PAST AND PRESENT OF
O'Brien and Osceola Counties, Iowa

BIOGRAPHIES

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HARMON H. RUNYAN.

One of the many distinguished veterans of Osceola county, who has answered the last roll call, signifying that his career is ended, is Harmon H. Runyan. Coming to this county in the early seventies, he participated in all of the struggles incident to the early development of the county. He hauled his first load of grain to Cherokee and brought back a load of coal. The Runyan family lived for several years in Baker township, with not a single house within twelve miles of them. Their home was a stopping place for travelers going to and from the mill at Milford. For a long time Sanborn, O'Brien county, was their closest trading point.

Harmon H. Runyan was born in New York state September 23, 1834, and died at Ocheyedan, Iowa, February 17, 1908. He left New York in 1856 and settled in Winneshiek county, Iowa. At the time of the war he was farming in that county, having been married in 1858 in Iowa. He enlisted in 1862, on August 14th, in the Thirty-eighth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was later transferred to Company K, Thirty-eighth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted for the three years' service, but after the taking of Vicksburg in the summer of 1863 he took sick and was sent home on a furlough. For a time his life was despaired of, but he finally recovered and in January, 1864, was ordered to the front again. While in the barracks at Davenport, Iowa, he was stricken with the small pox. His wife went to Davenport, brought him home by steamer and stage and nursed him back to health.

In the fall of 1872 Mr. Runyan and his family loaded up a wagon with bedding and after selling everything in Winneshiek county which they could not take with them, started out to find a good location. They remained in Clay county during the winter of 1872 and 1873. In June of 1873 they came to Baker township, in Osceola county, and decided to settle on section 2. They built a small twelve-by-fourteen house, and later added an addition measuring sixteen by twenty-four. They were practically alone in this section of the county, there not being a house in sight for twelve miles until several years later. They lived on the homestead until the fall of 1898 when they came to Ocheyedan and purchased a home. Later they bought another home in Ocheyedan and in 1901 remodeled it. Mr. Runyan owned two hundred and forty acres in Baker township, which he sold before his death.

Mr. Runyan was married March 31, 1858, to Martha Webster, who was born in Indiana January 17, 1840. Her parents, Samuel and Nancy Web-

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ster, were natives of Indiana and migrated to Iowa and settled in Winneshiek county in 1854. Both of Mrs. Rnnyan's parents died in that county. To Mr. and Mrs. Runyan have been born four children: George W.. deceased; DeWitt Clinton, who died of diphtheria in 1862, and Mrs. Arvilla Peter, of British Columbia, Vancouver Island. Mrs. Peter has four children, Bernice, Harmon, Daisy and Kenneth. Bernice married Mr. Mycock and has four children, William Henry, Harmon, James and Clarence. Harmon is married and has one child. The fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. Runyan, Harry, died in infancy.

Mr. Runyan was a stanch Democrat and held several towmship offices during the course of his long and useful career in this county. He had charge of the postoffice in Baker township for some time in order to accommodate the immigrants. The little postoffice corner was dignified by the name of Runyan. Religiously, he was a faithful member of the Congregational church and gave it his earnest support at all times. Fraternally, he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Rrnyan was genial in manner, charitable to the faults of others and during the course of his life in this county he endeared himself to a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. His widow, who is now living in Ocheyedan, is remarkably preserved for her age and is a very interesting talker. She keeps well abreast of the times and shows that she has been a wide reader of current exents.

WILLIAM EDWARD ELY. M. D.

No other profession, has accomplished, during the last half century, the progress and development that has been made by the medical. The man of original thought and action, whose textbook forms but the basis of future work, has ever moved forward, taking advantage of and utilizing new discoveries in the science and looking always for better methods, surer means to the desired end. Such a man is he whose name forms the caption to this sketch. In considering the character and career of this eminent member of the medical fraternity, the impartial observer will not only be disposed to rank him among the leading members of his profession in his locality, but also as one of those men of broad culture and mental ken who have honored mankind in general. Through a long and busy life, replete with honor and success, he has been actuated b the highest motives, and to the practice of

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his profession he has brought rare skill and resource, his quick perception and almost intuitive judgment enabling him to make a correct diagnosis, always necessary that proper treatment may be used. He has always been a close student of medical science, keeping in close touch with the latest advances along that line, and he has been uniformly successful in the practice. Because of his high atttainments and his exalted personal character, he is eminently entitled to representation in a work of this character.

Dr. William E. Ely, who has practiced his profession for more than a quarter of a century in Ocheyedan, Iowa, was born March 6, 1861, in New York City. His parents, Joseph E. and Elizabeth (Driffiele) Ely, were natives of New Jersey and New York respectively. Joseph E. Ely was a carpenter by trade and after his marriage went west and located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 1864. He lived there and followed his trade until his death in 1876.

Dr. William E. Ely was educated in the schools of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and immediately entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which institution he graduated with a degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1885. He began practice in Battle Creek, Michigan, and two years later located in Ocheyedan, Osceola county, Iowa, where he has since remained. He has built up a large and lucrative practice in this city and the surrounding country and has been one of the prominent factors in the development of the locality which has been honored by his residence. He keeps well abreast of the times in his chosen field of endeavor and is recognized today as one of the most successful practitioners of this section of the state. He has invested in land in this county and now owns four hundred acres, having recently sold a quarter of section of land at a good price.

Doctor Ely was married in 1890 to Alice Kirby, of Kalamazoo, Michigan. He and his wife are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and the Doctor has been a member of the board of trustees for many years. They take an active interest in all kinds of church work and have been influential factors in promoting the moral welfare of their community.

Dr. William E. Ely has always been identified with the Republican party and has taken a prominent part in the activities of this party since coming to this county. He has served as county coroner of Osceola countv for three terms and was the first mayor elected in Ocheyedan when the town was incorporated in 1890. He has also served in several city offices in an efficient manner. In fact no measure which has had for its purpose the welfare of his community has had more enthusiastic support than that which is given by Doctor Ely, and in every way in which he thought he could advance his

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city's interests, he has been found willing to lend his influence and support. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America; he is also a member of the Eastern Star at Ocheyedan. He belongs to various medical associations, among which are the Osceola County, Iowa State and American medical associations, and in each of these he takes an active interest. The career of Doctor Ely since coming to Ocheyedan, twenty-seven years ago, shows him to be a public-spirited man who is interested in the welfare of his community and never lets an opportunity pass to help it in any way. Such men are a benefit to the community in which they live and for this reason Doctor Ely is rightly regarded as one of the representative men of his city and county.

ARTHUR H. SCHNEIDER.

It is the farmer who makes it possible for men in other occupations to live. Farming was the original occupation of man, and it is the only profession which could exist independently of any other. Indeed, every other occupation is dependent upon the farmer. The products of the soil have made our railroads what they are today, and the great bulk of manufacturing is made necessary because of the farmer's needs. The people of the city could not live a week without the farmer's products. He holds not only the purse strings of the nation, but even the very life of its people. For this reason the farmer has, in reality, the most important profession of all. O'Brien county, Iowa, has as fine farms and good farmers as can be found in the state, and among them is Arthur H. Schneider, whose life is here set forth.

Mr. Schneider was born in Carroll township, in this county, in 1888, and is a son of William and Barbara (Herzog) Schneider. William Schneider was born in Wisconsin in 1863. He came to O'Brien county with his parents when he was sixteen years of age. Here he grew to maturity and became one of the most successful farmers in the county. He purchased land in Carroll and Baker townships and now owns eight hundred and eighty acres of finely improved land in this county. He retired from active farm life in 1913, and moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where he is living surrounded by all the comforts and conveniences of life. His wife, Barbara (Herzog) Schneider, was born in Germany in 1859. They are the parents of six children, all of whom are still living.

Picture of MR. AND MRS. ARTHUR H. SCHNEIDER

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Arthur H. Schneider received a good common school education in the schools of his home township and later attended college for one year in Minnesota. Owing to the fact that his father had such extensive land holdings in the county, he did not continue his college course, but returned home to assist with the management of his father's farm. In 1910 he began farming for himself, renting land from his father. A year later, upon his marriage, he moved to Baker township and started farming two hundred and forty acres of his father's land in that township. This progressive young farmer believed in taking advantage of all the latest improvements and the most up-to-date methods in agricultural work. He raises all of the crops peculiar to this section of Iowa, but makes a specialty of the raising of Hereford cattle and has as fine a herd as can be found in the county. He and his brothers have taken several premiums at the O'Brien county fair at Sheldon with their stock. All of the stock which he keeps upon his farm is thoroughbred, he having found by experience that it pays to keep only the best.

Mr. Schneider was married in 1911 to Elvia Wolf. She is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wolf, of Carroll township, in this county, and was born in Plymouth county, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Schneider have two children, Evelyn and Marvin Glenn.

Politically, Mr. Schneider is a partisan of the Democratic party, and also actively interested in the great political questions of the day, but never felt that he had the time to engage in politics. He and his wife are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church and are interested in the various activities of that denomination. Mr. Schneider is a quiet, unassuming young man who is on the threshold of life, with a bright future before him.

EZRA D. CLEAVELAND.

An honored and prominent citizen of Ocheyedan, Iowa, is Ezra D. Cleaveland, who has lived a long and strenuous career in this county, having been a resident for more than forty years. He is now serving as justice of the peace in Ocheyedan and is giving his citizens faithful and satisfactory service. He has always been a public-spirited and enterprising man and has given his support to all objects calculated to advance the moral, intellectual and material welfare of his community. Mr. Cleaveland was born October

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18, 1846, in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and his father, Quantus E., was born in Connecticut, while his mother, Esther B. Benedict, was born in Delhi, Huron county, New York. Q. E. Cleaveland is the son of Daniel Cleaveland. of Connecticut, and is of Welsh descent. Esther B. Benedict was the daughter of Ezra Benedict and descended from an old New England family.

Quantus E. Cleaveland was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war and served in Company I, One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry, from August 25, 1862, to June, 1863. He was in the battle of Peach Tree Creek and his regiment of seven hundred men was decimated to seventy. He was at the battles of Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and was wounded at the battle of Atlanta. He was with Sherman on his famous march to the sea and finally took part in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C. His uncle. S. M. Benedict, was also in the battle of Peach Tree Creek, was a member of the One Hundred and Seventh Regiment of New York Volunteer Infantry. Quantus E. Cleaveland remained on the home farm in Pennsylvania until 1872, when the family came west and settled in Osceola county, Iowa. The father and mother returned to Pennsylvania on a visit and after their return to Ocheyedan, the mother died in 1899. The father then returned to Pennsylvania on a visit, where he died the next year. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom are deceased and buried in Pennsylvania. The four living children are as follows: John J., of Pennsylvania; Mrs. Anna Sargent, of Pennsylvania; Frank M., of Breckenridge, Mis.souri, and Ezra D., with whom this narrative deals.

Ezra D. Cleaveland lived with his father on the homestead farm. Later he purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Iowa on which he lived until the summer of 1891, after which he moved to Ocheyedan and sold his farm. He now owns a handsome residence in town and is engaged in the nursery and insurance business. In 1905 he was elected justice of the peace and is still holding this office.

Mr. Cleaveland was married in 1878 to Lenora Z. Dundee, a native of Allamakee county, Iowa, and to this union have been born eight children: Mrs. Lizzie Ellerbrook, of Verdi, Minnesota; Mrs. Louisa Peterson, of Greenwood, Wisconsin; Mrs. Esther B. Kelley, of Talmadge, Saskatchewan, Canada; Ernest E., a mail carrier of Ocheyedan; Philip E., hotel proprietor of Ocheyedan; George, an automobile mechanic of Ocheyedan; Harley, proprietor of a panatorium, Ocheyedan, and Earl, who is still living with his parents.

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Politically, Mr. Cleaveland is a Republican and while living on the farm held every township oifice at the suffrage of his fellow citizens. He has always been regarded a man particularly qualified for official work and for this reason his fellow citizens have frequently called upon him to fill township offices. He is a man who has always done his duty as he saw it and has been universally liked wherever known.

HERBERT E. DEAN.

Herbert E. Dean, the present mayor of Ocheyedan, Iowa, was born December 5, 1872, in Primghar, O'Brien county, Iowa. His parents are Edward C. and Melissa (Daugherty) Dean, his father being a native of Tioga county, New York. Edward C. Dean came to Iowa about 1871 and homesteaded three miles east of Primghar in Highland township. On this farm Herbert E. Dean was born. In 1875 Edward C. Dean moved to Primghar, where he has since continued to reside. Edward C. Dean and wife were the parents of seven children: Hattie, deceased; Estella, the wife of George Byron, a farmer of this county; Fred L., deceased; Herbert E., whose history is here recorded; Blanche, the wife of Rev. E. L. Benedict, of Seattle, Washington; Mildred, the wife of Will Wolf, the editor of the Hawardcn Chronicle, and Clayton G., a farmer of this county.

Herbert E. Dean was educated in the schools of Primghar and then taught four terms in O'Brien county. He studied two years in Morningside College, Sioux City, and two years in the Indiana Law School of Valparaiso, Indiana, graduating from that institution in 1896, after which he entered the law department of the University of Nebraska, graduating with the class of 1898. In the spring of 1899 he located in Harris, Osceola county, where he practiced for the next two years. In 1901 he located in Ocheyedan where he has been practicing law, but devoting most of his time to the real estate business. He has had remarkable success in the buying and selling of land and in the past thirteen years has seen land advance from thirty-five to two hundred dollars an acre in this county. He has handled considerable land since taking up this line of business and now owns one thousand acres of land in this county.

Mr. Dean was married in 1896 to Stella Bowser, the daughter of August Bowser, and to this union have been born two children. Wilbur and Forrest, both of whom are in school. Fraternally, Mr. Dean is a member

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of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and has attained to the degree of Mystic Shrine and the thirty-second degree. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Harris.

Mr. Dean has been a Republican in politics and is now serving his third term as mayor of Ocheyedan. While living at Harris he was a member of the school board at the time the new school building was erected at that place. In the fall of 1912 Mr. Dean was a candidate for the state Legislature, but was defeated on account of his Progressive tendencies by only one hundred and fourteen votes. "Standpatters" opposed him violently, because he had too much faith in the common people. Mr. Dean was deputy clerk of the district court of O'Brien county under John Walters from 1893 to the end of that term. Mr. Dean has made a success of life because he has conducted his energies along proper lines. He is a man of integrity and has won the confidence of all with whom he has been associated. He is a man of pleasing appearance and charming personality and easily makes friends wherever he goes. As a speaker, he has a ready flow of language.

WILLIAM HOUSTON WOODS.

William Houston Woods, familiarly known to every settler of O'Brien county, Iowa, as "Huse" Woods, was one of the most prominent citizens of O'Brien county from its earliest history. As a surveyor he became acquainted with practically every settler who came to the county and from the fact that Mr. Woods located probably half of the six hundred homesteaders of this county fully explains the reason why he was known to the settlers as "the Pathfinder of O'Brien county." He was fortunately blessed with a fine college education, being a thorough surveyor and trained in one of the best colleges in the Central states at that time. His name frequently appears in the historical part of this volume and he will go down in history as one of the most important men connected with the early annals of the county, where he spent so many years of his active life.

William Houston Woods, the son of Rev. William W. and Patsy (Houston) Woods, was born January 1, 1831, in Maryville, Tennessee, and died in Atlanta, Georgia, March 25, 1909. His mother was a first cousin of Gen. Sam Houston, of Texas fame. His parents were slave owners in Tennessee, but eventually liberated their slaves and removed from that state to Indiana and in 1840 removed to Iowa City, Iowa. In the latter state

Pictures of ROMA WHEELER WOODS and WILLIAM HOUSTON WOODS.

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Mr. Woods received such elementary education as was afforded by the district schools of his day and generation, and later entered Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois. While in Iowa City he became the chum of Col. William P. Hepburn, later a member of Congress from the eighth Iowa district. While in Knox College Mr. Woods gave particular attention to the study of mathematics and it was there that he learned surveying. He probably little dreamed at the time he was poring over his trigonometry that the day would come when his knowledge would be of great value to him and his fellow citizens.

In the latter part of the forties Mr. Woods was seized with the same enthusiasm to go to California that caused thousands of others to go across the continent to seek their fortunes in the Golden state. In company with a number of his friends from Iowa, he made the long overland trip to the Pacific coast and returned four years later with a small fortune, much of which he invested in land. After his marriage, in 1855, Mr. Woods located in Iowa City, where he followed the real estate business for several years. He first came to O'Brien county, Iowa, in 1869, and was one of the first settlers in Waterman township, although this township had been organized several years. The settlers were very few and confined to the county seat, Old O'Brien, in the southeast corner of Waterman township. As soon as it was learned that Mr. Woods was a surveyor, his services were in constant demand, and his home in Waterman township was visited by practically every settler who came to the county. His home was on the east half of section 8, township 94, range 39, now adjoining Sutherland, which was established thirteen vears later. From this section he piloted scores of settlers to various parts of the county and helped them to get located. Most of the settlers who came here had very little money and they were very anxious to be sure that they were located on the proper section and not lose anything by reason of being wrongly located. Practically all of the settlers received only eighty acres of land, as much of the land of the county was within the railroad limits according to an act of Congress. Of course the land had been previously surveyed by the United States government, but the surveys were even then twenty years of age and the tall prairie grass had long since covered most of the government survey stones. It was Mr. Woods who found these hidden corners, who straightened out the survey lines for the incoming settlers, who piloted them from one section to another, and finally saw them safely and securely settled on their proper tracts. It is not an exaggeration to say that "Huse" Woods located at least one-half of the six hundred homesteaders of O'Brien county, and this fact certainly en-

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titles him to the name of "Pathfinder of O'Brien county." There was no man within the limits of the county who understood surveying as did he. There was scarcely a hill or hummock with which he was not familiar. He traveled thousands of miles up and down the county in trying to get the settlers properly located, and in view of the fact that he was better acquainted with the different tracts located by the settlers than any other man, is sufficient evidence for his activity in the organization of the Taxpayers' Association.

The Taxpayers' Association was an organization which had for its purpose the settling of the debt created by the early grafters of the county, and this association performed a valiant service for the oppressed citizens of the county and in its work Mr. Woods was a leader. It is interesting to note that Mr. Woods had no desire to hold office, although he could have been elected to any office within the suffrage of the people of the county. Politics as such had no attraction for him, and his only wish came to be to serve his fellow citizens in an unofficial capacity. It is probably safe to say that, all in all, he was the one most valuable man for ten years in the history of O'Brien county. From 1870 to 1880 "Huse" Woods, as he was familiarly and endearingly known to the settlers, was the man to whom they turned with all their troubles, and it is to his credit that he never failed them.

William H. Woods was married September 4, 1855, at Davenport, Iowa, to Roma Wheeler, the daughter of Daniel Holbrook and Lydia Churchill (Martin) Wheeler, and to this union two children were born, Martha Roma, who died at the age of six, and Houston Clay, who died in 1890, at the age of thirty-two. The widow of Mr. Woods is now living in Sutherland, Iowa.

In 1874 Mr. Woods established a library in the old log cabin on section 8, township 94, range 39. Mrs. Woods was the librarian and the books which Mr. and Mrs. Woods had in their private library became the nucleus of the present library at Sutherland. The good which came from this movement on the part of Mr. Woods and his wife cannot be calculated. Mrs. Woods has planned to build a memorial hall, in honor of her husband, at Sutherland. This library was unique in its location on the prairie, far from any town. It was a subscription library ‐ five hundred shares of ten dollars each, at ten per cent, interest per year, the interest only to be paid in and this money to be used only for the purpose of books and magazines. The money expended was for eight magazines, Littell's Living Age, Harper's, Scrihner's, Atlantic, Arthur's Home Magazine, Lippincotts, an all-

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story magazine and St. Nicholas, for the children. Some of the members lived twenty-two miles away, but we were all helpful neighbors then. It was named Gen. N. B. Baker Library, after the adjutant-general of the state, and a former governor of New Hampshire. With his own hands he gathered the state publications, boxed and sent them. Another friend, Gen. Duane Wilson, uncle of President Wilson, sent us a box containing six hundred magazines and eighty bound books. The wife of the late Judge John Dillon, of New York, another friend, helped in this unique enterprise, the first library in northwest Iowa.

Into this cabin, built in the fall of 1870, came the first private library and the first piano in the county. Here was organized the first literary society, the first equal rights society, the Taxpayers' League and later the Taxpayers' Association. The latch string always hung on the outside.

MART SHEA.

Mart Shea, sheriff of O'Brien county from January 1, 1878, to January 1, 1882, was born May 12, 1850, in Lafayette county, Wisconsin. He was raised on the farm and attended the district schools. He came to O'Brien with many other old homesteaders in 1871, and homesteaded eighty acres on section 10 in Highland. He was married October 20, 1877, to Martha Farrell and they have three children. He was elected sheriff in the fall of 1877, and assumed his duties January 1, 1878. One curious instance of electioneering occurred. His predecessor was much given to drink. He openly electioneered for himself, and said that he was drunk most of the time, and his duties were not performed, and that owing to the pressure of times which were then very hard, as elsewhere seen in this record, that it would be better for the people and that Mart Shea was a git-up-and-git young man, and would enforce everything and perform his duty to the hardship of the settler. Mr. Shea was elected by a good majority, and it was an illustration that even a people hard pressed appreciated a prompt performance of duty. His predecessor openly argued that he had been in the habit of sending word to the party when an execution was placed in his hands. But while Mart Shea and his successors promptly and vigorously executed papers placed in their hands, they also exacted their fees in advance for all services performed. Mr. Shea's predecessor had served notices without fees in advance. Shea refused to do it. The result was that fewer suits

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were brought against the settler, as lightning-rod and machine creditors would not send good money after bad experimenting when they had to advance fees. It proved that an exacting officer was less harrassing than a go-easy one.

Mr. Shea was re-elected in 1879. He moved to Sanborn that fall. He has since engaged in various businesses, lumber dealer, liveryman, was interested for a time in a bank at Hartley, and at Sanborn was a member of the city council, constable, city marshal, etc. He now resides at Sioux City.

ERNST J. CLAUSSEN.

Prominent among the younger business men of Paullina, O'Brien county, Iowa, is Ernst J. Claussen, the up-to-date photographer, whose enterprise and depth of character have gained for him a prominent place in the community and the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens. Mr. Claussen has been progressive, enterprising and persevering in his chosen field and such qualities always win success sooner or later. To him they have brought a satisfactory reward for his well-directed effort and while he has primarily sought the advancement of his own individual interests, he has also ever borne in mind the essential qualities of good citizenship.

The subject is a native of Chicago, Illinois, born in that city in 1880, the son of J. H. and Elizabeth (Wolfram) Claussen, the former of whom was born in Germany in 1844 and the latter a native of the state of Maryland, born in 1848. When a young man in his native country, the elder Claussen mastered the wagonmaker's trade, at which he worked for several years before emigrating to this country in 1875. He settled in Illinois and in Chicago secured employment in his trade. There he remained until 1884 when he came to Iowa, locating in O'Brien county, and in Caledonia township acquired a tract of land containing three hundred and twenty acres. Here he carried on general farming and kindred pursuits and was engaged in this vocation at the time of his death in 1893. His widow survived him a number of years, passing into the great beyond in 1910. They were the parents of a family of ten children, all living with the exception of one. Mr. Claussen was possessed of much native shrewdness and more than ordinary energy and ability, and during the years of his residence here he came to be regarded as one of the stanch and reliable men of his locality.

Ernst J. Claussen, the immediate subject of this sketch, in his boyhood

Picture of ERNST J. CLAUSSEN.

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attended the German parochial school at Germantown, Iowa, from which he was graduated in due time, and later attended high school in Paullina for two terms. After the death of his father he remained on the home farm for six years, operating it and helping to care for the mother and younger children, and in 1899, in company with his brothers, Charles and William, he came to Paullina and engaged in the mercantile business. For five years they maintained this association and in 1904 he separated from them, engaging in the photograph business at Paullina. One year later he opened a studio at Sutherland and at the present time is managing the business at both places. In addition to his studios he maintains photo supply shops and is quite successful in his enterprise.

In 1912 Mr. Claussen was united in marriage with Dora Hanson, of Cherokee, Iowa, born in 1888, and they are the parents of one little daughter, Claudia. Politically, Mr. Claussen belongs to the Democratic party and is considered one of the active workers in local circles. He has served as chairman of Waterman township and has rendered other public service. His religious affiliation is with the German Lutheran church, of which he is an active and consistent member. He has become well and most favorably known throughout this locality for his uprightness in business, his public spirit and friendly disposition. He and his wife are well liked by a large circle of friends, endeavoring always to keep abreast of the times and always willing and glad to do their part toward furthering any movement looking to the betterment of the locality where they reside, either religiously, socially or educationally.

JOHN C. WARD.

Osceola county, Iowa, enjoys a high reputation because of the high order of her citizenship, and none of her citizens occupy a more enviable position in the esteem of his fellows than John C. Ward, a prominent live stock dealer of Ocheyedan. A residence here of many years has given his fellow citizens a good opportunity to observe him in the various lines of activity in which he has been engaged, and his present high standing is due solely to the honorable and upright course he has pursued. As a leading citizen of his town and community, he is eminently entitled to representation in a biographical volume of this nature.

John C. Ward, the son of Calvin and Margaret (Morgan) Ward, was

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born August 13, 1842, in Upper Canada, in the county of Middlesex, now known as Ontario. His parents were natives of Vermont and Wales, respectively, and came to Clinton county, Iowa, in the spring of 1866, where they purchased a farm three miles from DeWitt. Later they moved to Tama county, this state, where Calvin and his wife subsequently died in the town of Traer. Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Ward were the parents of four children, who are living: Thomas, of Pocahontas county, Iowa; David, of Traer, Tama county, and Luther, of Pocahontas county, and Margaret, of Traer.

John C. Ward received his common school education in the schools of Canada, and upon his marriage in his native land, in 1865, he immediately came to Clinton county, Iowa. Three years later he put all of his possessions in a covered wagon and moved west to Tama county. When he arrived there in 1868 there were very few settlers in the county, and the nearest markets were Tama City, seventeen miles away, and Belle Plaine, twenty-four miles away. He improved his farm and later sold it at a good profit and bought the western half of section 16, in Fairview township, Osceola county, paying seven dollars an acre for the land. There were no improvements on this farm when he purchased it, but he went to work with a will, and within a few years had it in a high state of cultivation and had the satisfaction of seeing it yield him good returns. Here he resided until 1894, when he sold this tract and moved to Ocheyedan, since which time he has engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock. He has had good success in this line of business and ships on an average three car loads of live stock a week, or from one hundred to one hundred and fifty cars annually.

Mr. Ward was married in Canada on June 5, 1865, to Sarah Robinson, who was born in Canada on May 4, 1847, and to this union there have been born six children: Robert Everett, of Haswell, Colorado; Walter E., deceased October 6, 1900; Calvin J., who is at home with his parents; Mrs Ida May Rochards, whose husband is treasurer of Osceola county; Mrs Minnie Robbins, of Albert Lea, Minnesota; Grace E., the wife of Vernon A. Riddiough, who is manager of one of the Hearst newspapers in New York City, and has forty employes under his charge. Mr. and Mrs. Ward now have eight grandchildren.

Mr. and Mrs. Ward have ahvays taken a prominent part in public affairs in this county, and, as the successful candidate of the Republican party, he has served as justice of the peace, as well as trustee of the township in which he lives. In 1905 he was appointed county supervisor and served for two terms. He was then twice re-elected to the same office, and was in the office

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eight years altogether, his last term expiring January 1, 1913. He and the members of his family are earnest supporters of the Congregational church and are contributing liberally to its support. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the various official capacities in which Mr. Ward has served since coming to this county he has rendered faithful and efficient service to his fellow citizens. He has always taken an abiding interest in the welfare of his community and given his influence to such measures as he felt would benefit his fellow citizens.

W. C. JACKSON.

The following is a sketch of a plain, honest man of affairs, who, by correct methods and a strict regard for the interests of his patrons, has made his influence felt in O'Brien county and won for himself distinctive prestige in the business circles of his community. He would be the last man to sit for romance or become the subject of fancy sketches, nevertheless his life presents much that is interesting and valuable and may be studied with profit by the young whose careers are yet to be achieved. He is one of those whose integrity and strength of character must force them into an admirable notoriety which their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality deeply stamped upon the community.

W. C. Jackson, the present supervisor of the Sanborn district of O'Brien county, Iowa, was born May 4, 1845, in Cecil county, Maryland, at Havre De Grasse, on Chesapeake bay, and is the son of William and Rebecca (Sammons) Jackson, who were natives of Maryland and Virginia, respectively. William Jackson was the son of John Jackson, who was born in 1770. John Jackson married a Miss Craig. The Jackson family trace their history back to colonial times, and it is found that members of the family fought in the War of the Revolution. In 1853 William Jackson and his family came from Maryand to Morgan county, Ohio, settling on a farm near McConnellsville, where his death occurred in 1858. William Jackson and wife were the parents of ten children: Mrs. Meal Ethell, of Morgan county, Ohio; May, who lives in Galva, Iowa; Samuel, who died in Andersonville prison during the Civil War; Mrs. Durinda Tavaner, of Cordova, Illinois; Craig, with whom this narrative deals; Alexander, a soldier of the Sixty-second Regi-

1230 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

ment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, who died in front of Petersburg in 1865; Mrs. Hattie Thompson, a resident of Galva, Iowa; Ormond, who lives in Sanborn; B. W., also a resident of Sanborn, and John E., of Dunkirk, Montana.

W. C. Jackson enlisted in 1862 in Company C, Ninety-seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years. He was in the battle of Perrysville, Stone's River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Dallas and Atlanta. After the battle of Atlanta, in the summer of 1864, his corps was sent back to join General Thomas at Franklin, Tennessee. Mr. Jackson has the unique honor of being one of the three men who first crossed the Tennessee river to Chattanooga after the memorable fighting around that city in the fall of 1863. He was mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, at the close of the war and immediately returned to his home in Ohio.

A short time after Mr. Jackson returned to his home in Ohio, he went west to Missouri, where he lived for four years, after which he went to Illinois and followed railroading until 1876, when he went to Ainsworth, Iowa, and again entered the railroading business. In 1881 he located in Odebolt, Sac County, Iowa, where he had a farm, which he had rented. Later he purchased a farm in Ida county, this state, but later sold this tract, and in 1883 came to Plymouth ccnmty, Iowa, where he bought a farm, broke the prairie and brought this tract to a high state of cultivation. He later rented this farm and moved to Sioux Center, Iowa, where he engaged in the grain and stock business from 1889 to 1891. He then sold out his interests in this business and bought an elevator at Schaller, in Sac county, this state, but sold this a year later and came to Sanborn, where he has been engaged in the real estate business ever since. He is now the owner of six hundred and forty acres of land in Minnesota.

Mr. Jackson was married in 1876 to Florence McCall, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and to this union have been born two children, Mrs. Mabel Brunson, of Bellefourche, South Dakota, and Victor, who is taking the civil engineering course at the Iowa State University.

In politics, Mr. Jackson is a Republican and has always taken an active interest in political affairs. He is a man of excellent judgment and good business abilities. He was honored by his party by being nominated for the ofiice of county supervisor in 1906 and was elected to that responsible position. His service was so satisfactory during his first term that he was reelected in 1910 and is still holding that important position. He has also filled various local offices and in every official capacity he has shown marked

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administrative ability. He is opposed to graft in every form and does his duty conscientiously as he sees it. Mr. Jackson is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Grand Army of the Republic. During his twenty years residence in this county he has measured up to the type of the highest American citizenship in everything with which he has been connected. As a soldier in the Civil War, as a public official and as a private citizen, he has performed his every duty faithfully and well and now, in his declining years, can look back over a life which has been well spent.

OTTO J. FREY.

It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review the life of any man who has lead an active and useful career. The history of Otto J. Frey tells of a man who has always been a factor in the life of his community and from earliest manhood, when he started to teach school, down to the present time he has been working in behalf of his fellow citizens. For many years serving as a school teacher and later filling the office of deputy treasurer and clerk of the district court, he has been in public life for nearly twenty years. In all this period no action of his has ever brought censure upon him by his friends and neighbors. He has the satisfaction of feeling that he has performed his every duty conscientiously and well.

Otto J. Frey was born October 1, 1881, at Forreston, Ogle county, Illinois. His parents. Dirk and Etta (Poppen) Frey, were both natives of Germany. Dirk Frey was born in 1849 and came to America alone when only sixteen years of age. This fact alone shows that he must have been a youth of remarkable courage and determination. Immediately upon coming to this country he went to Effingham county, Illinois, where he worked by the month for several years. He then married and settled in Ogle county, Illinois, where he farmed until 1890. At that time he came to Osceola county, Iowa, where he lived until 1910, since which time he has lived in Sibley, the county seat of the county. He now has two farms aggregating three hundred and twenty acres in Baker and Ocheyedan townships. Dirk Frey and wife were the parents of five children: Frank, who is farming one of the farms; Mrs. Minnie Saienga, of Melvin, Iowa; Otto J., with whom this narrative deals; Henry D., who farms the old home farm, and Mrs. Etta Fruhling, of Sibley, Iowa.

1232 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Otto J. Frey was educated in the country schools of Illinois, later attended the Classical Academy at Orange City and the Normal College at LeMars in this state. Subsequently he pursued a business course at Mankato Commercial College. Following the completion of his college course, he taught school for nine consecutive terms in the schools of his county and worked on the farm in the summer. He was very successful as a school teacher and the teaching profession lost an excellent factor when he decided to quit the school room. He became deputy treasurer of Osceola county August 15, 1903, and served in this capacity until January 1, 1907. During the race on the Democratic ticket for the position of clerk of the district court in the fall of 1906 he was elected without serious opposition. His administration of this arduous position was so satisfactory that at the end of the first term he was re-elected. So universal was the desire to keep him in the office that he has now served four terms in succession. On leaving the office he became connected with the Ocheyedan Savings Bank as cashier, a position which he is now holding.

Mr. Frey was married April 10, 1907, to Anna M. Hall, of Sibley, Iowa. He and his wife are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and has attained to the degrees of the Royal Arch chapter. He and his wife are also members of the Eastern Star. With kindly nature and sensible impulses, Mr. Frey is a man of high moral character. Whether in the school room or in the capacity of a public official, he has always so conducted himself as to win the confidence and esteem of every one with whom he has been associated.

GEORGE HAMILTON.

One of the honored pioneers of Osceola county, Iowa, was George Hamilton, who, having completed his alloted course on this terrestrial sphere, has taken his departure to the unknown country where we all, after a few more years of toil and loss and gain, must wend our own way with the "innumerable caravan." This county had no better citizen or more worthy representative of the great farming class. Here he labored long and arduously, removing the wild growth with which his place was covered and otherwise improved his land until he brought it to a high and successful state of cultivation. He was a man of substantial worth, very industrious and energetic, and as a farmer ranked among the most enterprising in the locality.

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The late George Hamilton, of Ocheyedan, was born in Dublin, Ireland, October 17, 1846, and died in Ocheyedan, this county, November 25, 1910. He came to this country from his native land in 1850 with his parents and located for the first five years in Saratoga county, New York. Subsequently the family moved to Whiteside county, Illinois, and a year later moved to Clinton county, Iowa. Here George Hamilton grew to manhood, married and in 1872 came to Osceola county and homesteaded on section 30, in Fairview township.

Mr. Hamiltcju was among the earliest settlers in the township and experienced some very trying times before he finally became fully settled. On January 7, 1873. he was caught in a blizzard while going to mill at Milford, twenty-five miles away, and lost his way when only four miles from Milford. The horses got down in a snow drift in a cornfield and he remained there until eleven o'clock the next day, having been exposed to the severe cold for twenty-six hours, and was badly chilled and frozen when rescued by the Smith family, who came across him stuck in the snow drift. They cared for him and it was not until five days later that he was able to get to his home. He took a prominent part in the organization of Fairview township, and was one of the first trustees of this township. During the course of his forty years in the township he held various public offices, in all of which he acquitted himself very creditably. He lived on this farm from June, 1872, until 1911, when the family moved to Ocheyedan, where he resided until his death. He added to his land holdings from time to time until he was the owner of two hundred and seventy acres of land, which was sold in April, 1913, for ninety-five dollars an acre.

Mr. Hamilton was married in 1872, in Clinton county, Iowa, to Anne Stone, who was born April 3, 1850, in England. Her parents. Joseph and Ann (Graves) Stone, came to America in May, 1850, and settled in Clinton county, Iowa, where they resided until 1877, when they moved to Crawford county, this state, where the father died in 1895 and the mother the following year. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Stone were the parents of five children: John A., who is in the employ of the Deering Harvester Company, of Chicago. Illinois; Mrs. Mary Newcomb, who is a resident of Crawford county, this state; Mrs. George Hamilton; the other children being deceased. Mr. and Mrs. George Hamilton have three children, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Nabb, who lives in Howard county, Iowa, is the mother of five children, Grace, Reuben, Lloyd, Ellen and Esther; Arthur, who is married and now operating the home farm, has one daughter. Lucile; Mrs. Alice G. Block, who is a resident of Ochevedan, has three children, Leland L., Helen Lucile and

1234 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Hazel N. Mrs. Hamilton now makes her home with her daughter. Alice, in Ocheyedan.

Mr. Hamilton was a stanch Republican and always took an active part in all the political affairs of his home township. He assisted in its organization and during the course of his long life in the county was always prominent in its civic affairs. Religiously, he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and contributed liberally of his substance to its support. Mr. Hamilton lived a long and useful life in this community and was always ready to forward its interests in every way. His life, being one of integrity and honor, is well worth imitating, and in this brief memoir the coming generations of Osceola county will read the story of a man who lived a full and complete life in every sense of the word.

ERNEST A. BUNKER.

Among the honored and well remembered citizens of Ocheyedan, Osceola county, Iowa, the late Ernest A. Bunker is deserving of a place in the county's history. He did much for the advancement of Ocheyedan and vicinity and the many kindly and public spirited deeds he performed here will not soon be forgotten or their influence fade out with passing years. He withheld his co-operation from no movement intended to promote public improvement. What he achieved in life proved his force of character and his steadfastness of purpose. He was a man of high moral and religious nature and was highly respected by all who knew him.

Ernest A. Bunker was born in Iowa, at Lime Springs, on February 3, 1867, and died in February, 1911, in Ocheyedan, Iowa. He was the son of Orville A. Bunker, a native of New York and an early settler of this state. He received his common school education in the schools of his home county, and, upon marrying at the age of twenty-five years, he came to Ocheyedan and engaged in the real estate business. Before his marriage Mr. Bunker had been engaged in the grocery business with his brother in Denver, Colorado, and still later he had been interested in the grain business. However, from the time of his marriage, in 1892, he devoted all of his attention to the real estate business, in which he was remarkably successful. At the time of his death he owned several hundred acres of land in Dakota and Canada and in Dickinson county, Iowa.

Mr. Bunker was married June 29, 1892, at Spirit Lake, Iowa, to Kath-

Picture of ERNEST A. BUNKER.

O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 1235

erine Van Steenburg, who was born in Floyd county, Iowa, in 1862, the daughter of Benjamin B. and Josephine (Valentine) Van Steenburg. Her parents were natives of New York and came west in 1857 and purchased land in Floyd county, Iowa. In 1862 they returned to their former home in New York and did not come to their farm in Iowa until 1877, and subsequently located in Charles City, Iowa, having previously bought land in Dickinson county, this state. The last few years of their lives were spent in Charles City, where Mrs. Van Steenburg died in 1879, and his death occurred in Spirit Lake in 1894.

Mr. Bunker was an active member of the Republican party and always took a prominent part in the civic affairs of his home city. For nine years he was a member of the council of the city of Ocheyedan and also served for some time as justice of the peace. Fraternally, he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, having become a member of the lodge at Spirit Lake when he was only twenty years of age. He was also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Bunker was a man of industry, sound judgment and rare foresight, and these qualities made him a success in the business world as well as a representative citizen of his community. He had well grounded convictions on all questions of the day and was able to discuss them intelligently. He always stood for the best interests of his home city and his death removed one of the best friends of Ocheyedan, as well as one of the most substantial, self-made men of his county.

VICTOR A. BURLEY.

The success of men in any vocation depends upon their ability, their determination to make a business pay and their integrity. Success in any kind of business depends upon the confidence which people have in it, and where that is lacking there can be no genuine success. When a man holds a county office for one term, and is then re-elected, it is evident that his administration of the duties of the office have been satisfactory, while if he is re-elected more than once it is added assurance that his work has been eminently satisfactory. It is noteworthy that Mr. Burley, the present county auditor of Osceola county, Iowa, has been elected to that office four times in succession, and this fact alone is sufficient evidence of his high character and popularity among the citizens of his county.

1236 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Victor A. Burley was born in Grundy county, Iowa, on a farm, September 5, 1875, the son of F. P. Burley and wife, his mother dying when he was an infant. His father later married Melissa DeWitt. To the first marriage of F. P. Burley there were five children: A. W., an automobile dealer of Harris, Iowa; Victor A., whose life history is here given; Mrs. C. M. Gregg, whose husband is a farmer of this county; C. F., a farmer near Spirit Lake. Iowa, and Flossie, who died at the age of seven. By the second marriage there were born fuur children. Sadie, William McKinley, Hazel and Birdie.

F. P. Burley was born in New York state and when a small lad came with his parents to Illinois, where he was reared to maturity. He received his common school education in the state of Illinois and was married the first time in that state. In 1874 he came with his family to Iowa and settled in Grundy county, where Victor A. was born. In 1880 he moved to Carroll county, this state, and eight years later settled in Osceola county, in Fairview township. The present town of Harris is practically built on the Burley farm, the town being platted in the year Mr. Burley bought the farm. In 1892 Mr. Burley moved to Missouri, where his death occurred four years later.

Victor A. Burley was educated in the common schools of his home neighborhood and later took a course in the Weaubleau Christian College in Missouri. He followed this with a year in the Capital City Commercial College, of Des Moines. He then entered a general mercantile establishment at Harris, as bookkeeper and collector. He remained in the employment of this firm for eight years. In 1906 he was elected county auditor on the Republican ticket, and so satisfactory was his service in this and succeeding administrations that he was re-elected in 1908, 1910 and 1912. In this day and age of the world it is necessaiy that county officials be well trained, and in the ofiice of auditor a man who has a knowledge of bookkeeping will make the most successful official, and for this reason Mr. Burley has given excellent satisfaction since taking hold of this position in 1906.

Mr. Burley was married in 1900 to Ona Giles, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. R. Giles, pioneer residents of Hardin county, this state, who came to Osceola county in 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Burley are the parents of two daughters, Lucile Evelyn, aged eleven years, and Doris Adeline, aged nine years. Fraternally, Mr. Burlev is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and has attained the chapter degree in that fraternal organization. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are earnest and loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and, give to it their hearty support. Mr. Burley is a worthy example

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of the efficiently trained, public official, and it would be an excellent thing if all public officials were as well trained for their respective positions as he is. Inefficient public service has caused an endless amount of litigation in counties of Iowa, as well as every state in the Union, and the time will be sure to come when public officials will be placed under civil service rules. Mr. Burley is a man of pleasing manner, and is probably as well acquainted throughout the county as any other man in it by virtue of his long service in the office of auditor.

RICHARD CLOSSON.

The advancement of civilization in any community, the furthering of any reform and the general condition of affairs generally is largely determined by the public press. The editor of a good newspaper wields as potent an influence in any community as does a minister of the Gospel or the teacher of the public schools. In fact, in many communities the local newspaper has far more influence than the pulpit, and it is to the credit of the newspapers that they are usually on the right side of questions affecting local politics. There are many exceptions, of course, to this rule. The great mass of the newspapers of our country are lined up on the side of public morality and common decency. The purpose of a newspaper in a town the size of Sanborn is to purvey local news first of all, and secondly, to advocate such reforms and measures as will benefit the town and community. It is safe to say that the editor of the Sanborn Pioneer is taking the proper stand on the questions affecting the welfare of his county, and that his paper is one of the civilizing agencies which are making for a better Sanborn and a larger O'Brien county.

Richard Closson, the editor of the Sanborn Pioneer, was born in 1876 in Harlan, Shelby county, Iowa, the son of Warren and Anne Elizabeth (Hardy) Closson, natives of Ohio and New York state, respectively. The Clossons are of Dutch ancestry, the founders of the family having settled in New Amsterdam in early colonial times. The Hardys are of Scotch descent, coming direct from Scotland to America.

Richard Closson graduated from the West Des Moines high school in 1896 and later took the law course in Drake University, from which he graduated with thg degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1901 he was admitted to the practice of law and for the next four years practiced in Webster City. He then went to Carroll, Nebraska, where he practiced law and also operated

1238 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

a newspaper. He spent three years in a general mercantile establishment at Sholes, Nebraska, and in 1913 Mr. Closson came to Sanborn and purchased the Pioneer, and he has been operating this plant since April of that year.

The Pioneer is the oldest newspaper in O'Brien county and was established in 1873. At one time during the course of its career, it was called the Sanborn Sun. Mr. Closson is an able newspaper man and a writer of force and ability. Since taking hold of this newspaper he has brought about a marked improvement in its appearance, as well as in its news columns.

Mr. Closson was married in June, 1906, to Letta Hunter, of Webster City. In politics Mr. Closson is a Republican and reflects his views in the columns of his paper. However, he is not a partisan in the strict sense of the word, but presents his side of the case in a broad view and with a clearness which bespeaks the educated man that he is. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and contribute to its support in various ways. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Since coming to Sanborn Mr. Closson has taken an active interest in the various public enterprises of the city, and through the columns of his paper gives expression to his views on all qiestions affecting the welfare of his town and community. He has won many friends since coming here and has a bright future before him in the newspaper field in this county.

FRED REMBE.

The worthy gentleman whose name heads this article is one of the early settlers of O'Brien county who, by ceaseless energy and thrift, has accumulated for himself more than a competence for his later days, and by conscientious adherence to each duty which has presented itself has also won numerous friends among his fellow citizens.

Fred Rembe was born in the far-off country of Bavaria, Germany, in the year 1853, and from his infancy was accustomed to green fields and running brooks and life close to the heart of nature which is dear to us all, and especially to our German brothers. His father, George B. Rembe, who was born in 1813, was a farmer and stock man of Bavaria, and to him the son is indebted for much of his knowledge of agricultural affairs. Mr. Rembe was married early in life to Mary Shaub, of Bavaria, and to them were born seven children as follows: Valentine, now deceased, who was formerly a

O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 1239

resident of Plymouth county, Iowa; Phillip, whose death occurred in Chicago, Illinois; George, a retired farmer who resides at Le Mars, Iowa; and three daughters, Mrs. Barvia Kiendirst, Sopha Baker and Elizabeth, all of whom still reside in their native country, Germany.

Fred Rembe received his schooling in Bavaria, and assisted his father about the labors of the homestead until his eighteenth year, when he began to long for larger opportunities and new scenes. In 1870, therefore, he severed home ties, and, bidding his loved ones farewell, sailed for the shores of our own America. He soon found his way to the broad fields of the Middle West, and settled in Warren, Illinois, where he was employed for several years as a farm hand. Here, in the year 1875, he met the lady who became his wife, Emma Baker, the daughter of Solomon Baker, of Warren. Four years after their marriage the young couple came to Plymouth county, Iowa, and purchased eighty acres of unbroken prairie land for the sum of five dollars per acre. The arduous labor involved in the early cultivation of this tract was endured gladly, for they were building for themselves a homestead. A large grove was planted and buildings erected, and the place rapidly increased in beauty and value. But Mr. Rembe saw in O'Brien county still greater opportunities for their advancement, and in 1885 brought his family to Highland township where a tract of one hundred twenty acres was purchased. Here again their endeavors were put forth in the effort to improve and beautify the homestead, and the aspect of the country was soon changed. More ground was added to their original purchase, an orchard of mixed fruits was planted, also a grove of shade trees, three acres in all, and now their homestead is one of luxury. Two hundred eighty acres of land is in a high state of cultivation and various kinds of live stock are raised.

Five children have come to bless their home, viz.: Byron, who is his father's able assistant in carrying forward the work of the farm; Arthur, whom death claimed in 1906; Roy, himself a farmer in O'Brien county; Ernest, who attended the high school of Primghar; Lillian, now Mrs. Fields, a resident of Highmore, South Dakota.

Politically, Mr. Rembe is an adherent of the Republican party, and he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows also. He and his family are attentlants of the Congregational church at Primghar, where he has his membership.

During his long residence in this county, Mr. Rembe has become well known, and his position as one of the substantial, dependable members of the community is undisputed. Industrious, conscientious and intelligent, his success in life is the inevitable result of the life he has lived.

1240 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

HARLEY DAY.

Harley Day was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, March 27, 1841, and was raised on a farm. He first learned the cooper's trade, and taught school at the age of sixteen. At the age of twenty-one he enlisted in Company K, One Hundred and Sixth New York Infantry, and served three years and became second lieutenant. When about to be discharged he was taken prisoner at the battle of Monocacy, Maryland, July 9, 1864, and held until long after the war was over, until February 22, 1866. A little later he came to Parkersburg, Iowa, where he resided until 1868. He was married to Margaret A. Braden in 1867 at Independence, Iowa. They had two children. The daughter, a young lady, died at Primghar with diphtheria in 1880, and the son Edward is engaged in railroad work. Mr. Day came to O'Brien county in 1871 and homesteaded the northwest quarter of section 26 in Carroll, where he remained until the fall of 1874, when he removed to Primghar, where he taught the high school for three and one-half years. While at this work he studied law with Charley Allen and J. L. E. Peck and was admitted to the bar in 1877. In the fall of 1871 he was elected a member of the board of supervisors and held one term. At the election of 1877 he was elected county superintendent, and held the office four years. In March, 1880, he removed to Sanborn and practiced law with J. A. Stocum as the firm of Stocum & Day until 1888. Later he was engaged in insurance business as general agent. Being put on the stand in the court house at Primghar some years later, he was asked if he was a lawyer, and replied that "No, he had reformed and quit."

In referring to the past incidents in his life he gave this amusing item in his life as a homesteafler in Carroll township: "I" remember an incident that occurred while I was on my homestead in Carroll township. A young man had taken a homestead adjoining mine. About the second year there this ambitious young man made up his mind that he would like to teach school, and speaking to me on the subject, I questioned him somewhat as to his knowledge of the subjects that he would be expected to teach. I found him a natural mathematician, but of geography he knew almost nothing. So to enable him to acquaint himself with the study, he proposed that we manufacture a globe, and to do that he went about the neighborhood asking the women to surrender to him some of the old-fashioned hoops for skirts, that he and I might use them in the manufacture of a globe. He made several applications before he was successful. As a result we made a globe, though rude in construction. Never, however, did a globe answer better purpose

O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA. 1241

and never did a student apply himself more energetically. In due time he passed a satisfactory examination and taught school." Mr. Day added that his neighbor homesteader, George W. Schee, could explain more about this odd incident.

THOMAS J. ALEXANDER.

Thomas J. Alexander, treasurer of O'Brien county for six years and county auditor four years, was born in Indiana in 1842. On February 19, 1864, at Madison, Wisconsin, he enlisted and served in the Fifth Wisconsin Battery, Light Artillery, Third Brigade, Third Division, Fourteenth Army Corps. He was engaged in the battles at Island No. 10, Shiioh, Corinth, Perrysville, Stone's River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Dalton, Tunnell Hill, Rocky Face, Kingston, New Hope Church, Big Shanty, Marietta, Chattanooga, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Sherman's march to the sea, Goldsboro, North Carolina, and took part in the Grand Review at the close of the war at Washington. He was honorably discharged at Madison, Wisconsin, June 6, 1865. Thus as a mere boy soldier he was a rider of the lead horses of a field gun.

Mr. Alexander came to O'Brien county in 1869 and at once homesteaded the southwest quarter of section 33 in Liberty township, and proved up as a homesteader in 1875. He served in several township offices and in 1877 was nominated in the Republican convention by a majority of one-seventh of a delegate vote for county treasurer and was elected. This office was contested before a court with Stephen Harris, as seen elsewhere, and which contest cost him some four hundred dollars which was quite a sum in those days for a homestead candidate. He assumed his duties January 1, 1878. and commenced his remarkably long career as an official. He was elected county treasurer for three successive terms and in 1883 and 1885 was elected county auditor. He espoused strongly the side of payment as against repudiation of the public debt, and participated in the various items of the refunding of the debt and in the various large tax sales of that period. He took part in the payment of county warrants during a portion of the years when the county was still endorsing them "not paid for want of funds," and when they were below par, and also participated in the resumption on a cash basis and other items, as related elsewhere. In 1886 he removed to Sutherland and purchased a half interest with Clinton E. Achorn in a general store, and was with D. M. Sheldon in the same business later on. He was married to Martha

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Brown, a daughter of James Brown, who homesteadecl the quarter section long known as the postoffice at Erie, the half-way stopping place of all the old homesteaders who went to Cherokee to trade.

We must here also record the sad and tragical death of Mrs. Martha Alexander at Winterset. Iowa, in 1908, at which time they were just moving into a new home just built, where her clothing caught fire from a gasoline stove, inflicting such injuries that she died the following day.

HENRY EPPING.

The history of O'Brien county, Iowa, will show that there are several descendants of the little country of Holland within its borders and it may be expected that they would be among the most prosperous citizens of their respective communities. The word "thrift" is always associated with the Holland people and they have a reputation the world over as being the most thrifty people in the world. Some one has said that a Dutchman could take one acre and make as much money off of it as an American could with ten acres. Among the few farmers of this county of Dutch descent is Henry Epping. a prosperous farmer and stockman of Lincoln township.

Mr. Epping was born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1857, and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Epping. Bernard Epping was born in Holland in 1831 and followed the trade of a carpenter in his native land. When a young man he came to this country and settled in St. Louis, Missouri, and two years later settled in Scott county. Iowa, where he engaged in farming until his death, which occurred in 1886. Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Epping were the parents of seven children: Mrs. Dora Linderman. deceased; Mrs. Mary Milder, a resident of Nichols, Iowa; Theodore, a farmer living near Davenport, Iowa; William, deceased, who is buried at Davenport; Andrew, a resident of Davenport; John, a farmer of Clinton county, Iowa; one who died in infancy, and Henry, with whom this narrative deals.

Henry Epping received a good common school education in the schools of Scott county, Iowa, and worked with his father on the home farm until he was twenty-two years of age, after which he worked out as a farm hand in the immediate neighborhood for three years, when he married and rented land in Clinton county. He prospered as a renter and four years later he purchased one hundred and eighty acres of land in Clinton county. It it needless to add that with this amount of land he rapidly accumulated

Picture of HENRY EPPING.

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a small fortune, with the result that in 1906 he came to O'Brien comity and purchased five hundred and twenty acres of land in Lincoln township. Since buying this tract he has set out a large grove of trees and made many extensive improvements. He raises a large amount of stock and makes a specialty of Percheron horses, having some of the best horses of this breed in the county. He feeds a large number of cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs each year and realizes a handsome profit from his annual stock sales.

Mr. Epping was married in 1884 in Clinton county, Iowa, to Minnie T. Porth, and to this union have been born eleven children: Harry, who is a graduate of Davenport College; Tracy, deceased; William, who is farming with his father; Francis; Ralph; Cecelia, deceased; Agnes; Minnie, deceased; Leon; Walter and Helen.

In his politics Mr. Epping subscribes to the principles of the Democratic party, but has been so busy with his agricultural interests that he has not had time to take a prominent part in politics. He and all of his family are earnest members of the Catholic church and subscribe generously to the support of that denomination. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization, which has a large number of members in O'Brien county. Genial and unassuming in manner, Mr. Epping easily wins friends and is known throughout the township where he lives as a man of his word. Although he has been a resident of this county only a comparatively short time, yet his worth as a member of society and as a man is already recognized and the township has no more enthusiastic supporter than Mr. Epping.

ANDREW J. BROCK.

[This biography was written out by Mr. Brock himself, for the senior editor twenty years ago, and is given just as he wrote it.]

Andrew J. Brock was born at Bono, Hooppole township, Lawrence county, Indiana, on the banks of Nettle creek, A. D. 1843. Five years later his father, not waiting for the noted Greeley advice, emigrated to Carroll county, Illinois. Chicago was then the nearest grain market, one hundred and fifteen miles distant. From that time up to October 26, 1861, the years were spent at "deestrect skule," in the corn field and catching rabbits. On the 26th day of October, 1861, he concluded that he knew more than his parents, became satisfied that the then existing dispute between Abe Lincoln and Jetf Davis could not be settled in proper shape without his assistance,

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jumped into a suit of army blue, kissed his best girl good bye, forever, and for three of the best years of his life, namely from eighteen to twenty-one, helped Company H of the Fifty-fifth Illinois Infantry, First Brigade, Second Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, keep hard tack from getting mouldy and coffee from getting cool; was engaged in seventeen battles; was first sergeant and had command of his company in the last battle he took part in, namely, Jonesboro, Georgia; ran when, opportunity afforded; had bullets through his clothing, but never received a scratch, and up to 1891 never received a pension.

In 1870 he emigrated to and settled in O'Brien county, and accepted a situation with William Clark Green as head clerk and deputy postmaster in the first store in the county, when one dollar's worth of sugar brought in five muskrat skins or one mink if it was not a spike tail. When he was not busy sorting mail, selling nails, tar paper, salaratus, apples and tobacco, was engaged with Lem Green hauling wood from the Sioux River bottoms and gathering perrywinkles. This was at a time when prairie wolves in the county were more numerous than the neighbors. One cloudy afternoon he traded a fourteen-dollar overcoat for the southwest quarter of section 10 in Carroll township, then on the wild prairie and considered worthless [which in this 1913 is worth twenty-four thousand dollars].

One year later there appeared among the incoming emigrants, who after locating his homestead on southwest quarter of section 14 in Carroll, and who later was deputy sheriff under Clark Green during a large part of his eight-vear term, leased the O'Brien House, the only hotel in Old O'Brien, and proceeded to keep hotel, where many a pleasant evening was spent in social dances, parties, etc., for in early times we had to make our own amusement. The family consisted of mine host, L. G. Healy and wife, three boy'S and three girls. Meanwhile this, your sugar dispenser, after selecting the best of the three girls to his liking, succeeded in persuading her to marry him, which event took place on the 18th day of September, 1872, and settled down just like old folks would on their homestead on the southwest quarter of section 10 in Carroll, four miles southwest of Sheldon, and in a few weeks was lucky enough to be appointed the first postmaster of Sheldon, through Congressman Jackson Orr of this district. The first mail pouch into Sheldon contained three letters and two newspapers, and the salary was twelve dollars per year. Later he assisted as clerk in several of the county offices. Having been elected county recorder in 1872, on January 1, 1873, he assumed its duties and appointed D. A. W. Perkins as deputy postmaster at Sheldon, and took up his residence at Primghar, where two years later his

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son Herbert was born, the first child born in Primghar. He bought forty acres and, with John T. Stearns, laid off and platted Brock & Stearns' addition to Primghar. For several years he was engaged as partner with Clark Green in general merchandise. He left the state and settled at Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1878, but later returned to Iowa with his family. [He died about 1905.]

WILLIAM CLARK GREEN.

William Clark Green, ex-sheriff and pioneer merchant of O'Brien county, was born September 7, 1842, in Jackson county, Indiana. His father, McAllen Green, once recorder of O'Brien county, resided on a farm in Indiana until Clark was seven years of age, when the family removed to a farm near Sterling, Whiteside county, Illinois. There he attended the district school, when not at work on the farm, until he was about eighteen years of age, when he took a course at Northwest College, at Fulton, Illinois. He then engaged as clerk with a mercantile firm and continued three years as clerk at Sterling, when he took an additional course at Eastman's Business College in Chicago. He again returned to Sterling and resumed his position as bookkeeper and clerk. These two courses of study, with several years' practical experience in the mercantile business, fully equipped Mr. Green for his long career in O'Brien county, as the pioneer merchant, sheriff and other public duties in the county. Mr. Green, or Clark, as he is familiarly called, landed at Old O'Brien on the 22d day of August, 1869, then a young man almost twenty-seven years old. He had met Archibald Murray at Dennison, (sic) seventy-five miles from Old O'Brien and then nearest railroad station and Murray induced him to come to O'Brien. On the road they had to cross the Maple river at Mapleton. The river was high, and there was no bridge and they were detained and had to camp out several days in oat shocks, using the sheaves for bed. Murray got sick and with no medicine Clark acted as physician as well as he could. No house was near of any service. The river went down somewhat. A railroad contractor was along by the name of Martin, who, as Green afterward found out, had seven thousand dollars in currency and was very nervous. An old man on the river had a square box, like a piano box, that he propelled across by a pulley and wire stretched across the river. They all got in. Green said: "All hands set still now or we'll tip." The seven-thousand-dollar man got excited,

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thought they would go over and dived off into the water, which so over- balanced things that over they all went, with the water very deep. The seven-thousand-dollar man finally reached a tree and climbed. He got so nervous over himself and money that he kept on climbing, higher than necessary, clear to the top until he was in as much danger there as in the water. Clark also reached some boughs on the bank with which he bobbed himself up and down and sang out to the seven-thousand-dollar man in the tree: "A life on the ocean wave, a home on the rolling sea; you had better come down instead of going up; you are high enough." They got ashore, and the seven- thousand-dollar man, all dry. Their mules and wagon was floated across. Ihe next day a family going back from Dakota was upset in the same way, and a little girl hung on to the boat, but thought it was the "worstest place she ever see."

That fall there were fifty-seven votes cast in O'Brien county. Mr. Green bought his stock of goods in Chicago and hauled them by team from Dennison, (sic) Crawford county. This teaming was done by his brother, Lemuel C. Green. He opened up his first store in a lean-to or old addition to the house of Archibald Murray, about nine by sixteen in size, and sold the first goods out of a store in O'Brien county, October 7, 1869. A new store building, however, was put up in the spring of 1870, out of native lumber sawed at the Peterson saw mill. The business directory of Old O'Brien then consisted of A. L. Bostwick and R. G. Allen, blacksmiths; J. G. Arbuckle and A. J. (or Peg Leg) Allen, shoemakers, and Rouse B. Crego, who ran a hotel.

His brother, Lemuel C. Green, hauled the goods seventy-five miles. When they got to the Mapleton river with a load of goods, they first unloaded the goods and placed them in the frail scow boat or skiff and pulled them across by the pulley, then took the wagon box off and scowed it across; then put the running gears on the wagon straddle of the skiff for a third or fourth load and let the horse swim behind.

It is hard to say whether they had a bank or not. John R. Pumphrey arranged to draw checks on Weare & Allison, of Sioux City, but did not formally open as a bank until they all moved to Primghar. In 1872 Mr. Green bought a half interest in the town site of Primghar of James Roberts, a homesteader of Carroll township, and the two men platted the town in 1873.

Mr. Green became postmaster of Old O'Brien in 1870. Chester W. Inman preceded him as postmaster and J. R. Pumphrey was Mr. Inman's deputy. Mr. Pumphrey brought the postoffice and that which pertained

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thereto over to Mr. Green in a wash tub, and delivered over the honors of the office. Mr. Green also became Primghar's first postmaster in 1873, to which place he moved June 17, 1873, and at once built and opened up the first and pioneer store.

In 1874 he made A. J. Brock a partner with a half interest. They continued one year. J. R. Pumphrey bought Brock's interest. The new firm continued until January 1, 1878, when they dissolved. Mr. Green then continued one year, when he failed, December 31, 1878. The hard times period just preceding during the grasshopper period was too much. Mr. Green had generously extended credit to the scores of needy settlers. Their willingness, but inability, to pay did not meet his wants quick enough. During those years also Mr. Green was everybody's bondsman and was very liberal in signing security. In 1873 he was a candidate for the Legislature, carried his own county unanimously, but a Mr. Woods, of Spencer, beat him in the convention. In 1879 he ran against Mart Shea for sheriff, but, owing to the fact that it was only Mr. Shea's second term and his popularity he was defeated. In 1881, however, his hundreds of old customers and the county rewarded his generosity as the pioneer merchant and elected him sheriff, which they repeated in 1883 and for the third and fourth times and he held the office until January 1, 1890, eight years. After his failure in 1879 he removed to Sanborn and sold rubber stamps, then for a time sold lightning rods through Minnesota, then sold wholesale clothing on the road for awhile, and then engaged with Teabout & Vallea at his original vocation by the month as clerk in their store. Mr. Green after his unprecedented period of four successful terms as sheriff re-established himself as a merchant, but unfortunately again failed a few years thereafter.

As can be seen, Clark Green was a man of ability. He was up against it, however, in the homestead trials and county debt difficulties. His generosity could not stand the appeals of a poverty-stricken old settler. It all required far more capital than he had. Public funds through the bank were resorted to to meet the occasions. He was for ten years compelled to take county warrants for his goods at all kinds of prices. We can thus again see at least a partial excuse for a part of those troubles connected with county matters. As stated, it broke him up in 1879 and unfortunately again in 1895. The old homesteaders righteously rewarded him by giving him the sheriffship for eight years. In 1887 he carried out the very delicate and at times piteous duty in the eviction of about one hundred and twenty-five families known as squatters from the Milwaukee lands. His was indeed the

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lot of the first and pioneer merchant, the only general merchant in the whole east half of the county for about ten years. His experience can never be repeated in the county. He died at Sanborn.

Mr. Green was married November 30 1876, to Melvenah S. Kidder, of Dixon, Illinois. Their two children. Lulu and Edna, are both married.

GEORGE W. HARRIS.

The life of the successful business man, though filled to repletion with activity and incident, presents fewer salient features to excite the interest of the general reader than the man whose place in the public eye has been won through political or military achievement. But to acquire distinction or great prosperity in the business pursuits which give to the country its financial strength and credit, requires ability of as high, if not higher, order than that which leads to victory at the polls or on the field of battle. This will be readily appreciated by all who tread the busy thoroughfares of trade. Eminent business talent is composed of a combination of high mental and moral attributes. It is not simply energy and industry; there must be sound judgment, breadth of capacity, rapidity of thought, justice and firmness, the foresight to perceive the course of the drifting tides of business and the will and ability to control them. In addition to all this, the successful business man possesses a collection of minor but important qualities to regulate the details of the pursuit which engages attention. The subject of this review affords an exemplification of this talent, and, notwithstanding the limited field of his operations, he has achieved a reputation which places him among the successful financiers of this section of the state.

George W. Harris, cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Paullina, O'Brien county, Iowa, was born in 1875 at Primghar, O'Brien county, the son of Stephen and Lydia (Gault) Harris. Stephen, the father, was born on December 6, 1842, in Brunswick, Maine. At the beginning of the Civil War his sympathies were with the Union and in this cause he enlisted at Sackett's Harbor, New York, in 1862, being a member of Company L, Twentieth New York Cavalry. Throughout his enlistment he served as orderly on General Grant's staff, but saw no active service. After being mustered out of service at the close of the war, he came westward, settling in O'Brien county. This was in 1869, when pioneer conditions very largely prevailed throughout this section. Being a man of good education and great native ability, he im-

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mediately took his place among the foremost citizens of the community and the year following his arrival here he was elected county supermtendent of schools, serving for two years. He also served as clerk of the county courts during the years 1871 and 1872 and was county treasurer during 1876 and 1877. Upon his first arrival in the county he homesteaded a claim in Grant township, later moving to Primghar, where the immediate subject of this sketch was born, and some time after became a citizen of Paullina. Upon first coming to Paullina he engaged in the restaurant business and also dealt in real estate and in 1884 he and George Hakeman opened up a banking business, which venture was highly successful and has developed into the present organization known as the Farmers State Bank of Paullina, Iowa. Mr. Harris remained in the bank, serving as its cashier, until the time of his death in 1899. He was also actively interested in all the affairs of the county and was one of the most influential men of his day, doing much to bring about a satisfactory state of affairs in this section along financial as well as other lines. His death occurred on September 29th, of the year above mentioned. Mr. Harris was twice married, first in 1870 to Lydia Gault, who bore him two children. The elder is Charles S., a publisher and editor, located at Coleridge, Nebraska, and the younger is George W., the immediate subject of this sketch, who was but a very small child at the time of his mother's death. Mr. Harris chose as his second wife Ida Belle Rerick and to that union were born five children, all of whom are living with the exception of one.

George W. Harris received his elementary education in the schools of Paullina, later attending the high school at that place, and when but sixteen years old he entered the banking establishment of his father in the capacity of bookkeeper. With that institution he has remained ever since and, through his excellent business judgment and ability, the business has grown with the locality and has kept abreast of the times. George Harris has prospered financially. Besides being a stockholder of the bank in question. he also owns two hundred and forty acres of land in Union township, O'Brien county, as well as a section in Huron, South Dakota. In Paullina he owns the commodious residence which he occupies, as well as five lots. He is a worthy son of his father, possessing that parent's unusual ability as well as genial disposition. While winning his way along material lines, he has also bore in mind that higher tribute of confidence and esteem of one's fellowmen and this he possesses in a most gratifying degree. In politics he is allied with the Democratic party and is now serving his city as treasurer of the school board, also in the capacity of city councilman and treasurer of

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the city fire department. In the discharge of the duties from time to time devolving upon him as a citizen who is willing to work for the welfare of his home town, he meets with the approval of all, as he ever bears in mind the highest good to the largest number possible.

In 1900 Mr. Harris was united in marriage with Bird H. Raw, daughter of George Raw, and to their union four children were born. One little son, Kenneth, passed from this life on August 29, 1913; the others yet with them are Herschel G., Dudley R. and G. Winston. The family are identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, being active and consistent members of the same. Mr. Harris's fraternal afifiliation is with the time-honored order of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and he is also a member of the body of Yeomen. Mr. Harris is intensely practical in everything he does, and therein lies the great secret of his success. He is a splendid example of the virile, progressive man who believes in doing well whatever is worth doing at all; a man of broad mind, keen discernment and sound judgment. Personally, he is genial and unassuming, easily approached and in this country, where he has spent his entire life, he is widely known and held in highest regard by all.

W.H. NOEHREN.

One of the many worthy German citizens of Osceola county, Iowa, who has made this their permanent home is W. H. Noehren, the manager of the creamery station at Ocheyedan. In common with thousands of other men from his country, he believed that in the west was to be found not only more and greater pleasures of living, but better opportunities for making money and acquiring a comfortable competence for old age. Coming here with his parents when a babe in arms, he has grown up with the country and has never had any desire to forsake his adopted country and return to his fatherland.

W. H. Noehren was born in Germany, January 31, 1852, and is the son of William and Sophia (Seehausen) Noehren. In March, 1852, his parents came to America and located in Lake county, Indiana, where they lived until the death of the father. William Noehren showed his devotion to his adopted country at the opening of the Civil War, when he enlisted in Company I, Twentieth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served for three full years. He fought in some of the greatest battles of the war, among which were Gettysburg and all the battles which were fought by

Picture of W. H. NOEHREN AND FAMILY.

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Grant in his march from Washington to Richmond in 1864 and 1865, paticipated in all the battles which were fought in the Wilderness and went through the trying siege of Petersburg. He was among those who had the honor of marching through the streets of Richmond, the capital of the Southern Confederacy. When the Civil War was over he returned to Lake county and lived upon a farm until his death. The mother moved to Chicago in 1893 uoon the marriage of her son, William, whose history is here portrayed. William Noehren and wife were the parents of six children: Henry, of Buffalo, New York; Mrs. Sophia Wilke, of Union, Illinois; Mrs. Minnie Klemme, of Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. Dora Blume, of Chicago; Mrs. Louisa Draper, of Arlington Heights, Illinois, and W. H., with whom this narrative deals.

W. H. Noehren received his education in Lake county, Indiana, and remained upon the home farm until 1884. Upon his marriage in 1873 he took charge of his father's farm and operated it until he came to Osceola county in 1884. Upon coming to Osceola county he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in Horton township, for ten dollars an acre and lived on this until 1902. That year he moved to Ocheyedan and became interested in the hardware and implement business. Four years later he disposed of this and engaged in the creamery business at Ocheyedan and now has charge of the Hanford Produce Company station. He is a successful business man and has been instrumental in increasing the business of the creamery of which he is now the manager. He has always taken an important part in the civic affairs of his county and while living in Horton township was president of the township board for nineteen years. The Democratic party nominated him for the position of county supervisor and he was subsequently elected to that important office for a three-year term. While holding this office he advocated every measure which he felt would benefit his county in any way.

Mr. Noehren was married in 1873 to Mary Heisterberg, who died in 1904, leaving eight children: Mrs. Mary Trusty, of Ocheyedan, whose husband is a barber; Henry, of Billings county, North Dakota; William, of Fostoria, Iowa; Fred, a bookkeeper in the bank of Ocheyedan; Mrs. Carol Ohlendorf, of Billings county, North Dakota; Harry, of North Dakota; Edward, of Ocheyedan, and Edna L., a teacher in Superior, Iowa.

Mr. Noehren and his family are all members of the German Lutheran church and have always contributed generously of their means to its support.

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He is a man of genial temperament and accommodating in disposition and has many friends among those who know him. He stands high in the circles in which he moves in his community, since he is a man of proper principles, honest and public spirited.

JAMES CONN.

So many of the substantial citizens of O'Brien county have come to us from the verdant hills of the beautiful Emerald isle that the observer wonders why these gentlemen so readily win their way to affluence in this country of ours. It is no doubt partly due to the fact that the fight for life is more difficult in the congested counties of their native country, and the strenuous effort to advance is inbred from infancy; but to this tireless energy is added the ability to think quickly and well, which is the most marked characteristic of a true son of Erin.

Among these gentlemen who have joined the ranks of the prominent citizens of O'Brien county, James Conn is worthy of honorable mention. He was born in Down, Ireland, in the year 1867, the son of Alexander Conn, also a native of that country. The father was born in 1838 and spent his childhood and youth upon the farm of his father in his native county. In the year 1864 he was married to Martha Dixon, and to them were born two children, Sarah, now Mrs. McCauley, a resident of Osceola, Iowa, and James, of O'Brien county.

The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood on the farm of his father, but at the age of twenty-five years he emigrated to America and came directly to the broad prairies of O'Brien county. Here he was enabled to obtain employment on a farm by the month, and for six years he labored in this manner. In the year 1898. however, he attained his ambition to launch into business for himself, renting a tract of three hundred and twenty acres of land which he found in Union township. Here for eleven years he toiled diligently, early and late, cultivating the soil and causing the earth to bring forth bountiful harvests for him, laughing at disappointments and hoping always for the better things in view. On October 31, 1902, was solemnized his marriage to Jennie Moorehead, a daughter of George Moorehead, of Paullina. Henceforth he labored with higher ambitions, having in view a homestead of his own and a competence for himself and his family. His faithful wife lent aid and encouragement in all these ambitions, and in 1909

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he was enabled to purchase for himself the old homestead of William Johnson, of Highland township, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres of land, all under cultivation. Since that time many improvements have been added and about three thousand dollars in money has been spent in improvements of various kinds, while he has given without stint of his own strength and time to the end that his family might for the future enjoy a beautiful home.

Seven children have come to bless this home, all of whom are now under the parental roof, a happy family indeed. These are Harrold, Esther, Wesley, Alice, Denton, Helen and Russell.

Mr. Conn is in all things a progressive man, intelligent and broad minded, interested in movements for the improvement of his surroundings, physically and morally.

When the new Independent party was organized, he was soon enlisted in this cause and has since adhered to these principles. He is an active member of the Presbyterian church of Paullina. First and always, he is a loyal American citizen, but he is also true to the traditions of the country of his birth and in sympathy with her every movement and maintains his membership in the order of Orangemen. Mr. Conn is truly a "self made man," owing his success to his own efforts and his wife's able assistance, and, being a comparatively young man there is every probability that he will continue to rise, as energy such as his will allow of no standing still and no retrogression.

WILLIAM HARKER.

William Harker was born at New Diggings, LaFayette county, Wisconsin, on July 29, 1849. Here he spent his youth and until seventeen years of age, securing a good general education. In 1866 he removed to New Jefferson, Iowa, where he remained only a short time. From here he went to Missouri Valley where he made his first venture in the early days of that city in the mercantile business, in which he was successful. Here he was married to Elizabeth Vyce in 1870. She was an aunt of Arthur Vyce, residing in Sanborn for many years and who assisted in Mr. Harper's bank. In successful merchandising he had at the early age of twenty-three accumulated a sufficient capital to embark in his greater destined business, that of banking, and established one of the very early banks at Ida Grove, to which place he removed in the latter year. Here again he was successful

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for ten years, in the meantime taking into partnership J. L. Greene. In addition to banking at Ida Grove they conducted a set of abstracts of title as an adjunct to the large loan, land and banking business in which they at once engaged. They were indeed a strong business team, and early discovered the coming price and values of Iowa lands and profited largely by their good judgment. These ten years at Ida Grove developed these land enhancement ideas with them and which they foresaw would be duplicated in O'Brien county, to which they came in latter part of 1881, and at once commenced making large purchases of the then wild prairie lands. Their Ida county experience practically made success a certainty in O'Brien. They at once started, or rather bought out, the bank of Lane & Longshore, or the Isaac W. Daggett Bank. This bank was conducted as the O'Brien County Bank, often known as Harker & Greene's bank. Several years later he purchased the interests of J. L. Greene and organized the First National Bank of Sanborn, with himself as president, which position he held until his death, May 26, 1895, at West Baden Springs, at which place he was taking treatment. William Harker was one of those men who carried with him in his every movement of body and spoken word an idea and sentiment of the substantial and successful. His every business transaction represented something. The writer once heard the remark made of him, which impressed him as truly measuring the man, "that Mr. Harker couldn't be anything but successful, because he would deal in nothing questionable." He was prominent in politics, and proud that he was a Democrat. He was in politics as in business, insisting that his party should stand for a fixed policy worthy of being followed. As illustrating this idea that he always stood for something, on one occasion Mr. Harker asked the question in the court house what the politics of a certain candidate was, and on being informed that the party was independent and had no politics, retorted that the candidate must have some politics and be somewhere. Mr. Harker was strong and loyal in his friendships and business obligations. He selected only the reliable for friends. For many years in business in Sanborn, he was a strong right arm in business interests with Ezra M. Brady, Jonathan A. Stocum, J. R. Brady, J. H. Daly and others. The last business transaction of Mr. Harker was to sign up for the writer the complete final report in the settlement of the large estate of his stanch friend, J. A. Stocum. Just as he signed same the writer bade him good bye as he started to West Baden, which proved to be to his death. Like unto the making of that report, his whole business was in effect a prepared business or that which could be made

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complete. His career was indeed a brilliant one, for even new O'Brien county, his death occurring at the early age of only forty-six years. He accumulated a large fortune for this early age, in a pioneer period, though death claimed him in the prime and before the full fruitage of his grand business qualities for the public good were ready to be ended.

GEORGE McKENNA.

In past ages the history of a country was comprised chiefly in the record of its wars and conquests. Today history is largely a record of commercial activity and those whose names are foremost in the annals of the nation are those who have become leaders in business circles. The conquests now made are those of mind over matter, and the victor is he who can most successfully establish, control and operate commercial interests. Mr. McKenna is one of those men whose lives have been an essential part of the history of O'Brien county. Tireless energy, keen perception, honesty of purpose, genius for devising and executing the right thing in the right place and time are the chief characteristics of the man. These, combined with every day common sense and guided by strong will power, are the concomitants which insure success in any undertaking.

George McKenna, a real estate and loan agent of Sheldon, Iowa, was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1862, his birthday falling upon the natal day of the Father of our country. He is the son of P. J. and Mary (Dougherty) McKenna, both of whom were natives of Ireland, and both of whom came from their native land to this country in their youth and married in America. They moved from Watertown, Wisconsin, to Adair county, Iowa, in 1875, where the father died in 1896. The mother then came to O'Brien county and lived with her son, George, until her death occurred in 1909. There were five children born to Mr. and Mrs. P. J. McKenna, of whom three are living, Thomas, who resides in Kansas City; Mrs. T. E. Mench, who lives in Montana, and George, with whom this history deals.

George McKenna received his elementary education in the schools of Wisconsin and Adair county, Iowa, and came to O'Brien county in 1884. He settled on the northeast quarter of section 11 in Carroll township (disputed land), where he resided until 1889 when he went back to Adair county where he remained until 1896, when the courts handed down a decision which

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confirmed his title to the land, and he renewed his homestead filing and moved back on the land, where he resided until 1905, at which time he rented out his farm and came to Sheldon, where he engaged in the real estate and insurance business. He is the owner of four hundred and ninety acres of good Iowa land, also lands in North Dakota, Montana and Canada. Mr. McKenna is normally a Republican in politics, but voted for Woodrow Wilson in 1912. He is an earnest member of the Catholic church and contributes of his means to its support. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization composed of Catholics. Mr. McKenna has been a hard working man all of his life and because of his integrity and upright life, he has gained the confidence of all of those with whom he has been associated.

N. I. HUGHES.

There is, in every county, a class of men who have spent many years within its borders, and who form the solid, responsible element of its citizenship. To this class belong men who toil, but who work with sound judgment and business acumen, acquiring for themselves and their families a competence, while adding, by their very stability, to the dignity and responsibility of the community at large. It is of such a man we wish to speak in this sketch.

I. N. Hughes, one of O'Brien county's prominent and well known farmers, was born in 1859 in Story county, Iowa, his father being Thomas Hughes, a native of Greene county. Pennsylvania. The elder Mr. Hughes was born in 1808 and spent his childhood and youth in the Keystone state. While a young man he emigrated to Knox county, Ohio, then to Putnam county. Indiana, where he continued the vocation learned in his native state, the pursuit of agriculture. In the year 1854, hearing of the wonderful opportunities for the pioneer in the state of Iowa, he journeyed westward and settled in Story county, purchasing a tract of land in that location for the sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. This he cleared, at the cost of infinite labor, and finally erected a grist mill on Skunk river. The product of the mill was freighted via wagon to Davenport, Iowa, a slow and expensive means of transportation. In this environment he was brought into close association with the Indians, of whom there were many and who learned to respect him highly. That their friendship was reciprocated is proven by the fact that he gave them many sacks of the flour which he

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ground. His wife, formerly Eleanor Strawn, was a never failing source of help and encouragement to him in his labors, and to her faithfulness is due much of his success in life.

Nine children came to this worthy couple, as follows: Ruth, whom death claimed when about twenty-three years old, in Story county, Iowa; John died at Ruthven, Iowa; Agnes, now Mrs. Dodds, the wife of a retired farmer of Sioux Rapids, Iowa; Richard, whose death occurred at Marshalltown, Iowa, three years ago; Elizabeth and Thomas, who were called from hence in infancy and were buried in Indiana; William, whose death occurred in Kelley, Iowa; Mary, now Mrs. Brown, whose home is in Nebraska; Ellis, who is buried at Primghar; Ulysses, whose death occurred in Story county; and the subject of our immediate sketch.

N. I. Hughes spent his boyhood and youth upon his father's farm, assisting him in the various labors of the place, and when he arrived at mature years his father deeded to him a tract of eighty acres, a part of the old homestead. This he cultivated and improved, his mother, in later years, looking after the duties of the household, of which she was the faithful mistress for twenty-one years. He diligently cultivated and improved the place until a favorable opportunity occurred to dispose of it and reinvest profitably. In the year 1896 he was married to May Miller, a daughter of George Miller, of Steuben, New York. In 1905 he brought his family to O'Brien county, investing in a quarter section of land, for which he paid sixty-five dollars per acre. This land has now increased in value until it is worth several times the original price, and the improvements he has made have also materially added to its value. Now he is the possessor of a beautiful homestead, and the evidences of his industry are so apparent that the observer may know at a glance it is the abiding place of a man of sterling worth. He is justly proud of the qualitv of the live stock which he breeds, and this branch of his profession has proxed exceedingly profitable. Percheron horses are his specialty, he having some splendid animals, and he was also at one time widely known as a very successful breeder of sheep, of which he had a large herd.

Three children have come to brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, but the youngest son, George, was taken from their midst in infancy by the call of the Grim Reaper. Their daughter, Ruth, and son Clark, are both students at the present time in the Primghar high school.

Mr. Hughes gives his support to all movements which are for the general good of the community at large. He is broad minded and progressive

1258 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

in his views, and politically is interested in the advancement of the Independent Progressive party.

Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, in their home life, stand for those things which are the best in life, sympathizing with the affairs of the young people who surround them, and by their example adding to the high character of the community and the sociey in which they move.

EDWIN P. MESSER.

To have been one of the thousands who fought in the Federal army during the Civil War is a mark of distinction of great merit. The boys of the sixties will receive attention and be honored everywhere and always. It will not be long until they all will be called to "face the only foe that they could not meet," as Daniel Webster said of the veterans of the Revolutionary War, and friends will pay him suitable eulogy for the sacrifices on battlefield and in the hospitals that he made a half century ago; ever afterwards his descendants will revere his memory and take pride in recounting his services in behalf of his country in its hour of peril. Participancy in the great Rebellion seemed but to have prepared a large number of these heroes for greater successes in the marts of trade and commerce, and to have paved the way for a long and useful life in the communities in which they settled. In the person of Edwin P. Messer, of Sheldon, Iowa, is combined the valiant soldier, pioneer, successful merchant and excellent citizen.

Mr. Messer was born August 20, 1838, in the town of Lester, Vermont, on a farm. He was the son of J. S. and Julia (Barker) Messer, who were born and reared in Vermont and were descended from old New England families, it being a noteworthy fact that Julia A. Barker was a direct descendant of John and Priscilla Allen, famed in Longfellow's poem, "The Courtship of Miles Standish." It is related that J. S. Messer left the ancestral acres in Vermont and journeyed to the far-off land of Illinois as early as 1857. He settled with many of his old neighbors in Lake county and there became an important and component part of the life of this county. He was the father of the following children: Jane and Mary, deceased; Edwin P. and Erwin B., twin brothers. Capt. Edwin B. resides in Hartley, Iowa.

The two brothers enlisted in Company F, Thirty-seventh Illinois Volun-

Picture of EDWIN P. MESSER.

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teer Infantry Regiment. Capt E. B. Messer organized the company. This company saw considerable service in the Southland and on the frontier. They fought in the battles of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and Prairie Grove. From this point they were sent back to St. Louis and from there to Pilot Knob, thence to Vicksburg. On January 4, 1864, our soldier was commissioned quartermaster and in June of the same year was made commissariat of the division. He served entirely through the siege, battles around Vicksburg and the subsequent fall of the city and its surrender by General Pemberton. He next served at Yazoo City, Mississippi, thence to Morgantown, was then stationed at various places along the Mississippi river while in the discharge of the duties as quartermaster. He tendered his resignation on October 15, 1864, and received his honorable discharge at Memphis. During the winter of 1863-4 he was stationed at Brownsville, Texas. During the summer of 1863, while the bnithers were in Vicksburg, their aged father paid them a visit. Unfortunately he was taken sick and was treated by the army physicians and recovered sufficiently to return home, where he died shortly after his arrival, at his old home in Lake county. The mother of the boys followed him about seven years later to the unseen shore.

Edwin P. and Erwin B. operated the farm until the year 1867, when Edwin P. went to Michigan City, Indiana, and engaged in the hardware business. Here he prospered until 1872, when he located at Woodstock, Illinois. Not long afterwards he moved further westward and was engaged in business for six years at Odebolt, Iowa. In 1882 he came to Sutherland, O'Brien county, was engaged for one year in the hardware business and in 1883 removed to Sheldon. During his residence here he has built up what is widely known as the largest hardware establishment in northwestern Iowa. It is now conducted under the name of E. P. Messer & Son. Mr. Messer is a stockholder of the Sheldon National Bank, one of the strongest financial concerns in the county and is interested in Colorado lands.

Mr. Messer is affiliated religiously with the Church of Christ, Scientist; is fraternally connected with the Masonic order, being a member of the blue lodge and the commandery of Knights Templar, and is a charter member of McKenzie Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and was a charter member of E. O. C. Ord Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Sutherland.

This estimable gentleman was married March 24, 1864, to Celeste French, who has been his faithful and loving helpmate for over fifty years of happy wedded life. He is the father of four children, namely: Mrs. Mabel A. Hamilton, of Sheldon, who is the mother of two children, Clare M.

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and Edwin D.; Mrs. Mayme Galloway, of Libert3'ville, Illinois, who has two children, Mavis and Mary; L. Burt, his father's partner in the hardware business; Mrs. Gertrude McFarland, of Oakdale, Pennsylvania, the mother of four children, Helen Gertrude, Mary Gretchen, Margaret and Lena, the oldest who is deceased.

In the sunset of a long and useful life, well spent, and which has a wonderful record of accomplishments, both from a material, patriotic and family standpoint, this aged soldier spends his declining years in peace and comfort, surrounded by the loving care of his good wife and devoted children. No more deserving citizen than he is to be found in O'Brien county, and the foregoing record but embellishes the pages of this volume which teems with interesting history and biographies. For the benefit and inspiration of his progeny and many warm friends this chronicle is presented. Mr. Messer voted first for Lincoln and in 1861 recruited a company of "Wide Awakes" and was the commanding officer before he had ever cast a vote.

JOHN H. ARCHER.

Whether the elements of success in life are innate attributes of the individual or whether they are quickened by a process of circumstantial development, it is impossible to clearly determine. Yet the study of a successful life, whatever the field of endeavor, is none the less interesting and profitable by reason of the existence of this same uncertainty. The records of failures are so greatly in excess of the records of definite successes, that one is constrained to attempt an analysis in either case and to determine the causes in an approximate way. In studying the life history of John H. Archer, long a prominent and influential figure among the citizens of O'Brien county, we find many qualities in his makeup that always gain definite success in any career if properly directed. His marked success in the world's affairs has been achieved by close attention to business and by honorable and consistent dealings. It is a plain record of a plain man of affairs in the community.

John H. Archer, banker and farmer of Sheldon, Iowa, was born on April 1, 1861, in Nottingham, England, the son of Thomas and Ann (Holmes) Archer. His father was a well-to-do farmer, who died when John H. was but a youth and attending an English boarding school. When John H. was fifteen years of age he left school and he and his brother took

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charge of their father's business. In 1881 he came to America, first locating in Clinton county, Iowa, and spent one year in travehng about the country for the purpose of meeting relatives and friends and becoming acquainted. Part of this time was spent in the harvest fields of Illinois, and he also spent a few months in and around Galveston, Texas. He came to O'Brien county in 1882 and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Summit township south of the town of Sanborn. He improved this acreage, which he purchased from N. Ballon, and then invested in larger tracts. After his marriage he removed to section 24, Carroll township, which is now the site of the town of Archer. This part of O'Brien county was but sparsely settled at that time and the ranges were very extensive. For several years Mr. Archer ranged large fiocks of sheep and cattle upon the land and was very successful in this venture. Upon the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad, Mr. Archer sold the town site of Archer to the promoters. He and his wife and family then took a trip to England and visited among old homes scenes for a period of six months. On his return he repurchased the Archer town site and pushed the sale of lots and took an active part in the building up of the new town. He assisted in the opening of the Bank of Archer and is today its president. Until September of 1907 he and his family resided on a farm three miles northeast of Archer. They then removed to Archer, thence to Sheldon and now occupy a handsome residence set in beautiful grounds in the east end of the city.

Mr. Archer is the owner of an extensive acreage of very fine land in O'Brien county, purchased at prices ranging from ten dollars to one hundred and twenty-five dollars an acre. He has large holdings of Canadian land. He was one of the organizers of the Primghar Savings Bank and is now vice- president of this flourishing concern. He assisted in the organization of the First National Bank of Sheldon, of which he is the vice-president, and is president of the Bank of Archer. He is also a director of the Sheldon Savings Bank and the Empire Loan and Trust Company, Sheldon, Iowa. Mr. Archer spends a considerable portion of his time in Archer for the purpose of looking after his large farming and banking interests.

Mr. Archer is a Progressive in politics and is fraternally connected with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, is a Mystic Shriner, and a Scottish- rite Mason, having taken thirty-two degrees of this branch of Masonry and being a member of the Sioux City Consistory. He and his family are members of the Congregational church at Sheldon.

On July 4, 1885, Mr. Archer was married to Dora B. Ballou, daughter of N. Ballon, a pioneer settler of O'Brien county. They have an interesting

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family of nine children: Mrs. Dorothy A. Porterfield, of Holstein, Iowa, who is a graduate of the Iowa State College at Ames; Mrs. Gladys C. Johnson, of San Diego, California, who was likewise a student at Iowa State College; Lloyd T., assistant cashier of the Bank of Archer, was a student in Culver Military Academy and graduated from Iowa State College; John Frank studied at the Culver Military Academy; Nell V., a student in the Sheldon high school; Edith A., also in high school; Sterling B.; Joyce B. and Guerdon W.

Mr, Archer, while widely and favorably known as one of the wealthiest citizens of Sheldon and O'Brien county, is one of the most modest and the kindliest of men. He is broad minded and public spirited, qualities which have enhanced his success.

NATHANIEL BALLOU.

The biographies of successful men, especially of good men, are incentives and guides for the instruction of others. The examples they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is within the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class, yet have succeeded in overcoming obstacles which in many instances have had the incentive to awaken their latent powers and have served as a stimulus which has carried them onward to success. Self-reliance, if given half a chance, will win out in the end. Sturdy colonial ancestry has frequently inbred in descendants the power to do and build where others fail. Nathaniel Ballou, of whom this chronicle is written, is a pioneer settler of western Iowa, and has resided in O'Brien county for over thirty years. Well born and well educated, he has, perhaps, received more enjoyment from a long life of usefulness than the average man.

Mr. Ballou was born June 14, 1830, on a farm in New Hampshire. His father was Oliver Ballou and his mother, before her marriage, was Dorothy Kidder, both being natives of New Hampshire. The Ballou family traces its beginning in America to the year 1640, when two brothers, one of whom was Maturin Ballou, came from England and settled in Rhode Island. The Ballou family is of French Huguenot origin, leaving France in the sixteenth century for a refuge in England to escape religious persecution on account of their faith. This emigration took place shortly after the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Several descendants of Maturin Ballou fought in the Revolu-

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tion in the cause of American independence. It is recorded that Nancy Ballon, mother of President Garfield, was a cousin of N. Ballou and also Rev. Hosea Ballou, who reorganized the Universalist church.

N. Ballou migrated to Iowa in 1868. Six months later he removed to Anoka, Minnesota, and resided there for two years. He located in O'Brien county in 1881 and settled down to farming until his final retirement from active labor. His home for the greater part of the time is with his daughter, Mrs. J. H. Archer. He has always been allied with the Republican party and has held many local and township offices.

Mr. Ballou was married in 1855 at Lowell, Massachusetts, to Eda A. Avery, a daughter of Foster Avery. She died in November, 1908, leaving motherless the following children: Edgar N., of Ekalaka., Montana; Mrs. Dora B. Archer, of Sheldon, Iowa; Frank H., who is located on the homestead farm.

Mr. Ballou is an extensive reader, keeping abreast of the times and taking a keen interest in affairs despite his advanced years. It is such men as he who have formed the bulwark of advancing civilization in its better sense,, and have been a power for good in their respective communities.

GEORGE W. SMITH.

It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of a community or a state lies not in the machinery of government nor even in its institutions, but rather in the sterling qualities of the individual citizen, in his capacity for high and unselfish effort and his devotion to the public welfare. In these particulars he whose name appears at the head of this review has conferred honor and dignity upon his locality, and as an elemental part of history it is consonant that there should be recorded a resume of his career, with the object in view of noting his connection with the advancement of one of the most flourishing and progressive sections of the commonwealth, as well as his official relations with the administration of the public affairs of the county honored by his citizenship.

George W. Smith, proprietor of a six-hundred-acre farm in Dale township, O'Brien county, Iowa, was born January 24, 1868, in Richmond county, Ohio. His parents were Philip B. and Elizabeth (Briggle) Smith. Philip Smith was born in Germany in 1822 and his wife was born in 1833 in Pennsylvania, of Swiss parentage. Philip Smith came to America when a

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young man with his two brothers, Henry and Adam, and lived and died in Ashland county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Philip Smith reared a family of twelve children: William, of Sioux county, Iowa; John, deceased: Mary, of Sioux county, Iowa; Mrs. Jennie Weaver, of North Dakota; Frank T., of Woodbury county, Iowa; Mrs. Catherine Krause. of Sioux county, Iowa; Mrs. Etta Lepker, deceased; Mrs. Ella Krause, of Sioux county, Iowa; George W., whose career is delineated here; Samuel E., of South Dakota; Harvey. of North Dakota; Mrs. Minnie Coleman, of Sioux City, Iowa, and one who died in infancy.

At the age of sixteen George W. Smith came to Blairstown, Benton county, Iowa, with his mother and family and lived for four years. They then moved to Ireton, in Sioux county, where Mrs. Elizabeth Smith is still living.

George W. Smith was married when he was twenty-two years of age to Effie Troutman, of Blairstown. Iowa, and at once went to farming for himself, having bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres the year previous in Sioux county, Iowa. He proved to be a successful farmer and added to his holdings until he had two hundred and forty acres by 1901. He then sold his Sioux county farm and bought three hundred and twenty acres in O'Brien county at fifty-five dollars an acre. In 1910 he bought eighty acres at one hundred and thirteen dollars an acre, the land not being improved, and in June, 1913. bought two hundred acres, for which he paid one hundred and sixty dollars an acre. It is needless to say that Mr. Smith has made a pronounced success of farming and his farm is now worth two hundred dollars an acre. He has two large barns on his home place, two other barns on the upper half of his farm and also has a large silo. In 1902 Mr. Smith built a fine country home, which is modern in every respect, having hot water and electric lights.

In politics Mr. Smith is a Progressive, having allied himself with that party upon its organization in the summer of 1912. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and Masons, while in his religious faith he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have an interesting family of four sons: Clarence, aged twentyone; Orlo H..,aged eighteen; Jesse E., aged fifteen, and Marvin W., aged twelve. Mr. Smith has taken an active interest in the public life of his county and township and for the past twelve years has been township trustee, an office which he has served with eminent satisfaction to his fellow citizens, irrespective of their politics. His career in this county has been a notable

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one, and success has met him at every turn since coming to this favorable locality. He is a man who is always on the alert for anything which he believes will add to the betterment of the community and gives all such movements his hearty approval and support.

DAVID WHITNEY.

The old settlers of this county builded wiser than they knew and it is eminently fitting that in this biographical volume their records be presented for the perusal of coming generations in the county. Their descendants today little realize the many discouragements and obstacles which they had to meet, and for this reason the record of their lives should be intensely interesting to their sons and daughters. The rude sod houses of the seventies are seen no more and even the dreaded grasshopper is no longer a foe to be dreaded, like a summer drought or a winter blizzard. Verily it can be said that no county in Iowa can show today more marked changes than Osceola county. This volume contains the interesting life history of many pioneers who settled here forty years ago, and among these David Whitney occupies an honorable and conspicuous place.

David Whitney, distinguished veteran of the Civil War and one of the most highly respected citizens of Osceola county, was born February 21, 1844, in Orange county, Vermont, and is the son of Daniel and Julia (Hall) Whitney. He received his common school education in the Green Mountain state, and when only eighteen years of age offered his services in behalf of the Union. He first enlisted on the 10th of December, 1862, in Company C, Fifteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and served until August 5, 1863, with this company. On December 26, 1863, he enlisted in Company G, Tenth Regiment Vermont Volunteer Infantry, and served until July 10, 1865. He was wounded on April 2, 1865, before Lee, retreating from Richmond. On this day only twenty-three of his company reported for duty, and eleven of them, among which was Mr. Whitney, were wounded. This was the last day on which the roll of his company was called until he was finally mustered out. He was in ten of the hardest fought engagements of the Civil war, and was with Grant during the summer of 1864 and through the winter of 1864-65 and went through all the terrible experiences which befell the Union troops while storming Petersburg. He fought through all the battles of the Wilderness, and was present at the battle of Win-

1266 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Chester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek. It was at this last engagement that Gen. Philip Sheridan made his memorable ride, which has been immortalized in verse, and Mr. Whitney well remembers the day when this occurred. In 1913 Mr. Whitney had the honor of attending the fiftieth anniversary or the battle of Gettysburg in the town of that name in Pennsylvania.

Immediately after the close of the Civil War Mr. Whitney came to Iowa and located first in Blackhawk county, where he owned eighty acres and lived for five years on his farm. Marrying in 1871, he came to Osceola county and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres in section 18, of West Holman township. Here he and his young wife began housekeeping in a frame structure sixteen feet square and ten feet high. Although this house was only ten feet in height, yet they had an attic bed room. It was sided with tar paper and common rough boards, and here they lived until they were able to erect a more commodious house. The first year he raised only a little sod corn, just enough to fill the homestead requirements. Most of the time he worked out for the neighboring farmers and in this way earned enough money to make a bare living. In 1873 the grasshoppers came along and ate all of his crops, which made things seem gloomy then. He had no crops and he had no money, and his neighbors were in no better shape than he was, and he and his wife went to Cherokee, where he worked four months. In 1874 he took over one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining his farm on the west, which he secured from a man who had decided to leave it to the grasshoppers, and left for more promising territory. Mr. Whitnev had the foresight and good judgment to see that this land would one day become valuable and that even the grasshoppers would one day be brought under control.

That Mr. Whitney prospered is shown by his beautiful farm in Osceola county today, stretching over five hundred and ninety-six acres and improved in a way which delights the eye of the passerby. In addition to his land holdings in this county he is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres in Minnesota, which gives him a total acreage of nine hundred and sixteen acres. In 1889 he built his present home and in 1895 he built his present barn. A cyclone that year destroyed his barn and made it necessary for him to erect a new one. In 1913 he built a modern horse barn, which has an eighteen-foot concrete wall for the lower half of the barn. He is now cultivating about two hundred and sixty acres of land and uses the rest as pasturage and hay land. He raises considerable live stock and markets about eighty head of cattle annually.

Mr. Whitney was married in 1871 to Mary J. Cutshall, who was born

Picture of DAVID WHITNEY.

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in Perry county, Indiana, on January 16, 1849, the daughter of Eli and Dorca Cutshall, who were among the earliest pioneers of Buchanan county, Iowa, in Indian times. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney have reared a family of ten children: Clarence A., who married Flora Helt and lives on a farm east of Sibley, has three daughters. Versa, Albertine and Cleo; Orville E. is still living with his parents; Mabel, the wife of Walter Helt, is the mother of five children; Bertha lives in Oklahoma, where she has a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, which she homesteaded herself; Frank, Fred and Emma, the next three children in order of birth, are still with their parents; David, the eighth child, married Dorothy Salzman, and lives in Minnesota on his father's farm; Charles and Harold, the two youngest children, are also with their parents.

Mr. Whitney has been a life-long Republican and has always taken a deep interest in political affairs. However, he has never been a candidate for any county office, although he has served on the school board of his township for several years. He is a loyal member of the Grand Army of the Republic and takes an active interest in the affairs of this organization. He is a member of the Baptist church and in his yonnger day's was very active in church work, and has always maintained a deep interest in religious work of all kinds and never misses the opportunity to lend his support in behalf of all euterprises which might improve the moral welfare of his community. Mr. Whitney has now reached his three score and ten years, the psalmists allotted span of human life, and is still hale and hearty and takes an active interest in the issues of the day. His life has been well spent and when he answers the last roll call he will leave a record behind him which will he an honor to him, to his friends, to his family and to the country which he has served so well.

ANDREW VAN SANT RANDALL.

Among the pioneers of Osceola county who have contributed in no small measure to the prosperity of the county is Andrew V. Randall, who is now living a retired life at Ocheyedan in this county. Particular interest attaches to his history from the fact that he has a distinguished war record, a record which covers more than three years in that memorable struggle. The past thirty-eight years of his life hab been spent in Osceola county and in that

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time he has gone through all the experiences incident to the development of a pioneer county and taken his full share in bringing Osceola county to its present condition of prosperity.

Andrew V. Randall was born at Attleboro, now Langhorne, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, on April 10, 1842, of Scotch-Irish ancestry on the paternal side. The paternal home was only seven miles from Penn's Manor, the original home of William Penn, who came to this country in 1685. His parents were Isaac and Jane (Titus) (Van Sant) Randall, his mother being of Holland descent. She was a cousin of ex-Governor Van Sant's father. Isaac Randall was a stone mason by trade and helped build the Hicksite Quaker church at Attleboro, Pennsylvania, as well as the Orthodox Quaker church at the same place. Isaac Randall died when his son, Andrew, was only six years of age and the mother died when Andrew was sixteen.

Andrew Randall went to live with one of his uncles in Pennsylvania after the death of his father and when a mere lad was an apprentice to a blacksmith to learn that trade. He received a meager education in the subscription schools of his state and early in life learned to make his own way. His first money was obtained by gathering hickory nuts in the mountains of his native state and selling them in the city of Philadelphia. He was only nineteen years of age when the Civil War came on and was one of the thousands of Pennsylvania youths who volunteered their services for the defense of the flag.

Mr. Randall enlisted on September 12, 1861, in Company K, One Hundred and Fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He served until September 30, 1864. He then re-enlisted in Company A, Third Regiment United States Veteran Volunteers, and was assigned to Hancock's corps. He was mustered in as a private and later served as a noncommissioned officer during the Peninsular campaign in Virginia in 1862. He participated in the battles of Warwick, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Dispatch Station, Bottom's Bridge, Seven Pines, Fair Oaks and the seven-days' fighting which ended at Malvern Hill. All of these battles were fought while McClellan was trying to take Richmond in the summer of 1862. Among the later battles in which he participated was the siege of Charleston, Fort Wagoner, John's Island, James Island in Florida and numerous minor engagements. He served with the famous "Swamp Angel," the cannon which has such an illustrious history during the Civil War. After his second enlistment he was stationed at Philadelphia, Washington and Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He was finally discharged February 17, 1866. During his last year in the service his company was detailed to assist in the guarding and subsequent execution of the Indians

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guilty of the Minnesota massacre of 1862. Among these Indians were Medicine Bottle, or Wak-au-zan-zan, and Little Six, or Shakopee. He now has pieces of the rope that was used in their execution.

Immediately after receiving his mustering-out papers from the government he located in Bigelow, Minnesota. In May, 1876, he homesteaded in Rock county, Minnesota, but surrendered his land during the terrible grasshopper days which touched that portion of the state with terrible severity. He then worked at his trade as a blacksmith for a time and in 1879 he received a homestead in Harton township, Osceola county, Iowa. He had some difficulty in establishing his claim to the land and had to go through a contest in order to secure undisputed possession. After coming to Iowa he blacksmithed for a time, then went on a farm in Osceola county, where he lived until 1886, after which he moved to Ocheyedan and shortly afterwards received appointment as postmaster of that place. He erected a corner building in that town, which is now occupied by a hotel. He served as postmaster for four years and in 1894 was reappointed and served for another four- year period. Since moving to Ocheyedan he has been engaged in various kinds of business and has at times been manager of the hotel, auctioneering and at other times bought and sold live stock. He owns a nice home with six and a quarter acres in Ocheyedan, for which he paid one hundred dollars an acre. He sold his farm in 1893 and purchased an apple farm in Missouri with six thousand trees.

Mr. Randall was married October 13, 1866, to Mary N. Smith, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. To this union have been born five children: Allie V., born in Gardenville, Pennsylvania, November 20, 1868, and now the wife of E. O. Manville, of Ocheyedan; Hannah M., born May 31, 1871, and now the wife of B. D. Dravis, of Marshalltown, Iowa; John H., born March 14, 1873, and now a resident of Ocheyedan; Solomon E. S., bom March 18, 1879, a resident of Bigelow, Minnesota; Emma M., born November 20, 1868, in Pennsylvania and now the wife of Albert D. Moreland, of Larchwood, Iowa. Mr. Randall has thirteen grandchildren.

Mr. Randall has always been a stanch Democrat; was one of the seventeen Democrats in Osceola county when he came here and, unlike many Democrats of that period, he was a strong abolitionist, a fact which may be attributed to his Pennsylvania training. Fraternally, he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Grand Army of the Republic. Religiously, he was born of Quaker parentage, reared as a Presbyterian and now attends all of the churches of his city. Mr. Randall has lived a busy and useful life. In every position

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he has cccnpied he has acquitted himself with credit, and has a host of friends and acquaintances in this county who honor him for his distinguished and useful life.

CHARLES AMOS BABCOCK.

(Written by "Bab" himself.)

In the first place I was born. That great event took place at Janesville, Wisconsin, May 18, 1855. I don't know any good reason why I was born, hut for some inscrutable design of Providence I was, and have heen living ever since. Don't know much about my ancestry, and care less; but have no doubt that way back at the heginning of the humman race upon the earth, some two hundred thousand years ago, they started and have evolved down to date, pretty much the same as all other folks. Never knew or heard of any Babcock doing anything especially mean nor anything worthy of special note.

My paternal grandfather was of Scotch descent and my paternal grandmother of Holland descent, and my maternal grandparents were regular "Vermont Yankees." Grandfather and grandmother Bahcock went from New York to Ohio when that was "way out west," and helped build, and for years were members of the Mormon church at Kirtland, Ohio; but when Joseph Smith, the "prophet" of the Mormon faith, had his "revelation" for plurality of wives, they "got their eyes open" to the fact that said "revelation" was merely man-made (like all other so-called "revelations"), and so they renounced the Mormon faith and ahout 1858 took up a government homestead in Fayette county, Iowa. Here they lived until 1869, when they went to live with a son at New Hampton, Iowa, and there died at ripe ages.

My father, Comfort Elias, being in husiness at Janesville, Wisconsin, there married my mother, Katherine Emerson, in 1852, and no hetter woman in every way ever lived. She had twelve children, eight boys and four girls, and seven of the hoys and three of the girls are still living, all in Iowa, except three boys who are in Arkansas. My father was a rover and, like myself, a financial failure. Went from Wisconsin to Kansas, and in the fall of 1860 to Fayette county, Iowa, and the rest of his life lived in many different places in eastern Iowa, moving so much that no two of us children were born in the same house, and he and mother finally died at New Hampton, Iowa.

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He was a red-hot Abolitionist and to him John Brown was one of the greatest men and martyrs. Consequently, he was always an ardent Republican, and I was taught to believe that all a Democrat needed to be a veritable devil was horns. He twice enlisted for the Civil War and was once drafted, but, owing to physical defects, was rejected, but was bound to go to the war in some capacity and therefore served three years with the army as a blacksmith. He was home on furlough at the time of Lincoln's assassination, and I saw him lick a Copperhead so badly for attempting to hurrah because of said assassination that he did not get out of bed for three weeks, father had him licked before he got the hurrah out.

At the age of fourteen I went to shift for myself and up to that time my time was spent in the pursuit of knowledge in the common country schools of eastern Iowa, and in the pursuit of muskrats along the Turkey and "Wapsie" rivers. I never attended any but a country school except four months at a town school. Taught school in Iowa and Nebraska and Kansas from 1873 to 1882, reading law in the meantime, and pettifogging some in justices' courts. Went to Humboldt county, Iowa, in the spring of 1881 and was admitted to the bar on Washington's birthday in 1882, by the district court of said county. The chief qualification to be admitted to the bar in those days was a box of good cigars for the committee the court appointed to examine the applicant, and I had the cigars ready. Was the first county attorney of Humboldt county, serving for the years of 1887, 1888, 7889 and 1890.

In 1883 one Agnes Garfield, of Wisconsin, was teaching music at Humbolt, and, unfortunately for her, took me in as one of her scholars, and we were married at her home at Jefferson, Wisconsin, Thanksgiving, 1884. She is undoubtedly the only woman on earth that would ever have lived with me any length of time without applying for a divorce, and I think the fact that I could be my own lawyer is the only reason she has not applied for one.

Went from Humboldt to Sanborn, O'Brien county, in the spring of 1891, and moved to Sheldon, in said county, in April, 1913. Was county attorney of O'Brien county for the years of 1897 and 1898. Never held any office except as above stated, for I was never hypocrite enough to be very popular. While living at Sanborn I was the most patriotic citizen the town had, for when it was desired to elect a certain man to any town office I, out of pure patriotism, would run against him, and that would make his election sure. Have never been a success financially or professionally worthy of any note, but have somehow managed to make a living for myself and

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family and keep out of the penitentiary, being only an ordinary everyday plug lawyer, doing the best I can for my clients, but often blundering. Some like me and some don't, but I think it is safe to say that those who do out-number those who don't and that is some satisfaction. I am quite a "literary cuss," and I think I can probably quote as much prose and poetry as any other lawyer in Iowa, having a good deal more useless than useful knowledge.

We have three children, Reed, twenty-six, Frances, twenty-three, and Philip, fourteen, and so far we are satisfied with them. In religion my wife and I are Unitarians and the only creed of the Unitarian church is "good character," though the central idea of the Unitarian faith is "One God." We know that all orthodox or evangelical churches consider us as "infidels," but that doesn't worry us any, for the history of the world conclusively shows that to the persons called "infidels" the human race owes all its rights and liberties that are worth having. In the true meaning of the word, an "infidel" is simply one who does not believe as does the one who calls him such. In the opinion of those who crucified him, the man jesus was the greatest "infidel" who had lived up to that time and that is why they crucified him. But I must quit along this line or this sketch will wind up in a long sermon.

In conclusion, I was a fool to have anything to do with this history, for it is gotten up with only two real objects in view ‐ first the money in it for the publishers, and second to give those who have made a success of life an opportunity to tell what great persons they are, and as I am unfortimately not of that class nothing ought to have been said about me herein. But I suppose I yielded to help along the matter because of the truth expressed by Lord Byron in the following lines :

CHARLES E. IHLE.

The record of the life of Charles E. Ihle is one of unremitting industry and consequent achievement. He was born in Germany in the year 1848, and was the son of Carl G. L. Ihle, a German harness-maker. This latter gentleman's birth occurred in the year 1814 and his entire life was spent in the country of his birth. In 1847 he was united in marriage to Anna M. Hanson, whose birth occurred in 1819. Six children were born to this

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couple, all of whom are now deceased save the subject of this record. In the year 1884 the wife and mother was called to her final rest, and two years later the father followed.

In the year 1872 Charles E. Ihle left his native country and sailed for American shores, finding his way directly to the city of Chicago. Here, amid the clamor of the metropolis, he waged his battle in a new country. He soon obtained employment as a day laborer, but, hearing of the larger opportunities for the worker in the state farther west, he made his way to Scott county, Iowa, and for three years labored in this locality as a farm hand. While here, he met and was united in marriage to Anna McAfee, a resident of that county, and henceforth ambition soared and he aspired to a home of his own. About this time also, he moved to Cherokee county and rented a farm for himself and here he labored assiduously, toiling gladly and living thriftily for the sake of the future for himself and little family.

In the year 1880 Mr. Ihle purchased eighty acres of unbroken land in Union township, O'Brien county, which he immediately set about to improve and render habitable. The ground was soon under cultivation, buildings were erected for the shelter of the family and housing of stock, farm implements and produce. Soon more land was added to the original tract, and eventually a homestead, comprising two hundred eighty acres of land and bearing ten thousand dollars worth of improvements, became their home. Mr. Ihle is also a shareholder in the Farmers Elevator Company of Paullina and is recognized as one of the influential citizens of the township.

Eight children have come to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ihle, now located as follows: Charles, who graduated from the Paullina high school and later attended medical college in Iowa City, is now a practicing physician in Cleghorn, Iowa; Clara, now Mrs. Powers, a graduate of the Paullina high school, is a resident of Grant township; Albert is now a successful farmer of O'Brien county and Merton, farming also, is located in Colorado; Golda, a high school graduate, is now at home and Walter is also beneath the parental roof. Myrtle and an infant child were taken from the family circle by the Grim Reaper.

Politically. Mr. Ihle is an adherent of the principles promulgated by Jefferson and consistently votes the Democratic ticket. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, where he is widely acquainted and highly respected. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Order of Yoemen, both of Paullina. The high esteem in which he is held by his fellow men is evidenced by the fact that he was selected for fifteen years as treasurer of the school board, a position of

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responsibility. Progressive in all things, he has taken an abiding interest in the forwarding of all movements for the improvement of the school system in his locality and for the general uplift of the community. Genial in manner, though unassuming, hospitable and kindly, he invites the respect and confidence of his associates and acquaintances.

W. M. ROTH.

One of the institutions which is necessary in every town of any size in the country is a bank. It has been said that there are two assets which every bank must have, namely, mony on the part of its stockholders and confidence on the part of its depositors. Confidence is absolutely necessary for the success of a bank, or, as a matter of fact, for the success of any business in this country. Confidence is another name for credit or faith, and in no place is it more essential than in the banking profession. The fact that the Bank of Ocheyedan, of which W. M. Roth is cashier, has won the confidence of the people is evidence that it is managed by men of honor and integrity.

The Bank of Ocheyedan was organized in 1892 by John and James Porter, of Reinbeck. Iowa. Mr. Roth has been connected with the bank since February, 1899, starting as assistant cashier and being later, 1905, advanced to the position of cashier. The officers of the bank at the present time are as follows: Mrs. Rebecca Porter, the widow of John Porter, president; James Porter, vice-president; W. M. Roth, cashier; Charles Morton, assistant cashier. The capital and surplus of the bank is fifty thousand dollars, with deposits of three hundred thousand dollars. The responsibility of the bank exceeds one million dollars. It owns a fine brick block which was built in 1901. The banking room contains modern and up-to-date fixtures and is well equipped to do all kinds of banking business. James Porter owns and controls three other banks in addition to the one at Ocheyedan, namely, the State Bank of Reinbeck, Farmers Savings Bank of Morrison, Iowa, and the First National Bank of Ellsworth, Minnesota. Mr. Porter is the owner of several lumber yards and has large real estate interests in Iowa, Minnesota, California and Canada. He has ten thousand acres at the present time under cultvation in Canada. He has been a successful business man and is now rated as a millionaire. He and his father, John Porter, operated together for many years until his father's death in California in April, 1912. At the present time James Porter lives in Minneapolis.

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W. M. Roth, the present cashier of the Bank of Ocheyedan, was born March 19, 1874. in Deep River. Iowa, and is the son of Peter and Margaret (Miller) Roth, who were born, reared and married in Germany. When they came to this country they first settled in New York. Later they moved to Ohio and finally permanently settled in Poweshiek county, Iowa, where they lived the remainder of their days, the father dying in 1895 and the mother in 1904. Peter Roth and wife were the parents of ten children, nine of whom are living: Mrs. Christina Hoag, of Deep River, Iowa; Mrs. Elizabeth Fisher, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Mrs. Mary Merrick, of Guernsey, Iowa; George, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Peter, of Thornburg, Iowa; Charles, of Ocheyedan, Iowa; Mrs. Minnie Brockman, of Cedar Rapids; Margaret, of Deep River, Iowa, and W. M., whose life history is here briefly delineated. Four generations of the family have been reared in Iowa and all of the ten children grew to maturity and are now occupying responsible positions in life. His son, Henry, died at the age of thirty-six in this state.

W. M. Rnth was reared on the farm and educated in the district schools and in the Deep River high school. When a young man he clerked in his father's store at Deep River and later was employed in a merchandise store owned and operated by James Porter. He has been in the employ of Mr. Porter for the past seventeen years and came to Ocheyedan at his solicitation to take the position of assistant cashier in his bank in February, 1899.

Mr. Roth has marked business ability and in addition to his interests in the bank he owns four hundred and eighty acres of land in Osceola county, as well as land in Minnesota and Canada. He does a large real estate business and handles thousands of acres of land in Canada, Minnesota and Iowa every year. He has a large, well-improved farm adjoining Ocheyedan which he purchased some years ago for sixty-two dollars and a half an acre and has refused two hundred dollars an acre for it. He has always taken an actve part in the civic affairs of his community and as a member oi the republican party has taken an active part in political affairs. He has serviced as city clerk and is at the present time a member of the city council of Ocheyedan.

Mr. Roth was married October 17, 1900, to Lena B. drier, of Des Moines. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Grier, who formerly resided near Deep River, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Roth are the parents of two sons and one daughter, Dale G., James Harold and Evelynn Belle. Fraternally, Mr. Roth is a member of the Ancient Free and Acepted Masons, while he and his wife are both members of the Order of the Eastern Star. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. He and his wife are loyal

1276 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

members of the Methodist Episcopal church and subscribe liberally to the support of that denomination. Mr. Roth is a man of influence in his community and a man's influence is measured by the good he does. With this as a standard it is safe to say that Mr. Roth has been a very important factor in the upbuilding of his locality. He is still in the prime of life and has many years of usefulness before him.

JOHN MACOMB, JR.

The subject of this review, although a native of the beautiful Emerald Isle, is at heart a thorough American, and has found in this country the opportunities for acquiring a competence which appeal to the man of energy and aggressiveness.

John MaComb, Jr., was born in Belfast, Ireland, in the year 1873. His father, John S. MaComb, whose birth occurred in the year 1850, was a tea merchant in that place; but he was ambitious and sought for himself and his family greater opportunities than those afforded in the home country. Hence, in 1874, he emigrated to America, locating near the city of Pittsburgh, and here he engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. In 1878 he moved, with his family, to the prairie lands of Iowa, locating in Benton county, where he remained until 1889. At that time he was enabled to purchase a tract of land in O'Brien county and, appreciating the advantages of this location, he has since remained in this locality. Here he labored, cultivating the land and improving the homestead until 1911, when he retired from active labor and brought his family to Paullina, here to enjoy an "age of ease" amidst the fruits of his earlier years of toil. In the year 1872, while still in his native country, he was united in marriage to Eliza Jane McCauley, and to them were born eight children.

The childhood and youth of John MaComb, Jr., were spent upon his father's farm, and here he learned the principles of successful agriculture. Until he reached maturity he assisted his father in the various activities of the place, and it was not until he reached the age of twenty-six years that he left the parental roof. At this time, in the year 1899, his marriage to Nettie Countermine was solemnized. This lady is a native of Linn county, Iowa, and was bom in 1874; and their first home was established on a farm which he rented. Since that time he has labored energetically and successfully, and that he has been successful in his chosen vocation is shown by the fact

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that he has purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land in Manitoba, Canada. He is at this time farming his father's land, a tract of two hundred twenty acres near Paullina. One of the most profitable branches of his establishment is the breeding of fine live stock, in which he takes great pride.

Seven children have come to brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs. MaComb, all of whom are happily enjoying the protection of the parental roof. These are: William John, Helen May, Florence Marian, Gladys Margaret, Robert Wendall, Ida Marie and Elizabeth Isabell.

Politically, Mr. MaComb votes the Republican ticket. He and his family are attendants of the Presbyterian church, where he and Mrs. MaComb have their membership. He is not interested in fraternal afifairs, preferring to devote his energies to his home and those movements which tend directly toward the improvement of conditions for the young people of the community. He is at this time a member of the board of school directors, in which capacity he has served with fidelity, to his own credit and that of the people whom he serves.

Truly a self-made man, he is eminently deserving the position which he holds in the community and the respect and high esteem rendered by his fellow citizens.

JACOB JACOBSON.

In the choosing of an occupation which is to be one's life work it would be difficult to settle upon one which is of greater moment than farming and stockraising. Humanity must be fed, and with the forests devastated of the animal life which sustained the pioneers and formed a large part of the diet of our grandfathers, the farmer, and his brother, the stock raiser, has been called upon to answer the further requirement. Consumption has increased by leaps and bounds and exports are gradually becoming greater. The result is that the producer of plant and animal life finds a firm market for the products of his farm, where formerly they went a-begging.

Jacob Jacobson, a son of Sivert and Karen (Kaison) Jacobson, was born in Norway in 1859. His parents were both Norwegians, his father having been born in 1830 and his mother in 1836. They were married in 1858 and had nine children, of whom the subject is the eldest. These parents died in 1908 in Marshall county, Iowa.

The subject came to this country with his parents during his early manhood and settled in Marshall county, Iowa, in 1874. His first employment

1278 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

here was as a farm hand in Marshall county, where he remained nntil 1892. After several years experience with the methods employed on the farms of this country he rented land and remained upon it for a term of seven years. At the end of this time he spent a year farming in Tennessee, but the conditions he found here were different from those he had been used to and in 1894 he returned to Iowa, this time locating in O'Brien county. The call of the farm remained strong within him and when the rental of a good farm in Union township was placed before him he was not slow in taking advantage of it. Later he added to his acreage by leasing land in Cherokee county, Iowa.

During these rental years crops were good and market prices were becoming higher. Thus he was able in 1900 to purchase eighty acres of land in Union township, a long-desired ambition. He made his home on this land for several years, during which time he was farming it intensively. In 1909 he bought a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. He still owns and cultivates this farm. The first tract of eighty acres was sold in 1912. He has always been interested in high-grade live stock and now has on his place many head of high-grade horses and cattle.

Mr. Jacobson was married in 1887 to Marie Kommedal. who also was born in Norway, in 1868. She presented her husband with ten children and was a faithful, loving and patient wife, beloved by all who knew her. Her work in this sphere was completed during the early part of 1914 and she entered upon her eternal rest. All of the children are living. They are Clara (Peters), of Denver, Colorado; Getta, of Paullina, Iowa; and Susan, Harvey, Anna, Seavert, Wilma, Nancy, Maud and Kermit, of whom the last eight are with their father.

Mr. Jacobson adheres to the principles of the Republican party and helps as he may with his vote and influence. He and his family have long been attendants of the Lutheran church He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

JOHN W. MATHERN.

The methods followed by John W. Mathern, a retired farmer and stockman of Liberty township, O'Brien county, now living in Calumet, were those which ever secure ultimate success. He has used those methods of the up-to-date tiller of the soil, and has been a man who believed in relentlessly pursuing those ideals and principles which bring not only material success, but

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which are calculated to result in various blessings. He comes from good German parentage and has never been known to refuse his support to any movement looking to the general good of the community in which he has cast his lot, and for this reason he has made many lasting friends in O'Brien county, who admire him for his many good qualities.

John W. Mathern, a retired farmer of Calumet, Iowa, was born in Iowa county, Iowa, in 1856. He is the son of Anthony and Frances (Brecht) Mathern, both of whom were natives of Germany, his father being born in that country in 1832. Anthony Mathern was a son of John Mathern, who was born in Germany in 1790 and died in Tama county, Iowa, in 1888. The Mathern family left their native land in 1843 and came to America, and first settled in the state of Ohio, where Anthony was married to Frances Brecht and within a short time they moved on westward and located in Iowa.

John W. Mathern is one of eight children, four being dead. He received his education in the schools of his native country and when twenty-three years of age rented a farm, where he lived for one year, after which he secured work as a farm hand and worked upon the farms in Tama county for the next six years. In 1886 he came to O'Brien county and purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land and has made extensive improvements on this land since buying it and has brought it to a place of high excellence. He has always been an extensive stock raiser and takes a great deal of pride in his high grade stock. In 1893 he retired from the active labor of the farm and moved to Gaza, where he was engaged in the buying and selling of stock for six years, in partnership with his brother, Frank, of Primghar, Iowa. In 1899 he moved to Calumet, where he bought and sold grain and stock for a few years and then retired from active business life. He is a man of good business ability and has a reputation for scrupulous honesty in all his financial transactions. In his business life he has always borne the Golden Rule in mind, and for this reason has never incurred the ill will of any of his friends and neighbors. Mr. Mathern was married in 1899 to Cora Breyfogle, and to this union have been born four children, William, Francis, Ronald and John Henry. Mr. and Mrs. Mathern are giving their children the best educational advantages possible, feeling that in this twentieth century a good education is the best legacy which can be given to children. '

Mr. Mathern and his family are all loyal members of the Catholic church and arc generous supporters of their favored denomination. Politically, Mr. Mathern is a Democrat and is a firm believer in the principles as enunciated by President Wilson. He has never held any official position other than that of township constable. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of

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Columbus at Sheldon, and takes an active interest in the work of this organization. Mr. Mathern is a man of keen business discernment, is able to foresee with remarkable accuracy the future outcome of a present transaction, and is by nature an organizer and promoter. Obliging and generous, kindly and hospitable, he numbers his friends by the limits of his acquaintances and enioys the good will and confidence of all with whom he comes into contact.

SEVERT L. TOW.

Northern Europe has sent to our shores many of her citizens, who have brought with them only the high character, energy and thrift which enables them to succeed; but of those who come out from beautiful Norway, few have failed to succeed in this country of ours, bringing credit to themselves, to us and to the country of their nativity. Of these, one of our own citizens and large land owners is worthy of mention.

Severt L. Tow was born in the year 1849 near the town of Stavanger in Norway. Here, among its beautiful mountains and fjords, among the hardy, thrifty toilers of the North, he learned the secrets of successful agriculture, and when he arrived at manhood's estate he looked to the western horizon and dreamed of the opportunities that would be his in this new country across the sea. And finally, in the year 1871, he courageously set forth and sailed for the shores of America. After his arrival, he made his way at once to the rolling, prairie land of the great, free West, and here, in Benton county, Iowa, he found employment as a farm hand, working for others. So industrious did he prove, however, and so thrifty that in a few years he had saved enough to set up for himself a home. He bought his first eighty acres of land in 1876 in Benton county.

In the year 1883 Mr. Tow was married to Mary Grodem, and in the following year the young couple purchased for themselves their first home in O'Brien county, which consisted of a tract of eighty acres of land. This was cultivated assiduously, and then, as in all the years which have since intervened, he found in his wife a faithful helper and stanch ally in his undertakings.

In the year 1884, he saw in the future of O'Brien county a field worthy of his best endeavor, so he purchased here a tract of forty acres. To this he gradually added similar tracts, until now he is the possessor of two hundred and eighty acres. At the time of purchase, this was all unbroken prairie.

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but his unflagging industry, wisely directed, has changed the place to a beautiful homestead. A half acre of various kinds of fruit supplies the needs of the family, and improvements of various kinds have been made to the extent of probably ten thousand dollars.

Six children have blessed the home of Mr. Tow, all of whom are now enjoying the protection of the paternal roof. Lauria is the eldest daughter; Severn and Spencer, the sons, are their father's able assistants in the administration of the duties of the farm. Edith and Jennie are teaching school; Jennie at Platte, South Dakota, and Edith at Raymond, Washington. Mildred is in school at Iowa City.

Mr. Tow is a firm believer in the principles of the Republican party, which ticket he consistently votes. He and his family are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church, where he is well known and highly respected for his sterling qalities. He is not interested in fraternal affairs, preferring to devote his time to the work of the homestead and the upbringing of his children. His home is a handsome structure, where all the comforts of modern life are enjoyed by the family and their friends.

In manner Mr. Tow is a man of few words, quiet and unassuming, but his sound principles and high character have won for him many friends, and the respect and confidence of the community are his in large measure. Truly a self-made man, he can look back with pride on the accomplishments of the past, and forward to the future with the hope of long continuing to enjoy the fruits of his toil.

WILLIAM M. SMITH.

It is the progressive, wide-awake men of affairs that make the real history of a community and their influence as potential factors of the body politic is difficult to estimate. The examples such men furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish, and there is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting even in a casual way to their achievements in advancing the interests of their fellow men and in giving strength and solidity to the institutions which make so much for the prosperity of a community. Such a man is William M. Smith and as such it is proper that a review of his career be accorded a place among the representative citizens of the city and county in which he lives.

William M. Smith, a prominent banker and business man of Sheldon,

1282 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Iowa, was born September 4, 1853, near Union Grove, Kenosha county, Wisconsin, on a farm. He is the son of William and Hannah (Morehouse) Smith, both of whom were natives of England. They were born in Yorkshire and were reared and married in the land of their birth. William Smith, Sr., was a cotton-mill worker and rose from the ranks to the position of manager. He became a man of some means, but, desiring to give his growing family a chance to gain independence in the New World, he sailed for America in 1847 with his wife and two children, Benjamin and James, and settled in Wisconsin. living there until his death, about 1887. The two sons, Benjamin and James, who were born in England, both served in the Civil War in a Wisconsin regiment and have been dead several years. Five other children were born in America: John, deceased; William M., with whom this narrative deals; Joseph, the cashier of the Citizens Bank at Hospers, Iowa; Mrs. Emma Clark, deceased; Thomas H., who died in November, 1912, in Sheldon.

William M. Smith left his home in Wisconsin when he was twenty-three years of age and went west, stopping at Spirit Lake, Iowa. He first secured work in an abstract office and later took charge of the star mail route between Spencer and Jackson, Iowa. VAter a few years he engaged in the banking business and assisted in organizing the first bank at Spirit Lake. He was engaged in the banking business at Spirit Lake, Dickinson county, Iowa, until 1885, when he went to Milford. Iowa, in the same county, and established the first bank there. He remained in Milford five years and the bank which he established has grown to be a prosperous institution and is now the EFrst National Bank of that place. In 1888 Mr. Smith came to Sheldon, O'Brien county, and assisted in organizing the First National Bank and a year later he moved to Sheldon and took charge of the bank and was its cashier for the next twelve years. During eight years of the time he was president of the bank and was in active connection with the bank up until about three years ago. He is now chairman of the board of directors of this bank. He has also assisted in organizing banks in a half dozen neighboring towns, all of which are successful and worthy of confidence, and prove sterling ability on the part of the organizers and managers. Mr. Smith and Fred E. Frisbee own the bank at Hospers in Sioux county and his brother, J. E. Smith, is cashier of the bank. In addition to his banking interests, he has dealt extensively in real estate and has bought and sold thousands of acres of land, but has lately been closing out his land holdings. He still holds six hundred and forty acres in Jackson county, Minnesota,

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and a section of land in Alberta, Canada. He has considerable property in Sheldon and owns the fine home where he lives.

Mr. Smith was married in 1878 to Addie C. Tefft, of Boone, Iowa. To this marriage has been born one daughter, Mrs. Iva Maud Patterson, of Marshalltown, Iowa. Her husband is a large land owner. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have two children, Warren William and Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. Smith also have one adopted daughter, Marion, now attending Iowa College, at Grinnell. Politically, Mr. Smith is a Republican, while in his church relations he adheres to the Congregational church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

In 1908 Mr. Smith met with a serious accident which came very near depriving him of his life. He had been called to his former home in Union Grove, Wisconsin, by the news of his brother's death. While in Wisconsin, the rig which he was driving out to his brother's home was struck by a fast train and he was badly injured. He lay for twenty-one consecutive days in a hospital in an unconscious condition. His right arm and hand were crushed and his head was also badly injured; it took him a long while to recover and he still suffers from the effects of the accident. Mr. Smith owns a cottage at Okoboji, in Dickinson county, Iowa, where he spends his summers. It is interesting to know that a few days before his sixtieth birthday he swam one mile across Lake Okoboji in fifty-one minutes, a feat which would be a credit to a man of much younger years. Mr. Smith has been a prominent and influential factor in the public affairs of his county and has gained his success through legitimate and worthy means. No work has been too hard or task too difficult for him to undertake and accomplish and though he has been successful materially, he has never forgotten his duties to his friends.

WILLIAM STRAMPE.

William Strampe, one of the successful and substantial farmers of Union township, O'Brien county, was born in the year 1869 in Germany, the son of Joachim Strampe, also a native of Germany, whose birth occurred in the year 1835. Here the father was reared and received his schooling, and at the age of twenty-six years was united in marriage to Dorathea Burmeister, whose birth occurred in 1837. Four children were born to this worthy couple, all of whom are now residents of O'Brien county. These

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are Henry, now a successful farmer of Union township; Sophia (Mrs. Meyer, of Paullina; Frederick, also a farmer, and William, to whom this review is mainly devoted.

The homestead of the family in the fatherland was in the country, and here the sons learned the secrets of agriculture, and developed in the free, pure atmosphere of "God's out of doors" that brawn and strong physique which make for success in this vocation. In the year 1883 the father, being a progressive man, saw in the broad prairies of which he had heard in the western hemisphere the opportunities for which he longed for himself and his family. Consequently they undertook the tedious voyage and came directly to the new fields of O'Brien county. Here, in Caledonia township, he was enabled to purchase a tract of land, and with characteristic industry and thrift, the place was rapidly improved and a competence for the future was assured. In 1906 the father retired from active labor and is, together with the faithful wife, now enjoying the fruits of his earlier years of toil, in a comfortable home in Paullina.

The son, William, while but a lad in Germany, left the homestead of his father and went to work on the farm of a neighbor; but when his parents decided to take the long journey to the shores of the New World, he gladly accompanied them to the new home. Soon after their arrival in O'Brien county he obtained employment upon a neighboring farm and for four years he labored in this manner for others. Then came the opportunity for a change which is so dear to the heart of youth, and he learned the carpenter's trade, to which he clung for the succeeding four years. At the expiration of this period he opened a creamery in the country, four miles southwest of Paullina, and for eighteen years his time and his energies were devoted to the upbuilding of this establishment. Unremitting industry, directed by sound judgment, could not fail to bring the success which he craved and when, at the expiration of this period, in the year 1910, he sold the business he was enabled to purchase a tract of two hundred and forty acres of improved land in Union township. Remembering the training of his youth, it was not a difficult matter for him to again assume the duties of farm life, and in this, as in all his previous business ventures, he has been successful. His farm shows the care which has been lavished upon it, and the high grade of live stock which is found upon the place is evidence of the sound judgment which he exercises in this department of his work.

In the year 1890 was taken one of the most important steps of Mr. Strampe's career, for in this year he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Gruenhagen, who was born in Cook county, Illinois, in the year 1871. Ten

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children have blessed this union, nine of whom are still enjoying the protection of the parental roof, some attending school and some assisting the parents in the various labors and activities of the homestead. Arthur, the eldest son, is a resident of the town of Paullina, also. The children at home are William, Edward, Amanda, Bernard, Walter. Alvina, Laura, Harry and Clarence.

Politically. Mr. Strampe is a faithful adherent of the principles of the democratic party. He is a devoted member of the German Lutheran church, where he is well known and highly respected. That he holds an enviable position in the confidence of his fellow men is evidenced by the fact that he has been selected to act as county supervisor for O'Brien county.

In manner Mr. Strampe is unassuming and sincere, deserving and receiving the respect of those with whom he is associated throughout the county.

REV. BERT J. RHODES.

There is no earthly calling higher than that of the Christian ministry; no life can be more uplifting and grander than that which is devoted to the amelioration of the human race, a life of sacrifice for the betterment of the brotherhood of man. One of the self-sacrificing, ardent, loyal and true spirits that has been a blessing to the race, and who, though yet a young man, has left in his wake an influence that tends to make the world brighter, and better the lives of those who follow, is the Rev. Bert J. Rhodes, pastor of the Congregational church at Primghar, Iowa, whose life forcibly illustrates what a fixed purpose can accomplish when animated by noble aims and correct ideals.

Rev. Bert J. Rhodes was born at Shirland, Illinois, in the year 1877. He is a son of Henry and Mary Ann (Seagrist) Rhodes. Henry Rhodes, who was born at Rochester, New York, in 1847, was a farmer. He settled in the state of Illinois, remaining there a short time, removing then to Green county, Wisconsin, where he resided for four years. He then removed to Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, retiring from active work in 1894 and removed to Garner, Iowa. He was married in 1867 to Mary Ann Seagrist, who was born in canton Bern. Switzerland, in 1843. To them were born seven children, the others beside the subject being: George, who lives at Wakaon, Iowa; Mrs. Cloey Suhumskie, who resides in North Dakota; Mrs. Viola Brannd, who lives in Winnebago county. Iowa; Louis, residing at Los

1286 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Angeles, California; Warren lives at Hinsdale, Montana, and Perry lives in South Dakota.

Rev. Bert J. Rhodes was reared on the parental farmstead and received his primary education in the public schools. From his boyhood he had taken a deep interest in spiritual matters, and at the age of twenty-two began study and preparation for the ministry. He attended Ellsworth College at Iowa Falls, Iowa, and finished his academic training at Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa. His first pastorate was at Wesley, Iowa, where his labors were fruitful in good results, and where he earned the commendation of his church. He came to Primghar in 1912, and here he has shown a zeal and perseverance most commendable in building up the spiritual welfare of his congregation. His work has met with the enthusiastic approval of his own people and others as well. He takes an active interest in the welfare of his community, and is recognized by all as a loyal, high-minded citizen.

Rev. Rhodes was married in 1903 to Maud Perkins, who was born at Freeport, Illinois, in 1880. Four children have blessed their home. These are Frances, Paul, Claire and Selbert, all of whom remain in the family circle.

Rev. Rhodes' useful life as a worker in the cause of his Master is one of devotion, even consecration, to his calling. As an earnest, faithful and devoted minister of the Gospel, no hardship is too severe, no labor too arduous, no demands too exacting to deter him from answering any call in behalf of those who need spiritual advice or consolation, and he wields an influence for good that can never he measured by infinite standards of value.

LOUIS B. SCHAEFER.

The record of the subject of the present article is one of strenuous endeavor and achievement, and is a fair example of the accomplishment of indefatigable energy, wisely directed by sound judgment and keen business acumen.

Louis B. Schaefer is one of our representative young men, a prominent merchant of Paullina. He was born in 1881 in the city of Chicago, of German parentage, and here, amid the city's noise and clamor, its ceaseless activities and spirit of progress, his childhood and youth were spent. His father, Louis B., was a native of Hamburg, Germany, born in the year 1850. In his childhood, however, he was brought by his parents to America, and here, in the city of Chicago, he received his start in business. As a young

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man he obtained employment as a day laborer, but he was ambitious for better things and, after three years of this work, succeeded in being engaged by a wholesale shoe firm as stock keeper; for six years he remained in this position, giving faithful attention to the responsibilities entrusted to his care. But as he labored, he observed the various departments of the business, and finally was conversant with the details of manufacture and salesmanship to such a degree that he was given a position as traveling salesman, a position which he filled with credit the remainder of his life. He was united in marriage to Mary A. Brook, a native of Germany also, born in the year 1848, Four children were born to this couple, all of whom are still surviving.

The son, Louis, received his schooling in the city schools, and at the age of eighteen he also entered the employ of the wholesale shoe firm, remaining in the house for four years and at the expiration of this period, still following in the footsteps of his father, obtained a position as traveling shoe salesman, and for eleven years was engaged in this work.

In the year 1906 was solemnized Mr. Schaefer's marriage to Minnie Wernli, of Le Mars, Iowa, she being a native of that place, born in 1883. Five years later the desire for home life and the companionship of his family induced him to resign his position and seek new interests, and accordingly he brought his family to O'Brien county, Iowa, locating in the town of Paullina. He purchased the general store of Meltvedt & Weichner and here he has found ample scope for his energies. He carries annually about seven thousand dollars worth of stock, and the thoroughly up-to-date character of the store has won increasing patronage. In the upbuilding of this business, as in his previous labors, Mr. Schaefer has spared no effort, and his sound business policies and aggressive methods have continually added to the success of the business and the esteem in which he is held by his fellow businessmen.

Three sons have come to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Schaefer, Armand, Frank and Louis, all of whom are still at home with their parents.

Politically, Mr. Schaefer is a strong adherent of the Republican party, while, religiously, he and his family are attendants of the Presbyterian church, where he and Mrs. Schaefer have their membership. He is affiliated also with the order of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Paullina. Still in his youth, he has achieved success in business and won the respect and confidence of his fellow men. Genial in manner, warm hearted and charitable in disposition, he and his family are never lacking in hospitality and the numerous friends who surround them attest the charm of their home life.

1288 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

EDWARD E. ROLAND.

The life of the newspaper man is always full of interesting" incidents, and although the chief business of the newspaper man is to secure news about other people, yet they themselves are among the most modest of men. The brief history of Edward E. Roland, the publisher and editor of the Ocheyedan Press, is a simple statement avoiding any extraxagant praise of any sort. He has been a plain, honest printer, a man who has learned the trade from every angle and accordingly a man who can handle every phase of the newspaper business.

Edward E. Roland was born in Keokuk county, Iowa, November 21, 1878. His father, John J. Roland, was a native of Iowa and his mother was born in Indiana. John J. was a farmer in Keokuk county, Iowa, until his death in 1889, and his wife is still living in that county.

Mr. Roland was educated in the high school of Keswick, Iowa, and after leaving school went to Ft. Morgan, Colorado, where he learned the printing trade. He returned from Colorado to Iowa in 1903 and located for a short time in this state; he then returned to Golden, Colorado, where he worked for a year and a half. The next two years were spent in Denver and from there he went to Ft. Morgan, where be published the Times for one year. He again returned to Denver and stayed one year, after which he came to Iowa and farmed for two years. In 1907 he quit farming in Keokuk county and went to Wyoming and homesteaded. In 1910 he returned to Iowa and worked in a newspaper office at Grundy Center and North English until he purchased the Ocheyedan Press in February, 1912. He still owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Golden Prairie district in eastern Wyoming.

The Ocheyedan Press was established in 1890 and has had a successful and prosperous career down to the present time. Mr. Roland succeeded Manford Evans as proprietor in February, 1912, and since taking hold of the paper Mr. Roland has made it one of the best papers for a town of its size in the state. The paper is published as a ten-page, six-column sheet and has a weekly circulation of seven hundred. The merchants are liberal advertisers in the paper, while the news columns are well written. The printing shop is well equipped for job work and does a large amount of this line of business. Mr. Roland is known as a writer of unusual felicity of expression and he is always found fighting the battles in behalf of common people. Politically, he is Progressive and, as might be expected, his political views find expression in his paper.

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Mr. Roland was married in 1901 to Melissa E. Finley and to this marriage has been born one daughter, Gladys E., who is now ten years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Roland are pleasant people to meet and have built up a wide circle of friends and acquaintances since coming to Ocheyedan.

HENRY STRAMPE.

An honorable retirement from labor in which to enjoy the fruits of former years of toil and the enjoyment which life can offer in the serene autumn of one's years, is the fitting reward of a useful and active career in which one, through keen discernment, indefatigable labor ana honorable methods, advanced steadily towards the goal of prosperity. Thus briefly stated is the record of Henry Strampe, a native of Germany and a resident of O'Brien county for more than thirty years. As a farmer and as the proprietor of a retail meat market in Paullina, he has acquired a competence sufficient to support him in comfort during his declining years. Realizing the fact that thrift and industry constitute the basis of success, he sought no royal road to the goal of which he dreamed when a youth, but began, to work earnestly and diligently in order to advance himself.

Henrv Strampe, the son of Joseph and Dorothy ( Burmeister) Strampe, was born in 1861 in Germany. His father was born in Germany in 1835, and his mother in 1837, their marriage occurring in 1851. To Joseph Strampe and wife were born four children, all of whom are now living in O'Brien county, lowa: Henry, a prosperous farmer of Union township; Mrs. Sophia Meyer, of Paullina; Frederick, a farmer, and William, also a farmer.

Henry Strampe was educated in his native land and lived there until he was twenty-two years of age. In that year his father decided to give his children the advantage of broader opportunities and, with that object in view, brought his family to this country. Henry Strampe as a young man had learned the mason's trade, and had followed it before accompanying his parents to this country. Upon arriving here the family immediately went westward and settled in O'Brien county, Iowa, where the father purchased land in Caledonia township, and continued to work on the farm until 1906, when he and his faithful wife retired from active work and removed to Paullina, where they are now living, surrounded by all the comforts and conveniences of modern life.

1290 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Henry Strampe worked at the mason's trade in Paullina for several years and in 1896 opened a retail meat market in the town and followed that business for the next twenty-two years. He was very successful in this line and was recognized as a man of more than ordinary business ability. He invested some of his profits in land and a few years ago sold his meat business and engaged in farming. He has a fine farm of ninety-three acres adjoining the city of Paullina on the east, where he makes a specialty of the breeding of Hereford cattle and Poland China hogs. He makes an annual sale of Herefords and sells from fifty to sixty head each year from his farm. In addition to his land holdings in this county, he owns one hundred and sixty acres in North Dakota and a share in one hundred and fifty acres of land in Minnesota. He also has three residences in Paullina, which are well improved and yield him a handsome return in rentals.

Mr. Strampe was married in 1889, at Germantown, Iowa, to Anna Meyer, who was born in 1863 in Germany, and to this union have been born three children: Otto, a salesman in Paullina and a graduate of the Des Moines Business College; Dora, who is still at home with her parents, and Henry, who is now attending St. Paul's College.

Politically, Mr. Strampe is a stanch Democrat, but his business interests have been such as to keep him from taking an active part in political affairs. He and the members of his family are loyal adherents of the German Lutheran church and subscribe liberally to its support. Mr. Strampe has won a place at the top of the ladder for himself and holds marked prestige among the self-made men of the county. By the exercise of the talents and qualities he has cultivated from his youth he has reached an honorable position among his fellow citizens and earned their respect and high esteem.

DAVID ALGYER.

For nearly a score of years David Algyer has been a member of the O'Brien county bar and during that time has been connected with many of the most important cases in the county. He has taken an active part in the various phases of his county's development and has been of very material assistance in the preparation of part of the history of his county for this volume. He has collected and written the history of his town and township, as well as given valuable suggestions on other parts of the historical section of the volume.

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David Algyer, the son of David and Elizabeth (Selmser) Algyer, was born at Amsterdam, New York, April 5, 1849. His father was the son of David and Margaret Algyer, and his mother was the daughter of Martin and Susan Selmser. His grandparents on both sides were natives of Fulton county, New York.

David Algyer. Jr., was educated in the public schools of Amsterdam, New York, and later took a law course. He began the active practice of his profession at Primghar, Iowa, in October, 1895, and continued in the practice there for several years, after which he moved to Paullina, where he is now residing. He has been a continuous resident of O'Brien county since February, 1872, and has been interested in every phase of this county's development since that time.

Mr. Algyer was married to Marie S. Gowan, November 17, 1874. His wife was born at Sanford, Maine, October 30, 1848, the daughter of Orin L. and Martha (Mills) Gowan. To Mr. and Mrs. Algyer have been born five children: D. Ray, of Decorah, Iowa; Mrs. Helen Raak, who lives in Paullina; Mrs. Edith Epperson, of Sioux City, Iowa; Harold M., living at Tracy, Minnesota, and Malcolm D., who is now in Calgary, Canada.

The family of Mr. Algyer are all faithful and consistent members of the Presbyterian church and are interested in its various activities. Mr. Algyer is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He was county superintendent of schools of O'Brien county three terms, from January 1, 1882, to January t1, 1888; was coroner of O'Brien county for ten years; was justice of the peace for ten years and has been connected with the public schools of O'Brien county, as director or secretary of school boards, nearly all his life. In the early days of the county he was trustee of Grant township, and taught school several years in various parts of the county.

BENJAMIN F. WEBSTER.

It is no small honor to be the only original homesteader of his township and this is the honor which falls to Benjamin F. Webster, of Fairview township, Osceola county, Iowa. Considerable interest attaches to his career because of the face that he was in the Civil War and served for nearly five years in that memorable struggle. His Civil War record is remarkable because of the fact that he was incarcerated in Andersonville prison for two months and yet he is living today to tell the story. His life in this county

1292 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

measures the full period of its history and for this reason his career is doubly interesting. He has always had the interest of his home township at heart and every movement which he thought would benefit it in any way has found in him a hearty and enthusiastic supporter. He is a man who has the entire confidence of the people of his township and county and now, in his declining years, has the satisfaction of feeling that he has not lived in vain.

Benjamin F. Webster, the son of Samuel and Nancy (Pate) Webster, was l)orn in Ripley county, Indiana, November 25, 1837. His parents were both natives of Indiana, where his father followed the occupation of a farmer until his death in 1843, when Benjamin F. was only six years of age. His mother was left with three children and subsequently married Harmon Runion Thomas. The second husband of Mrs. Thomas was a soldier in the Union army and died during the service. Twice widowed, she married for her third husband DeWitt Smith, of Ripley county, Indiana, and to this union three children were born, two of whom died in infancy; the third child. David, married a Miss Wood and is now living in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Beniamin F. Webster was reared upon the farm in Ripley county, Indiana, and was given a meager education, such as was aftorded by the subscription schools of this period. When he was seventeen years of age his mother and his stepfather moved to Iowa, where they homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres in Fairview township, Osceola county, on which Benjamin F. Webster, whose history is here given, is now living. Later his stepfather bought forty-five additional acres. At the opening of the Civil War Benjamin F. Webster enlisted in Company H, Sixteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served as a private, four years and seven months. He was enlisted January 1, 1861, and served in twenty-seven of the hardest fousht battles of the war, under Generals Grant and Sherman. He was in all of the battles with Grant and Sherman from Shiloh in April, 1862, until he was captured at the battle of Atlanta, Georgia, on July 22, 1864. The Confederates immediately sent him to Andersonville prison in Georgia, where he remained until he was exchanged two months later. He then went back to his regiment under General Sherman and was with the army when they took Savannah in December, 1864. He was finally discharged in the summer of 1865 at Louisville, Kentucky. His stepfather also served in the Union army, but died in the service before the close of the war.

Tmmediatelv after the close of the war, Benjamin F. Webster returned to his home and farmed the farm for three years, after which he began farming for himself. He was married as soon as he came home and has been living upon the farm which was entered in 1854 down to the present

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time. He is now the ony original homesteader in the township, and is still hale and hearty despite his seventy-seven years.

Benjamin F. Webster was married in Octoher, 1865, to Laura Sherman, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Sherman. Mrs. Webster was a native of Canada. To this union were born six children: Rodell, who married Sherman DeWitt and has three children. Benjamin, Daisy and Glen; Sarah who was twice married: the first husband, Lee Hurd, died, leaving her with one child, Lloyd, while to her second marriage to Henry Cruse there were no children; Pearl, who married Mary Winstrum and has one son, Herbert; Ada and Ida, twins; Ada married Ray Grady and has one son, Willard, while Ida married Carl Wintler and has one son, Clarence; Francis, another son of Mr. and Mrs. Webster, was the first born and died in infancy.

Mr. Webster is a charter member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Frankville, Winneshiek county, Iowa. In politics he has been a life-long Republican and has never seen any reason why he should change his political faith for that of any other. Mr. Webster has been a resident of Iowa for the past sixty years and during these three score years he has been the same straightforward and reliable citizen which he is today. His citizenship has always been truly patriotic and his social relations ever wholesome. He is highly esteemed for these commendable traits of character, and the citizens of his county delight to honor him, because of his long career in this county as well as his distinguished war record.

GEORGE W. PROTEXTOR.

A prosperous farmer who is now living a retired life in Sibley, Iowa, is George W. Protextor, who is of German parentage, and was born in Freeport, Illinois, Hecember 1, 1868, the son of John George and Charlotte (Ehrke) Protextor.

John George Protextor was born in Gleiburg, Prussia, Germany, in the province of Cobrinz, while his wife was born in Mecklinburg, Germany. He was the son of Adam and Catharine (Ehler) Protextor, who migrated to America via Quebec, landing at Buffalo, New York, in 1847. They immediately went to Milwaukee by water, locating on a homestead three miles from that city. Two years later they sold it and moved to Racine, Wisconsin, and here they lived from 1849 to 1861, after which they moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Adam Protextor died. His widow later made her home with her son, John G., until her death in Sheldon in 1894.

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John George Protextor enlisted for service in the Union army in Septemher, 1864, joining Company D, Twelfth Regiment Illinois Infantry, and served until July 15, 1865. He saw all of the fighting around Chattanooga, Tennessee, and other points in that state, after which he was transferred to a dispatch cruiser, but was later taken ill at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was confined for a time in a hospital. In 1865 he was ordered to Columbus, Ohio, and was placed with new recruits and sent to Virginia, and was finally discharged at Washington, D. C. In the summer of 1866 he moved from Illinois, where he was living in Bremer county, Iowa, where he purchased a farm and lived until 1871. He then went to Grundy county, Iowa, and purchased a farm and lived on this place for the next ten years, after which he went to O'Brien county, moving onto a farm five miles northwest of Sanborn, where he lived for two years. He then moved to Sheldon, where he remained until 1894, since which time he has lived in Sibley. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic post at Sibley and is a man of much influence in his community.

John George Protextor was married in Racine, Wisconsin, in June, 1857, to Charlotte Ehrke. and to this union have been born eight children: George W., whose history is here presented; Mrs. Ellen Julian, who is a resident of Rock Rapids, Iowa; John, living in O'Brien county, this state; William, who is a resident of Murray county, Minnesota; Henry, living in Little Rock, Iowa; Mrs. Flora Johnson, of Rushport, Minnesota; Walter, of Little Rock, Iowa, and Daniel, who lives in Adrian, Minnesota.

George W. Protextor was educated in the schools of Grundy and Bremer counties, Iowa, and when he was twenty-three years of age he began farming in Osceola county, near the O'Brien county line. After renting land for six years he purchased one hundred and sixty acres near Little Rock, Lyon county, in 1887, on which he lived until 1892. He then rented his farm and moved to Sibley, where he is still residing. He has bought and sold considerable land in Osceola county, and has sold his farm in Lyon county. He is now the owner of three hundred acres of land in Osceola county and four hundred and eighty acres in Murray county, Minnesota. He gives personal attention to his land holdings and finds that it keeps him busy to keep in touch with his farms all the time.

Mr. Protextor was married December 25, 1881, to Matilda Hindt, who was a native of Freeport, Illinois, and the daughter of William and Sophia Hindt, both of whom were natives of Germany. To Mr. and Mrs. Protextor have been born three children: Charles, who is a railroad man in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company; Esther and Rosella, the two daughters, are still living with their parents.

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Politically, Mr. Protextor is an adherent of the Republican party and has been actively interested in the civic affairs of his party since moving here. He has served as justice of the peace for nine years and was assessor in Grundy county for nine years before moving to this county. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, while, religiously, he and his family are loyal members of the Methodist Episcopal church and have contributed freely of their substance to its support. He is a man of many sterling qualities of character which have won for him a wide circle of friends since casting his lot with the people of this county.

JOSEPH HOKE.

The gentleman whose name appears at the head of this article is truly a "son of the soil," whose entire life, from early childhood, has been spent in the wholesome atmosphere of God's out of doors, learning the secrets of Mother Earth and using them for the benefit of himself and those dependent upon him for sustenance. The result has been a successful, well rounded life, and success in the end.

Joseph Hoke was born in the state of Pennsylvania in the year 1862. His father, William Hoke, a native of the county of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, was born in 1817 and spent his early life in that state, employed in various occupations, working for a time as shoemaker, mason, carpenter and eventually engaging in the pursuit of agriculture. In this latter occupation he found his best opportunities, and after moving to Benton county, Iowa, he was thus engaged until, in the autumn of his life, he retired from active labor and lived with his children. Early in life he was married to Mollie Mease, who was born in 1828. Seven children were born to this couple, two of whom are now deceased. In the year 1868 the call of death came to the mother, and two years later the father retired from active life. Death came to him in 1899.

The son, Joseph Hoke, at the early age of fifteen years entered upon his own business career, taking employment as a farm laborer. For four years he worked in this way, toiling diligently and living thriftily, and when but nineteen years of age was enabled to purchase for himself a tract of eighty acres of land which he cultivated assiduously. This was in Cherokee county, Iowa. Later this tract was disposed of at a profit and a quarter section of land in O'Brien county was purchased. Two years later he was

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united in marriage to Mae F. Catlin, whose birth occurred in 1868 in Benton county, Iowa, and together they have since labored and planned. The young couple moved immediately to the farm in O'Brien county and at once set about to improve their future homestead. The land was cultivated, necessary; buildings erected and improvements of all kinds added to the place, and as time passed more land was purchased and the place enlarged to its present size of three hundred and twenty acres. Mr. Hoke is also a stockholder in the Farmers' Elevator Company of Paullina.

Eight children have come to bless their home, five of whom are living and enjoving the protection of the parental roof. A daughter, Hazel, was called from the family circle bv the Grim Reaper, and two little ones were taken in like manner in infancy, Cora Belle is her mother's able assistant in the household; Edna M. and Maud are attending high school at Paullina. while Laura M. and Marion A. are in the elementary grades.

Politicallv. Mr. Hoke is a consistent advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and conscientiously votes that ticket. He and Mrs. Hoke are members of the Christian church at Paullina, where they are well known and held in high esteem by their fellow members. He is also aftiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and is now a member of the board of school directors, which position he holds with credit to himself and to his constituents.

CONRAD RICHTER.

One of the distinctive functions of this volume is to take recognition of those citizens of the commonwealth of Ireland who stand eminently representative in their chosen fields of endeavor, and in this connection there is absolute propriety in according consideration to Conrad Richter, a retired farmer of Germantown, O'Brien county, Iowa. His life has been devoted to the noble profession of agriculture and now in his later years he has the satisfaction of looking back over a career which has been marked by all the discouragements which every farmer meets along the pathway of life.

Conrad Richter was born in Cook county, Illinois, in 1852 and is the son of Henry and Anna (Brownmiller) Richter. Henry Richter was born in Germany in 1821 and settled in Illinois where he engaged in farming until i886. He was a remarkably successful farmer and at his death in 1888 he owned nine hundred and sixty acres of land in Illinois. His wife. Anna

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Brownmiller. was born in Germany in 1833 and died in 1912. They were the parents of ten children, nine of whom are still living.

Conrad Richter spent his boyhood days on the farm, attending school during the winter months and assisting his father during the summer. He remained with his parents until he was thirty-one years of age and at the death of his father he became the heir to one hundred and sixty acres of fine land. Upon moving on to the farm after the death of his father, he made many improvements upon it and farmed it successfully until 1913, when he retired and moved to Germantown, O'Brien county, Iowa, where he is now living. His children are now farming his land in Illinois.

Mr. Richter was married in 1885 to Sophia Stoeckman. who was born in Cook county, Illinois, in 1852 and died in 1910. Conrad Richter and wife were the parents of four children: Otelia. deceased; Mrs. Clara Myers, of O'Brien county, Iowa: Arthur, a farmer of Caledonia township, O'Brien county, and Mrs. Agnes Stoever, of O'Brien county. After the death of his first wife in 1910, Mr. Richter married Mrs. Amelia Stoeckman. She was born in 1857 in Germany. The Republican party has always claimed the support of Mr. Richter. He has never held any public offices other than road supervisor of Caledonia township. He and his family have been members of the German Lutheran church and have contributed generously of tbeir means to its support. Mr. Richter is a man of splendid business qualities, which, combined with his courtesy and genial disposition, have commended him to the good will and friendship of all who know him.

FRED SCHUKNECHT.

One of the many German citizens of O'Brien county, Iowa, who has attained a large measure of prosperity in this county is Fred Schuknecht, the proprietor of a highly productive farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Caledonia township. He was reared to the life of a farmer and has followed this vocation during all of his years with a success which is in proportion to his efforts. He stands high in the esteem of his fellow men and as a broad-minded, progressive citizen, fully abreast of the times, exercises a wholesome influence in the community. He has succeeded because he possesses to a notable degree those qualities which will secure success in any undertaking, persistency in action, well defined purpose and correct business methods.

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Fred Schuknecht was born in Germany in 1846 and is the son of Joseph and Mary (Demlow) Schuknecht. His parents were born in 1811 in Germany, were married in 1840 and came to this country in 1864. They settled first in the state of New York, where Joseph worked as a farm hand for several years. Later they moved to Illinois, where they engaged in farming until the death of the father in 1873. His wife died in Iowa in 1893.

Fred Schuknecht is the only one of the three children born to his parents who is now living. He left Germany with his parents when eighteen years of age, having received a good, elementary education in the schools of his native land. He lived with his parents until he reached the age of twenty-two, when he started working out as farm laborer in the state of Illinois. A year later he and his father purchased eighty acres of land in Cook county, Illinois, and after his father's death, in 1873, Fred continued to operate this farm until 1884, at which time he sold this tract and moved to O'Brien county, Iowa, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of unimproved land in Caledonia township. He set out a grove of eight acres, including a judicious mixture of fruit and forest trees, making a most valuable addition to his farm, and he has otherwise improved his farm until it is now one of the most highly cultivated, as well as one of the most productive and valuable farms in the township. He raises a large amount of stock and finds a ready market for his surplus product each year, which adds not a little to his income. In common with most of the farmers of this neighborhood, he owns a share in the Farmers Elevator Company at Paullina.

Mr. Schuknecht was married in 1869, in Cook county, Illinois, to Sophia Lange, who was born in Germany in 1853, and died in O'Brien county, Iowa, in 1909, and to this union were born fourteen children: Mrs. Mary Meyer, who lives in this township; Mrs. Caroline Mildows, who is a resident of Cook county, Illinois; John, a farmer in the state of Minnesota; William, who also operates a farm in Minnesota; Mrs. Wilhelmina Miller, of Cherokee county, Iowa; Mrs. Louisa Hardise, of the state of Minnesota; Louis, who is at home; Mrs. Anna Klunder, who lives in Minnesota; Herman, a farmer of this county; Frederick, who is at home; Bertha and Edward, who are both deceased; Mrs. Martha Wittrock, who is at home, and Emilie, who is also at home with her parents.

Politically, Mr. Schuknecht is allied with the Democratic party, but has never had the time to take a very active part in political affairs. However, he has been very much interested in the educational affairs of his township, and at one time served as school director. He and all of his family

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are earnest and faithful members of the German Lutheran church and give freely of their means to the support of their denomination. Mr. Schuknecht is a man of impressive personality, broad intelligence and has all those characteristics which beget esteem, confidence and friendship. His integrity is of the unswerving type, and no shadow rests upon his career as an active business man and sterling citizen. Because of his splendid record since moving to this county, he is genuinely entitled to representation in this historv of his county.

HERMAN WASSMAN.

One of the prosperous and substantial farmers of Horton township, Osceola county, Iowa, is Herman Wassman, who has been a resident of this county for the past twenty-five years. Early in life he decided that he would follow the vocation of the farmer, feeling that it offered an independence and a guarantee of success which is afforded by no other vocation. In this decision he showed good judgment, for he has been to a gratifying degree successful in his agricultural efforts since coming to this county, and has become the owner of two hundred and forty acres of excellent farming land.

Herman Wassman, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wassman, was born in Lake county, Indiana, in 1870. His father was born in Germany in 1820 and is now living in the state of Indiana. He was twice married and has been the father of eight children.

Herman Wassman was given a good education in the schools of Lake county, Indiana, and when nineteen years of age he decided to go west to seek his fortune. He arrived in Osceola county, Iowa, in 1889, and found employment as a farm hand for the first two years. He then began farming for himself and has had success from the beginning. Starting out with practically nothing, he has, by his own efforts and those of his family, acquired a fine farm on which he has placed ten thousand dollars worth of improvements. He carries on a general line of farming and also gives considerable attention to the breeding and raising of live stock. His farm is well improved in every respect and in all his career in the county he has so conducted his business affairs as to win the approval of his fellow citizens. He has never hesitated to adopt the latest methods in agriculture, where their superiority has been demonstrated, with the result that he has attained a maximum of result with a minimum of effort.

1300 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

Mr. Wassman has been twice married, the first marriage occurring in 1894 to Minnie Dorman, who was born in Lawton, Iowa, in 1874 and died two years after her marriage, leaving one son, Harry, who is now living at Hartley, Iowa. In 1897, Mr. Wassman was married to Katie Behrens, who was born in Illinois in 1871. To this second marriage have been born six children, Mollie, Elsie, Hilda, Arthur, Olga and Carl, all of whom are still living with their parents.

Politically, Mr. Wassman is allied with the Democratic party and has always been active in the affairs of his party*locally. His worth as a citizen is shown by the fact that his party nominated him for trustee of his township. His subsequent election to that important office better demonstrated his popularity in his home township, while his efficient administration of the duties of the office showed that the confidence of his fellow citizens was not misplaced. He and his family are loyal members of the German Lutheran church and have always contributed generously to its support. Mr. Wassman has a clean and enviable reputation during his life of a quarter of a century in this county, and because his efforts have alays been directed towards the advancement of his community he is held in high esteem by everyone who knows him.

REV. M. J. HEATHERINGTON.

Not too often can be repeated the life history of one who has lived so honorable and useful a life as has the Rev. M. J. Heatherington, the pastor of St. Andrew's Catholic church in Sibley, Iowa. His character has been one of exaltation and purity of purpose, and since coming to Sibley he has served his congregation in a way which bespeaks for him a high quality. Well disciplined in mind, guided and guarded by those invaluable principles of integrity, honesty, justice and purity, he could not prove other than a source of good in this community.

Rev. M. J. Heatherington was born in county Langford, Ireland, November 15, 1867. His parents, Arthur and Bridget (McKirnan) Heatherington, are still living in the land of their birth. They were the parents of fifteen children, twelve of whom are yet living, three of them being in America. Father Heatherington has a brother who has charge of one of the Catholic churches in Dubuque, Iowa.

Rev. M. J. Heatherington was educated in All Hallows College, Dublin, Ireland, completing his course in June, 1891, and was ordained for the

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priesthood on June 21st of the same year. In September, 1891, he came to America and was first located at Harper's Ferry, Iowa, and placed in charge of a country mission. Here he worked faithfully and well for seven years and in 1898 was given charge of two missions, St. Theresis and LaMath, both German and Irish missions. Here he stayed three years. In September, 1901 he was transferred to the church at Varina, Iowa, where he labored faithfully for the next two years. His next five years were spent at Spencer, Iowa, with charges also at Avery and Milford, Iowa. In September, 1908, he took charge of the church at Sibley and has also had charge of the mission at Lake Park, Dickinson county. Father Heatherington is familiar with the German language and frequently preaches in German. He has also a knowledge of French and Latin. St. Andrew's in Sibley has a membership of two hundred and forty, including forty families. The church is in a very prosperous condition, due to the excellent administration of its worthy pastor.

SCOTT LOGAN.

A review of the life of the honored subject of this biographical sketch must of necessity be brief and general in its character. To enter fully into the interesting details of the career of Mr. Logan, touching the earnest and persistent efforts of his earlier years and successes of later days, would far transcend the limits of this article. He has filled a large place in the ranks of the enterprising and public-spirited men of his day and has been an important factor in the growth and development of Sheldon's industrial and commercial interests. He is a representative of that sterling type of the world's workers who have furnished much of the bone and sinew of the country and added to the stability of our country and its institutions. And yet, in spite of the multitudinous activities of his life, he never allowed the pursuit of wealth to warp his kindly nature, but has preserved his faculties and the warmth of his heart for the broadening and helpful influence of human life, being a kindly, genial friend and gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet.

Scott Logan, the president of the Scott Logan Milling Company of Sheldon, was born in 1852 in Burlington county, New Jersey, on a farm. His parents were Thomas S. Logan and wife, his father dying in New Jersey in 1912, at the age of ninety-nine, being possessed of all his faculties. He was the son of Anthony Logan, a blacksmith who bequeathed to his

1302 O'BRIEN AND OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

ancestry sturdy strength and endurance which has given to his descendants remarkably long lives. Thomas S. Logan married Mary Foot, who was of English ancestry, and to this union were born two children, Scott, whose history is here presented, and a sister who is the wife of Judge Gaskell, of the Burlington county bar of New Jersey.

Scott Logan was reared on his father's farm in New Jersey and received a good education in the schools of his home neighborhood. In 1880 Mr. Logan came west to seek his fortune and O'Brien county was fortunate enough to become his home. He settled on a farm in Floyd township, which he rented from the Elsens. The Elsens had a grist mill which was dependent entirely on wind power, but thev had never made a success of it. Mr. Logan, in his enthusiasm, started in with genuine Yankee vim to carve his fortune out of the virgin soil which he found here. He also operated the mill, although not very extensively. However, by perseverance and strict application to business, he eventually succeeded in making the farm and mill both pay him a comfortable income. In addition to farming the tract he had rented, he grazed cattle for four years on the range, but owing to the fact that the incoming settlers were rapidly entering the land he was forced to discontinue this profitable business. Tn 1886 he purchased a half interest in the Prairie Queen Flouring Mill and four years later bought out his partner's interest. For the last twenty-four years he has had continually increasing success in the milling business, until now he has one of the largest flouring mills in this part of the state. After taking charge of the mill, he practically rebuilt it, and in 1907 he again installed new machinery. Upon first taking charge of the mill in 1886, he changed the entire burr outfit for the roller process. He considers this change the starting point to his real success in the business. The capacity of the Prairie Queen and Big Four mills, the latter being purchased by Mr. Logan in 1905, amounts to seven hundred barrels daily. Upon purchasing the Big Four mills in 1905, Mr. Logan remodeled them at an expense of thirty thousand dollars and increased the capacity from one hundred to three hundred barrels. Since 1907 the business has been operated under the firm name of the Scott Logan Milling Company, with a capital stock of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The mills have a storage capacity of one hundred thousand bushels of grain. The two brands, "Prairie Queen" and "Big Four," have become famous over the Middle West.

Mr. Logan is a member of the board of park commissioners and takes a keen and active interest in the improvements of his city. He exercises a personal care of the beautiful park in Sheldon and never lets an opportunity

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pass by to enhance its beauty. In addition to his milling interests, he has ten sections of fine Saskatchewan land in Canada, which he is improving, fencing and cultivating. This land is rapidly increasing in value and promises to become worth many times the price he originally paid for it. Mr. Logan has a beautiful home near the city park where he and his wife and family now live.

MARTIN JONES.

This enterprising farmer and public-spirited citizen has spent his whole life in this county and is a representative of one of the oldest and best known families of his township. In fact, Martin Jones was born and reared on the farm which his father homesteaded in Ocheyedan township in the early history of Osceola county. He has been fortunate in many ways and particularly in view of the fact that he is now living on the farm where his boyhood days were spent and where the happiest memories ot his life will always be. The old farm has associated with it hallowed memories which no other place can ever claim, and as the poet says, "The roof that heard our earliest cry" has a tender fascination for us which never fades with the vicissitudes of later years. He could have selected no better county than his own in which to grow to maturity and there is no better county in which to live today than our own fair county, Osceola, the pride of our hearts.

Martin Jones, a prosperous farmer and stock raiser of Ocheyedan township, was born in 1880 upon the farm where he is now living. His parents, David J. and Mary Jones, were natives of the little country of Wales in England and were among the early settlers of the state of Wisconsin. From there they came to Osceola county, Iowa, and homesteaded on section 6 in Ocheyedan township. They improved the land until it became one of the most valuable farms of the county. One of the striking features of the farm was the fine grove of ten acres which Mr. Jones had the foresight to set out shortly after acquiring the land. David Jones was born in 1843 and died in 1891 in Ocheyedan township. His wife was born in 1850 and is still living in Wisconsin.

David Jones and wife were the parents of five children, three of whom are still living. Martin Jones was given a good education in the schools of his county and in 1908 began farming the old home farm of two hundred and twenty-three acres, to which he had fallen heir. He has adopted all of the latest improvements in agriculture and is classed among the most

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progressive farmers of his county. He keeps a high grade of live stock of various kinds and makes a specialty of the raising and selling of live stock. Mr. Jones was married in 1907 to Mae Grover, who was born in Illinois in 1890. To this marriage has been born one daughter, Lorna. Politically, Mr. Jones is a Republican, but has never taken an active part in poltical affairs. His extensive farming interests have demanded the most of his attention, with the result that he has not felt he had time to indulge in the game of politics. He and his wife attend the Methodist church and contribute liberally of their means to its support. Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Jones is a man of ability and industry and has gained a reputation as one of the most influential farmers in his township. However he does not allow his interests upon the farm to take all of his time, but takes his full share of the various questions which affect the life of his community. He is interested in all measures which promise to advance the moral, social, intellectual and civic development of his county and for this reason he has won the commendation of his fellow citizens.

JOSEPH ROTH.

It is gratifying to find that an increasing number of our young men are returning to the farm after their school days are past. The cry has gone up all over the land that our young men are turning from the farm and going to the city, but within the past few years there is a decided tendency in the other direction. Farming today presents a far more attractive opportunity to the young men than it formerly did and with the advent of new machinery, work on the farm is very materially lightened. Good roads, automobiles, telephone and the rural mail delivery have brought the farmer in close touch with open life, and the farmer of the twentieth century enjoys as many conveniences as the city dweller did fifty years ago.

Joseph Roth, a prosperous young farmer and stock raiser of Baker township, O'Brien county, Iowa, was born in Benton county, Indiana, in 1891. His parents were Joseph and Mary (Schroeder) Roth. Joseph Roth was born in Germany in 1859 and when a young man came to Indiana and engaged in farming until 1910. He moved to O'Brien county, Iowa, purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land in Baker township and farmed it until his death, three years later. His wife, Mary Schroeder, was born in Illinois in 1857 and died 1895. Joseph Roth and wife were the parents

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of three children: Mrs. Anna Schweback, of South Dakota; one who died in infancy, and Joseph, whose history is here briefly sketched.

At the death of his father, in 1913, Joseph Roth became the sole owner of the three hundred and twenty acres of land which his father had bought three years previous. He has made several improvements upon the farm to increase its efficiency since coming into possession of it. He takes an active interest in the affairs of the county and lends his influence to every movement which he feels will benefit the community. Politically, he is a Democrat, but has not taken a very active part in politics. He is an earnest member of the Catholic church and gives his support to it at all times. He has been a school director for a short term and while in that capacity has done everything he could for the advancement of education in his township. Mr. Roth is still a very young man and has a long and prosperous career before him, and in the years to come his name will be enrolled with the representative men of his county.

JAMES F. SWEENEY.

The Mississippi valley is called the garden spot of the world and there is no more beautiful farming country than the rolling prairies of Franklin township, O'Brien county, Iowa, and through the summer months they present a rare picture with the cattle grazing in the verdant pastures, with the fields of corn and oats waving in the gentle breezes. Not only do they gratify the eye, but they as well richly reward the men who possess them and are the owners of the abundant crops which they produce. Among the many handsome farms and excellent farmers of this township, there is no one who is more deserving of mention in this volume than James F. Sweeney, a prosperous farmer and stockman of Franklin township.

James F. Sweeney was born in Rock county, Wisconsin, in 1859, and is the son of Miles and Mary (McGlenn) Sweeney. Miles Sweeney and his wife were natives of Ireland and he was a farmer in that country before coming to America. Miles Sweeney and wife were the parents of a large family of children: Miles, Jr., a retired farmer living in Sheldon, this county; Mrs. Katherine Hyland, who is a resident of Wisconsin; Charles, a real estate man living in Wisconsin; Mrs. Mary Phifer, of South Dakota; Hugh, a tobacco buyer of Wisconsin; Daniel, a contractor living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin: John, a farmer of Wisconsin, and James F., whose history is here outlined.

1306 O'BRIEN and OSCEOLA COUNTIES, IOWA.

James F. Sweeney received a good, common school education in the schools of his native state, and continued to reside at home with his parents until seventeen years of age. He then found employment on the river boats on the Missouri, but later returned to Wisconsin and engaged in the raising of tobacco for a number of years. He then went to teaming on railroad construction work and after finishing his work with this company he again engaged in the growing of tobacco. In 1892 he came to O'Brien county, Iowa, and rented land in Franklin township, and shortly afterwards purchased the one hundred and sixty acres of land which he is now farming. Since coming to this county and acquiring this farm he has made eight thousand dollars worth of improvements on the farm. He has engaged extensively in the breeding of cattle, including Shorthorn and other breeds. He also raises Poland China hogs for the markets. Mr. Sweeney is also interested in the Sanborn Elevator Company and was a promoter of the Franklin Telephone Company, and is the president of the companv at the present time. In addition to his land holdings in this county, Mr. Sweeney is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of cottonwood land in Minnesota. As a farmer he is thoroughly up-to-date in his ideas as the cultivation of the soil and the raising of crops and keeps in close touch with twentieth century theories and practice in agriculture.

Mr. Sweeney was married in Rock county, Wisconsin, in 1885, to Maggie Murphy, who was born in 1866, and to this union have been born seven children: Miles L., a graduate of the Capital City Commercial College at Des Moines, Iowa, and now living in Saskatchewan, Canada; James L., who is assisting his father on the home farm: John R., a graduate of Ames College, and now managing the home farm; Daniel M., deceased, Mary, deceased; Irene, who has graduated from a musical college, and Anna, who is still under the parental roof. Mr. Sweeney has given his children the best of educational advantages and is justly proud of the talent shown by his children.

Politically. Mr. Sweeney is an earnest Democrat, having long taken a deep interest in public affairs, and at the present time he is serving his township in an efficient manner as assessor and road supervisor, and in these two positions is discharging his important duties to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens. Religiously, he and his family are members of the Catholic church and give to it their earnest support at all times. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Modern Woodmen of America. Because of his success and genuine worth as a citizen, he enjoys the esteem and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact in the county.

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JOHN LANGE.

It is one of the beauties of our government that it acknowledges no hereditary rank or title, no patent of nobility save that of nature's, leaving every man to establish his own rank bv becoming the artificer of his own fortnne. Places of honor and trust, rank and preferment thus happily placed before every individual, high or low, rich or poor, to be striven for by all, but earned alone by perseverance and sterling worth, are most always sure to be filled with deserving men, or at least by those possessing the energy and talent essential to success in contests where public position is the prize. John Lange, the subject of this review, affords a conspicuous example of the successful, self-made American, who is not only eminently deserving of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow citizens, but also possesses the necessary energy and talent that fit him for the place in the business world which he fills. A man of vigorous mentality and strong mental fiber, he finds those qualities the chief factor in the carving out of a career that has been above suspicion of reproach and of honor in the county of which he is a respected resident.

John Lange, a prosperous merchant of Germantown, O'Brien county, Iowa, was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1881, and is the son of Ferdinold and Lena (Franke) Lange. His father was a native of Germany, his birth having occurred in that country in 1866, and when a young man he came to this country and settled in Cook county, Illinois, where he became engaged in railroad work and continued to work at that business until his death in 1893. His wife, Lena Franke, was born in 1856, and is now living with her son, John, in Germantown, Iowa.

John Lange is the only living child born to his parents, the other son, Fred, being deceased. John Lange was educated in the schools of Chicago and when seventeen years of age started to work in the railroad shops as an engine wiper. He attended strictly to his own affairs, was soon promoted to engineer, and for the next twelve years was a railroad engineer. However, he found an opportunity to improve himself and in 1911 he came to O'Brien county, Iowa, and purchased a general mercantile store in Germantown. He carries a good line of such goods as are usually found in stores of this kind and he enjoys a large share of the patronage of the town and surrounding country. His business has prospered from the time that he started in and he now has a stock of four thousand dollars worth of goods. By a straightforward and commendable course Mr. Lange is rapidly

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gaining the admiration of the people of the community and a reputation as an enterprising and progressive man of affairs. In addition to his business interests he is a shareholder in the Farmers Creamery of Germantown and also owns twenty acres of land in the state of Oregon.

Mr. Lange was married in 1908 to Bertha Berg, who is a native of Germany, her birth having occurred in 1880, and to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Lange has been born one daughter, Dorothy, who is still with her parents. Mr. Lange is independent in politics and considers it his duty to vote for the best man at election time, irrespective of politics. He and his wife are earnest and devoted members of the German Lutheran church and subscribe liberally to the support of that denomination. Mr. Lange is a broad-minded and public-spirited citizen, who has not been backward in lending his support to every movement which has designed to upbuild and develop his community. Personally, he is a most genial man to meet and is an appreciative members of the community life where he is residing.

JOHN ENGELKE.

The thrift of theGerman people is proverbial. In whatever section of the world they settle it may be taken for granted that they will prosper. Whether this is due to some innate characteristics of the people themselves, whether it is a matter of their home training and environment, or whether it is due to the climate of their native land, may be a disputed question. Some historians have declared that the reason why the people of the northern part of Europe are most industrious of any of the people of the Old World is due to the fact that the climate is seasonal. It is well known that the Germans, the Danes and the people of the Scandinavian peninsula are much more energetic and enterprising than the people of Spain, Italy and Greece, and learned men have tried to account for this condition on the basis of climatic conditions. They assert that the best climate for civilization is one which has alternating seasons of heat and cold. If this is a fact. it accounts in no small measure for the success of the farmers of O'Brien county, Iowa, since they enjoy two extremes of climate to a very marked degree. Whatever may be the cause of the universal prosperity of the sons of Germany, it is certain that John Engelke, of Liberty township, O'Brien county, possesses these characteristics in abundance.

Mr. Engelke was born in Germany in 1861, and is the son of Deitrick

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and Mary (Friedrick) Engelke. Deitrick Engelke was born in Germany in 1822, and in 1865 brought his family to this country and settled in Wisconsin. A few years later he came to O'Brien county, Iowa, and bought a section of land, which he rented to his son, John, whose history is here presented, the father himself returning to Wisconsin, where he remained until his death in 1907. His wife, Mary Freidrick, was born in Germany in 1816 and died in Wisconsin in 1905.

John Engelke was one of six children born to his parents, and one of four who are now living. He was but four years of age when he came with his parents to this country and consequently received his education in Wisconsin, where the family settled. In 1888 his father went to O'Brien county, Iowa, and purchased a section of land, and John Engelke, with his young wife, moved on this land and at once began to make extensive improvements. He rented the farm from his father and after his father's death he purchased the section of land, and in addition to this six hundred and forty acres he has bought three hundred and twenty acres more in this township, so that he is today the owner of nine hundred and sixty acres of fine farming land in Liberty township. Since coming to this county he has has made many improvements of all kinds on his farm in the way of erecting a beautiful and attractive home, large and commodious barns and constructing hundreds of rods of fencing. He has also set out hundreds of fruit and forest trees and his farm today presents a very attractive appearance. He has been an extensive breeder of live stock and has made a specialty of Hereford cattle and Norman horses, and has won a number of prizes on his Norman stock at the O'Brien county fair on several occasions. He owns a share of stock in the O'Brien County Fair Association, as well as in the elevator and co-operative store at Sutherland.

Mr. Engelke was married in 1888 to Rebecca Segelke, who was born in Germany in 1860, and to this union there have been born six children, all of whom, except the oldest married daughter, are still living with their parents: Mrs. Amelia Peterson, who lives in Gaza. Iowa; Deitrick, Henry, Sophia, George and Amanda.

Mr. Engelke has never been a partisan in politics and has never believed that any one political ticket contained all the best men of his community, and for this reason he has reserved the right to scratch his ticket and vote for the best man, believing that in so doing he was best serving the interests of his state and nation. He has always been actively identified with the civic interests and affairs of his community, and has served as trustee of Liberty township, as well as on the school board of the township,

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in both capacities he served with distinction and has favored every measure which he felt would redound to the welfare of his township. Religiously, he and the members of his family are loyal members of the German Lutheran church and give their earnest support to it at all times. His success has been gained by the use of honorable methods at all times and in dealing with his fellow men he has ever remembered the injunctions as set forth in the Golden Rule.

GARRETT VOS.

A business man of Sutherland, O'Brien county, Iowa, who is a man of much energy and ability is Garrett Vos, who has been a resident of this county for a quarter of a century. He is a man of unusual mechanical ability and has mastered the tinner's trade, as well as the plumber's and electrician's, and is competent to serve in any of these three important vocations. He has also been a newspaper editor for more than a year, and during his short career as a newspaper man he demonstrated the fact that he possessed abilities along the editorial line. Throughout his career he has demonstrated an unusual ability to adapt himself to conditions and under whatever circumstances he has been thrown he has shown a remarkable powder of adaptation to environment.

Garrett Vos, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Vos, was born in Sioux county, Iowa, in 1872. He was given a good, common school education and graduated from the high school at Orange City, Iowa. At the tender age of sixteen years he began to learn the tinner's trade and for two years worked for Smith Brothers, in Sheldon, this county. He mastered the details of the trade and has no difficulty in holding a position with E. P. Messer, of Sheldon, in his tin shop for the next two years, after which he went to Paullina, this county, where he followed the tinner's trade for four years. In 1903 he came tO Sutherland, where he engaged in the tinner's business for the next seven years. In 1910 he opened a shop where he carries supplies for all kinds of tin work, plumbing and electric light fixtures. He worked in an electric supply house at Orange City and learned the details of his trade. Most of his life has been spent in the tinning trade and in this he has made a marked success. He is naturally of a mechanical turn of mind, and it was not difficult for him to turn his hand to plumbing and electrical work, with the result that he is now building up a flourishing business in all three of these important lines of endeavor. In addition to

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his mechanical work along- these various lines he was editor of the Sutherland Courier for eighteen months. He purchased this paper with the idea of permanently engaging in the newspaper business, but his love for his former trade proved too strong for him. Accordingly, he sold his newspaper, retaining the store building where it was published, which he still owns.

Mr. Vos was married in 1895 to Lillie Hicks, who is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Hicks, and they have one son, Wesley, who is now a student in the high school at Sutherland. Politically, Mr. Vos is a Republican, and though taking an active interest in political affairs yet he has never felt that he had time to engage in politics. He and his family are regular and faithful attendants of the Methodist Episcopal church, while, fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Vos is a man of quiet demeanor and has chosen the quiet way of living rather than the turmoil of political or commercial life. In the quietude of his own home has found that contentment which is the most satisfying to him. He is a successful business man, a kind and obliging neighbor and a worthy citizen, and he has lived to honorable ends, while the future awaits him with ample reward.

REUBEN W. HILL.

A retired farmer of O'Brien county, Iowa, who is now spending his declining years surrounded by every comfort in Sutherland is Reuben W. Hill, who has been a resident of this county for more than thirty years. He belongs to that sterling type of citizens who start in the world unaided and, by sheer force of will, forge ahead and reach a place of honor among their fellow citizen's. He is a man of many sterling characteristics of head and heart and among his contemporaries it would be hard to find a record more complete with toilsome duty faithfully and uncomplainingly performed in all the walks of life.

Reuben W. Hill was born in Ontario county, New York, in 1848, and is the son of Willis and Phoebe (Payne) Hill. Willis Hill was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1825, and lived the life of a farmer there until 1859. In that year he came west and settled in Cherokee county, Iowa, where he purchased land and lived until his death, which occurred in 1885.

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He was twice married, his first marriage occurring in 1842 to Phoebe Payne, who was born in 1828 in New York state. Her death occurred in 1863, leaving one son, Reuben W., whose history is here portrayed. The second marriage of Willis Hill was to Adeline Knowles, who was born in New York state in 1839, and to this second marriage eleven children were born. The second wife of Willis Hill is still living and is now making her home with her youngest son, Ernest, in Waterman township, this county.

Reuben W. Hill received his education in the schools of New York state, and when eighteen years of age left home and went to Hillsdale county, Michigan, where he worked out as a farm hand at seventeen dollars per month. A few years later he returned to his native state, where he worked one year by the day. After marrying, in 1869, he went to Michigan the next year and purchased forty acres of timber land, and incidentally worked for his father, who had also come to Michigan. Within a year Mr. Hill had traded his forty acres of timber land for one hundred and twenty acres of prairie land in Cherokee county. Iowa. In the spring of 1871 he moved to Iowa, broke up his land for the first time with oxen, and for the next ten years successfully farmed his land in this county. In 1881 he sold his farm in Cherokee county at a good profilt and moved to O'Brien county, where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres of unimproved land in Waterman township. He has been very successful from the start in this county and has added to his possessions from time to time until he is now the owner of four hundred and sixty acres of land in Waterman township. He has improved it in many ways until now it is one of the most attractive farms in the county. He has been an extensive breeder of all kinds of live stock and finds this a very profitable part of his farming operations. He is a stockholder in the Farmers Elevator and the fair association at Sutherland. Several years ago he retired from active farm life and moved to Sutherland, where he owns a handsome home and four acres of lots.

Mr. Hill was married in 1869 to Sarah Hoag, who was born in Wayne county, New York, in 1849, and to this union have been born seven children: Mrs. Dela Webb, of O'Brien county; Clarence; Frank; Mrs. Mary Lanning, who is a resident of North Dakota; Mrs. Bertha Schultz, who lives in Liberty township, this county; Willis and Byron. Three of the sons are living on their father's farm, Clarence, Frank and Willis.

The Republican party has claimed the support of Mr. Hill for manv years, and his party has honored him by nominating him to the office of township clerk, as well as township trustee, and in these offices he has rendered faithful and efficient service to the citizens of his township, irrespective

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of their party affiliations. Mr. Hill is a man of industrious habits, good business judgment and because of his upright character and genial nature he enjoys the friendship of all who know him.

FRED STRAMPE.

In 1882 there landed at the wharf of New York city a fifteen-year-old German lad, whose sole assets consisted of enough mone to reach Iowa and a willingness to work. That fifteen-year-old lad is today the possessor of three hundred and twenty acres of fine land in O'Brien county, Iowa, has a share in the Paullina Elevator Company and owns a blacksmith shop at Germantown. Such a history is truly remarkable and deserves mention in a biographical volumee of this nature.

Fred Strampe, a prosperous farmer and stock raiser of Caledonia township, O'Brien county. Iowa, was born in Germany in 1867, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Strampe, whose history is given elsewhere in this volume under the sketches of William and Henry Strampe, who are brothers of the subject of this review.

Fred Strampe received a meager education in his native land and at the age of ten years started out to work for himself, and for the next five years he worked in his native country, saving his money in order to come to America. At the age of fifteen he had saved enough to make the trip across the ocean and reach Iowa. Accordingly, in 1882 he came to the United States and at once went overland to Iowa, where he worked as a farm hand for the next five years, after which he rented a farm of his own in Caledonia township, on which he lived until his marriage in 1892, after which he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Caledonia township, and on this tract he has made ten thousand dollars' worth of improvements since acquiring it. He has not only been able to pay for this farm, but has purchased an additional one hundred and sixty acres, so that today he is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in this township. He has a handsome modern country home and all of the outbuildings which are necessary for a farm of this size. He has been an extensive breeder of Shorthorn cattle and has found this to be a lucrative part of his income each year.

Mr. Strampe was married in 1892 to Mary Dobbertine, who was born in 1874, and to this union have been born twelve children, all of whom

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except the oldest are still at home with their parents, Ernst is at Omaha in an automobile training school, Edith, Fred, Albert, Hilda, Fredia, Irwin, Renold, Raymond, Delbert, Eveline and Marvin. Mr. and Mrs. Strampe are giving their children the best of educational advantages in order that they may be better prepared to meet the struggles of life later on in their career.

Mr. Strampe belongs to that large and ever-increasing class of citizens who reserve the right to cast their vote for the best candidates, irrespective of party affiliations. He and his family are loyal and earnest members of the German Lutheran church and try to live in accordance with the teachings of that denomination. Mr. Strampe has had remarkable success since coming to this country and is a fine type of the self-made German citizen. In addition to his agricultural interests, he owns a share in the Paullina Elevator Company and also a blacksmith shop at Germantown. Mr. Strampe has been energetic and persevering in the pursuit of his ideals and today he can look back over a record characterized by duty well and faithfully performed and a life controlled by proper motives. Personally, he is a genial and companionable man, enjoying a large acquaintance throughout O'Brien county, among whom are many warm and loyal friends.

JOHN R. BRUNDAGE.

The comparatively recent settlement of some parts of the beautiful state of Iowa has brought to us a singularly energetic, able class of citizens; men who fear not to do and dare and to whom labor is a pleasure if it brings accomplishment of visible results. Among even such a class of men, a few have risen to prominence through their own efforts, and among these we find one still in his youth who has accomplished what few men accomplish in a long life.

John R. Brundage was born in Marshall county, Iowa, August 1, 1871, while the state was still young and sparsely settled and the unbroken prairies stretched for miles upon miles, seemingly boundless. His father, one of the pioneers of Marshall county, was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1831, and here he spent his childhood and youth. He became the father of five children, viz: Heretta, now Mrs. Wyatt, who resides at Beaver City, Nebraska; William B., of O'Brien county, Iowa; Loney, now a retired farmer living at

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Sheldon, Iowa; Anna (Mrs. Bradley), a resident of Ortonville, Minnesota, and John R., of Sanborn, Iowa.

In the year 1869 Mr. Brundage brought his family from Montreal to Marshall county, Iowa, where he remained until the year 1877. At that time he saw the wonderful opportunities for growth and development in O'Brien county, and purchased a tract of land here for the small sum of six dollars and fifty cents per acre. The wonderful increase in the value of this land is known to all who are interested in the growth of this county.

John R. Brundage, the son of whom we wish particularly to speak in this article, came to O'Brien county in 1883 and from that time until the year 1900 he assisted his father in the arduous labors of the homestead farm. In that year, however, he was married to Nellie Fisher and they established their home in the still newer country of South Dakota, where he engaged iin stock raising. He specialized in the breeding of white faced Hereford cattle, and also raised a large number of sheep. So successful was he in his work that he was enabled to purchase fourteen hundred acres of land. This he later sold and returned to the state of Iowa, where he reinvested his capital.

In the year 1905 one of the great sorrows of life came to him, Death coming to his home and claiming his wife. He had left, however, for his comfort and solace, a little daughter, Louise. Seven years later he was married to Pearl King, the daughter of Theodore King, of Primghar, and she is now the charming mistress of his beautiful home in Sanborn. His daughter, Louise, is now attending Hawthorn College in Sioux Falls, in which city he owns a beautiful residence and two lots.

Mr. Brundage's homestead in O'Brien county comprises two hundred and eighty acres of land, which is worth now, instead of the nominal sum formerly paid by his father for land in this vicinity, two hundred and fifty dollars per acre; he has erected buildings and added other improvements to the value of approximately ten thousand dollars. Two acres of mixed crops add greatly to the beauty and value of the place. He is still, as in his earlier days, interested in the breeding of fine live stock and about every third year he holds a sale of these animals. He is a stockholder in the elevator of Sanborn, and is deeply interested in the commercial, as well as the social, life of the place. He is actively interested in the affairs of the Christian church, of which he is a member, and is affiliated with the order of Modern Woodmen of America. Though aspiring to no political office, his sympathies are with the Republican party, which ticket he consistently votes.

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One of the few to whom it is given to amass more than a competence while still in their youth, highly respected and justly so by his fellow citizens, broad minded and energetic to a degree, Mr. Brundage is truly one of our representative men, a splendid example for the young men of the community to emulate.

EDO PETERS.

It is safe to say that the prosperity of O'Brien county is a debt of gratitude to its German settlers. Every German settler who has made O'Brien county his home has prospered. The thrift which is the national characteristic of Germany is represented in the lives of the German descendants who have made this county their home.

Edo Peters, the owner and proprietor of the Grand Theater of Hartley, was born in Germany in 1861. His parents, Peter and Helen (Reimes) Peters, were both natives of Germany and lived all of their days in the land of their birth. Peter Peters was born in 1816 and died in 1881. To this couple were born seven children: Crist, deceased; Minnie, deceased; Katherine; Peter, deceased; Ella, deceased; Mrs. Lizzie Weildt, deceased, and Edo, whose history is here presented. All of the deceased children except Crist died in Germany.

Edo Peters remained in Germany until he was twenty-four years of age, received a common school education and at the age of fourteen began to work out as a farm hand in his native land. Wishing to better his condition, he came to America in 1885 and settled in Illinois, where he found work on a farm. He then rented land and farmed for thirteen years in Illinois, after which he moved to South Dakota and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land. He operated this for five years and then came to O'Brien county, Iowa. After coming to this county in 1903 he bought and sold several farms at different times. He finally settled in Hartley, Iowa, where he purchased the Grand Theater building. He now manages a billiard room and moving picture show in this building. In addition to these interests, has a share in the Farmers Elevator Company at Sanborn, Iowa. Mr. Peters is a man of keen business ability and has won his present success by attending strictly to his own business.

Mr. Peters was married in 1888 to Margaret Johnson, and to this union have been born eight children: Adolph, a farmer of O'Brien county; Crist; Mrs. Minnie McGee, of O'Brien county; Henry, who is helping his father

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as manager oi the billiard room; Emma and three children who died in infancy. Politically, Mr. Peters is allied with the Republican party and gives it his support at all times. While he has never been a candidate for any public office, he takes an intelligent interest in public affairs, and keeps well informed upon the current issues of the day. Religiously, he and his family are earnest members of the German Lutheran church, of which they are generous supporters. Mr. Peters is a worthy representative of the German element of this county, a steady, intelligent and progressive man, one who gives stability to the body politic and has shown an interest in all public measures and is a true type of the enterprising citizen of today.

ERNST MEIER.

The number of Germans who have cast their lot with the people of O'Brien county and adjoining counties in Iowa is large and it has been noted repeatedly that those who have located here have proven to be among the most desirable and best citizens in every sense of the word. They have been industrious and progressive farmers, and have always supported such measures as made for the public good. They have yielded obedience to their adopted country and have taken their share of the duties which are the pleasure of every American citizen. Among these many Germans of O'Brien county who have made this their permanent home is Ernst Meier, a farmer of Lincoln township, in this county.

Ernst Meier was born in Germany in 1871 and is the son of John and Frederica (Jipp) Meier. The father was born in 1835 and followed the occupation of a farmer until he came to this country with his family in 1892. John Meier first settled in Scott county, Iowa, where he farmed for twelve years, after which he retired from active work and is now living a retired life in Hartley. To John Meier and wife were born five children: Mrs. Minnie Brandt, of Omega township, this county; Antron, of Franklin township; Louis, a farmer of Minnesota; Mrs. Lena Velice, of this county, and Ernst, with whom this narrative deals.

Ernst Meier received his common school education in Germany and when twenty-one years of age came with his parents to this country. He helped his father on the farm until he was twenty-six years of age, and then worked as a farm hand in Scott county and later in O'Brien county. When he came to O'Brien county he rented land in Omega township and in

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1912 purchased one hundred and twenty acres in Lincoln township where he is now living. He keeps a high class of graded stock of all kinds and is one of the progressive farmers of his township. He is interested in all public enterprises and owns a share of stock in the Rural Telephone Company.

Mr. Meier was married in 1907 to Anna Rorna, and to this marriage has been born one daughter, Hilda. Politically, Mr. Meier has affiliated with the Democratic party since coming to this country. He and his wife are earnest members of the German Lutheran church and give it their zealous support at all times. Mr. Meier's life since coming to this country has always been controlled by proper motives, and in his relations with his fellow citizens he has been actuated by the highest ideals. Today he is numbered by those who know him as one of the community's leading citizens.

PETER HICKEY.

O'Brien county is proud of her citizens who have come from the Emerald isle, for the reason that these citizens are among the most enterprising and successful men of the county. The same is true of their descendants, and while the county has only a few of the native sons of the Emerald isle, there are many descendants of the sturdy sons of Ireland in our midst.

Peter Hickey, a retired farmer of Sanborn, O'Brien county, Iowa, was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1862. His parents were John and Mary (McCardel) Hickey and were both born in Ireland. John Hickey was born in 1823 and left his native land with his parents when he was seven years of age and came to America, settling in Chicago. Here he received a very meager education and upon reaching manhood became a stage driver and later a miner in Illinois. Still later in life he moved to Clinton county, Iowa, where he engaged in farming for a number of years and then moved to Buchanan county, in this state, where he farmed until his death, in 1888. He was married in 1846 to Mary McCardel, who died in 1908, and to this union were born eleven children: Peter, a farmer of this county; John, who was killed by an automobile accident in this county in 1913; Michael, a resident of Montana; Ellen, who is living with her brother, Peter; William, a farmer of Minnesota; Patrick, of Sheldon, Iowa; Thomas, a farmer of this county; two who died in infancy; Mary, deceased, and Martin.

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Peter Hickey received an elementary education in the schools of Chicago and when nineteen years of age left home and went to work in the mines in Colorado. He did some prospecting for himself. Shortly after going to Colorado he came to O'Brien county, Iowa, and secured employment upon a farm. In 1884 he bought a farm and improved it in various ways. He sold this farm in 1889 at a good profit and purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Franklin township, which he still owns. Resourceful and progressive, Mr. Hickey has the true twentieth-century spirit of enterprise, having kept abreast of the latest improvements and is rightly classed among the leading agriculturists of his county.

Mr. Hickey was married in 1900 to Elizabeth Rathford, and his wife and the one child born to them are both deceased. Mr. Hickey has always been interested in the affairs of the Democratic partv and has served as trustee of Franklin township. In this office he discharged his duties in a manner which earned the commendation of all with whom he came in contact. He is an earnest supporter of the Catholic church and contributes liberally of his means to its support. Mr. Hickey maintains an abiding interest in the welfare of his community and his support is given without reserve to all movements which are for the betterment and welfare of his community.