-5- BIOGRAPHICAL CARLTON CORBETT Since the following sketch was written Mr. Corbett passed away January 15, 1914.  Click on image   The student of history cannot carry his investigations far into the records of Cherokee county without learning how close has been the connection of Carlton Corbett with the work of general development, improvement and progress. He was the second white person to settle in the county, only Robert Perry preceded him. He comes of the sterling New England stock that has done so much to further the upbuilding of the middle west, native ability enabling him to recognize and embrace the opportunities here offered. He was born August 12, 1831, at Milford, Worcester county, Massachusetts, and is a son of John and Almira (Parkhurst) Corbett, who were descended of English ancestry, although several previous generations of the family were represented in the new world. John Corbett, the great-grandfather of Carlton Corbett, was one of the heroes who found for American independence and while thus defending the interests of his country was taken prisoner. Again when the United States became involved in war with England in 1812 he once more went to the front and throughout all the intervening years patriotism and loyalty have been accounted salient characteristics of the family.    Unto Mr. and Mrs. John Corbett were born six children, two daughters and four sons, of whom Carlton Corbett is the eldest son and second child. Through the period of his youth he attended the common schools and assisted in the cultivation of the home farm in New England. In 1852 he was attacked by the gold fever and went as a young man of twenty-one to California, where he engaged in mining. Unlike many others who crossed the country to that mecca of fortune, he was very successful and after four years returned to New England with substantial gains as the tangible evidence of his work in the mines. It was not long after this that the Milford Emigration society was formed, of which Mr. Corbett became a member. He and Lemuel Parkhurst were chosen to proceed in advance of the others and, as in good old Biblical days, "to spy out the land," in which they hoped to make arrangements for suitable homes for a colony of fifty-two members and to found a town. Much concerning the town and Mr. Corbett's relation to its upbuilding and developement may be found on other pages of this work. In company with Mr. Parkhurst he proceeded to Sioux City, Iowa, but found that the land there had already been claimed. Leaving Mr. Parkhurst at a point on the Mississippi river, Mr. Corbett with a man by the name of Martin, proceeded toward the little Sioux river and followed its course into the territory now known as Cherokee county. He -6- was much impressed with the fertility of the land and the conditions here to be found and his report of the country and its possibilities was so glowing that it was only a few months later when the first section of the colony arrived to people the district. They built log cabins and made ready for the winter as best they could. It was Mr. Corbett who first located the land and aided in the organization of the county in 1857. In August of that year he was elected the first prosecuting attorney and had to go to Sioux City on horseback, a distance of sixty miles to qualify. In the spring of 1860, Mr. Corbett again went in search of gold, going overland to Colorado where he explored Pike's Peak and the surrounding territory. In the fall he returned to Cherokee. In 1860 he was elected to the office of treasurer and recorder. This he filled for six years and then served for two years as treasurer alone. In 1870 he was once more elected recorder, remaining in that position one term. In 1870 he was once more elected recorder, remaining in that position for one term. He retired from these various offices as he had entered them—with the confidence and good-will of all concerned, faithfullness to public duty being ever one of his strongly marked characteristics.    Taking up the pursuits of private life, he concentrated his energies upon farming and real-estate dealing and in 1873 formed a partnership with Frank E. Whitmore, for the purpose of selling railroad lands and other realty, which partnership existed for a number of years. It is a current opinion that "Corbett knew every foot of land in Cherokee County," so thoroughly did he familiarize himself with the district and its possibilities. He sold thousands and thousands of acres of land and erected many buildings. There is no one who has done more to colonize and develop this section and promote its material progress. He assisted in the organization of the First National Bank at Cherokee and in 1885 erected the Corbett block. He was one of the stockholders and directors of the First National Bank and his cooperation has been a potent element in advancing many plans and projects for the public good. He was again called from private life to office in 1876, when elected a member of the city council for a two year term, and later he filled the position of city treasurer continuously for a number of years from 1877.    Mr. and Mrs. Corbett had the distinction of being the first couple married in Cherokee county, the wedding ceremony being performed on the 20th of November, 1859. The bride was Miss Rosabella Cummings, who was born in New Hampshire, and they became the parents of three children: Elmer E., who died April 5, 1883, at the age of twenty-one years and six months; May E., who passed away November 7, 1880; and Idella F., the wife of Dr. M. F. Pritchard. Mrs. Carlton died December 28, 1910, after an illness of several years. In his political views Mr. Corbett has ever been a stanch republican but in the discharge of the duties of the local offices which he has filled he has never allowed partisan prejudices to interfere. No one has ever been more intensely interested in the welfare of Cherokee county than Carlton Corbett and none have been more familiar with its history. During the Indian scare of 186203 he and his wife remained in the garrison. He was then filling the position of county treasurer and collecting taxes and, unwilling to desert his post, he remained at the fort and took care of the county's funds. The same spirit of loyalty has characterized him in every relation of life and no history of Cherokee county would be complete without extended reference to him. Ever a man of honorable -7- purpose, he possesses, too, a kindly spirit and an affable disposition that make him popular with his friends, whom he judges not by their material wealth but by their worth of character.

-7- DANIEL UNGER    As a business man, as a public official and in the relations of private life Daniel Unger made an excellent record so that his death left a vacancy in the circles where he was best known and where his sterling worth had won him high regard. He was a native of Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, born April 6, 1841, a son of John and Elizabeth (Frost) Unger, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a millwright and lived there until his death. The mother died when our subject was six years of age. Daniel Unger was indebted to the public school system of that state for his educational opportunities. In early manhood he drove a stage in Pennsylvania but business cares and interests were put aside at the time of the Civil war in order that he might enlist. He became a private of Company B, Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for three years, being promoted to the position of wagon master. Following the close of the war he spent three years in the lumber business at Muncie, Pennsylvania, and in 1869 removed westward, settling in Pilot township, Cherokee county, Iowa, where he secured a homestead claim of eighty acres. He spent two years in its development and then sold the property, after which he cultivated rented land in Silver township for three years. He next purchased a farm of two hundred acres in the township and added to this as his financial resources permitted. He followed general farming and stock-raising and when he turned from agricultural pursuits he engaged in the stone business for a year.    At the expiration of that period Mr. Unger was elected sheriff of the county. He was a republican in his political views and one of the recognized local leaders of the party. At an early day he filled the office of supervisor and later received his party's nomination for the position of sheriff, to which he was elected. The excellent record which he made in that office led to his repeated reelection, so that his incumbency covered eight years. He discharged his duties fearlessly and faithfully and retired from the office as he had entered it—with the confidence and good-will of all concerned. He then returned to the farm, whereon he resided for two years, after which he spent a year in the grocery business at Carroll, Iowa. He next opened an agricultural implement store there but after a short time returned to Cherokee, where he continued in the same business for two years. He was then again called to public office, serving for several years as supervisor. He retired, however, in 1906 and his remaining days were spent in the enjoyment of a well earned rest.  &ngsp; On the 28th of December, 1865, Mr. Unger was united in marriage to Miss Rosetta E. Sones, a daughter of John and Julia (Bridge) Sones of Sonestown, Sullivan county, Pennsylvania. Both parents were natives of the Keystone state and the father followed farming as a life work. He was a democrat in his political faith and both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sones were born six children: Mary, Peter, Hannah -8- and Harriett, all now deceased; Lucinda, who is the widow of Nelson Johnson and resides in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania; and Mrs. Unger, who was born at Sonestown, Pennsylvania, January 11, 1847. By her marriage she became the mother of eight children: Cora E. and Stella, who have passed away; Mary Ardella, who was the first white child born in Silver township, this county, and is now the wife of Thomas Knight of Holstein, Iowa, by whom she has three children, Vera, the wife of William Witte of Holstein and the mother of a son, Kenneth Witte, and Edna and Leah; Monroe, of Cherokee, who is married nd has two children, Rex and Galen; William, of Cherokee, who is married and has two children, Lela and Marvin; Olive, who is the wife of Ray Williams of Cherokee and has a daughter, Gladys; Burton, of Cherokee, who is married and has two daughters, Alice and Irma; and Nina, who is at home with her mother.    The family circle was broken by the hand of death when the father was called from this life August 16, 1913. He wore the little bronze button of the Grand Army of the Republic, his membership being in Custer Post, No. 25. He also belonged to the Masonic fraternity and to the Methodist Episcopal church—associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the principles that governed his life. He traveled life's journey for seventy-two years and the course which he followed was ever straightforward and honorable, making his example one well worthy of emulation and his memory a sacred one to his family and those who knew him.

-8- R. L. CLEAVES, M. D.    Dr. R. L. Cleaves, a Harvard man, who since 1870 has practiced in Cherokee, being, therefore, one of the pioneer physicians of the county, was born in Maine in 1844, a son of Benjamin L. and Jerusha (Lewis) Cleaves. The father was a business man of Bridgton, Maine, for more than forty years and there he and his wife both passed away. The Public-school system of the Pine Tree state, together with North Bridgton Academy and Edward Little Institute of Auburn, now a branch of Bates College, afforded Dr. Cleaves his early educational opportunities. Deciding to enter upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he qualified for his chosen calling at Harvard University, completing a curse in the medical department with the class of 1869. Thinking that the west offered better opportunities to the young practitioner, he made his way first to Lincoln, Nebraska, but did not tarry there, proceeding thence to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he remained a few months. In the spring of 1870 he came to Cherokee, traveling by wagon, for the railroad had not yet been built. He has since practiced medicine here covering a period of forty-three years, and throughout the entire time he has maintained a place among the foremost physicians of his part of the state, honored by the members of the profession and by the general public. He helped organize the first medical society, of which he has several times been president, and he is likewise a member of the Iowa State and the American Medical Associations. He has also been a president of the pension board for forty years. A high honor, one that never comes through self seeking but one greatly desired and -10-11-         click images for full size -13- highly prized when tendered, came to Dr. Cleaves in 1912, when he was chosen to deliver the oration on "Medicine" before the Iowa State Medical Association.    There is an interesting military chapter in the life history of Dr. Cleaves, who in 1862 enlisted as a member of Company R, Sixteenth Maine Regiment with which he served until the close of the war as division hospital steward of the first and fifth corps, having not a day's leave of absence in all that time. He now belongs to the Grand Army post at Cherokee, of which he has been commander and a most active, earnest worker. His fraternal relations also extend to the Masonic lodge and chapter.    The home life of Dr. Cleaves has been most pleasant. On the 1st of February, 1869, he was wedded to Caroline A. Chick, also a native of Maine, she having been born at Limington, Maine, in 1839. Here she spent her girlhood, receiving her education at the Limington Academy. Shortly after their marriage the Doctor and Mrs. Cleaves removed to Iowa, as above stated. The children of this worthy couple were all born in the city of Cherokee and are as follows: Carrie Ellen, wife of Thomas McCulla, editor of this work; Bertha Estelle, married to Charles Miller, of Texas; Edward L., deceased at the age of twenty-two, in his second year of a course in medicine at the Chicago Medical School; and Nina Mae, wife of J. A. Morrell, of Cherokee, Iowa. Mrs. Cleaves was a woman of strong Christian character, typical of the New England class. She was passionately fond of music and was considered an excellent critic in musical circles. She was a member of the First Congregational church of Cherokee almost from its establishment and was always active in every good work. Her death occurred December 4, 1913, and her demise is sincerely mourned by her family and a wide circle of friends.    In the early days of Cherokee there were few physicians in this portion of the state, and when difficult surgical operations were to be performed, the operator did not enjoy the advantages of the assistance of fellow members of this profession, nor of hospitals and trained nurses. One of the early surgical operations of Dr. Cleaves was performed under difficulties worthy of mention. the operation consisted of amputation of the arm about an inch below the shoulder joint. The operation was performed between daylight and dark in a small farm house with a blacksmith to administer the anæsthetic, and two farmers to hold small kerosene lamps on each side of the patient. the results of the operation were successful. The patient was James Wills of Silver Township. The arm had been caught in the cogs of a threshing machine horse power and was ground from the hand to a little below the shoulder joint.    Another difficult operation was the amputation of a part of a foot on a young boy employed by a settler living about half way between Peterson and Spencer. This boy had been caught out in one of the blizzards which prevailed in an early day and had his feet badly frozen while cutting wood on the Ocheyedan. The case was neglected until gangrene had set in. The settler lived in a sod shanty and conditions were very unsanitary. The stench from the diseased foot was such when the Doctor arrived as to make it almost impossible to remain in the shanty, yet the Doctor performed the difficult operation, Dr. M. S. Butler assisting. The settler was so poor that in addition to furnishing medicine and professional treatment the Doctor also furnished provisions for his patient and the settler's family during convalescence. The young man recovered and afterwards -14- became a business man of this city and is now a wealthy and honored citizen of an adjoining county.    A strong characteristic of Dr. Cleaves is his helpfulness to young men desiring to enter the medical profession. A very large number of successful practitioners of medicine were former students in his office. At one period he had four students in his office, all of whom are now successful physicians.    Such in brief is the life history of Dr. Cleaves, a man whose life work has been a credit to the important calling to which he dedicated it in early manhood. There is no profession or business so little commercialized as the practice of medicine. With the successful physician humanitarianism and professional skill must go hand in hand in the desire for legitimate gain and he must again and again sacrifice his personal interests and comfort to the needs of others. Dr. Cleaves has never fallen short of the high ideals of the profession and is the loved physician in many a Cherokee household.    We are pleased in connection with this sketch to present excellent portraits of Dr. Cleaves and his loved life companion. NOTE: Between the pages of this book, was a newpaper clipping of Dr. Cleaves obituary. There was no date on the obit, but an article on the back was dated June 15, 1914. You may view the obituary here.

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