[Page 795] J. Tasker, dealer in boots and shoes, established his present business at Clear Lake in 1869, prior to any similar enterprise in the vicinity. He was born in England in 1829, and learned the details of the shoemaker's craft in Sheffield. Some years before he reached his majority an elder brother came to America, and settled at Council Hill, Ill. He is a clergyman by profession.

When, Mr. Tasker, of this sketch, was twenty-one years of age, the family started to establish a home in this country, leaving behind one son, who still lives at Sheffield. The purpose of their emigration was never accomplished, as the father, mother and eldest daughter died of cholera while en route from New Orleans. The remaining children settled at Council Hill. Mr. Tasker went, after a few years, to Wisconsin, residing in Grant, and subsequently in Crawford counties.

He married Cordelia M. Scellinger, a native of New York. Two of five children are still living - Josephine and Newell. Two children died in infancy. Tina, an estimable young lady, died March 30, 1883, aged nearly twenty-three years. She was universally beloved, and her name and memory are perpetuated in the style of Tina lodge of the Order of Rebecca, at Clear Lake.

[Page 888] D. Taylor, who has been a resident of [Lincoln] township since 1868, was born in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., Feb. 24, 1817. His parents were Nathaniel and Eunice (Draper) Taylor. He was reared on a farm and married to Amelia A. Braydon. In 1844 he moved to Columbia Co., Wis., and in 1868 came to Iowa. His wife died Jan. 12, 1876, leaving three children, one of whom was living in 1883 — George D.

He married Clarissa Whitman, Dec. 25, 1877. In politics he is a republican. He has been a member of the Methodist Church over forty years.

[Page 652] Joseph S. TEED, owner of a farm of one hundred and seventy acres in sections 25 and 26, is an Englishman and one of those who were not born farmers but took up the calling from choice after a trial of other things. The methods employed by him have been to the point and his farm is now excellently improved, an achievement entailing an immense amount of labor, for it included grubbing out by hand.

Mr. TEED was born at Wisbige, Cambridgeshire, England, December 24, 1854. He remembers nothing of his birthplace, however, for his parents Thomas and Elizabeth (WARNER) TEED, came to America in 1856 and located in Union Grove, Wisconsin.

The father [Captain Thomas TEED] was a miller and baker by trade and had also follwed the sea to a considerable extent. In course of time he removed to Chicago, where he owned and sailed a boat on the lakes. He sold this and bought a mill at Libertyville, Illinois, which he managed for two years, or until it was burned in 1862. He thereupon returned to Chicago and resumed sailing [tug boats], which he followed until his retirement, three years being spent in Cerro Gordo county. His last yeras were spent in the old home, Union Grove, Wisconsin, where he died in 1892, at the age of seventy-two. The mother was also a native of England. After her husband's death she made her home with her son near Clear Lake, her death occurring there March 21, 1906, at the age of eighty-two. She was an active member of the Methodist church. There were four children besides Mr. TEED: Jane [(1844-1864)] and Robert [(1845-1891)], deceased; Thomas [(1847-1920)] of Union Grove, Wisconson; and Emma [(1852-1877)], deceased.

Mr. [Joseph S.] TEED spent his early days in Wisconsin and Illinois and received a good common schooling. He was principally occupied in sailing the great lakes until 1894, when he removed to Clear Lake township, Cerro Gordo county, where he has since made his home. When he and his fther and brother first came to Cerro Gordo county in 1878, they bought two boats, which they operated for three years upon Clear Lake and in the winter Mr. TEED conducted a cooper shop. He returned to Chicago in 1881 and again sailed the Great Lakes as he had done from boyhood.

In April, 1894, he came back to Cerro Gordo county and located in his present home which had previously been purchased near Clear Lake. He did not yet give up lake navigation, but was for some time associated with Edward Green in this business. He purchased eighty acres of land, and has added to this until he now possesses one hundred and seventy acres.

On December 5, 1882, Mr. TEED was married in Chicago to Miss Emma WOSKIE, born in Climan, Wisconsin, February 2, 1862. She is the daughter of Julius and Ann (GAY) WOSKIE, natives of Germany and England respectively. The father, who was an expert wagon and carriage maker, died at the time of the Civil war, while serving as a member of a Wisconsin regiment. The mother married again and has lived in Clear Lake since 1875. She is now eighty-one years of age. Mrs. TEED was one of five children, Henry of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, is a railroad engineer on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad; George, also an engineer, was killed on the road; Otilla resides at Clear Lake; and Elizabeth, now Mrs. SCOTT, resides in Wascea, Minnesota.

To Mr. and Mrs. TEED have been born the following six children: Thomas, who died in August, 1900, at the age of seventeen years [of typhoid]; Artie, born June 4, 1887; Lizzie, born July 8, 1890, and died in February [25], 1909, while a student at Memorial Universty; Mabel, born in Chicago, March 26, 1894 [(died 1969)]; Gae, born April 19, 1898 [(died 1958)]; and Ethel, born September 21, 1900 [(died 1993)].

Mr. TEED gives a staunch allegiance to the Republican party and takes a lively interest in matters pertaining to the general good. His wife has served as school treasurer. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and his wife to the Royal Neighbors. Artie TEED [(1887-1952)] is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Sons of Veteran.

NOTE: Emma (WOSKIE) TEED died at the aged of 67 years on August 13, 1929, Clear Lake. Joseph Sargison "Joe" TEED died at the age of 74 years on December 6, 1929, Clear Lake.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2011

[Page 639] D. W. Telford, attorney, real estate and loan broker, is located in the postoffice building in Mason City, where he has been operating since Dec. 24, 1881. He was born in DeKalb Co., Ill., Nov. 17, 1851. His parents, Francis and Julia Ann (Sutton) Telford, were married in De Kalb county and there reared their family, three sons and two daughters. Mr. Telford is the eldest son. He was brought up on a farm, went to the public schools and attended Madison University of Wisconsin.

He entered the law office of Lowell, Kellum & Cames, afterward Lowell & Cames, at Sycamore, Ill., in 1877, to read law. He was admitted to the bar in Illinois in 1879, and continued in the office until the fall of 1880. He has, by attention to business, secured a considerable share of the legal business of the city and surrounding country.

Mr. Telford was married in 1880 to Miss J. M Waterman, daughter of Lyman Waterman, of Sycamore, Ill. They have one daughter - May Pearl. Mr. Telford belongs to the Knights of Pythias.

[Page 947] Frank E. Temple, one of the early settlers of Cerro Gordo county, purchased his present home in the spring of 1856 on section 23, living, however, in Mason City, renting land, but in the meantime continued improving his farm until 1866, when he built a comfortable residence and removed to his own home.

He was born in Gilsum, Cheshire Co., N. H., and was reared on a farm. When twenty-one years of age he worked in a woolen factory at Gilsum and later at Harrisville.

He was married Feb. 13, 1855, to Lucy A. Rugg, born in Sullivan, Cheshire Co. In the same spring they emigrated west, remaining awhile at Whiteside, Ill., then coming to Mason township. Mrs. Temple was one of the first teachers in the county. Mr. Temple has filled offices of trust in the town and is one of the school board.

[Page 810] In the spring of 1855 Charles Tenney, a native of Maine, and George Frederick, a German by birth, came from Kenosha Co., Wis. They came from McGregor on foot. Tenney selected the west half of the northeast quarter of section 8 and also bought the southeast quarter of that section. Frederick chose land in Rock Grove.

Mr. Tenney walked to the land office at Des Moines to enter his land. From there he went to Grinnell, Iowa, where he was joined by Frederick and they returned to Wisconsin, and in July of the same year they started back to Iowa with ox teams. In company with them were John Brown and Henry Senior, who settled in what is now Portland township. They were four weeks on their way. Tenney built a log cabin on his land which he covered with shakes and then laid puncheon floor.

He and his comrade Frederick were both single men and kept bachelor hall together; but Frederick married the following fall and settled on section 5, where he now resides. Tenney married two years later. He now lives on section 6.

[Page 683] Charles W. Tenney was the first of the family to come to Falls township, Cerro Gordo county, where he still resides. He was born Feb. 16, 1834. In pioneer days he often visited northern Iowa, south western Minnesota and Dakota, hunting and trapping. He was the first treasurer and recorder of Cerro Gordo county and has also been county surveyor He was also a member of the board of supervisors and was elected to the lower house of the State Legislature, the district at that time comprising the counties of Cerro Gordo, Worth, Winnebago and Kossuth. He has been twice a trustee of the Iowa State Agricultural College, served in all about seven years, but resigned in 1882 because of ill health, being succeeded by Governor Kirkwood.

He has been married twice. His first wife was Mary A. La Due, to whom he was married Sept. 12, 1857, by whom he had eight children - Thomas L. D., Edward H., Mary E., (deceased when two years of age), Charles I., Nina A., Mattie P., Hattie I. and Georgie H., (died in infancy). May 5, 1875, he married Anna E. Hays, of Cincinnatus, N. Y. They have had three children - Johnnie H., (deceased), Dewitt C. and Albert W. Charles W.

Tenney's home is Beaver Grove, his stock farm adjoining the village of Plymouth, which he helped to found. His east and home farms contain about 700 acres of prairie and timber land, well watered by Beaver Dam creek and Rocky Branch. He is greatly interested in agricultural pursuits, and was a member of the first class in the first agricultural college in the United States. His failing health prevents his being actively engaged in any occupation at the present time.

[Page 682] In the fall of 1858 Rev. Thomas Tenney was elected superintendent of schools and served until Jan. 1, 1860. Rev. Thomas Tenney was born in Bradford, Mass., (now Groveland), in 1798. His parents soon after removed to Chester, N. H, where he was reared on a farm.

When eighteen years of age he became interested in spiritual matters. His mother, a true daughter of the Puritans, and one of the most prayerful women of that age, earnest in her teachings and consistent in her example, led him by her influence to commence his career as a Christian, with the resolution to devote his life to the glory of God. This became the watchword and aim of his life. He now began to feel the need of an education, which would then better fit him for his chosen life work. Through many hardships and much self denial he obtained an education, graduating at Dartmouth College as valedictorian of his class, as well as taking two other college honors. There were several members of his class who were afterward quite distinguished. He afterward assisted a younger brother through the same school and was always very considerate in helping, not only his kindred, but other young men of promise who were seeking an education.

He was married in 1827 to Martha T. Parker, of Dunbarton, N. H. After completing his theological studies he was principal of an academy in Hampton, N. H., during 1827-8, and the following year he presided over a school of high order in Portland, Maine, after which he settled in Standish, where he served as pastor for six years. The Unitarian question was at that time disturbing the churches of the northeast, and though a remnant in Rev. Tenney's church clung to their beloved pastor and the religion of their parents, yet the agitation led to his leaving Standish and accepting a position as teacher in Gorham Academy, Maine, in which a female department had just been organized. He remained here four years as a teacher.

At the close of this period, 1839-40, he accepted an invitation to become principal of a prominent school in Austinburg, Ohio, where one of his pupils was John Brown, Jr., a son of Ossawattamie Brown. Austinburg was an important town on the underground railroad, and many of the colored people escaping from slavery were assisted by the citizens and students. Mr. Tenney's views on slavery were in advance of those generally held in the northeast, and though never adopting the extreme views held by the Garrison school, yet he keenly felt the shame of the north in being linked with slavery, and was fearless in speech and efforts for the abolition of human bondage. He remained principal of Grand River Institute in Austinburg for seven years, training up a corps of young men and women as teachers and workers for God. But the desire to preach the gospel became as a pent up fire within him, and about the year 1847 he went to Wisconsin, preaching in Beloit, Waukesha and other places, and then settled in Somers, Wis. Here, amid a fluctuating population, he was very successful. Feeling that his talents and energies would be of use in nursing the then feeble churches of Iowa, he with his wife and two children, Henry M. and Emma Maria, followed his son, Charles W., to Cerro Gordo county, where he was the pioneer in founding the Congregational churches in this section, and assisted materially in the building of several church edifices, in Mitchell, Mason City, Rock Falls and other places. The Congregational Association for this district was in session when the news of Rev. Tenney's death reached them, and nearly the entire Association attended his funeral.

His Wife and companion in all his labors, Martha T. (Parker) Tenney, only survived him about two years. She was born in Bradford, Mass., Jan. 23, 1804, and afterwards graduated at Bradford Academy, near Boston, where she was engaged several years as a teacher. She was a true helper in all his toils.

They had eight children; three of them were buried in Maine, and the youngest, Emma Maria, died at Plymouth, Iowa, Oct. 9, 1863, being a young lady of remarkable intellect and lovely disposition. Of the four surviving children, the eldest, Mary Eliza, has never resided here. She was educated at Austinburg and Mt. Holyoke. She was an anti-slavery writer under the nom de plume of Mary Irving, and was a teacher in Shibideaux Female Seminary, near New Orleans, at the breaking out of the rebellion. She then went as a missionary to Asia Minor, and was afterwards married to Cyrus Hamlin, D. D., of Constantinople, who is now president of Middlebury College, Vermont.

Henry M. came to Iowa with his father, and now resides in Falls township. He was educated at Oberlin College, Ohio. He enlisted in company B, 32d Iowa Volunteer Infantry, was promoted to first lieutenant in a colored regiment, but having lost his health, he resigned about the close of the war, and returned to his farm. He married Louisa La Due, by whom he has six children.

[Page 880] Joseph Thada owns eighty acres of land on section 7, which he has put in creditable condition. The improvements are first class and buildings good. He purchased the property in 1874, of Fred Langenberg. Mr. Thada was born at Mecklenberg, Germany, in 1842. At the age of fourteen he came to America with his father, John Thada. His mother, Sophia Thada, died in Germany. The senior Thada, located at Green Bay, Wis., where he yet lives.

Joseph Thada married Agnes Schiller, born in Germany, in 1853. Her parents came to America in 1858 and settled near Green Bay, Wis. They now live in Lake township, Cerro Gordo county. Mr. and Mrs. Thada have five children - Nathalie E., Hattie E., Bertha M., Sylvia A. and Oscar V.

[Page 886] Amos Thomas, a settler in Cerro Gordo county, is a son of Rufus and Mary (Ford) Thomas, the former a native of New York and the latter born in Connecticut. He was born in Herkimer Co., N. Y , Jan. 8, 1834. The family transferred their residence to McHenry Co., Ill., in 1837, and in 1854 to Winona Co., Minn., where the senior Thomas died, in 1877. The mother died in Cerro Gordo county in 1882. Of the children, brothers and sisters of Amos, four are still living - Louren, Rufus, Charles and Lorenzo.

Mr. Thomas was brought up a farmer, and 1857 went to McHenry Co., Ill., and was married to Mary Westcott. After that event he returned to Winona.

In 1864 he enlisted in company K, 11th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the Union service until the close of the war. He settled on section 16, Lincoln township, in 1866, where he now owns 160 acres of land which is in an excellent state of cultivation.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have six children - Janette, Polly, Clara, Cora, Alice and an infant son. Mr. Thomas is a republican in politics, and is warmly interested in educational matters.

[age 886] Emory Osgood Thompson has been a prominent citizen of Cerro Gordo county since 1866. He was born in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., Aug. 22, 1814. He was brought up on a farm and received an excellent education in an academy. In 1836 he went to Wisconsin and was there engaged eighteen months in surveying.

In 1838 he returned to New York and was married to Lucinda Hildreth. In 1853 he again went to Wisconsin, where he followed farming, in Green Lake county. He enlisted in the Union service in 1861, enrolling in the 57th Illinois regiment, Volunteer Infantry, and after serving a year was discharged on account of physical disability. He was under fire at the battles of Shiloh and Fort Donelson.

Mrs. Thompson died in 1880, leaving eight children - Julius, Julia, Alice, Lucy, Emma, Rozella, Mary and Nellie. Mr. Thompson was afterwards married Dec. 2, 1882, to Mrs. Nancy Williams. He has been actively interested in local and county politics most of his life. He has acted as county supervisor and has held several township offices. Among other positions of prominence, he has occupied that of postmaster at Rockwell for fourteen years. In religious sentiment he has been a Baptist from youth.

Ira Williams, the first husband of Mrs. Thompson, was the second settler in Lincoln township. He was born in Montgomery Co., N. Y., in 1809, and was reared on a farm. He was married in 1834 to Nancy Richardson, and emigrated, in 1845, to Illinois. In 1855 he came to Cerro Gordo Co., Iowa, and lived one year on the west bank of the Shell Rock river, in Falls township, and then took up his residence on section 24, Lincoln township. He was a soldier for the Union three years. He died in 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Williams reared nine children, seven of whom are living - Cynthia, Reuben, Ellen, David, Lemuel, Mary and Gilbert.

[Page 947] Mrs. Lucina Thompson, one of the early settlers of Cerro Gordo county, came here in the fall of 1855 and located in Mason City. She was born in the town of Sullivan, Cheshire Co., N. H., April 10, 1807. Her parents were Dolphon and Aseneth Gibbs.

She was married June 4, 1830, to Benjamin Thompson, also of Cheshire county, by whom she had four children, three of whom are now living - Adelbert M., Osman B. and Orrin V. Her husband died Feb. 5, 1850. On the 9th of September, 1856, she married her second husband, Simon Van Patter, who lived in what is now Lime Creek township.

He died April 7, 1858, and in 1860 she married Stephen Miller, who also lived in Lime Creek township, on section 33, and died there Dec. 3, 1866. The widow continued to live here until her death, which occurred Sept. 23, 1875. Mrs. Thompson, at the time of her death, and for several years previous, was a member of the Baptist Church.

[Page 944] Osman B. Thompson, a settler of 1855, was the second son of Benjamin and Lucina Thompson. He came to Cerro Gordo county with his mother in 1855. He was born in the town Gilsum, Cheshire Co., N. H., June 9, 1839. He attended the common school in his native State. In 1856 he engaged as a clerk in a store in Mason City. Soon after his employer moved to Nora Springs, Iowa, and Osman went with him and continued as clerk until 1858, when owing to failing health he determined to try farming. He settled on section 23, Mason township, built a house and commenced improving his land and making a comfortable home, which he still occupies, and is making farming a success.

He was married March 16, 1861, to Emma Adams, of Massachusetts. They have four children - Ella; Jennie, Charles and Shirley. Mr. Thompson's farm is well improved, and in 1883 he enlarged his house. He has taken a lively interest in town affairs, and has filled offices of trust in his township.

[Page ] W. E. Thompson was elected county judge in October, 1 865, by an almost unanimous vote. His term began Jan. 1, 1866, and expired Jan. 1, 1868. Watson E. Thompson came to Mason City in August, 1863, and has since that time been a resident of the county. Judge Thompson's father was a native of Kentucky, and a sea captain by occupation. The family were originally from Connecticut. His mother was of English descent.

W. E. Thompson was born on the ocean, his father being accompanied by his family on his sea voyages. Judge Thompson lost his parents when he was ten or eleven years of age, and was thus early thrown upon his own resources. For several years he followed the sea and engaged in other occupations, going from place to place, as circumstances seemed to direct, in securing a livelihood. He learned the printer's trade in Philadelphia, and at one time set type for Horace Greeley, on the New York Tribune. When about twenty-one years of age, he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and engaged in boating. The late President Garfield was a driver on the canal at that time, and Judge Thompson has frequently seen him when thus engaged.

He was married in Ohio, to Annie Green, who was born near Cleveland, with whom he lived sixteen years, when she died, in Ohio, though four years of their married life were spent in Winnebago Co., Ill. Previous to his marriage he had learned the cooper's trade, at which he worked for several years.

He was at one time a regularly ordained minister in the Universalist Church, in which denomination he preached for seven or eight years. In the spring of 1864 he was engaged as foreman in the office of the Cerro Gordo Republican, published by Horace G. Parker, and was connected with that paper for three years. In 1866 he settled on a farm in what is now Lime Creek township, three miles and a half northwest of Mason City. He was the first justice of the peace of that township, an office he has held most of the time since.

By his first marriage he has four children living - Jane C, wife of John D. Harris who resides at Brecksville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio; Benjamin F., who was in company A, 103d Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Annie, wife of William Cathcart, and Mrs. Nellie E. Rood. The last two live in Pleasant Valley township. By his second marriage, with Mrs. Phoebe Wiggins, he had two children - Elizabeth D. and Asa D., who live in Ohio. Judge Thompson has for the last few years resided with his two daughters in Pleasant Valley township.

Transcriber's Note: Some accounts give his name as Walter E. Thompson.

[Page 982] Major Tiffany located at Mason City in the fall of 1869, when the house of Tiffany Brothers established a grocery and provision trade. Mr. Tiffany sold out, and, in company with Wm. Ensign, bought a stock of ready made clothing, but soon after be again disposed of his interest and started a dry goods store, associated with Wm. Wright. This relation continued three years. In 1881 he began the erection of the brick block which he now occupies. In dimensions it is 22x80 feet, and is two stories above the basement. It is a fine, substantial building, and cost about $6,000. The stock includes a full line of fancy and family grocries.

Mr. Tiffany was born in Columbia Co., N. Y., April 20, 1881. His parents, Robert and Sarah (Nicholas) Tiffany, went to Racine (now Kenosha) Co., Wis., thence to Columbia, and finally to Marquette, where the father died in 1882. Mr. Tiffany was reared on a farm, and was engaged to some extent in lumbering.

He was married in Columbia Co., Wis., to Elizabeth Steinhart, who was born at Kinderhook, N. Y., in 1831. Mrs. Tiffany died Dec. 14, 1881. She was a faithful and consistent Christian, and belonged to the Methodist Church. She is survived by four children - Delilah, Mary, George and Charles. Mr. Tiffany is a member of the Methodist Church, and has been actively identified with the interests of Mason City since he became a resident here.

[Page 994] J. B. Tinker founded his business at Mason City in 1876, prior to any like establishment. His stock is such as the trade at this point demands, and his work is guaranteed. Mr. Tinker was born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Jan. 22, 1847. He was apprenticed to learn his trade at the age of fifteen, and in the fall of 1876 came to Mason City.

He was married in July, 1881, to Maggie L., daughter of G. C. Wood. She was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1859, and died Aug. 27, 1882. Mr. Tinker has built up a good business and occupies a fair rank among the tradesmen of Cerro Gordo county.

[Page 825] R. M. Todd, mill owner at Rock, Falls is a native of "Auld Scotia," and was born at Perthshire, July 18, 1836. He was sent to the school in his parish until he had acquired a good degree of education, and in 1852 came to America. Two years later he went to California, where he engaged in mining. In 1858, in company with several others, he made the first exploration up the Frazer river in the Golden State. In 1863 he left California, returned east and settled at Milwaukee, interesting himself in commission business.

He was married in 1865 to Salene Elmore, and three years later went to Minnesota, where he bought a farm in Freeborn county, near Glenville. In 1871 he came to Rock Falls and purchased an interest in the flouring mill, of which he is now sole owner. His fine residence is situated on the south bank of Shell Rock river. Mr. Todd has a family of three children - Charlotte, Helen and Blanche.

[Page 722] W. C. Tompkins, treasurer of Cerro Gordo county, was born in Lockport, N. Y., Jan. 31, 1837. His parents, Enoch and Deborah (Westbrouk) Tompkins, went to Canada West in the year 1838. His father died there in 1846. When Mr. Tompkins was nine years old he went to Freeport, Ill., with a cousin, expecting that his father's family would soon follow, but death took away the head of the household, and Mr. Tompkins, after managing the best he could for about a year, went to Ogle Co., Ill., where he lived seven years with Edwin Francis. He came to Iowa in 1854 and located in Etna township, Hardin county. Two years after he engaged in farming at Iowa Falls, and in the fall of the same year sent for his mother, three brothers and one sister. He set out for Pike's Peak in 1859, and went as far as Leavenworth, Kan., going on to his destination the following season. He returned to Iowa in 1861 and settled at Clear Lake.

In the spring of 1862 he enlisted in company C, 12th United States Infantry. He was soon sent to Fort Hamilton and passed fourteen months there and at Fort LaFayette, New York Harbor. He was engaged in the second riot in New York and joined his regiment in the fall of 1863, and was sent to Culpepper. He experienced some of the heaviest service in the war, including the battles Rappahannock, Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, Pittsburg and Weldon. At the last named place he was taken prisoner and was sent to Libby prison, and six weeks later to Salisbury, N. C. He was exchanged in February following and discharged at Fort Hamilten, N. Y., April 19, 1865. He came back to Cerro Gordo county and engaged in farming.

He was married April 27, 1868, to Jean, daughter of Thomas Duncan, of Clear Lake. Only one of their two children is now living - Earl. Mr. Tompkins is a member of the Masonic fraternity.

[Page 843] David S. Trapp settled on section 4, May 1, 1869, where he now resides. He first purchased seventy acres of Joseph Barnes, but has since increased his farm to 146 acres. He has made nearly all the improvements, built a fine residence in 1878, and set out and cultivated a fine grove, mostly soft maples. He was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., in December, 1826; removed with his parents, Uriah and Sarah Trapp, to Wayne Co., Ohio., where they lived until their decease. David S. Trapp was an early settler in Dodge Co., Minn., in 1856, where he owned a farm adjoining Kasson Village.

He married Margaret Long, a native of Ohio. They have nine children - William, Theodore, Mary, Frank, Alice, Ida, Charles, Minnie and Lillie. Their oldest son, William, was born in Ohio, and died in Iowa. The youngest child was born here. Mr. Trapp has a fine stone quarry on his farm, from which is obtained all the building stone used in the vicinity.

[Page 730] In April, 1858, Christopher Tucker was elected [county] coroner. He was a son of James H. Tucker, who is mentioned as having been county assessor. Christopher went to Nebraska with his parents, where he still lives, engaged in the cattle trade. Christopher married his wife in Hardin county before coming to Cerro Gordo county. In that early day she was thought to be a remarkable lady, as she could play a fiddle nicely and rattle off the "Arkansas Traveler" in the most approved fashion.

[Page 730] In the fall of 1857 James H. Tucker was elected assessor. Tucker was a Kentuckian. Upon his coming west he first settled in Hardin county, and in 1856, came to Cerro Gordo county and located upon a farm in Owen's Grove. He was a married man and had a large family. Five or six years after his settlement there he removed with his family to Nebraska where he died in 1875.

[Page 958] F. J. Turnure is one of the pioneers of April, 1855, at which time he located at Mason City, working at his trade of carpenter, as well as engaging in other employments and land speculations.

In 1862 he enlisted in company B, 32d Iowa Volunteers, serving three years. He was taken prisoner and kept in Tyler prison thirteen months and nineteen days. After his discharge he resumed his trade, and in 1876 moved to his present home. He has met with some financial reverses, but has always retained the confidence and esteem of his fellow-men.

He was married in 1868 to Miss Helben. They have three children - Hattie May, Frank N. and Fred P.

[Page 984] A. B. Tuttle, a pioneer merchant, has been largely identified with the interests of Cerro Gordo county since he first settled within her borders, in the spring of 1856. He with his two brothers were pioneers of Clear Lake township, and his residence was the second built in the town of Clear Lake, which was then just laid out. He operated there as a farmer and gave considerable attention to the practice of law. In 1863 he removed to Mason City and embarked in commercial business, and included in his operations traffic in merchandise of varied character, dry goods, boots and shoes, and groceries, but after a time he limited his transactions chiefly to dry goods. His store is among the finest in Mason City, his stock presenting full lines of such merchandise as his patrons demand.

His long and intimate association with the people of Cerro Gordo county has secured a strong support for his business, and a feeling of confidence among his fellow citizens, which has a sure foundation in his manly uprightness and integrity.

Mr. Tuttle was born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., Jan. 24, 1825. He is a son of Ira and Lucy (Brockett) Tuttle, both of whom were natives of Connecticut. Ira Tuttle went, at seven years of age, to reside with his grandfather in Herkimer county. He there passed his youth, grew to man's estate and married. The family included four sons and four daughters, all of whom attained maturity.

Mr. Tuttle, of this sketch, the third son, was brought up on a farm until the age of fourteen, when he became a student at Fairfield Academy, and afterwards finished his "education at Clinton Seminary and Hamilton College, at Clinton. He graduated in 1848. He paid all the expenses of his collegiate course by teaching, and afterward continued his labors as a teacher while pursuing the studies necessary to fit him for an attorney. He was under the preceptorship of Professor Dwight, of Hamilton College. He finished his legal studies in 1851, and in that year was admitted to practice in all the courts of the Empire State.

He was married in 1849 to Harriet M., daughter of Allen Wightman, of Heikimer Co., N. Y.

In 1852 he went to Lake Co., Ohio, and became principal of Madison Seminary, where he remained a year, going thence to Ashtabula, Ohio, where he held for a time the post of principal of the schools. In 1854 Mr. Tuttle removed to Muscatine, Iowa, where he was principal of the High School for a season, and was also admitted to the bar. On his entrance into political life, Mr. Tuttle was an adherent of the free soil party, and on the organization of the republicans, as a factor in the political element, he joined their ranks and has since advocated their principles. About 1860 he was elected county superintendent, and served two years, organizing the first teachers' institute held in this county. He was the second mayor of Mason City, acted as councilman a considerable period, and was for twelve years a member of the school board. The fine public school building, erected at an expense of $30,000, is a lasting and creditable memento of the labors of himself and compeers during his official connection with the educational interests of Mason City.

Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle are the parents of two daughters and one son. Minnie E., eldest daughter, is the wife, of C. H. Hughes, attorney. The others are Hattie W. and Maynard Tuttle. The parents are members of the Baptist Church. It seems only just to Mr. Tuttle to state, that he has acted most vigorously and effectively with the temperance element of his county and State.

[Pages 647 & 653] Dr. A. M. Tuttle, son of E. A. Tuttle, of Clear Lake and one of the early settlers of the county, located at Mason City, in 1877, and for some months represented the homeopathic branch of the medical profession. Dr. Tuttle began the practice of medicine at Clear Lake about 1878 and remaind for several years. He understood his profession, but his service was not what he had expected, and he moved to Britt, Iowa, where he still lives, enjoying a lucrative and ever increasing practice.

[Page 873] Elon A. Tuttle is one of the pioneers of Cerro Gordo county, and resides on section 9, of Lake township. He was born in 1823, in Herkimer Co., N. Y., where he grew to manhood, and was married, after which he went to Cortland county, and there resided twelve years.

In 1855, in company with his brother Marcus, and their respective families, Mr. Tuttle removed to Johnson Co., Iowa, remaining there but a brief period, and the same season they made their way to Cerro Gordo county. Here Mr. Tuttle purchased forty acres of land on section 7, of James Dickirson, the first he owned in the township and which was the nucleus of a farm including 300 acres on which he was resident many years, and which, under his management, became one of the model places in the county, adorned with a most enviable home. Associated with his brothers, Marcus and A. B. Tuttle, he entered a claim of 500 acres, and the same season drew the lumber for his first house from Iowa City. The same fall he built his residence and moved his family from Johnson county. This was the first frame house in what is now Lake township.

The wife of Mr. Tuttle was Orrissa C. Humphreville, born in Herkimer Co., N. Y., in 1823, and died May 14, 1880. Six of Mr. Tattle's seven children are living-Nellie, wife of A. H. Hotelling; Hattie (deceased); Sylvia, wife of Rev. George A. Cressey, resident at Huron, Dakota; Adelmer M., practicing physician at Britt and Lucien, also living in Britt, Hancock county; Nettie, wife of D. D. Howe, of Britt; Sophia, wife of David Howe, a resident of Mandan, Dakota.

Mr. Tuttle and his brothers are popularly and widely known as pioneers of Cerro Gordo county, and rank among the promoters of progress and growth to a fair position among the best counties of the State. A. B. Tuttle resides at Mason City; Marcus Tuttle has settled in Clay county.

After the death of his wife, Mr. Tuttle sold his homestead farm, and has since resided on a quarter section of which he became proprietor in 1855, and on which he built a pleasant home.

[Page 711] Mr. Tuttle is not now a resident of Cerro Gordo county, but Clear Lake township and village can never lose the prestige of his influence and long interest in her affairs. Marcus Tuttle was born in Fairfield, Herkimer Co., N. Y., May 10, 1830. He is the son of Ira and Lucy (Crockett) Tuttle. The Tuttle family is of English extraction, its earliest ancestors having settled at an early period in the colony of New Haven, Conn.

Mr. Tuttle, of this sketch, is the fourth son of a family of eight children - four sons and four daughters. About the year 1842 his father moved to Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y., where he reared and educated his children as circumstances would permit.

Marcus Tuttle strongly cherished an idea of obtaining a liberal education, but decided that another avenue in life would be wiser, and devoted his energies to his father's interests. He was an assiduous reader, and the pictured promises of the Great West seemed to offer a suitable field for the development of his energies and the investment" of the small fortune of which he, by his untiring industry and economy, fast become possessed; and accompanied by two brothers, Elon and A. B. Tuttle, he set forth on a prospecting tour through Iowa. The trio proceeded direct from Des Moines to Clear Lake, traveling by the compass until their eyes were refreshed by the sparkling waters of the lovely lake which gleams and ripples in the June sunshine of 1883, as it did in the June of 1855, when the three sons of the Empire State stood transfixed by its wondrous beauty and saw, almost prophetically, its future of promise which all still live to see fulfilled.

Marcus Tuttle opened a farm of 200 acres on the prairie east of the lake. In 1856 he assisted in laying out the town of Clear Lake, and soon after commenced operating in real estate. He made the public interests of the village and township his own, meanwhile, and stood ready to confront any emergency which seemed to threaten the welfare of the little community He seemed to have the rare faculty of turning his attention to most any business that circumstances appeared to require, and to make a complete success of most any enterprise he might engage in. Seeing that a saw-mill was much needed, he purchased one operated- by steam, set it up in the town, and run it for several years, making market for his surplus lumber by taking jobs and building school houses in Cerro Gordo and adjoining counties. The place being without a general store, he found time to establish a mercantile business, and for several years carried on that enterprise, and became one of the comparatively few who prove themselves to be successful merchants. When circumstances seemed to require we find him engaged in doing a banking and exchange business with his usual success. In the meantime we find him actively engaged in the political and civil affairs of his county and State, and generally a delegate in conventions of the State, district and county. The records of Cerro Gordo show him to have held the office of county judge for one term near the close of the county judge system.

At the opening of the rebellion, being pronounced physically disqualified for army service by the severing of his right thumb in his saw-mill, he was offered and accepted the position of assessor of internal revenue, in his district of four counties, and continued to discharge the duties of the office until near the close of the war, when he resigned to fill the place of State Senator, to which he had been elected in his district, comprising the counties of Butler, Grundy, Franklin and Cerro Gordo. He served his constituency in this position four years; was chairman of committee on commerce, and an active but quiet member, and worked on other committees, including that on railroads.

He was largely instrumental in securing the passage of the bill giving a land grant to the C. M. & St. P. R. It. Co., which resulted in the building of this line of road, through Cerro Gordo county on the present line by Mason City and Clear Lake. An important work of Mr. Tuttle was the framing of the existing county high school law, which he guarded through its passage successfully when many other proposed school laws failed. From the organization of the party he was always a republican, in fact, from a boy he had been a warm abolitionist, and was one of the few who voted to strike the word white from the State constitution when that question was first submitted to a vote, and badly defeated. Yet a few years later he was privileged to see that measure adopted by a large majority. He is practically radical in both his political and religious views and sentiments, yet he is generous and liberal in allowing freedom of views to others. He is always found ready to contribute freely for the building of churches, and promoting the cause of temperance and other like benevolent objects.

He was married, Feb. 4, 1857, to Caroline M. Warner, of Otselic, Chenango Co., N. Y. Their first child, a daughter named Jessie, was the first inmate of the Clear Lake cemetery. Three children are living - Rose, (Mrs. Gilbert B. Mcintosh, of Clear Lake), Frank M. and Anna L.

Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle celebrated their silver wedding Feb 4, 1876. An incident of surprise to the guests on that occasion was the wedding of their daughter, who resides on the homestead on the north side of (Hear Lake park. Mr. Tuttle removed to Spencer, Clay Co., Iowa, in March, 1879, where he had extensive landed interests.

He had become worn and wearied with his arduous life and had resolved to concentrate his means and devote them and his energies to stock-raising, which afforded exclusive out door life. After his settlement at Spencer, the Iowa and Montana Live Stock Company was organized and incorporated, with Mr. Tuttle as its president, which position he still holds. The company now have 1,800 head of cattle on ranch in Montana. The home herd of Mr. Tuttle includes 600 head, many of which are blooded stock. He still owns a fine property at Clear Lake and frequent visits serve to continue his former ties. He has seen Clear Lake village grow from its first shanty to its present prosperity and beauty, and rejoices in its popularity with the same heartiness that characterized every effort he made in the past to advance its substantial progress.