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Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

Biographies - 1891 History of Harrison County Iowa

Page Fifty One

Niles | A Rice | S Rice | W Rice | Ju Chapman | Jo Chapman | Case | Atwell


NILES - Joseph W. NILES, a representative farmer of Raglan Township, residing on section 12, is numbered among the pioneers who found their way to Harrison county in the autumn of 1856. He pre-empted eighty acres of land and commenced improving it, and remained there four years. He entered the land on time, and finally lost the title to it. Upon coming to the county he did not possess a dollar, and went without his breakfast the first morning because he was too proud to make his case known to the pioneers. He rented land for one year, and was drafted into the Union Army in 1864, reported at Council Bluffs and was rejected on account of disability. He then purchased the farm he now occupies, upon which he built a log cabin 12x24 feet, in which the family lived fifteen years, when his present brick house was erected. The brick in his residence he manufactured himself. Upon his premises may be seen a good barn, granary and cribs; well provided with wind-mills, and an orchard of fifty trees. His present farm comprises two-hundred and sixty acres, ninety of which are under the plow, while the balance is in pasture, meadow and timber land, all surrounded by a substantial and good fence. Our subjects experience in Harrison County, may be divided into three eras, the hard winter 1856-57; the War period and the Railroad era.

He was born in Lyndon, Caledonia County, Vt., September 7, 1829. He is the son of Oliver and Sarah NILES, natives of the Green Mountain State, who had a family of eight children, who were born in the following order: Sarah A., Luther A., Joseph W., Lucius C., Clarinda D., and Annette J., deceased; Sophrona and Wilbur F.

He of whom we write this sketch remained in Vermont with his parents until he reached the years of his majority, at which time he went to Massachusetts and for one year followed the bakery business. We next find him working by the month in Philadelphia, but soon after returned to Vermont, and from there came to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, arriving November 1, 1856. From there he came to Harrison County, in company with his brother, and rented land one year of Lucius MERCHANT, in Magnolia Township, he acting as "matron and general housekeeper." Subsequently he took a claim in Raglan Township, as above referred to.

Believing in the Scripture that "it is not good for man to be alone," on October 28, 1858, he was united in marriage to Nancy M. ALEXANDER, daughter of Napoleon and Lydia C. (MARSHALL) ALEXANDER, natives of new Hampshire, whose nine children were as follows: Nancy M., Ann, Josephine, Eliza, deceased; Princetta, Flora, Joseph, deceased; Levi W., and Henry, deceased.

The children of our subject and his wife are as follows: Lydia R., born June 2,1859; Joseph Oliver, September 28, 1861; Lucius C., March 21, 1863; Clara E., April 15, 1865; Mary A., March 3, 1866; William Oscar, August 30, 1870; Albert F., July 30, 1872 and Sarah S., September 3, 1875.

Mr. NILES politically, affiliates with the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union, while in religious matters he is identified with the Christian Church.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp.795-796
Family Researcher: NA
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RICE - Arthus S. RICE, was born in Magnolia Township, Harrison County, Iowa, April 6, 1859, and remained at home on the farm until the spring of 1880, then worked on the farm for his mother until 1882, when he bought one hundred and twenty acres of land, on sections 3 and 4, of Magnolia Township, which had been fenced and farmed but had no house upon it. He built a frame house upon the place in 1883, which was a 16x24 feet story and a half structure.

Our subject attended Tabor College one year, going there in the autumn of 1879. He was married in Magnolia July 19,1883, to Miss Mabel BRAINARD. They have two adopted children; Charles A., born February 18, 1884, and Eva M. born July 11, 1890.

Mabel (BRAINARD) RICE, was born in Magnolia, September 9, 1861, and remained with her parents until she was married.

Mr. RICE belongs to the Congregational Church while his wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He belongs to the Ancient Order of United workmen, at Magnolia.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp.796-797
Family Researcher: NA
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RICE - Silas RICE, (deceased) came to Harrison County, in June 1855, and that year bought a farm on section 4, of Magnolia Township. In the spring of 1856 he built a story and a half log house, 16x24 feet, now used as a tool house. They lived in that cabin until 1879, when was erected a frame house, two stories high, the upright being 24x30 feet, and an addition 16x20 feet. Upon coming to the county, Mr. RICE bought sixty-six acres of land, without any improvements upon it, and shortly afterwards took a quarter section more, under the Swamp Land Act, and at the time of his death had four hundred and twenty-seven acres. One hundred and twenty-five of this was under cultivation, while the balance was in pasture and meadow land. He was born May 19, 1822, in Franklin County, Vermont, where he remained on his father's farm until 1842, then taught school two terms, and worked at lumbering and quarrying a few years after leaving home. He went to Massachusetts, and remained until 1855, and then came to Harrison County. He was married to New Hampshire., June 11, 1850, to Miss Eleanor S. TAYLOR and they had seven children�Emma M., Dell S., Eugene T., Arthur s., Wilber B., Mamie E., and Hattie E. Emma and Hattie are the deceased.

Mr. RICE died March 9, 1874. All who knew him held him in the highest esteem, as a man of the most solid convictions, who loved the right and despised the wrong; an upright character moulded under the severely correct ideas of New England. A character which stands out with the prominence of the lofty white oak of the forest.

He was chosen Deacon of the Congregational Church in 1856 and was such at time of death.

Eleanor S. (TAYLOR) RICE, was born October 19, 1829, in Franklin County, Vt., and when a small girl her parents died, and she went to live with her uncle William BUCKNAM, with whom she remained until the date of her marriage.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 797
Family Researcher: NA
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RICE - Wilber B. RICE, was born at Magnolia, Iowa, April 23, 1862, and remained at home with his parents until the spring of 1884, when he went to Brown County, Neb., and took a homestead, remained one year and then sold and came back to Harrison County, and bought one hundred and twenty acres of home-farm, where he still lives. He carries on the whole farm including his own land.

In 1882-83 he attended the Iowa Agricultural College, at Ames, and was married September 1, 1887, to Miss Susie L. MORRIS, and they are the parents of two children; Carl M., born June 11, 1888; and Clara T., born March 8, 1891, died March 11, 1891.

Susie L. (MORRIS) RICE, was born at Woodbine, Iowa, October 25, 1865, and the following year her parents moved to Magnolia.

Mr. Wilbur RICE is a member of Magnolia Lodge, No. 126, of A. F. & A. M. He and his wife, as well as his father and mother, are members of the Congregational Church.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp.797-798
Family Researcher: NA
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CHAPMAN - Judah CHAPMAN, a resident of Cass Township, was born in Wiltshire, England, October 8, 1843, and in company with his parents sailed for America when he was eighteen years of age. The family went to Utah, where they remained until the spring of 1864. On his way back from Salt Lake he stopped at Ft. Bridger and worked at farming one summer, and in the fall came to Florence, Neb., where he was engaged at railroad work the following winter.

December 25, 1867, he was united in marriage with Deborah BLAIR, a native of England, born June 16, 1848, the daughter of David and Deborah J. BLAIR. She was the fourth of a family of seven children, and is now the only survivor. She accompanied her parents from England, in 1856, and the father died while crossing the plains on their way to Utah. The mother is now the wife of Thomas CHAPMAN.

Our subject and his wife have reared a family of seven children�Rebecca J., born July 22, 1868; Elizabeth I., born February 28, 1870, died September 4, 1873; David T., August 11, 1873; James B., born July 26, 1876, died February 23, 1881; Ella Z., January 21, 1879; Louisa B., November 24, 1882; one died in infancy, born November 19, 1887.

Upon coming to Harrison County in 1865, the CHAPMAN family rented a part of the Lindley EVANS farm for two years, after which time our subject purchased eighty acres of land in Union Township, on section 10, and there remained for seven years after which he rented for five years, and then purchased his present place, consisting of one hundred and twenty acres, on sections 28 and 33, the same being wild land. He at once began improving and erected his spacious farm house, the upright of which is 14x24 feet, one and a half stories high and an addition 14x14 feet.

When Mr. CHAPMAN first started for himself he had one pony, which he traded for a span of colts and out of these grew a team. By working other men's land, using their team to work his own land, with good management and a great amount of hard work, and materially aided by the labors of his good wife, they are now in possession of a comfortable and happy home.

At the time when Mrs. CHAPMAN crossed the plains, then known as the Great American Desert, their household goods were hauled by hand-carts the entire distance, from Iowa City through to the wilds of Utah. Many of the famous band of Mormon believers perished through hunger and exposure, the details of which the pages of history will never have anything like a comprehensive account of. When about two hundred miles from Salt Lake President Brigham YOUNG sent teams out and conveyed the almost perishing remnant of the band the remainder of their journey. Mrs. CHAPMAN'' father died at the point known as Rocky Ridge.

Mr. and Mrs. CHAPMAN are both devout and consistent members of the Latter Day Saint's Church, she having been a member since eight years of age, while her husband has been identified with this denomination for the past twenty years. It may be added that Mrs. CHAPMAN'S father was an Elder (minister) in this church and died in abiding convictions of his faith. Politically, our subject is a Democrat.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp.799-800
Family Researcher: NA
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CHAPMAN - John CHAPMAN, JR., a resident farmer of section 6, in Washington Township, has been a resident of the county for twenty-one years, coming as he did in the autumn of 1870, and settling on the Pigeon, in Union Township (section 4), where he bought forty acres of wild land, which he improved and lived upon until the spring of 1877. He sold this place in the fall of 1877, and the following spring moved to Harrison County, Mo., where he purchased a farm and remained until July, 1880, when he sold and came back to this county, and purchased a farm on section 4, the same being but partly improved, there being about thirty acres of breaking, but no house upon it. To this he added forty acres more, upon which he built a small house, and remained there one winter, and the following spring bought the Fry farm in the same section, which was an improved forty-acre tract. The buildings he had erected upon his other place, he moved, and tore down those that were on the Fry farm and built new ones. Here he remained until the spring of 1891, when he moved to his present place, which he bought in the autumn of 1890, it belonging to two different parties. One of his farms contains one hundred and thirty-six acres, and the other eighty acres, both of which are well improved. The one on section 4, he rents.

Our subject was born in Wilkshire, England, at the town of Westlavington, September 20, 1845, where he remained until 1861, and then emigrated to America, coming direct to Florence, Neb., at which point he remained a few days, and then went to Rockport, Neb. His parents and the family went to Salt Lake, Utah.

He enlisted in the United States service, at Omaha, Neb., October 20, 1863, as a member of Company D, First Nebraska Cavalry, and was on the frontier, fighting Indians, and guarding emigrant trains. He was honorably discharged at Omaha, August 18, 1864, then returned to Florence, where he remained until winter and then hired out to drive ox-teams in a freight train across the plains, his older brother, James, being with him in the same train. They got as far as Cotton Wood Springs, but there were snowbound, and had to return to Florence, where our subject spent the remainder of the winter. After which he went to Rockport, Washington County, Neb., and there remained until 1868, and then came back to Douglas County, Neb., where he farmed for the first time. He rented in that vicinity until the fall of 1870 and then came to Harrison County, Iowa.

He was married in Washington County, Neb., March 5,1868, to Miss Martha I. WILSON and they are the parents of eight children�Millie J., born august 4, 1869; Alfred W., March 12, 1872; Richard F., June 22, 1874; Alice E., October 6, 1876; Harriet I., April 1, 1879; John G., April 15, 1881; Katie L., January 15, 1884 and Gertie M., June 21, 1887. John G. died September 16, 1881

Martha (WILSON) CHAPMAN, wife of our subject, was born in Taylor County, Iowa, March 12, 1851, and in the spring of 1865, moved with her parents to Pottawattamie County, where they remained until fall and then moved to Florence, Neb., remained there until the spring of 1866, when they moved to a farm in the same county, remained one season and then moved to Washington County, Neb., where our subject's wife remained until the date of her marriage.

Mr. and Mrs. CHAPMAN are both members of the Latter Day Saints Church; they united July, 1874. Of their family, Millie J., Alfred W., Alice E. and Harriet I. are also members of the same church. Mr. CHAPMAN has held and still retains the office of township trustee.

The father of Mrs. CHAPMAN, William A. WILSON, was born in Kentucky, March 24, 1821, and in 1835, with his parents moved to Indiana, where he remained until 1845 and then came to Taylor County, Iowa, and from there to Pottawattamie County in 1865. The same fall, he moved to Florence, Neb., and in the spring of 1867, to Washington County, Neb., where he remained until 1869, then removed to Douglas County, where he died March 4, 1891. Sarah J. (GUILL) WILSON, the mother of our subject's wife, was born in Kentucky and died in Douglas County, Neb., November 14, 1866. They were the parents of ten children; five sons and five daughters, Mrs. CHAPMAN being the third child.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp.802-803
Family Researcher: NA
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CASE - George A. CASE, who has been a resident of Harrison County since 1865, and who is now a resident of Cass township, living on section 9, will form the subject of this biographical notice.

He came to the county with his parents, who remained at Twelve-Mile Grove for one year, and then moved to Jefferson Township, near the village of Jeddo. After four or five years, our subject purchased land north of Jeddo, where he remained until his removal to Cass Township, in the spring of 1889. He began working out when about sixteen years of age, following this for six years, and after reaching his majority he rented land for five years, and in the spring of 1883, purchased a piece of land on section 3, of Cass Township, which he farmed for three years. He sold this place, or rather exchanged, for his present farm of eighty acres, on sections 9 and 10, upon which there was a small house, to which he added an upright, 14x20 feet and a kitchen 14x22. He later built a good barn, provided his stock-yard with a windmill and made general improvements such as one sees on most of the Harrison County farms.

Our subject was born in Jones County, Iowa, August 4, 1854, and is the son of James R., and Alice B., (HEARN) CASE. He is the third child of a family of seven children. He accompanied his parents from Jasper County to Harrison County,

He was married February 18, 1885, to Ella M. HUNT, daughter of Jasen Z. and Mary (KING) HUNT, WHO WAS BORN February 15, 1861. Their children are, Hume, born August 9, 1888 and Orvill L., March 26, 1890. Politically, Mr. CASE is identified with the Republican party.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp.801-802
Family Researcher: NA
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ATWELL - Watson C. ATWELL, a farmer residing in Little Sioux Township, and one of those who found their way to Harrison County in 1877, was born in Grafton County, N.H., in 1842. He is a son of Horace and Alice (LUND) ATWELL, both of whom are deceased, and who were natives of New Hampshire. His grand-father was James and his grand-mother Sarah (LAWRENCE) ATWELL, while on the mother's side the grand-parents were Stephen and Rachel SHED.

In our subject's father's family there were five children, our subject being the third: David, now living in New Hampshire; Hannah (deceased); W. C., our subject; Maria M., now Mrs. FOSTER, of New Hampshire, and Eldora, deceased.

Our subject spent his early life in the old Granite State, and there obtained his education at the common schools. He began tilling the soil for himself in New Hampshire, in 1865, and continued it until he came to Harrison County, in 1877, when he located on section 23, of Little Sioux Township. In 1882 he removed to his present place, which consists of seven hundred acres, three hundred of which are under cultivation. Our subject has a beautiful farm and everything shows him to be a man of thrift and order, and no one appreciates the fertile soil of Harrison County more than a man who was reared among the rock-billed hills of old New Hampshire.

Mr. ATWELL was married in 1873 to Nellie L. WILMOT, the daughter of Ira and Eliza E. (ROBERTS) WILMOT, both of whom are still living in New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs. ATWELL are the parents of one child, Valedo C., born March 13, 1874.

Mr. ATWELL is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, believing as he does, that this party gives to the American people the best form of self-government.

When Mr. ATWELL came to Harrison County he purchased ten acres of land and by the dint of his own industry, has accumulated his large farm. His first ten-acre lot was the only land enclosed by a fence between the River Sioux and the Monona County line. From a herd of eight cattle our subject has increased until now has two hundred and twenty-five head, also three hundred hogs and sixteen head of horses, all showing what a man can do in the Hawkeye State, through a series of years.

Source: 1891 Harrison County Iowa History, pp. 585
Family Researcher: NA
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