USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren County, Iowa, from its Earliest Settlementto 1908 > Part 57
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In the public schools of Ohio John H. Derrough began his education and afterward attended Simpson College at Indianola. Much of his life has been devoted to educational work for he taught school for twenty terms. He proved both a capable instructor and disciplinarian and the interest of the schools of the locality was largely promoted through his efforts. Following his marriage he aceepted a clerkship in a store at Hammondshurg. He was also employed in a similar manner at Milo and in 1882 removed to Indianola. where for four years he filled the position of deputy county clerk. He was clerk of the district court for six years and discharged the duties of both positions in a most prompt and eapable manner. He afterward engaged in the furniture and undertaking business as senior partner of the firm of Der- rough & Proudfoot but subsequently he sold his interests to J. H. Dyke. He next became assistant cashier in the Warren County State Bank and has been cashier since 1905, while he also is serving as one of its directors. During the years of his residence here, through his connection with official, mereantile and financial interests, he has maintained an unassailable reputation, enjoying to the fullest extent the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been associated.
On the 17th of October, 1874, Mr. Derrongh was married to Miss Lue A. Kinsley. a native of Marion county, Indiana, and a daughter of Robert and Ruth (Hollingsworth) Kinsley, both of whom were natives of the Hoosier state. The father was a farmer by occupation and in 1856 eame to Iowa, driving across the country and casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers who aided in reclaiming this region for the purpose of development and civilization. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kinsley were born nine children : Mrs. Derrough. George W .. Robert L .. . John C., Eliza E., deceased ; William F., deceased; Alwilda and Appolis, also deceased. and Melvin. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Derrough have been born six children, of whom four are now living : Fred O., Nora E., Harry E. and Maude. Their second child. Roy. died at the age of four and one-half years and their last daughter. Nellie. is also deceased.
Mr. Derrough gives his political allegiance to the republican party but. while he is deeply interested in its success and has been faithful in the discharge of public duties, he cannot be said to be a politician in the sense of office seeking. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons. Odd Fellows and the
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Ancient Order of United Workinen, while his religions faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
Long a resident of the county his life history is largely familiar to his follow townsmen who find in his record naught that does not command re- speet and confidence, so that he is classed with the representative and valued citizens of the community.
G. E. HATFIELD, M. D.
Dr. G. E. Hatfield, who since 1892 has been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in bacona, has gained a large and lucrative patronage during these years. He is a native of Oregon. Holt county. Missouri, born April 21. 1868. a son of Rev. J. L. and Helen M. (Carpenter) Hatfield. The Father is a native of the Buckeye state. where he was reared, acquiring his education in the Ohio State University. while later he was ordained to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was first identified with the Missouri conference. being located at Oregon, that state and later was pastor of the churches at Trenton and at Chillicothe. Missouri. Later he was elected to a chair in the Ohio State University and for fourteen years was a noted edneator in that institution of learning but resigned and removed to Indianola, where he now makes his home. His sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Hatfield is the daughter of Dr. E. G. Carpenter. a noted physician and surgeon of the Buckeye state.
Dr. G. E. Hatfield accompanied his parents on their various removals and was mostly reared and educated in Indianola. he entered Simpson College. where he spent four years. Deciding upon the profession of medicine as a life work he then began to study under Dr. L. Baker. a prominent physician and surgeon of that place and later took a course of leetures in the State University. He then spent three years in Rush Medical College, at Chicago. Illinois. being graduated from that institution in the class of 1892. During the periods of vacation he practiced with his preceptor. Dr. Baker, and after completing his course located for practice in Lacona. where he has been located ever sinee. He is meeting with excellent suceess. his services being sought not only in the city but also in the surrounding districts.
Dr. Hatfield was married in 1896 to Miss Olive Snuggs, a native of Iowa. who was born and reared in Warren county, where she was engaged in teach- ing prior to her marriage.
The Doctor and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are workers in the church and Sunday sehool. In his fraternal rela- tions he is identified with the blue lodge at Laeona. in which he attained the degree of Master Mason. and has served as master of the lodge at Lacona three times during the last fifteen years. while both he and his wife are mem- bers of the Eastern Star. in which the latter has served through all the chairs. In the strict path of his profession the Doctor is identified with the
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State Medical and the Des Moines Valley Medical Societies. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He has served as health officer of Lacona for the past fifteen years.
The Doctor is well known throughout Warren county and stands high in the estimation of his professional brethren, while in the social circles of La- cona both he and his wife are prominent.
W. C. HASTIE.
W. C. Hastie, who has resided on his present farm on section 19, Allen township, since 1887, and dates his residence in this county and township sinee 1856, was born at Bath, New York, December 18, 1854. He is of Scotch ancestry in both the paternal and maternal line, his parents having been born in Scotland, whenee they came to America shortly after their marriage and settled in Albany, New York. He remained here about one year, and in 1856 he came to Warren county and was among the early settlers of Scotch Ridge. He rented for a number of years, but eventually bought an eighty acre traet on which he spent the remainder of his days. He passed away in 1904, aged eighty years. His wife is still living, being now past eighty years of age. They were the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters, all of whom are yet living.
In this township our subject passed the days of his boyhood and youth, receiving his education in the district schools. He remained at home with his parents and aided his father in the responsibilities of the place until he was thirty-three years of age, when he married on March 24, 1887, Miss Lizzie Utterson, daughter of John Utterson and a native of Wellsville, Ohio, who was reared in this county. A sketch of Mr. Utterson's life appears elsewhere in this issue. Following his marriage, Mr. Hastie rented the place on which he now lives and engaged in farming in his own behalf. That he prospered is evi- denced by the fact that after seven years' occupancy of the farm he was able to purchase it and it has since remained in his possession. Since secur- ing the title to the place he has built an addition to the house, has eonstrueted the necessary barns and outbuildings. and planted an orchard and put up fencing, and altogether transformed it into a modern, comfortable home. In addition to general farming he is also engaged in stock-raising.
In affairs of national import Mr. Hastie gives his political support to the republican party. Locally, he supports the men and measures that he deems most worthy of support. He has ever taken an active interest in edu- cational matters and has served as secretary of the school board for several years. He has been the local correspondent of various county papers for the past thirty years, being a contributor to Wallace's Farmer, a publication de- voted to farming interests. He and his estimable wife are members of the United Presbyterian church, of which organization Mr. Hastie is an elder and for two years was the efficient superintendent of the Sunday sehool, a
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position which Mrs. Hastie is filling at the present time and which she has filled most creditably in previous years. Mr. Hastie deserves great credit, for the success he has achieved in life, for it is entirely due to his industry, perseverance and good management.
JOHN WESLEY BARNS.
John Wesley Barns, who since the spring of 1904 has lived retired in Indianola, was formerly closely associated with generał agriculturał pursuits m Jackson township, where he still owns four hundred aeres of land. He now handles stock and his business in this direction is proving profitable. His birth occurred in Madison county, Indiana, December 12, 1841.
His father, Thomas G. Barns, was born in Brown county, Indiana, and the blood of Irish ancestry flowed in his veins. In early life he learned the trades of carpentering and cabinetmaking, which he followed for a time but later gave his attention to general agricultural pursuits. In 1851 he became a resident of lowa, settling in Clayton county, where he purchased a farm. There he remained until 1856, when he started for Kansas but stopped on the way at Summerset to visit his brother, William Barns, who was the owner of a mill there. While paying the visit he examined the country and purchased a farm three miles northeast of Indianola. Abandoning his plan of becoming a resident of Kansas, he settled upon his property and there made his home until the Civil war. At that time he removed to Indianola and purchased a farm in Jefferson township. While residing in town he bought stock and was quite
successful in all his undertakings. After the war he engaged in the grocery business with his son John W. and continued a resident of Indianola until his death, which occurred in 1874, when he had reached the age of sixty-two years. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and in his fraternal rela-
tions was a Mason. When age conferred upon him the right of franchise he proudly cast his first ballot for the candidate of the whig party and later upon its dissolution he joined the ranks of the republican party. He held several township offices and in community affairs was deeply interested to the extent of giving his aid and support to many measures for the public good. He wedded Miss Ruth Blue, who was born in Marion county, Ohio, and died in 1873, at the age of sixty-one years. She was of German lineage and was a member of the Baptist church. Their family numbered three sons and three daughters, as follows: Mary Jane, the deceased wife of Henry Scott, a resident of Otter township, Warren county; Caroline T., who first wedded John M. Loring, a merchant, who died in Wichita, Kansas, and after his death became the wife of a Mr. Gregory; Katherine, who became the wife of a Mr. Woods and following his death married George Tibs, who is also deceased; John W., whose name introduces this review ; James M., who served in the Civil war as a member of Company C, Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry, which was later consolidated with Company D, having enlisted in August 1862, was mustered out in August. 1865,
JOHN W. BARNS
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
but who is now deceased; and Sylvester, who served in the same military company with his brother and is now a resident of Texas.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for John Wesley Barns in his boyhood and youth. He worked in the fields through the summer months and in the winter seasons attended the public schools, acquiring thereby a fair English education. Ilis life has been devoted to general farming interests with the exception of the time when he was in the grocery business with his father in Indianola. As the years passed he brought his farm under a high state of cultivation and improvement and in his undertakings won that success which always comes as a reward for intelligently directed and unfaltering labor. In the spring of 1904, he retired from the farm and removed to Indianola, where he now makes his home. Here he handles stock, for he cannot entirely disassociate himself from business affairs, as indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature. lle also gives general supervision to his farm which is a valuable property of four hundred aeres in Jackson township.
Pleasantly situated in his home life Mr. Barns was married in August, 1867, to Miss Cynthia A. Bundy, who was born in Farmington, lowa, July 13, 1844. ller father, John W. Bundy, was born in North Carolina, February 29, 1816, and was a representative of an old English family, his grandfather having come to this country from England in 1765 and settled in South Carolina, where his father was born the following year. The latter was a member of the colonial troops during the last two years of the Revolutionary war. When John W. Bundy was thirteen years of age the family removed to Wayne county, Indiana, and he continued to reside there and in Henry county, that state, until 1833, when they went to Quincy, Illinois. In 1844 he came to lowa and first located in Van Buren county, where he made his home until 1852, and from that time until coming to Warren county in 1855 he was a resident of Oskaloosa. Set- tling in Indianola, he bought a mill and in connection with John W. Jones engaged in its' operation throughout the greater part of his life. On the 6th of May, 1838, he married Miss Sarah Delamater, of Rensselaer county, New York, who died June 19, 1873. His death occurred on the 19th of August, 1890. Both were members of the Baptist church and were people of the highest respectability. Unto them were born eight children, namely: Cynthia, the wife of John W. Barns, of this review; Emma, the wife of Ed R. McKee, of Indianola; Jane, the deceased wife of Joseph Thomas, of Missouri; Effa, the wife of W. P. Lucas, of Indianola; George A. and Martha L., both of Holt county, Nebraska ; Mrs. Mary Peck, deceased ; and W. E., also deceased. The father was again married, his second union being with Sally Maloy, who died June 3, 1884, leaving two daughters, Ida and Lydia.
Mrs. Barns is an artist of considerable ability and is a charming hostess, presiding with gracious hospitality over their pleasant home. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Barns' were born six children: Lora M., the wife of Frank Willsey, a farmer of White Oak township; Walter E., who also follows farming in that township; Clyde, who is engaged in the real-estate business and is at home;
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LHISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
Charles, who also deals in real estate m Indianola; Nelhe, who is a cashier and bookkeeper, being employed in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Iva, who has passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Barns also have eight grandchildren.
At the time of the Civil war Mr. Barns joined the Union army and as a follower of the stars and stripes marched to the front in 1862 with Company C of the Thirty-fourth lowa Infantry. He afterward served with Company D and was in the army for three years, participating in fourteen battles. He is now a member of James Randolph Post, G. A. R., of which he is a past com- mander. Both he and his wife are members of the Baptist church. He is likewise connected with the Masons and is loyal to the teachings of these different organizations, with which he holds membership. He votes with the republican party, has held several township offices and in 1878 was elected sheriff, in which position he served for two terms. Fidelity to duty has always been one of his strongly marked characteristics. It was manifest in his official service and when he followed the flag on southern battlefields. It is equally noticeable in his business dealings and in his social relations and he therefore has many friends in the county, as does his wife.
WILLIAM FORMAN.
William Forman, son of William Forman, Sr. and Susan (Martin) Forman was born in Preston county, Virginia, July 8, 1849. His father was of German descent and in 1854, in company with his family, undertook the journey from Virginia to Warren county, Iowa, covering the greater part of the distance by boat down the Ohio and up the Mississippi rivers as far as Keokuk, Iowa, and thence by team to Warren county, where he entered two hundred acres of government land. On this he erected a frame building with hewed tim- bers, which is still standing and is covered with shingles split by hand and shaved with a hand drawing knife. baths, sound as the day they were made, are now to be found in this old landmark, these having been used in another building which was built first and has since been torn down. Mr. and Mrs. Forman are devoted members of the Methodist church and it was in their home that the Mount Tabor Methodist Episcopal Society was organized. The father died in 1869, while the mother lived to be eighty-four years of age. They were the parents of eight children of whom three brothers and one sister are still living.
William Forman, the subject of this review, spent his boyhood days on his father's farm and is indebted to the district schools of this community for his education. After his father's death he bought eighty-two aeres of the old home place on the settlement of his estate when but twenty-one years of age and began farming for himself. As a further step toward the establishment of a home he married Miss Mary Keller, likewise a native of Virginia, and a daughter of Allen and Ellen C. (Harsh) Keller, whose family were among the first settlers of this township. Unto this mion five children have been born,
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as follows : L. D., a farmer of Squaw township, who married Miss Ellen Hol- land; Minnie W., the wife of Charles Stark, a farmer of Virginia township; Everett, a farmer of Virginia township. who married Miss Nora Weaver; Ella and Blanche, both of whom live at home with their parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Forman are prominent members of the Methodist church. In polities he is a demoerat and has taken an active interest in township affairs. He now owns one hundred and five acres of well improved land, inehding a portion of his father's old homestead and is connted as one of the reliable, substantial citizens of the community.
THOMAS JAMES PROUDFOOT.
Thomas James Proudfoot is senior member of the firm of Proudfoot, Dyke & Smith, furniture dealers and undertakers of Indianola, and an investi- gation into his career shows that the methods he has followed in the business world have at all times been honorable and reliable, so that he is well entitled to the liberal patronage that is now accorded him. He claims West Virginia as the state of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Barbour county on the 18th of March, 1855.
His father, James Proudfoot, was born in that county and learned the ear- penter's trade. In 1855 he removed westward to Iowa, settling in Warren county, His religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church and his political belief that of the democracy. He was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, however, for in 1857 he passed away at the comparatively early age of thirty years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary C. Barnett, was born in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia and died in December, 1903, at the age of seventy-seven years. After losing her first husband she became the wife of P. P. Henderson, by whom she had one daughter, Susie, now the wife of C. M. Beek, a real-estate dealer at Gibbon, Nebraska. She was a de- voted member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a lady of many excellent traits of character.
Thomas J. Proudfoot was twelve years of age at the time of his mother's second marriage. He was the younger of two children born of her first union and in the public schools of Indianola he pursued his education, while later he spent two years as a student in Simpson College He afterward took up the trade of carpentering, which he followed for a time and later he engaged in farming for four years upon a tract of land that he had purchased near the fair grounds. For eighteen years, however, he has devoted his time and energies to merchandising. In 1892 he formed a partnership with J. H. Der- rough under the firm style of Derrough & Proudfoot, dealers in furniture and undertaking goods. This partnership continued for six years, when Mr. Der- rough retired and was succeeded by .J. H. Dyke and G. A. Smith. The business was then increased and the firm name of Proudfoot. Dyke & Smith was assumed.
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This company is now doing a good business, having many patrons, while it's ammal sales have reached a large figure.
On the Sth of September, 1880, Mr. Proudfoot was married to Miss Haunie I. F. Chapman, who was born in New York, her parents being natives of that state. Mr. and Mrs. Proudfoot have one child, a daughter, Ada A. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Proudfoot affiliates with the blue lodge and chapter of Masons and is financier in the local lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. In his business career he has always held to high ideals and has been a man of action rather than theory. He justly valnes his own self- respect and esteem of his fellowmen as infinitely more preferable than wealth, fame or position and in his laudable efforts to attain prosperity he has never sacrificed those principles which he believes to be right as factors in man's relations with his fellowmen.
W. C. STROCK.
W. C. Stroek, who is living retired in New Virginia, was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1837. His father, Tobias Strock, also a native of the Keystone state, was a millwright by trade and came to Warren county in 1855, settling on a farm in New Virginia township. His death occurred two years later at the age of fifty-seven years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Breckbill, was likewise a native of Pennsylvania, and her death occurred in New Virginia in the eighty-eighth year of her age. They were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church and people of the highest respectability. Their family numbered three children, namely: John H., who is living at Logansport, Indiana; Mary, the wife of J. W. Harsh, of New Virginia ; and W. C., of this review.
The last named spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Indiana, to which state his parents had removed when he was but two and a half years old. HIe accompanied them on their removal to Iowa in 1855 and after his father's death purchased the estate from the other heirs, and made a home for his mother as long as she lived. He owned several different farms and was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1892, when he located in New Virginia and followed the carpenter's trade successfully for five years or until 1906, when he retired from active business pursuits and is enjoying his remaining years in well carned ease. About two years ago he sold a farm of eighty-one acres. He still owns twenty-seven and a half acres. He was one of the earliest pioneers of Virginia township, for when he came here Indians were still numerous and deer, turkeys and other wild game abounded. In fact it was quite a common occurrence for thirteen deer to be killed in a single day.
On the 28th of September, 1859, occurred the marriage of Mr. Strock and Miss Matilda Felton, who was born in West Virginia, November 4, 1837. and passed away August 1, 1907. She was a daughter of John Felton, the first
MR. AND MRS. W. C. STROCK
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settler in Virginia township, and was a charter member of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Virginia. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 'Strock were born five children, as follows; Irene, the wife of Frank Trobough, a retired farmer of New Virginia; J. T., living at home, who is serving as postmaster of New Virginia; Estella, the wife of B. F. Reed, an agriculturist of Virginia; Mary, the wife of W. G. Davidson, who follows farming in Squaw township; and Ollie, at home. The latter is much interested in church work and furnished Editor Martin with a history of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Virginia from a paper read by her at the semi-centennial anniversary celebra- tion in 1905.
Mr. Strock is a stanch republican in his political belief and has served his fellow townsmen as constable and school director. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and the kindly regard in which he is held through- out the entire community is indicated by the fact that he is familiarly known as Uncle Billy. For more than a half century he has been identified with the npbuilding and improvement of this county and has given his support to every movement and measure instituted for the general welfare along many lines.
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