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 65
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Thomas Embree moved to East Tennessee from South Carolina at an early day. He erected an iron furnace, and with his sons, Elihu and Elijah, carried on that business till he removed to Ohio. Ile was a man who had great natural ability and was a surveyor, doing the most of the surveying in that part of the country. Ile also had compiled and printed a " Phonetic Spelling Book " which has since been improved. His two sons inherited their father's energy and ability, and Elijah engaged in polities, canvassing Tennessee with Andy Johnson when he was a candidate for Governor in that State, at which time Elijah was a candidate
for Congress. Elihu was an earnest opponent of slavery, and joined with other Friends and pur- chased type, ete., and he became the editor of The Emancipator, which was the first paper solely devoted to advocating the freedom of the slave. Mr. Gibson's mother possessed a full share of the family characteristics. She was a remarkable woman, of strong natural ability, much force of character, and of marked benevolence. These traits she impressed on her son, and from her Isaae T. Gibson inherited his desire to do good to the poor and suffering.
Montelian Gibson and his wife settled on a part of the Embree entry, and there all their children were born, as follows: Esther, who married Ben- jamin Owen, and after his death Eleazer Bales, who was a prominent minister of the Friends' Church, and died a few months since; his widow resides in Plainfield, Hendricks Co., Ind. Maria wedded Benjamin Wildman, a farmer, who died in Clarke Connty, Ohio; his wife is also deceased. Elijah A. is a bachelor residing in Ellensburg, Ore .; Tamar and Rachel, twins, were both married. Tamar wedded George Ilobson, now deceased, and Rachel wedded Peter Hobson. They were married in Indiana within a few months of each other and are now residents of Salem, being among the first families to settle in the new town. After the death of George Hobson, Tamar married James Comer, a retired farmer of Salem. Deborah wedded Jesse Hadley, in Morgan County, Ind., and died one year after her marriage; Hannah married Caleb Easter- ling, became the mother of two children, and died in Indiana; Isaac T., our subject, wedded Miss Anna M. Iliatt, of Salem. Allen Iliatt, her father, purchased in 1852 the farm upon which she and our subject reside. They were residents of Wayne County, Ind., before coming to Jowa, and after im- proving his Salem farm Mr. Iliatt engaged in the nursery business for several years. Rhoda Hunt became his wife in North Carolina. He was a noted man, not only in his native State, but also in Ohio and Indiana. He was a man of culture and refine- ment and a self-made man. In Ohio he served as Justice of the Peace, and after his removal to Wayne County, Ind., was elected State Senator, and his official term was served with honor to him-
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self and his party. He was an ardent Whig and later a member of the Republican party. His death occurred Nov. 2, 1885, in Salem, Iowa, at the age of ninety-one years. He was the father of six children, three living: Susannah, deceased; Gnl- ielma, deceased, who wedded Albert White; John M., who resides in Keokuk, wedded Mary Tisdall, and after her death her sister Emma; was highly educated, and was Provost Marshal of the Southern District of Iowa during the war, having been elected a member of the State Legislature from Lee County prior to the war. Hle afterward served as Mayor of Keokuk. Anna M., now Mrs. Gib- son, and Minerva E., deceased, complete the family. Mrs. Gibson received her education at Earlham College, near Richmond, Ind. After her marriage to Isaac Gibson they commenced their domestic life in Salem. He was a merchant at that time, and was for ten years in business in the village, and on his marriage engaged with Mr. Hiatt in the nursery business and in farming. Both before and after marriage Mr. Gibson was a member of the School Board, of which he was Secretary, and at the same time was a member of the Village Council, of which he acted as Clerk, and during his term of office the new charter was obtained. For many years he was also a Notary Public. He was also Secretary of the first County Agricultural Society, which held its fair at Salem, and was the forerunner of the present society. During his life, Mr. Gibson has been one of the most active members of his church. He was a member of the Northwestern Freedmen's Aid Commission, organized at Chicago in 1864, and was one of its Board of Managers, which comprised eminent men from all the Christian bodies of the Northwest. He continued in the board until it was merged into the American Missionary Associa- tion. This commission was the channel through which the benevolent people of the Northwest sent their contributions in aid of the suffering freed- men during the latter part of the war, and after its close.
After the war Mr. Gibson was sent by the Friends to establish schools among the colored peo- ple of the Southwest. He was also appointed agent of the American Missionary Association, and of the Freedmen's Bureau, the latter appointment be-
ing made by Gen. O. O. Iloward. For two years he was engaged in organizing schools in different towns in Missouri, and was the person who pro- cured the introduction of free schools for the col- ored people. During this work he was often threatened with personal violence, but kept at his work undismayed. After he had established schools in the principal places in Missouri and secured teachers, his attention was turned to St. Louis, where colored people paid taxes on over $1,000,000 worth of property, and were then supporting six large schools at their own expense. These schools had been authorized by law, but their proportion of the school moneys had been withheld. Ile, after a conference with the President of the School Board and the Superintendent, secured buildings, and the colored children, through his influence, obtained all the privileges enjoyed by the white children, and to-day St. Louis has numerous com- modious buildings for their education. Ile was at this time appointed by the State Legislature a mem- ber of the Reform School Board, of which he was made Treasurer, and superintended the completion of White's Institute, the first reform school build- ing erected in this State. lle later resigned that position to accept the United States Indian Agency for the Osage and other tribes in the Indian Territory. During the troublous times of 1869, when the whites were trying to steal in and make a claim, he maintained the respect of not only the Indians, but of the whites as well. We take pleas- ure in quoting from the history of Montgomery County, Kan., the following: "During all the difficulties that occurred in the succeeding two years, when the whites without warrant of law or semblance of justice, were trespassing on the rights and property of his wards, he managed to retain the entire confidence of the Indians and enjoy the re- spect of the whites." For five years longer Mr. Gibson remained, and his work was rewarded by the greatest success. One of the good deeds he performed for the Indians was in preventing the consummation of a treaty which the Osages had by fraud been induced to make, selling 300,000 acres which they owned in the best portion of Southern Kansas for eighteen cents per acre. He gathered information in regard to it which he forwarded to
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the Government, and the treaty was withdrawn by President Grant. At the next session of Congress Mr. Gibson was in Washington as the representa- tive of the Indians, and helped to have a bill passed selling those lands at $1.25 per acre, and placing the proceeds at interest for the Osages, making them a wealthy tribe.
After resigning his mission among the Indians, he became for two years a resident of Washington, D. C., where he engaged in business as a claim agent. During his residence there he was Presi- dent of the National Christian Association of the District of Columbia. While there he was Seere- tary of the National Arbitration League, whose ob- ject is to substitute arbitration for war between na- tions, whose President was Gov. Stanton, of Kansas, and was Secretary of the National Convention held in Washington, of which Hon. Edward S. Tobey, of Boston, was President. The league had much in- fluence in Congress, and President Arthur was induced by it to call the attention of Congress to their beneficent object in his Annual Message. Mr. Gibson still labors in this field, and is a member of the Iowa Friends' Peace Society.
After his return to Salem Mr. Gibson attended solely to his farm duties. Both himself and wife are prominent in the Orthodox Society of Friends, and he has never missed an annual meeting, except when absent on official business. He is in harmony with the mission work of the church, and has been Treasurer of the Missionary Board of Iowa Yearly Meeting, and President of the Church Evangelical Committee. He and his wife are the parents of seven children, four dying in infancy. The sur- vivors are: Allen II., a book-keeper in the employ of a Government trader at the Osage Agency, who speaks the Osage Indian language well; Mary E. is a teacher in this county, and was also engaged as teacher at the Osage Ageney, and also taught for a year in the public schools in Washington, D. C .; Thomas Embree, the other son, is an attendant at the lowa Wesleyan University, at Mt. Pleasant. The four deceased were: Sarah E., John N., Anna N., and Nopawalla, who was born in the Indian country and named after a chief noted for his efforts in bringing about the civilization of his people. In 1867, while the Friends were trying to
sustain a Friends' school, the "Whittier College As- sociation" was formed by him and other Friends, and carried to successful completion. He was sec- retary and financial manager of the board from its organization, but has declined all other positions for years past.
The admirable portrait of Mr. Gibson, on an ad- joining page, shows that gentleman as he was in the prime of a vigorous physical manhood, and its strong lines are an indication of the characteristics which have always distinguished him.
DAM MILTENBERGER, residing on see- tion 2, New London Township, has a fine farm of 160 acres under a high state of cultivation, and has resided in Henry County since 1852. Mr. Miltenberger was born in Rockingham County, Va., now West Virginia, Sept. 18, 1816. His parents were John and Eliza- beth (Blass) Miltenberger, who were also natives of Virginia, and were of German descent. His father was born in Augusta County in 1782, and was a farmer by occupation. Ilis paternal grand- father came to America from Germany, in his youth. Adam's mother was born in Rockingham County, Va., also of German parents.
Our subjeet was reared on a farm, and when six- teen years of age removed to Warren County, Ohio, where he was married, Oct. 25, 1843, to Miss Cath- erine Rees, daughter of David and Mary (Richards) Rees. Her father was born in Center County, Pa., of German descent. Iler mother was also born in Pennsylvania and was of English origin. Mrs. Miltenberger was born in Warren County, Pa., Feb. 22, 1826. Nine children were born of their union, six sons and three daughters, three of whom died in infancy : Marietta, born Nov. 22, 1845, is the wife of Robert Baxter, a hotel-keeper of Albia, Iowa, and has three children living, a son and two daughters; Charles R., born April 29, 1847, married Martha Jackson for his first wife, by whom he had three children; with his present wife, who was Miss Olive Hine, he resides in New Lon- don, Iowa, and is a traveling salesman. Sarah Belle, born Oct. 14, 1848, wife of John W. Jackson, re-
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sides in Osborne County, Kan., and has one child, a daughter; Theodore, born June 20, 1850, mar- ried Emma Randall, and resides in Lincoln, Neb., engaged in mercantile business, and has one child, a son; John Franklin, born April 25, 1852, and residing in Phillips County, Kan., is engaged in milling ; he is married to Martha Thompson, and has one daughter. Margaret Luella, born Oet. 26, 1862, is the wife of John W. Lee, who is engaged in the butchering business at New London, and has two children, girls. William, born Nov. 17, 1855, died in infancy, and two unnamed infants are also deceased.
Our subject emigrated from Warren County, Ohio, to Des Moines County, Iowa, in April, 1852, and located in Flint River Township. He was en- gaged in farming there for three years and then came to New London Township, and located on his present farm. Ile is a Republican in politics, and a Master Mason, a member of New London Lodge No. 28, A. F. & A. M. Mr. and Mrs. Miltenber- ger are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are highly respected by all who know them.
E PHRAIM P. GARRISON, of Mt. Pleasant, was born in Somerset County, N. J .. in 1815, and is the son of Daniel S. and Cath- erine (Simmons) Garrison. Both parents were natives of Virginia, though of Scotch origin. The grandfather on the maternal side, Cuthbert Sim- mons, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. Daniel Garrison, the father of our subject, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died in Somerset County, N. J., when Ephraim was a lad of five years. Two years later, when but seven years okl, he was bound out to a man named John Manen, a farmer of Sussex County, N. J., where he lived for five years. At the expiration of that time, Ephraim went to live with a man named Sutton resid- ing in the same county, where he remained for three years. He then left there, and was bound out as an apprentice to a wagon and carriage maker in Middlebrook, N. J., commencing work there at the age of fifteen and continuing in this employment for three years. Ile then went to Teetown, work-
ing at his trade, and subsequently going to Plain- field, N. J., where he remained for five years, and then to Coldwater, Mich., residing there two years working at his trade as a journeyman. Mr. Garri- son then removed to Marshall, Mich., and engaged as a millwright, and then to Buffalo, N. Y., work- ing on steamboats; from there to Newark, N. J., remaining two years engaged in cabinet-making, and subsequently to New York City, where he was employed in the same business. Going to Pennsyl- vania, he was engaged in various departments of cabinet-making, working for a few months, when he returned to New York. In that city he became acquainted with and married Catherine Devoe, a native of New York City, and danghter of Thomas and Fannie (Burr) Devoe, who were of Holland descent. After his marriage, he removed to Deck- ertown, N. J., where he resided for one year, em- ployed as a cabinet-maker. Again returning to New York City, he worked in a chair factory for six months and then moved to Monticello, N. Y., where he remained for four years. In that city he first set up in business for himself, establishing a factory and general furnishing shop. The desire to again change his place of residence took posses- sion of him, and again he removed to the city of New York, this time remaining for thirteen years. There he was engaged in making inside vaults for safes, employed by the Gaylor Safe Company. In 1855 Mr. Garrison emigrated to Mt. Pleasant, lowa, where, with his brother Augustus, he engaged in making brick and building houses, continuing in this work for three years. At the end of that time he began working for Charles Housel in a cabinet- shop, working for one year, and then established a shop of his own, also working here for a year. Mr. Garrison then formed a partnership with Charles Quick ; at the end of a year the partnership was dis- solved, but our subject has continued in the busi- ness ever since. Mr. Garrison is a fine mechanic, and is an expert in making anything in wood or iron. He has a general repair shop, and is able to fill any special order that may be given him.
Mr. and Mrs. Garrison have been the parents of six children, three of whom are now living: Fran- ces, wife of Jacob Wright, of Tippecanoe Town- ship; Joseph died when five years of age; William,
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a soldier in the 14th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, died in the hospital at Memphis, Tenn .; Penning- ton is married to Jane C. Handell, of Mt. Pleasant, and is engaged in business with his father, and resides in Mt. Pleasant; George M., a brakeman, of New Brunswick, Mo., was killed by the cars Feb. 14, 1884; Elenora, wife of Bert Triggs, residing in Ottumwa, Iowa. Politically Mr. Garrison is liberal. He owns seven and one-half acres of land within the city limits of Mt. Pleasant. He is an intelli- gent and trustworthy man, and is highly respected throughout the community.
OHN EDGER, a farmer and breeder of fine horses, residing on section 8, New London Township, Henry Co., Iowa, and a resident of Henry County for forty years, is a na- tive of England, and was born in Cumberland, April 22, 1811. His parents were William and Mary (Wilson) Edger, also natives of Cumberland, England. Our subject was reared on a farm, and was apprenticed to the shoemaking trade, at which he worked for ten years. He was married in his native parish, March 1, 1835, to Miss Aun Arnison, daughter of George Arnison, a prominent collier of that country. Mrs. Edger was born in Cumber- land. Five children were the result of their union, the three eldest born in England, and the two youngest in America. Mr. Edger emigrated from England to America with his family in 1841, and located in Hancock County, Ill., where he engaged in farming until the fall of 1847, when he removed to Henry County, Iowa, and entered eighty aeres of land in New London Township, and pre-empted another eighty acres. He subsequently bought at private sale, until he now has 290 acres of valuable prairie land. He has carried on farming and stock- raising extensively, and has done much to improve the breed of horses in this region by the introduction of some full-blood Cleveland Bay stock, and some half-blood Clydesdale horses. For the past twenty- five years le has been keeping blooded horses. He has now a very fine specimen of the former stock in his barns, and two handsome four-year-old colts of the latter. He was the first to introduce thorough-
bred Durham cattle into the township. Mr. Edger is an enthusiastic horseman, and is of the firm opinion that the Cleveland Bay is the best every- day horse for the farmer's use.
Mr. and Mrs. Edger's children were named re- spectively : George, William, John, Joseph and Thomas. George was born in Cumberland, England, March 1, 1836, married Mary Spearman, and died Sept. 16, 1862; William, born in Cumberland, June 15, 1838, married Ann Walker, and resides in New London Township; Jolin, also born in Cumberland, Oct. 22, 1840, was a soldier of Company K, 25th lowa Volunteer Infantry, and died in Jacksonville, Ind., July 14, 1864, of disease contracted in the army ; Joseph, born in Hancock County, III., July 30, 1843, was also a soldier of the late war, serving in Company K, 25th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, was wounded at Vicksburg May 22, 1863, and died four days later of his wounds; Thomas, born Oct. 17, 1846, married Sarah Housen, and was acci- dentally killed by a falling ax, June 23, 1886, leaving a wife and eight children, five boys and three girls; his widow resides on a farm in New London Township. Mrs. Edger died Jan. 6, 1880, at the homestead in New London Township. Mr. Edger was again married, in March, 1881, to Mrs. Vashti Brewer, a native of Wabash County, Ind., and a daughter of Samuel Walker. She had one child by her former marriage, a daughter, Mary, now the wife of Frank Hand, a resident of Baltimore Town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Edger are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Edger is a Greenbacker in polities, and has held various local offices. Three times he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of New London Township. llis post- office address is Mt. Pleasant.
OHN LEE, deceased, a worthy pioneer of Henry County, Iowa, of 1836, was born in Franklin County, Ohio, Dec. 26, 1797, was a farmer by occupation, and removed to Bond County, Ill., in an early day, where he was united in marriage to Miss Charity Smith, daughter of Zedek Smith, Esq., who was born in Tennessee, in November, 1800. Mr. Lee emigrated with his
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family to Henry County, Iowa, in November, 1836, and located in what is now New London Township, on unsurveyed land. The exact date of his arrival at the site of his future home was Nov. 14, 1836. Ile made his claim on what is now section II of New London Township, where he made his home till late in life, when he removed to New London Village. Ilis death occurred April 22, 1879, in his eighty-second year. His wife, an estimable Chris- tian lady, who had reared a family of twelve chil- dren, four sons and eight daughters, died Oct. 11, 1865. The children all lived to be men and women, and are all living at this date (1887) except three, They were born in the following order: Eliza, Jan. 21, 1821 ; Jane, Oct. 12, 1823; Sarah, Oct. 26, 1824; Almira, April 10, 1826; Samuel, Nov. 4, 1827; John, March 25, 1829; Julia Ann, Jan. 2, 1831 ; William, Dec. 23, 1832; Thomas B., June 29, 1835; Polly Ann, Oct. 7, 1837; Charity, July 26, 1839, and Louisa, Sept. 26, 1841. The nine elder children were born in Bond County, Ill., and the three younger in Henry County, Iowa.
In early life Mr. Lee was a Whig, and a Repub- lican after the organization of that party. Both he and his wife were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church from early life. Ile was an upright, honorable, industrious citizen, and deserves creditable mention in the annals of the pioneer days of Henry County. That this sketch is not more complete is not the fault of the writer, bnt owing to the indifference of certain members of the family, who could, but would not, take the trouble to supply the necessary information.
OSEPII C. COURTNEY, residing on section 36, Marion Township, was born in Mononga- hela County, Va., July 13, 1811, and is a son of Thomas and Mary (Cravens) Court- ney. His grandfather Cravens was a native of Scotland, emigrating to America in a very early day, and served all through the Revolutionary War, taking part in the principal battles. His mother was born near the Alleghany Mountains in Virginia, while his father was a native of Ireland, coming to this country when a child. Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas Courtney were the parents of thirteen children: our subject was first in order of birth; John is farming in Marion County, Iowa; Robert is also a farmer in Marion County, Iowa; Levi is a farmer in Highland County, Ohio; Margery, de- ceased wife of Kinsman Wolf; Lemuel, deceased; Elizabeth married Mr. Murphy ; Lyda. deceased; Sarah, wife of Mr. Puckett, a farmer in Marion County, Iowa; Mary died at the age of ten; Rebecca, the widow of John Puckett; William, a farmer in Marion Township; Thomas, a farmer in Marion County, Iowa. Mr. Courtney removed from Virginia to Highiland County, Ohio, in 1813, locating near Ilillsboro, where he lived until the time of his death, which occurred in 1844. He was a man who took great interest in school and church matters, and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Courtney departed this life in 1879, at the age of ninety-two. She was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a kind and considerate mother, and a greatly esteemed friend.
Our subject received such an education as he could get by attending the district school in winter. At the age of fourteen he began learning black- smithing, which trade he has since followed. In the year 1852 he removed from Ohio to Mt. Pleasant, where he resided for two years, then buy- ing forty-five acres of land on section 36, he built a shop in 1854. He is a good workman, doing his work in a thorough business-like manner. In connection with his shop he has also an apiary, keeping from sixty to ninety hives.
In the spring of 1833 Mr. Courtney was united in marriage with Miss Mary Long, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Herston) Long, who were natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Courtney have been the parents of ten children: Joseph was a member of the 13th Infantry Volunteers, and is now elerking in Beaver, Pa .; Allen, who is now a farmer in Marion Township, belonged to the 4th lowa Cavalry, and was in all the principal battles with that regiment. Joseph was captured at Chat- tanooga, and placed in that loathsome, horrible prison at Andersonville; Elizabeth is the wife of Frank Jewett, a farmer in Marion Township; Jane, the widow of Thomas Lehew, resides in Mt.
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Pleasant: Emeline married William Fullerton, a resident of Lincoln, Neb .; Mary, deceased; Win- field has charge of the home farm; Hannah, at home; Thomas, in Mendon, Neb., and Maria, at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Courtney have traveled life's journey together for fifty-two years. They have been earnest, active workers in the vineyard of the Master for sixty-three years. Mr. Courtney is a man who takes great interest in all political affairs, is an ardent Republican, and though believ- ing that Prohibition is right, he yet feels that the Republican party has not completed its mission. Mr. and Mrs. Courtney are pioneers of Henry County : they have always been ready to forward any enterprise for the good of the community, and are highly respected by all.
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