USA > Iowa > Shelby County > Past and present of Shelby County, Iowa, Vol. 2 > Part 27
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
ment coined. He finally reached his home in Fayette county, Ohio, where he remained until after his marriage in 1851.
Shortly after his marriage, he and his young bride went to Howard county, Indiana, where he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He lived on the farm only a short time and then, together with his father-in- law's family, removed to Champaign county, Illinois. Here he bought a farm of eighty acres, but remained on it only one year. In February, 1852. he went to Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), Iowa, and shortly afterward went on west and located in Shelby county. He made this prospecting trip alone, wishing to ascertain the most favorable land for settlement before bringing his wife away from her parents. He finally decided to locate in Shelby county and accordingly entered eighty acres of government land on which he at once erected a rude cabin. In the spring of 1854 he brought hi- family to the new home and here he lived for the next half century. He at once entered two hundred and forty more acres of land and to this he added from year to year until at the time of his death in 1904 he owned seven hundred and eighty acres of well-improved land in the county.
During the half century that Mr. Sunderland was identified with the history of Shelby county he was foremost in everything which would in any way benefit the county. He was the first school director in the county and was elected sheriff of the county in 1864. After the expiration of his term as sheriff, he served for several years as deputy sheriff and was a man who always stood for law enforcement. He was deeply interested in the agricul- tural life of his county and was the first man in the county to make a specialty of live stock breeding. He was a member of the Angus Breeders' Association and brought the first Aberdeen Angus cattle to the county in - 1887. At the time of his death his herd was one of the finest in the state and consisted of the Pride and Blackbird families. He was one of the chief promoters of the first agricultural society in the county and was a charter member and director, as well as first vice-president, of the Farmers Alliance in Shelby county. He was a lifelong Democrat and was one of his party's leaders, although he was never a seeker after political preferment.
Mr. Sunderland was married June 29, 1851, to Mary E. Lucas, the daughter of Rev. Richard and Mary E. ( Kirkendall) Lucas, and a native of Ross county, Ohio. To this union were born ten children: Nevada. the wife of William H. Errett ; Leroy and Leora. both deceased; Nancy Jane. the wife of Z. T. Errett; Julietta, the wife of Abner Bates; William, single : Lucy, the wife of Frank Firebaugh; Belle, the wife of O. D. Westrope:
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Charles D., whose history is represented elsewhere in this volume; Ida Mav. Mr. Sunderland was devoted to his family and assisted each of his children to secure farms of their own.
The whole life of Mr. Sunderland was devoted to the service of his fellow men; no enterprise in Shelby county which was worthy failed to re- ceive his hearty support; no unfortunate person was ever turned from his door. Fraternally, he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, holding his membership at Harlan. With his death there passed from the history of Shelby county one of its most distinguished pioneers and a man whose life was an inspiration to everyone who came in contact with him. Of such men there are only too few and it is eminently fitting that his life be recorded within the history of his county.
THOMAS J. RYAN.
A life of thirty-five years in Shelby county, lowa, has identified Thomas J. Ryan with most of the history which this county has made. Coming here in the year 1879, he has played an important part in bringing about the present prosperity of the county. During his active life on the farm, he was a leader in agricultural affairs.
When he came to this county, the nearest town was eighteen miles away. The present prosperous town of Harlan, which was his post office, was then but a mere village scattered out over the broad prairie. He was the first man to farm any of his land in Greeley township, and the first man to surround his farm with fencing. In fact, he was the first man to erect a building in Greeley township.
Thomas J. Ryan, the son of Jeffrey and Sarah (Clark) Ryan, was born February 15, 1852, near Rochester, New York. His parents were both natives of Ireland, but were brought to this country when they were very sinall by their parents. Jeffrey Ryan was the son of Thomas Ryan, a life- long farmer of Ireland. Jeffrey Ryan and his family moved to Ogle county. Illinois, in 1858, and there they lived the remainder of their days.
Thomas J. Ryan was educated in the schools of Ogle county, Illinois. going to school during the winter and working on his father's farm during the summer. In 1870 he went to Sonoma City, Sonoma county, Califor- nia, where he worked for his uncle, Mortimer Ryan, on a large fruit ranch. His uncle went around Cape Horn to San Francisco in an early day and was the first man to raise garden truck in that city. Thomas J. remained
THOMAS J. RYAN.
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with his uncle one year, and then returned to lowa and located near Vic- tor, where he bought a farm. While living there he was married at the age of twenty-two years, and began his farming career, which has since made him one of the most substantial men of Shelby county. His first appearance in Shelby county was in 1870, when he came here with two car loads of cattle which he intended to graze on the prairies. While herd- ing them from day to day in Greeley township he became convinced that the land was valuable farming soil land and bought eighty acres in section 34 in Greeley township. In the spring of 1882 he sold his farm in Powe- shiek county in this state, and moved with his family to his farm in Shelby county. That he prospered is shown by his future career in this county. Early and late he was found in the fields and the result of his patient labor made him one of the largest land owners in the county, owning five hun- dred and twenty acres of land at one time. His farm in Greeley township is now known as the "Pleasant View Stock Farm," and consists of thir- teen hundred and fifty acres. owned by the firm of Escher & Ryan. his son-in-law and son. Messrs. Escher & Ryan are the famous breeders of Aberdeen-Angus cattle.
In the fall of 1902 Mr. Ryan retired from active farm life and moved to Irwin, where he had previously purchased property. Ile moved to the town in order to give his children the benefit of the town schools. Since moving to Irwin he has taken a prominent part in Democratic politics, having been upon the town council of the city ever since moving there. At the present time he is serving his second term as mayor of the city. a position of honor and responsibility. Although he disposed of his large farm, now a part of the "Pleasant View Stock Farm," he also owned eighty acres of land in section 10, forty acres in section 9, and one hundred and twenty acres in section 21. of Greeley township. He still owns eighty acres within the corporation of Irwin.
Mr. Ryan was married October 28. 1874. to Mary A. Grant, who was born October 18, 1855, in Victor. Iowa, the daughter of Henry and Helen (Haggard) Grant. Henry Grant was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and came to the United States when he was twenty-one years of age. He was a stone mason by trade in his native land, but never followed this vocation after coming to lowa. He bought a, farm and eventually became a large land owner in this state. Mr. and Mrs. Ryan are the parents of five chil- dren : Myrtle, Herbert, Earl G., Sarah E. and Mary Grace. Myrtle was born August 2, 1875. and married Charles Escher. Jr., of Jefferson town-
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ship. Herbert R., born February 3. 1878, married Mabel Cobb, and lives . in Sioux City, lowa, and has four children: Mildred, born July 26, 1902; Margery, born May 5, 1904: Herbert C., born June 28. 1906: Roberta, born February 15. 1914. Earl G., the third child of Mr. Ryan, was born August 23, 1884, married Bertha Sessions, and has two children, Charles T., born October 17. 1907, and Myrtle Grace, born January 12, 1910. Sarah E .. born January 31, 1889, is still living with her parents and is teaching school. She is a graduate of Drake University. Mary Grace, the young- est child of Mr. and Mrs. Ryan, was born October 20. 1891, graduated from the musical department of Drake University and is now teaching music.
Mr. Ryan is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. as is his son, Earl. He is a charter member of the Irwin lodge, and has always been actively interested in the affairs of his local lodge. Politically. he has always been a Democrat, and for twenty-five years, was a member of the school board of his township. His party has pressed honors upon him since coming to Irwin and he has faithfully discharged every duty which has been imposed upon him. Mr. Ryan is a typical self-made man and one of the most representative citizens of a county which has produced many exceptional men.
ROBERT M. POMEROY.
Forty years have elapsed since Robert M. Pomeroy and his young wife came to Shelby county, Iowa, and during this time he has so managed his affairs as to become one of the wealthiest men of Shelby. He has, during the course of a long and busy life. engaged in the mercantile business, has served as a civil engineer, while for a quarter of a century, he was one of the largest farmers and most successful stock dealers of Shelby county. Since September 1, 1914. he has been in charge of the Farmers Savings Bank at Shelby, and in this capacity has demonstrated peculiar ability for this line of business. He has been prominently identified with every phase of his county's history during the time he has lived in it and has been in hearty sympathy with all public movements. He has served as township trustee, school director and county treasurer and in every official position he has demonstrated that he has the interest of his fellow-citizens at heart.
Robert M. Pomeroy, the son of William R. and Elizabeth ( Maclay) Pomeroy, was born March 24. 1849, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. His
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
father was born in the same county in 1811 and his mother was born in Con- cord, Pennsylvania, in 1822. His parents were married in 1845 and reared a family of six children, Mrs. Arabella Deihl, Henry, Robert M., John, Eliza- beth and William R. Of these six children, Arabella and Henry are de- ceased, the former being buried in Adams county, Pennsylvania. John and William R. are living a retired life in Shelby, Iowa, while Elizabeth makes her home in Concord, . Pennsylvania. William R. Pomeroy conducted a general merchandise store in Concord. Pennsylvania, for fifty years and also had a large tannery in connection with his general merchandise business. He died in 1889 and his wife died in 1875.
Robert M. Pomeroy received his elementary and high school education at Waterloo, Pennsylvania, and later attended the academy at that place until he was twenty years of age. After leaving school he clerked in a general merchandise store for three years in Parksburg, Pennsylvania, and then was connected with a civil engineer corps for one year. In 1872 he went west and settled in Louis county, lowa, where he managed a store until 1875. He then sold out, married and came to Shelby, Iowa, where he has since lived. He went into partnership with Dr. Campbell in the general mer- chandise business and three years later sold his share and built a frame build- ing, twenty-two by eighty feet. In this building he conducted his store until 1895, when he sold out and moved to his farm of two hundred and sixty aeres which he had purchased in Shelby township in 1891. He farmed this for twenty-two years and made extensive improvements upon it, so that he had one of the most valuable farms in the township. He was an extensive breeder of Clydesdale horses, Poland-China hogs and Aberdeen Polled Angus cattle. He made many exhibits at county fairs and won several premiums on his cattle, horses and hogs. He gave special attention to the raising of cattle and averaged one hundred head every year. In 1912 Mr. Pomeroy sold out his farming interest, moved back to Shelby, Iowa, and took full possession of the Farmers Savings Bank. He owns twenty acres of land inside the corporate limits in addition to his beautiful city home.
Mr. Pomeroy was married November 2, 1876, to Mary Mcclurkin, who was born at Morning Sun, Iowa, in 1851, the daughter of Henry and Nancy Jane MeClurkin was born in Indiana. To this union four children have been born : Elizabeth, a graduate of Grinnell College : William H., of Tulsa, Oklahoma, married Norine Wilson and has one child, William Henry, Jr .; Loren, a graduate of the Dental College of Chicago, a dentist at Avoca, who married Mary Ethel Goodwin: Mrs. Alice Frum, of Dakota City. Nebraska.
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOW_1.
Politically, Mr. Pomeroy is a member of the Republican party and has been one of his party's leaders for many years. As township trustee, as school director and as county treasurer ( 1882-86), he has served his fellow citizens in a very efficient manner. The family are members of the Presby- terian church and have always taken an active part in all church work.
GEORGE H. MILLER.
There need be no introduction to the readers of this volume of the gentleman whose name heads this review. He was born in Shelby county; he has lived his entire life of fifty-six years within the borders of the county; he has been successful as an agriculturist and is one of the best known citizens of the county; he has received high honors from his fellow citizens and has been elevated to a high position of trust and responsi- bility in recognition of his ability and integrity. Few lives are more suc- cessful when we endeavor to measure the success of the individual by group- ing the men of any community for the purpose of writing the individual life history of each as an adjunct to the history of the community in which they live.
George H. Miller, treasurer of Shelby county, and the son of Jacob J. Miller, a pioneer settler of the county, was born on October 10, 1858, on a farm in section thirteen of Center township, six miles east of Harlan. He first saw the light of day in a log cabin erected by his father in 1857. Jacob J. Miller was born in Germany, March 8, 1827, and died in this county in February, 1910. He emigrated to America with his father when a boy and the family settled in Indiana when that state was still in the pioneer era of development. Jacob J. was the son of Jacob and Catharine Miller, natives of the province of Alsace. Germany. They came to this country to found a home for themselves and their children as early as 1828. They landed at Baltimore from a sailing vessel and lived there for one year. For six years following their brief residence in Baltimore they resided on a farm near Hagerstown, Maryland, and in the year 1834 the family removed .to Butler county, Ohio. In January. 1845. they again migrated westward and settled in Elkhart county, Indiana, where Jacob. Sr., bought eighty acres of timber land which he cleared with incredible labor and created therefrom a fine farm which remained his home until his death
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GEORGE H. MILLER.
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SHELBY COUNTY, IOWA.
at the age of sixty years. His worthy wife died in June. 1855. They were the parents of ten children.
Jacob J. was seventeen years of age when the family settled in Indiana. He remained under the parental roof for five years longer and was then married on May 30, 1850, to Jane McConnell, a native of the old Buckeye state and daughter of James McConnell. The couple cleared a timber tract in Indiana and created a farmi upon which they resided until 1857 when they moved to lowa. It required twenty days for the family to make the trip overland with a team of horses. On his arrival in Shelby county, he bought a farm of two hundred and twenty acres in Center township. Eleven acres of this land were cleared of brush and trees and a small log cabin erected, fourteen by sixteen feet in size. It was in this cabin that George H. was born not many months after the arrival of the family in Iowa. A part of the Miller farm had been previously entered or filed upon by a man named Dalton and forty acres of the Miller tract in section twelve had been filed upon by Dwight Terrill. Jacob J. was a large stock raiser and became very wealthy, at one time owning over one thousand acres of land. A considerable part of his extensive acreage was divided among his children. each child receiving eighty acres of land. He was a prominent figure in Shelby county for over fifty years and resided on his farm during all this period. In the years from 1862 to 1864 he served as a member of the board of county supervisors. He was a Democrat in politics. In February, 1910, this eminent pioneer citizen died. A few months later, in June, his faithful wife passed away. They were the par- ents of the following children: Mrs. Mary Catharine Philson, of Jackson township; Charles C., who died at the age of twenty-one years, May 7. 1874: Mrs. Susan P. Philson, deceased; George H .; Samuel L., deceased ; Demiris J. Littleton, of Center township; John C., a well-known stock hreeder of Jackson township.
George H. Miller received his primary education in the neighborhood school which was a small affair erected jointly by the heads of families who desired to educate their children. Even the seats in this primitive school house were furnished by the parents of the children. Mr. Miller attended this school with O. P. Wyland and his brother John. He went to school during the winter months and assisted with the farm work during the spring and summer. At the age of twenty years ( 1878) he began farming for himself on his own farm of eighty acres received as a gift from his father. He broke up this tract of prairie land and placed it (43)
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under cultivation. He soon afterward built a house and married when twenty-four years of age. In the year 18So he bought a farm in Jefferson township which he later sold and bought an additional eighty acres in Center township in 1882 at a cost of thirty-one dollars an acre. In 1883 he added forty acres more at a cost of twenty dollars an acre and in I891 he added one hundred acres which cost him thirty-two dollars an acre. Mr. Miller's holdings total four hundred and forty acres of fine land. Ile was a breeder of Shorthorn cattle for a number of years. He resided on his large farm until December of 1911, at which time he moved to Harlan for the purpose of taking up his duties of county treasurer. There are two good sets of farm buildings on his land which are kept in a good state of repair. He also owns a farm of one hundred and sixty acres near Defi- ance, which he bought in 1910.
Mr. Miller was united in marriage on February 22, 1882, to Mattie E. Carter, who was born in Jones county, and is a daughter of James Carter. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have eight children: Charles J .. a farmer in South Dakota, married and has a family of six children; Mrs. Lena Kemp, of Douglas township, who is the mother of three children: Ralph, who is till- ing the home farm in Center township and is the father of two children; Ira, the telephone manager in Harlan; Glenn, a student in the medical de- partment of the Nebraska State University at Lincoln, and who is pursuing a six-years' course to be finished in 1917; Myrtle, a milliner, and residing at home; Verda, a student in Harlan high school, class of 1915; Walter, also in high school, class of 1917.
Mr. Miller belongs to no lodges or fraternal organizations but is a staunch member of the Christian church, in which denomination he takes considerable interest and lends it his moral and financial support. Polit- ically, he has always been allied with the Republican party which became his choice on the attainment of his majority. He has held many local offices and positions of trust and responsibility, having been administrator of several large estates, among them being the Westrope estate, which was at the time of Mr. Westrope's demise the largest in Shelby county. He has filled various township offices, having served as assessor of Center town- ship. He was elected county treasurer in 1910 by the narrow margin of twelve votes and was again elected in the fall of 1912. The fact that his second election to this important office came without any opposition what- ever from either of the political parties is evidence of the high esteem in which Mr. Miller is universally held throughout the county.
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The influence of such a life as that of George H. Miller can not be properly estimated by earthly standards. His friends and associates know him in his outward life as a man of sterling worth, whose deeds have gen- crally been actuated by the highest and best motives and whose successful career is blameless.
CHARLES ESCHER, JR.
Prominent in the affairs of Shelby county and distinguished as a citizen whose influence is extended far beyond the limits of the community honored by his residence, the name of Charles Escher, Jr., stands out a conspicuous figure among the successful farmers and live stock breeders of the locality of which this volume treats. All of his undertakings have been actuated by noble motives and high resolves and characterized by breadth of wisdom and strong individuality. His success and achievements but represent the result of fit utilization of innate talent in directing his efforts along those lines where mature judgment and rare discrimination lead the way.
Charles Escher, Jr., a prominent farmer and live stock breeder of Jeffer- son township, Shelby county, Iowa, was born September 4, 1872, in lowa county, Iowa. He is the son of Charles and Louise ( Reisland) Escher, both of whom were natives of Germany. Charles Escher, Sr., came to this country with his parents, John Escher and wife, when he was twelve years of age. Mr. and Mrs. John Escher and their family first settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania. Here Charles Escher, Sr., lived until after he was married and in 1867 he moved to Linn county, Iowa, where he lived for a time. He then moved to Jones county and later to Iowa county, where his son, Charles, whose history is here given, was born. He first owned eighty acres of land in Iowa county, which he sold later, moving to Shelby county in 1876 when Charles, Jr., was four years old. He then purchased two hundred and forty acres of land six miles west of Harlan. He kept adding to his land in Shelby and Audubon counties, until he owned about one thousand one hundred and twenty acres of land by the fall of 1906. In January, 1884, the wife of Charles Escher, Sr .. died, after which he moved with his family to Harlan, where he lived until the spring of 1891. He then moved to the "Longbranch Farm," near Botna, where he lived until 1906. He next went to Manning in Carroll county, where he lived for four years, and thence to Des Moines, where he is now living. Charles, Sr., was the
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father of six children, Edwin F., Mrs. Emma Derr, Mrs. Clara Mclaughlin, George W .. Charles, Jr. (whose history is here set forth) and Samuel C.
Charles Escher, Jr., remained with his parents until he was married. He was given a good education in the common schools and later attended the Harlan high school. after which he entered Cornell College, where he re- mained for one and one-half years. The father then desiring him to become actively engaged with him in his extensive farming interests, he gave up his college career and in 1892 became his father's partner when he was twenty years of age. That year they began raising high grade live stock. In 1892 Mr. Escher moved to Irwin. in Jefferson township, where he lived until 1908. He had five farms, containing about fourteen hundred acres of land. under his charge near this town. He improved these farms and put them in good shape and bought his father's old home farm of four hundred acres, known as the "Long Branch Farm." He has acquired eighteen hundred acres of land paying from forty to one hundred and forty-six dollars and a half an acre for his land and now owns more land than any young man in the county. He has made all of this himself and deserves a great deal of credit for the remarable career which he has made since becoming identified with the agricultural and stock raising interests of this county. He carries more in- surance on farm buildings than any other one man in Shelby county. He has made a specialty of Aberdeen-Angus cattle and is the foremost breeder of this class in the United States, and is known throughout the world as an Aberdeen-Angus breeder of cattle. The following quotation from a souvenir issued by Mr. Escher is here given :
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