USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 5
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Mr. Adamson, the subject, is one of nine children, six of whom are living : Francis M. died at the age of twenty-eight ; Mary Ellen departed this life at the age of fifteen; Sarah Ann, widow of W. W. Richards, resides in Adamson's Grove; Clarinda Bushey, wife of Frank Bushey, resides in Colorado; the next in order of birth is the subject of this sketch; Evan, unmarried, lives with his sister, Mrs. Richards; Joseph died in infancy ; Eliz- abeth Thompson, wife of S. A. Thompson, resides in Manchester, Iowa; Martha Ellen Reno, widow of L. J. Reno, resides in Des Moines, Iowa.
At the age of sixteen the subject of this review attempted to enlist in the Northern army, but was rejected on account of his size and age. However, determined to be a soldier, he went along with the regiment as aid to the captain, a cousin of his father. This was in the spring of 1863. In the fall of that year he returned home and the following spring he enlisted at Newton on May 21, 1864, in Company B. Forty-eighth Iowa Infantry, under Capt.
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Joseph R. Rodgers. He was mustered out September 29, 1864, for re-enlist- ment in Company G, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, which company was under command of his father's cousin. Up until re-enlistment, Mr. Adamson was engaged at Davenport, Iowa, guarding rebel prisoners, but upon re-enlistment he was ordered to Omaha, thence to Fort Kearney, Nebraska, a distance of one hundred and ninety miles, which was made on horseback without saddles, from there to Cottonwood Springs, Nebraska, where the winter was spent doing scouting duty in the Indian troubles then raging. When spring came, he and thirty comrades were ordered to Cow Creek, Kansas, by way of Fort Leavenworth, and here it was on the second day out that their wagons and train was attacked by a band of Indians far outnumbering themselves, and a fierce fight ensued in which the soldiers narrowly escaped massacre. Finally, when nearly surrounded, they succeeded in killing the chief and this so demoralized the Indians that they fled. That night Mr. Adamson took sick and was taken to the hospital at Fort Kearney. Eager to join his company, he left the hospital before he should have done so and attempted to overtake his comrades, but the flesh was too weak, although the spirit was strong, for at Fort Leavenworth he was too sick to go further and was mustered out of the service July 31, 1865, receiving an honorable discharge. From that time on Mr. Adamson has been sick more or less and is today a confirmed invalid, the direct cause of which was exposure during his service in the Indian country. At one time on a march from Cottonwood Springs to Fort Kearney, he was forced to sleep on the ground in the middle of January without tent or cover- ing of any kind, and could hear the ice on the Platte river popping with the cold. During his first enlistment, Mr. Adamson was made corporal of his company. He is a member of Garrett Post No. 16, Grand Army of the Republic, of Newton. At present he is leading a retired life in Newton, own- ing a most elegant and comfortable home there as well as considerable land in the county. He also draws a pension of seventy-two dollars per month.
On July 5, 1868, Mr. Adamson was married to Hetty Evans, daughter of John and Margaret (Jones) Evans, both natives of Wales, Mrs. Adamson being born there. Her family came to America in 1856 in the good ship "Sam Curling," a cotton ship which carried cotton to Europe and returned with passengers. They were five weeks on the way and two passengers died in crossing. Landing in Boston Harbor, the family started for Utah to join the Mormons, they having accepted that faith in Wales, where it was exten- sively preached, but upon arriving in Jasper county they learned of the practice of polygamy and some other things which had not been mentioned in Wales by the Mormon teachers, so the new religion was discarded and the
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family settled in Jasper county, Mrs. Adamson being at the time twelve years of age, having been born November 26, 1843. The first year after landing in America, the mother died in Iowa, January 20, 1857, at the age of forty-two, after which Mrs. Adamson kept house for her father until his death, which occurred August 31, 1866, at the age of fifty-two. After the death of her father and mother, Mrs. Adamson made her home with John and Mary Davis until her marriage, they having no children. Mrs. Adamson is one of three children, the eldest of whom died in infancy; John Evans, a brother, resides in Fairmont, Nebraska, being a successful farmer with seven children. He was born August 27, 1849, and was married in 1888 to Clara B. Newton.
To Mr. and Mrs. Adamson have been born three children, all boys, of whom but one is living: John, born October 27, 1869, died November 22. 1869; Everett, born December 12, 1870, died May 29, 1887: Arnott Abra- ham, born January 7, 1874, is a prominent veterinary surgeon of Newton, being a graduate of McKillip College of Veterinary Surgery of Chicago, of which institution he is an honorary member of the faculty. He married Eliz- abeth A. Burnsides, a native of Iowa, November 28, 1900.
Mr. Adamson, the subject of this sketch, is a Mason, being a member of Lodge No. 59, Gebal Chapter No. 12 and Commandery No. 22. of Newton. Mrs. Adamson is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps No. 3. Auxiliary of Garrett Post, and also of Newton Chapter No. 100, Order of the Eastern Star. She is also a member of the Christian church of Newton, but was christened in the Episcopal church of Wales. She is a most charming and interesting woman.
HENRY D. SHARP.
Located on the road about one and three-quarters of a mile north of Killduff, beautifully situated, is the handsome home of Henry D. Sharp, modern throughout in every particular and beautifully finished inside and out. It is doubtful if there is a finer residence in the county, in fact it is said to be one of the finest in Jasper county. Mr. Sharp is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of fine land at this place, purchased in 1902 of J. C. Donahey. He is a farmer and stock raiser and very successful.
Mr. Sharp was born in Sherman township, July 11. 1869, and was the eldest child born to Adam and Isabel (De Vaughn) Sharp. His mother was a native of Alexandria, Virginia; his father, a veteran of the Civil war, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania. When a young man he went to Illinois
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and engaged in farming, and when the war broke out he enlisted in the Nine- ty-third Illinois, Company B. He served until the close of the war and was mustered out with an honorable discharge. He participated in several im- portant engagements, such as the battle of Champion's Hill, the siege of Vicksburg, and went with General Sherman on his famous march to the sea. At the close of the war, or shortly afterward, probably in the year 1866-67, he came to Jasper county, Iowa, and bought land in Sherman township, where he farmed for many years. He also owned one hundred and sixty acres of land in Richland township. At the present time he is retired and lives in Grinnell, at the age of seventy-two years, and his wife is aged sixty years. He was raised in the Catholic faith, while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Henry D. Sharp was one of four children, all sons, born to this worthy couple, whose names are as follows: Frank E., living in Richland township, married Mary Doak; William M. died when a child; Charles, who lives in Grinnell, engaged in the butcher business, married Cora West.
Until he reached the age of twenty-five the subject lived at home. At that time he started out to work for himself, and for two years he worked by the month as a farm hand. At the expiration of that time he rented a farm for himself, and after one year he bought the place where he now resides. In 1909 he erected the handsome house which now stands there.
On December 21, 1898, Mr. Sharp was united in marriage to Ella Schnell, the daughter of John A. and Caroline (Shutts) Schnell, both natives of Germany, who came to America when quite young. The father's family lived in New York for a few years, then moved to Illinois, near Rock Island. Mr. Schnell came to Iowa nearly fifty years ago and bought forty acres of land in Buena Vista township, later acquired more land, and is now the owner of six hundred and forty acres of fine land. He is now living a quiet and retired life in Newton, Iowa, in which place he has resided for the past seven years. To this estimable couple were born seven children, of whom five survive, namely : John W., who lives on a farm in section 25, in Buena Vista township, married Margaret Castorf; Louis C., who lives in Richland town- ship, on the line of Buena Vista township, married Myrtle Rohrdanz; Emma married Charles McDonough and lives in Richland township; Mary married Artie Sparks and lives in Lynn Grove township, one mile east of Sully; Henry and Edward died in childhood. Mrs. Sharp's father at this time is sixty-eight years of age and her mother is sixty. Mrs. Sharp was born March
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4, 1876, in Buena Vista township. To Mr. and Mrs. Sharp have been born two children, namely: Hilda Marie, born July 9, 1900, and Roy, born No- vember 20, 1906. Mrs. Sharp is a member of the Lutheran church in Elk Creek township. Mr. Sharp has held various township offices, serving as clerk in Richland township for six years. In politics he is a Republican.
W. C. NIRK.
Specific mention is made of most all the worthy citizens of Jasper county within the pages of this book, citizens who have figured in the growth and development of this favored section of the great Hawkeye state and whose interests are identified with its every phase of progress, each con- tributing in his sphere of action to the well being of the community in which he resides and to the advancement of its growth in every phase. Among this number is W. C. Nirk. one of the sterling German citizens who have settled within our borders. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, July 4. 1837, and there he grew to maturity and was educated, remaining there until 1854, when he emigrated to America and settled in Cumberland. Pennsylvania, later moving to Cambridge, Guernsey county, Ohio, where he remained three years, then moved to McLean county, Illinois, and worked as a farm hand for six years, being in the employ of Isaac Funk most of this time, his wife also assisting. They were industrious, frugal and economical and soon had a start, and they came to Baxter, Jasper county, Iowa, in 1864, and here they eventually became well established and are today enjoying the fruits of their earlier years of industry.
Matthew Nirk, father of the subject, was born in Germany in about 1799, and he came to America in an early day, dying in Rhodes, Iowa, in 1886. He married Rosina Liebrand, who was born in Germany and there she lived and died, her death occurring when the subject was quite young. Six children were born to them, three sons and three daughters, namely : Andrew, born in Germany in 1830, died in Illinois ; John. born in Germany in 1834, died in Sheldon, Iowa, in 1900; Rosina, born in 1832, died in McLean county, Illinois: W. C., of this review; Catherine Kessler, born in Germany in 1840, is living in Bloomfield, Arkansas.
W. C. Nirk was married in March, 1863, to Anna Kaufman, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. December 1, 1838. Her father, Henry Kaufman, was born in Pennsylvania and his death occurred in Illinois
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while enroute to Iowa. where he intended to locate; he married Sarah Schweenhard, a native of Pennsylvania, who died in McLean county, Illi- nois. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom Mrs. Nirk is the sole survivor ; several died young, those reaching maturity being Lizzie, Henry, Susan, Sarah and Mrs. Nirk.
Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nirk, as follows : Henry, born December 31, 1858, is residing in Iroquois, South Dakota; Sarah Cushatt, born June 2, 1860, lives at Baxter, Iowa ; Mary Park, born Novem- ber 12. 1861, lives at Carlyle, Iowa; Emma Marsh, born in 1864, lives in Minong, Wisconsin; Clara Livingston, born September 21, 1866, lives at Newton, Iowa': John lives at Garfield, Washington: Charles, born April 4, 1873. lives in Jasper county. The three eldest children were born in Illinois, all the others in Jasper county, Iowa.
Mr. Nirk came to Jasper county with but little capital, but he has worked hard and been successful, now owning an interest in one of the best improved farms in Jasper county. About twenty-five years ago he purchased a home in Rhodes where he and his faithful life companion are quietly passing their declining years. They are both fond of good literature and always keep well supplied. Politically, Mr. Nirk is independent. He is an elder in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Rhodes. having been a most faithful member of the church since 1872.
MRS. MARY C. PEASE-TURNER.
In the following lines the biographer sets forth succinctly and, we hope correctly, the leading facts and characteristics of one of Jasper county's esti- mable ladies, who, since taking up her residence here, has formed a wide acquaintance with its best people, and all speak of her as one whose acts have ever been above idle cavil and singularly free of aught that the world terms unladylike and whose career has been governed throughout by correct and right motives.
Mrs. Mary C. Pease-Turner, who owns the beautiful and well kept Tur- ner homestead in Poweshiek township, known as the "Hawthorne Farm," is the widow of C. C. Turner. She came to the vicinity where she now resides in 1856, with her parents, Andrew and Joanna M. (Cook) Pease, the mother being the daughter of Daniel and Catherine (Pierson) Cook. This family moved here from near Mansfield, Richland county, Ohio, where the subject was born September 28. 1832, and therefore she is now, in the line of the
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poet, "in the mellow evening twilight of her age." Her father was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1804, the son of Andrew and Mary (Engle) Pease. Catherine Pierson, the maternal grandmother of the subject, was the daughter of John Pierson, of New Jersey, who served through the Revolutionary war from 1776 to 1784, and he was for six months one of Washington's life guards. Andrew Pease first served in the French and In- dian war. He was a participant in Colonel Crawford's expedition to Upper Sandusky, and, with Doctor Knight and a few others, made their escape, the Colonel and the rest of his band being massacred and tortured to death. The great-grandfather Pease came to this country from Germany and located first near Baltimore, Maryland, then lived in Washington county, Pennsylvania, building the first grist-mill in that county. The subject's mother, Joanna M. Cook, was the daughter of Daniel and Catherine ( Pierson) Cook, as before indicated; Daniel Cook was a soldier in the war of 1812, having enlisted from Washington county, Pennsylvania. He later became a resident of Richland county, Ohio, where he was a leader in public affairs, being a man of strong convictions and well informed. His home was a station on the "underground railroad" for the escape of negro slaves from their masters. Mrs. Turner remembers well an incident when she was eight years of age, of hearing Gen. William Henry Harrison make a speech in Mansfield, Ohio. she standing in a buggy. During his speech to the crowd he described fully the death of Tecumseh, the great Indian chief at the battle of the Thames. This family of Cooks descended from the famous Francis Cook, who, with his son, came to Massachusetts as a member of the notable "Mayflower" band. his wife and the rest of the children following the next year on the ship "Ann."
The immediate subject is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. being able to trace her ancestry to the war for independence through four lines, while her children trace back to that event through five lines, adding to her own lineage that of their father, C. C. Turner. This is indeed a record of which anyone might well be proud.
Mrs. Turner, of this review, was educated at Mansfield, Ohio, and she taught school in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and after coming to Jasper county, Iowa, she taught the first school in district No. 4. Poweshiek town- ship. She was a woman of education, having kept abreast of the times and is familiar with the world's best literature, having ever kept her home well sup- plied with good reading matter, still a student of current events at the age of eighty, a lady of intelligence and culture, and her home is a pleasant place for her many friends to gather. She has been active and influential in the moral and religious as well as educational life of this locality.
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Mrs. Turner has the following brothers and sisters: Frank L. Pease,. who came to Jasper county in 1868, was a veteran of the Civil war, having served in an Ohio regiment; Mary C., of this review, is the second in order of birth ; Willis M. has remained single and lives at Colfax, Iowa; Edith M., who is now deceased, married Ed. G. Fish, who died in California ; Hugh A. lives at Colfax; he is a veteran of the Civil war, having served in the Fortieth Iowa Volunteer Infantry; Marion W., of Colfax, is also a veteran of the Civil war, having served in an Iowa regiment. At one time during that struggle the father, husband and three brothers of the subject were at the front.
The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Turner: Eva died young ; Hugh Pease died in 1882, at the age of sixteen years ; he was a most manly and promising boy, whose loss was a great blow to his parents ; Edward S. is farming on the home place and living with his mother ; he has been very successful as a general farmer and breeder of shorthorn cattle. He has made a great reputation for "Hawthorne Farm," owing to the high grade of his live stock, for which he always finds a very ready sale owing to their superior quality. He married Minnie Westfall, daughter of Lee C. Westfall and wife, the father a veteran of the Civil war who came to Jasper county in 1854 and he married Jane Poling in July, 1866. She was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1847. Lee C. Westfall is now clerk of Poweshiek township and he has for many years filled local offices and is an influential and highly respected citizen here.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Edward S. Turner, Nellie and Mary, both attending school ; Harold Westfall, the oldest, died in infancy.
The Turner family has been one of the most prominent and highly hon- ored of Jasper county's residents from the pioneer days to the present time.
LYMAN A. LONGLEY.
No citizen of a past generation in the eastern part of Jasper county was held in higher esteem than the late Lyman A. Longley, of Rock Creek town- ship, whose life chapter has been closed and the seal set thereon by "the angel with the backward look and folded wings of ashen gray," but his influence is still alive, tending to shape the course of local progress, for the forces for good which he assisted to set in motion here cannot easily be thwarted or diverted. He possessed a broad and liberal nature and gave of his time and means unstintingly to the advancement of all laudable enterprises, as well as
Lyman a Longley
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to dispense with something of a lavish hand the necessities of the poor and unfortunate-in fact, in all that constituted correct living and good citizenship Mr. Longley was a splendid example. There was nothing small or narrow in his composition, but on the contrary he took broad and liberal views of men and affairs and stood "four square to all the world," a fine example of sym- metrically developed manhood.
Mr. Longley was born in Chester township, Poweshiek county, Iowa, July 6, 1861, enjoying the distinction of being the first boy born in that town- ship, consequently he grew up amid typical pioneer conditions and was, so to speak, a link between the primitive past and the opulent present, as affected the state of Iowa. He was the son of Amos S. and Cordelia ( Bigelow ) Longley. both born at Norridgewock, Somerset county, Maine. where they grew up, and as a young man the father of the subject turned his attention to farming, but when the gold excitement, anent the discovery of the eldorado in Cali- fornia pervaded the world, he joined the famous band of "forty-niners" and made the long journey thither, being very successful as a prospector there, and after remaining there a few years returned to the East. However, he liked the West so well that he returned after marrying, he and his wife select- ing for their future home Poweshiek county, Iowa, in 1858. Later he moved to the town of Grinnell, where he soon afterwards died There were but two children in his family, Lyman A., of this review. and Mrs. Mattie J. Marvin, of Grinnell
Lyman A. Longley enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education, having attended the common schools in Grinnell and a business college in Davenport. He then turned his attention to farming, which he continued six years in Jasper county, then, selling his stock, returned to Grinnell where he engaged as a meat cutter in a butcher shop. and while there he studied for the civil service examination, looking to the examination for the United States mail service, and for ten years he was in the railway mail service on the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, also the Iowa Central His work in this con- nection was very satisfactory to the department. In 1897 the family returned to their farm in Rock Creek township, Jasper county. This farm originally consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, but the place now consists of three hundred and twenty acres of as valuable land as the county can boast. Mr. Longley was a man of thrift and industry and he was very successful as a farmer and stock raiser, kept his place under the most modern improvements and on it he erected a large. modern residence and many good barns and out- buildings, the equipment about the place being modern and to serve every need. He made a specialty of feeding cattle on an extensive scale, shipping to mar-
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ket about four car loads annually. For years he was one of the leading stock men of the county.
Mr. Longley was a staunch Republican, and while he took the interest of a fair-minded citizen in everything that pertained to the general good of the township and county honored by his residence, he was never an aspirant for positions of public trust. He was a "standpatter," advocating the principles promulgated by the founders of the party. He belonged to the Modern Woodmen camp, and he and all his family were members of the Congrega- tional church.
On September 14, 1882, Mr. Longley was united in marriage with Alice L. Howard, who was born in Poweshiek county, Iowa, April 22, 1859, the daughter of Benoni and Elizabeth Ann ( Bartlett) Howard, a well known and highly respected pioneer family of that county, her father having come to that place in 1854, and there he assisted in building the first houses in the county. His death occurred in 1904.
Mr. and Mrs. Longley were the parents of the following children: Ethel Cordelia, born October 8, 1883; Ralph Lyman, born August 15, 1892. The latter was attending high school at Grinnell when his father's death occurred on March 29, 1909, consequently after finishing high school he took charge of the farm, then being only sixteen years of age, and he performed the task most admirably with the assistance of his mother, who is a woman of many strong characteristics, good judgment and excellent foresight, and they are carrying on the work inaugurated by Mr. Longley in a most successful manner, keeping the place well tilled and well improved,-in fact, it is only fair to say that Mrs. Longley's counsel and encouragement was responsible in no small degree for her husband's large success.
After his death one who best knew Mr. Longley had this to say of him, which voiced the sentiments expressed by his wide circle of personal friends :
"Lyman A. Longley was a good farmer, a good husband and indulgent father, and in the best sense of the term, a good citizen, and when one has said that, there is little more that can be added. While engaged as a railway postal clerk, he was highly efficient, passing one of the best civil service examinations for this position that it is possible to pass. It was during these years of service that he probably contracted the disease that eventually resulted in his death. He was an active and worthy member of the Congregational church at Grinnell and took a lively interest in the best things of life up to the time of his death. He was a man of refinement and held the highest respect of his fellow men."
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