~ Henry Jensen ~

Henry Jensen, who carries on general farming on section 13, Sherman Township, is the owner of a good farm of two hundred and sixty acres, and the well tilled fields and neat appearance of the place indicate the thrift and enterprise of the owner, who is justly ranked among the leading agriculturists of the community. As he has many warm friends in the neighborhood we feel assured that this record will be received with interest by many of our readers.

Mr. Jensen is a native of Schleswig, Germany. He was born October 12, 1849, and is a son of Henry and Margaret Jensen, who were also born in Germany. In the country of his nativity, he remained until twenty years of age, being reared to manhood in the usual manner of fanner lads. It was in 1869 that be bade adieu to home and friends and crossed the broad Atlantic to the United States. At Hamburg he took passage on a steamer bound for New York City, and after arriving in the eastern metropolis of this country he at once made his way westward to Iowa, locating first in Scott County, where he remained for several years. He had no capital, and the livelihood, which he must gain, must be secured through his own efforts. He began working as a farm hand by the month and received $22 and his board as a compensation for his services. Continuing in Scott County until 1875, he then came to Jasper County in the spring of that year, and with the capital, which he had acquired through his former service, he purchased the farm on which he has since resided.

While living in Scott County, Mr. Jensen was married in January 1873, to the lady of his choice, being Miss Lena Smith, who was born in Iowa. By their union they became parents of five children, three sons and two daughters, as follows: William, Herman, Meta, Lewis and Hulda.

Whatever success Mr. Jensen has achieved in life is due entirely to his own efforts. He entered upon his business career in the country with no capital, but he had steadily worked his way upward, overcoming the difficulties and obstacles in his path. His labors have brought him a competence and he is now surrounded by all that goes to make life worth the living. Mr. Jensen belongs to the Lutheran Church of Newton. He has served as School Director for one year, and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend and one whose interests he does his best to advance. In politics he is a supporter of Democratic principles, but has never been an aspirant for official honors, preferring to devote his time and attention to business cares and the enjoyment of the home. He need never have occasion to regret his immigration to America, for his career here has been a successful one. p. 196.

~ Wesley Jordan ~

A pioneer of Iowa, Mr. Jordan came to this state in 1847. The country then presented a far different appearance from what it does today. It was literally a wilderness; abundant game roamed over the wild, uncultivated prairies or found shelter in the primeval forests along the watercourses. The bold, hardy frontiersman bad scarcely begun to turn the virgin soil and thus lay the foundation of the prosperity that obtains today on all sides, as evidenced by flourishing cities and many happy homes.

That he has contributed to this transformation may be a source of pride to Mr. Jordan, who is a man of public spirit, and has generously contributed of his means to advance all enterprises that will in any way add to the prosperity of the community with whose interests his own are identical, and among whose people he occupies a position of prominence. He is a man of high character, and is gifted with many worthy attributes that render him respected of all men. Illinois is his native state, his birth having occurred in Jefferson County, October 9, 1823.

The father of our subject, William F. Jordan, was a native of Kentucky, and coming north in an early day, settled in Adams County, Ill., where he engaged in farming near Quincy. He died in Pleasantville, Marion County, Iowa, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Isabel Painter, was born in Illinois, and was of German descent. They were the parents of seven sons and two daughters, our subject being the second in order of birth. He was a child of six years when he accompanied his parents to Adams County, Ill., and there his boyhood years were passed upon the home farm.

In 1846 Mr. Jordan, with two brothers, enlisted at Quincy, Ill., as privates in the Mexican War, becoming members of Company A, First Illinois Infantry, Colonel Hardin commanding. At the expiration of one year, his period of service, our subject returned to Adams County, in 1847, and very soon afterward removed to Iowa, where he located upon the site of the present village of Pleasantville. He platted that town and erected the first building thereon and established the first general store. At that early day there were no railroads, and produce was hauled to Keokuk, Iowa, the nearest market. Not only does Mr. Jordan enjoy the distinction of being the first merchant in Pleasantville, but he was also the pioneer businessman of Marion County. In his various enterprises be has accumulated a competency, and has become the owner of valuable property.

On the 31st of December 1887, Mr. Jordan located in Colfax, where he has since lived retired from business cares. However, he still maintains an active interest in all matters of public importance, and contributes his quota to the progress of the city. He was a prominent factor in the organization of the Commercial Bank, which was opened on the day that President Harrison was inaugurated, and of which he was President until July 25, 1892, when he disposed of his stock in the institution. He owns a valuable farm in Marion County, in addition to considerable real estate in Colfax, and is numbered among the moneyed men of the county.

The first wife of Mr. Jordan was Miss Susan F. Brown, of Marion County, Iowa, who died after having become the mother of four children. George W. resides in Pleasantville, Iowa; Mary is the wife of Rev. Neal Cheetham. a minister in the Christian Church, now holding a pastorate at Waitsburg, Wash.; William C. and Riley D. are residents of Pleasantville and prominent businessmen of that place. After the death of Mrs. Susan Jordan, our subject married Miss Lovina Fisher, and they are the parents of three children: Cora C., wife of N. T. Weston, of Colfax; Albert E., a farmer residing in Marion County, Iowa; and Thomas Eugene, who resides in Colfax.

With his family, Mr. Jordan holds membership in the Christian Church, with which he has been identified for thirty-five years. He has officiated as deacon and is now an Elder in that denomination, and is a prominent worker in all its enterprises. In his political views he is a Democrat, and strongly favors Prohibition, being himself a sound temperance man. He has been a hard-working man, but his labors have been amply rewarded, as he well knows how to direct his energies so as to produce the desired results. He possesses sound sense discretion and other good traits and is in all respects an honest, straightforward man. Page 394.

~ Arthur P. Joy ~

Arthur P. Joy, a prominent dentist of Newton, was born in Hancock County, Me., June 14, 1849, and is a son of Hollis and Barbara R. (Thomas) Joy. The father of Doctor Joy was of Scotch and Welsh ancestry, his paternal great-grandfather having been born in Wales, while his forefathers on his great-grand- mother's side came from Scotland. The great- great-grandfather, whose name was Rossand, was a Scotchman and a prominent physician in his day, and the mother of our subject now has in her possession an old leather covered trunk that he brought with him from Scotland. The family settled in Maine, the original emigrants being residents of Portland at the time of their demise.

Grandfather Hiram Joy was born in Maine and was by occupation a farmer and stockman, and after selling a large lot of stock and having the money in his possession was foully murdered. Hollis Joy was born in Gouldsboro, Hancock County, Me., and is a graduate of the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati, Ohio, beginning the practice of his profession at the age of twenty and still conducting the same in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. One of his brothers, Howard, was a Sea captain and was lost with his ship on the ocean. William Thomas, the grandfather of Doctor Joy on the maternal side, was an Englishman, and like the paternal grandfather was a prominent farmer and murdered for his money after having made a large sale.

The subject of this sketch is the third in a family of four children. His two sisters died in infancy. His brother, William H., was born in Pembroke, Me., August 14, 1847, and received his education at Windsor, Nova Scotia, to which point his parents removed in 1857; he is now a resident of Halifax. The Doctor accompanied his parents to Nova Scotia in 1857, and returned with them to the States in 1868, locating in Chicago, Ill., and later removing to Will County, Ill., where he stayed for several years, then removed to Indiana, were he engage in practice for one year.

The Doctor's early education was gained in the academy at Windsor, Nova Scotia, and in 1868 he commenced the study of dentistry in Chicago, graduating from the College of Dentistry in that city in 1870. Opening an office, he continued to practice his profession in Chicago until 1879,when he came to Newton, and has, since been actively engaged in professional duties. While living in Chicago he married Miss Annie E., only daughter of the late Prof. James E. Hamilton, who was a grandson of Lord Hamilton, of Ireland, and was born on French waters on board ship while his parents were on their way to France. He was a man of superior education, having had the advantage of the best high-grade schools in France, Germany and England. After coming to America he was a private instructor in the languages for many years in Chicago, where he died in 1879.

It was under the instruction of this polished scholar that Mrs. Joy received her early training, and later she was graduated from the Chicago High School. In 1882 she commenced the study of dentistry with her husband, and since that time has been his assistant, being a graduate of the Iowa State University at Iowa City, where she was graduated in 1893.

The Doctor and his wife have had four children, two sons and two daughters, one of the latter dying in infancy. Hollis J., the elder son, was educated in the high school of Newton and the Iowa State University, and is now practicing dentistry with his father. Maud R. has completed her literary studies and is now being educated in music, being talented in that art and a leader in musical circles. Arthur H., the youngest child, is now being educated in the schools of Newton. The Doctor and his wife also have an adopted daughter, Grace Roe.

Possessing considerable musical ability, Doctor Joy for many years assisted in the church choir, though not identified with any denomination. He holds fraternal relations with the Modern Woodmen of America. While not zealous in his partisanship, he gives the weight of his influence and his ballot to the nominees and principles of the Republican Party, to which he has always given his loyal allegiance. In his chosen profession he has achieved great success, and as a dentist he has gained an enviable reputation among the people of the county. Page 441.