USA > Iowa > Keokuk County > The history of Keokuk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. : a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 72
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Haffner, G., painter.
Henke, D. R., carpenter. Harlan, C. M., lumber dealer.
HARNED, S., attorney; among the early settlers of Keokuk county who have been identified with its interest officially and civilly, is the subject of this sketch; he was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, in 1814, and was raised there in various occupations until twenty- one years of age; in 1835 he re- inoved to Warren county, Illinois (now Henderson), and in October, 1839, changed his residence to Iowa City; having a professional turn of mind, he entered the office first of A. Calkins, as a student of law, and afterward, one year with Curtis Bates, Esq .; he was admit- ted to the bar in Sigourney in July, 1844, and the same year he settled in Richland, Keokuk coun- ty, and engaged in the practice of his profession; in 1846 he was a delegate to the constitutional con- vention; in 1852 he was elected to the senate, but not admitted
owing to a legal technicality; in 1855 he was elected county judge, re-elected in 1857, and during his term of office the present court- house was built; in 1864 he was appointed quartermaster of the Forty-seventh Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and in July of the same year, he was appointed A. Q. M., with rank of captain, and ordered to Virginia, and was present at the surrender of Lee; he was afterward on duty in Tex- as, and was mustered out in March, 1866; in 1875 he was elected to the lower house of the Iowa State legislature, and in 1877 was elected to the State senate; he was married to Miss Evaline Galbreath in 1837; she was a na- tive of Tennessee; they have two children: Amanda and Z. T .; they have lost six children: Jonathan T., Elizabeth, Maria, Mary, Irena and Martha E.
HAVENS, J. W., born in Frank- lin county, Ohio, May 17, 1842; he removed to Illinois in 1854: here he learned the trade of mar- ble cutter, which occupation he followed until 1863; upon arriv- ing at the age of twenty-one he determined to change his occupa- tion; he had for some time an inclination to enter the newspaper profession and for this purpose came to Sigourney in December, 1863, and in connection with a brother, H. E. Havens, bought the "Sigourney News;" upon taking charge of the "News " that journal soon gained a wide- spread reputation, and Mr. Ha- vens proved his genius for the new profession he had chosen by making the "News" one of the spiciest and sprightliest papers in the State; his connection with the "News" lasted till Novem- ber, 1878, a period of nearly fif- teen years, during which time he had exclusive editorial charge;
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DIRECTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
in the fall of 1870 he was chosen to represent Keokuk county in the State Senate, and although the youngest member of the Thir- teenth General Assembly he ac- quitted himself with honor and made a record for statesmanlike sagacity which would have been creditable to one of more advanced age and wider range of experience; Mr. Havens was married to Miss E. J. Dunn in 1863; she was a native of Ohio; they have five children: Jessie, Benjamin, Josie, Birdie, Blanche and an infant daughter; Mr. Havens sold the "News " in November, 1878, to Mr. Needham, of Oskaloosa, in order to relieve his mind from - the cares of a business so long successfully managed, and to per- mit him to accompany his wife, who of late years was in feeble health, on a trip to the moun- tains; fifteen years of journal- ism in one place is a more than average career, and when success- ful, as was that of Mr. Havens, is something to be proud of; as an anti-grange editor and legisla- tor, Mr. Havens especially dis- tinguished himself, and in this particular did his conduct contrast inost favorably with those truck- ling time-servers who embraced the Granger in prosperity only to abandon his falling fortunes when the tide ebbed.
HENTON, W. C., stock dealer; was born in Hillsboro, Highland coun- ty, Ohio, August 25, 1831; when young his parents removed to Hendricks county, Indiana, near Danville, where the subject of our sketch was raised on a farm until nineteen years of age; he came to this county in 1850, and has been principally engaged in agricultural pursuits and the stock business; for the last few years he has de- voted his time to the latter; he has served the city as a member of
its council and on the school board ; he married Miss A. E. Homan in February, 1853; she was born in Indiana; they have two children: Alice and Ollie
HIGGINS, G. W., harness maker; was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1821, and was raised there; he was apprenticed for five years to a tanner to learn the business, and one of the conditions of the inden- ture was, that the apprentice was to have all holidays and general muster days for himself, and these he occupied in learning the col- lar trade, so that by the time his apprenticeship had expired he was able to make a full hand at this business as well as a tanner; he engaged in business on his own account in Washington, Illinois, and remained there until 1856, when he came to Sigourney, which has since been his home, excepting two years, when he had charge of a collar manufactory in Albia; he has recently discovered, after a great deal of experimenting as well as expense, a process for tan- ning lace leather in an incredible short time, and claims as a merit, that the glutinous substance of the skin is extracted in such a manner that the fiber is stronger than in its natural state, although manufacturing by this process is in its infancy; Mr. Higgins cannot begin to supply the demand; he married Miss Isabel Smith of Irish Grove, Illinois, in 1842; she was born in Ohio; he enlisted in Co. F, Eighth Iowa Infantry, and served three years and six months. Hull, W. Mc., farmer, Sec. 14. Hiser, Samuel, farmer, Sec. 17.
HOGIN, HON, JAMES L., de- ceased; for many years a distin- guished member of the Masonic order, and in 1854 grand master of Iowa, was born in Kent county Delaware, on the 7th of March, 1801; his father was of Scotch-
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SIGOURNEY.
Irish ancestry, and his mother of English origin; both families were strong patriots during the revolu- tion, and several of them bore arms in the cause of the colonies; the subject of this sketch received but a limited education in early life, and during his minority learn- ed the shoemaking trade, at which he worked for many years, but he was always a diligent student, and noted as a lover of books; even when poor and earning but a scanty livelihood, he was contin- ually adding to his stock of his- torical and standard works, and in after years possessed one of the finest libraries in the State; in March, 1819, he removed to Indi- ana, and located in Brookville, Franklin county, of that State, where he worked at his trade for a number of years; he afterward engaged in mercantile pursuits, a pursuit which he followed as long as he contined in business, and from which he derived a reasona- ble competency; in the spring of 1832 he removed to Indianapolis, and continued in business there until 1845, when he removed to Danville, where he remained till his removal to Sigourney, in 1850; here he made his home, and passed the remainder of his life time, en- joying the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens; although shrinking from public notice, yet the importunities of his fellow citizens of Keokuk county pressed him into their service, and he was elected to the State senate in 1854, and served with distinction two regular, and one special sess- ion ; but it was as a Mason that he was especially distinguished, hav- ing taken a deep interest in the order from the time he connected himself with the fraternity, and held the prominent offices of the order in the State in 1854, being elected grand master; Mr. Hogin
married Miss Eliza J. Crouch, of Wellsburg, Virginia, September 3, 1822; she was a woman of high intellectual attainments, and led a blameless and useful life; her so- cial qualities were highly devel- oped, and she was the centre of a large circle of friends, who looked up to her as a counselor and lead- er; she died in 1864; of their family of twelve children eight are still living: John C. (now one of Sigourney's prominent busi- ness men), Caroline N. (now the wife of Dr. N. Henton, of Salem, Oregon). Elvia A. (wife of Wm. M. Wells Esq., of Oskaloosa), Mary (now the wife of T. B. Matthews, of Kansas), Cornelia E. (now the wife of Rev. C. W. Shaw, of Salem, Oregon), George B. (is a druggist, of Newton), Juliett W. (now the wife of A. C. Romig, of Abilene, Kansas), and Benjamin R. (now living in Kan- sas; they have lost four: one son, Wm. F., was captain of Co. F, Eighth Iowa Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Shiloh, Ten- nesse, on the 5th of April, 1862, having just reached his majority ; he was a youth of great promise, a gallant soldier, and estimable gentlemen; in the home of a son he forgot the world of care and the battle of life, which had fur- rowed his earlier years and drawn closely around the hearths of chil- dren and grandchildren, and in their loved presence awaited the hour when he should be summon- ed to meet his beloved partner in the mansions of rest; the hour came in peace and quiet, and " the spirit ascended to the God who gave it;" he died on the 7th of December, 1876; James L. Hogin was one of nature's noble- mnen; living an upright and hon- orable life, he did much to build up the town and county in which he cast his lot for life, and to-day
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DIRECTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
many rise up and call him blessed in their recollection of pleasing memories of his intercourse with them.
HOGIN, HON. JOHN C., mer- chant; whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Brook- ville, Franklin county, Indiana, in 1823, and is the oldest son of Jas. L. Hogin, and Eliza, nee Crouch ; his father was a native of Dela- ware, and his mother of Virginia; In 1832 his father removed to In- dianapolis and engaged in mer- cantile pursuits, and the son be- came a very valuable assistant of his father; of Mr. Hogin, it may well be said that he was bred a man of business, and the uninter- rupted success which has attended him through life thus far may be attributed to his early training; in 1848 he removed to Sigourney, Keokuk county Iowa, and engaged in business on his own account; in a few years his father became associated with him, and the name of the firm was James L. Hogin & Son, and continued some time, when it was afterward changed to Hogin, Harned & Glandon, and in a few years Mr. Hogin again became sole proprietor, and re- mained so until his retirement from business, near the close of the year 1877; when Mr. Hogin retired from business it created quite a sensation, and the press of the city took occasion to com- ment on the event in poetry and prose; like many other successful businesss men Mr. Hogin, soon after retiring, became uneasy and restless, and he came to the con- clusion it was better to wear out than to rust out, and he again embarked in business, after a brief retirement, changing, however, to to the drug and book trade, and in this as in other pursuits, he has made it a success; we here recall an incident in his life worthy of a
record in these annals of the coun- ty; in 1853, while he and his fath- er were partners in business, the Democratic party selected the subject of this sketch as their nominee for the State senate, and in order to defeat him, if possible, the Whig party nominated his father; although the contest was a spirited one, itdid not cause the least ill feeling between the two partners, who long afterwards con- tinned their present business rela- tions; the record of the election as made by the canvassing board, shows that James L. Hogin was elected by sixty-one votes; at the same election M. M. Crocker (af- terwards General Crocker), who was the Democratic nominee for representative, was defeated by 131 votes; neither Mr. Hogin nor his father sought the office for which they were nominated; dur- ing the rebellion Mr. Hogin again became a candidate (much against his will) for the State Senate on the Union war ticket, and instead of being defeated by a small ma- jority, was elected by a majority of 500 votes; Mr. Hogin's unin- terrupted business career in Keo- kuk county covers a period of thir- ty years and six months, and just- ly entitles him to the credit of being in business longer than any merchant in the county; he may well be termed an old citizen, and can remember nearly all the pe- riod covered by the county's his- tory; he has risen slowly but steadily; he accepted the hardship of pioneer life with good grace, and even zest, and has built up his prosperity on the business princi- ple that in every fair bargain both parties gain, consequently he has become a man of mark and influ- ence in the community, and has made an enduring impression on the business and social life about him; his life has been one of
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ceaseless activity and industry; his official record without a stain, having served with credit and ability; as a business man he has proven himself upright, reliable and honorable in all places and under all circumstances; he is loy- al to truth, honor and right; so- cially he is pleasant and affable; few men have more devoted friends or inerit more the confidence and esteem of their fellow citizens; he was married to Miss C. H. Rich- ards in 1847; she was a native of Highland county, Ohio, but a res- ident of Hendricks county, Indi- ana; their family consists of five children: Clara (now Mrs. Hutch- inson), Susan C. (now Mrs. J. A. Donnell), Samuel R. (a merchant in Delta), Josephine (now. Mrs. Ellis), and Lillie.
HOLLINGSWORTH, L., retired; was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1831, and spent his early years on a farm, and afterward learned the trade of cabinet ma- ker; he came to this county in 1854; he settled in Prairie town- ship, where for twelve years he was engaged in agricultural pur- suits; he has held the office of county auditor for four years, and also the office of county treasurer, and in 1862 represented Keokuk county in the State Legislature; at the present time he is the cor- oner of the county; he has filled his official positions with ability and unswerving integrity; he is modest and unassuming in his manner, an upright citizen, en- joying the confidence of all who know him; he married Miss Hannah Fawcett in 1859 ; she was born in Ohio ; their family consists of two children: Luella E. and Horace S.
HOLLINGSWORTH, W. R., ed-
itor and proprietor of the "Sigour- ney Review;" born in Maysville, Kentucky, in 1840, and removed
with his parents to Des Moiens. county, Iowa, in 1841, and re- mained there until 1856; then went to Ohio, and entered Oxford College; he graduated from this. institution in 1861, and returned to Iowa, and in 1863, purchased a farm in Henry county, and en- gaged in agricultural pursuits,. and lived there until he came to. Sigourney and bought the " Re- view, in connection withı Mr. Kin- ney; he soon became sole editor and proprietor, and continues as such at the present time; he mar- ried Miss Anna S. Thorneloe, in: 1874; was born in England.
House, E. B., plasterer. House, D., plasterer.
HOWARD, J. Q., of the firm of Howard & Kerr, dealers in books, stationery, etc .; was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1823, and in 1833 removed with his parents- to Licking county, Ohio; he came to this State in 1855 and settled in Davis county, and was engaged in teaching; he enlisted in the- 113th Ohio infantry during the- late war and served three years; he came to this county in 1868,. and owns a farm of 168 acres; he has held the office of county treas- urer for six years, and served as a member of the school-board. He married Miss Julia A Deming in 1868; she was born in Washing- ton county, Ohio; they have seven children: Wm. D., Hattie E., Kit- tie A., Bertie, Edward, Mabel and May.
Huddleson. N., butcher.
Huffman, W. D., physician.
HUFF, SANFORD W., M. D.,
deceased; born in Hamburg, Erie county, New York, on the: 25th of December, 1826, and was the son of Timothy Huff and Phebe, nee Potter, and was the. youngest of five children; his- early boyhood days were passed on his father's farm and attend-
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DIRECTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
ing school; financial embarrass- ments prevented his father, in a measure, of carrying out his cher- ished design to give the subject of this sketch a thorough collegiate education, so that he was left to achieve his own mental discipline as best he could; he was able, by dint of perseverance, economy and industry, to avail himself of the advantages of academical schools; he chose the medical pro- fession for an occupation and graduated from the medical de- partment of the University of Buf- falo in the spring of 1851, and commenced as the partner of a practitioner of high standing in that city; but the severe applica- tion incident to his professional studies began to recoil on his health and he was obliged to change his location to the coun- try; he came to Iowa and located in Iowa City, in 1857; during the first two years of his western ex- perience his attention was divided between his profession and out- side operations; he then devoted himself exclusively to his profes- sion, and when the war opened in 1862, he accepted the surgeoncy of the Twelfth Iowa Infantry, and served until the close of the war; he participated in nearly all the great achievements of the army of the southwest and filled all the grades of responsibility to which a regimental surgeon is eligible, and rendered valuable service on the staff of Gen. Mower, and af- terward of Gen. McArthur, as surgeon-in-chief of the department of Alabama, on the staff of Gen. · Davis, and remained in this posi- tion until he was mustered out in the winter of 1866; he then re- turned to his home and resumed his practice, and soon after was elected to the position of secretary to the State Historical Society and editor of its annual. This
little publication grew in his hands, from a pamphlet of some thirty odd pages, to a dignified quarterly of magazine propor- tions; he visited the legislature during its session of 1868-9, at his own expense, and secured an appropriation of seven thousand dollars with which to defray the expenses of printing and preserv- ing the records and accumulations of the society for the benefit of the future historian of the State; after three years of toilsome but successful labor, he was compelled, on account of private business, to resign; he soon afterward engaged in a newspaper enterprise, but his professional duties requiring his attention, the paper was absorbed by the "Republican ;" he received a very flattering unofficial invita- tion to a chair in the medical de- partment of the State University, which he declined; he was presi- dent, for several years, of the Johnson county Medical Associa- tion, and a member of the State Medical Association, and in 1877 was a delegate to the annual meet- ing of the National Medical Asso- ciation held at Chicago; his taste for literature has not prevented him from concentrating his intel- lectual forces on the great science belonging to his profession, and in it he has always been a success, taking leading parts in profession- al gatherings, making an eviable reputation as a practitioner; he was twice married, first to Miss Harriet E. Borland, in 1853; she died in 1863, leaving one daugh- ter: Alice (now Mrs. H. Sheldon, of Fremont, Ohio); he married for his second wife, Miss Laura S. Nickerson, in 1870; she was a na- tive of Fort Crown Point, N. Y., a lady of high education and re- finement, and of fine artistic tal- ents; she was educated in the art department of Cooper Institute;
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SIGOURNEY.
by this union they had three children: Wirt S., born October 3, 1871; died in July, 1873; Laura C., born September 16, 1875; Frances, born April 18, 1877; died February 19, 1878; Dr. Huff died November 7, 1879.
ACKSON, THOMAS, barber;
J was born in Washington coun- ty, Mississippi, February 10, 1849, and lived there until 1866, when he came to Iowa and settled in Washington, where he learned his trade; in June, 1869, he came to this county and has followed his present business since that time; he married Hattie Black in 1874; she was born in Davenport, Iowa; they have one son: George.
JACKSON, B. F., merchant, deal- er in iron, hardware and agricul- tural implements; was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, Novem- ber 25, 1833, where he was raised on a farm; he came to this county in 1871 and engaged in his pres- ent business; the house is one of the oldest in the city and was es- tablished by Wm. Jackson and Hugh McElroy in the spring of 1856; January 1, 1859, William Jackson bought out McElroy; in 1865 J. H. Shawhan became a member of the firm, under the name of Wm. Jackson & Co .; in 1869 Mr. Shawhan withdrew, and Wm. and R. B. Jackson continued under the same firm name; in 1871 B. F. Jackson purchased Wm. Jackson's interest and the business continued under the firm name of R. B. & B. F. Jackson; in January, 1879, R. B. Jackson sold his interest to B. F. Jackson, who is now sole proprietor. Mr. Jackson married Miss L. C. Car- rington, of Piqua, Ohio, in May, 1867; she was born in Baltimore. Jackson, Wm., farmer, Sec. 1.
Jacobs, J. W., farmer, Sec. 20.
JAMES, SAMUEL A .; born in
Botetourt county, Virginia, on
the 27th day of December, 1823, his parents being Thomas James and Barbary, nee Britts; his father was of mixed Scotch and Welsh lineage, while his mother was of German origin; in 1829 the family removed from Virginia to Indiana. and settled in Hendricks county, in which and the adjoining county of Montgomery the subject of this sketch obtained a common school education; as soon as he was old enough he had recourse to the usual expedient of aspiring youths -school teaching; he taught three winter terms, being at the same time an industrious and diligent student himself; in the spring of 1842 he resolved to follow the star of empire westward, and, turning his back upon the scenes of his boyhood, he started alone and on foot, with a pair of saddle-bags thrown over his shoulder contain- ing his worldly effects; he crossed the States of Indiana and Illinois. into the then Territory of Iowa, and to the town of Washington, which he reached on the 25th of March, 1842; in the fall of the same year he taught one term of school in Washington, but in the year following, 1843, he removed to Keokuk county, Iowa, and made a claim four miles north of Sig- ourney; in the autumn of this year he returned to Washington and spent the following winter in the study of law, and was admit- ted to the bar in Sigourney soon after; as yet the territory now forming Keokuk county was a part of Washington, and in March, 1844, Mr. James was appointed clerk of the District Court with a special commission to organize the county of Keokuk, and according- ly, equipped with the same old saddle-bags, he journeyed to the southeastern part of the county, where he arranged places for hold- ing the first election and desig-
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DIRECTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
nated the judges thereof, after which he canvassed the returns and qualified the first set of offi- cers; soon after the organization of the county he was appointed postmaster; he remained at Sig- ourney until, the seat of justice having been removed to Lancas- ter, he followed the office to the latter place; in 1849 he removed to the city of Keokuk, in Lee county, where he was soon ap- pointed deputy clerk, with head- quarters at Fort Madison; in 1852 he was elected clerk, and re-elected in 1854; the business of this office required such incessant labor and close confinement that his health became impaired and he was obliged to resign as the only means of prolonging his life; in the autumn of 1855 he returned to Keokuk county; in May, 1861, he was appointed postmaster of Sigourney by President Lincoln, a position he held for five years, but refusing to Andy Johnsonize, as the movement was then phrased, he was superseded in August, 1866; the interval between that date and the present time he has devoted to private pursuits, giving his 'attention mainly to transac- tions in real estate and in the brokerage and money-loaning bus. iness; judicious and prudent in- vestments in real estate and other business operations have com- bined to make him one of the large tax-payers of Keokuk county; during the period of the civil war he was unable to enter the military service on account of defective eye-sight, from which he had long suffered, but he did excellent work for the Union cause with his pen in the columns of the Sigour- ney "News," of which he was principal editor during the first year of the war; he has been prominently identified in educa- tional matters of the county; he
has always been a man of public spirit, advocating every measure calculated to benefit the city; he was married in Sigourney on the 2nd of September, 1847, to Miss Sarah Moody, of Licking county, Ohio; they have three children living: George S. (now associated with his father in business), Lib- bie A. (now Mrs. H. A. Seamans), and Ida Bell; they have lost three; Mr. James is a man of great decision of character, with strong and enduring convictions of right; he has filled his official po- sitions with marked ability and always with unswerving integrity and unyielding firmness; he is modest and unassuming in his habits and manners-an upright citizen, enjoying the confidence of all who know him.
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