USA > Iowa > The United States biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of eminent and self made men, Iowa volume > Part 20
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could find them, and was a diligent student at home. At the age of fourteen he removed with his parents to Fountain county, Indiana, on the Wabash river, where the family remained about five years, and from thence removed to Hendricks county, twenty miles west of Indianapolis, where they remained five years more; and in the autumn of 1842 the parents removed to Cedar county, Iowa, where they commenced farming, but our subject remained in Indiana, intending to teach school and study law. But in the following year (1843) the father died and left the family in straightened circumstances, and J. D., being the eldest son, was obliged to join the mother and younger children in Iowa, and render what aid he could in providing for their mainte- nance. Accordingly, in the autumn of 1844, he set- tled down to farming in Cedar county, where he remained until 1855, reading at intervals such elc- mentary law-books as he was able to procure. In the spring of the latter year he quitted the farm, the younger children being now able to carry it on, and removed to Rochester in the same county, where he was engaged in business. In the fall of 1856 he removed to Wilton, then only laid out on the Mis- sissippi and Missouri railroad, now the Chicago. Rock Island and Pacific railroad, and, in com- pany with Mr. Adam Bair, erected the two-story building now occupied by the post-office, and opened a country store, which was conducted with varying success until the financial crisis of 1857, when they were obliged to discontinue business. This ended the mercantile career of Mr. Walker.
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For the next two years he devoted himself industri- ously to the study of law on his own responsibility.
In the autumn of 1860 he opened an office in Wilton, and obtaining the appointment of notary public- a position which, with the exception of a short intermission, he has held ever since-com- menced the practice of law. In 1862 he was ap- pointed postmaster of Wilton under President Lin- coln's administration, which he held until 1866, when he was discontinued by Andrew Johnson. In the autumn of 1868 he was elected clerk of the dis- trict and circuit courts of Muscatine county, and was reëlected in the autumn of 1870, and in Janu- ary, 1873, resumed the practice of his profession, to which he has since mainly devoted his attention, with very flattering success.
He was one of the original incorporators of the Wilton Seminary in 1866, a high-class academic in- stitution, which has since been in successful oper- ation, and was a member of the first board of trus- tees, and superintended for a time the erection of the seminary buildings. He was a member of the board of school directors in 1875, when the present magnificent public school building was erected in Wilton, and gave his influence to the enterprise.
He became a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1849, and has remained in con- nection ever since. He has passed all the chairs and held all the offices in the order up to represen- tative in the grand lodge of the state. He has also been a prominent member of the Sons of Temper- ance, of the Temple of Honor, of the Good Tem- plars, and has given his influence to every enterprise and organization of his day tending to promote the best interests of the community.
His religious views are orthodox, though he is not in communion with any church organization.
In politics, he was originally an old-line whig, his first vote being cast for William Henry Harrison for President in 1840. On the dissolution of the whig party he united with the republican, with which he has been identified ever since.
He was married on the 25th of May, 1865, to Miss Eliza Hartman, daughter of George Hartman, of Pennsylvania. They have three children, George, Frank and Fannie, all bright and promising, and being educated for useful and honorable stations in life.
Mr. Walker is a man of sterling integrity, indus- trions, persevering and, withal, modest. He is not what in this age of spice and wit would be called a brilliant man, but he is prudent, cautious and strong in judgment; slow in arriving at positive conclu- sions, but when once reached he holds them with great tenacity. As a professional man, he is rather inclined to counsel peace, moderation and compro- mise than litigation and courts of law; in short, he is said to be too much of a peacemaker for a suc- cessful lawyer, a fact which will tell more in his favor hereafter than the most brilliant triumphs of the forum. His standing before the community is that of a first-class moral, benevolent and charitable gentleman. He holds the respect and confidence of all who know him, and the love and veneration of the poor and unfortunate. He is greatly attached to his family, and enjoys all the comforts and moral associations of a happy home. He has never been known to betray a friend or a trust, and if he has any enemies they have never made themselves known to him.
HON. ALFRED F. BROWN,
CEDAR FALLS.
A LFRED FRANCIS BROWN, a native of Ohio, was born near Zanesville, Muskingum county, on the 8th of December, 1828, and is the son of Parley and Rachel (Evans) Brown. His grand- father, James Brown, participated in the revolution- ary war. His father was a farmer. Alfred disliked agricultural pursuits, and at fourteen years of age went on foot to Columbus, a distance of sixty miles, to learn the printer's trade. At the end of about six months his parents persuaded him to return and
attend a select school at Chandlersville. There and at the McIntyre Academy, in Zanesville, he spent about two years. From the latter place he went to Granville College (now Denison University), and spent eighteen months in the preparatory de- partment, and afterward engaged in teaching and in studying law. He read in the offices of Hon. Richard Stillwell and Judge Searle, of Zanesville, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1848.
Mr. Brown practiced in Newcomerstown, Tus-
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carawas county, until 1850, when he immigrated to Iowa. He spent about four years in Scott and Ce- dar counties, teaching school, practicing law and conducting a newspaper. He edited the "News- letter," at Rochester, Cedar county, when that town was contesting with Tipton for the honors of the county seat, and failed in its ambitious aims; the press was removed to Cedar Falls, and, at the solic- itation of the publisher, Mr. Brown followed it in June, 1854. During the first six months after his arrival, he devoted a part of his time to editing the "Cedar Falls Banner." This was the first paper west of Dubuque on this line of railroad. Discon- tinuing journalism, Mr. Brown thenceforward gave his whole time, except when holding office, to the legal profession.
He was elected prosecuting attorney of Black Hawk county in 1855, and served one year. In 1859 he was elected to the state senate, and served four years. During the first session he was chair-
man of the committee on public lands, and in the second held the same position on the committee on federal relations, taking the place of Hon. J. F. Wilson, who was elected to Congress. He was also an active member of the eighth and ninth general assemblies, and in the famous debate in 1862, on the resumption of the railroad land grants, he took a prominent part ; and a speech of his on this question was published in full, and had a wide circulation.
In 1860 Mr. Brown was a delegate to the repub- lican national convention which nominated Abra- ham Lincoln. Though still a republican, he does not allow politics to interfere with the regular duties of his profession, which has become prosperous, ex- tending beyond Black Hawk into adjoining counties.
Though not a member of any church organiza- tion, he attends the Baptist service.
In September, 1867, he was married to Miss Jennie McCall, daughter of Dr. McCall, of Canton, Ohio.
HON. JEREMIAH T. ATKINS,
DECORAH.
O F the early settlers in Winneshiek county no one has been the recipient of more honors, or is more worthy of them, than Jeremiah T. At- kins. He was born at Phillipson, Worcester county, Massachusetts, on the 4th of April, 1811. His father, Thomas Atkins, was a farmer, stone cutter, and contractor, and came of a Cape Cod seafaring race. Some of them were masters of vessels. Anna Kendall Atkins was his mother's name. He was reared on a farm until he was nineteen years of age, after which period, for a few years, he was engaged in running line boats and packets, as com- mander, on the Northern and Erie canals.
In December, 1835. Mr. Atkins visited Chicago, spending, however, only two or three weeks there. He went to Michigan City, Indiana; was for a short time agent for stage companies, and for about two years dealt in government lands. Subsequently he was engaged in locating farms in La Porte county, being, altogether, a resident of that county about sixteen years, during the latter part of which he studied and practiced law.
In October, 1851, Mr. Atkins came to Iowa, lo- cating in the eastern part of Winneshiek county, near Frankville, and twelve miles from Decorah.
One of these towns was at that time not much known except in name, and Frankville had not even risen to that dignity. There was no frame house at the present county seat, and not more than two or three hundred voters in the county. Indians were as numerous as white men.
For several years after his settlement in Iowa Mr. Atkins was engaged in improving lands and practicing law. He spent considerable time at De- corah, and at other county seats, in attendance at the courts. He abandoned the practice of law about twenty years ago, devoting his time largely to buying and selling land, in which business he has been quite successful. In 1873 he moved to Deco- rah, and is living a life of comparative ease, enjoying the results of a busy and truly honorable career.
The first postoffice in Winneshiek county was at Jamestown, on Washington prairie; James B. Cutler was postmaster and Mr. Atkins deputy-the first deputy postmaster in the county. In these early days the duties of the office were not laborious, there being only one mail a week, but in the ab- sence of the postmaster a deputy was requisite.
A year or two after settling in Iowa Mr. Atkins was appointed prosecuting attorney for the county,
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and served one term. At an early day he was elected county judge, but by some informality in the returns some of the votes were thrown out, and the then incumbent of the office held over.
In 1856 Mr. Atkins was elected State senator, representing eleven counties in the northeastern part of the State. He was among the leading mem- bers of that body, and conspicuous for his industry and his knowledge of parliamentary practice. The year after he was elected the new constitution came before the people for their adoption, and Mr. Atkins canvassed his senatorial district in its support, ren- dering good service in that direction.
In 1867 he was returned to the lower house of the general assembly, and proved an earnest and successful worker in the interests of his constituents. He aided essentially in getting the railroad through Winneshiek county and to Decorah, and his services in this respect are to-day highly appreciated. Mr. Atkins has been identified with most of the im- portant improvements in his locality.
Mr. Atkins is of whig antecedents, and on the dissolution of that party promptly joined the re- publican, to which he is indebted for his political honors. On the outbreak of the rebellion he was interested in the salvation of the Union, and though too old himself to enlist, he did a great deal to encourage others. In 1861 he was the first in the county to receive an enrolling commission, which Governor Kirkwood sent him early in that summer.
Mr. Atkins was married to Miss Harriett Matti- son, of Washington county, New York, in October, 1838; to Miss Amanda Heaton, of La Porte county, Indiana, about 1843, and to Miss Carrie Dawson, of Allamakee county, in July, 1872, all since deceased. He has no issue except by his second wife, who had eight children, of whom five are living. The only son, Jay, is married, and lives on the old home- stead in the eastern part of the county; the eldest daughter, Hattie, is the wife of Wendell B. Stevens, of Charles City, Iowa, and the other three daughters, Amelia, Almira and Lulu, are living at home.
HON. LUCIAN L. AINSWORTH,
WEST UNION.
L' UCIAN LESTER AINSWORTH has always been esteemed as the best read and ablest lawyer in Fayette county, Iowa. He has thought less of accumulating a fortune than of building up a reputation in his profession; hence he has made the profession of law his life-study.
Mr. Ainsworth was born at New Woodstock, Mad- ison county, New York, on the 31st of June, 1831. His parents were Parmenas and Kezia (Webber) Ainsworth, and belonged to a farming community. His great-grandfather on the maternal side lost his life in the struggle for independence. Mr. Ains- worth's mother was a woman of strong mind, kind and affectionate in the treatment of her children, and extremely anxious that they should be success- ful in life; and to her careful training, wholesome advice and early teaching, the subject of our sketch is largely indebted for his success in after-life.
At the age of eighteen, after receiving what edu- cation a common school could afford, supplemented with the aid of his mother at the fireside, he went to the Oneida Conference Seminary at Cazenovia, attending there about four years, teaching during the winters and working on the farm during vacations.
Leaving the seminary in 1853, he commenced studying law with Messrs. Miner and Sloan, of De- Ruyter, Madison county. A. Scott Sloan is now the attorney-general of Wisconsin. Mr. Ainsworth was admitted to the bar at the general term of the su- preme court for that county in September, 1854. The next year he bent his course westward, halting during the summer at Belvidere, Illinois, and prac- ticing with J. R. Beckwith, Esq., now United States district attorney in Louisiana. In the autumn follow- ing he pushed farther westward, crossed the Missis- sippi, and selected West Union for his future home. He was young and full of ambition -ambition to excel in the legal profession ; clung to law-books be- cause he loved them, and few men in the tenth judi- cial district are more familiar with their contents.
In 1859 Mr. Ainsworth was elected to represent Fayette and Bremer counties in the upper house of the general assembly, and in 1871 to represent his own county in the lower house. During the session of 1860 the laws of the state were codified, and again in 1872 and 1873. In both houses Mr. Ains- worth was on the judiciary committee, and his legal attainments were eminently serviceable.
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In 1862 he enlisted in the 6th Iowa Cavalry ; was elected captain of company C, and served three years. At one period during this time he was in command of Fort Randall, Dakota Territory, about six months.
In 1874 he was elected by a combination of democrats and anti-monopolists to represent the third district in congress, the only anti-republican elected to that body from Iowa since 1854.
Politically, he may be called the luckiest man in the state ; for, although a life-long democrat, he has been elected to the general assembly twice in a re- publican district. His manners are quite pleasing ; is cordial, frank and honest; a prompt helper of the needy ; has a great many warm personal friends, and always secures more than the party vote.
Mr. Ainsworth is a Knight Templar in the Ma- sonic order.
On the 8th of December, 1859, he married Miss Margaret E. McCool, of Freeport, Illinois. She has had six children, five of whom are living. He was very fortunate in the selection of his wife. She is an intelligent and refined lady, very domestic in her nature, and much attached to her family - a model christian wife and mother.
Mr. Ainsworth has been admitted to practice in the supreme court of the United States. He has great weight in every department of his profession, and especial power before a jury. He is a good illustration of what an industrious man can accom- plish by giving his time mainly to one study and by bending his energies in a single direction.
HON. JOSIAH T. YOUNG,
DES MOINES.
OSIAH T. YOUNG, a native of Union town- J ship, Johnson county, Indiana, was born on the 25th of February, 1831, the son of John Young and Rachael née Titus.
His paternal great-grandparents, Jacob and Pe- nelope (Watts) Young, were of Scotch, Irish and English ancestry, and natives of Jones Falls, twenty miles from Baltimore, Maryland, whence they re- moved immediately after the revolutionary war to Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, where John Young, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born, on the 20th of November, 1806. They were farmers, as were also his grandparents, Jesse and Margaret (Wiley) Young, and also his parents. His maternal grandparents, Peter Titus and Rachael née Moore, were farmers, and natives of Maryland. Both his grandparents moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio about 1816, and in 1826 settled in Johnson county, Indiana. His ancestors were all Presbyterians, and at an early date went to Maryland to enjoy religious liberty, Lord Baltimore having given access to all denominations. There is now in the family a keep- sake, an old-fashioned skillet, at least one hundred and fifty years old, which passed through the Indian wars of 1756-7.
His grandfather, Young, was a man of very su- perior intellect, and for forty-three years an elder in the Presbyterian church. He lived to the advanced age of seventy-five years. His mother was born be-
fore the revolution, and lived to be over one hundred years old. Josiah was early influenced by the study of his grandfather's character. he inspiring him with ambition and an incentive to work for noble ends. He first attended school in the winter of 1843-4, for twenty-five days, in Warren county, Illinois, going two and a half miles to a log cabin, and study- ing reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling. During three months of the following winter he attended school at Swan Creek. In 1846 his father moved to what was then called Kishkekosh county, territory of Iowa, the same being named in honor of Kishke- kosh, chief of one of the tribes of the Sacs and Fox Indians. The name, however, was changed that same year, and the county has since been known as Monroe county.
Here the family lived in a log cabin, bravely en- during the hardships of frontier life, and opened a farm. Josiah attended school three months, in a log cabin adjoining his home, under the instruction of Mr. W. H. Potts, who afterward became his brother-in-law. This completed his education in the school-room ; but, being fond of study, he bor- rowed whatever books his neighbors could supply him, and by extensive reading became well versed in many branches of study.
He remained upon his father's farm until nearly twenty-one years old. On the 14th of November, 1851, he was married to Christina B. Potts, daughter
yours truly Josiah I. young
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of Jacob Potts and Elizabeth née Wiley. Mrs. Young was born in Jackson county, West Virginia, on the 16th of October, 183r.
After marrying, Mr. Young entered a claim, and worked it two years, teaching the township school during each winter. Going then to Albia, he spent about a year clerking in a store; and in 1856 pur- chased an interest in a carding machine, to which he added improvements, until he had a fine establish- ment. In the early part of 1857 he admitted his brother to the business as a partner, and was meet- ing with good success, when, in 186r, the establish- ment burned, without insurance, leaving him about three thousand dollars in debt. In 1860, in com- pany with T. B. Gray, Esq., he purchased the office of the "Albia Weekly Republican," and started a paper which he called the "Monroe County Sen- tinel," and advocated the election of Stephen A. Douglas to the presidency. Near the close of that year he purchased his partner's interest; and in February, 1861, by reason of illness, suspended pub- lication.
In August, 1862, he enlisted in company K, 36th regiment Iowa Infantry, and in November went to Benton barracks, St. Louis, where he was sick three weeks, his disease developing into diphtheria, and his life being despaired of. He, however, recovered, and when able to walk, went with his regiment to Columbus, Kentucky, and Memphis, and camped on the bluff overlooking the river, and just above where General Jackson built intrenchments in 1814. After about three weeks he was sent to do duty as clerk at the headquarters of General Asboth; but afterward, his ambition to be a clerk being satisfied, he was excused at his own request, and went with his regiment to Helena. On New Year's Day, 1863, the regiment went into quarters near Fort Curtis, and Mr. Young performed picket and guard duty from the rst of January till the 24th of February, when they were sent on an expedition through Moon Lake and the Tallahatchie in front of Fort Pemberton, on which they made several un- successful attacks. Returning up the river about two days' journey they met General Quinby with a reinforcement of ten thousand men, and going back made another unsuccessful attack upon the fort. On the 8th of April, 1863, the fleet of transports and gun-boats, with infantry on board, returned to He- lena. During this expedition Jonathan P. and David W. Potts, brothers-in-law of Mr. Young, sickened by reason of exposure and hardship and died, the lat-
ter on the rith of April and the former on the 15th of May, 1863, and were buried on the top of a high hill overlooking Helena. Mr. Young also was taken ill, and after the death of his brothers-in-law ob- tained a furlough of thirty days, and remained until the 5th of July, and thus was not able to participate in the battle of Helena, which was fought on the 4th of July. On the 11th of August, under General Steel, of the seventh army corps, his regiment marched across the country to capture Little Rock, which place they entered in triumph on the 10th of September. During this time the captain of his company and several other members had died of sickness. Remaining in camp till the 23d of March, 1864, they then set out on the ill-fated Red River expedition, marching about a month, and being en- gaged almost daily in fighting. It was during this time that were fought the battles of Spoonville, Elkin's Ford, Prairie de Anne and Camden. At the last named place they rested a few days, and on the 21st of April, 1864, Mr. Young's brigade was sent to a mill about six miles distant to shell and grind corn for the soldiers. That day occurred the battle of Poison Springs. At evening a messenger from headquarters ordered them in, and marching all night they reached Camden on the following morning. About two days later, the brigade was ordered to escort a train of three hundred wagons going to Pine Bluff for provisions. After going about eighty miles in the direction of Pine Bluff, they were surrounded and attacked by an over- whelming force of rebels at Mark's Mills, Bradley county, Arkansas, and the whole brigade either killed or taken prisoner. The fight lasted from nine o'clock in the morning until half-past two in the afternoon, and Mr. Young was slightly wounded in the right arm above the elbow. Leaving Camden to the right they marched all that night and the next day until sundown, when they reached the Washita river, and obtained a little corn to eat, the first that they had eaten since their breakfast before the battle. Thence they crossed the river and marched in a circuitous route, at the rate of fifteen to twenty miles per day, to Camden. There they were placed in an old cotton house, and under pretense of searching for concealed weapons, the rebels robbed them of all the possessions they had on their persons. After about three days of harsh treatment, they were taken in the direction of Shreveport, Louisiana, under a promise that they would there be exchanged; but instead of stop-
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ping there they marched through the place, crossed the Red river, and camped about four miles out on the Texas road. On the 15th of May, 1864, they reached Camp Ford, where they remained until the 15th of February, 1865, enduring horrors exceeded only by those of "Libby and Ander- sonville." They were now paroled and sent to Shreveport under rebel guards, thence on rebel steamboats to the mouth of the Red river, where they were exchanged. Thence they were sent to New Orleans, and there were furnished with clothes, blankets and knapsacks, and from there came north to Cairo. Here they received a thirty days' prison furlough, having been prisoners ten months, and at the expiration of that time returned to the remnant of their regiment at St. Charles, Arkansas.
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