USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 35
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
October, 1862, is living near Clyde; George died in early life; Mrs. Emma Clemments is living in Clear Creek township; Mrs. Charlotte Vasey is also a resident of that township. These children were all born and reared in Jasper county.
Albert D. Berry grew to manhood and attended school in his native community, and on September 7, 1887, he was united in marriage with Delilah Deter, who was born in Jasper county, Iowa, August 22, 1858, the daughter of Aaron and Henrietta (Gilbert) Deter, both natives of Pennsylvania, where they grew up and were married, and from there they came to Iowa and both died in Boone county. Their family consisted of eight children, namely : Julia Wiley and Thomas, both deceased ; Mrs. Almeda Wiley ; a daughter died in infancy; Mrs. Zellette Martin lives in South Dakota; Norman is living in Spokane, Washington; Delilah, wife of Mr. Berry, of this review; Grace lives in Spokane, Washington; William lives at Bussey, Marion county, Iowa; Sadie died when twenty-eight years of age. The three oldest of these children were born in Ohio and the younger children were born in Clear Creek town- ship, Jasper county, Iowa.
Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Berry, namely: Ethel May, born July 4, 1888, is living at home ; David H., born October 20, 1890, is also a member of the family circle; Daniel Curtis, born December 15, 1892, died July 29, 1898; Gladys F., born December 10, IS94; Cleo, born December 10, 1896, died July 19, 1898; Joseph Charles, born April 10, 1900. They were all born in Jasper county.
Mr. Berry has been very successful in a business way in whatever he has turned his attention to and he is today one of the substantial men of his county, enjoying a position of independence, having by perseverance, indomit- able courage and unswerving industry mounted the ladder from its lowest rung. His life has been devoted for the most part to agricultural pursuits, stock raising, buying and shipping. He is the owner of three hundred and forty-two acres of as valuable and productive land as Independence township can boast. This he has kept well improved and under a high state of cultiva- tion. In addition to his general operations in farming he conducts a meat market in Baxter, which has a large patronage, and he is the able and popular president of the People's State Savings Bank of Baxter, a sound and safe in- stitution, which, under Mr. Berry's judicious management has rapidly in- creased in importance and volume of business. He has a beautiful and mod- ern home, tastily and well furnished. He is a liberal, enterprising man and enjoys the fruits of his labors. He is always ready to aid in every way possi- ble the upbuilding of his community. Politically, he is a Democrat and he is a member of the local school board.
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
WILLIAM TRAMEL.
In the history of Jasper county as applying to agricultural interests, the name of William Tramel .occupies a conspicuous place, for through a number of years he has been one of the representative farmers of Independence town- ship, progressive, enterprising and persevering. Such qualities always win success, sooner or later, and to Mr. Tramel they have brought a satisfactory reward for his well directed effort, and while he has benefited himself and com- munity in a material way he has also been an influential factor in the educa- tional, political and moral uplift of the community favored by his residence, and at the same time won and retained the high esteem of his fellow men, by his honorable record and his unassuming demeanor.
Mr. Tramel has been content to spend his life in his native county, wisely deciding that no better locality existed for a young man to rise in the world if he was willing to put his shoulder to the wheel. His birth occurred in Clear Creek township, Jasper county, Iowa, on July 2, 1870, and there he grew to manhood, was educated in the public schools and he has always been identified with the agricultural interests of this community. The Tramel family has been one of the best known in this county since the pioneer days, W. A. B. Tramel, the paternal grandfather of the subject, having been one of the very earliest settlers of Clear Creek township and from that period to this the several members of this family have figured in the development of this section and have led such exemplary lives as to be a credit to the same. The parents, Joseph and Cynthia (Leonard) Tramel, were widely known here, having become well established through their industry. They are both now deceased, the father having passed away in Portland, Oregon, at the age of sixty-five, and the mother was called to her rest in Des Moines, Iowa, when sixty-three years old. Their family consisted of four children, of whom Will- iam, of this sketch, was the eldest; Stella Whitehead lives in Poweshiek town- ship; Walter C. lives in Clear Creek township; Bertha Allspaugh lives in Boulder, Colorado.
William Tramel was married on October 25, 1898, to Blanche Dodd, who was born in Clear Creek township, December 25, 1879, the daughter of Sam- uel and Maggie (Thompson) Dodd. The father, who was born near New- ton, is residing in Clear Creek township, having a good farm there. There were four children in the Dodd family, as follows : Blanche, who married Mr. Tramel, of this sketch; Maude Kenyon is deceased; Leo is living in Clear Creek township; Chloe is living with her parents on the old home place.
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To Mr. and Mrs. Tramel have been born four children, namely : Helen, born November 30, 1899; Jolin, born February 5, 1901 ; Samuel, born Febru- ary 25, 1903 ; William, Jr., born May 30, 1908. These children were all born in Jasper county.
Mr. Tramel has been very successful as a general farmer and stock man and has accumulated a competency. He operated for a number of years one of the finest farms in the county, which consisted of one hundred and twenty acres in Independence township, but this he recently disposed of. He has a commodious and well furnished home at Ira. He is one of the county's most successful young business men. The major part of his income was derived from the extensive handling of live stock of all kinds. which he raised, and he has bought and sold many head of horses annually. He formerly shipped them to market by the carloads, but he confines himself at present to local ex- change. No better judge of a horse could be found in the county than he and he has always been a great admirer of a good saddler, trotter or draft horse.
Politically, Mr. Tramel votes independently. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of Unity Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Baxter ; he is a member of Baxter Lodge No. 168. Knights of Pythias, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America of Ira.
GEORGE A. SMALL.
Those who belong to the respectable middle classes of society, being early taught the necessity of relying upon their own exertions, will be more apt to acquire that information and those business habits which alone can fit them for the discharge of life's duties, and, indeed, it has long been a noticeable fact that our great men in nearly all walks of life in America spring from this class. The gentleman whose life history we herewith delineate is a worthy representative of the class from which the. true noblemen of the republic spring, and while he has never achieved wide notoriety, or, indeed, cared for the admiring plaudits of his fellow men, he has played well his part as a citizen and done much for the localities where he has lived.
George A. Small, the genial and popular proprietor of the Commercial hotel at Baxter, Iowa, hails from the "dark and bloody ground country," his birth having occurred in Jefferson county, Kentucky, September 27, 1849. and he was quite young when his parents, who were pioneers of that state, left there and moved to Macoupin county, Illinois, being among the early set-
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tlers there ; they began farming and the subject assisted in developing the same, helped build the rail fence that surrounded it and there became acquainted with hard manual labor. There the family lived until the fall of 1870, when they moved to Jasper county, Iowa, locating about two and one half miles west of Monroe on the Prairie City road and there secured a good farm and home. The parents, George W. and Julia Ann (Clemons) Small, were both natives of Kentucky, the mother born in Jefferson county. They both died in Prairie City, Iowa. There were thirteen children in their family, namely : Ella Over- street, deceased; George A., of this review; James C., residence unknown; Richard L., deceased ; E. S., deceased; Edwin E. lives in Dallas county, Iowa ; William is deceased; Forney lives in St. Paul, Minnesota; the others died in infancy.
In May, 1871, George A. Small was united in marriage with Laura J. Meek, who was born in Jasper county, Iowa, in 1850, and whose death oc- curred in April, 1876. There were two children born to this union, namely : Mattie Zella Clutter, born May 17, 1872, is living at home; after completing the common school work she was graduated from the Omaha high school, and she taught school a number of years very successfully. The youngest child died in infancy.
Mr. Small was again married at Newton, Iowa, on September 12, 1883, to Emma Flock, who was born in Jasper county, Iowa, February 15, 1859, the daughter of John and Catharine (Haymond) Flock, the father a native of New Jersey, who emigrated first to Ohio, then to Iowa, dying in Jasper county ; the mother was a native of Maryland; they came to Jasper county about sixty years ago. Their family consisted of the following children : Charles Flock; Emma, wife of Mr. Small, of this review; Lena died about fifteen years ago; Catharine Sewell lives in Clear Creek township, this county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Small two daughters have been born, also one son, namely : Verda Rey Hopson, born September 20, 1885, married September 24, 1903, residing in Des Moines; John A., born November 8, 1888, attended the common schools, was employed about three years as telegraph operator for the Chicago Great Western Railway, and he is now operator at Baxter; Gertrude Leona, born April 18, 1891, is now Mrs. James McKinzie, and lives in Baxter. These children were born and reared in Jasper county.
From 1871 to 1876 the family resided near Monroe, thence moved to Prairie City, where the first Mrs. Small's death occurred. Mr. Small moved to Colfax and engaged in various business enterprises and traveled extensively. After his second marriage he engaged in farming until 1891, then conducted a restaurant in Colfax. In 1902 he purchased the restaurant at Baxter, which
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he sold in 1909 and bought the Commercial hotel here, which he is still con- ducting, his son, John, managing the restaurant. His aim is to make this one of the best hotels in every respect in central Iowa. It has been entirely re- fitted and is now first class in every respect, and, being convenient to both the business district and the depot, it is popular with the traveling public. Guests find in Mr. Small a genial, obliging and courteous gentleman who spares no pains in making them comfortable and his trade is rapidly increasing.
Politically, Mr. Small is a Democrat and Mrs. Small belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Small and his son, John, are members of Baxter Lodge No. 168, Knights of Pythias. The former was at one time a members of the Knights of Honor at Colfax.
Like his father, John Small is popular and well liked wherever he is known and he is proving to be a successful business man.
LEE SIGNS.
Although no section of the great Hawkeye state is richer in opportunities or offers greater advantages to its citizens than does Jasper county, success is not here to be obtained through desire alone, but is to be persistently worked for, there being various obstacles to be overcome just as in every country, so the idler or dreamer knows nothing of the rich rewards that come to the toil- ers in the locality of which this history deals. Lee Signs, of Clear Creek township, Jasper county, is evidently entitled to rank with that class of hard- working citizens who prefer to follow the old maxim of go it alone, rather than depend upon others to contribute to his support and progress. Having spent his entire life in this township, it is evident that he has preferred to remain at home rather than seek some mythical "better country," and here he has not only reaped the fruitage of a well directed energy, but has so ordered his course in all the relations of life as to command the confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
As intimated, Mr. Signs was born in this township, on the farm where he now resides, August 4, 1869, and here he received his education and early in life turned his attention to agricultural pursuits He is the son of James and Sarah (Kintz) Signs, the father born in Wayne county; Ohio, August 18, 1831, and he is residing with his son Lee on the old home place, he having come to Iowa in 1854 and settled in Clear Creek township, this county, in 1857. The mother of the subject was born in Summit county, Ohio, and her death occurred on October 23, 1903. Their family consisted of four sons
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and one daughter, as follows: J. Emery, born March 1, 1859, is living in Clear Creek township; Mrs. John W. Long lives in Eden township, Marshall county ; Charles C., born January 8, 1862, lives in Olathe, Kansas ; John, born February 14, 1864, lives at Collins, Story county, and Lee, of this review.
Mr. Signs, of this review, was married on March 15, 1892, to Clara Wiley, who was born in Clear Creek township, this county, February 12, 1872. Her mother having died when she was quite young, she was taken into the home of William Parker, of Collins, and was reared and educated there. She is the daughter of James and Julia (Deeter) Wiley, the father born in In- diana, March 13, 1845, while the mother's birth occurred in Ohio, and she died in April, 1880, at the age of thirty-five years. Mr. Wiley is now living in South Dakota. Their family consisted of four daughters, namely: Mary, who married John Signs, was born September 6, 1868, and is residing at Collins, Iowa; Clara, wife of Mr. Signs, of this review; Mrs. Belle Dodd, born February 12, 1874, lives in Collins township, Story county, Iowa; Mrs. Gertie Ferguson, born August II, 1876, is living at Lowery City, Missouri. These children were all born in Clear Creek township.
To Mr. and Mrs. Signs have been born three daughters and one son, namely : Coral, born December 12, 1893, lives at home; Gladys died in in- fancy ; Floyd, born April 20, 1895; Mildred, born June 6, 1905. These chil- dren were all born on the farm where lives their father and grandfather.
Politically, Mr. Signs is independent and, fraternally, he belongs to Mingo Lodge No. 174, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; also Indian Creek Camp No. 1180, Modern Woodmen of America, at Mingo. He has been a member of the school board for a number of years.
Mr. Signs is tilling the one hundred and sixty acres of the home place and he also owns sixty acres, near his residence. He keeps his land well im- proved and well cultivated, as did his worthy father when he was an active farmer.
ARTHUR W. JEFFRIES.
One of the most enterprising of our younger generation of business men is Arthur W. Jeffries, the present efficient postmaster at Ira, Independence township, and a member of one of the leading families of Jasper county, mem- bers of which have done much for the general upbuilding of the same along all lines. He seems to have inherited many of the winning characteristics of his sterling ancestors, who are remembered as people who refused to be thwarted
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
in their life course by untoward circumstances and who at the same time they were laboring for their individual advancement, never neglected their duties to their neighbors. They have always stood high in the communities where they have sought to establish their homes and engage in their chosen vocations, which have embraced many lines of endeavor ; merchandising, general agri- culture and stock raising, however, have been their chief attractions for a livelihood. They have been not only neighborly and hospitable, but also public spirited.
Mr. Jeffries was born in Independence township, this county, on Novem- ber 28, 1881. He is the son of Hiram A. and Barbara (Witmer) Jeffries, the father born in this township on March 10, 1857, and the mother in Penn- sylvania on July 27, 1860. From there she came to Jasper county, Iowa, in early life, and here met and married Mr. Jeffries, who had grown to manhood here, being the son of an early family of Jasper county. To Mr. and Mrs. Hiram A. Jeffries four children were born, three of whom are living, named as follows: Arthur W., of this sketch, is the eldest ; Vera B., born March I, 1884, at present instructor in domestic science in the public schools at Lake City, Iowa ; Maude, born October 16, 1885, died March 14, 1901 ; Nellie, born February 9, 1894. is attending high school in Des Moines. These children were born and reared in Independence township. Their parents, after spend- ing many years in Jasper county, where the father was engaged for the most part in the mercantile business, have moved to Des Moines, and are residing at University Place, a very desirable residence section of the capital city.
Arthur W. Jeffries grew to manhood in his native township and here he attended the common schools, and also Park College in Des Moines for a short time. With the exception of eight years, he has spent his life in Jasper county. For a great many years he was associated with his father in the general merchandise business at Ira, also the hardware and implement business, be- sides the poultry and butcher business, in all of which he made a success, en- joying a liberal patronage with the surrounding country. In 1911 he was elected postmaster at Ira, the duties of which he continues to discharge with a fidelity that meets the hearty approval of the people and the department.
Mr. Jeffries was married on December 10, 1902, to Daisy M. Cross, who was born in Independence township, this county, where she grew to woman- hood and received her education in the public schools. Her birth occurred on April 26, 1883. She is the daughter of Samuel W. and Melissa (Hefner) Cross, who are now residing in Baxter where they have a pleasant home. There were eight children in the Cross family, seven of whom are living at this writing.
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
To Mr. and Mrs. Jeffries one daughter and one son have been born, namely : Gladys Ethel, born February 7, 1904, and Dennis Delbert, born November 26, 1905. They are both attending the public schools at Ira.
Politically, Mr. Jeffries is a Republican and he takes much interest in local public affairs. He is a member of the Yeoman lodge at Ira. He has a cozy, well furnished home in Ira, and he is the owner of thirty acres of fertile, well improved land in Independence township He and his wife are pleasant young people and are popular with the various circles of the com- munity.
FRANKLIN G. LOGSDON.
Independence township, Jasper county, has no more progressive or public- spirited citizen than Franklin G. Logsdon, a man who merits the confidence that is reposed in him by all who know him owing to his life of industry and uprightness. He is first and primarily an agriculturist, owning one of the choice farms of the community at Ira, which he has successfully operated for many years, but at present he is engaged in the free rural mail delivery, in which he is giving both the people and the department eminent satisfaction.
Mr. Logsdon was born in Independence township, this county, on June 14, 1873, and here he grew to manhood and received his education and with the exception of four years spent in Crawford county, Iowa, he has been a continuous resident here. He is the son of Benjamin Franklin Logsdon and Celia Jane Logsdon, the father a native of Kentucky, and they reside at present in Marshalltown, Iowa.
There were nine children in the Logsdon family, six of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, named as follows: H. W. lives in Crawford county, Iowa; Mrs. Mary A. Rees died in May, 1904; Franklin G., of this sketch; Charles S. lives in Jasper county ; Mrs. Luella J. Sissel lives at Bondurant; Mrs. Jessie Maude Kienzle, of Garwin. Iowa; three children died in infancy.
Franklin G. Logsdon was married on September 16, 1896, to Alice B. Cross, who was born in Jasper county, Iowa, September 26, 1877; here she grew to womanhood, was educated and has always resided. She is the daugh- ter of Samuel W. and Melissa (Hefner) Cross, both of whom live in Baxter. There were eight children in the Cross family, seven of whom are living at this writing.
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To Mr. and Mrs. Logsdon have been born five children, three of whom are living, namely : S. B., born July 10, 1897, died October 26th of the same year ; Doris L., born October 25, 1900, died May 1, 1907 ; Claude, born Janu- ary 6, 1903; Blanche, born February 18, 1907: Maude, born September 19, 1909.
Mr. Logsdon conducted a butcher shop two years in Baxter and for an equal length of time in Ira. On April 1, 1904, he received the appointment as rural mail carrier on route 1. at Ira, this county, and he has continued to discharge the duties of the same to the present time. The farm which he and his wife own consists of one hundred and five acres in Independence township. is well improved and kept under a good state of cultivation, and they have a modern home in every respect. Politically, Mr. Logsdon is a Republican. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, Ira Camp No. 5660. at Ira, and he affiliates with the Methodist Episcopal church.
FRANK CURTIS COOL.
One of the substantial native sons of Jasper county who has been content to spend his life in his native community is Frank Curtis Cool, a worthy rep- resentative of one of our best pioneer families. By close application he estab- lished those habits of industry when a boy which insured his success in later years, being able to extend, from time to time, the area of cultivable land and in due time has found his feet firmly planted upon the highway of a fair measure of material success, with a good farm in his possession and many of the comforts and conveniences of life surrounding him. He has always, like his worthy father before him, been deeply interested in whatever tends to promote the prosperity of his township and county and to him as much as any of the men in his community are we indebted for the excellent improvements for which this section has long been noted. He has also, like his progenitors, used his influence in behalf of all moral and benevolent enterprises, being a friend and liberal patron of the church, believing, as do most fair-minded men, that it is the most potential factor for substantial good the world has ever known or ever will know.
Mr. Cool was born in Adamson's Grove, Jasper county, Iowa, on May 16. 1862, and here he grew to manhood, worked on the home farm during his boyhood and received a meager education in the common schools. He is the son of Abraham and Sarah ( Robbins) Cool, one of the earliest families
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
of this county, having settled here in 1855. They were both born in Pennsyl- vania, in which state they grew to maturity and were married, emigrating to this section of Iowa in the early days, here enduring the privations and hard- ships incident to life in a wild, undeveloped country. But they were people of sterling mettle and in due course of time they had established a good home and had an excellent farm under cultivation and here they reared their children and spent the balance of their lives, the father dying on January 9, 1869, and here the mother passed away on July 16, 1883.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Cool, named as fol- lows : Mrs. Hulda Thompson, living in Hebron, Nebraska; Mrs. Almeda Dee died in 1906; William, born in 1851, lives in Reno, Nevada; Melville J., who was born in Beaver Meadows, Pennsylvania, August 2, 1854, is living in Baxter, Iowa, and runs a hotel; Frank Curtis, of this sketch; Josephus and Josephine, twin sisters, died when six months old; Charles Woodward is living in Melbourne, Iowa. The four younger children were born in Clear Creek township.
Frank C. Cool, of this sketch, was married on September 21, 1884, to Dora Davis, who was born in Polk county, Iowa, on February 15, 1866, and there she grew to womanhood and received her education. Her parents, Oliver Perry Davis and Sarah (Graybel) Davis, were early settlers of Polk county, this state, and there they became well known. The father was born in North Carolina, but emigrated to Iowa in early youth, and he enlisted for service in the Civil war from this county, at Des Moines. He was mustered in at Council Bluffs, as a member of the Second Iowa Battery, and after faithful service and undergoing the usual hardships of a soldier he received an honorable discharge and returned to his home in Iowa in August, 1864. He spent the latter years of his life in Jasper county and died here. His wife, who was a native of Indiana, is living at Toledo, Iowa.
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