USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. I > Part 70
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Mr. and Mrs. Lewis F. Schultz were married on January 1, 1874, and to this union six children have been born, namely: Joseph Christopher died in infancy ; William C H., the immediate subject of this sketch; Walter Albert Lewis, born March 8, 1876, died November 9, 1905, leaving a widow and one child, a daughter, who died the following year ; Lewis Martin, born June 24. 1878, is a farmer and resides in this county : Henry Fred Lewis, born April 12, 1882, is also a Jasper county farmer : John C., born May 9, 1885. resides in this county and is engaged in farming.
Lewis F. Schultz is a public spirited man and has held a number of local offices, covering many years, such as township clerk, trustee, assessor and justice of the peace, also supervisor of roads. He retired from active life in the spring of 1910, moving at that time to his commodious residence in Reasoner. He is prominent in the Knights of Pythias lodge and he and his wife belong to the German Lutheran church. They are both held in high esteem by all who know them for their many commendable personal traits.
William C. H. Schultz, of this review, grew up on the home farm and assisted with the general work about the place during his boyhood days. During the winter months he attended the Mckinney district school. When only seven years of age he was found following a plow, driving a team. He assisted his parents on the homestead during his early youth and when twenty-one years old he farmed for his father on the halves for a year, then bought one hundred and thirty-three acres in 1907 and has improved the place in an up-to-date manner, keeping it well tilled and under a high state of cultivation and he is making a success as a general farmer and stock raiser.
Mr. Schultz is a Democrat in his political relations, but he has not sought to be a public leader. Religiously, he belongs to the German Lutheran church.
Mr. Schultz was married on December 22. 1905, to Minnie Castorf, who was born near Sully, Jasper county. Towa, in 1887 She is the daughter of
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William Castorf, an early settler of this county and a highly respected citizen. Here Mrs. Schultz grew to womanhood and received her education in the common schools.
To the subject and wife have been born two children, namely : Lawrence Kenneth, born Angust 10, 1907, and Raymond Elmo born January 25, 1911.
The subject is a tall. strong young man, a hard worker and a genial fellow to meet. having an easy manner and a straightforwardness that im- presses the stranger.
WALTER M. EARP.
The descendants of the old settlers, those who cleared the land and first upturned the wild sod to the sun, should see that the doings of those early years are fittingly remembered and recorded. It was once remarked by a great writer that those who take no interest in the deeds of their ancestors are not likely to do anything worthy to be remembered by their descendants. Could the lives of the first settlers be fully and truthfully written what an in- teresting, thrilling and wonderful tale it would be. Think of the journey to the west over the roughest of roads, of the hardships of clearing the soil and the trials in establishing a home in a wild country and rearing a family. Think of the pioneer gatherings, of the shooting matches. the old subscription schools, the first churches under the branches of the trees. the camp meetings, the famous old circuit riders, the husking matches, the quilting bees, the coon, wolf, fox and deer hunts, with many another form of diversion, and then presume to say that the old settlers did not live happy lives. Such were the experiences of Walter M. Earp. a highly respected citizen of Elk Creek town- ship. now living retired.
Mr. Earp is a Kentuckian by birth, having first opened his eyes in the country of "the dark and bloody ground," in Ohio county, on November 8. 1836. He is the son of Laranzo Dow Earp and Nancy Earp. He spent his early boyhood in his native state and received such education as he could in the pioneer log-cabin schools. In 1845 he accompanied the family to Warren county, Illinois, where they lived until 1853, when, with an ox team and an old-fashioned covered wagon. they set out on the slow journey to Warren county. Iowa, where they spent the summer, then moved to Marion county, this state, and wintered there, coming to Jasper county in the spring of 1854. Here the father of the subject entered one hundred and sixty acres in Elk Creek township. and on this Walter M. Earp spent his young manhood. help-
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ing his father develop the place from the wild, helping split the rails with which to fence the farm. They had few neighbors and they endured the usual privations of first settlers, but in time had a good farm and a comfort- able home.
The subject began life for himself by renting land, which he continued to operate for six years and thereby got a start. He then bought forty acres, which he sold the following year and purchased eighty acres, to which he later added fifty-five acres more in Elk Creek township, which he improved into an excellent farm. This he sold in 1881 and moved to Plymouth county, Iowa, · where he remained two years on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Then he came back to Galesburg. Jasper county, where he has since spent most of his time. He is now making his home with his son-in-law, Alfred Lust, a farmer of Elk Creek township, whose sketch appears on another page of this work.
BENSON STARR.
The gentleman to whom the reader's attention is respectfully called in the following paragraphs is an honored veteran of our great civil conflict. They are getting fewer and fewer in numbers, their annual reunions are sadly lacking when the lists of regiments and companies are gone over, and their march is not as quick and full of meaning and fire as it was a half century ago, when, as sturdy boys, they left, most of them, the plow and assembled at the front, eager to hurl themselves in invincible legions against the foes of the Union. But, nevertheless, it thrills one to see them in their old uniforms, with their tattered flags flying and their forms bent as they keep step, assisted, most of them, with their canes, at their gatherings on Memorial day or the Fourth of July. And how interesting it is to hear them tell the story of the dreadful hardships they endured in the hospitals, prisons, on the harassing marches, or in the skirmishes and battles. But their time is short now, so all persons should join in honoring them for the sacrifices they made when they were young and full of the love of life, but which was offered freely on the altar of their country. One of these honored old soldiers is Benton Starr, who is also eminently entitled to a place in his country's history because he is one of our pioneers, a member of that hard-working band who willingly underwent hardships in the county's first period of development that succeed- ing generations might be happy and prosperous.
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Mr. Starr was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 22, 1842, and he was the son of Jabez and Jane (Gregory) Starr, who spent their early lives in Ohio, married and began housekeeping there. About 1844 they made the long overland journey to lowa, locating in Van Buren county, being among the state's early settlers, but after three years there, during which they hardly got well located, and deciding that the community was not what they desired as a permanent place of abode, they moved to Jasper county, locating in Lynn Grove township. First Mr. Starr bought a claim, but a year later moved a little to the north and entered one hundred and twenty acres in section 13. This land he cleared, broke, improved, and in time had a splendid farm and a comfortable home in which he lived until he reached an advanced age, then lived around with his children for the greater part of the time, although always claiming this as his home. His death occurred in Madison county, this state. in 1885. his wife having died in 1878 on their farm. Politically, he was a Republican. He took a lively interest in political affairs and for many years was justice of the peace. There were thirteen children in their family, four of whom are living at this writing. Eleven of them grew to maturity and were married The father, Jabez Starr, was a good and useful man, and for years he did considerable preaching in the Methodist church, as did several of his brothers. He assisted in organizing the early Methodist church here and helped hold the first election ever known in Lynn Grove township; he was also the first justice of the peace in this township. He gave the greatest satisfac- tion in this important office, for in that early day it was important, a justice court ranking in those times with the higher tribunals of today. He was a lover of justice and peace and often settled differences and difficulties between parties in his community outside of court, his advice being frequently sought in personal and public affairs. Such men are empire builders and while today they are certainly not noticeable to a very great extent in our so-called ad- vanced civilization, they were to be found in almost all communities of new- comers in the early days when the frontier was ever pushing westward. The memory of such should be fondly cherished by succeeding generations, for it goes without saying that we owe them a great debt of gratitude and that they builded wiser than they knew.
Benson Starr, the immediate subject of this sketch. grew to manhood on the home place and there made himself useful in his boyhood days. He had little opportunity to attend school, in fact, three months in the old public school house in this vicinity constituted his text-book training; however. he has become a well informed man through home reading and careful observa- tion.
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On August 7, 1862, Mr. Starr enlisted in Company K, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in which he served very gallantly for about eighteen months, during which time he took part in the great siege of Vicksburg, the battles of Port Gibson. Champion's Hill and others, being under fire fifty-two days. Receiving an honorable discharge, he returned home and resumed farming and soon had a good start, and in 1879 he bought his father's home- stead, later adding to the same until he is now the owner of a finely improved and productive farm of one hundred and seventy-one acres in Lynn Grove township, which adjoins the first purchase. Here he erected a substantial dwelling and good outbuildings and made such other up-to-date improvements as his needs required. He made a great success as a general farmer and stock man. He still manages the farm, though he keeps it rented out.
Politically, Mr. Starr is a Republican and has ever been a loyal supporter of the same, taking a lively interest in local affairs, and he has held several offices within the gift of the people, including that of township trustee and con- stable. Fraternally, he belongs to the Masonic order at Lynnville, the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, encampment, also the Order of the Eastern Star and the Grand Army of the Republic, in all of which he takes an abiding interest.
Mr. Starr was married in 1865 to Ellen Squires, a native of Virginia and the daughter of Nehemiah and Olive Squires, who came to Jasper county after the close of the Civil war and later moved to Missouri. To Mr. and Mrs. Starr five children have been born, namely: Perry, who was killed by lightning: Dora and Nora, twins, the latter dying when four years of age; Lee and Frank
LOGAN PENDLETON.
To the person traveling by railway across the state at this day it seems almost incredible that only a little more than a half century ago the major part of the Hawkeye state was a wild, sparsely settled stretch of plains over- run by Indians and all manner of wild animals ; but such was the case. During the last half century, the wild grass has been trampled down. the root-woven, tenacious sod has been upturned to the life-giving sun and the forests have been removed, almost entirely, stick by stick, by innumerable hands,-in fact, most of the timber was removed in considerably less than a half century. All this would never have been done were it not for the rich soil beneath and the comfortable homes that awaited the efforts of the settlers. The task was a long
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one, but well repaid the early comers for the trials and hardships. One of the farmers of Elk Creek township, Jasper county, who has contributed to the development of this wonderfully favored section during what might be termed the second period of its growth is Logan Pendleton, for his advent here was not so early as the band of early pioneers who attacked the raw land in the fifties.
Mr. Pendleton was born in the Blue Grass state, having first opened his eyes on earthly scenes in Adair county, Kentucky, on September 20, 1865 He is the son of Samuel and Margaret ( Gadbury) Pendleton, the father born in West Virginia in 18ro and the mother in Kentucky in 1816. and there they spent their later years, the father being a prominent farmer, owning over eight hundred acres of valuable land, on which he farmed on a large scale. conducting one of the large tobacco plantations of Adair county ; however, he kept no slaves. He was one of the substantial and influential men of his part of the state and a gentleman of fine personal qualities. Politically, he was a Republican and he and his wife belonged to the old Campbellite church. Their family consisted of eight children, of whom Logan, of this review, was the youngest in order of birth. They were named as follows: John, de- ceased : Green : Granville, deceased : James lives in Kentucky; Mrs. Sarah Napier lives in that state; Mrs. Mollie Hudson is still a resident of the Blue Grass county ; Parker was next to the youngest child.
Logan Pendleton was eight years of age when his father died in 1873. He received his education in the district schools of his native community and there he grew to manhood, and spent his summer months, when old enough. at work on the home plantation ; however, as he grew up he worked con- siderably by the month. It was in October, 1882, that he bade adieu to his "old Kentucky home" and directed his course to Jasper county, Iowa, and here began working by the month for Preston Chambers in Elk Creek town- ship, with whom he remained for a period of seven years. Then he purchased a complete well-drilling outfit and followed drilling wells in this locality for two years, then he began renting land, farming thus for a period of six years. Then he was married and his father-in-law, Preston Chambers, gave the sub- ject and his wife an excellent farm of one hundred and three acres in Elk Creek township, on which they still reside. Besides this Mr. Pendleton owns five acres of timber. He has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, making a specialty of full-blood jacks, and he has quite a reputa- tion in this locality as a breeder, keeping such superior stock that they have Teen a great asset in his annual income. He also keeps full-blood Poland- China hogs. He had the largest hog at the Iowa state fair in 1911, the much- admired animal weighing over one thousand pounds.
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Politically, Mr. Pendleton is a Democrat and while he takes more or less interest in local affairs he is not a public man. On July 1, 1900, oc- curred the ceremony which united in the bonds of wedlock Logan Pendleton and Allie Chambers. The latter was born in Elk Creek township, this county. on September 6, 1860. She is the daughter of Preston Chambers, one of the substantial and influential early citizens of this county a sketch of whom is to be found on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton have no children
ALEXANDER SMITH.
From the far-away land of Bruce and Burns, the bonny heaths of blue- bell and thistle,-the rugged north "countree" that has for centuries sent its hardy, honest, liberty-loving sons to help build the great republic of the West. -has come to us one of our most highly esteemed and useful citizens, Alex- ander Smith, one of Jasper's county's most extensive land owners, a man whom to know is to admire and respect, for, without other aid than a strong heart and willing hands, guided and controlled by right principles and a sound brain. he has fought his way from an obscure environment to the top of the material ladder and has long been one of the influential men of this locality.
Mr. Smith was born in the village of Forres, Scotland, on September 26. 1830, and he is the son of Robert and Jeannette (Lysle) Smith, both born in Scotland. The paternal grandfather was Alexander Smith, a farmer, and the maternal grandmother was of noble blood, being a sister of the Duke of Southerland in England.
Robert Smith came to America with his family in 1834 and located in Delaware county, New York, and there established a good home, and in that vicinity the son, Alexander Smith of this review, grew to manhood and he re- ceived his education at Roxbury, New York, having the honor of being a schoolmate of the famous financier, Jay Gould, and the scarcely less noted author and naturalist, John Burroughs, the former having sat on the left of the subject for a year and the latter just in front of him for three years. After leaving school at the age of eighteen years, Mr. Smith engaged in teach- ing for eight or ten years, during which time he met with great success and his services were in demand wherever he was known. He also clerked for some time in a general merchandise store. In 1865 he moved to Pella, Iowa, and rented a farm that fall in Jasper county. The country was wild and improvements had been made here and there, but he had the foresight to see
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a great future for so rich a region and in due course of time he had become one of the leading farmers here. Not long after his arrival he bought two hundred and forty acres, partly in Lynn Grove township and partly in Elk Creek township. Prospering through close application and good manage- ment, he added to his original holdings until he now owns eight hundred acres of as choice land as the county affords. He also owns four hundred acres in Lake county, Iowa, and two sections of land in North Dakota, all valuable and well located land. While general farming has been Mr. Smith's principal life work, no small part of his large competency has been derived from the live stock business ; he has fed cattle annually for forty years, and he has met with a larger degree of success in this line than the average person. He has kept his land under excellent improvements and has a modern, convenient and well furnished home, in the midst of pleasant surroundings.
Politically, Mr. Smith is a Republican and while he has never sought leadership he has always stood ready to serve the public when necessary. He was treasurer of the school board of his district for a period of fifteen years.
Mr. Smith was married on June 12, 1864, to Sarah Voss, who was born in New Jersey, the daughter of John Voss and wife, and to this union seven children have been born, of whom three are deceased, the living being named as follows: Mrs. Amy Jeanette Sherman, who lives in Pasadena, California ; Mrs. Emily Francisco, who is living in Des Moines, Iowa; Mrs. Mamie Nicholson, who lives in New Sharon, Iowa; Alexander Lyle.
The last named son was born on the farm he now operates in Lynn Grove township, Jasper county, on October 6, 1876. There he grew to maturity and assisted with the general work on the place during the crop seasons, at- tending the public schools during the winter months near his home, later the high school at Lynnville, and the Iowa State College at Ames, spending two years in the agricultural course there ; he also attended the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois. Thus well equipped for his life work from a standpoint of text-book training, he returned home to assist his father man- age some of his farms and he has met with a large degree of success; being regarded as one of the most modern and scientific farmers in the county. He took charge of about six hundred acres two miles south of the town of Sully. where he has carried on general farming and cattle raising on an extensive scale, preparing for market and shipping from two to four car loads of cattle and two hundred hogs annually. Although he rents some of the land, he has general supervision over it all. Politically, he is a Republican and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Sully.
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Alexander L. Smith was united in marriage with Elizabeth Jean Vaughn on May 27, 1903. She was born in Pennsylvania, but was living at Bur- lingame, Kansas, at the time of her marriage. She is the daughter of W. J. and Emily K. ( Brown) Vaughn, who moved with their daughter to Kansas when she was two years old, and the parents still reside in the Sunflower state.
Three children have graced the union of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander L Smith : Donald Lyle, born December 29. 1907; Vernon Eugene, born July 27, 1909: Robert Vaughn, born November 4, 1911. No family in the county is better or more favorably known.
JOHN KELLY.
It is no doubt true that Ireland, of all countries of the world, has sent · more emigrants in proportion to population to the United States than any other country, and the reason is well known. For hundreds of years the Emerald Isle has been denied many valuable rights and privileges by Great Britain, and the pride and honor of the people were ground into the dust. They could avoid all this by leaving the island, much as they loved it, and accordingly thousands of them, as the years rolled around, have crossed the great Atlantic to find a home of greater freedom in America. They began to come in large numbers soon after the Revolution and have continued to come until the present time. In every state they settled and built up comfortable homes. They were among our first teachers and business men, and today they occupy many of the proudest positions within the gift of the inhabitants. In that country was born John Kelly, farmer and stock raiser of Rock Creek township, Jasper county. He grew up and received what education he could in his native county of Roscommon. He is the son of George and Ann (Grady) Kelly, both natives of Ireland, and there they lived and died, the father being a shepherd, and consequently led a quiet life, close to nature and ever unobtrusive, his wants being simple. His family consisted of six chil- dren, three of whom are living, two in Ireland, Charles and Maria Burn.
John Kelly, of this sketch, spent his boyhood days as a shepherd, but not being content with conditions at home, and having heard of the great oppor- tunities that existed in the new world, he set sail on the "City of Antwerp." October 6. 1869, for New York City. He came on to Richmond, Indiana, and remained there three years, working on the Vandalia railroad, then went to Indianapolis and during one winter worked in the railroad rolling mills. In 1893 he moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and there resumed railroad work, in
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which he remained four years, then went to Montana and worked in the placer mines at Virginia City for a few months, then went to Glendale City and did the work of a roaster in the silver mines, remaining there three years, during which he was on one furnace. Then returning to Des Moines, he worked there until his marriage, then moved to Poweshiek county where he bought eighty acres of land at Oak Grove, Washington township, and remained there four years. He then moved to Palo Alto county, and a year later located in Rock Creek township, Jasper county, where he bought a farm of one hundred and twenty acres. This he has improved in an up-to-date manner and has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, and he is a breeder of short horn cattle and Poland China hogs. Politically, he is a Republican, and he and his wife are members of the Roman Catholic church.
In 1880 Mr. Kelly was united in marriage with Martha Hotchkin, who was born in New York City, the daughter of John Hotchkin, of England, and one of the honored old settlers of Jasper county, Iowa. where he died Decem- ber 12, 1911, being advanced in years. He married Rose Gaughran, a native of Ireland. She and Mr. Hotchkin came to New York City single and there married. He was a blacksmith by trade. He came west and located in Illinois, three years after his marriage, and in 1870 he came on to Jasper county, Iowa, where he lived until his death. His wife passed to her rest on June 6, 1909. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kelly, namely : Mary, George. John (deceased). Martha, Charles and Lucy.
MARCE TURNER.
Success could not fail to attend the efforts of such a persistent and energetic worker as Marce Turner, of Kellogg township, for his motto seems to have always been that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well. He was born in Ralls county, Missouri, June 5, 1870, and he is the son of George and Malinda ( Seeley) Turner, the father born also in Ralls county, that state, on June 1, 1840. The father followed farming during the earlier years of his life, later taking up carpentering, painting, blacksmithing and carriage making, following these until his death, on March 10. 1890; his widow survives, making her home in Cherokee county, Kansas.
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