USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. I > Part 62
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
650
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
Politically, Mr. Butler is a Republican. He has been a member of the school board and road supervisor for a number of years. Fraternally, he is a member of Baxter Camp No. 5642, Modern Woodmen of America, at Baxter, and Mrs. Butler is a member of Rainbow Camp No. 3448, Royal Neighbors of America, at Baxter, and she is a member of the Christian church at Eddy- ville. They advance every worthy cause and are well informed, keeping an excellent library and they enjoy the esteem of a wide circle of friends.
G. H. WARNER.
In the face of obstacles that would have utterly discouraged one of less stamina and determination, G. H. Warner, the well-known and successful real estate dealer of Newton, Jasper county, has won for himself not only a fair competency, but also the honest regard and esteem of those with whom he has for many years been associated. He has taken an abiding interest in the general welfare of his county and has aided in its development in every way possible and by his judicious course has won the friendship and good will of all classes.
Mr. Warner is a native of Scott county, Iowa, his birth having occurred there on November 28, 1865. He is the son of Frank and Ellen (Johnson) Warner, the father born in Germany and the mother in Ireland. Frank Warner emigrated to America when a young man and he came to Iowa about 1863 and devoted his life to farming, becoming well established here. His death occurred on April 18, 1910, at the age of sixty-nine years, his birth hav- ing occurred in August, 1831. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Frank Warner, namely: G. H. of this review; Frank W. lives on a farm in this county ; Anna J. is the wife of John A. Pulley and is living in Faribault county, Minnesota ; Ella died in young womanhood.
G. H. Warner spent his babyhood on the parental farm in Scott county, coming to Jasper county with his parents in the spring of 1868, when three years old and he has since made his home within her borders. The father located on a farm nine miles northeast of Newton and there G. H. spent his boyhood and youth, assisting in the general work on the place, attending the country schools during the winter months. When twenty-three years of age he began farming for himself, which he continued successfully up to the fall of 1899, when he came to Newton and engaged in the real estate business, which he is still conducting, having built up a very satisfactory patronage and
651
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
a rapidly growing business through his judicious management and honest dealings. He is the owner of considerable desirable land outside the state.
Mr. Warner was married on April 25, 1888, to Anna L. Miller, daughter of Joseph Miller, a highly respected citizen of this state, whither he moved from Illinois when Mrs. Warner was a baby, she having been born in the last named state, and she was reared and educated in Iowa. To Mr. Warner and wife one child has been born, Blanche, whose birth occurred on March 6, 1889.
Mr. Warner has always taken an abiding interest in public affairs and in 1908 he was appointed a member of the city council of Newton and in 1909 he was elected councilman-at-large on the Citizens' ticket. He is an enthusiastic city ownership advocate and he has done much for the general good of the town and vicinity since coming here. Fraternally, he belongs to the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen. . Mrs. Warner belongs to the Presbyterian church. Politically, Mr. Warner is an unswerving Demo- crat. He is well liked throughout the county as a result of his public spirit, his known honesty and his genial address.
JOHN S. HOLTZ.
A highly honored citizen of Newton, who has long had the interests of Jasper county at heart and whose career has been one of usefulness and char- acterized by lofty purpose, is John S. Holtz, for many years a leading farmer, but now living retired. He was born near Morristown, Belmont county, Ohio, October 14, 1838. He is the son of Jacob and Eleanor (Douglas) Holtz, the father a native of St. Clairsville, Belmont county, Ohio, while the mother was a native of Maryland. The former spent his life on a farm in Ohio, dying at the advanced age of ninety-three years, his wife reaching the age of ninety-two; they were a remarkable old couple and highly honored in their community. The Holtz family is of German stock, Grandfather Holtz having emigrated from Germany to the state of Pennsylvania, where he died at the age of seventy-three years. Great-grandmother Holtz reached the re- markable age of one hundred and three years. Fourteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Holtz, seven of whom are living : Otha W. is a practic- ing physician in Missouri; John S., of this review ; D. F., of Cambridge, Ohio, is a minister in the Methodist church; Earl D. is a Doctor of Divinity, a great lecturer and traveler, making his home at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where he has a church; J. M. is a practicing physician in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania;
652
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
Mrs. Caroline E. Bowles is a resident of Fairview, Ohio; Mrs. Mary Hood lives at Cambridge, Ohio.
John S. Holtz was reared on the home farm in Ohio and when but a boy he knew the meaning of hard work. He received a good common school edu- cation, and when the tocsin of war sounded, calling the loyal sons of the old flag to rally in its defense, he unhesitatingly offered his services, enlisting in Company K, Fifth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, in which he served nearly four years in a most faithful and gallant manner, participating in over one hun- dred battles and skirmishes, including Shiloh, Corinth, Iuka, Chattanooga and the numerous ones in the Atlanta campaign; he was with Sherman on his march to the sea and was also with him through the Carolinas, and he was taken prisoner near Fayetteville, North Carolina, and sent to Libby prison, where he remained only a few weeks, this having been about the close of the war. He received an honorable discharge at Columbus, Ohio. Two brothers were also in the Union army. Their father was an officer in the Ohio militia in his day.
John S. Holtz was married first on August 9, 1866, to Cora J. Richmond, who was born in Kentucky, but was reared in Iowa, and to this union seven children were born, namely: Ellen died when two years of age; Albert C. lives on a farm near Ira, Jasper county : William E. is a carpenter at Central City, Nebraska; Mrs. Florence Shrider, of Zanesville, Ohio; James B., of Boone, Iowa, where he is president and manager of a glove manufacturing concern; Effie died when one year old; Mrs. Beryl Gearhart lives near God- dard, Jasper county.
Mr. Holtz came to Jasper county at the close of the war in 1865 and settled north of Newton, where the village of Baxter is now located. After living there about ten years, he moved to Adair county, Iowa, where he im- proved two farms and lived seven years, then returned to near Baxter, Jasper county, again and there continued to reside until the spring of 1889, when he removed to northwestern Nebraska and there became the owner of four hun- dred and eighty acres. After living there seven years, he again returned to Jasper county, Iowa, locating in Newton, where he has since lived, with the exception of one trip made back to Nebraska for his wife's health. When he came back he rented a farm which he worked one year, then bought ten acres near Newton and went to gardening and raising small fruits, which he con- tinued for some time there, and then, about twelve years ago, he bought his present valuable place in Newton and he has continued in the gardening and small fruit business, having been very successful in this line of endeavor. He has a valuable and neatly kept place and has been very successful in whatever
653
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
he has turned his attention to, having always been a hard worker and a good manager.
Mr. Holtz was married in January, 1904, to Mrs. Ava Lloyd, who was born in Jasper county, Iowa, of a highly respected old family, and here she grew to maturity and was educated. Mr. and Mrs. Holtz are members of the Baptist church. He served as trustee of the church for ten years. He is in- dependent in politics, and is a member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a Prohibitionist.
Mr. Holtz is an interesting man to meet, genial. honest and kindly dis- posed. He talks entertainingly of the pioneer days in Jasper county and of the wonderful subsequent growth of the same. He has always been a keen observer. He had a personal acquaintance with Gen. U. S. Grant and has seen a large number of the great men of a former generation.
LEWIS D. REID.
Prominent among the business men of Jasper county is Lewis D. Reid, who was born July 18, 1860, in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, his father, DeWitt C. Reid, being a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, and his mother, Delia (Lewis) Reid, a native of Crawford county, Pennsylvania. The father died in Crawford county, in 1883, at the age of fifty-two years; the mother still lives, making her home with the subject of this review. Mr. Reid's father was a farmer and was quite a local politician in his day, being a Re- publican after the birth of that party in 1856. After the death of his father, Mr. Reid left his home in Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1884, coming at once to Newton, Jasper county, where he rented land and began farming, his mother coming with him. At the end of three years, he bought a farm of his own and continued thereon until 1896, when he sold it and came to town, engaging in the livery business. In this business he continued for five years, after which he opened a real estate and insurance business, which business he has continued in every since. He makes a specialty of farms and farm lands in Jasper county, and also deals quite extensively in Canadian land and south Minnesota lands, conducting excursion parties to these regions. Mr. Reid is one of the best judges of soil in the county and enjoys the confidence of all his neighbors and friends. Aside from his extensive dealings in lands, he deals considerably in city property values and general investments and conducts a general fire, tornado and lightning insurance business, his office being located at this time at No. 114 West McDonald street in the city of Newton.
654
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
Mr. Reid was united in marriage with Nettie R. Drake, daughter of Horace and Catherine (Berminghoff) Drake, in September, 1884, in Cam- bridge, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Reid's parents were both natives of Venango county, Pennsylvania. Her father died in 1906, and her mother in 1883. Mrs. Reid's grandfather, John Berminghoff, was a well known figure in the early history of the Pennsylvania oil fields, and was the victim of what was known at the time as the "Berminghoff Robbery," being robbed of over three hundred and sixty thousand dollars, which he was keeping in his house, not caring to trust the unstable "wild-cat" banks of that time, he having lost heavily by them on three occasions. The prime mover in this robbery was never caught. To Mr. and Mrs. Reid have been born six children, five of whom are living, one dying in infancy, named as follows : Lyle F., born De- cember 13, 1885, is a traveling musician and electrician with the Chase Theat- rical Company, with which company he has been connected for four years; Ida Pearl, born December 3, 1888, resides at home, and is toll operator at the Newton telephone exchange; George M., born January 21, 1894; Hazel L., born January 13, 1896; Gladys G., born August 1, 1902.
Mr. Reid is a member of Central Lodge No. 73. Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Newton, being also a member of the encampment and Uni- form Rank. Mrs. Reid is a member of the local Rebekah lodge and also member of the First Christian church of Newton, and the Ladies Aid Society. In politics Mr. Reid is a Republican.
L. T. HARMON.
The subject of this sketch is known to be a man of courage, self-reliance and of the utmost integrity of purpose, as a result of which he has, during his entire life, stood high in the estimation of his neighbors and friends and is therefore deserving of a place in this book.
L. T. Harmon was born in Jasper county, Iowa, July 28, 1866. He grew to manhood and was educated there and has always been identified with the agricultural interests of this and Marshall counties. He is the son of William Harmon, who married Mrs. Julia A. Miller-Mckeever, early settlers of Jasper county ; the father died in Jasper county and the mother in Dallas county. A. L. Harmon, twin brother of L. T., of this review, resides in Adel, Iowa ; J. A., another brother, died in Dallas county: M. J. lives in Adel: W. S. lives in Dallas county ; Ola May died at the age of nine years. The mother of these
655
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
children had the following children by her first marriage: B. A., of Des Moines ; D. A., of Mingo, Iowa; W. L. resides at Oswalt, Iowa; Amanda A. is deceased; Emma Beard, of Jasper county ; Samantha Humphrey, of Dallas county ; Evaline died in Dallas county ; J. H. is deceased ; Loretta died when eighteen years of age; S. H. lives in Kansas.
L. T. Harmon, of this review, was married on January 22, 1889, to Hat- tie Elizabeth Thompson, who was born in Clear Creek township, Jasper county, August 27, 1871, and there she grew to womanhood and attended school. Her father, Samuel Thompson, who was one of the carly settlers of Jasper county, was born in Venango county, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1830. When ten years of age he moved to Wayne county, Ohio, and remained there until 1851, when he moved to Jasper county, Iowa, and he has continued to live in this locality ever since, being now a resident of State Center township, Marshall county. His father, William Thompson, who was a "forty-niner," was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and he died in Iowa ; the mother, Margaret Morehead, also a native of Pennsylvania, died in Iowa. Samuel Thompson was third in a family of nine children. He was married in 1852 to Harriet Deeter, who died the following year, after which he married a sister of his first wife, Catherine H. Deeter, who was born in 1833 and died in Rhodes, Iowa. One child, Margaret Ellen Dodd, was born of the first union, her birth occurring on December 19, 1852; she is living in Jasper county. To the second union eleven children were born, namely : Mary Alulia McNorris lives at Valley Junction, Iowa ; Annis Capron is deceased ; Samuel lives at Olathe, Kansas ; Lillian Walker is deceased; Jennie Signs lives in Olathe, Kansas; Rose Hand lives in Colo, Iowa; Sadie Corbett lives at State Center, Iowa; John lives at Clyde, Iowa. The youngest son died in infancy ; Hattie Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Harmon, of this review.
Samuel Thompson owns a well improved farm of two hundred and twelve acres in Clear Creek township, Jasper county, Iowa. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in Company E, Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he served two years and eight months in the Army of the Potomac. He is one of the honored pioneers of Iowa, having come overland from Hancock county, Ohio. In 1860 he made an overland trip to Pike's Peak. He is now making his home with his daughter, Mrs. Corbett, of State Center.
Four sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. L. T. Harmon, of this review, namely : Ora C., born July 21, 1890, lives in Marshall county ; Clare G., born April 15, 1897, is with his parents on the farm; Leonidas B., born August 6, 1899; Russell A., born February 12, 1906. The eldest child was born in
656
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
Jasper county, the others in Marshall county, Ora C. having been born on the same farm on which his mother was born.
Politically, Mr. Harmon is a Democrat and he has been a member of the school board. He belongs to the Modern Brotherhood of America at Rhodes. The son, Ora C., belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America at Rhodes. Mrs. Harmon is a member of Crystal Chapter No. II, Order of the Eastern Star, at Rhodes.
MISS HANNAH NICHOLS.
The part women played in assisting the early settlers can not be under- estimated. By nature not as robust physically as their male companions, hardships and privations leaned more heavily upon them, but the women of that day who came with their husbands and families into the loneliness of what was then the wilderness or the wild trackless plains were equal to the occasion. The pioneer woman, whether married or single, helped dispel the gloom, to disseminate the sense of hopelessness which occasionally fell upon the settlers in their relentless labor. A woman of such caliber is Hannah Nichols, who can claim a wide acquaintance and a host of loyal friends throughout Jasper county, who, having passed her four score and sixth mile-stone, is an interesting link between the present and the rifle- bearing days of the first settler when hardships were the rule and pleasures the exception.
Miss Nichols, who is a member of the Fugard family and who is making her home with Noble J. Fugard, mentioned at length on another page of this volume, she being a sister of Mrs. Fugard's mother, was one of the very early settlers of Jasper county. She was born August 12, 1825, in Ottawa county, Ohio, and she was the daughter of John and Mary (McLoyd) Nichols, the father having been born in Virginia in 1790, and the mother's birth occurred in the same state in 1791. They came to Ohio in early youth and were married there, continuing to reside there until 1836, when they moved to Henry county, Indiana, where Mr. Nichols worked as a carpenter. In 1854 the family moved to Iowa and settled in Henry county at first and in the fall of that year they came to Buena Vista township, Jasper county, and bought one hundred and sixty acres just a mile north of Murphy, for which they paid fifteen dollars per acre for the prairie land and twenty dollars per acre for the timber land. At that time there were only five families in the township. The death of John Nichols occurred on December 22, 1855, his
-
-
MISS HANNAH NICHOLS AND LITTLE DAISY FUGARD
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTON LEMEK TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
657
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
widow surviving until June 18, 1870, both dying on the home farm which they had labored so assiduously to develop. There were seven children in their family, named as follows: Abigail, born July 1, 1816, died in early life; Nancy, born October 10, 1818, died in Jasper county, Iowa, in 1863; she was the wife of Joshua Delhorn; Amy, born June 26, 1821, died in child- hood; John, born October 7, 1822, died in 1901; Hannah, of this review; Mary, born May 1, 1828, died the following year; Rebecca, born October 15, 1831, died April 23, 1863 ; she was the mother of Mrs. Noble J. Fugard, mentioned above.
For the past eleven years Miss Nichols has made her home with Mr. Fugard and wife, the latter being her niece and they have been pleased to minister to her every want, but being hale and in possession of her faculties she is far from being a burden in her declining age, and is a woman of remarkable memory, consequently her reminiscences of pioneer days are interesting and instructive ; she is quite active. She lived on the same farm from 1854 to 1904, a half century, when the place was sold and she moved to town with the Fugard family. She has never married. Her life has been filled with good deeds and slie has always been known to have a very amiable and genial disposition which has endeared her to'all who have come into contact with her.
MARTIN L. LEWIS.
There are few people of Jasper county who have not heard of Martin L. Lewis, the subject of this sketch, and to know him is to realize the pleasure of knowing an honest, upright gentleman. He was born September 1, 1842, in Indiana, being the son of George and Eleanor (Ewing) Lewis, both natives of Ohio. The father died in Tazewell county, Illinois, June 1, 1853, at the age of forty-four years, and the mother at Stanford, McLain county, Illinois.
The father was a farmer and a man whose word was his bond, being a strict church member of the Baptist denomination. A few years after his marriage he moved from his birthplace in Indiana and engaged in farming, building a log cabin in the then wilderness. It was here that the subject of this sketch was born. Next the father removed to Tazewell county, Illinois, near the town of Washington, where he purchased sixty acres of land, which he farmed until his death. After the death of the father the mother remained on the land nineteen years, when she removed with her family to McLain county, Illinois, where she remained until she died. Mr. Lewis's mother was
(42)
658
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
a Baptist and a woman of rare courage and Christian virtue, striving in every way to inculcate the principles of honesty and industry in the minds of her growing children.
Mr. Lewis is one of seven children, five of whom survive, whose names are as follows: Mariah Gibson, aged seventy-six, widow of Elisha Gibson, who, with her children, resides upon a farm in Nebraska ; Robert Lewis, aged seventy-four, retired farmer, resides in Los Angeles, California, having been a Northern soldier during the great civil conflict; Mary Wade, wife of John Wade, died at the age of thirty years ; Martin L., subject of this sketch; Sarah Angenette Field, wife of Henry Field, died eighteen years prior to this writ- ing: Eleanor Small, wife of Millard Small, aged fifty-eight, resides in Deer Creek, Illinois; George Alvin, a retired farmer, residing in Moscow, Idaho, aged fifty-six.
It was in March, 1894, that the subject of this sketch came to Jasper coun- ty, settling upon a rented farm, where he remained ten years, farming and stock raising. After that he went back to Illinois, remaining one year, after which he returned to Newton and engaged in the manufacture and bottling of soft or temperance drinks, which business he still conducts, selling his products all over the United States. His son, Merton L., manager of the plant, in- vented the now famous "Cherry Blossom," a soft drink of unusual excellence which is being sold everywhere.
Mr. Lewis was married to Adelia Field, a native of Illinois, who died ten years later, while Mr. Lewis was living in Illinois. To this union were born three children: George B., agent for the Adams Express Company in Oskaloosa, Iowa; Daisy Martin, wife of Harry Martin, a farmer, residing near Monroe, in Jasper county ; Herbert, whose wife was Laura Swaub, is a jeweler in Sutton, Nebraska.
Subsequently Mr. Lewis was married to Emma Deal, daughter of John and Melvina (Eures) Deal, natives of Virginia. Mrs. Lewis died in Newton, March 26. 1909. To them were born three children, namely: Deal H., who married Catherine Livingston, resides in Jasper county ; Merton L., un- married, resides in Newton, being a partner with his father; Bessie Whitaker, wife of John Whitaker, a mail carrier, resides in Newton.
Mr. Lewis has at all times been a public-spirited citizen, having served five years as school director and five years as supervisor of roads in Fairview township. He is a charter member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Pine Tree Camp No. 394, of Sutton. Nebraska, at which place Mr. Lewis lived for six years prior to coming to Jasper county, being engaged in the livery business. In politics he is a Republican.
659
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
PHILIP KLING.
It is always an inspiring thing to learn something of a good man's his- tory. Life is so checkered and uncertain a thing that when we find an in- dividual who has at all times been clean and steadfast of purpose, and loyal and true to the best that was by nature his, it is a pure delight to tell of him. Such a man is Philip Kling, who resides as a retired fariner in Newton.
Philip Kling was born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, January 1, 1859, and came with his father to America in October, 1870, settling in St. Clair county, Illinois. Here the family . remained for three months, after which they removed to Jasper county, Iowa, where they have since remained. Two hundred acres of land were purchased in Elk Creek township in Jasper county. and with this holding they began farming and stock raising. Mr. Kling's father, John Kling, and his mother, Elizabeth (Rodth) Kling, were both natives of Germany and were splendid examples of the fine, hardy stock of that great empire. The father died in June, 1889, at the age of eighty-five. the mother in November, 1875, at the age of fifty-two.
Ten children in all came to America, all of whom are still living and all of whom own their own homes. Seven of them, including the subject of this sketch, reside in Jasper county. . They are: Adam J., who resides in Sully, this county, is a retired farmer; George, residing in Hickman, Nebraska, is a shoe merchant; Catherine Reinheimer, wife of George Reinheimer, a farmer residing in New Athens, Illinois; Margaret Hendricks, wife of Fred Hen- dricks, a farmer residing near Galesburg. Jasper county ; Henry resides in this county, near Kellogg, and is a prosperous farmer; John, residing in Jasper county, is a farmer ; Philip, the subject of this review, is a retired farmer living in Newton; Mary Sheen, wife of Daniel Sheen, resides on a farm near Shem- ington, Wisconsin : William J. resides on a farm in Jasper county ; Frederick, who resides in St. Louis, is employed in a wholesale house.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.