USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 28
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The subject secured his education in the rural schools, supplemented with high school privileges at Newton. He began his career as a teacher, which profession he followed with much success for a period of twelve years in this county, during which time many of the foremost men of this community were numbered among his pupils.
Mr. Skinner is the son of George and Abigail (Kingsbury) Skinner, both natives of New York, the father born in 1823 and the mother in St. Lawrence county. They grew up in their native state, received their educa- tion in the schools of their native communities and were married there. Emigrating to Jasper county, Iowa, in the early period of its development, they established a good home here and spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in June, 1871, and the mother on July 2, 1892. The father was a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted for service in the Union army in Company K, Twenty-eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and he served gal- lantly under Colonel Myers and received an honorable discharge. There were four sons in the Skinner family, two of whom died in infancy, namely : Herbert K., of this sketch, the eldest; Arthur, born July 3, 1852, died in Jasper county, March 27, 1882.
Herbert K. Skinner was married on January 19, 1871, to Mary B. Keyes, who was born in Benton county, Iowa, in July, 1848, and her death occurred in Jasper county on June 6, 1875. Her parents were among the earliest settlers of this county. To this union of the subject was born one son and one daughter, Walter L., whose birth occurred on December 8, 1871, is living in Newton, Iowa; Mrs. Gertrude Boyd, born October 22, 1873, is living at Farrar, Iowa. Mr. Skinner was again married on March 16, 1876, to Mary A. Edwards, who was born in Jasper county, March 29, 1855, and here she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is the daughter of M. M. and Anne (Henderson) Edwards, the father a native of Missouri and the mother of New Jersey. They came to Jasper county in its early development and here spent the rest of their lives, the father dying in June, 1884, and the mother in 1896. There were ten children in the Edwards family, five of whom are living, namely: Jonathan lives in Iowa; George W. lives in the state of Washington; Charlie C. lives in Shelby county, Iowa ; James died in 1906; Mrs. Mary A. Skinner, of this sketch; Mrs. Helen E. Brown, deceased; Albert, of Mingo, Iowa; Mrs. Armild A. Rambaugh died in 1897; the two eldest died in infancy.
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To Mr. and Mrs. Skinner have been born eight children, five of whom are living, namely : Elsie M. died when five years old ; George M. died in in- fancy; Charles Herbert, born May 2, 1883, lives in Clear Creek township; Mrs. Bertha H. Borts, born May 20, 1885, lives on the old Skinner home- stead in Clear Creek township; Mrs. Clara A. Tiffany, born June 26, 1889, lives in Story county ; Arthur L., born December 6, 1892, lives with his par- ents; Howard Otis, born March 12, 1899, died March 24th of the same year. These children were all born and reared in Clear Creek township, and have been given good common school advantages as well as advanced work at Newton and Highland Park at Des Moines, and Mrs. Tiffany at- tended high school at Collins.
Mr. Skinner started life without funds, but by industry, perseverance and honest dealings with his fellow men he has been very successful in a ma- terial way. He is still in possession of the farm where his parents located, owning at present four hundred and sixty acres of choice land in Clear Creek township, upon which stand three sets of excellent and convenient buildings, besides which he is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land in Texas. He keeps his farms under a high state of improvement and culti- vation, employing modern methods of agriculture, and in connection with his general and extensive farming interests he has devoted especial attention to raising live stock, no small part of his annual income being derived from this source. He is regarded as an excellent judge of stock, and is especially fond of a good horse.
· Mr. Skinner has long taken an abiding interest in public affairs, being an uncompromising Republican, and he has received the highest honors that his neighbors can bestow in a public way. His judicious course and hon- orable record indicates the wisdom of his constituents in selecting him for positions of trust and responsibility, and his continued retention in office is criterion enough of his good standing in his home district and of the con- fidence in which he is held there. For a period of ten years he was assessor of Clear Creek township and for eighteen years was its efficient clerk. He has never sought the emoluments of office, but his neighbors and friends . throughout the county urged him to become a candidate for the Legislature. lower branch. In the subsequent election he won by a handsome majority, serving his first term with such credit and ability and general satisfaction that his re-election for a second term was assured long before the first expired. He is making his influence felt for the good of the people of this section and the state and unselfishly devoting his best talents to the better- ment of civic and material conditions, fearlessly advocating the right as he sees and understands the right. He is at present treasurer of the local school board.
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Religiously, Mr. Skinner belongs to the Congregational church, of which he is a liberal supporter and he has been very active in Sunday school work, having been superintendent of Ashton Chapel Sunday school for the past nine years, and previous to this time he held the same position in the church at Clyde and Mingo.
Mr. Skinner is also active and prominent in fraternal circles, belonging to Mingo Lodge No. 174, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Mingo. Personally, he is sociable, democratic, genial, unassuming and a man of generous and honorable impulses, meriting in every respect the high esteem in which he is held. :
JOHN S. BROWN.
Among those citizens of Jasper county whose long residence therein entitled them to special mention is John S. Brown. Mr. Brown was born in Logan county, Illinois, April 8, 1849, his father being Leroy Brown, a native of Tennessee and his mother, also a native of Tennessee, being Jane (Mc- Nabb) Brown. The father died in 1881 at Newton, Iowa, aged sixty-four. The mother died at Lincoln, Logan county, Illinois. It was in about the year 1840 that Mr. Brown's father came from his native state to Illinois, where he engaged in the mercantile business. In the fall of 1865 he came to Jasper county, Iowa, settling in Newton, where he worked at the carpenter trade. Afterwards he was elected city marshal of Newton, serving about seven years up until the time of his death.
Mr. Brown, the subject of this sketch, is one of two living children. His brother, Carl Brown, who was born in Logan county, Illinois, in 1847, resides at this writing in Calistoga, California. He is the editor of that unique west- ern publication, The Cactus, which is known all over the United States. He is the same Carl Brown of Coxey's Army fame, and is also a cartoonist of ability.
The military record of Mr. Brown's father is of special interest. He was a soldier in the Mexican war, serving with distinction and bravery in the battle of Cerra Gorda and other prominent engagements of that war. Then, when the great civil conflict broke out, he again answered his country's call, serving all through the war, coming out as captain of a regiment. He was a member of Garrett Post No. 16, Grand Army, at Newton.
After coming to Newton, the subject of our sketch engaged in the painting business, afterwards taking up the business of farming. On April 27, 1870, he was married to Catherine Helphrey, daughter of Jacob and Catherine
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(Warner) Helphrey. The father was a native of Virginia and the mother was a native of Maryland. Mrs. Brown's parents came first to Ohio, where they were married, afterwards emigrating to Newton, Iowa, in 1850, where they purchased several hundred acres of land from the government at one dollar and a half per acre. Some of this land is now within the city limits of Newton. Mrs. Brown's father followed farming and stock raising until his death, which occurred in 1880, at the age of eighty-one. Her mother died in 1892 in New- ton, at the age of eighty-nine years. Mrs. Brown is one of ten children, seven of whom are living : David Helphrey, who died in Jasper county, Iowa, at the age of fifty years; Charlotte Rowles, widow of Nicholas Rowles, residing in Colfax, Iowa, aged eighty years; Miranda Ashley, widow of Riley Ashley, residing in Jasper county ; Mrs. Ella Bishop, widow of John Bishop, resides in Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. Mary Wilson, widow of J. W. Wilson, resides in Newton, aged sixty-four years ; Mrs. Lew J. Powers, wife of J. W. Powers, resides in San Antonio, Texas, her husband, a Union soldier who lost an arm in the service, being superintendent in the national cemetery there; Eva Helphrey, who died in infancy; Mrs. John S. Brown, born July 2, 1848; Samuel Helphrey died in the army in 1863; Thomas J. Helphrey resides in Chicago, and is engaged in the sewing machine business.
To Mr. and Mrs. Brown has been born one child, a son, Carl L. Brown, born March 10, 1871, who resides with his parents on the farm. He is mar- ried, his wife being Maude (Allen) Brown. They have one child, a bright little fellow of five years. Mrs. Brown is a member of the Christian church at Newton. In politics Mr. Brown is a Democrat.
WARREN N. TALBOT.
In examining the life records of self-made men, it will invariably be found that indefatigable industry has constituted the basis of their success. True there are other elements which enter in and conserve the advancement of personal interests,-perseverance, discrimination and mastering of expe- dients,-but the foundation of all achievement is earnest, persistent labor. At the outset of his career Warren N. Talbot, well known stockman of Lynnville, Jasper county, recognized this fact and he did not seek any royal road to the goal of prosperity and independence, but began to work earnestly and diligently in order to advance himself and the result is that he is now numbered among the progressive, successful and influential citizens of his community.
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Mr. Talbot was born in Illinois, February 7, 1854, and he is the son of David Franklin Talbot and Caroline (Munger) Talbot, the father a native of the state of New York and the mother of Massachusetts. The elder Talbot was a carpenter and contractor, which trade he learned in his native state, and, coming to Illinois early in life, he followed the same. In 1859 he and his family came overland with a half dozen teams and wagons, several extra horses and many yoke of oxen and located in Jasper county, Iowa, when this section was new. The father bought three hundred and twenty acres in Elk Creek township, in the vicinity of Dairy Grove, an old settle- ment. Here he prospered, becoming one of the county's largest landowners and leading farmers, becoming the owner of what was commonly called "The Bottom Farm," which consisted of one thousand and fifteen acres, He kept his land under excellent improvements and tilled it on an extensive scale. He was also a great cattle feeder, in fact, was for years one of the leading stock men of the county. He was a man of considerable influence in his community and for some time he discharged the duties of postmaster at Dairy Grove in the days when the mail was carried from Newton on horse- back. He also served as revenue tax collector and justice of the peace. He was a stanch Republican and later a Greenbacker, and in the days when the slavery question was a paramount issue he kept one of the stations of the "underground railway," aiding in many instances families of runaway slaves from their Southern masters, for he was bitterly opposed to slavery and, in this as in all questions of importance, he was ready to show his colors, being a man of strong convictions and broad minded. His family consisted of the following children: Edwin deceased; Hiram; George; Mrs. Alice Derrin- ger, who died December 19, 1911, at Cherokee, Iowa; Eugene; Warren N., of this review, being the youngest of the family.
Warren N. Talbot grew to maturity under pioneer conditions and he obtained his common school education under difficulties, walking miles through the deep snow and in all kinds of weather, wearing heavy cowhide boots, and during the summer months he assisted with the general work on the farm, and after he left school he assisted his father with the farm until he was twenty-two years old when he started in life for himself by renting land, which he continued for four years and then bought one hundred and forty-seven acres in Lynn Grove township, known as the Elisha Flaugh estate. Selling that later, he bought one hundred and forty acres just west of the village of Sully in 1892 and here he has carried on general farming and stock raising in a most successful manner. He keeps full-blooded Percheron and Clydesdale horses and roan short-horn cattle, his fine stock, because of their superior grades, always finding a very ready market.
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Politically, Mr. Talbot is a Republican and active in local affairs. He has been justice of the peace, which office he filled most creditably. He is a member of the Methodist Protestant church.
In October, 1881, Mr. Talbot was united in marriage with Ida Flaugh, who was born in Linn Grove township. the daughter of Elisha Flaugh, one of the earliest settlers of this county, having come here in 1845 and he was well known among the pioneers.
The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Talbot : Albert, Perry L., Mrs. Minnie Tice, Nina and Alta.
GEORGE WILLIAM SWIGART.
Being industrious, determined and resolute, George William Swigart, farmer of Newton township, Jasper county, has been enabled to overcome such obstacles as have confronted him along the road of life, the qualities mentioned resulting in his progress upward to the plane where success places the laurel upon the victor's brow.
Mr. Swigart is a Hoosier by birth, having been born in Noble county, Indiana, January 8, 1854, the son of Solomon G. and Elizabeth (Miller) Swigart, both natives of Richland county, Ohio. They spent their lives on a farm, and were people of excellent characteristics, the father dying about 1894 and the mother in 191I.
George William Swigart grew to maturity on the home farm, where he assisted his father with the general work, and he received his' education in Indiana and Iowa public schools, having moved to the latter state in 1871 and taken up farming, which he has continued to the present time with much success. He owns one hundred and twenty acres of excellent land in Newton township, this county, which he has managed in a manner that has brought large returns for the labor expended upon it. Forty acres of this farm lie in Kellogg township, but it is all in one tract and is well located, slightly rolling and fertile. He has a good home, barns and general improvements. He is · regarded as one of the most up-to-date farmers in this township. :
Mr. Swigart was married in 1878 to Mrs. Emma A. Shull, whose maiden name was Emma A. Williams, and who was born in Scott county, Iowa, May 14, 1852, the daughter of David and Susan (Thompson) Williams, the father born in Ireland and the mother in Kentucky. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Swigart, Myrtle I. and Verna I. By her former mar- riage Mrs. Swigart has one daughter, Emma B. Shull.
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Mr. Swigart is a Republican and more or less active in local public af- fairs. He belongs to the Yeomen and Mrs. Swigart is a member of the Christian church.
GEORGE G. WHITEHEAD.
The record of the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch con- tains no exciting chapters of tragic events, but is replete with well defined purpose which, carried to successful issue, have won for him an influential place in the agricultural life of the community and high personal standing among his fellow citizens. His life has been one of unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable methods which he has ever followed have resulted not only in the establishing of a comfortable home, but also in gaining the confidence and esteem of all those with whom he has come into contact.
George G. Whitehead, farmer of Poweshiek township, Jasper county, was born here on November 1, 1867, and here he grew to manhood and received his education in the common schools. He is the son of Austin and Elizabeth (Weston) Whitehead, the father born in Ohio in 1837 and the mother in Indiana in 1835. They came to Jasper county, Iowa, in 1856 and '57, and are now residing at Colfax. They were among the pioneers of this locality.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Austin Whitehead, named as follows: Mrs. Mollie Watt, born March 5, 1859, lives in Sherman town- ship; Mrs. Clara Watt, born September 10, 1861, lives at Long Beach, California ; Mrs. Allie Stouffer, born November I, 1865, lives near Seevers, Iowa; George, of this sketch; Dr. E. I., born August 12, 1872, lives in Nebraska. These children were all reared in Jasper county.
George G. Whitehead has made farming his life work, and is now the owner of a good farm of one hundred and five acres of well improved and well cultivated land in Poweshiek township, also forty acres in Sherman town- ship.
George G. Whitehead was married on February 23, 1897. to Stella Tramel, who was born in Story county, Iowa, on December 5, 1872, and there she grew to womanhood and was educated. She is the daughter of Joseph and Cynthia (Leonard) Tramel. The father died in Portland, Oregon, when sixty-five years old, and the mother died in Des Moines, Iowa, at the age of sixty-three years. Mrs. Whitehead's paternal grandfather, W. A. B.
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Tramel, was one of the early settlers in Clear Creek township. There were four children in the Tramel family, namely: William, who lives in Indepen- dence township; Stella, wife of Mr. Whitehead of this sketch; Walter O., of Clear Creek township; Mrs. Bertha Allspaugh, of Boulder, Colorado.
To Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead six children have been born, all in Powe- shiek township and all living, namely: Wilbur Weston, born August 12, 1898; D. May, born August 27, 1900; Floyd, born December 23, 1902; Glen Austin, born January 19, 1905; Ruth Elizabeth, born April 3, 1907; Virgil Paul, born October 12, 1911. The older children are attending school in the home community.
Politically, Mr. Whitehead is a Republican. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 174, at Mingo, and of the Yeomen at Ira. He and his wife are faithful members of the Christian church at Ira.
JAMES STARK.
Through a residence of forty years in Jasper county, James Stark, long one of the most progressive and careful tillers of the soil in Hickory Grove township, and who, having accumulated a competency, is now spending his declining years in quiet and in the midst of plenty in his beautiful home in the village of Newburg, this township, as a man who can be trusted at all times and places, one who is honorable and successful in business, loyal to his duties of citizenship and faithful to his many friends. Since he came here, four decades ago, his career and the industrial history of Newburg and Hickory Grove township have been very closely interwoven, therefore as well for his long and prominent connection with the growth and prosperity of the com- munity as for his sterling rectitude of character do we gladly present his life record to the readers of this volume.
Mr. Stark is a Hoosier by birth, his birth having occurred in Ripley county, Indiana, April 19, 1839, the son of Elijah and Elizabeth (Johnson) Stark, both born in Kentucky, where they spent their early lives, were educat- ed and married, moving to Indiana in an early day and locating in Ripley county, where he followed his trade of carpenter and builder successfully, accumulating a competency, so that he spent the latter years of his life in retirement, dying in Grant City, Missouri, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, he having moved to Missouri when past seventy years of age. He was a man of fine character and strong personality, making friends readily wher-
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ever he went. He became one of the leading builders in Ripley county, Indiana, well known and influential in the upbuilding of the county, which was comparatively new when he went there. There were twelve children in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Stark. Politically, he was a Whig, later a Republican. For a period of four years he was county clerk of Ripley county, his son, James, of this review, being his deputy. The father was also county treasurer for six years ; he filled both these offices with much credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the people.
James Stark, of this review, grew up in Indiana, and in his youth assisted his father with his work and under him learned the carpenter's trade. He attended the common schools in Ripley county and received a fairly good education. In early life he preferred farming to carpentering, it seems, although he was very proficient in the use of tools. consequently followed farming the most, and he got a good start through his close application and economy and was enabled in time to buy a good farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Ripley county, Indiana. On this he made his home four or five years, making a great success as a general farmer, but desiring to cast his lot in a newer country and having heard of the rich, cheap land in Jasper county, Iowa, he sold out in his naitve state and emigrated to the latter in 1870. Being at once favorably impressed with the prospects here, he decided to make his permanent home here, but in order to properly familiarize himself with the new conditions which confronted him here, he decided not to purchase a farm upon his arrival, consequently he rented land a few years, finally buying a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Hickory Grove township, which he improved and rendered very productive and here carried on general farming and stock raising successfully until 1899, when he retired from active life and moved to the village of Newburg, this township, there built a modern, cozy and convenient cottage and a good barn and he has lived retired ever since, enjoying the fruits of long years of hard and consecu- tive labor.
Politically, Mr. Stark is a Republican and he has always manifested a keen interest in local affairs and has ably served his township as assessor for two years and as trustee for ten years, later he was county supervisor for six years. He filled all these offices in a manner that stamped him as a man of ability, public spirit and a proper conception of the duties of a right- minded citizen, and won the hearty commendation of all concerned. He and his wife are members of the United Brethren church.
On May 1, 1864, Mr. Stark was married to Esther Ludwick, who was a native of Indiana and the daughter of Jacob and Esther Ludwick, the father
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dying in Iowa and the mother in Indiana. Six children were born to Mr and Mrs. James Stark, named as follows : William C., who lives at Stone City, Jones county ; Mary Elizabeth, who married Willie Newton, lives on his father's homestead; Anna Florence is the wife of Newton J. Morgart and they live on a farm in this county ; Elijah L. lives at Gilman, Marshall county ; Clarence H. lives on his father's farm; Edith B. married Clarence Grubb, a carpenter and builder of Oskaloosa, Iowa.
James Stark is one of the honored veterans of the great Civil war, hav- ing served six months in Company B, Sixty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infan- try. Three months of his time was spent in pursuit of John Morgan, the intrepid Southern raider, in Kentucky. During his brief service he acquitted himself as a faithful soldier for the Union.
DANIEL PHELAN.
The old countries of the world, particularly in those governed by kings or emperors, there is a sharp contrast drawn between persons of title and the laboring classes. The aristocratic members of these countries, from time immemorial, tried to make it appear that the kings or emperors ruled by divine authority and the families of the nobility attempted to establish their own superiority over the working classes on much the same basis. As a consequence labor has always been looked upon in those countries as degrad- ing instead of as being the highest employment to which man can turn his hand. In our country, on the contrary, it has been largely the tendency to ennoble labor, and this tendency has been largely successful, because, aside from the weak-minded aristocrats of the cities, all of us regard labor as wholly dignified and honorable. Even the President himself may have, and frequently has, descended from the farmer in the wilds of the West. Among those living in Jasper county who grew tired of the unnecessary domineering of the aristocracy in the Old World and came to our free republic and here added to the dignity and respectability of labor by fair and honorable conduct . is Daniel Phelan, a successful farmer of Poweshiek township.
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