Biographical History of Page County, Iowa, Lewis & Dunbar Publishers, 113 Adams Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1890

[transcribed by Pat O'Dell: genpat@netins.net ]

PETER NIES, of sections 29 and 32, Grant Township, Page County, was born in Darmstadt, Germany, April 6,1824, and is the son of Fred and Margaret (Analt) Nies. Peter and his brother John came to the United States in the winter of 1849-'50, sailing from Havre, France, to New Orleans; thence they came up the river to St. Louis, and soon after settled in St. Clair County, Illinois. Peter worked by the month for two years, when he repaired to St. Jo., Missouri, remaining there three months. Being desirous of securing a home he came to Fremont County, Iowa, and made a pre-emption of 160 acres of land on a corner-section that cornered with the quarter that the courthouse of Sidney stood upon. There he built a home and lived for thirty years. In 1882 became to his present place in Page County, having sold his farm in Fremont County. He is admirably located one mile south of the college, and has 160 acres of land. His improvements cost $3,000, and are of a first-class character. He is largely engaged in raising and feeding stock, handling the improved breeds of Holstein cattle and Poland-China hogs.
Mr. Nies was united in marriage at Savannah, Missouri, November 17, 1854, to Miss Agnes Graff, also a native of Germany. Eleven children have been born of this union, two of whom died in childhood: Mrs. Agnes Nies was born near Bingen on the Rhine, Germany, on February 15, 1834, and was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Graff. John was born October 7, 1855; Bittie, April 12, 1857, died October 23, 1857; Henry was born August 26, 1858; Louis, May 8, 1860; Gus, June 28, 1862, died, April 24, 1864; Fred was born December 15, 1863; Toll, August 28,1865; Daniel, June 16,1867; Agnes, September 24, 1869; Kate, January 22, 1872, and Lizzie, January 28, 1875.
Mr. Nies is a Lutheran in religious belief. Politically he is independent, voting for the man he deems best fitted for the position sought.   He is considered one of the solid [page 619] agriculturists of the county and his farm is certainly a model one. He has been a favorite in both Page and Fremont counties with those with whom he has had business relations. His training of his family has resulted in his rearing a number of sturdy and respected citizens. He is an authority upon all matters pertaining to agriculture and stock-breeding and growing, and has had more than usual success in his farming operations. He has become thoroughly Americanized and is an ardent supporter of the institutions of his adopted country.

JAMES BOSLET CARTER was born in Cumberland County, Kentucky, October 15, 1836, and is the son of Greene and Frances (Hawkins) Carter. His father was a native of Kentucky, and was the son of pioneers who settled there at an early day, coming from Virginia. The mother was a native of Virginia. Her ancestors were extensive slave owners, and of the estate which fell to her father a large portion con­sisted of slaves; these, however, he refused to accept, preferring the loss of his share in the property to being connected with the institution of slavery. Greene Carter and wife had born to them four children: James, John W., Joseph, and Sarah, widow of Patrick O'Neill, who died from injuries received while a soldier in the war of the Rebellion.
When James was five years of age the family removed to New Madrid, Missouri, where the father died. In a short time the mother went with her children back to Kentucky, and in 1851, when James was fifteen years old, they settled in Warrick County, Indiana; he was the oldest child, and upon him fell the burden of support, as his mother was an invalid.   With the assistance of his younger brothers he succeeded in clearing a farm.
April 27, 1859, he was married to Miss Nannie E. Brown, who was born in Warrick County, September 20,1842. When the dark war cloud hung threateningly over this land he felt it his duty to render what aid he could to perpetuate this nation. August 12,1862, he enlisted in Company E, Sixty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, leaving his young wife and two children in the care of relatives. The command was stationed at Henderson, Kentucky, to guard the border and suppress the guerrilla warfare that prevailed to an alarming extent along the Ohio River. At the time of Morgan's raid, July, 1863, his command was sent in pursuit, going as far as Louisville, Kentucky. After their return to Henderson they were ordered to Glasgow, where they joined Burnside's army and marched across the mountains to Knoxvilie, Tennessee. In July, 1863, Mr. Carter was promoted to the position of Orderly-Sergeant, and the following December he was made Second-Lieutenant. He participated in all of the battles in East Tennessee during the winter of 1863-'64, and in the battle of Resaca, and was at the siege and capture of Dallas; there he was taken ill and sent to the officers' hospital at Lookout Mountain. After remaining in the hospital two months he rejoined his regiment near Atlanta, Georgia, but not having gained sufficient strength he took a relapse and was sent to the hospital at Marietta. Chafing under the enforced inaction, he requested permission to return to his regiment for treatment by his regimental surgeon. This was granted him and he continued with it until September 21, when the board of surgeons ordered his discharge, deeming it the only possible means of saving his life. He reached home a physical wreck and has never fully recovered.   He remained in Indi- [page 620] ana until the spring of 1866, when he came to Fremont County, Iowa, settling on a farm near Sidney; this he cultivated until January, 1875. His health had been so undermined that he abandoned any hope of being any better, sold out and returned to Indiana to close up all his earthly affairs. Regaining a certain degree of health courage came too, and he resolved to return to Iowa, where some of his children were living. In 1882 he located in Shenandoah, but afterward spent six months in California trying to recuperate his health. When he came back to his home he became the editor of the Shenandoah Republican, a position he filled until the affairs of that sheet terminated in 1886. As a writer he is terse and forcible, and during the campaign of 1884 did effective political work. The spring of that year he was elected Mayor of Shenan­doah, and has been re-elected five times. In addition to his duties as Mayor he serves as Justice of the Peace and Pension Agent; he also does a general fire insurance and real-estate business, and has recently been appointed notary public. No man who has served Shenandoah in an official capacity has been more faithful to her interests than has Mr. Carter. With more than ordinary executive and financial ability he has piloted the municipality from the rocks and breakers, of municipal indebtedness, to a safe anchorage in the peaceful harbor of low taxes and economical management.
To Mr. and Mrs. Carter have been born five children: Robert B., Fannie, wife of M. Horton; Albert S:, Edwin A., and Emma M., wife of E. I. Lancey. The parents are members of the Congregational Church. Mr. Carter affiliates with the I. O. O. F., with whom he is an active worker; he has passed all the chairs and is the present district deputy and representative to the Grand Lodge. He has served three terms as Commander of the Burnside Post, No. 56, G. A. R., and represented the post in the Grand Encampment since 1883.
Mr. Carter cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln in 1860, and has ever since been an earnest supporter of the principles of the Republican party.

OLIVER HENRY LONGWELL, A. M., President of the Highland Park Normal College at Des Moines, Iowa. One of the noblest professions in which a man can engage is that of teaching, and the efforts of a true man or woman in leading the young and aiding in the expansion of their minds are not to be over-estimated. Some of the greatest and grandest men are those whose lives have been devoted to the cause of education; among them Socrates, Plato, Newton, Franklin and Bacon, men whose influence will never die. To him who has occupied the teacher's chair but a short time, the years thus spent are numbered among the best and proudest of his career, and to him who has devoted his whole life to the cause, what must the satisfaction be ? This review is intended to notice a few of the principal events in the life of one of those educators. Oliver Henry Longwell first saw the light of day at Bentonville, Fayette County, Indiana, December 22, 1855,and is the youngest of a family of three children. His parents were Lewis and Mary A. (Pattison) Longwell, both of whom came to Indiana with their parents as early as 1826. The father is still living on the old homestead where his father, Ira Longwell, settled in 1827. The mother passed from earth in 1871. The Longwell family is of Irish ancestry. Ira Longwell was a noted character in the last war with Great Britain.    The maternal ancestry of [page 621] Lewis Longwell is traced back through many generations to that historic Puritan, John Carver.
The parents of our subject were thrifty and enterprising and made their home in the thickly timbered portion of Indiana. The school advantages of the neighborhood were meagre, but in the Longwell home was always a supply of good books and newspapers, and many were the long winter evenings spent in their perusal. By the time O. H. Longwell had reached his sixteenth year he had acquired a fair knowledge of the common branches. He had the good fortune to have one teacher who awakened in him a desire to obtain a better education than could be had in the common schools. Encouraged by his father he began a course of training which gave him excellent preparation and fitness for the educational work he has undertaken. He first entered the New Castle High School and later the Spiceland Academy and then pursued a four years' course at the Northern Indiana Normal School, from which he was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1880. His class consisted of T. B. Swartz, superintendent of Elkhart, Indiana, public schools; H. C. Stright, deceased; H. C. Faber, superintendent of city schools in Illinois, and A. D. Kyle, a teacher at Delawareb Ohio. In Indiana he had experience as a teacher in the country schools from 1873, and later as supers intendent of the Goodland public schools. In 1880 he was called to the chair of languages and literature in the Southern Iowa Normal School, at Bloomfield, Iowa. After two years' service in that capacity Professor Longwell was elected principal of the institution, and became owner and proprietor. His work there was highly gratifying, as he brought the attendance from seventy-five to two hundred students. He went from this successful field to accept the chair of languages and literature in the Western Normal College at Shenandoah, where his worth was readily appreciated by students and faculty. In 1885 he was elected principal of the school and in that capacity proved himself the right man in the right place. He had entire control of the school work and prepared ali outlines of recitations and courses of study. He is unsurpassed in his class-work, requiring thoroughness and correct work from his pupils. He is an admirer of Froebel and Pestalozzi and embraces the grand principles as expressed by these immortal teachers in his school methods. He gives special personal attention to the normal training, and teachers going from his instruction prove unusually successful in their work. He has an extensive experience upon the lecture platform in Iowa and Nebraska, and he is under constant solicitation to deliver educational addresses. His manner is pleasing, his presence is commanding, and he has a ready flow of language.
During the time that lie filled that position Professor Longwell found time to prepare two valuable additions to the already large number of text-books; one is a work on English literature designed for class use, and the other is a practical grammar, in which the subject is treated exhaustively and methodically. This work has been received with much favor and the demand was such that thousands of copies were ordered while the book was yet in proof sheets. In 1890 he resigned his position at Shenandoah, Iowa, to accept the presidency of Highland Park Normal College, Des Moines, Iowa. This is one of the most completely equipped normal schools in the United States.
Professor Longwell was united in marriage September 16,1882, to Miss Mary D. Stalker, who was born at Bedford, Indiana, August 22, 1858. She is a daughter of the Rev. John M. Stalker, a native of Indiana and a [page 622] popular minister of the Baptist Church; he is a graduate of Hanover College, and has been pastor of the First Baptist Church in Bedford nineteen years. The mother of Mrs. Longwell was Harriet Jeter, also a native of Indiana. Mrs. Longwell is a graduate of the Bedford High School, and also of the Northern Indiana Normal at Valparaiso; for two years she was a teacher in the graded schools.
Professor and Mrs. Longwell are the parents of three interesting children: Helen A., Louise and John S.

WILLIAM HENRY BREWER, an old and highly esteemed resident of Shenandoah, was born in Washington County, Indiana, January 10, 1838, and is a son of Oliver H. and Alvira (Westfall) Brewer, who were married in Indiana, where their parents had settled at an early date. Oliver H. Brewer has been married three times. His first wife was Miss Stark, who was the mother of one son, Ephraira, who enlisted in the army and died at Memphis, Tennessee, in the early part of the war. The second family consisted of six children: William H., Jesse W., J. R., Mary A., wife of George Morey; Edwina H., wife of Alfred May burn, and Amy, wife of W. M. Rolston. Mrs. Brewer died in April, 1865, and Mr. Brewer was married a third time in Tama County, Iowa, to Mrs. Knight, by whom he has had four children, all living at home in Tarkio Township, Page County.
William Henry remained at home with his father until he was twenty-five years old, when he was married October 14, 1862, to Miss Mary Ann Procter, a native of the " Hoosier State." In 1869 they decided to come west; and accompanied Mr. Brewer's father's family. They began to improve a farm in Tarkio Township and alter one year's effort concluded that was not their calling. They then removed to Red Oak, where Mr. Brewer engaged in selling groceries for three years, meeting with fair success. January, 1874, found him established in a photographer's car on the site now occupied by the First National Bank in Shenandoah. He had learned the art at Red Oak, and had fitted up his car intending to devote some time to traveling; finding the business at Shenandoah more lucrative than he had anticipated he concluded to remain there permanently, and secured a gallery that had been abandoned by his predecessor, becoming a fixture of that rapidly growing town. His business increased in such proportions that in 1882 he was able to erect his present valuable brick block. It is 25 x 70 feet, with a commodious store-room on the ground floor, and photographers'parlors and residence on the second floor. The rooms devoted to his art are well lighted and finished work can be displayed to the best advantage. The work room is large and conveniently arranged, and the dark room and printing window, of his own invention, furnish unsurpassed facilities for turning out artistic work. In this most attractive occupation Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have found their calling, and they have spared no pains or expense to excel. They never allow a poor photograph to leave their studio, and by producing the choicest work they have an immense custom. They are also prepared to furnish portraits in oil, India ink, water colors, pastel or crayon. Two other business blocks are the result of years of toil, so that Mr. Brewer stands financially among the most successful men of Shenandoah.
To Mr. and Mrs. Brewer have been born two children: George O., who is conducting a mercantile business of his own and who is [page 623] a highly respected young man of twenty-five years, and Hattie, an attractive girl of sixteen years. The parents are connected with the Congregational Church. In politics our subject stands squarely with the Democrats, having fixed convictions on all questions of public interest. Straightforward and upright in every transaction, no man has more friends than he and no man stands above him in the public estimation.
George O. Brewer was married June 15, 1887, to Elizabeth Mary Derousse, daughter of Louis and Mary Derousse, of Chester, Illinois. Elizabeth Mary Derousse was born August 15, 1869, in Kaskaskia, Illinois.
Mary Ann Procter was born July 15, 1845, in Martin County, Indiana, and was the daughter of George Rappeen and Mary W. (Green) Proctor, who where married in Lawrence County, Indiana, and emigrated to Whiteside County, Illinois, in 1855, with a family of six children: David G., George R., Sarah B., wife of William Moxley; Margaret Jane, wife of L. G. Crouch; Melissa E.; Mary Ann, wife of W. H. Brewer; Harriet N., wife of Jackson Hurless, and Eliza, wife of Clinton Manning. George Rappeen Procter died March 28, 1856.

F. M. JOHNSON, the popular and thorough going proprietor of the Shenandoah Dairy, was born in Chautauqua County, New York, March 12, 1835, and is the son of Moses and Sylvia (Teft) Johnson. The father is a native of New York, and was a soldier, serving througout the last war with Great Britain. The mother was born in Vermont and came from an old Puritan family. Young Johnson grew to manhood with close familiarity to the hard labor necessary to the cultivation of the soil. He attended the Fredonia Academy, where he obtained a liberal education. There he became acquainted with Miss Mary E. Manning, to whom he was married October 17, 1855. She was born January 10, 1837, in Washington County, New York, and is the daughter of John and Jane (Clark) Manning. The young couple immediately emigrated to Iowa and soon were engaged in farming. Mr. Johnson became interested in buying and shipping stock and continued in that line of business until coming to Page County in 1881. He then secured his beautiful farm adjoining the corporation, and embarked in the dairy business. There are 160 acres in the place and the home is one of the most attractive in the community; it is surrounded with osage orange fences, and the lawn is adorned with beautiful evergreens and stately maples. The barn, which was erected at a cost of $1,500, is especially arranged for the accommodation of the twenty-five cows required to supply the trade.
Mr. Johnson is a man who believes in giving his personal attention to his business, and is almost always found at his post, ministering to the wants of his host of customers. His business has proved lucrative, and after eight years of close application he expects to resign in favor of some other man. Besides giving the strict attention necessary to so confining an occupation, Mr. Johnson has made some investments in Nebraska that have proven substantial. He and his brother, C. H. Johnson, have secured 800 acres of land on the Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railway, where they have established a stock ranch, having placed about 400 head.
Mr. Johnson's family consists of Alice, Addie and Charlie: Alice is the wife of Abram Gruver; Charlie is giving special attention to the study of penmanship, in which he has already made astonishing progress. The [page 624] family is indentified with the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Johnson is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Miss Addie is giving special attention to music and line art.

WILLIAM M. GRAY is a man of varied and superior business capabilities, and more than one enterprise of Page has felt the force of his experienced hand. He was born in Campbell County, Tennessee, on December 3, 1838, and is a son of Martin and Nancy (Langley) Gray, natives of North Carolina. The father is a farmer by occupation, and in 1841 emigrated to Missouri with his family, being the fourth family in Nodaway County. He and his wife are still living, at the advanced age of eighty-four and eighty-one years respectively, and reside in Nodaway County, Missouri. They had born to them twelve children, nine of whom survive.
William M. came to Missouri with his parents where he spent his early life and received his education; the schools he attended were of the pioneer type, held in the primitive log school-house. He remained under his father's roof until he had attained his majority, and in the fall of 1861 he enlisted in the Missouri State militia for six months. December 2, 1862, he became a member of Company C, Eleventh Missouri Cavalry, and served his country until August 25, 1865. He was honorably discharged at New Orleans, Louisiana, after which he returned to his old home in Missouri. He at once embarked in the saw-mill business, which he followed for three years. He then engaged in the mercantile business at Clearmont, Missouri, which he conducted successfully for five years.
In the spring of 1875 he came to Page County, Iowa, and located on a farm of eighty acres in East River Township; he had also secured a forty-acre tract in Taylor County, but made his home on the eighty acres in Page County. In 1882 he removed to Taylor County and remained there until February, 1884, when he came back to Page County and settled at Shambaugh. The previous fall he had purchased the stock of hardware and agricultural implements belonging to B. F. & N. T. Berry, and conducted this business until November, 1889; he then sold the stock to George W. Thorn.
In February, 1886, Mr. Gray formed a partnership with David Clayton and bought a stock of groceries and queensware, which they opened at Shambaugh; later, they added a stock of dry goods and shoes, and now carry $2,500 worth of goods; their annual sales amount to $7,000, and the enterprise has proved a success in every way. Mr. Gray also owns a half interest in a hardware store in Braddyville, being associated with C. C. White: they carry a stock of $1,400, making annual sales of $6,000.
Mr. Gray also owns a farm of eighty-two and a half acres in Amity Township, and valuable residence property in Clarinda and Shambaugh. He is one of the most prosperous and successful men in the county; his life furnishes a good example of what will and perseverance can accomplish when coupled with honesty and strict integrity of character. Politically he is identified with the Republican party and has represented his township as Justice of the Peace for two years, and as a member of the school board. He is a member of Warren Post, No. 11, G. A. R.
November 29,1866, occurred the marriage of William M. Gray and Celestia L. Curren, a daughter of Stephen Curren and Clarissa, nee Strattan, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Vermont.   Their five children [page 625] are Clarence A., Mary Etta, deceased; Rebecca J., Ada E., deceased, and Myrtle M.
The father and mother are worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Gray is trustee, assistant steward, and Sunday-school superintendent; he has taken an active interest in religious work for many years.
While a resident of East River Township Mr. Gray served as district secretary for eleven years and as clerk for eight years.

GEORGE A. QUIMBY was born in Chelsea, Orange County, Vermont, on January 17, 1847, and he is a son of Major and Philura (Hadley) Quimby, natives of Vermont. The Quimby family figured largely in the early history of New England, and Major Quimby was a teamster and stage-driver in the days when there was no other mode of travel.
When George was fifteen years old he began to learn the blacksmith's trade, in the shops of the Central Vermont Railway Company, where he worked seven years. Arriving at the age of twenty-two years he came West, and for nearly two years was in the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Company at Galesburg, Illinois, engaged in making carsprings, in which he became an adept. He was then promoted to the position of foreman of the shops at Ottumwa, the duties of which he acceptably filled for four years.
Having a desire to engage in business for himself, he decided to locate in Shenandoah, and in 1874 he established the Shenandoah Carriage Works, under the firm name of Wilford & Quimby, his partner being Lewis Wilford. They continued to transact an extensive business for more than seven years, when Mr. Wilford retired and Mr. Quimby conducted the affairs until December, 1889, disposing of the entire establishment to J. F. King. For several years from ten to fifteen skilled workmen were employed and excellent work on carriages and wagons turned out.
After disposing of the carriage works. Mr. Quimby organized the Iowa National Building and Loan Association of Des Moines,Iowa, with the Hon. John A. T. Hull, ex-Lieutenant Governor of Iowa, president; Hon. William Butler, vice-president; Hon. T. E. Clark, general attorney; George Bogart (president of Shenandoah National Bank), treasurer; W. J. Davenport (C. B. & Q. R. R. freight; and passenger agent), secretary, and George A. Quimby, manager of agencies. Mr. Quimby is now devoting his whole time and attention to the business of this association, with great success as the result of his labors. The Iowa National has already become a household word, and is sure to be the leading institution of its kind in the United States.
Mr. Quimby was united in marriage June 15, 1868, at Geneseo, Illinois, to Miss Annette L. Kendall, a native of Vermont, who had been an influential teacher in Illinois for some time previous to her marriage. She is a person of superior attainments, and received a thorough training in the Royalton Academy, Vermont. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Quimby: Sumner Carl, aged seventeen, who is a student at the college; and Louise, aged fifteen years, a pupil in the high school. The parents are worthy members of the Congregational Church.
Mr. Quimby is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, in all its branches. He has been High Priest of the Chapter in Shenandoah for years and is the present Deputy Grand High Priest in the Grand Chapter of Iowa, a position of honor, and one [page 626] entailing considerable travel and active participation in the work throughout the State. This of itself is ample evidence of the estimation he is held by his fraters.

SPENCER D. MORGAN was born in Lee County, Illinois, November 22, 1843, being the son of Joshua C. and Elizabeth (Shoemaker) Morgan: the parents were natives of Ohio.
Joshua C. Morgan was born in Greene County, Ohio, July 14, 1801. He had two brothers and two sisters: John, Harvey, Margery and Sarah. He was a farmer when young. Was married in Ohio, in 1820, to Miss Almeda Moore. Moved to Sangamon County, Illinois, the same year. Was elected probate judge of said county in 1832, and served six years, he also held the office of county recorder and county clerk. His wife died in 1832, leaving four children: Frank, Isaac, Julia and Caroline. The last two are still living; Julia is the wife of Amasa Loomis, a prosperous farmer living near Elgin, Illinois; and Caroline, the wife of Washington Hutton, who owns a large farm [page 627] in Holt County, Missouri, near Mound City. He married for his second wife Miss Elizabeth Shoemaker, April 23, 1835, at Pekin, Illinois. He moved to Gap Grove, Lee County, in 1840. Mr. Morgan was postmaster at that place for five years. He died in 1849. His wife still survives him, and lives with her oldest son, H. C. Morgan, at Oregon, Holt County, Missouri. She will be seventy-five years old in September, 1890.
Spencer D. is one of a family of seven children, five of whom survive: Alfonso, a farmer by occupation, is a resident of Holt County, Missouri, where he fills the office of recorder; Jerome B. died in Mound City, Illinois, from disease contracted while in the service of his country; in 1861 he enlisted in the Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company G, and served until his death, which occurred in 1862; Charles W., a resident of Page County, of whom a further notice will be found in this volume; Sidney L., a farmer, residing in Holt County, Missouri; Florence L., wife of Delreign Remington, lives in Seward, Nebraska, and one child who died in infancy.
The subject of this sketch was reared to farm life in his native State, and received his early education in the common school. At the age of eighteen years he enlisted in the Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company G, serving three years; he took part in many hard-fought battles, the most noted being the siege of New Madrid, Corinth, Iuka, Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta and Jonesborough; the last named battle was fought after his term of enlistment had expired. His command was stationed at Nashville, Tennessee, ten months, where they did garrison duty at Fort Neglie.
After his service was ended he returned to his old home, where his mother and sister were alone, all the other sons having entered the service, excepting one, who was in California. He took charge of the farm and remained there until 1869, when he came to Iowa and purchased 280 acres of land in Page County, afterward disposing of a portion to his brother. He went back to Illinois, and in the spring of 1870 returned to his new home, prepared to begin his improvements, broke out forty acres and again went back to Illinois to remain through the winter; the following spring he returned, put in a crop, built fencing and erected a small house. In August, 1871, he went to Princeton, Illinois, and on the eighteenth of that month was united in marriage to Miss Pluma M. Wood, a daughter of Eli and Joanna (Fellows) Wood, natives of Massachusetts and New Hampshire respectively. Mrs. Morgan was born in Princeton, Illinois, in August, 1850, and is one of a family of two; her brother, Otis, is a druggist by profession, and resides in Tampa, Florida.
Immediately after his marriage Mr. Morgan started with his bride for his Iowa home, and since that time has resided in East River Township, with the exception of one winter which was passed in Florida. He devotes himself to farming, and like all other pioneers has had many drawbacks and hardships to meet. During his early residence in Iowa the markets were many miles distant, and the prices of produce were extremely low.
Politics claim some attention from our subject; he has been appointed a delegate to the State convention of the Republican party, and has also served as a member of the township central committee for several years. He is a member of Warren Post, No. 11, G. A. R.
Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are the parents of eight children: Edna E., Maud D., Lee Roy, Earl C, Hattie Lisle, Eva May, Floyd I,., [page 628] who died August 20, 1888, and an infant daughter, Lorena B.

J.S. CHILES.—The Blue Grass Creamery of Clarinda, Iowa, manufactures a gilt-edge butter that has acquired a national reputation for its proprietor, J. S. Chiles, who established the business in 1883; he is a practical business man,and has rapidly and vigorously pushed the interests of the concern to the front, attaining a high standing in the butter markets of the East. The factory does a business of $75,000 per annum; the cream is collected by teams from every direction within a radius of twenty miles, which is a large source of reveuue to the farmers of Page County; twelve wagons are employed during the busy season, and besides the twelve men required to run them four men are employed in the factory. The butter is principally shipped to eastern markets and commands the highest market price. The creamery is furnished with modern machinery, which is propelled by an engine of eight-horse-power. The ice-houses are ample and well arranged, with a capacity of 1,200 tons. In addition to his creamery business Mr. Chiles also does a large business in feeding swine in order to have the buttermilk consumed; he keeps 200 head and his feed lots and sheds are of a substantial kind, and are kept in the best order. He expends $2,000 for cream and $1,000 for other purposes, including hired help, and is business.   He is also a
wholesale dealer in and shipper of eggs.
We will now go back a few years and learn something of the early history of this enterprising citizen. J. S. Chiles was born in Preston County, West Virginia, October 15, 1850, and is a son of Jonathan and Margaret (Cress) Chiles, natives of Maryland and Virginia respectively. He was thirteen years old when the family removed to Guernsey County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. He was reared to the life of a farmer and received his education in the common schools. At the age of twenty-three years he went to Washington County, Iowa, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1881. In that year he embarked in the creamery business, but it was on a salary of $20 per month. However he had vim, and push, and pluck, and he soon climbed to the top of the ladder, and is now accounted one of the most reliable and solid business men of Page County.
Mr. Chiles was united in marriage, in Washington County, Iowa, December 24, 1876, to Susan E. Armagost. By this union three children have been born: Asa E., George S. and Margaret A. Mr. Chiles is in the prime of a vigorous manhood, and has many years before him until he has lived out the "threescore and ten" allotted to man, and he has many friends in Page County who wish him a prosperous future.

[page 629]

J.A. KYLE, one of the progressive farmers of Morton Township, was born in Orange County, New York, April 5, 1848, and is the son of Thomas and Margaret J. (Yerkes) Kyle. The father is a native of Ireland, and now resides in Tioga County, New York. The mother was born in the State of New York, and is now deceased.
J. A. Kyle is the fifth of a family of eight children, and is the only one residing in the West. It was not until he was twenty years of age that he left the dear old home and went to seek his own fortune; he first went to western New York, but did not remain there long, and was soon after in Michigan; neither did this section have a lasting charm to him, and in 1868 he went to Iowa, locating in Cedar County. He had been trained in agricultural pursuits in the home of his boyhood and youth, and he again engaged in this occupation. He also ran a threshing-machine eleven years in succession, with success, and he followed breaking prairie seven or eight years in Cedar, Page and Fremont Counties, breaking over 1,200 acres of prairie. For five summer seasons he lived in a movable shanty eight feet square, baching with several others. In the spring of 1872 he came to Page County, and purchased a tract of eighty acres on section 17, Morton Township. It was not until the spring and summer of 1873 that he began breaking this land.
Mr. Kyle was united in marriage December 23, 1873, to Miss Matilda A. Henderson [page 630] a daughter of Josiah and Catherine (Walters) Henderson, natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania respectively. Mrs. Kyle was born in Hancock County, Ohio, October 24, 1852, and came to Iowa in 1861. In the spring of 1874 Mr. and Mrs. Kyle removed to their farm, where a rude dwelling had been erected; it furnished very few conveniences, but it was the best they could do, and they were content.
In June, 1874, Mr. Kyle purchased 160 acres on section 18, Morton Township, and in the spring of 1875 removed to this place, having sold his land on section 17. He erected a frame-house, which now does duty as a kitchen to his more pretentious residence. This farm was uncultivated, as was all the surrounding country. With the exception of three years spent in Kansas, Mr. Kyle has resided on this place since 1875. He has made an excellent class of improvements in the way of residence property and barns for stock and grain. He has planted 3,000 trees in a grove, and 180 fruit trees, and has in every possible way developed his farm, making it both valuable and attractive.
Mr. Kyle has bought and sold a number of places in this part of the county, always improving every piece of land coming into his possession. In 1887 he purchased 160 acres adjoining his own farm, and now has 320 acres in his home place. He makes a specialty of raising and shipping livestock, and takes a pride in introducing the better grades. His farm is well stocked with horses, cattle and hogs, and he has been particularly successful in this branch of farming.
Mr. and Mrs. Kyle are the parents of three children: Thomas A., Clara J., deceased, and James F.
Politically Mr. Kyle is identified with the Republican party. He and his wife are worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Shenandoah, and for eleven years have done all they could to advance Christianity. Mr. Kyle has acted as superintendent of the Sabbath-school for several years at the school-houses in his neighborhood, doing an immense amount of work in that field.

FRANCIS M. JONES has been identified with the farming interests of Page County since the year 1869. In recording the history of any citizen it is of interest to his descendants to find something of the early ancestors. Francis Jones, grandfather of Francis M. Jones, was born in Kentucky, moved in early day to Ohio, settling in Miami County, and finally moved to Logan County, where he cleared a farm and remained until his death, at the age of seventy-eight years. His family consisted of three children: David, Allen and Rachel.
Allen Jones was born on his father's farm in Miami County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. He was united in marriage to Annie Armstrong, a daughter of John and Mary Armstrong, and to them were born ten children: Martin A., Jasper N., Margaret, Rachel, Mary, Francis M., Louisa, Rebecca, Ellen and Martha. The mother died in Logan County, Ohio, and Mr. Jones was married a second time to Mrs. Annie Simpson, a daughter of Asel and Lucretia Styles, and she was the mother of one child by this marriage, Mahala. Mr. Jones was a farmer in Logan County, Ohio, and by industry and economy he acquired a handsome property. He was a man of broad character and honorable reputation.
Francis M. Jones, son of Allen and Anna (Armstrong) Jones, was born in Logan County, Ohio, in 1842. He obtained his education in the common schools of that day [page 631] and followed the occupation of his father, farming. He was married in the State of Illinois to Miss Fannie Starrett, March 1, 1866. Mrs. Jones was a daughter of James and Jane (Bogart) Starrett. Mr. and Mrs. Jones resided in Logan County until 1869, when they decided to seek a home in the far West; accordingly they emigrated to Iowa, and settled in Page County, where they have since ranked among the leading citizens. Mr. Jones bought 160 acres of land, which he has redeemed from the wild state in which nature and the " Red Man " left it, and has converted it into a fine, fertile farm. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. During the late civil war he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Company C, and was a faithful soldier in the struggle to perpetuate this nation.
James Starrett, the father of Mrs. Jones, was a cabinet-maker in Logansville, Ohio. He married Jane Bogart, and to them were born eight children: William H., Joshua, Josephine, Zachariah, James, Francis J. and Maria. The father lived in Logan County, and followed his trade many years. He was an honorable, upright man, and was in comfortable circumstances. Joshua Starret, his son, was a soldier in the Rebellion, enlisting iu the Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He participated in several battles, and was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville; later he was tranferred to a prison in Georgia, where he died. And thus perished another of America's brave sons!

[page 641]

DAVID A. PECK, one of the best known and earliest pioneer settlers of Washington Township, and a resident of section 21, will form the subject of this biographical sketch. He is a native of Toronto, Canada, born November 22, 1829. He is a son of Washington and Sophia (Wilcox) Peck, natives of Massachusetts. Caleb Peck, the paternal grandfather, was a New Englander by birth, of English origin. The parents of our subject were married in Canada, and soon after located near Toronto, where the family remained until 1840.; in that year they emigrated to Kendall County, Illinois, and set- [page 643] tied two miles from Oswego, where they were among the earliest pioneers. In 1847 they went to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, residing there two years; at the end of that period they returned to Canada and settled in London, Middlesex County, Ontario. There David A. grew to manhood; he was reared a farmer and attended the common schools. He is of a family of seven children, five of whom are still living, three sons and two daughters. In 1850 the father and mother went to California, making the trip over­land; they remained there some time and later went to Washington. Mr. Peck was elected a member of the Legislature from the last named State. After a long and eventful pilgrimage he died, December 26, 1889, aged eighty-eight years. In political belief he was a Republican, and in early times he was a conductor on the " Under­ground railway." His wife died when our subject was an infant.
David A. Peck was married March 13, 1850, to Miss Eliza Jane Carey, a native of the State of New York, and a daughter of Francis K. Carey. He left his wife in Canada and went to California in 1852, making the trip by team and consuming six months in the journey, including a ten days' stop in Salt Lake City. He landed at Placerville, California,where he began dealing in cattle. In April, 1854, he returned via the Ishmus of Panama to New York city. He remained in the East until the spring of 1862, when he came by team to Page County, Iowa; this trip required five weeks for its completion. He selected his present farm, and at once began to improve it. This was a slow process but it has been a satisfactory one, and today he has one of the finest farms in Page County. The building spot is a delightful one and is ornamented with beautiful evergreens, and near by is an artificial grove of eight acres, planted by Mr. Peck at an early day; it now affords abundance of wood for fuel.
Mr. Peck's first wife died in 1885 and he married for his present wife, Sadie J. McClellan of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By his first marrige eleven children were born; four sons and two daughters still survive: John L. E., Edward W., Robert E., Anna Eliza, wite of Alonzo McWhinney; Minnie H., wife of George Blanchard, and David Arthur; four children died in infancy and Ida M. died at the age of seventeen years.
Politically our subject is a Republican. He has served as township trustee and assessor, and took the census in 1880. In his religious belief he is a devout Methodist and for many years has been a local preacher. He organized the early church in Lincoln Township and has preached more or less ever since; in 1863 he organized the first Sabbath-school in his township, and is a strong advocate of free schools.
But few men can be found who are of more moral value to a community than Mr. Peck; he has ever been on the side of right, and to his memory there need be no marble shaft erected, as his good works shall indeed be living monuments of a well rounded Christian life.

W. E. MADDOCK, dealer in furniture and upholstering goods, Blanchard, Iowa, has been closely connected with the business interests of the place since 1885. He purchased the stock of J. E. Winney, who had been the pioneer dealer in that line. It is the only business of this kind at Blanchard, and the annual sales run from $2,700 to $3,500. The store-room is large and well arranged for the display of the [page 644] nicely selected stock of goods which is constantly on hand.
Mr. Maddock is a native of Northamptonshire, England, born September 23, 1853, and is the son of John and Ann (Fretter) Maddock. When he was three years of age his parents settled in Lorain County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. At the age of seventeen years he went to learn the carriage and wagon maker's trade, which he followed until 1883. He then removed to Atchison County, Missouri, and resided there until 1885; he then came to Blanchard.
On October 1,1878, occurred the marriage of Mr. Maddock and Miss Anna Davies, a native of Lorain County, Ohio, a daughter of David and Mary (Spriggs) Davies. This union has been blessed with one child, Olive, born October 10, 1885.
Politically our subject affiliates with the Republican party, and is a strong supporter of its principles. He is a man in the prime of life, full of energy and vigor, and by his strict integrity of character has the confidence of all with whom he has any dealings.

GOUVERNEUR BURNET JENNINGS, attorney at law, Essex, was born near Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky, January 13,1850. He comes of historical families, on both his father's side and his mother's. His father, Charles P. Jennings, a prominent clergyman in the Episcopal Church, was born in New Jersey, and was the son of Dr. Caleb Jennings, who was a noted character in the war of 1812, and his grandfather taking an active part in the war of the Revolution, in the Colonial army; his ancestry is of English origin. Gertrude G. Burnet, the mother of our subject, comes from an equally famous ancestry.   Isaac G. Burnet was for twelve years Mayor of the city of Cincinnati, where his daughter, Gertrude G., was born. His brother, Judge Jacob Burnet, served Ohio for several years as United States Senator; another brother, David S. Burnet, became the first provisional President of Texas, preceding Sam Houston in that office.
Mr. Jennings' mother's grandfather was William Burnet, M. D., one of the surgeons in the Colonial army in the Revolutionary war, and we find that there is a direct connection with the historical Bishop Burnet when James II. succeeded to the throne.
When our subject was two years old the family removed from Kentucky and subsequently settled in Springfield, Illinois, where the father was pastor of a church. In a few years they went to La Fayette, Indiana, and thence in 1869, Gouverneur B. came to Benton County, Iowa. Meeting with little success he returned to Indianapolis, Indiana, and engaged as a clerk in a book store. He remained there until the autumn of 1870, when he again came west, this time to Columbia, Missouri, the seat of the State University; there he managed to take a special course in literature, and in 1872 he took up the study of law, while he was at work on a farm in Pike County. In 1875 he entered the law office of Faggs & Biggs, Louisiana, Missouri, with whom he read until he was admitted to the bar before Judge Porter at Bowling Green, Missouri, in 1876. In February of the following year he located in Essex, Page County, Iowa, when that point had good prospects for getting the " Wabash " Railroad and becoming an important railroad center, and has since been actively engaged in his profession; and today no attorney in Page County has a more satisfactory practice. He is looked upon by the entire bar as one whose judgment upon law and equity is seldom at fault.   He is a close student, and has [page 645] accumulated a library of several hundred volumes of standard works, covering all the principal Reports of the State and National Courts. He has been repeatedly urged to locate in a more pretentious city, but he persists in his faith in Essex and her people.
Mr. Jennings is a pleasant and forcible speaker at the bar or upon the stump.
On October 11, 1882, occurred the marriage of G. B. Jennings and Miss Nellie Snyder, the daughter of John and Belle (Connell) Snyder, at Riverton, Iowa. They are the parents of two children, Carrie Cotsworth, born December 81, 1883, and Staats Burnet, born November 13, 1889. Mrs. Jennings is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, while her husband belongs to the Episcopal Church. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity.