USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 17
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Immediately after the war Mr. Doolittle returned to Delaware county, Iowa, and was elected county surveyor, serving in that capacity until 1871. In the spring of that year he came to Osceola county, arriving on the first day of May, and spent the summer as a surveyor, locating the claims of the settlers who were fast arriving. On July 4, 1871, a convention was called on section 24, township 99. range 42, on Culver's homestead, for the . purpose of nominating county officers. Mr. Doolittle was made the chair- man of the assembled settlers and F. M. Robinson was elected as secretary. The convention nominated A. M. Culver. Horace Fenton and Mr. Spalding for county supervisors, Captain Huff for treasurer. F. M. Robinson for auditor, Frank Messenger for sheriff, D. L. McCausland for recorder, and C. M. Brooks for clerk. It is interesting to note in connection with this convention that a gang later came into the county and nominated Culver for
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treasurer and looted the county to the extent of twenty-two thousand dollars the first year.
After his experience in Osceola county as surveyor, in 1871, Mr. Doo- little went back to Delaware county where he taught school during the fol- lowing winter and returned again in the spring. He was chairman of the first grand jury in Osceola county in the spring of 1872, when the grand jury returned twenty-two indictments against the gangsters who had been swindling for the past year. They were put under small bond of one hun- dred dollars each and no one was surprised when they skipped the country and never showed up again in the county.
From 1872 down to the present time Mr. Doolittle has been an im- portant factor in the history of the county. He has served as county sur- veyor for twelve years, was postmaster at Sibley under President Harrison, has been United States official weather observer since 1893. served as city assessor of Sibley two terms, was the census enumerator in 1900 for his town, served as rural carrier from 1902 to 1910 and has taught four years in the public schools of the county.
Mr. Doolittle had homesteaded on section 24, township 99. range 41, and lived here for twelve years after coming to the county. He then moved to Sibley, where he conducted a photograph gallery for the next eighteen years. He has always taken a very prominent part in all the civic affairs of his city, as is shown by the offices which he has held. He has been an exponent of clean government and wholesome politics and has never sup- ported anything which savors of dishonesty in municipal politics.
Mr. Doolittle was married January 12, 1885. to Alice A. Walters, the daughter of Harvey and Charlotte M. ( Allen) Walters. Her parents were natives of New York and were married at Ravenna, Ohio. They subse- quently settled in New Hampton, Iowa, where Alice A. was born. The Walters family came to Osceola county in 1872 and homesteaded on section Io, township 99, range 41, where they lived until 1877. The father died on August 10, 1901 : the widow is still living. Harvey Walters and wife were the parents of six children: Nelson J., who is now living in the state of Washington: Sidney S., of Tacoma. Washington: Mrs. Julia T. Wynne, of Beloit. Wisconsin : Mrs. Alice A. Doolittle, the wife of the subject of this sketch : John F., born February 16, 1867, who strayed from home and was found dead two and three-fourths miles from home. He was only two years of age at the time : Willie S .. the youngest of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Walters. is deceased. The Walters lived on the homestead farm for years and then moved to Sibley in 1877, where the father kept the Pioneer
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House for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle have two children living and one deceased : Jessie W., born August 5, 1888, graduated from Morning- side College and is now doing post-graduate work at the State University in Iowa City; Frances Charlotte, a graduate of Morningside College, is now teaching at Inwood. She is known among her friends as Margie Doolittle.
Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle are both loyal members of the Methodist Epis- copal church and Mr. Doolittle is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and is commander of the L. G. Ireland Post at Sibley. Thus is outlined briefly the interesting career of Mr. Doolittle, a man who has been interested in his county for more than forty years, and in no position in which he has been found has he ever been delinquent to the slightest duty, and for this reason he has won the earnest approval of everyone who has known him.
LOUIS YOUNGERS.
Many of the finest homes in Sheldon, O'Brien county, Iowa, have been built by farmers who have made their fortunes in the fertile field of this county and then retired to this city to spend their declining years. Among these farmers who have made a notable success of farming in this county is Louis Youngers, who has a modern residence in the southern part of Sheldon. which he erected in 1911.
Louis Youngers was born February 17, 1853, in Ozaukee county. \'is- consin. He is the son of Nicholas and Margaret ( Robbenet ) Youngers, who were both born in Luxemburg. Germany. They were born, reared and married in that country and immediately after their marriage came to this country and located in the forests of Wisconsin, about twenty-five miles from Milwaukee. They reached this country in 1849 and literally carved their farm out of the dense wilderness where they settled. In 1883, Nicholas, his wife and two youngest children came to O'Brien county and lived in Sheldon on one of his son's farms until his death in 1898. His wife died in 1894. Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Youngers were the parents of seven children : Nicholas, Jr., of Sioux county, Iowa : Louis, whose history is here sketched ; Mrs. Mary Ludovise, of Lynn township; Peter, of Kansas: Dominic, of Lynn township, in this county ; Mrs. Anna Croat, of Sioux county, Iowa, and John, of Sioux county.
Louis Youngers came to LeMars in 1875 and worked his way to O'Brien county, where he hired out to a farmer in Carroll township. He worked
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here for one year and in 1876 his brother Nicholas joined him and they farmed the west half of the southwest corner of section 30, in Carroll town- ship. The brothers then bought the western half of the northeastern corner of this section. Louis later sold his interest in this to his brother Nicholas and rented eighty acres from Mr. Holmes, which they farmed together. Each of the brothers had a team and they not only farmed their own farm, but broke ground for their neighbors. They went through the terrible ex- perience of the famous "grasshopper war" and remember distinctly that on July 28, 1876, the grasshoppers came so thick from the west the boys were hardly able to reach their shack. The grasshoppers fell like hail stones and within two days ate up twenty acres of oats and all of their other crops. The grasshoppers left eggs scattered everywhere and in the spring of 1877 they appeared again and ate up all the crops of that year. In 1878 the brothers managed to secure a fair crop and then Louis married and settled on his farm permanently. In the winter of 1880 and 1881 came the famous big snow. the worst in the history of this county. The snow came on October 15, 1880. and lay on the ground continuously until April 15, 1881. This was the last disaster which befell the brothers and after that things moved on without any interruption. Mr. Youngers lived on his farm until 1896 and then bought eighty acres in section 6, in Carroll township, adjoining the city of Sheldon. He now owns eleven hundred acres in the county, having bought his land at prices ranging from one dollar and a quarter to eighty-five dollars an acre. The prices which he paid for his land as he bought, tract by tract, are inter- esting in showing the increase of land values. Commencing at one dollar and a quarter an acre, twelve dollars, twenty dollars, thirty-two dollars, fifty-five dollars, sixty-two dollars and eighty-five dollars. This land is all worth from one hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars an acre at the present time. In addition to his holdings in .O'Brien county, he owns two hundred acres in Sioux county.
Mr. Youngers was married in 1878 to Margaret Ludovisie and to this union have been born fourteen children: Nicholas L., a farmer of this county ; Tracy, of Canada : Louis L., a farmer of this county: Mrs. Mary J. Giefer, of LeMars township; Peter, of Washington township: Theodore L., of Parker, South Dakota, where he is a bank cashier; Andrew, a farmer of this county ; Clara M., who is keeping house for her brother : Martha M., who graduated from the Sheldon high school and is at home and teaching in the public schools of Sheldon: Matilda, who is in the high school: Clarence, Daniel, Leona and Eugene.
Politically, Mr. Youngers is a Democrat, but his interests have been so
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heavy that he has never had the time to indulge in the game of politics. Though successful in his private affairs, Mr. Youngers has also been inter- ested in the welfare of his community and gives his unreserved support to every enterprise which is for the advancement of the welfare of his fellow citizens.
WILL A. SOLON.
It is a well-attested maxim that the greatness of a community or 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 particulars he whose name appears at the head of this paragraph has con- ferred honor and dignity on his county, and as an elemental part of history it is consonant that there should be recorded here 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, as well as his career in the banking business, one of the most exacting pro- fessions to which a man can devote his talents and energies.
Will A. Solon, the cashier of the Sanborn State Bank, was born in February, 1882, in Mason City. Iowa, the son of A. W. and Katherine ( Farrell) Solon. The reader is referred to the life of A. W. Solon, else- where in this volume. for details concerning the Solon ancestry. Mr. Solon was educated in the Sanborn public schools, having come with his parents to this city when he was eighty years of age. He graduated from the Sanborn high school in 1899, and then took the commercial course in the Capital City Commercial College of Des Moines. In 1900 he entered the Sanborn State Bank as assistant cashier and on April 1, 1911. he became cashier.
Mr. Solon was married in July, 1908, to Gertrude McKone, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James McKone, of Lawler, Iowa. Politically, Mr. Solon is a Democrat, and has served as secretary of the school board since 1901, and is now city clerk of Sanborn, having been elected to that office in 1909. He and his wife are earnest and faithful members of the Catholic church, and belong to the congregation of St. Cecilia church of Sanborn. Fraternally, Mr. Solon is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
The Sanborn State Bank was established April 1, 1883, by C. D. and A. E. Ellis, of Charles City, Iowa, and Morton Wilbur, George B. Davis and F. A. Ellis, of Sanborn. Mr. Wilbur was cashier of the bank until
WILL A. SOLON
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1900, when he was succeeded by G. M. Slocum, who had been assistant cashier previous to that time. In 1900 W. A. Solon became assistant cashier of the bank. and on April 1. 1911. he took the position of cashier. This bank has a capital stock of twenty thousand dollars, a surplus of twenty- five hundred dollars, deposits of two hundred thousand dollars and total re- sources of two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. The bank owns its own two-story brick building on Main street, and has handsome fixtures. The banking room is floored with a fireproof tile and the room also contains a number of safe deposit vaults for rent. The bank issues certificates of de- posit payable in six or twelve months, on which interest is allowed at four and five per cent. It issues bank money orders and bank money drafts for domestic or foreign use and payable at all points in the world at the most reasonable rates. It loans money to responsible parties on approved col- lateral or other securities, writes fire insurance on desirable property in strong companies at the prevailing rates. The record of the Sanborn State Bank for the past thirty-one years has certainly been an enviable one. It has stood the storms of nearly one and one-half score of years and shows a clean record. all of the time affording a place of safety for depositing idle funds and a place where accommodations may be secured by those worthy of credit at any and all times. The bank has always endeavored to give the people of this vicinity the best of service and under the new management, which went into effect in 1911, this endeavor will be redoubled. It cordially invites the people to make use of its facilities and to consult freely with its officers on any matters pertaining to any of its branches of business.
WILLIAM H. SLEEPER.
The character of a community is determined in a large measure by the lives of a comparatively few of its members. If its moral and intellectual status is good: if in a social way it is a pleasant place to live : if its reputa- tion for the integrity of its citizens has extended into other localities, it will be found that the standards set by the leading men have been high and that their influence has been such as to mold the character and shape the lives of those with whom they mingle. In placing William H. Sleeper in the front rank of such men, a biographical fact is thus stated with an accuracy and justice which is deserving to the individual with whom the biographer is directly concerned. For thirty-five years the pioneer banker of Sheldon,
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and having figured in the building up of the city, he occupies a unique place in the history of the city and county. Although modest to a high degree, he is one of the most approachable and public spirited men in the community.
Mr. Sleeper was born in New Jersey, on October 8. 1853. the son of Aaron' and Maria Sleeper, both deceased, having lived their lives in their native state of New Jersey. The mother of William H. died when he was but a child. He was educated in the public schools of his native state. Be- coming imbued with the western spirit, he traveled westward in 1878 and located in Sheldon, where he became the pioneer banker of the town. For a period of twenty years his banking institution was conducted as a state bank : in 1914 it became a private bank and is now operated under the firm name of Sherwood & Sleeper.
Mr. Sleeper has been interested in O'Brien county land and has owned and sold several tracts during his long residence in the county. At present he is the owner of a section of land in Monona county, lowa. He is affiliated politically with the Republican party and has served as a member of the city council. In many ways he has been a useful citizen and is accounted one of the substantial citizens of the community. He is ever ready and willing to assist in meritorious public enterprises and has made his influence felt in be- half of good things which were intended to benefit the body politic in vari- ous ways.
Mr. Sleeper was married in 1883 to Etta Sherwood, daughter of George W. Sherwood, now a resident of St. Paul. They have had three children : Sherwood, deceased : Raymond, in Sheldon, and George, deceased.
RICHARD M. BOYD.
How much we owe the pioneers of O'Brien county! What a fine body of good and true men they were! Many of them were of the finest type of manhood. They entered a wilderness of unbroken prairie country and passed through a period which tried men's souls and which brought out the best there was in them. Some gave up the fight for even bare existence during the first lean and poor years, but those who remained have reaped a harvest of good things and are now honored and respected in their neighborhoods. They were of a cosmopolitan class, embracing some of the best blood of New Eng- land. Pennsylvania, the South, and from far-away Ireland. England. Scot- land and Wales. Many were Union soldiers, who, restless for a change for
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the better in their circumstances after passing through the harrowing scenes of four years of awful warfare, set their faces westward. there to hew out a home and rear their families to good and useful citizenship.
Richard M. Boyd, or "Dick" Boyd, as he is more affectionately known, of Sanborn, is a genuine pioneer of the hardy class who homesteaded in Grant township and has prospered as he well deserved. He was born May 18, 1843, in Ireland, the son of Robert and Mary Ann ( Pogue ) Boyd. of Scotch-Irish and Covenanter descent. Their immediate ancestors left Scot- land to obtain freedom of worship in their chosen faith in northern Ireland. It is of record that the father of Mary Ann Pogne held a grant of consider- able land in the North country, but unfortunately lost the same by going note security for a friend at the time of his marriage. Robert and Mary Ann Boyd and their children emigrated to America in 1853. For several years they lived in New York City, where the father died of ship fever contracted while on a trip to Rhode Island, whither he had gone to arrange for another place of abode for his family. The widow and children soon afterward moved to Rhode Island and located in the town of Bristol. There were six children in the Boyd family, as follows: Isaiah P., deceased; Richard M .; Robert W., of Sutherland: Mrs. Annie J. Magee, of Sanborn; Alex .. of whose where- abouts nothing is now known : Mrs. Mary Corrall, deceased : John, deceased.
In 1861 Richard Boyd and his mother decided to come west and they journeyed to lowa. They deemed this eventful step necessary on account of the fact that factories in Rhode Island had shut down and a kind of panic prevailed when the Civil War broke out between the states. They settled on a farm in Lynn county, Iowa. Here it was that Richard Boyd enlisted in the Union army and made an enviable record as a brave soldier. He enlisted in Company H, Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. October 5. 1361, and was honorably discharged from the service November 16. 1864. at Davenport, lowa. He enlisted under Capt. Roy A. Cranes and fought at Fort Donelson, Fort Henry, Shiloh. Corinth and Tupelo, Mississippi. He was taken seriously sick at Tupelo of typhoid fever and lay in the hospital for several months. suffering severe setbacks and being an invalid for a long time at Mound City, Illinois. At Shiloh he was one of the personal body guard for Gen. C. J. Smith. He finally got to St. Louis while still in a sadly weakened condition and being the ghost of his former robust manhood. It was a very long time before he became a well man. In fact. he was so dis- figured by disease that his boon companions in his old command even failed to recognize him. After they discovered that their old comrade "Dick" needed their care they insisted on his being transferred to their quarters and
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then tenderly cared for him and assisted him in building up his wasted physique. Later, down in Missouri, he was engaged in many skirmishes with the bushwhackers. He also saw active service in Kentucky and Missis- sippi. Previous to this he had participated in the engagement at Meridian, Mississippi. His last service was during the historic chase after Gen. Mar- maduke Price and his rebel army, who were driven out of Missouri. He re- turned home after his discharge, but went again to the front and was in the employ of the United States government at Nashville, Tennessee, until the close of the war. Mr. Boyd recalls that the lamentable news of President Lincoln's assassination, when received in the Southern city, quieted the bitter- ness and quarreling among all classes of the people, Southerners and con- querors alike. When peace was declared he was retained in Nashville dur- ing 1866 and had personal charge of the government live stock.
For a period of four years after the end of his service Mr. Boyd lived in Linn county. and in 1871 came to O'Brien county. He filed on a government homestead in Grant township, the southwest quarter of section 14, township 95, range 39. He improved his homestead and developed it into a fine farm, which he yet owns. In 1883 he came to the town of Sanborn, where he has since resided and is considered affectionately as the "Father of the Town." For several years he served as city marshal and constable and was also in the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad for some years. He was appointed postmaster February 15, 1900, and served continuously until August. 1913. He was one of the best and most accommodating post- masters the city ever had. He was recommended by President Taft for an- other term, but declined to become an applicant for the position. In politics he has always been a Republican.
Religiously, Mr. Boyd has always been affiliated with the faith of his forefathers and is a stanch member of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally, he is allied with the Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, being one of the few remaining members of the local post.
Mr. Boyd was married November 16, 1866, to Eliza J. Swecker, of Linn county, who has borne him six children, as follows: M. R., a citizen of far- away Fairbanks, Alaska; Seldon, a resident of Sanborn; Fay Devere, of Minneapolis : Neva L., of Chicago; Mrs. Ina Lee, of Ladysmith, Wisconsin ; Erma, at home with her father. Mrs. Boyd died on September 22, 1913.
Mr. Boyd is the owner of eighty acres of rich and valuable land adja- cent to the city of Sanborn. He is the owner of the postoffice building and another business house in the adjoining block. It is a matter of record that he sold the first load of wheat handled in Sheldon, Iowa, by Benjamin Jones
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in the early seventies. He is a very popular, substantial citizen, who is highly esteemed for his many excellent qualities by his fellow citizens in Sanborn and throughout O'Brien county.
CHARLES F. PETERS.
The city of Sheldon, O'Brien county, Iowa, boasts of many farmers who have retired to this beautiful little city to pass their declining years. Fortu- nate indeed is a man who has sufficient wealth to retire in his declining years and live a life of ease. Among the many retired farmers of Sheldon who have made their fortune in the fertile soil of this section of the state is Charles F. Peters, who was born in 1850 in Prussia. He is another example of the many Germans who have arisen to positions of affluence in this county. He is the son of David and Fredericka ( Mellithin) Peters, who lived all of their days in the land of their birth. David Peters was an innkeeper and operated a distillery in his native land and died in 1857.
Charles F. Peters came to America when he was eighteen years of age and at once settled in Lee county, Illinois, where he worked on a farm. For the first five years he worked at day labor on farms in the county and then operated a threshing machine and corn shelling outfit for nine years. In the meantime he had married and in 1882 he came to Lyons county, Iowa, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land at fourteen dollars and a half an acre. Since he was a native of Germany, it is needless to add that he prospered on his farm. When he moved to Sheldon in 1907 he owned eight hundred and sixty-five acres which was worth one hundred and fifty dollars an acre. He recently sold a farm near Sheldon for two hundred dollars an acre and has sold several hundreds of acres in the last three years in this and surrounding counties. His farm in Lyons county is the finest in north- western Iowa and is a model in every respect and is easily worth over one hundred and fifty dollars an acre. Mr. Peters has a fine residence in Sheldon where he is now living.
Mr. Peters was married in 1878 to Christina Gartz, of Germany, and to this marriage have been born five children, three of whom are living. Fred and Charles, who are operating their father's farm, and William, an attorney and Idaho.
Politically, Mr. Peters has long been identified with the Republican party. but, owing to his heavy agricultural interests, he has not been able to take an
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active part in politics. He was reared to the German Lutheran faith, but hc and his family attend the Congregational church in Sheldon, to which they contribute of their substance. Mr. Peters has had a remarkable success in farming since coming to Iowa. He owes his success solely to his own initia- tive and determination, but what he has accomplished has not been without hard work and that application which is necessary for success in any line of business. The acquisition of wealth has not blinded him to his duty as a member of the body politic and he is always interested in every enterprise and measure which he felt would better the community in which he lived.
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