USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 55
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Mr. and Mrs. Ward have always taken a prominent part in public affairs in this county, and, as the successful candidate of the Republican party, he has served as justice of the peace, as well as trustee of the township in which he lives. In 1905 he was appointed county supervisor and served for twc terms. He was then twice re-elected to the same office, and was in the office
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eight years altogether, his last term expiring January 1, 1913. He and the members of his family are earnest supporters of the Congregational church and are contributing liberally to its support. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the various official capacities in which Mr. Ward has served since coming to this county he has rendered faithful and efficient service to his fellow citizens. He has always taken an abiding interest in the welfare of his community and given his influence to such measures as he felt would benefit his fellow citizens.
W. C. JACKSON.
The following is a sketch of a plain. honest man of affairs, who, by correct methods and a strict regard for the interests of his patrons, has made his influence felt in O'Brien county and won for himself distinctive prestige in the business circles of his community. He would be the last man to sit for romance or become the subject of fancy sketches, nevertheless his life presents much that is interesting and valuable and may be studied with profit by the young whose careers are yet to be achieved. He is one of those whose integrity and strength of character must force them into an admirable noto- riety which their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individu- ality deeply stamped upon the community.
W. C. Jackson, the present supervisor of the Sanborn district of O'Brien county, Iowa, was born May 4, 1845, in Cecil county, Maryland, at Havre De Grasse, on Chesapeake bay, and is the son of William and Rebecca ( Sam- mons) Jackson, who were natives of Maryland and Virginia. respectively. William Jackson was the son of John Jackson, who was born in 1770. John Jackson married a Miss Craig. The Jackson family trace their history back to colonial times, and it is found that members of the family fought in the War of the Revolution. In 1853 William Jackson and his family came from Maryland to Morgan county. Ohio, settling on a farm near McConnellsville, where his death occurred in 1858. William Jackson and wife were the parents of ten children : Mrs. Meal Ethell, of Morgan county, Ohio: May, who lives in Galva, Iowa: Samuel, who died in Andersonville prison dur- ing the Civil War: Mrs. Durinda Tavaner, of Cordova, Illinois: Craig, with whom this narrative deals: Alexander, a soldier of the Sixty-second Regi-
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ment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who died in front of Petersburg in 1865; Mrs. Hattie Thompson, a resident of Galva, Iowa; Ormond, who lives in Sanborn; B. W., also a resident of Sanborn, and John E., of Dunkirk, Montana.
W. C. Jackson enlisted in 1862 in Company C, Ninety-seventh Regi- ment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years. He was in the battle of Perrysville, Stone's River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Look- out Mountain, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Dallas and Atlanta. After the battle of Atlanta, in the summer of 1864, his corps was sent back to join General Thomas at Franklin, Tennessee. Mr. Jackson has the unique honor of being one of the three men who first crossed the Tennessee river to Chat- tanooga after the memorable fighting around that city in the fall of 1863. He was mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, at the close of the war and immediately returned to his home in Ohio.
A short time after Mr. Jackson returned to his home in Ohio, he went west to Missouri, where he lived for four years, after which he went to Illi- nois and followed railroading until 1876, when he went to Ainsworth, Iowa, and again entered the railroading business. In 1881 he located in Odebolt, Sac County, Iowa, where he had a farm, which he had rented. Later he purchased a farm in Ida county, this state. but later sold this tract, and in 1883 came to Plymouth county, Iowa, where he bought a farm, broke the prairie and brought this tract to a high state of cultivation. He later rented this farm and moved to Sioux Center, Iowa, where he engaged in the grain and stock business from 1889 to 1891. He then sold out his interests in this business and bought an elevator at Schaller, in Sac county, this state, but sold this a year later and came to Sanborn, where he has been engaged in the real estate business ever since. He is now the owner of six hundred and forty acres of land in Minnesota.
Mr. Jackson was married in 1876 to Florence McCall, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and to this union have been born two children, Mrs. Mabel Brunson, of Bellefourche, South Dakota, and Victor, who is taking the civil engineer- ing course at the Iowa State University.
In politics, Mr. Jackson is a Republican and has always taken an active interest in political affairs. He is a man of excellent judgment and good business abilities. He was honored by his party by being nominated for the office of county supervisor in 1906 and was elected to that responsible posi- tion. His service was so satisfactory during his first term that he was re- elected in 1910 and is still holding that important position. He has also filled various local offices and in every official capacity he has shown marked
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administrative ability. He is opposed to graft in every form and does his duty conscientiously as he sees it. Mr. Jackson is a member of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Army of the Republic. During his twenty years' residence in this county he has meas- ured up to the type of the highest American citizenship in everything with which he has been connected. As a soldier in the Civil War, as a public offi- cial and as a private citizen, he has performed his every duty faithfully and well and now, in his declining years, can look back over a life which has been well spent.
OTTO J. FREY.
It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this re- view the life of any man who has lead an active and useful career. The his- tory of Otto J. Frey tells of a man who has always been a factor in the life of his community and from earliest manhood, when he started to teach school, down to the present time he has been working in behalf of his fel- low citizens. For many years serving as a school teacher and later filling the office of deputy treasurer and clerk of the district court, he has been in public life for nearly twenty years. In all this period no action of his has ever brought censure upon him by his friends and neighbors. He has the satisfaction of feeling that he has performed his every duty conscientiously and well.
Otto J. Frey was born October 1, 1881, at Forreston, Ogle county, Illi- nois. His parents, Dirk and Etta (Poppen) Frey, were both natives of Germany. Dirk Frey was born in 1849 and came to America alone when only sixteen years of age. This fact alone shows that he must have been a youth of remarkable courage and determination. Immediately upon com- ing to this country he went to Effingham county, Illinois, where he worked by the month for several years. He then married and settled in Ogle county. Illinois, where he farmed until 1890. At that time he came to Osceola county, Iowa, where he lived until 1910. since which time he has lived in Sibley, the county seat of the county. He now has two farms aggregating three hundred and twenty acres in Baker and Ocheyedan townships. Dirk Frey and wife were the parents of five children: Frank, who is farming one of the farms; Mrs. Minnie Saienga, of Melvin, Iowa; Otto J., with whom this narrative deals: Henry D., who farms the old home farm, and Mrs. Etta Fruhling, of Sibley, Iowa.
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Otto J. Frey was educated in the country schools of Illinois, later at- tended the Classical Academy at Orange City and the Normal College at LeMars in this state. Subsequently he pursued a business course at Mankato Commercial College. Following the completion of his college course, he taught school for nine consecutive terms in the schools of his county and worked on the farm in the summer. He was very successful as a school teacher and the teaching profession lost an excellent factor when he decided to quit the school room. He became deputy treasurer of Osceola county August 15, 1903, and served in this capacity until January 1, 1907. During the race on the Democratic ticket for the position of clerk of the district court in the fall of 1906 he was elected without serious opposition. His ad- ministration of this arduous position was so satisfactory that at the end of the first term he was re-elected. So universal was the desire to keep him in the office that he has now served four terms in succession. On leaving the office he became connected with the Ocheyedan Savings Bank as cashier, a position which he is now holding.
Mr. Frey was married April 10, 1907, to Anna M. Hall, of Sibley, Iowa. He and his wife are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fra- ternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and has attained to the degrees of the Royal Arch chapter. He and his wife are also members of the Eastern Star. With kindly nature and sensible im- pulses, Mr. Frey is a man of high moral character. Whether in the school room or in the capacity of a public official, he has always so conducted him- self as to win the confidence and esteem of every one with whom he has been associated.
GEORGE HAMILTON.
One of the honored pioneers of Osceola county, lowa, was George Hamilton, who, having completed his alloted course on this terrestrial sphere, has taken his departure to the unknown country where we all, after a few more years of toil and loss and gain, must wend our own way with the "innumerable caravan." This county had no better citizen or more worthy representative of the great farming class. Here he labored long and ardu- ously, removing the wild growth with which his place was covered and other- wise improved his land until he brought it to a high and successful state of cultivation. He was a man of substantial worth, very industrious and energetic, and as a farmer ranked among the most enterprising in the locality.
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The late George Hamilton, of Ocheyedan, was born in Dublin, Ireland, October 17, 1846, and died in Ocheyedan, this county, November 25, 1910. He came to this country from his native land in 1850 with his parents and located for the first five years in Saratoga county, New York. Subsequently the family moved to Whiteside county, Illinois, and a year later moved to Clinton county, Iowa. Here George Hamilton grew to manhood, married and in 1872 came to Osceola county and homesteaded on section 30, in Fair- view township.
Mr. Hamilton was among the earliest settlers in the township and ex- perienced some very trying times before he finally became fully settled. On January 7. 1873, he was caught in a blizzard while going to mill at Milford, twenty-five miles away, and lost his way when only four miles from Milford. The horses got down in a snow drift in a cornfield and he remained there until eleven o'clock the next day, having been exposed to the severe cold for twenty-six hours, and was badly chilled and frozen when rescued by the Smith family, who came across him stuck in the snow drift. They cared for him and it was not until five days later that he was able to get to his home. He took a prominent part in the organization of Fairview township, and was one of the first trustees of this township. During the course of his forty years in the township he held various public offices, in all of which he ac- quitted himself very creditably. He lived on this farm from June, 1872. until I911, when the family moved to Ocheyedan, where he resided until his death. He added to his land holdings from time to time until he was the owner of two hundred and seventy acres of land, which was sold in April, 1913. for ninety-five dollars an acre.
Mr. Hamilton was married in 1872, in Clinton county, Iowa, to Anne ' Stone, who was born April 3. 1850, in England. Her parents, Joseph and Ann ( Graves) Stone, came to America in May, 1850, and settled in Clinton county, Iowa, where they resided until 1877, when they moved to Crawford county, this state, where the father died in 1895 and the mother the follow- ing year. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Stone were the parents of five children : John A., who is in the employ of the Deering Harvester Company, of Chi- cago, Illinois ; Mrs. Mary Newcomb, who is a resident of Crawford county, this state: Mrs. George Hamilton: the other children being deceased. Mr. and Mrs. George Hamilton have three children, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Nabb. who lives in Howard county, lowa, is the mother of five children, Grace, Reuben, Lloyd, Ellen and Esther ; Arthur, who is married and now operating the home farm, has one daughter. Lucile: Mrs. Alice G. Block, who is a resident of Ochevedan, has three children, Leland L., Helen Lucile and
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Hazel N. Mrs. Hamilton now makes her home with her daughter, Alice, in Ocheyedan.
Mr. Hamilton was a stanch Republican and always took an active part in all the political affairs of his home township. He assisted in its organiza- tion and during the course of his long life in the county was always promi- nent in its civic affairs. Religiously, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and contributed liberally of his substance to its support. Mr. Hamilton lived a long and useful life in this community and was always ready to forward its interests in every way. His life, being one of integrity and honor. is well worth imitating, and in this brief memoir the coming generations of Osceola county will read the story of a man who lived a full and complete life in every sense of the word.
ERNEST A. BUNKER.
Among the honored and well remembered citizens of Ochevedan, Osceola county, Iowa, the late Ernest A. Bunker is deserving of a place in the county's history. He did much for the advancement of Ocheyedan and vicinity and the many kindly and public spirited deeds he performed here will not soon be forgotten or their influence fade out with passing years. He withheld his co-operation from no movement intended to promote public improvement. What he achieved in life proved his force of character and his steadfast- ness of purpose. He was a man of high moral and religious nature and was highly respected by all who knew him.
Ernest A. Bunker was born in Iowa, at Lime Springs, on February 3, 1867, and died in February, 1911, in Ocheyedan, Iowa. He was the son of Orville A. Bunker, a native of New York and an early settler of this state. He received his common school education in the schools of his home county, and, upon marrying at the age of twenty-five years, he came to Ocheyedan and engaged in the real estate business. Before his marriage Mr. Bunker had been engaged in the grocery business with his brother in Denver, Colorado, and still later he had been interested in the grain busi- ness. However, from the time of his marriage, in 1892, he devoted all of his attention to the real estate business, in which he was remarkably suc- cessful. At the time of his death he owned several hundred acres of land in Dakota and Canada and in Dickinson county, Iowa.
Mr. Bunker was married June 29, 1892, at Spirit Lake, Iowa, to Kath-
Fra o EC Thams - Bro . 2
CaBunker
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erine Van Steenburg, who was born in Floyd county, Iowa, in 1862, the daughter of Benjamin B. and Josephine ( Valentine) Van Steenburg. Her parents were natives of New York and came west in 1857 and purchased land in Floyd county, lowa. In 1862 they returned to their former home in New York and did not come to their farm in Iowa until 1877, and sub- sequently located in Charles City, Iowa, having previously bought land in Dickinson county, this state. The last few years of their lives were spent in Charles City, where Mrs. Van Steenburg died in 1879, and his death occurred in Spirit Lake in 1894.
Mr. Bunker was an active member of the Republican party and always took a prominent part in the civic affairs of his home city. For nine years he was a member of the council of the city of Ocheyedan and also served for some time as justice of the peace. Fraternally, he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, having become a member of the lodge at Spirit Lake when he was only twenty years of age. He was also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Bunker was a man of industry, sound judgment and rare foresight, and these qualities made him a success in the business world as well as a representative citizen of his community. He had well grounded con- victions on all questions of the day and was able to discuss them intelligently. He always stood for the best interests of his home city and his death removed one of the best friends of Ocheyedan, as well as one of the most sub- stantial, self-made men of his county.
VICTOR A. BURLEY.
The success of men in any vocation depends upon their ability, their determination to make a business pay and their integrity. Success in any kind of business depends upon the confidence which people have in it, and where that is lacking there can be no genuine success. When a man holds a county office for one term, and is then re-elected, it is evident that his ad. ministration of the duties of the office have been satisfactory, while if he is re-elected more than once it is added assurance that his work has been emi- nently satisfactory. It is noteworthy that Mr. Burley, the present county auditor of Osceola county, Iowa, has been elected to that office four times in succession, and this fact alone is sufficient evidence of his high character and popularity among the citizens of his county.
(79)
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Victor A. Burley was born in Grundy county, Iowa, on a farm. Septem- ber 5. 1875. the son of F. P. Burley and wife, his mother dying when he was an infant. His father later married Melissa DeWitt. To the first marriage of F. P. Burley there were five children: A. W., an automobile dealer of Harris. Iowa: Victor A., whose life history is here given; Mrs. C. M. Gregg, whose husband is a farmer of this county; C. F., a farmer near Spirit Lake. Iowa, and Flossie, who died at the age of seven. By the second marriage there were born four children. Sadie. William Mckinley. Hazel and Birdie.
F. P. Burley was born in New York state and when a small lad came with his parents to Illinois, where he was reared to maturity. He received his common school education in the state of Illinois and was married the first time in that state. In 1874 he came with his family to Iowa and set- tled in Grundy county, where Victor A. was born. In 1880 he moved to Carroll county, this state, and eight years later settled in Osceola county, in Fairview township. The present town of Harris is practically built on the Burley farm, the town being platted in the year Mr. Burley bought the farm. In 1892 Mr. Burley moved to Missouri, where his death occurred four years later.
Victor .A. Burley was educated in the common schools of his home neighborhood and later took a course in the Weaubleau Christian College in Missouri. He followed this with a year in the Capital City Commercial College. of Des Moines. He then entered a general mercantile establish- ment at Harris, as bookkeeper and collector. He remained in the employ- ment of this firm for eight years. In 1906 he was elected county auditor on the Republican ticket, and so satisfactory was his service in this and succeed- ing administrations that he was re-elected in 1908, 1910 and 1912. In this day and age of the world it is necessary that county officials be well trained, and in the office of auditor a man who has a knowledge of bookkeeping will make the most successful official, and for this reason Mr. Burley has given excellent satisfaction since taking hold of this position in 1906.
Mr. Burley was married in 1900 to Ona Giles, the daughter of Mr. and MIrs. D. R. Giles, pioneer residents of Hardin county, this state, who came to Osceola county in 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Burley are the parents of two daughters. Lucile Evelyn, aged eleven years, and Doris Adeline, aged nine years. Fraternally. Mr. Burley is a member of the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons and has attained the chapter degree in that fraternal organi- zation. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are earnest and loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and give to it their hearty support. Mr. Burley is a worthy example
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of the efficiently trained, public official, and it would be an excellent thing if all public officials were as well trained for their respective positions as he is. Inefficient public service has caused an endless amount of litigation in counties of Iowa, as well as every state in the Union, and the time will be sure to come when public officials will be placed under civil service rules. Mr. Burley is a man of pleasing manner, and is probably as well acquainted throughout the county as any other man in it by virtue of his long service in the office of auditor.
RICHARD CLOSSON.
The advancement of civilization in any community, the furthering of any reform and the general condition of affairs generally is largely deter- mined by the public press. The editor of a good newspaper wields as potent an influence in any community as does a minister of the Gospel or the teacher of the public schools. In fact, in many communities the local newspaper has far more influence than the pulpit, and it is to the credit of the newspapers that they are usually on the right side of questions affecting local politics. There are many exceptions, of course. to this rule. The great mass of the newspapers of our country are lined up on the side of public morality and common decency. The purpose of a newspaper in a town the size of San- born is to purvey local news first of all, and secondly, to advocate such re- forms and measures as will benefit the town and community. It is safe to say that the editor of the Sanborn Pioneer is taking the proper stand on the questions affecting the welfare of his county, and that his paper is one of the civilizing agencies which are making for a better Sanborn and a larger O'Brien county.
Richard Closson, the editor of the Sanborn Pioneer, was born in 1876 in Harlan, Shelby county, Iowa, the son of Warren and Anne Elizabeth (Hardy ) Closson, natives of Ohio and New York state, respectively. The Clossons are of Dutch ancestry, the founders of the family having settled in New Amsterdam in early colonial times. The Hardys are of Scotch de- scent, coming direct from Scotland to America.
Richard Closson graduated from the West Des Moines high school in 1896 and later took the law course in Drake University, from which he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1901 he was admitted to the practice of law and for the next four years practiced in Webster City. He then went to Carroll. Nebraska, where he practiced law and also operated
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a newspaper. He spent three years in a general mercantile establishment at Sholes. Nebraska, and in 1913 Mr. Closson came to Sanborn and purchased the Pioneer, and he has been operating this plant since April of that year.
The Pioneer is the oldest newspaper in O'Brien county and was estab- lished in 1873. At one time during the course of its career. it was called the Sanborn Sun. Mr. Closson is an able newspaper man and a writer of force and ability. Since taking hold of this newspaper he has brought about a marked improvement in its appearance, as well as in its news columns.
Mr. Closson was married in June, 1906. to Letta Hunter, of Webster City. In politics Mr. Closson is a Republican and reflects his views in the columns of his paper. However, he is not a partisan in the strict sense of the word. but presents his side of the case in a broad view and with a clear- ness which bespeaks the educated man that he is. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and contribute to its support in various ways. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Since coming to Sanborn Mr. Closson has taken an active interest in the various public enterprises of the city, and through the columns of his paper gives expression to his views on all questions affecting the welfare of his town and community. He has won many friends since coming here and has a bright future before him in the newspaper field in this county.
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