USA > Iowa > Iowa County > The history of Iowa County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 83
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GROFF, JOHN M .- Sec. 32, P. O. Victor. Was born in Wooster, Ohio, April 23, 1840. He lived with his parents until 1868. His school- ing consists of two winter terms in the common schools in Wooster, and after his majority, in 1861 and 1862 he attended two terms at the Otter-
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bena University at Waterville, Ohio. He has taught two terms of school, the only business he has ever followed outside of farming. In 1864 he- married Ann E. Hyter, and the following year he took the homestead farm on the shares, where he lived until the spring of 1869, when he came West and settled in Iowa county, three and a half miles north of Victor, and is- still living on the farm he then bought. Like many other first settlers he began life in Iowa in a log cabin. His land being unbroken and having- limited means his success depended upon his own labor. The first year he broke sixty acres. His first crop was poor and the following year he lost many hogs. Since then he has been very fortunate; as fast as his means- accumulated he improved his farm, and built a good house and outbuildings,. and now he enjoys a pleasant home. His farm consists of one hundred and sixty acres. He has five children : Mary (born in 1865), Augustus (born in 1867), Charles (born in 1869), Julia (born in 1872) and John (born in 1875). The first two were born in Ohio and the others in Iowa. He is a Green- backer in politics and is prominent with his party.
GUTHRIE, I .- Sec. 6, P. O. Belle Plaine. Was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1816, when he was ten years of age his parents moved to Centre county, Pennsylvania, near Bellefonte, where he contiu- ued to live with them until he was eighteen when he was apprenticed to John Hays of Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, to learn the plastering busi- ness, serving with him three years as an apprentice and remained with him one year as a journeyman. In 1838 he began contracting for himself in Mifflin and adjoining counties, until 1858, when he went to Mercer county, Penn- sylvania, where he farmed and worked at his trade until 1866, then came to Iowa county and purchased the farm he now occupies. December 9, 1841; he married Martha C. Leathers of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. They have five children: Frederick, James, Annie, Elias and Mary. John T., their eldest son. enlisted in the army at the age of eighteen, and was taken prisoner at Welding Railroad, and died in a rebel prison. During the war Mr. Guthrie was put to much expense and trouble, visiting and attending to two sons while sick in the army. He is a Republican and a strong party man.
H AKEMAN, ISAAC-Sec. 30, P. O. Victor. Was born in Devon- shire, England, January 1, 1844. When he was two years of age he came with his parents to the United States landing in New York in the summer of 1846. His father settled in Cayuga county, New York, living there until 1849. In 1855 he came with his parents to Iowa, they settling in Cedar county where he continued to live with them until 1862, when he enlisted in company C, Twenty-fourth lowa infantry, and served during the war, participating in twenty-seven battles, the most important being the battles of Port Gibson, Champion's Hill, Black River Bridge, Siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Minchester, Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill. He was also in the expedition up Red River, and was in Sheridan's army in the fall of 1864 and spring of 1865. After his discharge in 1865 he returned to Cedar county and engaged in farming with his father. In 1866 he went to Ben- ton county where he lived until 1869 when he came to Iowa county and purchased the farm on which he now lives, consisting of three hundred and twenty acres. In 1871 he married Catharine Smith of Victor. All the help he has ever received was a team given him by his father, and now he has an improved farm of three hundred and twenty acres, thirty head of cattle, nine horses and thirty-five hogs. He has two children: Franklin (born August, 1873) and Nettie.
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HENCH, WILLIAM- P. O. Koszta. Hails from Pennsylvania. Was born February 6, 1801, in Perry county, near Juniata. In the fall of 1829, he married Mary Sullenberger, by whom he had eight children, three of whom are dead; only two are now living in Iowa county, Miss Kate, who is living with her father in Koszta, and Mrs. John Hale of Ma- rengo. One son is living in Washington county, Kansas, and the other two are at Stuart, Iowa, in the milling and grain business. Mr. Hench came to Iowa in September, 1842, settling near Iowa City, in Johnson county. Moved from there in March, 1845, and settled in Iowa county, where Koszta now is, and where he has resided ever since. In his younger days he possessed the true vim of a frontiersman. When he first came to Iowa he was on the very outskirts of civilization. He has seen the boundless wild gradually succumb to the enterprise of the immigrant, and productive farms and thriving villages are now seen where was only a wild waste of prairie. He has filled many positions in the county and township, at one time being sheriff and for the first year receiving only ten cents in money, the fees being paid in county orders at fifty cents on the dollar; at an other time he was assessor and assessed the whole county as one township. He for many years kept public house, from which Koszta then bore the name of Hench's Settlement. Using his own words, he "is a Republican every time." In 1874 his wife, the companion of his younger days and who shared with him all the vicissitudes of a pioneer life, died; a consistent member of the Protestant Methodist Church, a devoted mother and beloved by the whole community. In 1876 he visited the home of his boyhood but so great was the change that the charm was broken, and he hastily returned to Iowa, the home of his adoption.
HOVEY, FRED-Sec. 31, P. O. Victor. Was born in Windham county, Connecticut, in 1817, where he lived with his parents, attending school at the academy in Woodstock until he was fifteen, and then attended Nicholas Academy, in Dudley, Massachusetts. He taught and attended school until he was twenty-one. In 1839 he entered the law office of Hayes & Chet- wood, in Newark, New Jersey, as a law student. He afterward studied with Lieutenant-governor Stoddard, one year, and also with Judge Backus. He continued teaching, and pursuing his law studies until 1843, when he was admitted to the bar in Brooklyn, the county seat of his native county. The same year he opened his first office in Eastford, of the same county. In 1846 he moved his office to Thompson and remained there until 1855, do- ing an extensive business and holding the office of District Attorney two terms; afterward on account of poor health caused by overwork, he traveled sometime and visited Cleveland, Ohio, where he was induced to again en- ter the practice of law with Merrill Barlow, a former student of his, where he remained until 1866. In April, 1843, he married Julia A. Crane, of New- ark, New Jersey, by whom he has three children: J. Frederica, Mary Ade- lade and Charles Crane. In the fall of 1866 he came to Iowa; his family
preceding him the year before, and his son, who preferred the life of a farmer, had begun to improve land that he had purchased before coming West. In 1867, leaving his family on the farm, he opened a law office in Victor, being the first office opened there, but on account of poor health he had to aban- don the law business soon after, returning to the farm with his family.
HUSTON, SAMUEL-Sec. 11, P. O. Koszta. Is one of Iowa's earliest settlers, coming to Johnson county in 1839, and soon after entering a quar- ter section of land were Tiffin now is. When arriving there his wealth was
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two dollars and fifty cents, and not owning a horse walked from Tiskilwa, Illinois, where he had been in business, but lost everything in the panic of 1837. He built his first house in Iowa-a cabin -- on his claim and kept bachelor hall; breaking up his first fifty acres by procuring the use of a neighbor's team by breaking two acres for the use of the team and plow, and one acre for himself, and the farm thus broken up is now known as the Tautlinger farm, near Tiffin. His first crop was that of pumpkins, which he had gathered and was about effecting the sale of them when an early and unexpected freeze blasted his plans, but being plucky, and never known to give up, he soon conceived the idea of manufacturing them into pumpkin butter, and from the proceeds of which and the sale of wild tur- kies sold at Iowa City, he replenished his badly dilapidated wardrobe- at that time consisting partly of a suit made of a white Indian blanket and a wolf-skin cap. he buying his first Sunday suit in Iowa. In 1850 he went to California, returning to Iowa in 1852. Selling his farm in John- son county, in 1854 he moved to Iowa county, settling in Honey Creek township, at Kostza, he being the original proprietor of that village, where he dealt in real estate and carried on a general merchandise business and also farmed extensively. His farm now consists of 597 acres, and he is ranked among the wealthy men of Iowa county and is now filling the position of vice-president of the First National Bank of Marengo. He was born near Stroudsburg, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and has been married four times. His present wife was Margaret B. Lamberton, of Marengo, whom he married March 13, 1866. He has two children living: George A. Huston (of Clifton. Kansas) and Emma (wife of Dr. D. B. Darr, of Ladora). Mr. Huston is Republican in politics and both he and his wife are members of the M. E. Church.
NGRAHAM, MASON-Sec. 27, P. O. Koszta. Was born in Cayuga T county, New York, in June, 1820. When he was one year old his parents moved to Seneca county, Ohio, where he lived until he reached majority. In 1842 he married Esther Mallette, and immediately went to Henry county, Ohio, where he lived until 1852, when he came to Iowa county and settled near Koszta. In 1860 he purchased the farm he now lives on consisting then of three hundred acres, but by subsequent pur- chases has increased to 730 acres, placing him among the largest farmers of the county. When he purchased it was wild and cheerless, but good management and hard work, aided by his sons, has made it a very produc- tive one. He has nine children living: Francis A., Bradford M., Malissa J., Scott, Remember, Cora M., Emma and Ettie. One daughter is married and lives in Cass county, Iowa, and two married sons and another inarried daughter live in Iowa county. The others are living at home. Mr. In- graham is a strong party man-being a Greenbacker-and is governed by what in his convictions is right and just.
INGRAHAM, F. A .- Sec. 26, P. O. Ladora. Was born September 16, 1846, in Henry county, Ohio. At the age of six years he came with his father to Iowa county, and lived with him until his majority, in 1867. At that time his father let him have eighty acres of improved farm land and forty of timber at a reduced price, thus assisting him to start in life. In 1871 he was a partner with his father in the grocery business at Marengo, and afterward was in various kinds of business, part of the time living with his father, but mostly keeping bach on his farm until 1880, when he mar- ried Ida Wilson .: Not being of a roving disposition, his life has been most-
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ly spent in Iowa county. He begins to think that eighty acres are too much circumscribed for a man of his energy, and he will have to buy ad- joining land or sell and go where he can get more. For an amateur, he has been very successful as a nurseryman, having a small nursery from which he has supplied many of his neighbors with fruit and ornamental trees.
INGRAHAM, B. M .- Sec. 35, P. O. Ladora. Was born in Henry county, Ohio, April 9, 1849, where he lived until he was three years old, his parents then coming West, settled in Iowa county, where he lived with his father, working on the farm until he reached his majority. In 1872 he purchased the farm on which he now lives in Honey Creek town- ship, consisting of eighty acres. His father assisted him to make a start in life by giving him $1,300. In 1875 he married Emma Purdy, of Iowa county. He has three children: Royal (born Nov. 17, 1875), George (Dec. 3, 1877) and Edith (April 5, 1880).
JOHNSON, J. W .- Sec. 21, P. O. Koszta. Was born in Guernsey J county, Ohio, July 22, 1837. He lived with his parents and worked on the farm until he was nineteen. In 1857, in company with an older brother, he came to Iowa and settled in Poweshiek county, where he was principally engaged in farming until 1857, when he purchased land in Iowa county. In the spring of 1860 he went into the grocery business at Brook- lyn. In January, 1861, he quit the grocery business and visited Ohio, and while there married Lydia A. Sparrowgrove, of Noble county, Ohio, and soon after returned to Iowa. In July, 1862, he enlisted in company B, Twenty-eighth Iowa infantry and participated in fifteen battles, the most important being Port Gibson, Champion's Hill, Siege of Vicksburg, Siege of Jackson City, Sabine Cross-roads, Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. After his discharge, in August, 1865, he returned home to Iowa. county, where he is still following the avocation of farming. He has passed through all the phases of a life in a new settlement. His first house was an old picture gallery on wheels. His farm now contains one hundred and sixty-five acres of improved land well stocked. He is a very successful farmer. He has seven children: Lizzie E., John W., Marcus and Dilly (twins), Melinda, Charles E. and Orin De Forest. Himself and wife are members of the M. E. Church.
A GRANGE, JOHN F .- Sec. 34, P. O. Ladora. Was born in Al-
L bany county, New York, February 12, 1837. When he was seven years old his parents moved to Prince William county, Virginia, where they lived two years, and then returned to Albany county, New York, where they lived until the fall of 1851, when they came West and settled near Davenport, Iowa. He well remembers the trip coming West, trav- eling by canal to Buffalo and from there to Chicago by steamer, being nine days on the lakes, the weather being very rough and stormy. From Chi- cago to Peru, Illinois, by canal and from there to Davenport with teams. In 1858 he married Frances J. Briggs, and buying a farm twenty miles west of Davenport, settled there until 1865, when he sold out and bought a farm nearer Davenport, living there until 1870, when he sold out and came to Iowa county and bought the farm on which he now lives, consist- ing of one hundred and seventy-five acres. He has seven children: Zenama (who is married and lives in Scott county, Iowa), Joseph, Alice, Sidney, Fred, Maggie and Frank living at home. He has spent the most of his life in Iowa, and is much attached to the State, and intends to remain per-
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manently where he now lives. Has had some little experience in traveling and had the pleasure of witnessing the inauguration of President Polk in 1844, and has listened to speeches made by Daniel Webster, Stephen A. Douglas and Thurlow Weed, he being well acquainted with the latter. .
LANNING, ISAAC N .- Sec. 13, P. O. Koszta. Was born in Jackson county, Indiana, January 24, 1836. In 1843 his parents came to Iowa, stopping one year in Johnson county, and then came to Iowa county and settled near Koszta, on the farm on which the subject of this sketch now lives. His father dying in 1869 the estate was divided up among the children. The homestead, by making an exchange with his brother, fell to him, January 13, 1858. He married Isabell Kennedy, by whom he has five children, four boys and one girl. He and his wife are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first religous service attended by Mrs. Lanning in Iowa county, was in the same house she now lives in, and while she was yet a girl there'being neither a church nor school-house in the township. By taking the homestead the duty of supporting an aged mother devolves upon Mr. Lanning. She is now seventy-three years old and thirty-seven years of her life have been spent on the place where she now lives with her son. The first religious service in the county was held in her husband's log cabin in 1844, and although not very large was large enough to hold all the inhabitants of the county at that time.
LEATHERS, ISAAC-Sec. 7, P. O. Belle Plaine. Was born in Oxford, Maine, January 31, 1803. At the age of nine he went with his parents, to Penobscot county of the same State,` where he lived until forty years old. In 1823 he married Mary Abbott, by whom he has five children liv- ing, four daughters and one son, all married and living in Bangor, Maine, within the compass of one block, where they have all been for forty years. In 1847 he was bereaved of his wife, who died a consistent member of the Baptist Church. He was also a member of the same denomination and still retains his membership. Leaving the younger children with the older ones that had married, he in 1848 went to Troy, New York, where he kept a public house for three years, marrying Electa T. Gifford, of that city, February 24, 1850. In 1858, having sold his property in Troy, started for the West, coming to Iowa and settled where he now lives in Iowa county. In 1862 he enlisted in company D, Thirty-seventh Iowa infantry. He says he " was born a Democrat " and still adheres to that party.
M cKUSKER, JAMES-Sec. 32, P. O. Ladora. Was born in Glasgow, Scotland, October 10, 1830. When he was three years old his par- ents came to America, landing at Philadelphia, soon after going to Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, where his father worked at his trade, that of a stone- mason, and who, in 1837, was killed by the falling of a stone while work- ing in a tunnel. At his father's death he was only seven years old and soon after he was taken by a family by the name of Murphy, with whom he lived until he was fourteen years old. Since his father's death he has not seen or heard of his mother. When he left the Murphy family, in 1851, he went to Comanche, Iowa, where he was employed in various avo- cations. In 1856 he married Ann Mumby, of Comanche, daughter of Charles Mumby, who was born at Kirmington, England, in 1840, and came with her parents to the United States when she was twelve years old. In 1857 he came to Iowa county and settled in Honey Creek township, where he worked by the month until he had earned enough to purchase a team
42
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and breaking plow, with which he earned enough in three years to purchase the farm on which he now lives. His farm when he purchased it was wild prairie, it is now a productive farm with a comfortable house, a small or- chard and shade trees, all the result of his own labor. He has seven children: Charles (a farmer), Fanny (a teacher), Blanche (married and living in Wayne county, Iowa), Martha, Maria, Frank and John. All excepting the married daughter are living at home.
MARCELLUS, ELDEST G .- Sec. 32, P. O. Victor. Was born in Oneida county, New York, January 1, 1841, where he lived until his four- teenth year, when he came to Iowa county with his parents, they settling in Koszta. In 1862 he enlisted in company B, Twenty-eighth Iowa infan- try. After rendezvousing at Iowa City for about two months, his regiment was ordered to Helena, Arkansas, arriving there in December, where they remained until April of 1863, when they were ordered out on a foraging expedition to Oakland, Mississippi, and soon after in front of Vicksburg. He participated in the battles of Port Gibson, Champion's Hill, Siege of Vicksburg, and the Siege of Jackson. He returned home on a sick fur- lough in March, 1864, returning again to his regiment in December. He served during the war and was discharged in 1865, when he returned to Iowa county and made his home with his parents until 1870. when he mar- ried Emma Border, and soon after bought a small farm and began life for himself. Selling his farm in 1873 he, the same year, purchased the farm on which he lives in Honey Creek township. He has made a good begin- ning for a home and if hard work and swapping horses will accomplish anything he is sure of success. He has two children: Elmer (six) and Verona (four years old).
MEENACH, MRS. MARY-Sec. 19, P. O. Koszta. Was born at Newburg, Miami county, Ohio, September 7, 1824. She spent her girlhood with her parents on the old homestead where she was born, remaining there until she was twenty-eight years old. Her mother dying when she was nine years old herself and elder sister were her father's housekeepers until 1852, when she married Jefferson Meenach-her maiden name was Nicholson. Her husband dying in 1859 she returned to her father's, her sister having mar- ried and leaving him without a housekeeper, where she lived until his death in 1865. The homestead being sold in 1867, and the proceeds divided among the heirs, she took hers and came to Iowa, arriving in Iowa county in March of that year, and in May she moved on the farm where she now lives, consisting of 160 acres. costing her $3,000. She has three children: Lissa (wife of W. D. Bean), Mary J. and Robert J. Mrs. Meenach is a woman of more than ordinary business ability. By her management she has carried on the farm and maintained her family without incurring any indebtedness and her farm is free from any incumbrance. Her eldest daughter aided her by teaching school until she was married, and her son, who is yet quite young, has taken the burden of care off of her shoulders by managing the farm.
MONTGOMERY BROTHERS-Sec. 18, P. O. Belle Plaine. These brothers, John, Thomas and William, were born in Inniskillen, County of Fermanaugh, in the northern part of Ireland, aged respectively 55, 52 and 49. John came to America in 1845 and the others soon followed him. On their arrival they sought and found employment in the boot and shoe factories of Worcester and Boston, Massachusetts, where they remained until their united earnings amounted to $1,800. William came to Iowa
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·county in 1855, his brothers following him the next year and formed the company of "William Montgomery & Brothers," and engaged in the business of farming, and raising and feeding cattle. Their farm consists of 1,500 acres. In 1862 the oldest brother, John, enlisted in company B, Twenty-eighth Iowa infantry, and served during the war of the Rebellion, participating in fourteen battles, the most important being Champion's Hill, Vicksburg, Sabine Cross-roads, Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, being wounded at the latter. The Montgomery brothers, by their unanimity, are becoming wealthy, and their broad acres are giving homes and employment to many tenants. Their hundreds of fat cattle bring large amounts of money into the neighborhood, thereby not only enriching them- selves but others. Their home is the model of neatness and comfort, be- ing presided over by the wife of William, formerly Mrs. Elizabeth Bate- ham, whom he married in 1865, and by whom he has two children: William A. and Florence.
MUMBY CHARLES-Sec. 31, P. O. Ladora. Was born in Broughton, Lincolnshire, England, March 28, 1815. His parents dying when he was fourteen, he hired out to work by the year to the Right-Honorable Earl of Yarbrough and was in his employ until he was thirty (in 1845) and from that time until he came to the United States he was variously employed. In 1838 he married Mary Dale, of Kirmington, England. They came to the United States on board the Indian, a sailing vessel, sailing from Hull to New Orleans, being nearly nine weeks on the voyage, landing in New Orleans in March, 1852. From there they came by steamer on the Mississippi River to Comanche, Iowa, living there and at Clinton until 1855, when they came to Iowa county and settled, where they now live, in Honey Creek township. His farm consists of 120 acres, all of which he has im- proved since his purchase. He was the first settler in his neighborhood. Mr. and Mrs. Mumby were brought up in the M. E. Church and Mrs. Mumby still retains her membership. They have four children: Anna (wife of James McKusker, a farmer in the neighborhood), Emma (also mar- ried and settled in the county), William (settled in Wayne county, Iowa) and Francis (married and living on the farm with his parents). William served in the army during the war, being a member of company B, Twen- ty-Eighth Iowa infantry, and was in all the battles of his regiment. Was once wounded and taken prisoner, being exchanged after some ten or twelve days. He is an old line Democrat in politics.
TICHOLSON, B .- Sec. 25, P. O. Ladora. Was born in Miami county,
N Ohio, February 12, 1827, living there with his parents until he was twenty-one, and after that worked as a carpenter and joiner in the neigh- borhood until 1853, when he started for the West, coming to Iowa and set- tling in Iowa county, where he now lives. He came through from Ohio with teamns, being many weeks on the journey, and when he arrived at Ma- rengo it consisted of only five or six obscure log cabins and there were only about fifteen settlers in Honey Creek township. On the 12th of October, 1853, he began to cut the logs for his cabin and he had only twelve acres broken during the summer. For the first two years he worked at the car- penter and joiner's trade; at the same time he had his land improved as fast as he could earn means to do so. He has now 240 acres under cultiva- tion, 40 acres of hog pasture and a large tract of timber land with a good house and barn. On July 12, 1853, he married Elizabeth Harp, by whom he has four children: Samuel W., Sadie, Manie and Libbie.
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