RANSDELL, J. S., retired farmer, New Sharon; born in Henry county, Kentucky, in 1826; removed to Indiana when young, and came to this county in 1861; owns 120 acres of land; he married Miss Mary C. Rash in 1853; she was born in Kentucky; he has sold wheat for $3 per bushel, and hogs at $11 per cwt. since he has been in the state.

RATLIFF, PIERCE, dealer in agricultural implements, New Sharon; born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1834; came to this county in 1852; in 1854 he crossed the plains to Oregon with five yoke of oxen; he remained one winter in Oregon, and went with a pack train to California, returning to this county in 1858; he owns 185 acres of land; on one piece of land he has a valuable rock quarry.

RECTOR, ED. T., farmer, Sec. 5; P. O. Oskaloosa; owns 280 acres of land, valued at $35 per acre; born in Ohio, in 1831; came to Iowa in 1855; married Charlotte S. Dibble, in 1868; she was born in Ohio, in 1838; have three children: Edgar, Homer and Mary. Mr. R. has four children by a former wife: Milton, Charlie, Oscar and Albert; and Mrs. R. has two children by a former husband: Florence and Jessie. Mr. R. was justice of the peace three years, and has held different town offices; are members of the M. E. Church. Republican.

REDMAN, REUBEN, farmer, Sec. 2; P. O. Leighton; farm of 500 acres, 35 acres of timber; was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, May 15, 1837; came to this county in 1863, and has lived on his present farm since 1867; he married Miss Mary F. Elson, Feb. 27, 1866; she was born in Starke county, Ohio, March 11, 1838; family of three sons and one daughter; Richard, Joseph, Katie and Frank; Mr. Redman and his partner, Thomas Haines, brought 1200 head of sheep from Ohio, in 1863, and the year following brought 2300 more, making in all, with the increase, 4,400 head.

REICHARD, JACOB, boot and shoe dealer, Leighton; born in Columbia county, Pa., June 11, 1839; he lived there until 1869, and then came to Leighton; he built the fine hotel now owned by John W. Walton, and has built several other nice buildings in the place. In 1875, Mr. R. opened out a neat boot and shoe store, which would do credit to any place (he is a shoemaker by trade). In 1862 he married Miss Mary A. Townsend, a native of the same county; they have three daughters, Lulia N., Mertie E., and Eva D.; lost one son and one daughter, Edward N. and Hattie C.

REYNOLDS, J, S., farmer, Sec. 3; P. O. Oskaloosa; owns a farm of 100 acres; he was born in Loraine county, Ohio, December, 8th, 1845; his parents emigrated to this county in 1853; has lived on his present farm about twelve years. He married Miss Eliza M. Jenkins, December 19, 1866; she was born in Oskaloosa; they have one son and two daughters, Judson, Lois and Mary.

RHINEHART, JAMES, retired. Born in Greene county, Pa., August 22, 1802; he was brought up and received his education there; then studied law and was admitted to the bar; he lived in Pennsylvania thirty years, and removed to Guernsey county, Ohio, and practiced law there; held the office of justice of the peace there for nine years. He came to this county in May, 1854, and located on a large farm, but after one year he came to Oskaloosa and engaged in the practice of his profession. He was elected judge of Mahaska county, and held that position for eight years, transacting all of his business without a clerk; he held the office of mayor of this city for three years. Married Miss Delila Eagon, from Waynesburg, Greene county, Pa., December 26, 1826. They have three children, Mrs. Eliza J. Johnson, Mrs. Minerva McKinley, and Mrs. Lubitia Smith; they have lost one son.

RHINEHART, W. C., farmer, Sec. 36; P. O. Rose Hill; owns 343 acres of land, valued at $10,000; born in Augusta county, Virginia, in 1825; came to Iowa in 1853 and settled in this county; married Ann E. Rowland in 1853; she was born in Ohio in 1827, and died in 1878; have six children: Laura, Attie, Nellie, Alice, Willie and Anna; Mr. Rhinehart has been a member of the board of supervisors. Republican.

RHINE, WILLIAM, farmer, Sec. 2; P. O. Granville; born in Ohio January 16, 1824, came to this county November 16, 1855; owns 310 acres of land; he married Cynthia J. Eblin, who was born in Ohio; has five children, John, Joseph, Hugh, George and Harlan; lost four.

GENERAL ELLIOTT W. RICE was born in Alleghany City, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1835. The year following his parents moved to Martinsville, Belmont county, Ohio, where he was raised; he was educated at the old Lancasterian academy, Wheeling, Virginia, and at Franklin college, Ohio; came to this county in September, 1855, and studied law in his brother's (General Samuel A. Rice),office and afterward, in the spring of 1858, graduated at the law school of the University of Albany, Albany, New York, and was then admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court of that State; returned to Oskaloosa and commenced the practice of his profession in partnership with his brother, and continued in successful practice until the war commenced, when he enlisted as a private soldier in Major McMullin's company, of the Seventh Iowa Infantry, and was mustered into the service at Burlington, in July, 1861 ... Capt. McMullin ... recommended Rice, who had been appointed sergeant by McMullin, for Major ... [after the battle of Fort Donelson] Rice was made colonel of his regiment ... After [several] battles, and while his troops were still in front of Atlanta, Rice received his promotion as Brigadier-General, retained his old command, and with it went on the world renowned march to the sea ... The news of the fall of Richmond was received and Johnson surrendered to General Sherman. The last battle fought by General Rice's troops was at Bentonville, North Carolina ... Rice was promoted to Brevet-Major- General ... After the army was disbanded Rice was the unanimous choice of the Soldiers' Convention, at Des Moines, for Governor of the State, but he declined the nomination, or to be a candidate before the Convention, and has never desired political position.

RICE, JAS. A., attorney, Oskaloosa. Son of the late Gen. S. A. Rice; was born in Oskaloosa, September 30, 1855; after attending school here he took his college course at Jefferson college, class of 1875, and then entered the law department of the Iowa State University, and graduated in 1877; since then he has practiced his profession here. He holds the office of mayor of this city; was elected March 4, 1878.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL SAMUEL A. RICE. From the work on "Iowa Colonels and Regiments," by Captain A. A. Stuart, we draw the following sketch:

"Samuel A. Rice, who received his death wound at the battle of Jenkins Ferry is the most distinguished officer our gallant state has lost in the war of the rebellion. Sprung from the great middle class, without name or wealth, he had, at the age of thirty-five, attained such distinction as to make his death a national calamity.

"General Rice was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, January 27, 1828, but passed his boyhood in Belmont county, Ohio, where his parents removed when he was quite young. The death of his father when he was a lad, deprived him of the privileges of more than a common school education in his youth, and placed upon his shoulders, at an early age, the partial support of a family. Accordingly he engaged in boating on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, as the most remunerative employment, and as flat boatman he made one or more trips to New Orleans."

Subsequently the enterprise of young Rice secured for him a college education. Defraying his own expenses he graduated at Union College, New York, in the literary department of the institution, and attended law school one year in the University.

Immediately removing to Iowa he first settled at Fairfield, where he practiced law and occasionally assisted in the editorial room of the Whig paper, at that point. In the fall of 1851 he removed to Oskaloosa.

His first public office in Mahaska county was that of prosecuting attorney, which office he filled with such ability as to pave the way to higher civil attainments. He was accordingly nominated and elected attorney-general of the State in 1856 when but twenty-eight years of age. Re-elected in 1858, the beginning of the war found him in just possession of the term, "one of the best lawyers of the state." He assisted in the organization of the Republican party in Mahaska county, and was formost in advocating the Republican principles.

Gen. Rice was commissioned Colonel of the 33d Regiment of Iowa Infantry, on the 10th day of August, 1862, and late in November left with his regiment for St. Louis. Of the work of that regiment, and the command of Col. Rice, we have occasion to speak more fully in the History of the 33d. He was commissioned brigadier-general August, 1863, a distinction which he earned by his gallant conduct in the battle of Helena.

The early part of the battle of Jenkins' Ferry was a most trying one to our troops. Capt. Comstock was quite severely wounded in the midst of the engagement, and tells us that as Gen. Rice rode over the field, he dismounted and shook hands with the wounded men, and with tears in his eyes expressed both his sympathy and his fears that the day would be lost.

It was in the enemy's last and unsuccessful charge that Gen. Rice received the wound which resulted in his death. Riding down his left wing he was shot by a musket ball through the right foot, the ball passing under the instep just in front of the ankle and driving the buckle of the spur before it.

He left Little Rock for his home in Iowa on the 18th day of My. For a considerable time after reaching his home, he supposed he was convalescing, but the virus of his wound had permeated his whole system, poisoning the vital fluids and putting his case beyond the reach of human aid. He died July 6, 1864....

RICHARDSON, JAMES, farmer, Sec. 20, P. O. Pella; owns a farm of 160 acres; was born in Peoria county, Illinois, June 20, 1844, he lived there until he was eleven years old; his parents then moved to Iowa, and has lived on his present farm nine years; he married Miss Louisa Clark, Feb. 11, 1869, who was born in Marion county, Iowa, Feb. 11, 1849; they have two sons, Clark and Fred.

RIDDLE, J. H., farmer, Sec. 32; P. O. Eddyville; owns 80 acres of land, valued at $30 per acre; born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1839; came to Iowa in 1868, and located on his present farm; married Tabitha H. Keener in 1862; she was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, in 1839; have three children, Minnie V., Willie G. and May S.; member of M. E. church. Greenback.

ROBERTS, JONATHAN, farmer, Sec. 22; P. O. Oskaloosa; owns 120 acres of land, valued at $40 per acre; born in Ripley county, Indiana, in 1838; came to Iowa in 1847; married Jacintha Childs in 1858; she was born in Virginia in 1842; are members of M. E. church; Mr. R. has been justice of the peace and township clerk. Democrat.

ROBERTS, J. R., dealer in general merchandise at Rose Hill; born in Kentucky in 1847; came to Iowa in 1853, and settled in Mahaska county with his parents; he married Mary M. Laughrey in 1869; she was born in Licking county, Ohio; they have four children, Cora B., Eva A., Charles, and Lilburn; are members of the Baptist Church. Democrat.

ROBERTS, M. A., milling business, Sec. 4; owns 43 acres of land, valued at $8,000; born in Monroe county, Ohio, in 1833; came to Iowa in 1837 and settled in Des Moines county; removed to this county in 1852; married Amanda Watson in 1855; she was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, in 1838; have six children: Delila, Leon, Anna, Cary, Frank and Mary. Democrat.

ROBERTS, M. B., farmer, Sec. 10; P.O. New Sharon; born in Highland county, Ohio, in 1822; came to this State in 1855, and to this county in 1863; previous to his coming to this State he lived fifteen years in Indiana; owns 100 acres of land; he married Mary A. Airy in 1845; she was born in Ohio; has six children, Ellen H., Thomas C., Laura E., Mattie M., Nathan A., Orlando S.; lost four, Lydia E., Elizabeth A., Charles, and William A.

ROBERTSON, FRANK, farmer, Sec. 15; P. O. Olivet; was born in Carroll county, Ohio, October 7, 1841; came to this county in the fall of 1845; he married Miss M. V. Martin, a native of Clark county, Indiana, April 18, 1867; they have four sons and one daughter: Samuel C., John B., William E., Annie M. and Justin M.

ROBERTSON, G. M., farmer, Sec. 15; P. O. Olivet; was born in Carroll county, Ohio, May 29, 1833; came to this county in the fall of 1845; he married Miss Jennie Gilbert, a native of Montgomery county, Ohio, April 28, 1869; she was born May 27, 1848; they have one son and one daughter: Sallie and Willie; lost two sons: Lewis and Frank; Mr. R. served three years in the late war in the fifth Tennessee cavalry; farms 80 acres and has 23 acres of timber.

ROBERTSON, SAMUEL, farmer, Sec. 4; P. O. Leighton; was born in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Oct. 16, 1808; his parents moved to West Moreland county, Penn., when he was very young. lived there twelve years, and then moved to Carroll county, Ohio; lived there until the fall of 1853, and then came to this county, and in the spring of 1854 moved on the place where he now lives; has a farm of 205 acres, and fifty acres of timber; he married Miss Mary Sample, Sept. 15, 1837, a native of Wilmington, Delaware; she was born October, 1814; they have three sons and two daughters, Samuel S., Jane, Johnson L., Robert D. and Sarah E.

ROBERTSON, SARAH, farmer, Sec. 15; P. O. Olivet; widow of Wm. Robertson, who was born in Ireland; he came to this county in the fall of 1845, and located on the farm they now occupy; Mrs. Robertson's maiden name was Smith; she was born in Brook county, Virginia, August 1, 1803; they were married February 3, 1830; he died April 5, 1854, leaving a family of five sons, only two of whom are now living, George, and Frank; deceased, John, William A. and Andrew.

ROGERS, A. M., farmer, Sec. 15; P. O. Oskaloosa; born in Ohio county, Virginia, November 17, 1819; when only two years of age removed with his parents to Wayne county, Ohio, and was brought up in that State; he married Miss Martha Flanegan, from Ohio, in April, 1841; they came to Iowa by wagon, and were four weeks on the way, and arrived in Oskaloosa in May, 1855; engaged in butchering business three years, and then in grocery business six years, and came on his farm in 1865; he owns ninety acres of land; has held town and school offices; they have five children, Amanda, William F., John D., Charlie and Louie E., and have lost two children.

BENJAMIN ROOP. Every early settler of Mahaska will recognize this name as one of the county's earliest and most enterprising citizens. Mr. Roop came to Oskaloosa from Ohio in 1845, a poor man, but was in the prime of life. He was one of those individuals who seem to have been made business men. He was in various enterprises until about 1850, when he engaged in building the Steam Flouring Mill now occupied in West Oskaloosa by Messrs. Seibel & Co. This establishment, however, was owned by the firm Roop, Harbour & Co., and was completed in 1852, at a cost of about $20,000. To the mill was attached a distillery, and to this source of revenue Mr. Roop was indebted for much of the money so generously spent for the benefit of those around him. About 1856 he built the building now used as the National House, for his residence, and occupied it about ten years. Shortly after the building of his mill, the problem of fuel to furnish its power engaged his attention. He employed a man named Dascom to prospect for coal in the vicinity of the present town of Beacon, and there was first discovered by his agency a suitable vein for mining purposes. In 1861 he established a large grocery and liquor house in Colorado, and inaugurated the business of freighting produce across the Rocky Mountains. Once or twice per year trains of twelve to fifteen large wagons were started from Oskaloosa across the Plains. Every enterprise undertaken by Mr. Roop seemed to succeed by magic, until he engaged in building the Eureka Mills at Beacon. Built in 1865, when everything was at a high figure, furnished with the most splendid machinery, its distillery attachment interfered with by the government, the genius of Mr. Roop failed to save his business from financial disaster. With broken fortunes he removed in 1871 to Springfield, Missouri, and engaged in milling operations there, and with a reasonable degree of success. Death, however, soon overtook him, and January 25, 1872, he fell a sudden victim to apoplexy, at the age of seventy-two years.

Mr. Roop was one of the most public spirited men of Mahaska county ever had, and to his liberality and business capacities many laborers have been indebted for good living and comfortable homes. The poor man never applied to Mr. Roop in vain, and he enjoyed one of the surest evidences of nobility of disposition, the esteem and affection of his employes.

ROSS, GEO. A., county auditor, Oskaloosa; born in Harrison county, Ohio, March 19, 1840; his father was professor of Bethany College, Virginia, for seventeen years, and was professor and acting President of Oskaloosa College, and was President of Franklin College, Ohio, until his death which occurred in February, 1876. The subject of this sketch received his education at Bethany, Virginia, and then attended West Liberty Academy, Virginia, now the State Normal school, for two years; he engaged in teaching at Lexington, Kentucky, and at Hickman, and then to Wheeling; at Wheeling he held the office of assistant assessor of Internal Revenue until 1865; he came to this county in 1867; he was elected county Auditor in 1873, and was re-elected in 1875, and again re-elected in 1877; married Miss Emma Yarrall from Wheeling, Virginia, in fall of 1861; he has 7 children, 6 sons and one daughter.

ROW, SAMUEL, farmer, Sec. 4; P. O. Oskaloosa; has a farm of 160 acres; he was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, June 4th, 1830; he lived there until the spring of 1858, and then went to Decatur county, Indiana; he lived there and in Shelby and Rush counties until the fall of 1865; he then removed to Mercer county. Illinois, where he remained until the spring of 1867, and then came to this county and located on the place where he now lives. He married Miss Rebecca A. Bryan, of the same county, May 10th, 1855; they have two sons and one daughter, John B., George B., and Carrie L; lost one son, Harry M.

RUBLE, C. S., farmer, Sec. 5; P. O. Agricola; born in Parke county, Ind., in 1842; he came to this Co. in 1863; owns 45 acres of land; he has held the offices of township trustee, school director, president of the board, and has been acting assessor four years. He married Elizabeth Wymore, in 1874; she was born in Parke Co., Indiana; has one child, Sadie; lost two, Iowa and Alvah.

RUBY, JOHN F., farmer, Sec. 35; P. O. Comet; owns 80 acres of land, valued at $30 per acre; born in this county in 1848; married Augusta Green in 1868; she was born in Ohio in 1851; have three children: Charley Andrew, Cora May and John Franklin; are members of the M. E. church; Mr. Ruby has been township clerk three years, and is president of the school board at present. Republican.

RUBY, MOURTON C., agent of the Keokuk & Des Moines R. R. at Beacon, P. O. Beacon; born in Rock county, Wisconsin, March 4, 1844; when five years of age removed with his parents to Iowa, and came to this county in 1849, and he was brought up here; was in the army, enlisted in the 33d Regiment Iowa Infantry Co. E; was in battles of Helena, Jenkin's Ferry, Siege of Mobile, and in many others; was in service over three years; after the war was in Chicago two years, then came here; was appointed to his present position in January, 1868; he holds office of mayor of the town, and is serving his fourth term; married Miss Ella Downs, from Ohio, in November, 1866; they have three children, Luella May, Clara Belle and Guy Raymond.

RUBY, SAMUEL, farmer, Sec. 28; P. O. Beacon; born in Virginia, March 26, 1816; he removed to Indiana at a very early age, and was raised in Ripley county; he married Miss Sarah Levi, in Jan., 1837; she was born in Ohio, and raised in Indiana; they emigrated to Wisconsin in 1842, and lived there until coming to this county in May, 1849; he engaged in farming and stock raising; they are among the early settlers, have lived here over thirty years; he has held office of justice of the peace, and other town and school offices; he owns a farm of 160 acres; they have six children, Mourton, Medora, Allene, Frank, Estella E., Banks, and have one adopted son, Charlie Ruby; they have lost three children.

RUNYON, JAMES H., farmer, Sec. 4; P. O. Oskaloosa; owns 110 acres of land; born in Champaign county, Ohio, Feb. 8th, 1841; his parents emigrated to this county in 1853. Married Miss Anna J. Stevenson, in October, 1864; she was a native of Highland county, Ohio, and died April 3, 1872; he was married again to Mollie Barber, a native of this county, Feb. 12, 1874; has three children by first marriage, Harry E., John H., Mary B., and by second marriage, George W., and Lena L.

RYAN, JOHN W., farmer, Sec. 16, P. O. Pella; farm of 200 acres; was born in Randolph county, Virginia, October 23, 1816, where he lived twenty years; he went from there to Union county, Ohio, where he lived five years; he came to Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1841, and to this county in 1863 and located where he now lives in 1865; he married Miss Nancy Carpenter, a native of the same county, December 3, 1837; she died June 8, 1873; he married again to Elizabeth L. Bingman, a native of Tennessee, April 9, 1874; has two sons and two daughters by first marriage; Celia A., Reason, Jerard and Algenett; lost two sons and two daughters: Julia A., Elzina, Geo. R. and John N.; Mrs. Ryan has three children by a former marriage: Pamelia J., Alice E. and Nancy.

RYAN, THOMAS, farmer, Sec. 1; P.O. New Sharon; born in Ohio in 1848; came to this county in 1860; he married Miss Emma M. Hetsman in 1872; she was born in Ohio; has one daughter, Etta May.