USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 11
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Mr. Overholser was married in September, 1892, to Bertha Lothian, of Correctionville, and to this union have been born four children, Ralph, Craig, Russell and Maxine. The family are earnest members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church and render it their hearty support at all times. Fra- ternally, Mr. Overholser is a member of the Knights of Pythias and takes an interest in the work of that fraternal organization. Personally, he is a man of genial disposition and kindly impulses and since coming to this county has won a large number of friends who were attracted to him because of his many excellent qualities.
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FREEMAN R. PATCH.
There is no profession which demands keener business ability than that of banking and the most successful bankers are those who have not only keen business ability, but force of character and good judgment and foresight. It is true there are other elements that enter and reinforce these, such as perse- verance and discrimination. In the beginning of his career in public life, Freeman R. Patch recognized that the foundation of success is earnest, per- sistent labor and with this in view he began to work earnestly and diligently in order to advance himself. The result has been that he has not only placed himself in the front ranks of the business men of this county, but has also taken his full share in the civic life of his community.
Freeman R. Patch, the cashier of the Hartley State Bank, and the son of Freeman R. and Malinda ( Wier ) Patch, was born in 1861 in Whiteside county, Illinois. His father was born in Vermont and was one of the early settlers of Whiteside county, Illinois. He followed farming until his death in 1862. He was twice married and the Patch brothers of Hartley, Iowa, were the two children by the second marriage.
Freeman R. Patch was only one year of age when his father died and he and his brother Frank were reared to manhood by their devoted mother, who died in 1907. He received a good common school education, finishing his schooling in Toledo, Whiteside county, Illinois. At the age of twenty- one he began farming in his native state and within a year he had come to O'Brien county, Iowa, to take a position in the bank established at Hart- ley by his brother, Frank. He has been the cashier of the bank since its or- ganization in 1882 and has seen it grow from a beginning to its present pros- perous condition. It was the first bank in the county and on January 1. 1887, was reorganized as a state bank. Mr. Patch owns a share in the bank and has, in addition, extensive land holdings in O'Brien county and Canada in partnership with his brother Frank. He has an interest in the Hartley Lum- ber Company, also owns his beautiful home in Hartley.
Mr. Patch was married in 1886, at Algona. Iowa. to Myrtle Tennant, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Tennant, of O'Brien county. Her father was one of the pioneer settlers of the county and a distinguished veteran of the Civil War. To this union have been born two children: Mrs. Della Marie Randolph, a graduate of the Hartley high school and also of the musical de- partment of Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois. Her husband is the proprietor of the Pantatorium in Hartley. Roscoe F., the other child of
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Mr. and Mrs. Patch, was born in 1891, is a graduate of the Hartley high school, also of the oratorical department of Northwestern University and is now a student in New York city.
Mr. Patch has always been so busy with his own interests that he has never taken an active part in political affairs other than to cast his vote at election time, adhering to the Democratic party. He and his wife are earnest members of the Presbyterian church and yield it their loyal support at all times. Mr. Patch has always taken an interest in the civic life of the com- munity where he has lived and in all of his relations his highest ambitions have been to benefit his community and advance its various interests. For this reason he enjoys a large circle of friends and acquaintances throughout the county, who hold him in high esteem for his upright and straightforward way of living.
DR. M. M. TRAINER.
Success in what are popularly termed the learned professions is the legiti- mate result of merit and painstaking endeavor. In commercial life one may come into possession of a lucrative business through inheritance or gift. but professional advancement is gained only by critical study and consecutive research long continued. Proper intellectual discipline, thorough professional knowledge and the possession and utilization of the qualities and attributes es- sential to success have made Dr. M. M. Trainer eminent in his chosen calling and he stands today among the scholarly and enterprising dentists of his community.
Dr. M. M. Trainer, a successful dentist of Sibley, Iowa, was born No- vember 2. 1850, in Pennsylvania. His parents, John and Caroline (Burn- ham) Trainer, were natives of the same state. The Trainers are of Irish descent. the American branch of the family going back to the time when three brothers came from Ireland in the early history of the country. One of the three brothers, Michael, settled in Pennsylvania, and married Betsey Allison. who was of English extraction. To this union were born nine children : John (the father of Doctor Trainer), Hannah. Sarah. Wallace. Joseph. Grimes. Esther. Jane and James. John Trainer was born in Pennsylvania July 4, 1804, and died in 1886. His wife. Caroline Burnham, was born in 1816, and is one of ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Chester Burnham. Charles C. Burnham was twice married and had two families of ten chil- dren each.
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Charles C. Burnham has an interesting history. He was born in the lit- tle country of Wales and came to Philadelphia in 1800 and when a young man learned paper making. In ISI he went with the Spanish to LaGuayra. South America, and worked in a paper mill which had just been completed there. The paper mill had been put into operation for the purpose of manu- facturing paper on which to print the laws of the country. The famous Caracas earthquake in Venezuela destroyed the mill and at the same time brought death to thousands of people. Mr. Burnham, however, fortunately escaped. The country paid him in a cargo of sugar and coffee and with this he set sail for Baltimore in 1811 and was captured by the British. They con- fiscated his cargo and took him as a prisoner to the Bahama islands, from whence he escaped on a Spanish ship. His knowledge of Spanish probably saved his life at this time, since he arranged with the captain to take him to Baltimore and set him free. He immediately enlisted in the American navy. and no doubt the fact that the British had confiscated his cargo induced him to join the Americans in order to fight against them. He served in many famous engagements, among which was the sea fight between the "Frolic" and the "Wasp." He later enlisted in the militia during the War of 1812 and served to the end of that struggle. He then married the daughter of his captain (Capt. William Stearn) and later received grants of Pennsylvania land in return for his services in the war. He received two tracts of land in Cumberland county. Pennsylvania, one of four hundred and forty-four acres and another of somewhat less acreage. He immediately moved upon one of these tracts. but. despairing of making a living upon the land, he leased it to a tenant for twenty-one years and never went back to it. Subsequently he lost track of the land and although the Trainers still have the original title (leed to the land, they have never presented their claim. Charles C. Burn- ham died at the age of eighty-four years.
John Trainer and wife were the parents of seven children : James, de- ceased, a former principal of the Sibley schools ; John Core, of Carroll county. Iowa, and a former superintendent of the Sioux county, Iowa, schools for two years; Winfield Scott, deceased. former principal of the Indiana, Penn- sylvania, schools: Morris M., whose history is here related; Mrs. Emma Moore, of Knox. Pennsylvania ; Mrs. Anna Stratton, of Strattonville. Penn- sylvania : Jennie, a music teacher of Grandview, Washington.
Dr. Morris M. Trainer was educated in the common schools of his county in Pennsylvania and later attended an academy and normal college in Penn- sylvania. after which he taught school in Pennsylvania for a time and then studied dentistry for two years. Still later he pursued a post-graduate course
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in dentistry in Chicago in order to better equip himself for the practice of his present profession. He practiced for a time in Pennsylvania and in 1881 came to Iowa and settled in Sibley, where he has pursued his profession for the past thirty-three years. He was a pioneer dentist of northwestern Iowa. For a time he and another dentist at Sheldon were the only ones within the radius of fifty miles. Doctor Trainer has kept abreast of the advances in his profession and has been eminently successful since coming to this state. He has enjoyed a large practice ever since coming to the county.
Doctor Trainer has been twice married, the first marriage occurring in 1883 to Irene Stear, who died many years ago. To this first marriage two sons were born. Kenneth, a stenographer at Kansas City with the Armour Grain Company, and Don, a bookkeeper for the Illinois Life Insurance Com- pany at Chicago. Some years after the death of his first wife Doctor Trainer married Mrs. Viola Jones, who had two children by a former marriage.
Doctor Trainer has always taken an active part in the civic life of his city and has served as city clerk for eight years. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are earnest members of the Congregational church and render it their zealous support. He has always been interested in every- thing which affected the welfare of the people, particularly from the view- point of their health. Accordingly he has taken an active interest in the Na- tional Hygiene Association as well as the National Congress of School Hy- giene. in both of which organizations he holds membership. His long career in this community has been fraught with much good to its people and no movement which might better his community has been made which did not find in him a hearty and enthusiastic supporter.
HON. JOHN F. HINMAN.
Invulnerable integrity and high purpose characterized the life of Hon. Jolin F. Hinman, an honored citizen and former honest official of O'Brien county, who left an indellible impress upon the civic and industrial annals of the county and upon whose record rests no shadow or blemish. His strength was as the number of his days, and not only did he accomplish much in connection with the practical affairs of life, but his nature, strong and vigor- ous, found denotement in kindly tolerance and human sympathy, generous deeds and worthy service. He was a farmer by occupation, but was a man
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of high educational attainments, who placed his abilities at the service of his fellow men, and who served his county in a position of honor and re- sponsibility.
Hon. John F. Hinman was born in Derby. Orleans county, Vermont. August 27, 1827. He was reared to young manhood and educated in Ver- mont. When yet a young man he came to lowa to seek his fortunes in the western land opportunity. He located in Marshall county on a farin. Here it was that he married Ellen A. Foote, December 20, 1866, in the city of Marshalltown. They resided in Marshall county until 1882, when they re- moved to O'Brien county and settled on a farm in Baker township. On Mr. Ilinman's election to a seat in the Iowa Legislature in 1892 they moved to Primghar and there made their final home. Mr. Hinman's services in the Legislature were always found to be in behalf of the best interests of the people of the state and his home county and he seemed peculiarly fitted to perform the duties of his official position.
Mr. Hinman was one of the pioneer live stock men of western and cen- tral Iowa at a time when markets were far distant. For years he made a business of buying up and feeding large herds of cattle and great droves of hogs, which he would fatten for marketing and then drive them to Iowa City for shipment to Pittsburgh and the Eastern centers. He was the owner of a half section of land in Baker township. O'Brien county, which he bought for eight dollars an acre. He died November 1, 1904, sincerely mourned by all who knew him as a good and useful citien, a Christian gentleman of scholarly attainments upon whose name no stain rests.
His widow, Mrs. Ellen A. ( Foote ) Hinman, was born October 20, 1839. at Nelson, Portage county, Ohio, the daughter of Asel and Caroline Foote, natives of the state of Connecticut. The Foote family is of English extraction and settled in Connecticut in the year 1630. Nathaniel Foote was the orig- inal progenitor of a large and worthy list of descendants. Samuel Foote fought for his country in the Revolutionary War. Commodore Foote was a commander of vessels in the War of 1812. Nathaniel Foote was born in the town of Colchester, England, and came to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1630. A descendant of his, Rodger Foote, settled in Ashtabula county, Ohio, in about 1820. The Foote family boasts a genealogy embracing eleven generations in an unbroken line from the time of Nathaniel Foote, of Eng- land. Mrs. Hinman came to Iowa alone and here met and married Mr. Hin- man. The children of this estimable couple were as follows: Ralph T., of whom a review is presented in this volume : Bert, who was born December 12. 1870, and died October 28, 1875: Ethel, born October 15, 1876, and died July
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17.1878: Nellie, wife of William H. Eddy, born October 2. 1879, and married to Mr. Eddy at Boyden. Sioux county. June 17, 1902, and is the mother of two sons. Hinman and Warren.
Mrs. Ellen Hinman passed away on Wednesday, November 5. 1913. She was a member of the Congregational church, and was favorably known as a good Christian lady, a kind and faithful mother and an excellent neighbor.
JOSEPH SHINSKI.
Notable successes have been achieved by the pioneers of this favored, fertile section who have had from the outset an abiding faith in its inevitable development and could see in the distant future the transformation of the wilderness of prairie into a rich and smiling landscape of fertile and produc- tive farms and prosperous cities and villages. Some men seem born to the accomplishment of great things and move irresistably onward toward the goal of achievement, with fortune smiling on their pathway at every turn. They are optimists in every sense of the word, who see in the darkest hour of impending disaster a brightening of the ways and a certainty that the out- come of it all will eventually be for the best. The pioneers of O'Brien county were men of hardihood, who were not daunted by reverses. The foregoing applies especially to the men of iron determination who had the courage to remain and face the bitter struggles of the "lean years" and have lived in the plenteous aftermath which followed. One of these is Joseph Shinski, capital- ist and leading citizen of Sheldon, who has seen the city develop from a mere railroad station into its present opulence and has taken an active and influential part in its onward progress.
Mr. Shinski was born in New York city, the son of Basil Shinski, a native of Poland. His mother was Catharine Morgan, who was born in Ireland. Basil left his native country and emigrated to America when a young man. He located in New York city and there met and married Catharine Morgan. He was a hatter by trade and had a store of his own in New York city. Being ambitious to do more for his family than the great city afforded in the way of opportunity, he came west and located in Lake county, Illinois, where he homesteaded on government land in the year 1845. At the outbreak of the Civil War he endeavored to enlist in the Union service in behalf of his adopted country. Mayhap the warrior blood of his fighting forefathers stirred him to this patriotic resolve and he was successful in being
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JOSEPH SHINSKI
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accepted, but was persuaded by friends and neighbors that he should not go to war on account of his age. He was then nearly sixty years of age, having been born in 1808. His death occurred in November. 1869. Catharine. his faithful wife, died in 1868, having been born in 1818. They were the par- ents of the following children: Mary. deceased : Basil, deceased : Adeline, deceased : Elizabeth, a resident of Wisconsin : Jacob, a citizen of Los Angeles. California.
Mr. Shinski attended the schools in the neighborhood of the Lake county farm and studied two years in the Waukegan Academy. He taught school for four years and then entered the University of Notre Dame. Indiana, and studied there in the year 1865. He was very poor and of necessity earned his own way through the academy and the university. The parental farm was a rather poor, stony piece of land and was barely capable of giving the family sustenance. Consequently. Joseph Shinski is a self-made man in every particular. After completing his studies in the university, he taught school in Lake county for a number of years during the winters, working at various pursuits in vacation time, and also speculating in tax titles to some extent. In the spring of 1873 he journeyed to Sioux City, lowa. and from there came to the new town of Sheldon, where he opened a general merchan- dise store. He stayed in business through the lean "grasshopper" years. when failure after failure occurred. . At one time he would have sold out if he possibly could. but there happened to be no one within range who had money enough to buy his stock. During this period he carried many people upon his books who were unable to pay. All business was mostly done on credit during the "hopper" invasion, as there was no money in circulation and many gave up the fight. However, Mr. Shinski survived and prospered according to his deserts for sixteen years. In 1889 he disposed of his busi- ness and has since been engaged in handling land and the loan business. He has been very active in buying and selling Iowa land. At the present time his land holdings are considerable. He owns one thousand acres of land near the city, which is valued at two hundred dollars an acre. He resides in one of the finest residences in Sheldon and is the owner of six residence and rental properties.
Mr. Shinski is politically allied with the Republican party and has served his home city two terms as mayor, has been justice of the peace. and has been a member of the school board. It is said of him that he made an able executive during his mayoralty incumbency. He served as a member of the county board of supervisors from 1900 to 1903 inclusive.
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His religious connection is with the Catholic church, of which he is an influential and valued member. His business judgment was in demand when the congregation of this church set about the erection of the magnificent cathedral at a cost of forty thousand dollars. He had practical charge of the erection of this fine building and was a very liberal contributor to the financing of the same.
Mr. Shinski was married in 1875 to Helen M. Kelley, of Sioux City, who has borne him two children : Mrs. Maude E. Brock, wife of Dr. W. R. Brock, of Sheldon. and Mrs. Margaret McKillip, whose husband is engaged in the wholesale produce business in Sheldon. He is one of those early settlers who had a sublime faith in the future of his adopted city and county. He stayed during the lean years and consequently reaped a harvest and gained through an abiding foresight. O'Brien county land has been his in- vesting field and he has been actively engaged in building up his home city. While Mr. Shinski has traveled extensively during late years, he is of the firm opinion that O'Brien county well deserves the name "Garden Spot of the World," which has frequently been applied to its sixteen miles square of territory. Such citizens as he are a benefit to their community and are well worthy of a fitting representation in the annals of O'Brien county.
JAMES T. DEWEY.
The gentleman whose name heads this paragraph is widely known in O'Brien county and is one of the honored citizens of Primghar, where he is living in honorable retirement after a strenuous life of activity in connection with agricultural pursuits. His well directed efforts in the practical affairs of life. his capable management of his business interests and his sound judg- ment have brought to him prosperity, and his life demonstrates what may be accomplished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work and has the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of any disaster or discouragement that may arise. In all the relations of life Mr. Dewey has commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought into contact and a biographical history of this locality would not be complete without a record of his career.
James T. Dewey, a gallant veteran of the Civil War and a retired farmer of Primghar, was born August 8, 1842, in York, Washtenaw county, Michigan, the son of Cyrenus and Beulah (Wilcox) Dewey, both of whom
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were natives of Vermont, but died in Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Cyrenus Dewey reared a family of nine children, Martin, Maria, Sarah, Harrell, Mary. James, Martha, Cyrus and Esther.
James Dewey grew to manhood in his native state and when he was nineteen years of age enlisted in Company H. First Regiment Michigan Vol- unteer Infantry, and was mustered in as a corporal at Adrian. He was wounded in action and later attached to Company K. Fifth United States Ar- tillery, from August. 1862, until April, 1864. At the expiration of his three years' service he was discharged on August 30, 1864, but re-enlisted on March 15. 1865. in Company H. Eighteenth Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered on March 26th of that year, joined his regiment at Huntsville, Alabama, on March 29th, and was immediately transferred to Company E. Ninth Regiment Michigan Volunteer Infantry, on June 25. 1865. He was mustered out of the service at Nashville, Tennessee. September 15. 1865. He served in the battles of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Gaines Mill, Malvern Hills, Spottsylvania Court House, North Anne River. Petersburg, Gettysburg, and many others of minor importance. He was slightly wounded at the battle of Malvern Hills, but was able to continue in the service. He attended the reunion at the Gettysburg battlefield on June 30, 1913. Imme- (liately after the close of the war Mr. Dewey went to Iowa and settled in Buchanan county. Two years later he married Lizzie E. Bascom in that county, who was born in Okemos, Ingham county, Michigan, and was the daughter of Willard and Hannah ( Stewart) Bascom, who were early set- tlers in Michigan and natives of New York state. They came to Michigan in 1842 and to Buchanan county, Iowa, in 1865. Later they moved to O'Brien county. this state, in 1871, and homesteaded in Highland township on section 12. Mr. Bascom died in 1879, while his widow survived him un- til 1897. They were the parents of four children, Mary Ann. Maria, Eliza- beth, the wife of Mr. Dewey, and Henry.
Four years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dewey moved to O'Brien county and homesteaded in Highland township. They managed to exist through the famous grasshopper period and other troubles of the time. In 1905 they sold their quarter section and bought a tract of land near Suther- land, having moved to Primghar in 1898.
Mr. and Mrs. Dewey are the parents of three children: Hattie is the wife of Dr. H. C. Rogers, and they have three children, Cecil, Helen Cath- erine and Evelyn : Nellie is the wife of L. L. Funk, of Kansas City, Missouri. and they have two children. Donald and Dorothy Edward, who died in 1882. Mr. Dewey is a Prohibitionist in politics. . He is a firm believer in the princi-
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ples of this party and is known as one of the stanchest temperance advocates in the county. He is abstemious in all of his habits and has lived a clean and wholesome life during his whole career. He and the members of his family are devout adherents of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which they con- tribute liberally of their means.
ANDREW CULVER.
One of the first settlers of Osceola county, Iowa, was Andrew Culver. He settled in this county on June 13, 1871. on a soldier's claim. This was at the very beginning of the influx of settlers in this county and accordingly he is conversant with the entire history of the county from its beginning. His father was one of the most influential men of the county in its early his- tory and was the first county treasurer elected. Mr. Culver has arisen to his present position without other assistance than a strong will and a willing heart, coupled with those qualities of integrity and honor which are always in concomitance of the successful man's career.
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