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der, in Indiana. While Mrs. Whorley was yet an infant, her mother died. leaving the child to the care of Albert Lee and wife, the latter being the old- est sister of Mrs. Whorley. In 1897 Mr. and Mrs. Whorley informally adopted Harry E. Tullar, who was left an orphan at eight years of age. His mother may be remembered as Eva Peters, who for a number of years was a successful teacher in Fayette county. Harry was graduated from the Wau- coma high school in 1903. He has taught successively in the district schools of the county, in the grades at Waucoma and as principal at Westgate and later at Waucoma. He has attended Upper Iowa University, where he was prominent in debate and oratory. He later entered his present course in law at the State University of Iowa, where, in 1909, he was leader of the champion debate.
Jacob Whorley, their second boy, was born February 17, 1906, the re- markable feature of his birth being that his parents had been married twenty- two years at the time and his grandfather was ninety-two years old. Jacob is unusually bright and successfully sang in public at three years of age.
Fred Whorley has been a respected citizen wherever he has lived and has been a faithful member of the Odd Fellows for a number of years. He was a charter member of the Fayette County Automobile Club and has extensive business interests.
HANCE FRANKLIN SHIPTON.
To no one else can the life of any one have the same significance which it has for its possessor. No one else so completely knows our hopes and fears, our ambitions and our motives, the things which make life worth living. Nor can we judge by outward show the proper valuation to place on the life of a comparatively obscure farmer. In his community he may stand high above others,-even so his distinction is lost in the mass of others in the nation. But so is the distinction which the men acquire whom we judge greatest by our standards, but fleeting and evanescent, and perhaps in some truer test of character and worth than worldly distinction the plain farmers may over- balance them.
Hance Franklin Shipton was born in Fayette county, Iowa, on September 12, 1861, the son of Joseph Shipton, a native of Lincolnshire, England, and Sarah (Cummings) Shipton, a native of Canada, who came to Fayette county in 1851 and took up one hundred and sixty acres of government land which he farmed until his death, October 19, 1903, and where his wife died August
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13, 1895. He was one of the organizers of the Clermont Valley Creamery Company, established in 1890, and was its first treasurer. He was a Repub- lican, and an ardent member of the United Brethren church, in the work of which he was always very active. He was a man of strong and admirable Christian character. He was the father of nine children, four of whom are now living.
Hance Franklin Shipton was brought up on the farm he now owns and was, educated in the public schools of the county. He rented his father's farm for eighteen years, then bought it, and now has two hundred and forty acres. His farming has been general in character. When the creamery was organized he was a member of the building committee, was director for about three years, and in 1900 was made president of the company and has since held that office, discharging its duties in such a manner as to add greatly to the success of the undertaking. He is a Republican. In 1884 he was mar- ried to Bertha May Hosford, a native of Wisconsin, the daughter of Henry Hosford and Myra (Wason) Hosford. Ten children have been born to them : Joseph H., Ella N. (deceased), Myra S., T. Franklin, John B., Addie M., Ruth R., Harry R., Bertha and one who died in infancy. Mr. Shipton is ranked by all among the most prosperous and most progressive farmers of the county. His farm is one which attracts attention by the manner in which it is cultivated.
FRANK G. GEHRING.
Among the German immigrants who came over during the last quarter of the first half of the nineteenth century were the families of Gehring and Farvers. Josephine Farver came in 1852, when twenty-one years old, and secured employment in a coat and vest factory in New York. From there she came to Ohio and married Sebastian Kniel, who died about a year later, leav- ing a son named Charles, who is now a grocer in Elgin, Iowa. In 1856 Mrs. Kniel married George Gehring, who had come to Ohio when fourteen years old, with his parents, both of whom died in the Buckeye state. The father was a blacksmith. In 1857 Mr. and Mrs. George Gehring removed to Iowa and settled in Fayette county in the township of Illyria. Mr. Gehring bought a tract of one hundred and seventy acres of wild land, put in many years clearing and improving it and made his home on this place until his death by a stroke of lightning in 1869, which left his affairs in some confusion. He was a member of the German Lutheran church and active in all the affairs that
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lead to good citizenship. He had five sons and among them was Frank G. Gehring, who was born in Illyria township, Fayette county, Iowa, in 1859. He attended the district schools during his early youth and after his father's death assisted his mother in operating the farm until all the children were of age. When twenty-two years old, Frank G. Gehring engaged in the carpenter business and also ran a thresher during the seasons of harvest. In January, 1891, he entered the hardware business at Wadena as an individual, and oper- ated the same until 1892, when he traded for a farm in Illyria township. Dur- ing the succeeding years, ten in number, he was engaged in agricultural pur- suits on a farm of one hundred and ninety acres which he managed success- fully and profitably. He attempted no fancy farming, but contents himself with the regular routine of general farming and stock raising. In 1902 he erected at Elgin the comfortable home in which he has since resided. From 1903 to 1906 he was road foreman of the township of Pleasant Valley and during the next two years he was in the implement business. Of late he has confined himself to looking after his agricultural interests.
In 1891 Mr. Gehring married Mary, daughter of William and Sarah Kimpson, and they have two children : Alma, aged sixteen years, and William, aged twelve. Mrs. Gehring died November 10, 1908. Mr. Gehring is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Wood- men of America. He has always been an active member of the Republican party and one of the local leaders. He served for six years as assessor of Illyria township and at present is trustee of Pleasant Valley township.
J. H. STOLLE.
The Northwest has profited greatly by the Scandinavian immigration. . This stream that was destined to so greatly enrich western America, began flowing in about the middle of the last century, but did not reach the high tide until some years later. The influx was chiefly from Sweden, but Norway also contributed liberally. These people took part in the development of the Northwest during its formative period and their sturdy characters, industrious habits and economical dispositions left a strong impress on the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa. The Swedes or Norwegians entered the trades, in which their painstaking qualities always brought suc- cess. But most of them bought land and became farmers. Any one familiar with the Northwest will recall thousands of trim and well cultivated farms
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and neat homes, all due to years of hard work and good management of thrifty Scandinavians. They soon became features of the public life of their respective communities, taking active part in all progressive movements, after holding the offices and administering them with an economy and honesty that is second nature to these worthy people. Iowa was fortunate in getting her share of the virile people from northern Europe. Scarcely a county in the state but was well supplied and the names of thousands of farm owners will be found to possess a decidedly Norse flavor. Mainly, the Scandinavians came'over with limited means and often they had not a dollar after they reached their destinations. How they worked up from poor farm hands to become landowners on a larger scale was a mystery of their American associ- ates. The real secret was their saving faculty. No matter how small their wages, they always managed to lay by the principal part of them, which event- ually was judiciously invested in land.
This sketch deals with a typical family of the kind described above, whose descendants are now among the most respected and prosperous of Fayette county citizens. Hans Johnson Stolle, a native of Norway, after vainly trying to "catch on" satisfactorily in the country of his birth, finally decided to join the throng going to the land of promise beyond the sea. He had heard great stories of the opportunities and possibilities of the American Northwest, which was then being opened for settlement, and determined to try his fortunes in this promising land of hope for the poor. With his wife Sarah, he took ship a short time before the Civil war and landed in America when the storm clouds betokened the advent of that dreadful conflict. Direct- ing their course across the Mississippi, this little party eventually landed at Ossian, where the father worked by the day to support his family. Later they removed to Eldorado and then to the south part of Clermont township, where the elder Stolle became a farmer. In due course of time both father and mother passed away, leaving six children, of whom three are still living.
J. H. Stolle, one of this family, was born in Norway, November 15, 1861, and was an infant when his parents crossed the ocean. He obtained his edu- cation in the district schools, by attending irregularly during the winter and working in summer. From earliest boyhood he has made his own way, get- ting the hardest but most valuable of educations which comes from the life of a boy and man on a farm. At first he labored as a common farm hand, taking whatever job he could find and always attending it in such a way that his employer wanted to hire him again. But he had no idea of spending his life in drudgery and as early as 1882, when he was only twenty-one years old, we find him buying forty acres of land in Pleasant Valley township, contain-
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ing twenty-four acres of timber. He spent sixteen years on this small place, during which time he improved it greatly in many ways, including suitable buildings, fencing and other conveniences essential to up-to-date farms. In 1898 he purchased forty acres in Clermont township, then seventy-eight in Pleasant Valley township, then the one hundred and twenty acres where he now resides, in Pleasant Valley township, his postoffice being Elgin. Event- ually he purchased the eighty-eight acres on which his father had lived and one hundred and ninety-five acres north of West Union. He is now an ex- tensive land owner, as will be seen, and has prospered as the result of his hard work and skillful management. He gives all his attention to farming and has made his home place one of the most attractive in the county. He has always been fond of good livestock and keeps a fine grade of Shorthorn cattle. He is regarded as a model farmer and has the confidence of all his neighbors. The Stolle family for generations have been members of the Lutheran church and the present representatives of the name keep up this same denominational connection. On February II, 1891, Mr. Stolle mar- ried Helen Thorson and has five children, Hans, Alfred, Stella, Helen and Richard. They are people of quiet, unassuming manners, but those who visit their household find them hospitable and those who deal with them find them scrupulously honest.
THOMAS POWERS.
It is oftentimes considered by those in the habit of superficial thinking that the history of so-called great men only is worthy of preservation and that little merit exists among the masses to call forth the praises of the historian or the cheers and the appreciation of mankind. A greater mistake was never made. No man is great in all things and very few are great in many things. Many by a lucky stroke achieve lasting fame, who before that had no reputa- tion beyond the limits of their neighborhoods. It is not a history of the lucky stroke which benefits humanity most, but the long study and effort which made the lucky stroke possible. It is the preliminary work, the method, that serves as a guide for the success of others. Among those in this county who have achieved success along steady lines of action is the subject of this review.
Mr. Powers is a native of the township in which he now lives and was born on November 30, 1873. His parents were Matthew and Margaret (Phalen) Powers, the former born in Ireland in 1834 and the latter in Clay- ton county, Iowa, in 1844. Matthew Powers came to Fayette county in the
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latter fifties, and to Clermont township in 1865. To him and his wife were born ten children, of which number five are living. Mr. Powers was a suc- cessful farmer, having accumulated a fair amount of material property solely through his own efforts. He was a Democrat in political faith and a Catholic in religion. He was widely known because of his ability and sturdy integrity. He became the owner of seven hundred and twenty acres of land, which com- prised one of the finest estates in this part of the county. The deaths of this worthy couple occurred within a little more than two months of each other, both in 1900, the father on September 4th and the mother on June 29th.
Thomas Powers spent his boyhood days on the parental farmstead and attended the common schools of the neighborhood, receiving a good practical education. He has devoted his entire life to farming and his fine farm of one hundred and eighty-five acres in Clermont township is, under his wise man- agement, made the source of a comfortable income. The place is well im- proved and is practically all in cultivation, the general appearance of the place being creditable in every respect. Besides raising all the common crops, Mr. Powers gives some attention to the breeding and raising of livestock, in which he has uniformly met with fair success. He has been a hard worker, and this, combined with careful management, has been the contributing element to his success.
Since attaining his majority, Mr. Powers has consistently supported the Democratic party at the polls, believing the policy of that party as embodied in its platforms to be that best adapted to the interests of the common people. In religion he is a devoted member of the Catholic church, to which the mem- bers of his family also belong.
On February 13, 1901, Mr. Powers was happily married to Stella Devery, who was born at Clermont, this county, on September 20, 1877, the daughter of Owen and Anne (Curran) Devery. Owen Devery was born in Kings county, Ireland, in 1820, and his wife was born in Illinois in 1843, their union resulting in the birth of six children, all of whom are living. He was a farmer by vocation and in an early day he came to Fayette county and took up four hundred and eighty acres of government land. He died in 1876 and was survived many years by his widow, whose death occurred on February 8, 1894. To Mr. and Mrs. Powers have been born three children, Donald, deceased, Frank and James.
Mr. Powers has contributed to the prosperity of the community in which he lives, at the same time enhancing his own material welfare, and because of his straightforward actions, unquestioned integrity and ability he has won and retains the good opinion of all who know him.
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H. S. HADSELL, M. D.
No man, more deservedly than a doctor, stands high in a village com- munity. He is fitted by education and training to be a leader, his profession brings him into peculiar confidential relations with the people, and especially makes him familiar with their sorrows. No other profession demands so much of tact and sympathy, no other calls for senses so alert and reliable, for such well trained powers of observation and memory. For ages man has fought grim disease and slowly but surely is wresting ground from the foe. Cures are accomplished every day that would have been impossible a genera- tion ago, and miracles are done in the way of the prevention of disease. Even so, medical science is but in its beginnings and no field of research is more fascinating or more fruitful to the trained student.
H. S. Hadsell was born in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, January 10, 1852, the son of H. L. and Sophia (Richardson) Hadsell, natives. The first of the name coming to America was James Hadsell, a sea captain, who settled in Connecticut in 1736. From there some of his descendants removed to Pennsylvania, settling in or near the Wyoming valley, where one was killed at the Wyoming massacre during the Revolutionary war. From the Wyom- ing valley his paternal grandfather removed to Susquehanna county, in that state, where his father was born. His maternal grandfather was of Scotch descent, the family being pioneers of Harford, Pennsylvania, and one of them numbered among the nine original settlers of Harford, who came from eastern Massachusetts and bought a tract of land there. They established a seminary there, which now would be called a college, and Lyman Richardson, a great- uncle of H. S. Hadsell, was made president at its foundation. It was open to all students wishing admission. Doctor Hadsell is one of the few Ameri- cans who are so fortunate as to be able to trace their ancestry to Revolutionary soldiers, for quite a number of the Hadsells and the Richardsons were in the Revolution, some as officers.
The Doctor's father, a carpenter, came West in 1865. He had attempted to enlist in the army, but was rejected because of the loss of part of his hand. He located in Cedar Rapids with his family, consisting of his wife, one son and two daughters. He worked at his trade there for a year, then bought a farm in the north part of Linn county and farmed there until 1879, when he removed to Maynard, Iowa, where he lived with the Doctor, his wife dying there in 1882, and himself in December, 1902.
The Doctor attended college at Cedar Rapids, and later went to Beloit College at Beloit, Wisconsin, where he pursued a liberal arts course. He took
H. S. HADSELL, M. D.
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his first work in medicine at the University of Michigan, then practiced at Sumner and Maynard before finishing his course. He began practice in 1873 and graduated in 1882. After graduation he practiced at West Union for over two years, then went to Maynard, and came to Elgin in 1894, where he has since practiced. In 1875 he married Hettie L. Latimer, and to their union two children have been born, Harry, in 1877, and Fred, in 1880.
, Doctor Hadsell is a member of Silverleaf Lodge No. 518, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Unity Chapter No. 62, Royal Arch Masons, and of Langridge Commandery No. 47, Knights Templar. He is a member of the County, State and American Medical Associations, and of the board of . United States pension examiners of Fayette county. He is mayor of Elgin. He is deeply interested in his profession, consequently has been successful, and ranks high among the physicians of his section of the state. As a man, his standing is irreproachable.
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