USA > Iowa > Henry County > Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Iowa, containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 31
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Six years after the marriage of our subject he removed to Henry County and purchased a farm, upon which he now lives. Not a tree was standing
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILD' N FOUNDATIONS.
yours truly Leonard Sam
Ans Leonard Far
THE NEW YO PUBLIC LIBRA
ASTOR, LEN- TILDEN FOUI
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nor a furrow turned upon this tract, but from the beginning a farm has been made, substantial im- provements ereeted, and for years Mr. Snyder has been recognized as one of the leading farmers of Canaan Township. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are the parents of six children : Virginia A., wife of W. H. Deal, of Scott Township: Rachel F., wife of J. H. Forbes, a resident farmer of Crawford, Neb .; Charles W., James E., Wilbur D. and Howard T., complete the family and are all beneath the paternal roof. Both the daughters were educated at Howe's Academy, and were engaged in teaching in this and Des Moines County prior to their marriage. Since 1865 Mr. Snyder and his family have been honored residents of Canaan Township, and as such we desire to do them justice and give them the credit they deserve for the part taken in the development of this goodly land.
L EONARD FARR, a retired farmer, resides at Mt. Pleasant. He was a pioneer in Iowa of 1841, and has been a resident of Henry County since 1848. Ile was born in Huntington, Crittenden Co., Vt., April 1, 1814, and is the son of Artemas and Mercy (Fitch) Farr. His father was born at Tinmouth, Conn., in 1781, and removed to the wilds of Vermont with his family when but a lad. Ile was a soldier of the War of 1812, and commanded a company of volunteers at the battle of Plattsburg. A farmer by occupation, he emi- grated to Ohio in 1824, settling in Butler County, where he was engaged in his chosen vocation. Ile came to Iowa at the time of the land sales, in 1839, and purchased elaims in Henry County, returned east, and moved to Henry County in 1841, and settled in New London Township. He died near Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Oct. 18, 1844. The paternal grandfather of Leonard emigrated from Wales to America in Colonial days, and settled in Martha's Vineyard. Leonard's mother, Merey Fitch Farr, was born in Coventry, Conn. Her father, John Fitch, was also a native of that place, and came of old New England stoek. Her mother's father was Maj. Elias Buell, an officer of the war of the Revo-
lution. Her unele, Hon. Jesse Buell, of Coventry, Conu., and later of Albany, N. Y., was a prominent man of his day, being an eminent agriculturist and horticulturist of those early times, the publisher of the pioneer agricultural journal in this country, the well-known Cultivator and Country Gentleman, of Albany, N. Y., and a leading man of that place. The Buell family trace their descent from the nobility of England. William Buell, the founder of the family in America, came from England in the year 1630, and landed at Plymouth Colony, Mass. The family subsequently settled at Coventry, Conn., and to-day their descendants are to be found in every State in the Union, many of them having distinguished themselves as soldiers, Statesmen, and in the private walks of life.
Leonard Farr received his primary education in the distriet school, and pursued his studies at the Hudson River Seminary, Kinderhook, N. Y., and at the Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt. When nineteen years of age he commenced teaching school in Butler County, Ohio, and followed that calling in that county until 1838, when he removed to Rushville, Ind., where he was similarly engaged for one year. He spent the years 1839 and 1840 in traveling and teaching in the Southern States. In the latter part of 1840 he located in Augusta County, Va., and taught school in that county until December, 1848. He was married, Feb. 22, 1848, to Miss Margaret D. Bush, a daughter of John Bush, a resident of Augusta County, Va. Previ- ous to this time Mr. Farr had made several trips to Henry County, Iowa, the first being in 1841, when he purchased some land. He was back and forth afterward three or four times, seeing to its im- provement, and in 1848 he removed west and made his home at Mt. Pleasant. In 1855 he bought the seminary property at Salem, and conducted that insti- tution until the fall of 1856, following which he and his wife traveled east for two years. Returning to Iowa, he settled on his farm near Salem, in Salem Township, where he remained five years, and then moved to the city of Mt. Pleasant, where he has since continued to reside. In his life-work he has been reasonably successful, having at the present time some 1,600 acres of land, 1,300 of which lie in a body in Salem Township.
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From its organization until 1870 Mr. Farr was a member of the Republican party, since which time he has acted with the Greenback party. In 1868 he was elected Superintendent of Public Schools of Henry County, and served with his characteristic ability one term. Religiously he is identified with and is a member of the Christian Church, and has contributed liberally to religious and educational institutions. While unpretending and disposed to avoid being thought a philanthropist, he is broad, liberal and humane in his views, and is ever ready to lend himself to the support of worthy objects. He gave twelve acres of land with good buildings to the Christian Church in Mt. Pleasant, the pro- ceeds of which go toward the support of the church, of which he and his wife are prominent members. His home is on the corner of Clay and Marion streets, and a fine view of it is given in this work. Portraits of this well-known citizen and his wife will also be found on preceding pages.
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L EVI CAMMOCK, who is now a retired farmer, residing in Salem Township, Henry Co., Iowa, was born in Greene County, Ohio, Nov. 4, 1815, and is the son of John and Jane (Hollingsworth) Cammock. The grandfather, James Cammock, was born in Scotland, but. went with his parents to England, and subsequently, in 1780, to North Carolina, where he was twice mar- ried. His first union was with Ann Inscoe, who was the mother of John Cammock. James Cammock removed to Greene County, Ohio, where he was one of the first settlers. Later he removed to Wayne County, Ind., and there died.
In Greene County, Ohio, John Cammock was married and there several of his children were born : James, who wedded Penina Cook, and after her death Edith Pearson, is a farmer, residing in Ham- ilton County, Ind. ; Ilenry married Sally Horn, and resides in Rush County, Ind .; Levi, our subject, and Ira. In the spring of 1816 John Cammoek settled in Wayne County, Ind., and entered eighty aeres of land, building his own log cabin, and enduring all the hardships of true pioneer life. Indi- ana was very sparsely settled at that date, but the
Cammock families were of the enterprising kind that soon made homes in the wild woods, and from their toil a competence was in after years secured. Other children were born in that State : Elihu, who married Rebecca Wiggs, and afterward Remina, widow of his brother Martin, is a resident of Mar- shalltown, Iowa; Martin, deceased, married Anna Wiggs, and after her death Remina Davis, the lady now the wife of Elihu; Johanna, deceased, married Jesse Morris, and died in Reed County, Ind. ; Elijah, a resident of Hamilton County, Ind., wedded Mary Jay; William married Hannah Horn, and resides in Miami County, Ind .; Sarah wedded Thomas Knight, but after their removal to Iowa she died ; Mary died in Indiana, and two other children died in infancy.
The parents and ancestors of our subject for generations back were Quakers of the strictest sort. They were among the first of their faith in both North Carolina and Indiana, and in the latter State both the parents of Levi Cammock were bur- ied. He was left fatherless at thirteen years of age. He was reared on the Indiana farm, and from boy- hood until he left that State was engaged in grub- bing the stumps, felling trees, rolling and burning the logs, and doing everything that a lad could do to aid in clearing up a farm and make a start in life. When his wedding was celebrated, he was barely past his seventeenth birthday, and as the historian is writing Unele Levi makes the remark, "This is my fifty-fourth marriage anniversary, the 19th day of September, 1887. I was married in a Quaker Church, according to their customs." llis wife, Elizabeth Frazier, was eighteen months his senior, but during their long lifetime and through all the tribulations and struggles of their earlier years she was ever devoted, tender and true. Unele Levi says they had not a dollar in the world but were fully determined to make the best of life, let come what would. Mrs. Cammoek's mother was a widow, and owned eighty acres of land, upon one corner of which Levi built a pole cabin, and Mrs. Frazier gave them a few things to commence housekeeping with. He relates with glee how he had to make rails at thirty-seven cents per hundred to pay for his wedding clothes, but notwithstanding all this, they prospered.
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Deciding to move further west, we will follow for a time their fortune. Unele Levi states: "We left our little cabin in the green woods May 10, 1837, having a good wife, two little children, and an old wagon to which was hitched three yoke of small young cattle." In his pockets reposed twelve silver dollars, and it was his intention to return if 86 of the same were spent when his journey was half completed. There were forty-five souls in the colony that were en route to Iowa, all Quakers, and a herd of cattle and hogs was driven by members of the party in the rear of the caravan. The roads were not graded, nor were many of the streams bridged, but day after day the troops made prog- ress, yet the trip required almost six weeks. They crossed the Mississippi at Ft. Madison, June 14, 1837, and camped on this side of the river. That night a steamboat came up the river and frightened the stock, causing a general stampede, and they were all the next day in getting them together again. The next night the company reached West Point, and as it looked like rain, on account of his wife and children Mr. Cammock concluded to sleep in the hotel. This was a log house with a sod chimney, which on top was surmounted with a salt barrel to add to its height and give it a better draught. Mr. Cammock looked over his cash, found $1, and when the bill was paid next morning received seventy-five cents in change, which consti- tuted the capital from which he later built up an immense landed estate. The next night the party encamped within sight of where we are now writ- ing. Aunt Polly Pugh was then in her new cabin, of which mention is made elsewhere, it being the only house in sight. The horses and cattle were turned loose to range across the prairies, where until that time nothing fed except wild deer and wolves, and the white man had scarcely a dwelling- place. The next day was spent in visiting Unele Aaron Street, who lived farther up the Little Ce- dar. On Monday the wagons were unloaded, and Levi, Thomas Cook, and Mrs. Frazier's families, made one household for the season. They at once went to work, and by Saturday week had the cabin built in Salem on a lot donated by Mr. Street. The last seventy-five cents owned by Levi purchased corn meal, and again he was even with the world.
He was furnished with money by the neighbors, and started back to Illinois with his oxen for meal. He made two trips for meal and one for bacon during the fall. He then went to Adams County, Ill., for hogs, in company with Henry Johnson. They drove them home, but their trip made in three days was a terrible one. Over night the wolves would fight with them and a continuous squealing and howling was kept up. His boots were carried on his arm, and the long frozen prairie grass cut the woolen stockings from his feet as he trudged over the frozen ground, but he persevered and brought in the stock. He paid $12 for a bushel of salt to cure his meat, and that winter salt was worth $60 per barrel. He turned his cattle on brush along Skunk River during the winter and spring, and in the spring of 1838 bought a claim on the half section where he now resides, upon which he built a cabin. That fall the land came into market, and Mr. Cammock and other men in the neighbor- hood went to Burlington to attend the land sale. Scarcely any of them had a dollar, but they in- tended getting money of brokers at Burlington, paying fifty per cent, but by good luck Mr. Cam- mock's unele, Reuben, arrived at the same time with $100 belonging to Levi, who, by borrowing $100 from Jones Richey at fifty per cent, entered one and one-fourth sections. He became a very prosperous man, and during his business life was one of the largest dealers in stock in Southeastern Iowa. He has 'owned thirteen 80-acre tracts of land during his residence here. and has put under fence and cultivation since coming, 15,000 aeres, building four good houses, and at one time owned 640 acres in one body. His kindliness of heart has, however, caused him the loss of almost his entire fortune. Security debts by the thousands of dol- lars melted it away like snow before a summer's sun. For one man he paid $20,000 and for others larger amounts.
The home of Levi Cammock was always noted for its hospitality, and his genial manner and their well-spread board were known to all both far and wide. The death of his first wife occurred in 1865. Every pioneer grieved when that most estimable lady passed from earth. She was tender, kind and true. Her love of home, devotion to her husband,
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children and friends, was an axiom in this commu- nity. She was the mother of three sons and six daughters, all of whom are married except one daughter who is deceased.
On the 9th of September, 1865, he was again married, to Ann Wilcoxon, who has borne him one daughter, Laura B. The blood of Levi Cammock flows in the veins of fifty grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren ; all the latter are sons. Who can air a prouder name than a Cammock? Who has done more to develop and support this county with her schools, her churches and her colleges than our subject? Methinks not one. In a lifetime of almost half a century he has wielded an influence in this community unsurpassed by any man a resident of Salem Township. Business, and nothing but business, has been his watchword. In conclusion, he is now seventy years of age, has never used tobacco in any form, never tasted any kind of spirits, tea or coffee, and never used a pair of spectacles. He is to-day mentally as brilliant as when thirty years of age, and despite his reverses of fortune is the same hale, genial, Levi Cammock as in the pioneer days of 1837.
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OHN SAVAGE, farmer, was born in North- amptonshire, England, Jan. 22, 1838, and is a son of William and Mary ( Worrall) Sav- age. William Savage was born in the same shire, and Mary, his wife, in Warwickshire, in the city of Coventry. William and his father, John Savage, Sr .. were both tailors, and during a long term of years William worked in London and Birmingham.
In London his marriage was celebrated Ang. 4, 1829, at St. Pancreas Church, in the county of Mid- dlesex. In London their first son, John, was born, whose death occurred in infancy. Not long after- ward Mr. Savage removed to Northamptonshire, to Greens-Norton, where Rosa, who is now the wife of David Burton, of Salem, was born. Rosa's birth was followed by that of Mary, wife of Ed- ward Simkin, a carpenter of Salem, formerly a farmer. Then came John, our subject, and Thomas W., deceased, who was wounded during
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the late war, his death occurring eleven days after. He was a member of Company K, 19th Iowa Regi- ment, and had been but two months in the service when his death occurred, he having not yet reached his majority. The Savage family removed from England to America, landing in New York May 1, 1846, after a voyage lasting two months. His un- cle, Samuel Savage, was one of the leading Friends in the township of Venice, Cayuga Co., N. Y., and to that point William made his way. The family were warmly welcomed, and Samuel, who was also a tailor, advised William to locate in the same town- ship, on the Poplar Ridge Road. William engaged in business there for nine years. Our subject was then a lad grown old enough to work, and his father's trade was too confining for the boy, so he engaged at farm work for a farmer living in the neighbor- hood, at $1.50 per month, and liking it very much, he prevailed upon his parents to go farther west, and in 1855 the family removed to Iowa, making a landing at Burlington.
Dr. Thomas Siveter, a well-known resident of Salem, had been somewhat in correspondence with Mr. Savage, and being also a native of England, tendered the hospitalities of his home to the family until they could look over the country. The offer was accepted, and a team earried them to Salem soon after their arrival at Burlington. The next day rooms were rented in Salem, and William and our subject drove over the country and selected the tract now the home farm of John Savage. The family removed within a few days to their new home, consisting of a small house of two rooms and thirty acres of cleared land, and in the same year an ox-team was purchased and in the autumn of 1855 the first crop was harvested. The parents both lived and died on this farm, and for several years prior to the death of the father John managed the place. The family were only in moderate cir- cumstances, but their last days were spent in an easy manner. William Savage and his wife were devoted Christians. For many years he was a leader of the Methodist Episcopal class at Wesley Chapel, near Salem.
The marriage of John Savage to Miss Tacy D .. daughter of Walter and Sarah Crew, was celebrated Oct. 24, 1862; she was born Sept. 14, 1834. (An
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interesting history of her family appears elsewhere.) The domestic life of our subject and his young wife was begun on the farm of Charles Poulter, his brother-in-law, he, however, managing the farm of his father. One year later he completed a room in the Savage residence, and brought his young wife to the farm upon which they have since lived, and all their children except Nellie, the eldest daughter, were born in the old farmhouse of their grand- father. The family was composed of eleven chil- dren -. Nellie M., Jennie T. ; Thomas E. and Alice S., twins; Walter H. and William, twins, the lat- ter deceased ; Sarah, deceased ; then William C. and John R., twins, Samuel M. and David L. After the death of his parents our subject became sole owner of the homestead. He had, however, purchased other lands, and his successors have since added many broad acres to his domain. The children old enough to learn have a substantial education, and Jennie, Alice and Thomas hold certificates entitling them to teach in the schools of this county. Thomas and Jennie have both been engaged in that profession, the former now having charge of a school. Several terms were taken by them in Whittier Col- lege and in the schools of Salem, and we are pleased to observe that the children of such parents have all a literary taste.
Mr. Savage had secured a good education before his parents came to this State, and prior to his mar- riage he had taught several terms of school in this county, the first of which was in what was known as District No. 7, which is now consolidated with another. Continuously, with two exceptions, Mr. Savage taught for seventeen consecutive winters, and many of the middle-aged residents in this township were former students under his tutel- age. For many years Mr. Savage has been a meni- ber of the School Board, and a long while before and until the school districts became independent, he was Treasurer of the School District Township Board of Salem. In 1883 he was elected Assessor of Salem Township, serving two years. Mr. Savage now gives his entire attention to the management of his farms, which have increased from a 60-acre tract in 1871, to 340 acres in 1887. This is indic- ative of his energy and good management, and few men have a better business record. Politically,
he has acted with the Republican party since its organization, but of late has leaned strongly to the cause of prohibition, of which he is an ardent advo- cate.
Mrs. Savage has for some time past been an inva- lid, but bears her suffering with Christian pa- tience and resignation. By birthright, she was a member of the Society of Friends. She has ever proved herself a sincere Christian, a faithful and devoted wife and loving mother.
F. MORRIS is a merchant and dealer in stock in the new town of Coppack, where he and his wife do the principal business in the mercantile, stock, grain and millinery
B trade. Mr. Morris is a native of Indiana, born near Knightstown, Henry County, in 1840. His father, Benjamin F. Morris, died in that State, and with the widowed mother our subject came to Jef- ferson County, Iowa, in 1857. She was a Miss Catherine Williams, and was the mother of ten children : Lucinda, now wife of William Huddle- son: Ilannah, deceased wife of Joseph Wiggins; Levi. husband of Mrs. Sarah (Tracy) Flannigan ; William, wedded to Miss Hollingsworth; Lavina, wife of David Hollopeter; Cyrus, who wedded Ra- chel Echroid; Martin, the husband of Minnie Williams; Benjamin F., our subject; Kate, who died ummarried ; and Louisa, the wife of Thaddeus Cooper, completed the number, all of whom, except Lucinda, Louisa and Hannah, came to lowa. The family removed from Jefferson County, and located near Brighton, Washington County, the mother finally selling her place and living with her chil- dren. She died in Keokuk County, where Keota now stands.
Our subject, Benjamin F. Morris, was engaged in farming in Washington County until 1867, when he bought a farm near Sigourney, Keokuk Co., Iowa, which he sold two years later, removing to West Grove, Davis Co., Iowa, and embarking in mercantile pursuits. A few years later he sold out and rented the farm of his wife's father in Jef- ferson County. Two years later he bought the lat- ter's business at Brighton, which he carried on there
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for a year, then removing to Wayland, in this county, in which village he and his wife remained in business for nearly ten years, then selling out and going back to his own farm in Jefferson Township. Farming did not satisfy his energetic temperament, and in 1886 he built his present store in the new vil- lage of Coppack, adjoining the depot of the Iowa Central Railroad, where he is doing a flourishing trade. In October, 1866. he was married to Eliza A. Wood. a daughter of Charles and Catharine (Freder- iek) Wood. of Jefferson County, both natives of Ohio. coming from that to this State in 1840, making them among the early settlers of Jefferson County. There Mrs. Morris was born, reared, educated and married. Mr. Morris now owns 450 acres of land in a body, adjoining the village of Coppack. Mrs. Morris was the first lady who did a millinery busi- ness at Wayland, and also in the future history of Coppack can claim the same distinction. She is a practical business lady, and during her girlhood was a teacher for three years in Washington, Jeffer- son and Henry Counties. For twenty years she has aided her husband as clerk and counselor, and while he purchases and ships grain and stock. she man- ages the store and office of the Iowa Central Rail- road, of which he is Station Agent. They carry a stock of general merchandise of over $4.000. and do an annual trade of perhaps $9,000. No heirs have come to grace their home. but they are rearing a nephew, Charles Frederick, a son of Martin Mor- ri -. In connection with his other business, Mr. Morris manages his extensive farm, and this is indic- ative of his enterprise. and also adds to his bank account. We are pleased to welcome Mr. and Mrs. Morris to a place in this volume.
HIARLES L. MOREHOUS, editor and pro- prietor of the Mt. Pleasant Evening News and Weekly Independent, was born in the State of New York June 13. 1830. His parents were among the carly settlers in Ohio, to which State they removed in 1833, going to New York in 1835, and returning to Ohio in 1839. In 1853 they re- moved to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, our subject coming with thein. llis father. George W. Morchous. was a enttle-dealer and stockman, but since coming to
this county has principally lived a retired life. He is still living, in his eighty-eighth year, in Wash- ington, Iowa, of which place he has been a resident for over thirty years. His mother, whose name was Elizabeth Ann. died in 1886, aged eighty-six years. George W. Morehous is a prominent and honored member of the Masonic fraternity. He was the projector and principal organizer of Henry Chap- ter No. 8. R. A. M .. in Mt. Pleasant. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for nearly sixty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Morehous were the parents of twelve children. of whom the following-named five are deceased : Lucretia, Cor- nelius B., Abigail, George W .. and an unnamed in- fant. The survivors are: Philo D .. a resident of Washington, Iowa, where he has kept a hotel for twenty-five years; Alice Ann, wife of Rev. Cad- wallader, living at Jacksonville. Fla .; George W. (2d), who is a mine owner at Star City, Utah, was foreman of the grand jury which indicted John D. Lee : John W .. a farmer at Nephi. Utah. was Deputy Sheriff at the time of the conviction of Lee : Rosana, widow of William Timberlake. now living in Har- rison County, Ohio; Parker A., an engineer living at Baraboo, Wis .. and Charles L., our subject. The latter learned the trade of a printer at Rochester, N. Y., and has been connected with it all his mature life, and since his removal to Fowa has been con- nected with many newspaper enterprises. In 1859 he removed to Washington, Iowa. In 1865 he went to Ft. Madison, and established there the Democrat, a Republican paper, which he conducted until 1868, when he sold it out and returned to Mt. Pleasant, which he has ever since considered his home, and where his family have lived most of the time. In 1869 Mr. Morehous established the Salem Register. and in 1872 the Mt. Pleasant Daily Re- porter, which he sold in 1880, and in the year 1881 began the publication of the Enterprise, in Hedrick. Keokuk Co .. lowa. Ilis next venture was the Journal, at Williamsburg. lowa County, which he began in 1883. Returning to Mt. Pleasant. he es- tablished the Daily News and Weekly Independent. the first number being issued Dec. 26, 1884. lle is still at the helm of these enterprises. and the News is a bright newsy afternoon paper, which Mt. Pleas- ant people could not now do without.
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