USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren County, Iowa, from its Earliest Settlementto 1908 > Part 44
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Having come into possession of the old homestead, Henry J. Switzer erected good buildings thereon, including two substantial barns and various sheds and cribs. Oxen were used in hauling the timber for the building of the barns. In 1848 James Carpenter brought millstones from Clay county, Missouri, which were used in grinding the first corn in the county, at Carpen- ter's mill, which was operated by water power. One of these stones is now used as a carriage step on the farm.
Carrying on his farm work Mr. Switzer prospered and from time to time added to his possessions until he now owns five hundred and fifty acres of very valuable and productive land, all of which has been well improved, tiled and fenced. He has handled shorthorn cattle, making a specialty of feeding cattle and placing on an average of five carloads on the market for several years. He continued to reside upon this farm and carry on the work until 1904 when he removed to Indianola where he now occupies a beautiful modern residence. In 1908 he organized the bank of Pahnyra, is its president, one of its directors and one of its heaviest stockholders. Although this is a new organization their responsibilities cover a half million of dollars and the bank bids fair to become one of the most important financial concerns of this part of the state. Mr. Switzer has also been a director of the Carlyle bank since its organization. He is well known in this county from the fact that for a quarter of a century he not only raised and fed stock, but also bought and shipped marketable stock, conducting an extensive business in that line.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Switzer were born four children, but two of the number died in infancy. The surviving members of the family are Mae and Clyde. The former is the wife of Claude Morris, who resides on the Switzer farm and they have four children : Bonnie, Ruth, Mary and Dwight. The son, Clyde, also living on the home farm married Miss Shetterly, a daughter of Samuel Shetterly and they have one child, Olma. The death of Mrs. Alice Switzer occurred in 1901 when she was forty-six years of age. On the 7th of September, 1903, Mr. Switzer was again married, his second union being with Miss Cornelia Mack, a writer of magazine articles and a lady of much more than local distinction in literary circles. They are now pleasantly located in Indianola and the hospitality of their attractive home is most warm-hearted and genuine.
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Mr. Switzer was reared in the faith of the democratic party, but during the past twenty years has given unfaltering support to the republican party. He served his township as trustee for one term, but has never sought nor desired office although he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day and has been a delegate to several county and state conventions. He attends and supports the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church. The success which Mr. Switzer now enjoys is a visible evidence of the life of industry and well directed labor which he has led. Throughout all the ages it has been a recognized fact that no element contributes so much to success as does indefatigable energy, and this quality Mr. Switzer possesses in a large degree. He has ever made the best use of his opportunities and has thus prospered year after year, while in all of his business affairs he has so condneted his interests that his methods have never been ealled into question.
F. O. NUTTING.
F. O. Nutting, the well known proprietor of the Advanee Stoek farm, owns and operates seven hundred fifty-seven and a half aeres of land mainly on seetions 16, 21 and 22, Otter township, conveniently located seven miles southeast of Indianola. Here he is extensively engaged in business as a breeder of Percheron horses and shorthorn cattle and has met with remarkable sueeess.
A native of Massachusetts, Mr. Nntting was born in Franklin county, Sep- tember 21, 1849, and is a son of D. H. Nutting, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. He was only five years of age when the family eame to Warren county, Iowa, and here he was reared and educated, attending first the com- mon schools, while later he spent one year at Simpson College. His first term there was in the original building, known as the Blue Bird, and he at- tended the first term tought in the new building.
Throughout his aetive business life Mr. Nutting has followed farming and stock-raising, having gained an excellent knowledge of the business under the able direction of his father during his boyhood and vonth. After reach- ing man's estate he was in partnership with his father for twenty-five years but since that time he has been alone in business. He has made practically all of the improvements upon his place, which is today one of the best equipped stock farms in the state of Towa, the comfortable residence, barns and other outbuildings having all been erected since 1901. For the past twenty years he has made a specialty of breeding Percheron horses and now owns the largest herd in the county, having twenty-two blooded Percheron and French draft horses, either registered or eligible to registry. These inehide Victori- enx, Gladiator 1. Black Dandy. Dewey's Image, Rex 41887. and Gladiator's Pride 43873.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
On the 22d of December, 1874, Mr. Nutting was married in this county ;o Miss Maggie J. Johnston, who was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, July 19, 1845, and remained a resident of that state until 1870, when she came to this county, where her brother, John II. Johnston, was living. Here she was engaged in teaching school for six terms prior to her marriage. Her parents, Thomas and Martha (Riddle) Johnston, were lifelong residents of Ohio and of Irish descent. Iler mother died in Mahoning county, that state, in 1850, at the age of thirty-five years, and her father in Trumbull county in 1884, at the age of seventy-two. Mrs. Nutting had four brothers: Andrew, a resi- dent of Indiana; John, who died in Wichita, Kansas, in February, 1906; Eli, still a resident of Wichita; and Scott, a resident of Idaho. Mr. and Mrs. Nutting have two children living, while David H., died at the age of four months. Mabel is the wife of W. H. Boyd, a farmer living near Summerset, Iowa. Fred is now in partnership with his father under the firm name of F. O. Nutting & Son and is serving as township clerk of Otter township. He wedded Miss Mary Boyd and has one danghter, Mary, born November 12, 1906.
Mr. Nutting is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen at Indianola, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Presbyterian church at Milo, of which he is now acting as trustee. In business affairs he is energetic, prompt and notably reliable and he has the respect and confidence of all with whom he comes in contact cither in his business or social relations.
JOHN MCCUDDIN.
For many years John McCuddin was actively identified with the farming interests of this county and after a useful and well spent life is now living retired in New Virginia, enjoying the fruits of former toil. He was born in Connecticut, on the 19th of December, 1843, a son of John and Jennie (Row- ley) McCuddin, who were natives of Ireland and Scotland respectively. They were married before their emigration to America and both died when our subject was about three years old.
After the death of his parents John McCuddin made his home with an older sister in Chicago until thirteen years of age, when he ran away, his only possessions at that time being an overcoat and a pair of overalls. Since then he has been dependent entirely upon his own exertions. He spent six years in Davenport, Iowa, taking care of race horses, and in 1860 went to Wheatland, Clinton county, where he worked on a farm until after the out- break of the civil war. Feeling that his country needed his services he en- listed in 1862 in Company I, Twenty-sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and served for one year and ten months, when he was discharged on account of disa- bility caused from sickness. He participated in the following engagements : Chickasaw Bayon, Arkansas Post, Champion Hills, Jackson, Mississippi, and the siege of Vicksburg. At the last named place the flag of the regiment
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was left on the field after the first fight and Mr. MeCnddin displayed his bravery in going after it and bringing it in. He then served as color bearer until the surrender of Vicksburg.
On leaving the army he returned to Clinton county, Iowa, but for a year was unable to work. He then resumed farming and continued to make that his occupation until he retired from active labor. In 1871 he came to Warren county and purchased forty acres of land in Virginia township, to the cultiva- tion of which he at once turned his attention. He improved several tracts of land in the same township and in his chosen field of labor met with excellent success. Hle still owns seventy -- nine aeres in Clarke county. Five years ago he retired to a pleasant home west of the village, but when his wife died soon afterward he sold that place and bought his present home in New Virginia.
While still a resident of Clinton county, Mr. McCuddin married Miss Frances E. Rundell, a native of Ohio, who passed away in Virginia township, in March, 1903, leaving the following children. namely: Charles, who is mar- ried and has a family living in Nebraska; Lola, the wife of Jesse Brewer, a farmer of Virginia township; Orville, a farmer of Madison county, Iowa; Wil- liam, who is single and resides in Sioux City, Iowa; Rhoda, the wife of Mar- shall Howlette, a farmer of Virginia township; Abe, a business man of Des Moines; and John, who is married and follows farming in Virginia township.
Mr. MeCuddin and all of his sons support the republican party and he is an earnest and faithful member of the Christian church, to which his wife also belonged. He is a man honored and respected wherever known and he is a true and loyal citizen of the Union for which he fought during the dark days of the rebellion.
HARVEY M. REED.
Harvey M. Reed, an honored veteran of the Civil war, now living retired in Milo, Iowa, claims Indiana as his native state, his birth occurring in Lake county on the 6th of November. 1839. His father, Thomas Reed. was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, December 31. 1812, and was a son of James and Mary (Stewart) Reed. The Reed family is of Irish origin. while the Stewarts were of Scotch descent. In early manhood Thomas Reed married Miss Maria Myrick, who was born on the coast of Maine, September 20. 1814. and was of Scotch and Welsh descent. Her ancestors were shipbuilders by trade but after coming west became agrienfturists. Our subjeet well remem- bers hearing his grandmother tell of the land being so poor in Maine that they had to fertilize with fish in order to raise a erop of corn and one can easily imagine how small their fields must have been.
From his native stato Thomas Reed removed to Ohio, making his home in Athens county for some time. In 1834 he became a resident of Lake county, Indiana, settling there when that locality was on the western frontier. Ilis second son, Thomas V. Reed, was the first white child born in that comty.
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James S., the oldest being born in Ohio. The other children of the family were William B., Harvey M., Elias M., Louisa M., Elizabeth J., Nancy A. and Cynthia M., all born in Lake county, Indiana, where the parents continued to make their home until 1853; when they brought their family to lowa, traveling with two two-horse teams. The father entered a traet of land in Palmyra township, Warren county, and continued to reside thereon until called to his final rest in 1890, at the age of seventy-eight years. After his death his widow made her home with their son Harvey until she, too, passed away in 1894, at the age of eighty years. Both were earnest and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and were highly esteemed by all who knew them. Throughout life the father followed the occupation of farming and by his ballot he supported the democratic party.
Harvey M. Reed began his education in the country schools of his native state but was not quite fourteen years of age when the family came to lowa. At that time Warren county was but sparsely settled, the land was wild and uncultivated and school privileges were poor so that the children of the Reed household acquired but limited educations. The Indians had already left for the reservation farther west but wolves were quite numerous and made the night hideous by their howling round the house. Thus amid pioneer sur- roundings Mr. Reed grew to manhood, becoming thoroughly familiar with farming in all its details as he aided his father in the cultivation and improve- ment of the home place.
At Hartford, Warren county, he was married August 18, 1861, to Miss Ruth A. Proctor, who was born in Darke county, Indiana, on the 31st of August, 1843, a daughter of Joseph and Lucy Proctor. Four children blessed this union : Henry L., born July 1, 1862, married Olive Robertson; Ida V., born May 10, 1866, married Doran H. Goodale; Hulda E., born May 2, 1868, died on the 23d of the same month ; and Carrie F., born May 16, 1869, married Thomas L. Long. The mother of these children died on the 27th of March, 1882, and Mr. Reed was again married, September 18, 1884, his second union being with Harriet E. Trotter, who was born in Washington county, Indiana, October 20, 1853, and is a daughter of Hamilton and Lucy Trotter. By this marriage there are two sons : Thomas A., born October 8, 1885, and Harvey E., born November 20, 1888. Both are still at home.
Feeling that his country needed his services during the dark days of the Civil war, Mr. Reed enlisted November 4, 1861, in Company G, Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and after serving for two years reenlisted in the same company and regiment, November 6, 1863, for three years or during the war. He participated in a number of important engagements, including the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862; the siege and capture of Corinth ; the battle of Inka ; and the battle of Corinth, October 3-4, 1862. His regiment belonged to what was known as Crocker's Iowa Brigade, Fourth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps. Army of the Tennessee, and he took part in all the engagements in which his command participated. They aided in the capture of Vicksburg. July 4, 1863. and remained in that vicinity during the following fall and winter, being there when he reenlisted. In March. 1864, he returned home on a veteran's
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furlough and at the end of thirty days rejoined his command. They were with Sherman's army in the Atlanta campaign, participated in the capture of Atlanta and the march to the sea. From Savannah, they proceeded to Raleigh, North Carolina, and on through Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D. C., where they took part in the grand review with Sherman's Bummers, as his army was often called at that time. The war having ended Mr. Reed was honorably discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, July 24, 1865, and was mustered out with the rank of sergeant.
Mr. Reed then rejoined his wife and three year old son in Warren county and with the money which he had saved from his pay as a private soldier, he purchased one hundred acres of wild brush land in Otter township, where he at once began to make a home for his family. He chopped, split and hauled rails to fence his land and as time passed made many other improvements until he had a well cultivated farm on which were good and substantial buildings. To his original purchase he added another one hundred acre tract, also forty acres and twenty acres, making in all two hundred and sixty acres of valuable farming land. He raised considerable stock, feeding both cattle and hogs for the eastern market and in his farming operations met with most excellent and well deserved success. Ile purchased the eighty acre tract of land which his father had entered from the government on coming to this state but later sold this to his son Henry who now lives upon it. In 1900 Mr. Reed bought ten acres of land in the town of Milo and has since practically lived retired, enjoy- ing the fruits of former toil.
In 1880 he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has served as treasurer, vice grand and noble grand of his lodge. He has also affiliated with the Masonic order since 1897 and has been officially connected therewith, serving as junior warden, senior warden and worthy master. Ile attended the Grand Lodge at Sioux City, Iowa, in 1905; is a member of the Eastern Star and the Rebekahs; and is also connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Grand Army of the Republic. In religions faith he is a Methodist and in politics he is an ardent republican, taking a deep interest in public affairs, as true to his duties of citizenship in days of peace as when he followed the old flag to victory on southern battlefields. For fifty-five years he has now been a resident of Warren county and it is safe to say that no one within its borders is held in higher esteem than Harvey M. Reed, of Milo.
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CHARLES A. WILLETT, M. D.
Among the leading and representative citizens of Norwalk is numbered Dr. Charles A. Willett, now successfully engaged in the practice of his pro- fession at this place. He is a native of the neighboring state of Ilinois, his natal day being December 14, 1876, and the place of his nativity Peoria county. His father, Eli L. Willett, who is a well-to-do retired farmer living in Norwalk, was born in Indiana and is now sixty-one years of age. In early
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
manhood he was married in Hlinois to Miss Sophia Moss, a native of London, England, and they made their home in the Prairie state until 1890, which year witnessed their arrival in Warren county, Iowa. Mr. Willett purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in bin township, a half miles west of Norwalk, and there followed agricultural pursuits until his retirement from active labor. His political support is given the republican party and he holds membership with the Modern Woodmen of American. ITis religious connec- tion is with the Christian church, to which his wife also belongs, and both have the respect and esteem of all who know them. In their family are six children, four sons and two daughters, namely: Dr. II. C., who is engaged in practice in Des Moines ; F. S. ; O. P .; Charles A. ; Mrs. Mand Berry, and Ethel.
Charles A. Willett passed his boyhood and youth upon the home farm and acquired his early education in the public schools of Norwalk, later attending the high school of that place. He took a preparatory course at Drake Uni- versity and then took up the study of medicine, graduating from the medical department of this institution in 1902. He commenced the practice of his chosen profession at Whitten, Hardin county, lowa, in June, 1902, and there remained until coming to Norwalk in October, 1906. Here he has already built up a good practice, which is constantly increasing and he is ranked with the leading physicians of the county.
Dr. Willett was married in 1902 to Miss Jennie Pilmer, a native of Warren county and a daughter of Robert Piher, whose father, David Pilmer, came here from Scotland at an early day. They have one child, Wilma C., now four years of age. In politics the Doctor is an ardent republican. He is a promi- nent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Yeoman, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World, and in connection with his profession holds membership relations with the county and state medical associations. His professional brethren hold him in high esteem and wherever known he is universally respected.
J. E. HOUGHTALING.
.J. E. Houghtaling. well known in Indianola and throughout Warren and Polk counties as dealing in shorthorn cattle, Percheron horses and Poland China hogs, resides on section 29, Lincoln township, where he owns and operates a well improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres, located within four miles of Indianola. He was born in Peoria county, Illinois, July 13, 1861, the son of William and Isabella (Stewart) Houghtaling.
His father was a native of New York state and came west to Illinois while yet a young man. He located in Peoria county, where he engaged in farming. While residing there he met and married Isabella Stewart, also a native of New York. He followed farming in Illinois for some years when in 1874 he removed to Iowa, where he first rented land for a few years. In 1879 he bought the place which is now the property of our subjeet. moving
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on it in the spring of 1880. Here he spent his remaining years in the full contentment and enjoyment of an independent livelihood and the companion- ship of his wife and children. He died in Hlinois while on a visit to that state. ITis wife survived him for a few years. They were the parents of four sons and six daughters, of whom but two sons and two daughters are now living.
J. E. Houghtaling was born and reared in the country and received his education in the common schools. He aided his father in the conduct of the farm up to the age of twenty-one years. when he was married to Miss Martha E. Chew, July 13. 1882. Mrs. Houghtaling is a native of Warren county. After his marriage, Mr. Houghtaling rented land for a few years and engaged in farming in his own behalf. He was quite successful and the excellency of his judgment and management was indicated by the fact that in a few years' time he was able to buy the home place. Since acquiring this property he has built a large barn on it. added improvements to the house and fenced in a large part of the land. thus dividing it off into the necessary fields and pastures for the proper maintenance of his farming and stock-raising interests. the latter being his particular pride. He has been a member of the county fair association for about thirteen years, in which he served as chief marshal for a number of years.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Houghtaling have been born five children. four sons and a daughter. Ruth, who died at the age of three months. Of the sons. Walter W .. is married and resides on a farm in White Oak township; Frank. Gerald A .. and John A .. reside at home with their parents. Politically. Mr. Houghtaling is a demoerat in matters of national import, though on questions and issues pertaining to local affairs he gives his support to the candidate whom he deems most worthy. Ile has never aspired to public office, though he ever gives his hearty support to all educational matters and has served on the school board for a number of years. He and his wife are members of the United Presbyterian church of Indianola. Mr. Houghtaling is a mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen of America. a fraternal insurance society, and is widely and favorably known as one of the most popular and influential men of his community.
JOHN BRYANT GUY.
John Bryant Guy is a retired farmer who has reached the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey. He is now living in Milo and has been a resident of the county for fifty-six years, so that he is numbered among its pioneer settlers, and can remember the time when most of its homes were such as are seen upon the frontier in a newly developed region. He has lived to see remarkable changes as the work of transformation has been carried forward by the band of sturdy men and women who established homes here and have converted the wild land into rich, productive farms or promoted business
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enterprises which have led to the growth and upbuilding of the towns and cities.
Mr. Guy was born in Iredell county, North Carolina, March 10, 1830, his parents being William and Keziah ( Wellman) Guy, who were also natives of North Carolina. During the infancy of their son, Jolm, however, they left the south and removed to Indiana, where they spent their remaining days. The father was killed by being thrown from a horse in 1842, while the mother survived until 1865.
John Bryant Guy was only about ten years of age at the time of his father's demise. He remained at home until eighteen years of age, when he left the parental roof and assumed the responsibilities of life for himself. He has since been dependent upon his own resources and as the years have passed he has made a ereditable name and place for himself in business circles. In 1851 he arrived in Iowa, at which time he took up his abode in Polk county. there living until 1856, at which time he settled upon a farm about two miles north of Milo. With characteristic energy he began the develop- ment and enltivation of the place, fenced the fields, tilled the soil, cultivated the crops and raised his stock, working on, year after year, until 1905, when he resigned the management of the farm to his sons and secured a comfortable home in Milo, where he is now living a quiet, retired life. Indolenee and idle- ness, however, have been utterly foreign to his nature. He has lived a busy, active life and now, in his declining years, he does not surrender the "bless- ings of labor." but is occupied with the care of his garden and his home. and his place represents a most tasteful and well kept appearance.
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