USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Past and present of Jasper County, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 53
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
On October 23, 1876, Mr. Haley was united in marriage with Lovina E. Richmond, who was born in Clear Creek township, this county, April 29, 1850. She is the oldest living settler, native born, in this county. She is the daugh- ter of James and Lovisa (Logston) Richmond, the father born in Tennessee, December 6, 1814, and his death occurred in 1908; the mother was born in Kentucky, March 18, 1823. They came to Jasper county, Iowa, in 1848, being among the earliest pioneers here. After enduring the usual hard- ships incident to the life of a first settler, they became well established. Their family consisted of six sons and seven daughters, namely : William Jasper is deceased ; Francis Marion lives in Carthage, Missouri ; Mrs. Cordia J. Holtz is deceased; Mrs. Martha J. Loving is living at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana ; Louisa E., wife of Mr. Haley of this sketch; Mrs. Melissa C. Brown lives in Newton, Iowa; George W. lives in Kentucky; Andrew J. lives near Eugene, Oregon ; Oliver P. is deceased; Mrs. Lutica A. Shattuck lives in Los Angeles, California ; Mrs. Ava R. Holtz lives in Newton, Iowa; James M. lives in Chadron, Nebraska.
One son, Wilbert Ray, has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Haley, his birth having occurred on August 8, 1886, and he is living in Clear Creek township. An adopted. son, Frank Edward Haley, was born September 13, 1876, is residing in Banner county, Nebraska. There are four grandchildren.
Politically, Mr. Haley is a Republican. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, and he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is known to be a liberal, broad-minded gentleman, well liked by the entire community in which he has long made his home.
FRANK E. MATTESON.
The people who constitute the bone and sinew of this country are not those who are unstable and unsettled, who fly from this occupation to that, who do not know where they stand on political questions until they are told how to vote, and who take no active and intelligent interest in affairs affecting ยท
their schools, church and public property and general civic affairs. The back- bone of this country is made up of families who have made their homes; who are alive to the best interests of the community in which they reside; who are so honest that it is .no trouble for their neighbors to know it; who attend to their own business and are too busy to meddle with that of others; who work steadily on from day to day, taking the sunshine with the storm,
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
and who rear an industrious family to an honest name and a comfortable home. Such people are always welcome in any country and in any commun- ity. They are wealth producers, and Jasper county is blessed with many such. Among them is the family represented by Frank E. Matteson, of Rock Creek township, the name having figured more or less conspicuously in the affairs of this vicinity since the early pioneer days.
Mr. Matteson was born in Rock Creek township, this county, November 25, 1865, and he has been content to spend his life in his native community. He is the son of Harry and May Fannie (Altig) Matteson, the father born in the state of New York in 1819 and the mother in Kentucky in 1826. The elder Matteson grew up in his native state and in 1849 came overland to Iowa and located in Rock Creek township, Jasper county. The country was wild and sparsely settled, in fact, there was not a house within twenty miles of where he settled. But he had the sagacity to foresee a great future here and he set to work with a will, beginning life in typical pioneer fashion and took up one hundred and sixty acres from the government, on which he built a cabin, began work and soon had his land under cultivation. Although he was com- pelled to undergo the usual hardships incident to a life in a new country, he was not a man to be discouraged and he became well established in due course of time. He added to this until he owned one of the choice farms of the township, which consisted of two hundred and twenty acres. He was a hard- working, honest, hardy frontiersman, whom everybody respected, for he was strictly honest and hospitable. He always supported the Republican party, but never sought public office. His family consisted of ten children, named in order of birth as follows: Henry, James, Harvey, Mary M., William N., Ida N., George M., Charles L., Frank E. and Allen L.
Harry Matteson, father of these children, lived on the place he settled here continuously until his death, in 1902, at an advanced age.
The son, Frank E., had little opportunity to obtain an education owing to the fact that he was compelled to work hard on the home place, assisting in the support of the large family of which he was a member, but he improved such chances as he had, and remained on his father's farm until his marriage, then he rented land for one year in order to get a start. The following year he bought a splendid place of one hundred and twenty acres, on which he has resided continuously to the present time, having worked hard and kept his farm well improved and well tilled and he has put on practically all the buildings himself and he has a very pleasant home.
Politically, Mr. Matteson is a Republican and he has held several of the township offices, always satisfactorily.
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
On October 9, 1891, Mr. Matteson was united in marriage with Alta A. Aakins, a native of Rock Creek township, this county, her people well known and highly respected. This union has resulted in the birth of two children. Velva H. and Mina M.
Personally, Mr. Matteson is a jovial, neighborly gentleman who enjoys a wide acquaintance and friendship.
JOHN M. VANSICE.
One of the leading live stock dealers and farm owners in Jasper county is John M. Vansice, of Independence township. His valuable property has been acquired through his own efforts-his persistency of purpose and his determination-and the prosperity which is the legitimate reward of all earn- est effort is today his, while at the same time he has been careful of his personal habits and has won and retained the undivided respect of all with whom he has come into contact. He is one of the best known stock men in the county.
Mr. Vansice was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1855. He is the son of Joseph and Clarinda (Brewer) Vansice, the father born in the state of New York and the mother in New York. She is now living in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, the father having died in Jasper county, Iowa, whither he had come with his parents in the year 1868 and here spent the rest of his life, becoming very well established on the farm. They were the parents of three children, namely: Josephine, who died when thirteen years of age; Mrs. Alice Rose; John M., of this sketch, who is the youngest.
John M. Vansice was thirteen years old when he left his boyhood home in the Keystone state and emigrated with his parents to Jasper county, Iowa, in 1868 and here he grew to manhood, received his education in the public schools and has continued to reside to the present time. He engaged in farming until August 26, 1891, when he moved to a very comfortable and commodious home in Baxter where he has since resided, having been en- gaged in buying and selling all kinds of live stock except horses, being re- garded as one of the best judges of live stock in this locality. He is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of as fine land as Independence can boast, also one hundred and seventeen acres in another farm in this township. His land has been placed under modern improvements and is very productive. He owns another dwelling house in Baxter besides his home residence. By
JOHN M. VANSICE
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
his individual efforts, good management and honest dealings he has acquired a competency.
Mr. Vansice was married on September 3, 1875, to Malinda Richmond, who was born in Jasper county, Iowa, January 1I, 1860. She is the daughter of Sims and Susannah (Maggard) Richmond, the father born in Tennessee, June 28, 1820, and the mother in Indiana, March 28, 1819. The father's death occurred in Kansas and the mother died in Jasper county, Iowa.
There were six children in the Richmond family, namely: Mrs. Sarah Walker, born September 23, 1849, is deceased; Andrew Jackson, born Sep- tember 2, 1851, lives in Iowa; Mrs. Martha Ann Deeter, born November I, 1852, lives in Baxter, Iowa; Mrs. Mary White, born May 16, 1855, lives in St. Clair county, Missouri ; Mrs. Elinor Millard, born December 4, 1857, lives in Newton ; Malinda, wife of Mr. Vansice of this review, is the youngest.
To Mr. and Mrs. Vansice five children have been born, three of whom are living, namely : Mrs. Ella Gibson, born June 18, 1877, lives on the home farm in Independence township; Fred, born July 28, 1883, lives and farms in Oklahoma; he married Erla Orr and they have two children, Georgia Cath- erine, born March 3, 1904, and Ida May, born November 11, 1909; William, born May 3, 1893, lives with his parents in Baxter; two children died in infancy. They were all born in Jasper county.
Politically, Mr. Vansice is an independent voter, preferring to cast his ballot for the man best qualified, in his estimation, for the office sought rather than for the party. In his fraternal relations he belongs to Unity Lodge No. 520, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Baxter. They are both popular with a wide circle of friends.
JOHN J. DeJONG.
Notwithstanding the fact that the kingdom of Holland is one of the smallest countries of the world, it has sent a large number of settlers to the United States during the years that have elapsed since independence was secured by the brave colonists. The people of that country were not slow to appreciate the great advantages offered in a free country where "liberty" was the shibboleth, and they were to be found aboard nearly every sailing vessel that "snailed" its way across the great Atlantic during the first century of our republic, and even for many decades prior thereto. Being quick to recognize the possibilities that opened out in splendid perspective before all emigrants who should settle early in this country, they established themselves in various
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
sections of the Union, and, being thrifty, willing to work and strictly honest in all life's relations, they have prospered and proven to be among our best emigrant citizens.
Among the worthy Hollander families, members of which have shown themselves to possess the characteristics enumerated above, is the DeJong family, a creditable representative of which is John J. DeJong, farmer of Lynn Grove township, Jasper county. He was born in Mahaska county, Iowa, July 27, 1876, the son of Floris D. and Anna Maria (Tomnisna) DeJong, both natives of Holland. John and Dena (Fleming) Tomnisna, the maternal grandparents, were also natives of Holland, and there grew up and were married, emigrating to America in 1846, and, with fourteen other families, located at Pella, Iowa, that vicinity then being wild and unsettled. The grandfather started in as a merchant and made a success, buying such things as the colony needed and selling to them for a reasonable profit. He also bought their products when they had time to get their farms producing, buying up their hogs, butchering the same, and marketing them at Keokuk. Later he started a mill here and ran that for many years. He made a success of whatever he turned his attention to, being a business man of large capacity and keen foresight. He became well and widely known in this part of Iowa and figured prominently in the development of the same in the pioneer period, always assisting in any way possible in furthering the interests of the community. He was finally killed in a runaway accident in the timber and died at Pella.
The paternal grandparents of the subject, Aderin and Mary DeJong, were also born and reared in Holland, from which country they emigrated to the United States about a half century ago, settled in Mahaska county, Iowa, among the pioneers and there established a good home in which they spent the rest of their lives.
Floris D. DeJong and wife, parents of the immediate subject of this sketch, grew up in Holland and emigrated to our shores when single, and they located in Mahaska county, Iowa, where they were married, soon after- ward taking up farming for a livelihood, buying eighty acres in that county. This they sold in 1886 and moved to Jasper county, buying an excellent farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Elk Creek township, which they im- proved and placed under modern cultivation, prospering from year to year and here they spent the rest of their lives, becoming very comfortably fixed and were highly respected by all who knew them. They began life with nothing, and by close application, careful detail as to small things and honest dealings, they accumulated a competency. They were quiet, unobtrusive
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
people and worthy members of the Dutch Reformed church at Sully, this township. They reared a large family in comfort and respectability and gave them educational advantages. There were fourteen in all, of whom John J., of this review, was the fourth in order of birth; they are all living at this writing, as is also the mother, the father having passed away on December 2, 1907.
John J. DeJong grew to maturity on the home farm and there assisted with the general duties incident to such a life. He attended the public schools. He was eight years of age when he began working in his father's fields and, having thus been trained to agricultural pursuits, he has followed the same all his mature life and has met with well merited success. In 1896 he bought one hundred and twenty acres in Lynn Grove township. In 1907 he purchased forty acres more and he still owns this choice farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he has placed many valuable improvements from year to year. He has a good home and convenient surroundings. In con- nection with general farming, he has long been a dealer in live stock and a breeder of Poland-China hogs and graded cattle.
Politically, Mr. DeJong is a Democrat, but is in no sense a politician.
On January 23, 1896, Mr. DeJong was united in marriage with Lizzie Krusemann, who was born in Holland, the daughter of Everaad and Johanna (Geurts) Krusemann, who were born, reared and married in Holland, and they emigrated to the United States when their daughter, Lizzie, wife of Mr. DeJong, was seven years of age. They settled in Iowa and here she grew to womanhood and was educated. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. DeJong, named as follows : Floris, Everaad, Maria and Johanna.
DENNIS DODD.
Among the well known and highly respected stock men and general farm- ers of Jasper county who have attained to a definite degree of success in their line of endeavor and who, at the same time, greatly benefited the community in which they live is the gentleman to a review of whose career we now direct the reader's attention. An analyzation of the life work of Mr. Dodd shows that he has not permitted obstacles to stand in the way of his ambition, but has, practically unaided, forged his way to the front, refusing to be thwarted by any obstacles.
Dennis Dodd was born in Clear Creek township, this county, September
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
9, 1873, the son of Charles E. Dodd and wife, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. When eleven years old the subject accom- panied his family to Collins township, Story county, Iowa. The son grew to manhood on the farm and received his education in the public schools of his district. On February 25, 1884, he was united in marriage with Belle Wiley, who was born in Clear Creek township, Jasper county, Iowa, February 12, 1873, the daughter of James and Julia (Deeter) Wiley, the father born March 13, 1845, and is now living in South Dakota; the mother was born in Ohio and her death occurred in April, 1880, when thirty-five years of age. There were four children in the Wiley family, namely: Mrs. Mary Signs, born September 6, 1868, lives at Collins; Mrs. Clara Signs, born February 12, 1872, lives in Clear Creek township; Belle, wife of Mr. Dodd of this sketch ; Mrs. Gertie Ferguson, born August 1I, 1876, is living at Lowry City, Mis- souri. These children were all born in Clear Creek township, this county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Dodd five children have been born, named as follows: Rhoda, born December 13, 1894; Alda, born January 22, 1896; Henry, born December 22, 1898; Jessie, born June 12, 1903; Irene, born December 19, 1909. They were all born in Story county.
Mr. Dodd has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and has met with a large measure of success. He is now the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of well improved and valuable land in Collins township, Story county, and he also has eighty acres in Clear Creek township, Jasper county. He has a large, well furnished home and good outbuildings. He has by energy and perseverance secured a competency. In connection with general farming he has long engaged in buying horses in car-load lots for Eastern markets. No better judge of a horse can be found and no small part of his annual income is derived from handling horses. From January 1, 1911, to September Ist of that year he bought and shipped one thousand head of horses, each with an exchange value of two hundred and five dollars, thereby causing the sum of two hundred and five thousand dollars to be shipped from the East to this vicinity. It is just such enterprising hustlers as Mr. Dodd that keep the balance of wealth in the West and away from Wall street, thereby causing the so-called center of the world's wealth in the great metropolis to bow to the West in times of panic. The course of Mr. Dodd is worthy of commendation and emulation. He has shown that he is an industrious, unselfish, twentieth- century business man. He carries the Golden Rule into his everyday life and likes to see others succeed. He pays the highest market price for his live stock, but the great number handled has amply paid him for all his trouble.
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
ORVILLE E. CONWELL.
One of the highly respected families of Jasper county whose members have tried to do their full duty in the affairs of the locality since they came here with the early settlers, the Conwells are certainly deserving of our attention at this time, one of the best known of the present generation being the young farmer of Independence township whose name forms the caption of this sketch.
Orville E. Conwell was born in the township in which he has been con- tent to spend his life and in which he is still very comfortably domiciled on a small farm, the date of his birth being recorded as December 20, 1881, and here he grew to manhood, attended the local schools and assisted his father with the general work on the home farm. His father, Robert C. Conwell, was born in Ohio, January 25, 1844, there spent his childhood, took up farm- ing for a livelihood, came to Independence township, Jasper county, Iowa, later in life and here he still resides, having become well established here. His wife, who was known in her maidenhood as Ellen Neff, was born in Bureau county, Illinois, December 6, 1851. To this union the following children were born: Mrs. Della Lavalleur, born June 24, 1874, is residing in Lorimor, Iowa; Florence died at the age of two years and nine months; Cora, born August 29, 1879; Orville E., of this review ; Floyd, born September 15, 1889, is living at home. These children were born in this township. The Conwells, being among the earliest settlers here, have lived to see the great development that has taken place.
Orville E. Conwell was married on April 30, 1902, to Amanda Kracht, who was born in this township, June 3, 1884. Conrad Kracht, her father, was born in Germany in 1850, and her mother, known in her maidenhood as Emma Harre, was born in Wisconsin July 30, 1858; both now reside in Bax- ter, Iowa. The father emigrated to the United States when a young man and here he met with gratifying success. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Kracht: Mary, who married R. P. Davidson, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work; William H., born November 21, 1881, is living on the home farm in Independence township; Pauline A. Clark, born August 21, 1883, lives in Marshalltown, Iowa ; Amanda S., wife of Mr. Con- well of this review; Helen L., born March 24, 1887, lives in Marshalltown; Lydia H. Miller, born December 18, 1889, lives in Independence township; Ella F., born May 6, 1893 ; Edwin C., is attending school in Baxter. To Mr. and Mrs. Conwell have been born two daughters, Romaine, born August 30, 1903, and Vera, born July 1, 1905.
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JASPER COUNTY, IOWA.
Mr. Conwell has devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and he is now the owner of a productive and neat little farm of forty acres in Independence township, and in connection with this he has charge of one of the best farms in the county, and he is making a success of general farming. He raises good grade stock and at a certain time each year buys and sells many cattle and some horses, and he is regarded as an excellent judge of these animals.
Politically, Mr. Conwell is an independent voter. He belongs to Baxter lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Baxter. His wife is a member of the German Reformed church of her community.
WILLIAM MADISON TICE.
This is an age in which the farmer stands pre-eminently above any other class as a producer of wealth, and there is a rapidly growing sentiment among the dwellers of the great cities that the rural districts are the best, so they are going back to the soil in ever-increasing numbers, for there they not only find a greater independence and really have more of the good things of life, not the least of which is better health of both body and mind. The farmer does not have to put forth such strenuous efforts to feed himself and his family. He simply takes advantage of the winds, the warm air, the bright sunshine, the life-giving rains, and, handling nature's gifts rightly, reaps the rewards that always come to patient, persistent toil. One of this number is William Madison Tice, a young farmer of Linn Grove township, Jasper county.
Mr. Tice was born in Marion county, Iowa, on October 9, 1880, and he is the son of Theophilus Dunbar Tice and Harriet (Godby) Tice, the father born in Mahaska county, four miles east of Pella; the mother was also a native of Mahaska county, and there they grew to maturity, were educated and married, and they began life on the farm, prospered through hard work and good management, finally becoming the owners of five hundred and fifty acres, two hundred and forty of which were in Jasper county. The elder Tice became one of the leading agriculturists of his community and was a man of excellent characteristics. Politically, he was a Democrat. The paternal grandfather, Madison Tice, was a very early settler in Mahaska county, coming from Illinois to that locality in 1847 when the county was undeveloped and neighbors were few and far between. The father of the subject moved to Pella in 1907 and retired. His family consisted of the fol-
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lowing children : Lester is living in Mahaska county; Ella Jane; Mrs. Bertha May Wallace is living in Minesota; Veda Grace, and William Madison, who was the second child in order of birth.
William M. Tice, of this review, attended school at the Sand Bridge school house in his native community in Marion county. After leaving school he assisted his father with the general work about the place until he was .married, and in 1907 he began operating his father's farm of two hundred and forty acres in Jasper county and here he has continued to the present time, keeping the place well improved and well cultivated and becoming one of the leading young farmers of Linn Grove township. He pays special atten- tion to live stock and keeps seven head of full-blooded Percheron .mares for breeding purposes.
On October 19, 1904, Mr. Tice was united in marriage with Minnie May Talbot, who was born in Jasper county, the daughter of Warren N. Talbot, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Tice have one child, Harold J, who was born July 10, 1907.
LOUIS C. SCHNELL.
Among the younger generation of agriculturists of Jasper county who are especially worthy of notice as having been active in the improvement and prosperity of their localities and have acquired valuable property through their individual enterprise, at the same time building up a reputation which shall endure the test for generations to come, none have exerted a more beneficent influence on those about them than the gentleman whose name in- troduces this biographical review.
Louis C. Schnell, representative of a well known old family and a leading farmer of Richland township, was born in Buena Vista township, this county, on December 2, 1878, the son of John A. and Caroline (Shutts) Schnell, both natives of Germany, from which country they emigrated to America when young, the father being twelve years of age when he accompanied his parents to the state of New York, where the family remained two years, then came to Illinois, where two years was spent. The family came to Iowa in 1861, and the father bought forty acres of land, to which he has added other land until he now owns a section in Richland township and is one of the leading agri- culturists of the same; however, he is now living retired, having done prac- tically no active work for over fifteen years, he and his wife having lived in
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