The above
image is of my ancestors.
Please do not copy.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| 1019
V. L. WATSON.
V. L. Watson, a general farmer and stock-raiser,
his home being pleasantly located on section 23,
Macedonia township, where he owns one hundred
and twenty acres of arable lad, was born in Pottawattamie
county, April 11, 1867, the old homestead being
then in Grove township. His parents were J. D.
and Mary S. (Buckner) Watson, now residents of
Shenandoah, Iowa. The parental grandfather, J.
S. Watson, one of the earliest citizens of this
county, settled in Grove township in 1848, removing
to this state from Indiana when his son. J. D.
Watson, was about two years of age. He cast in
his lot with the early settlers and shared in
the hardships and privations common to the frontier.
Later he removed to Cass county, Iowa, where be
operated a mill, as he had previously done in
Pottawattamie county, having built and conducted
a sawmill here during the early epoch in the industrial
development of
1020
this part of the state. He died near Elliott,
Iowa, having for some years survived his wife,
who passed away in Pottawattamie county.
J. D. Watson was reared in this county to the
occupation of farming, which he has always followed
as a life work, and he still owns a good trod
of land which is located in Pottawattamie and
Montgomery counties. At the present writing he
is also engaged in the painting business, being
thus connected with the industrial interests of
Shenandoah. His family numbered four children,
two sisters of our subject still living: Mrs.
Edith Sheets, of Shenandoah, Iowa; and Mrs. Etta
Willy, of Bloomfield, Nebraska. The brother, Jackson,
died when a youth of nine years.
V. L. Watson was largely reared in this county.
He resided for five and a half years in Montgomery
county but his home has mainly been in Pottawattamie
county where he acquired his education as a pupil
in the public schools. He received thorough, ample
and practical training in farm work as he assisted
his father in the development of the fields and
was thus well qualified to take charge of a farm
of his own when he started out in life for himself.
In December, 1904, he purchased his present property
and in the fall of ] 905 took up his abode thereon,
having here one hundred and twenty acres of rich
and productive land. He is now cultivating the
soil in raising the cereals to which it is best
adapted, and he is also engaged in raising stock,
meeting with prosperity in his undertakings.
In this county Mr. Watson was married to Miss
Josephine Knox, a native of Ohio, who came to
Iowa with her parents about twenty-six years ago.
By this marriage there were three children, but
William Earl, the eldest, died in Grove township
in infancy. The daughters, Opal and Lila, are
both at home. In his political views Mr. Watson
is a republican, but has neither time nor inclination
for public offices as he gives undivided attention
to his business affairs.
|
Top
|
J. M. Meredith, owning and controlling a farm
of three hundred and fifteen acres lying on each
side of the boundary line that divides Pottawattamie
and Cass counties, has made his home in this state
from early life. His birth occurred in Hendricks
County, Indiana, on the 26th of April, 1854. His
parents, Nathan and Rachel (Garrison) Meredith,
were natives of North Carolina. In the paternal
line there was a strain of Indian blood, for the
great-grandfather of our subject married a daughter
of a chief of the Cherokees, whose name was Crews.
On leaving the south Nathan Meredith and his wife
established their home in Indiana, casting in
their lot with its' early settlers. In Hendricks
county he built a log house with a clapboard roof
and puncheon floor and doors, occupying that primitive
pioneer home for a number of years, during which
time the family bore many of the hardships and
trials which were the invariable accompaniment
of life on the frontier. In 1858 he sold his farm
in Indiana and with his family started westward
with team and cov-
1021
ered wagon. They drove across the country to
Nebraska City and lived for four years in that
locality, the father again carrying on general
agricultural pursuits. In 1862 he returned to
Indiana by the same method of travel and there
engaged in farming until 1871. In that year he
became a resident of Cass county, Iowa, where
he purchased land upon which he resided for a
number of years. He afterward lived with our subject
until his death in 1889. His wife, surviving him
for about two years, passed away in 1891. They
had two sons, the elder being William H. Meredith,
now of Lewis, Iowa.
J. M. Meredith, remaining under the parental
roof until he had reached adult age, pursued his
education in the public schools and was early
trained to' the work of the farm. After reaching
man's estate he rented his father's farm for two
years and then with the money saved from his earnings
he purchased forty acres of land on section 13,
Wright township, Pottawattamie county, where he
still makes his home. The place today, however,
bears little resemblance to the tract which came
into his possession at that time, for his labors
have converted it into a very productive and well
improved farm, the boundaries of which he has
extended from time to time by additional purchase
until it now comprises three hundred and fifteen
acres in Pottawattamie and Cass counties. Here
Mr. Meredith has continuously resided save for
a period of five years. In 1890 he removed to
Indiana in order to care for his mother-in-law
and rented his farm in Iowa. He continued in the
Hoosier state until 1895 and then purchased a
half interest in a hay ranch in the Plateau valley
of Colorado. Upon that place he resided for two
years, after which he sold his interest and returned
to his farm in Pottawattamie county, where he
has resided continuously during the past decade.
He is engaged extensively and successfully in
raising full blooded black polled Angus cattle,
of which he has a fine herd of over eighty head,
and he also makes a specialty of Durac Jersey
hogs. His extensive interests in this direction
make him one of the leading stock-dealers of his
part of the county. In 1904, in connection with
Samuel Elbright and Stevens Brothers, he established
and put in operation the Lewis Mutual Telephone
Company.
In matters of citizenship Mr. Meredith has always
been progressive and his study of the political
situation and possibilities of the country has
led him to give his support to the republican
party. He served as township trustee for four
years and has been school director, but he prefers
to do his public service as a private citizen
rather than as an office holder. Socially he is
connected with the Odd Fellows lodge, No. 140,
at Lewis, and with the Court of Honor at Griswold.
He has, to, a social nature that has gained him
many friends, while his geniality and deference
far the opinions of others have made him popular
with many who know him.
On the 27th of February, 1873, Mr. Meredith was
married to Miss Alicia E. Wright, whose birth
occurred in Noble county, Indiana, November 21,
1853, her parents being Charles and Emeline Wright,
natives of Massachusetts and New York respectively,
but both are, now deceased. In their family were
four children. Only two children have been born
unto Mr. and Mrs. Meredith and the greatest sorrow
of their lives came to them in the loss of their
son, Brenton, who was barn April 5, 1875, and
when fourteen years of age became
1022
a student at Ligonier, Indiana. His literary
education being completed, he devoted the year
1896 to study in a medical college of Denver,
Colorado, and in 1897 he became a student in a
medical college of St. Louis, Missouri. The following
year he enlisted for service in the United States
army with the First Missouri Volunteers, becoming
a member of Company L, which was sent to Camp
Thomas, Chickamauga. He was made a member of the
hospital corps, served as ambulance orderly and
was soon to be a non-commissioned officer, but
was stricken with typhoid fever, and, after lying
ill in the Leiter hospital for thirteen days,
passed away on the 1st of August, 1898. He was
a bright, intelligent young man, who made friends
wherever he went. He was kindly in spirit, generous
in disposition and possessed high ideals. His
father reached his bedside eighteen hours before
he passed away and when the final summons came
bore his soldier boy back home, where he was laid
to rest in Lewis cemetery. The sorrow felt throughout
the entire community cannot be [be] adequately
told in words. Those whom he met socially entertained
for him the warmest regard. He was always considerate
and deferential to the aged and his friends were
many among young land old, rich and poor, but
his loss came with deepest force to his own household,
where father, mother and sister will never cease
to mourn the loss of a loved son and brother.
The daughter of the family is Mrs. Luella E. Franklin,
the wife of Fred H. Franklin, a pharmacist, of
Council Bluffs, and they have two children, Pauline
M. and Eva Emeline.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Meredith are consistent members
of the Christian church. Mrs. Meredith when only
fifteen years of age began teaching and followed
that profession for four years. She is a lady
of culture and refinement, who presides with gracious
hospitality over their pleasant home, and Mr.
and Mrs. Meredith have many warm friends in this
locality, being numbered among its best citizens.
|
Top
|
Click for full size
HORACE ROSCOE
LEMEN.
Horace Roscoe Lemen is manager of the Christian
Home Orphanage at Council Bluffs, his kindly spirit
and broad humanitarian principles well qualifying
him for this work, while under his guidance the
institution is doing an excellent service for
those who have been so unfortunate as to lose
their parents. Mr. Lemen was born in Tuscumbia,
Missouri, on the 11th of February, 1872, and during
his infancy his parents, Rev. and Mrs. J. G. Lemen,
removed to Lebanon, Missouri, while in 1881 the
family home was established in Council Bluffs.
The subject of this review acquired much of his
elementary education in this state and afterward
attended Central University, at Pella, Iowa. On
putting aside his text-books in 1892 he returned
to Council Bluffs and was made assistant manager
of the Christian Home Orphanage, which was founded
by his father, Rev. J. G. Lemen, while upon the
latter's death in 1904 the son became manager
and has since continued at the head of the institution.
1025
He is doing a splendid work here in providing
orphan children with home training and influence
and thus preparing them to become good and useful
citizens. In the management of the institution
he also displays excellent business and executive
ability and his work is most satisfactory to those
in any way connected with the orphanage.
Mr. Lemen was married in 1893, in Pella, Iowa,
to Miss Ida W. Aikins, a daughter of H. D. Aikins,
and they have four children, Florence Marie, Ethel
Margaret, George Edward and John Aikins. The parents
are interested and active members of the Baptist
church and their Christianity is a strong element
in their daily lives.
|
Top
|
Charles Holmstrom, a representative farmer arid
stock-raiser, is meeting with merited success
in his business interests, which include not only
the cultivation of grain and the raising of stock,
but also the buying, feeding and selling of cattle
and hogs. His business has reached quite extensive
proportions in this connection and he has become
well known by reason of his livestock interests.
As the name indicates, he was of Swedish lineage.
His birth occurred in the southern part of Sweden
on the 15th of February, 1872, his parents being
Francis and Emma (Hegg) Holmstrom, who are now
living in Sweden, aged respectively about sixty-five
years. The father was a lawyer, and, in addition
to practicing his profession, engaged in handling
timber land. He also owned a farm and made judicious
investments in property, which, bringing to him
a goodly competence, now enables him to live retired
in the enjoyment of well earned ease. The family
numbers seven children: Annie, the wife of F.
Peterson, whose home is in Montgomery county,
Iowa; Emil, a carpenter, residing in Omaha; Mrs.
Amelia Bjarklund; Mrs. Betsy Walstrom; Emma, who
is also married; and Ellen, at home. The last
four are residents of Sweden.
Charles Holmstrom was reared in his native country
to the age of twenty years. As boy and youth he
attended the public schools of his native country,
and he also spent five winters as a pupil in the
public schools of America. Determining to try
his fortune in the new world, he crossed the Atlantic,
having scarcely more money than would bring him
to the United States. Making his way, however,
to Iowa, he stopped at Red Oak and worked as a
farm hand in Montgomery county. His first purchase
of land made him owner of a tract in Grove township,
Pottawattamie county. He has benefited by the
rise in land values and is now one of the substantial
residents of this part of the state. He came to
the county eight years ago and purchased eighty
acres. A year later he bought another eighty acre
tract, and in October, 1902, he purchased his
present home place of eighty acres and took up
his abode thereon. He now owns altogether two
hundred and forty acres of land, which includes
the home place of eighty acres On section 13 and
one hundred and
1026
sixty acres constituting the northeast quarter
of section 24, Grove township. He has made fine
improvements upon his farm, having here erected
good buildings, including an attractive residence
and substantial barns, sheds and cribs. Although
he cultivates nearly his entire place of two hundred
and forty acres, he yet buys a great deal of corn,
hay and feed in order to carry on his stock-raising
and stock-breeding interests. He keeps from one
hundred to one hundred and fifty head of cattle
upon his place all the time and has fed altogether
over two thousand head. He likewise raises and
feeds stock on quite an extensive scale and is
meeting with excellent success in this branch
of his work. He possesses the national Swedish
characteristics of perseverance and industry land
these qualities have constituted the basis of
the success which he is now enjoying.
On the 2d .of April, 1902, Mr. Holmstrom was united
in marriage, in Montgomery county, Iowa, to Miss
Belle Pehrson, who was born in the southern part
of Sweden, land is a daughter of Swan and Hannah
(Lundstrom) Pehrson, who came to America in 1875,
at which time they located in Montgomery county,
Iowa, where they still reside upon a farm. In
their family were two daughters and three sons:
Peter and Harry, who are married and are living
in Montgomery county; and Swen and Hannah, at
home. Mrs. Holmstrom, the other member of the
family, has become the mother of three children,
all of whom were born in Pottawattamie county:
Hazel, born January 2, 1903; Walter, March 15,
1904; and Paul, February 27, 1906.
Politically Mr. Holmstrom is an independent
republican, usually supporting the republican
candidates, yet not feeling himself bound by party
ties. He and his wife are members .of the Swedish
Mission church and are greatly esteemed by those
who know them and who regard integrity, industry,
perseverance and consideration far others as commendable
characteristics.
|
Top
|
While in early manhood Dr. John Craig prepared
for and engaged in the practice of medicine, his
time and attention were devoted to farming interests
after his removal to Pottawattamie county, for
the demands of his professional service proved
too strenuous for his health. He was also deeply
interested in the welfare and upbuilding of his
adopted county and his labors were practically
helpful and far reaching in behalf of the church
and the temperance cause. Born in Franklin county,
Indiana, April 23, 1835, he was one of seven children
of William and Jane (Gilchrist) Craig, both of
whom were natives of Scotland, whence they emigrated
to the United States. Their troth was plighted
in the old country and their marriage was celebrated
in Charleston; South Carolina, where they located
on coming to the new World. Their last days were
spent in Indiana.
During the early boyhood of Dr. Craig his parents
removed from Franklin county to Decatur county,
Indiana, where he was reared, and, after attend-
1027
ing the public schools, he became a student in
what was then Greencastle, and is now at De Pauw
University. At Greensburg he took up the study
of medicine and afterward attended lectures at
Cincinnati, being graduated when twenty-one years
of age from the Eclectic Medical Institute of
that city. Returning home, he opened an office
in Greensburg and later went to Milford, about
five miles away, where he continued in practice
until he removed to Iowa. Settling in Ottumwa,
he continued there for three or four years and
in 1875 arrived in Macedonia township, Pottawattamie
county; taking up his abode upon the Bluff road,
where he secured a farm. He removed to this county
in order to get away from his practice, being
at that time in delicate health. Here he purchased
four hundred acres of land, but later sold a part
of this. He gave personal supervision to the operation
of his farm, but lived in the village a part of
the time, although his death occurred upon the
farm on the 8th of April, 1890. In the practice
of medicine he had displayed a strict conformity
to professional ethics, and had constantly kept
up with the progress made by the members of the
medical fraternity. In his agricultural interests
he was equally practical and thorough and from
his farm derived a good income.
In 1863 Dr. Craig was married to Miss Anna Julia
Huffer, who was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana,
May 17, 1840, and there resided until her marriage,
her parents being David and Delia (Brunner) Huffer,
who were natives of Ohio, whence they removed
to Indiana with their three children. On reaching
that state, which was then largely a pioneer district,
they each secured homesteads, the two properties
adjoining. In the paternal line Mrs. Craig was
of Pennsylvania Dutch descent and in the maternal
line was of English lineage. Her education was
acquired in Hartsville College of Indiana, a school
conducted under the direction of the United Brethren
church. By a former marriage Dr. Craig had one
daughter, Florence J., who is now the wife of
L. E. S. Mitchell, of Macedonia township. There
were two children by his second marriage-Isadore,
who died leaving three children; and Charles,
a resident of Jefferson county, Nebraska. Unto
the marriage of Dr. Craig and Anna Julia Huffer
three children were born: William David, a practicing
physician living at Henderson, Iowa; Claude L.,
with his mother, and Joseph P., who died in infancy.
The death of the husband and father occurred
on the home farm April 8, 1890, and was an occasion
of deep and wide-spread regret. He had taken a
prominent part in public affairs and was widely
known as one whose influence was ever given an
the side of improvement and substantial development.
He was a charter member of Ruby lodge, Na. 415,
A. F. & A. M., and was its first worshipful
master. Of the Methodist Episcopal church he was
a devoted and faithful member and served as one
of its trustees and held other official positions.
Indeed he took an active part in the building
of the church in the old town of Macedonia, and
when the new town of Macedonia was founded he
was equally active in the establishment of the
church here. He was closely associated with Rev.
J. W. Carter and Franklin Law in their active
work against saloons, and Dr, Craig was ever known
as a stanch temperance man, doing all in his power
to oppose the liquor traffic and thwart its
1028
deleterious influence. In politics he was s life-long
republican, giving unfaltering support to the
party. He held high ideals of life, was fearless
in the support of his honest convictions, and
never hesitated in following the path of duty.
|
Top
|
S. S. Palmer, whose attention in a business way
has always concentrated upon agricultural pursuits,
is now cultivating a tract of land and raising
stock on section 1, Center township. The place
occupies the southwest quarter of the section
and annually he gathers good crops, while at the
same time he raises considerable stock for yearly
shipments. He is, moreover, entitled to representation
in this volume from the fact that he is one of
its oldest settlers, his residence here covering
more than a half century, for it was in the fall
of 1858 that he was taken to Council Bluffs by
his parents, Minor T. and Caroline (Tuel) Palmer.
His birth had occurred in Mercer county, Illinois,
on the 28th of April of that year.
His parents were natives of Indiana and Ohio
respectively and following their removal to this
state resided for two years at Council Bluffs,
after which they removed to Big Grove, now Oakland.
The father was a carpenter by trade and assisted
in the construction of the first frame building
at Omaha. He also studied medicine and practiced
for ten years at Oakland. In 1862 he established
a general mercantile and drug business, in which
he continued until the 26th of August, 1882, when
his life's labors were ended by death. He had
attained the age of sixty years, while his wife
also passed away in her sixtieth year, her death
occurring at her home north of Oakland in the
spring of 1891. In their family were five sons
and two daughters: George, who died in February,
1876; Alexis, who died in South Butte, Montana,
in the fall of 1889; Marion, a resident farmer
of Valley township; Sumner S., of this review;
Mary, the wife of F. P. Forward, of Holt county,
Nebraska; Abraham L., a commercial traveler for
the La Crosse Implement Company, who for ten years
has been upon the road and has visited various
parts of the world in the employ of the International
Implement Company and other companies; Hiram T.,
who is a farmer of Lincoln township, and Adella,
the wife of O. M. Trotter, of Payette, Idaho.
S. S. Palmer was reared in this county and has
always followed farming. He acquired a common-school
eduation and when not busy with his textbooks
he devoted his attention to farm work and to other
duties, at times assisting his father in the store,
prior to his marriage. On the 1st of January,
1878, he wedded Miss Adella Thomas, who was born
in Henderson county, Illinois, October 25, 1859,
a daughter of R. R. and Mary (Wright) Thomas,
natives of Kentucky, and early residents of Illinois.
In their family were twelve children, of whom
the following are yet living: Mrs. Palmer; James,
who follows farming in Center township; McClellan,
a resident farmer of Furnas county. Nebraska;
Ella, the wife of Charles Pharmer, of Oakland;
Annie, the wife of
1029
Sydney Robinson of Oakland; Ira, an agriculturist,
living near Anita, .Iowa; Isaac, who carries on
agricultural pursuits near Cumberland, Iowa, and
Era, the wife of J. Edic, who is engaged in farming
near Carson. The year 1871 witnessed the arrival
of the Thomas family in Pottawattamie county and
their home was established on a farm in Center
township, east of Oakland. There Mr. Thomas carried
on the work of tilling the soil for a number of
years and when his labors had made him a man of
influence he retired from active business life,
spending his last days in Oakland, where he died
in October, 1900. His widow still survives and
is now about sixty-seven years of age.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Palmer have been born ten children:
Cecil A., who died in infancy; Clyde I., who has
followed railroading, but is now engaged in teaching
school and resides at home; Clara A., the wife
of Frank Moore, of Chapman, Nebraska; Coral B.,
the wife of Harry Phillips, a farmer residing
in Valley township, northeast of Oakland, by whom
she has one son, Sumner: Byron; Jessie, who is
engaged in teaching; Minor Thomas, at home; Leslie
Alexis, Sydney L., Eva Pearl and Alberta, all
yet under the parental roof.
At the time of his marriage Mr. Palmer turned
his attention to farming and purchased his present
property in the winter of 1896-6. He has resided
thereon continuously since and its present excellent
appearance is indicative of the care and labor
which he bestows upon it. Politically he is an
independent republican and while residing in James
township, where he made his home for fourteen
years, he served as township clerk. Fraternally
he is connected with the Knights of the Maccabees
at Oakland, and he and his wife hold membership
in the Columbian Presbyterian church of Center
township.
His memory forms a connecting link between the
primitive past and the progressive present, for
during fifty-four years he has made his home in
Pottawattamie county. In the days of his boyhood
there were many evidences of frontier life to
be seen here. Much of the land was still unclaimed
and uncultivated, being covered with the native
prairie grasses, while the work of development
and cultivation largely lay in the future. Council
Bluffs was but a small town and many of the now
thriving villages had not yet sprung into existence.
The remoteness of the county from railroads and
from large cities made it somewhat difficult for
the early settlers to get their produce to market
or to obtain the supplies necessary in their homes.
All this has changed and the work of improvement
has been carried forward so rapidly that it seems
scarcely possible that it is within the memory
of a native born citizen when Pottawattamie county
was largely an undeveloped frontier district.
|
Top
|
Pre-eminently a business man, Willoughby Dye
is nevertheless serving as representative from
his district in the state legislature. It is one
of the hopeful signs of the period that those
who exercise the right of franchise are now demanding
that men of well known reliability and of loyalty
in citizenship shall fill the public offices.
Superseding many who have used
1030
positions of public trust as a means for personal
gain rather than for public good the record of
Mr. Dye is one which reflects credit and honor
upon the county that has honored him. Aside from
his political service--and this is the only office
that he has ever filled--he is well known and
prominent in business circles, being president
of the Dye Brothers Company, general merchants;
president of the Macedonia State Bank, and actively
interested in various other important business
concerns.
His entire life has been passed in Iowa, the
place of his nativity being near Hillsboro, in
Van Buren county, and the day, April 14, 1852.
Mention is made of his parents, Henry and Jane
(Mickelwait) Dye, in connection with the sketch
of George S. Dye on another page of this work.
When he was three years of age his parents removed
to a farm near Fort Madison, in Lee county, where
he resided until twenty-two years of age, living
there with his father, two sisters and four brothers,
for the mother died when her son Willoughby was
a lad of nine years, leaving two daughters and
five sons. The family remained together, the eldest
sister acting as housekeeper, up to the time of
the outbreak of the Civil War, when one brother,
Sylvester, entered the army, the others remaining,
however, upon the farm.
Willoughby Dye attended the common schools and
the Fort Madison Academy, from which he was graduated
on the 27th of June, 1872. After the completion
of his school course he came to this county and
engaged in teaching in a district school in Crescent
township during the winter term of 1872-3. He
then again went to Lee county, and for one year
followed farming. In the fall of 1874 he returned
to Pottawattamie county and for one term taught
school in Macedonia township. In the spring of
1875 he was employed as a clerk in the general
store of D. L. Heinsheimer, at Glenwood, Iowa,
until June, 1876, when he formed a partnership
with his employer for a purchase of a store in
the old town of Macedonia. The firm of Heinsheimer
& Dye conducted the business there until 1879,
when Mr. Dye purchased his partner's interest
and conducted the store under his own name for
about a year. In 1880, when the railroad was built
through this part of the county, he removed from
the old town to the new town of Macedonia and,
with his brother, Sylvester, formed a partnership
in general merchandising under the firm name of
Willoughby Dye & Company. At a later date
he disposed of a part of his interests to two
of their old clerks who had been with them for
a number of years, Henry Kennedy and E. E. Smith,
and soon afterward the business was incorporated
under the firm name of the Dye Brothers Company.
Willoughby Dye has since been connected with this
corporation as president and manager, but, being
a man of resourceful business ability, has not
confined his efforts alone to one line.
The Macedonia State Bank was organized here in
1880, with Mr. Dye as one of its directors, and
from the beginning he has served as an officer.
After a. brief period he was elected vice president,
and at this writing is serving as president. He
is likewise president of the Harle-Haas Drug Company,
of Council Bluffs, with which he has been associated
for several years.
He owns one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining
the corporation limits of Macedonia and other
extensive property interests in addition to his
home.
1031
He and his brother, Sylvester, were compelled
to establish a brickyard in 1882 for the purpose
of manufacturing brick for their new store, after
the destruction of their frame building by fire.
Mr. Dye has continued in the manufacture of brick
and tile until the present time, and the plant
constitutes one of the important productive industries
of the town. For a number of years he has also
been interested in the implement business. He
seems to display almost intuitive wisdom in making
his investments, for the interests with which
he has become associated have proven an element
in the growth of the town and county and contributed
generously to his success.
On the 1st of October, 1879, Mr. Dye was married
to Miss Margaret Ann Reimand, who was born June
30, 1859, near Tipton, Cedar county, Iowa. She
was fourteen years of age when she came with her
parents to this county. She is a daughter of George
and Barbara (Beech) Reimand, who were natives
of Briceland, Germany, and after residing in Pennsylvania
for a time they accompanied their parents to Ohio
in childhood, remaining at home until their marriage.
Both the father and mother spent their last days
near Macedonia. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dye have been
born six children: Charles. born October 21, 1880,
the first child born in the new town of Macedonia
and the first to graduate from the high school
at this place, completing the course at the age
of sixteen years as a member of the class of 1897,
not only manifested special aptitude in his studies,
but also took great interest in athletic affairs.
After he had completed the high school work he
attended the State University, where he pursued
a course in liberal arts, and was graduated in
1901. He then took up the study of law, but was
soon afterward taken ill and died of typhoid fever
August 28, 1901, when twenty-one years of age.
He was a very promising young man and his death
was deeply mourned. Elmer died at the age of fifteen
months. Harvey LeRoy, who completed a course in
civil engineering in the State University with
the class of 1904, is now a civil engineer in
Washington. Iraline, Willoughby M. and Luella
are at home.
Mr. Dye was born and reared in the faith of the
democratic party, but since 1896 has given stalwart
support to the republican party. He has never
sought nor desired public office, and, in fact,
the only political office which he has ever filled
is that in which he is now serving, being representative
from his district in the state legislature. He
has been a member of the school board and the
town council, but the town offices are kept free
from political connections. Mr. Dye, from the
age of twenty-one years, has been connerted with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a
charter member of Macedonia lodge, No. 421. He
also belongs to Ruby lodge, No. 415, A. F. &
A. M., of Macedonia, and to the Elks lodge, of
Council Bluffs. He has recently completed a fine
dwelling which is the most beautiful and commodious
in this part of the county, and, moreover, its
hospitality is one of its attractive features.
His successful business career has not prevented
him from taking active and helpful interest in
matters pertaining to the public good. On the
contrary, he is never remiss in the duties of
citizenship and has been the prime mover in various
measures and plans for general advancement. In
his business life his labors have been directed
along lines which
1032
have not only proven of marked individual profit,
but have also promoted general prosperity. He
has acquired a measure of success beyond that
of the ordinary business man. By reason of his
prosperity, his unblemished character, his just
and liberal life, he is held in the highest esteem.
|
Top
|
Click for full size
GEORGE H.
OSBORN.
One of the best known and prominent stock breeders
of Pottawattamie county is George H. Osborn, the
proprietor of the Pleasant Hill Stock Farm situated
on section 29, Hazel Dell township. Here he is
engaged in the breeding of high grade shorthorn
cattle, having at the head of his herd the noted
bull, King Gloster, No. 267768. It was upon this
farm that Mr. Osborn was born December 2, 1874.
He is yet a comparatively young man but has already
attained a measure of success which many of the
older residents of the community might well envy.
His father, James W. Osborn, was born in Virginia,
February 2, 1827, and was a son of George and
Millanda (Goodwin) Osborn, who were likewise natives
of the Old Dominion. The father, whose birth occurred
April 13, 1780, died at his old home near Winchester,
Virginia, while the battle was being fought in
that vicinity during the period of the Civil war.
He had long survived his wife, who was born December
3, 1789, and passed away on the 11th of October,
1845.
James W. Osborn acquired his education in the
subscription schools of Virginia but though his
educational privileges were limited he became
a man well posted on all questions of general
interest and the affairs of the day. As a business
man he was occupied with farming interests and
kept in touch with the general progress which
has been manifest in agricultural lines. He became
a farmer, fallowing that pursuit in the south
during the years of his early manhood, while later
he removed to Missouri, settling near St. Joe.
In 1865 he took up his abode in Pottawattamie
county, Iowa. Here he purchased a tract of land
on section 29, the old home, Hazel Dell township.
It was improved to only a very limited degree
but with characteristic energy he began its further
development and cultivation, transforming the
wild prairie into richly productive fields that
annually returned to him golden harvests. The
first morning that he saw the farm was on the
15th of April, 1865; the day after the assassination
of President Lincoln. As the years passed he accumulated
a large estate, making judicious investments in
property and winning for himself a place among
the substantial residents of the county. In early
manhood James W. Osborn was married to Miss Margaret
Ester, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, born February
23, 1834. Her parents were John and Susan Byard
(Perkins) Ester, the former a native of Ireland,
who was born in 1802 and died in 1864. The mother's
birth occurred in 1802 and she was called to her
final rest in 1853. This worthy couple were active
and devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal
church at Hazel Dell and their lives were in harmony
with their professions, for they attempted to
do goad to all men, to live at peace with their
friends and neigh-
1035
bors and to extend the influence and work of
the church as opportunity offered. The death of
the father occurred in June, 1901, and the mother
passed away in April, 1900. Unto this worthy couple
were born nine children, as follows: O. E., an
agriculturist of Hazel Dell; J. H., who resides
at Indianola, Iowa; Charles E., deceased; Albert
W., of Watertown, Nebraska; Susan M., who is the
widow of Robert Prentice and resides at Hazel
Dell; Lillian, the wife of Frank Roosa, of Boulder,
Colorado; George H., of this review; Margaret,
the wife of Charles Hough, of Hazel Dell township;
and Hunter, residing in Council Bluffs.
George H. Osborn has always made his home upon
the old farm which was his playground in early
boyhood and his training school in youth. He came
into possession of two hundred acres at the time
of his father's death and after the division of
the property he continued to reside upon the old
homestead, which is improved with excellent buildings
which were put there by his father. In tilling
the soil he has displayed keen business discernment
and annually gathers rich crops as the reward
of his labor.
On Christmas day of 1901 Mr. Osborn was united
in marriage to Miss Lillian Driver, who was born
in Boomer township, and they have one child, Howard
D. The young couple are much esteemed in the community
where they live, having the warm regard of all
with whom social or business relations have brought
them in contact. They are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church, loyal to its interests, and
Mr. Osborn is connected with the Modern Woodmen
camp at Crescent. He belongs to one of the old
and prominent families of this part of the state,
where the name of Osborn has figured in connection
with the business development and with the intellectual
and moral progress for more than four decades.
|
Top
Next
Home
|
|
|
|
