Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe counties, Iowa
New York, Chicago: Lewis publishing Co., S. Thompson Lewis, editor. 1903
Transcribed by Renee Rimmert. A complete copy of this book is available on-line at archive.org.
F
 Thomas M. Fee |
THOMAS MILTON FEE - As a prominent and talented representative of the legal profession of Iowa, as a member of the bench whose concise, clear and accurate judgments have gained for him marked distinction among the state judiciary, Judge T. M. Fee is worthy of a prominent place in the history of Appanoose county. He is the descendant of eminent ancestors. On the paternal side the Fee family came to America in 1627; the first one to come was of English and Irish lineage, and he settled in Maryland, a branch of the house also going to Pennsylvania. On the maternal side the great-grandfather Hastings was the progenitor of the American family. He was a Protestant preacher, and on account of persecution came across the waters and settled in Pennsylvania. The parents of Judge Fee were Thomas and Sarah (Hastings) Fee. The former was the son of James Fee and a Miss Lacon, who were natives of Pennsylvania, but later removed to Ohio. Thomas Fee was born in Clermont county, Ohio, in 1802, and, on coming to manhood, embarked in merchandising in Brown county of that state. He was the founder of Feesburg, in that county. In 1848 he removed to Pike county, Illinois, and began the manufacture of furniture in Perry. He there spent the rest of his days and died in 1866 at the age of sixty- four; his wife survived him many years, passing away at the age of eighty-five in Illinois. Their family consisted of eleven children, of whom three sons and three daughters grew to maturity. |
Thomas Milton, the youngest child, was born in Feesburg, Brown county, Ohio, on the 18th of April,1839. From the age of nine to nineteen he lived in Illinois, but then passed out from the parental home and went to Missouri to teach school. In 1860 he removed to Ottumwa, Iowa, where he evinced his industry by teaching school and studying law at the same time. He had enjoyed only a common school education, supplemented by a course in an academy, but with such vigor and earnestness did he apply himself that he was admitted to the bar in 1862. May 12, 1862, is the date of his arrival in Centerville, and he at once hung out his shingle as a practicing attorney. But in the same year he laid all other duties aside and enlisted, in June, in Company G, Thirty- sixth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, the regiment of which ex-Governor Drake was lieutenant colonel. On October 4, 1862, he was made captain of the company, and with that rank was mustered out at the close of the war, in September, 1865. He was captured with his regiment at Mark's Mills, and for ten months endured the privations of prison life at Tyler, Texas. He now recalls his war experiences with his comrades in John L. Bashaw Post, G. A. R.
At the close of the war Mr. Fee returned to Centerville and resumed his practice. For two years he served as superintendent of schools of Appanoose county. For one term, from 1875 to 1879, he was prosecuting attorney of the second judicial district of Iowa. In 1895 his Republican partisans elected him to the judgeship of the second judicial district court for a term of four years, and he was re-elected and served till January,1902. In 1899 he was a candidate for supreme judge of the state, and, although he did not receive the nomination, he had the hearty support of his friends, and there is no doubt that he will receive the nomination in the near future if his friends can persuade him to become a candidate. He has made a reputation as a campaign orator of great force and talent.
Judge Fee is prominently identified with the social orders, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the Masonic fraternity is a Knight Templar of St. John's Commandery, No. 21, and a Mystic Shriner of the Kaaba Temple at Davenport, and is a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Commandery of the State of Iowa. In religious belief he is a Methodist. He has been twice married and has five children. One son, John A., is a farmer in this county; Thomas G. is a graduate of the law department of the Iowa State University, was admitted to the bar in 1899 and is now practicing in connection with his father. The judge owns a nice residence property on Van Buren street, besides other real estate in the city and in the county.
ROBERT CRAWFORD FORSYTH - Though this son of "old Scotia" has led a roving life on land and sea, changed resilience and business frequently, he has, with the shrewdness of his race, kept an eye on the main and followed the advice of his great national poet to "gather gean by every wile that's justified by honor." In other words, after a long and busy career and his due share of the rebuffs of fickle fortune. Mr. Forsyth can show a comfortable balance on the right side of the ledger and is justly entitled to rank as a successful man of business. It is something of a privilege to have been born in the same county that produced Robert Burns, and this honor belongs to Mr. Forsyth, whose place of nativity has received such a halo from the poetry of this immortal writer that it has become familiar all over the world. He was the son of James and Margaret (Crawford) Forsyth and his birth occurred in Ayrshire, Scotland, June 2, 1832. His father was a hand loom weaver and his business was to make some of those shawls and plaids for which Scotland is so celebrated in the marts of trade.
The parents, who spent their whole lives within the confines of Scotland, had ten children, of whom Robert was the youngest. They removed to Dundee when the lad was four years old, and in that famous old town he was reared while being educated under the strict discipline of the Scottish schools. When near his fourteenth year the boy was apprenticed to learn the apothecary's trade, which in that country carries with it the power to diagnose cases of sickness among the county poor. It was his intention to eventually become a physician, but after serving his apprenticeship the irresistible inclination toward the sea, so common to the coast countries, drew him like a lodestone, and at the age of seventeen he found himself aboard a ship bound for "foreign parts." It was his fortune to get his fill of this kind of life. After tossing on the billows, riding through storms and undergoing all the other hardships of seafaring for ten years, it was with an increased stock of experience but no considerable improvement in his exchequer that Mr. Forsyth stepped ashore after his decade of dallying with the inconstant sea.
About this time, or, more specifically, in August, 1857, he took to himself a wife, and this event set him to thinking that it was desirable to establish a permanent home. With this end in view he crossed the Atlantic in 1858 to Canada, but soon crossed the border into the states and eventually drifted to Rock Island, Illinois, where he found lodgment and work. For some years after his arrival he found what the loggers call "rough sledding," but his sailor's career had inured him to hardship, and he buckled down manfully to such hard tasks as he had undertaken to do. For twenty-three years Mr. Forsyth put in his time between coal mining and farming, spending eight years at Rock Island, the other fifteen in Poweshiek county, Iowa. Subsequently he lived awhile in Keokuk county, and eventually found his way to Appanoose county, where he selected a location at Mystic that proved to be permanent. During his stay in Poweshiek county Mr. Forsyth resumed work as a mine operator, but the venture proved unsuccessful. At Whatcheer, Iowa, he embarked in the drug business, and during the ten years of its continuance at that point found the knowledge acquired during his apprenticeship in Scotland could be put to practical use. At the present time Mr. Forsyth is conducting the drug business at Mystic, in partnership with his son, and they also have a branch establishment at Redfield, under the firm name of Robert Forsyth & Company.
Of late years fortune has smiled upon the Scottish sailor, and with constantly improving financial conditions he is able to say with King Richard: "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York, and all the clouds that hovered o'er our house are in the deep bosom of the ocean buried." The lady whom Mr. Forsyth married in 1857 was Betsie Butter, who has borne him a large family of children, all of whom grew to maturity and are well settled in the world, their names being: James C, Donald W., David B., Robert J.. Dugal R., Isabella, Mary E., Jesse and Lizzie. The parents are members of the Presbyterian church, while Mr. Forsyth also holds fraternal connections with the Masons and Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
 Thomas Fotser |
THOMAS FOSTER - For a half-century Thomas Foster was a resident of Appanoose county and while he did not figure prominently in political or public affairs, he was nevertheless numbered among the valued citizens because of his interest in everything pertaining to the public good, and because in private life he was a man worthy of respect and honor. He was born in Edgar county, Illinois, on the 14th of July, 1828, and passed away at his home near Moulton, Iowa, on the 14th of August, 1901. |
His parents were John and Elizabeth Eve (Rhoades) Foster, in whose family were thirteen children: Thomas, Rachel, Arthur, Andrew, Hannah, Rebecca, Catherine, Mary, John, Evaline, Angeline, Jackson and Washington. Of this family Thomas Foster was the eldest and in consequence of this the burdens which devolved upon him in early years were heavy. He was reared to farm life and in the common schools pursued his education. He remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-five years of age, and at that time became the manager of the family affairs, remaining in charge for several years, during which time he was the main support of his mother and younger brothers and sisters. He bravely performed the duties which devolved upon him and fulfilled his task with conscientiousness and energy, such as characterized his entire career. On leaving Illinois the family had removed to Missouri, thence to Lee county, Iowa, and in 1851 had come to Appanoose county, where Thomas Foster made his home until called to his final rest. Throughout the years of his manhood he carried on agricultural pursuits, his labors being interrupted only by his service in the Civil war. On the 8th of July, 1862, feeling that his first duty was to his country in her hour of peril, he offered his services to the government, enlisting as a member of Company D, Sixth Iowa Infantry, in which command he served for four years and one month, never faltering in his loyalty or in the discharge of any task assigned to him, although he was often in the thickest of the fight and became familiar with all the hardships of war.
In 1864, while home upon a furlough, Mr. Foster was married, the lady of his choice being Miss Sabra A. Robinson, a daughter of Joel and Jane (Daily) Robinson. The lady was born in Fountain county, Indiana, September 25, 1836. Her parents were southern people who removed from North Carolina to Tennessee, thence to Indiana, whence they came to Appanoose county, Iowa, in 1851, here spending their remaining days. After the close of the war Mr. Foster resumed farming and was thereafter actively engaged in the work of tilling the soil. He placed the land under a very high state of cultivation and made many excellent and modern improvements upon his place, which are today evidences of his life of thrift and industry. In connection with the cultivation of the fields he also engaged in stock- raising and found that a profitable source of income. At his death he left a fair estate, and to his widow, who survives him, he left a comfortable competence for the rest of her life. He was an industrious and energetic man, in whose career there were few idle moments. He was fair-minded, just and honest, and was uniformly respected by a wide circle of acquaintances. While not a member of any religious organization, he was a man of high moral worth and rectitude of character, and well may it be said of him that he was a loyal and enterprising citizen and a faithful friend and kind husband. He held membership in the Grand Army of the Republic and was highly esteemed by his old comrades of the blue. Mrs. Foster is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is well known in the county where she has resided for more than a half century.
IMMER FOWLER - Appanoose county figures as one of the most attractive, progressive and prosperous divisions of the state of Iowa, justly claiming a high order of citizenship and a spirit of enterprise which is certain to gain marked advancement in the material upbuilding of the section. The county has been and is signally favored in the class of men who have controlled its affairs in official capacity, and in this connection the subject of this review demands representation as one who has served the county faithfully and well in positions of distinct trust and responsibility. He is now serving as postmaster of Cincinnati, a position which he has occupied continuously since 1897.
Mr. Fowler was born in Noble county, Ohio, October 1, 1843, his parents being Cherry V. and Elizabeth (Bond) Fowler. The father was born in New Hampshire and when six years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Noble county, Ohio. He was a son of Lemuel Fowler, also a native of the old Granite state. The ancestors of the family came from England. The grandfather was a farmer by occupation and after his removal to the west remained a resident of Ohio until his death. Cherry V. Fowler was reared in the Buckeye state and as a companion and helpmeet for life's journey chose Miss Elizabeth Bond, who was born in Harrison county, Ohio. They became the parents of fifteen children, nine sons and six daughters, and five of the sons were loyal defenders of the Union cause in the Civil war. The father was a farmer by occupation, and with his wife at the time of their marriage settled upon a farm in Noble county, Ohio, there living together for sixty-four years, their mutual love and confidence increasing as time passed by, for theirs was an ideal marriage relation. Mrs. Fowler died at the age of eighty-one years, while her husband reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years.
Upon the home farm Immer Fowler was reared and in the common schools of the neighborhood obtained his education. He was but eighteen years of age when he offered his services to the government, enlisting as a private of Company G, Seventy-eighth Ohio Infantry, with which he served from the 24th of December, 1861, until the 11th of July, 1865, having re-enlisted on the 1st of January, 1864. At the time he was discharged he held the rank of sergeant. He had participated in many important battles, including that of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, Vicksburg, the Atlanta campaign and Sherman's march to the sea. He likewise participated in the grand review at Washington and was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, after which he returned to his Ohio home. In 1863, while his company and others were at Louisville, Kentucky, awaiting the mustering out, there was issued a general order to furlough three men from each company, but in order to increase the number the division commander issued an order that each company elect a fourth man from its ranks, and Mr. Fowler's company chose him as this fourth man. This was an honor conferred upon him and indicates the standing he held with his comrades, who furthermore manifested their friendship for him and their trust in him by placing in his charge a large sum of money which they wished to be carried to their several homes in his vicinity, the sum aggregating between two and three thousand dollars.
Mr. Fowler remained in Ohio for only about a year and in 1867 came to Appanoose county, Iowa, settling in Caldwell township upon a farm. He carried on agricultural pursuits here until 1891 and in the meantime gave considerable attention to teaching. He followed that profession for twenty-four years, from 1866 until 1890, in Ohio, Iowa and Missouri, and was a capable instructor and gave general satisfaction in every district in which he was employed. At the same time he carried on his farm work through the summer months, but in 1891 he abandoned the plow and removed to Exline and two years later to Cincinnati, where he engaged in merchandising until appointed postmaster on the 23nd of July, 1897. He has since occupied the office and his administration of its affairs has been practical, businesslike and systematic, showing that he has gained the commendation of all fair-minded citizens.
In 1868 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Fowler and Miss Mary Steward. They have five children: Charles C, a physician in Des Moines, Iowa; Ella D., wife of H. E. Johnson, of Caldwell township; Hattie I., wife of J. C. Bohne, who resides in St. Louis; Bert E., a student in Des Moines; Ethel, in school at home. Mr. Fowler is identified with the Republican party, having long supported its principles, and he maintains pleasant relationship with his old army comrades through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is interested in the moral, intellectual and material development of his community. True to his duty upon southern battlefields, he has been equally loyal to the best interests of his country in times of peace, and is now proving his fidelity to the government by capable service as one of its official representatives.