BIOGRAPHIES: C thru F; Lyon County, Iowa 
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NOTE:  For more information on Lyon County, Iowa 
       Please visit the Lyon County, IAGenWeb page  
       at http://iagenweb.org/lyon/
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Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of 
Lyon County, Iowa. Published under the Auspices of the Pioneer 
Association of Lyon County. Geo. Monlun, Pres.; Hon. E. C. Roach 
Sec'y; and Col. F. M. Thompson, Historian. Geo. A. Ogle & CO., 
Published, Engravers and Book Manufacturers. Chicago, 1904-1905

Transcribed for Lyon County by Darlene Jacoby and 
Diane Johnson 
--------------------------------------------------------------

-C-

CARROLL, WILLIAM M.
William M. Carroll, who has long been identified with 
the police system of Rock Rapids and Lyon county, as 
constable and marshal of the city, was born in Miami 
county, Ohio, in 1844. He was reared in his native 
community, where he remained until August 13, 1861, 
when he enlisted in the Thirty-fourth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, which was sent to Charleston, West Virginia, 
after a brief detention at Camp Dennison, where it was 
engaged in guarding railroad supplies under General 
Cox. On one occasion, Mr. Carroll with about one 
hundred and fifty men of his regiment were engaged in 
guard duty in an exposed position, and he was sent for 
reinforcements, but on the way fell into the hands of 
the rebels and was sent to Jeffersonville. From there 
he was ordered to Lynchburg, thence to Belle Isle. He 
spent five weeks on this march. The number of 
prisoners increased on the way until 3,000 arrived in 
that infamous prison house. Five weeks later when they 
were paroled only 900 were all that could be 
exhibited, 2,100 having perished from disease and 
starvation. Three acres of sandy land was the prison 
of 6,000 Union soldiers, and there exposed to the hot 
sun and storms, with no place to lie down or rest but 
on the sand, "hot enough to cook an egg," and for a 
ration three ounces of meat, and a quarter-loaf of 
bread. These provisions were issued only three times a 
week. The ground was infested with vermin, and the 
prisoners were all but devoured with body lice. The 
only thing they could do for any possible peace and 
comfort was to turn their clothing inside out in the 
morning, and pick off the lice, and then the next 
morning reverse the garments, and do the same thing. 
The men were so famished that even at the risk of a 
bayonet thrust, they would get behind the cook shanty, 
and dip their hat into the swill barrel, and then skip 
away and eat it. The extremes to which they were 
driven by hunger are almost impossible to narrate in 
print, yet they should be told that future generations 
may not only know at what cost the Union was 
preserved, but understand what a brutalizing thing was 
war in the Nineteenth century, when conducted for the 
perpetuity of human slavery and the dissolution of the 
greatest achievement ever made in the science of self 
government. The peas that were used in the making of 
soup would often pass whole. They would be carefully 
picked out, thoroughly washed, and again used for 
cooking.

Mr. Carroll stood these horrors very well until a 
couple of weeks before he was paroled, when he was 
taken with chronic diarrhoea and his weight ran down 
from one hundred and sixty-five pounds to less than a 
hundred. Here perished an unknown number of men. No 
account of their names or number was kept, and the 
rebel commander said he was killing more men for the 
Confederacy than an army in the field. There is little 
doubt that he spoke the truth. Every morning the 
wagons came, and the night's dead were huddled into 
rude ditches without ceremony or note of any kind. Mr. 
Carroll has always felt that taking the parole was the 
only thing that saved his life under these horrible 
conditions.

When the released prisoners were received by the Union 
forces the utmost care was used in feeding them, at 
first very little being given them, but often 
repeated. They were taken to Annapolis, where oysters 
could be given them, which seemed to greatly agree 
with all. Later they were sent to Columbus, Ohio, 
where they remained until exchanged.

Mr. Carroll here reenlisted in the Seventeenth 
Kentucky Cavalry, and veteranized in February, 1863. 
Much of his work was scout duty in Kentucky. He was at 
the battle of Chickamauga, where he was detailed to 
carry dispatches from one of our generals to another, 
his way being swept by shot and shell. He did his 
duty, and was mustered out September 20, 1865, having 
been in service since August, 1861. Returning from the 
war, Mr. Carroll went back to Ohio, and resumed the 
occupations of peaceful life.

In 1867 occurred the marriage of Mr. Carroll to Miss 
Maggie Lock. To this union was born one child, a girl, 
who lived to reach young womanhood, and then passed 
away. Her mother lived only eleven months after her 
marriage, and Mr. Carroll was again married. By this 
union he had four children: Charles H., who is at 
home; Susie, who married and has four children, Alice, 
Zelia, Carl and the baby; the other two children both 
died young.

Mr. Carroll is a strong Republican, and for twelve 
years was constable. He served as city marshal three 
terms, and once came near losing his life while 
quelling a riot among the tramps. He is a devoted 
member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and 
was a charter member of the local lodge. He is also a 
member of Palladium Lodge, No. 91, Knights of Pythias, 
where he has filled all the chairs and is entitled to 
a seat in the grand lodge. In the Modern Woodmen of 
America he is a conspicuous figure as he is in the 
Grand Army of the Republic, and the Order of the 
Daughters of Rebekah.


CARTER, JOHN W.
John W. Carter, who until very recently was the 
popular proprietor of the Carter Hotel, in George, 
without question the leading hostelry of the place, 
purchased it in 1888. The steady growth of its 
patronage under his capable handling, compelled him to 
build an addition, so that he had a twenty-five room 
hotel. His record as a hotel man was very creditable. 
He continued the management of the hotel until 
December, 1903, when he rented it and now lives 
retired.

Mr. Carter was born in the city of New York in 1850, 
and there remained until he was twenty-seven years 
old, working at the carpenter's trade.

Mr. Carter came to Iowa in 1876, and worked at his 
trade in Osceola for a time, and was then employed by 
Jesse Monk, Lyon county, for about a year. At the end 
of this time he bought eighty acres of land and went 
into the herding business to which he devoted the next 
five years. At the expiration of this period he sold 
his land, and coming to George, entered upon the 
carpenter trade, being the first regular carpenter to 
set up a business at that point. Many of the business 
houses and residences of the town were built by him, 
but when he bought the hotel he went out of building 
and contracting, and then gave his entire attention to 
the Hotel Carter. When he came to Lyon county there 
were only two other men in this section, and it was 
his close care and personal attention that gave his 
hotel the high reputation it maintained all through 
the years.

John W. Carter and Ella C. Kempt were united in 
marriage July 4, 1880. She was a daughter of William 
and Margaret (Thomas) Kempt. Her father was born in 
Ohio, and was a successful farmer. He came to Lyon 
county as one of the very early pioneers. His father, 
William Kempt, was a carpenter, and came of a German 
ancestry. The family has always been numbered among 
the pioneers in the settlement of every new state. The 
Thomas family is of English origin, though it has long 
been identified with the history of Ohio, and other 
eastern states. Mrs. Carter was ever the popular 
landlady until her death April 28, 1903. She is 
remembered for her many graces, virtues, and sweet 
womanly character. She was the mother of three 
children: Alva, who has very largely educated himself 
and holds a fine position in the telephone business; 
Winnie Estella; and Robert G., who is still in school. 
Mr. Carter belongs to the blue lodge, in the Masonic 
fraternity, being affiliated at Whitehall, New York. 
He is a Democrat, and has been school director and 
justice of the peace. Warren and Winnie Carter, the 
parents of John W., were both born in Ireland. They 
were successful farmer people, and the father lived to 
be over eighty-four years of age.


CHURCH, R.M. 
R.M. Church, whose home is in Rock Rapids, Lyon 
County, is a veteran of the Civil War, and has many a 
moving tale of dangers and narrow escapes by field and 
flood, in that awful struggle. He was born in 
Michigan, September 11, 1846, and when about a year 
old his parents removed to McHenry County, Illinois, 
where his childhood and early youth were passed on a 
farm.

Mr. Church enlisted August 12, 1861, and was assigned 
to Mulligan's Battery. This command was ordered to 
Virginia, where it was almost constantly engaged in 
shelling the rebels, and participating in many heavy 
fights along the Potomac River and in the Shenandoah 
Valley, such as Winchester, Gettysburg, and many other 
more or less noted engagements. And in all these 
battles Mr. Church bore a full part. On one occasion 
only was he excused from duty, and that was caused by 
sickness. After the fall of Colonel Mulligan, the 
rebels at New Creek Virginia captured the battery. Mr. 
Church was the last man to leave the guns and run for 
a horse to escape, but the horse was already in rebel 
hands. Mr. Church turned to run across a flat piece of 
ground with the hope of getting into the Allegheny 
Mountains, and so escape. But he was surrounded and 
captured, his clothing taken from him, even to his 
boots, and he was obliged to assume the rebel rags in 
order to cover his nakedness. Boots he could not find, 
and for two days had to march in bare feet across that 
rough and frozen ground. His spirit did not break, and 
the third night his guard falling to sleep, he made 
his escape, and getting into the mountains followed 
the range until he found a horse all saddled and 
bridled. He secured the animal, and made his way into 
the Union lines. Almost immediately he was given an 
important dispatch for General Kelly, with 
instructions to push to the top of his speed, and if 
the horse gave out, take another at all hazards. His 
horse did give out, and taking his saddle and bridle 
he walked along until he secured another in a pasture. 
He was quickly on his way. However, he met some men, 
and one of them demanded the horse as his, and 
threatened to kill him if he did not at once give it 
up. This was just what Mr. Church did not intend to 
do, and jabbing both his heels into the side of his 
horse gave him his head. The lunge of the horse broke 
the hold of the man, and Mr. Church was soon out of 
the range of their bullets. He reached General Kelly 
without farther mishaps, and when the General had 
learned the occasion of his ragged appearance, he gave 
an order for a new outfit throughout, and sent him to 
a hotel where he had the feast of his life, everything 
being so delightful after months of camp rations, and 
several days without a mouthful of food. After some 
days at the hotel Mr. Church reported to Lieutenant 
Brown at Harper's Ferry, where he did provost duty 
until his discharge from the service April 10, 1865. 
For three years to a day he was in actual service.

Mr. Church came home and secured a position as bridge 
repairer on the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, and 
later became a conductor on the C. & W. M. Railroad, 
where he had a train for many years. When he left the 
C. & W.M. Railroad he went to South Dakota, where he 
became county judge, a position he held for four 
terms. The division of the state into north and south 
threw him out of office. At this he came to Rock 
Rapids, and has devoted much attention to land deals 
and speculation. This was in 1891, and since coming 
here he has conducted in turn the Rock Rapids House 
and the Lyon House. 

Mr. Church was married January 31, 1870 to Julia A. 
Roberts. He is a Mason, and belongs to the Blue Lodge 
and the Chapter. He is also a member of the order of 
Knights of Pythias, and Grand Army of the Republic. 
With his wife he belongs to the Eastern Star, and in 
politics is a strong Republican.


CLINE, J.B.
J. B. Cline, an enterprising and industrious farmer 
and resident of Lyon county, whose post office address 
is Rock Rapids, has had a varied and eventful history. 
He was born at Machias, Cattaraugus county, New York, 
January 19, 1862, and remained there until 1867, when 
he was brought by his parents into Iowa, a home being 
sought in the west on account of his health. They 
pitched their tent at Strawberry Point, Clayton 
county, where they remained until 1870. There young 
J.B. started to school, and when his parents removed 
to a farm six miles east of the village he attended 
district school until 1874. That year his parents 
removed to Edgewood, Iowa, where he learned the 
shoemaking and harness trades, under the supervision 
of his step-father, who had the postoffice and these 
two trades established under one roof. In 1881 that 
gentleman sold out his business and located anew in 
Oelwein, Iowa. J.B. Cline remained with him some four 
months after this change of residence, and then went 
to Ida county, Iowa where he spent a year in farming. 
In March 1883, he went to Sac county, Iowa, where he 
spent the ensuing year in the same occupation. 

His next enterprise was to drive through to Lyon 
county, where he continued his agricultural life until 
1886, mostly being employed by other farmers. That 
year he began farming on his own account, renting for 
this purpose what was known as the D.R. Tucker farm in 
Midland township. There he remained a year. From 1887 
until 1894 he was a renter, though in July, 1893, he 
had bought the northwest quarter of section 5, Liberal 
township, but having received a good offer for it he 
sold it the same year. The year following this he 
bought the southwest quarter of section 17, Riverside 
township, where he engaged in the cultivation of the 
soil, and remained until March 17, 1897. Then he 
leased his place, and forming a partnership with C.H. 
Puckett, went to South Dakota, where the two engaged 
in raising cattle. In 1900 he sold out to Mr. Puckett, 
but managed the ranch for a year following his sale. 
His next step was to come back to Lyon county to 
resume the operation of his own, and here he is found 
at the present writing. 

Mr. Cline was married at Cherokee, Iowa, to Miss 
Jennie Combs, a daughter of Newel E. and Elizabeth 
(Hampshire) Combs. The father of Mrs. Cline was born 
near Cleveland, Ohio, and served with distinction in 
the Union army, being a member of a Wisconsin 
regiment. He enlisted at the age of twenty-five years, 
was wounded and taken prisoner, being kept in Libby 
prison. He was in mature life a carpenter, and is 
still living in Friendville, Kansas. Elizabeth 
Hampshire, noted above as the mother of Mrs. Cline, 
was born near Warsaw, Illinois. The family is of 
English blood. Mrs. Cline's grandmother, on the side 
of her mother, was born in England, and died near 
Monroe, Wisconsin. Her husband was a teacher and a 
native-born American. He passed away near Monroe, 
Wisconsin. Mrs. Cline was a capable teacher before her 
marriage, and was a teacher in Clay county and also in 
Cherokee county, where she taught a year in each 
county. She taught a number of years in Lyon county.

George W. Cline, the father of J.B., was born in 
Washington county, New York, May 5, 1828. He died at 
Strawberry Point, Iowa, September 18, 1866. His wife, 
the mother of J.B. Cline, was Nancy E. Boyce. She was 
born in 1832 in Cattaraugus county, New York. She 
married Mr. Cline January 1, 1855, and Nelson Fenner, 
June 16, 1867. John A. Cline, the grandfather of J.B., 
was born February 3, 1793, in Washington county, New 
York, where he died July 29, 1861. His wife, Catherine 
Wyant, was born in Essex county, New York, and died in 
her native state. The maternal grandfather of J.B. 
Cline was James T. Boyce, who was born in 1795 in 
Worcester, Massachusetts, was a lifelong farmer, and 
died in Franklinville, New York,January 12, 1864. The 
maternal grandmother of Mr. Cline was Elizabeth 
Bloodgood, who was born in New Jersey, November 3, 
1798. The following year her parents took her to 
Herkimer county, New York, where she died in 
Ellicottville, in 1887. She was a daughter of Gage and 
Nancy Bloodgood, and her father was a veteran in the 
Revolutionary war.

Mr. Cline is a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, No. 480, of Rock Rapids, and with his family 
is associated with the Methodist church.


COLLMANN, O.C.
O.C. Collmann, the popular and capable cashier of the 
Farmers' Savings Bank, is one of the men of whom the 
people of George are justifiably proud. He has done 
much to help business in this section of Lyon county, 
and while he is keen-eyed for investment, he is 
kindly-hearted, and always glad to help any worthy 
person or cause to a better footing.

The Farmers' Savings Bank is the oldest bank in 
George, and was established in May, 1889. It is 
incorporated under the state law as a savings bank, 
and has a capital and surplus amounting to over 
$18,000. The bank building is a fine structure, two 
stories in height and is located on one of the best 
corners in the town. It has a fire-proof vault, and 
one of the best time locks made. That the bank is on a 
safe basis is shown by its last report of $100,000 
deposits, and $100,000 loans. Its president, C.O. 
Collmann, is at the head of the German Insurance 
Company, at Freeport, Illinois, where he is also 
president of a bank, and where he has large property 
interests. William M. Smith is vice-president, but the 
active management of the bank falls on Cashier 
Collmann, a promising young financier, and a young man 
of unusual ability, who has made a splendid record in 
the commercial world. This bank was first organized in 
1889, though it had been running as a private bank 
since 1887.

O.C. Collmann was born in Freeport, Illinois, in 1868, 
and received his education in the high school of that 
city. After graduating from the city schools he took a 
course in a local commercial college, and in 1889 
entered upon the banking career as a bookkeeper in a 
bank in Sheldon, Iowa. He was called to George, to 
take the position of cashier of the
Farmers' Savings Bank, February 2, 1901, and as 
already noted has had charge of the affairs of the 
institution since that time.

Mr. Collmann was married in February, 1894, to Miss 
Phoebe J., daughter of Simon Randall, a successful 
farmer. To this union have come three children: Edith 
R., Claus O., and Bernice I., all of whom are at home. 
He is a charter member of the local lodge of the 
Knights of Pythias, of which lodge he has been elected 
to fill the various official chairs. He is a charter 
member also of the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of 
America, where he has also filled all the chairs. Our 
subject is also a member of the I.O.O.F., of George, 
and Modern Brotherhood, No. 217, of George.


COOK, HARMON
Harmon Cook was born near Plainfield, Indiana, in 
1841. His parents were Robert and Dianah. She was a 
Cox and her father was from North Carolina, and when a 
young man went to Richmond, Indiana, and entered the 
land for a farm where the city now stands. The Coxes 
trace their family history back to Pennsylvania in 
1745. Robert Cook was born in 1818 and died in 1852. 
Robert was a son of John, born in 1796. John was a son 
of Joseph, born in 1762. Joseph was a son of Isaac, 
born in 1743. Isaac, son of John, born in 1721. John, 
son of John, born in 1696. John, son of Peter, born in 
1674, at Tarvin, Cheshire, England.

The Cooks were mostly farmers and Robert Cook lost his 
life feeding cattle in the winter season, taking a 
severe cold which quickly became consumption. Harmon, 
being the oldest child, after his father's death was 
early thrown out in life to help make a living for his 
mother and three brothers. Some years later his mother 
married Joshua Newlin, and they became the first 
settlers of Dale township, Lyon county. She is still 
living with John R., his next brother, and they are 
near Lake Charles, Louisiana. When a young man Harmon 
moved from Indiana with his mother and family to 
Dallas county, Iowa. This was in 1857, and this was 
then a new country. Here on a farm he made his start 
in life. He went to school in winter three months, 
then worked nine months at hard labor. He was a great 
reader of papers and books. In 1859 he helped organize 
a literary society at the meetings of which (held 
monthly) were held debates with other exercises. He 
was the secretary of this for years.

As a boy in Indiana he wanted to be a printer, but 
poverty kept him from learning the trade. Finally he 
went to Indianapolis to see about becoming a printer, 
and met Petroleum V. Nasby, who afterwards came into 
fame. Before he was nineteen years old he had sent to 
Boston and secured a printing press and outfit and so 
learned the art of typesetting. At the breaking out of 
the war there was a little paper published at Adel, 
Iowa, and the editor, typos and all enlisted and went 
to the front and Harmon went there and became editor 
and publisher. In later years he was connected with 
many other papers in Iowa, among them the Review of 
Rock Rapids.

He was married in 1861, to Lucinda Mills, of Dallas 
county, Iowa. She was a daughter of Cyrus Mills, who 
was one of the pioneers of Dallas county. Their 
children were: Rosa Ellen, Levi Robert, Dora Ann, 
Minnie S., Viola D., Cyrus, Earnest and Ida Louisa. 
Dora Ann married and died in Lyon county, and with her 
babe and sister, Ida, is sleeping in the cemetery at 
Dale, on Harmon's old homestead.

Mrs. Cook died in Leesburg, Florida, in 1882. In 1882 
Mr. Cook was married to Anna Hale and in a few years 
they were divorced for scriptural reasons. In 1895 he 
was married at Liscombe, Iowa, to Abbie H. Elmore. 
They were old sweethearts of the days of "Ault Lang 
Syne" in 1860, but were separated, both married and 
reared families. They lost sight of each other, and 
met by accident, both alone, and reunited old vows. 
Harmon enlisted as a private in Company C, Forty-sixth 
Iowa Infantry, and was in Tennessee and along the 
Mississippi river, doing guard duty during the Civil 
war.

His ancestors have been for many generations members 
of Friends church and this has been his choice of all 
the denominations. At the close of the war he became a 
member of the Independent Order of Good Templars and 
has always been a member. He served one year as grand 
chaplain of Iowa Grand Lodge. Since living in 
California he has been a faithful attendant and served 
three years on the auditing committee of California 
Grand Lodge.

In his boyhood days he was introduced into the 
mysteries of the "underground railroad" and helped 
many a colored man and woman on their way from slavery 
to freedom. Many a dark night has he helped carry 
loads of colored people over the prairies of Iowa. His 
father was an agent for the road and one of the 
earliest memories the boy had was of feeding the 
hidden refugees out in the thick woods in Indiana. 
Before Harmon was old enough to vote he was a 
Republican and was out making speeches for his 
favorites. After the war he became quite a politician 
and was always a delegate to congressional and state 
conventions. On more than one occasion has he been 
secretary of Iowa state conventions. When Geo. C. 
Haddock was killed, his eyes were opened as never 
before to the wickedness of the drink habit, and so he 
became a Prohibitionist and has been ever since.

In Iowa he was placed on the state central committee 
and began planning to get votes. The next year he was 
state secretary and then state chairman of the party. 
After serving two terms he was made state organizer 
and traveled all over the state speaking and working 
in every county of the state. Afterward he spent two 
years in the work in South Dakota. Soon after coming 
to California he was made secretary of Los Angeles 
county Prohibition committee, then county chairman for 
four years, and he has seen his county become one of 
the banner counties of the United States for the 
Prohibition vote. 

He now resides in Pasadena, California, and is 
connected with the street department of that city.


In 1884, at Oscaloosa, Iowa, he, as a traveling man, 
was getting on a freight train in motion, and was 
thrown under the wheels and lost a leg. For an active, 
busy life, this was a sad blow. He was taken up for 
dead and the coroner summoned to hold an inquest. 
After being left covered up for four hours, when the 
came to examine him, signs of life were discovered and 
he was finally restored to consciousness. He used 
crutches a year, then secured a wooden leg, and now 
carries a cane and gets around as well as can be 
expected. Having been a soldier, he gets a $12 a month 
pension.
Being crippled, he has been debarred from much labor 
he could have done if he had two feet, as other men.

He has always been quite a scrap-book fiend, and has 
some very valuable books for future reference.

He has his credentials as clerk of the court of Lyon 
county, signed in red wafer and stamped with the seal 
of Lyon court, with Thomas Thorson as auditor. He has 
a scrap-book history of the Anniversary day of 1875, 
when Rock Rapids celebrated the 100 years of history. 
Many who took part that day are dead and gone. He has 
an old faded parchment signed by Abraham Lincoln as 
thanks for services as a soldier. He has many an old 
newspaper that is yellow with age and very valuable. 
After he was crippled he took up stamp collecting and 
has a fine collection, running into thousands.

Today, in this sun-kissed land, in view of the lofty 
mountains, where the orange and lemon grow and flowers 
bloom every day of the year, he is passing his days 
very happy and contented. All these years he has been 
a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and has 
filled all places of honor. Many of the friends of 
other days seek him out when on this coast and all are 
given a cordial welcome.


COX, MATTHEW A.
Matthew A. Cox, the present able and trustworthy 
cashier of the Lyon County National Bank, the oldest 
financial institution of Lyon county, and one of the 
soundest and most reliable banking establishments of 
the northwest, was born in Clayton county, Iowa, March 
19, 1862. He received a common school education. His 
parents Charles and Elizabeth Cox, were English born 
and bred, and came to this country in 1855, where the 
husband and father followed the trade of a shoemaker. 
He enlisted in 1863, being a member of an Iowa 
regiment. He was killed at the battle of Little Rock, 
where both legs were shot off.

Matthew A. Cox came to Lyon county when he was about 
twenty years of age, and was employed in the bank 
until 1887, when he became cashier, and from the start 
he has held the entire confidence of the community as 
well as the bank officials.

In 1901, in company with three of his associates he 
made an extended visit to the old world, in the course 
of which he was in his father's old home. They spent 
some two weeks in Ireland and went from there to 
Scotland and thence to London, where they saw the 
celebrated Tower and St. Paul's Cathedral, and thence 
on to Paris, and other points in France, which were of 
historic interest.

Mr. Cox was united in marriage in 1891 to Miss 
Catherine, a daughter of the Rev. G.R. Manning, a 
clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal church. On 
account of failing health Mr. Manning is not now in 
the active work of the ministry, having been retired 
some four years. To this union have come two children, 
Frances and Katherine.

Mr. Cox is a Mason of high degree, and belongs to the 
blue lodge, the chapter, commandery and the Mystic 
Shrine. He is much interested in the fraternity, and 
is an active worker in its behalf. He is also a member 
of the order of the Knights of Pythias. Politically he 
is a Republican and has been an alderman of Rock 
Rapids. At one time he was run by his party for the 
mayor's office, but as he would not work for the 
position, he lost the election by eighteen votes. For 
eight years he has been on the board of education, and 
is still serving the city in that capacity.


CREGLOW, CHARLES
Charles Creglow is a citizen of the village of Doon, 
Lyon county, and a member of the noted firm of Kennedy 
& Creglow, dealers in agricultural implements.

Mr. Creglow was born in Clayton county, Iowa, in 1861, 
and while still a small child, only two years old, his 
parents removed to Buchanan county, thence to Fayette 
county, and in 1875 made their first settlement in 
Lyon county, locating at Rock Rapids, where young 
Charles finished his schooling in 1880. That year he 
entered the office of the Rock Rapids Review, and 
learned the art of the typesetter. in 1883, in company 
with A.H. Davison he bought the paper, changed its 
politics to the side of Democracy, and helped organize 
the party in the county, which as yet had not been 
fairly done. The paper has since been maintained as a 
Democratic publication, and has done much for the 
success of the principles it has championed in Lyon 
county. In 1884 Mr. Creglow bought out Mr. Davison and 
edited the paper for a year by himself, when he sold 
it to accept the position of deputy county treasurer. 
He served the people of the county four years in this 
capacity.

Mr. Creglow came to the rising village of Doon in 1889 
in company with Miller & Thompson, and organized the 
Doon Savings Bank, with a cash capital of $10,000, he 
himself being the cashier, and practically in entire 
charge of the enterprise, as the gentlemen associated 
with him had other business elsewhere and could give 
but little time to the enterprise at Doon.

In the year 1902 Mr. Creglow retired from the bank, 
which had greatly prospered under his management, to 
devote himself to the care of a stock farm of four 
hundred and seven acres, which he had bought and put 
in shape for large operations. He is now turning off 
about $5,000 worth of cattle a year, besides large 
numbers of hogs. In real estate and insurance he has a 
fine and increasing patronage. In political matters he 
is a Democrat, though he takes a strongly independent 
position and insists on the right of doing his own 
thinking. Religiously he is a member of the 
Congregational church, and in 1880 was a charter 
member of Palladium Lodge, No. 91, K.P., in which he 
has held all the official chairs, and was a 
representative in the grand lodge at Cedar Rapids in 
1887. His name also appears on the charter of the Doon 
Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellow. No. 517, 
in which he has also passed all the chairs, and is 
entitled to attend grand lodge as representative of 
the local order. For one term he was district deputy 
of Lyon county.

Mr. Creglow was married December 29, 1892, to Miss 
Minnie, daughter of the Rev. M. M. Bechtell, who was 
of pioneer stock, and came of an ancestry that ran 
back to Holland and Germany. He was educated for the 
Lutheran ministry, and ably met the requirements of 
that sacred office. Elizabeth Kneff, his wife and the 
mother of Mrs. Creglow, was a descendant of an English 
ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Creglow have one child, Ruth, a 
bright and winsome little maiden of some seven years 
of age.

Andrew Creglow, the father of Charles, was a 
successful farmer, and has devoted all his active 
years to the cultivation of the soil. He is still 
living, and has attained the venerable age of eighty-
five years. His wife, Catherine (Stealy) the mother of 
Charles Creglow, was a daughter of Taylor Stealy, and 
was born near Gettysburg. Her people were of the old 
Holland blood and breeding.

-D-

DAVISON, CLINTON E.
Clinton E. Davison, the present editor of the Little 
Rock Free Lance, was born January 18, 1864, in 
Crawford county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared on 
a farm and given a common school education. In 1882 he 
came to Lyon county, and has here made his home to the 
present time, with the exception of a year spent at 
Pipestone, Minnesota, and four years at Hull, Iowa, 
and Hudson, South Dakota, where he was engaged in 
newspaper work. He bought the Free Lance, and located 
in Little Rock, in the spring of 1902. In the 
following December he received the position of 
postmaster. Mr. Davison was married in 1892 to Miss 
Flora B. Okey, at Hull, Iowa, and they are the parents 
of four children


DELL, EDDY E. 
Mr. Dell is a member of a family well and favorably 
known in Lyon County, and with his brothers well and 
worthily sustains a reputation for the Dells inferior 
to no people in the county, and far above the usual 
standing. 

Eddy E. Dell was born on a farm in Jackson County, 
Iowa in 1860, son of John Dell, also a farmer, and 
descended from a mingled Scotch and Dutch ancestry. 
His mother belonged to an old New England family, and 
some of her people came across in the Mayflower at the 
settlement of the Pilgrims.

Mr. Dell was the sixth child in a family consisting of 
eight children, and he was reared on the farm in 
Clinton County to which his parents removed soon after 
his birth. There he was reared to farm work, and given 
such schooling as the country schools of the time 
afforded. In the fall of 1881 he left home, and coming 
west secured an engagement as a foreman in the 
construction of the Des Moines and Northwestern 
Railroad. The year following he had charge of a 
ditching outfit in Audubon County, being at that time 
in the employ of the Red Line Ditching Company. For 
ten years he worked for that corporation, and not a 
little of his work was done in those years in 
Minnesota as well as in Iowa. In 1887 he made his 
first purchase of land in Lyon County, and since that 
time has devoted himself to his farm, which he has 
constantly improved.

Mr. Dell was married in July 1894 to Christine 
Montgomery, a native of Prince Edwards Island, Canada, 
where her father, William C. Montgomery had long 
combined the two occupations of bridge building and 
farming. The Montgomery family came of what is known 
as a Scotch-Irish ancestry. To this union were born: 
Helmer J., Burl, Walter, Mildred and George,--all 
being born on the Logan Township farm. 

The Dell farm consists of one hundred and sixty acres. 
It is under thorough cultivation, and is up to every 
requirement of modern agriculture. It has a commodious 
and roomy house, large barn and granary, with 
corncribs, and a well of fine and never-failing water. 
From a tank that holds a thousand barrels it is piped 
all over the yards to be used wherever needed.

Mr. Dell has held local offices from time to time, and 
commands the esteem and respect of his community. He 
has taken a useful part in the early organization and 
the development of the county, and is known as a 
public spirited and upright citizen of the utmost 
integrity and character.


DELL, FRANK U.
Frank U. Dell is another member of the Dell family, so 
well and favorably represented in Logan township. He 
is also a farmer, and has been a resident of Lyon 
county since the spring of 1888. In that time he has 
proved himself honest, unswervingly industrious, a 
most careful and accurate business man, and an 
enlightened and progressive citizen. Success has 
attended his efforts to a high degree, and his place 
as a solid and substantial citizen is unquestioned.

Mr. Dell was born in Clinton county, Iowa, in 1864, 
and was the youngest child born to his parents. his 
early life was spent on the farm, and he was 
thoroughly trained to hard work. He remained on the 
family homestead until the spring of 1888, when he 
decided to strike out into the wide world for himself 
and see what measure of good fortune he could wrest 
from it for himself. In the spring of the year 
following he bought the southwest quarter of section 
24, Logan township, not far from locations already 
effected in Lyon county by his brothers George and 
Eddy. With a third brother, John, he formed a 
partnership, and the two worked together for years.

Frank U. Dell was married in the spring of 1891 to 
Miss Freda Wilka, a native of Clayton county, Iowa, 
and a daughter of John Wilka, a successful farmer of 
that county. The Wilka family comes of German descent. 
To this marriage have come three children: Pearl, 
Hazel and Frank. Mr. Dell removed his young and 
growing family in the spring of 1904 to a home on his 
farm, where he had already built a house 26 by 28 feet 
and a barn 48 by 60 feet. The construction of other 
buildings would rapidly follow, and it was not 
expected that the year would end without the equipment 
of the farm with a complete outfit of modern and up-
to-date farm buildings. A picture of the residence 
appears on another page. This farm comprises a quarter 
section of fine soil rich and fruitful, and which has 
already taken on the appearance of a model Iowa farm. 
He did his first breaking with oxen, and with the same 
outfit did contract work until he had turned under the 
sod of a full half section of prairie land.

Mr. Dell is very favorably regarded by his friends and 
neighbors and his election as township assessor shows 
the good repute in which he lives among those who know 
him best.


DELL, GEORGE M. 
George M. Dell would rightfully appear in any list of 
the honorable and successful farmers and upright 
citizens of Lyon County. A position he would hold not 
by favor, or by inheritance, but by virtue of hard 
work, a wise economy and a noble ambition to do 
whatever came to his hands in the best possible way. 
He has learned the lesson that in coming close to the 
soil and in contact with nature may be found the best 
life it is possible for men to live, and is a true and 
typical agriculturist.

Mr. Dell was born in Buffalo New York in 1854, coming 
of Old American stock, and bearing in his veins good 
colonial blood. In 1855 his parents removed to Jackson 
County, Iowa and there they made a farm home on which 
the family lived until young George was some sixteen 
or seventeen years, when they crossed the line and 
settled in Clinton County. He remained at home until 
1887. It was in Clinton County that he was married to 
Susan Fields, a native of this state, and reared on a 
farm. For a time the young husband was employed as a 
farm laborer and later for a time managed his father's 
estate. In 1887 he came into Lyon County, where he 
bought a farm in Logan Township, being the southwest 
quarter of section 25, on which he settled the 
following spring. And he at once engaged in the work 
of extensive improvement which the wild prairie land 
demanded before it could be transformed into a 
productive and desirable farm. He built a house 16 by 
24 feet, and at first did his work with oxen. 
Prosperity attended him, though he experienced the 
troubles and disasters of frontier life. About 1900 he 
lost his corncribs, cow sheds, and windmills by a 
severe windstorm. Today he owns a half section of 
land, all under cultivation, and beautified by a fine 
grove, which he early planted, and which gives promise 
of rapid growth. He has a handsome farmhouse, one of 
the largest in the town, and which is widely known as 
the center of a genial and gracious hospitality, and 
the center of a wide circle of friends. The farm 
property is thoroughly modern and up-to-date, and the 
barns, corncribs and other buildings are all equal to 
the demands of a productive and highly cultivated 
place.

Mr. Dell has done his work well, and while he is a 
thorough farmer and much devoted to home and family, 
has also from his first coming into the township taken 
a keen and vivid interest in everything that relates 
to local matters and public improvement. He has been 
township clerk, and is recognized as one of the 
leading settlers of the county.


DELL, JOHN E.
Mr. Dell, who is recognized as one of the leading 
agriculturists of Lyon County, and whose pleasant and 
attractive home is in the Township of Logan, is a 
native of Ontario, Canada, where he was born on a farm 
across the river from Buffalo, New York, in 1848. His 
father, John Dell, was a farmer, and came of a mixed 
German and Scotch ancestry, whose beginnings in this 
country may be traced back to the old colonial days in 
Rhode Island. Mr. Dell was the second member of a 
family of eight children, and when he was about a year 
old his parents removed to Buffalo, and from that time 
onward made their home on American soil. In 1854 they 
removed to Iowa, and were among the very early 
pioneers of Jackson County, but very soon changing 
their home to Clinton County, where young Dell was 
reared to a farm life that abounded in hard work, with 
the peculiar privileges that belonged to the farm boys 
of that day on what was almost a frontier line, and 
where all kinds of wild game was still plentiful. The 
Indians had removed to the far west, but wild deer 
still roamed the forest, wild geese and duck were to 
be seen on every pond, of which in these days of 
undrained swamps there were many, and prairie fowl 
might be had simply for the killing. Those were great 
days for the boys, and without doubt Mr. Dell had his 
full share of such rare sport. He remained at home 
until he was about twenty-two years old, and then 
spent some time in traveling through various parts of 
the state, being in Woodbury, Montgomery and Sac 
Counties, and other parts of the west, as well as in 
Minnesota and Missouri. In 1887 he came to Lyon 
County, where he bought his present farm, the west 
half of section 25, Logan Township, at that time all 
wild prairie land without a sign of improvement. His 
first improvement was the erection of a rough and 
ready residence, in which to make his home, a house, 
16 by 24 feet, and from this his improvements grew as 
time and means permitted, until at the present time he 
owns one of the handsome and well appointed farms of 
the county. It comprises four hundred acres of land, 
with a residence 16 by 16 feet, 14 by 14 feet, and 16 
by 24 feet, a barn 54 by 60, a granary, hog house, and 
a system of water supply that covers the premises. 
There is also a grove, which he started almost 
immediately with his coming on the place, as well as a 
small orchard, which has promise of greater things.

Mr. Dell as a settler and a citizen has done his full 
share in building up the country, and has proved 
himself an active and enterprising citizen. In 
political matters he has discharged his full duty, and 
has served his community well as county supervisor, 
taking always an active and intelligent part in local 
affairs.


DeNEUI, JOHN P. 
John P. DeNeui is the cashier of the George Savings 
Bank, and is a recognized authority on financial 
matters in this part of Lyon county. The bank is a 
solid institution, and was started in 1892, with such 
men as C. T. Tupper, cashier, B. L. Richards, 
president, and H. W. Reints, vice president. In 1896 
it was reorganized with Charles Shade, president, C. 
J. Locker, vice president, and John P. DeNeui, 
cashier, H. D. Aykens as assistant cashier, L. Bodum 
as bookkeeper, and B. L. Richards, Charles Shade, H.U. 
Kruse, C.J. Locker, H. D. Aykens, William H. Bradley, 
and John P. DeNeui as directors.

Mr. John P. DeNeui was put in charge of the operation 
of the bank, and his management has been very 
successful. It is now one of the strongest deposit 
banks in the state. Its demand deposits amount to 
$39,000, and there are $38,000 cash on hand to meet 
these obligations. It has in its vaults time deposits 
of $113,000, with $138,000 assets to meet them on 
demand. Under the short administration of Mr. DeNeui, 
the resources of the bank have been more than doubled.

John P. DeNeui was born in Germany, and when he was 
seven years old was brought to this country, and 
reared on a farm. When he was about nineteen years of 
age he came to Grundy county, Iowa, but very shortly 
was found in Freeport, Illinois, where he was employed 
as a clerk in a store devoted to general merchandise. 
This position he held for three years, and then 
returned to Grundy county, where he continued in the 
same line. There he took up the study of medicine, and 
with the noble ambition of a better education long 
consumed the midnight oil. In 1888 he was twenty-four 
years old, and that year he started a drug store in 
George, which was then but a little better than a 
hamlet. The firm was known as DeNeui & Kooles. In a 
short time he bought out his partner, and almost as 
soon sold the store to Horsman Brothers. Mr. DeNeui 
then went on a prolonged western tour, visiting the 
principal places of interest in Oregon, Colorado, and 
California, requiring three months for the trip. After 
his return he graduated in pharmacy at the school in 
Des Moines, receiving his degree in April, 1891, after 
successfully passing the state board, and becoming a 
member of the state pharmaceutical association. 
Returning to George he bought his old store, and 
carried it on with much credit until he sold it to 
R.O. Gray, to study law under J.M. Parsons of Rock 
Rapids. In the fall of 1900 he took a course in 
Highland Park College, and that year passed his 
examination before the supreme court of the state with 
honor. He was then admitted to the bar, and given 
license to practice law. Coming back to George, he 
became cashier and director of the bank, and his law 
office at the bank. 

Mr. DeNeui was married in 1888 to Miss Trena Wolf, by 
whom he has had one daughter, Grace, who is now at 
home. The subject of this sketch is a Republican and 
has been mayor of the city and a member of the city 
council. For Fifteen years he has been a notary 
public.

Rev. P.J. DeNeui, the father of John P., was born in 
Germany, where he was educated for the ministry, and 
as a young man became the pastor of a Baptist church. 
The doctrine of this church was new to the people, and 
as they were narrow-minded and intolerant, they sorely 
persecuted its advocates. To escape such bigotry the 
young minister escaped to Holland, and from there came 
to Ogle county, Illinois. There he had charge of a 
Baptist congregation for five years. In Grundy county, 
Iowa, he held a pulpit for fifteen years, and finished 
his honorable and useful pastoral work at Parkersburg, 
Iowa, where he preached until old age compelled him to 
retire. He and his beloved wife are both over seventy-
five years of age, and are now spending their last 
years with their son in George. Their golden wedding 
was in 1904.


DENT, C.N.
C.N. Dent, a prominent and representative citizen of 
the township of Garfield, Lyon County, where he has 
won high standing as a progressive and public spirited 
member of the agricultural profession, may be justly 
written up as a thoroughly self-made man in the best 
sense of the word. At the tender age of thirteen years 
he took upon himself the burden of his own support, 
and has since made his way in the world with much 
success. He has met with reverses and overcome 
obstacles of no slight character, but holding steadily 
on his way has attained not only financial 
independence, but has won the respect and confidence 
of his neighbors.

Mr. Dent was born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1854, 
where his father who was of Welsh descent was 
established as a farmer. He was the oldest in the 
family, and in 1863, where the husband and father, 
together with three younger children had died, his 
mother brought him into Lucas county, Iowa, where she 
made her home the remainder of her life. The subject 
of this writing began working out as a farm hand when 
he was about thirteen years old, and followed that 
avocation in Lucas county, where he remained until he 
reached his majority. In 1876 he went to Illinois 
where he spent some four years. After that he put in a 
year in Lucas county, and the fall of 1881 in Osceola 
county. He was among the very early settlers in this 
part of the state. Rock Rapids was then a small town, 
and Doon consisted of a hotel, a store and the depot. 
Here Mr. Dent was mainly engaged in farm work though 
ready and willing to do anything that came to his 
hand.

Mr. Dent entered the employ of H. G. McMullen, of 
Cedar Rapids, as a farm hand about 1884, and was set 
to work on his farm north of Rock Rapids. Later he 
came to the present McMullen ranch, which he has 
opened up and brought into cultivation himself. At 
that time it was wild prairie, and now comprises 1,120 
acres, with the finest of farm buildings and 
everything strictly modern and according to the most 
advanced ideas of progressive farming. IT is a 
magnificent estate and its entire development has been 
accomplished under the personal care and supervision 
of Mr. Dent who is still in active charge. The 
principal feature of his management is stock raising 
though much grain is produced every year. The show of 
blooded stock, horses, cattle and hogs, is peculiarly 
fine, including desirable strains of the Percheron 
horse, Short-horn and Jersey cattle, and Poland-China 
hogs. Mr. Dent has raised and sold many thorough-bred 
stallions and bulls.

Mr. Dent was married in 1887 to Miss Elizabeth Dunlap, 
a native of Washington county, Iowa, and of Irish 
blood. Her parents were farming people in Washington 
County. To this union have come three children; Ethel, 
Homer, and Frank. Mrs. Dent was called to the better 
land in the spring of 1900.

Mr. Dent has been in the employ of Mr. Mc Mullen for 
some twenty years, being in charge of his lands in 
Lyon county, and during all this time perfect harmony 
has existed between the two.


DESMOND, REV. WILLIAM PATRICK
Father Desmond, the venerated and devoted priest in 
charge of the Catholic church at Alvord, Lyon county, 
and also at Doon, is widely liked for his learning, 
pastoral faithfulness, and general pulpit ability. He 
is a devoted workman of the cross, and every movement 
to which he touches his hand in prospered.


Father Desmond was born in Ireland in 1864, on a farm, 
and attained early manhood in his native land. When 
seventeen years of age he began his preparatory 
studies for the priesthood, to which he was ordained 
in 1892. The following year he came to America, and 
was stationed in Dubuque for about a year, when he was 
given a pastorate at Bryant, Clinton county, where for 
five years he ministered to his people with simplicity 
and power. In October, 1898, he was called to Alvord, 
where he has since labored, devoting his attention 
also to the movement at Doon.

The Sacred Heart church, at Alvord, was established in 
1891 by Father Dullard, who came from Rock Rapids to 
direct its development. The church edifice was 
constructed the same year. Its first resident pastor 
was Father James McCormac, and it was under his 
administration that the parsonage was purchased. The 
church property consists of a square block of ground, 
and it is considered the finest church property in the 
Sioux City Diocese. The new parsonage, which was 
erected in 1902, presents the following dimensions: 30 
by 16, 16 by 24, 12 by 14, with two stories and an 
attic. It has all the modern conveniences, water, gas, 
and other home improvements. Since 1898 Father Desmond 
has made additions and improvements in church property 
to the amount of more than $7,000. In the meantime the 
congregation has steadily increased.


DIETRICH, GEORGE F.
George F. Dietrich, the present popular and efficient 
auditor of Lyon County, was born in Franklin Grove, 
Lee county, Illinois, June 28, 1862. He remained at 
home and attended the local schools, early setting 
himself to the mastering of the blacksmith trade. For 
a time he worked as an apprentice, and in 1884 started 
a shop for himself being at that time only twenty-two 
years of age. This he sold the following year and 
moved to Sibley, Iowa, where he formed a partnership 
with William Riddlebarger, and continued in the same 
business for a year. At the end of this time he bought 
out Mr. Riddlebarger, and continued the shop for some 
five years, meeting with very fair success, when the 
failure of his health compelled him to retire. He 
removed to Lee county, Illinois, where for one year he 
was engaged in a mercantile establishment. There his 
health gradually improved, and he came back to Lyon 
County, opening a blacksmith shop at Little Rock. In 
this enterprise he was meeting with much success when 
in 1898, at the call of his friends in the Republican 
party, he became a candidate for the office of auditor 
of Lyon county. In the election that followed he was 
successful, receiving a majority of two hundred and 
nine votes over his competitor. In 1900 he was again 
elected, this time having a majority of four hundred 
and thirty-three votes; in 1902 he was a third time 
elected to the same position, this time his majority 
being two hundred and seventy-five votes. The county 
was organized in 1871 and he is the tenth man elected 
to this position. He was the first man in Lyon County 
to hold the office of auditor three terms since the 
organization of the county.

Mr. Dietrich is associated with the People's church 
with which he has been connected since 1892, and with 
his good wife has worked hard to build it up until it 
has become one of the leading religious organizations 
of the city.

Mr. Dietrich was married December 22, 1887, to Miss 
Magdeline M., a daughter of Henry and Jane (Waldron) 
Shaw. Her father was a successful farmer, and was 
killed by an accident at the age of fifty-six years. 
He came of Holland ancestry, while his wife traced 
back her origin to an old English family. Her family 
wore a coat of arms which still remains. To this 
marriage have come six children: Earnest Oscar; Ada 
Grace; Blanche Magdalene; Chandon; Helen Jane; and 
George Earl.

C.E. Dietrich, the father of George F., was a man of 
note in his day, - although a tailor by trade. He was 
a close student of the questions of the day; and to 
crown his declining years wrote a book on the 
"Solution of the Social Problem." This was published 
after his death, as it was coming out from the press 
of the Schultz Publishing Company as he was passing 
away, at the age of seventy-seven years. This was 
received marked approbation from those competent to 
measure its value. He was born in Germany, and came to 
this country when about twenty-one years of age, 
locating in Baltimore, where he was married to 
Margaret Feldkirchner, also a native of Germany. From 
her Bavarian home she came with her brother while 
still a young girl to this country, and here she found 
her husband.


DORN, THOMAS 
Thomas Dorn, an enterprising and pushing young farmer 
of the town of Liberal, Lyon County, comes of a family 
of German extraction and shows in his career many of 
the best traits of the race and blood. He is 
industrious and economical, and well knows that the 
only safe road to financial independence is the path 
so thoroughly pressed by his people, the way of hard 
work and patient accumulation of well handled savings.

Mr. Dorn was born at Freeport, Illinois in 1871, where 
his father, Jacob Dorn, was engaged in farming. The 
elder Dorn was born in Germany, where he served in the 
German army, and where he was married. He had a family 
of nine children, Christ, Susy, Utie, Henry, Jacob, 
Tom, Edward, Percy and Rose. The family came to this 
country and located in Illinois. In 1887 they removed 
to Lyon County, being among the very early settlers of 
Liberal Township, where they bought the southeast 
quarter of section 31. It was partly improved, but 
with the help of his stout and sturdy lads the senior 
Dorn soon brought it into a high pitch of cultivation 
with fine buildings, and a quickly growing grove. He 
died in December 1903 leaving behind lasting memories 
of a good husband and father and an upright citizen. 
The farm was left to his widow, and here she and her 
children abide.

The management of the family estate has been left in 
the hands of Tom Dorn, and he has well justified the 
trust imposed in him for the past two years. He was 
known far and wide as a most trusty and reliable young 
man. His father served as superintendent of highways, 
and the son has won the confidence of his own 
community to a high degree. It is a good name he has 
inherited, and bears it well.

-E-




EAN, LEWIS 
Lewis Ean, who was born in the state of New York in 
1853, was for a long period a resident of Larchwood. 
In 1865 he came to Iowa and made his home with his 
parents in their settlement in Poweshiek County. When 
he was eighteen years of age he struck out for himself 
and took the burden of his support on his own 
shoulders. For many years he worked out as a farm 
hand, but about fifteen years ago he moved to Ossian, 
Iowa and learned the trade of butter tub maker and 
also that of coopering generally, which he followed 
until the small shops had to close down and quit the 
business on account of the competition of the large 
plants. This was about 1898, and some five years later 
he bought the furniture and lease of the Central Hotel 
of Larchwood, which he soon made the leading 
establishment of the kind in the place. 

Mr. Ean was married in 1874 to Miss Anne M. Dayht, 
daughter of G.W. and Eliza Jane (Blen) Oxley Dayht, an 
old pioneer family of the state. To this union were 
born nine children: Asa L., Elmer Lee, George E., Nora 
B., Ernest, Matcalm, Lloyd and Ruby L.

Mr. Ean is a son of Aaron and Amanda Ophelia (Freer) 
Ean, who were natives of Ulster County, New York. They 
were the parents of a family of nine children, of whom 
Lewis is the oldest; George E. was born April 21, 
1855; Mary Jane was born October 31, 1858; Norman, 
August 3, 1860, died April 22, 1864; a baby that died 
October 31, 1863; Emma, born January 4, 1865; Peter 
A., June 28, 1867, died January 14, 1869; Silas, born 
February 28, 1867, died April 23, 1902; Carrie May, 
born May 26, 1873, was burned to death when four years 
old. The father was a farmer, who was born April 22, 
1824 and died July 5, 1901. The mother was born August 
23, 1835 and died December 16, 1895. The grandfather, 
James Ean, came of an old Hollandish ancestry, and was 
a life-long farmer.

Lewis Ean is a Republican and takes a prominent part 
in local affairs. He is a man of excellent habits and 
kind disposition and merits and retains the confidence 
and esteem of the community.


EASTMAN, OSCAR
Oscar Eastman, one of the earlier settlers of Lyon 
county, and whose history is largely the story of the 
settlement of that part of the county where he is 
found to-day, located on section 32, Lyon township, in 
1887. He was born in Jackson county, Iowa, July 28, 
1862, a son of Norman and Cornelia (Pratt) Eastman, 
natives of New York and Vermont. The father, who came 
to Iowa in the very early days, was a life-long 
farmer. When he died in 1893 he had reached the age of 
seventy-six years. His wife, who died in 1884, lived 
to be sixty-two years. They had a family of eleven 
children. 

Oscar Eastman was educated in the common schools, and 
in his earlier manhood worked by the month at farm 
work until his marriage, when he bought his present 
place. He was married March 27, 1892, to Miss Minnie 
Schoen, a resident at that time of Fairview, South 
Dakota. Her parents, John and Mary Schoen, were 
blessed with a family of ten children, of whom Mrs. 
Eastman was the fourth in order of birth. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Eastman have come the following children: Irvin 
O., Chester N., Clarence and Agnes M., all of whom are 
living and form a most charming family. 

Mr. Eastman is becoming largely interested in stock, 
and upon his place now has twenty-five head of cattle, 
sixteen horses, and one hundred and fifty hogs. For 
breeding purposes he has a stallion, Don Arno, 
registered No. 25,-564, which is very highly regarded 
in the neighborhood. Mr. Eastman is a member of the 
Fairview Camp of Modern Woodmen of America, and 
attends the Methodist church. He is one of the bright 
and progressive young men of the neighborhood. 


EGAN, EDGAR
In the life of Edgar Egan we portray, one of the best 
known men of northern Lyon county. He lays no claim to 
being an old settler, having resided in Midland 
township but eleven years; but during these years he 
has made himself known and respected as a business 
man, and his naturally genial disposition has brought 
him a host of friends. This is not all, however, that 
wins admiration from associates. Every man's ability 
is judged by what he accomplishes, and Mr. Egan has 
made the beginning of what is to be a very ample 
fortune by his own skill and ability.

Mr. Egan was born in Waushara county, Wisconsin, 
September 23, 1857, only son in a family of five 
children that constituted the offspring of the 
marriage of Edward and Bridget (Finnerty) Egan, both 
natives of County Galway, Ireland. Removing early to 
the United States, they were married at Clinton, 
Massachusetts.

Edward grew to manhood in Wisconsin, and as is often 
the case with those of a venturesome disposition, he 
was not content until he had struck out into the 
world, and "roughed it" for a time, but presently he 
came back home, and as his father was feeling the 
effects of age and hard work he took charge of the 
paternal estate, and lived the quiet life of a 
dairyman farmer. In 1891 he took charge of a threshing 
machine in Lyon County, and before he returned home he 
was the owner of the west half of section 12, Midland 
township, which is now his home. The following spring 
he came back for settlement, and residing on an 
adjacent farm, which he rented. He tried grain farming 
for two years, and then forming a partnership with B. 
H. Basing the two engaged in a stock and grain 
business, their work being attended with much success. 
Since then he has been running a feed farm, and has 
carried on a general buying and shipping business, 
dealing in beef cattle and grain. This firm of Egan & 
Basing has shipped almmost all the stock that has gone 
out of Ellsworth, and in 1901 they shipped a train 
load of cattle to Liverpool, England, Mr. Egan 
accompanying the cattle. He seized the opportunity to 
visit the home of his fathers in Ireland. This foreign 
shipment has been followed by others, and is becoming 
a yearly event.

In his religion Mr. Egan is a member of the Catholic 
church, and in his polities a Democrat. Fraternally he 
is connected with the Independent Order of Foresters, 
the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Modern Woodmen 
of America. In local affairs he is prominent, and has 
been a member of the twon board for nine years. In 
1883 he was married to Miss Maggie Guinan, and they 
have seven children; Mabel, Frank, Elmer, John, Sadie, 
James and Leo.


EGGERT, H.G. 
H. G. Eggert, who has recently been elected county 
auditor of Lyon County, is one of the rising young men 
of the village of George. He comes of a good family 
and has the promise of a bright future, his habits and 
characteristics having already won him more than the 
usual share of friends and fortune. He was born at 
Flanagan, Livingston County, Illinois, and his father, 
the Rev. Frederick S. Eggert, was an honored member of 
the ministry of the German Lutheran Church for thirty-
eight years. Eighteen years of that time he passed as 
a missionary in South Africa, leaving his native home 
in Germany to take up that work when he was twenty-
eight years of age. When the father had finished his 
missionary labors in that remote land he came directly 
to Livingston County in 1869, and continued under 
Illinois skies his gospel labors until his death, 
which occured June 10, 1889. He married Anna Edwards 
in Cape Town, South Africa in 1851. She was born in 
Wales in 1831, and was a daughter of the Rev. Edward 
Edwards, a clergyman of the Methodist Church, and a 
missionary in what was then a savage wilderness. Mr. 
Edwards had taken his family with him to his field of 
work in South Africa, and it was there that the father 
and mother of the subject of this sketch met and 
married. Seven children came to bless their union in 
their African home, and H.G.Eggert was their second 
child born in this country.

H.G. Eggert secured his early education in the public 
school near Flanagan, Illinois, which he attended 
until he was about sixteen years old, when he took a 
business course in a commercial school at Eureka, 
Illinois. After leaving school he entered upon the 
work of farming, and this has been his life calling. 
He is making it a noble and dignified calling, as he 
puts so much industry, honesty and integrity into his 
daily labor. He married Miss Elizabeth Monk at 
Flanagan, Illinois March 6, 1894, and three years 
later removed with his little family to the farm in 
Wheeler Township, Lyon County, where he is found at 
the present time. To him and his charming wife have 
come three children: Hazel, Ora, born in Flanagan; 
Louisa Elizabeth and Henry Gilbert, born near George.

In politics Mr. Eggert has always been a Republican 
and July 1, 1904 he was made the Republican candidate 
for county auditor and was elected November 8, 1904 to 
that position. His election to this important office 
is a fitting tribute to his manly worth and honorable 
standing.


EILERS, JACOB B. 
Jacob B. Eilers, the postmaster of Doon, Lyon County, 
has made for himself a good name, and won a fair 
measure of financial success against unfavorable 
conditions. He is a man of character and force, is 
still a young man, and his friends prophesy a bright 
future for him.

Mr. Eilers came to Doon in 1890, and established the 
first regular harness shop in the town. For eight 
years he was the active proprietor and manager of what 
he made a successful business, when he sold out, and 
put up a store building. This he filled with a fine 
and well-selected stock of hardware and this business 
he has carried on to the present time with marked 
success.

Jacob B. Eilers was born May 15, 1865 in New York, and 
while still a small child was taken to Foreston, 
Illinois, where he attended school until 1883. That 
year he went to Parkersburg, Iowa. When he became 
fifteen he began the learning of the harness making 
trade, and for several years was employed as a 
journeyman. In 1887 he opened a harness shop of his 
own in Hull, Iowa, where he remained until 1890, when 
he sold to come to Doon. 

Mr. Eilers started out in the world without a dollar 
of capital, but by the exercise of those saving and 
thrifty qualities, inherited from his German 
ancestors, has become fairly well off. He has a store 
building, 22 by 130 feet long, filled with hardware, 
making a specialty of steel ranges and buggies. 

Mr. Eilers was married October 22, 1884 to Miss 
Coryett, daughter of George and Jane Ladu. She was 
born in Canada, and came of English decent. To this 
union have come two children: Hazel B., and Ray.

Mr. Eilers has been a Republican, and was appointed 
postmaster under President McKinley, and is now 
holding the position, with the office in a building 
accessible readily to the business district of Doon. 
He has been president and director of the school 
board, and belongs to the local lodge of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the local camp 
of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a son of 
Benjamin and Frances (Millett) Brook Eilers.


EILERS, L.D. 
L.D. Eilers, who may well be called a merchant prince 
in the northwest, has a finely appointed store in the 
village of George, Lyon County, where he has a trade 
far outreaching local limits and a standing among the 
very best men of the mercantile world. He was born in 
Germany, October 28, 1861, and as a child came to 
America with his parents. They made their home in 
Utica, New York, where the future merchant of George 
spent some eight years, and then accompanied them to 
Forreston, Illinois. There he completed his academic 
education in the high school, but began his mercantile 
training at Forreston, Illinois, in a store in which 
he was employed as a clerk.

After leaving Forreston he went to Buck Grove, later 
from there to Steamboat Rock for two years; then to 
Clarion for three years; then sold out everything and 
went to Eldora. At Steamboat Rock he was engaged for a 
short time in the butcher business. He finally came to 
George and for four years worked as clerk in a general 
store, and in 1891 was engaged in the general 
merchandise business at Lester, Lyon County, under the 
firm name of Johnson & Eilers, but this he soon sold 
to his partner, and coming to George opened up a flour 
exchange hauling from the mills at Sheldon, to George, 
and exchanging it for wheat, which he would then team 
back to the mills, a distance of forty miles. His 
success in this venture moved him to start a store in 
a small way, and he put in a general stock. He 
increased his business only as the profits warranted. 
His family assisted him in the store, and by keeping 
the expenses down to the very smallest point he has 
met with commendable success. At the present time he 
has a stock that is worth nearly $14,000 with 
buildings, and a patronage that is both large and 
lucrative.

In the meantime Mr. Eilers has built a house in which 
he and his family have a commodious and elegant home. 
His store is 25 by 100 feet, and it is filled with a 
selected stock of goods that meets all criticism both 
as to character and price.

Mr. Eilers was married on February 28, 1886, to Miss 
Jennie Christian, daughter of Thomas and Dena (Hansen) 
Christian. Her parents were born in Germany. She is 
the mother of five children: Berand, Thomas, Frieda, 
Ella and Louis. The children are all living at home, 
and are assisting their father in his business labors. 
Mr. Eilers and family are members of the Baptist 
Church. He is a Republican, and has been a member of 
the school board for some five years. At the present 
time he is postmaster, and has three rural free 
delivery routes emanating from his office. His father 
was Berand J. Eilers and was born in Germany in 1826. 
He married Fredrick Willenbrock, and with his family 
came to America when the subject of this sketch was 
still a small lad. They settled in Utica, New York, 
where the father worked in a large shoe factory, and 
after eight years removed to Forreston, Illinois, 
where he put in a shore store. He was then in business 
at Steamboat Rock, and is today keeping books in the 
George store, happy in the thought that though he has 
reared a large family, all his children have done 
well. The death of his wife in 1894 was a great 
affliction to him.


ENGBRETSON, A. 
A. Engbretson, the wide-awake and pushing manager of 
the Mutual Lumber Company at Beloit, Iowa, was born in 
Norway June 27, 1849, and is a son of Engbret and 
Annie Larson, both of whom were natives of Norway. The 
father was a farmer and died in Norway in 1899, at the 
age of seventy-nine years. His wife died in 1886, when 
seventy-five years old. They were the parents of the 
following children: Lars, deceased; Ole, a farmer; 
Martin, engaged in business as a wagon-maker in 
Norway; John, a surgeon in Norway; and the subject of 
this writing. 

A. Engbretson was highly educated in the Old Country, 
both in private and military schools, and for five 
years was in the Norwegian army. When his military 
service had been completed he learned the trade of a 
carpenter, at which he began to work when he came to 
Beloit, Iowa in 1881. Here for many years he was 
engaged in contracting and building, and it was not 
until 1894 that he became manager for the lumber 
company. 

Mr. Engbretson was married April 14, 1872 to Miss Anna 
C. Nylander, of Norway. They became the parents of the 
following children: Albert, a boiler maker on the 
Northern Pacific Railroad; Sam, a merchant in 
Minnesota; Hilda, the wife of W. Landrew of Canby, 
Minnesota; Regnil, deceased; Gus, in a drug business 
at Glenwood, Minnesota; Clara, a teacher of the piano, 
living at home; John L., at home.

Mr. Engbretson has filled the office of city clerk for 
two years and stands very well in the community where 
his upright life and honest disposition have made 
their influence felt. He is a member of the United 
Lutheran church, and takes a lively interest in every 
movement that looks to the common good. 


ERICKSON BROTHERS
The well known firm of Erickson Brothers for a number 
of years operated a large livery and sales barn in 
Inwood, Lyon county. In September, 1900, they 
purchased the present barn, 35 by 100 feet in 
dimensions. In March, 1904, the firm was succeeded by 
T.O. Erickson. Here he operates a stock of sixteen 
head of horses ,and a complete outfit of carriages, 
buggies, and other requirements to a complete livery 
enterprise. He does a feed and sale business of no 
small dimensions, and is regarded as being one of the 
principal men in his line in this part of the county.

T.O. Erickson, the older brother, was born in Lyon 
county in 1877, and was reared on the farm, where he 
was given a public school education. When he became of 
age, he struck out for himself a line of work quite 
different from the farm life to which he had been 
bred. In company with a Mr. Tweed he engaged in the 
grocery business for about two years, when he retired 
from the store, and spent another year in a feed 
business. This was sold and then in company with his 
brother, M.O., started out in the livery barn, where 
they held for about six months, after which they 
exchanged it for the present establishment, which is 
now the only place of the kind as it is the largest 
and oldest ever maintained here.

Mr. Erickson is a Republican, and belongs to the 
Lutheran church. Lena Gunderson, his wife, is the 
mother of one child, Myrtle A.

M.O. Erickson was also born in Lyon county, where he 
was born and bred a farmer, a work which he followed 
until his entrance upon the livery business in company 
with his brother, as stated above. He is unmarried, 
and in political matters is a Republican.

OLE ERICKSON; the father of both brothers, was born in 
Norway, and when he was eighteen years old left his 
native land for the United States. He located in 
Winneshiek county, Iowa, but some thirty years ago 
removed to a farm in Lyon county, settling here before 
the organization of the county, and being one of the 
oldest pioneers in this part of the northwest. At the 
present time he owns an improved farm of four hundred 
acres, a low valuation of which is at least seventh-
five dollars an acre. Remarkable success has attended 
all his efforts since coming to this country.


EVERSON, ALBERT E. 
Gilbert E. Everson, whose name is a guarantee of 
honest treatment and whose history for many years has 
been intimately associated with that of Lyon county, 
Iowa, was first located as a farmer in section 24, 
Richland township, of that county, but became 
permanently settled nine years later. He was born in 
Lafayette county, Wisconsin, November 30, 1862, a son 
of Gunder and Malinda (Nelson) Everson, both of whom 
were natives of Norway, though long settled in 
Wisconsin. Gunder Everson came to Lafayette county in 
1849, where he engaged in a very successful tillage of 
the soil. In 1874 he removed to Ashton, Iowa, where he 
still continued farming and later made his home in 
South Dakota, where he died in 1901, at the age of 
seventy-three years. His widow is still living at 
Harrisburg, South Dakota, and has reached the advanced 
age of seventy-six years. She was the mother of the 
following family: Ann, who is now dead; Mary, the wife 
of Albert Jacobs, a farmer in Lafayette county, 
Wisconsin; Emma, the wife of Gilbert Jacobs, a farmer 
near Harrisburg, South Dakota; Eva and Nels have 
passed away; Lena, the wife of Albert Thompson, a 
farmer of Lyon county; Gilbert E., whose name begins 
this article; Andrew, a farmer of Pipestone, 
Minnesota; Anna, the wife of Richard Watson, of 
Pipestone, Minnesota; Nels now of Harrisburg, South 
Dakota; Gunder is a farmer of Pipestone, Minnesota; 
Theodore, postmaster at Harrisburg, South Dakota. 

Gilbert E. Everson received his education in the 
common school of Osceola county, Iowa, finishing in 
Augustana College at Canton, South Dakota. He began 
his business career by renting a farm in Doon 
township, Lyon county, which he occupied until 1884. 
That year he settled in Richland township, being still 
on rented land, which he held under very favorable 
terms until 1899, when he purchased his present farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he has since 
added eighty acres. 

Mr. Everson was married in 1889 to Miss Maria 
Albertson, of Richland township. Her parents, Albert 
and Martha (Thompson) Albertson, born and bred farmer 
folds, are now living retired in Inwood. Eight 
children were born to them, of whom all are now living 
with one exception. Mrs. Everson was their oldest 
child, and she is now the mother of the following 
family: Leda, Ernest D., Tyler L., and Lois E. 

Mr. Everson has served as township trustee six years, 
assessor two years, and road superintendent two years. 
In fraternal matters he is a member of the Lodge and 
Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at 
Inwood, Lodge No. 458, A. F. & A. M., of Larchwood, 
and the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, 
at Inwood. In his politics he is a stanch Republican, 
and in religion an active and earnest worker in the 
Methodist church. 


EVERSON, GILBERT E. 
Gilbert E. Everson, whose name is a guarantee of 
honest treatment and whose history for many years has 
been intimately associated with that of Lyon County, 
Iowa, was first located as a farmer in section 24, 
Richland Township, of that county, but became 
permanently settled nine years later. He was born in 
Lafayette County, Wisconsin, November 30, 1862, a son 
of Gunder and Malinda (Nelson) Everson, both of whom 
were natives of Norway, though long settled in 
Wisconsin. Gunder Everson came to Lafayette County in 
1849, where he engaged in a very successful tillage of 
the soil. In 1874 he removed to Ashton, Iowa; where he 
still continued farming and later made his home in 
South Dakota, where he died in 1901, at the age of 
seventy-three years. His widow is still living at 
Harisburg, South Dakota, and has reached the advanced 
age of seventy-six years. She was the mother of the 
following family: Ann, who is now dead; Mary, the wife 
of Albert Jacobs, a farmer in Lafayette County, 
Wisconsin; Emma, the wife of Gilbert Jacobs, a farmer 
near Harrisburg, South Dakota; Eva and Nels have 
passed away; Lena, the wife of Albert Thompson, a 
farmer of Lyon County; Gilbert E., whose name begins 
this article; Andrew, a farmer of Pipestone, 
Minnesota; Anna, the wife of Richard Watson, of 
Pipestone, Minnesota; Nels, now of Harrisburg, South 
Dakota; Gunder is a farmer of Pipestone, Minnesota; 
Theodore, postmaster at Harrisburg, South Dakota.

Gilbert E. Everson received his education in the 
common schools of Osceola County, Iowa, finishing in 
Autustana College at Canton, South Dakota. He began 
his business career by renting a farm in Doon 
Township, Lyon County, which he occupied until 1884. 
That year he settled in Richland Township, being still 
on rented land, which he held under very favorable 
terms until 1899, when he purchased his present farm 
of one hundred and sixty acres to which he has since 
added eighty acres.

Mr. Everson was married in 1889 to Miss Maria 
Albertson, of Richland Township. Her parents, Albert 
and Martha (Thompson) Albertson, born and bred farmer 
folks, are now living retired in Inwood. Eight 
children were born to them, of whom all are now living 
with one exception. Mrs. Everson was their oldest 
child, and she is now the mother of the following 
family: Leda, Ernest D., Tyler L., and Lois E.

Mr. Everson has served as township trustee six years, 
assessor two years, and road superintendent two years. 
In fraternal matters he is a member of the Lodge and 
Encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at 
Inwood, Lodge No. 458, A.F. & A. M., of Larchwood, and 
the local camp of the Modern Woodmen of America, at 
Inwood. In his politics he is a staunch Republican, 
and in religion an active and earnest worker in the 
Methodist church.

-F-




FEAY, OLIVER J.
Oliver J. Feay, a hard working and prosperous farmer 
of Centennial township, was born in McGregor, IA July 
5, 1861, and is a son of Henry Feay, who was German 
born and bred, and followed the carpenter trade as his 
life work. Young Oliver was educated and trained to 
his father's trade in his native community. In the 
spring of 1882 he began for himself as a journeyman 
carpenter, and for some thirteen years was entirely 
engaged in that line. In 1895 he made his appearance 
in Lyon County and was so pleased with the promise of 
the beautiful wilderness that he changed his 
occupation and became a farmer, a step that has been 
abundantly justified by the results.

Mr. Feay was married December 12, 1896 to Miss Lena 
Nelson, who was born in Lincoln county, South Dakota, 
May 25, 1872. there have come three children to bless 
this union; Henry S., Carrie M. and Alick N., - all of 
whom were born in Lyon County.

Mr. Feay is a Democrat, and has won his very 
creditable position which he holds in social and 
business circles by hard and unremitting labor and 
constant toil, as well as persistent economy and wise 
planning. At the present time he rents a magnificent 
estate of four hundred and eight acres, well fitted 
out with good buildings, farm machinery and fine 
stock. He is one of the leading citizens of the 
county, and has done much to promote its development.


FEAY, S.A.
S.A. Feay, a hardward merchant of Rock Rapids, whose 
career in Lyon county has covered many laborious and 
well spent years, was born near the Virginia line in 
Pennsylvania, in January, 1852.  He was reared on the 
farm, in Clayton county, Iowa, and received his 
closing schooling in the district schools, 
supplemented by attendance in the Upper Iowa 
University.  He learned the carpenter trade from his 
father, and on leaving school took it up as a business 
which he followed for three years, having at the same 
time an idea of farm work as his life occupation.  
Gradually he worked into farming mostly for others, 
but part as a renter.  In 1879 he came to Centennial 
township, Lyon county, where he purchased four hundred 
and eighty acres of land, all then wild prairie.  
Applying himself with characteristic energy to its 
improvement, he soon converted it into one of the most 
attractive farms in the county.  Out of the soil he 
had received enough to build a farm house, barn, 
granary, and make all the other necessary improvements 
for the successful operation of this magnificent 
estate.

In 1892 the Democratic party put Mr. Freay on its 
county ticket for the position of auditor, and 
notwithstanding a normal majority of over four hundred 
votes against him, he won the election.  He served his 
constituents well and faithfully for two years, and 
was again nominated, but lost the election by a very 
narrow margin.  On retiring from office, on account of 
his wife's health and the education of his family, he 
concluded to remain in Rock Rapids, renting the farm, 
and buying a hardware store.  This business he carried 
on until 1902, when he sold out on account of his own 
health. In the spring of 1904 he entered the hardware 
business again.  With his family he occupies a 
beautiful home in which there are thirteen rooms.

Mr. Feay was married February 13, 1879, to Miss Sarah, 
daughter of William and Elizabeth Gray.  Her father, a 
glass blower by trade, was born in Pennsylvania, and 
died at the age of sixty-eight years.  His father, 
John, was also born in Pennsylvania, and came of a 
mingled Holland-Dutch and Irish parentage.  Elizabeth 
(Blasser) Gray descended from a German parentage.  As 
a result of their union Mr. and Mrs. Feay are the 
parents of two children: Virgil C., now in business 
with our subject, and George W., still a student in 
the home schools.

Mr. Feay is an esteemed member of Larchwood Lodge of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Paladium 
Lodge, Knights of Pythias, at Rock Rapids.  He is also 
connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the 
Yeomen at Rock Rapids.  All the family are active 
members of the Methodist church.

Henry Feay, the father of S.A., was a carpenter in his 
active days.  He was born in Pennsylvania, and is 
still living at the venerable age of seventy-four 
years.  S.A. Feay, the grandfather of S.A., was born 
in Pennsylvania in 1804, and died in 1872.  Levi Feay, 
the great-grandfather of S.A., was born in 
Pennsylvania, where his ancestors had come before the 
Revolution.  The Feays were originally from Scotland.  
Mary, the mother of S.A. Feay, was a daughter of John 
Sargeant, who was born in Maryland in 1802, and died 
at the advanced age of eighty-three.  The Sargeants 
were of German blood, while the grandmother, Margaret, 
was of English descent.  

Mrs. Feay had one uncle in the rebellion, while S.A. 
Feay had several uncles in the same noble cause.  One 
of them was wounded and taken prisoner in battle.  He 
was consigned to Andersonville prison, where he died, 
being at that time a sergeant in his company.  Henry 
E., a brother of Mr. Feay, enlisted in Company H, 
First South Dakota regiment, and spent eighteen months 
in the Philippine war.  So we can say without a 
question that this martial family are entitled to all 
the privileges a grateful country can extend to them.


FIELDS, JACOB F.
Jacob F. Fields, who has made himself prominent in 
Lyon county by force of character and energetic 
disposition, owns a good farm in Logan township, which 
he has brought into comparison with the model farms of 
the northwest, it is so neat and thrifty, and 
thoroughly well cultivated. 

Mr. Fields was born in Clinton county, Iowa, in 1858, 
and his father, Levi, was also born and bred a farmer. 
He was born in Ohio, and comes of an old American 
family. He married Elizabeth Carnicle,and to them were 
born ten children; of whom the son whose name 
introduces this article was the sixth in order of 
birth.

Jacob F. Fields remained at home under the parental 
roof until 1880, during which time he was given a very 
good common school education, and reared to a farm 
life. That his training was good, and that he has 
fairly improved upon his teachers, his history fully 
shows. His wedding with Miss Lizzie Penfold occurred 
December 31, 1880. She was born in Illinois, and her 
father, Thomas Penfold, born in England, came to this 
country to engage in farming after middle life. Mr. 
and Mrs. Fields are the parents of a family of six 
children; Ord, Mabel, Earl, Roy, Grace and Nile.

Mr. Fields continued farming in Clinton county for a 
few years after his marriage, and then spent a winter 
in Plymouth, and for some two years was in Cherokee 
county. In 1886 he entered Lyon county, where he 
bought the northeast quarter of section 26, Logan 
township, which was at that time absolutely 
unimproved. But it was lovely prairie land, with every 
indication of great agricultural value, and he set 
himself to its improvement with a glad heart, as here 
he was confident was to be fashioned a farm of which 
no man need be ashamed. He put up a house 14 by 20 
feet after the rude fashion of the day, simply to 
shelter and cover. This was unfortunately swept away 
by a storm of wind before it had hardly been occupied, 
and had all to be done over again. At that time Rock 
Rapids and Inwood were the only markets and shipping 
stations near at hand, a condition of things hardly to 
be realized in the present abundant opportunity of 
transportation.

At the present time Mr. Fields owns a half section of 
land under a very profitable tillage. Here he has a 
house, and a barn built in 1903, to replace one lost 
in October, the previous year, by a bad wind storm. 
The old barn was 52 by 32 feet; while the new is 56 by 
32. The family residence is a handsome and commodious 
structure 40 by 22 feet, and the thrifty and 
attractive grove adds greatly to the general 
appearance of the place. A small orchard has promise 
of many good things not far away, and the entire 
establishment attests the industry and good management 
of its owner.

That Mr. Fields stands well among his neighbors is 
attested by the fact that he has been township trustee 
for years. At the same time he has filled other minor 
positions, and has taken an active part in local 
affairs. In the organization of the township he took 
an active part, and has been recognized as a prominent 
and influential citizen from the day of his coming 
into the county. Mr. Fields may well congratulate 
himself upon his distinctly marked success.


FLADAGER, SEVERT OLSON (Deceased) 
S.O. Fladager, who died January 16, 1903, was long 
numbered among the leading citizens of Lyon township, 
Lyon county, and held a place in the social and 
business circles of the community that can not be 
easily filled. He was the proprietor of a four-hundred 
acre farm in section 1, Lyon township, and had 
gradually worked himself up to a high position in the 
judgment of those who knew him best. Personally he was 
a pleasant man to meet, and his character was strongly 
marked with the kind and humane qualities. He was a 
devoted husband and father, and a pious and 
consecrated Christian.

Mr. Fladager was born in Halingdal, Norway, January 7, 
1844, and was the ninth member of a family of fifteen 
children born to his parents. In 1868 he came to the 
United States, and for two years resided in Clayton 
county, Iowa. In 1870 he removed to Lyon county, and 
settled on the homestead where he maintained his home 
as long as he lived. Gradually his possessions 
increased until he became one of the wealthier farmers 
of the county, owning not only a fine tract of four 
hundred acres of choice farming land, but having it 
highly improved. In the community in which his useful 
career was passed he was very highly regarded, and for 
twenty-four years had served as school director.

Mr. Fladager was married to Miss Eline Arneson, July 
30, 1871. She was born in Allamakee county, Iowa July 
30, 1852, a daughter of Lars and Raguhild (Olson) 
Arneson, both of whom were born in Norway. They 
settled in Allamakee county, Iowa, in 1850, and 
eighteen years later removed to Canton, South Dakota, 
where the father died in 1883. He lived to be sixty-
nine years of age, while his widow who attained the 
age of seventy-four passed to her rest in 1898.

Mr. and Mrs. Fladager were the parents of ten 
children, nine of whom are still living. They are as 
follows: Mrs. O.A. Berge, Mrs. Ben H. Moen, Mrs. 
Datliff Bahnson, Oliver, Lizzie, Clara, Maria, 
Josephine, Samuel and Honora. Mrs. Fladager is still 
living, and is tenderly watched over by this numerous 
and interesting family.

Some years ago Mr. Fladager crossed the ocean and made 
an extensive visit to the home of his boyhood in 
Norway, and also spent some time in Denmark, where he 
had some acquaintance. He was a member of the Lutheran 
church, and his funeral services, which were conducted 
from the Lutheran church in Centennial township, were 
said to have been the most largely attended gathering 
of the kind ever held in that church.


FOSS, ABRAHAM, F.
Abraham F. Foss, who is now deceased, was in his life 
time one of the earlier settlers of Lyon county, and 
did much for the development of Richland township in 
the old days.  He was born in Norway, October 10, 
1846, and was one of the most successful 
representatives of his race in the northwest at that 
early day.  He grew up in his Norwegian home, where he 
secured such educational advantages as the local 
schools afforded, and in 1868 became an emigrant to 
the western world, landing in New York, and making his 
way at once to eastern Iowa.  In 1870 he removed to 
Lyon county, where he homesteaded land, at the same 
time buying a farm.

Mr. Foss was married in the month of November, 1874, 
to Miss Isabel Sorenson, who was born in Norway, 
September 1, 1849.  To this union were born eight 
children: Marsha, Tilda, Finkle, Fea, Celia, Marie, 
Arthur and Simon,--all of whom were born in Lyon 
county.

Mr. Foss was a Republican, and held a good position in 
the esteem and confidence of the people who knew him 
best.  Not inclined to brag and bluster, his was a 
substantial character, and his word could always be 
trusted.  At the time of his death August 14, 1899, he 
left a good farm of 160 acres, well improved with good 
buildings and thoroughly modern in every respect.  He 
had planted and brought into fine condition a large 
grove which added much to the comfort and convenience 
of the place.  His name will long be remembered as 
that of a good man, a faithful husband and father, and 
a leading farmer in his day.


FOULKROD, E.G. 
E. G. Foulkrod, whose pleasant and attractive farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres is located in section 6, 
Richland township, Lyon county, was born in 
Philadelphia, January 22, 1858, a son of George and 
Florence (St. Clair) Foulkrod. The father was born in 
Pennsylvania, and the mother in Spain. 

George Foulkrod was a moulder by trade in his early 
manhood, but later engaged in the shoe business in 
Philadelphia, where he built up a considerable 
business. On the outbreak of the Civil war he enlisted 
in a Pennsylvania regiment, was badly wounded in the 
battle of Gettysburg, and very shortly thereafter 
died. His widow lived until 1867, when she died at the 
age of forty-seven. She was a physician by profession 
and education, and for seven years was actively 
engaged in the practice of medicine. During the war 
she was unceasing in her ministrations to the sick and 
wounded soldiers, and after the assassination of 
President Lincoln was on the committee that received 
the honored body of the great martyr as it was being 
returned to his western home, and had charge of the 
decorations that attested the grief of the city. She 
was the mother of three children: Walter W.; Rev. 
J.W., a Baptist minister of Missouri Valley, Iowa; and 
E.G., whose name introduces this article. Six ofher 
children died in infancy.

After the death of his father, E.G. Foulkrod was taken 
to Wisconsin, where he secured a somewhat slender 
education by attending public school two or three 
months during the winter. Here he worked at farming, 
and became proficient in landscape gardening. This was 
his occupation for some years in his early manhood, 
and when he came to his present farm home in 1884 he 
had an already established reputation as a capable and 
scientific farmer. Feeling the need of farther 
schooling he attended the academy at Hull, Iowa, for 
about a year, and at different times was a pupil in 
several private schools in the county.

Mr. Foulkrod was married, December 3, 1886, to Miss 
Luella Negus, of Wisconsin, a daughter of J.P. and 
Frances (Green) Negus, both natives of New York. Her 
father was always a farmer, and is now living retired 
in Sioux City. During the Civil war he was a member of 
the Thirteenth Wisconsin Cavalry for nineteen months. 
Mr. and Mrs. Foulkrod have had three children born to 
their union: Charles H., John P., and George W. For 
three years he has been school director, and both he 
and his wife are members of the first Baptist church 
of Doon, Iowa. A wide circle of warm and appreciative 
friends attest their popularity, and witness their 
genuine worth.


FOX, MICHAEL P.
Michael P. Fox may truly be classed as a self made 
man, as he began life for himself when only fourteen 
years of age with no other capital but a stout heart 
and a sturdy arm, with such meager educational 
advantages as the family circumstances could afford. 
He was born in Dubuque county, Iowa, but his parents 
were natives of Ireland. They came to this country 
about 1850.

Mr. Fox was the youngest of a family of six children 
born to his parents, and spent the earlier years of 
his boyhood under the parental roof. When he was about 
fourteen years of age he worked out as a farm hand, 
and later went with a brother to Fayette county, Iowa, 
where our subject worked on a farm. He and his brother 
rented land in Plymouth county. In 1885 Michael P. and 
his brother Thomas came to Lyon County where they 
bought land in Garfield township, the two being in 
partnership for a number of years. In 1888 Mr. Fox 
bought his present farm, a very desirable tract of 
land in section 20, Garfield township. This was wild 
prairie, being entirely devoid of any improvements. By 
unremitting care and industry he has brought it up to 
a high pitch of fertility, and owns one of the very 
valuable farms of Garfield township. It has a five 
acre grove, a complete outfit of good farm buildings, 
and comprises a quarter section of as choice land as 
Lyon county affords. He also rents one hundred and 
sixty acres.

Mr. Fox was married in 1895 to Miss Anna M. Keith, a 
native of Clay Center, Kansas and a descendant of an 
old American family. Two children, Paul and Regina, 
have come to bless this union.


FOX, THOMAS
Thomas Fox is the name of a retired farmer, who has 
recently come to make his home in the village of Doon, 
after years of hard work in Garfield township, Lyon 
County, where he early acquired very extensive real 
estate holdings, and has created one of the fine farms 
of the county.

Mr. Fox was born in 1853 in Dubuque county, Iowa, and 
in 1884 made his home in Garfield township, Lyon 
county, where he purchased a quarter section of wild 
land, paying for it the somewhat high price at that 
time of thirteen dollars an acre. A little later he 
purchased eighty acres more and thus had a compact 
farm of two hundred and forty acres, quite thoroughly 
improved, which is undoubtedly worth at least eighty 
dollars an acre. During these twenty years it has 
maintained the family, paid for all its improvements, 
bought residence property in Doon, and is now worth at 
least twenty thousand dollars. Nor does this mention 
the value of cattle, horses, stock, and grain on the 
place. Is there any surer way of getting rich than 
honest and wisely planned farming?

In 1902 Mr. Fox purchased a residence on Main street, 
Doon, which he now occupies after having extensively 
enlarged and greatly improved it. He still retains the 
farm, which he has put into the hands of a trusty 
renter. His residence is a magnificent modern home, 
built as he would have it, and fitted out with all the 
recent improvements, so that he has a place in which 
he may take his comfort and grow old gracefully. The 
farm on which he settled in a wild state is now 
thoroughly improved in every part, and is counted one 
of the "show" farms of the county. It has a model farm 
house, and its horse barn is 36 by 48 feet, its cow 
barn 16 by 20, its hog house 28 by 32, and its corn 
crib 24 by 32. It has a deep and free well operated by 
a wind mill, and is in every respect up to date. Mr. 
Fox has been a success as a general farmer, he has 
kept a high grade of horses, as well as in hogs and 
cattle, and has always sought the best. As a lad he 
was industrious and quick to grasp the opportunity. As 
a young man he did much threshing in the fall, and 
finally bought a machine for himself. He made money, 
saved it, and was able to start in the world. When he 
started in Lyon County, he had his machine, and 
operated it for several years. He wore out three 
machines before competition became so strong that the 
money went out of the threshing business, and he quit 
the work himself.

Thomas Fox was married in 1888, to Marcellus Harkins, 
a daughter of John and Hannah Harkins, her father 
being a farmer and dying at the advanced age of 
eighty-six. Her father, John Harkins, was born in 
Ireland. Hannah Harkins was the daughter of H. 
McClafferty, and was also born in Ireland. There the 
father of Thomas Fox, Michael, was also born. He was 
killed by an accident when Thomas was only six years 
old.


FRY, J.W. 
J. W. Fry, a very successful farmer in Centennial 
township, Lyon county, Iowa, was born July 7, 1864, in 
the state of New York. His father, John Fry, located 
in that state in the early ''fifties, and there 
followed farming for a living. He died when the 
subject of this sketch was but seven years of age. 

Mr. Fry lived in his native state until he reached the 
age of fourteen years. There he was a student in the 
public school, and secured a very fair and practical 
education, so that he has been able to transact 
business and look after his own interests in the world 
very successfully. Mr. Fry came to Lyon county in 1888 
and for the ensuing four years was employed as a farm 
hand in this section of this state. His next removal 
was to the lumber woods of Minnesota, where he was 
employed for two years. On coming back to this state, 
he secured land and began farming on his own account. 

In 1891 Mr. Fry was married to Miss Sophia Wilson, who 
was born May 3, 1870, in Sioux county, Iowa. This 
union has been favored with the birth of several 
bright and handsome children. 

Mr. Fry is a Democrat, and has won a considerable 
standing as a man and a citizen in his community. He 
owns a half section of land, and is numbered among the 
oldest and most prosperous settlers of the county.