USA > Iowa > O'Brien County > Past and present of O'Brien and Osceola counties, Iowa, Vol. II > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63
7+8
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
all of which, excepting three hundred and twenty acres in Sioux county, lies in O'Brien. He has one thousand one hundred and twenty acres of farm lands in eastern South Dakota.
Judge Boies is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. being a member of the lodge, chapter, commandery and the consistory, as well as the Mystic Shriners. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at LeMars, lowa.
Judge Boies' wedded life began on November 24, 1881, at which time he married Lillian E. Biddinger, of Buchanan county, daughter of James Biddinger, who came to lowa from Ohio. They have two children. Leon Louis and Russell Lowell.
In active practice, Judge Boies has an unimpeachable record of thirty- two years in O'Brien county previous to his ascendency to the bench. Dur- ing this time he was one of the most successful attorneys before the bar of western Iowa. In his present exalted position his career has been all that his previous record promised. His qualifications for the office of judge are unquestionable. First of all, he has the integrity of character, and then he possesses the natural ability and essential requirements, the acumen of judi- cial temperament. He is dignified, just. and unassailable in his private capac- ity and in his judicial prestige. He is able to divest himself of prejudice or favoritism and consider only the legal aspects of the question submitted. No labor is too great, however onerous; no application too exacting, how- ever severe, if necessary to the complete understanding and correct deter- mination of a question. These are, indeed, words of high praise, but these encomiums are justified in every particular, for the Judge has proven himself a distinct man in all the term implies, and its implication is wide. His career on the bench and at the bar offers a noble example and an inspira- tion, while he has never been known to fail in that strict courtesy and regard for professional ethics which should ever characterize the members of the bar. his career reflecting credit upon the judiciary and dignifying the profession to which he belongs.
Personally, Judge Boies is genial and easily approached, possessing to a marked degree those qualities which win friends and make him a pleasing companion. He has always stood ready to identify himself with his fellow citizens in any good work and extend a co-operative hand to advance any measure that is calculated to better the condition of things in the community.
The Judge has a well-selected library of over two thousand volumes, equal to any in this part of the state and a private library of over five hun- dred volumes.
749
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOW.A.
FRANK SHERMAN HOUGH. M. D.
Among those who stand as distinguished types of the world's workers is Dr. Frank Sherman Hough, who is one of the able and honored physicians and surgeons of northwestern Iowa. A man of fine intellectual and profes- sional attainments, of most gracious personality, of strong and noble char- acter, and one who has labored with zeal and devotion in the alleviation of human suffering, he is clearly entitled to representation among the progres- sive and enterprising citizens of Osceola county. He is devoted to his chosen vocation and has lent honor and dignity to the medical profession, having due regard for the highest standard of professional ethics and exhibiting marked skill in the treatment of disease.
Dr. Frank S. Hough, the proprietor of the Sibley Hospital, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, December 22, 1864. He is the son of George W. and Candace C. (Bates ) Hough, both of whom were natives of Michigan. When Doctor Hough was born his father was living in Lexington, Kentucky, tem- porarily for his health. George W. Hough, a native of Michigan, was the son of Simon and Abigail ( Reynolds ) Hough. Simon Hough was of Eng- lish descent and moved to Michigan from New York state. Abigail Rey- nolds had several brothers in the Revolution. She was originally of English descent and settled in Connecticut upon coming from their native land. Both the Hough and Bates families were among the earliest pioneers in the state of Michigan. Candace C. Bates, the mother of Doctor Hough, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Bates, the father being a first cousin of Abraham Lincoln.
George W. Hough enlisted in 1861 in the Seventeenth Regiment Michi- gan Volunteer Infantry, and at a time when it must have taken a great deal of courage to leave home. At the time he enlisted he was a senior in the State Normal School and the young girl to whom he was to be married was a member of the same class and, in fact, they were engaged to be married before he went to the front. He served one year and then contracted rheuma- tism which so disabled him that he was honorably discharged from the serv- ice on account of this disability. Immediately after returning from the serv- ice, he and Candace Bates were married and they went south for his health. Later he became a member of the Hough, Patton & Company, brush manu- facturing concern in Detroit, becoming a prominent factor in the business and social life of the city. When only twenty-eight years of age he was presi- dent of the Detroit common council and acting mayor. He served as register
750
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
of deeds of Greene county. Michigan, was a member of the State Legisla- ture and a man who was rated at a hundred thousand dollars. He is now living a retired life in California at the age of seventy-five. George W. Hough and wife were the parents of seven children, the Doctor being the oldest one of the family. The other children are as follows: Mrs. E. H. Cooper. of Los Angeles. California : Mrs. Wilcox. deceased. whose husband was a minister: George S., who lost his life in a fire in Detroit, while a mem- ber of the Detroit fire department : Fred R., chief electrician at Ann Arbor University, Michigan : Henry P .. a prominent electrical engineer of Detroit. and one child. deceased.
Dr. Frank S. Hough was educated in the Detroit high school, the Michi- igan Military Academy at Orchard Lake. the Michigan Agricultural College at Lansing. State Normal School at Ypsilanti. Michigan, and graduated at the Michigan College of Medicine and Surgery at Detroit with a degree of Doc- tor of Medicine in 1890. at the age of twenty-five.
After graduating from the medical college in 1890 Doctor Hough had been engaged in newspaper work as a reporter upon the Detroit Evening News and the Sunday Journal at Toledo, Ohio. as well as other papers in the Middle West. Immediately after graduating he began to practice medicine in Detroit and for the next seven years followed his profession in that city. At the same time he was on the teaching faculty of his alma mater as instructor in chemistry for two years and later as a professor of materia medica. He was also an assistant in surgery to Dr. Hal C. Wyman, a famous surgeon who was on the staff of physicians connected with the college. In 1897 Doc- tor Hough came to Sibley and has been practicing here since August 10th of that year. He has been remarkably successful as a surgeon and physician and has already made a name for himself throughout this section of the state. Realizing the need of a modern up-to-date hospital in his home town, he es- tablished a hospital in the eastern part of the city in 1911 and has accommo- dations for fifteen patients, cares for an average of six patients daily, with a total of over two hundred cases treated annually. Three nurses are kept in constant attendance at the hospital and such is the demand for such an in- stitution that he intends to enlarge its capacity. It is needless to say that it has been a great aid to Sibley and the surrounding country.
Doctor Hough was married in 1889 to Clara Randall. of Blenheim. On- tario, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Randall. To this union have been born five sons: Randall S .. a student of the University of Wisconsin : Wyman George, a student of the University of Iowa: Frank S., Jr., a student in the Sibley high school, and Howell H. and Elliott Warren, who are in the
751
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
grade schools of Sibley. Doctor Hough and wife are justly proud of their fine sons, whom they are giving the advantage of every opportunity in order to prepare them for useful careers.
Doctor Hough is a member of the Osceola County, Sioux Valley. Iowa State and American medical associations and takes an active interest in the affairs of these various organizations. At the present time he is the president of the Osceola County Medical Society. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and has attained to the Knight Templar degree in that fraternity. He is also a member of various fraternal insurance societies. He and his family are loyal adherents of the Congregational church and con- tribute liberally of their substance to its support. The career of such a man as Doctor Hough is interesting in view of the fact that he is the means of doing so much good in the world. When he saw that Sibley needed a hos- pital he felt confident that the people of the city and community would pat- ronize one if it was fairly modern. His foresight has been amply justified and he has not only been of incalculable benefit to the community, but he has also been financially successful.
JOHN STREIT.
The Prussians have always been known as people of courage and tact ; they refuse to be downed by ontoward circumstances, but push onward when once a course has been determined upon until the coveted goal is reached. Innumerable instances of rare gifts in these lines might be mentioned, one of the best known in history occurring in the wars with Napoleon. Once he thought he had utterly crushed them, but a few days later they were routing his army at the great battle of Waterloo, joining the English at the proper crisis. Such people win in all walks of life, for they have not been trained to fail, or at least to admit their defeat if they do not succeed. Thus we are not surprised that one of their number. John Streit, should come to so favored a county as Gilman township. Osceola county, Iowa, and become well es- tablished.
John Streit, pioneer settler of Osceola county, Iowa, and one of the heroes of the "grasshopper war," was born January 27. 1844. in Prussia. and is the son of Michael and Lena (Straut ) Streit. His parents came to this country when he was thirteen years of age and first settled in Kenosha county, Wisconsin. In 1873 they came to Osceola county, Iowa. and home-
752
O BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
steaded on section 4, in Gilman township. where they lived for several years. then moved to Ashton, where their deaths occurred in 1900. Michael Streit served the three years in the Prussian army which is required of all German citizens before he came to this country, and to him and his wife were born five children : Mrs. Anna Singen, a widow now living in Ashton, this county ; John, whose history is here presented : Mrs. Katie Shent, of Minnesota; Mrs. Eva Boor, of Ashton, and Andrew, a grain dealer of Ashton.
John Streit received his elementary education in the schools of his na- tive land and when twenty-seven years of age left the paternal home in Ke- nosha county, Wisconsin, and homesteaded on section 4, in the northeastern part of Gilman township. in Osceola county, Iowa. He erected a small house and he and Nick Boor broke up thirty acres of this raw prairie land in the spring of 1871, and planted their first crop. They had plenty of work to do from the beginning in the county, using all of his spare time in breaking land for his neighbors. In fact, for the first two years most of his revenue was derived from his services to his neighbors in the capacity of a plowman. He was one of a very few of these early settlers who raised a good crop during the grasshopper years and saved it from the ravages of those voracious insects. He prospered as a farmer in this county and gradually added to his original land holdings until he had three hundred and fifty acres in Gilman and Hol- man townships. In 1903 he retired from active farm life and moved to Ash- ton, where he is now living a retired life, surrounded by the comforts and conveniences of modern society.
Mr. Streit was married August 28, 1876, to Mary Becker, of Minnesota. the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ferdinand Becker. Mrs. Streit had come to Minnesota with her brothers, having been born in Prussia December 8, 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Streit are the parents of seven children : Helena, who is still at home: Michael, who is living on the old homestead ; Mrs. Anna Wabrich. of this county, who is the mother of two children. Regina and Gregaon ; Nich- olas, of Marshall, Minnesota : George, on the home farm, and Mary and Otto. who are still at home with their parents in Ashton.
Politically, Mr. Streit is a stanch Democrat, but has never felt inclined to take an active part in political affairs. However, he has always been inter- ested in the civic welfare of his community and has never refused to give his support to such measures as he felt would benefit the community. He was a young man at the opening of the Civil War and tried to enlist in the Union army in Wisconsin, but was refused on account of an injured wrist. Relig- iously, he and the members of his family are earnest and faithful members of the Catholic church. and give to it their earnest and zealous support at all
753
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
times. He has been a director of the Farmers' Co-operative Insurance Com- pany, of Osceola county, for the past seventeen years, and takes an active in- terest in this association. His career since coming to this country has been all that could be desired. and his life in this county has been as an open book. wherein his neighbors might see the record of his daily life. He has always so conducted himself that he has merited the esteem of all who know him. and for this reason is eminently entitled to representation in this volume.
CLARENCE H. ROYCE.
The name of Clarence H. Royce. the cashier of the Sibley State Bank. in Osceola county. is well known to the readers of this volume and needs no special comment on the part of the historian. The purpose of these historical sketches is to present a compact biography of the lives of the representative men of the county, rather than to engage in any fulsome laudation. Suf- fice it to say that in the sixteen years that Mr. Royce has lived in this county, he has won a large and permanent place in business circles, and in the bank- ing business, to which his energies have been devoted, he has gained more than local reputation. Not only has he made his mark as a business man, but as a citizen he has proved public spirited and energetic and fully in sympathy with the progressive ideas of the age.
Clarence H. Royce was born July 18, 1873. in Oconto, Wisconsin. He received a good education in the schools of his home town and in 1898 came to Osceola county and organized a bank at Harris. He continued in full charge of this bank for the next eight years, when he disposed of it and then spent some time in the West. He returned to Sibley in May, 1910, and pur- chased an interest in the Sibley State Bank. becoming the cashier of the bank at that time. He has made his home for the past four years in Sibley and he and his wife and four children are prominent members of the society of the city.
The Sibley State Bank was organized November 1. 1894. by Frank Y. Locke, of St. Paul, Minnesota. The present officers are as follows: Presi- dent. F. E. Kennedy : vice-president, A. W. McCallum : cashier. Clarence H. Royce : assistant cashier. L. D. Garberson. The directors are: George F. Sokol. F. E. Kennedy. C. H. Royce. A. W. McCallum and A. C. Winterfield. The bank now has a capital stock of thirty-five thousand dollars and is fast building up a reputation as one of the sound financial institutions of this sec-
754
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
tion of the state. Its excellent corps of officials have instilled confidence into the city and community, with the result that the bank has a large and ever- increasing list of patrons.
.
JOHN A. JOHNSON.
Opportunity knocks once at every man's door, speaking figuratively. though oftentimes it is repulsed or mistaken for the reverse; he who has the acumen and the foresight to grasp it at the psychological moment is certain of assured success. It takes many men of many minds to make up a stable and enterprising community ; it requires many enterprising communities to make a great state. The hardy pioneers who created a wealthy and prosperous county out of the raw prairie in O'Brien county are deserving of praise and success for their efforts in behalf of the common good. It is not given to many citizens of this county to have been born amidst the first great period of the county's history and to have lived amid its greater development period. Such men have had opportunities and many have improved them. John A. Johnson is one of the few men who were born in O'Brien county and have been reared to manhood within the confines of their native county. Oppor- tunity was naturally within his grasp: he seized it and made good and is now one of the best known and most enterprising citizens of this rich and fertile portion of the commonwealth. John A. Johnson enjoys the distinc- tion of being the oldest native-born resident of O'Brien county.
Mr. Johnson was born on a farm in Highland township April 16, 1873. and is the son of William W. Johnson, one of the prominent pioneer figures in O'Brien county. His mother was Louisa Jacobs. W. W. Johnson was born in 1844 in England, the son of George and Hannah Johnson, who emigrated from England to America in 1845 and settled in New York state. The Johnson family migrated to Cedar county, Iowa, in 1855. eleven years after their first emigration from the land of their fathers. George Johnson was born August 8, 1818. His wife. Mary, Wilson, was born May 5. 1820.
W. W. Johnson enlisted in the Union service at Iowa City August 9. 1862, joining Company .\. Twenty-second Volunteer Infantry, which was a component part of the Second Division, Fourth Army Corps. He was pro- moted to eighth corporal March 1. 1863. and promoted to seventh corporal May 15. 1863. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg. and on May 22,
G.
-
TILDED F
755
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
1863, received a severe gunshot wound in the left shoulder. He was dis- charged at Vermillion, Louisiana, October 19, 1863.
Mr. Johnson was married November 19, 1868, to Louisa Jacobs, who was born November 13. 1847, in Johnson county, Iowa, the daughter of John Jacobs, a pioneer settler of Johnson county, and a native of Berne, Switzerland. The wife of John Jacobs was a Miss Fankhauser, whose place of birth was in Ohio.
In March, 1871, W. W. Johnson removed to O'Brien county with his family and homesteaded on one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 20, of Highland township. He resided on this farm until 1880, when he removed to Primghar and engaged in the lumber business for one year. In the following year he went to Paullina and there operated a lumber yard until 1889. He then returned to Cedar county and invested in a farm near Cedar Bluffs, which he purchased for forty dollars an acre and sold three years later for fifty dollars an acre. In 1892 he returned to O'Brien county and made his home in Sanborn. He engaged in the lumber business here and also became connected with the First National Bank of Sanborn, which he conducted until 1899, when the Sanborn Savings Bank was organized to succeed it. He at that time disposed of his lumber business and has since been engaged in the buying and selling of farm lands in O'Brien county and Minnesota. At present he is the owner of one thousand three hundred acres of land in Stevens county, Minnesota, which he manages and to which he gives his direct supervision for six months of every year.
W. W. Johnson has been affiliated with the Republican party and served the county as a member of the board of supervisors from 1876 to 1878 and again in 1894, serving until 1899, inclusive. He is fraternally allied with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic, being a member of Kenyon Post, No. 339, at Sanborn. While a member of the county board of supervisors he took an active and influential part in rehabilitating the county finances, and cast his vote for the measure which made the county war- rants worth par instead of fifty cents on the dollar. He is the father of the following children : Mayme, deceased: John A .: Charles A., in railroad construction work at Tama City; Frank, a railroad man employed on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad out of Sanborn; Mrs. Hannah Jenkins, of Milford, Iowa.
John A. Johnson was educated in the common schools of his native county, the Paullina high school and the Cedar Rapids Business College.
(49)
756
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
graduating from the latter institution in 1892. He became engaged with his father in business and has been connected with the Sanborn Savings Bank since 1899, having served in the capacity of cashier since 1911. He is like- wise a director of the bank and is heavily interested in Minnesota farm lands, holding three hundred and twenty acres of land in the bordering state and being the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of fine O'Brien county land.
Politically, John A. Johnson is a Republican, and has served as town- ship clerk and city treasurer. He is treasurer of several local lodges in which he holds active memberships. He is affiliated with the various Ma- sonic bodies and is a member of the Mystic Shriners at Sioux City, being a Scottish Rite Mason of the thirty-second degree; he is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Brother- hood of American Yeoman.
John A. Johnson was married May 24, 1899, to Edna C. Green and is the father of two children, William Valorus, born in May, 1900, and Glenn Green, born in May. 1903.
Mrs. Edna C. (Green) Johnson is the daughter of William Clark Green, one of the famous pioneer characters of O'Brien county. He was born in 1842 on a farm in Indiana. the son of McAllen Green, who migrated to Illinois and thence to Iowa in 1869. Father and son settled in Waterman township at this very early day, when there were very few settlers in the county. W. C. Green was married in Dixon, Illinois, to Malvenah Kidder, a daughter of Adoniram and Lydia A. (Powell) Kidder, natives of New Hampshire. Malvenah was born in New Hampshire in 1847. The Kidder family moved to Illinois in 1858. This marriage occurred in 1869. They immediately set out for Iowa, coming by rail as far as Cherokee and then driving overland to Waterman township. This pioneer couple enjoyed life in the early days to the fullest extent, there being plenty of timber for fuel along Waterman creek and the woods and prairie abounding in game of all kinds. Life was good to them until the "grasshopper days," when they were forced to endure several bad years. Mr. Green conducted a general store in Old O'Brien town until 1874. when he removed to the new county seat of. Primghar with his stock of goods. In 1881 he engaged in the mercantile business at Sanborn, where he resided until his death. in May, 1911. He left a considerable estate at his demise, and during his later years he was success- fully engaged in land speculation and real estate. He was a Democrat in politics and served as one of the first sheriffs of the county. He was an Odd Fellow.
757
O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.
WV. C. Green was the father of three children: Nellie, deceased : Mrs. Edna Johnson, and Mrs. Lulu Anderson, a resident of Mitchell, South Da- kota, and who is the mother of one child, Carl. Mrs. Green resides with her son-in-law, Mr. Johnson.
Two famous pioneer families of a famous county have thus been linked together by the best of bonds. It is as it should be-the children will, in turn, become useful members of the body politic, and this memoir will serve as a valued souvenir of the days when their forbears were among the first comers to this fair and fruitful land and took such an important part in its development and emergence from the chrysalis state.
WILLIAM JAMES EDWARD THATCHER.
A lawyer by profession and for a number of years the efficient clerk of the district court of O'Brien county, William James Edward Thatcher has made his presence felt in this county, and as a public-spirited citizen, inter- ested in whatever tends to promote the material progress of the community and the social and moral advancement of his fellow men. his influence has been salutary and his example worthy of imitation. Although still a young man in years, he has already assumed heavy responsibility and has proven himself equal to every emergency which has been thrust upon him. He is essentially a self-made man, teaching to earn his way through college and being from his earliest boyhood a youth of ambition and determination.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.