HON. WASHINGTON I. BABB, of the law firm of Woolson & Babb, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, was born in Des Moines County, Iowa, Oct. 2, 1844, and is the son of Miles and Mary (Moyers) Babb. His father was born in Wlkesbarre, Pa., and was of German descent. He went to California during the gold excitement of 1850, and was killed in the mines Dec. 21, 1852, by the caving in of a tunnel. His widow survives her husband resides with her son, W. I., at Mt. Pleasant.

Our subject received his primary education in the public schools of his native county, and when sixteen years of age came to Mt. Pleasant (1860) and entered the Iowa Wesleyan University as a student, and prosecuted his studies till the spring of 1863, when he yielded to the patriotic desire to aid in the defense of the Union, and enlisted as a private of Company E, 8th Iowa Cavalry, and served till the close of the war. His regiment was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland under Gen. Thomas, and participated in the memorable and severe campaigns of the last years of the war. He participated in the battles before Atlanta, at Franklin, Nashville, and in Wilson's raid through Alabama and Georgia in the spring of 1865. He was slightly wounded in the attack on Atlanta, but was not confined to the hospital a single day during the entire service. He was mustered out as a non-commissioned officer Aug. 13, 1865. On his return from the war, he re-entered the Iowa Wesleyan University at Mt. Pleasant, and graduated with high honor in the classical course in June, 1866. He at once entered upon the study of law with Henry Ambler, and well-known attorney of Mt. Pleasant, and was admitted to the bar in December, 1867. On graduating, he formed a law partnership with Mr. Ambler and entered upon the practice of his profession in January, 1868. That connection continued until 1872, when he formed the existing partnership with Hon. John S. Woolson, under the firm name of Woolson & Babb. Mr. Babb has been a close student, and possessing sterling ability, has won a foremost place among the leading lawyers of the State. His well-known integrity and fairness, coupled with a thorough knowledge of his profession and careful attention to details, has won the confidence of his clients and the respect of his brethren of the bar, the courts and juries. His success has been the result of close application and persevering industry, as well as good natural ability.

Mr. Babb cast his first vote while a soldier in the field, during the campaign of 1864, voting for Lincoln and Johnson. He continued to vote with the Republican party till 1868, when becoming dissatisfied with the reconstruction policy of the party, and favorably impressed by the National policy of the Democratic party, he renounced his allegiance to the former and cast his lot with the latter. He has since been an earnest and eloquent advocate of the principles of the Democracy. In 1876 he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for Circuit Judge, but positively declined to allow his name to be used. In 1878 he was nominated for District Judge, and yielding to the earnest solicitation of friends in both parties, made the race and was defeated by only 115 votes in a district that usually gave a Republic majority of about 1,200. While defeated, he had reason to be proud of the result, which demonstrated his personal popularity among the members of both parties. He was again tendered the nomination for District Judge in 1882, at a time when the Republicans, through dissentions over the prohibition question, had fallen into a minority, but declined the honor, preferring to pursue his extensive practice. In 1883 he was strongly urged by influential party friends to become a candidate for the General Assembly, but he refused to accede to their wishes. However, when the convention assembled, he was unanimously nominated, and much against his wish, and at considerable sacrifice, he was induced to make the canvass, which resulted in his election by nearly 100 majority. His course in the Assembly fully justified the warmest expectations of his friends. He soon demonstrated his ability as a legislator and served on important committees, his legal training having prepared him for the rigid investigation of measures under consideration. His conclusions, based on sound reasoning, won the respect and concurrence of his fellow legislators, and he proved a valuable and influential member.

Mr. Babb was married at Mt. Pleasant, Oct. 9, 1873, to Miss Alice Bird, a daughter of Dr. Wellington Bird, a prominent physician of that city. Mrs. Babb was born at Mt. Pleasant. They are the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters: Max W., aged thirteen years; Miles T., aged nine years; Clara Belle, aged four years, and Alice, an infant. Mrs. Babb is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Babb is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of Mt. Pleasant Lodge No. 8, A. F. & A. M., of Henry Chapter No. 8, R. A. M., and of Jerusalem Commandery No. 7, K. T., all of Mt. Pleasant. At one time he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Iowa State Hospital for the Insane, at Mt. Pleasant. He has always taken a warm interest in the cause of education, and done his part in the promotion of learning. At present he is one of the Trustees of the Iowa Wesleyan University, a member of the Executive Committee and its Treasurer. He was elected a Trustee of that institution in 1876, and made a member of the Executive Committee and Treasurer in 1877, which position he has since continuously held.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, p. 485-6)

John Bangs

JOHN BANGS, a prominent pioneer of Henry County, Iowa, first settled in the township of New London May 29, 1838, in company with his father and family. He still resides on the old homestead, where he has a finely improved farm of 440 acres, situated on section 36. Mr. Bangs was born in Yarmouth, Barnstable Co., Mass., Oct. 10, 1826, and is the son of John and Polly (Clark) Bangs. His father was born in Brewster, in the same county. The family is of English origin, and the first to emigrate was Edward Bangs, who landed from the English ship, "Anna," at the Plymouth Colony, Mass., in June, 1621. John Bangs, Sr., was born June 5, 1791, was a sailor in early life, and later a salt manufacturer. his father, John Dillingham Bangs, was born in Massachusetts, Dec. 30, 1757, and his mother, Content (Smith) Bangs, daughter of Charles and Content Smith, was born May 16, 1757, in the same county as her husband. John Bangs, Sr., father of our subject, emigrated from Massachusetts with his family in May, 1838, and purchased a claim on what is now section 36, New London Township, and moved into a little log cabin which the former proprietor had built. His family included his wife and five children, two boys and three girls; one had died in Massachusetts. Polly is the widow of William M. K. Finley, now residing in Davis County, Iowa; Emeline was the wife of O. D. Laughlin, and died Sept. 6, 1851; Bethiah is the widow of O. D. Laughlin, and now resides in New London; John married Miss Latina Cresap, and is a prominent farmer of New London Township, living on the old homestead; James H., who married E. E. Burge, died in 1876. John Bangs, Sr., died July 29, 1860, and his wife on the 10th of September, 1866. They were both honored members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Bangs was a Democrat in his political views in early life, and most uncompromising in his opinions. He was a strong free trade man, and opposed to National banks and monopolies. Later in life he became a Republican, and was just as ultra in his views from that standpoint. He was earnestly patriotic in his sentiments and was a soldier of the War of 1812.

John Bangs, Jr., the subject of this sketch, was married in Danville, Des Moines Co., Iowa, July 2, 1864, to Miss Lavina Cresap, daughter of Joseph Cresap. Mrs. Bangs was born in Maryland, and came to Iowa with her parents in 1850. Three children were born of their union, one son and two daughters: Emma, born July 14, 1865, now the wife of Charles Watkins, resides in New London Township; Cora, born Sept. 24, 1868; and William H., born Jan. 17, 1877. The two youngest reside at home. Mr. Bangs has passed nearly half a century in Henry County as a resident of New London Township, during which time he has contributed his share to the improvement and development of the county. His residence, a fine brick structure, occupies the site of the pioneer cabin of 1838. Mr. Bangs is a Democrat in his views, but not an officeseeker, never having held office except as Supervisor, etc. He is a member of Charity Lodge No. 56, I. O. O. F., of New London.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, p 179.)(JC)

PROF. MATHEW H. BARNES, section 23, Center Township, is a pioneer of 1839. He was born in Spencer Township, Guernsey Co., Ohio, Jan. 12, 1815, and is a son of Ford and Jane (Hennen) Barnes, who emigrated from Greene County, Pa., to Guernsey County, Ohio, in about 1811. In that new country Ford Barnes built a mill on Will Creek, which for many years was known as Barnes' Stone Mill, it being among the first mills in that section of the country. In addition to milling he improved a farm and also laid out the town of Claysville in Guernsey County, naming it in honor of Henry Clay, he being a great admirer of that Statesman. In the second war with Great Britain, Ford Barnes served his country faithfully, as did his father, Job Barnes, the grandfather of our subject, during the Revolutionary War. Of the family of eight children of Ford and Jane Barnes, there are now living: Elizabeth, wife of Francis Dailey, of Guernsey County, Ohio; Mathew H., of Henry County; and Ford Barnes, also of this county. Mrs. Jane Barnes dying about 1825, Ford Barnes subsequently married Mary Roberts, by whom he had a large family, three of whom are now living: Margaret, now residing in Center Township; Sarah, now the wife of Mr. Babcock, of Mt. Pleasant; Mary, now the wife of Edwin Lockwood. Politically, Ford Barnes was an old-line Whig, and religiously, was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. For many years his house was the home of traveling preachers and a place for holding meetings in an early day.

The subject of this sketch was reared in Guernsey County, Ohio, and received his education in the pioneer log school-house, the schools being held upon the subscription plan. On the 10th day of August, 1837, in Muskingum County, Ohio, he wedded Miss Martha Monroe, a distant relative of President Monroe. She was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, in 1818. By this union there was one child who died in infancy.

In April, 1839, Mr. Barnes came with his wife to Henry County, Iowa, and settled on the east half of the southwest quarter of section 23, township 71, range 6 west, now known as Center Township. Here he has since continued to live a period of nearly a half century, and is one of the best known citizens of Henry County. In addition to general farming, for forty-four years he has been engaged as a general auctioneer, attending the greater number of sales within a circuit of twenty miles. In an early day he was engaged in teaching music, using the old buckwheat notes, and was then given the title of professor, a title which has since clung to him. Though never an office-seeker, he has yet held several offices of trust and was Justice of the Peace for many years. In politics he is a stanch Republican.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp. 486-487)(PW)

WILLIAM BASHFORD came to Henry County in the Spring of 1855, and was born May 20, 1821 in Jefferson Co., OH. He was the son of John and Margaret (Dunlap) Bashford, both parents natives of Pennsylvania, of Scots-Irish ancestry. They had 9 children, 3 of whom are living: John M. a resident farmer of Louisa Co., IA; Eli D. resides in Louisa Co., and was for many years a miner in the Rocky Mtns.; and William, our subject. The deceased are Robert C., James, Joseph, Elizabeth, Sarah, and one who died in infancy.

John was a pioneer of Marion Co., OH, settling there in June 1822, and died there July 7, 1847, aged 6 years. Margaret died about 1858.

William went to Seneca Co., OH at age 25 where he spent one winter as a laborer on the railroad he married Nellie Jane Tuttle native of Pennsylvania born Sept 7 1830, daughter of Milton and Lana (Cooper) both natives same state. After his marriage Mr Bashford rented farm for four years then emigrated to Iowa first in Cedar county year Henry co.

He enlisted in the 8th Iowa Vol. Infantry on Dec. 1, 1864, and mustered out May 8, 1866 at Mobile AL. They had 8 children: Lavilda, b. Feb. 1852 and died at age 13; Melissa, b. Oct 25, 1853, and the wife of John Renshaw, they reside in Jewell Co. KS; Ella, wife of Owen Crispin, she was b. Apr.2, 1857; John Milton was b. Mar. 2, 1859, and resides in Logan, KS; William Jr., b. Oct 31, 1861 married Jennie E. Chamberlain, and still resides with his parents; Lana, wife of William Marple, was born Aug. 12, 1865, and resides in Jewel Co., KS; Levina was born Oct 3, 1868 and resides at home; and Eli Dunlap, b. Mar. 18, 1871, and died at age of one year. The Bashfords are members of the Presbyterian Church.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, p. 496)

LEWIS G. BAUGH, of the firm of Leedham & Baugh, manufacturers of and dealers in sash, doors, blinds, etc., Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, was born in Loudoun County, Va., Jan. 9, 1827, and is a son of Lewis K. and Eliza A. (Beedle) Baugh. His father was also a native of Loudoun County, Va., born Nov. 19, 1795. He was a millwright by trade, and came to Iowa in 1855, and died in Lee County, Sept. 10, 1862. His mother was born in Alexandria, Va., Jan. 31, 1797, and died in Clarke County, Ohio, March 5, 1885. Our subject learned the trade of millwright with his father, who had learned it of his father, the grandfather of Lewis G., who died at the good old age of ninety years. On the 21st day of June, 1853, Lewis G. Baugh was united in marriage, in Miami County, Ohio, with Miss Jane Darst, a native of that county, born Sept. 13, 1830, and daughter of Rev. John Darst, a Dunkard preacher of prominence in his State. Her people were among the early settlers of Dayton, Ohio. She has a twin sister, the exact counterpart of herself, living in Christian County, Ill., the widow of Joseph Hackenberg. Her parents had seven children in all, and her mother died when she and her twin sister were but three weeks old, and the infants were brought up by an aunt, with whom they lived until they were about six years old, when, their father having married again, they returned to his home. At the age of ten Mrs. Baugh was taken by another relative, with whom she lived until she was about sixteen, when an elder brother assumed the care of her and her twin sister, and had them educated. With him she lived until her marriage with Mr. Baugh. Besides her sister, she has two brothers now living: Samuel, a carpenter, living near Springfield, Ohio, and Henry H., a practicing physician at Toledo, Ohio. She has also two half brothers and two sisters living.

Mr. and Mrs. Baugh have had five children, only one of whom is now living. Two of their daughters, who had grown to womanhood, together with a son twelve years of age, were victims of diphtheria, and all died within a period of twenty-six days. The only remaining daughter when just entering upon womanhood was drowned. Flora was born Aug. 6, 1854, and died July 5, 1874; Julia was born Nov. 7, 1859, died Aug. 4, 1874; John L., born Aug. 12, 1862, died July 9, 1874; Edith S., born April 19, 1868, was drowned Nov. 7, 1884, in the distressing accident which happened on Tracy's Pond, in Mt. Pleasant, when she lost her life, as did Prof. Wolfe, of the High School; Miss Carpenter, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, a teacher, and a classmate, Miss Ella Teter, by the sinking of a boat. The only survivor of the family is Charles Henry, who was born in Mt. Pleasant, July 21, 1871, and is now attending school in Mt. Pleasant, and employs his leisure time in his father's mill, having given evidence of superior skill, which his father is giving him every opportunity to develop. Some of his handiwork would be creditable to older mechanics, and indicates a decided genius in that line.

Mr. Baugh came to Iowa in November, 1857, and to Mt. Pleasant in May, 1858. He worked at his trade till 1872, when he formed the existing partnership with H. K. Leedham (see sketch) in the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds. The firm of Leedham & Baugh have a large establishment and are doing a fine business. Mr. Baugh is a man of more than ordinary skill in his business, and attends closely to the interior work of the mill, and the marked excellence of the articles manufactured by the firm is largely due to his careful oversight. For thirty years he has been a resident of Mt. Pleasant, and in that time has done his share in building up the city of his adoption. He is a good business man and an excellent citizen. Politically he is a Republican, and socially a member of the I. O. O. F., holding membership with Henry Lodge No. 10, of Mt. Pleasant, joining that body in Ohio when he was twenty-one years old.

When the partnership of Leedham & Baugh was formed, May 9, 1872, nearly sixteen years ago, preparations were at once begun to erect the mill, and that season the main building was finished. It is three stories high and is 45x60 feet in dimensions. The following year they added a building 20x28, two stories in height, principally used for storage of manufactured goods. These buildings being not yet large enough to accommodate their rapidly growing business, the next year they added another 22x44, and two stories high; a drying-house, 18x50, two stories, was the next, and a couple of years later another building was put up, size 30x50, likewise two stories high. These, with stables, and sheds, give them ample facilities for their large trade, which still keeps growing. Power is furnished by a sixty horse-power engine. When the firm first began they employed six men, but now have fourteen hands at work, who, with the greatly improved machinery invented and put into the mill of late years, turn out more than four times the amount of work formerly done. In round figures, their product the first year was worth $8,000. Last year it footed up $40,000, showing a decidedly healthy growth. They now handle between eighty and 100 carloads of lumber each year, and have a steady demand for all they can turn out. Their trade is mostly local, but they ship goods to other States, to Nebraska, Missouri, etc. They have also a special trade on walnut house brackets, which they send all over the country.

The steady growth of the business of this firm is due to the reputation they have earned of always turning out honest work, fully up to and generally a little better than it is represented to be. The trade fully appreciate this, and consequently the firm is never at a loss for customers, as one once made is secured for good. The result is that while other factories of the kind suspend a part of each year, these works are never shut down except for necessary repairs.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp 250-252)(JC)

John Becker

JOHN BECKER, a prominent and wealthy farmer of New London Township, on section 18, post-office Mt. Pleasant, has a well-improved farm of 333 acres of prairie land. His farm is a beautiful place, formerly known as the homestead of the late Prof. Howe, situated on the Mt. Pleasant and Burlington wagon road, four miles east of the former city. Mr. Becker was born in the town of Middleburg, Schoharie Co., N. Y., March 15, 1817, and is the son of Peter A. L. and Helen (Van Wie) Becker. His father was born in Albany County, N. Y., and was a descendant from the early Holland emigrants of that region, and his mother was born in the same locality, and was also of Holland descent.

Our subject grew to manhood on a farm and was married in his native county, July 5, 1840, to Miss Christina Silvernail, a daughter of Andrew and Helen Silvernail. She was born in the same county and town as her husband, on the 5th of September, 1820. Nine children were born of their union, six sons and three daughters, all of whom are living at this writing. John F., the eldest, was born in Middleburg, N. Y., March 25, 1841, and married Louisa Morrison, and is now residing in Southern Florida; William was born in Geneva, N. Y., Nov. 19, 1842, and married Catharine Rhodes, and resides in Smith Center, Smith Co., Kan.; George was born in Geneva, N. V., Oct. 23, 1844, and married Lethe Graham, and resides in Sarpy County, Neb., and has six children; Erskine was also born in Geneva, N. V., Oct. 12, 1846, married Hester Morehead, has four children, and lives on the old homestead in New London Township, Henry County; Mary was born Oct. 21, 1851, and is the wife of W. S. Wright, of New London Township, and has four children; Jacob was born Aug. 30, 1853, married Maria Hedge, has four children, and resides on a farm in New London Township; Elizabeth was born Sept. 14, 1856, is the wife of Clifton Clarke, has one child, and resides in Jefferson Township, Henry County; Wriley was born July 22, 1859, and is living in Western Kansas; Della was born June 17, 1862, and resides with her parents. The five younger children were born in Huntington County, Ind.

Mr. Becker removed with his family to Geneva, N. Y., in 1842, and from there to Huntington County, Ind., in 1851, where he engaged in farming until 1865, when he came to Iowa and located in New London Township, where he still resides. Two of Mr. Becker's sons served in the late war for the Union. John F. was a member of the 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and enlisted in 1861 and served until the close of the war. George was a member of the 47th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted in 1861 and served until the close of the war. Mr. Becker and all his sons are Republican in politics. The family are descended from a rugged, hardy race, noted for their longevity Mr. Becker is a courteous gentleman of superior mental and physical force, and is held in high esteem by his neighbors and acquaintances.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, p 217.)(JC)

CAPT. WARREN BECKWITH, a leading business man and prominent citizen of Mt. Pleasant, was born in Henrietta, Monroe Co., N. Y., in 1833, his parents being George L. and Sally (Winslow) Beckwith. The former was a native of New Brunswick, born in 1800, who went with his parents to Buffalo, N. Y., in 1813. The following year his father died, directly after which event news reached the settlers of the intended destruction of the place by the Indian allies of the British, in the war then existing between the United States and Great Britain. Mrs. Beckwith and her family were among those who sought safety by flight beyond the Genesee River. In 1816 the family settled on a farm in Henrietta, Monroe County, near Rochester, N. Y., where the subject of this sketch was born, and which he now owns. George L., his father, was the eldest of the family, and the management of the farm naturally devolved upon him, and he subsequently became its owner. On this place he lived all of his after life, and died there in 1883, at the age of eighty-three years. He was always a farmer, but in his younger days had also been a teacher. He was a man of positive character and of strongly marked personal characteristics. Though never an office-seeker, he took an active part in public affairs; a Democrat by conviction, he was also an original Abolitionist, a believer in the doctrines of William Lloyd Garrison, and an ardent admirer of Horace Greeley. He was an extraordinarily well-read man, a sound thinker and cogent reasoner and fluent speaker, and wielded a more than ordinary influence in his locality. In the infancy of the common schools of the State he was an influential friend and supporter, and did much to insure their success in that region. On the breaking out of the Rebellion he took an active part in support of the Government, helping to fill the quota of his county, and three of his sons were in the army, in which two of them lost their lives. He never engaged in any occupation but that of farming, and at his death left a competence. He was married in 1829 to Sally, daughter of Jonathan Winslow, of Henrietta, who had come to that place from New Bedford, Mass. She was born in 1805, and died in 1885, aged eighty years. They had seven children, namely: Adolphus, who was a farmer in his native county, and entered the Union army in 1861, enlisting in the 8th New York Cavalry, and died of typhoid fever in camp in Virginia, in November, 1862; Samuel, the next son, was part of his life in the railroad business, and came to Mt. Pleasant, where he was Station Agent of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad from 1859 to 1864, when he returned to the old home in New York, staying there until 1880, during which period he was elected to the State Legislature; he came back to Mt. Pleasant and died here in 1884. Warren was the next son, and after him came George, who died young; Sarah, the next child, also died while young; Everett, who followed Sarah, also was a Union soldier, in the same regiment as his brother, and like him died in camp of typhoid fever, in January, 1863; the youngest of the family, Elizabeth, died in childhood.

Warren Beckwith, the subject of this sketch, was reared on the home farm, and was educated at the Monroe Academy and at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, Livingston Co., N. V. Leaving school at the age of nineteen, he embraced the profession of civil engineering, his first work being done on the Genesee Valley Railroad. He followed this business in the East until November, 1854, when he went to Kansas, and the following winter, at Ft. Riley, helped to lay out Pawnee City, designed by Gov. Reeder for the capital of the State. He assisted in putting up a building for the Legislature, which however, occupied it but one day. This work was in charge of Nathaniel Lyon, then a Captain in the regular army, with whom he was brought into close relations, and who afterward became famous as Gen. Lyon, and who undoubtedly frustrated the plots of the secessionists, and saved Missouri to the Union.

In 1856 Mr. Beckwith came to Burlington, Iowa, entering the employ of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, with whom he staid until 1860, when he went to Texas with a drove of sheep. He was there when the war began, and determined to return North and offer his services to the Government. He came by way of New Orleans, in which city he spent the Fourth of July, 1861. Reaching Burlington, Iowa, he enlisted in September, 1861, as a private in Company C, 4th Iowa Cavalry, and served until after the close of the war, proving himself a brave and gallant soldier, and making an honorable record. Dee. 25, 1861, he was promoted to First Lieutenant of his company, and on Jan. 1, 1863, was made Captain. He was with his company in service under Gen. Curtis in Southwestern Missouri, was subsequently at Helena, Ark., and during the summer and fall of 1862 was in active duty, in skirmishing and scouting through that dangerous region. The regiment joined Grant's army at Grand Gulf, on the march to Vicksburg, and participated in the arduous labors of the siege and capture of that rebel stronghold. They remained in and near that city until February, 1864, when they took part in the Meridian expedition under Gen. Sherman. Later in the year they had a lively time in and about Memphis, Tenn., where they were engaged in chasing the rebel cavalry under Forrest, who were trying to intercept Sherman's communications. The regiment during this time was engaged in sharp fights at Guntown, Tupelo, Holly Springs and at other places. In January, 1865, the 4th Iowa was joined to Wilson's Cavalry Corps, and saw a good deal of active service, notably at Selma, Columbus, etc., and it is the universal testimony of his comrades that wherever Capt. Beckwith was engaged he acted in a brave and soldierly manner, and had not only the confidence of his superior officers, but of his own men and of all those with whom his duties brought him into contact. In 1864 he was on detached duty, and was in command of the mounted provost guard, district of West Tennessee, and in 1865 was Brigade Inspector General. He was mustered out Aug. 29, 1865, after an honorable army career of four years, during which he saw much hard service, but was fortunately never wounded. As a recognition of his meritorious services he was tendered a commission in the regular army, which he did not accept. Returning to the pursuits of peace he came to Mt. Pleasant and again engaged with the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Company, and after the consolidation of the lines in 1872, became Chief Engineer and Superintendent of Track of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company. In 1879 he began contracting on the road, and was in that business until a short time since. He and his brother-in-law, Frank P. Porter, are now proprietors of the quarries at Dudley, Iowa, where is found the best stone in the State, all of which is taken by the railroad company as fast as taken out. Capt. Beckwith, Charles H. Smith and Richard Stubbs were the originators of the Western Wheel Scraper Works at Mt. Pleasant, for a description of which see sketch of Charles H. Smith. Another business carried on by him, and which is evidently a labor of love, is the breeding and raising of fine horses, both draft and driving, principally Shires for work and Hambletonian for driving purposes. At his extensive farms near the city of Mt. Pleasant he has usually about sixty head of blooded stock, which is doing much to raise the standard of the horses in this section of the country.

Capt. Beckwith was married, in 1863, to Luzenia W., daughter of Col. A. B. Porter, an eminent citizen of Henry County, of whom a history is given elsewhere. She died in 1880, leaving five children, as follows: Everett, Orville, Emily, Florence and Warren, all living with their father. The mother of this family was an estimable lady, whose death was sincerely mourned, not only by her family but by a large circle of friends to whom her lovable character had greatly endeared her. She was a prominent member of St. Michael's Episcopal Church.

In 1881 Capt. Beckwith was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Porter, a sister of his first wife, and a lady of decided ability and culture. She likewise is a communicant of time Episcopal Church.

The subject of this sketch is a member of Mt. Pleasant Lodge No. 8, A. F. & A. M., of McFarland Post No. 13, G. A. R., and of the Loyal Legion of America-the most exclusive organization in the country, membership to which is granted only to commissioned officers of the army and navy who saw service in the Civil War, and after a most searching examination into the private and public record of the candidate, which must be unblemished.

Contact with the world, together with his inherited qualities, have made Capt. Beckwith a man of broad and liberal ideas. A natural leader among men he has acquired many warm friends, not only at his home, but among leading men in all parts of the country, and in the community in which he resides he is a prominent figure.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp 282-284) (JC)

Enoch Beery is the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Salem township, located on section 22 and as a general agriculturist and stock-raiser he has become well known by reason of his practical enterprising methods and his enviable success. He was born in Baltimore township, Henry county, on the 6^th of October, 1856, and is a son of Levi L. and Margaret (Short) Beery, both of whom were natives of Fairfield county, Ohio. The paternal grandfather was Isaac Beery. It was the year 1842 that Levi L. Beery came to this county and had located, after which his wife and two children joined him, he having been married in Fairfield county, Ohio. He purchased land in Baltimore township, securing a tract of timber situated on Big Creek.

Only a few acres had been cleared and he at once began the difficult task of cutting away the timber, clearing out the brush and grubbing out the stumps. He cleared many acres and thus aided in subduing the wilderness and transforming a wild tract into a valuable possession. His first purchase comprised one hundred and sixty acres of land, but as he prospered in his undertakings and his financial resources were increased he also increased his acreage until he had about one thousand acres in Henry county. He also made judicious investments in real estate in Nebraska, having one thousand acres in Fillmore and Valley counties. He died in the year 1893, having for about two years survived his wife, who died in 1891.

Enoch Beery was the youngest in a family of seven children, three of whom were sons. He pursued his early education in the district schools and afterward attended Howe's Academy at Mount Pleasant, thus acquiring a good English education which well equipped him for the performance of life's practical and responsible duties. He spent his boyhood days in Baltimore township, living with his parents until twenty-eight years of age, when he was married and established a home of his own.

It was on the 27^th of November, 1883, that he wedded Miss Susan Rains, who was born in New London township and was a student in the public schools in her girlhood days. Her parents were Zebbedee and Phebe (Hamell) Rains, both of whom were natives of Indiana and her paternal grandfather was Samuel Rains and her maternal grandmother Dorcas Hamell. Three children were born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Beery; Levi L., born September 7, 1888; Floyd R., born November 26, 1891; and Mary H., August 27, 1894.

Following his marriage Enoch Beery took up his abode upon a farm of two hundred and twenty acres on section 22, Salem township. He came into possession of this tract at his father's death and later he added one hundred acres, so that he now has a valuable farm of three hundred and twenty acres. This tract, like much of Iowa's land, is very productive, responding readily to cultivation and he carries on general farming and stock-raising, keeping horses, cattle, hogs and sheep upon his place. Mr. Beery is an extensive and successful stock-dealer, his principal business being buying and selling stock cattle, selling to the feeders mainly. He raises only good grades and he therefore finds a ready sale for his stock upon the market.

In matters of business his judgment is rarely, if ever, at fault and in the control of his interests he has found that keen discrimination, capable management, close application and indefatigable energy form a splendid foundation upon which to rear the super-structure of success. In those relations of life which indicate personal views and tendencies of character, Mr. Beery is found on the side of improvement and progress. He is an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the degrees of the lodge, chapter and commandery at Mount Pleasant and he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, while politically he is an earnest republican.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 578) (PE)

LEVI L. BEERY, a farmer and dairyman of Baltimore Township, is prominent among the agriculturists and business men of Henry County, and his name has been for years a familiar one. He was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1814, and is the son of Isaac and Mary (Cridlebaugh) Beery, who came to this county in 1842. Isaac Beery was born in Rockingham County, Va., and his wife in Reading, Pa., their marriage being celebrated in Ohio. Mr. Beery built a flatboat for the purpose of emigration, and on it made the journey to Ohio, where he was one of the first settlers. He was a minister of the Dunkard faith, also a farmer, and after living for many years lives worthy of emulation, the parents were called to their final home. They reared a family of twelve children: Delilah, Catherine, George, Andrew, Elizabeth, Levi L., Maria, Elijah, Jesse, Isaac, Enoch and Priscilla. Eight of these children are now living, but our subject is the only one residing in this county. In Ohio Levi L. Beery was wedded to Miss Margaret Short, in 1839. He came to this county, as before stated, in 1842, and the next year brought his young wife, selecting this for a permanent home. He was present at the treaty made with the Indians, at the time of the second purchase, and the land selected by Mr. Beery was upon the Black Hawk purchase, and the fertile valley that produces such bountiful crops was the favorite hunting-ground of the Indians, who had two considerable villages not far from his present homestead. Mr. Beery made a first purchase of 162 acres, which was occupied by a squatter who had built a small cabin upon the site of his present home. With his young wife, Mr. Beery moved into the cabin, and after twelve months of pioneer life he erected a more commodious house.

Mr. Beery is an example of a typical self-made man, and was in straightened circumstances when he first came to this county. He erected a mill in 1844, which he operated for perhaps a score of years. Later, putting in an engine and boiler, he added a gristmill, and this was also operated for several years, Mr. Beery having learned the miller's trade while engaged in the business. The ruins now serve as a landmark. This mill was the principal source of Mr. Beery's good fortune, and from that investment his possessions have increased with his years, until he now owns nearly a section of the finest land in Baltimore Township, stocked with flocks and herds, and the bottom lands are of the most productive character. His buildings are in keeping with his enterprise, and in addition to his farming interests he has a cheese factory with a capacity of 700 pounds weekly. His own cows supply the milk, and the products find a ready sale in the home markets; in fact, the demand is greater than the supply. Aside from the industries mentioned, Mr. Beery has done a large business for years in both grain and stock, which has been also a source of profit and pleasure.

Mr. and Mrs. Beery have seven children: Jane, now the wife of A. L. Micksell, a resident of Covington, Miami Co., Ohio; William H., wedded to Lizzie Briton; Isaac, husband of Nellie Moul; Enoch, married to Susie Rains; Mary, Delilah and Angeline, at home with their parents. In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Beery are rearing as carefully as their own, a niece, Gertie Beery, a daughter of Jefferson and Martha Beery.

This household has ever been noted for its courtesy and kindness, and as host and hostess the names of L. L. Beery and his estimable wife are known far and wide. The first family reunion occurred Oct. 15, 1887, at which all the children were present with their respective husbands and wives. Mr. Beery has lived a life worthy of emulation, and as his years increase, his love and veneration for the Republican party increase, and although not a candidate for official position, he is an ardent worker, and at the last county convention, held at Mt. Pleasant, he was Chairman. His children have been carefully educated, and all have certificates entitling them to teach, and some of them have taught in this county; Delilah and Angeline have been teachers in Nebraska, and Jane in Ohio. The same teacher that was preceptor when Mr. Beery was a student, was the instructor of his children-Prof. S. L. Howe, who founded the academy which bears his name, and which has given an education to many people of note from this and other States.

Mr. Beery was a schoolmate with Gen. W. T. and John Sherman, Tom Ewing and other noted men, and in their boyhood days their debates grew ardent in their literary societies. Men grow old in years, but their good deeds and their virtues are left for examples for future generations, and to such men as Mr. Beery Henry County owes much of the fame she possesses as a leading county in the State of Iowa.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp 262-263) (JC)

WILLIAM H. BEERY

William H. Beery, one of the trustees of Center township, who is extensively engaged in farming and is also a director of the Henry County Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company, was born in Baltimore township, this county, on the 12^th of March, 1846, a son of Levi L. and Margaret (Short) Beery. The father, a pioneer settler of this state, was born in Lancaster county, Ohio, in 1814, and was a son of Isaac Beery, a native of Germany, who came to Ohio on crossing the Atlantic to America.

Levi Beery was reared in the Buckeye state and there wedded Miss Margaret Short, who was a native of Pennsylvania. He was a tanner by trade and followed that pursuit until 1840, when he visited Iowa on a prospecting tour and purchased land in Henry county. In 1842 he removed with his family to his farm in Baltimore township, transforming the wild and unimproved land into a rich and productive tract. In the course of years his place became a valuable farm and remained his home up to the time of his death.

He also had one of the first saw and grist mills of the county on Big Creek and was a promoter of the substantial improvement and material welfare of the county for many years. As his financial resources increased he made judicious investment in property until he owned between seven and eight hundred acres of land at the time of his demise. He held different township offices, the duties of which he discharged in a capable manner and his death, which occurred in 1892, was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. His wife, a most estimable lady, passed away in 1890.

William H. Beery is indebted to the district schools of Baltimore township for the early education he acquired but later he attended Howe's Academy in Mount Pleasant, then one of the leading academic schools of the country. When he put aside his text-books he gave his attention to farm work on the old homestead until twenty-one years of age, when he made a trip through the west, visiting California, Nevada, the Black Hills and other districts. He was one of the first in the Black Hills country, where he engaged in prospecting and mining. He opened up a mine there and was very successful in its operation. He was also in Colorado and subsequently in New Mexico and on selling his interests there he returned to Henry county and purchased a farm in Center township comprising two hundred and fifty acres of land and constituting one of the best farm properties here.

He has prospered in his management of his agricultural interests and in addition to the home place he owns eighty acres of land in Bath township. All of the improvements upon his property have been made by him and in 1904 he erected a beautiful residence with all modern equipments. It is lighted by gas and he has his own gas and water plant upon the place. The home is conveniently situated two miles from the city and is a most desirable and attractive residence. Mr. Beery is an extensive stock-feeder as well as general agriculturist and both branches of his business are proving profitable.

In 1882 Mr. Beery was married to Lillie A. Brittain, a native of Baltimore township and a daughter of Robert Brittain. They now have two children; Agnes, a student in Iowa Wesleyan University; and Wilbur H., at home. Mr. Beery has been an active republican and has served on both the township and county central committees, acting on the latter when President McKinley was elected. He has frequently been a delegate to party conventions and has been called to public office, serving now as township trustee, in which office he has been the incumbent for fifteen consecutive years. During that time many permanent improvements have been made in the roads and in installing cement culverts.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 438) (PE)

Frank S. Bell, a member of the bar of Henry county engaged in practice in Salem and also connected with the firm of Bell & Percival, maintaining an office in Winterset, Iowa, was born in Lee county on the 20^th of October, 1867, and is descended from one of the old families of Pennsylvania. Still further back, however, the ancestry can be traced to the great-great-grandfather, William Bell, and his wife, Elizabeth (Stewart) Bell. William Bell was born in Ireland of Scotch ancestry in 1731, and died April 5, 1819, and there he married Elizabeth Stewart, who was born in Scotland in 1737, died October 17, 1825, a member of the Stewart clan and if legend can be proven was of royal blood.

In religious belief they were United Presbyterians. They emigrated from Ireland to the new world, settling in Tuscorora valley, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, prior to the year 1757. This William Bell was with Washington at the time of Braddock's defeat, and later served as an officer of the Revolutionary war, being a member of the Pennsylvania line. He was also one of the organizers of the Huntington (Pennsylvania) presbytery and was a most prominent and influential member of the Presbyterian church, serving as a ruling elder of his local church in the Keystone state at that early day. He died in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania as did David Bell, the great-grandfather of our subject. The latter's wife bore the maiden name of Alice Allen.

David Stewart Bell, grandfather of our subject, was born on Bell's Island in the Juniata river in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, and in the spring of 1837 he came to Fort Madison, casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers of that place. He was the first deputy recorder of Lee county and became a member of the twentieth general assembly of Iowa, the building of the new capitol being among the measures before the house during this session. He was well fitted for leadership and did much to mold public thought and action in his community. A very prominent and influential citizen, he continued his residence in Lee county up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1877, his remains being interred in Sharon cemetery. At Fort Madison he married Sarah Stewart Rail, of Fort Madison, a daughter of Benjamin and Ann (Mohler) Rail, who were pioneer residents coming from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bell were prominent early members of the Presbyterian church of Fort Madison.

Thomas Allen Bell, father of F. S. Bell, was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, was a farmer by occupation and in 1845 came to the middle west, settling in Cedar township, Lee county, where he inherited a part of the home farm. Here he resided until 1888, when he removed to Salem and for some years was engaged in the grocery business. He was one of the patriotic sons of Iowa and attempted to enlist several times but was rejected each time on account of his youth and size. He later was accepted and served his country as a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war, joining Company E, Forty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry for one hundred days. In politics he was an earnest republican but unlike his father, he eschewed public office, preferring to give his attention to his business interests and other duties. He belonged to the Odd Fellows lodge at Salem, also to the Grand Army of the Republic and he held membership in the Congregational church, and his wife belongs to the Christian church. She bore the maiden name of Elvira C. Harlan and is a native of Ohio and a member of the well known Harlan family. Mr. Bell passed away on the 5^th of January, 1893, but Mrs. Bell still survives and is now residing in Salem at the age of sixty years.

In the family of this worthy couple were two daughters and a son, Frank S. being the eldest of the family. The others are: Cora E., the wife of John Byers, a resident of Birmingham, Iowa, by whom she has five children, Earl, Ethel, Rhea, Thelma and Frank Stewart, all born in Birmingham; and Grace E., who is at home with her mother. She is a graduate of the Iowa Wesleyan University and is a successful piano teacher in Salem.

Frank S. Bell pursued his early education in the public schools and afterward attended Whittier College in Salem and Howe's Academy in Mount Pleasant. Having thus acquired a good literary education to serve as a foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional knowledge, he entered the law department of Drake University at Des Moines from which he was graduated with the class of 1894 with the degree of L.L. B., and was admitted to the bar by examination, standing second in a class of fifty-three members, it being the largest class before the supreme court until that time.

He returned at once to Salem and for six months engaged in teaching school near the city. He then opened his law office and is still practicing here, being the only practicing attorney in Salem. He is also a member of the firm of Bell & Percival, of Winterset, Iowa. In a profession where advancement depends upon intellectual and individual merit he has gradually worked his way upward and is regarded as one of the rising lawyers of Henry county and has represented the leading financial interests of Salem in a legal way. His understanding of the law is broad and comprehensive and accurate and in the trial of his case he shows keen discernment, logical reasoning and forceful presentation of his cause.

Mr. Bell is a member of the Odd Fellows society and of the Knights of Pythias fraternity. He is a republican but has neither sought nor desired office. He belongs to the Congregational church and lives on Jackson street in Salem with his mother, who is a most estimable lady, having a large circle of warm friends here. Mr. Bell is popular both socially and professionally and his business qualifications have gained him a creditable name and are bringing him the substantial rewards of earnest and close application.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 532) (PE)

GEORGE C. BELL, a blacksmith of Rome, Henry Co., Iowa, and a prominent citizen of that village, was born in Greene County, Ohio, June 7, 1825, and is a son of Joshua and Mary (Bales) Bell, the former a native of Maryland, and the latter of Ohio. Joshua Bell was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born on the 13th of February, 1776, and departed this life in Henry County, July 12, 1856. All his life was spent upon a farm. He took great interest in local politics, always voting with the Whig party. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a sincere, earnest Christian. Nathaniel D. Bell, the grandfather of our subject, emigrated from the North of Ireland to America. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mary Bell, the mother of George, was of German descent. She was also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is now deceased.

In 1829, when George was a lad of four years, his parents removed to Tippecanoe County, Ind., where they remained until the fall of 1841. Coming to Henry County they located in Tippecanoe Township. George was reared upon the farm until his seventeenth year. He then learned the blacksmith trade, which he has followed ever since. On the 7th of August, 1846, the marriage of George C. Bell and Delila Grant was celebrated. She was a native of Indiana, being born in Harrison County, Nov. 3, 1827. Her parents were Thomas and Christiana (Davis) Grant. Eight children have gathered round the hearthstone of Mr. and Mrs. Bell: Malinda, now the wife of William Fry; William, an engineer, residing in Rome; John P., who died when five years of age; Naomi J., widow of Reiley Lloyd, residing in Fremont County, Iowa; Thomas I., a resident of Rome; Martha, wife of Charles H. Huston, a resident of McLean County, Dak.; Charlotte, at home; and Mary Rebecca, wife of James Phillips, of Dakota. The mother of these children died Sept. 16, 1886, at the age of fifty-nine, and great indeed was the grief felt at her death. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years, and an earnest worker for her Master.

At the breaking out of the Rebellion our subject responded to his country's call for troops, and enlisted Sept. 25, 1863, in the 9th Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, serving two years and seven mouths. He was engaged in many skirmishes, and was mustered out Feb. 28, 1866, at Little Rock, Ark. After returning home he resumed blacksmithing in Jefferson County, where he resided until 1872. He then came to Rome, at which village he has since made his home. Here he built a blacksmith-shop, and has ever since continued to work at his trade. Mr. Bell served as Mayor of Rome, and as Marshal for a year each, and as Constable for three years. He is a stalwart Republican, and never swerves in his allegiance to that party.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, p 323) (JC)

Joshua Davage Bell Jr.

This early settler was labeled 'Davage' to distinguish hi from his Pioneer father by the same name. Davage was born in Greene Co., Ohio in 1817, coming to Iowa in the fall of 1840 at age 23. He worked for his Uncle Lewis Watson for $15 a month, earning his way like this for several years. In 1849 he married Margaret Ginn, whose family had come to Iowa with the Bells. Both Margaret and a baby daughter died in 1854.

Widowed Joshua married Rachel Ann McBride, whose parents were John II and Sarah (Long) McBride. Later, Davage purchased 40 acres in Tippecanoe township, Sec. 7 for $125.00. Eventually this land was deeded to John McBride and was known as the McBride farm for a number of years. For a short time between 1865 and 1873 Davage and family lived in Washington County . On the death of John McBride they came back to care for the farm and Rachel's mother Sarah.
To this union eleven children were born: First, Perry Adams, born 1856- married Eliza Hogate. They were parents of two, Charles and Jessie, and the family farmed in western Iowa ; Second, Dora Ann, born 1858- married Edward White and were parents of a daughter, Florence . Dora died in 1883 when she was but twenty-five. Third, a daughter Allie, died at 7 months, Fourth, James Franklin, born 1861- married Fannie and they had two children, Lillian and Eddie. James was a street car conductor in Omaha , Nebraska ; Fifth, Effie Marie, born 1864, married Guy Grinstead. They were the parents of three daughters, Enola, Borea and Irma. The Grinsteads farmed various places, finally settling in Fairfield . There are descendants now living in California ; Sixth, Charles Edward, born in 1867, never married, and was a drifter; Seventh, my grandmother, Sarah Margaret, was born in 1869. In 1891 her marriage to Albert Vincent Holley took place. His parents were Solomon Woodward and Martha (Archibald) Holley, early settlers of Tippecanoe township, section 18. On this home place in 1899, A.V. built their home, which still stands. There were plenty of wild game in the area during these early ties - such as deer, wild turkey, prairie-chicken, pheasant and quail. It is said, in 1892, A.V. Holley killed the last wild turkey in Henry County . The drove of them had stayed in the timber west of the McBride farm, known as Ketchum land. Maggie and A.V. Holley were parents of six children: Macil, who married Clarence Billingsley and they were the parents of four children, James, Margaret, William and Betty. A few years after their marriage, they moved on a ranch in the Glasgow , Montana area; Glen, who never married, spent his lifetime riding herd in the west; Harold married Flossie Neice, and later they moved to Des Moines where he worked at the city water-works until retirement; My Mother, Velma, in 1919 was married to Raymond Baker. They spent their lifetime farming. There were four of us children, Virginia, Lucile, Eugene and myself, Mary Lou. My parents are gone, but my brother still farms the home place in Wayne township, section 36; Max, who was married to Winona Willits, to Louise Quelle, and to Ellen Moxley. A daughter Patricia was born to the first marriage and a son Jay, to the second. Max worked for the Burlington R.R. until his retirement; John Ellis, married Nadine Russell. They are living in Tulsa, Oklahoma and are the parents of four, Janifer, Glenda, Harold and John V. John is retired after working for the Government in Aviation; Eighth, Ellis born 1874, married Tracy Williams. A daughter, Helen, died in infancy. Ellis was Superintendent of the Clarinda State Hospital . He met an untimely death at the hands of a patient there in 1930; Ninth, Nancy Luella, born 1876, married Clifford Martin. They farmed in different areas and in 1917 moved to Fairfield , Iowa . They had four children, Helen Whitmore of Libertyville, Iowa, Mildred Jones of Jefferson City, Mo., Winifred Van Allen of Mt. Pleasant and Ralph Martin of Richland, Iowa; Tenth, Jessie McBride, born 1879, never married and worked as a farm laborer around Rome area until his death in 1947; Eleventh, Minnie May, born 1882, married James M. Bright. A son, James Harold, was born to this union. Later a second marriage to Otto Goetz and another son, George, was born in 1919.
Davage died 30 May 1889, with Rachel living past him a quarter of a century. They are both buried at Lambirth cemetery, Henry Co, Iowa .
My Grandmother had written many facts and had many Bell and McBride letters as well as documents handed down from previous generations. These have been a great source of information for me.
Bell ancestors, with a fine heritage, live on.

---Mrs. Everett (Mary Lou) Boal.

(History of Henry County, Iowa, comp. by the Henry County Bicentennial Commission. Vol. 1. Dallas, Tex.: National ShareGraphics, 1982.p. 122)(CL)

WILLIAM BENNETT, residing on section 33, Scott Township, Henry Co., Iowa, was born in Ross County, Ohio, May 17, 1820. He is a son of George and Mary (Holloway) Bennett. The father was a native of Pennsylvania and the mother of New Jersey. In 1806 they emigrated from Winchester, Va., to Ross County, Ohio. Four of the family of ten children were born in the former State: Enoch, a blacksmith and farmer, died in Miami County, Ohio, in May, 1886; Sarah, the wife of Newton Hicks, of Ross County, Ohio, Wed in Clarke County, in August, 1882; her husband had died in November, 1845. James, born Nov. 2, 1806, died in Clarke County, Ohio, in August, 1881 ; Elizabeth died while yet an infant but a year and a half old. After the removal to Ohio six other children were born: George, born April 28, 1809, died in Clarke County, Aug. 30, 1885; Benjamin, born in April, 1811, died June 27, 1812; Rebecca, wife of Jacob Yager, died in Henry County, Iowa, March 13, 1857, at the age of forty-four; Mary, wife of M. McCafferty, resides in Winfield, Iowa; Benjamin H., born June 21, 1817, was drowned in the Ohio River, July 3, 1840; our subject is the youngest of the family. During most of his life George Bennett was a blacksmith, but when this labor became too heavy for him he moved upon a farm. He was called to his final home, in Clarke County, Dec. 19, 1861, at the age of ninety-two years, two months and seventeen days. His wife departed this life Aug. 25, 1853, aged seventy-seven years, seven months and four days. She was a member of the Society of Friends.

William Bennett, our subject, was reared upon a farm in his native State. His education was received at the subscription schools of those times. He remained at home until twenty-one years of age. Mr. Bennett was united in marriage, in 1841, with Ann McCafferty, a native of Madison County, Ohio. He afterward rented his father's farm, residing upon this for nine years, at which time, Oct. 3, 1850, he removed to Henry County, Iowa, settling on a homestead of eighty acres on section 11, Scott Township. He improved this farm, making it his home until 1869, when he sold out and removed to Mt. Pleasant, in order to furnish better educational advantages to his children. While residing in that city, on the 22d of November, 1870, Mrs. Bennett was called to her final home. She was born in September, 1815. Two years later Mr. Bennett removed to Osborne County, Kan., where he improved a claim, residing there for eight months, and in December of the same year returned to Henry County. He purchased eighty acres of land on section 33, Scott Township, where he still resides.

Mr. Bennett was again married, April 7, 1874, to Margaret A. Harkness. She was born in New York, and is a daughter of James and Margaret (Fleming) Harkness, both of whom were natives of the same State. Her father died at Morning Sun, Iowa, March 20, 1880, when seventy-three years of age. He was a devoted church member, and one of the organizers of the Presbyterian Church of Winfield, having been an Elder for many years. Upon his removal to Morning Sun he joined the United Presbyterian Church of that place, and was well known and universally respected. The mother died Jan. 24, 1887, aged seventy-six, and was also a believer in the United Presbyterian faith.

By his first wife Mr. Bennett had five children: Sarah, wife of Emmons Courter, of Osborne County, Kan.; Mary, wife of W. R. Custer, residing in Taylor County, Iowa; Electa Jane, wife of Stewart B. Terry, a farmer and stock-raiser of Jackson County, Mo.; Elizabeth Ann, wife of Thomas F. Hull, residing in Hardy, Neb.; William Franklin a merchant of Pomona, Cal; By the second union there are two children, Edna and Georgiana. Mr. Bennett and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he being one of its Trustees. Mr. Bennett has five times been elected Justice of the Peace, and has held various other township offices. Politically, he is a Republican. Mr. Bennett always takes an active part in public enterprises for the good of the community, and is a liberal friend to education, in fact, is foremost in all good works, and it is with pleasure that we place his sketch in the record of Henry County's people.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp 193-194.)(JC)

WELLINGTON BIRD, M. D., a prominent physician of Henry County since 1849, and a resident of Mt. Pleasant, was born in Northumberland County, Pa., May 5, 1817, and is a son of William and Margaret (Moyer) Bird. His father was born in New Jersey in 1795, and emigrated with his parents to Pennsylvania when two years of age. James Bird, the grandfather of the Doctor, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution in the Patriot army. He was a wagonmaster, and participated in the battle of Monmouth, and served till the close of the war. His wife's name was Osborne, to whom he was married in New Jersey, and with whom he removed to Northumberland County in 1797, where they both died. The Birds were a large, athletic race, descended from the sturdy yeomen of old England. Dr. Bird's mother was born in Philadelphia, and was of German descent, her father being a native, of German parentage, while her mother was a native of Germany, who came to this country while young, and lived to the extreme old age of ninety-five years, dying in Catawissa, Pa. William Bird, the father of our subject, was a blacksmith by trade, and worked in Columbia County, Pa., and adjoining places, his home for some years prior to his coming west being in Danville, Montour County, from which place he removed to Mt. Pleasant in 1858. After coming here he and his wife lived retired in a house owned by their son. Mr. Bird died at the age of seventy-six. His wife survived him about ten years, dying at the age of eighty-five. Mr. Bird was a pleasant, genial and popular man, and was well liked by all who knew him. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had twelve children, all of whom grew to maturity. Those now living are: Caroline, widow of John Martin, late of Mt. Pleasant; Philip, a farmer in Kansas; Wilhelmina, a widow now living in Dauphin County, Pa.; Charles, a machinist at Danville, Pa.; Clement, living at Afton, Iowa; and Wellington, who was the oldest of tile family. When twelve years old the latter went with his parents to Bloonmsburg, Columbia Co., Pa., and there received his education, and grew to manhood. He took a regular course of study at the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, and graduated in the class of 1841. In October of that year he was united in marriage, at Bloomsburg, Pa., to Miss Sarah, daughter of Eli Thornton, a prominent and respected citizen of that place, and a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature for several terms.

Immediately after taking his degree Dr. Bird located in Knox County, Ohio, and established a fine practice at the city of Frederickstown. Having a desire to come farther west he emigrated in July, 1849, from Ohio to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. While his professional duties have been quite exacting he has yet found time to give some attention to other enterprises. On the establishment of the Iowa Wesleyan College, at Mt. Pleasant, now the Iowa Wesleyan University, he took an active part in the management, in its construction and outfitting. He was elected a Trustee of the college, and served in that capacity for twenty-five years, or until he resigned to accept an appointment as Indian Agent in 1877. On the breaking out of the late war, in 1861, he was appointed as Assistant Surgeon of the 4th Iowa Cavalry, which position he resigned to accept that of Commissary of Subsistence, with rank of Captain, and served in that capacity till the fall of 1862, when he resigned on account of ill-health. His son, Hiram T., who was then a student of the Iowa Wesleyan College, enlisted in 1863, at the age of seventeen, as a private of the 8th Iowa Cavalry, and was subsequently appointed Hospital Steward. He was made prisoner before Atlanta during McCook's raid, and was taken to Charleston, S. C., where, having been classed as an Assistant Surgeon, he was exchanged without much delay. After one month spent at home, on furlough, he returned to the front, and participated in Wilson's raid and other engagements, serving till the fall of 1865.

In 1866 Dr. Bird went to Idaho, and spent one year on the head waters of the Columbia River. Returning to Mt. Pleasant at the expiration of that time lie resumed practice, and was actively engaged until his appointment, by President Hayes, in 1877, to the Indian Agency at Ft. Peck, Mont. He served in this capacity nearly three years, during which time he was quite successful in his management of the natives. When he took the agency there was not an acre of land under cultivation, but he instructed the Indians in the methods of agriculture and labor, and at the close of his term had a thousand acres enclosed, and several hundred under cultivation. He returned to his home in Mt. Pleasant in 1880.

Dr. and Mrs. Bird are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Doctor's membership dating from 1846, and Mrs. Bird's from 1839. He is President of the Board of Trustees. They have been blessed with nine children: William N. died in childhood; Myra is the wife of Hon. John S. Woolson, State Senator, and a prominent attorney in Mt. Pleasant (see sketch); Allie is the wife of Hon. Washington I. Babb, a leading attorney of Mt. Pleasant (see sketch); Hiram T. married Florence McLaran, and is engaged in business at Mt. Pleasant; Regina is the wife of Theodore F. Twinting, formerly of Mt. Pleasant, now of Passadena, Cal.; Caroline was burned to death in childhood by her clothes catching fire; Horace died in 1859, aged three and a half years; Burnetta died in infancy; Leslie, the youngest, is unmarried, and lives in Mt. Pleasant.

Dr. Bird is a prominent citizen; he has been a member of the City Council for a number of years; he was many times elected Trustee of the public schools, and for several terms was President of the board. He is a member of McFarland Post No. 20, G. A. R., and is still in the active practice of his profession, his skill and ability having won for him a flattering reputation and a large practice.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp 284-285) (JC)

John Black

JOHN BLACK, a son of William Black, was horn in Knox County, Ill., March 14, 1838. When but two years old he was taken by his parents to Henry County, where they resided in a log cabin. Here he received his primary education in a pioneer school. In October, 1861, he enlisted in the 4th Iowa Cavalry, and was mustered in at Camp Harlan, and was afterward sent to Keokuk hospital. He was in the battle of Guntown, but being in very poor health, was taken to the hospital where he remained a year. He was mustered out at Memphis, Tenn., at the expiration of his term of service. From the war he returned to his home, where lie was married, in March, 1865, to Harriet Jameson, a daughter of James and Cordelia (Scoville) Jameson, who were the parents of two children, Harlan and Hariet. Mr. Jameson died in Ohio. Mrs. Jameson came to Henry County, Iowa, in 1858, and in 1866 removed to Crawford County, Kan. She was afterward married to Thomas Havens. By this union there was one child, Carlton I.

Mr. and Mrs. Black are the parents of four children-Charles, Delia, Birdie and Maggie. In politics, he is a Republican and an active worker in the party. Mr. Black has been identified with the county all his life, and has witnessed its growth from infancy. As he is one of the oldest, he is also one of the most respected citizens of the county.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, p 211.)(JC)

William Black

WILLIAM BLACK, one of the early settlers of Henry County, was born in Greenbriar County, Va., in 1805. He was married to Miss Rebecca Benson about 1832. In an early day he moved to Knox County, Ill., and in 1840 removed to this county, and settled near Trenton, in what is now Jefferson Township. Here he purchased 160 acres of prairie and forty acres of timber land, and made many improvements on his farm. He was compelled to haul his flour and lumber from Burlington with an ox-team. In early life Mr. Black was an old-line Whig. Mr. and Mrs. Black are parents of seven children: Joseph, now of Kearney, Neb., enlisted in the war of the Rebellion, was elected Captain, and after serving eighteen months resigned; John, who now resides in Mt. Pleasant; Samuel, of Kearney, Neb.; William, who enlisted in the 25th Iowa Regiment, died in this county in 1870; Asbury, of Mt. Pleasant; Charles, of Kearney, Neb.; Emma, wife of G. C. Wilson, of Wayne Township. Mr. and Mrs. Black were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They were widely known, and no couple were more highly respected.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp 215-216.)(JC)

Cyrus A. Boal, has spent all his life in Henry county and is numbered among its old settlers. His birth occurred in Trenton township, May 7, 1856, his parents being Robert and Lydia A. (Foster) Boal. They were natives of Pennsylvania, the father born in 1826, and the mother in 1834. Removing to Ohio with his parents in his boyhood days, Robert Boal was there reared, and in 1854 he removed from Muskingum county, Ohio, to Henry county, Iowa, settling upon a tract of land in Trenton township, and after a few years moved to Wayne township, where he actively carried on farm work until his sons were old enough to relieve him of the care of the fields, after which he gave his attention to work at his trade as a stone mason.

He long supported the Republican party and for many years served on the school board and was also township clerk for two terms. His interest in the community was deep and sincere, and he did everything in his power to promote the work of public progress along lines of permanent improvement. He was a Mason, holding membership at Wayland, and he and his estimable wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active and helpful part in its work. He served as superintendent of the Sunday-school and was zealous in his devotion to the cause of Christian education among the youth, realizing the truth of the old adage, "Train a child up in a way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart therefrom." An honorable and useful life was ended, when, in 1881, Robert Boal was called to his final rest.

He was survived for some years by his wife, who passed away March 8, 1893, and was held in equally high regard and esteem in the community. In their family were six children, of whom four are now living: C. A., of this review; George A., who married Elizabeth Wertemberger and resides in Wayne township; Nevada, the wife of W. B. Lyons, of Wyoming; and Clara, the wife of John Seay, of Indianola, Iowa. One child died in infancy and one at the age of nineteen years.

C. A. Boal was educated in the schools of Wayne township, and when fourteen or fifteen years of age started out in life on his own account, working by the month as a farm hand. At the age of twenty-two years he rented a farm in Marion township and has since devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits, with the result that his labors have gained him his present position.

On the 8^th of January, 1882, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Boal and Miss Dolly Anderson, who born May 12, 1862, in Marion township, a daughter of John and Sarah (Sprague) Anderson. Her father was born in Pennsylvania, was a farmer by occupation, and in 1844 came to Iowa, settling at Mount Pleasant upon the site of the university. His home was in the midst of a dense forest tract and he was one of the pioneer residents of the community, who aided in replacing the natural conditions of the tract by the evidences of an advanced civilization. Mr. Anderson was a republican in his political views and for many years followed farming in Marion township. He now makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Boal, and is the oldest man in the township, having attained the age of ninety years. His wife, who was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church and who was born in 1822, died in Kansas, January 6, 1887, her remains being interred in Floral cemetery in that state.

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were parents of twelve children, eleven of whom reached adult age, namely: Ann, now the wife of Joel Ogg, of Mount Pleasant; David, who married Lizzie Hull, of Marion township; Serena, the wife of James Van Osdel, of Kansas; Joseph, who married Martha Van Osdel; Emily, wife of John Van Osdel; William, who wedded Mattie Thompson, of this county; Cornelius, who married Clara Shepherd and is living in Dexter, Iowa; James, who married Ollie Carter, of Henry county; Alfred, who wedded Effie Carter and lives in this county; Mrs. Boal, of this review, and Carrie, the wife of Leonard Thompson. The eldest brother of the family, David Anderson, was a soldier of the Union army, enlisting in 1861 in the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, with which he served throughout the period of hostilities and was once wounded in the neck.

Mr. Boal has always been an earnest advocate of republican principles, supporting the party since age gave to him the right of franchise. He was also elected justice of the peace, but would not qualify, as he does not desire office as a reward for party fealty. He belongs to the Odd Fellows society, holding membership in Swedesburg Lodge, No. 347, and the encampment at Mount Pleasant, and he has passed all of the chairs in the local lodge. Both he and his wife are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as steward.

Having no children of their own, they have adopted a son, Foster Boal, who was born November 26, 1889. Mr. Boal's success in life is attributable to his own efforts. He is a genial and pleasant man, and his wife possesses many excellent qualities, so that they are highly esteemed in the community where they reside. He is a well read man, keeping informed on the questions of general interest of the day, and his entire life has been passed in Henry county, where he is numbered among the worthy early settlers.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 425) (PE)

GREGORY BONNIFIELD, one of the pioneer settlers of Henry County, residing on section 1, Tippecanoe Township, was born in Randolph County, Va., Feb. 11, 1821, and is a son of Rhodham and Nancy (Menier) Bonnifield, both of whom were also natives of Virginia. There were thirteen in his father's family when they emigrated to Iowa. They located in Jefferson County, in the spring of 1836, and during the third winter following three of the children and also the father and mother died, the father at the age of fifty-two and the mother at the age of fifty. Both of the parents were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Three of the family have since died and seven are now living: Samuel, engaged in the mercantile business in Nevada; Gregory, our subject; Wesley B., a banker residing in Ottumwa, Iowa; McCaska, a lawyer in Nevada; Ellis, a farmer residing in Mitchell County, Kan.; Martha, widow of V. Chandler, residing near Fairfield, Iowa, and Catherine, wife of William Ross, a resident of Reno County, Kan.

After his father's death, our subject managed the home farm until the spring of 1852, when he removed to Henry County, settling on section 1, Tippecanoe Township. He purchased 380 acres of partially improved land, which he has transformed into a beautiful farm, and on this he still resides, now owning 340 acres. He was united in marriage, on the 9th of November, 1848, with Miss Lydia Shuman, a native of Guernsey County, Ohio, and a daughter of Daniel and Mary (Lenington) Shuman, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of New Jersey. Her parents settled in Henry County in the fall of 1840, locating on the farm now owned by Mr. Bonnifield. Her father died in June, 1851, at the age of forty-nine, from an attack of cholera; his wife departed this life in April, 1864. They were both members of the Presbyterian Church, and always ready to aid with time or money in the Master's service. Mr. and Mrs Shuman were the parents of eleven children, nine of whom are now hiving: Jane, widow of Lineus Fairchild, who was a farmer of Tippecanoe Township, where she yet lives; Mrs. Bonnifield; Thomas died in Corning, Iowa, in 1884; Moses, now a resident of Corning, Iowa; Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Ables, now residing in Santa Maria, Cal.; John, also a resident of Santa Maria; Sarah, wife of H. Davis, residing in Cheyenne County, Kan.; Clarissa, wife of John Inglebright, residing in Marion Township; William, now residing in the State of Oregon; Maggie, wife of Elias Ogg, of Henry County, and Phebe, who was the eldest of the family, and was the wife of Thomas Jackson, then of Tippecanoe Township, died of cholera at the same time as her father. Mr. Bonnifield is entirely a self-made man; he commenced life a poor boy, and all that he has he has made by hard work, good management and fair dealing. They lived in a little cabin in true pioneer style until 1869, when he built a fine and commodious dwelling at a cost of $3,000. His farm is under a fine state of cultivation, and the out-buildings are models of convenience, the barn alone costing $l,000. Politically, Mr. Bonnifield is a Democrat. Six children have come to make glad their parents' hearts: Mary, who was the wife of J. F. Kinney, of Tippecanoe Township, died Sept. 29, 1881, at the age of thirty-two; Augustus died Dec. 7, 1877, at the age of twenty-five: Allen is a farmer of Tippecanoe Township, and is married to Miss Ellen D. Day; Martha J. is at home; Thomas W. died June 9, 1875, at the age of sixteen, and Frank lives at home. Mr. and Mrs. Bonnifield are earnest Christian people, and are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They are always ready to lend a helping hand to the needy, and none more truly deserve the respect of the community, which they enjoy in a marked degree.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp 349-350) (JC)

MATHIAS S. BOWERS, a farmer and stock-raiser, of Marion Township, residing on section 25, was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, Feb. 24, 1835, and is the son of John and Rebecca (Vernon) Bowers. His father was born in Greene County, Pa., June 24, 1792, and his mother in Muskingum County, Oct. 10, 1805. John and Rebecca Bowers were the parents of twelve children; of that number eleven are still living: Amos married Miss Elizabeth Spry, of Custer County, Ohio; Henry wedded Miss Sarah Violet, and resides in Washington, Washington Co., Iowa; Lucinda, widow of Patterson Calhoun, resides in Zanesville, Ohio; Cornelius married Catherine Calhoun, and resides in La Harpe, Hancock Co., Ill.; Charles S. married Emeline Moore, who died in 1866, leaving two children, and he was again married, to Eliza Erving, and now resides at Elmwood, Peoria Co., Ill.; Charles was a member of the 4th Iowa Cavalry and served three years; Mathias, our subject, is the sixth child in order of birth; Dorothy, wife of Allen Vernon, of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Lizzie, widow of Jacob Twigs, a resident of Beatrice, Neb.; Harrison was a member of the 4th Iowa Cavalry, and died at Memphis, Tenn., in 1864; Harriet, wife of a Mr. Humphrey, a conductor on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, resides at Lincoln, Neb.; Eliza, wife of Allen Courtney, a farmer of Marion Township; and Christiana, wife of Logan Myers, residing near Marshall, Iowa. Their children were all born in Muskingum County, Ohio, their father having settled in that county at a very early day and was married at that place. He found the country in a state of natural wildness. With but few exceptions the virgin soil was yet unvexed by the plow. The nimble deer, thoughtless of danger, lightly bounded over the plain, contentedly grazing upon the succulent grasses. He cleared 100 acres of land and made for himself a home, and continued to live there until 1832, when the desire to again become a pioneer took possession of him, and he accordingly loaded his family and household effects into wagons and started on the long, tedious journey to Iowa, leaving Lucinda and Cornelius at the old homestead, where they remained for several years, and later moved to Hancock County, Ill. Leaving his well-improved farm of 160 acres and all the comforts of home, he landed in Henry County, which was an unbroken wilderness, and bought 605 acres of wild land in Marion and Canaan Townships, in one body. At that time there were no laid out roads or landmarks. The first road marked out was from the place where Hill's building now stands in Mt. Pleasant to Wapello. This was laid out with an ox-team. He was a man who lived for his family, and was quiet and reserved in his way, but had many friends and was highly respected. He and his good wife were both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and she was taken from him in the year 1872. Mr. Bowers was called to his heavenly home in 1881, at the age of eighty-nine years and eleven months. He had no pain, and day by day saw him grow weaker, yet on the day of his death he ate a hearty dinner. His last words were: "I am not sick," but he fell back dead in his son's arms.

Our subject was reared on a farm, and in the occupation of tilling the soil has continued to labor all his life. His early education was received at the common school. Mr. Bowers has witnessed the rapid changes in this county since 1852, for since that time he has made his home in Marion Townhip, where he has a well regulated farm of ninety-five acres. He was united in marriage to Miss Emma Spry, born in Muskingum County, Ohio, Oct. 30, 1837. She is the daughter of William and Mary (Vernon) Spry, who had a family of twelve children: Elizabeth; Lucinda, deceased; M. B.; Martha, wife of Thomas Moore, residing in Florida; Milton J., a farmer in Kearney County, Neb.; Joseph W., a member of the 25th Iowa Volunteer Infantry, died at Vicksburg; Samuel N., a farmer and stock-raiser in Nodaway County, Mo.; William a farmer of this county; May, wife of William Steadman, a farmer of Marion Township; John B., in Villiska, Iowa; Chancy W., a farmer in Nebraska; Christin, wife of Charles Campbell, of Ogle Alley, Neb. The father of these children died in 1881, and the mother is still living in Marion Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Bowers' family consists of four children: William G., born Dee. 29, 1863; Leroy C., born Sept 3, 1867, now attending school; Charles H., born Oct. 10, 1870; Black O., born Sept. 26, 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Bowers have given their children good educational advantages. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are greatly interested in all church work. Mr. Bowers is politically, a Republican, and is held in high esteem throughout the county in which he has been so long a resident, and no one more justly deserves this esteem than does he. He has taken an active interest in all public affairs, and is an influential citizen.

(Portrait and Biographical Album, Henry County, Iowa; Acme Publishing Company, Chicago, 1888, pp 233-234.) (JC)

Sanford Boyd, who is engaged in general farming in Tippecanoe township, is a native of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Guernsey county on the 11^th of April, 1852. His father, Thomas Boyd, was a native of Pennsylvania and when he had arrived at years of maturity was married to Miss Elizabeth Abels, who was born in Ohio, and whose father, John Abels, became one of the earliest settlers of Tippecanoe township, Henry county, Iowa. He was well known as a pioneer resident and contributed in substantial measure to the work of early development and improvement here.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Boyd was celebrated in Ohio, where they owned a farm, which he continued to operate up to the time of his death. He passed away April 29, 1869, at the age of sixty-four years, his birth having occurred March 10, 1805. His wife, who was born January 24, 1812, died on the 27^th of February, 1892, having reached the advanced age of eighty years. In their family were eleven children, six sons and five daughters, of whom Sanford Boyd is the youngest.

In the public schools of Ohio he pursued a limited education, but his opportunities in that direction were somewhat meager for his services were needed upon the home farm. He remained at home until sixteen years of age, when he left Ohio and came to Henry county, Iowa, with his sister-in-law. Since that time he has been dependent entirely upon his own resources and whatever success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his labors. He was employed for a few months in various capacities and then took up farm work for he believed that the outdoor existence would prove beneficial to his health, which was in a somewhat precarious condition, his lungs seeming to be affected. He continued to labor as a farm hand for three and a half years and was greatly benefited by this life in the open air.

On the expiration of that period Mr. Boyd was married on the 26^th of September, 1878, to Miss Elizabeth Wilson, who was born in Jackson township, Henry county, and is a daughter of John M. and Sallie (Davis) Wilson, the former a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, and the latter of Ohio. Her paternal grandfather was John Wilson and her maternal grandfather John Davis, a native of Pennsylvania.

After his marriage Mr. Boyd rented a tract of land in Baltimore township, whereon he lived for a year and a half, and then engaged in the cultivation of a farm in Center township for one year. He next removed two miles south of Mount Pleasant in the same township, making his home upon that property for three years, when his savings justified his purchase of land and he became the owner of a farm of forty acres in the southern part of Center township. To this he added twenty acres and he improved the place by additions to the house and barn and in other ways, at the same time keeping his fields under a high state of cultivation, so that as the years passed he prospered. He continued to reside upon this place until 1893, when he sold and removed to Mount Pleasant, where he remained for three years.

In 1896 he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 12, Tippecanoe township. This had been improved and with characteristic energy he began its further cultivation and development. Later he added to it sixty-four acres and a further purchase extended the boundaries of the farm to include forty more acres. He has since remodeled the house, making a modern residence with good cellar underneath. He has also built barns and remodeled the other buildings upon the place and his farm is now neat and thrifty in appearance and gives evidence of the careful supervision of a painstaking and progressive owner.

While living in Mount Pleasant he was the owner of a good residence on Locust street, which he occupied for three years and then sold upon returning to farm life. Again, however, he went to Mount Pleasant in 1902, and bought a home at the corner of Jay and Henry streets, where he lived for two years, when he once more sold out and in the fall of 1904 again took up his abode upon his farm.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have been born seven children: Myrtle, who was born August 28, 1881; Ralph, who was born January 24, 1883, and is now engaged in teaming in Mount Pleasant, where he makes his home; Grace, born February 18, 1885; Earl S., October 13, 1891; Walter, September 8, 1894; Gladys, May 8, 1897; and Edith, on the 5^th of January, 1899. The youngest daughter was badly burned by an accident, from which she did not recover for seven months. A small boy in trying to light a candle put a taper into the stove and thereby set fire to the dress of little Edith, and but for the timely arrival of her mother and a neighbor she would have been burned to death. She has, however, now recovered from her injuries.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have a wide and favorable acquaintance in this county, where her entire life has been passed and where Mr. Boyd has lived for about thirty-seven years. Throughout this period he has commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow men who class him with the citizens of genuine worth, whose reliability, business integrity and loyalty to the general good have made them prominent residents of their community. Mr. Boyd has served as school director in Center township, and fraternally he is connected with the Odd Fellows lodge at Mount Pleasant maintaining pleasant relationship with his brethren of that organization.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 142) (PE)

William Boyd, a leading and successful farmer of Center township, owning and operating one hundred and seventy-three acres of land and who is prominent in community affairs, serving now as township trustee, was born near Cambridge, Guernsey county, Ohio, January 27, 1844, his parents being Thomas and Elizabeth (Abel) Boyd. The grandfather, who also bore the name of Thomas Boyd, was a pioneer settler of Ohio, and there the father lived and died.

William Boyd was reared in the state of his nativity and acquired a good education in the public schools. He remained with his father on the home farm until he had attained his majority and assisted him in the general work of tilling the soil and caring for the stock and the crops. He came to Henry county in 1867, locating first in Center township, where he has since spent his life as a farmer.

In 1892 he purchased his present place, comprising one hundred and seventy-three acres in Center township and has erected all of the buildings here including a fine modern residence and good barns. He has also set out all of the decorative trees about the place and has made his home most attractive in its appearance. He carries on general agricultural pursuits and has been very successful in his work, which is conducted along practical and progressive lines. He uses the latest improved machinery in caring for the fields and everything about his farm is neat and thrifty in appearance.

In March, 1865, Mr. Boyd in response to his country's call for troops, having just attained his twenty-first year, enlisted in Company D, Fiftieth Iowa Infantry, and served until honorably discharged in October following. He was not in any engagement, however.

A republican in politics, he is recognized as one of the strong and stalwart supporters of that party and in 1893 was township assessor. Not long afterward he was elected township trustee and has filled the position to the present time, serving now for the fourth term with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. There have been many permanent improvements made in the roads and bridges during his incumbency in the office and he has been an active worker for improvement along this line. He is also recognized as a most capable and ardent supporter of the republican party in his township, and has attended many of the conventions as a delegate. Fraternally he is connected with Mount Pleasant Lodge, No. 8, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

On the 16^th of August, 1868, Mr. Boyd was married to Miss Elizabeth Coiner, of Center township, a daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Teeter) Coiner, the former a native of Virginia. He was married in Ohio, and in 1848 came to Iowa, bringing his daughter here as an infant. They lived near Mediapolis, Des Moines county, but in 1858 removed to Mount Pleasant, where the father retired from active business life. His daughter, Mrs. Boyd, was educated in that city. By this marriage there have been born six children; Cora, now the wife of C. W. Lawrence, a resident of Utah; Alberta, the wife of George C. Bayles, of Seattle, Washington; Maud and Hattie, at home; Mattie, the wife of J. J. Allen, of Wayland, Iowa; and Ross C., at home. The parents are members of the Pleasant Hill Methodist Episcopal church, and enjoy the warm and favorable regard of many friends in this locality.

Mr. Boyd belongs to that class of representative citizens who have made steady advancement in the business world by means of close application and unremitting diligence and as an agriculturist and republican leader deserves mention with the representative men of Henry county.

(Biographical Review of Henry County, Iowa. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Co.,1906, Page 697) (PE)

Rev. William Brattain

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE LATE REV. WILLIAM BRATTAIN, BY HIS OLD FRIEND, REV. THOMAS BALLINGER

In writing this sketch, the object will be to present, not only an outline of MR. BRATTAIN, but "whence, what and where," that will embrace his early boyhood days, circumstances connected with his early manhood, his wonderful ability to learn by both observation and books. Mr. Brattain was born in the State of Indiana, October 13, 1810. Died, in Jefferson township, Mahaska county, Iowa, at the home of his son-in-law and daughter Mary, Mrs. Thomas Havener, of Bright's disease, after much patient suffering, February 25, 1889, at the advanced age of 79 years. Mr. Brattain was married in Van Buren county, Iowa, to Miss Martha A. Croxil, in 1836. They had five children born to them-three boys and two daughters, namely Humphrey, Lemuel and Charley. The daughters Mrs. Thomas Havener lives in this County; May, now Mrs. Dr. G.N. Beechler, lives in Oskaloosa. Mr. B.'s father moved from Indiana to Lake Peoria, Illinois, about 1816, and settled on very near where the populous city of Peoria now stands. That was several years before the Indians were removed. At that time it was an Indian town and a French trading post. The Brattain family had no neighbors by Indians; their children no playmates but young Indians. They got acquainted, and from necessity, soon, began to learn to talk together. There being no war with the whites at that time, the Indians were very friendly to them. Mr. Brattain told the writer that their children soon became attached to their young neighbors, and they would unite in songs, children's plays, and the boys in running footraces and other sports. Here he said, is where I first learned by experience, that I could run fast. The short races were from fifty to four hundred steps; said he smiling, "I have run all the distances named hundreds of times, and never run with an Indian but to beat him. Don't think me vain, Brother Ballinger; but I have never been outrun by any boy or man." We believed every word of it, knowing how strong and active he was for a man so slender. But, brother, we asked how about getting along friendly with those young Indians. "There was no trouble, never saw children get along better together, they would join in with us to learn our plays; and we with them, making our pleasures as mutual as possible." Mr. Brattain learned to speak the Indian dialect here so well, that he said he never saw an Indian of any tribe, but that he could talk without difficulty; but he learned the art of hunting, and could as easily beat them at that as he
could outrun them. From Illinois the Brattain family moved to Iowa, then a territory, and occupied by Indians; and M. B., being well acquainted with the Indian tongue, soon made new acquaintances, got well acquainted with the celebrated Chiefs, Black Hawk, Keokuk, and the prophet Wabahespeck. He gave it as his opinion, that Black Hawk was the greatest Indian he ever saw, equal to any mentioned in the past history of the country. In the interval between his boyhood days at Lake Peoria and his immigration to Iowa and for several years afterward, he was employed at different things.

He made several trips down the Mississippi river to New Orleans, getting good wages for his services, a portion of which he put into books, for further educating himself, in order to be more useful to himself and others. He taught school for some time, the better to prepare himself for a law student, read law and was admitted to the bar, and practiced his profession for a year or two, but was too reserved and diffident to be a lawyer. He told the writer that all through these years from a boy his mind had been more or less engaged in the study of religious subjects. He quit law and took up his old trade, having worked at the carpenter business at intervals before. There was not work enough to keep him employed all the time; and every hour he had to spare, he put in reading the Bible until he read it through and through. From its teaching he came to the conclusion, that if God in infinite in wisdom, He must have clearly foreseen the results, that would follow man's existence. A reasonable conclusion on the supposition that his existence would turn out to be a source of endless wretchedness. Mr. Brattain was a man who never arrived at a conclusion without first carefully considering the premises. If God created mankind for a good purpose, nothing but good will be the final result. If any portion of mankind should suffer endless chastisement it would be difficult to see how such could end in goos; and there being no comparison between any man's transgressions and endless suffering, it is safe to assume that such punishment can not, under God's government be true. We must then, of course, interpret the Scriptures to correspond and harmonize with infinite wisdom, love and good results Mercy would ask all that and even more. It was this kind of reasoning that made Mr. Brattain a believer in the final triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, heaven over hell. The Scriptures say, "For as much then, as the children are partaker of flesh and blood, he (Christ) likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him and that the power of death, that is the devil, and those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Then good cheer to the world. The devil, i.e., evil will be destroyed by Christ, and hell charity for all, and malice toward none, the writer has no object in this sketch, in alluding to the beliefs of others than to help all up to a higher doctrinal standpoint, and broader view of our holy religion. "Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."

In conclusion, Mr. Brattain was a great student, and had the law suited him would have made a great jurist. He never got credit for this great ability. He wrote more than three thousand sermons, the greater part of which are left with his daughter, Mrs. Havener. Some 600 of them were never delivered. They would make thirty large volumes if printed and bound that would be a valuable addition to the world's knowledge of theology, by their advanced thoughts and deep scientific research.

At One P.M. on the day of the funeral the friends in the city, who had gathered at Dr. Beechler's joined the procession as it came from the country, and proceeded to Forest cemetery, where he was laid to rest beside his wife, whom he married over fifty years ago. Farewell, dear brother, thou hast gone the way of all the earth.

Oskoloosa Weekly Herald 1889 (Submitted by Betsey Browning)