History of Guthrie and Adair Counties, Iowa - 1884 - Greenfield Twp

Adair County >> 1884 Index

History of Guthrie and Adair Counties, Iowa
Springfield, Ill: Continental Hist. Co., 1884.

Greenfield Township

Transcribed by Bobbi Pohl


 

Edward E. Warren, of the firm of Fuller, Warren & Co., general merchants, was born in Henry county, Iowa , March 30, 1862 . He was there reared, and received his education in the county, at the academy of New London . In 1876 he accepted a position at clerking in Neew London, which he held for two years, when he went to Rome , Iowa , and held a similar position for one year. He then came to this city where he was at first a clerk with Mr. A. P. Stephens. After two years' service for Mr. Stephens at Greenfield , he was transferred to the store, run by the same gentleman, at Creston. he stayed at Creston two years, and then returned to Greenfield , and became a partner in the firm of which he is now a member. Mr. Warren has good social and business qualifications, and stands high in the community.

W. B. Burget - On of Greenfield 's most enterprising merchants, is W. B. Burget, who is engaged in the furniture business, on the north side of the square. This business he established in August, 1875, in what is now the skating rink, and in January 1883, removed to his present location, which was erected the fall before. This building is 22X60, two stories high, and built of brick, and both floors are filled with as good a stock of furniture, both fine and common, as is often met with outside of the large cities. Mr. Burget carries a stock of about $5000, and is doing the best business in his line in the county. He has also an undertaking department, well supplied with every necessary in this line. W. B. Burget, the furniture dealer and undertaker, is a native of Douglas county, Illinois , and was born January 29, 1850 . He was reared and educated in his native county. He commenced the dry goods business in Tuscola , Illinois , in 1871, and continued the same in that city and Newman , Illinois , till January, 1875, when he came to Iowa , locating in Greenfield . He was married April 28, 1878 , to Miss Alfretta Myers, who is a native of the state of Ohio . They have two children--Maude E., and Willis H. Mr. Burger is a member of the Masonic order.

Homer Gaines was born in Austenburg, Ashtabula county, Ohio , on the 26th of July, 1838 , and is the son of Austen and Henrietta (Olmstead) Gaines. His father was a wheelright, but in later life followed farming. In 1840 the elder Mr. Gaines moved with his family to Knox county, Illinois , where he lived for many years. He is the son of Samuel and Esther (Blakesly) Gaines, and grandson of Samuel Gaines, Sr. At the age of seventeen, Homer commenced teaching school, having gained his knowledge under adverse circumstances that would have tried any less persevering mortal. For ten years he thus taught in the winter, and in the summer worked on the farm. On the 29th of October, 1861 , he was united in marriage with Miss Martha A. Boyer, but leaving his young wife, home and friends, at his country's call, he enlisted for three months in the 138th Illinois infantry, under Colonel Goodwin, and was made first lieutenant of Company B, of that regiment. On his return to private life he engaged in the mercantile trade in Victoria, Knox county, Illinois , with C. S. Clark, under the name and style of Gaines & Clark. But his popularity and reputation for strict integrity, induced the people of that county to elevate him to a position of responsibility and he was elected treasurer of Knox county in 1867. This position he filled most acceptably for two years, and at the same time read law under Judge A. M. Craig, Mr. Gaines having moved to Knoxville , the county seat, on his election. He was admitted to the bar in 1869, and forming a law partnership with Z. Cooley, Esq., carried on business in that place. After about two years, Mr. Gaines returned to Victoria where he again embarked in the mercantile business and practiced his profession as a lawyer. He was called on to fill nearly all the offices of trust in that country, until December 1881, when he came to Greenfield , and has resided here permanently ever since. He is now engaged in the general merchandise business, a history of which has been given above. Since 1861 he has been a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and at the conference of the central Illinois district, held in 1876, Mr. Gaines was elected a local preaacher, and occupies the same position at this place. Mr. Gaines is the father of six boys, viz--Franklin Howard, Richard Judson, Arthur Austen, Harley, Daniel Webster and Robert Homer.

C. D. Knapp - In 1880 C. D. Knapp purchased the stock and good will of the drug establishment of Morrow and McNay, and in the fall of 1883 removed to his present location. This store-room is 22x66 feet in size with a warehouse in the rear, and Mr. Knapp carries about $3500 worth of first-class drugs, medicines, paints, oils and fancy goods. The place of business is tastily and conveniently fitted up, and is invitingly neat and city like in all its appointments. Mr. C. D. Knapp, the druggist, is one of the live business men of Greenfield . He was born in Dansbury , Connecticut , December 26, 1832 . When he was two years of age the family removed to Wyoming county, New York , staying there eight years, and then going to Henry county, Illinois , where he received his preliminary education. The war found him engaged in farming, but he was not deaf to the appeals of his country for men to assist in putting down the rebellion, and in 1862 he enlisted in Company D, 112th Illinois , and served till the close of the war. At the battle of Kelley's Ford, in 1864, he was wounded and taken prisoner, but after an enforced residence of four months in the Confederacy he manged to make his escape. On reaching the Union lines he was placed on hospital duty at Louisville , Kentucky , St. Louis , Missouri , and Quincy , Illinois . While in this capacity he improved the excellent opportunity offered him to study medicine. He attended Rush medical college, Chicago, in 1866 and 1867, and after graduating went to San Jose , Illinois , where he practiced till 1874. His health failing, the result of his army exposures, he gave up practice. He then traveled through the West, locating for short periods in different places, coming to Greenfield in 1880. He is a member of the city council and school board. He was married, November 7, 1878 , to Mrs. Ella C. McKelvey, a native of Pennsylvania . They have had two children--Myrtle and Mabel, now dead. Mr Knapp is a member of the I. O. O. F. and Encampment, and is commander of the G. A. R. Post of Greenfield .

A. E. Teague, dealer in drugs, medicines, books, stationery, wall paper, etc., is the successor of A. S. Carmichael, having come into possession of the stand in May, 1879. The store was at that time located upon the south side of the square, but in the fall of 1880 he removed to his present location. His store room is 20x56 feet in ground area with a wareroom in the rear. he carries a fine stock of the various goods in his line, that will invoice between $3500 and $4000, and has a most excellent patronage. A. E. Teague, the druggist, is a native of Androscoggin county, Maine , and was born February 28, 1854 . he spent his boyhood days there, and received his education in his native county. When seventeen years of age he took a position as clerk in a drug store at Auburn , Maine , which he held for three years. He then went to Englewood , Illinois , and after remaining one year, returned to Maine and took his old position, which he held this time for two years. He attended the Massachusetts college of pharmacy at Boston , Masachusetts, in 1876 and '77, and March of the latter year came to Atlantic , this state, clerking for Findley & Cary, druggists. In 1877 he entered into the partnership of Jones & Teague, in that city. In February, 1879, he went to Leadville , Colorado , but after staying six weeks, returned to Iowa and located in Greenfield , establishing his present business. He is now mayor of the city. He was married November 23, 1875 , to Miss Ella B. Smith, daughter of A. M. Smith, of this city. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and at present is the district deputy grand master of district No. 11, and the C. P. of Garfield encampment, No. 110. He is also a member of the A. O. U. W.

Hamilton R. Myers, the other member of the firm of Myers & Myers, was born in Fayette county, Ohio , April 1, 1847 , and is the son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Vance) Myers. With his parents he came to Greenfield in 1858, prior to which time he was engages with his father in farming and stock-raising. About three years after coming to Greenfield he engaged in the lumber business with his brother. His father is dead, and resides with his mother in Greenfeild, being a single man. They have a farm of fifty-five acres adjoining the city on the west. The farm originally contained eighty acres, but several additions were made from it to the city. The farm is mostly seeded to grass for pasture purposes, and has on it good building improvements, fruit, shrubbery, etc. They also own considerable town property. Hamilton is a member of the A. F. and A. M., and in politics is a republican.

Daniel Heaton, who is at the head of the Adair county bank, was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1842, and there was reared and received his education. In 1860 he went to Douglas county, Illinois , and engaged in farming and stock-raising, besides devoting his attention to the agricultural implement trade. In the fall of 1875 he came to Greenfield , and commenced at once the erection of his bank building. This was quickly pushed to completion, and in January, 1876, he commenced the businness which has assumed so large proportions since that time. He is the patentee of the Heaton bank-note case. He was married April 29, 1869 , to Miss Ella M. Hoover, a native of Indiana . They have two children--Effie M. and William E. Mr. Heaton is a member of the I.O.O. F. and Encampment, and of the Masonic order; also of the Chapter and Commandery. He is one of the leading business men of Adair county.

A. P. Littleton, cashier of the Citizens' Bank, and one of the most enterprising and prominent citizens of Adair county, is a native of Fayette county, Ohio , and was born March 23, 1836 . His parents, Thomas and Eliza (Pancoast) Littleton , were natives of Ross county, Ohio . They reared two children, A. P. being the youngest. He was raised on a farm and educated in his native county. His father died in 1844, and his mother in 1850, after which time he lived on a farm with an uncle till twenty-one years of age, when he engaged in mercantile business at Waterloo , Ohio , following the same for two years. In the fall of 1858 he came to Fairfield , Iowa , and spent his time between that point and Burlington , up to June, 1859, when he came to Greenfield , and started the first store at this point. He continued the same until the fall of 1878 and in January, 1880, he engaged in his present business of banking. He is quite prominent in politics, and has been honored by offices a number of times. He was a member of the board of supervisors several times, being one of the first members of the board under the new system of three, and was the first mayor of Greenfield, which office he held for five consecutive years, and was also the mayor in 1883. Mr. Littleton was married on the 28th day of September, 1859, to Miss Kate Myers, a native of Ohio , and has one child--Verner. He is a member of the I.O.O.F. of Greenfield .

John C. Mason, who now holds the position of justice of the peace in Greenfield , and is one of the town's most influential citizens, is a native of Bradford county, Pennsylvania , and was born March 4, 1843 . When he was nine years of age the family removed to Iowa , locating in Linn county. He was there reared, and received a portion of his schooling, attending also one year, terms of 1860 and '61, at Cornell college, Mr. Vernon. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, 13th Iowa infantry, which was assigned to duty in the army of the Tennessee . he served till the close of the war, and was discharged July 1, 1865 , when he returned to Linn county, this state, and engaged in farming. In the spring of 1873 he came to Adair county, locating on section 12, Harrison township, where he farmed two years. He then came to Greenfield and engaged in the grain business, which he continued til 1882. He was elected justice of the peace in 1880, and has since held the office without interruption; he is also a member of the city school board. He was sergeant-at-arms of the Iowa state senate, in the twentieth general assembly. He is a member and the present quartermaster of the G. A.R. He was married May 3, 1867 , to Miss Susan Myers, a native of Pennsylvania . They have five children--Maria, Kate L., Gertrude E., George A. and John B. Mr. Mason bears scars as the mementoes of his part in the civil war, he having been wounded at Shiloh , lying at the hospital in St. Louis under the care of sisters of charity for sixty days. He is a member of the Masonic order.

J. J. Myers, of the lumber firm of Myers & Myers, was born in Fayette county, Ohio , June 13, 1844 , his parents being Isaac S. and Elizabeth (Vance) Myers, natives of Virginia . His father died in 1869, in Greenfield , Adair county, Iowa , where his mother still resides. J.J. Myers came to Iowa with his parents when he was about fourteen years of age, and located in Greenfield , Adair county, engaging in farming and stock-raising near town. He was married in 1877, in Greenfield , to Dotha A. Mears. They have two children--Clare and Hal. He enlisted in Company D, 29th Iowa infantry in December, 1864, and served to close of the war. He took part in the siege of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley . He is a republican in politics, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also of the G. A. R.

Dr. E. Spooner - Few men are more generally known, either personally or by reputation, throughout Adair county than Dr. Spooner. Having come to the county in the early days of its development as a county, and settled in Greenfield, since then its countyseat and chief place of business and practicing medicine over a large part of the county, and being connected with its schools and Sunday-schools, and still later with its politics, and editing the Transcript, the leading paper of the county, his name has become known in every part of it, and he himself personally known to a large number of its citizens. Dr. Spooner was of New England , or Yankee parentage, and was born March 32, 1828, in the south part of Tuscaramas county, Ohio . The place of his nativity was on a stream called Laurel, surrounded by hills known as Laurel hills, both taking their name from the extensive thickets of cherry laurel which covered the hillsides and rocky bluffs for miles on each side of it. It was a wild region, inhabited by a pioneeer population, hailing largely from Maryland and Virginia . In process of time some of this population drifted farther west and were replaced by others coming more largely from Pennsylvania . Educational privileges were poor indeed, and his only menans of acquiring anything like an elementary education was home study of such books as he could obtain, with such assistance as he could obtain from his mother, who, being one of the heirs of the Hudson estate, had received a somewhat liberal education, as viewed in that day, in the city schools of New York. His father, though an industrious and well-to-do farmer, did not feel able to give his children any higher education than such they could obtain in the manner described. He was one of eight children, only five of whom (three brothers and two sisters), lived to grow up to manhood and womanhood. Of these, the subject of this sketch was the youngest. When seventeen years of age his mother died, and as his sisters were married some time before this and his brothers soon after, this broke up the family. His father rented the farms and he was thrown upon his own resources. He at once commenced to devote his engergies and shape his course toward the accomplishment of his long-cherished pupose--of acquiring a liberal education. He taught several terms of school and in the intervals labored at the joiner's trade, and with the means thus secured took his course to Oberlin. Here he pursued a course of study under the instruction of such men as President Mahone, Professor Finney, Professor Fairchild, Professor Monroe and Dr. Dascorn. At the close of this course he went with several of his class to study medicine at Cleveland , a call to take charge of an academy in Keene , Ohio , at what, in that day, was considered a very liberal salary. He soon found himself compelled to relinquish it by weakness of the lungs and hemorrhage, which had previously troubled him, and he entered a store, of which, in process of time, he became proprietor, and was quite successful in the business. While thus engaged, on the 28th of July, 1853 , he was married to Miss Lucinda Kinney, daughter of John Kinney, of that place. In process of time, two sons, Horace G. and Cassius M. C. Spooner were added to cement their union and these constitute the family. Soon after an unfortunate case of bailing stripped them of every of property, and in poor health they were thrown again on their own resources. He resorted to teaching, but failed, as before, and at last resolved to read up and commence the practice of medicine. He reviewed thoroughly under the instructions of Dr. I. F. McPherson and Dr. W. M. Vanhorn, passed a thorough examination by the examiners and censors of the Stillwater medical association, and offered himself for practice. In this, so far as his health would permit, he was quite sucessful. His first location was in West Bedford , Coshocton county, Ohio , and afterward at Waterford , Knox county, Ohio . From there he removed to Iowa , and located first in Jasper county, where he had friends residing, and afterward at Commerce, in Polk county. Here he and all his family were prostrated with malarial fever, terminating in long continued typhoid. At the same time his horse, a valuable one, was killed on a crossing of the Rock Island road, which, for that reason, the road refused to pay for it, and an old acquaintance to whom he had advanced money proved irresponsible. Friends from near Norwalk , in Warren county, fearing a fatal termination of their illness, removed them to that place and they abandoned their property and all thought of ever venturing into that locality to live. It was while looking for another location that he first came to Adair county, and afterward, by an arrangement made with W. E. Caton, then county superintendent, he came to this county and delivered the first course of lectures on physiology ever delivered in the county, before an institure of teachers in Fontanelle. Greenfield at this time was but a small place, but its peculiar location and advantages convinced him that it was destined to be the county seat and a fine, healthy business location, and he accordingly decided to make his home there. He made thie necessary arrangements and preparations, and about the first of November, 1873 , with only a few dollars in money, and a team of colts, not yet broken to work, he arrived in Greenfield . Winter was approaching and must be provided for, and there were wants to be met. But in the few citizens of the place he found most excellent neighbors and friends. He at once identified himself with the place and its interests, and so far as health and means would permit, did all in his power to advance them. There was at the time but one regularly praacticing physician in the county, Dr. P. McDermid, of Fontanelle, and the bulk of the practice of the county was, in time, divided between them. But the population of Greenfield and the surrounding country was so sparse that Dr. Spooner found himself able for some time to devote much of his time to the schools of Greenfield , of which he had the charge, and by practicing morning and evenings, Saturdays and Sundays, and even nights, was enabled to keep up his practice. Finally as the town and country settled up he was compelled to relinquish the schools and devote himself wholly to his practice. In the winter of 1876 and 1877 he had an attack of lung disease which prostrated him from a long time, and in the winter of 1877 and 1878 a second attack which resulted in a consolidation and contraction of his left lung and the tissues about the heart to such an extent as to wholly disable him from physical exertion. Finding his condition likely to remain permanent, he wholly relinquished practice, and purchased the Greenfield Transcript, and has since then devoted himself to editing that paper. Dr. Spooner's mental processes are logical, and his opinions positive and sharply defined. He holds that no one should ever choose an evil, but of two impending evils they should decide which is the worse, and then use some available means to defeat it. Hence, in politics he decides which party, all things considered, is the worse, and then acts with that party which presents the best prospect of defeating it. hence, he has never acted with a third or factional party, but alays with one of the great parties, without regard to whether he agreed with them on all questions or not. He was always an abolitionist of the most radical kind. He believes in the universality of political and legal rights, without regard to color, race or sex. His first political speech was made at the mass meeting called to protest against the passage of the fugitive slave law. This was followed by others in opposition to the compromises of 1850, and finally, upon the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, he entered freely into politics, and was a delegate to the first republican state convention, held in Columbus , Ohio , on the 13th of July, 1854 . As might be expected, he is an out-spoken and active republican, and has been for some years past, the county chairman of that party in Adair county. He has been from childhood, strictly temperate, and an ardent advocate of prohibition. He was a member of the state convention which resolved to submit a prohibitory amendment to the people, and when it was finally submitted, labored for it both editorially and other wise, and aterword to secure the passage of the present prohibitory laws. He has been from childhood a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is constant in his attendance and support. He is and always has been and ardent Sunday-school worker, and allows nothing but ill health or storms to keep him away. He has been for forty years either a teacher or a superintendent. He was for some years a leading member of the Adair County Sunday-school association. He is at present postmaster at Greenfield , which position he has held for three years, and filled satifactorily. Socially Dr. Spooner is friendly but not familiar, a free talker on matters that interest him, but taking very little interest in the common topics of the streets. He is an incessant reader and a clear, logical thinker. His editorials show an amount of research and a supply of authorities and references at hand not usual to a country editor. When he takes up a subject he leaves no stone unturned until he thoroughly understands and can explain it. The man who calls out his criticism will find his weak points and errors exposed if there are any. Yet he does not allow political differences to lead to personal animosities, nor does he ever, either through his paper or personally, indulge in obsenity or personal abuse. As a neighbor and citizen he is esteemed as orderly, quiet and law abiding. His paper is read in every part of the county, and his positive opinions, often expressed in words more pinted than graceful, have no small influence in molding public opinion.