USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren County, Iowa, from its Earliest Settlementto 1908 > Part 59
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THOMAS E. WILLIAMS.
For over forty years Thomas E. Williams has been a resident of Warren county. Towa, and has been actively identified with its agricultural interests. now owning and operating a well improved farm of eighty acres on section 34. Squaw township. His early home was on the other side of the Atlantic, for he was born in Wales on the 18th of September. 1837. his parents being Thomas and Hannah (Jones) Williams, who were farming people and spent their entire lives in that country. The father served under the Duke of Wel- lington in the British army and participated in the battle of Waterloo. He lived to be over seventy years of age bnt his wife died when in the forties.
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
She was a nurse by vocation. In their family were seven children but with the exception of our subject none came to America.
Thomas E. Williams spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his native land and early became familiar with agrienltural pursuits, being manager of a stock l'arm in Wales for a few years before his emigration to the United States. It was in 1859, when about twenty-two years of age, that he crossed the broad Atlantic and became a resident of Des Moines, lowa. where he had charge of the gardens and trees for Captain West. for whom he continued to work at different times for several years. Subsequently he operated and rented farms in Polk and Warren counties for a umber of years and then purchased his present place of eighty aeres in Squaw township from Barlow Granger, who was probably the first lawyer of Warren county. Upon this farm Mr. Williams has now made his home since March, 1889, and he has erected good buildings thereon and made many other useful and valuable improvements which add greatly to its appearance.
Before leaving Wales he married Miss Elizabeth Winslow, a native of that country, who died in Des Moines in 1859. only three months after their arrival. By that union there were three children who were quite young at the time of the mother's death. The oldest, Mary Ann, and the youngest, Harry. were both reared by Mrs. Tomlin, of Polk county. The former is now the wife of William Hague, of Mitchellville. Iowa, a farmer by occupation, and they have three sons and three daughters. Harry is now engaged in farming in Texas. Nettie, the second child, was reared by Mrs. Hinkle and was grad- uated from the Des Moines high school at the age of nineteen years. She then engaged in teaching in that city for about two years but for the past five years has been a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal church, now located at Caleutta, India. where she is a teacher in the schools and where she will remain two years longer.
On the 20th of September. 1876, Mr. Williams married Miss Alma Bentz. who was born in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, fifteen miles from Milwaukee. May 24, 1857, a daughter of Henry and Sarah Ann (Mucky) Bentz. of German descent. The father was a native of Germany and was a young man when he came to the new world. being married in Wisconsin. He served for three years in the Civil war as a member of Company G. Twenty-eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. and was killed in the service. His widow subsequently married John McCowen, who died at State Center. Iowa. Mrs. Williams and the other children were reared by their mother and she has two sisters still living, namely : Emma. now the widow of Joseph Raum Metler and a resident of Des Moines, and Lily. the wife of Joseph Moore, also residents of Des Moines. She has two half-sisters: Josephine. the wife of Lee Wilson. of Warren county. and Nellie, the wife of Thomas Lawman. of Rodman, Palo Alto county, Iowa. She also has two half-brothers: George McCowen, living on Park avenue. Des Moines; Charles, who is engaged in the livery business and also owns a farm in Palo Alto county ; Fred. a merchant on Park avenne, Des Moines : Perry. now working in Northern Towa; Edward. of Des Moines. and Homer. a plumber of the capital eity.
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Mr. and Mrs. Williams have five children : James, a carpenter and black- smith of Luverne, Kossuth county, lowa, is married and has two children, Edith and Violet. Alice is the wife of Don Kerr, living near Osceola, and they have one daughter, Leila. Hanna is the wife of Stephen Farr, of Des Moines, and they have one child. Thehna. Thomas, Jr., married Alta Matthews and they have one son, Keith. Wilbur is still on the home farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Madora, and with one exception all of their children are also connected with the church, the youngest son being quite active in the Epworth League. By his ballot Mr. Williams supports the men and measures of the demo- cratie party and he is deeply interested in public affairs. On coming to Towa he had but a few hundred dollars and the success that he has achieved in life is due entirely to his own well directed labors.
ABRAM ASH.
Abram Ash, who owns and operates the farm of one hundred and ten aeres on section 26, Greenfield township, where he now resides, and also one hundred and thirty acres of land on another section, was born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, near Lafayette, on the 11th of January, 1845, the son of Michael and Sarah (Hass) Ash. The father was a native of Maryland, where he was born in 1810. His parents crossed the Potomac river into Virginia, where they took up their residence when he was but a child. His father, John Ash, was a millwright and carried on a flouring and sawmill business. There Michael Ash was reared and grew to manhood and wedded Sarah Hass. The young couple later removed to Indiana, shortly thereafter locating in Tippe- canoe county, where Michael Ash and his brothers and sisters were among the first settlers. There he engaged in farming for some years when the fame of the rich soils of Iowa reached him and in 1852 he left Indiana and removed to Warren county. Here he bought a farm of two hundred acres, on which he erected good buildings and converted it into a most excellent home for himself and family. Here he spent his remaining years and passed away in January, 1887. His wife survived him for about four years, her death occur- ing in 1891. Of this union four sons and two daughters are still living.
Abram Ash was but seven years of age when his parents came to Iowa and here he was reared, receiving his education in the public schools. He remained with his father until thirty-three years of age, carrying on the work of the farm and taking care of his parents. In 1872 he bought the land where he now resides. On December 29, 1881, he was married to Miss Belle Handley, a daughter of John Handley, one of the early settlers from Ohio, who was born and reared in this county. Prior to his marriage Mr. Ash built a good house on the land he had bought, which at the time of his purchasing it had but an old log cabin on it. Due to his thrift, good management and industry Mr.
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
Ash prospered in his work and was shortly able to purchase an additional forty acre tract, and still later ninety aeres more, thus making up the one hundred and thirty acres referred to above. In connection with his farming Mr. Ash raises high grade shorthorn cattle and Percheron horses and has built up an enviable reputation for the handling of high grade stock. Mr. Ash has every reason to feel proud of the success to which he has attained, as he began at the foot of the ladder, and it is dne wholly to his own efforts. He went in debt for his land, doing this all the more fearlessly as he well understood the character of the soil and knew about what he could depend upon from it, and the results have shown the soundness of his judgment in this regard.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Ash have been born three sons and one daughter. Charles, the eldest son, is the cashier of a bank at Spring Hill. He was edu- cated at Simpson College. Robert, a business man of Spokane, Washington, also received his education at Simpson College, of which he is a graduate. Howard is in a railroad office at Portland, Oregon. Esther resides at home with her parents.
Mr. Ash gives his political support to the republican party but he has never sought office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his farm- ing and stock-raising interests. He has now been a resident of Warren county for fifty-six years and is a worthy representative of that class of citizens who lead quiet, industrions, honest and useful lives, and constitute the best portion of a community.
STEPHEN JAMES.
Stephen James, one of the veterans of the war of the rebellion and among the first settlers of this county, resides on a well improved and valuable farm of one hundred and sixty-six aeres on section 30, Palmyra township. He was born in Indiana, August 25, 1844, the son of Henry R. and Roxie (Myriek) James. His father was a native of Rhode Island. In early manhood he re- moved from his native state to Ohio. where he was married to Miss Roxie Myrick. There he was engaged as a teacher, which occupation he later followed in Indiana. He removed to Warren county, Iowa, in 1845, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. Here his family joined him in 1846, the same year that Iowa was admitted as a state into the Union. He spent the remainder of his days on this farm, passing away in 1901. His wife is still living at the age of eighty-three years and makes her home with her son Stephen of this review.
Stephen James was not yet two years of age when brought by his parents to Warren county and here he passed the days of his boyhood and youth, receiving his education in the district schools. He aided his father in the work of the farm until, at the opening of the Civil war, he responded to his country's call for volunteers to preserve the Union, enlisting in 1862. in Company B, Thirty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was sent south. He
MR. AND MRS. STEPHEN JAMES
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
participated in engagements at Chickasaw Bayon ; Fort Blakeley, Alabama; and Arkansas Post. He contracted smallpox and was in the St. Louis hospital for abont one year and a half, and was then assigned to hospital duty. He later returned to his regiment and served until the close of the war, being instered out of service at Houston, Texas, and receiving his final discharge at Daven- port. Angust 15, 1865.
At the close of the war Mr. James returned to his father's home, where he remained for some years. Ou May 23, 1875, he was married to Miss Eleanor Redmond, a native of Ohio, and a danghter of Simon and Catherine (Owens) Redmond. Her father was born in Canada, and her mother in Ohio. Mr. Redmond joined Company G. Fifty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war and was killed at the battle of Missionary Ridge. Mrs. James was bronght by her parents to this county, where she was reared. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. James settled on his farm near Hartford, where they resided for eight years, at the expiration of which time he sold that place and bought the interests of the other heirs of the old home place. Sinee acquiring this property he has rebuilt the house and erected a residence in which his son lives, has divided the farm into convenient traets for separate cultivation and has his farming operations redneed to a system. He keeps a good grade of horses and eattle and makes a specialty of raising hogs.
Mr. and Mrs. James are the parents of three sons and three daughters. The oldest son, Irving, is married and resides on his father's farm. Henry G., single, resides in Spokane, Washington, where he is engaged in the eleetrie business. Arthur is located at Boise, Idaho, where he is connected with a lumber company. Mae, the oldest daughter, is the wife of Clarenee Campbell, a harness manufacturer of Collins, Story eonnty, this state. Katie and Ermile reside at home with their parents.
Politieally Mr. James votes the republican ticket at national eleetions, but at local elections he votes independent of party, endeavoring to support the best men for the offices. He has most creditably served as township trustee for two terms and has been appointed a delegate to the county conventions. He has also served as petit juror and has been a member of the school board for years. Fraternally he is a member of Hartford Post. G. A. R. His estimable wife is a member of the Christian church, as are also his three daughters.
JOSEPH G. CHUMBLEY.
Joseph G. Chumbley, who owns and operates a finely improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 30. Otter township, has been eloselv identified with the farming interests of Warren county ever since he attained to the years of diseretion. He was born in Pulaski eounty, Virginia, Deeember 7, 1851, the son of William Allen and Naney P. (Glasgow) Chumbley. Both parents were likewise natives of this eonnty, the father having been born here in 1813. His parents died when he was a child and, aeeording to the
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
custom of the times, he was bound out to James Rankin, with whom he re- mained mutil he was twenty-one years of age. He was reared in the family and received a fair common school education in the subscription schools. At the age of twenty-one he married Miss Nancy P. Glasgow and located on a farm in Virginia, which he leased. This he operated for a number of years until 1860, at which time, through the influence of some friends located at Indianola, he emigrated to this county, locating in what was then Washington but is now Lincoln township. Here he rented land, but he was not spared to his family for a sufficient length of time to make much headway in his work, as he was called to his eternal rest on the 29th of April, 1862. He was a devout Presbyterian, an indulgent father and husband, and a hard-working citizen. His wife, Nancy P. Glasgow, was a daughter of William and Sallie (Patterson) Glasgow, who were also reared in Pulaski county and were of Scotch deseent.
At the time of her husband's death Mrs. Chumbley was left with a family of six sons and two daughters, as follows : James W., John C., Sarah L., Sam- nel C., Robert C., Joseph G., Winton H. and Lucy. The sons all remained at home until the youngest of them was twenty-three years of age. The family resided in Lincoln township until 1871, when they removed to Otter township and purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land in section 18, that being the family home until 1880. Conditions being unfavorable, however, they gave up that farm and settled with their creditors, after which they rented land for some ten years. The family gradually became broken up but three of the sons, James W., Winton H. and Joseph G., of this review remained with the mother until later and they, by industry and integrity, gained another good home of four hundred acres in sections 30, 31 and 32 Otter township. The partnership of the three brothers continued until the spring of 1905, when a division was made of the property. The mother died November 20, 1889, at the age of seventy-four years. The children of this family are as follows : James W., who was born in 1842, resides with his brother, Joseph G. He owns and operates a farm of eighty acres in Otter township. Jolin C., died in In- dianola in 1893, at the age of fifty-seven years. He had mainly engaged in farming though for some twenty years he was superintendent of the cattle barn at Omaha, Nebraska, for the distillery there. He left a widow, who now resides in Indianola and is married again to J. O. Pierce. Sarah L., who was born in 1846, married Achilles Brazelton. She died in 1881 aged thirty-five years, leaving two children, Nannie, who married a Mr. Adamson and resides in California, and Winnie. who is now a trained nurse in Des Moines. Samuel C., was born in 1848 and has resided in Clark county, Iowa, for the past ten or twelve years, where he owns a farm. He married Miss Jane Clary and unto this union have been born eleven children. Lucy is the wife of William McCampbell. a farmer residing in Indianola. They have one daughter. Maude. at home.
Joseph G. Chumbley received his education in the district schools of War- ren county. He has ever taken an active interest in the industrial. social and political affairs of the community and has been a leading spirit in many
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
of the progressive movements there. He and his brothers were the first to in- terest themselves in securing the rural mail ronte No. 1, and in order to put the movement through they gave bonds for three hundred dollars for the first one hundred boxes and were influential in prevailing on others to take them. His main energies, however, have been devoted to his farming interests, in which he has been most successful, as he now owns two hundred and forty aeres of land.
Mr. Chumbley was married in 1875 to Miss Esther L. Pierce, a native of Gallia county, Ohio, where she was born in 1856. Her parents were William and Martha (Martindale) Pierce, both of whom are now deceased. They removed to Warren county in 1870, and it was in this county that the mother died, but the father died in Ohio. Mrs. Chumbley was one of twelve children, several of whom are now residing in lowa. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Chumbley have been born nine children, namely: Mary E., is the wife of G. G. Amos, a farmer residing in Otter township, and they have four children, Nellie, Nora, Howard and Charles. Lucy is the wife of G. H. Bown, residing on a farm in Otter township, and they have four sons, John, William, Joseph and Thomas. Nora is the wife of C. C. Morrison, also a farmer of Otter township, and they have two sons, Clarence and Robert. James W., engaged in farming in this town- ship, married Miss Edith Bown and unto this union have been born two children, Lois and Lucevia. Robert C., is married to Miss Muriel Hess and resides in Otter township. He is an auctioneer, by profession, being familiarly known as "Doe" Chumbley, and has been associated in business with A. R. Guy, of Indianola. Joseph P., Nannie, Thomas and Alvor reside at home with their parents.
The independence of thought and action that is so characteristic of the Scotch-Irish raee is illustrated in the different political opinions of the mem- bers of the Chumbley family, Joseph G. giving his allegiance to the republican party, while five of his brothers arc democrats. He has served and is at present a trustee of Otter township, and is now a candidate for county commissioner. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chumbley are members of the Methodist church.
JAMES SHEEHEY.
James Sheehcy is one of the self-made men of Warren county for through his own industry and good management he has acquired a comfortable con- petence and is today the owner of a fine farm on section 11, Jefferson town- ship, where he now makes his home. He is a native of Ireland and on his emi- gration to this country in 1867 came dircet to Iowa, first locating at Des Moines, where he commenced work for the Rock Island Railroad Company. At the end of two years he was made scetion boss on the Des Moines and Winterset branch of that road and on the 12th of February, 1872, became a resident of Warren county, making his home in Lothrop while filling that position for thirty years.
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
Mr. Shechey was first married in tins county to Miss Mary Wood and to them was born one daughter. Margaret. After the death of that wife he married Miss Anna Macken, by whom he had one son, James, who worked for the Rock Island Railroad for some years and is now at home with his father. For his third wife Mr. Shechey wedded Miss Mary Devitt, and they became the parents of three sons and three daughters, namely: Edward, Michael, Leo, Alice, Mamie and Catherine.
Mr. Shechey's first purchase of land consisted of twelve acres in Jeffer- son township but as time has passed and his financial resources have increased, he has added to his property until he now owns three Indred and forty acres of land, divided into two farms. Upon one of these he located on his retire- ment from the railroad service in 1901 and he now devotes his energies to l'arming and stock-raising. His home place is well improved with good build- ings and as an agrienlturist he is meeting with excellent success. He is a very energetic, industrious man, of good business ability and sound judg- ment and to his own unaided efforts he owes his prosperity for he commenced life in the new world empty-handed. Politically he has been a lifelong demo- erat of the Cleveland type.
ASA L. PUTNAM.
Asa L. Putnam, a well-known farmer of Richland township, owns and occupies a well improved farm of seventy acres adjoining the village of Hart- ford. He is a native of Iowa, born in Dubuque county, on the 6th of April, 1854, and is a son of Rufus Putnam, whose birth occurred in Indiana, 1822. His paternal grandfather was Howard Putnam, who was a soldier of the Revolu- tionary war and was with General Washington at Valley Forge. The father grew to manhood in his native state and there married Miss Cynthia Bradley, a native of Virginia, and soon afterward they came to Iowa, locating in Dubuque county, where he entered land and improved a farm. In 1865 he removed to Marion county and later came to Warren county, where he secured a tract of wild land, which he broke and placed under cultivation, rearing his family thereon. Subsequently he went to Pottawattamie county, lowa, and died at Oakland in 1898. His first wife, who was the mother of our subject, departed this life of Dubnque county, July 13. 1862. By that union there were six sons and two daughters, all of whom are still living with the exception of one daughter.
Asa L. Putnam accompanied his father on his removal to this county and remained at home until his marriage, which was celebrated in Hartford. De- cember 25. 1872, Miss Sarah E. Pyle becoming his wife. She is a native of Martinsville, Indiana, and a daughter of G. W. Pyle. They have one son, Charles E., who is married and follows farming in Palmyra township.
For two years after his marriage Asa L. Putnam operated rented land and then purchased a farm in Richland township. It was in March. 1892. that he
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A. L. PUTNAM
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
bought his present farm of seventy aeres, and to its improvement and enltivation he has sinee devoted his time and energies, his labors being rewarded with good harvests. He has erected a good house and othewise improved the place and follows both farming and stock-raising.
Politically Mr. Putnam has been a life-long republican and has taken quite an active part in public affairs, serving as a delegate to county conven- tions and filling various township offices in a creditable and satisfactory manner. He has been justice of the peace two terms, township trustee three terms, road supervisor for several years, and has also been officially connected with the schools. He is an elder in the Christian church of Hartford, to which he and his wife belong, and he is also a prominent Mason, being past master of Hartford lodge, which he has represented in the Grand Lodge of the state. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at the same place and has filled all the offices in that society and has represented the lodge in the Grand Lodge. Both he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star and Daughters of Rebekah, and she has served as treasurer in the former organiza- tion and also an officer in the latter.
S. G. LUKENBILL.
S. G. Lukenbill, who succeeded to that portion of his father's estate on which the old homestead is located, was born on the farm where he now re- sides, October 15, 1866, the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Davis) Lukenbill. His father was a native of Owen county, Indiana, where he was born in 1816, and where he resided throughout his early manhood He left there in 1853 and located in this county, settling on the land where our subject now re- sides. He eleared the land and opened up a farm. He was encouraged in his work by the generous return which the soil yielded him in response for the cultivation given it and with remarkable foresight he reached out and acquired more land from time to time as rapidly as his resources would per- mit, until he became possessor of nearly one thousand acres of Warren county's richest farming land. Besides this he owned land in Nebraska. Mr. Luken- bill would be one of the first to give credit to his faithful wife and daughters and his sturdy sons for the aid they rendered him in acquiring this property, and it is but meet, and entirely in accord with his wishes that his loved ones by reason of his foresight and industry, should now be independently sit- nated and comparatively free from eare as to competence for the future. He died on the home farm place in November, 1888. His wife survived him for about three and one-half years, and passed away in April, 1892. They were the parents of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, but one son has since died. For his second wife the father married Emily Spurgin, a daughter of Levi Spurgin of this county, and to them was born a daughter, Amanda. now the wife of C. N. Black, of Union township.
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