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 76
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R IDGWAY B. GILLIS, deceased, was one of the pioneers of Henry County. He was born in Ontario County, N. Y., Feb. 2, 1818. When a small boy he went with his parents to Elk County, Pa., where he grew to man- hood. Ilis education was received in the Academy of Chautauqua, New York. He was married in Elk County, Pa., April 1, 1840, to Miss Margaret Me- Bain, a daughter of Peter MeBain, formerly con- nected with the British army. She was born in Peebles, Scotland, June 4, 1820. When about one year old she was taken by her parents to India, her father being a soldier at that time. He was eon- nected with the service for many years and was under Wellington in the battle of Waterloo. Her father and mother both dying in India, she was sent to the States by Rev. E. Kinkead, at that time a missionary. In making the voyage from India to
Philadelphia, at which port she landed, she was four months on the water. She was but thirteen years old and was the only female on board the ship. Arriving at Philadelphia she went to a brother of Rev. Kinkead, where she made her home for several years.
In 1844 Mr. Gillis came to Henry County, Iowa, and purchased 160 acres of land in Marion Town- ship, and forty acres of timber land in Trenton Township. Three years later he moved his family, landing in Mt. Pleasant on the 20th of October. At this time his family consisted of a wife and three children. During the following winter they made their home with a neighbor, and then Mr. Gillis built a house on his own place, and at once commenced the development of his farm. In 1850 he crossed the plains to California in company with Owen Ingersoll, and for the next three years was engaged in mining and other pursuits. In 1853 he re- turned home by water with the intention of removing his family to California, but not meeting with a ready sale of his place, after a couple of months left his family and once more crossed the plains to the New Eldorado, where he remained four years longer, en- gaged in teaming and mining. Returning to Henry County he remained with his family until the spring of 1858, and then went to Nebraska City, and took charge of a supply train that was being forwarded to Salt Lake City, at the time of the Mormon War. In January following he returned home, but only remained until spring, when he went to Salt Lake City and took charge of another supply train. James R., his oldest son, accompanied him on this trip. In October, 1859, he returned home, spent the winter, and in the spring of 1860 received the Government appointment and took charge of the farms on the Pawnee reservation. In this line of duty he continued until July, 1861, when he came home, and for the next two years was engaged in farming and stock dealing, though a portion of that time he was also engaged in merchandis- ing at Wayland. While much of his time was spent away from home, Mr. Gillis was a man who thought much of his family, and he gave each of his children a liberal education, and supplied them with an abundance of reading matter. All of the children, with the exception of one, have from time to time
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engaged in teaching. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Gillis consists of eight children : James R., of this county, married Miss Augusta B. Moore, a native of Steuben County, N. Y .; they have four living children-Arthur L., Charles B., Ann M. and Hud- son B. The second child was Hudson B., an attor- ney-at-law, now residing in Yreka, Cal .; Mary J. is the wife of O. I. Jamieson, of Columbus Junetion, lowa; Henry W. is an attorney-at-law, of Burt County, Neb .; Andrew J. is a civil engineer and real-estate agent in Oakland, Cal .; Charles B. was killed by the kick of a horse at the age of twelve years; two died in infancy. Mr. Gillis died in 1872, at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Mrs. Gillis is at pres- ent making her home with her son James R. She is a member of the Baptist Church, with which body she has affiliated since a girl twelve years of age.
James R. Gillis, the eldest son, is living in Henry County, on section 20, Center Township, where he has 175 acres of land, all of which is under a state of high cultivation. On this farm he located in 1881. Ile is well educated and for several years engaged in teaching. In 1866 and 1867 he was engaged in teaching at New Boston, Mercer Co., Ill., where he had charge of the graded schools. In 1870 he had charge of the school in Avoca, Steuben Co., N. Y. As a teacher he was highly successful. Sinee turning his attention to agricultural pursnits he has been quite prosperous. Politically, he is a Democrat; fraternally, he is a Master Mason and has filled all the chairs of his lodge.
9
ANIEL TURNEY, a farmer of Jefferson Township, Henry Co., lowa, was born near Columbus, Ohio, in 1815, and is a son of John and Susan (Ridenhour) Tur- ney. She was born in Maryland, and her husband in Westmoreland County, Pa., and both went to Ohio in 1800, having been married in Pennsylvania. Their eldest son, J. M., was born in Pennsylvania prior to their emigration to Ohio. J. M. Turney, Sr., the grandfather of our subject, purchased sev- eral soklier's warrants and secured with them about
700 acres of land in Ohio. Ile and his wife lived and died upon that land. During the residence of John and Susan Turney in Ohio nine children were born to them: Henry died in childhood; Mary married David Dill; Jacob, deceased, married Rebecca Butler; Susan married Thomas Bell; then came our subject. Daniel; Catherine married Zenik Noble, and resides in Indiana; Elizabeth married Augustus Dill; Phoebe and George R. were twins; Phoebe married Elijah Noble, and resides in Jeffer- son Township; George K. married Cynthia Pinney, and Davis, who died when five years old, completes the family. Their parents lived and died in Ohio.
Daniel, our subject, was married in 1839 to Lavina Wilcox, and in 1843 the young couple came to Henry County, Iowa, and entered a part of the land he now owns. He was a voter for the organization of lowa as a State, and only a few families were living in Jefferson Township when he came. Of their children, Charles C. and Laura were born in Ohio, and Darius P., Joel, Theodore, Sarah, George, and Cynthia, deceased, were born on the Turney homestead in Jefferson Township. Charles C. married Anna Green, and now resides at Wahoo, Saunders Co., Neb., of which he is County Treasurer. He was educated and married in Henry County, and with his cousin Joel, now of Trenton. learned the blacksmith trade when a young man. Laura married Nathan Carker, a farmer of Audubon County, Iowa; Darius P. married Irene Gillespie, and resides in Saunders County, Neb .; Joel resides in Dakota, and wedded his wife in Minneapolis, and is a large farmer and stock- raiser and also a practical engineer by profession, and formerly ran an engine in Minneapolis; Theo- dore married Agnes Bowen, and is a farmer in Saline County, Neb .; Sarah married John Ernst, a farmer of Trenton Township; George married Emma Fleagle, and resides upon his father's home- stead; Darius P, enlisted in Company G, 11th Iowa Infantry, when but seventeen years of age, and passed through many of the most severe battles of the war, being at home only once during the entire campaign; he was at Shiloh, Corinth, Lookout Mountain, Atlanta, and with Sherman to the sea, and in the military review at Washington he par- ticipated.
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One of the finest residences in Jefferson Town- ship in an early day was that of our subject. Ile was a poor man when he came to this county, but success has erowned his efforts and his aeres now number 320 in one body. His wife departed this life in 1865, and in 1867 he was again married, his second wife being Eliza Wheeler, of this county, who was born in Coshocton County, Ohio. By this marriage he has had two children : John W., now in Colorado, and Hattie M., a student at Ilowe's Academy, Mt. Pleasant, both unmarried. One of the most genial personages in the township is our subject. He is of Franco-German origin, and three generations ago his ancestors, who were of Freneli parentage, but German speaking, came to America. Ilis great-grandfather married a Yankee lady in Massachusetts, and from him is descended the family whom we are pleased to honor. Mr. Turney was a Whig in the days of that party and was one who assisted in the forma- tion of the Republican party in this county. He has been frequently Township Trustee, and has also filled many other offices of the township. Prudent in business and energetie in habits he has grown wealthy, and in his ripe old age looks backward upon a life well spent. Other sketches of individ- ual members of the Turney family will be found elsewhere, and this of Daniel Turney will be warmly welcomed by hundreds of his old friends and neighbors.
C HARLES D. WOOD, residing on seetion 21, Center Township, Henry Co., Iowa, was born in Quiney, Ill., Dec. 12, 1837, and is the youngest son of Daniel and Edith Wood, the former a native of Long Island, N. Y., and the latter (whose maiden name was Edith Athans) of North Carolina. When young people they came to Hamilton County, Ohio, with their parents, where they became acquainted and were united in mar- riage. After a two-years residence in Ohio, they removed to Lawrenceburg, Ind., where they re- mained for three years. Settling down in the forest, they hewed down the trees and developed a farm, but becoming dissatisfied with the country on
account of sickness, they returned to Ohio, but remained there only a short time. Their next move was to Quiney, Ill., where they remained some two years, at the expiration of which they crossed the Father of Waters into Iowa, locating near the town of Lowell, Henry County, where they resided some six months, after which they made their last and final move to the old homestead occupied by them, until by the Angel of Death they were called hence, the former, whose death occurred Sept. 10, 1881, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, and the latter June 8, 1866, aged sixty- two years, both having been consistent members of the Methodist Church for over forty years.
Father Wood was also an earnest advocate of every charitable and noble eause, contending fear- lessly for the rights of his fellowmen, of whatever race, color or condition, and for many years was proud to be a member of that heroic little band of Abolitionists, who so nobly battled and suffered in the cause of human rights, and later, when the war clouds that for years had been gathering, burst, and Ft. Sumter was fired upon, and the National Government at Washington appealed to the people for money to arm and equip the soldiers in the field, he proved his patriotic faith by cheerfully tendering all his available means to his country, receiving therefor the Government's promise to pay, and continued to do so from time to time, until the war was ended and the country saved.
At one time, during the darkest days of the Rebellion, when the armies for the Union were beaten back, and the country seemed to be trem- bling in the balance, and the hope of many had well- nigh given way to despair, he was admonished that there was great risk in placing so much of his hard- earned means in the hands of the Government. To this he promptly replied that "if the Govern- ment went to picees it would probably be upon that theory, and that if we should all act on that supposition, the Government would surely not be maintained." " But," said he, "slavery cannot always exist, or the slave power much longer rule, and in the justness of our cause, and with honest Abe at the head, we are sure to win."
Mr. and Mrs. Wood were the parents of seven children, four of whom are still living: John F.,
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of San Bernardino, Cal .; Theodoeia B., wife of John Dawson, of Henry County, Iowa; Daniel C., of this county.
Charles D. Wood, the subject of our sketeh, received his education in the primitive schools of the time. In 1838 he came to Ilenry County with his parents, remaining on the farm with them until 1856, when he went to Kansas, then a Territory, where he was engaged in the border ruffian war, under old Jim Lane, and used his vote and influence to make that State a home for free men. In the fall of 1860, having conceived the desire to visit the place of his birth, he bid adieu to Kansas and friends, leaving behind the land of the coyote and border ruffian, and heading for the rising sun, in a private conveyance, in due time hailed the ferry- man at Nauvoo, and crossed into the land of his early childhood, and remained there until the 13th day of July, 1861, when he enlisted in the 2d Illi- nois Cavalry, serving in Company K. He was mustered in at Camp Butler, near Springfield, where the regiment was encamped ; then went to Paducah, Ky. IIere the regiment remained for a year. During this time Mr. Wood was taken sick with measles, and was discharged April 30, 1862. Like the prodigal he then returned home, and on the 12th of February, 1863, was married to Miss Addie E. Willeford, danghter of Samuel and Rhoda Wille- ford, formerly of Kentucky, but pioneers of this county. She was born in Henry County, Iowa, May 8, 1844. To them were born five children- Florence Il., Edith A., Ada B., Viola May and Charles R. R. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wood located on a farm situated three miles south of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, where they lived until the spring of 1873, at which time they removed to the vicinity of Weaverville, Trinity Co., Cal., purchas- ing a farm in the Golden State, located on the banks of Trinity River, from whence could be seen the snow-capped mountains all the year around. Here they spent two very prosperous years, but owing to the rough state of the society, and lack of schooling facilities for their growing family, they determined to sell and return to Iowa, which resulted in the purchase of the farm where they now reside, one and one-half miles south of the city of Mt. Pleasant.
Mr. Wood's religious belief is simply to do what is right without any special preference for sects or creeds. Politically he is emphatically a Repub- lican, believing that the great evil of intemperance can in no other way be so surely suppressed as through the policy of prohibition, advocated by that party; believing that the protective policy of the Republican party to American industries will be most beneficial to the American laborer, and will more rapidly develop our latent resources, bringing prosperity to all industrious classes of society; believing that through the Republican party we may hope to see the ballot extended to the noble women of our land, bringing in its wake a higher state of refinement, more humane and better laws; believing that no other party is so willing to accord to the Union soldiers the justice and honor they are entitled to, for the grand achievements wrought on the many bloody battle- fields of the South, for the maintenance of the Union, and the suffering endured in hospitals and prison-pen ; he sincerely hopes, and confidently expects, if he should live to a ripe old age, to see these policies maintained, and in consequence to witness the brightest, most prosperous and happiest era that ever dawned on the American people.
R. ALFRED GABLESON, residing in Mer- rimac, was born in Western Sweden, nea "Jonk Joping," and is the son of John and Christiana Gableson, both born, reared and married in Sweden, in which country two ehil- dren, our subject and a daughter who died in in- fancy, were born before their emigration to America, in 1868. They first located in Rockford, Ill., where John Gableson worked at his trade, that of wagon- making. Nine months later the family came to Jefferson County, where a farm was purchased, and where the parents yet reside. One son was born in Jefferson County, Iowa-Henry. The education of our subject was received at Winfield, and his medi- cal studies were begun under the tuition of Dr. B. G. Kimmel, a physician and surgeon of that town. After one year's study Dr. Gableson went to Edina, Mo., and placed himself under the care of Dr. J.
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W. Downs, and after a two years' course of study matriculated at the Keokuk Medical College, taking one term in 1881. He returned to Missouri, and L. S. Brown, M. D., became his tutor for another year, when the young Doctor, now highly educated in his chosen profession, went to Chicago and ma- trieulated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was a member of the first class, and heard the first lectures ever delivered in that college. After attending one full course in that noted school, he returned to his home, and located in August, 1883, at Merrimac, where since that time he has done a fine practice. Dr. Gableson is a young physician of great promise, and takes high rank among the medical men of Southeastern Iowa. As one of her talented citizens, and in bonor to the profession he represents, we place his sketch on record among those of his profession.
OIIN C. WINTERS. This enterprising and well-known business man of Mt. Pleasant was born in LaSalle County, III., Sept. 25, 1848. Ilis parents are John and Margaret (Coghlagn) Winters. His father, who deserves more than a passing mention in this work, was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1819, and received his education in his native country. When seven- teen years of age, in company with his parents, he sought a home in the New World. Soon after land- ing in America he went to Syracuse, N. Y., where he learned the trade of a stone-entter, in which he gained that thorough knowledge which in after years he put to such good use, and which proved the foundation of his large fortune. Leaving Syra- cuse he went to Toronto, Canada, where he was employed on the Queen's College, then building. From Toronto he went to Rice Lake, where he worked on the canal locks, which were then in course of construction. He was married at Lock- port, N. Y., and in 1844 removed to LaSalle County, Ill., where he remained until 1856, in the meantime working on the stone works and in the con- struction of the Michigan Canal. Wben the build- ing for the lowa llospital for the Insane was in
course of erection in Mt. Pleasant, Henry Co., Iowa, he removed there in the hope of securing employment, in which he succeeded. Here the thorough, practical knowledge of bis trade, and his excellent judgment of the different varieties of stone, stood him in good stead. He saw that a beautiful and durable quality of stone was obtained near by, and exereising good judgment in the selec- tion bought a tract of land, on which he opened up the now widely-known Winters' Stone Quarries, an enterprise which has been of great benefit to Mt. Pleasant, and which has made a goodly snm for its proprietor. He has taken large contracts for work on the Burlington & Missouri and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Roads, and has carried as many as 400 men on his pay-rolls at one time, dis- tributing much money in this region. Mr. Winters lives in a beautiful bome, adjoining Mt. Pleasant, on a farm of 600 acres, which he has stocked with some of the finest blooded horses and Durham cattle in the State, in the raising of which he has been very successful, bringing to that business the same sagacity and good judgment which have been among his distinguishing characteristics. He has raised and owned some of the finest and fastest horses in the State, among them the renowned Stonewall Jackson, which with other fine stock was burned to death by a fire which consumed his barn in 1879. Mr. Winters' landed possessions in Henry County comprise about 1,700 acres, most of which is under cultivation.
The history of the life of John Winters is full of encouragement to young men just starting. He began life without any capital other than willing hands, a clear head, good judgment, and integ- rity of purpose. Applying himself with fidelity to what he had to do, he worked diligently and hon- estly, and has from this capital only made himself one of the wealthiest men in this section of the State. The pursuit of wealth has not hardened his heart, or narrowed his nature, which is too often the case. Ilis charities are numerous and liberal, and a deserving applicant is never turned away empty handed. He is a member of the Masonie fraternity, in which he stands high. In politics he is an uncompromising Jeffersonian Democrat, and is thoroughly posted in National, State and county
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matters. He and his wife were the parents of four children, of whom two sons, John C. and Michael F., are now living.
John C. Winters, whose name heads this bio- graphical sketch, was quite young when his parents settled in Mt. Pleasant. He received a good edu- eation at Hlowe's Academy in that city, and since arriving at manhood has assisted his father in his business. For years he has been manager of the quarries at Mt. Pleasant, with large numbers of men under his charge, and attending to all the details of the large business. He was married in September, 1869, to Miss Mary Ellen O'Hare, who was born in St. Louis in 1846, and is a daughter of Samnel and Mary (McKenna) O'Hare. Their union has been blessed with ten children, eight of whom are living: Laura M. and Mary S., twins; Samuel L., John, Grace C., Francis C., Michael H. and Gertrude; two died in infaney.
Like his father, Mr. Winters is a staneh Demo- crat, and though he has never sought office has been honored by his fellow-eitizens with positions of trust and responsibility. He is a friend of liberal education, and has been President of the School Board. He was also a Director in the Agricultural Society, and now is Secretary of the Democratic County Central Committee. Inheriting the sterling qualities of his honest father, as a straightforward, honorable and enterprising business man, no man stands higher in Henry County. Ile lives in a beautiful home near his father, adjoining the city of Mt. Pleasant, and under his hospitable roof from time to time are gathered together many of his friends.
ENRY CLAY LYNCHIARD, of Mt. Pleas- ant, was born on the 8th of May, 1817, in Bourbon County, Ky. He is the son of Thomas and Prudence (Talbert) Lynchard, who were both natives of Virginia, but at an early day their parents emigrated to Kentucky, where the young people became acquainted and were united in marriage. Their union was blessed with eight children, only two of whom are now living: Nancy, the wife of James Burris, now resides in Virginia, Ill; her husband was a soldier in the Rebellion,
and died after being discharged, from disease con- traeted while in the army. The other child is the subject of this sketch. Mr. Lynchard served his country faithfully as a soldier during the War of 1812, and died at home in Kentucky, in 1822, from the effects of exposure during his service. His wife was again married, to William Bowman, and they removed in 1823 to Covington, Ky., and subse- quently to Newport in the same State, and then to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she resided until the time of her death, which oeeurred in 1834. Mrs. Bow- man was a faithful member of the Christian Church. She had one child by her second husband, Jacob, who now resides in Indiana.
Ilenry C. Lynchard, the subject of this sketeh, went with his mother to Cincinnati when about six years of age, and was compelled to work at such odd jobs as he could find until the age of eighteen, when he bound himself to Mr. William Abbott for two and a half years, receiving his board and clothes, and was to have at the end of his apprenticeship a set of edged tools. He was married, June 5, 1837, to Miss Elizabeth Hill, who was born near Knox- ville, Tenn. By this union they had a family of eight children, six of whom are now living: Isabel is the wife of John A. Hughes, an ornamental painter of Chicago, Ill .; Caroline S. is the wife of John Beam, of Springfield, Ill .; Charles A. is a resi- dent of Henry County, lowa; Maggie P. is the wife of Robert Goudy, of Taylorville. Ill. ; William II. resides at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and is editor of the Herald; Alice married John Saunders, of Harper County, Kan., who is a real-estate agent.
Mrs. Lynehard was called to her final rest May 9, 1860, and her husband was again married, July 28, 1862, to Fannie Allen, the widow of Mathew Syphard, who was a native of Virginia, emigrating to Ohio, and from thence to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, where he died Aug. 28, 1860, respected by all who knew him. Mrs. Lynehard's parents were David and Elizabeth (Massey) Allen; their union was blessed with three children, two of whom are now living : Mary Guysleman, of Hillsboro, Ohio, and Mrs. Lynchard. The mother of these children died in 1827. Mr. Allen was again married, to Eliza Laird, by whom he had nine children, two of whom are now living: Amanda is the wife of George
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Litchfield, of Illinois, and Nancy is the wife of Henry Reed, of Highland County, Ohio, at which place Mr. Allen died.
Mr. and Mrs. Lynchard are members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Mt. Pleasant, and are earnest workers in their Master's vineyard. Mr. Lynchard is entirely a self-made man, having worked his way up over discouragements and difficulties until he is now independent, and has the respect and confidence of all. He has always been identi- fied with the Republican party, and always ready to advance its interests.
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