Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa
New York, Chicago: Lewis publishing Co., S. Thompson Lewis, editor. 1903
Transcribed by Renee Rimmert. A complete copy of this book is available on-line at archive.org.
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JACOB CONDRA - One of the most pleasant diversions which one can enjoy is to hear from his own lips the personal reminiscences of the old settler, who has passed the greater majority of his allotted years, and now, retired from those toils in which he once delighted, looks back to the days that are only a memory and forward in hope of the future. For him there is no present; he lives in that sweet, quiet interval when the tempest-tossed world seems receding in the distance and the sea of life is narrowing to the harbor of the evermore. Of such a character is this sketch written, and too briefly must we record the life that is so rich in experiences of the past.
For over half a century has Jacob Condra been one of the honored residents of Appanoose county. Born in Crawford county, Indiana, on the 25th of March, 1816, he passed his youth and early manhood on his father's farm, and in 1840 removed to Knox county, Illinois, where he tilled the soil for ten years. In 1850 he came to Iowa and entered four hundred acres of land, where he has since maintained his home. The trip from Illinois to Iowa was made by Mr. Condra and his wife in a wagon drawn by an ox team. They started March 20, 1851, and arrived on the first day of April. At the close of the Civil war Mr. Condra distributed all but one hundred and seventy-five acres of his land among his children. On this latter part they now make their home, but rent the land and are retired from all active labor.
In 1838 Mr. Condra was married to Miss Louise Adams, and at the time of this writing they have spent sixty-four years of happy wedded life, experiencing joy and sorrow with equal share. Mrs. Condra was born April 11, 1820. They became the parents of eleven children, of whom three died in infancy, two died after reaching maturity, and six are still living, as follows: Isaac N., Rebecca Odell, Leander Franklin, Mary Angeline Kellar, Mrs. Lydia Trimble and John Alonzo. The parents of this family now live alone on their farm and are in very poor health. When able to do so they were regular attendants of the Methodist church in Simpson.
R. S. COULSON - Among the substantial and progressive farmers and stock raisers of Appanoose county none stands higher in public esteem than R. S. Coulson, who owns and operates the fine farm Maplehurst, of two hundred and twenty acres, on section 33, Douglass township. He was born on the old Coulson homestead in this county on the 24th of January, 1861, and is a representative of an old and honored family, his father, William Coulson, having settled here about 1849. The latter was a native of Tennessee, where he grew to manhood upon a farm, and in that state he married Margaret Slater, who was also born and reared there. Loading their possessions into a wagon, they came to Iowa in 1849, and took up their residence in Taylor township, this county, where Mr. Coulson engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout the remainder of his life. Success crowned his well directed efforts and he became the owner of several hundred acres of land He was one of the heaviest taxpayers in the county, and was a man highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him. By his marriage to Margaret Slater he had six children, four of whom are still living: John, a resident of Darbyville; Elkaner, also of Appanoose county; Samuel, of Johns township; and Jerry, of Oklahoma; while Rachel and Luther are both deceased. For his second wife the father married Martha Kinser, who came of a good family. She was born in Indiana and died in 1882 at the age of fifty-four years. The children born of this marriage were Frank, a resident of Taylor township, Appanoose county; F. H., of Monroe county, Iowa; R. S., of this review; Mrs. Mary Sarepta Turner, who lives on the old home farm; Wiley B., also of this county; Benjamin and Sarah, both deceased; Martha, and Margaret.
R. S. Coulson passed the days of his boyhood and youth upon the old home farm, and by assisting in its operation developed his physical strength, while his literary education was acquired in the district schools of the neighborhood. At the age of twenty-two years he was united in marriage to Miss Flora Scott, who was also a native of this county, where she was reared and educated, being a daughter of Stephen Scott, now deceased, who was a resident of Taylor township. After a brief married life she died in 1884 at the age of twenty years. She was an earnest and consistent member of the United Brethren church, to which the mother of our subject also belonged.
In 1891 Mr. Coulson was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Lucy (Tadlock) Hopkins, widow of J. B. Hopkins, who was a member of the United Brethren church, and died in this county in 1889. Mrs. Coulson was born in Wapello county, Iowa, near the city of Blakesburg, but the greater part of her girlhood was passed in Appanoose county. Her parents are J. M. and Charlotte (Kent) Tadlock, residents of Taylor township, this county. Her father came to Iowa from Illinois, but her mother was born in Lincolnshire, England, though she was only eight years of age when she came to the new world and settled in Iowa. In his political views Mr. Tadlock is a stanch Democrat and his religious faith is manifest by his membership with the Cumberland Presbyterian church. In his family are seven children, namely: Lucy, the wife of our subject; Thomas; John A.; Arthur J.; Ivy S.; Arlie R.; Sylvia S. Our subject and his wife have two children, Flora C., now ten years of age, and Bethel E., aged eight.
Throughout his active business life Mr. Coulson has followed farming with marked success, and is to-day the owner of a well improved and valuable farm of two hundred and twenty acres. He has erected thereon a fine residence, a large barn and windmill, and has set out an orchard; in fact, he has one of the best and most desirable farms of its size in the county. The fields are highly cultivated and on the pastures are seen good grades of stock. By his ballot Mr. Coulson supports the Democratic party and its principles, and he has efficiently served as a member of the school board in his district. Now in the prime of life, he is enjoying the success which usually follows a life of industry and honesty, and both he and his wife are numbered among the most highly esteemed and honored citizens of the community where they reside.
DANIEL M. COX - Coming from old Virginia before the war, "skirmishing" for existence in various places, and finally coming to Iowa for what proved to be a permanent residence, the gentleman whose name is above given has had his full share of the ups and downs of life. As long as he had good health, Mr. Cox gave no odds to anybody, as he was industrious and could hold his own with the best of them. But he met with a severe accident a few years ago, which totally disabled him for manual labor and placed him in the invalid corps. Though thus deprived of his usual means of livelihood, Mr. Cox set his brain to work, and by use of his ingenious inventive faculties evolved a number of useful machines which promise in time to yield rich results. Such a man as this is well worthy of notice and a place in any history devoted to the representative men of his section, and no apology is needed for the following outline of his life.
Daniel M. Cox is a son of Carlos and Maria L. Cox, both natives of one of the most noted of the old colonial counties of Virginia. Carlos was a farmer and struggled with a large family to make both ends meet on the none too productive soil of his native section, but finally decided to try his fortune in the west, and left the land of his nativity in October, 1850. In course of time he landed in Iowa at a little town then known as Orleans. In 1873 he removed to Kansas, where he died a year later, and his surviving widow resides with a son at Moulton. They had ten children, who are thus recorded in order of births on the pages of the family register: Elizabeth, James, Fanny, Daniel, Carlos, Maria, Henry, Lucy, Charles and Louis.
Daniel M. Cox, who is shown by the above list to be fourth in the family, was born in Northumberland county, Virginia, August 20, 1838, and remained at home until twelve years old. In 1850 he accompanied his parents to Alton, Illinois, and a year later to Fayette, Illinois, where they remained until the fall of 1864, when he joined his parents in their emigration to Iowa, and settled in Appanoose county. He branched out there with his usual energy and did fairly well until 1899, when his hip was so badly injured by a fall as to make him a confirmed invalid. While lying in bed Mr. Cox began to revolve in his mind a device which promised to be popular in such a rich farming state as Iowa, and this child of his brain eventually emerged in the shape of a combination hay and stock rack. He took out a patent on this invention, and since then has made several improvements on the device, which it is his intention to also have patented. Still another useful machine was evolved by Mr. Cox in his weary hours of invalidism, the same being a sectional sliding gate, supported by rollers, which is pronounced quite practical by those who have examined the device.
In 1867 Mr. Cox was married to Miss Sarah A., daughter of Dr. Arnold Barker, of Monterey, Iowa, who is a lady of notable traits of character in more ways than one. She was a school teacher in early life and in 1865 had charge of what was known as the old Meadow schoolhouse in Wells township. In the same year she came prominently into public notice by her courage in leading the Prohibition forces against an obnoxious saloon in Monterey kept by one James Cross. This dive was being run in open defiance of the law, and after patience had ceased to be a virtue, the women, led by Mrs. Cox, took matters into their own hands and wiped the place out of existence. They were arrested, but not prosecuted, as both law and order and public sentiment were on their side. Mrs. Cox is a member of the Presbyterian church at Moulton and took an active part in the religious work until an attack of rheumatism made her an invalid as well as her husband. Mr. Cox is a Republican in his political predilections, but has not been a place seeker, and the only office he has held in the county is that of school director, of which he has been the incumbent for several years.
JAMES MADISON CREECH , who owns and cultivates a fine farm of three hundred and eighty-five acres on section 24, Taylor township, came to Appanoose county on the 24th of April,1857, and has made his home here since then. He was born in Hawkins county, Tennessee, October 22, 1834, a son of Stephen Creech, who was born in Virginia, and a grandson of Elijah Creech, also of the Old Dominion. The family, however, is of Irish descent, the great-grandfather having been born on the Emerald Isle, whence he emigrated to the new world. Stephen Creech was reared in Virginia and in early life learned the cooper's trade. He married Elizabeth Hicks, who was born in the same state as was her father, James Hicks, who was of English descent, and served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812. Removing westward to Tennessee Stephen and Eliza Creech spent their remaining days upon the old homestead farm, which the father continued to cultivate throughout his active business career. In politics he was first a Whig and afterward a Democrat and both he and his wife were members of the Missionary Baptist church. His death occurred when he had attained the ripe old age of eighty-two years and his wife passed away at the age of seventy years. Their children were Sarah, James M., Lydia, Elijah, John, deceased; Amanda, S. Nelson, Andrew, who has passed away; William Jesse and Solomon B. Only four of the number, however, are now living.
James M. Creech was reared in Hawkins county upon the home farm and at an early age began following the plow. He obtained his education in a log schoolhouse and when twenty-one years of age left the state of his nativity, going to Texas, where he remained for some months. He then came northward to Appanoose county, Iowa, and has since been identified with agricultural interests in this part of the state. He was married on October 2, 1858, in Appanoose county, to Miss Eliza Clancy, who for forty-four years has been a faithful companion and helpmeet to him on life's journey. She was born in Jackson county, Illinois, a daughter of John Wesley Clancy, who was one of the first settlers of this county arriving here in May, 1843, when Iowa was still a territory. He was born in Tennessee and was there united in marriage to Malinda Martin, a native of Kentucky. In Iowa Mr. Clancy developed a good farm in the midst of pioneer surroundings and here he died at the age of seventy-six years, while his wife passed away at the age of forty-eight years. He voted with the Democracy and was a loyal adherent of the Missionary Baptist church, in which he served as a deacon. To him and his wife were born ten children, seven of whom reached years of maturity, namely: Clarissa, deceased; William, deceased; Mrs. Eliza Creech, Mrs. Elizabeth Bishop, John, deceased; Mrs. Mary Miller, George, Mrs. Jane Coulson, Mrs. Freelove Chambers, and Andrew, deceased. For his second wife the father chose Mary Frost and they had three children, but Walter is the only one now living, Edward and an infant being the deceased.
For a while after his marriage Mr. Creech located upon the farm belonging to his father-in-law, and then with the money he had gained through his own labors he purchased forty acres of land and took up his abode in a little log cabin upon his present farm. Here he worked hard, chopping away the timber and clearing the bushes from many acres of land. As time has passed and his financial resources have increased he has added to his property until he now has three hundred and eighty-five acres, constituting one of the best farms in his township. This is rich bottom land and upland and the fields are watered by Soap creek. All is fenced and the farm is divided into pasture and meadow lands and tilled fields. An orchard yields its fruits in season and a large barn and other outbuildings furnish shelter for grain and stock, while the home of the family is accounted one of the best country residences in Appanoose county. Mr. Creech has been a very successful farmer and stock-raiser, and assisted by his estimable wife has acquired a handsome competency.
The home of this worthy couple has been blessed with ten children: John, Rosa, William. George F., Charles S., a merchant of Udell, Iowa: Mrs. Josephine Swaim, of Union township; Ellis, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Jane, who passed away at the age of eleven years; Roy N., of the same township; Edgar, who is a young man of nineteen years assisting in the work of the home farm. Mr. and Mrs. Creech have a granddaughter, Edna, who is now eleven years of age and who has lived with them since her babyhood because of her mother's death. Her father is William Creech, their third son. Mr. Creech votes with the Democracy and has served for six years as township supervisor. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity and is a member of the Missionary Baptist church. He is a man of splendid physique, being six feet and one and a half inches in height and weighing over two hundred pounds. In manner he is genial and cordial, in disposition friendly, and he possesses the sterling traits of character which in every land and every clime command respect and regard. His life, too, proves how effective are industry, perseverance and good management in winning prosperity, for though he started out in life empty-handed, he is now the possessor of a very valuable property.
JOHN C. CRIST - The above named, is now leading a retired life at his home near Jerome, has been a resident of Appanoose county for thirty-three years. Previously he had lived many years in Indiana, where his parents brought him in what the historians call an "early day" and thus Mr. Crist has been familiar with life in the west for the full period allowed by the psalmist as the limit of human existence. Though his career has not been especially adventurous, Mr. Crist has seen much and can tell many interesting stories of his experiences of what used to be called "the far west" but which, is now in the very center of civilization. A son of John and Mary Crist, he was born at Delaware, Pennsylvania, October 28, 1819. When he was still a lad his parents left their native state and located in Franklin county, Indiana, where they spent the remainder of their days. Though not members of any church, they were believers in the truths of the gospel, often attended divine services and instructed their offspring in the fundamental truths of Christianity. Of their eight children the four now living are John G., Isaac, Allison and Margaret.
Mr. Crist grew up in Indiana, where he got some education by irregular attendance at the country schools, and when the Civil war came on he enlisted in Company B, Eighty-seventh Indiana volunteer Infantry, with which he served loyally until injury from a fall while marching compelled his discharge for disability, after twenty-one months in the army. In 1869 be left Indiana for Iowa, and upon arrival took up his abode on a farm in Appanoose county, near Jerome, which has ever since been his abiding place. In 1849 Mr. Crist was married in Indiana and has eight children: John. Isaac, Alfred, Sarah Elizabeth, Emily, Mary, William and Minnie. The parents are members of the Baptist church and the whole family are among the most respected residents of the neighborhood around Jerome.
RUFUS E. CUMMINS - Peter Cummins, the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was an officer in the English army and a citizen of Vincennes, Indiana, in 1783. The act of congress, March 3, 1791 (Vol. I, page 221, U. S. Statutes), granted four hundred acres of land to each person who in the year 1783 was the head of a family at Vincennes or in the Illinois country on the Mississippi, according to the act, April 30, 1810 (II Vol., Statutes. 590). The claim was confirmed by act, February 13, 1813, Vol. II, General Statutes, page 800, reported in 7th Vol. American state papers, pages 704, 722 and 723.
Ephraim Cummins, the son of Peter, was born at Vincennes, in 1770; was a farmer; moved to Iowa in 1851, and died in Wapello county, in 1862. He was the possessor of the following patents, recorded thus: Certificate No. 140, Vol. 1, page 140; signed by James Monroe. Certificate No. 1360, Vol. 5, page 429; signed by James Monroe. Certificate No. 2628, Vol. 9, page 370; signed by J. Q. Adams. Certificate No. 3537, Vol. 8, page 27; signed by Andrew Jackson.
His son Daniel was born in Spencer county, Indiana, in 1803; was a farmer; moved to Appanoose county, Iowa, in 1851; in the spring of 1863 moved to Santa Ana, California, where he lived for twelve years, then moved to Washington. He reared a family of twenty-two children and died in 1886.
Ephraim Cummins, the son of Daniel, was born in Spencer county, Indiana, February 26, 1832. At the age of sixteen he moved to Wapello county, Iowa, with his uncle, Ephraim Cummins, and after one year moved to Moravia, Appanoose county, Iowa.
On March 4, 1852, he married Maria Theressa Stauber, who was born December 8, 1833, and died June 12, 1874. She was a daughter of Joseph Stauber, who laid out the town of Moravia and named it in honor of the Moravian church, of which he was a member. To them were born eight children, five of whom are now living: Josephine C., Eunice E., Frank B., Rufus E., William R., Theresa, Grant and Laura. Ephraim Cummins afterwards married Anna R. Stauber, who was born January 21, 1850. Two children were born: Blaine and Mabel. He was engaged in the mercantile business before the war, closing the business to enter the army. On his discharge he again engaged in the same business and in connection he was postmaster and held the office until Cleveland's election. He was a charter member of Antiquity Lodge No. 252, A. F. and A. M., and was rated as one of the successful and leading citizens of the county. Politically Captain E. Cummins was a Republican and extended his influence in the formation of that party in Appanoose county, Iowa. He voted for John C. Fremont for president in 1856, and for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and every Republican candidate for president thereafter until his death. He was as true as steel to his friends, and never quailed before an enemy on the field of battle. He was an indulgent father and treated his children with great kindness, yet was firm with them, all of whom grew up to be useful men and women, loyal to the country and flag.
The Eighth Iowa Cavalry was commanded by Colonel J. B. Dorr, and Captain E. Cummins, who enlisted June 24, 1863, organized Company F. They were mustered in at Camp Roberts, Davenport, Iowa, August 1, 1863, and remained there until October, 1863, when the company went to Louisville, Kentucky, where they received arms and outfits, and marched to Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Cummins was employed in hunting down and capturing various bands of cut-throats that infested the state at that time. In March, 1864, the company marched to Cleveland, Tennessee, and was made a part of the magnificent army of General Sherman on May 3, 1864. The first fight was at Varnell, Georgia, May 9, 1864. He was with Sherman at the capture of Atlanta, and marched to the sea. Captain Cummins was in the various battles and skirmishes that his regiment was engaged in on that campaign up to the battle of Cassville, where he was badly wounded while leading a charge at the head of his company, and was compelled to leave his regiment, but as soon as he was able he returned and served under General Thomas against Hood. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged. Captain Cummins was noted for his great bravery and coolness in battle; was a great favorite with the soldiers of his regiment, and no officer was held in higher esteem than lie by the soldiers of his own company.
(This war record was written by Corporal William D. Kinser and Sergeant Robert K. Johnson.)
Captain E. Cummins died August 6, 1891.
Rufus E. Cummins, the son of Ephraim and Maria T.(Stauber) Cummins, was born in the village of Moravia, Iowa, August 24, 1860, and passed his youth and gained his early educational training in this place. His first business experience was obtained in his father's store, but after his marriage he settled on a farm in Taylor township, Appanoose county, and continued in this occupation until 1897, in which year he was appointed postmaster of Moravia; he still fills this office and gives entire satisfaction. Like his father, he is a Republican in politics, and is a member of Antiquity Lodge No. 252, A. F. & A. M., and also a member of Monroe Chapter No. 125, R. A. M. In 1884 he was married to Miss Jennie Long and they have one child, Beulah. Mr. Cummins is much esteemed for his excellent personal qualities as well as his strict business integrity.