-385- HORATIO PITCHER was born in the town of Monroe, Waldo County, Maine, January 23, 1839. His father, Horatio Gates Pitcher, was born in Belfast, Maine, and his ancestors came from England at an early day and settled in New Hampshire. His mother was Anna Leonard, a native of Maine, who traces her ancestry directly to the Mayflower. When Horatio was eight years old his father removed to Bangor and engaged in mercantile pursuits; he attended the schools of that city until he was fifteen years old, when he entered a dry-goods store to learn the business of clerk and salesman. He remained there two years, and then attended the academies at Bucksport and Kent's Hill for two years. At the age of nineteen he started for the West to seek his fortune. The first season he worked on a farm in Western New York, and in the fall he went to Ohio and took a course in pen-drawing at Oberlin. The following winter and early spring he taught eleven schools of twelve lessons each in penmanship in Northwestern Ohio. He then entered the Maumee Business College as teacher of penmanship. He returned to Bangor on a visit, but was induced to remain there and go into the grocery business on his own account. In 1860 he arrived at his majority, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has voted with the Republican party ever since. In the spring of 1861, at the first call for soldiers to suppress the Rebellion, he sold out his business and enlisted as a private in Company A, Second Maine Volunteers, under Colonel Jameson. This was the first regiment that left the State for the war. After the first battle of bull Run he was promoted to Regimental Commissary Sergeant, and soon after was made Quartermaster Sergeant, in which capacity he served with the regiment until after the Peninsular campaign. He then received a commission as Quartermaster of the Eighteenth Regiment Maine Volunteers, then being organized at Bangor, Maine. In the spring of 1864 he was ordered to Albany, N.y>, on inspection duty, and was retained there until the end of the war, as inspector of cavalry and artillery horses for the United States Army. He then went to Savannah, Georgia, and embarked in the ship-chandlery business, but this proved with him, as with many others, to be a fool's errand; in two years he lost all he had and more too, and then went to Boston and engaged in the same business there under the firm name of Pitcher, Flitner & Co. In the spring of 1868 he came to Iowa, stopped in Marshalltown and bought a team and an old buggy, and began a tour of inspection of Northwestern Iowa, which was then a vast, unbroken prairie, with a settler here and there on the rivers. After traveling over this beautiful country he decided to become a farmer, and noticing on the land plat that at Sioux City that the surveyor had indicated a spring upon the section where he now resides he decided to -386- find it, and securing the services of a surveyor, measured from the Little Sioux River to the spot; finding an unfailing supply of water, he at once secured the tract, paying the Government $2.50 per acre for the same. He immediately had sixty acres broken and commenced keeping bachelor's hall. On the organization of the township, desiring to honor their worth citizen, the name of Pitcher was chosen. Mr. Pitcher was elected the first supervisor, and continued to hold that position until the law reduced the number of supervisors from one to each township to five in the county. After the Boston fire of 1872 he went back to that city, and for three years engaged in the lumber business. At the expiration of that period he returned to Iowa, and has since made it his home. HIs farm now consists of 720 acres of fine land, which is largely seeded to tame grass; it is well adapted to raising live-stock, and 150 head of cattle are fed annually on the Pitcher farm. The improvements are of the best, and there is a beautiful grove of ten acres, of which Mr. Pitcher may well be proud. In 1881 Mr. Pitcher was elected to represent the county in the Lower House of the Nineteenth General Assembly of Iowa. He was married June 13, 1877, to Miss Lizzie A. Hersey. They have four children: Ray, Leon, Bessie and Marian. Mrs. Pitcher is a native of the State of Maine. HON. JOSEPH COOPER LOCKIN, member of the State Legislature from Cherokee County. One of the most progressive men in Cherokee County, Iowa, is he whose name heads this sketch. A cultured gentleman, a close student and a thorough business man, the people of Cherokee County have acted wisely in selecting him to represent their interests in the Legislature of the State. His career in that body has convinced his friends and those whose confidence in his ability and judgment placed him there, that no mistake had been made in his selection. Joseph Cooper Lockin was born November 3, 1854, at Brandon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. His parents were John and Mary J. (Gregg) Lockin. His father is a native of Lincolnshire, England, and came to America at the age of twenty years. He is still living, at the age of sixty-six years. The mother was a native of Connecticut, and was a daughter of George Gregg. She died May 6, 1889, aged sixty-seven years. The parents were married at Cherry Valley, New York, in 1845, and immediately after settled in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. soon afterward they settled in Fond du Lac County. They had a family of eight children, of whom are living, Joseph and Charles H. being residents of Cherokee County. Joseph was reared to the occupation of a farmer, near the town of Brandon, Wisconsin. He was educated in the public schools of Brandon, and at the age of twenty began to teach. After completing one term in the fall of 1876 he came to Iowa, and located in Cherokee County, two of his brothers, William H. (deceased) and charles H., having previously settled here. The first two years after his arrival were devoted to teaching, the latter of which he was principal of the Aurelia Public Schools. In 1879 he began farming 160 acres. He now owns 200 acres in his home farm, and 160 acres in Spring Township. His improvements are of the first class, the residence and barn costing about $3,000. He has the farm well stocked with high-grade animals, feeding annually from three to seven car-loads of cattle, and from seventy-five to 100 head of hogs. Mr. Lockin is one of the incorporators of the Maple Valley Mutual -387- Insurance Association, and has been its secretary and treasurer since its organization in 1883. The marked success of this institution, which carries over $200,000 of insurance at a much less cost than can be given by standard companies, is largely due to the untiring efforts and careful business methods of Mr. Lockin. He held with credit various township trusts until his election to the Legislature in 1887. Although his opponent in the race was the popular ex-county clerk, J. H. Butts, of Cherokee, Mr. Lockin received the handsome majority of 300 votes. His ability was recognized by the Speaker of the House, who selected him as chairman of the Committee on Animal Industry, and named him as a member of the Ways and Means and Judiciary committees. As chairman of the Committee on Animal Industry he prepared a bill providing for a fund to be used for the purpose of eradicating contagious diseases of domestic animals, and protecting the State from the scourge of pleuro-pneumonia and similar diseases. As further evidence of the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens, he was chosen delegate to the State Convention which selected delegates to the National Republican Convention held in Chicago in 1888. Mr. Lockin was married September 24, 1878, to Miss Mary Josephine Batson, daughter of Josiah and Arabella (Wells) Batson. Mrs. Lockin was born February 4, 1855, in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. They have had three children: John Winifred, Harry and Mary. Mr. Lockin is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his wife belongs to the Baptist Church. In writing Mr. Lockin's biography it would be proper to add that his brother, Charles Hiram Lockin, who was born in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, March 25, 1851, is one of the present representative farmers of Pitcher Township. His beautiful tract of land, lying in the fertile Maple Valley, consists of 360 acres of finely improved land. He also has the estate of his brother, William H., who widow he married January 23, 1878. Mrs. Locking's maiden name was Emma Ferguson, and her parents are Friend P. and Betsey (Landow) Ferguson. She was born in Delaware County, New York, December 27, 1847, and was married July 18, 1872, to William H. Lockin. He was born October 23, 1846, and died August 25, 1875. He had settled in Cherokee County in the fall of 1871. During his short residence in the county he was widely know as an enterprising farmer, and as a popular teacher of vocal music. He left one child, Charles Herman, born March 27, 1873. Charles H. Lockin and wife are the parents of three children: Coraline, Jessie Emily and Clara Louisa. COLONEL LUCIUS W. BEAL, who now so ably fills the office of auditor of Cherokee County, was elected to that responsible position at the general election of 1885, by a vote of 2,173 of his fellow-citizens. The total number of votes cast at that election was a little greater than the number cast for this most worthy gentleman; he had no opposition. Having served his first term he received the nomination the second time by the Republican party, of which he is an ardent supporter in deed and thought. But political ambition placed another candidate in the field, in the person of John Donovan, who was defeated, however, by a majority of 659 in favor of Colonel Beal. To one accustomed to go from one county seat to another to do business with county officials, it is indeed a pleasure to meet the class of men found at Cherokee, including our subject. -388- To the reflective mind the officials of a city or county are a true index of the people who have placed them in office. This is quite natural when we come to consider that in this land of freedom the public sentiment is measured by popular vote and majorities, and not by caste or royal rank. But to speak personally of Mr. Beal; he is a native of Rock Island County, Illinois, born January 20, 1838, and is the oldest child of Daniel and Betsey (Spencer) Beal, natives of Peacham, Caledonia county, Vermont. The father was born February 5, 18__, and is the son of Saul and Rachel (Wells) Beal, who were of Puritan ancestry. When Daniel Beal was yet a child his father died and he went to live with on Leonard Johnson, where he passed his youth at farm labor. At the age of nineteen years he received a colt as compensation for ten years of hard work. He sold the colt for 450, and with that money started West in search of his fortune. From the old home in Vermont he walked most of the way to the wild, unsettled prairies of Rock Island, County, Illinois, arriving there in the autumn of 1834. He then worked at anything that would pay for two years, when he returned to the old Green Mountain home in September, 1836. He was married September 18,1 836, to Miss Betsey Spencer, a daughter of Saul Spencer, Esq. Mr. and Mrs Beal at once came West in quest of home and fortune. They journeyed by all sorts of conveyances, including the canal, the Great Lakes, the river and the stage coach. Upon reaching Illinois Mr. Beal pre-empted land then unsurveyed, now situate in what is known as section 18, Lama township, where he began the task of improving a farm in a land not made cheerful and glad by numerous inhabitants, but thickly settled by wild beasts that roamed at will, free as air. The Indians still lingered around that section, it having been their beloved hunting ground. However, with all these struggles Colonel Beal's father improved his farm which he has owned fifty-three years. There on the homestead, about which man a hallowed memory clings, were born five children: One died in infancy; Lucius W., Samuel S. Albert M., professor of natural science at Western College, Toledo, Iowa; and Eunice C., wife of Fred Cooper. The parents still reside upon the old homestead at an advanced age. They belong to the United Brethren Church. Politically Daniel Beal was an old-line Whig, but was one of the first to fall in line with the Republican party. Colonel Beal was reared on his parents farm in Illinois, and began his education in the subscription schools, held within the primitive log school-house of the early pioneer days. He finished his schooling at Lombard College, Galesburg, Illinois. He commenced teaching school at the age of seventeen years, and afterward studied law with G. W. Smith one year. He resided with his parents until the breaking out of the Civil War, when duty and patriotism called young men of his stamp to the field of conflict. He enlisted August 2, 1861, in Graham's Independent Company of Cavalry, which was attached to the Fourteenth Missouri Infantry, but was never mustered. He enlisted for three years, but on September 20 he was captured at Lexington, Missouri; he was soon paroled, returned home, and again enlisted August 2, 1862, in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private; upon organization of the regiment he was commissioned Captain. He spent the following winter in Tennessee, and took an active part in the following engagements: Siege of Vicksburg, Little Rock, Claridon and Arkansas Post, after which he served in the Western Army until the close of the war. He was commissioned -389- Colonel of the regiment November 1, 1864, was honorably discharged at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, at the end of the struggle, and was mustered out at Springfield, Illinois, August 1, 1865. Mr. Beal was married to Miss Lizzie S. Drum, December 10, 1863. She was the daughter of Thomas and Martha (McLaughlin) Drum, and a native of Pennsylvania, her parents having removed to Rock Island County, Illinois, when she was yet a child. Her father had charge of the Government works at that point, from which Rock Island derives its name, until his death. After his marriage Mr. Beal settled on a farm in his native county, and for a time engaged in the mercantile business at Port Byron; after selling out he was appointed deputy circuit clerk, and served a few months, when he was appointed deputy sheriff, serving a year and a half. He then returned to the old homestead and continued to farm on his father's place for seven years. In April, 1882, he came to Cherokee County and purchased 220 acres of partially improved land, homesteaded by William H. Michael. It is located on section 10, Sheridan Township, and there he resided until elected to his present position. The life of Colonel Beal has been somewhat eventful, and at times a sad one. On December 9, 1883, he was bereaved by the death of his wife, aged one month less than forty years. Marcy 30, 1887, he married Mrs. Corelia A. Biddle, of Dixon, Illinois, a daughter of David and Effie (Hoke) Holly. She had one daughter by her former husband named Eva. Mr. Beal and his first wife were the parents of five children, three of whom survive. Daniel N. died in childhood, and Edna died August 31, 1889. She was a lovely girl, much admired for unusual sweetness of disposition, and her death was a severe blow to the fond father, and deeply regretted by a wide circle of friends. The remaining children are: Albert R., who holds a trusty position in the First National Bank at Cherokee; Lucy M., wife of A. L. Funk, and May. Mr. and Mrs Beal are consistent members of the First Presbyterian Church. He is member of the Xenophon Lodge, No. 158, Knights of Pythias, and Vice Chancellor and a member of Custer Post, No. 25, G.A.R. ALBERT PHIPPS. — From out the goodly company that composed the Milford Emigration Society, which effected the first permanent settlement in Cherokee County, there are at present but five remain living in the county. The others have either removed to other sections of the country, having been driven away during the Indian troubles or having gone from choice, or have been called from life's shifting scenes and are now sleeping that long sleep we call Death. With lives so full of activity and grand accomplishments, with a history so replete with self-sacrifice and thrilling adventures, the biographical pen scarcely knows where to commence, and at what point to conclude. When one contemplates this little band of liberty-loving people, who left their snug, cultured New England homes over thirty years ago to plant a colony in the wilds of Northwestern Iowa, and then glances at the statistics of to-day, showing over 16,000 population in a county whose foundation stone and corner stakes were set up in 1856, he is inspired anew, as it were, to sketch a brief review of the life of each survivor of that band. As one interviews these first pioneers, notes their failing voices and bedimmed sight, their whitened locks and deeply furrowed brows, he shrinks from the task imposed upon him, knowing that these unfailing signs -390- speak in tones of pathos and eloquence, such as the pen in incapable of expressing. Yet a written record, a just and adequate memento, must and shall be preserved, so that future generations may have means of forming correct ideas as to who and what the first comers to the country were, and what they endured and accomplished. Well may we pause to-day midst the cultivated surroundings and charming attractions of this developed country, and note the contrast between the present and that day in May, 1856, upon which the Milford Colony viewed it, just as it was left by the trails of Indians in their flight from civilized life. These first settlers looked upon streams that reflected the image of the red man who had just folded up his tents in Cherokee County for the last time; he had trod the rolling expanse of prairie a life-time, but then left it to the plowshare of a better and nobler race. Albert Phipps, one of the five of the original colony now left, was born in the town of Milford, Worcester County, Massachusetts, October 7, 1820, 200 years after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on the wild New England shores. Aaron Phipps, father of Albert, was also a native of Massachusetts, and a descendant of English ancestors. Aaron's father was Samuel Phipps. The Phipps family were noted for the great number of blacksmiths it contained, the trade having been handed down from father to son for generations. Albert Phipps's mother was Polly H. Phipps, a daughter of Jason Phipps, of Revolutionary fame. She was born in Connecticut, and after her marriage to Aaron Phipps settled in Massachusetts,where she resided until her death, which occurred in October, 1826. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, six sons and two daughters, six of whom are living. He died in June, 1839. Albert was the fifth child of the family, and his mother died when he was six years of age. Thus left an orphan at so tender an age, he early began life's conflict for himself. His opportunities for gaining an education were very limited. He learned the shoemaker's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years. After mastering this industry he engaged in the manufacture of goods which are now rapidly turned out by machinery. He followed this occupation at intervals for twenty years, and in the spring of 1856 came to Iowa with the Milford Emigration Society, when not a wheel-track flattened the native prairie grass. He pre-empted a quarter section of land upon which he began making a home; he erected a small log cabin just north of the present town, and afterward purchased other lands and improved them. All that was produced for market had to be hauled by ox-teams a great distance, and sold very low. The hardships endured were enough to have disheartened any man, but Mr. Phipps's courage did not fail him, and he remained with his undertaking. Soon there were evidences of better days; emigration commenced to flow westward, and the country began to develop. Having secured a choice piece of land near the placid waters of the Little Sioux, Mr. Phipps turned his attention to farming the tract upon which he now lives; it contains 200 acres of land, and he has kept it well stocked with high grades of animals, and paying proper attention to the business of stock-raising he has made it pay well. In 1844 he was married to Miss Martha Littlefield, a most estimable lady, a daughter of David Littlefield, Esq. She was born in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the same neighborhood in which Mr. Phipps was brought up. After coming to Iowa, during those long, dark pioneer days, she not unfrequently longed for the once happy home in -391- old New England, but sighs and heartaches could not take her back to her childhood's home, midst the pine-clad hills of the old Bay State. To Mr. and Mrs. Phipps have been born nine children, all of whom are living; Bethana A., Luther, John A., Adaline H., Henry L., Frank F., Arthur I., Nathan A. and Mattie. They all reside in Cherokee County, and as the father remarked, "I can jump a horse and ride to any child I have in half an hour." Mr. Phipps took part in the Civil War, being a member of Company I, Fifteenth Iowa Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, General McPherson commanding. He took part in the siege of Savannah and battle of Bentonville, and was with General Sherman on his famous march to the sea, and back through the Carolinas to Goldsboro, until the final surrender of Confederate General Jo Johnston. On account of exposure Mr. Phipps contracted rheumatism and was sent north to Philadelphia, where he was honorably discharged; he at once returned to his home in Cherokee County. Politically he supports the issues of the Republican party, and has held various township and county offices. He served the county ten years as supervisor, holding that office when the supervisor system first became a law in 1861, and at a time when the whole county was in one great civil township. He himself composed the Board of Supervisors—was a sort of king. But he was elected to such position on account of his good, sound judgment, and his strict integrity of character, which he has ever maintained. Had it not been for his sterling qualities at an early day the land sharks and contract swindlers would doubtless have ruined the finances of this county, as they did in adjoining counties. Many an overture was made to him to put up jobs to swindle the Cherokee County tax-payers, all of which were received with disdain. Mr. Phipps belongs to Custer Post, No. 25, G.A.R. It may be added in conclusion that the author of the general history of this county is deeply indebted to Mr. Phipps for many points of interest. GEORGE W. LEBOURVEAU, one of the original pioneer band which made up the Milford Colony, has been an important factor in the organization and development of Cherokee County. This brief review of his career is of necessity but a mere outline of his eventful live, thirty-three years of which have been spent in this county, the Milford Emigration Society landing here in 1856. Mr. Lebourveau was born in the town of Keene, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, August 28, 1827, and is the second son of a family of eight children, three boys and five girls, only three of whom survive. His father's name was George, and he was also a native of the old "Granite State;" his mother's maiden name was Betsey Bliss, a native of Massachusetts, of English descent; the father was of French extraction. The parents remained in New Hampshire until the death of the father, at which time George W. was two years of age. When he was seven years old he left home and worked on a farm until he was seventeen years old. He then began working for the railroad company on the line between Boston and Rutland, Vermont, via Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He was overseer of the construction department for three years, then became overseer of construction on the Norfolk Railway, serving in that capacity for three years. After leaving the work of railroad building, he engaged in the boot and shoe trade at Milford, Massachusetts, remaining there until 1856, when 392- the Emigration Society was formed. He became a member of that colony, and for the details of his trip by rail and "prairie schooner" to the wilds of Northwestern Iowa, we refer the reader to the chapter on "Early Settlement." After piloting the company through to the "promised land," Mr. Lebourveau's fist work was to assist in staking out and surveying the lands taken up by the colony. During his first year's residence he helped break prairie sod, and built four log houses, which afforded many of the members quite a comfortable home during that never-to-be-forgotten "hard winter" of 1856-'57. It may here be stated that the country was anything but homelike and pleasant to a person reared in the New England States. In the fall of 1857 Mrs. Lebourveau made a visit to their old home at Milford, Massachusetts, and Mr. Lebourveau in the fall of 1858, returning in the spring of 1859. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he became a member of Company I, Seventh Iowa Cavalry, and was sent to the frontier to guard the borders of civilization against the depredations of the desperado Indians. He served three years and was honorably discharged in November, 1864; he took an active part in the battle of White Stone HIll, Dakota, where the soldiers met with heavy loss. After receiving his discharge from the United States service he took up a homestead, part of which is the present site of Cherokee; he claimed eighty acres, which he improved, his house being the first erected within the town limits. Unfortunately he disposed of his land several years before land raised, but received all it was worth at the time he sold out. Mr. Lebourveau was married in October, 1849, to Miss Sarah J. Cooke, at Providence, Rhode Island. She was a native of Bellingham, Massachusetts, and died at her home in Cherokee, February 5, 1885. Three children were born of this marriage, one of whom survives, Cora M. Politically our pioneer friend is a Republican, and has oftentimes been honored with county, township, and city offices. He was elected the first treasurer and recorder of the county, held the office of county supervisor for three terms, served as assessor and trustee, and was elected the first mayor of the incorporate town of New Cherokee, holding the office two terms, and acquitting himself with credit, and to the satisfaction of his constituents. He is Commander of Custer Post, No. 25, Grand Army of the Republic, at Cherokee. Mr. Lebourveau is a man possessed of a strong will, and can not be turned aside from the path in which his convictions lead him; he is of the every-day, practical, pioneer type, kind and generous hearted, and is thoroughly posted in regard to all the early events connected with the settlement of his State and county.

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