USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 17
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in Mercer county, Illinois; Catherine, born 1832, became the wife of Frank Fryant, a farmer of Mercer county, Illinois; Gershom, the subject of this review; Sarah Ellen died in infancy.
The mother of the subject died December 12, 1895, and his father died in 1865, at the age of seventy-four. For the last five years of his life William Vance walked in darkness, having lost the sight of both eyes. Gershom Vance received his early educational training in the country schools, three terms in Davis county, in a log cabin school house in Soap Creek township, and at the age of eighteen he started forth to do for himself, going with a party who were doing government surveying in what is now Plymouth, Woodbury, Monona and Cherokee counties in the western part of Iowa. They were away on the trip three months, and on his return he went to Mercer county, Illinois, and hired out on farms by the month, attending the country schools in the winter months and thus continued for four years. On June 30, 1863, he was united in marriage with Emma Kiddoo, daughter of James and Margaret (Steel) Kiddoo, both natives of Pennsylvania, the mother being born near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on October 8, 1844. She was the fourth child born in a family of eleven, six of whom besides Mrs. Vance survive, their names as follows : John, Howard and Martha, all living in Kansas; Richard, in St. Paul; Amos, living in Arkansas; and Harvey.
The Kiddoo family came west and located in Mercer county, Illinois, in the year 1848, and in 1864 they removed to Jasper county, lowa, settling near Baxter. Here, in the same year, the mother died, at the age of forty-four. In 1867 the father went to Johnson county, Missouri, and became the owner of a large tract of land. He also owned a flour mill at Warrensburg in Johnson county, dying there in 1889, at the age of seventy-four. After his marriage the subject brought his wife to Jasper county, and purchased forty acres of land, where the Parson's creamery is located, paying nine hundred dollars for the tract. A short time later he sold this land to an advantage and purchased eighty acres in Independence township, for eighteen hundred dol- lars, ten days later selling the same for twenty-one hundred dollars. For several years he speculated in land, buying and sellings farms. He has been the owner of many nice farms in different townships in Jasper county. At the present time he is living on a farm of sixty-five acres in Palo Alto town- ship, close to Newton. He was formerly a heavy stock raiser.
To Mr. and Mrs. Vance have been born nine children: James, born April 4, 1864, living on a farm in Palo Alto township; Margaret Eliza, born July 9, 1865, married Elsworth Ashley, lives in Palo Alto township; Olive
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K., born March 26, 1868, married T. E. Deacon, now deceased, lived in Union county, Iowa; Arminta, born March 26, 1870, died at the age of eight ; William, born October 18, 1872, died at the age of six; Florence Bell, born in July, 1874, died at the age of four ; all three little ones died in one week of diphtheria; Eva, born July 31, 1880, married E. M. Herron, lives in Newton township; Harvey Earl, born in October, 1883, lives in Kellogg township; Paul Raymond, born September 7. 1885, now employed as special agent in the census department, at Washington, D. C. He is a graduate of the Newton high school, also of Monmouth College, and of Yale.
Mr. Vance is independent in politics, having been a Prohibitionist for a number of years. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church at Newton, as is also Mrs. Vance. Mr. Vance and the author of this work were boyhood friends. He is a hale and healthy old man, and at the age of seventy retains much of his youthful vigor.
JOHN PATTERSON .:
Residing in section 25, in Newton township, is John Patterson, a man who has wrested from fortune by hard labor all that he possesses. One of a family of twelve, he early had to "shift" for himself, and it was no easy paving for him to fortune's door, but, undaunted, he has buffeted the world and has been successful in obtaining one of Jasper county's splendid farms, just one mile east of Newton. His father, G. F. Patterson, is a native of Kentucky, being born there seventy years ago. He is a veteran of the Civil war, and came to Jasper county when a young man and there met and married Sarah Ann Logsdon. Mr. Patterson, Sr., owned a farm in Newton township at least forty years, but at the present time he owns a place in Sher- man township, where he and his wife and one son now reside. Mrs. Patter- son is now in her sixty-seventh year.
It was while the family lived in Newton township that the twelve children making up the circle were born, the subject being the fifth in the order of birth, which occurred November 30, 1870. The names of the others are: Edward, living in Independence township; Amanda, wife of Alex Spencer, resides at Weeping Water, Nebraska: William, living in Nebraska; Leander, living at Delta, Iowa; James, in the city of Newton, Iowa; Thomas, in South Dakota: David, living on a farm at Collins, Jasper county ; Susan, wife of Carl Tiffiny, lives on a farm near Collins; George Washington, living with his parents in Sherman township; Julia, wife of Sherman Hurst,
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died a few years ago, leaving a son. Russell; Alexander, living near Clyde, Jasper county, on a farm.
John Patterson received his early educational training in the winter months in the country schools of his neighborhood, and at the early age of fifteen started out to work for himself, hiring out by the month as a laborer on farms. In March, 1902, he was united in marriage to Lillie Lufkin, who was a teacher of music. She was born in Elk Creek township, on October 20, 1874, the daughter of William and Mary Ann ( Poots) Lufkin, her father being born at Portland, Maine, and her mother at New Philadelphia, Ohio. Her mother's people came to Jasper county, Iowa, nearly fifty years ago and settled at Lynnville ; her father came to the county before the Civil war. He was a carpenter by occupation, and after his marriage returned to Maine, but a few years after he returned to Jasper county, Iowa, and located on a farm near Reasnor, where he farmed for forty-two years, departing this life in 1880. Her mother still survives and resides in Elk Creek. at the age of sixty- six years. After her husband's death she married John. De Goey, one child, Elizabeth, being born to them. By the first marriage there were four children, Mrs. Patterson being the youngest, the names of the others being as follows: Benjamin lives near Reasnor on a farm: Laura and Nora, twins -Laura married Garrett Kierbergen, and lives in Oklahoma, while Nora married G. E. Shanklin, and they live in Newton township.
After his marriage Mr. Patterson rented for a couple of years a farm in Independence township, after which he purchased his present place, consisting of eighty acres.
To Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have been born the following children : Howard, born May 2, 1903; Fred L., born March 8, 1909. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Newton. Polit- ically. he votes with the Republican party, and at present is holding the office of school director for his district.
JAMES A. OLDHAM.
All credit is due a man who wins success in spite of obstacles and by per- sistency a position of honor as a man and citizen. The record of James A. Oldham, farmer of Fairview township, Jasper county, is of such a man, for starting with little assistance he has worked his way to definite success.
Mr. Oldham was born in Knox county, Illinois, September 6, 1851. He is the son of Joseph and Margaret (Scott) Oldham, both born in England. the
JAMES A. OLDHAM
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father in Cheshire in 1811. He grew up in his native country and there learned the trade of machinist. When twenty-one years of age he emigrated to Philadelphia where he worked two or three years, then moved to Knox county, Illinois, where he rented land until 1865, but in the same year he came on to Warren county, Iowa, and bought one hundred and sixty acres, selling out a year later and moving to Des Moines, where he worked a year at his trade. In the fall of 1866 he came to Jasper county and rented land a while, finally buying forty acres in Fairview township and there he remained until his death, in 1876. His wife, whom he married before leaving Philadelphia, subsequently married R. S. Buckley. Mr. Oldham was a Democrat. His family consisted of three sons and two daughters, namely: Joseph died in infancy ; Silas is deceased ; Mrs. Selina Tool, Mrs. Edna Hancock; James A., of this sketch, was the oldest. He had little opportunity to get an education. He remained at home until he was twenty-four years old, then rented a farm, later buying a few acres, to which he has added until he now owns five hun- dred and fifty acres of valuable and desirable land in Fairview township. He has kept it under modern improvements and a high state of cultivation and for many years he has ranked with the leading farmers of the county and the substantial citizens of his township. He has a pleasant and attractive home and in connection with general farming he has long been one of the leading stock raisers of the county.
Politically, Mr. Oldham is a Democrat, and he belongs to the Methodist church. He was married on December 25, 1875. to Sarah E. Tool, who was born in Jasper county, the daughter of James A. Tool, who came to Jasper county in 1843, being one of the very earliest settlers in the county. To Mr. Oldham and wife the following children have been born: Ernest J., Mrs. Minnie B. Blackledge, Cora (deceased), Horace T .. Mrs. Olive Blackledge, Arie. Earl and Grace.
E. B. MACY.
In the respect that is accorded to men who have fought their own way to success through none too favorable environment we find an unconscious recognition of the intrinsic worth of a character which cannot only endure so rough a test, but gain new strength through the discipline. The gentleman to whom the biographer now calls the reader's attention was not favored by vast inherited wealth or the assistance of powerful or influential friends, but in spite of this, by perseverance, industry and wise economy, he has attained
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a comfortable station in life, making his influence felt for good in his com- munity in Lynn Grove township where his life has been spent. Because of the honorable career he has known here and also because of the fact that he is a creditable representative of one of our sterling pioneer families, the name of Macy having been a familiar one in Jasper county for over a half century, the members of this worthy household having played no inconspicu- ous part in the upbuilding of the county, and setting an example for the younger generation that might be very profitably followed.
E. B. Macy, well-known banker and general business man of Lynnville, this county, was born on June 18, 1864, the son of S. H. and Abigail ( Gause) Macy, who came from Indiana in the early fifties and located in Poweshiek county, Iowa, where they bought a farm, began life amid primitive condi- tions, and in due course of time had a good home and a splendid farm on which they lived for a period of twenty-five years. They then moved to Jas- per county, where Mr. Macy began dealing in live stock, in fact, he was the first man in this county to engage exclusively or extensively in this line of en- deavor. He prospered and became a leader here, as he had been in Powe- shiek county. He was one of the principal citizens here in securing the rail- road that first penetrated Jasper county. He became the owner of a valuable farm here and made this his home until his death, on March 16, 1902. He was a man of sterling characteristics, courageous, broad-minded and of exemplary habits, so that his example was ever a wholesome one. His widow, a woman of beautiful traits, is still living, having attained a ripe old age. Their family consisted of four children, all living at this writing.
E. B. Macy grew to manhood on his father's farm and there assisted with the general work during the crop seasons and, in fact, assisting his father in his general affairs. He attended the public schools, later taking a course at Grinnell College. He started in life for himself by launching into the live stock business, which he learned under his father, and this has been his chief life work. In 1887 he and his brother, Charles O., whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, formed a partnership, under the firm name of Macy Brothers, and they soon were doing a very satisfactory business in live stock, later adding grain, lumber and coal. Their business grew under their judicious management by leaps and bounds, extending over a wide territory, this firm becoming one of the best known and most popular of its kind in central Iowa. It became necessary for them to establish several branch houses in order to properly handle their several branches and meet the re- quirements necessary in carrying onward their vast volume of trade. In 1901 they organized the Macy Brothers Exchange Bank at Lynnville, with
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Charles O. as president and E. A. as cashier. They have been most successful as bankers, enjoying the confidence and good will of the community, and now few banks in this locality enjoy the prestige of this one, which has been managed in a safe and conservative manner and has ever increased in power and importance. The capital stock of the bank is ten thousand dollars, and they use fifty thousand dollars capital in the grain, lumber and coal business.
Politically, Mr. Macy is a Democrat and he was reared in the faith of the Society of Friends. He belongs to Lebanon Lodge No. 222, Masons, of Lynn- ville, and Newton Commandery No. 22, Knights Templar ; he also belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star and the Yeomen. He takes an active interest in Masonry and is popular in fraternal circles in central Iowa.
The domestic life of Mr. Macy began in 1902 when he was married to Julia Whitlock, a lady of refinement and pleasing personality. She was born in this county, but spent a part of her life in Carroll county. She is the daughter of James and Elizabeth Whitlock, a highly honored old family. To Mr. and Mrs. Macy five sons have been born, namely : Rosco. Russell, Earl. Dwight and Howard.
Mr. Macy is a straightforward, unostentatious, genial citizen of sterling qualities and is highly respected by all who know him as a result of his honesty in business, his public spirit, his advocacy of wholesome living and his support of all movements looking to the betterment of his community, town and county.
WALTER E. FRIZZELL.
Walter E. Frizzell is a prosperous young farmer living on the Kellogg road about five miles east of Newton, on the place in which he was born. He is the son of George and Mary L. (Trivetts) Frizzell. His father was born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1841, and died in June, 1909, in Jasper county, Iowa. He, the father, was the eldest child in a family of nine, five of whom still survive: Allen; Elnora, wife of Joseph Temple; Susan, wife of Joseph Statts; John M., and Elizabeth, wife of William Hartz.
The mother of Mr. Frizzell was born in Indiana, December 14, 1846, and died in Jasper county, Iowa, February 13, 1900. She was one of six children. George Frizzell, father of the subject, was twice married, and by his first wife he had two children, Alva G. and Flora B., who married Elijah Myerly. By the second wife he had three children: Minnie, Inez Farmer, who married G. E. Farmer, and Walter E., the subject of this review. The latter
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was born July 10, 1878. On December II, 1907, he married Lila May Russell, daughter of Samuel and Katherine (McGlaughlin) Russell, who was born May 24, 1883. Her father, a man of upright character and a veteran of the Civil war, was familiarly called "Uncle Samuel," on account of his amiable disposition. For the last three years of his life he walked in dark- ness, having lost the use of his eyes. Mr. Russell was three times married. In 1846 he married Ellen Armstrong, who died while he was in the war, leav- ing no children. His second wife was Katherine Emrick, to whom he was married in 1866. She died in 1878, leaving three children : Jacob, Eldora, and Sadie, wife of George Woodward. In 1882 he was again married to Katherine McClaughlin of Rochester, Pennsylvania, who still survives him and lives in Newton, Iowa. To them were born three children: Samuel C., Lila May and Claribel, wife of W. P. O'Neil, living in Des Moines.
Mr. Russell was born in Richmond, Virginia, and died August 31, 1904, in Jasper county. He came to Iowa from Virginia in May, 1887, and located near Metz.
To Mr. and Mrs. Frizzell have been born two children: Charles Will- iam, born September 6, 1908, and Mary Catherine, born October 26, 1911. Mr. Frizzell is the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of land, worth two hundred dollars per acre. He inherited a part of this land at his father's death, and then bought out the interests of the other heirs. He is a Republican in politics. Mrs. Frizzell is a member of the Baptist church at Newton.
J. W. MURPHY.
Everybody in Jasper county knew J. W. Murphy. Tall and rugged as an oak, with kindly face and great booming voice, Mr. Murphy was as unique a specimen of sturdy American manhood as the great state of Iowa affords.
The first Murphy of which we have record in the direct line was John, who lived and died in Ireland. He married Mary Campbell, a Scotch high- land lassie and a Presbyterian, he being a Catholic. After they were married they compromised their differences in religion by joining the church of England.
12TI Hugh Murphy, second son of this union, born May 5, 1746, came to this country on the "Three Brothers," a sailing vessel, being three months on the yay, on account of rough weather, finally landing in Philadelphia in January, 1782 s He was a sympathizer of the American colonists and while back in
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Ireland refused to fight in the king's army against them. After coming to this country he worked at odd jobs, freighting, etc., finally settling in Vir- ginia, where he was united in marriage to Mary Beatty.
Daniel, third son of this pair, born October 3, 1798, was the father of the subject of this sketch, John W. Murphy. Soon after the birth of Daniel, the Murphy family removed to Fayette county, Pennsylvania. Later, in 1817, they again moved to Highland county, Ohio, settling there in a thick woods, the son, Daniel, helping to clear the land and working in the collier works in Kentucky.
June 1, 1824, he united in marriage with Cynthia Wildman, daughter of John and Rebecca (Townsend) Wildman, a native of Fayette county, Penn- sylvania, born July 24, 1796. To this union were born seven children, namely : John Wildman Murphy, the subject of this review, born May 12, 1825, and died August 20, 1911 ; James, born November 20, 1826, died a few years prior to this writing at Pittsfield, Illinois; Catherine, born April 30, 1830, died in January, 1834; Clarissa, wife of James Zink, born January 7, 1833, died in Jasper county, Iowa; Townsend, born May 22, 1835, (un- married) resides in Jasper county, Iowa; Cynthia A., wife of John Trevitts, born October II, 1838, resides in Newton, Iowa; Daniel W., born November 16, 1841, resides in Jasper county. He enlisted in an Ohio regiment in the great Civil war conflict, and was honorably discharged at its close. All the children were born in the same log cabin, in a forest in Highland county, Ohio, where nightly was heard the scream of the panther, the howl of the wolf, and other weird and primitive sounds of the wilderness. The mother died March 5, 1862, in Highland county, Ohio, and Daniel Murphy, a few years later, married a Mrs. Nancy Fenner. She died in 1871, and then Mr. Murphy came to live with his children, who had all preceded him to Iowa. He died in Jasper county, February 25, 1890, at the age of eight-two years.
The subject of this review was united in marriage, September 19, 1847, to Ann Eliza Russell, daughter of Samuel and Mary P. Russell. She was a native of Virginia, born in Buckingham county, February 21, 1830. They were married at what is now Russell Station in Highland county, Ohio. Mr. Murphy was, as he put it, three-eighths Irish, one-eighth Highland Scotch and four-eighths English. His mother's people were Quakers clear back from the beginning of that religion. She joined the Methodist Episcopal church after she was married. Mrs. Murphy's father died in Jasper county in 1876, while visiting here with his children. Her mother was born in 1809 and died in 1897. Mrs. Murphy was one of seven children, but four of whom are now living, namely: John W. Russell, living in Newton; Samuel G., living in
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Newton; and Mary J., wife of Caleb Bennett, living in Chattanooga, Ten- nessee. One brother, the youngest, Robert H., served in the war of the Rebellion. He enlisted in California and died in a hospital in San Francisco from sickness contracted during the war, soon after being discharged.
To Mr. and Mrs. Murphy were born eight children: Laura Alice, born June 12, 1854, wife of John Y. Swigart, now living in Mexico; John W., born May 16, 1857, a Presbyterian minister at American Fort, Utah, married Mertie Sterns, and this couple have one child, a girl; Cynthia P., born October II, 1859, wife of Alec Woods, lives in Jasper county, and they have. four boys ; Zella J., born November 23, 1862. married Jefferson Miller, died March 17, 1888, in Nebraska, left three children, two boys and a girl: Zilla, Mrs. James Warren, died on the Kansas and Nebraska line and is buried in Nebraska: Clement Seymour. born July 14, 1864, died in infancy: Hamer Elsworth, born August 29, 1866, married Mary Atwood, now lives in New- ton, a graduate of chiropractic healing, has one child, a boy ; Roswell Trimble, born May 27, 1869, died in infancy; Bower Thrap, born October 20, 1870, married Edith Blackwood, lives on a farm in Jasper county, Iowa. They have five children, three boys and two girls.
On October 17, 1857, Mr. Murphy with his wife and family, consisting at that time of two children, removed from Ohio to Jasper county, Iowa. . He and his brother. James, bought three hundred acres of land, paying eight dollars per acre for the same. This land was afterwards divided, and Mr. Murphy afterwards added to his portion until he owned two hundred and ten acres.
Probably no other man in Jasper county took the part in public affairs that Mr. Murphy did. He served as township clerk, trustee, justice of the peace, road supervisor, and was a member of the board of school directors for eighteen years consecutively. In April, 1858, when he was elected secretary of the school board, the township was without a school house and there were no sub-districts. John C. Scott and Mr. Murphy together evolved the plan of placing a school house in the center of every four adjoining sections where practical, the first one in the county being the Slagel school house in Hixon's Grove. This plan was afterward followed throughout the county.
Mr. Murphy was one of the organizers of the Jasper County Farmers Mutual Association, being its first secretary, which office he held for fifteen . years. He was secretary of the Iowa State Grange six years and four years as traveling lecturer for that organization. Both he and his wife were charter members of the Methodist Protestant church, which was organized in Hixon Grove in 1867. Mr. Murphy helped build it and has acted as its secretary and
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treasurer and was honored by every office in the gift of the church. On several occasions he was representative of the Iowa conference to the general conference of the United States of that church, and was the secretary of Iowa state conference of the church for the past forty years and it was at one of its meetings that he was taken ill and died.
He had been postmaster of Murphy postoffice since its establishment in 1891. He was the railroad agent of this station, also owned its one store. He was a member of Newton Lodge No. 39. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He was made a Mason at Lynchburg, Ohio, June 24, 1850. He was also a member of the chapter and council of that order.
In politics Mr. Murphy had been a Democrat, ("hard money") Green- backer and Prohibitionist. Later he was a Socialist. Mr. Murphy had been an independent voter for the last forty years, openly championing the right at all times as he saw it.
HENRY I. ALLFREE.
In nearly every community are individuals who by innate ability and sheer force of character rise above their fellows and win for themselves con- spicuous places in public esteem. Such a one is the well-known gentleman whose name appears above, a man who has been identified with the history of Jasper county for a period of forty-five years, for his entire life has been spent here, his mature years having been closely interwoven with the material growth and development of the central part of the county, while his career as a progressive man of affairs has been synonymous with all that is upright and honorable in citizenship.
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