The history of Warren County, Iowa, from its Earliest Settlementto 1908, Part 41

Author: Union Historical Company
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Des Moines : Union historical company
Number of Pages: 1010


USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren County, Iowa, from its Earliest Settlementto 1908 > Part 41


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Ilis father, Joseph T. Meek, was born in Indiana in April, 1833, and is of Scotch-Irish descent. On leaving his native state le came to Iowa, settling in Richland township, Warren county. At Hartford he engaged in the operation of a sawmill and there remained until elected sheriff of the county, when he removed to Indianola. On his retirement from the office he turned his attention to the manufacture of briek and tile, being associated with others in the enterprise, his connection therewith continuing for several years. At length he withdrew from industrial pursuits and turned his attention to the real- estate business, negotiating many important property transfers while this engaged. Eventually he retired and is now enjoying a well earned rest. He has been very sueeessful in his undertakings and a handsome competence now supplies him with all of the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He now resides at Los Tanos, New Mexico, where he is accounted one of the respected and progressive citizens, his influence ahvays being on the side of progress, reform and improvement. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and also belongs to the Odd Fellows society and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In polities he has been a lifelong demoerat, and upon the party ticket was elected sheriff in 1874. His ineumbency covered a term of four years and his duties were of the most strenuous character. He discharged them, however, without fear or favor, and proved a capable official. In 1857, in Indianola, Joseph T. Meek was united in marriage to Miss Louisa J. Pressley, who was born at Indianapolis, Indiana, March 5, 1837, and was of Seotch an- cestry. She resided in her native city until 1855, when she accompanied her parents on their removal to Indianola, and two years later she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Meek. They traveled life's journey together for about forty-eight years and were then separated by the sudden death of Mrs. Meek, occasioned by heart disease, July 16, 1905. The Rev. Dr. W. C. Martin officiated at the funeral, and amid the deep regret of many friends who sincerely mourned her loss, she was laid to rest. This worthy couple were the parents of seven children : Evelyn M., who is the wife of A. R. W. Robertson, a member of the firm of Meek & Robertson; William L .. whose death occurred in 1883; Dollie. the wife of F. P. McKay, a druggist of Des Moines ; Joseph, who passed away at


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the age of three years; Ehner, whose demise occurred when he was six months of age; Charles D., of this review ; Lonise, the wife of Frank JJ. Camp, secretary of the Brown-Hurley Hardware Company of Des Moines.


Charles D. Meek attended school in Indianola and at the age of nineteen years entered upon his business career as an employe in the dry goods store of Barker & Johnson. He thus became acquainted with the trade and with the methods in vogue in commercial cireles. After three years spent in that estab- lishment he became a salesman in the store of Kittleman & Buxton, with whom he continued for a year, and afterward spent a year in the large estab- lishment of Younker Brothers at Des Moines. In 1900 he formed a partnership with A. R. W. Robertson and opened a dry goods and shoe business, in which they have continued with marked success to the present time. They have a large, modern store on the east side of the square, owning their own building, which is a brick structure. thirty by ninety feet. They occupy the entire first floor, and a part of the upper story. The store has tasteful equipments and the business methods of the house have seenred to it a liberal and well merited patronage.


Mr. Meek was married to Miss Minnie M. Main, a daughter of the Rev. D. S. Main, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Meek have two children : Margaret Mildred, born August 31, 1902; and Joseph T .. born January 5, 1904. The parents are members of the Presbyterian church. and are prominent socially, enjoying the warm regard of an extensive circle of friends. Mr. Meek belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. and also affiliates with the Masons and the Knights of Pythias. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He is now numbered among the representative merchants of Indianola. There has never been anything spectacular in his career, but he has endeavored to make all his acts and commercial moves the result of definite consideration and sound judgment. There have never been any great ventures or risks, but he has practiced honest, slow-going business methods, supplemented by energy and good system.


HENRY HOLMES GOODE.


Henry Hohes Goode is a retired farmer living in Milo and is numbered among the most highly respected citizens of Warren county. He was born March 14, 1832, in Prince Edward county, Virginia, his parents being Joseph and Mary Agnes (Johnson) Goode, natives of Virginia and Ohio respectively. They came to Warren county in 1854 and Henry II. Goode was abont twenty- two years of age at the time of this removal. Here he first became a landowner through entering a claim from the government comprising two hundred acres in White Breast township. By industry and capable management he was enabled to add to his original holdings and as fast as he acquired land he placed it under a high state of cultivation. He carried on both general farm- ing and stock-raising and was known as one of the most extensive and


H. H. GOODE


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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY


successful stockfeeders in his part of the county. As his financial resources have increased he has become owner of six hundred and twenty-eight acres of valuable farming land in White Breast township and forty-five acres in Otter township. In 1886, however, he put aside the management and active care of his farms and purchased a comfortable home in Milo, to which he removed. Since that time he has practically lived retired, but this does not signify a life of inactivity and idleness. In fact, his hours are fully engaged with his efforts to improve his town place, everything about the house being kept in good repair, while the grounds and garden afford him plenty of exereisc. He has never found, therefore, opportunity to spend much time in the business center of the town, discussing the business affairs of others, for his own business has elaimed his entire attention.


The history of the Goode family in pioneer times indieates more elearly the conditions which existed in Warren county when they arrived here. Their first dwelling was a rude log cabin, fourteen feet wide by sixteen feet in length. There was a rough slab floor and a roof made of split slabs. In this single room the entire family resided for the first six months of their residence in the west. Their next abiding place was an improvement on the original home, for a frame house, sixteen by twenty-four feet, was built of boards split by hand from logs, this being the best and only lumber that could be secured at that time. Many of the happiest moments in the lives of the pioneers, however, were spent in the primitive homes, which were devoid of many of those things which are now deemed essential to the comfort and happiness of the present generation. A window with sash and glass was a rarity and an evidence of wealth and aristocracy which but few could support. Often greased paper was put over an aperture in the logs to serve as a window, but frequently the people depended upon the light that made its way between the logs, while the eabin was ventilated in the same way. The doors were fastened with old-fashioned wooden latehes and during the daytime the latch string hung out, so that friend or neighbor could easily make his entranee, for the pioneers were a most hospitable people and always entertained visitors to the best of their ability. It is notable with what affeetion the old pioneers refer to the early days and it may be doubted whether palaces ever sheltered happier hearts than the little log cabins of long ago.


It was on the 4th of March. 1857, in White Breast township, that Henry Holmes Goode was married to Miss Louisa Kimzey, a daughter of John and Susanna Kimzey, both of whom were natives of Kentucky and eame to Warren county in 1854. By this marriage there were born three sons and a daughter : Frank D., now deceased; Susan. the wife of William Yoder, who resides in Bradshaw. Nebraska; Robert Fletcher and Henry, both of whom died in in- faney. The mother passed away in September. 1865, at the age of twenty-six years, and Mr. Goode was again married Mareh 28. 1880, to Mrs. Alberta T. Godlove, a daughter of William and Nancy Ann (Beall) MeKendry. Mrs. Goode is a descendant of Thomas Beall, son of Samuel Beall, of an old and pat- riotie family noted in early Revolutionary times. The Beall family has been well known in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and also in Maryland. No other


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had furnished so many soldiers in the important wars of the country. The annals of Maryland show that there were five officers of the Beall name accredited mostly, if not entirely, to Frederick county. of Maryland; Lloyd Beall being brigadier general; Thomas Beall, lieutenant ; William Dent Beall, second lieutenant ; Zeparick Beall. ensign ; and Thomas Beall, who was general- ly called Captain Beall. He was also known as Thomas Beall of Samuel, the affix being his father's christian name. Of this list three are found on the roll of the Cincinnati Society: William Dent Beall as major; Lloyd Beall as captain and Samuel B. Beall as lieutenant. No doubt. Samuel Beall was the father of Thomas Beall of Samuel. He came to Fort Cumberland in the year 1784 from one of the lower counties of Pennsylvania, perhaps Montgomery. He became the proprietor of two tracts of land called Walnut Bottom and The Brothers and the next year began the building of the town which is now the city of Cumberland.


In 1787 the legislature, upon his petition, appointed five commissioners- Andrew Bruce. Daniel Cresap. George Dent (grandfather of Mrs. General Grant), John Lynn and Evan Glynn-to lay out the town of Cumberland at the mouth of Will's creek in Washington county. The town was then laid out and the old name of Fort Cumberland dropped. Beall had his land divided into several hundred town lots, which sold rapidly, and for many years he did an extensive real-estate business. The county records from 1790 until his death in 1823 show four hundred and eighteen conveyances, to say nothing of deeds he made while Allegheny was a part of Washington county. Pennsyl- vania. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1776 from the upper district of Frederick county and was three times elected to the legisature from Allegheny. in 1791. 1792 and 1793. He died at about the age of eighty years, leaving a last will and testament dated November 16, 1823. It was a rather strange document, as only two of his eight children seem to have been noticed : a small bequest of two hundred dollars to his daughter. Mary Beaty. and the remainder of his estate to the eight children of his son Isaae. He gave his man Basil his freedom and ninety-nine acres of land and also manumitted his three negro girls, Mary, Hetty and Maria. He had eight children : John Brook. Buell, Josiah. Lucky. Elenora, Lizzie. Mary and Priscilla.


John Beall, the great-grandfather of Mrs. Goode, married Elenora Beaty and in 1810 went to Marysville, Kentucky, later he removed to Ohio and died in 1824. Isaac was the only son and remained in the old home county and was made sole executor of his father's estate. He married Rebecca Tomlinson, who died in 1845, while his death occurred in 1850. They were both laid to rest in the Tomlinson cemetery, at Little Meadow. in Garrett county, Ohio.


In resuming the history of Henry H. Goode, it is noticed that he had been almost a lifelong member of the Masonic fraternity, having been connected with the craft for more than forty years. He joined the fraternity at Now- born, Marion county, and was a charter member at Sandyville and at Liberty Center. Iowa, which lodges he helped organize. The Newborn lodge was after- ward transferred to bacona and Mr. Goode demitted to Lacona lodge from Liberty Center. He is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter at Indianola.


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He likewise belongs to Milo Lodge, No. 413, 1. O. O. F. He was a trustee of White Breast township for many years and has served as alderman of Milo. In church connection he was formerly a Methodist but later in life became connected with the Christian Union. His political support is given the de- mocracy. Mrs. Goode comes from oldl Methodist stock, her grandfather being a preacher of that faith, while she has been connected with the denomination from the age of thirteen years.


In looking back over the life record of Henry H. Goode, it is plainly evident that his success is due to the honorable purpose which has actuated his every act. In studying lives and characters of men, we are naturally led to inquire into the secret of their success and the motives that prompt their action. Suc- cess is not a matter of genius, as held by many, but rather results from experience, sound judgment and upright dealings, and we find that the men of strong character who are enjoying prosperity are in nearly every case those who have risen gradually, fighting their way in the face of opposition. The salient traits of Mr. Goode are such as have gained for him an unassailable reputation as a business man and citizen, while those who have known him personally in social relations entertain for him the warmest regard and esteem.


JAMES M. AMOS.


James M. Amos who died May 8, 1898, on his farm on section 21, Otter township, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on the 4th of July, 1823, and was left an orphan at an early age. He had a brother, John Amos, now deceased, and a sister, also deceased. After the death of the parents the children were scattered and reared by different families. For a time James M. made his home with a man who took him to Ohio, but at a very early age he was thrown upon his own resources and the success that came to him in life was due to his own unaided efforts. During his youth he went upon the river, being em- ployed on barges, steamboats, etc., on the Ohio. Mississippi and Red rivers, making many trips to New Orleans. After about ten years spent in this way, he finally located in Knox county, Illinois, where he was subsequently married.


In was in 1854 that Mr. Amos and his wife decided to come to Warren county, Iowa, as land was much cheaper here than in Illinois at that time. He entered one hundred and twenty acres in Lincoln township, west of Idianola, where they lived for ten years, and he then traded that property for two hundred and fifty-three acres on section 15, Otter township, where he erected a residence and made his home until 1887. He then built on the southeast quarter of section 21, Otter township, where he continued to make his home until called to his final rest, it being now the property of his son Sherman. To this tract he subsequently added eighty aeres and as time passed he extended the boundaries of his land until he had one thousand acres, of which seven hundred and eight acres are now owned by his sons Sherman and Grant G. In connection with general farming Mr. Amos also raised considerable stock,


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and in business affairs he met with far more than ordinary success. He was justly numbered among the self-made men of the county as all that he possessed was gained through his own business ability, sound judgment and good man- agement. At one time he held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. and he was a man of high character and sterling worth who gained the respect and confidence of all with whom he came in contact. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and as a repub- lican he took an active interest in public affairs, serving as treasurer of the county school funds and as township assessor.


On the 27th of August, 1850, in Knox county, Illinois, Mr Amos married Miss Mary E. Stephens, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, September 13, 1831. Her parents, Lewis and Elizabeth (Alder) Stephens, were representatives of old Virginia families, and from that state they removed to Knox county, Illinois. in the fall of 1849. there making their home until called to their final rest some twenty-five years ago. In their family were eight children, of whom one son and four daughters are still living. Mrs. Amos is a most estimable lady and now at the age of seventy-seven years she resides on the old home stead with her son Sherman.


Unto Mr. and Mrs. Amos were born eleven children. as follows:


Ora. born July 3, 1851. is now the wife of A. J. Conner, a farmer of Otter township, and they have six children.


Laura E., born September 10. 1852. is the wife of R. M. Bacon, of Morris county. Kansas, and they. too. have six children.


Ida V., born March 6, 1855. died June 7, 1863.


Nancy E., born February 15. 1857, died June 11, 1863.


John G., born April 22, 1859, died June 24, 1863.


James Liberty, born July 4. 1861, died May 22, 1893. He was first married September 11. 1888, to Miss Mary Bangh, who died in 1891, and in January. 1893, he married Miss Eva Pope, by whom he has one child. John Amos, now fifteen years of age, who resides with his mother in Indianola. She married again but lost her second husband and is now engaged in teaching. The son JJohn was left one thousand dollars by his grandfather. to be paid when he reaches his majority.


Mary N., born JJanuary 10. 1864. is the wife of Herber Worthley. of Otter township, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume.


Lurena, born March 28. 1866. was married January 11. 1887. to W. T. Butler, also represented on another page of this work.


Grant G., born May 5, 1869. received a good common-school edneation and remained on the home farm until twenty-seven years of age. when he was mited in marriage to Miss Mary Ellen Chambley. a daughter of Joseph G. Chinbley. represented elsewhere in this volume. Four children bless this nion, Nellie May, born January 21, 1898; Nora Ellen, December 13, 1900; Aaron Howard. October 1, 1903: and Charles Monroe. April 28. 1907. Since the death of the father, Grant G. and W. Sherman Amos have operated the farm of seven hundred and eight acres on sections 21, 22. 27 and 28. Otter township, in partnership, under the firm name of Amos Brothers. They are extensively


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engaged in stock-raising, making a specialty of pure-blooded Hereford cattle and Duroe Jersey hogs.


W. Sherman, born December 7, 1871, also attended the common schools, and as previously stated, he is successfully engaged in farming and stock- raising in partnership with his brother. He was married August 21, 1895, to Miss Lillian M. Woods, who was born in Decatur county, Iowa, in 1873, a daughter of William M. and Emma (Bassett) Woods. The family was original- ly from Pennsylvania, but her parents were reared in Knoxville, Illinois, from which state they came to Iowa in 1870, and removed to Warren county in 1889, locating first at Indianola. Later they removed to a farm in White Oak town- ship, where Mr. Woods died in 1896, at the age of fifty-one years, but his widow is still living on the home farm in that township at the age of fifty-seven. They had nine children, those living being Mrs. W. S. Amos; Nellie, who was born in 1875, and is now the wife of Frank Lester, a farmer of White Oak township; William M., who was born in 1877 and is now in Montana, where he has taken a claim; Hugh O., was born in 1879, and is manager of the Hawkeye Tele- phone Company at Indianola; Ralph, who was born in 1886 and is still at home; Mildred, who was born in 1891, and is now a junior in the high school at Indianola ; and Edna, who was born in 1894, and is at home. Sydney died in infancy, and Fred at the age of six years. Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Amos have had four children, namely : Mary E., born June 10, 1897; James William, born October 12, 1900; Frankie Lloyd, who was born September 24, 1902, and. died September 8, 1903; and Carl Morgan, born August 7, 1904. The mother and daughter are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Amos is connected with the Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 70, at Indianola. Since attaining his majority he has always supported the republican party and has efficiently served as a school officer. In business affairs he has always been found notably reliable and he has the confidence and respect of all who know him.


Alice V., the youngest in the Amos family, was born June 22, 1874, and was married August 21, 1895, to Harry L. Barnes, a painter, residing in Grand Junction, Colorado. They have one daughter.


EPHRAIM WELTY, M. D.


Dr. Ephraim Welty, a prominent physician of Norwalk, Iowa, where he has been successfully engaged in practice for many years, was born on a farm in Perry county, Ohio, July 7, 1840, and is a son of Christian Welty, a native of Fairfield county, that state. His paternal grandfather was John Welty, who was born in Pennsylvania and belonged to an old colonial family. In early manhood Christian Welty married Salome Blosser, who was also a native of Fairfield county, Ohio, and was a representative of an old Virginia family. Of the thirteen children born of this union, twelve grew to maturity, and those still living are Mary P., wife of Charles Lott; Rebecca, wife of Newton Hoover;


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Amanda, wife of Albert Polling; Jefferson and Christian T., both farmers; and Ephraim, of this review. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, died at the ripe old age of eighty-five years, and the mother was eighty-two years of age at the time of her death. Both were faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics, Mr. Welty was first a whig and later a republican. He was a stanch Union man during the Civil war, and when Morgan was on his raid through Ohio, he spent one day in pursuit of him.


Dr. Welty was reared on the home farm and acquired his early education in the country schools of the neighborhood. During the dark days of the rebellion he entered the service as a member of Company G, One Hundred and Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain E. Brown, and was mus- tered in on the 17th of August, 1862. He was unfortunately wounded in the left shoulder during his first engagement, December 28, 1862, at Chickasaw Bluffs, Mississippi, by a shell, and was in the hospital at Memphis, Tennessee, until November 6, 1863, when he returned home. In the fall of 1865 he commenced the study of medicine, and later engaged in the practice of his chosen profes- sion in Hocking county, Ohio, for five years. It was in 1876 that he came to Iowa and opened an office in Norwalk, where he is still located, enjoying a large and successful praetiee.


On the 1st of August, 1867, Dr. Welty married Miss Rebecca Ellen Bran- stitter, who was also a native of Ohio, and a daughter of John Branstitter, a farmer by occupation. They have two children, John E. and La Vert. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are people of prominence in Norwalk, which town has now been their home for almost a third of a century. The Doctor is also connected with James Bell Post, G. A. R., and affiliates with the Masonie and Odd Fellows societies. The republican party finds in him a stanch supporter of its principles and as a publie-spirited and progressive citizen he never withholds his aid from any enterprise which he believes will prove of public benefit.


JACOB F. PIFFER.


Jacob F. Piffer, whose death occurred at his home near Indianola, August 30th, 1904, was numbered among the well known and prosperous farmers of Warren county, and was one of its early settlers. His birth occurred in Wurtemberg. Germany, October 26. 1843. and he is descended from a long line of German ancestors. Ilis father died in Wurtemberg and Jacob and his brother John came to the new world with their mother in 1853. while their sister Anna came one year later. They spent three years in Baltimore, and in 1856 eame west to lowa, making a permanent location in Warren county, where they purchased land.


Jacob F. Piffer was yet a youth at the time of the emigration to the United States. He was reared to manhood on the home farm in this county and acquired his education in the common schools. The occupation to which


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he was reared he resolved to make his life work and engaged in farming on his own account. He first bought eighty acres of land and later seventy-six acres, to which he kept adding until he had three hundred aeres, and with characteristic energy he began to till and develop this, converting wild prairie land into rich and productive fields. His labor was of the character that enabled him to work his way steadily upward, and his entire life was one of unwearied diligence, sound business judgment and unfaltering energy.




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