USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > The History of Poweshiek County, Iowa : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, &c.,. > Part 79
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Hunter, and died November 27, 1868), Rebecca S. (born October 10, 1848, married June 5, 1866, to James H. Judson, M. D.), Emma J. (born October 7, 1850), Lydia A. (born October 8, 1852; died February 28, 1853), John F. (born October 21, 1854), Franklin P. (born December 9, 1856), Noah E. (born January 21, 1859), Leavitt S. (born April 29, 1860), Martha E. (born April 12, 1862) and Hattie M. (born November 9, 1864). Mr. Myerly's ancestors were from Germany. He worked for his father until twenty-one years of age, and after marrying emigrated to Dixon, Illinois, in 1853, where he remained until September, 1854, when he moved to Ogle county, Illinois, and settled on a farm he had previously bought, and farmed there until he purchased and moved to the present estate, in September, 1854. He died suddenly December 19, 1869, leaving the en- tire estate to his widow. He was a member of the Dunkard Church and highly respected and honored for his many excellent qualities. Of unyielding business integrity and kind of heart, he enjoyed the most profound esteem and unbounded confidence of all his neighbors. He left to Mrs. Myerly eighty acres of good farming land. Mrs. Myerly is an intelligent Christian lady, a kind neighbor and affectionate mother.
MUSHRUSH, GEORGE M .- Section 27, P. O. Deep River. His great-grandfather and grandfather were both born in Germany, but immi- grated to the United States when the latter was twelve years old. They followed farming in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, where his father was born in 1808. George was born in the same county, the eighteenth of March, 1835. He attended a good common school, and worked on his father's farm until twenty-eight years of age, when he married and immigra- ted to Iowa, and farmed for about fifteen years in Adams township, Keokuk county, when he sold out there and bought and moved to his present place, the third of March, 1880. Mr. Mushrush married in Pennsylvania on the twenty-sixth of February, 1863, to Miss Mary Ann Shillito of North Che- nango, Pennsylvania, who was born in North Chenango, September 9, 1840. Her grandfather and father were natives of Ireland. They have one child: Charles M. (born March 5, 1864.) Mr. Mushrush owns a good farm of eighty acres.
PHELPS, SIMON-Section 9, P. O. Deep River. Was born in Clark county, Ohio, on the 22d of November, 1816. He attended school but little when a boy, and then under decided disadvantages, to inferior teachers who received but eight dollars per month and taught in a house the window lights of which were made of greased paper. In 1842 he emi- grated to Stephenson county, Illinois, and was followed by his father's family the next year, where they all lived until the death of the venerable
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parents, who died-the father in his ninety-second year, and the mother on the twenty-eighth of January, 1875. On the fifteenth of January, 1877, Simon emigrated to Iowa, landing in Dresden amid blinding snow and storm on the nineteenth of the same month, his sons Thomas and Horace having preceded him four years. Mr. Phelps was married November 5, 1837, to Miss Harriet Sanphere, of Union county, Ohio, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, on June 8, 1818. They have been blessed with nine children: Mary E. (born July 29, 1838; died November 17, 1840), Ira M. (born December 12, 1839; married Elizabeth J. Phelps, January 24, 1867), Thomas J. (born April 25, 1841; married Lucy A. Dilsaver, of Winnebago county, Illinois, January 22, 1864), Charlotte P. (born February 4, 1843; married to James M. Pierce, of Stephenson county, Illinois, February 22, 1863), Cyrus G. (born April 25, 1845; died November 2, 1851), Horace (born April 18, 1847; married Miss Venah Crone, of Poweshiek county, Iowa, March 18, 1877), Hannah (born February 21, 1849; died September 6, 1854), Prudence L. (born March 17, 1851; married to Edward Nagle, of Stephenson county, Illinois) and Simon M. (born October 21, 1854; died March 8, 1862). Mr. Phelps has held the positions of township trustee and school director. He owns a good farm of 175 acres, and has a beauti- fully situated residence. Himself and wife are consistent members of the " Church of God," or Second Adventists.
POLLARD, THOMAS-Section 3, P. O. Deep River. Was born in London, England, December 11, 1824, where he was also raised and edu- cated. Arriving in New York City September 1, 1852, he went directly to Cleveland, Ohio, where he engaged in the hack business for the next eight years; thence to Ontonagon, Michigan, where he teamed among the copper mines for four years; thence to Detroit, Michigan, where for the next seven years he engaged in the local express business. In May, 1868, he emigrated to his present place. He married, October 23, 1852, Rebecca Hall, of Cleveland, Ohio, who was born in Huntingtonshire, England, May 1, 1829; her mother died in England, and she crossed the ocean with her father, in 1852, her then future husband being in the same party. Their children are: Emily N. (born August 4, 1853; died August 22, 1853), Naomi B. (born December 27, 1854; died April 1, 1857), Rosina (born March 26, 1857; married June 17, 1878, to William Haller), Thomas J. (born December 21, 1860; died November 27, 1862), Amos E. (born August 24, 1864), Martha Sophia (born May 7, 1864), William E. (born January 22, 1866) and Frederick Charles (born September 13, 1870). Mr. Pollard owns a fraction over fifty-four acres of excellent farming land, which is in good condition.
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POOL, FRANCIS-Section 30, P. O. Tilton. His great-grandfather and three brothers came from England to this country during the colonial days. His grandfather was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church; fought in the War of 1812; received a severe wound in the last battle of the war, on account of which he was pensioned by the government; he was born in New York, in 1780, and died in October, 1864. His father was born in New York, in 1817; is a farmer; fought in the late war, and still lives. Francis was born in New York, the eighth of June, 1838. He emigrated directly from his native place to this county in March, 1867, and the following fall bought and removed to his present place. Mr. Pool married, on the twelfth of March, 1861, Miss Frances F. Steward, of Chau- tauqua county, New York, who was born January 15, 1843. Their children were born as follows: Annette (born March 23, 1862), Ida D. (born March 12, 1865), Ida Delbert (born October 13, 1867), Nellie O. (born October 24, 1870), Emma (born January 7, 1873), Francis (born January 21, 1876), Rosella (born August 18, 1877) and Elma May (born July 14, 1879). Mrs. Pool's grandfather (Nathaniel Warner), when twelve years old was General Washington's body servant, and served the father of his country in that capacity during the entire War of the Revolution. Mr. Pool owns forty acres of good land, and takes great interest in raising fine stock.
PUGH, JONATHAN G .- Section 34, P. O. Thornburg, Keokuk county. His ancestors were from England, and came to America with William Penn. His grandfather was born in Virginia, and was raised in Hamilton county, of that State, where he was a farmer and slave-owner all his life; he also served as a commissioned officer in the British army dur- ing the Franco-Indian War, and died in 1793. His father was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, September 12, 1782. When a young man he moved to Ohio, where, in Mansfield, he engaged in the tannery business and hoteling for the rest of his life. He built the first tannery ever erected in that city. Here he also married Florenda Murphy, a lady of Irish ex- traction, who was born January 12, 1797. She died August 23, 1847, and was followed by her husband in January, 1860. The subject of this sketch was born in Mansfield, Ohio, January 12, 1825, and was there raised and educated. When of age, he enlisted in the Mexican War, and served one year under General Curtis. In 1849 he went to California, where he bought a large tract of land and ranched successfully for three years. Having, in 1852, returned East, he again went to California, this time conducting a large train of prospective gold-miners across the plains. At the end of two years he returned to Ohio, where he remained until 1856,
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when, with G. F. Carpenter, an old school-mate, he came to Iowa and entered over 900 acres of land. He also entered, in 1857, 160 acres in Kan- sas, and improved it, while living a short time in Emporia. He settled and farmed for twenty years in Mahaska county, and in March, 1876, moved to his present place. He is at present engaged in mining in Gunnison county, Colorado. He married, in Muscatine, November 25, 1857, Miss Harriet V. Baker, of Muscatine county, who was born in Bainbridge, Ohio, March 2, 1836. The children of their union were born as follows: Robert Wood (born August 29, 1858), George H. (born March 31, 1860), Clara (born September 3, 1861), Frank E. (born March 5, 1863), Elverda (born February 20, 1865), Albert D. (born April 5, 1868), Effie (born October 28, 1870), Zada (born January 15, 1873), Harriet (born November 2, 1874) and Clementine (born November 29, 1877). Mr. Pugh's sons are at present managing his farm, which comprises 160 acres of good land, and is in splendid condition. He has the reputation of being a man of enterprise, intense and ever-active energies and remarkable endurance.
R EDMAN, SAMUEL K .- P. O. Deep River. His grandfather was a native of Ireland; married a German lady, and died in Virginia. His father (Eli) was born in Virginia, November, 1794; was a farmer. Served in the War of 1812. Moved to Whiteside county, Illinois, in 1838, and died in Carroll county, Illinois, October 29, 1862. His second wife was Catharine Owen, of Terre Haute, Indiana, who was born in Pennsyl- vania, June 18, 1820, and was probably of Dutch-Welsh extraction. They were married in 1838, and she bore him: Wm. H. (born March 5, 1840; married March 2, 1870, Susan P. Ferguson), Phebe Jane (born January 5, 1842), Sarah Emeline (born February 17, 1844; married Wm. H. Kimebly, October 10, 1867, and died February 20, 1876), Nelson L. (born November 16, 1847), Eli Markle (born November 22, 1849; married Frances G. Col- vin, April 3, 1880), unnamed, female (died November, 1851), Marga- ret Louisa (born May 7, 1854; married Charles Sharp, December 12, 1877), Samuel K. (born March 13, 1856) and Franklin O. (born August 10, 1861). The subject of this sketch was born in Whiteside county, Illinois, and came to this county when eleven years of age. He is at present caring for his widowed sister Phebe and her family. Mrs. Scoville was married March 14, 1867, and her husband, Edward F., died from disease contracted in the army, July 13, 1879. The fruits of their wedlock have been as fol- lows: Steven Melvern (born November 18, 1868), Katie L. (born Decem- ber 19, 1870; died February 1, 1873), Marion A. (born September 6, 1872), and Luella (born July 19, 1874; died September 27, 1874). Mr. R. received his education in this county, attending the graded school at Montezuma,
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and finishing at the Iowa College. He is a young man. He is now en- gaged in the profession of teaching, to which he brings the fruitful quali- fications of a manly character, fine talents, natural adaptation, and thorough preparation, and to which he will probably devote the abilities of his entire life.
REECE, NEHEMIAH B .- Section 32, P. O. Tilton. His great-grand- father on his mother's side was born in England. His grandfather Reece was born in Pennsylvania, and raised by a step-father. Two of his uncles went to North Carolina before the Revolutionary War. Nehemiah was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, September 16, 1830. Worked on his father's farm until of age, when after one year and six months he landed in Iowa, settling in Cedar county, June 1, 1853. In the fall of 1859 he re- turned to Pennsylvania, where he remained but one year, when he returned to Cedar county, Iowa. In 1863 he moved to Putman county, Illinois, where he farmed for two years, when he again returned to Cedar county,
Iowa, and remained there five years, when he bought his present place, and moved to Prairie township, Keokuk county, where he remained one year while he improved his farm here. Mr. Reece married in Pennsylvania, October 21, 1852, Miss Malinda Smith, of Columbia county, Pennsylvania, who was born January 12, 1833. She was raised a farmer's daughter, and her parents were born in this country. Eight children have blessed their union: Philip B. (who was born December 29, 1853; died October 8, 1854), Daniel D. (born January 12, 1856), Mary Emma (born February 1, 1859), John W. (born November 6, 1861), Robert S. (born July 6, 1864), Clara A. (born June 26, 1867), Luella (born May 8, 1870) and Lydia H. (born March 11, 1873, in Keokuk county, Iowa). Mr. R. owns eighty acres of good land, and his wife eighty acres more adjoining. For the last eleven years he has run a threshing machine with good success, and still does a good business in that line.
ROTH, PETER-Section 1, P. O. Deep River. Was born May 30, 1830, in Bingen on the Rhine, where he was raised on a farm, and educa- ted. He came to the United States in the spring of 1854, landing in New York City, where he remained two months, with his wife and one child, then went to Ohio and farmed for two years within four miles of Cleve- land. He then immigrated to Iowa, and rented a farm for the next five years, and bought his present place in 1869. He married February 26, 1852, Margaret Miller, who was born in Bingen, June 27, 1832. Their children are: Elizabeth (born October 30, 1852; married February 14, 1871, to Adam Fisher), Henry (born September 2, 1854), Catharina (born May 23, 1859, died April 1, 1860,) George (born January 27, 1861), Anna
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Mary (born April 12, 1863), Peter (born June 3, 1865), Charles (born March 5, 1867), Margaret (born January 27, 1870), Charlotte Minnie (born February 14, 1872) and Wm. M. (born May 19, 1874). Mr. Roth owns 158 acres of good land in good farming condition, and ten acres of timber. He is serving his township as school director and treasurer, and road super- visor.
S ANDERS, ANDREW J .- Postmaster, section 29, Tilton. His great_ grandfather was probably born in Ireland. His grandfather was born in New Jersey, in 1775; moved to Washington county, Pennsylvania when quite young, and died in 1852. His father was born the 17th of August, 1801, and now lives in Des Moines county, Iowa. His mother, whose maiden name was Mary Dewberry, was born in Preston county, West Vir- ginia, June 1, 1807. His parents were married in 1826, and had nine children, of whom Andrew was the oldest, and he was born February 2, 1828, in Amity, Washington county, Pennsylvania. His father being a shoemaker, he was put to that trade when thirteen years old, taking his seat just two days before President Harrison took his. His school advan- tages being limited, he received most of his education by reading whatever book he could obtain. When he was eighteen years old, his father moved into the country, where he farmed until his twenty-third year, when, being married, he immigrated to this State in 1850. He settled on a farm in Dan- ville township, Des Moines county, where he remained about twenty-four years, when he moved to his present place on the 24th of February, 1875. Mr. Sanders married, in Pennsylvania, the 29th day of May, 1849, Miss Phebe Baldwin of Washington county, Pennsylvania, who was born in the same county in 1827, and died May 12th 1851, having no issue. On De- cember 25, 1852, he married Miss Mary Clendaniel of Amity, Pennsylva- nia, who was born in Fredericktown, Pennsylvania, January 17, 1833. Children have been born to them as follows: Losson P. (born July 30, 1854; married January 31, 1878), Frank B. (born July 15, 1856), Charles E. (born September 17, 1858; married April 22, 1880), Harlan Curtis (born October 15, 1861), Mary E. (born May 1, 1862), Newton E. (born Decem- ber 8, 1863), Homer E. (born May 4, 1868) and Horace Wade (born Au- gust 29, 1871). Mr. Sanders owns 160 acres of good land, and is a pros- perous farmer. He is president of the board of school directors, road supervisor and postmaster.
SARGOOD, JOHN-Section 10, P. O. Deep River. His father was born in Wolenford, Yorkshire, England, in 1757. He was a tinner, and learned his trade in London, and when 18 years of age, took passage for
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
this country, and crossed the ocean with the tea which the incensed Amer- icans threw overboard. The fall after his arrival, he joined our fathers in the Revolutionary conflict and fought three years for the liberty his de- scendants now enjoy. He was with Washington during his attempted surprise of the British in the night on Staten Island, and engaged in many skirmishes, especially the battle of Monmouth. After his discharge from the army, he hired out to a farmer. He married Miss Margaret Davis, and some years after his marriage attempted to emigrate with his wife and two children to Kentucky, but was prevented from reaching his destination by the hostility of the Indians. He consequently settled in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where John was born on the 22d of February, 1799. He learned his father's trade, in which he attained uncommon proficiency. There being few or no opportunities for educational attainments in those days, and his father being poor, with a large family to support, John was obliged to struggle hard to learn to read and write. He remained with his father until he was twenty-three years old, and, indeed, for many years after leaving his roof he contributed largely to lighten the burden of his father's declining years. In 1820 the family moved into Ohio, where John lived with them until the spring of 1848, when he emigrated to lowa, stop- ping in Wapello county until the following fall, when he moved to his present farm, having taken up the first land ever entered from the govern- ment in this county, consisting of 120 acres. Here he lived and worked for thirteen years, and on the 15th day of August, 1862, he led to the altar Miss Jemima Landers of Oskaloosa, Iowa, who was born in Tuscara- was county, Ohio, on the 2d day of August, 1823. The result of this union has been two children: Pliny Malachi (born September 28, 1864) and Charlie (born June 11, 1866). Both died in infancy. Mr. Sargood owns a good farm, than which none in the county can be found in neater condition, and he takes great interest in raising grapes. Notwith- standing the fact that they were married unusually late in life, he and his wife are a happy old couple. Their cheerful home constantly smiles with the broadest and most genial hospitality, while for their excellent qualities they are loved and esteemed by everybody, and familiarly known, far and wide, as " Uncle John" and "Aunt Jemima."
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SARGENT, DANIEL K .- Section 3, P. O. Deep River. His great-grand- father, Peter S. Sargent, was of English extraction, and lived in Hopkin- ton, New Hampshire, where Daniel's grandfather, Arnaasa Sargent, was born, on March 6, 1770, and married in 1796, Miss Susana Shepherd, who was born in Newton, Massachusetts, in June, 1772. Their son, Jonathan, was born in New London, New Hampshire, June 27, 1802, and married
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February 22, 1830, Miriam J. Currier, who was born in New Hampshire, December 19, 1800, and died in March, 1852, leaving three children, one girl and two boys. Their second child, Daniel, the subject of this sketch, was born in Hanover, Grafton county, New Hampshire, July 14, 1832. Daniel's father was a blacksmith and he was raised to the same trade. He educated himself while working at the forge, and taught school one term. During his boyhood his cousin, J. E. Sargent, then a young lawyer, but in after years the Supreme Judge of New Hampshire, and for two years Chief Justice of the same State, came into the village in the prosecution of his profession and excited an ambition in young Daniel for legal fame. Upon making application for advice to a legal friend of some distinction, Geo. S. Tole, he was frightened out of his intentions, and the current of his life was changed. From his native place he came directly to this county, April 18, 1857, and immediately built the first blacksmith shop in Deep River town- ship, where he continued to ply his trade until August of 1862, when he enlisted in company B, Fortieth Iowa volunteers. He served as private for two years and nine months, when he was promoted to the second lieu- tenancy of company D, One Hundred and Thirteenth colored troops, in which office he served until the following October, when, having contracted malarial fever, he resigned his commission. He participated in the battle of Mechanicsville and the Siege of Vicksburg, after which he was taken to the hospital at Helena, Arkansas, from which he passed successfully through four others, winding up at Keokuk. He sufficiently recovered to return to the front in May, of 1864, from which time he kept his health and served as a faithful soldier until the date of his discharge, October 5, 1865. He re- ceives a pension. His aged father, who has lived with him since 1861, kept up his son's business during his absence, and at the same time served as the village postmaster. His slumbering ambition for legal practice being revived, he now commenced the study of law, and after being commis- sioned as notary public in 1866, was finally admitted to the bar in April, 1872. He is now serving his seventh term as justice of the peace, and has, in fact, held about every office in the gift of the township. Mr. Sargent married, April 10, 1855, Miss Clara Cook, of Lyme, New Hampshire. Their children are: Willie N. (born April 18, 1856), Mary A. (born De- cember 25, 1857, and died September 1, 1858), Josie E. (born August 16, 1859) and Sylvender A. (born February 22, 1862). All except Will N. born in Deep River township. Besides his own children Mr. Sargent has adopted a child, who, by the articles of adoption, takes the name of Minnie A. Sargent, and was born the 12th of August, 1871. He traded his town property in the spring of 1871 for a farm of 175 acres.
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SARGENT, WILL N .- P. O. Deep River, and now lives in the village of Dresden. He was born in Lyme, Grafton county, New Hampshire, on the 18th of April, 1856, and when an infant was brought to this county. During the eighteenth and nineteenth years of his age he taught school two terms of four months each, in district number nine, of Lincoln township, this county. Having learned his trade with his father, D. K. Sargent, with the means acquired in teaching he purchased the outfit of his present bus- iness, and has flourished as the village blacksmith ever since. On the 3d of March, 1880, he married Miss Cora Irwin, of Deep River township, who was born the 10th of April, 1863, in Muscatine county, Iowa. Mr. Sargent is, and has been for several years, local reporter for several county papers. Besides being a natural and fine musician, he is a young man of great in- fluence and strong manly character.
SLACK, MRS. JOHN-Section 25, P. O. Deep River. Her maiden name was Mary Griffin, and her ancestors were Franco-English. She was born in New Castle county, Delaware, December 18, 1809, and raised and educated there. She was married to John Slack, in Muskingum county, Ohio, January 29, 1829, with the following result: Cornelia (born January 19, 1830; married Wm. Ladely), Lydia (born May 3, 1832; married Michael Straub), Ira born December 12, 1835; married Elizabeth Hill), Susan (born October 30, 1837; she was married January 17, 1867, in Zanesville, Ohio, to A. J. Pollock, to whom she bore: Hattie, born September 17, 1867; died May 8, 1868, and Frances May, born September 24, 1869; died January 29, 1870; her husband was a soldier; died from disease contracted in the federal army, December 31, 1869, in consequence of which she receives a pension), John H. (born December 28, 1839; died December 24, 1841), Charlotte (born October 18, 1842; married to G. H. Marshall, and died December 3, 1874), Mary E. (born December 17, 1844), Sarah J. (born No- vember 18, 1849; married) and Philip Henry (born February 4, 1852). Mr. Slack's grandfather emigrated from Holland to America during the colo- nial days and settled in Virginia. Was a fifer in the Revolutionary War, and died in April, 1838. He was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, June 23, 1806, and was raised and educated on a farm in his native county. He entered a homestead in this county in 1853, but continued to work in a boiler manufactory at Zanesville, Ohio, until his death, July 23, 1865. He left an estate of 160 acres of unimproved prairie in this county and a large house and lot in Zanesville, to the disposition of his widow. After his death the house and lot were sold, and the family emigrated to and improved the land, eighty acres of which has been deeded to the son Henry. The estate is in good condition and out of debt.
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