Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 720
FREDERICK H. CADWELL

One of the earliest families to locate in Harrison county, Iowa, was the CADWELL family, the father of Frederick Henry CADWELL having located here in 1854. At that time very little of the county was settled, and the homes were few and far between. Mr. CADWELL's father became a large landowner and influential citizen, and was a prominent factor in the history of the county for half a century. Mr. CADWELL has devoted his whole life to farming, with a measure of success which speaks well for his ability and good management. He has been prominent in the civic affairs of his township and has held various official positions, his services in this connection having given entire satisfaction to his fellow citizens.

Frederick Henry CADWELL, the son of Phineas and Harriett (FISKE) CADWELL, was born on December 8, 1860, in Magnolia township, Harrison county, Iowa. Five children were born to his parents, all of whom are still living, with the exception of one daughter. William, the railroad agent at Michigan Valley, Kansas; Edgar, a farmer of Jefferson township; Frederick H., of Magnolia township; Mrs. Hattie T. TYLER, whose husband is an abstractor and loan agent at Logan, and Mrs. Katherine E. MASSIE; deceased.

Phineas CADWELL was born in Madison county, New York, in 1824, a son of Smith and Sallie CADWELL. The CADWELLs are of Scottish descent, and Phineas CADWELL was able to trace his ancestry back for nine generations. He moved from Madison county, New York, to Wisconsin, where he lived on a farm for twelve years. In 1854 he came with his wife and two children, aged six and two respectively, to Harrison, county, Iowa. He drove an ox team overland from Wisconsin to this county, and seven weeks were required to make the trip. As soon as he arrived in this county he bought virgin land in Magnolia township and began breaking up the land with oxen. He built a log cabin, in which the family lived for the first five years. In order to get a start with chickens he went, in 1855, to his nearest neighbor, seven miles away, to buy a half dozen eggs, which were all his neighbor could spare. On January 1, 1856, a wedding occurred in his log cabin, one of the first in the county. The bride and bridegroom were Hannah WYATT and Frank ADAMS. After the ceremony was over the party noted, to their surprise, a drove of seventeen deer within one hundred yards of the cabin. Undoubtedly the deer had come near the house in search of something to eat, and their presence certainly was a welcome sight to the pioneers. It is needless to state that the family feasted on venison for several days thereafter.

Phineas CADWELL became the owner of six hundred and forty acres of land in the county. In 1771 he was elected a representative on the Republican ticket to the state Legislature of Iowa. He served as county supervisor and president of the Harrison County Agricultural Society for twenty years. In 1894 he moved to Coffey county, Kansas, where he farmed for a few years. He suffered a stroke of paralysis while in that state and returned to Harrison county, where his death occurred on February 26, 1904. He was a member of the church of the Latter-day Saints and was greatly interested in the welfare of this church. His wife, who also was a native of Madison county, New York, her birth having occurred there in 1824, was a member of the Baptist church. She kept a complete diary of the happenings of the vicinity in the early days. She died in 1891.

Frederick Henry CADWELL was reared on the farm where he is now living. He attended the public schools of Magnolia township and later was a student in the high school at Logan. He took charge of the home place when he was twenty years of age, and when he was married his father gave him some land and he has since added to this until he now owns two hundred and forty acres of well-improved land on which he has placed many improvements. He has been very successful in stock raising and has been an extensive breeder of full-blooded Red-Polled cattle, annually feeding from four to eight carloads.

Mr. CADWELL has been twice married, his first marriage occurring on March 15, 1882, on which date he was married to Magdalene ALECK, who was born in Cass township, this county, in 1861, a daughter of Xavier and Christena (GEIGER) ALECK. Her parents were natives of Germany and came to Harrison county in 1856, locating on a farm where they lived the remainder of their lives. The first wife of Mr. CADWELL died in 1902, leaving one child, Mrs. Carrie MCKENNY, whose husband is a farmer in Boyer township. In 1906 Mr. CADWELL married, secondly, Maud WALKER, who was born in 1869, in Magnolia township, this county, a daughter of Frank and Candace (HOPKINS) WALKER, native of Indiana, the latter of whom is deceased, and the former of whom is now making his home with his daughter, Mrs. CADWELL. There are no children to this second marriage.

The Republican party claims the hearty support of Mr. CADWELL, and he has been one of the local leaders of the party for many years. He has served as trustee of Magnolia township, and for a number of years was a justice of the peace. He and his wife are attendants of the Presbyterian church, while fraternally, he holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. CADWELL takes an earnest interest in the various activities of the community in which he resides and has been secretary of the Magnolia Creamery Company, since the organization of that company nineteen years ago.

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