USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
792
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
received a good education, assisting his father with the general farm work when a boy. For some time he filled the position of fireman in the electric light plant at Newton, but finally returned to farming, locating on his present place in 1907. His father has a very desirable farm of one hundred and forty acres, one hundred of which lies in Kellogg township and the balance in Mariposa township. He is rapidly improving the same and is succeeding in all phases of his farm work.
Mr. Ortwig was married on May 16, 1905, to Marie Cornelia Cook, who was born in Pella, Marion county, Iowa, March 20, 1888, the daughter of Dirk and Nellie ( Earley) Cook, both born in Holland.
Politically, Mr. Ortwig is a Republican, and while he takes more or less interest in public affairs, he is not a politician.
REV. JOHN POTTER.
There is no earthly station higher than the ministry of the gospel; no life can be more uplifting and grander than that which is devoted to amelio- rating the human race, a life of service for the betterment of the brotherhood of man, one that is willing to cast aside all earthly crowns and laurels of fame in order to follow in the footsteps of the lowly Nazarene. . It is not possible to measure adequately the height, depth and breadth of such a life, for its influences continue to permeate the lives of others through succeeding genera- tions, so the power it has cannot be known until "the sun grows cold, and the stars are old and the leaves of the judgment book unfold." Rev. John Potter, a Methodist minister, known throughout Iowa, and who after many years of strenuous endeavor is retired at Newton, Jasper county, is one of those self-sacrificing, ardent, loyal and true spirits that is a blessing to the race, leaving in its wake an influence that ever makes brighter and better the lives of those who follow.
Rev. Mr. Potter was born June 7, 1843, at Thornton, Yorkshire, Eng- land, and he is the son of Henry and Mary (Elliott) Potter, natives of Eng- land, the father being the fourth child in order of birth in the family born to John and Elizabeth (Townson) Potter, his birth having occurred at Kirk-by-the-Moorside, now Kirby, November 14, 1814. Upon the marriage of Henry Potter with Mary Elliott, his grandmother Townson presented to him a Bible published in 1785 and it is now in possession of the subject of this sketch.
A
REV. JOHN POTTER AND FAMILY
793
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
When six years of age, Rev. John Potter was brought to America by his parents, reaching our shores on June 17, 1849. At that time there were seven children, four being later born in this country. The family located in Oriskany, Oneida county, New York. The father was a wheelwright and wagonmaker. Two and one-half years later they moved to Morgan county, Illinois, where they engaged in farming until the father's death, July 7, 1876. The mother was born May 13, 1817, and died September 24, 1890. They were the parents of the following children : James, born December 2, 1837, is engaged in farming and stock raising in Crawford county, Kansas; Eliza- beth. born July 7, 1839, is the widow of William C. Hart, who resides at Winchester, Illinois : Ann Elliott is the widow of William Marshall, who was born February 12. 1841, lives at McClusky, North Dakota; John, of this review : Henry Townson, born December 10. 1844, died in Kansas in 1891 ; Martha is the wife of James Schofield, born May 8, 1846. resides at Alta- mont, Kansas, on a farm; William, born September 9, 1847, lives on a farm at Lacygne, Kansas; Ruth, born January 20, 1851, is the wife of David Gilbert and they reside at Mayfield. Kansas; Thomas, born June 23, 1854, lives on a farm near Stillwater, Oklahoma; Edward Everett, born July 20, 1857. died February 10, 1902, at Jacksonville, Illinois; George died in in- fancy : Charles Wesley, born May 4, 1859. is a retired farmer living at Jack- sonville, Illinois.
Rev. John Potter is a veteran of the great Civil war, having enlisted in the Union army at Jacksonville, Illinois, August 6, 1862, and he served very faithfully until the close of the war, and was mustered out at Camp Butler, June 22, 1865. He was a private in Company I, One Hundred and First Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He took part in the following engage- ments : Holly Springs. Mississippi, where he was taken prisoner and held six months; was in the midnight battle of Wauhatchie: fought near Chatta- nooga, Tennessee, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain: with Sherman on his march to the sea ; was at the surrender of Joseph E. Johnston at Durham's Station. He went to Richmond and then on to Washington. D. C., taking part in the Grand Review, May 24, 1865. After returning from the army he came to Iowa in the fall of 1865, and located in Jasper county. He pur- chased forty acres in Elk Creek township, which he sold four years later and bought eighty acres in Lynn Grove township. He entered the ministry in 1870. and that year he joined the annual conference of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and for thirty years was engaged in active ministerial work, his pastorate charges being as follows: Millersburg, Iowa county : Lancaster, Keokuk county; Hamilton, Marion county: Chillicothe. Wapello county ;
794
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
Durham, Marion county; Albia, Monroe county; Unionville, Appanoose county ; Kozta, Iowa county ; Pleasant Hill, Johnson county ; Kellogg, Jasper county ; Lynnville, Jasper county; Richland, Keokuk county; Mound City, Kansas; Eddyville, Wapello county; Rose Hill, Mahaska county ; Knoxville, Marion county; Ewart, Poweshiek county; Exline, Appanoose county ; Nichols, Muscatine county ; Taintor, Mahaska county. He did a great work at all these places, built up the congregations and strengthened the work in this part of the state, becoming widely known as an earnest, able, conscien- tious and fearless exponent of Methodism, being a public orator second to none in the conference and profoundly versed in the Scriptures. He retired from the active ministry in 1903 and moved to his pleasant home in Newton, buying five acres of land upon which he resides. In 1875 he purchased one hundred and forty acres in Poweshiek county, which he sold in 1902. He also owned a quarter section in Madison county, which he sold in 1905. That year be bought one hundred and seventy-three acres in Buena Vista township, selling it in 1909, when he bought one hundred and twenty acres in Powe- shiek township, Jasper county which he still owns. He also owns twenty-five acres of timber land in Buena Vista township.
On October II, 1866, Rev. Mr. Potter was united in marriage with Angeline F, Sparks, daughter of T. M. and Sarah (Guessford) Sparks, her father being a native of North Carolina and her mother of Kentucky. Early in life they moved to Morgan county, Illinois, where they continued to reside until 1834, when they moved to Lee county, Iowa, and in 1847 they came to Jasper county, being among the first settlers. Mr. Sparks becoming well-to-do here, being one of the most extensive land owners in the county at that time and he was influential and widely known, one of the most prominent of the first settlers. His death occurred December 2, 1887, at the age of seventy-five years, his birth having occurred on August 15, 1812. His wife preceded him to the grave on May 24, 1883, at the age of seventy-four years, her birth having occurred on July 27, 1809. The wife of Rev. Mr. Potter was born in Lee county, Iowa, on December 24, 1844. She was one of a family of twelve children, of whom nine are living, namely: Stephen J., who lives at Lynn- ville, Iowa; John R. lives in Arkansas; William P. lives at Lynnville; Thomas and Martin died in infancy; Jeremiah lives at New Sharon, Iowa; Mary E., the widow of B. T. Carson, resides at Botna, Shelby county ; George W. lives in Omaha, Nebraska; Eliza E. is the wife of Lucian Butrum, and they live at Lynnville ; Margaret A. died when seventeen years of age; True- love M. is in the real estate business at Winterset, Iowa.
795
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
Mrs. Potter's uncle, John R. Sparks, was the first clerk of Jasper county. Her father entered all the land surrounding the Junction. He was a man of practically no text-book education, but he made an excellent business man.
Two children have been born to Rev. and Mrs. Potter, namely; Charles Henry, born May 31, 1869, lives in Lynn Grove township, near the town of Lynnville. John Wesley was born November 4, 1870, at Millersburg, Iowa county, and he is now engaged in merchandising at Wilton Junction, Musca- tine county.
Rev. Mr. Potter is a member of Garrett Post No. 16, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he is past commander. He has been department chaplain and made the prayer when the flags were moved into the state house. Politi- cally, he is a Republican. He has ever manifested an abiding interest in all movements having for their object the general good and has done what he could in promoting the same. Rev. Mr. Potter is the author of an interesting volume entitled "Reminiscences of the Civil War."
JAMES TOUGH.
The gentleman whose name introduces this brief review is a native of Ohio, born near Mansfield, that state, on December 12, 1854, and is the son of James and Isabella (McConna) Tough, both natives of the Highlands of Scotland. The family came to America in 1853, and settled in Ohio, where the father carried on agricultural pursuits for two years, at the expiration of which time, in 1855, they came to Iowa, the family consisting of six chil- dren, namely: „Maggie, John and Charles, none of whom ever married, all living together in Muscatine county, Iowa ; Henry is married and lives at Earl- ham; Belle, wife of Abraham Ice, lives in Muscatine county, Iowa, and is the mother of one child, a son, who answers to the name of Lester. The father departed this life in Muscatine county, Iowa, in 1886, at the age of sixty-three years, and the mother died a year or so later at the age of sixty-two.
On February 8, 1882, James Tough was united in marriage with Ella Milne, at Davenport, Iowa, who was born in Arbroath, Scotland, on August 9, 1851, the daughter of Stewart and Jessie (Fawns) Milne, both natives of Scotland. The father and mother never left their native country, both dying in Scotland, the father at the age of seventy, in the year 1870, and the mother in 1875, at the age of sixty. Mrs. Tough's father was a blacksmith by trade, and was twice married. By his first marriage there is now living but one child, a son, Stewart, who lives in Oregon. By his second marriage he
796
JASPER COUNTY, JOWA.
was the father of four children, namely: James and Charles, who both died in Scotland; David, living in Aurora, Illinois; and Ella, wife of the subject of this review. Mrs. Tough was born and lived about forty miles north of Edinburgh, Scotland. She came to the United States in June, 1879, with a brother, David, mentioned above, who had come to this country about five years previous to that date, and who had returned to his home intending to remain there, but his health failing him, the doctors advised that he return to America, the climate being too damp for him along the North Sea, and in the year indicated above he returned to this country, bringing his sister with him. They set sail from Glasgow and were twelve days on the water. David Milne was a linen weaver by trade in Scotland, but after coming to this country followed the trade of miller principally. They lived in Davenport, Iowa, where the sister kept house for him. When she came to America it was not her intention to remain here permanently, but she met and married James Tough, a young farmer, and settled down contentedly to remain on this side of the water.
Three years after their marriage, they came to Jasper county, Iowa, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Buena Vista township, of a man by the name of McCauley, who had entered the land from the govern- ment many years before, and this is the only time this land has ever changed ownership. They have since added eighty acres to it and have built an elegant home on the place, which is located about three miles north of Killduff.
To Mr. and Mrs. Tough have been born eight children, namely : James and David, twins, born October 12, 1887. David died in infancy; James is unmarried and lives at home with his parents: Earl, born June 21. 1887; Roy, born February 2, 1889; Edward, born December 4, 1891 ; Charles, born October 2, 1895, all living at home with their parents; Cora, born November 21, 1883, wife of Elmer Guessford, lives in Cambridge, Wayne county, Iowa, has one child, a son, Harold by name; Hattie, born June 13, 1885, is still at home with her parents.
Besides the fine farm of two hundred and forty acres in Buena Vista township, Mr. Tough also owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Dawes county, Nebraska. He is a member of the Woodmen of the World of Kellogg. Politically, he is a Republican, but has never aspired to public office, although he has served for several years as school director. In addition to general farming, he raises stock quite extensively for the market.
Mrs. Tough is a woman of rare sweetness of character, much beloved and respected by all who know her. She is a faithful and consistent member of the Presbyterian church at Kellogg.
797
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
I. S. SMITH.
I. S. Smith (or "Scott" Smith, as he is familiarly and universally called and known) was the seventh child of a family of ten children born to Jesse and Elizabeth M. (Johnson) Smith. The father was born in Clearfield coun- ty, Pennsylvania, on December 27, 1832, and was the son of John B. and Sarah Smith. In 1862 he married Elizabeth M. Johnson, who was the daugh- ter of Joseph and Hannah (Cramer) Johnson. She was born in Westmore- land county, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1840. After their marriage-about three years-Jesse Smith removed with his family from Pennsylvania to Iowa, and settled first in Scott county, on a farm. Five years later the family moved to Jasper county and purchased eighty acres of land in Buena Vista township; later other lands were added to this and at the present time Mr. Smith's holdings consist of two hundred and eighty acres upon which the son. Scott, the subject of this review, resides, the father having retired and moved to Newton in 1904, buying property there. Here Mr. Smith died, January II, III.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Smith are as follows: John B., born 1863, died in 1872; Joseph J., born in 1864, married Grace Young, lives in California ; William Richard, born 1866, died in 1878; Edward B., born 1868, married Charlotte Castleman, lives on what was formerly a part of the old Smith homestead, and adjoining, in Buena Vista township; James A., born 1871, died 1878, of diphtheria; Frank, born 1873, died in infancy ; Scott, of this sketch, born 1874; Alice May, born 1876, married Garrett Hasselman, lives on a farm in Marion county, near Oskaloosa; Anna M., born 1880, married John Philips, who died, and later she married Sherman Sanderson, resides in South Dakota: Charles H., born 1883, married May Callison, lives in Redfield, Iowa.
Jesse Smith was active in church affairs before his health failed. He helped build, financially and with his labor, the Baptist church at Killduff, of which he and his wife are charter members.
Scott Smith began to work for himself at the age of twenty years. He rented a place from his father and farmed it for a while. In 1901 he bought one hundred and sixty acres in Buena Vista township, which he farmed for three years, when he sold it to Ike Barda and moved to Newton, but one year later he moved back on his father's farm where he has since resided.
On February 15, 1899, Scott Smith was united in marriage to Anna M. Hill. daughter of J. B. and Elizabeth (Stanley) Hill, both natives of Indiana, she being the seventh child born in a family of eight. Mr. Hill, her father,
798
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
was a large landowner in Buena Vista township, and a very fine man. He departed this life in 1900, at his old home place in Buena Vista township, his wife surviving him and now lives in Kellogg.
To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born four children, as follows: Clarence, born April 26, 1900; Florence, born January 2, 1906; Ruth, born June 30, 1908, died September 2, 1909 ; Ester Evelin, born June 10, 191I.
Besides farming, Mr. Smith owns and operates in partnership with his brother-in-law, Bert Hill, a threshing machine, also owning a fine automobile and is a progressive farmer. Fraternally, he is a member of the Iowa State Grange in Buena Vista. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Pleasant View. Mr. Smith has since bought the place on which he lives, his father's old homestead.
E. L. DUNCAN.
An honored pioneer and progressive farmer is E. L. Duncan, of Powe- shiek, Jasper county, he being a member of a sterling old family, members of which have done much in the general development of the western part of the county and who have always been regarded as among the leading citizens of this locality in every respect.
Mr. Duncan was born on the farm which he now owns, December 24. 1858. He is the son of Lieut. E. D. and L. B. (Whitney ) Duncan, the former born in Adams county, Illinois, on January 1, 1828, and the latter in Hancock county, Illinois, in 1831. They were married in 1852 and the following year they came to Jasper county, Iowa. The paternal grandfather was a native of Kentucky, and the Whitneys were originally of Vermont.
Lieut. E. D. Duncan, mentioned above, enlisted in 1861 in Company B, Thirteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and he was commissioned second lieu- tenant on October 2Ist following. In March, 1862, the regiment was or- dered to the support of General Grant, and on March 8th they left Jefferson City, went to St. Louis and thence down the river to Pittsburg Landing, reaching there March 23d .. During the first day's battle at Shiloh this regi- ment was under constant fire for ten hours, making a gallant resistance, after which it was found that twenty-four had been killed. one hundred and thirty- nine wounded and nine were missing. Among the killed was Lieut E. D. Duncan, who, on April 6, 1862, gallantly gave his life for his country, in the first battle of his regiment. His brave deeds during that great battle and his name have been honored and perpetuated by the naming of the Grand Army
.
799
JASPER COUNTY, IOW.A.
post at Colfax, the E. D. Duncan Post No. 253. He had come to the front as a leading citizen through merit and ability. He was a Republican and was in- fluential in local affairs. He served very capably as township trustee, also township clerk, in fact, filled all the local offices in Poweshiek township. He was a member of the first board of managers of the Jasper County Agricul- tural Society in 1856 and in 1860 he served on the board. His widow is residing in Independence township. this county. Two children were born to them: Louise K. is the wife of G. A. Rumbaugh and they live in Jasper county ; E. L. Duncan, of this review, was the second in order of birth.
The subject grew to maturity on the home farm which he helped develop, and he received his education in the neighboring schools. His fine farm con- sists of four hundred and twenty acres of as valuable land as the township can boast, and he has kept it under a high state of improvement, carrying on general farming and stock raising in a most successful manner. He has a very pleasant home and substantial outbuildings.
Mr. Duncan has been township assessor for the past ten years, his long service giving sufficient evidence of his popularity and of his fidelity to his public duties. He is a stanch Republican in politics.
Mr. Duncan was married to Mary Gardner, daughter of William Gardner and wife of Jasper county, who emigrated to this' county from Canada in 1868. To Mr. and Mrs. Duncan the following children have been born : Harry G .. Donald W., Ruth, Agnes and T. Darwin, all at home.
FRED RICHARDSON.
Among the representative farmers of Jasper county is Fred Richardson, who has a comfortable home in Richland township where he is carrying on the various departments of his enterprise with that discretion and energy which are sure to find their sequel, quite naturally, in definite success. Having always been a hard worker, a good manager and a man of economical habits, and, being fortunately situated in a thriving farming community, it is no won- der that he has made a very satisfactory living and has laid by something for the "rainy days" ahead.
Mr. Richardson was born in Mahaska county, Iowa, April 9, 1876, and he is the son of James and Louisa (Clark) Richardson, the father born in Ohio in 1845, and the mother a native of Marion county, Iowa. The maternal grandfather, Green T. Clark, came to Marion county, this state, in 1840, being among the earliest settlers, and he staked off a claim before the county was
800
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
established, and began life on the wild prairie when neighbors were few and far remote, in fact that section of the state had not so much as been surveyed.
The father of the subject came to Pella, Iowa, in 1855, during the winter of that year, and although the country was not calculated to favorably impress one in its winter aspects, he knew that it liad a great future and here he made his permanent home. He had been in Dallas county, Iowa, just previously, but did not like it there. He finally became the owner of two hundred and fifty acres of good land in Mahaska county and was well fixed. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His death occurred in the spring of 1904 at an advanced age. His family consisted of the following children : Clark, Elsworth, Charles M., Alta Erma, Clara (deceased) and Fred. The father took a great interest in.his children and was careful in their training.
Fred Richardson, of this review, attended school in Mahaska county and grew to manhood there. When twenty-four years of age he began renting land in order to get a start. having come to Richland township, Jasper county, to a farm of one hundred and seventy-eight acres, belonging to George and Levi Richardson of Newton. He has been here twelve years and has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a Republican.
On February 15, 1900, Mr. Richardson was married to Mayme Elizabeth Grandia, who was born in Mahaska county. Iowa, the daughter of Anthony Grandia, and this union has resulted in the birth of these children: Harold Emmett. Ralph Roy, Irma Viola and Esther Grace.
ABRAHAM ADAMSON.
One of the best known of all the early settlers of Jasper county, as well as one of the most sincerely revered, is the subject of this review. A volume of the keenest interest might well be written of his long and useful life did space permit, and it would indeed be a difficult task for the biographer to say more in praise of Mr. Adamsson than is his due.
To begin with, his birth was peculiar, he having been born while his father and mother were enroute by wagon from Missouri to Iowa. When within one day's journey from their destination, the cavalcade of settlers was halted there, at the home of a settler named Ingerman, in Marion county, Iowa, March 31. 1846, the subject of this sketch was ushered into the world.
His father, Evan Adamson, a native of Tennessee, and his mother, Elizabeth Miller, a native of North Carolina, had been married in Madison
ARNOTT ADAMSON, V. S. MR. AND MRS. ABRAHAM ADAMSON
801
JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
county, Indiana, August 4, 1835, removing to Plat Purchase, Missouri, where they remained until 1846. With the family came Abraham Adamson, the grandfather of the subject; James Etchison, and Jessie Rickman, who was afterwards elected judge of Jasper county. Trips were usually made in old "prairie schooners" of pioneer days, but Mr. Adamson had a spring wagon for his family. Many and varied were the incidents and adventures the emigrants encountered along the way. Indians were plentiful, as well as bear, deer, wolves and buffalo, and the streams crossed were, many of them, wild and unbridged torrents. The family settled upon a considerable tract of raw timber and prairie land surrounding what has since been known as "Adam- son's Grove," which land the father had secured from the government upon a trip made prior to the coming of the family.
Of the hardships and privations endured during those early years much might be said. A small log cabin was built and, with few comforts, the family set to work to carve out a home in the new and wild country. From the first the father was a leader of his time, taking active part in the advance- ment and development of his county and state. He it was who furnished and hauled the timber from which the first court house was built in Newton. He was also either the first or second sheriff of the county, director of schools, justice of the peace, constable and held many other offices and positions which he filled with credit during his long and useful life. Everyone in the county knew "Uncle Evan," as he was endearingly called. He died six miles south- east of Newton, in Buena Vista township, May 26, 1899, at the advanced age of ninety-one years and four months.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.