bio_def
Muscatine
County and Vicinity
Biographical
Sketches
Surnames
D-E-F
DAIBER,
JOHN, boot and shoe manufacturer, Second street,
Muscatine; was born in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, in 1835; emigrated to
St. Louis in 1853; came to Muscatine in 1854; served in Co. C, 14th I.V.I.;
was honorably discharged at the close of the war. He married Miss
B. Fitzgerald; they have six children--John, James, Julia, Mary, Nora and
Bridget. Mr. Daiber is a member of the Masonic fraternity; is a Democrat;
was Alderman of the Second Ward from 1872 until 1874.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DAILY,
MRS. MARY, farmer, section 33, P. O. Percival; the daughter of Henry
and A. O'Neal, who were natives of Ireland, where Mrs. Daily was born in
1840. She was eight years of age when her parents emigrated to America,
and located in Jeffersonville, Indiana. In 1853, she came to Iowa and lived
at Muscatine. There she was married to Findley Daily, and soon afterwards
came to Fremont county. Mr. Daily was a native of Cork, Ireland, where
he lived until coming to America. Mrs. Daily is the mother of nine children,
eight of whom are now living: Henry, William, James, Ellen, Mary A., Daniel,
Annie and John. Mr. Daily died September 2, 1880, at his home from typhoid
fever. He was a good citizen and bore the respect of all who knew him.
Mrs. Daily is a conscientious member of the Catholic church.
Source:
History of Fremont County 1881; Iowa History Company, Des Moines IA
DALLAS,
Alexander; farmer, Sec. 22; P. O. Atalissa; son of Peter and
Margaret (Andrews) Dallas; owns eighty acres of land, valued at $50 per
acre; born March 16, 1845, in Allegheny City, Penn.; in the fall of 1861,
came to this county. Married Miss Elma Wilkinson, daughter of George R.
and Maria Wilkinson, Aug. 11, 1875; she was born July 29, 1854, in Belmont
Co., Ohio; have three children--James A., born June 29, 1876; Emma,
Jan. 7, 1878, and Mary, Feb. 18, 1879. Politics, Republican.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DALTON,
Patrick, farmer, Sec. 31; P. O. Letts; Mr. Dalton was born in Tipperary
Co., Ireland, in 1833; he came to America with his father, James Dalton,
in 1850, and located in Eastern New York; came to Muscatine Co. in 1854;
he has traveled extensively in the Territories and British America; he
engaged in mining and furnishing miners with supplies; he went to Nebraska,
thence to Colorado,and to Montana; then to British Columbia and Oregon;
he then returned to British Columbia, thence to Montana, and finally located
where he now is, in 1871. He married, in 1874, Mary Fitzpatrick,
a native of Kentucky, whose parents came to Muscatine Co. in 1853; has
three children--- James E., Lewis and Grattan.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DARE, Philip,
retired; resides Sixth street, Wilton. Father Dare was born at Hanover,
near Frankfort, Germany, 30th October, 1808. His father in early life was
a shepherd, but later became possessor of a farm, on which Philip lived
until in his 16th year. Was apprenticed to a shoemaker, with whom
he served the customary three years, and worked at journeyman work for
nine years; and when 28 years of age, he married Miss Catherine Harighman,
who was born in Hanover, Germany, Oct. 13, 1813. After their marriage,
having secured license from government, he engaged in business on his own
responsibility in his native town; and continued until June 30, 1837, when
they emigrated to America, first making their home in Peter Township, Franklin
Co., Penn., where he contiued shoemaking until 1841, when they removed
to Bedford Co., near Shellsby, where he purchased a little farm of twenty-five
acres, and succeeded in building up for himself a pleasant and happy home,
and continued to make shoes for his neighbors there until the spring of
1856, when their eldest daughter having married and removed to Iowa, they
were persuaded to dispose of their home and come West. He purchased
forty acres of land near his daughter, in Sugar Creek Township, Cedar Co.,
where they remained until October, 1872, when they removed to Wilton. Mr.
and Mrs. D. had four daughters, three still living----Catherine, born in
Germany March 7, 1834; she became the wife of Aaron Christman, a native
of Pennsylvania and came to Iowa, Cedar Co., the fall of 1855; she died
October 10, 1866, leaving four children; her husband outlived her but four
years. Mary M., born in Pennsylvania, March 30, 1850, consequently 17 years
of age on coming to Iowa, and was married within three months of her arrival
to Michael Witmer, of Cedar Co., now deceased. Wilhelmina
E., born July 28, 1842, and married Jacob Miller, of Cedar Co., and
Susanna R., born July 14, 1846, the wife of Theodore Porter, all
of whom are residents and prosperous farmers of Sugar Creek Tp., and have
made the old people the grandparents of twenty-two children. Members of
the U. B.Church, as were all the children before their marriage, some of
whom have joined other churches with their husbands.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DAVIDSON,
A. of the firm of A. Davidson & Co., wholesale and retail
dealers in boots and shoes, Muscatine; was born in Adams Co., Ohio, Oct.
6, 1812; he was brought up there until 16 years of age, and commenced learning
the trade of tanner and currier; in 1831, he went to Cincinnati, where
he finished learning his trade; after living in Highland and Adams Counties,
he settled in Portsmouth Ohio, and engaged in the tanning business;
he continued in the business, doing an extensive trade, until 1862, when
he came to Iowa and located in Muscatine, April 4, 1862, and engaged in
dealing in boots and shoes and hides and leather; he has continued in the
business since then, and has built up a large wholesale and retail
trade, and employing two and three men on the road most of the time; it
is the only wholesale boot and shoe house in Muscatine, and their
trade extends through Iowa and in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois; his son
Joseph T. is associated with him and has the financial management
of the business; W. M. Roach, his son-in-law, is also interested
in the business. Mr. Davidson is a local preacher in the M. E. Church,
he was licensed to preach in Ohio in 1859, and was ordained in 1864, and
has been connected officially with the Church since 1833. He has been married
three times; his first wife was a daughter of Rev. John Meek, of Adams
Co.; his second wife was a daughter of Jacob Cox, of Adams Co.; his
present wife is a daughter of William Chenoweth, of the Scioto Valley,
Ross Co., Ohio; he has six children--three sons, Leroy P., Jacob M., and
Joseph T., and three daughters, Sallie M., Margaret A. and Ella R; his
oldest son, Leroy P., was in the army four years, in the 33d Regiment O.
I., and was in twenty-four battles and was color-bearer in fourteen battles;
his son, Joseph T., who is associated with him in business, married Miss
J. D. Ament, daughter of Hon. J. P. Ament, in 1873; they have one son Fred.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DAVIDSON,
Mrs. Lydia A., formerly Mrs. Hoope, Sec. 18; P.O. Muscatine; born
in Philadelphia, Penn., Jan 9, 1842; removed with her parents to Delaware
Co., Penn., and thence to Muscatine Co. Feb. 1, 1867. Married William
M. Davidson Dec. 12, 1866; he was born in Chester Co., Penn., March 8,
1835; died Sept. 19, 1872; have two daughters--Ellie E., born Oct. 17,
1867; Sidonia S. G. born July 8, 1871. Mrs. D. is a member of the
Episcopal Church; Mr. D. served as clerk in the Quartermaster's Department
one year, under J.J. Hooper. Democrat.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DAVIS,
Charles B., farmer, Sec. 24; P. O. Atalissa; owns 160 acres of land,
valued at $45 per acre; son of James, and Thankful Davis; born Jan. 23,
1831, in Bennington Co., Vt.; in 1845, his parents moved to Washington
Co., N. Y.; in 1850, to Kane Co., Ill.; in the fall of 1858, he made a
tour through Iowa, as far as Shelby Co. and stopped a short time, returned
Cedar Rapids, where he spent the winter; in the fall of 1860, came to Muscatine
Co., remained till August, 1861, when he enlisted in Co. D, of the 8th
I. V. I.; was at the battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded in his right
ankle; was unfitted for further service and was discharged in September,
1863. Married Mary Statler, March 25, 1863; she was born Jan. 18,
1838, in Somerset Co., Penn.; they lived in Pike Tp., till 1874, then came
onto his present farm; have three children---Edgar, Sarah, and an infant
not named. Republican.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DAVIS,
Isaiah, farmer, Sec. 4; P.O. Sweetland Center; born in Virginia
Feb. 10, 1816; removed with his parents to Union Co., Ind., when 13 years
of age; remained three years; thence to Madison Co., and lived five years;
came to Muscatine Co., in 1837, and settled in Sweetland Tp; among the
first in the township; there was only one small field broken on the prairie
in that vicinity; Mr. Davis helped to survey the city of Muscatine in 1839,
and Bloomington Tp, Sweetland Tp. In 1837, and was Deputy Sheriff in 1838.
Married Miss Hannah Drury, May 27, 1844; born in Wayne Co., Ind., Sept.
23, 1823; have eleven children, eight sons and three daughters---John,
Benjamin, Charles, Frank, Lucy, Lincoln, Dell, Isaiah, and three dead;
Shepard died in the army, Rachel and James; the first house that was built
on the prairie in Sweetland Tp. now stands on Mr. Davis' farm; he
owns 300 acres of land; has improved 400 acres in the township. Mr.
D. is a member of the M.E. Church. Mr. Davis has been honest in all
his business transaction, an industrious and energetic man, and is highly
respected by all that know him; Republican.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DAVIS,
JOSEPH
M. son of Aaron and Ruth (Edwards) Davis, was born in Stark
county, Ohio, September 14, 1833. He moved with his
parents to Muscatine county, Iowa, in 1847, where he was married to Miss
Sarah Murphy, daughter of Andrew J. and Sarah Murphy, in 1856. They
have had five children--Matilda, married in 1879 to J. W. Smith; Hannah,
married in 1881 to L. D. Phipps; Emma, married to J. R. Phipps in 1882;
Louis J. and Henry. Mr. Davis moved to Whiteside county, Illinois, in 1860,
where he followed farming until 1862, when he came to Burt county, Nebraska,
where he remained until 1871, when he came to Guthrie county, settling
on section 26, where he still resides. His father died in Portsmouth,
Ohio, where he had gone in 1856; his mother died in Cedar county, Iowa,
where she had returned with her son, after her husband's death. He has
been trustee and city constable.
Source:
History of Guthrie and Adair Counties, Iowa Springfield, Ill; Continental
Historical Co., 1884., Dodge Township
DAVIS,
STEPHEN
E. son of James and Elizabeth (Rippley) Davis, was born February
22, 1841, in Washington county, Indiana. His father died in Washington
county August 14, 1844. His mother moved to Muscatine county, Iowa, in
the fall of 1847. In 1869 they moved to their present location on
section 7, Dodge township, where they still reside. Stephen has held the
position of road supervisor. His brother David was born in December, 1838,
in Washington county, Indiana.
He enlisted in Company
H, 11th Iowa infantry, in October, 1861. He was with Sherman at Shiloh,
Corinth, siege of Vicksburg, campaign in Savannah. He was discharged in
July, 1865.
Their mother, Mrs. Davis,
was born in December, 1808, in Virginia, being the daughter of David and
Elizabeth (Vance) Rippley. Her parents moved to Kentucky in 1811, and remaining
there a short time they moved to Washington county, Indiana, where she
was married to James Davis, who died at that place in 1844.
In 1869 they moved to
their present location on section 7. She had four children--Lydia Rebecca,
married William Hidlebaugh in December, 1859, died in December, 1867; David
N., Stephen E., and Elizabeth Ellen married William Hidlebaugh. David and
Stephen both live at their present location with their mother.
Source:
History of Guthrie and Adair Co IA 1884
DAVIS,
General W.L. --- General W. L. Davis was a gallant soldier of the
Civil war and few men have been equally well known in connection with the
Iowa National Guard. His local connection as a resident of Cedar Rapids
has been that of manager of the money order department of the post office
for nearly twenty years, and his military service has been
characterized by no greater loyalty or fidelity than he has displayed in
the discharge of his civic duties. General Davis is the fourth son of Rev.
Dr. William and Charlotte (Miller) Davis, the father being a minister
of much prominence in the church of the United Brethren in Christ.
The son was born August 4, 1843, near South Bend, Indiana. The family,
owing to the father being called to various pastorates, frequently
changed their place of abode and Bluffton, Indiana, and Dayton, Westerville,
Cincinnati and Seven Mile, Ohio, were successively the places of
residence of the family during the childhood of General Davis. While serving
as pastor of the congregation of his church, the Rev. William Davis
pursued a course of study in the Cincinnati Medical College, from
which he was graduated in 1849.
Soon after completing the course there, he removed
to Seven Mile, a village about thirty miles north of Cincinnati,
where for ten years he enjoyed a large practice as a member of the
medical profession, while his children were given the advantage of excellent
common school and academic training. In 1861 the call of the west
brought General Davis and his two elder brothers to Arcola, Illinois, where
an unsuccessful effort was made at farming. The elder brothers enlisted
in the Fifty-fourth Illinois Infantry, leaving the younger brother
with the farm crop and all the appurtenances to dispose of and claims
to settle. The father came on from Ohio and took charge and General
Davis found a special engagement to teach in Westfield College during
the winter.
The spring of 1862 found the family in Muscatine, Iowa,
and William Davis in the employ of Neidig & Burtner as traveling salesman
in Mercer and Rock Island counties, Illinois. In this he was quite successful.
On the 7th of August, 1862, General Davis enlisted as a member of Company
B, Thirty-fifth Iowa Infantry, under command of Captain A. B. John. On
settling with his employer he was amazed at his remuneration, it
being more than double what he had anticipated. Being a stranger or nearly
so in the city and state, preferment was neither sought nor expected with
his company and regiment. He participated in a series of battles which
resulted in the capture of Vicksburg under General Grant, the subsequent
campaign of Sherman against Jackson, Mississippi, the Meridian campaign,
the Red River expedition, including the battles of Fort De Russy,
Henderson Hill and Pleasant Hill, and the operations at the mouth
of the Black River. Later under the command of General A. J. Smith,
he took part in the battle of Lake Chicot, Arkansas. The next few
months were spent in West Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri, chasing Price
and Marmaduke from those districts. This being accomplished, his command
embarked at St. Louis and proceeded to Nashville, Tennessee, where under
"Pap" Thomas, General Davis took part in a two days' battle that
drove Hood from the state, continuing the pursuit to Eastport, Mississippi.
A short respite from the strenuously active campaign and the troops then
received orders to proceed to Mobile, Alabama, by way of New Orleans.
While at Memphis, Mr. Davis, then a young lieutenant, received orders from
the war department to report to General A. L. Chetlain at Memphis for assignment
to duty. There he remained during the rest of his army life, performing
all the duties pertaining to the office of his rank until his muster out,
March 31, 1866, a portion of the time being in command of the "Irving Military
Prison."
On his return from the army he found his father presiding
over the destinies of Western College at Western, Iowa. He pursued a course
in the business college at Pittsburg, afterward becoming traveling salesman
for N. B. Brown, a manufacturer of woolen goods in Cedar Rapids, later
managing a couple of real-estate transactions at Lisbon, and then hung
out his sign proclaiming him to be a dealer in drugs, paints, oils,
wall paper, etc.
In 1867 General Davis was married to Miss Mattie W.
Cowden of Pennsylvania. Prosperity and adversity in about equal proportions
came as they do to most people. The community was one day shocked
by the suicide of the editor of the Lisbon Sun and his widow requested
Mr. Davis to assume the management of the paper. Later he bought the plant
and continued as editor and proprietor of the Sun during the succeeding
ten years. Within a month after the beginning of General Grant's first
term as president he was appointed postmaster of Lisbon and continued in
office for nearly a year after Mr. Cleveland's first term as president
began, so that his incumbency covered more than sixteen consecutive years.
Being of a military turn of mind, Mr. Davis soon after locating in Lisbon
organized a company of state militia, now the National Guard, and was elected
its captain. A year later he was chosen lieutenant colonel of the First
Regiment of the Iowa National Guard. The Lisbon company was then transferred
to Cedar Rapids and George Greene was elected captain. Four years later
Mr. Davis was commissioned colonel of the regiment which under his management
gained a reputation for efficiency and deportment and military bearing
unequaled by any in the state. It was during his five years' service
as colonel that he organized a battalion of the National Guard of
the state, conducting them to Washington, D. C. The command was in the
inaugural parade of President Benjamin Harrison. It is noticeable that
this is the only instance in which Iowa troops ever participated in the
inauguration of a president of the United States. The command was royally
treated and was applauded vociferously for its excellence. The newly
inaugurated president extended to the members a special reception at the
White House and the newspapers of the city gave illustrations of the command
in the procession, and also cuts of the officers. When General B. A. Beeson
was appointed by the governor to the office of adjutant general, Colonel
Davis was chosen as his successor in command of the Second Brigade, I.
N. G. It was during this period in his military career that the Columbian
Exposition was held in Chicago and the ceremony pertaining to the dedication
of the buildings was participated in by a large contingent of the
military force of several states. Adjutant General George Greene, under
General Boies, by his orders organized a brigade of the First and Second
Regiments from the Iowa National Guard, placing General Davis in command,
although he was not the senior commanding officer. Disagreeable weather
to a great extent marred much of the ceremony, yet on the day of
the greatest display, General Miles, the Commander-in-Chief, took
occasion to highly compliment Colonel F. W. Malin and his First Iowa
Regiment for their almost perfect work as escort to the vice president,
a part of which escort duty the regiment had to perform on double time.
General Davis was placed on the retired list of the state at the expiration
of his five years' service as brigadier general and has since continued
in civil life.
Four children were born unto General and Mrs. Davis:
Carrie, who is now head of a division in the agricultural department in
Washington, D. C.; Lulu B., who is the widow of B. F. Tisdale and lives
in this city; Arthur W., a letter carrier connected with the Cedar Rapids
post office; and Ira J., who was drowned in the Cedar River near the Palisades,
May 17, 1894.
General Davis is a member of the United Brethren church
and is president of its board of trustees. He belongs to Mount Hermon Lodge,
A. F. & A. M.; Trowel Chapter, R. A. M.; Apollo Commandery, K. T.,
and also to El Kahir Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His political allegiance
is given to the republican party but he has never sought elective office
although he has been continuously in public service. He has made a distinguished
record in military circles and manifests public spirit in his support
of municipal interests, furthering every movement and measure for the general
good.
History of Linn County Iowa from its Earliest Settlement
to the Present Time: 1911, Volume II.
DAY,
Elmur, farmer, Sec. 33; P.O. Sweetland Center; born in Washington
Co., Penn., Nov 23, 1821; removed in 1850 to Greene Co., where he followed
farming until 1865, then returned to Washington Co.; the same year, came
to Muscatine Co. and purchased the farm where he moved his family in October,
1865. Mr. Day married Miss Rachel D. Comkey March 12, 1849, a native
of Green Co., Penn; born Aug. 18, 1823, and died Jan. 14, 1861. He
married again Miss Susan Kelley Dec. 30, 1863; born in Fayette Co., Penn.,
Dec. 6, 1830, and died March 23, 1870. Mr. Day has five children
by former wife--Elizabeth (now Mrs. Mann), John W., Hannah B., Alice
J., and Samuel M., Elmur Day, and one deceased--Livisa M., and by second
wife two--Ida M. and George L. and one deceased--Laura F. Mr. Day
was elected to the Legislature in 1871, and has been a member of the Presbyterian
Church since 34 years of age, where he has ever been a faithful member;
is a Democrat.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DAY,
Josiah, farmer, Sec. 3; P.O. Sweetland Center; born in Washington
Co., Penn., July 13, 1828; removed to Muscatine Co. in 1866, settling in
Sweetland Tp., where he owns a fine farm of 350 acres. Married Miss
Phebe J. Minton, a native of Washington Co., Penn., in 1854; born Aug 23,
1832; have six children, three sons and three daughters--Laura C., S. Belle,
Mary, John W., S. Addison, and Goldsmith O. Mr. and Mrs. Day are
members of the Presbyterian Church; Democrat.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DEAN,
HENRY MUNSON, physician, surgeon, was born Nov. 8, 1836, in Canaan,
Conn. He was a surgeon in the United States army during the civil war.
He has been president of the Iowa and Illinois Central Medical association;
and of the Muscatine Academy of Medicine.
Source:
Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century.
page 290
DEAN, IRA;
manufacturer of boots and shoes, Second street; Mr. Dean was born in Orange,
Essex Co., N. J., June 17, 1826. On Jan. 8, 1849, he married Miss Phoebe
Ann Swann, a native of Chatham, N. J. During the war of the rebellion,
Mr. Dean served as Wagonmaster at Camp Nelson, Ky. He removed to Muscatine
from Ohio in 1873, and has since been a resident. Himself and wife
are members of the M. E. Church. They have had four children, two of whom
are living---Sarah (now Mrs. E. Dawson, of Muscatine), and Byron B.; Byron
B. is married, and is Train-Dispatcher at Newark, Ohio. Mr. Dean, politically,
was originally a Whig; on the organization of the Republican party, he
adopted the principles of that party, and still gives them his support.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DEEMER,
HORACE E., of the firm of Junkin & Deemer, attorneys at law,
Red Oak; Mr. Deemer was born September 24, 1858, in Marshal County, Indiana,
and when eight years old moved to Cedar County, Iowa. About the year 1867
he removed to Muscatine County, Iowa, where he made his home unitl 1879.
He was educated at the Iowa State University and graduated from the law
department of that institution in June, 1879, and in the fall of the same
year located in Red Oak and engaged in the practice of law in connection
with his present partner. Mr. Deemer is a son of John A. Deemer, of West
Liberty, Iowa, who was born in Ohio about 1832. He is Secretary of the
Agricultural Society of Montgomery County.
Source: History of Montgomery
County, Iowa; Des Moines: Iowa Hist. and Biographical Co., 1881
DEMING,
GEORGE, far., Sec. 7; P.O. Durant, Cedar Co.; born in Hartford Co.,
Conn., March 27, 1812; went to Ashtabula Co., Ohio, in 1833; making the
trip on the first railroad built in the West; returned to Hartford Co.,
Conn., where he married Miss Cornelia R. Gregory May 6, 1834, born in New
Haven Co., Conn., Feb. 26, 1816, and returned to Ashtabula Co., Ohio, in
1837, where they remained nine years; in 1838, removed to Du Page Co.,
Ill., and remained sixteen years; in 1854, removed to Muscatine Co.; they
had one son and four daughters--George W., Mary F., now Mrs. Persons; Ellen
A., now Mrs. Loomis; Emily C., now Mrs. Pingrey, and Josephine, now Mrs.
Kettell. Mr. D. owns 180 acres, on which he has made all the improvements.
Mr. D. and wife have been members of the Christian Church for thirty-six
years; Mr. D. is a Republican.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DEMOREST,
A. F.; of the firm of Demorest & Coe, booksellers and stationers
and dealers in pianos and organs; was born in Orange Co., N. Y., Oct. 20,
1826; he lived there until 25 years of age; then removed to Tompkins Co.,
near Ithaca, and lived three years; he started West overland and came to
Iowa, and was five weeks and one day on the road, and reached Muscatine
Nov. 2, 1855, without a cent; he engaged as clerk in the employ of R. M.
Burnett and remained with him three years; he then associated with A. Palmer,
now of Dubuque; they engaged in the book and stationery business and continued
until the breaking-out of the war, when Mr. Palmer enlisted and was commissioned
Captain of the 16th I. V. I.; Mr. Demorest carried on the business until
near the close of the war, when he bought out his partner's interest, and,
in August, 1864, he associated with him his brother-in-law, J. E. Coe;
since then, they have carried on the business and are doing quite an extensive
trade. He has held office of City Treasurer for two years, also the office
of Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors for four years. He is a
member of the M.E. Church and is one of the Trustees. He married Miss Harriet
S. C. Coe, of Illinois. in 1861; they have seven children and have lost
one.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DENISON,
GEORGE B. banker, corner Second street and Iowa avenue, of the firm
of Garrettson & Co., bankers; is a native of the town of Floyd, Oneida
Co., N. Y., and was born Feb. 13, 1819; he was brought up on a farm and
received his education there; after reaching manhood, he engaged in teaching
winters and going to school during the summer--preparing himself for teaching;
he came to Iowa in May, 1851, and engaged in teaching and had charge of
the schools here for four years; for ten years, he was engaged in the educational
interests of the public school system; he held the County Superintendent
of Schools for three and a half years; Mr. Denison has given a
great deal of study to educational interests and has done much to advance
the standard of education; his first vote was cast and the first
dollar of tax he ever paid was for building a school-house where
he used to go to school; for the past three years, he has been engaged
in banking and is one of the firm of Garrettson & Co. He Married Miss
Margaret M. Lyon, a native of New York State; she was a graduate of the
State Normal School at Albany, New York; she taught school after coming
here for four years, they have one daughter--Edna.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DERBY,
J.W., farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 10; P.O. Wilton; was born
in Andover, Winsor Co., Vt., Nov. 12, 1829; when 21 years of age, he came
to Illinois, where he worked at farming as an employe for six years, and,
in the spring of 1856, came to Iowa, this county, and purchased the farm
known as the Kenzie farm. In August, 1857, he married Miss Affie
Wilson, who was born at Fredonia, N.Y., Dec. 21, 1838; she was one of a
family of twelve children of Leonard and Polly Wilson, all of whom lived
to man and womanood, the youngest being now 41 years of age; the first
death in the family, that of Almon W., who died in Wilton April 2, of the
present year, aged 60; her mother died in 1875; her father still resides
in the East at the advanced age of 84 years. Nathan Derby (the father
of J.W.), a New Englander by birth, is now 86 years of age. In the
fall of 1857, Mr. and MRs. Derby settled where they now reside and own
160 acres of land, valued at $75 per acre; they have four children---Nathan
W., born in Februrary, 1859, Ida J. Dec. 30, 1861; Eugene, Oct 6, 1866,
and Leonard, Dec. 15, 1872. Republican; has held office of Township
Trustee and various school offices.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DICKERSON,
Isaac, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 9; P. O. West Liberty;
owns 590 acres of land, valued at 450 per acre, forty acres being in Guthrie
Co.; born Feb. 20, 1814, in Fayette Co., Penn. Married there Miss Sarah
Barricklow June 30, 1836; she was born in same county July 9, 1818;
in the fall of 1846, emigrated to Coshocton Co., Ohio, and to this county
in the fall of 1864, locating upon the farm which he is still living; has
eight children living--Catharine, Louisa, Amy, John, Hannah, Sarah, James
and Isaac Jr.; lost six--Elizabeth, Eli, William, Amanda, Albert
C. and George T.; Eli died at Nashville, Tenn., in his country's service,
in Company D of 97th Ohio Infantry. Mr. D. is a member of the M. E. Church;
Republican.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DICKINSON,
Ocran; Sec. 13; P. O. Muscatine; born in Hampshire Co., Mass.,
Nov. 19, 1812; in 1835, went to Michigan and followed his occupation as
harness--maker one year; then returned to Massachusetts and married Miss
Miranda Gale Sept. 20, 1836; she was born in Hampshire Co., Mass., Oct.
12, 1812; then removed to Michigan, where Mr. D. followed his former occupation;
came to Muscatine Co. in the spring of 1846, and settled in Lake Tp., where
he owns 170 acres of land; they have seven children--Julia P. (now
Mrs. Bayles), Levi, Abby M. (now Mrs. Lucas), Maria L. (now Mrs. Wilson),
Hannah G.(now Mrs. Letts), Frances J. (now Mrs. Sheldon) and Ocran. Mr.and
Mrs. D. are members of the Congregational Church; Mr. D. is a Republican.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DILDINE, A.T., farmer; P.
O. Letts; born in Sussex Co. N.J., in 1823; he moved to Pennsylvania in
1849. He married Sarah E. Dildine, a native of New Jersey. Removed to Louisa
Co., Iowa, in 1856; came to present location in 1872. He has two children---
Anna Mary, born in Pennsylvania, and Henry T., born in Louisa Co., Iowa.
Mr. Dildine has 360 acres of land; is engaged principally in stock-raising.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DILL, Wm.,
retired; Muscatine; is a native of Orange Co., N. Y., and he was brought
up and lived there until he came to Iowa and located in May, 1854. He was
engaged in buying and selling land. After the war broke out, he recruited
Company D, 35th Regt. Iowa Inf., and was commissioned Captain; he was in
the siege of Vicksburg and in the Red Rive campaign and in the battle of
Nashville and at the capture of Spanish Fort. He was wounded at Old River
Lake and was promoted and commissioned Major; was in the service for three
years, and was mustered out Aug. 10, 1865. He has held the office of City
Marshall and City Collector. Maj. Dill married Miss Mary A. Mapes, from
Orange Co., N. Y., Dec. 15, 1841. She died May 1, 1874; they had six children,
three of whom survive---Jesse M., Mary L. and Bowman V. He married Miss
Emma Prosser, a native of England, Sept. 1, 1875.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DILLAWAY,
George W. ; importer and wholesale dealer in crockery and glassware,
No. 175 Second street; one of the most enterprising merchants and the present
Mayor of Muscatine is George W. Dillaway; he is a native of Boston, Mass.,
where both his father and grandfather were born; the latter was a soldier
in the Revolutionary war and was in the battle of Bunker Hill; George W.
was born Oct. 16, 1828, and when a youth served a full apprenticeship as
ship-carver; his father was a ship-owner, and George made a voyage to Russia
in one of his father's vessels; he engaged in mercantile business early
in life in his native city and was successful, but being in poor health,
was advised to come West, and in 1857, he came to Iowa, located in Muscatine
and engaged in the crockery and queensware business; he has built up a
large and extensive wholesale and retail trade, extending through Iowa,
Missouri and part of Illinois; his store on Second street is one of the
largest and finest in the State; his business requires four floors, all
packed full of goods; the first floor is devoted to the retail trade and
is a model of good taste in its arrangement; the other three floors are
devoted to his wholesale trade; through his energy and enterprise to a
great extent the city secured its splendid system of water works
three years ago; he was chosen President of the Water-Works Company for
some time, but resigned his position. He has held office of the City Alderman;
received the nomination and was elected Mayor of the city in March, 1879.
He married Miss Lucretia C. Hunting, a native of Boston, in 1852; they
have two children---one daughter, Lucretia, and one son, William.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DISBRO,
S. S., farmer, Sec. 12; P. O. Atalissa; son of Jesse and Martha
Disbro; owns 120 acres of land, valued at $50 per acre; born Oct.. 10,
1831, in Hamilton Co., Ohio; in the spring of 1845, parents moved to Monroe
Co., Ill.; his mother deceased there in February, 1848, also three brothers
and a sister from 1845 to 1850, when they came to Muscatine Co., stopping
about three miles below Muscatine; in 1852, came onto his present farm.
Married Elizabeth Gorder March 3, 1856; she was born in Ohio; this
union not being a happy one, they were divorced. On Sept. 18, 1862, enlisted
in Company B, of the 35th I. V. I.; participated in the siege and
capture of Vicksburg; was also in the charge made May 22, 1863, before
Vicksburg; after the capture he was detailed as Assistant Quartermaster;
soon after was taken sick and was finally discharged in February, 1864.
Returned home, and was again married, to Lizzie Deming, Nov. 13, 1865;
she was born in the fall of 1848, in Cayuga Co., N. Y., was daughter of
James and Mary Deming; have four children by second wife--Mary, Jessie,
Emma J. and Jennie; lost two infant sons. Republican.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DIXON,
THOMAS L. was born in Jay, Maine, in 1849, where he
lived until March, 1864, when he enlisted in Twelfth Maine Regiment, and
served until close of war, being mustered out in summer of 1865. Returned
to Maine, entering school. In February, 1866, removed to Mercer County,
Ill., where he followed teaching until 1874, when he removed to Nebraska,
settling at Pleasant Hill, at that time the county seat of Saline County;
afterward removed to Crete, where he followed teaching and dealing in agricultural
implements, etc. Was elected County Superintendent of Public Instruction
in 1877, serving four years. Married,
in 1871, in Muscatine, Iowa, to Mary A. McLaughlin. He
is a member of Blue Lodge, A., F. & A. M.
Source:
Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska, Saline County
DOBBS,
Andrew, farmer, Sec. 35; P.O. Melpine; born in Juniata Co., Penn,
April 1, 1816. Married Miss Elizabeth Longstreth March 11, 1845; removed
to Muscatine Co., 1845 and settled where they now reside, in the spring
of 1846; Mr. D. was appointed Postmaster of Melpine, by William Dennison,
in 1865, which office he has held ever since; was on the Board of Supervisors
four years; taught the first school in the district; have five children--Marion
B., Edward H., Emma U., Chester P. and Elizabeth A. Members of the
Presbyterian Church. Mr. D. is a Republican.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DORAN,
JAMES M. attorney at law and Justice of the Peace, Muscatine, was
born in Pittsburgh, Penna., Dec. 18, 1849; when four years of age, his
parents came to Iowa and settled in this county in1853; he was brought
up and received his education in this county; he studied law and was admitted
to the bar Aug. 31, 1876, and since has practiced his profession here.
He was elected Justice of the Peace in the fall of 1878, and is also Deputy
Collector of Taxes. He married Miss Mary O. Clark, a native of Ohio,
in October, 1875. They have two children.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DORAN,
PATRICK farmer; P. O. Muscatine; was born in Allegheny
Co., Penn., Aug. 10, 1823; he was brought up there and married Miss Mary
A. Doran March 1, 1848; they came to Iowa and settled in Muscatine Co.
in 1852; after coming here, he directed Judge Washburn to enter forty acres
of land for him, but the Judge entered 160 acres for him. Mr. Doran at
first blamed the Judge very much for exceeding his directions, but he has
thanked him many times since, for he has been offered $40 an acre for it
and refused it. He and his wife own 240 acres of land; he has been engaged
in farming for many years until 1877, when he removed to Muscatine. They
have ten children, five sons and five daughters.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DORAN,
T.
B.
dairyman, was born at Utica, N. Y., 1850, and came to Warren
County, Ill., with his parents, farming for about five years, and in the
fall of 1863, went to Muscatine, Iowa, farming about eighteen years,
and in March, 1881, located here and engaged in the dairy business, and
has now some thirty-six head of milch cows, mostly graded stock, averaging
some thirty-five gallons of milk per day. Was married January 1, 1878,
to Miss Magi Preston, who was born in Illinois. Has two children, Estala
and Bernard James. Both members of the Catholic Church.
Source:
Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska, Lancaster County
DOVE,
H. C. dealer in general merchandise, Atalissa;
born in Belmont Co., Ohio, in 1840; came to Iowa in 1869. Married Juliet
C. Lewis in 1867; she was born in Belmont Co., Ohio; have four children--Clyde
L., Lucy M. Alverda P. and Wilma. Are members of M. E. Church. Republican.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DOWELL,
A.
H.
proprietor and owner of "Lowell Pottery Works," was born in Fairport,
Muscatine County, Iowa, in 1847, and was reared to his present industry
there. He located in Iola, Kan., in 1868; after following railroading for
a few years, he located at Columbus, and established the pottery business,
which, after a few years, he located here, and has very successfully carried
it on since. He married in 1867 Miss Rosamond DeMoss, who was born in Ohio
and reared in Indiana. They have three sons and one daughter - Oscar Le
Grand, James Francis, William Morton and Amy E. Mr. Dowell began his operations
here with merely his knowledge of the business, and by dint of steady and
persistent industry, now does a business of $5,000 a year in the line of
general pottery work and tiling. George M. Dowell, father of A. H., is
a native of Alabama, and settled in Muscatine County, Iowa, at the age
of nineteen, where he was connected with pottery work till recently he
came here. G. A. and J. W., brothers of A. H., are active workmen with
him in the business. Mr. Dowell's enterprise gives employment to about
eight skilled workmen.
Source:
William G. Cutler's History of the State of Kansas, Cherokee County
DOWNER,
J.A., farmer, Sec. 17; P.O. Muscatine; born in Hartford Co., Conn;
Sept. 2, 1805; removed to Pennsylvania in 1812; remained until 20 years
of age where he engaged in teaching school. Married Miss Elizabeth
R. Carder Feb. 11, 1827; born in Columbia Co., Penn., March 13, 1807; they
removed to Stark Co., Ohio, where he followed farming and school-teaching
for thirteen years; in 1845, removed to Des Moines Co., Iowa, and settled
at Linton, where he held the post office for twelve years; in 1865, removed
to Muscatine Co., and purchased the Bamford farm. United with the
M.E. Church at 19 years of age, has ever been a faithful member; Mrs. Elizabeth
Downer died Dec. 14, 1845; he married again, Mrs Elizabeth Babb, June 8,
1847, a native of Pennsylvania; she died Jan. 30, 1873; has had by former
wife six children--Ann C., Mary S., Robert M., Joseph B., two deceased,
Almira and Adella; and three by second wife--Edwin and George C.; one deceased--Ellen.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879 Sweetland Twp
DOWNER,
Joseph; farmer, Sec. 17; P.O. Muscatine; born in Stark Co., Ohio,
May 6, 1840; came to Des Moines Co., Iowa, in 1845; thence to Muscatine
Co; in early life was engaged in the cause of education; enlisted in 8th
Iowa Cavalry, Co. D, and served till the close of the war; went out as
private, and was promoted to Captain; was in most of the engagements of
his regiment; was taken prisoner July 30, 1864, and held at Andersonville
until Sept. 22, 1864. Married Margaret A. Davis in 1866; she was
born in Highland Co., Ohio, Nov. 5, 1847; have three children--Anna A.,
John T. Louis E. Member of the M.E. Church; is a Radical Republican,
and an uncompromising temperance man.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879 Sweetland Twp.
DRAKE,
T. H., farmer, Sec. 32; P. O. Muscatine; was born in Mt. Hope, Orange
Co., N. Y., Aug. 29, 1817; in 1846, he emigrated to Wisconsin, and for
several years traveled considerably, visiting Florida and several of the
Southern States; In 1856 he came West again, and settled in Muscatine Co.,
where he still remains. Mr. D. married, Jan. 13, 1858, Miss Louisa Davis,
daughter of Phillip Davis, of Orange Co., N. Y.; they have three children--Frederick,
Louis O. and Theophilus Mrs. D. is a member of the Presbyterian Church
of Muscatine. Mr. D. is a carpenter; worked at that trade before coming
West; his occupation now is that of farmer; he owns a fine farm of ninety-five
acres, where he now resides, six miles southwest of the city of Muscatine.
A stanch Republican; before the organization of that party, acted with
the Whig party.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DRAPER,
ROBERT
P. came to Nebraska in October, 1870, located on a farm in Russell
Precinct and engaged in farming until 1875, when he began mercantile business
at Unadilla, and continued that until 1878, then he represented the Chicago
Lumber Company at Unadilla until he was elected County Treasurer, in November,
1879. In November, 1881, he was re-elected. He was born in Shelbyville,
Shelby Co., Ind., April 1, 1847, and when six or seven years old he went
to Dearborn County, Ind., where he lived until he came
to Iowa, in 1858, located in Muscatine County, being there until 1870.
He was married in Sweetland Township, Muscatine Co., Iowa, December 30,
1869, to Erie D. Farnsworth, a native of Sweetland.
They have
two children, Morris and Eda; two, Nellie and Louie, died in April, 1876.
Mr. Draper is a member of the I. O. O. F., K. of H., and Royal Arcanum.
He served in the Rebellion, having enlisted May 9, 1863, in Company B,
Forty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and served until September 20, 1863,
when he was mustered out on account of expiration of his time of
service.
Source:
Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska, Otoe County
DRUMHILLER,
WILLIAM
attorney
at law, fire insurance and collecting agent, first came to Logan,
Kan., in the fall of 1878, and engaged in agriculture. He has 160
acres of land deeded, 160 under pre-emption act, and 160 as a timber
claim, 120 acres of which is cultivated. He has served as Justice of the
Peace two years. He was born in Eaton City, Northampton County, Pa.,
November 4. 1832; was raised in Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio;emigrated
to Muscatine Iowa, January 1, 1855, where he followed merchandising until
August, 1857, when he went to St. Joseph, Mo., and
engaged in the same business. He was there Judge of Police Courts two
years, City Assessor two years, and two years a Member of the School
Board, and ten years merchandising. Enlisted in September, 1861. in Co.
B, Third Battalion, Missouri Reserves, and was promoted to Captain of the
company. He re-enlisted February 24, as Captain of Co. A, Fifth Missouri
Cavalry: promoted to Major, April 30, 1862. He re-enlisted August 1, 1874,
as Adjutant of the Forty-fourth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry,
and was made Captain of Company B, same regiment. He participated
in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, Tenn., the siege of Mobile,
Ala., and many skirmishes. He was mustered out September 1, 1865. He was
married April 3, 1867, to Miss E. T. Cowden, a native of Madison,
Ind. He is a member of the Encampment Lodge I. O. O. F., Knights of Pythias,
and Logan Post No. 177, G. A. R.
Source:
History of the State of Kansas by William G. Cutler, Town of Logan, Phillips
Co.
DRURY,
W.A., grocer, Second street; was born in Wayne Co., Ind.,
in the year 1816; in 1820, his parents removed to Morgan Co., thence to
Mercer Co., Ill. in 1834, and from the latter county they removed to Rock
Island Co., Ill, in which county W.A. Drury married Miss A. Comstock, a
native of Vermillion Co., Ind., born in 1827; they have one son--Ross Drury,
who married Miss C. Russel, of Chicago, Ill; they reside in this city (Muscatine).
W.A. Drury has been a resident of Muscatine since 1845; engaged in his
present occupation in 1854; previous to that was engaged in the real estate
business. Politically, Mr. Drury acts with the Democratic Party;
he has filled various local offices of trust in this city; his reputation
as a businessman stands high; and fair dealing and strict integrity have
characterized all his intercourse with his fello-citizens; his grocery
store on Second street is as large as any in the city.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
DUGGAN,
Rev. Nicholas, Pastor of St. Mary's Church; residence, Third street,
Wilton; born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1843; was raised a farmer,
and, having received a good common school education, at the age of 18,
he entered St. Patrick's College, in County Tipperary, where he remained
for eight years, and was ordained at Thurles in 1873; in the fall of that
year, emigrated to America and came to Dubuque, Iowa; the following spring,
was appointed Assistant Priest with Father Flavin, at Davenport, where
he remained for ten months, and in
the latter part of 1874, came to Wilton as Pastor of St. Mary's Church,
a history of which may be found in this volume.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
E
EADE, JOHN
veterinary surgeon, Muscatine, Iowa; Mr. Eade is a native of Cornwall,
England; was born in the year 1847; in 1850, his parents emigrated to Grant
Co., Wis. During the war of the rebellion, he served in Co. G, 57th Regt.
Ill. V. L. was enrolled at Dixon Ill.; mustered out at Chicago at the close
of the war; came to Muscatine in December, 1875. He married Miss Ella Harrison,
of this city, (Muscatine), in 1876; they have one child--Mary Louisa. Mr.
Eade gives special attention to the treatment of horses; he successfully
treats all diseases which the horse is subject to, and guarantees satisfaction
in all cases.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago
Illinois 1879
EGEL,
JOHN
John Egel, who for about
thirty years was one of the leading agriculturists of Buffalo township,
and, now, having given up the arduous work of the farm I residing in Blue
Grass, was born in Germany, 1831. In 1854 he crossed the Atlantic with
the intention of making a place for himself in this land of opportunities.
For several years he made his home in the east, for the most part in New
Jersey, and then the fame of the richness of the Iowa lands having reached
him, in 1869 he came to Scott county. For many years he operated
tented land and it was not until 1882 that he purchased his first tract,
which embraced on hundred and twenty acres in Buffalo township, and then
as success attended his efforts he bought forty acres more, so that he
owned a quarter of a section. On it he engaged in farming until 1899, when
he leased the farm to a tenant and removed to Blue Grass, for he felt that
the success he had gained entitled his to a rest.
While living in Brunswick,
New Jersey, Mr. Egel wedded Miss Barbara Isenacher, who was also a native
of Germany and was born in the same year as her husband, that of 1831.
Their union was celebrated in 1857 and in the course of years was blessed
with ten children, five sons, and five daughters, all of whom married and
were well established in life. Louise, died in 1890; John Chris wedded
Miss Rosa Schroeder and lives in Muscatine county, Iowa; Henry married
Miss Catherine Kippe and also resides in Muscatine county, Iowa; Henry
married Miss Annie Zeyer, of Buffalo. Charles married Miss Pauline Bakman.
Louisa became the wife of Henry Brown. Mary is the wife of James Carpenter,
of Buffalo township. Catherine is the wife of William Platt. Mrs. Nellie
Hovenagle is the widow and lives in Bluegrass.
When Mr. Egel was admitted
to citizenship in this republic he looked to the democratic party for political
guidance and has since given to it his unswerving support. While he ever
exercises his right of franchise at election times, he has never aspired
to public office, nevertheless exhibiting an interest in the welfare of
his fellowmen and being ever ready to exert himself in their behalf.
From "History of Davenport
and Scott County" Vol. II by Harry E. Downer-S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.Chicago.
1910
Transcribed by Elaine
Rathmann of the Scott Co IAGenWeb Project - used by permission
EHLMANN,
HERMANN D., residing at No. 1803 Washington street in Davenport,
is now living retired, enjoying the fruits of his former toil as an agriculturist.
His birth occurred in Hanover, Germany, on the 7th of November, 1827, his
parents being Gerhardt and Marguereta Ehlmann, both of whom passed away
in the fatherland. After his education had been completed he worked as
farm hand until the time of his emigration to the United States in 1851,
landing at New Orleans after an ocean voyage of six weeks and two days.
From the Crescent City he made his way to St. Louis, Missouri, where he
was married and where he remained for four and a half years, being employed
in a tobacco factory. On coming to Davenport, Iowa, in 1856, he first worked
in a brickyard and in fact scorned no employment at which he could earn
an honest living.
Later in the same year
he purchased forty acres of timber land in Montpelier township, Muscatine
county, and erected a house thereon, residing on the place for nine years.
On the expiration of that period he disposed of the property and for two
years devoted his time and energies to the operation of a rented farm in
Buffalo township, Scott county. He then purchased and located upon a farm
of eighty acres in Fulton township, Muscatine county, and afterward bought
two more tracts of similar size in the same township, where he carried
on his agricultural interests energetically and successfully for about
thirty-five years. Having won a handsome competence by reason of his unremitting
industry and capable management, he then put aside the active work of the
fields and took up his abode in Davenport, where he has since lived retired.
On the 25th of August,
1852, in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Ehlmann was united in marriage to Miss
Anna Catherine Neyhaus, who was born in Hanover, Germany, on the 4th of
February, 1825. Mr. and Mrs. Ehlmann became the parents of five children,
the record of whom is as follows. The first born died in infancy. Henry,
who is a resident of Oklahoma, first wedded Miss Caroline Harter, by whom
he had three children: Anna, Herman and John. For his second wife he chose
Miss Margaret Neve and their union has been blessed with two children.
Helen and Emma. Margaret Emma Ehlmann gave her hand in marriage to Albert
Kourthouse, of Oklahoma, and is now the mother of six children, namely:
Theodore, Hugo, August, Lulu, Wanda and Clarence. Emilie, who is the wife
of John Hartz, makes her home in Davenport. John D. Ehlmann has passed
away. Mrs. Ehlmann, the wife of our subject, was called to her final rest
on the 28th of October, 1893, and Mr. Ehlmann now makes his home with his
daughter, Mrs. John Hertz.
At the polls Mr. Ehlmann
casts his ballot in support of the men and measures of the democratic party.
The cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart champion and while
residing in Muscatine county he served as a school director of Fulton township
for seven years. He is now in the eighty-third year of his age and receives
the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded one who has traveled
thus far on life's journey and whose career has at all times been upright
and honorable. The period of his residence in this part of the state
covers more than a half century, and he is well known and highly esteemed
as a man who owes his present prosperity entirely to his own well directed
labor and indefatigable energy.
"History of Davenport
and Scott County" Vol. II by Harry E. Downer-S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Chicago IL 1910
Transcribed by Debbie
Gerischer for the Scott Co IA GenWeb Project-used by permission
EINGENMANN,
MRS.
MARY proprietor of Muscatine Brewery, corner of Seventh and
Mulberry streets, Muscatine, Iowa; Mrs. Mary Eigenmann, nee Kerchafer,
is a native of Switzerland, was born in 1835; emigrated to this country
in 1862; has been twice married; first husband was Peter Brawand, who died
in this county, was a native of Switzerland. Second husband, Joseph
Eigenmann, was also born in Switzerland, died in this city in 1872.
Mrs. Eigenmann's children are Mary, Peter and Henry. Mrs. Eigenmann
is an estimable lady, is very social, abounding in hospitality, and is
a thorough business manager.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
EIS,
NICHOLAS, far., Sec. 5; P.O. Pleasant Prairie; was born in Prussia
June 21, 1862; in 1843, emigrated to the United States, settling first
in Tuscarwaras Co., Ohio, where he remained twenty-five years, removing
thence to Iowa, in 1867, and located on the farm on which he now resides.
Was married in Ohio, to Miss Catherine Welch (sic-Welsch), in 1848; she
was a native of Prussia; she came to this country in 1847; they have
eight children, all still living--Caroline (now Mrs. E. Bruce), Adam,
George, Louisa, Elizabeth, Katherine, Mary and Beckie. Mr. E. and
his wife are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. E. enlisted in the
189th Ohio Inf. Vol, Company C (sic); was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn.,
the same year. Is a stanch Republican.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
(Note: Military and Pension
records show Company G of Ohio 189th)
EITMANN,
FRANK
dealer in groceries, provisions, queensware, etc., South Muscatine; native
of Hanover, Germany, born in 1835; emigrated to St. Louis, Mo., in 1850;
thence to New Orleans in 1853; thence, in 1855, to Muscatine; he engaged
in business in 1857. He married in Muscatine, Miss Eva Lolbear; they
have six children--Joseph, Frank, George, Leonora, Mary, Frederick.
Mr Eitman and wife are members of the Protestant Church. He is a
member of the A.O. U. W., and Mechanic's Aid Socieity. Republican.
Mr. Eitman is a native of great industry and good judgment; these qualities
have made him successful in business.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
(Note the main heading
of the bio spells the name EITMANN but in the bio itself the name is spelled
Eitman)
ELDRIDGE,
Abner, born in Chester Co., Penn, June 26, 1806. Married Miss
Amy H. Davidson April 3, 1844; she was born in Chester Co., Penn., July
3, 1813; have had two children--Joseph, born July 28, 1845 and died Sept.
4, 1865; Benjamin, born April 27, 1848, and died March 2, 1874. Mr.
and Mrs. E. are members of the Friends' Church. They removed to Muscatine
Co. in 1853, and settled on the present farm he now owns; has held the
office of Assessor and Township Clerk and District Secretary; is a Republican.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879 Sweetland Twp
EPPERLY,
Isaac, farmer; P. O. Letts; born in Virginia in 1823; his parents
moved to Indiana when he was a child; he came to Muscatine Co. in 1844;
in 1845, he purchased the farm which he now owns. He married Emily Gore;
she died in 1862; his present wife is Hannah McCord, a native of Illinois;
he had three children by his first marriage, only one---Edith---now living;
has had two by the second marriage, neither living. Mr. Epperly owns 450
acres of land, is engaged in general farming.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
EPPERLY,
WM., farmer, Sec. 2; P.O. Letts; Mr. Epperly was born in Wayne Co.,
Ind., in 1840; his parents Jacob and Elizabeth Epperly, came to Muscatine
Co. about 1849, and located in Seventy-six Tp., where they resided till
their death; his father died in 1870, and his mother in 1874. He
was married in 1861 to Lucretia Fry, a native of Wisconsin; she died in
June, 1871; Mr. Epperly has three children by this marriage--Williametta,
born in 1863; Jared, in 1865; and Annie M. in 1868. He married, in
1871, E. Ruth Shellabarger, born in 1845; her parents Thomas and Susan
Shellabarger, came to Muscatine Co. from Ohio in 1846; her father died
Nov. 1, 1876; her mother, about 1864. Mr. and Mrs. Epperly are members
of the United Brethren Church.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879 Cedar Twp
ERVAN,
BENJAMIN
has a farm on section 30, in Victory township, and has
all of his land under cultivation, and well improved. He was born in Harrison
county, Ohio, on the 30th of January, 1830. In the fall of 1836 his parents
removed to Guernsey county, in that state, where they resided until the
death of the father, George Erven, the father died March 14, 1857, aged
seventy years, the mother died January 3, 1865, aged seventy-five. Both
the parents were born in Virginia. Benjamin left Noble, late Guernsey county,
in the spring of 1870, and settled in Guthrie county, where he now resides.
He was married September 4, 1851, to Miss Elizabeth Porter, daughter of
James and Elizabeth Porter. Mrs. Erven was born in Muskingum county, Ohio,
July 20, 1827. They have six children--James A., born July 8, 1852, and
married to Miss Viola A. Simeoke, September 26, 1882; Mary Jane, born August
13, 1853, married June 9, 1878, to Thomas M. Davis; George M., born November
15, 1854, married May 21, 1881, to Miss Ida M. McFee; Andrew P., born February
24, 1858; Leicester H., born May 16, 1860; John B., born October 11, 1865,
and died January 30, 1878. Mrs. Erven's father, James
Porter, was born April 17, 1784, and died in Ohio, January 11, 1832. Her
mother was born March 14, 1786, and died in Muscatine county, Iowa, April
17, 1876. Mr. Erven, his wife and daughter are members of the Baptist
church at Guthrie Center.
History of Guthrie and
Adair Counties, Iowa Springfield, Ill: Continental Hist. Co., 1884.
Victory Township
ESTLE,
THOMAS L., farmer, Sec. 35; P.O. Letts; Mr. Estle was born in New
Jersey, in 1814; his parents removed to Ohio when he was 2 years of age;
He was married in 1843 to Susan Shellabarger, a native of Clark Co., Ohio;
her parents came to Louisa Co., Iowa in 1838; have had ten children, nine
still living---Abigail (now Mrs. James Beard), William B. (who resides
in Taylor Co., Iowa), Elizabeth (now Mrs. A. Smith), Mary A. (now Mrs.
Thomas Thompson), Jacob S. (who resides in Louisa Co.), John (resides in
Dallas Co., Iowa), Charles, Sarah and Belle; the last three reside at home.
Mr. Estle has 800 acres of land; is engaged quite extensively in stock-raising;
he has resided on his present farm for over thirty years.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879 Cedar Twp
EVANS,
John A., farmer, Sec. 7; P. O. West Liberty; son of Simeon and Polly
Evans; owns 160 acres of land, valued at $50 per acres; born May 11, 1833,
in Otsego Co., N. Y.; parents moved to Geauga Co., Ohio, in 1834; his father
died there June 4, 1853; in the spring of 1856, he came to this county,
first locating in West Liberty, where he kept a meat market; afterward
in the lumber business two years, prior to coming on his present farm in
1873. Married Flora M. Barnes Aug 4, 1860; she was born May 6, 1836, in
Connecticut; have two children---Fred W., and Willie J.; lost one--- Robert;
also has two adopted children--- George D., and Jessie. Is a member of
Mt. Calvary Lodge, No. 95, at West Liberty, of which he has served as
Worshipful Master eleven years. Republican.
Source:
The History of Muscatine County Iowa, Containing A History of the
County, its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
EVELAND,
JOHN located upon his present homestead in 1855. He was born in
Morgan County, Ohio, in 1818, and is a son of William and Sarah (Swartz)
Eveland, his father a native of New York and his mother of New Jersey.
John remained at home upon his father's farm until twenty-three years of
age, when he went to De Witt County, Ill., and thence to McLean County,
Ill., where he remained four years, engaged in farming upon rented land.
In 1844 he moved to Muscatine County, Iowa, where he bought a claim of
180 acres, on which he lived for eleven years. Selling this land in 1855
he came to Mahaska County, and purchased 240 acres of land on section 3,
Jefferson Township, which he has greatly improved, and on which he still
continues to reside.
Mr. Eveland was married,
in 1839, to Mary Phillips, a native of Belmont, Ohio. By this union there
were five children, four of whom grew to maturity, one dying in infancy;
Lineus, born in 1844, was a soldier in the 33d Iowa Infantry, and died
at Little Rock, Ark.; Sarah Ellen, born March 4, 1840, is the wife of J.
M. W. Blizzard, of Jefferson Township; Freeman, born July 16, 1848, is
living in Jefferson Township; Egbert was born in May, 1850. Mrs. Sarah
Eveland died, and our subject, on Jan. 6, 1853, was again married, his
second wife being Miss Elizabeth Wilson, a native of Pennsylvania, and
daughter of Daniel and Anna (Mace) Wilson. Her father was a native of North
Ireland and her mother of Pennsylvania. By this union there are four living
children: Alice, wife of John Mehana, now residing in Jefferson Township;
Ida M., at home; Jessie, wife of S. V. Gerard, of Nebraska, and John E.,
at home. Mr. Eveland is the owner of 280 acres of improved land. Coming
to this State at an early day, with many others, he can say he has experienced
all the toils and privations of a pioneer, but is happy in the consciousness
of a well-spent life.
The following reminiscence
from the pen of Mr. Eveland will be read with pleasure by his many friends:
"After hearing of the
fertile land of Illinois, in 1841, I concluded to move there with my family.
In company with four other families we started from Morgan County, Ohio,
in October, in wagons. After twenty days of toilsome journeying we reached
Clinton County, Ill. When we came to Illinois it was a great, beautiful,
unbroken prairie, which we soon passed over. When we arrived at our journey's
end we were received, by a brother who had moved to Illinois two years
previously. I soon bought a hewed-log house, moved it on Government land,
and moved my family into it. In the spring I sold my house and rented a
farm. While staying there I paid twenty-five cents for every letter that
I received, that being the rate of postage on letters at that time. I occupied
this farm four years, then exchanged it for a farm in Muscatine County,
Iowa, to which I journeyed in October, accompanied by my family, making
the trip in five days, over a beautiful prairie country, and crossing the
Mississippi on a flatboat. I arrived in Muscatine with only $1 in money,
which was expended in coffee."
"I occupied this farm
until spring. During the winter I bought a claim of forty acres, with a
frame house and some other improvements on it. To secure the home I gave
my horses, wagon and $60. By the kindness of one of my neighbors I obtained
a team to put my crop in, and by day labor I procured horses to cultivate
my crop the first year, and afterward procured teams of my own, both horses
and oxen. When I went to my timber I took team and gun, and my horses or
oxen would soon see the game. At one time my oxen spied a deer about 8
o'clock in the morning; I shot and wounded it, then loaded my sled with
wood and started my oxen home, then followed the deer. After walking about
half a mile I killed another deer, which I hung out of reach of the wolves,
and then resumed pursuit of the wounded one. I traveled in vain, and found
I had walked thirty~six miles; the dog I had with me did not walk for four
days afterward."
"When I first moved to
Muscatine County by standing in my door I could see but five houses, and
people traveled sixty miles to mill, which was only twenty miles from me.
Eleven years later I could see seventy-five houses. "During the winter
of 1848-49 there was a very deep snow, which began falling the 8th of November
and continued until it was two feet deep; being accompanied by a wind it
drifted terribly. One of my outside doors was snowed under, and the snow
was piled up five feet on the roof. There being extra room in my
house, I gave it for a school-room, as there was no school-house within
three miles. It was necessary. to have a place of exit from the school-room
and my part of the the house, as the snow was piled along the entire side
of the house. To find where the door was from the outside I put a ramrod
up through the snow at the top of the door, then went outside and began
digging toward the ramrod, a distance of twenty feet, cutting a road four
feet broad. This snow lasted till the next April. Wild animals of all kinds
suffered for food during this time, and a great many starved to death.
I have seen fifty deer in one herd top of a snowdrift eating the twigs
of the trees. "
"I bought fifty-eight
acres of timber and prairie this year. In February I commenced to break
forty acres, and by the 4th of June had it enclosed and planted in corn.
The 25th of June my wife died of cholera, leaving me with a family of four
children. With the assistance of kind neighbors I kept my family together
until the following January, when I married my present wife. The following
spring I bought eighty acres. "We lived a prosperous, contented and happy
life until the spring of 1864, when the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
Railroad was located through Muscatine County, passing directly through
the center of my farm. Then I sold out, in 1855, and once more, in October,
started westward.
After five days' journeying
through a beautiful country I arrived in Mahaska County, and bought the
farm that I now live on, also another farm of 160 acres, and eighty acres
of timber land. I dealt in land until the last ten years, and have also
engaged in raising stock, principally swine. The country is well wooded
and watered, with an abundance of rock and coal. The climate is finely
adapted to agricultural pursuits. I have witnessed with keen interest the
change from almost a wilderness, where Indians roamed in pursuit of game
and plunder, and where there were but two log school-houses (cabins) in
five miles, one of them being supplied with light by leaving a log out
of one side and filling the opening with panes of glass; the other had
small window frames. In these we had our preaching and other public meetings.
The nearest church was eleven miles away. Merchandise was transported across
the river in ferry-boats. Our dwellings were log cabins with bare rafters,
and only the necessaries of life within them. Now we have a thriving, thickly
populated country, well supplied with churches and school-houses, and strongly
constructed bridges over our rivers, fine dwellinghouses, with every convenience
and luxury, surrounded with fruit and ornamental trees, fields where all
varieties of grain are grown, and where improved stock of all kinds may
be found, and with railroads to take our surplus products to all parts
of the United States."
Source:
Portrait & Biographical Album of Mahaska Co., Iowa, 1887
EVELAND, JOSEPH, farmer,
Sec. 23; P.O. Wilton; son of Harmon and Jennette Eveland; owns 165 acres
of land, valued at $50 per acre; born June 22, 1810, in New Jersey; in
1816, his parents moved to Clermont Co., Ohip; worked at the stone and
brick mason's trade in Cincinnati, Ohio several years; in the fall of 1844,
came to Muscatine Co., locating upon a part of the farm he still owns.
Married Louisa Dimmitt Oct. 25, 1835; she was born Nov. 3, 1810, in Maryland,
and died Nov. 15, 1838; he again married Eveline J. Dimmitt, sister of
first wife, Feb. 15, 1840; she was born Dec. 27, 1815; have three children
by first wife--Jennette, Beel D. and Louisa; by second wife, seven--Martha,
Sarah, Harmon, Peter, Hester, Keturah and Frank; lost seven--Joseph and
Eveline, John and Johnson, James, Augusta and Mary I.; Beel D. and Peter
served in Co. E of the 18th I.V.I. Is a member of M.E. Church.
Democrat.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
EVERSMEYER,
B. H. insurance agent, Muscatine; was born in Germany April
19, 1825; he was brought up there and came to America in 1852; lived in
St. Louis three years, and came to Muscatine in 1855, and engaged in teaming;
he has been engaged in the insurance business for the past ten years.
He has held the office of Street Commissioner for two terms. He married
Miss Magdalena Kuechman, from Germany, in 1855; they have six children-----Mollie,
Louise, John H., Henry, William and Benjamin E.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
F
FARNSWORTH,
H.
P. farmer, P. O. Unadilla,was born
in Muscatine County, Iowa, October 22, 1845, where he remained until 1864,
then went to the University for a short time, then enlisted and served
for four and a half months. When he came
home he engaged on his father's farm, where he worked in the summers and
taught school in the winters until March, 1869, when he came
to Otoe County and bought 120 acres on the southeast quarter of Section
4, Town 8, Range 10, Russell Precinct. He has always taken an active interest
in the welfare of the State of Nebraska, more especially the part where
he lives. He was married in February, 1868, to
Miss Helen Burdett, of Muscatine County, Iowa. They have three boys and
one girl.He is an active member of the Equitable Aid Union at
Unadilla.
Source:
The History of the State of Nebraska, 1882, Western Historical Company,
A. T. Andreas, Proprietor, Chicago, IL.; Otoe County, Town of Unadilla
FARNSWORTH,
JOHN
M. farmer, Unadilla,
born in Muscatine
County, Iowa, December 15, 1853, where he remained until the fall of 1875,
when
he went to Janesville, Wis., learning the telegraphing where he served
seven months, then to Chicago, practicing the telegraphing under instructions
until February, 1877, then to Vicksburg for a short time, then a general
tramp, partly for health and partly for knowledge, and in July, 1878, arrived
home and remained there until 1879. In January, 28, 1880, he was married
to Miss Mattie C. Haines, who was born in Newton, Iowa, March 23, 1858,
the third daughter of the Rev. Daniel Haines, a Baptist minister of twenty-four
years' standing. Mr. F. has one child, born January 28, 1881, named Elmer
Ross Farnsworth. Mr. F. is a member of the Knights of Pythias, at
Syracuse.
Source:
The History of the State of Nebraska, 1882, Western Historical Company,
A. T.
Andreas, Proprietor,
Chicago, IL.; Otoe County, Town of Unadilla
FARNSWORTH,
Marshall, farmer, Sec. 9; P.O. Sweetland Center; born in Williamstown,
Vt., in 1815; came to Muscatine Co. first in 1837; went back to Illinois;
returned in 1838, and purchased, at the land sales, 260 acres, and settled
in Sweetland Township, where he now resides; served on the Board of Supervisors
four years; has been Justice of the Peace, and held other minor offices
of the township. Married Miss Rebecca Daniels in 1844; she was born
in North Carolina in 1825, and died in 1869. Married again, Miss
Ruth J. Peck in 1870; she was born in Columbiana Co, Ohio, Oct. 22, 1820;
came to Lee Co., Iowa, in 1839 and settled at Montrose. Mr. F. had
eight children by former wife--Henry P., Eric D. (now Mrs. Draper) (sic);
Eliza E., (now Mrs. Kelley), John M., Thomas E., Nellie, and two deceased--Abbie
and Verona. When Mr. Farnsworth came to the county, there were but
few buildings in Sweetland Township, and many Indians. Members of
the M.E. Church. Mr. F. voted at the first election held in the Territory
of Iowa, and has always taken sides with the Republican party.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
Sweetland Twp
FARRIER,
F. D., of Farrier & Wooster, bakery and confectionery, Railroad
street, residence, Fourth street, Wlton;
was born in Belmont Co., Ohio, in September, 1847; when 10 years of age,
his parents removed to Missouri, where his father (who had been a
dealer in dry goods) engaged in farming until the spring of 1860, when
they removed to this county and settled near Wilton. At the age of 16,
in February, 1864, F. D. enlisted in the 11th I. V. I.; participated at
Atlanta and with Sherman's march to the sea; was mustered out at Louisville,
Ky., July 22, 1865. Sept. 21, 1871, he married Miss M. B. Stout, who was
born in Pennsylvania Dec. 15, 1855. In July, 1876, he, in company with
J. C. Sharp, opened his present business; the May following, Mr. Sharp
sold out to his present partner, John Wooster. They have three children---Florence
L., Della May and an infant. Republican; Mrs. F. is a member of the M.
E. Church. Mr. F. is a member of the A. O. U. W., No. 100, Wilton
Lodge.
Source:
THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
FELKNER,
HENRY Sec. 5; P.O. Downey, Cedar Co.; was born in Fairfield Co.,
Ohio, in 1910; in 1833, he removed to Indiana, and thence to Iowa in the
spring of 1837; first locating in Johnson Co.; he laid claim to a tract
of land (960 acres) near Iowa City; he also built two saw-mills there that
he operated successfully for some years; in 1842, he married Miss Elizabeth,
daughter of Enoch Lewis; she was a native of Highland Co., Ohio, and came
to Iowa with her parents in 1841, who settled near West Liberty, where
they resided till the time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. F. have had
twelve children; those still living are Iowa, Elma M. (now Mrs. Haynes),
Mary, Henry, William, Smith, Milton, Elizabeth, Sarah J., and Clinton.
In 1868, Mr. F. removed to Muscatine Co., where he now resides. Mrs.
F. died in April, 1877. Mr. F. is of the energetic and enterprising
class of pioneers who help to develop the country and make Iowa among one
of the first among the States. He is a Democrat.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
FIDERLEIN,
Louis, farmer and stock raiser, Sec. 22; P.O. Atalissa; owns
300 acres of land, valued at $45 per acre; born Dec. 21, 1832, in Baden,
Germany; in the spring of 1852, emigrated to Allegheny Co., Penn., and
in the spring of 1855, came to Rock Island Co., Ill. Married there
Miss Julia A. Gregg; she was born Aug.17, 1838 in Clark Co., Ill; have
nine children living--Eliza E., Isabell J., Clara, James A., Lorena El,
William E., Wilhelmina A., John and Eloise; lost two--Louisa K. and Chester
T.; Mr. F. has served in Illinois as Town Clerk and School Trustee, is
also a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 122, A.F. & A.M., at Atalissa; came
onto his present farm in this county, in January, 1876. Republican.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
FITCH,
WILLIAM ELMER, the well-known proprietor of Fitch’s Laundry
at La Salle, Illinois, is a native of Fayette county, Iowa, born in Illyria
township, April 10, 1867. He is the eldest of a family of seven children
born to George W. and Roxcie (Moore) Fitch, both of whom are natives of
northeastern Ohio.
Will E. Fitch was reared
and educated in his native county. He attended the country schools of Illyria
and Bethel townships during the first five or six years of his school life,
after which his parents located in West Union, and he there pursued the
full course of the graded schools and a special teachers’ course at Ainsworth’s
private academy. He began his independent career as a teacher in the country
schools of the county, and was quite successful as a pedagogue. But his
inclination was towards mechanical pursuits and he was permitted to make
his own choice of a life work.
When about eighteen years
old he went to Cedar Rapids and there learned the "preliminaries" of the
laundry business. He was employed for a few months in Muscatine, and afterwards
leased a small plant in Minnesota. But this small town and one or two other
small places where he set up in trade, did not have the population to sustain
the business on the scale which he had in mind. He was employed in various
capacities in many of the larger cities of the country and finally worked
for the Empire Laundry Machinery Company in the capacity of expert launder,
installing new plants and instructing inexperienced buyers in laundry methods.
Finally he accepted a position as foreman of a large plant at Ottumwa,
Iowa. While so employed he found a plant poorly equipped and operated in
what seemed to him a good town, LaSalle, Illinois. After some preliminary
skirmishing he bought it, and began building it up and improving it. From
that day he began to forge to the front, and has now one of the best-equipped
and most up-to-date laundries in the state. He gives employment regularly
to about thirty people, exclusive of a considerable number of outside agents.
The output of the plant at first was less than a hundred dollars a week;
but for the last eight or ten years it has seldom been below five hundred
dollars weekly, and often above that figure. Men in the business in Illinois
and elsewhere recognize in Billie a man who thoroughly understands the
business and who is not so selfish as to keep his knowledge to himself.
In 1900 he was elected president of the Laundrymen’s Association of Illinois,
served one year, was then elected secretary, which responsible office he
held for eight years, when he was again given the presidency. During this
period he was also elected secretary of the National Association, and was
for five years secretary of the Middle and Western Launderers’ Association.
Billy’s person as well as his home is well decorated with presents received
in acknowledgment and appreciation of his valued services.
Being of a literary turn
of mind, Mr. Fitch is also a paid contributor to the laundry journals of
the country, especially the National Journal, and it seems that his contributions,
of both prose and poetry, are eagerly sought, and much of this matter has
been republished in the regular press of the country.
"Billie" Fitch is one
of the men who believes in going to the bottom of things as is evidenced
in the fact that he passed the necessary examination for the position of
grand lecturer (Masonic) for the state of Illinois, and carried off the
prize and has served a number of years in that capacity. He is a thirty-second-degree
Mason, a Shriner and an Elk.
The subject of this sketch
has a character and manner peculiarly his own. Among his business associates
he is known as "Pastor Bill." His writings and sayings are always in a
highly moral and unselfish tone, which have brought him this unsought,
and perhaps undesired prefix. No man more thoroughly despises wrangling
and fault-finding and his competitors cannot but admire his entire fairness,
even to the side of personal losses, rather than to engage in any form
of self-exaltation.
Mr. Fitch has been twice
married, first to Ella Mae Jack, of Muscatine, Iowa. A son and daughter
were born to this union, Mary Luella, a stenographer, and Frank, in school.
His present wife was Charlottina Trout, of Peru, and they have one son,
Harold William, thirteen years of age.
In politics and religion
Mr. Fitch is extremely liberal. He is free and outspoken, yet never obtrusive.
Politically, he supports the men whose sayings and doings most cleanly
coincide with his own views regarding the issue. But it must be added that
such men, thus far, have usually been found in the Republican party. He
is not a member of any church organization, though interested in every
movement that has for its aim "the greatest good to the greatest number."
Source
not given
FITCHIE,
T.
James father of Thomas J. Fitchie, was born in County Down,
Ireland, May 3, 1808. He was married to Eliza Douglas, in Comber,
October 29, 1833, by Rev. John Wance, a Presbyterian minister. He and his
wife set sail for America May 19, 1834, and landed in New York July 4 of
the same year. They settled in Newburgh, Orange Co., N. Y., where
two children were born to them. In 1837 they moved to Allegheny City,
Pa. They lived here and in Pittsburgh fifteen years, and six children were
in this time added to their family. They moved
in 1852 to Muscatine Iowa, and here their youngest son was born.
In 1855 Mr. Fitchie came to Nebraska, reaching Omaha in the later part
of June. From there he went to the city of Tekamah, then composed
of two tents and a log cabin covered with bark. From here he went on to
Nebraska City, and there took passage on a flatboat to look at the land
of Otoe (then Pierce) County. He could get land within two miles of Nebraska
City, but this had little timber on it. He finally took a well-timbered
claim on Camp Creek. On the first day of August
he started back to Muscatine, Iowa, for his family, walking all the way.
After making all necessary arrangements he started for Nebraska City with
his family, arriving there October 10, 1855. He engaged
in carpenter and joiner work until January, 1857, when he moved on a farm
nine miles south of town, in Otoe Precinct. He lived there until 1875,
since when he has lived mostly with his son-in-law, Mr. William Campbell,
near the city. Mr. and Mrs. Fitchie have eight living children: Martha,
now Mrs. J. K. Gilman, of Nebraska City; Maggie, now Mrs. S. B. Davis,
of New Castle, Cal.; Samuel D., now at Weeping Water, Neb.; Lizzie, now
Mrs. J. C. Gilman, in Belmont Precinct, Otoe Co.; Jennie, now Mrs. William
Campbell of Wyoming Precinct, Otoe Co.; Thomas J., now with F. W. Petring,
and J. Taylor, at New Castle, Cal. One son, William Nelson, was killed
by a fall from a horse, at the Ferry Landing, August 25, 1859, at the age
of nineteen years, five months and twenty-four days. They have twenty-four
living grandchildren. Mr. F. and his wife are both of Scotch descent, and
are members of the United Presbyterian Church.
Source:
The History of the State of Nebraska, 1882, Western Historical Company,
A. T.
Andreas, Proprietor,
Chicago, IL.; Otoe County
FITCHIE,
Thomas
J.- was born in Allegheny City, Pa., January 1, 1849, and moved
to Muscatine, Iowa, with his parents when he was an infant. There he lived
until he came to Nebraska City, October 10, 1855. he was married
in Lincoln, January 7, 1879, to Jennie E. Ashton, daughter of P. L. T.
and Eliza Ashton, and a native of Illinois. They have one child,
Florence E. Mr. Fitchie is a member of the K. of H., Good Templars,
T. of H., and Equitable Aid Union. He also belongs to the First Presbyterian
Church, and to the Old Settlers' Society of Otoe County; his father, James
Fitchie, being president thereof.
Source:
The History of the State of Nebraska, 1882, Western Historical Company,
A. T. Andreas, Proprietor, Chicago, IL.; Otoe County
FITZGERALD,
JAMES wholesale dealer in imported and domestic wines, gin, brandies,
Kentucky bourbon and rye whiskies, Iowa avenue, between Front and Second
streets. Mr. Fitzgerald is a native of Ireland; born in 1838; emigrated
to this country in 1864; came to Muscatine in 1867. Married in Chicago,
Ill., in 1869, Miss N. Kennefick; they have four children living--Nellie,
John, James and Eddie; lost three- Willie, Nora and George. Mr. Fitzgerald
acts with the Democratic party. He is an enterprising citizen, an energetic
business man, and is liberal in all public enterprises that give promise
of general good. Members of the St. Mathias Catholic Church.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
FITZGERALD,
T. R. attorney at law, of the firm of Hanna, Fitzgerald & Hughes,
Muscatine; was born in St. Joseph, Mich., March 5, 1843; when 10 years
of age, he went to the city of New York, where he remained four years and
attended school; he came to Iowa in 1871, and studied law with Senator
Hanna, and was admitted to the bar in 1873; since then he has profession
here; he has held the office of City Alderman, and was elected Mayor of
the city in 1877. He married Miss Esther Hanna, the daughter of Hon. Thomas
Hanna, May 20, 1868; they have three
children--Belle, Hiram
and Fanny.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
FITZSIMMONS,
George, farmer, Sec. 25; P. O. Muscatine; was born in County Longford,
Ireland, in 1829; emigrated with his parents to this country in 1846, and
located in what was then known as Bloomington, now Muscatine. In 1854,
Mr. F. married Miss Mary Leonard, of Muscatine; Mrs. F. was born in County
Wicklow, twelve miles from Dublin, Ireland, and came to this country in
1848; they have seven children--Thomas J., Alfred, William J., George
L., Charles Edward, Mary Jane and Clara Bell. Mr. F. and wife are members
of the M. E. Church of the Island. Mr. F. has a fine farm of 300 acres,
situated eight miles southwest of Muscatine, where he now resides. He is
a very energetic farmer, and highly esteemed among his neighbors.
Acts with the Republican party.
Source:
THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
FLETCHER,
JONATHAN EMERSON, b. in Hartford, Vt.; went to Ohio when young and
settled
at Muscatine, Iowa, in 1838; In 1846, was appointed Indian agent
to the Winnebagoes and held 11 years; residing during this time at Port
Atkinson, Iowa, and Long Prairie and Blue Earth, Minn.; returned
to Muscatine in 1858; and d. April 6, 1872.
Source:
American Biographical Notes, The Chicago Historical Society p141
FOSTER,
Isaac, farmer, Sec. 9; P. O. Wilton; a son of David Foster
and Priscilla Guthrie; the former a native of Virginia, but, at a very
early age, brought to Ohio, near the line of Pike and Scioto Co., where
the latter was born; in the fall of 1851, they settled in this county,
where they remained for ten years, thence to Louisa Co., where they now
reside, had six children, three sons and three daughters; Isaac,
the second son, born in Pike Co., Ohio, April 7, 1835; 16 years of age
on coming to Iowa. July 3, 1856, he married Millie J. Wood, daughter of
James Wood, of Dayton, Ind., where she was born in August, 1838; her
father, soon after, removed to Kentucky, where he died; her mother
then married Err Thornton, and, in 1850, became one of the early settlers
of Muscatine Co.; for seven years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Foster
resided in Township Seventy-six, when they came to their present
residence and farm of 180 acres, have seven children----Frank W., born
April 30, 1857; Clara M., Dec. 22, 1859; Luther E., March 20, 1862; Theodore
M., Oct. 17, 1864; Err Thornton, April 28, 1868; David R., Nov. 28, 1871,
and Mary E., Aug. 5, 1876. Mrs. F. is a member of the Reformed Church;
Republican.
Source:
THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
FOSTER,
JAMES farmer, Sec. 21; P.O. Muscatine; born in Pike Co., Ohio, Oct.
18, 1817; came to Muscatine Co., in 1847, and settled in Lake Tp.
Married Miss Elizabeth Sails, now deceased; married again Miss Melinda
Boyles in 1847; born Pike Co, Ohio in 1818; has two children by former
wife--Jeremiah and Christina (now Mrs. Haroff), and two deceased--Westley
and Michael; and by present wife two--William H. and Minerva, now Mrs.
Miller. Mr. Foster owns 196 acres of land. Greenbacker.
Source:
THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
FRANKLIN,
WILLIAM H. proprietor of general repair and blacksmith-shop; was
born near Wilton, this county, in 1854; he engaged in blacksmithing in
1871; became proprietor of shop in 1876; his father, William W. Franklin,
is a native of North Carolina; he came to Muscatine Co., with his parents
in 1836. He married Miss Mary S. Haffenister in this county; they
are still residents of this county. Mr. Franklin is an experienced
mechanic, and to all who require anything in his line we can especially
recommend them to give him a call.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
FRICKE,
AUGUST, far., Sec. 18; P.O. Muscatine; was born in Hanover, Germany,
in 1824; emigrated to the United States in 1848, stopping at Cincinnati,
Ohio, where he remained until 1851; removing thence to Iowa, settled on
his farm in Muscatine Co., which he improved, and on which he still remains.
In 1852, married to Miss Fredrica Herwig, at St. Louis, Mo.; she was also
a native of Hanover, Germany; they have seven children--Caroline, Lizzie,
Christiana, Henry, Katie, Emma and Mary. Mr. F. and wife are members
of the Lutheran Church. Mr. F. served through the Mexican War, going
from Ohio; is a carpenter by trade, which trade he follows in connection
with farming; a stanch Republican.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
FRIDLEY,
H.H., far., Sec 10; P.O. Fairport; was born in Augusta Co., W. Va,
Dec 4, 1818; removed, with his parents, to Ohio while he was quite young;
settled in Ross Co., near Chillicothe, remaining there until 1843; then
came to Iowa; located in Muscatine Co.; on the farm on which he has since
resided. On Oct. 11, 1838, he married Miss Mary Calhoun, at Chillicothe,
Ohio; she was a native of North Carolina. Mr. F. has held several
offices in the county, and has also been engaged in some of the most important
enterprises of the county. He sunk the first coal shaft and opened
the first coal mine in the county. The Fridleys in the United States
area all descendants of Alexander Fridley, who came over with William Penn,
forming a part of his first colony, and settled near Lancaster, Penn.;
they were originally from Holland. Mr. F. is a very enterprising
and public-spirited man; was an Old Line Whig, afterward a Republican.
Mr. F's parents both died in Iowa--his father in 1853, and his mother in
1845.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
FRIZELL,
J.G., farmer, Sec. 17; P.O. Durant, Cedar Co.; born in Carroll Co.,
Md., Nov. 27, 1834; came with his parents to Holmes Co. Ohio, in 1836.
Married Miss Alice Finley Nov. 27, 1860; born in Holmes Co., Ohio March
10, 1843; have three children--Samuel H., Ellie P., and Lura E. They
removed to Muscatine Co. in 1872. Mr. F. served as Second Lieutenant
in Co. E, 166th Regt., O.V.I. Owns 180 acres of a fine farm, where
he now resides. Members of the Baptist Church; Republican.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879, Fulton
Twp.
FRY, Henry , one
of the old settlers of Muscatine County of a third of century, now residing
on section 31, Cedar township, is a native of Somerset County, Pa., born
Jan. 5, 1814. His parents, George and Mary Fry, had a family of nine children;
Elizabeth, Susanna, John, Rebecca, Henry, Katy, Tilda, and Liddie, but
weather all are yet living our subject does not know. The days of his boyhood
and youth were spent upon his father's farm, but upon attaining his majority
he left home and began working by the month for farmers in the neighborhood.
This he continued for four years, but when twenty-five years of age was
united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Miss Mary Fitzgerald, after
which he purchased ninety acres of land which formerly belonged to his
grandfather's estate. Later he rented for a time, but subsequently purchased
a farm of 300 acres, which he immediately began to cultivate and improve.
Seven years were there passed, when he sold it at an increase of $500 above
the price which he paid, and bought another farm the same year, comprising
about 300 acres, for which he paid $1,700. Upon that farm he continued
to reside for six years, when he had an opportunity to sell for $2,500,
which he did, and then came to Muscatine County, arriving in 1855, purchasing
eighty acres of land in Cedar Township, and upon that tract he made his
home for eight months, when he removed to his present place of residence
on section 31 of the same Township. He now owns 300 acres of land, and
carries on general farming, though only cultivating about 140 acres himself,
renting the remainder. He also gives considerable attention to the raising
of cattle and hogs annually, shipping from forty to 100 head of hogs annually,
but his cattle sales are not as extensive as in former years.
Mr. and Mrs. Fry are the parents
of 14 children, two of whom died in infancy: Noah who was born July 21,
1841,
was killed at Indianapolis,
Ind., in a railroad accident, which was caused by the collision of two
trains, when he was
returning from the war; Josiah,
born December 4, 1842, is a resident of this county; Cyrus, born June 27,
1844, is
engaged in farming in Page County,
Iowa; Eliza Jane, born Feb. 21, 1846, is the wife of John Cedar, (This
is suppose to be Coder) whose home is in Cedar Township; Franklin, born
Aug. 21, 1847, is living in Cedar Township; Sarah, wife of Joseph Marsden,
was born, March 17, 1849, and is a resident of Muscatine; Matilda, wife
of Peter Brookhart, was born Nov. 16, 1850, and is and is now living in
Cedar Township; Harriet born June 30, 1852, and is the wife of Alonzo Epperly,
a resident of St. Paul, Minn.; Mary, born Dec. 28, 1853, wedded William
Harvey, of Cass County, Iowa; Eve, born Sept. 30, 1855, married Nicholas
Herric (This is suppose to be Herrick), a resident farmer of Cedar Township;
John, born, Jan 8, 1858, is living on his father's farm; William H., born
Sept. 23, 1862, and died May 8, 1864.
For over forty years Mr. and
Mrs. Fry have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and have
lived to see their children become useful and honored members of society,
all of them being members of the church with the exception of one. Mr.
Fry cast his ballot with the Republican party, and is one of the leading
citizens of the county, with whose history he has been identified for thirty-four
years.
Taken from the Muscatine County
1889 History book page 361
Contributed by June Welsch
FRY, Josiah
Among the natives of the Keystone
state, who have established a home and attained a competence in Muscatine
county is Josiah Fry, a well known farmer of Cedar township. He was born
in Pennsylvania, December 4, 1842, the son of Henry and Mary (Fitzgerald)
Fry, also natives of Pennsylvania. The father came to Iowa in 1855 and
later purchased land in Muscatine county, becoming one of the prosperous
farmers of this region and at one time owning four hundred and twenty acres
of valuable farming property. He departed this life May 14, 1897, at the
age of eighty-three years, the mother passing away May 9, 1902, after she
had reached the age of eighty-four years, and both were laid to rest in
Letts cemetery. There were thirteen children in their family, namely; Josiah,
our subject; Cyrus, now of Muscatine county; Eliza, the wife of John Coder,
of this county; Franklin, also of Muscatine county; Sarah, the widow of
Joseph Morrison, of Muscatine; Harriet, the wife of Alonzo Eperly, (Should
be Epperly) of St. Paul, Minnesota; Mary, now Mrs. C. W. Harvey,
of Myrna, Iowa; Eva, the wife of N. C. Herrick, of Muscatine county; John,
of Waterloo, Iowa; Matilda, now Mrs. P. Brookhart, of Muscatine county;
Noah, who died at the age of twenty-three years; William H. Henry, who
died at two years of age; and one who died in infancy.
Josiah Fry came with his parents
to Iowa when he was a boy of thirteen years. He was just preparing to enter
upon the active duties of life when the Civil war threw its shadow over
the land and, responding to the call for defenders of the Union, he enlisted
in August 1862 in Company F, Thirty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. The
regiment was soon sent to the front and Private Fry participated in many
of the great movements and engagements of the war. He was present at the
celebrated siege of Vicksburg and took part in the battles of Jackson,
Mississippi, Henderson Hill, Pleasant Hill, Kenesaw Mountain, Yellow Bayou,
Old River Lake, and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Spanish Fort, Alabama. He
valiantly preformed his duties at all times, as his heart was in the cause,
but no man was happier than he when peace was declared and the great armies
were disbanded. He received his honorable discharge, August. 9, 1865, and
returned to Muscatine county, where he began farming upon part of his father's
place. Here he continued for two years and then purchased forty acres,
the nucleus of the beautiful farm of one hundred and ninety acres which
he now owns and which is located on section 24, Cedar township, and section
9, Seventy-six township. He has succeeded admirably in raising grains but
has devoted a great deal of time to live stock, being a successful breeder
of black polled cattle, Percheron Norman horses and Chester White hogs.
In 1866 Mr. Fry was united in
marriage to Miss Nancy Jane Epperly, who was born in Indiana and came to
Iowa with her parents when she was about seven years of age. Mr. Epperly
entered land in Muscatine county which he cultivated until 1868, being
then called to his final rest. The mother departed this life in 1873. Their
remains were interred in Wagoner cemetery, Muscatine county. The family
of Mr. and Mrs. Epperly included ten children, six of whom are now living,
namely; George, of St. Paul, Minnesota; John of Portland, Oregon; Mary,
the widow of Levi Ellison, of Letts, Iowa; Albert, of Oregon; Nancy Jane,
now Mrs. Fry; and William of Muscatine. Five children came to brighten
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fry; Gertrude May, born June 3, 1867, now the
wife of Frank Runyon, of Muscatine county; Phenia B., born April 9, 1869,
the wife of Jud Epperly, of Oregon;, Estella F., who was born December
12, 1871, and is now the wife of Elmer Furnace, (Suppose to be Furnas),
of Louisa county, Iowa; Grace, who was born December 8, 1874, and died
July 14, 1883; and Rolly C., now in charge of the homestead, who
was born December 1, 1880, and was married December 12, 1900, to Opal Wells
of Muscatine county.
The honorable record which Mr.
Fry made in the army was a prophecy of the enterprise and ability he has
displayed during the forty-five years that have elapsed since the war.
While his success as a farmer is clearly demonstrated, he has also assisted
in promoting the general welfare of his neighborhood and county. Politically
he has since arriving at voting age been an adherent of the republican
party. He and his family are affiliated with the Methodist church and give
it their conscientious support. Owing to his wide experience and proven
ability Mr. Fry occupies a responsible position in the locality where he
lives and is justly regarded as one of its best citizens.
History of Muscatine County Iowa
page 719 and 720.
Contributed by June Brewer Welsch
Henry Fry one of the old settlers
of Muscatine County of a third of century, now residing on section 31,
Cedar Township, is a native of Somerset County, Pa., born Jan. 5, 1814.
His parents, George and Mary Fry, had a family of nine children;
Elizabeth, Susanna, John, Rebecca,
Henry, Katy, Tilda, and Liddie, but weather all are yet living our subject
does
not know. The days of his boyhood
and youth were spent upon his father's farm, but upon attaining his majority
he
left home and began working
by the month for farmers in the neighborhood. This he continued for four
years, but
when twenty-five years of age
was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Miss Mary Fitzgerald, after
which he
purchased ninety acres of land
which formerly belonged to his grandfather's estate. Later he rented for
a time, but
subsequently purchased a farm
of 300 acres, which he immediately began to cultivate and improve. Seven
years
were there passed, when he sold
it at an increase of $500 above the price which he paid, and bought another
farm
the same year, comprising about
300 acres, for which he paid $1,700. Upon that farm he continued to reside
for
six years, when he had an opportunity
to sell for $2,500, which he did, and then came to Muscatine County,
arriving in 1855, purchasing
eighty acres of land in Cedar Township, and upon that tract he made his
home for
eight months, when he removed
to his present place of residence on section 31 of the same Township. He
now
owns 300 acres of land, and
carries on general farming, though only cultivating about 140 acres himself,
renting the
remainder. He also gives considerable
attention to the raising of cattle and hogs annually, shipping from forty
to 100
head of hogs annually, but his
cattle sales are not as extensive as in former years.
Mr. and Mrs. Fry are the parents
of 14 children, two of whom died in infancy: Noah who was born July 21,
1841,
was killed at Indianapolis,
Ind., in a railroad accident, which was caused by the collision of two
trains, when he was
returning from the war; Josiah,
born December 4, 1842, is a resident of this county; Cyrus, born June 27,
1844, is
engaged in farming in Page County,
Iowa; Eliza Jane, born Feb. 21, 1846, is the wife of John Cedar, (sic-Coder)
whose home is in Cedar Township;
Franklin, born Aug. 21, 1847, is living in Cedar Township; Sarah, wife
of Joseph Marsden, was born, March 17, 1849, and is a resident of Muscatine;
Matilda, wife of Peter Brookhart, was born Nov. 16, 1850, and is and is
now living in Cedar Township; Harriet born June 30, 1852, and is the wife
of Alonzo Epperly, a resident of St. Paul, Minn.; Mary, born Dec. 28, 1853,
wedded William Harvey, of Cass County, Iowa; Eve, born Sept. 30, 1855,
married Nicholas Herric (sic-Herrick), a resident farmer of Cedar
Township; John, born, Jan 8, 1858, is living on his father's farm; William
H., born Sept. 23, 1862, and died May 8, 1864.
For over forty years Mr. and
Mrs. Fry have been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and have
lived to
see their children become useful
and honored members of society, all of them being members of the church
with
the exception of one. Mr. Fry
cast his ballot with the Republican party, and is one of the leading citizens
of the
county, with whose history he
has been identified for thirty-four years.
1889 History of Muscatine County
page 361.
Contributed by June Brewer Welsch
FRY, Pliny,
far., Sec. 7; P.O. Muscatine; born in Carroll Co., N.H., July 8, 1842;
at 12 yeqars of age, came West with his parents to Mahaska Co., Iowa, in
1854, and removed to Muscatine Co., in 1869 and settled, where he now owns
forty acres of land. Married Miss Mary C. Deane Aug. 31, 1870; born
in Kennebec Co., Me., Sept. 22, 1841; came to Muscatine Co., with her parents
in 1858. Mr. Fry is Secretary of the Y.M.C.A., of Muscatine.
Mr. and Mrs. Fry are members of the Orthodox Friends' Church. Mr.
Fry is a Republican.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879 Sweetland
Twp
FULLER,
HENRY brick-making and pottery business; was born in Prussia, Germany,
Nov. 1, 1829; he was brought up and lived there until 20 years of age;
he emigrated to America in 1850, and lived in St. Louis, Mo., where he
learned the brick-making business; he came to Iowa, and located in Muscatine
in 1854, and engaged in making brick, and has continued it ever since;
is the oldest brick manufacture in this city or county; his brickyard has
a capacity for making from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 yearly. He manufactures
pottery-ware of a very superior quality; it compares very favorably with
the Ohio ware, and comes in competition with it, and has been sold for
Ohio ware to the trade. When Mr. Fuller began life, he had nothing, and
has made all he has by his own efforts. He married Miss Elizabeth Berky,
from Prussia, Germany, in 1853; they have six children--Joseph, Henry,
Barney, Anton, Mary and George; they lost one daughter---Elizabeth.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
FULLMER,
John; farmer, Sec.18; P. O. Letts; was born in Frederick, Md.,in
1810; his father a native of Germany, and his mother, of England; Mr. Fullmer
moved from Maryland to Ohio in 1832. He married Margery Meeker, a native
of Ohio; they came from Ohio to Louisa Co.,Iowa, in 1840, and located on
the present farm in 1844; have had seven children, five now living---William
P., Mary C., Martha J., Eliza Maud and John T.; have lost two children---Margaret
Ann and Margery. Mrs. Fullmer died June 14, 1872.
Source:THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
FULMER,
S. D., Agent B. C. & N. R. R., and American Express Co., Nichols;
born Jan. 25, 1842, in Armstrong Co., Penn.; in August, 1861, enlisted
in Co. F of the 105th Penn. Inf.; participated in the second battle of
Bull Run, where he was wounded in the left hand; was also in most of the
battles in the Peninsular Champaign, and at the battle of Chantilly, where
Gen. Kearney fell; also at the battles of Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg
and Gettysburg; at the latter lost his left leg; was mustered out of the
United States service August, 1864, and returned home; in the spring of
1869, came to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and engaged in the telegraph office of
the Chicago & North-Western Railroad Co.; in the spring of 1871, went
to Kossuth, Des Moines Co., and engaged in the B., C, R. & N. R.R.
office, and in May, 1874, came to this station and took charge of the office
here. Married Ann J. Cartwright Jan. 5, 1874; she was born Nov. 10, 1854,
in Des Moines Co., Iowa; have one daughter--Nellie, born Nov. 6, 1876.
Republican.
Source:
THE
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County, its
Cities,
Towns, & etc. Western Historical Company Chicago Illinois 1879
FUNCK,
Henry, banker, firm of Cook, Musser & Co., corner Second street
and Iowa avenue; is a native of Germany; born in 1817; lived there until
1837, when he emigrated to America; came to Burlington, Iowa, the same
year; in 1839, to Muscatine, and engaged in the bakery and grocery business
on Second street, which he continued until 1852; then built a distillery,
and operated that for three years, then dealt in boat stores for three
years; he has been engaged in the banking business for the past ten years--the
firm being Cook, Musser & Co., he was also a partner in the wholesale
tobacco and tea house of Fred Daut & Co. for eight years, but retired
from the firm January 1, 1879. He is interested in the water-works,
and has heald the office of Mayor for two years; served as Alderman for
four years. When Mr. Funck began life, he had nothing, and owes his
success to his own efforts.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879 page 603-604
FUNK,
D. M., blacksmith and farmer, Sec. 3; P.O. Pine Mills; born in Dauphin
Co., Penn., Feb. 23, 1828; removed to Muscatine in 1850; then to Tipton,
Cedar Co.; thence to Linn Co.; returned to Muscatine Co., and settled where
he now lives. Married Miss Barbara Blessing in 1851; born in Dauphin
Co., Penn., May 22, 1830; have eleven children--Mary B., John H., Catherine
A., Nancy E., Amanda J., Elizabeth D., Ida M., Magdalena, Lavinia, Frederick
D. and Barbara A. Members of the M.E. Church. Mr. Funk is a
Democrat.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879 Sweetland Twp
FURNAS,
William;
farmer, Sec. 35; P. O. Muscatine; son of Christopher and Sarah Furnas,
born Feb. 5, 1820, in Montgomery Co., Ohio;
in the fall of 1848, moved to Marion Co., Ind.; remained there until the
spring of 1867, when he came to this county and located on his present
farm of 183 acres, one of the best farms in the county of its size, having
taken the premium a few years ago. Married Miss Sarah Compton, daughter
of William and Susannah Compton, Feb. 20, 1845; she was born Aug. 2, 1823,
in Montgomery Co., Ohio; have two children--- Louisa and Emsley; lost three---
Lucinda, John I., and Isaac N. Member of the M. E. Church; Republican.
Source:
THE HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA Containing A History of the County,
its Cities, Towns, & etc.
Western Historical Company
Chicago Illinois 1879
Index
to Biographies on this Website
Original
Muscatine Iowa Genealogy Home Page Table of Contents