USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 10
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THOMAS S. REDMOND
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were the parents of five children : Mary, who is a resident of Sanborn : Lena, also of Sanborn : S. D., of Sanborn : Margaretta, the wife of Dr. E. J. Whit- ley, chief surgeon of the National Soldiers' Home at Danville, Illinois, and Thomas S., whose history is briefly outlined here.
Thomas S. Redmond is a man of unusual ability in many different lines. Inheriting a keen intellect from his parents. he has trained it in a way which has brought forth its latent possibilities. After receiving an education in the common schools of the state, he attended Mt. Pleasant Academy in Iowa. and then began teaching school in Henry county. this state. When twenty- three years of age he came to Osceola county with his parents, and for fifteen years taught school in this county. His service, including teaching in the LeMars Normal School and Ashton public schools, where he served as principal, extended over the above mentioned period. In 1895 he was ap- pointed county superintendent of schools of Osceola county to fill out six months of a term. Upon the expiration of his appointive term, he was elected to this office and was subsequently elected three times, serving until 1902 with signal success. While teaching he was president of the Northwestern lowa Teachers' Association, an honor which came to him unsought. Upon retiring from the office of county superintendent he decided to engage in the real estate business in Sibley, and has been no less successful in the business world than he was in the work of education. He deals in Osceola county land. as well as land in Minnesota, Dakota and Canada. During the course of a year he handles several thousands of acres, and in all of his transactions he has so conducted himself that he has won and retains the confidence of all of his business associates. He is the owner of two hundred and forty acres of land two miles east of Sibley, which he has improved and brought to a high state of cultivation. This farm he now rents and realizes a handsome profit upon his investment.
Mr. Redmond was married in 1896 to Edith Finster, of Sibley, and to this union there have been born two children, Marion and Donald. He and his family are loyal members of the Catholic church and render to it their zealous support at all times. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. In his political affiliations he has been identified with the Repub- lican party since coming to this county and he has been one of the leaders of his party for many years. In addition to his services as county superin- tendent. to which office he was elected by the suffrages of the people of the county, he has also served two terms as mayor of the city of Sibley. While mayor, he took every advantage to further the interests of the city and sup-
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ported every measure which he felt would redound to its credit. He was elected in the spring of 1908 and 1912, and it is safe to say that no more popular mayor ever held the office in the city than Mr. Redmond. He has been secretary of the Sibley Commercial Club ever since its organization in 1904, and has been largely instrumental in promoting all public measures affecting his city's welfare. In fact. no man has been more active in the general upbuilding and improvement of Sibley than he. and he is certainly earning the title of "progressive." and, in fact. in all matters of advancement he has taken the initiative and urged others to follow. Personally, Mr. Redmond is a most companionable man, uniformly courteous, strictly honest in all the relations of life, and a man who merits in every way the esteen of the people of his county and city.
GEORGE COLEMAN.
O'Brien county has been fortunate in the number and character of its business men, those men who, with aid of the excellent farms of the county. have put this county to the front ranks of the counties of Iowa. As a farmer, as a public official, and as a business man. the subject of this sketch has done everything within his power to advance the interests of the county. and the various enterprises with which he has been connected have been con- ducive to the prosperity of the county to a marked degree. He has always exerted a strong influence for good in his community. being a man of up- right principles and desirous of seeing the advancement of his community along moral, educational and material lines.
George Coleman, the son of Hiram and Anna Eliza (Boyle) Coleman, was born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1862. Hiram Coleman was born in Ohio in 1822 and was a merchant all of his life, dying in 1878. He was married in 1847 to Anna Eliza Boyle, who was born August 8. 1824. and died April 13. 1912. To Hiram Coleman and wife were born four children : James C .. deceased : Chauncey E., deceased : Charles Burgess, deceased, and George, with whom this narrative deals.
George Coleman received a common school education in the schools of Ohio and in 1883. after the death of his father, he came with his mother and two brothers to O'Brien county, Iowa. His mother bought two hundred and forty acres of unimproved land for fifteen dollars an acre. adjoining the corporation of Sanborn. The three brothers then began to improve the farm
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by constructing buildings, erecting fences and installing a drainage system, and set out four acres of mixed grove and orchard. and in a short time had greatly enhanced the value of the farm and placed it in a position where it was yielding handsome returns on the original investment. They bought and sold stock of various kinds and did a great deal of feeding on the farm They marketed on an average of two car loads of cattle each year.
George Coleman remained with his mother on the farm until 1899. when he was married to Nellie McCormack, who was born in Clay county, Iowa. in 1876, and came to O'Brien county with her parents when a small child. Before his marriage Mr. Coleman was elected sheriff of O'Brien county and served from 1897 to 1902. While holding this office he maintained his residence in Priinghar, the county seat of the county. In 1904 Mr. Coleman moved from Primghar to Hartley and became interested in the telephone business and now owns and controls the Hartley Telephone Ex- change, and has put the exchange into a position where it is giving efficient service to the people of Hartley and vicinity. Mr. Coleman, as a Republican. has always been actively interested in politics and. in fact, has held some sort of an office ever since he was twenty-one years of age. In 1912 he was elected mayor of Hartley. a position which he filled to the entire satisfaction of all the citizens of the city. He is a man of wonderful energy and determination and when he has a goal in view he lets nothing swerve him from his path until he reaches it. Mr. Coleman is the owner of three hundred and thirty-five acres of land in Minnesota and owns six lots in the city of Primghar, which he recently donated to that city for a public play- ground for the children.
Mr. Coleman and his wife are people of culture and refinement and have a host of friends who delight in sharing with them their hospitable home. He is a man who has taken an interest in every movement which he felt would help his city in any way and for this reason is regarded as one of the most representative citizens of Hartley and O'Brien county.
ERNEST F. BRODERS.
It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a community or a state lies not in the machinery of government nor even in its institutions. but rather in the sterling qualities of the individual citizen, in his capacity for high and unselfish effort and his devotion to the public welfare. In these
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particulars he whose name appears at the head of this review has conferred honor and dignity upon his locality, and as an elemental part of history it is consonant that there should be recorded a resume of his career, with the object in view of noting his connection with the advancement of one of the most flourishing and progressive sections of the commonwealth.
Ernest F. Broders, a banker and real estate man of Hartley, O'Brien county, lowa, was born December 6, 1869, in Muscatine county, Iowa. He is the son of Peter F. and Sophia ( Hanson ) Broders. Peter F. Broders was born in Germany in 1840 and his wife was born in the same country in 1845. They were married in Muscatine county, Iowa, where they pur- chased eighty acres of land. Peter F. Broders grew to be a successful farmer and upon his retirement, a few years ago, to Durant. Iowa, he owned six hundred acres of land in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Peter F. Broders are the parents of eleven children: Mrs. Augusta Goettch, of Cedar county. lowa; Mrs. Amelia Bernick. of Durant, lowa; Henry, who is farming the home place : Mrs. Emma Denkman, of Scott county. Iowa : Mrs. Agnes Paul- sen, of Davenport, Iowa: Mrs. Laura Telsrow, of Muscatine county, Iowa : George, of Saskatchewan, Canada: Emiel. deceased: Harry, cashier of the First National Bank of Hartley, and Ernest F., whose history forms the theme of this narrative.
Ernest F. Broders received a good common school education and at the age of sixteen went to Durant. Iowa, and worked in a general mercantile store for two years at seven dollars a month. He then took a course in the Davenport Business College at Davenport, Iowa, and after graduating toured the Western states for a few years. He then came back to Durant, Iowa. and clerked in a store for two years. When he was twenty-five years of age he came to Hartley, Iowa, and opened a general mercantile store, which he managed until 1913. In 1905 he was elected president of the First National Bank of Hartley and is still filling that responsible position. In addition to his other interests, he has extensive land holding's in various states in the United States, as well as in Canada. He is a fine type of the sturdy German who started in with practically nothing and has accumulated a very comfortable fortune.
Mr. Broders was married in 1908 to Bessie Waterhouse, who was born in Wisconsin in 1881. They have two children who are still at home, Ernest F .. Jr .. and Elizabeth. Politically, Mr. Broders is a Democrat, but has always been so busy with his many affairs that he has not had time to take an active part in politics. He is a believer in the efficiency of church work and is a liberal subscriber to the support of the various denomina-
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tions in Hartley. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and takes a deep interest in the welfare of these two fraternal organizations. He is liberal minded. whole souled, kind hearted and a useful and noble man, and has won the praise and respect of all who know him. His life has been characterized by strict integrity of word and action, and among those who have known him long and intimately he is held in high regard because of his personal charac- ter and genial qualities.
GEORGE F. SOKOL.
The business man to a brief review of whose life and characteristics the reader's attention is herewith directed, is among the prominent business men of Sibley. lowa, and has by his enterprise and progressive methods con- tributed in a material way to the industrial and commercial advancement of Osceola county. Although still a young man, he has in the course of a business career, been most successful in the enterprise with which he is con- nected. He is a man of strong intelligence, good judgment and has been active in the affairs of his community and uses his influence in every way to better its development.
George F. Sokol. the secretary and treasurer of the Shell Lumber Com- pany of Sibley. Iowa, was born August 18. 1880. in Jackson county. Iowa. He is the son of F. J. and Anna Sokol. both of whom were born in Bo- hemia. F. J. Sokol came to Iowa in 1855. where he followed the occupa- tion of a farmer and merchant in Jackson county. In 1880 he moved to Jones county, Iowa, and engaged in the lumber business, building up a prosperous business there during the twenty-five years he was engaged in that particular line. His wife died in 1910 and since then he has lived a retired life in California. J. J. Sokol was one of the leading citizens of Jones county and was one of the most influential men of the county. He was a member of the county board of supervisors for seven years and represented the county in the Legislature for two terms. For several years before leaving Jones county he was heavily interested in the banking busi- ness in the county. F. J. Sokol and wife were the parents of four children : Mrs. Blanche Shuttleworth, of Sibley, Iowa: Mrs. Emma Shimerda, of Ox- ford Junction, Iowa: Dr. J. M. Sokol, of Spencer, Iowa, and George F .. whose history is here briefly related.
George F. Sokol was educated in the district schools of his home county
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and when eighteen years of age he entered Ames College, and three years later graduated in the agricultural course from that institution. He then engaged in the lumber business in Jones county, at Onslow, and remained there for two years. During the next two years and a half he was at Clermont, Iowa, in the lumber business, and in 1906 came to Sibley and be- came connected with the Shell Lumber Company as secretary and treasurer. He is a man of culture and refinement and of marked business ability. Since becoming connected with the firm he has shown business ability of a highi rank and he is rapidly impressing those with whom he is associated as a man of unusual attainment.
Mr. Sokol was married April 6, 1910, to Agnes Nisbet, of Sibley. Iowa, and to this union have been born two children, Howard and Anna May. Fraternally, Mr. Sokol is a member of the Ancient Free and Accept- ed Masons at Sibley and also holds membership in the chapter of that fra- ternity. He is now treasurer of the blue lodge and chapter in Sibley. Mr. Sokol is one of the sterling and substantial citizens of Sibley, a man whose strong qualities demand respect and his genial disposition has won him many friends since becoming a resident of the city.
WILLARD A. BURLET.
It is generally considered by those in the habit of superficial thinking that the history of so-called great men only is worthy of preservation and that little merit exists among the masses to call forth the praises of the historian or the cheers and the appreciation of mankind. A greater mis- take was never made. No man is great in all things and very few are great in many things. Many by a lucky stroke achieve lasting fame, who before that had no reputation beyond the limits of their neighborhoods. It is not a history of the lucky stroke which benefits humanity most, but the long study and effort which made the lucky stroke possible. It is the preliminary work, the method that serves as a guide for the success of others. Among those in this county who have achieved success along steady lines of action is Willard A. Burlet, who is now rendering efficient service as cashier of the Bank of Moneta.
Willard A. Burlet, the son of John J. and Saralı ( Bishop) Burlet, was born in Delaware county, Iowa, in 1866. John J. Burlet was born in 1836 in Switzerland. When a young men he came to this country and first settled in Indiana and later went to Chicago. He remained in Chicago for several
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years working on the canal and on the steam ships, on the lakes. When he was thirty-one years of age John J. Burlet came to Delaware county, Iowa, and bought ninety acres of land. He continued to follow the life of a farmer until he retired in 1896 to Earlville, Iowa, where he died a few years later. His wife. Sarah Bishop, was born in Laporte, Indiana, in 1836. To their union were born three children: Charles, deceased; Flora, the wife of F. W. Anders, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Willard A., with whom this sketch deals.
Willard A. Burlet remained at home until twenty-one years of age. He received a good common school education and then graduated from the Earl- ville high school, later graduating from Bailey's Commercial College and thus being well equipped for a successful career. In 1888 he came to O'Brien county and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land, put six thousand dollars worth of improvements on the land and became interested in raising a high grade of live stock. He made a specialty of thoroughbred Durham cattle and Poland China hogs. He now owns four hundred and forty acres of land and a home in Hartley. He continued to work on the farm until 1908, when he retired from active farming and moved to Hart- ley. A short time later he took full charge of the bank at Moneta.
Mr. Burlet was married in 1888 to Francelia Medland, who was born in 1870 in Delaware county, Iowa. To this union have been born three children : Charles, a graduate of the business college at Spencer, Iowa, and now as- sistant cashier of the Moneta bank. He married Maggie Albright, of Hart- ley. Milo, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Burlet, graduated from the Hartley high school and then took a course in the "Four C's" College of Des Moines. At the present time he is the only stenotype writer in O'Brien county. He is also connected with the bank at Moneta. Ethel, the young- est child, graduated from Hartley high school and later attended Drake College for one term. She is still at home with her parents.
Politically, Mr. Burlet is a member of the increasing class of men who cast their vote for the best man irrespective of party affiliations; in other words, he is independent in politics, with progressive inclinations. He has held various public offices, being at one time township assessor and at the present time secretary and treasurer of the school board of Omega town- ship. He is a member of the Congregational church, but is now attend- ing the Methodist Episcopal church in Hartley. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and takes a deep interest in the welfare and the work of these two fraternal organizations.
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GEORGE W. WARD.
The rolling prairie between the fortieth and forty-fifth parallels of north latitude, which is folded in the loving embrace of the limpid silver of the Father of Waters on the east and the tawny gold of the Big Muddy on our western slope, is a garden of the Lord, which, in the liquid music of the Indian tongue, appropriately was named Iowa, "beautiful land." From the day when the first meadow lark intones her song of spring, which no Mendelssohn, no Mozart, no Grieg, or other inspired human genius can approach in its glorious motif of the ever-recurring miracle of the re-birth of nature, till that perfect season in the Middle West known as Indian sum- mer, ,when the "frost is on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock," the sixty thousand square miles of Iowa soil are one vast workshop for the pro- duction of the "corn, the royal corn" which has within its yellow heart enough of food and wealth for all nations.
George W. Ward, who has been one of the largest farmers of the county, and is now living at Primghar, was born August 3, 1862, in Niagara county, New York. His parents were Charles and Amanda ( Mitchell ) Ward, both of whom were natives of the Empire state. Charles Ward came west in 1864, locating in Whiteside county, Illinois, where he lived the life of a farmer until his death, in August, 1898. Charles Ward and wife were the parents of four children, Harriet, May, Edward M. and George W., whose history is set forth in this narrative.
George W. Ward left Illinois when he was twenty-seven years of age and settled three miles south of Primghar, in Dale township. this county. where he bought the eastern half of section 24, for seventeen dollars an acre. and sold this same farm in the spring of 1913 for one hundred and twenty- five dollars an acre. When he came here he knew little of the possibilities of this county, but by hard work and close application to his agricultural interests, he added to his land holdings from time to time until he became one of the wealthiest men in his township. He is now the owner of three hun- dred and sixty acres in Center township: one hundred and sixty in Osceola county, Iowa : five hundred and sixty acres in Dickinson county, this state ; eighty acres in Minnesota; eighty acres in Nebraska, and, in addition to his land holdings, owns a considerable amount of property in Primghar. He has accumulated his land by farming it in the best possible manner and investing his annual proceeds in additional land. He has erected buildings on his various farms and during the last six years has purchased more than twenty-five miles of tiling on his land. He has built many stock silos, barns,
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outbuildings, several miles of fence and has stocked all his farms with the latest improved farm machinery and implements. He has been a man of progressive tendencies all along the line and has never failed to take advan- tage of the latest improved machinery and scientific methods of agriculture.
Mr. Ward was married in November, 1893. to Amy Hatch, the daugh- ter of E. W. Hatch, of O'Brien county, and to this union there have been born two daughters, May, born April 17. 1896, and Lois, born in September. 1899. The Ward family are all members of the Congregational church and are very much interested in the various activities of that denomination. Mr. Ward has recently built a fine, modern residence for the use of the church. Politically. Mr. Ward is a member of the Progressive party and heartily lends his support to its tenets. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Yeomen. By a life of earnest and conscientious endeavor Mr. Ward has won for himself the respect of all who have come in contact with him. For many years he has been an important factor in the civic. moral and educational life of his community, and no man stands higher today in the estimation of his fellow citizens than he.
A generous act on the part of Mr. Ward, and one which has earned the commendation of his fellow citizens generally, was his donation to the county of what is known as the O'Brien County Hospital, and which is to be main- tained by the county. This splendid institution cost Mr. Ward between six and seven thousand dollars and any doctor in the county has the privilege of bringing his patients to this hospital for treatment.
WILLIS W. OVERHOLSER.
It is universally conceded that there are three factors which are more potent than all others in the advancement of civilization-pulpit, platform and press. Of these three the press reaches places and conditions which the other two never touch. Public opinion, as voiced in the newspapers of our country, has as much influence in moulding legislation, advancing reforms and eliminating corrupt politics as all other agencies put together. A good newspaper, one which stands for the best interests of a community, is a blessing and the good that it can do is incalculable. It is the paper of the town which often is the only means of driving graft out of city affairs. The editor of a good newspaper is a man who touches the daily life of the con- munity on every side and the editor who does his work honestly, fearlessly
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and conscientiously deserves the praise of the community. Such a man is the subject of this brief review.
Willis W. Overholser, the publisher of the Sibley Gasette, was born November 20, 1868, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. His parents, J. W. and Mary ( Kurtz) Overholser, were natives of Pennsylvania, of Ger- man descent. They migrated to Iowa in 1880, settling at Correctionville, in Woodbury county, and for a time Mr. Overholser farmed and then engaged in the grocery business in Correctionville for a number of years. J. W. Overholser and wife were the parents of three children : Margaret, a teacher in the Sioux City schools ; Mrs. Anna Bryan, of Davenport, Iowa, and Willis W., whose history is related in this conection.
Willis W. Overholser was twelve years of age when his parents came from Pennsylvania, consequently he received the beginning of a common school education in his native state. After coming to this county he attended and graduated from the high school in Correctionville and later went to Cor- nell College, where he finished his education.
Mr. Overholser served one term as postmaster of Correctionville under President Harrison and one term as postmaster of Ireton under President Mckinley. From 1894 to 1905 he was editor and publisher of the Ireton (lowa ) Clipper. In 1906 he purchased the Sibley Gazette and has been pub- lishing this continuously since March of that year. The Gazette is a large eight-page, seven-column paper, and has a circulation of over two thousand. It is the oldest paper in the county, having been established in 1872, and from the beginning has been one of the leading papers of the county. He has a staff of country correspondents and has a good share of the advertisements of Sibley. During the past few years the press of the Gasette has printed a county map and county directory. The paper espoused the Republican cause and is the official organ of the party in Osceola county. Mr. Overholser him- self is an active supporter of his party and is at present the chairman of the Republican county central committee.
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