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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY,
IOWA  1880

BIOGRAPHICAL

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JACKSON TOWNSHIP

APPLEGATE, W., farmer; Sec. 24; P. O. Washington; was born in New Jersey in 1832, and when about three years of age his parents emigrated to Ohio, and here was were he was raised and made his home until 1855 when he came to Illinois, and from there to this county in the fall of 1867 and settled on his present farm; be was principally raised on a farm but followed the boot and shoe business for a while both in Illinois and Ohio; he was married in the State of Illinois in 1857, to Miss N. E. Unangst, of New .Jersey; they have a family of two sons and two daughters living: John H., Etta May, Elias, and Carrie C.

BERDO, THOMAS J., farmer; Sec. 8; P. O. Washington; is a native of this county and township; was born August 17, 1854; he was raised here and has always made it his home; he received his education, partly at the Washington Academy, and partly at Iowa City; he was married in this county, March 19, 1879, to Miss Chattie Wright, a native of Pennsylvania; has held the office of township supervisor; he owns an improved farm of 70 acres.

BEVERLY, CHARLES, teacher;

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P. O. Richmond; the subject of this sketch was born in Louisville, Barbour county, Alabama, September 28, 1855, and when only about one year old his father died, and when thirteen years of age he emigrated with his mother to Williamson county, Illinois, and here was where he was principally raised and received his education; his mother died when he was fifteen years of age leaving him without parents, brothers or sisters. and when twenty-one years old he went to Wisconsin and engaged in railroading from Janesville, of that State, to Chicago; in October of 1876, he came to this county and has since resided here and followed teaching; he is of English ancestry on his mother's side, although she was born in New York; his father was born in South Carolina, but of Scotch origin.

DAWSON, JOHN, deceased; P. O. Washington; was born in Ohio, October 2, 1815, and came from there to this county and first engaged in farming as an occupation, and in 1857 he engaged in the grocery business at Washington, which he continued for about eight years, and then engaged in farming again, which he followed up to the time of his death, which occurred August 28, 1876; he was married July 27, 184.7, to Miss Mary McCulley, of Greene county, Ohio; they have a family of seven children: Joseph P., Belle, Emma A., Thompson W., Lee W., Cora E., Nannie R., and two deceased: John M., and Robert F.; he had formerly been married to Jane Marshall, who died leaving five children. of whom only two are now living: Jeanette and George.

DONALDSON, DAVID, farmer; Sec. 36; P. O. Washington; among the pioneers of this township is the subject of this sketch, a native of Harrison county, Ohio; was born Jalll1l1ry 5, 1823, but was raised in Carroll county, that State, on a farm, and has always followed farming as an occupation; he came to this county as early as the fall of 1853, and entered land and returned to Ohio that same fall, and in 1857 came out and located on his present homestead, which now consists of 180 acres; he is justice of the peace, and has held various other offices of trust; he was married in Ohio, November 24, 1846, to Miss Louisa Wycoff; by this union they have a family of three sons and one daughter living: John A., David C., William H., and Catharine Mildred, and two deceased: Isaac, and Martha L.

DIHEL, R. M., farmer; Sec. 24; P. O. Washington; the subject of this sketch is a native of Fountain county, Indiana; was born in 1836; in 1846 his parents emigrated to Illinois; he was principally raised there, and August 29, 1861, he was. mustered into company A, Thirtieth Illinois infantry, of the late war of the rebellion and served till the expiration of his term of enlistment, which was for three years; he was wounded in the knee at the battle of Britton's Lane, Tennessee, and participated in several other engagements, among which was the siege of' Vicksburg; for the last six months he was on detached service; he was married in Illinois, March 8, 1860, to Miss Catharine Cabeen, a native of Muskingum county, Ohio; they have no children but an adopted daughter, Minnie AdelIa; Mr. D. came to this county and settled on his present homestead in 1868, and has made farming his occupation.

MARTIN, ROBERT, farmer and stock-raiser; Sec. 32; P, O. Washington; was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, in 1823; he was raised in that State up to the time he came to this county and first located at Washington, but entered land in Jackson township to the amount of 800 acres and also located a large number of acres throughout the

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central portion of the State; he still owns an improved farm fifteen miles north of Des Moines of 640 acres which he manages himself, one in Page county, and also owns land in various other counties; his home in this township consists of 160 acres of finely improved land; he is at present farming 1,000 acres himself; when he came to this county he engaged in the nursery business which he continued for sometime, and also fol1owed the stock business to some extent, but of late years has given his entire attention to his present business; he was married in Monmouth, Illinois, in 1855, to Miss Maggie Black, of Ohio; they have two sons and two daughters: Frank L., Lenora, Madora and John H.

MAUOK, JOHN J., farmer and stock-raiser; Sec. 6; P. O. Richmond; was born in Meigs county, Ohio, November 21, 1826, and was raised there at farming as an occupation; he also received his early education in the schools of that county, and made it his home up to the time he came to this county in the fall of 1850 and located on what is now the present site of Riverside and lived there for about fourteen years, except one and one-half years that he lived at what is known as the "Old McClure Mills," he came to his present farm of 240 acres of well improved land in 1865; he was elected justice of the peace in 1854 and held the office for four years and also filled the office of assessor in Iowa township, and was member of the board of county supervisors from Iowa township; he was married in Meigs county, Ohio, in July 1848, to Miss Augusta Holland, of that county; they have five children living: Emma (wife of E. Helwick), Laura B., John A., Ida A. (wife of Isaiah Bush), O. K., and three deceased.

RATHMELL, HENRY, farmer and stock-raiser; Sec. 18; P. O. Washington; was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1822, and was raised there till about twenty-two years of age; when about eighteen years of age he learned the cabinet trade and stayed till twenty-one past and then engaged in boating, and in 1846 drove a team to Indiana and there hired out to work on a farm at ten dollars per month, and one year later he was married in La Porte county to Miss Catharine Page; he then rented a farm and worked it for two years, and in 1850 went overland to California, driving an ox team to pay his passage, and was seven months and three days on the road; he there engaged in mining and made it a success and started back in the fall of 1852 and landed in Indiana; the following spring he came to this county and has since made it his home, where he owns a finely improved farm of 590 acres altogether; his family consists of six sons and two daughters living; John M., Samuel, William, Sierra Nevada (wife of Isaac Hartman), Henry H., James, Frank F. and Minnie; three deceased: Mary, Henry and Daniel.

ROUND, WM., farmer; Sec. 1; P. O. Washington; is a native of Worcester county, Maryland; was born January 11, 1822, and was raised there ti1l about fourteen years of age; his father followed farming as an occupation, and as a natural result he was raised on a farm; at this age he emigrated with his parents to Indiana and located in Ripley county; this was in 1836; he came to this county in April, 1853, and entered his present homestead from the government and returned to Indiana, and two years later in 1855, in October, he came out and permanently settled on the land that he had formerly purchased and has made it his home since; in 1857 he was appointed to the office of justice of the peace to fill a vacancy caused by the

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resignation of Thomas Blanchard, which office he held by election for about six years; he has been connected with various other offices of the township; at present owns 520 acres of land; he was married in Indiana in 1847 to Miss Lurena Nickerson, of that State; they have three sons and three daughters living: Irena A., Dr. F. L., Anna A., Wm. M., M. J. and Alice A.

SHAW, K M., farmer; Sec. 20; P. O. Washington; was born in Mercer county, Illinois, November 16, 1838, and when about five years of age his parents emigrated to Knox county, that State, where they remained for about seven years, and from there to Fulton county, that state, and remained there up to the time he came to this county in 1865 and settled on his present farm which consists of 280 acres of improved land; he was raised on a farm and has always followed it as an occupation; he was married in Fulton county, Illinois, February 14, 1858, to Miss Sallie Wheeler, of New York State; they have by this union a family, of nine children living: Bertha, Jasper L., Euphemia, Rosa, Dora, Ida, Susan, Allie and Edna; on his father's side he is of the New England stock and on his mother's side of the same, but of Irish descent.

STEDMAN, W. T., farmer; Sec. 7; P. O. Richmond; was born in Meigs county, Ohio, June 1, 1827; was raised in this county till about twenty-four years of age on a farm and then came to this county in 1853 and purchased his present homestead November 15th of that year, and in 1865 he went to Riverside and only remained for one year and then came back to his farm, which now consists of 260 acres; he moved to Washington in 1872 and lived there one year and returned again to his farm; he was married in Meigs county, Ohio, in 1848 to Miss Mary M. Mauck, a native of that State; they have by this union a family of one son and one daughter living; Amanda V. (wife of W. S. Wright), and D. M.; they have lost two; Mr. Stedman's ancestry on his father's side were natives of this country, yet of Danish descent, and on his mother's side of English origin.

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HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP.

ANDERSON, SAMUEL, farmer and stock-raiser; Sec. 19; P. O. Ainsworth; was born in Independence, Pennsylvania, April 30, 1845; at the age of ten years accompanied his parents to Wisconsin, where they remained one year and a half, and then removed to Washington county and settled on Sees. 19 .and 20, Highland township; he was married January 1, 1868, to Miss Mary Davidson, a native of Pennsylvania; they have a family of four children: Charles O., Mertie V., Frederick K, George F.; Mr. A. owns a farm of 120 acres.

BROOKWAY, K F., farmer; Sec. 29; P. O. Ainsworth; was born in Brockwayville, Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, on the 28th day of April, 1834; his parents, James and Lydia Brockway, were natives of New York State and were the pioneers of that county; they cut their wav for six miles into the pine forest and built the first mill on Taley creek, cleared the stream of obstruction, and ran the first lumber from the stream; in the spring of 1842 they removed to Iowa Territory and settled in Muscatine county, where the boyhood of the subject of this sketch was spent; there being no schools, his father and mother became his teacher and fortunately inspired him with a strong desire for knowledge; young Brockway assisted his father and brothers in

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managing the farm and in breaking prairie for the neighbors; after he reached his majority he attended school at Muscatine and also at Cornell College at Mt. Vernon, Linn county; in 1856 he learned the daguerrian art and in May of the same year opened a gallery in Washington; from there he went to Richmond and thence to Muscatine; in February of the year following he went to Jackson county, Wisconsin, and engaged in his business with excellent success; in June, 1857, he decided to change his business and returned to Iowa and improved some wild lands; he put his entire available means into lumber and rafted down the Black and Mississippi rivers to Muscatine; the following year was divided between breaking prairie and driving cattle to the lumber districts of Wisconsin; in 1866 he sold his farm in Muscatine county and came to this county and settled in Highland township, where he owns a fine farm of 400 acres; he has turned his attention to some extent to the nursery business, but more largely in the raising of fine stock; he has served as a member of the board of supervisors, and in the fall of 1873 he represented the county in the State legislature; he has been president of the County Agricultural Society for five years; he was married September 11. 1860, to Miss R. Letts (daughter of A, M. Letts, of Lettsville, Louisa county); their family consists of three children: Elizabeth, born July 25, 1866; Allie, born March 7, 1871, and James, born January 27, 1879.

BUSBY, JOHN H., farmer and stock-dealer; Sec, 5; P, 0, Riverside; was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1833; he was raised as a carpenter; and followed that occupation until three or four years ago: during the late war he enlisted in company G, Eighty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, as a private, and was promoted to various positions, finally to that of captain of the One Hundred and Eightieth Ohio, which commission he held until the close of the war; served for four years mostly on detached duty; participated in the battles of Shiloh, Chattanooga and Kenesaw Mountain; at the latter battle he was wounded, and on that account he was discharged; he was married in Ohio in the winter or 1856 to Miss A, M, Wilson, a native of Washington county, Ohio, and born in 1831; they have three children living: Charles W., Katie V., and William C.; lost two: Frank and George; they are members of the United Brethren Church, and one of the children is a Methodist; owns a farm of 160 acres.

FOSTER, J,. Y., farmer and stock-raiser, Sec. 36, P. 0, Ainsworth; was born in Pike county. Ohio, March 3, 1837; he went with his parents to Missouri when quite young, staid there four years, then returned to Ohio and remained for four years more; in 1851 he came to Muscatine county, Iowa, where he staid fourteen years. then came to Wasl)ington county, Highland township, where he settled on Sec. 36; he owns 120 acres of land; he was married December 24,1864, to Miss M. J, McCurdy, of Muscatine county, Iowa; they have five children: Dora, Ida, Ida, Millie J., and Carrie E,

GOBLE, W, H., farmer; Sec. 27; P. O. Ainsworth; was born November 15,1844. in Washington county, Iowa; at the age of ten years went with his parents to Kansas, Leavenworth county; staid there until 1860, when he returned to Washington county, Iowa; then returned to Kansas, where he enlisted in 1862 in the Fifth Kansas cavalry; he engaged in the battles of Big Blue, West Port, Lone Trading Post and several others; was mustered out in 1865; he owns 56 acres of land; was married in 1870 to

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Rosie Roise, who died in 1876; he was married again in 1878 to Rebecca Leppler; they have three children: Margaret A., Francis A., and Julia E.

HARDIN, Y. A., farmer; Sec. 34; P.O. Ainsworth; was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, August 21, 1837, and at the age of twenty-nine years came to Muscatine county, Iowa; remained there six months, then came to Washington county, Iowa; in 1870 he went to Highland township, where he owns 160 acres of land in Secs. 27 and 34; he was married April 1861, to Miss Margaret E. Wilson, of Sussex county, New Jersey; they have four children: Edwin L., Teresa L., Francis A., Emmet H.

IDEN, JOHN, farmer; Sec. 5; P. O. Riverside; was born in Louden county, Virginia, in 1827, and is the son of Alfred and Mary A. Iden; the family moved to Perry county, Ohio, where the subject of this sketch was raised on a farm; he came to this county first in 1846, and entered his land in 1853; he carne to this county without means, and to use his own language he was "bareheaded and barefooted"; he now owns a fine farm of 480 acres, well improved; he was present at the organization of the township and voted at the first election; he married Miss Susanna Younkin in 1858; she was a native of Perry county, Ohio; they have a family of seven children: Minerva J., D. W., G. M., Margaret A., Luella B., Joanna and Mary C.,

LETTS, DAVID G., farmer; Sec. 31; P. O. Ainsworth; was born in La Salle county, Illinois, December 19, 1843; when ten years of age his father (who was born March 17, 1818), moved to Monmouth, same State; his mother died in 1851; in 1854 they came to Louisa county, Iowa, and here the subject of this sketch was raised a farmer; the father is stil11iving in that county; in 1870 he came upon his present farm of 800 acres, all of which was improved by himself; has an orchard of four hundred apple trees and a large quantity of small fruit also; his premises are decorated with over 200 evergreens; has 3,000 European larches; during the late war he enlisted in company H, Forty-fifth Iowa volunteer infantry and served four months; in 1871 he was married to Miss Hannah G. Dickinson, a native of Muscatine county, Iowa, born July 11, 1846; they have a family of four children: Madison L., born June 10, 1873; Freddie, born April 26, 1875; Clarence F., born December 14, 1877, and Emma F., born May 25, 1879; Mrs. Letts' parents are still living in Muscatine county; Mr. Letts is a member of the board of supervisors, having been elected in 1878.

NICOLA, Z., farmer; Sec. 19; P. O. Riverside; was born in Virginia, in 1836; when thirteen years of age his parents moved to Pennsylvania, and after remaining there for two years went to Wayne county, Ohio; made that county his home until 1855, when he came to this county; in 1873 he moved on his present farm of 105 acres, upon which he has an orchard and a good comfortable home; in 1859 he was married to Miss Mary E. Kinsey, a native of Kentucky; their family consists of four children: Amos, Benjamin, Charles and Daniel; Mr. Nicola is a member of the Advent Church.

SANDS, E. T., farmer; Sec. 32; P. O. Ainsworth; was born in Pennsylvania in 1823, and is the son of Robert and Mary Sands, and when he was three years of age was taken by his parents to Harrison county, Ohio, where he was raised a farmer; he came to this county in April, 1856, and settled on his present farm containing 290 acres, and is

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one of the oldest settlers in the township; he was married in 1844 to Miss Mary A. McFadden, a native of Ohio, born in 1823; they have a family of three children living: Robert, Alrid and Benjamin; lost one daughter: Margaret.

WHITE, E. W., farmer; Sec. 28; P. O. Ainsworth; was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, May 2, 1830, and was there raised a fanner; in 1852, when twenty-two years of age, he visited the gold fields of California and after remaining there until 1856 returned to Pennsylvania, the trip having proved to be successful; in 1865 he settled on his present farm of 800 acres; has 800 apple trees, 3000 evergreens, and 14 acres of timber; October 22, 1857, he was united in marriage with Louisa Cunningham, daughter of Dr. Robert Cunningham, of Pennsylvania; she was born March 3, 1834; they have a family of nine children: Lillie (now Mrs. Stone), Flora, Ida, Mary J., James R., Robert S., Harry A., Eva I., and Luellen; Mr. White's father was of Irish descent and his mother of English ancestry; Mrs. W. is of Irish and Scotch ancestry.

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