USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 4
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JAMES E. TOWNSEND.
An enumeration of those men of Osceola county, Iowa, who have won honor and public recognition for themselves and at the same time have hon- ored the localities to which they belong, will find James E. Townsend occu- pying a conspicuous place in the list. The same qualities which have made him one of the prominent and successful men of his county have also brought him the esteem of his fellow men, while his career has been one of well-di- rected energy and honorable methods. As a township official, as a county official and as a city official he has ever striven for the best interests of his fellow citizens, and in no way has he fallen short of that high sense of duty which should actuate every good American citizen.
James E. Townsend, a resident of Osceola county for the past forty-two years, was born on a farm in Michigan on February 14, 1843. His parents. Eletham and Eliza ( Tedman) Townsend, were natives of New York and Con- necticut, respectively, both families being early settlers in New York state. Shortly after they were married, Eletham Townsend and his wife moved to Michigan, reared their children in that state and lived there the remainder of their days. They were the parents of nine children: Sherman, a resident of Michigan; Judson, who lives in Spokane, Washington ; Rufus, of Green-
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wood, Wisconsin: James E., whose life history is here recorded, and five deceased.
James E. Townsend was educated in the schools of Michigan and lived with his parents until twenty-three years of age. He then traveled for a few years in the West for the purpose of seeing the country and incidentally looked for an opening where he might settle. He married in 1871 and two years later decided to permanently locate in Osceola county, Iowa. He reached this county March 17, 1873, and located on section 8, Gilman town- ship, and obtained government patent No. 9842. He erected a little, four- teen by twenty-four-foot house and here he and his young wife started to make their fortune upon the wide and trackless prairies which they had en- tered. They managed to live through the grasshopper years, which were so trying to every one in this section of the state, and within a few years were on the high road to prosperity. In the eighties Mr. Townsend began to in- crease his land holdings and subsequently owned four hundred and eighty acres in Gilman township, which he still retains. It is not possible for the farmer of today to realize the discouragements which met the early farmers of this county, and for this reason the life history of these pioneer farmers is interesting to the present generation. It is sufficient to say that Mr. Town- send and his wife faced all of their discouragements with brave hearts and have lived to see the land which they entered become a prosperous farni, yielding handsome returns. When the bank at Ashton, in Gilman township, was organized Mr. Townsend took an active part and is now the vice-presi- cent of that financial institution.
Mr. Townsend was married in October, 1871, to Emma C. Jones, a na- tive of Michigan and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Jones, and to this marriage have been born six children: Clara, a trained nurse of Ashton, Iowa; E. B., who lives in South Dakota; Frank, who is living near Berk- shire, New York; James, a tarmer of Gilman township, this county ; George, of Murdo, South Dakota, and Robert, who is now operating his father's farm. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend have nine grandchildren, Ruth, Frances, Elizabeth, John, Margaret, James III, Roberta, Richard and Helen.
Mr. Townsend has always taken an active part in Republican politics, and has been honored by his party on several occasions by being elected to township and county official positions. In his home township he has been justice of the peace, trustee and president of the school board. In 1891 he was elected treasurer of Osceola county, and was subsequently re-elected, filling that important office to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of the county. After moving to Ashton he was elected mayor of that city in the spring of
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1911 and administered tlre duties of that office in a way that marked him as a man of ability. In all of these positions he has exerted himself in favor of the best measures and has been a determined foe of grafting of every sort. and for this reason he is held in high esteem by the citizens of the county. irrespective of their political affiliations. Fraternally. he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being one of the oldest members of this order in the county. Such is the history of James E. Townsend, one of the grand old men of Osceola county, a man who braved the dangers and hard- ships of a new country and who had the foresight to see the future possibili- ties of this rich farming country. The brave and unselfish lives of such men as he will be' remembered long by their descendants, and for this reason their careers are fittingly preserved in this volume.
WILLIAM J. MILLER.
One of the best known and loved men of Osceola county was the late William J. Miller, who died on July 17. 1914, at his home in Sibley, Iowa. He was born on a ship bearing the United States flag while his parents were coming from Ireland, their native land, to this country, his birth occurring on November 7. 1844. He was reared to manhood in the state of New York and received an excellent education in Potsdam. New York, graduating from the Saint Lawrence 'Academy in that city. He entered the teaching pro- fession in the state of New York and followed that profession in New York until 1872. He then went west and located in Sibley, lowa, where he lived the remainder of his life. He taught in the schools of Sibley for several years and then served his county in various official capacities. He filled the office of superintendent of the Osceola county schools for a number of years in a very creditable manner. His next official position was that of clerk of the county and he administered the duties of this office in an efficient and painstaking manner, giving his fellow citizens honest and conscientious service. For the past sixteen years he had officiated as justice of peace in connection with his insurance business. After leaving the office of county clerk he engaged in the insurance business, and for twenty years was the financial correspondent for the Connecticut Life Insurance Company for the negotiation of farm loans. He had built up a large and lucrative business for this company by his careful and conservative methods.
Mr. Miller was married to Frances H. Perry in Potsdam, New York, in
William J. Miller
TUT
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August, 1868. The one child born to this union died when two years of age. The only other relative which Mr. Miller left in this county is a brother. J. Q. Miller, of Sibley. Mr. Miller was a regular attendant of the Congrega- tional church and always very much interested in its welfare. Fraternally, he was a loyal member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Sibley lodge attended the funeral in a body and performed the Masonic services at the grave.
The life of this excellent citizen was singularly free from everything which might bring censure upon himself and that he was held in high esteem by his fellow citizens is well shown by a glowing tribute paid his memory by the Hon. J. F. Glover, one of his closest friends. In view of the fact that this summary of Mr. Miller's career was written by one of his most intimate friends and a man who appreciated his worth it is here given in full as pub- lished in the Sibley Gasette on July 23. 1914:
"In the death of William J. Miller, pioneer of Osceola county and Sib- ley. the entire community received a distinct shock and suffered a distinct loss. Mr. Miller, as a homesteader, as a teacher, as a county official, as at all times a prominent citizen, has left wide circles of friends to mourn his loss. as well as his more immediate family. He was a man who made friends and held them. As a youth he was desirous of an education. As a student he was diligent : as a teacher he was faithful. While a teacher he was a student as well. of wider range than the school room, thus graduating into the edu- cated, intelligent man.
"By nature he was quiet and unassuming. In all the relations of his busy life he was helpful to his community. He enjoyed the religious and social meetings of his church, which he always attended. He was interested in agriculture, in horticulture. in the poultry yard; interested in the quiet of his home life, in the society of his faithful wife and family relatives and in his books and papers. He was naturally conservative and not given to harsh expressions in political or religious discussions. He was always better pleased to have people meet on a reasonable plane of agreement than to have people 'at the outs.'
"He belonged to the world's peacemakers. Himself a worker, he sym- pathized with laborers : himself industrious and provident, he was a friend of the man of means, as well as a friend to the man who toiled with his hands. He was a man who preferred to consider the virtues of the individuals of the community than to dwell upon the faults of the members of the public. In his long service as a justice of peace, he was better pleased when men settled
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their differences without acrimony and without litigation. He was attentive at trials and conscientious in his. judgments.
"He was a man of purpose and a man of moral earnestness. Mr. Miller loved nature as he loved men. For him the bright sun and the blue sky, the fleecy clouds and the gentle rain, the growing trees and the wild flowers of the prairie land of his pioneer days, all had an interest and all contributed to his enjoyment. He was provident, but hospitable ; reserved, but sympathetic : quiet, but thoughtful. He was interested in his home and in his home sur- roundings. He was interested in school. church and public affairs. He was one of the safe and sane men of his community. He had little sympathy with men's differences, but enjoyed joining them in their harmonious rela- tions. He was not of an aggressive disposition, but had the firmness to do the right as he saw it. While his life as farmer, teacher and official was of a prosaic order, yet his nature was of the poetic character. He accepted condi- tions of toil and privation in the rough, hard years of loss by grasshoppers, but such conditions and small rewards of the pioneer and homesteader did not blind him to the beauties of the country, or shut his eyes to the brighter vision of the country's future. And when better days dawned, his rejoicing was as moderate as his fortitude was commendable before the better days came.
"Loved and respected by all people of all pursuits, by all parties and all creeds, by young as well as by old. it will be many years before the loving personality of William J. Miller shall be forgotten. As he has gone over to join those who have gone before, so others shall follow him into that beauti- ful land where the brighter visions shall all have their full realization."
JOHN ALDINGER.
John Aldinger, who in his time was one of the leading and influential figures of O'Brien county, was born September 24, 1836, in Fairfield, state of New York, the son of John Michael Aldinger, a native of Germany. John was married to Sarah Evans, of New York state, March 8, 1860. In March, 1879, they came to O'Brien county and purchased a quarter section of land, gradually added to his holdings and became a large landowner as before stated. He dealt extensively in land. They moved to Primghar in 1900. Mrs. Aldinger is the owner of a half section of land in the county.
Mr. Aldinger was prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity
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and was a member of the Christian church, becoming affiliated with this de- nomination at Storm Lake, Iowa, where the family resided for five years previous to locating in O'Brien county, having come west from New York in 1874.
Sarah Evans Aldinger was born December 22, 1839, in Frankfort, Her- kimer county, New York, and is the daughter of John and Ann (Townsley) Evans, natives of England. They lived and died in New York. Mr. and Mrs. Aldinger reared the following children: Ernest, born January 17, 1861, is a resident of Pringhar, but of late has made his home in California : he is the father of two children, Hattie and Pearl: James, born March 3, 1866, in New York, has charge of the family estate: Lester T., born January 22, 1869; Frederick, born December 21, 1873, resides at Lansing, Michigan, and has one child, John; Mrs. Edith McDonald, born June 6. 1880, and resides at Arion, Iowa. Mr. Aldinger was Republican in politics.
FRANK L. HERRICK.
Among the business men of Primghar. O'Brien county, Iowa, who have lived in the county for the past forty years and helped to place it in the front ranks of the counties of Iowa, is Frank L. Herrick, the leading ab- stracter of the county seat of O'Brien county. He was born February 27, 1859, in Watertown, New York, and is the son of Frederick and Malvina L. (Priest) Herrick.
Frederick Herrick and his family came from New York to Jackson county, Iowa, in 1859 and later located on a farm near Durant, Cedar county, where they lived until 1874. Previous to that year the oldest son of the family, Augustus F., had come to O'Brien county and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres in section 12, in Carroll township. Here the family lived until the mother died, November 27, 1879. The father later remarried and settled in Des Moines, where he died in 1902. Frederick Herrick and wife were the parents of four children: Augustus F., who died October 25, 1877; Cornelia A., who died April 25, 1885; Homer L., and Frank L., whose history is here sketched.
Frank L. Herrick came with his parents from New York to Iowa when he was about one year of age and lived in Jackson and Cedar counties until he was fifteen years of age. His elementary education was received in the Cedar county district schools. Upon coming to O'Brien county with
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his parents in 1874. he immediately began to work upon the farm. He farmed until 1887, when he moved to Primghar and purchased a half in- terest in a merchandise establishment in that town. Later he worked for four years in an abstract office, and in 1894 he was elected county recorder of O'Brien county on the Republican ticket and served two terms to the entire satisfaction of the citizens of the county, and at the expiration of his term of office, in 1899, he entered the abstract business and has continued at this work up to the present time. He has a complete set of abstract books and is well qualified to do everything which comes within his line.
Mr. Herrick has been twice married, his first marriage being March 19. 1881, to Jennie C. Richardson, who died July 4. 1894, leaving four children : Maud L .. born March 9. 1882, died March 1. 1907: James M .. born April 27. 1884: Mabel L .. born April 27, 1887, died December 24. 1912, and Chester A. James M. lives at Butte, Montana, and is an em- ployee of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. Mr. Herrick was married a second time on August 19, 1909, to Jennie King, the daughter of William King and wife. of Primghar.
Mr. Herrick has been identified with the Republican party since reach- ing his majority and has been honored by his party by being elected county recorder. He is active in the councils of his party and his advice has been frequently asked by its leaders. Fraternally, he is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Brotherhood of America. He and his wife are loyal members of the Congregational church and contribute of their means to its support. Mr. Herrick is a wide-awake business man and has gained the confidence of his fellow citizens because of his upright- ness and honesty in all of his transactions. He is a man of plain and unassum- ing demeanor and easily wins friends.
LESTER T. ALDINGER.
Banking is a business and profession which calls for talent of a high order. To succeed in this oldest of commercial pursuits requires a high degree of intelligence, a great measure of personal integrity, a modicum of absolute honesty, and a broad sense of citizenship, which enables one to capably judge human nature, and at the same time retain the confidence and respect of those with whom he is thrown in contact in the course of the conduct of his business. Lester T. Aldinger is a true type of the broad-
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minded citizen and banking official who has acheived a standing in af- fairs through his own efforts, beginning in a small way.
Mr. Aldinger was born January 2, 1869. in Oneida county, New York. His father was John Aldinger, who was born in September. 1836, and died in January, 1911. He migrated to O'Brien county in 1878, looked over the territory, returned home and then permanently located in Liberty town- ship in 1879. His initial purchase consisted of three quarter sections. He increased his hollings and eventually became a large land owner. Being one of those far-seeing men, who has faith in the ultimate development of the country, he speculated in lands to a considerable extent and handled hun- dlreds and even thousands of acres. At one time he was the sole owner of over one thousand acres of rich O'Brien county land. On account of fail- ing health he disposed of the greater part of his holdings during the latter years of his life. At the time of his death he owned three hundred and twenty acres. He removed to Primghar in the fall of 1900 and here ended his days. He took an active part in politics and was allied with the Re- publican party. He was a leading member of the Christian church. His wife, Sarah Evans, bore him the following children: Ernest F., of Prim- ghar: James, a resident of Primghar; Lester T .: Frederick C., of Lansing, Michigan, and Mrs. Edith McDowell, of Primghar.
Lester T. Aldinger was educated in the district schools and the graded schools of Sutherland. He also pursued a commercial course at Shenandoah, Iowa. His younger days were spent in farming until 1896, when he pur- chased the grain elevator at Sutherland, lowa, which he operated until January 1, 1900, when he removed to Primghar. In the fall of 1899 he was elected to the important office of county treasurer on the Republican ticket and served for two consecutive terms. After the close of his term of office, in 1904, he devoted some time to his personal affairs and was again elected to fill the county treasurer's office in the fall of 1908, and served for two terms or until January 1. 1912. At the expiration of his offi- cial duties he became cashier of the Primghar Savings Bank. Mr. Aldinger is the owner of four hundred acres of the finest of O'Brien county land.
Mr. Akdlinger is affiliated with the Methodist church and is a member of the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. He was married in 1903 to Belle Hill, a daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Hill, of O'Brien county, and who has borne him two children, Bernard, a graduate of the Primghar high school, and Harold, a student.
Mr. Aldinger is one of these exceptional, likeable characters, whose known integrity and uprightness makes for the best citizenship and serves
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as an example for others to follow. He enjoys the distinction of being the only county official who was re-elected to the same office after retiring for a period of five years.
ISAAC L. RERICK.
Among the highly respected citizens of Primghar, O'Brien county, Iowa. is Isaac L. Rerick, assistant doorkeeper of the Iowa State Senate. He is a native of the Hoosier state, having been born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, May 4, 1834. the son of Henry and Julia Ann (Lamb) Rerick. His mother died when he was eight years of age, and his father in 1878. Henry Rerick was a native of New York, and one of the pioneers of Tippecanoe county. Indiana. In 1835, wien Isaac L. was about a year old, his father moved to St. Joseph county, Indiana, where he lived until his death. The father of Henry Rerick was in the War of 1812, and died in that struggle. Henry Rerick was twice married and by the first marriage there were six children : John H. : Rebecca ; Isaac L., whose history is recorded here; Hannah; Elisa- beth and Hamilton. Several children were also born to the second marriage.
Isaac L. Rerick was reared in Indiana and there received his education. When he was twenty-one years of age he came to Iowa and spent two months in Delaware county, after which he located in Jones county. He worked there until February, 1856, being employed by an old Indiana acquaintance, as a wood chopper. In February. 1856, he returned to Delaware county and worked on a farm with another young man. Then the two young men bought eighty acres of prairie land and twenty acres of timber. They fenced forty acres of the land with a rail fence and sold his first crop for ninety dollars. Isaac L. then went to Boone county, Iowa, where he worked for a time at fifteen dollars a month.
Isaac L. Rerick was married in 1857 to Samantha Clark, of Boone county, Iowa, the daughter of Louis Clark, a merchant of Sweedspoint. Mr. Clark is now ninety-three years of age. Mr. Rerick enlisted September 28. 1861. in Company E, Fourteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served three years and three months in the southwestern part of the United States. He was in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth and was under fire for fourteen days between Vicksburg and Meridian. Mississippi. He was on the Red River expedition and other skirmishes in the
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Southwest. He was wounded in his neck and laid for six months in a hos- pital, as the result of the battle at Pleasant Hill. He then went home on a furlough, but reported for duty at Keokuk, Iowa, in October. 1864, and was immediately sent to St. Louis. He was transferred to a company which was assigned to duty in Missouri and fought at Ironton in that state. At Ironton he served as quartermaster under General Ewing and saw very severe figlit- ing. After this battle his regiment moved to Rolla, Missouri, and later was discharged at Davenport, Iowa, December 11, 1864.
After the war. Mr. Rerick returned to Jasper county, Iowa, where he lived until the spring of 1871. He then homesteaded on the western half of the northwest quarter of section 28, in Liberty township, and passed through all the troubles incident to the grasshopper plague in the latter seventies. In 1871 it only rained once during the whole year and succeeding seasons were either exceptionally dry or exceptionally wet. but, nevertheless, he stuck to it and came out all right in the end. In 1878 he and his family left the farm and moved to Primghar, where he obtained the contract for carrying the mail twice each week, between Cherokee. Primghar and Spencer. He carried the. mail for the next three years, and then in 1881 engaged in the lumber busi- ness with one thousand dollars worth of stock. The winter and spring of 1882 will never be forgotten by those who lived in the county at that time. Fuel and provisions were hard to get and. in fact, many people left the county in order to keep from starvation. In the fall of 1882 Mr. Rerick engaged in the real estate business and until 1898 lived in Paullina, following the ups and downs of a real estate agent. In 1888 he was elected recorder of O'Brien county and moved to Primghar ; was re-elected and served until 1892, since which time he has handled insurance and real estate in this county.
Mr. Rerick is a member of Jordan Post. Grand Army of Republic, and is now vice-commander of the post, having previously served as commander. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in his politi- cal faith adheres to the old Republican party. He has been assistant door- keeper of the Iowa Senate for the past four years. Mr. and Mrs. Rerick have seven children : Henry, of Primghar: Manford. of Washington state; Mrs. Ida Belle Bunce, of Calumet, Iowa; Mrs. Matie Wilkins, of Westboro, Mis- souri ; Dora, a deaconess in Sioux City, Iowa ; Mrs. Bertha Yeager, of Wall Lake, Iowa, and Ross C., of Sioux City. Mr. Rerick has the honor of being one of the two survivors who helped locate the county seat of O'Brien county at Primghar, in 1872: a history of this is found in another part of this work, and furnishes one of the thrilling chapters in O'Brien county history.
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ALBERT ROMEY.
Every country of Europe has contributed some of its best and warmest blood to the various states of our Union, but no country has sent here more independent, self-reliant and liberty-loving people than has Germany. Every branch of industry has felt the invigorating impulse of these people, and has responded with a firmer and more enduring progress. Strong and vigorous sons of the Fatherland, influential in every line of American activity, to them our country is largely indebted for the almost phenomenal prosperity which it now enjoys. Many of the first settlers of Osceola county, Iowa, were born in Germany, and among these there is no one who is more worthy of representation in this volume than Albert Romey, who has lived for the past forty-three years in this county.
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