Rufus H. Hadley, pp. 640-641

This enterprising farmer and public-spirited citizen is a native of Hardin county and is a representative of one of the oldest and best known families of tis locaility, in fact Mr. Hadley was born and reared on the old home place in section 10, Providence township, and he still makes his place of residence in the same section, being on the northwest quarter of section 10 and his father settled on the southeast quarter of section 10 in 1852. He has been fortunate in this respect, for most of us would like to remain near the old parental roof-tree, there being associated with it hallowed memories which no ther place of abode could claim. In the line of Tennyson, �The roos that heard our earliest cry� have a tender fascination for us which never fades with the vicissitudes of later years. Then, too, he could have found no better country than his own in which to grow up, for our great Union has no better soil than right here in this favored county of Hardin.

Rufus H. Hadley was born June 10, 1869, the son of Simon and Mary S. (Talbert) Hadley, the former born in North Carolina in 1831, from which state he, with his father and mother, Spencer and Caroline (Wilson) Hadley, and five other children emigrated to Warren county, Illinois, in an early day, Simon coming on to Hardin county, Iowa, being followed soon afterward by the rest of the family. They all settled in section 11, Providence township, later moving to section 10, where Simon established his home there and married Mary Talbert. In 1882 they sold their place and went to California, where they purchased land and lived there four years, then traded for land in Jule county, Kansas, where they lived two years, then traded back for the old homestead in Providence township, Hardin county, Iowa, where they again took up their residence. Having accumulated a competency through industry and good management, they retired to the village of New Providence in 1894 and there Mr. Hadley's death occurred in 1897 and he is buried in Providence cemetery. His widow is still living in her pleasant home at New Providence. Through life he was a strong Methodist and a good and useful man. His brothers and sisters were, Eliza, who married Noah Hadley, is deceased; Banner, who lived in Nebraska, is deceased; Julina married Henry Hollenberg, and they are both deceased; Sanders lives in Eldora, Iowa; Grant W. resides in the state of Washington; Hail is deceased.

To Simon Hadley and wife were born the following children: Rufus H., of this review; Hester, who is now deceased, married Willis Hollenberg, who is living in Oregon; Dora is single and lives with her mother at New Providence.

Rufus H. Hadley grew up on the farm and assisted with the work of home building in a new country and he received his education in the public schools of Hardin county. In 1893 he was married to Dovie Huff, daughter of Simon and Prutina (Steelman) Huff. Of Hardin county. They came here in the early days and settled on the old home place in Providence township, and they still reside in Providence township but on another place. They are members of the Friends church. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hadley: Mamie, born August 29, 1894; Gordon, born September 23, 1897; Lawrence, born April 19, 1900; Mildred, born October 17, 1905, died June 21, 1907; Marjorie, born April 1, 1909, died January 24, 1910.

William Haggin, pp. 647-648

The old pioneers are about all gone.  They who braved the dangers and hardships of a new country, who had the foresight to cast their lots in a land rich with promise, performed their tasks well, and then passed on into "that undiscovered country," leaving to us a glorious inheritance, not only in a well developed, rich country, but in the memory of their brave and unselfish lives, their laborious struggles that their descendants might be freer from the many annoyances that detract from the blessings of life.  From such progenitors sprang William Haggin, one of the progressive and well-known citizens of Union township, who was born in 1859 in this vicinity.  He is the grandson of Greenberry Haggin, to whom belongs the honor of being the first white man who erected a cabin in Hardin county, this being in 1849, the county not having been created by the General Assembly until January 15, 1851.  It was many miles to neighbors and a trackless, wild prairie stretched as far as the eye could reach, overrun by innumerable wolves and yet the haunts of Indians.  Greenberry Haggin was a native of Indiana, and he came to Hardin county from Keokuk county, Iowa.   He was a typical frontiersman, always on the outskirts of civilization.  He was a hard worker and developed a good farm here, remaining in Hardin county long enough to see several towns spring up, then pushed on westward, like Daniel Boone, the greatest of all pioneers, who said that he did not have room enough about him if there were any neighbors in sight.  Such a life is conducive to longevity and Mr. Haggin reached an advanced age, dying in Dakota.  During the winter of 1849-50 he was the sole resident of Hardin county.  He entered the land now owned by George Whitney, first settling on the farm in section 11, Union township, now owned by Tom Madole.  His family consisted of the following children: Arrow, Zach, Richard, John, Isaac, Joseph (father of William of this review), Ausburn and Julia.

Joseph Haggin was born in Indiana, and when ten years of age he accompanied his father to Iowa and lived in Grundy, Hardin and Marshall counties.  He was something of a pioneer himself and delighted in seeing a raw piece of land transformed into a farm.  He was twice married, first to Elizabeth Jane Davis, whose death occurred in 1872, at the age of thirty-eight years.  To this union were born the following children:  Mary Maggie; William, of this review; Samuel M., Joseph L., Nathan, Sarah Ann, Thomas, Franklin, James Delbert and Jesse Elmer.  His second wife was Ellen Middleton, by whom one child was born, Charles Frederick.

Joseph Haggin was a member of the Christian church and a man of exemplary character.  His death occurred in 1904, at the age of seventy-two years.

William Haggin, of this review, grew up and has always lived in Union township, in whose development he has taken a conspicuous part, operating a butcher shop for fifteen years.  He ran a general store in Ferguson and a livery and hotel in Union, and in 1909 he went into the harness business at Union, and is enjoying a very liberal trade.  He has been very successful in whatever he has turned his attention to, and is one of the most widely known business men in the county.  Although he has been practically deaf for twenty years, he hears almost as well as anyone, by artificial means, and thus is not handicapped in his business.  Politically he is a Republican and has held a number of local offices.

Mr. Haggin was married in 1881 to Anna Hutson, who was born in Union township, a daughter of Leason and Elizabeth Hutson, an old and highly respected family of the village of Union.  The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Haggin:   Mamie married Thomas Wilson; Glen married Ruby Norris; Leason, Ruth and Howard are at home.

George H. Hake, pp. 688-689

Prominently identified with the industrial and civic affairs of Hardin county is George H. Hake, one of the leading farmers and stock men of this locality, residing on a beautiful farmstead in Sherman township, which he has improved in a manner as to stamp him as one of the progressive, modern agriculturists of the twentieth century. He is amember of that coterie of thrifty citizens who have come into our midst from Tazewell county, Illinois , his birth having occurred there on February 15, 1860 , and he is the son of Herman and Marie (Zimmerman) Hake, the father a native of Prussia and the mother of Bavaria . The elder Hake emigrated to America with his parents in 1848 and settled in Buffalo , New York , where his parents died. About 1854 Herman Hake came to Tazewell county, Illinois , and bought wild land, mostly timbered, which place he improved, established a good home and lived there sixty years, and there his widow, whome he married in that county, still lives, being now seventy-five years of age. He was a member of the Evangelical Association, to which his widow also belongs. He held several township offices, and he cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. They were the parents of ten children, four of whom died young, namely: Emma married J. C. Schuster, of Chicago , where he is a minister in the Evangelical church; Madeline married Rev. August Braeichle, of Murdock, Nebraska, minister in the Evangelical church; Sarah, who is deceased, married Philip Eller, of Sherman township, and who is mentioned in length in another part of this work; George H., of this review; John is farming in Tazewell county, Illinois; Silas is farming on the old home place in Illinois.

The subject received only a limited education in the common schools of the old-fashioned type, a log building, equipped with slab seats. He lived at home until he was twenty-two years old and worked out until he was twenty-five years old. He was married, March 6, 1884 , to Elizabeth Eller, of Groveland , Illinois , a daughter of John and Justina (Ramige) Eller, natives of Germany , who are mentioned at some length in the sketch of Philip Eller in this work.

Eight children, one of whom is deceased, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hake, namely: Herman died when thirteen years old; Marie, Benjamin, Jessie, Ruth, Martha and Esther (twins) and Homer.

After his marriage Mr. Hake lived in Tazewell county, Illinois , for two years, then went to Sutton , Nebraska , and bought eighty acres of wild land which he improved and on which he lived for ten years, and there got a good start; then he sold out and moved to Belle Plain , Iowa , where he bought one hundred and twenty acres. This he likewise improved, but sold after living there two years, and came to Sherman township, Hardin county, first buying one hundred and sixty acres in section 1, and lived there two years, then sold out and in 1906 bought two hundred and twelve acres, know as the Finn farm. Here he has since maintained his home, and kept the place highly improved and well cultivated. He has made many excellent improvements here, including a commodious, modern, two-story, nine-roomed house and a substantial barn thirty-two by forty feet; he has set out a large number of fruit and shade trees and has a large orchard of a fine variety. He has one of the most attractive and desirable farms in the township. He has made stock raising an important part of his vocation and always keeps a splendid variety of stock, making a specialty of short-horn cattle, Duroc-Jersey Red hogs, and good horses and mules.

Mr. Hake is a Democrat in politics and he has been trustee and director in the local school board. He is a member of the United Evangelical church, and has been a class leader for several years, also a Sunday school teacher. He seems to carry the high principles of living he seeks to inculcate in the church into his daily life and thereby he has won the confidence and good will of all who know him.

George W. Hall

A successful farmer and a verteran of the late Civil war, the subject of this sketch is recognized as one of the leading men of the community and is honorably entitled to a place among the representative citizens of his adopted county. George W. Hall is a native of Preble county, Ohio, born on June 27, 1843. He was reared on a farm, enjoyed such educational advantages as the country schools afforded and when a mere lad accompanied his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph N. Hall, to Wabash county, Indiana, where he grew to maturity and where, in 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry, for service in the Civil war. The Forty-seventh was one of the first Indiana regiments under the President’s second call to reach the front. It was ordered to louisville, to form part of the force under General Nelson, and from thence proceeded immediately to the scene of the action at Island No. 10, after the capture of which it took part in the reduction of the fort at New Madrid, Missouri, and various other skirmishes and engagements on the Mississippi river and elsewhere. During the first year and a half of his military life, Mr. Hall experienced not only a great deal o active and strenuous service, but met with several thrilling adentures, the most noted of which occurred during the investment and bombardment of Island No. 10. Some time before the fall of that stronghold, General Pope, the commander of the Federal forces, authorized a scout, with a number of picked men, to proceed to the outer works one extremely dark night and try if possible to put out of action certain guns which had been causing the Union force great annoyance and some loss. Picking their way cautiously, the scouts finally surprised and captured the Confederate pickets, then rushing upon the works, they hastily spiked the guns with rat-tail files, which they carried for the purpose, and returned unhurt without the loss of a man. Mr. Hall recalls with great interest the adventure, so fraught with danger, but in which the men appeared to have been guided and protected by somthing more than human power.

From New Madrid the Federal forces were sent to Memphis, Tennessee, and to the Forty-seventh Indiana fell the honor of being the first regiment to march through the city after its fall. Mr. Hall was stationed there until June, 1862, when he received his discharge, immediately following which he returned to Indiana and within a short time thereafter accompanied his father upon the latter’s removal to Mitchell county, Iowa, where the latter’s son-in-law was then living. The journey west was made with wagons drawn by horses and oxen and considerable time was consumed ere the Hall family arrived at their destination.

During a part of the ensuing year (1863) George W. and his brother broke prairie with six yoke of cattle and received the sum of twenty-six dollars per month until the following fall, when the subject gave up his job and again entered the army, enlisting in October of the year indicated in Company G, Ninth Iowa Cavalry, which was ordered to Duvall’s Bluff on the White river in Arkansas, for service against the guerillas in that state. The regiment operated throughout the southern part of Arkansas, scouting, gathering supplies, suppressing guerilla bands and capturing a great deal of contraband cotton which had been concealed in swamps, besides doing considerable fighting, having been thus engaged until the close of the war. Mr. Hal was discharged at Davenport, Iowa, February 10, 1866. Returning to his home in Mitchell county, he and his brother-in-law, J. C. Simpson, started overland to California, but in passing through Hardin county, were induced by an old friend of the subject, with whom he had formerly been well acquainted in Indiana, to proceed no further. Being pleased with the appearance of the country, he finally purchased land on the south fork of the Iowa river in Ellis township, paying the sum of five dollars per acre; this he subsequently exchanged for forty acres of heavy timber, rated at seven dollars per acre, which he sold from time to time in small tracts and still later after his marriage he engaged in agricultural pursuits as a renter.

Mr. Hall was married December 30, 1870, to Phoebe C. Axtell, daughter of Sylvester and Catherine C. (Finch) Axtell, who moved to Hardin county from Muscatine county, Iowa, in 1856. Mrs. Hall having been born in that county. As already stated, Mr. Hall began his married life as a renter and continued as such for a period of eighteen years, during which time he saved sufficient means to purchase in 1890 the fine farm in Ellis township on which he lived for twenty years and which under his efficient labors and successful management has been highly improved until it now ranks among the most productive and valuable farms of its size in the county, which as home equipped with the attractions and conveniences calculated to make country life a pleasurable as well as a profitable experience, it certainly is not surpassed by any other place of like area in Ellis township.

Land that cost him five dollars per acre, he recently sold at one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre, and his home farm, for which he paid twenty dollars per acre, could not be purchased at this time for one hundred and fifty dollars per acre, the difference between the two sums indicating not only the rapid rise in the value of Hardin county real estate during the past few years, but the increase in value caused by proper tillage and a fine line of improvements as well.

Mr. Hall’s farm, which includes the southwest quarter of section 25, Ellis township, is situated about nine miles west of Eldora and the same distance south of Iowa Falls, in the midst of one of the finest agricultural districts of Hardin county. The soil is deep and very fertile and under the present excellent system of tillage, it produces abundant crops of wheat, rye, oats, corn, hay, vegetables, fruits, etc., grown in that part of Iowa, while for pasturage it is unexcelled. Like other first class farms in the vicinity, as well as elsewhere throughout the county, its productiveness has been enhanced by tile drainage, of which there has been something in excess of five hundred rods laid, and no means are being spared in extending the tiling, which in due time will reach and materially affect every part of the place. Mr. Hall makes a specialty of no particular crop, but gives his attention to general farming, in which his success has been more than ordinarily gratifying. He is interested quite extensively in live stock, which he finds more remunerative than agriculture alone and by a judicious combination of the two he has achieved his greatest and most gratifying success. While raising a fine strain of Red Polled cattle an other superior breeds, he gives special attention to hogs, which he markets every year in large numbers and at top prices. For some years he favored the Chester White breed, but recently he has been devoting more attention to the Duroc than to other breeds, and his success leads him to believe that for all purposes this breed is unexcelled.

Some years ago Mr. Hall bought a half section of land in North Dakota, with the object of assisting his children when they should leave the parental roof to establish homes of their own; subsequently he purchased an entire section in Stutsman county, that state, a part of which has already been set off as indicated, and in due time the remainder will be utilized as circumstances may require. Mr. Hall is a man of sound, practical intelligence, keely alert to everything relating to his interests and in touch with all that concerns the prosperity and advancement of his county. He manifests commendable zeal in public matters, both local and general, and in politics is a progressive Republican with advanced ideas on the leading questions and issues of the day. Sixteen years ago he was elected a justice of the peace and is the present incumbent of that office; much important business has been brought to his court and his rulings have been so fair and impartial and his decisions so just that few if any of the latter have suffered reversal at the hands of the higher tribunals. In religion he belongs with his wife to the Lincoln Methodist church, in which he has held various offices, including those of class leader, Sunday school superintendent, besides having been a member of the official board ever since it was organized.

Mr. and Mrs. Hall have children as follows: Edith C., wife of W. E. Canham, of Ellis township; Arlo E., of Stutsman county, North Dakota; Oren S. of Marshall, Minnesota; Byron N., who lives near Portland, Oregon; Fred F., of Hardin county; and Pliny H., who lives at home and operates the farm. In addition to the above they have an adoped daughter, Ethel E. Havens, whom they took when a child nine years of age, who is now a young lady with all the privileges and immunities enjoyed by their own offspring. Mr. Hall moved to Iowa Falls in March, 1911, where he now lives.

Chauncy Hardin

Although Chauncy Hardin, one of the worthy pioneers of Hardin county, has long been sleeping the sleep of the just, his influence in the development of this locality continues to work imperceptibly but powerfully, for he did his full share in starting the physical, moral and civic development of the county, being true to the duties of citizenship, faithful to every trust reposed in him and well worthy the high regard in which he was held by all who knew him. Like the one spoken of in Holy Writ, he was �a good man and just,� did much for the cause of religion by ministrations and always exerted a strong influence for good by the blameless character of his every-day life. Heaven bounteously lengthened out his life to an unusual span of years, he having died at Iowa Falls the latter part of 1876, at the age of ninety-two, his long life being due, no doubt, to his wholesome living.

Mr. Hardin was born at Middle Haddam, Connecticut, January 7, 1785. He married Ann Gates at East Haddam, his native state, when about twenty-three years of age, this union resulting in the birth of two sons who afterwards became men of wealth of distinction, Harry and Chauncy, Jr., both of Monmouth, Illinois. In 1808 the family moved to Richfield, Connecticut. And remained there several years. In those early days of the Republic and before the war of 1812, Mr. Hardin was always on the move for a better location. From Connecticut he moved to Otsego county, New York, and there farmed, becoming wealthy, near the classic precincts made immortal by Cooper's writings. Here died his first wife and here he was married to Sallie Martin March 1, 1818. She survived him, and she is described as a woman fleet footed, bright eyed and courageous, like most of the pioneer women of her day, even when she was past eighty years of age being as strong as most women of twenty-five years younger. The fruits of their marriage were four daughters: Anna Gates Hardin, born February 8, 1819, died in April of the same year; Mrs. Mary A. Soule, of Detroit, Michigan; Mrs. S. P. Smith, deceased, formerly of Iowa Falls; Mrs. A. F. Angell, also of Iowa Falls, Iowa.

It was in the year of 1858 that Mr. Hardin moved to Iowa Falls, then a straggling village of a few rude cabins. Here he built a residence or two, which he owned at his death, also several lots. The Methodist Episcopal church found him its most liberal contributor up to his death. He contributed more eagerly to the fund for its rebuilding than any other member, in fact he was long regarded as a pillar in the church. He made a success of his life work, being a hard worker and honest in his dealings with his fellow men. He was known among friends and neighbors as a man who dealt justly, loved mercy and walked humbly before his Master. He has no bad habits, lived long and prospered, and died a serene and happy death.

Mr. Hardin accumulated money and property with no unworthy motive. He acquired his means by honest toil, by dint of saving, honesty and fairly earning every penny. He was a man of strong will, unusual fortitude and obliging; a friend to the needy and distressed, in fact, one of those sterling types not frequently met with.

Alfred C. Harris, pp. 440-442

[bio not yet transcribed]

Isaac S. Harris, pp. 1027-1028

One of the best known and most progressive citizens of Union , Hardin county, is Isaac S. Harris, a man who has succeeded at his chosen life work because he has labored persistently and earnestly along conservative lines. He was born at Salem, Iowa, February 8, 1847, and he is the son of Cornelius and Patience (Pierson) Harris, both natives of the state of North Carolina, who came to Hardin county, Iowa, about 1852 and were first settlers. They spent their lives on a farm, and both died at Bangor , Iowa , he in 1865 and she in 1855. They were Quakers in religious belief. Seven children were born to them. Cornelius Harris was twice married, his second wife being Lydia George, of Iowa . She died in Kansas in 1900. Two children were born of this second union. Three children are living by the first wife, namely: Isaac S. of this review; Maria lives near Whitten, Hardin county; Isom lives in Osceola , Iowa . To the second union Emmons and Will C. Harris, of Burr Oak, Kansas , were born.

Isaac C. Harris [sic] of this review received by a limited education. He was compelled to go between five and six miles to school. He started in life for himself when but a boy sixteen years old. He was one of the patriotic lads of the North who offered his services to the Union , during the great Rebellion, enlisting in February, 1864, in Company C, Forty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was sent to Nashville , Tennessee , and was in the battle there, later took part in numerous skirmishes. He was in the Army of Cumberland, and was sick a great deal during his service of a year and five months. He was discharged in July, 1865, after a faithful service, and returning to Iowa , he worked out near Bangor . He saved his money and later bought a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres south of Union , Iowa , and there made his home for thirty-two years. He made all the improvements on the place and was very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser, and he developed one of the best and richest farms in that locality. In 1908 he bought six hundred and forty acres in Hyde county, South Dakota .

Mr. Harris was married in 1873 to Lorain Humphrey, who was born in Columbiana county, Ohio , in 1855. She was the daughter of J. W. and Lydia (Stockwell) Humphrey, natives of Vermont . They came to Iowa in 1858 and located in Winneshiek county. J. W. Humphrey died October 3, 1898 , at Cresco, Howard county, Iowa . Lydia Humphrey died April 16, 1904 , in Hardin county, Iowa .

Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Harris: Minnie married R. L. Anderson and they live in Union township, this county; Guy, who is farming in Hyde county, South Dakota , married Jenette Ross; Leo, who is farming in Hyde county, South Dakota , married Fannie Meloy; Carl C. is in the regular army, Third Regiment, now stationed at San Francisco, California; Nellie is living at home. Helen died at the age of two years.

Mr. Harris has devoted his life to farming, having started in a small way, but he has achieved a large measure of success through his energy, courage and good management. Politically, he is a Republican and he is a member of the Methodist church and the Grand Army of the Republic. He is well known and has a host of warm personal friends throughout this locality.

Job Harris, pp. 592-595

Specific mention is made of many of the worthy citizens of Hardin county within the pages of this book, citizens who have figured in the growth and development of this favored locality and whose interests are identified with its every phase of progress, each contributing in his sphere of action to the well being of the community in which he resides and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth.   Among this number is Job Harris, one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Providence township, Hardin county.

Mr. Harris was born in 1849 at Winchester, Randolph county, Indiana, and he is the son of Phineas and Esley (Tyser) Harris.  In tracing the ancestry of the Harris family we find that the first of the name in this county emigrated from England to Virginia at an early date.  The first name of which we have record is that of George Bren Harris, who, it is said, lived to be one hundred and ten years of age.   He was born in Virginia and settled in Carteret county, North Carolina, about 1750.   His children consisted of the following named:  Nehemiah, Jesse, Icabod, Jeremiah, stokely, George, Diana and Susie, who married a Mr. Davis; also Pharoba, who married a Mr. Mace.  The ancestors of the Mace family emigrated from Nantucket, Massachusetts, about 1700 on account of prosecution of the Quakers, to which faith they were adherents.  The direct line of descent to Job Harris, of this review, was through Jesse Harris, who was born probably about 1756.  He married Mary Johnson, daughter of Amos Johnson, a native of Virginia, who was born November 23, 1759, and they became the parents of the following children:  Amos, born May 16, 1780; Joseph, born November 17, 1781; David, born December 30, 1783; Anna, born July 31, 1785; Stephen, born Septemer 29, 1787; Simeon, born August 28, 1789; Sarah, born March 26, 1792; Jeremiah and Kesiah, twins, born March 25, 1795; Susanna, born March 5, 1796; Elijah, born March 25, 1798; Josephine, born March 16, 1802.  They were all born in Carteret county, North Carolina.

The first wife of Jesse Harris died about 1815 and about 1820 he married Phoebe Edgerton, of Wayne county, North Carolina.  He was a ship builder by trade and he belonged to the society of Friends, as did also all of his children.   His second wife died about 1832.  He remained in North Carolina until 1843, when he moved to Wayne county, Indiana, where he died soon afterward and he is buried at Dover.  He was eighty-seven years old.  About the year 1832, David Harris, son of Jesse Harris, with his three brothers, Simeon, Zemeriah and Elijah, also two sisters, Anna and Susanna, and two uncles, Stokely and George, all came to Indiana, David, Simeon and Zemeriah and Isaac Mace all settling in Randolph county, about three miles east of Winchester.  David Harris married Mary Mace, daughter of James and Sarah (Small) Mace, and the following children were born to them: James, who married Matilda Pickett in 1841; Sarah who married Joseph Pickett; Job, who married Sarah Paddock, was born May 18, 1819, and died January 26, 1892; Celia married Samuel Perisho; Alice married Benjamin Cox; Cornelius married Patience Pierson; Phineas, father of Job, of this review; Rufus died in infancy.

The death of David Harris occurred in 1855, having been preceded to the grave by his wife in 1848.  They were buried at White River, Indiana.

Phineas Harris, father of the subject, and his wife came from Indiana to Iowa in 1855 and settled in Bangor, Marshall county, where they remained one year, then came to Providence township, Hardin county, and entered a farm in section 9, in 1856.  Here he found primitive conditions, a wild sparsely settled prairie, and here he built a log cabin and developed a splendid farm from the raw land.  He was born April 10, 1825, and his death occurred on October 30, 1862.  His wife died in 1879, at the age of sixty years, five months and two days.  He is buried at Highland and she at Iowa Falls.  They were members of the Friends church.  Their children were named as follows:  William Riley, born May 14, 1843, married Elizabeth Haworth in 1863 and they live in Independence, Kansas; Elizabeth, born May 7, 1844, married Aaron Albertson, on February 18, 1864, and they live in Alden, Iowa; Levi, born February 8, 1846, married Matilda Trueblood in June, 1868, and they live at Moon, South Dakota; Mariah, born November 2, 1847, married Charles Graham, August 13, 1870, and they live in this state; Job, of this review; Ezekiel, born September 10, 1850, married Martha Haworth, September 15, 1880, and they live at Havelin, Kansas; Delana, born January 1, 1852, married George Greenleaf, August 11,1880, and she is now deceased; Delilah, born November 2, 1854, married Joe Graham, September 18, 1870, and she is now deceased; Susanna, who was born January 8, 1858, married Harry Leak, August 4, 1880, and she is now deceased.

Job Harris, of this review, was married on January 10, 1869, to Edith Perisho, daughter of John C. and Fanny (Marsh) Perisho, a highly respected family.   To Mr. and Mrs. Job Harris the following children have been born:  Orin C., born August 3, 1878, died of diptheria October 2, 1881; Mattie Winona, born January 11, 1881, died of diptheria on October 12th following; Phineas J., born November 18, 1882, married Margaret Norman in January, 1909, and they live in Providence township; Ina E., born February 7, 1886, married Ross Mitchell; Verlin C., born April 11, 1888, and Arlo B., born May 14, 1892, are both at home.

John C. Perisho, father of Mrs. Job Harris, was born July 11, 1826, in North Carolina, and his death occurred on July 5, 1884.  He married in Indiana, March 25, 1847.  They came to Iowa and settled in Providence township, in 1855, and here started in life in true pioneer fashion; built a log cabin and here Mr. Perisho followed farming and also his trade of blacksmith.  A short time before his death he moved to LeGrand, Marshall county.  He was a member of the Friends church.  His wife, Fanny Marsh, was the daughter of Elias and Edith Marsh.  She was born June 13, 1827, and her death occurred on December 27, 1873.  The following children were born to them:  Edith S., wife of the subject, was born November 17, 1849; Elias, born March 12, 1853, lives in Providence township; William J., born October 2, 1855, the year the town of New Providence was laid out, lives in the town of Union; Martha Ann, born September 15, 1858, married Joseph Plummer and they live at Monument, Logan county, Kansas; Thomas C., born April 7, 1861, lives in Greenleaf, Idaho; Allen T. B., born February 24, 1855, and Mary S., born March 17, 1866, are both deceased; Jesse, born August 11, 1870, married October 23, 1898; he was a pastor in the Friends church, and his death occurred on March 31, 1904, having been survived by his wife until September 12, 1909; Charles, born October 25, 1873, died October 22, 1881, of diptheria.  John C. married again, his last wife being Bulah Farquhar, and this union resulted in the birth of three children:  Herold, born July 13, 1875, lives in LeGrand, Iowa; May, born December 25, 1876, married Frank King and lives at Minneapolis, Minnesota; Merle, born May 10, 1879, lives at LeGrand, Iowa.

John C. Perisho was the son of  Nathan and Mary Perisho.   They spent the greater part of their lives in Indiana, to which state they came from North Carolina.  He married a second time, his last wife being Sarah Chapel.   By the first union were born Joshua, John, Mary and Martha, and by the second union Catherine, Thomas and Libbie.

Job Harris, of this review, owns a fine and well improved farm in section 4, Providence township, Hardin county, which has brought up to a high state of cultivation.  He is now living practically retired from active work.  He has never been an aspirant for public office, and religiously he is a member of the Friends church, to which his family also belong.  He is held in high esteem by all who know him.

Ole Harris

One of Sherman township agriculturists and stock men who is deserving of a place in this book is Ole Harris, a man of courage, self-reliance and of the utmost integrity of purpose, as a result of which he has, during his entire life, stood high in the estimation of his neighbors and friends whose interests he has sought to promote while endeavoring to advance his own.

Mr. Harris was born on April 18, 1859, in Dodge county, Minnesota, the son of Harris and Tillie Olsen, natives of Tillamarken Norway. There the father grew up , was educated and began life as a farmer, emigrating to America when young and while yet single, first locating in Dane county, Wisconsin, and there married. He began his business career there by renting and which he worked in a manner that gave him a start, so that later he purchased, in Dodge county, Minnesota, one hundred and sixty acres of wild land, which he improved and farmed until 1865. He then moved to Winnebago county, Iowa, where secured land and there lived until his death, his wife having preceded him to the grave. He worked hard and became very comfortably fixed later in life. Politically, he was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Lutheran church. He was twice married, his second wife being Annie Klevenen, a native of Norway. She is living on the old homestead in Winnebago county, Minnesota. The following children were born of the first union: Ole, Annie and Julia, all deceased; Ole died in infancy; Annie became the wife of T. G. Tweed and Julia married Oscar Twita, both business men of Forest City, Iowa; Ole (the second), subject of this sketch; Halvor is farming in Marshall county, Minnesota; Herman is deceased. The following children were by the second union: Dora, who married Christ Anderson, is living in Burly county, North Dakota; Helena, who married Lewis Eikholm, lives in Kossuth county, Iowa; Oscar lives in Winnebago county, Iowa; Nick is farming in Montana; Joseph and Tobies are farming in Winnebago county, Iowa; Julia married Daniel Munson, a farmer of Hardin county.

Ole Harris, of this review, received a limited education in the common schools, and he lived at home until he was twenty-one years of age. In the spring of 1882 he came to Buckeye township, Hardin county, Iowa, and rented land during the first five years of his residence here, then, having gotten a good start, he purchased eighty acres in this township and one hundred and twenty-eight in Ellis township. He prospered through scientific farming and the exercise of good judgment in handling live stock, and added to his original holdings and now owns, in addition, one hundred and twenty-four acres in Tipton township and two hundred acres in Sherman township. His home farm of two hundred acres is one of the best improved in the township, for he has been most vigilant in keeping it up to the standard in every respect. All his land is in a good state of cultivation. He is also the owner of one hundred and seven acres of valuable land in Winnebago county, Iowa. All this has been secured through his unaided efforts and proves that he is a man of innate ability and persistency that does not swerve or halt at obstacles. He has also bought and sold three thousand acres of South Dakota land.

Mr. Harris has been twice married, first, on April 14, 1882, to Helena Anderson, who was born in Fillmore county, Minnesota, the daughter of Knut and Mary Anderson, of Norway. Mrs. Harris’s death occured on February 19, 1892. On June 29, 1894, Mr. Harris was united in marriage with Andrea Hjemdal, of Winnebago county, Iowa, the daughter of O. T. and Annie Hjemdal, the father a native of Tillemarken, Norway, and the mother of Dane county, Wisconsin. The father was eleven years old when he came to America with his parents and settled in Worth county, Iowa, where they improved a good farm and lived there many years. The father also bought land in Worth and Winnebago counties, this state, and is still living in WInnebago county, his wife having died in 1885; but later he married Anna Tweed, a native of Norway. There were two children by his first wife, Andrea, wife of Mr. harris, of this sketch, and Theodore, now deceased. The children by his second marriage were: Almer, deceased; Arthur lives in Winnebago county, Iowa; Oren also lives in that country; Clara is deceased; Clara (the second) lives at home; Almer lives at home.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Harris, of this review, are: A son died in infancy; Maria, who married Andrew Matson, died April 27, 1909, leaving two children, Helen and Lewis; Hilmer is farming his father’s place in Buckeye township; Julia is housekeeper for her brother; Huldah is deceased. The following children were born to Mr. Harris and his second wife: Huldah died in infancy; Hilda, Olga and Olaf.

Mr. Harris is regarded as one of the township’s best farmers, as already intimated. He has long made a specialty of raising Hereford cattle, Morgan and Norman horses and Duroc-Jersey hogs. He is an extensive stock buyer, shipping cattle and hogs to the market. He has a cozy and neatly kept home and a good group of convenient outbuildings. Politically, he is a Republican and has held some of the township offices. He is a member of the Tipton Evangelical Lutheran church.

William H. Haug

One of the best known and most progressive of the German farmers of Sherman township, Hardin county, is William H. Haug, a man who has proved himself to be made of mettle of a sterling quality, for he has not permitted discouraging situations and seemingly insurmountable obstacles to down him, but has pressed forward until he has acquired a competency and at the same time won the respect of his fellow men.

Mr. Haug was born on January 24, 1840, in Lechgau, Germany, and he is the son of George G. and Margaret (Fisher) Haug, both of the locality in which the subject was born. The father was a tailor by trade and there he lived until his death, after which his widow came to America and lived among her children until her death, which occurred at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. They were the parents of the following children: Margaret died in Germany; Dorothy died in Germany; George C., born January 17, 1830, came to America in 1852 or 1853, spending his first winter in Pennsylvania, then went to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, later moving to Hanover, that state, and in 1874 went to Dallas county. He came to Hardin county, Iowa, in 1880, locating in the northeast quarter of section 34, Sherman township, and there remained until his death, in 1900. He married Montana Hohenschild, of Northampton county, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hauck) Hohenschild. He was a stone cutter and contractor. His wife lives in Wisconsin. They had four children: Sylvester F., born May 18, 1860, is a farmer by profession and lives at Radcliffe, this county; he married Ella Sills, a native of Canada, whose death occurred on January 22, 1909. William H. died in 1896. Addie, who married C. W. Butler, lives at Janesville, Wisconsin. Belle, who married George Moore, lives at Greeley, Kansas. Charles P., born in 1832 in Germany, died in the fall of 1902; he came to America in 1870 and located in Hardin county, Iowa, and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 28, Sherman township; this he improved and made a home on; he married Theresa Tarper and they had the following children: C. P., of Stockton, California; Ida lives at Gayton, North Dakota; Amelia is married and lives at Radcliffe, Iowa; William lives at Tropical, California. Fred remained single and died in St. Louis. Frederika married Fritz Bauer and she is now deceased.

William H. Haug was educated in Germany and he mastered English himself after coming to America, which trip was made in 1857 with his mother and the rest of the family, the voyage requiring thirty-seven days. They landed in New York city, later came to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. The subject worked for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad for seventeen years in one shop, the round house. On June 2, 1869, he married Bertha Larsen, of Bergen, Norway, a daughter of Baker and Jensina (Peterson) Larsen. They came to America in 1854, locating first in Illinois, later in Crawford county, Iowa, where they spent the rest of their lives on a farm; they were the parents of seven children, Bertha, Lewis, Albert, Melinda, Josephine, Amos and John.

Five children were born to the subject and wife, namely: Bertha, deceased; Henry and William are at home; Walter G., who runs a restaurant at Radcliffe; Edwin C. lives at Iowa Falls, where he is a barber and also plays in the band.

William H. Haug is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 28, Sherman township. He has all the improvements on the place as they stand today and has been very successful as a general farmer and stock raiser.

Mr. Haug is a Republican and a member of the Lutheran church. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 2749, at Radcliffe, Iowa. He has lived on his present place since 1886 and has soon the country grow to a rich and desirable farming region and has placed well his part in the development of the same.

C. V. Hauser, pp. 934-935

The gentleman whose name heads this article is the son of one of the well known pioneers of Hardin county and a member of a family which has always taken a prominent part in the activities of the communities in which they have lived.  He is the owner of one of the best kept and most fertile farms in Union township, and is one of the solid and substantial men of his neighborhood.

C. V. Hauser is the son of Thomas N. and Nancy Hauser, who are extensively mentioned in this work, and was born on October 29, 1863.  He was married in 1887 to Ada Lundy, the daughter of Daniel and Catherine (Emery) Lundy.  Daniel Lundy is now living at Central City, Nebraska; his wife died in 1869.  They were the parents of three children: Ada was born on March 12, 1866; Rose Minnie, the wife of G. W. Rhodes, a farmer of Marshall county, Iowa, was born on April 4, 1869.  Walter E. died when about six weeks old.

Mr. and Mrs. Hauser are the parents of two children: Lura Katherine, who was born on January 21, 1891, and attended Drake University, married Chester L. Mabie, and lives at Sioux City, Iowa; Walter Emery, who was born on December 7, 1896, is now at home.

Mr. Hauser has given most of his life to farming and has found it both profitable and pleasant.  His farm is a beautiful one in an almost ideal location, and its character is fittingly symbolized by the name which its owner has given to it, "Sunshine Farm."  It is situated on section 14, Union township, and is both literally and figuratively Sunshine Farm, for it no more truly reflects the rays of the king of day than it reflects the sunshine of a happy family life, spent on its broad acres and in its comfortable home.

George Hauser, pp. 661-662

Union township as had no worthier or more highly respected citizens than the Hauser family, which has been identified with its progress from the pioneer days to the present time, its several members working simultaneously for their own advancement and that of the community in general, and they are eminently entitled to a place in this history.

One of the best known of the representatives of this family of the present generation is George Hauser, who was born on the old home place in Union township October 11, 1861.  He is the son of Thomas N. Hauser, one of the early pioneers of 1851, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.  George Hauser grew to maturity on the home farm, where he worked when he became of proper age, and he received a good common school education at Union.

On December 13, 1883, Mr. Hauser was united in marriage with Rose Rodwell, daughter of W. H. and Martha (Williams) Rodwell, an early pioneer family of Hardin county, having come here in 1869, and they are now living in the village of Union.   The reader is referred to a complete sketch of this family on another page of this work.

George Hauser first lived a half mile south of Whitten, where he farmed for twelve years, then moved to his present place in section 23, Union township, where he has continued general farming and stock raising in a manner that stamps him as fully abreast of the times.  He has kept his place well improved and under a high stated of cultivation, and he has a pleasant home and substantial and convenient outbuildings.  He erected a splendid, complete and model creamery in 1904, and he produces the well known and popular brand of "Blue Ribbon" cream, always finding a very ready market for his products.  He is a very busy man and has made a success of whatever he has turned his attention to.  In 1901 he took the rural mail route from Union, which he still carries.  He formerly owned a traction threshing outfit, Mr. Hauser being badly crippled in an accident with the engine, which was incapacitated him for hard work.

Fraternally, Mr. Hauser is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, both of Union, and he and his wife are members of the Christian church and take an interest in the same.

Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hauser, namely: Bruce, Elsie, Pearl, Ross, Wade, Gail and Helen, all at home.

Nelson O. Hauser, pp. 1023-1024

The Hauser family is one of the best known and most highly esteemed of the older families of Hardin county, and many of its members appear in this work.   All who have borne the family name have been men and women who have in all places and at all times fulfilled their duties, and the honor of the family has never been tarnished by unworthiness on the part of its members.  The subject of the present sketch is a prominent and prosperous farmer of Union township, who is respected and esteemed by his neighbors, and whose home and farm are evidences of a competent management.

N. O. Hauser was born on the old Hauser homestead on October 3, 1856, the son of T. N. Hauser, whose sketch see.  He spent his boyhood on the farm.   In 1880 he and his father fenced in section 24, Union township, on which N. O. now lives, and improved the home.  In that year Mr. Hauser was married to Ellen Crider, the daughter of Capt. H. S. Crider, who was a captain in the One Hundred and Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil war.  He moved to Union township, Hardin county, Iowa, in 1875, and, engaging in stock dealing, became well known.  He was twice married, the first time to Elizabeth Weiland, who died in Pennsylvania; the second time to Emma Skinner.  He was the father of ten children, whose names follow:   Kate married D. D. Smith; Jacob married Anna Weaver; Joseph married Sarah Black; Elizabeth married the Rev. J. Quigley; William married Anna Kendig; Jennie is deceased; Ellen married N. O. Hauser; Clementine married B. A. Cramer; Grace married E. B. Arney; Alice is deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. N. O. Hauser are the parents of eight children, five living and three deceased:  Lloyd L. was born in Union township, on November 27, 1882, and educated in the home schools.  He married, on December 19, 1906, Mary Mabie, the daughter of A. J. and Georgiana (Evans) Mabie.  Mr. Mabie is engaged in the coal and grain business in Whitten, Iowa.  Lloyd L. Hauser is the father of one child, Nina G.  He is a general merchant at Whitten, Iowa, a member of the firm of Lyon & Hauser, and is a member of the Odd Fellows at Union, Iowa.  He and his wife are consistent members of the Christian church.  Howard, Ruth, and margie, the younger children of N. O. Hauser, are at home.  Evalena is a teacher in Hardin county.  The deceased children were:  Ona, Raymond and Jennie.

Mr. Hauser has lived a life of usefulness and has found his farm to be a source of both happiness and prosperity.  He is reckoned as one of the solid and substantial citizens of his township.

Thomas N. Hauser, pp. 658-660

Herein is told briefly the life story of one of Hardin county's earliest pioneers, one whose name is prominent among those of early settlers, and whose experience in those days of privation and hardship are as interesting as a romance.   Thomas N. Hauser was the ninth settler to locate in Hardin county, Iowa.  He was a native of North Carolina, born on September 13, 1822, and on August 23, 1844, he was married at the home of William and Hannah Voyles to their daughter, Nancy Voyles.  On December 26, 1850, Mr. Hauser, with his wife and three children, located on section 23, Union township, Hardin county.  He built a small log cabin and moved into it, and Mrs. Hauser stuffed the cracks in the walls with blankets.  She used to carry her infant on her arm and walk half a mile to get water.  Mr. Hauser hauled lumber and grain from Waterloo to supply his necessities.  They made bread from corn and, having no mill, pounded the corn in a hollow stump for a mortar.  Mr. Hauser had brought with him only fifteen dollars in money, and when he obtained three hundred and twenty acres of land from a Mr. Higgins, traded him a horse and wagon and all his money.   Later he bought land from the government at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.  The county was all very wild at his time, and the early settlers must bear the hardships incident to pioneer life.  The Hauser family still keep as a momento the broad ax which Thomas N. Hauser used in hewing the logs for his first house.

Mr. Hauser spent the most of his time on his farm, but was in the grain and lumber business at Union for fifteen years, in which he was successful.   During his lifetime he accummulated a large amount of property.  In politics he was a Republican, and in 1888 was elected representative to the General Assembly from this district, which office he filled acceptably to the people and with honor to himself.   He took part in the building of the first church in Union township, and later in building the first school house.  The Hauser cemetery, which bears his name, was originally given by a man named Smith, but Mr. Hauser donated an addition at the time the Cemetery Association was formed, and the cemetery has since been known as the Hauser cemetery.  Here he was laid to rest after his death, on August 28, 1909, at the age of eighty-seven.  His wife is still living on the home farm.  She was born in Owen county, Indiana, on March 23, 1826.

Mr. and Mrs. Hauser were the parents of ten children:  Elias, born in 1845, was in the one-hundred-days service in the Civil war, and married Harriet Sargent, of Iowa Falls; Sarah Jane was born in 1847; David in 1849; William, deceased, in 1852; Harriett was born on October 15, 1854, and married William Herron, and lived in Plymouth county, Iowa, where he died in 1896, leaving one son, Errol.  William Herron ws formerly sheriff of Plymouth county, Iowa; Errol is now living in Union township, Hardin county, Iowa; Nelson O. was born on October 3, 1856, and married Ella Crider, and is a farmer in Union township; Leonard was born on March 1, 1859, married Anna Hoffman, and is living in Delta, Colorado; George, born on October 11, 1861, married Rose Rodwell, and lives in Union township; Carie V. was born on October 29, 1862, and married Ada Lundy, of Union township; Paulina was born on November 8, 1865, and married T. R. Madole, of Union township; Sarah Jane is the widow of George Lockard, of Whitten, whose sketch see.

Thomas N. Hauser was a man well known in this county.  He was a member of the Christian church and a faithful worker in it all his life.  He was a man greatly devoted to his family, and a rare exception in his determination to see all of his family well situated in life, leaving no stone unturned to make a happy home.  He gave to each of sons a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres when they began life for themselves.  A business man of uncommon sagacity, his judgment was much respencted and he was loved for his personal character.

Sylvester Havens, pp. 965-967

Through his long connection with agricultural interests in one of the most favored sections of the Iowa commonwealth, Sylvester Havens, of Iowa Falls, has not only carefully conducted his farm, but so managed its affairs that he acquired thereby a position among the substantial residents of Hardin township.  Moreover he is entitled to representation in this volume because he is one of the pioneers, having witnessed and taken part in the development of this locality during the past half century, and his mind bears the impress of its early historical annals.

Mr. Havens was born in Wayne county, Indiana, April 7, 1849, and he is the son of James and Hannah (Johnson) Havens, both born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, the father on July 16, 1813, and the mother in 1816, and there they grew up, were educated and married, but came to Indiana early in life, where they lived until 1860, when the family moved to Iowa Falls, Iowa.  Here the father farmed on rented land for three years, then bought a farm in section 10, Hardin townshiip, four miles east of Iowa Falls, which was then scarcely more than a postoffice.  When the family first cme here there were no railroads in this section and the wild prairie stretched unbroken and tenantless for an almost interminable distance on either hand, and the Havens family did most of their trading at Cedar Falls.  In 1870 the elder Havens moved into Iowa Falls, where he spent the remainder of this life.  His family consisted of eleven children, namely:  Elizabeth married C. C. Reece; Lewis lives in Nebraska; Mary is the wife of Cyrus McPherson and they also live in Nebraska; Benjamin lives in Iowa Falls; Ann died in the fall of 1860, when sixteen years of age; William died in infancy; James, Jr., lives in Nebraska; Sylvester, of this review; George W. lives about a mile south of Iowa Falls; Catharine is the wife of O. H. Anderson and lives in Nebraska; Columbus now lives in southern Iowa.

James Havens, father of the above named children, died on April 2, 1887, and his wife's death occurred on June 20, 1897.  He was a Republican and they were both members of the Methodist church.

Sylvester Havens lived on the farm east of Iowa Falls until he reached maturity, in fact remained there for two years after his parents moved to town.   He received a common school education and in 1871 he was united in marriage with Estella J. Vick, daughter of Elias and Mary (Hutton) Vick.  She was born at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and came to Iowa with her parents in 1858, first living in West Liberty, then moved to Benton county, where they remained until 1860, then came to Iowa Falls in the spring of that year.  Her father was a carpenter and builder.  He had a wonderful memory.  He was born and reared in Virginia and his wife was born and reared in Ohio; they were each members of large families.  He was a Republican and his wife was a Quaker by birthright.  She was the daughter of William and Hannah (Burden) Hutton, the former having been the son of John and Massey Hutton.  Massey (Marshall) Hutton was the daughter of William and Mary (Fell) Marshall, both born in 1748 and both died in 1828.  The death of Elias Vick occurred on July 17, 1905, within about ten days of his nintieth birthday, his death being sudden and unexpected.  His wife had preceded him to the grave in 1893.  They were the parents of two children, Estella J., wife of Mr. Havens, of this review, and Deborah, wife of George Pyle, of Iowa Falls.

In the spring of 1873 Mr. and Mrs. Havens moved to a farm northwest of Iowa Falls that was owned by Mrs. Haven's father, and they lived there eight years.   In the fall of 1880 Mr. Havens bought the farm east of Iowa Falls, which was owned by his father, and in the spring of 1881 he and his wife moved thereto and subsequent years saw them prosper through close application and good management.  In the summer of 1910 Mr. Havens built a large, modern and attractive dwelling in Iowa Falls.  It is of hardwood finish and equipped with all up-to-date conveniences.  He now spends his winters in town, but when spring comes he and his wife retrn to the farm, but still spend their Sundays in town.  He has been very successful in his business affairs, for which he is deserving of a great deal of credit, for when he first started out for himself he worked all summer for a horse.  He then went in debt for another horse and a wagon and harness; he borrowed tools with which to farm.  By hard work, trading, renting ground and close economy he was enabled to buy his first farm, one hundred and sixty acres, in 1880.  About seven years later he bought another eighty, adjoining his original purchase on the west.  In 1907 he bought another quarter section, making four hundred acres of as fine farming land as Hardin county affords, and this he still owns.  He has carried on general farming and stock raising on an extensive scale for years, making a specialty of raising short-horn and Polled-Angus cattle; but his main business has been buying and feeding cattle, which he ships to the Chicago market.

Mr. and Mrs. Havens have two children, Harry H., born July 19, 1877, and Fred F., born December 1, 1883.  The elder son married Lizzie Warn, whose death occurred on March 4, 1905, and he now makes his home with his parents.  The younger son married Louisa Butler, and they have one child, Gladys L. Havens.

The keynote of Mr. Haven's character seems to have ever been progress and patriotism, for, as already intimated, throughout his career he has labored for the improvement of every line of business or public interest with which he has been in any way associated or interested and he is one of the substantial and most representative of Hardin county citizens, admired and respected by all.

Andrew Jackson Hayden, pp. 880-882

The name of Andrew Jackson Hayden, of Jackson township, Hardin county, is too well known in this locality to need any introduction to the readers of this history; it is a name that has long been honored here, for it has stood for progress in agricultural, public improvement and cleanliness in social life.

Mr. Hayden was born on the old Hayden homestead in this township, May 30, 1856.  He is the son of Wallen Hayden, who settled in Jackson township in 1854 among the pioneers.  He was born in Pennsylvania, May 9, 1826, and was the son of Nathaniel and Margaret (Miller) Hayden, both natives of Pennsylvania.  In 1831 they settled in Ohio, where their son, Wallen, was reared on a farm.  In 1851 he married Rebecca Swearingen, and in 1854, in company with Benjamin Hayden and family, started west to find a new home, loading their worldly goods on wagons, May 31, 1854, and beginning their long journey, which was not finished until July 12th following, on which date they landed in Hardin City, Hardin county, Iowa, where they stopped a few days, then went on to Homer, Hamilton county, where Mr. Hayden left his wife, and he took a stage-coach, the first trip of the same, to Fort Dodge, Iowa.  Benjamin Hayden located in Hamilton county, but the land did not suit Wallen, who returned to Hardin county and soon located in the northwest quarter of section 25, Jackson township, where he established a home.  He had about one thousand dollars when he arrived here; his land cost him four hundred dollars.  Before coming west Mr. Hayden met with an accident, having one of his legs crippled very badly in a runaway, and he was compelled to use a crutch the rest of his life, but notwithstanding his handicap he forged to the front, putting up a shanty and planted a crop, with the assistance of a boy.  He prospered by reason of good management and became the owner of a large tract of land, and he he became influential in his community.  He was a Republican and held several local offices.  He was a Free-Will Baptist and a man highly respected by all.  His family consisted of the following children:  Maggie married A. H. Doud, and moved to Otego, Jewell county, Kansas; Essie married J. T. Platts, and moved to Webster City, Iowa; Andrew J., of this review; Elva is single and is farming on the old place; Gerry is farming in Jackson township, this county; William is single and is farming on the old place; Artie married Winthrop Wilson, and lives in Iowa Falls; Ada L. is the wife of George Cross, of Jackson township, this county; Myrtie married A. G. Sanford, and she died in August, 1905.

Andrew J. Hayden received a good common school education and he lived at home until he was twenty-three years of age, when he located in section 26, Jackson township, and he has spent his life in his home community.  On May 23, 1880, he married Addie J. Perkins, who was born in Eldora, Iowa, where the Winchester hotel now stands.  She was born June 1, 1865; and is the daughter of John and Sarah (Platt) Perkins, both being natives of Ripley, Derbyshire, England.  He came to America when twenty-one years old and located at Freeport, Illinois.  His wife was the widow of Henry Platt, of England.  He died in Wisconsin.  Her maiden name was Sarah Parks, and she was the daugher of WIlliam and Sarah (Redfern) Parks, of England.  They came to America in 1850 and located near Janesville, Wisconsin, where he farmed, then came to Eldora, Iowa, in 1856, where they spent the rest of their lives.  John Perkins married first, in England, Harriet Platts, whose death occurred in Freeport, Illinois, of Cholera, during the epidemic in 1850.  Three children were born to this union, one of whom is now living, Sarah Ellen.  His second wife had two sons by her first marriage, Henry A. and James Thomas.  Eight children were born to John Perkins and his second wife, namely:  Herminia M. married A. L. Perkins, of Eldora, Iowa; John W. is farming in Jackson township; Addie J., wife of the subject; Fred E., deceased; Oscar E. is farming in Independence, Iowa; Granville is a carpenter at Eldora, Iowa; Elenora married Robert Alberry, of Eldora, Iowa; Susan died in early life.

John Perkins came to Eldora, Iowa, in 1856, where he worked at his trade of shoemaking for several years, having settled a mile and half north of that place.  The last three years of his life he lived with the subject and wife, his death occurring on January 29, 1910, his wife having passed to her rest on January 10, 1897.  She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.  He was a Democrat.

After their marriage Andrew J. Hayden and wife bought their present place in section 27, Jackson township, consisting of one hundred and twenty acres; they also own eighty acres in section 26.  This land has been well improved and well kept.  They built their present commodious and attractive home in 1905, the substantial barn having been built in 1898.  My Hayden also owns one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land in Lamb county, Texas.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hayden, namely: Odessa married, in 1905, George Latch, of Ackley, Iowa, and they are the parents of one child, Harold V.; Inez M. married Lewis Latch, of Jackson township, and they have two children, Bennie M. and Harry; Clara A. married Ernest Frisbie, of Eldora township, this county, and they have one child, Kenneth M.; Lee Grant is living at home; Clifford F. and Lester M. are also at home.

Mr. Hayden is a breeder of thoroughbred horses, Hamiltonian stock, and he is well known as a horseman, being the owner of a number of fine specimens, including "Kereri," 32109, bay stallion, foaled in 1899, record of 2:15, trotting on a half mile track; "Van Dresser," 49676, dark bay stallion, of Lexington, Kentucky, foaled 1907.  "Lou Warren," sorrel mare; "Lady Kreso," bay mare; "Beaver Valley Girl," brown mare; "St. Athens," by mare; "Countess Lovelace," bay mare; "Fluta R.," chestnut mare.  He has in all, at this writing, forty head of fine horses, and he has been a breeder of fine horses for the past twenty years.  He also keeps from thirty to thirty-five head of Durham cattle, and many Jersey Red hogs.

Politically, Mr. Hayden is a Republican, and he has been school director and treasurer of his district for many years.  He is a member of the Methodist church at Berlin and a liberal supporter of the same.  He has long been influential in his community and he has the good will and respect of all who know him, owing to his honest dealings in all the relations of life and his genial personality.

Elijah Hayden, pp. 627-629

A man of strong and upright character, an honorable and useful citizen, who has been long a resident of his community, and who is therefore familiar with its history, a member of a family which has borne a prominent and influential part in the affairs of Eldora and vicinity, as is narrated in this review, Elijah is the fitting subject of mention in a history of Hardin county.

Elijah Hayden was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, on August 1, 1830, the son of George and Perseny Hayden, both of whom were born in Allegheny county.  When Elijah was one year old his parents removed to Elkhart county, Indiana, in November, 1831.  George Hayden was a cooper and millwright and followed his trade at the village of Benton, southeast of Goshen, the county seat, until 1852, his son Elijah also learning the cooper's trade.  In 1852, crossing the Mississippi at Davenport on November 8th, George Hayden and his entire family came to Cedar county, Iowa, and in 1854 to Hardin county.  On September 20, 1854, they reached Eldora, which was a village of but seven small houses, while Hardin City has about forty.  George had a relative, Lewis Hayden, who had laid out the latter place, and was living there and operating a small corn-cracking mill.  Lewis Hayden later, in 1862, left Hardin City, and died in Fremont county, Colorado, on January 26, 1893.  George and Elijah built a mill for Lewis, and put in corn buhrs, which they had brought from Cedar county.  In 1856 George Hayden, in company with Wallow Hayden, a well known character, built a flour mill also for Lewis Hayden, the first in Hardin county.  People came for one hundred miles around to this mill.  Elijah helped in the building of this mill, working for Lewis Hayden, and his father and Mike Ackerman operated the mill three years for Lewis, until he left the county.  Ed Hiller bought the mill from Lewis Hayden, which burned down shortly after his purchase, and George Hayden, who worked regularly as a carpenter when not employed in the mill, rebuilt it, and also built mills for Hiller at Parkersburg, Iowa, Shell Rock, Iowa, and Cherokee, Iowa.  George Hayden had made his home on a farm near Hardin City, and there he spent his hold age dying on June 20, 1881.  He was born in 1807, so was in his seventy-fourth year.  His wife died on September 28, 1882, aged seventy-one.  George Hayden was a Baptist, and a man of strong Christian character, who brought up his children in the best of religious training.  For forty years he was a deacon in the church at Hardin City, or East End, or Eldora, of which congregations he was successively a member, and all his family had been connected with the Baptist church.  He was a man most highly esteemed by those who knew him.

Mr. and Mrs. George Hayden were the parents of eight children, five of whom are living: Elijah, Zarah G., now of Eldora, a farmer, unmarried; Abissa Ann, the wife of Charles C. Culm, a retired farmer of Eldora; Mary E., of Eldora, the widow of William F. Lord, who died in Eldora in July, 1904; and Perseny, a maiden lady, living with her brothers Elijah and Zarah, neither of whom have ever married.

After helping in the building of the flour mill in 1856 for Lewis Hayden, Elijah Hayden engaged in the nursery business for four years, and supplied trees for many orchards all over Hardin county.  On August 11, 1862, he enlisted in Company F, Thirty-second Iowa Infantry, and served eighteen months, receiving his discharge at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, on November 16, 1863, on account of disability caused from measles, which kept him in the hospital about nine months as a nurse.

On his return from the army Mr. Hayden went to the farm, and he and his brother have since carried on farming, one sister remaining with them, the others marrying young.  They were careful and hard-working farmers, devoting to their work the most of their energies, and never seeking public life, but finding both enjoyment and pecuniary profit in farming.  In 1903 they sold the farm, which contained two hundred and forty-three acres, and, coming to Eldora, themselves built their present home, Zarah being a carpenter.  Elijah Hayden is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and both the brothers and their sister Parseny are members of the Baptist church.  Mr. Hayden is a true Christian, and a man of remarkably clean character.  He can truthfully say that in the course of his life he has never smoked a cigar or tasted a glass of beer.

John J. Hein, pp. 877-878

The life of a man like J. J. Hein cannot help resulting in an incalculable amount of good to the general public, and Hardin county has been benefited in no small measure by his long residence here, for his life has been one of honest endeavor along legitimate and conservative lines.

Mr. Hein is a Buckeye by birth, having been born in Miltonsburg, Monroe county, Ohio, November 26, 1849, and he is the son of John and Elizabeth (Pepple) Hein, natives of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, from which country they emigrated to America when young, located in Monroe county, Ohio, and married there, and there they spent the rest of their active lives, he working at the blacksmith's trade, his death occurring in 1900 at the age of seventy-five years; the mother is still living, making her home in Belmont county, Ohio, and she is now eighty-three years old.  She is a member of the Lutheran church, as was also Mr. Hein.  He was a highly respected citizen, his character being above reproach.  Their family consisted of six children, three of whom are living, namely: Elizabeth is deceased; J. J., of this review; Christina married Lon Stewart, of Belmont county, Ohio; William and Kate are deceased; Annie married Ed. Griffeth and they live in Belmont county, Ohio.

John J. Hein received his education in the old-time log school house in Ohio, and when a small boy he started to learn the blacksmith's trade with his father, continuing the same until he was twenty years old, when he went to work with an uncle, Baltzer Hein, at Woodsfriend, Ohio, where he remained three years, then went to East Liberty, Pennsylvania.  He worked three months in the Pennsylvania car shops, also worked at Pittsburg, then returned to Ohio and worked with an uncle.  later he went to Rossville, Illinois, and there he was married, on January 31, 1879, to Emma M. Hollenberg, of Greenbush, that state, the daughter of Louis and Charlotte (Brown) Hollenberg, both natives of Westphalia, Germany.  Louis Hollenberg came to America about 1847 and in 1850 brought his family here and settled at Greenbush, Illinois.  He was a cabinetmaker by trade and later bought a farm.  His death occurred in 1905, at the age of seventy-nine years, his wife having died in 1879, when fifty-four years old.  They were members of the Evangelical church.  There were four children in their family, two of whom are now living, Lewis, a retired farmer at Corvallis, Oregon; Emma M., wife of the subject; two sons died in infancy.

The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hein: Minnie C is at home; Elsie E. married Fred Voll, a farmer of Concord township, Hardin county, and they have two children, Laura and Pearl; Elmer Ray, who lives at home, is bookkeeper in the State Bank at Hubbard, Iowa; Vernell L. is at home; J. Warner is at home.  All these children received good educations in the public schools.  Elmer attended high school at Hubbard, later Highland Park College at Des Moines, and the Teachers' Institute at Cedar Rapids one year.  For some time he worked as a stenographer at Waterloo, Iowa, for the Chicago, Rock Island railroad.  Since April, 1910, he has been in the employ of the State Bank at Hubbard, as before indicated.

In the spring of 1882 John J. Hein came to Hardin county, Iowa, and located on one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in section 1, Concord township.  He had purchased this land two years previously.  It was wild and without improvements.  In the fall of 1882 he brought his family to this county, and he made all the improvements on the place and in due course of time established a good home.  He devoted special attention to raising short-horn cattle, Poland-China hogs and draft horses and he laid by a competency by reason of hard work and good management.

Politically, Mr. Hein is a Democrat and he has held a number of township offices, always to his credit and to the satisfaction of all.  He attends the Congregational church.  He has traveled a great deal, he and his wife having spent two years at Santa Ana and Long Beach, California.  They retired from active life in 1905 and moved to Hubbard, Iowa, where they have a fine, modern, well furnished home and pleasant surroundings.

Christ Heinzeroth, pp. 478-479

Many young men have come to the United States from Germany who have built up fortunes or at least became the possessors of good homes and competencies large enough to insure their old age from want.  Most of them had nothing to start with, but, being persons of good common sense and no small degree of tact and industry, they have seized such opportunities as as presented themselves and, step by step, climbed the ladder to prosperity.  They become excellent citizens, attending, as a rule, strictly to their individual affairs, but while advancing their own interests they do not neglect their larger duties as citizens.  One of this worthy number is Christ Heinzeroth, one of the leading and prosperous farmers of Alden township, Hardin county, who was born in Hessen-Nassau, Germany, June 24, 1864.  He is the son of Christ and Dorotha (Lohrburnt) Heinzeroth, both natives of the above named place.  The father of the subject was a farmer, spent his early life in Germany, emigrating to America in 1872 and settled in Ottawa county, Ohio, where he got a farm and spent the rest of his life, dying in 1907, having become very well established in the new world.  His widow is still living, making her home with her son, Christ, of this sketch.  This family consisted of five children, namely: Dorothy, deceased; Marcia lives in Franklin county, Iowa; Christ, of this review; John is farming in Alden township, this county; Lizzie also lives in Alden township.

Christ Heinzeroth, of this review, received a good education in the German schools, and is self-taught in English.  He started in life for himself in 1887 and soon had a very good start.  He was married in 1899 to Barbara Kranz, of Sandusky, Ohio, and this union has resulted in the birth of five children, namely: John, Paul, George, Bertha and Christena.

In 1886 Mr. Heinzeroth came to Hardin county, Iowa, locating in Hardin township, later moved to Alden township, where he is now the owner of one of the choice and valuable farms of this part of the county, consisting of two hundred and forty acres.  This he has placed under a high state of improvement and cultivation, which yields abundant crops from year to year under his skilled management.  He built a substantial and pleasant home in 1899 and a large and convenient barn in 1906.  He has erected in all eleven buildings on the place.  Everything about him indicates thrift and prosperity and shows exceptionally good management.  No small part of his annual income is derived from live stock, of which he is a good judge, making a specialty of short-horn cattle, Poland China hogs, besides a good grade of horses and other stock.  

Mr. Heinzeroth is a Republican, but he has never been an aspirant for public office.  He belongs to the German Lutheran church at Alden.  Considering what he has accomplished by his own persistent efforts and honest dealings, Mr. Heinzeroth is certainly deserving of much credit.

Morgan Hensley

Among the thriving agriculturists and stock men of Hardin county Morgan Hensley has been especially conspicuous for many years. Few men of his experience have achieved such marked results, none occupy a more prominent place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow men, and it is safe to presume that his example and influence have done as much to promote the general interests of the locality as any other agency in the vicinity of Iowa Falls, where he maintains his beautiful home.

Mr. Hensley was born in Jeffersonville, Fayette county, Ohio, November 1, 1850. He is the son of J. J. and Martha J. (Popejoy) Hensley. Her father, Edward Popejoy, was born in Scotland and her mother, Martha (Maguire) Popejoy, was born in Ireland. In 1855, when the subject was five years old, the family came to Hardin county, Iowa, and settled a little north of Alden. The country looked so rough that three years later the father decided to move near Des Moines, where he bought a farm and resided there the rest of his life, becoming very comfortably established and well known, highly respected by all. Just after the close of the Civil war, the son Morgan, of this review, came to live with his mother’s brother, J. I. Popejoy, one of the early residents of this part of Iowa, located about eleven miles northwest of Iowa Falls, his farm being divided by the county line, part in Hardin and part in Franklin county. He was a prominent man, a successful farmer and handled stock extensively. The subject lived with him until 1875. He was then employed by L. F. Wisner as foreman of his large farm, then comprising about four thousand and four hundred acres. He remained with Mr. Wisner about four years, overseeing the whole farm, hiring help, attending to rents and managing the hands.

On September 23, 1876, Mr. Hensley was married, about a year after going to the Wisner estate, to Mary E. Caraway, of Alden. She is the daughter of Robert and Martha Caraway. After leaving the Wisner farm Mr. Hensley began buying and shipping live stock, which he continued until 1893. In the spring of that year he moved onto a farm which they owned, consisting of two hundred and forty acres, three miles north of Iowa Falls, and he lived there until 1906, then moved back into Iowa Falls, where he now resides, owning twenty acres of very valuable land on which stands a modern, commodious and attractive residence, at the northwest edge of town. He still continues dealing in live stock, buying and selling more live stock than any other man in the northern part of Hardin county, having taken in and paid out more money in that line than any other man in this part of the county, and, being an excellent judge of all kinds of stock, he has met with almost uniform success. He came from a family of stock men on both sides of the house.

Politically, Mr. Hensley is a Republican and has been active in party affairs for some time. He was assessor of his township for four years while on the farm, and resigned from the third term when he moved back to Iowa Falls the last time.

Three children constitute Mr. Hensley’s family, namely: Lyman F., who married Tillie Smallridge, of Iowa Falls, is fireman on the Short Line railroad and lives at Des Moines; Morgan W., who married Maud A. Santee, a daughter of Robert Santee and a native of Pennsylvania, lives at Rowan, Iowa, on a stock farm; he and his wife have three children, Estell, Burmah and Murl. Ina Elizabeth Hensley married James K. Santee, brother of Morgan’s wife. They live at Exira, Iowa, on a large stock farm, and have three children, two sons and a daughter, Caroline, Laverne and Kenneth.

Fraternally, Mr. Hensley has been a Mason for many years, belonging to Lodge No. 192 at Iowa Falls, he having been among the earliest members here. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. Hensley’s first wife died on January 1, 1877, and in November, 1879, he married Carrie Slocum, daughter of J. W. and Carrie (Wood) Slocum, and the above named children were born of this marriage. The wife and mother passed away in September, 1889, and on January 21, 1892, Mr. Hensley was united in marriage with Mrs. Eleanor Clark, daughter of James and Mary (Savage) Roache. Her father was born in England and Mrs. Hensley was born near Montreal, Canada. She was the widow of Levi Clark, who died of disabilities incurred during his service in the Civil war.

Personally, Mr. Hensley is an obliging, pleasant gentleman, industrious and everybody speaks in the best terms of him.

James Madison Higginbotham, pp. 507-509

The early impressions of James Madison Higginbotham, of the leading agriculturists and stock men of Clay township, Hardin county, were gained on the wild prairies or in the primeval woods of the pioneer period of our country and he now tells many interesting stories of those eventful times, for he is one of the early settlers of Hardin county and has taken part in its development at all stages, and it is to such sturdy spirits as he that she owes her present-day advancement and prosperity. Like many of the leasing families of this section of the state, the Higginbothams hail from the old Buckeye state, the immediate subject of this sketch having been born near Xenia, in Greene county, Ohio, on July 25, 1841, and he is the son of John W. and Jane Elizabeth (January) Higginbotham, the father of English descent and the mother of French extraction. The father was born on January 28, 1821, devoted his life to farming, became influential in his community, and his death occurred on July 27, 1894. His father, James Higginbotham, was a native of Virginia, born there in 1792. He married Susan Chapman, a native of Kentucky, whose death occurred on June 29, 1859, at the age of seventy-two years. Grandfather Higginbotham was a soldier in the war of 1812. His death occurred on July 23, 1871.

The paternal grandparents and parents of James M. Higginbotham of this review, emigrated from Greene county, Ohio, to Hardin county, Iowa, in 1856, making the long overland trip in wagons over rough roads and across unabridged streams. They began life here in typical pioneer fashion and underwent the hardships incident to the lives of first settlers, but in due course of time they had a good farm developed and a good home established, and from that time to this, the family has been well known and highly respected in this locality.

The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John W. Higginbotham, parents of the subject, all born in Greene county, Ohio : Joseph H., born April 10, 1840, is living in Hardin county; James M., of this review; Sallie M., born October 30, 1842, died September 22, 1843; Robert M., born February 7, 1844, is living in Eldora, Iowa; Mary E. is the wife of Zebulon Jones, now living in Jackson township, this county; she was born February 15, 1846; William H., born May 20, 1847, died in Colorado on April 12, 1883; Amanda J., born June 11, 1849, married William Wright, and her death occurred on December 31, 1907; Susan M., born February 7, 1851, first married Jason Pickett, and later Capt. A. E. Webb, both these gentlemen being now deceased; she is living in Aitkin, Minnesota; Florence J., born October 14, 1854, married George A. Link, and her death occurred on December 2, 1873.

James M. Higginbotham of this review was fifteen years of age when he accompanied the family to Hardin county. He early in life knew the meaning of hard work, for he helped clear up and place under cultivation the farm here in the raw land; but he had an opportunity to get a fairly good education which he improved, and he began life for himself by teaching school for some time, but farming, offering the greater inducements, soon claimed him again and this has been his chief life work; he is the owner of a well improved and productive farm of one hundred and six acres, under an excellent state of cultivation and on which stand a substantial and pleasant home and good outbuildings. Stock raising has formed a large part of his life work and he always keeps an excellent grade. He has now turned the active operation of the farm over to his two sons, and is practically retired from active labor.

Mr. Higginbotham was married in 1864 to Sarah Jane Rhodes, daughter of Peachy Rhodes, a native Virginia who emigrated to Hardin county, Iowa, in 1856 and became on of the worthy citizens of the community.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Higginbotham: A. E., born February 19, 1865, lives in Kingsley, Iowa; H. W., born August 29, 1868; Edith A., born July 3, 1870, married Richard Lawrence, of Union, Iowa; Eva M., born May 20, 1874, is the wife of Ezra A. Albertson, of Alden, Iowa.

Politically, Mr. Higginbotham is a Democrat and has been more or less active in local affairs and is now serving as township assessor. He and his family attend the Christian church.

The subject's maternal grandmother, whose maiden name was Wadman, came from England on a sailboat, being six weeks on the water.

Ernest Hilker, pp. 422-424

This land of ours owes a debt of gratitude to the stalwart and hardy European races whose sons have come in large numbers, especially during the past half century, where there was a crying need of fearless men to assist in the work of winning and developing the Western states from their primitive wildness.  The people of Germany have formed a large continent and have ever been most welcome owing to their willingness to give their best efforts to this work, being, almost without exception, industrious and law-abiding, willing to upbuild and support our institutions and, while holding in grateful remembrance the Fatherland, yet at the same time cherishing the Stars and Stripes.  In their ranks were numbered Ernest Hilker, one of Hubbard's best known business men and one of Hardin county's highly respected citizens.

Mr. Hilker was born in the province of Dieppe-Detmold, Germany, in 1854.  He is the son of Christopher and Caroline Hilker.  He grew to manhood in a small village and engaged in farm work as a boy, farming and attending school during his youth, and he continued to till the soil in his native land until he emigrated to America in 1880, coming at once to Hardin county, Iowa, and bought eighty acres of wild prairie land in Grant township for which he paid eight dollars per acre.  After working on this one year, he bought forty-seven acres more, then an eighty-acre tract, making him a splendid farm of two hundred and seven acres.  He worked hard and managed well and in due course of time had a good farm and a comfortable home.  After living there about six years, he moved to the town of Hubbard and dealt in horses for about four years.  About 1890 he bought out J. Neumons in the general merchandise business, which he continued to conduct himself to the present time, enjoying an ever-increasing patronage and a satisfctory business, building up the same with the surrounding locality through his tact in keeping what the people desired and in fair and courteous dealing with them, consequently he has the confidence and good will of all who know him and is one of the leading citizens of the southern half of the county.  He has a large, neat and convenient store and, with possibly one exception, he has been engaged in business in Hubbard longer than anyone else.  He owns the building in which his up-to-date stock of goods is housed, besides a modern and attractive residence, also owns five farms of one hundred and sixty acres each.  Thus he has been very successful in a business way, this, too, by his rare ability and foresight.  However, being unassuming and modest by nature, he does not think he has done anything out of the ordinary in the business world; he attributes his success, very largely, to persistent application and unswerving energy.  He has not permitted obstacles and misfortunes, which confront everyone, to thwart his purpose.  He is conservative, weighs every problem carefully and then goes forward in a prudent, cautious manner to the end desired.

Fraternally, Mr. Hilker was a member of the Knights of Pythias until the local lodge surrendered its charter, and he now belongs to the Modern Woodmen.  He and his wife are faithful members and liberal supporters of the Zion Evangelical church at Hubbard.

Mr. Hilker was united in marriage in 1882 with Lena Bollmeier, a native of the same locality in Germany from which he came.  There she grew to maturity and was educated, emigrating to the United States about 1876, locating first in Wisconsin, then went to Minnesota, and from there to Eldora, Hardin county, Iowa, where she continued to reside until her marriage.  She is a woman of many praiseworthy attributes of head and heart, which, like Mr. Hilker, render her popular with a wide circle of friends.

Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hilker, namely:  Lillie, who is the wife of Charley Lightfield, of Buckeye, and they have one son, Clarence; Hugo is in the store with his father, as is also Rosa; Emma married Matt Wasson and lives on a farm near Lawn Hill; Hulda is in Chicago attending an art institute; Elsa is at home attending school.

Arthur P. Hillhouse, pp. 560-562

[bio not yet transcribed]

Zeno K. Hoag, pp. 396-400

He to whom this sketch is dedicated is a member of one of the old and most highly honored pioneer families whose name is inseparably linked with the history of Hardin county, and he has personally lived up to the full tension of the primitive days when here was initiated the march of civilization in which he has played a conspicuous role, performing his every duty with a fidelity and unselfishness that has earned for him not only material success, but also the high esteem of all classes, and no man is better known, more influential or held in higher favor in the northern part of the county than he, so that there is peculiar interest attached to his career.  Iowa Falls and vicinity owe much of their development to him, for he has always been active in promoting whatever tended toward their upbuilding, being a man of broad and liberal ideas, charitable, generous and obliging.

Zeno K. Hoag is the scion of a sterling old New England family, and he himself was born in New Hampshire, having first seen the light of day in Wolfboro, October 10, 1842.  He is the son of Lindley Murray and Huldah (Varney) Hoag.   The family is of Welsh descent and have been worthy American citizens for many generations.

Rev. Lindley Murray Hoag was the son of Joseph and Huldah Hoag, and he was born in Charlotte, Virginia, September 29, 1808.  His parents were early settlers in that part of the state and had to endure many of the privations and hardships incident to pioneer life, consequently they could not give to their children, eight in number, all the educational advantages that they desired.  They were both ministers of the gospel, Joseph Hoag being prominent in the affairs of the Friends church in Vermont, traveled extensively, and was absent from his home more than half the time for twenty years.  He was a member of the famous "underground railroad" system while living in Vermont and he held many slaves to escape.  Lindley M. Hoag's early training devolved prinicipally upon his mother, and he bore witness to her faithfulness to this trust.  He learned to read at a very early age and, other books being scarce, he became a great Bible student, so that it could be said of him as of Timothy, "He knew the Scriptures from a child."  He was recorded a minister of the gospel, of the society of Friends, in his twenty-first year, and became one of their most famous preachers.  His preaching was remarkably in accordance with the injunction of the apostle, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God."  So copious were his quotations from the Bible and from doctrinal authors, and so just and illustrative his application, that some who hard [sic] him queried, "How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?"  In his twenty-first and twenty-second years he traveled, as an evangelist, in the state of New York, in the New England states, lower Canada and some of the adjacent Atlantic islands.  In 1831 he located on a farm at Wolfboro, New Hampshire, and soon afterwards married Huldah B. Varney, of that place.   She possessed a conspicuous and lucid mind, a vivacious and amiable disposition, combined with engaging manners.  Their married life was a very happy one.  Four children were born to them, three of whom are living.  The oldest, Mrs. Hannah H. Liggett, lived in New York; she was widely known and conspicuous as a minister and evangelist and temperance worker, and lived a beautiful life, gaining the love and esteem of very many people; he death occurred in January, 1910, at Batavia, New York.  Zeno K. Hoag, the immediate subject of this sketch; and Joseph L. Hoag, who was second in order of birth.  The last named came to Iowa Falls, Iowa, in the fall of 1855 with his father.  The first year or two he engaged in the fur business, then turned his attention to farming a few years, and in 1873 he and Doctor Foster engaged in the drug business a year, and were getting a good start when, in 1874, the town, with the exception of the postoffice building, was burned up.  He and the Doctor were burned out, but rebuilt and continued in the drug business until 1877, after which Mr. Hoag continued that same business alone until in the nineties, when he sold out and moved to California on account of failing health, and his death occurred in that state in 1902.  Joseph L. Hoag was a very prominent Mason and he was a member of the council of the city of Iowa Falls for a number of years.  He married Emma Frost, a native of New Hampshire, and two children were born to them, one dying in infancy; the other, now Mrs. Bertha Harrington, resides with her mother in California.

After his marriage, Rev. Lindley M. Hoag, father of the subject, was, as the apostle exhorts, "Diligent in business and fervent in spirit," working on his farm to provide things comfortable for his family and still faithful to the calls of his Master.  He visited the churches of his own denomination and held public meetings in the towns and many of the cities of New England, New York, and some of the Middle, Western and Southern states.  His wife passed to her reward in 1843.   She also was a minister, highly esteemed in the church and society for both her Christian and native graces.  Soon after this bereavement Rev. Mr. Hoag visited Europe, preaching in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and Switzerland, preaching before several European monarches.  Upon his return he produced to the church abundant testimonials to the appreciation of the value of his labors from those amongst whom he traveled.  He was absent about three years, and, as Paul resumed his occupation of "tent-maker," so did Rev. Mr. Hoag again grasp the handles of the plow, on the banks of Lake Winnipissiogee, and he could say, like the apostle, "Mine own hands have ministered to my necessities, and to the wants of those dependent upon me."  In 1853 he re-visited Great Britain, also Norway and Denmark, where he found many seeking to know the truth, and he was absent on his trip about a year.   Soon after his return he sold his property in New Hampshire, and in the summer of 1854 came to Iowa and bought land in Hardin and Marshall counties and returned to New Hampshire.  For a time he conducted a store in New York, but he handled no goods except those produced by free labor, no slave products bing accepted or sold.  In the spring of 1855 he came again to Iowa, and was married to Anna C. Darlington, of Muscatine, this state, and with her he came to Hardin county in November of that year.  One child, Ella Hoag, was born to this union, who became an accomplished teacher.

Lindley M. Hoag was one of the proprietors of the village of Rocksylvania, living on a farm adjoining.  During the remaining twenty-five years of his active and useful life he was often engaged, with others, in organizing churches of his own denomination in different parts of the state, spending much of his time away from home in missionary work, in the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana and some parts of New England, Canada, New York, Kansas and Missouri.  He was a life-long friend of the slave and the Indian.  He was first a Whig, later a Republican.   As a citizen he was ever ready to do his part to promote the interests of the community.  As a neighbor he was kind and obliging.  In his family he was genial, affectionate and sympathetic.  "Having fought the good fight and kep the faith, he finished his course (on the 27th of November, 1880, in the seventy-third year of his age), to receive a crown of righteiousness from Christ, the righteous Judge."   Mr. Hoag was gifted with a wonderful memory and he caused his hearers to wonder at his ability to quote so extensively from the Scriptures, having, it seemed, a profound insight into the word of God.  He had a style of delivery peculiarly his own, and often would thrill his hearers with the most beautiful imagery and word painting.   His personal magnetism was wonderful.  It is the opinion of many persons who have listened to our great pulpit orators, Beecher, Talmage, Brooks, Chapin and others, that Mr. Hoag had the natural ability, if placed where circumstances would draw it out, to equal any of them.  Remarkable as they may seem, yet it is true; and this gifted man gave his time and great talents to the society of Friends, among whom he stood as one of the chief pillars, not only in this country but across the ocean in foreign lands.   His wife, Anna Hoag, was a great help to him in his life work.  Gifted herself with more than ordinary talent, she served to increase and widen her husband's influence.   During her entire life she has been known as a lovely Christian character, exerting her influence in all the venues of Christian influence and being a power for good in her society.  She was a teacher in Hardin county in the early days and had few equals, filling many stations as an educator with great success.  She remains to continue the good work which her lamented husband laid down, being now a residnt of Iowa Falls, advanced in years, but still influential for good, and a crown awaits her as a faithful, efficient, self-sacrificing servant of the Master.

Zeno K. Hoag, the immediate subject of this biographical review, lived in New Hmpshire until he was about fourteen years of age, then he accompanied the family to Iowa Falls, Iowa, where, after a somewhat tedious trip, they arrived in the month of June, 1856.  This country was then a wild and sparsely settled prairie, the nearest railroad to Hardin county being at Iowa City.  They began life in typical pioneer fashion and never murmured at hardships, for they had the sagacity to foresee that this was destined to be a great country.  Here the father entered a whole section of land from the government, northwest and east of the town of Iowa Falls, which was developed in due course of time into one of the valuable and choice landed estates in the county.

Before leaving New England, Zeno K. Hoag attended the Brown school at Providence, Rhode Island.  His boyhood here was spent in farming, which he continued until he was about twenty-eight years of age; he then entered the lumber, coal and salt business here.  Since then, at different times, he has been in partnership with J. D. Steere and J. B. Griffith, but is now in business alone again, having been engaged longer in his special line than any other man of Iowa Falls, and with one exception is the oldest merchant in any line in this city.  He has been very successful in whatever he has turned his attention to and has long been regarded as one of the leading business men of this part of the county.

Always an active Republican, Zeno K. Hoag has long been an influential factor in public affairs, having faithfully discharged the duties of various offices within the gift of the people in this community.  He is progressive in his ideas in both public and business affairs.  Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen.

In 1874 Mr. Hoag was united in marriage with Anna Griffith, daughter of Daniel P. Griffith, a complete sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume.   He has one son by this marriage, Lindley Murray Hoag, who is successfuly engaged in the banking business in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.  Mr. and Mrs. Hoag are both worthy members of the Friends church.  Like his honored father before him, Mr. Hoag stands high with all who know him and he as a wide circle of friends, being a man of scrupulous honesty, genial and obliging disposition.

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