Hon. C. J. WYLAND

We all have a part to perform in the drama of life. The race is made, the outcome determined, our destinies decided, just in proportion to our opportunities, endurance and ability. These are the marks that distinguish the successful man from the man that fails and falls. Let us take a glance backward to the year 1851, and picture a train of emigrant wagons slowly coursing their way tllrough swollen streams and undefined pathways, destined for Shelby County, Iowa, the land of promise. In this way our subject, together with his brother William and his estimable wife, his three younger brothers and his youngest sister, made their journey from Elkhart County, Indiana, the father, having previously visited Iowa, entering large tracts of land, a portion we mention as being the soutbeast quarter of section 36, township 80, range 33, near Bowman's Grove. Having leased this land, C. J. ,Wyland settled here. In this wild, new country be sought to provide a home for the younger members of his father's family, until they should be old enough to care for themselves. That this plan was well carried out, those younger children, all living but one, can truly testify. The family chain was broken by the death of Jasper N., who died at Duval's Bluff, Arkansas, in 1864, while a soldier in the Union army. At the date of Mr .Wyland's coming to Shelby County, the nearest railroad point was Marengo, Iowa County, to which point he made several trips for supplies. That was the most western point on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific line. On these long, tedious trips he camped out, as there were very few hotels; and had there been many, money was too scarce to be thus expended. Notwithstanding these trips were often in bad weather, and over trails where there are now well-improved highways, and over swollen streams long since spanned by iron bridges, yet the remembrance of them still has a pleasing charm, mingled with toil and beautiful romance. While those early days were hard ones, they were not without their joys, for there has ever been something attractive about a new country, and Mr. Wyland is of that type of manhood which seldom broods over toil or even misfortunes, but always sees the bright side on the darkest day.

On April 11, 1864, he was united in marriage to Miss Amanda H. Dunnington, a native of Kentucky. Soon after his marriage he built a house on land adjoining that of his brother William, and removed to it. The lumber used in the construction of this house i was hauled by him from Boonesborough, Boone County, a distance of 100 miles, some of it costing $100 per 1,000 feet. It would almost go without the saying that he smoked few cigars at that time, however well he seems to enjoy one now. He did chew, however. and it is related of him that as a means of economy he used to chew the weed until most of the virtue had been extracted, and then laid it away in some secret place to dry, after which he would smoke it in a cob pipe, unless some one of the other boys had appropriated it to his own use. In speaking of these early days, Mr. Wyland says, in his jolly, good-natured way, "Well, we used to have good times even though we did have it a little tough. Everything in the way of provisions seemed common stock in the neighborhood, and by general consent ,was divided among all. When flour ,was out at one neighbor's, another volunteered a supply; in other words, when one neighbor went to mill the whole settlement was sure of flour. But occasionally all would get out at the same time, and then they would change their diet to middlings, which was middling good until pure flour could be obtained." Among the curious customs of pioneer milling was that of the customer cutting and carrying with him a small load of wood to grind his own wheat; and not infrequently he was cheated out of his turn by some other fellow slipping a quarter of a dollar in to the hand of the honest (?) miller, which would result in the first man having to haul a second jag of wood before he could get his grinding done. In 1867 Mr. Wyland moved to the saw-mill at Bowman's Grove, and operated it for a year; then he moved back to his farm.

In 1871 he was nominated for county treasurer on the Democratic ticket, for this has always been his party, and was elected. He then moved to Harlan and took possession of the office January, 1812. He was a faithful officer, accounting for every farthing entrusted to his care. He was re-elected in 1813, again making the county an efficient officer. During his first term of office there was no bank nearer than Council Bluffs. As the county provided no way to keep the money safe from the hands of thieves and robbers, except the official bond required of the treasurer, it often became a vexed question how to keep the funds safe from marauders. It was the duty of the treasurer to have the various funds for roads, schools, etc., on hand the first of April, when a greater portion of the taxes were collected. So it not infrequently happened that he was compelled to bring from $15,000 to $20,000 from Council Bluffs; then much of this large amount had to be kept in readiness for the different townships for two or three months, during which time the money was stored a\vay in a secret place, not exactly a vault, but a place Mr. Wyland will not mention now for fear of making some of the early settlers feel badly because they did not know it at the time. In the spring of 1872 Mr. Wyland, in company with his brother, D. M. Wyland, who came back from Council Bluffs, where he had been engaged in a banking house for some time, formed a partnership in the land-office business, as C. J. & D. M. Wyland. They bought the business of Adams & Sharp, who were then located in the building now occupied by Miss Dunnington as a millinery store. D. M. had the management of the office, while C. J. looked after outside matters. They soon outgrew their qnarters, and moved a building, 14 x 16 feet, to the lot upon which their present fine bank building stands. From real-estate business they gradually advanced to loaning, and finally to banking, when their extensive business again demanded more spacious rooms. In 1880 they erected their present building; the bank is a private concern, known as the Bank of Harlan.

To mark the popularity of C. J. Wyland in the county where he has undergone so much privation and lived to see such marked improvement, it only need be said that his services as county treasurer for two terms, his election to the Iowa Legislature in 1883, and his re-election in 1885, have proven him a man of ability and untarnished reputation. No man has been more active than Mr. Wyland in encouraging advancement in public improvements. It was he, together with other leading spirits, who organized the company which finally induced the Harlan branch of the Rock Island Railroad Company to build a line into the county. Every commercial interest has felt his force as an organizer.

Mr. Wyland was born on the old Wyland homestead, known as Wyland Mills, in Elkhart County, Indiana, June 22, 1836. Where he grew to manhood; having the usual school advantages and experiences of most country lads. In those days the school-house was built of logs, with the flat side of a slab for a seat, while the teacher occasiona]ly touched the pupil up with a strap simply to remind him of the routine of a country school. From the age of ten to sixteen he worked on his father's farm, and for the next five years was a hand, first on the farm, then at the mill, wherever his services were of most value. From 1855 to 1860 he was engaged in superintending a mill of his father's. The following year he came to Shelby County, as before noted, where he has been an important factor in the settlement and development of his adopted land. Whatever his success may have been, his admirable wife is not without her share of credit, for her part was bravely borne in times when privations were common and the foundation was being laid for better days.She was the daughter of Alexander and Lovisa (Sellers) Dunnington. To Mr. and Mrs. Wyland were born six children-Arthur Perry (deceased), Stella, Jay, Jessie, Grace and Roy.

Mr. Wyland is a member of Mt. Zion Commandery, No. 49, K. T. ; Olivet Chapter, No. 107, R. A. M., and Parian Lodge, No.321, A. F. & A. M. He is a quiet, unassuming gentleman, possessing the secret of winning friends and keeping them. In politics he is firm and immovable. In business circles he takes rank with the most substantial men in the State. And so closes the remarkable and unsullied career of one of Shelby County's leading men.

Source: 1889 Biographical History of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 295-297. Transcribed by Marthann Kohl-Fuhs