USA > Ohio > Greene County > Biographical and historical record of Greene and Carroll counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state and a concise history of the two counties and their cities and villages > Part 24
USA > Ohio > Carroll County > Biographical and historical record of Greene and Carroll counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state and a concise history of the two counties and their cities and villages > Part 24
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MeFarlin, of Clinton County, Iowa. Of the three children born to this union only two are living, named Ethel and Mabel.
OBERT WOOD settled in Greene County in 1868, first locating in Jackson Town- ship, where he bought 125 acres of land upon which some improvements had been made. A little breaking had been done and a shanty had been built. He removed to his present home on seetion 33, Bristol Township, where he has a good farm and a comfortable house. Mr. Wood was born in Rutland Connty, Vermont, June 20, 1830, son of Samuel S. and Eliza (Niles) Wood, who were also natives of Vermont. He was reared in St. Lawrence County, New York, where his father died. Ilis mother afterward lived with a married daughter, and died in the State of New Hampshire. Mr. Wood was married to Miss Samantha J. Briggs, danghter of Caleb and Alsina Briggs, who was born in Vermont, June 30, 1831. Her parents removed to Franklin County, New York, in 1834. In August, 1862, Mr. and Mrs. Wood came West, and made a home in the township of Dane, Dane County, Wis- consin, remaining there until they came to Greene County, where they have lived over nineteen years. They have five children- Edmund S. and Elmer A. are general mer- chants at Jefferson, under the firm name of E. S. Wood; Fidelia D. is the wife of II. C. Parker, of Howard County, Nebraska; Elias R. is a general merchant at Lohrville, Cal- houn County, this State; Lillie May married William Kinsman, of Bristol Township. Mr. Wood has served as trustee, road supervisor, and as school direcor. Few men have taken a more active part in promoting the efficiency of the common schools. His own children
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have had excellent educational advantages, and all except Elmer have been teachers. Mr. and Mrs. Wood are members of the Baptist church, and are practical Christians. Mr. Wood is a member of the Knights of Pythias, Garfield Lodge, No. 62, at Jefferson.
DWARD P. FRENCH was born in Onondaga County, New York, Septem- ber 9, 1838, a son of E. V. P. French. lle received a good education in the schools of his native county. Ile came West in 1855, and lived in Grundy County, Illinois, eleven years, coming to Iowa in 1866. He lived in Muscatine County until 1880, when he removed to Greene County and located on section 30, Paton Township, where he owns a small farm. Ile has been employed as teacher in public schools much of the time since 1856; was principal of the publie schools of West Liberty, Muscatine County, from 1868 to 1872, and is now (1887) teach- ing at Paton. Mr. French was married lune 26, 1861, to Eleanor K. McFarlane, a native of Trumbull County, Ohio. They have had five children, four of whom are living- Eugenio, llettie, Clark and Mary. Mr. French is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is now worshipful master of Gem Lodge, No. 429, Paton.
RANCIS HUGHES, one of the old pio- neers of Greene County, residing on section 12, Junetion Township. is a native of Ontario, Canada, born in Lanark County, December 25, 1825. His father, Owen Hughes, was born in County Cavan, Freland, coming to America when quite young, and lived in Canada till. his death. 1
Francis Hughes received such education as the log cabin subscription schools of a new country afforded. lle was married July 24, 1848, to Miss Rebecca Avery, a daughter of Captain Benjamin Avery. Of the thirteen children born to this union, eight are still living- John. Mary, Frank, Joseph, Rebecca, Carrie, Rose and Ella. Mr. Hughes came to Augustus, Iowa, in 1859, and in 1860 re- turned to Canada. In 1865 he settled in Kane County, Illinois, where he lived till [869, when he came to Greene County, Iowa, and for a time was employed on the Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railroad. Hle settled on his present farm in the spring of 1871, then a tract of wild prairie, but by industry and persevering energy he has made good improvements on his farm, which now con- tains 160 acres of well-cultivated land. In his religious faith Mr. Hughes is a Catholic.
EV. S. E. JENKS resides on see- tion 29, Kendrick Township, and has been identified with the interests of Greene County for many years. Ile was born in Canandaigua, New York, September 5, 1818, son of Clark and Elizabeth Jenks, who were the parents of six children, our subject being the fifth child. When he was three years of age his father removed to Geauga County, Ohio, where they lived four years, thence to Cuyahoga County, where he resided seventeen years. Ile was reared a farmer and received a common-school educa- tion, also studied at home. When twenty years of age he removed to Stephenson County, Illinois, and lived there four years. lle was married May 31, 1845, to Miss Eliza- beth Ann Carney, a native of Kentucky, and daughter of Andrew and Martha Carney. Soon after his marriage he removed to Greene
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County, Wisconsin, where he lived until 1868, thence to Benton County, lowa, for one year, thence to this county, where he has since re- sided. Ile purchased 160 acres of wild land with no improvements except a rude board shanty. The Jeaks farm is now known as one of the best farms in the township. Ile has a good story-and-a-half residence, sur- rounded with shade trees, a native grove, orchard, and comfortable farm buildings for stock and grain. Mr. and Mrs. Jenks have nine children-Sarah Jane, Daniel Jefferson, Albert Ensign, Andrew Clark, Edmond Riley, Martha Zuba, Emery Lincoln, Harriet Au- gusta and Lillian Josephine. Mr. Jenks cast his first vote for General Harrison, and has since voted on that line of polities. lle is a consistent member of the United Brethren church. and served as an ordained minister for twenty-five years. He has always been an earnest worker in the cause of his Master.
ENRY INFIELD, farmer, section 10, Junction Township, Greene County, was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, November 24, 1840, a son of John Infield. of Owen County, Indiana, who was a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Our subject was reared a farmer, and received in his youth the benefits of the common schools, where he obtained a fair education. He was a soklier in the war of the Rebellion, serving in Company I, Ninety-seventh Ohio Infantry, almost three years. lle participated in the battles of Perryville, Stone River, Missionary Ridge, Charleston, Tennessee. Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Adairsville, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain. Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Jones- boro, Lovejoy Station, Franklin and Nash- ville, Tennessee, receiving his discharge at Nashville, June 10, 1865. During the war
his regiment lost in killed and wounded 534 men. In the fall of 1865 Mr. Infield settled in MeLean County. Illinois, where he worked as a farm laborer till April, 1870, when he eame to Greene County, Iowa, and purchased land. Ile located in Greene County perma- nently June 1, 1871, since which he has lived on his present farm, where he owns eighty acres of well cultivated land. Decem- ber 1, 1871, he was married to Miss Josephine Kinsey, a daughter of Ulysses B. Kinsey, of Junetion Township. They are the parents of two children whose names are Minnie and Ida. In politics Mr. Infield casts his suffrage with the Republican party. Ile is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Odd Fellows, belonging to the latter order for eighteen years.
LFRED ALLISON, one of Greene County's pioneers, resides on section 15. Cedar Township, where he owns 280 acres of valuable land. Ile was born in Yorkshire, England, in September, 1829, the eldest of five children of JJob and Anna (Coates) Allison. Ilis parents left England in 1830, sailing from Liverpool and landing in Quebee in May. In 1832 they returned to England. He was reared in his native coun- try, and was there married October 22. 1850, to Miss Ann Arnett, who was born in York- shire. in May, 1827, a daughter of Thomas and Ilester Arnett. They started immedi- ately for America, sailing from Liverpool, October 25. 1850. They landed at New Orleans, December 16, and from there went to Mobile, Alabama, where they lived until June, 1551, when they moved to Rock Coun- ty, Wisconsin, where they lived fourteen years. In 1854 he bought eighty acres of land, which he improved. In September.
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1865, they moved to Greene County, Iowa, and settled near where they now live on a traet of unimproved land. llis first home in the county was a log cabin, and at the time of his settlement there were but six families in the township. Ile now has a good house, and other farm buildings, an orchard of bear- ing trees, and all his surroundings betoken the thrifty and energetie farmer. From 1877 until 1882 he was postmaster at Cedar Creek, the postoffice being at his house. In polities Mr. Allison is a Republican. Ile and his wife are members of the Episcopal church. They have three children- John W .; Eliza A., wife of G. R. Waters, and Mary J., wife of William JJ. Bryant.
EROY BURK, farmer and stock-raiser, residing on section 32, Washington Township, Greene County, and a teacher in distriet No. 4 of the same township, was born in McDonough County, Illinois, Febru- ary 22, 1855, his parents, Amos S. and Catha- rine A. Allen, being natives of the State of New York. They had a family of fourteen children, seven sons and seven daughters, nine still living-James A., Joshua, Archi- bald, Albro A., Emeline, Fernando C., Leroy, Sarah J. and Samantha. Selina, Goldsbrow B., Caroline, Mary L. and Celestia P. are de- ceased. The father is deceased, and the mother still lives on the old homestead in Washington Township with our subject, aged seventy-two years. Leroy Burk, whose name heads this sketch, was brought to Gfreene County, Iowa, in 1856, in which year his parents settled on the farm which is now owned and occupied by him, and here he grew to manhood, being reared to agricultural pur- suits. He received fair educational advantages, attending the Normal schools of Greene Coun-
ty, and at the age of eighteen years began his career as a teacher, and since that time has made teaching his principal occupation, be- coming well and favorably known as a popular instructor. He is quite a successful agriculturist, and owns eighty acres of choice land where he resides. Ile is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
EORGE ROBINSON, one of Greene County's pioneers, and an enterprising farmer and stock-raiser of Franklin Township, is a native of New York, born April 26, 1840, his parents, Ezekiel and Catherine (Bushman) Robinson, being natives of the same State. They subsequently be- came residents of Carroll County, Illinois. George Robinson was reared to the avocation of a farmer, remaining with his parents till attaining the age of twenty-six years. Jan- nary 1, 1866, he was married to Miss Ahnira, daughter of E. and Julia (Jones) Townsend. natives of New York, of whom the mother is deceased. Mr. Townsend is now living in Michigan. Mrs. Robinson is a native of New York, the date of her birth being Feb- ruary 21, 1841. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Robinson -. Agnes, born in New York, February 23, 1867; Edith, born in Greene County, lowa, January 3, 1871; Delbert J., born in Greene County, July 8, 1875, and died January 1, 1876, and Ilerbert W .. also a native of Greene County, born March 8, 1878. Mr. Robinson came to Greene County, Iowa, March 14, 1866, and has since followed agricultural pursuits on his farm on section 10, Franklin Township. where he has forty aeres of well improved and highly cultivated land. Beside his home farm he also owns forty acres on section 11 of the same township, his property having been
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acquired by persevering industry and good when he came to Michigan, purchased a farm, built a residence, then returned to his management. In polities Mr. Robinson casts his suffrage with the Republican party. ' native town and married Miss Hannah Hoag He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, belonging to Garfield Lodge, Jefferson. Post- | office, Cooper, lowa.
HERON A. MILLETT resides on sec- tion 17, Grant Township. The land was purchased by his father, Alexander Millett, April 1, 1886, of whom he bought it the following October. He was born in Lenawee County, Michigan, in 1844, and was reared to the occupation of a farmer. Ile was married in Michigan, in 1870, to Miss Mary A. Simmonds, also a native of that State. Ile came to Greene County, lowa, and settled four miles from, Jefferson, in Grant Township, where he lived until 1885. Hle then removed to his present home. Hle has eighty acres of land in his home farm, and also twenty acres of timber land else- where in the township. Mr. and Mrs. Mil- lett have four children- - Erwin, Alma, Her- bert and Amy, Mrs. Millett was born in Lenawee County, Michigan, in December, 1849. Her parents were Stephen and Ann Simmonds, natives of England. ller father died in Lenawee County, in 1886, and her mother is still living. Her parents had seven children, all of whom are living, but none are residents of Iowa except herself. Mr. Millett is the only one of his father's family residing in Greene County. The following is a brief sketch of the life and death of Alexander Millett, the father of our subject: Mr. Alexander Millett died at his residence, near Jefferson. April 7, 1886, at the ripe age of seventy-three years, eight months and ten days. He was born in Wayne County, New York, and remained there until the year 1838,
and settled upon his farm in Michigan. In 1870 he came to Greene County, and located upon a farm four miles south of Jefferson. Ilis wife died June 8, 1872, leaving five boys and one girl -Theron A., Jonathan Il., Ed- mund P., who died October 11, 1873, Mar- tin II., Rosetta V., wife of Robert Clopton, of Adrian. Nebraska, and Frank. In 1874 Mr. Millett was married to Mary Blyler, who was a very kind and affectionate wife. She died February 15, 1878. In 1879 he mar- ried Lillie E. Ilall, who has been a kind wife and an indulgent mother, doing everything to make his last days pleasant and free from care. Two small children were left with the mother, to whom the prudent plannings of the deceased secured an ample competency. For sixteen years he was one of the leading farmers of Greene County, and he died re- spected by all who knew him. As a business man, he was upright and honest in his deal- ings; as a friend and neighbor he was thought- ful and accommodating, and as a citizen, he enjoyed the highest respect of the whole community. As a husband and father he was kind and affectionate, and as a business man, was very successful.
ALVIN GOODRICH, a successful ag- rieulturist of Scranton Township, re- siding on section 17, was born in Mont- gomery County, New York, the date of his birth being October 18. 1847. He is a son of Ebenezer and Elizabeth Goodrich, and brother of Washington Goodrich, of Seranton Town- ship. He was reared in his native county, remaining there till nineteen years of age. when he went with his father's family to
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Barry County. Michigan, living there two years. On attaining his majority he went to Kendall County, Illinois, and made his home in Kendall and Lee Counties, that State, nn- til he came to Greene County, Iowa, in 1881, when he settled on his present farm. While living in Lee County he returned to Barry County, Michigan, for his bride, Miss Grace E. Chapman, a daughter of Ruluff Chapman, whom he married September 8, 1872. After their marriage they made their home in Ken- dall County, Illinois, for a time. They are the parents of six children; their names given in order of their birth being as follows -Floyd C., Zaidie V., Orlow L., Verdie H., Harris V. and Ivan P. Ilis farm consists of 120 acres of choice land, eighty acres of which had been broken by the former owner. The present residence and commodious farm buildings have been erected by Mr. Good- rich, and he has brought his land under a good state of cultivation. In his political views Mr. Goodrich is independent, voting for men, not party. Ile is a member of the Farmers' Alliance, and believes that farmers should be prepared to act together, and to act more in- telligently, in order to protect their own in- terests, the greatest in the Nation. Ile also believes that until they make themselves felt as a political power against monopolists in land and other large capitalized interests that the evils now endured cannot be remedied.
shipped aboard of the whaling vessel Mary at the port of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The first landing the vessel made was at the Island of Juan Fernandez, in the Pacific Ocean, an island made famous by being the residence of Alexander Selkirk. The vessel was five and a half months in reaching that island. The second landing made was at Callao, near Lima, Peru. At Peru he ran away from the vessel, but remained at ('allao about three months. Ile worked at shoe- making a part of the time, a trade he had already worked at for some time previous, and a portion of the time he was in the em- ployment of vessels in the harbor. When he left Callao he shipped aboard an Ameri- can whaler called The Leonidas. With this vessel he cruised around the coast ot Sonth America, spending about three weeks on Albemarle Island, one of the Galapa- gos cluster, then cruised off the coast of California, and down the coast of Peru, and put into Arica. Here the crew mutinied. After the difficulty was settled the vessel resumed its cruising, visiting Easter Island, at that time inhabited by cannibals; thence to Juan Fernandez and other islands; thence to Valparaiso, Chili, where he again ran away, remaining at the latter place about three weeks. lle left the vessel because he felt that he had seen enough of the world for one trip, and resolved to leave the first oppor- tunity. The whaling vessel Uncas lay in the harbor about to return to New Bedford, but the crew being full he could not ship as a hand, and had no money to pay his passage home. So he stowed himself away in the "hold," only one sailor being cognizant of his presence on board. When he made his appearance on deck, after the vessel was well under way, the captain was very angry, or at least pretended to be, and threatened to put
LIVER J. WHITE, one of the pioneers of Greene County, was born in the town of Sandisfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, in 1830. At the age of sev- enteen years he ran away from home and went to New York, where he tried to enlist for the Mexican war, but being too young and too small was rejected, and therefore he | him aboard the first vessel they met and 22
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send him back, or else put him off on some island; but Mr. White soon gained his favor by taking a hand at the watch, and in time he reached New Bedford. He remained at home about two years, then took passage on board a merchant vessel bound for Australia, and was 154 days in reaching his destination, stopping at Pernambuco, in Brazil. His next landing was at Cape Town, on the southern extremity of the coast of Africa, where the vessel remained three weeks taking on supplies. Their next landing was at Melbourne, Australia, Soon after reaching that point Mr. White joined a party for the mines, 125 miles in the country. The cost of living at Bendigo, the mining town, was too great for his resources, and he returned to Melbourne and commeneed working at his trade. Ile is said to be the first journeyman peg shoemaker that ever worked in Australia. Hle worked there about eight months, then returned to the mines, where he remained two years, then went back to Melbourne. At this time the excitement attending the finding of gold in large quantities in the Amazon regions of South America reached Australia, and Mr. White decided to join the York, and again safe at home. Ilis intention was to return to Peru, but his friends pre- vailed upon him to abandon the project, and he accordingly went to work at his trade in North Adams, Massachusetts. Two years later, in 1856, he came to Linn County, Iowa, having a sister living in Marion in that county. In the fall of 1857 he came to Jef- ferson, where he has worked at his trade most of the time since. Ile was the first shoc- maker, and the first boot and shoe merchant in Jefferson. In 1860 he purchased eighty acres of land in Hardin Township, and later added a fractional eighty to his first purchase, which he improved and still owns. lle has devoted much attention to fruit-growing, making a specialty of apples. He has about eighty varieties of crab apples, and has made a great success, and has also been successful in getting a fine flowing artesian well in his orchard. He was married in Jefferson in 1861 to Miss Sarah Ann Stiles, a native of Greene County, Ohio. She came to Iowa with her father, Job Stiles, now a resident of Jefferson. Mr. and Mrs. White have five children now living-Ed. Grant, Fred C., Elsie E., Osa R. and Harley A. Their first " rush " for that country. Hle accordingly child, Volney, died at the age of thirteen shipped aboard a merchant vessel for C'allao. months. Mr. White's father, Jedediah White, was a native of Litchfield, Connecticut. Hle is a direct descendant of Peregrine White, the first child born in the Plymouth Colony. (). J. White's early education was under the auspices of the Calvinistic dogmas, his father belonging to the Baptist school (close com- munion), and very devoted to the observance of the rules and rites of the church, and as a matter of duty the father endeavored to impress on the mind of his son the strict observance of the same. But the develop- ment of the brain in the region of veneration and surrounding faculties created in the child a spirit of inquiry, which led him gradually On the voyage from Australia to Callao he was robbed of all he had made in Australia, which was no small sum. This left him poor, but did not discourage him from trying to make more. Ile found that the gold report was gotten up by vessel owners to catch the passenger traffic across the ocean, and consequently he was again obliged to resort to his trade as a means of support. lle was soon attacked with that dread scourge, yellow fever. He became reduced very low, but finally recovered, and soon afterward took passage on board a British steamer, went to Panama, crossed the isthmus; thence to New
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into the belief that man was a creature gov- erned by natural law, came into the world by the laws of nature, and goes out of the world in the same manner. And all the allegiance he owes to a Supreme Being is to obey as near as possible the laws of nature, ignoring entirely the idea of a personal God. Taking the broad ground of Pantheism, believing that religion is true reverence of nature, and worship is obedienee to or of natural law.
M ARSIIALL B. MCDUFFIE, one of the leading business men of Jeffer- son, has been a resident of this town since 1865. Ile was born in Schoharie County, New York, in 1842, and removed when a child to St. Helena, Wyoming County. IIe was educated at the Nunda Literary Institute in Livingston County, and soon after engaged in teaching. In 1865 he settled in Jefferson, and was for a time principal of a school at this place; but receiving the appointment of postmaster, he resigned before the elose of his first term and entered npon the duties of his office. He held the office of postmaster two years, and during that time served as county superintendent of schools. Hle was county anditor two terms, or four years, and was afterward engaged in the drug business until the organization of the City Bank of Jefferson in 1876, of which he was one of the founders. He was eashier of this bank until 1886, when he resigned and was suc- eeeded by Mr. Hughes. The success to which this institution has attained is due in a large degree to the business ability of Mr. MeDuffie. He is a brother of 1. J. MeDuffic, who was long a prominent member of the Greene County bar, but is now a resident of Le Mars. Iowa. In 1876 Mr. MeDuffie re- turned to Nunda, New York, and was united
in marriage with Miss Sophia B. Warner, a daughter of L. B. Warner, a prominent mer- chant of that town. Mr. and Mrs. McDuflie have five sons-Duncan, Lewis, Robert, Charles and William.
ENRY W. DICKINSON is the home !- opathic physician and surgeon of Jefferson. He was born in Ithica, Tompkins County, New York. In 1857, while an infant, his parents removed to Schenectady County, New York. He re- ceived his literary education at Union Col- lege, where he was a student for two years. When he was quite young his father died, and his mother died when he was nineteen years of age. At the age of twenty years he went to Chicago, and was for one year assistant editor of the Railway Rerier, pub- lished in that city. He began the study of medicine in the fall of 1878, with Dr. Ilar- lam P. Cole, professor of anatomy in the ITahnemann Medical College, of that eity, and graduated at that institution in 1881. During the last two years of his college course he was demonstrator of anatomy. Ile began practice at Clarksville, Butler County, Iowa, where he was local surgeon for the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & North- ern Railroad for two years, and was also county physician of Butler County one year. While at Clarksville he was associated with A. F. Tiehenor, but owing to ill health he sold out his practice to his partner, with a view of going to California. Having occasion to stop in northern Missouri, he found him- self improving in health, and believing that Jefferson afforded a good location for a homeopathic physician, he decided to locate here. lle is a thoroughly educated physi- cian, and has a large and lucrative practice.
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