~ John S. Taft ~

It is a pleasure to chronicle the history of a man whose life has been one of honor and usefulness, and although he is still a comparatively young man, John S. Taft has accumulated a fortune that enables him to enjoy to the fullest extent the true comforts of a home that is made beautiful by the sweet spirit of kindliness and mutual appreciation among the members of the family. He was born in Hillsboro County, N. H., in the village of Mason in the year 1843, and his father, Albert Taft, was born in that locality about 1805. The grandfather, James Taft, a native of the Old Bay State, was of old Puritan stock. He was a man of means, and for many years was engaged in mercantile pursuits and the butcher business. In early life he went to New Hampshire, and there passed the remainder of his days. He was a careful, thoroughgoing businessman and succeeded in all his undertakings.

Albert Taft, father of our subject, was the eldest of three children, all sons. His brothers, George and James, were for many years connected with him in mercantile pursuits, and were also with him in the butcher business. Later Mr. Taft became the owner of a large tannery and accumulated quite a fortune, but subsequently lost the greater part of it. However, at the time of his death in 1863, he left his widow in good circumstances. The mother of our subject, Lydia Lovejoy (Stevens) Taft, was also a native of the Granite State, her birth occurring about 1810. Her father, John Stevens, was also born in that state, at Wilton, about 1774, and was a man of considerable local note, being connected with some of the large woolen mills. For many years he was a member of the New Hampshire Legislature, was Justice of the Peace, and it is said was Moderator of Elections all his life. In fact, he was the leading man of his locality. His death occurred in 1848.

Mrs. Taft had three brothers, John, Henry and Samuel. The eldest was a farmer and trader, and went to Wisconsin. He was Justice of the Peace, and held other local offices. His death occurred in that state. Henry went to New York City, where he made a fortune in the hotel business, and subsequently settled in Wisconsin, where his death occurred. Samuel was for some years an overseer in mills in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, but later he removed to Oregon, where he was engaged in the lumber business for some time. About 1850 he went to California, and was engaged in mining. Mrs. Taft was a lady of culture and ranked as one of the best schoolteachers of her day. After the death of her husband, in 1863, she went to New York City and there passed most of the remainder of her days, but died in Monroe, Iowa, in 1883, at the home of her son, our subject. She was a member of Henry Ward Beecher's Church, and was a great advocate of the noted preacher.

Our subject was the elder of two children, his sister dying in childhood, and he received a good academic education. As a boy he assisted his father in the store, and after the death of the latter he managed his mother's farm and other business intere6ts. When twenty-two years of age he went to New York City, and was employed in a packinghouse for a number of years. Later he came west, and made his home at Newton, Iowa, for two years, and then, in 1878, he came to Monroe, this state, and engaged in merchandising, in which he continued until 1892. Having made a fortune, but being in poor health, he retired from the active duties of life.

In the year 1875, our subject married Miss Mary H. Jewett, also a native of New Hampshire, and the daughter of George Jewett, who was a prosperous merchant. Both of her parents died when she was a child. She had two brothers, Joel and George W.; the former is overseer in a mill in his native state, and the latter is Superintendent of the Baker Barb Wire Company, of Lockport, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Taft have had six children, as follows: Charles S. is now a student at Highland Park College at Des Moines, as is also the second child, Albert J.; John Stevens died when but two years of age; Roscoe L., Harry Chester and Mary L. are at home. Page325.

~ Edwin J. Talbot ~

Edwin J. Talbot, a farmer residing in Palo Alto Township, Jasper County, is a native of Illinois and was born in Winnebago County on the 2nd of July 1845. He is a son of David F. and Caroline Talbot, the former a native of New York State and a descendant of English ancestors, and the mother born in Massachusetts. At the age of thirteen years he accompanied his parents to Jasper County, Iowa, where he settled in Elk Creek Township upon a tract of raw prairie land. With the exception of several years spent in Des Moines, the elder Mr. Talbot made his home continuously in Elk Creek Township until the time of his death, which occurred on the 28th of February 1892.

In the parental family there are six children now living, namely: Edwin J., the subject of this sketch; Hiram M.; George F.; Alice, wife of C. M. Dearinger; Eugene and Warren. The father of this family was a stanch Republican in his political affiliations, although during the latter part of his life he acquired prohibition sympathies. He served in a number of positions of trust and responsibility, having been Trustee of Elk Creek Township and also filling the office or Assessor, as well as numerous other local posts of honor. He was a man of liberal spirit and progressive tendencies, and in his death Elk Creek Township lost one of its most honored and upright citizens. His widow still survives and, at the age of seventy- five years (1893), is numbered among the aged pioneer women of Elk Creek Township, where she makes her home.

In the public schools of Elk Creek Township, Edwin J. Talbot received the rudiments of his education, and tile knowledge gained in the schoolroom has been supplemented by systematic reading and self-culture. His boyhood years were devoted to farming work, and as soon as large enough he aided in clearing and breaking land, which he afterward brought to a high state of cultivation. On the 20th of November 1873, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Forker, a native of West Virginia and a daughter of Jeremiah and Belisen Forker. In her girlhood she accompanied her parents to Iowa and settled in Mahaska County, where she grew to womanhood. Four children have been born of this union, Willie J., Ella Z., Frank O. and Ralph.

In the spring of 1889 Mr. Talbot removed from Elk Creek to Palo Alto Township and settled upon the farm, which is now his home. The property consists of one hundred and forty acres, upon which he has placed such improvements as invariably embellish a first-class farm. He is a man of energy and industry, firm in his convictions and stanch in his support of all progressive measures arid projects, while in his party belief he is a stanch Republican, always casting his ballot for the nominees of that party. In religious connections he and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

~ William M. Thompson ~

With the progress and development of Jasper County Mr. Thompson has for a number of year been intimately associated, He has been especially prominent in Independence Township, where he has resided since an early date in its settlement. At the time of his arrival in the county, Newton was a hamlet containing only three houses, and they were log cabins. No road had as yet been opened to Des Moines. Wild animate were abundant, and the pioneers, being expert shots, subsisted largely upon game. With all the hardships of those days he was familiar, and his early years were filled with privations, toil and unceasing labor. Now having accumulated a competence, he has retired to some extent from active business cares and makes his home in the village of Baxter, where he owns and occupies the largest house in the town.

Born in England May 29,1841, our subject was a child of twelve months when his parents, William A. and Mary J. (Coates) Thompson, emigrated to the United States, settling in Iowa, where they spent two years in Athens County. From that place they removed to Mahaska County, where for three years the father followed the trade of a cabinet and wagon maker. Having a family of nine children, he was obliged to work indefatigably in order to maintain them and provide them with the necessities of life. Such, however, was his enterprise and ability that, although having only $300 at the time of immigrating to America, he accumulated a competence and left $10,000 at his demise in 1873.

The subject of this sketch was reared amid scenes of pioneer life and early became familiar with farming work. So meager were his advantages that he never saw a schoolhouse until he was eighteen years old, and the broad information which he now possesses is the result of self-culture and diligent application. On the 12th of August, 1862, be married Miss Mary Randles, whom he left at her father's home in order that he might enlist in the Union Army. In 1862 he became a member of Company K, Twenty-third Iowa Infantry.

Capt. Fred Woodbury commanding. With his regiment be participated in twenty-six engagements, but although often in the thickest of the fight, he was never wounded. At one time a ball passed through his coat, grazing his body but not injuring him.

Upon his return from the army Mr. Thompson purchased forty acres in Marshall County, Iowa, on which be conducted agricultural operations for a number of years. Removing from there to Jasper County, he bought one hundred and twenty acres of land, for which his father paid. He has added to the original purchase until he has now three hundred and ninety acres, all under good cultivation and embellished with a substantial set of buildings adapted to their varied purposes. He is one of the progressive farmers to whose enterprise may be attributed the present high standing of Jasper County as an agricultural community.

In early days be frequently saw Indians in parties of three or four hundred. Wild deer were abundant, as were also other animals. His father manufactured the first plow he ever saw, and which of course was a great curiosity to him.

Our subject's first wife at her death left two daughters: Laura, the wife of George Hedges, and Arminta, who married A. I. Cox, of Marshalltown, Iowa. On the 19th of March 1877, Mr. Thompson married Miss Nettie Stone, and five children have been born of this union, namely: George, Maude, Nellie, Mabel and Willie, all of whom are at home.

In 1884 Mr. Thompson removed from the farm to Baxter, where he built the second house in the village and also for time conducted a meat market and a livery and sale stable. Now, however, he is retired from business. Three years ago he built the largest and most substantial residence now standing in the village, and here he and his family reside surrounded by all the comforts of life. In his political affiliations be gives his sympathy and support to the principles of the Republican Party, but is not a politician nor active in his partisanship. p. 167.

~ James A. Tool ~

James A. Tool is one of those worthy citizens who have won a comfortable fortune by the exercise of unflagging industry, wise economy and good judgment in the conduct of the business to which they have devoted themselves. His home in Fairview Township, Jasper County, is one of the most attractive of the farm residences within its bounds, and everywhere upon the estate one sees evidences of the qualities which have won for its owner his worldly success and good standing in the community.

Mr. Tool is a son of Adam M. and Susan H. (Stinson) Tool, both of whom were born in Virginia and were classed among the respected agriculturists of the community. In 1843 the father came to this county and entered three hundred and twenty acres of raw land, upon which now stands the flourishing town of Monroe, he claiming the credit of founding the place. He started in life for himself with but a very limited education, but possessing fine business qualities amassed for himself a competence which served him well in his old age. He passed away when about eighty- three years of age. Politically he was a stanch supporter of the Republican Party.

Our subject is one in a family of seven children born to his worthy parents, whose names are as follows: Eliza J., Mary S., Susan A., James A., Mariah E., Martha C. and John M. The mother of these children received a good education in her youth, and when eleven years of age became a follower of Christ, uniting herself with the Methodist Episcopal Church. She remained true to her pledge until her death, which occurred in 1862, at the age of sixty-one years. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a native of England but came to the United States in an early day, locating in the State of Virginia, and there was interested in agriculture and teaming.

The birth of our subject occurred in Washington County, Va., June 12, 1825. He attended the common district school in the vicinity of his home and thereby gained a good education. Remaining with his parents until twenty-two years of age, he married Sarah Fouts, a daughter of Noah and Phoebe Fouts, of North Carolina. To this union were born twelve children, three of whom died in infancy. The others bore the names of Charles W., Cynthia A., Quinn H., John H., Sarah E., Oscar N., Harrison F., Ulissia A. and Flora A. The mother of these children was called to the land beyond in her sixty-third year. She was highly respected by all who knew her and was a member in good standing in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The church structure stands on our subject's farm and is known as Tool's Chapel. The second marriage of Mr. Tool was solemnized in 1892, the lady of his choice bearing the name of Mary E. Barnes, a daughter of Hodgen and Mary A. Barnes, natives of England and Wales, respectively. Mrs. Tool is also a member of the Methodist Church, and is a lady who is much esteemed by her neighbors.

The home estate of Mr. Tool consists of three hundred and twenty acres of fine farming land, on which he located in 1847. He has resided on this place since his advent into this township, and by his industrious habits and economy has been enabled to gain a good property, at one time being the possessor of over six hundred broad acres. He has been very generous to his children, dividing between them over $15,000. He affiliates with the People's Party and has held the offices of County Commissioner, Trustee and Justice of the Peace, besides other minor positions. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is at present the local preacher and Trustee of his church. A respected and honored man, he is ever ready to bear such a part as he can in the progress of the county. Page 297.

~ Hon. John M. Tool ~

The official work of this gentleman has extended over a number of years and has brought him before the notice of the citizens of Jasper County, and in him his constituents have found a man of ability and integrity, and one whose activities have ever been employed for the good of the community. He is a native of the grand old State of Virginia. He was born in Washington County, November 12, 1832, to the union of Adam M. and Susan H. (Stinson) Tool, both natives of Virginia, the former born in Augusta County, July 3, 1794, and the latter in Washington County, October 31, 1800, and of Scotch descent.

The father of our subject was of Scotch-Irish descent, his father having been born in the North of Ireland. At an early date the latter came to this country and settled in Augusta County, Va., where he died in 1810. Adam M. Tool, second in order of birth of three sons, and his eldest brother, John, was one of the very early pioneers of Woodford County, VA. The other brother, Jacob, remained in Virginia; he was a cabinet-maker by trade, and became wealthy. In 1817 Adam M. Tool married Miss Stinson and resided in his native state until seven children were born, five daughters and two sons. Eliza Jane, born October 10, 1818, married John Frost and died June 27, 1841. Mary, born January 10, 1821, married Washington Flenor, who died in 1848; her second marriage was with James McClery, and she now lives in Oberlin, Kan., where her daughter, Emma, is County Superintendent of Schools of Decatur County. Susan Adeline, born December 18, 1822, married Willard Hill, who was a soldier in the regular army, and who was killed by a horse at Santa Fe during his service in 1847; she married the second time, in 1852, William Delong, and they now reside in Colorado; three sons and one daughter were born of this union. James A., born June 12, 1825, married Sarah Foust, and in 1848 took a claim four miles east of Monroe, where he now resides. M. Elizabeth, born August 22, 1827, married the Hon. Henry B. Mitchell, a man of considerable prominence; be was Supervisor in Jefferson County, a member of the State Legislature, and now lives at Fairfield. Martha C., born February 22,1830, married Wyley W. Moore, and died March 25,1857. He and his daughter now live in Des Moines.

In 1837, when our subject was but five years of age, his parents moved to Coles County, IL, where they resided for five years, and then came to the Hawkeye State, settled west of Fairfield and near the Indian boundary line. On the 23rd of April 1843, seven days before the territory embracing Jasper County was opened for settlement, Adam M. Tool and several others started out to find a location in the new country. They made their way to the present site of the village of Monroe, where Mr. Tool placed his stake, and 1851 he laid out the town of Monroe. This pioneer settler erected the first hewed log house in Jasper County, and in Monroe passed the balance of his days, his death occurring April 4,1877.

Mrs. Tool was the first Postmistress in the county. They kept a hotel the early days, and their home was headquarters for all the travelers. Mrs. Tool was a woman of more than ordinary education and a devoted Christian. She died January 28, 1862. Previous to his marriage, Mr. Tool served faithfully in the War of 1812.

Our subject was but eleven years of age when his parents penetrated the wilderness of Jasper County, and from that time until the present he has resided here. The incidents in his early life were not materially different from those of other boys living on farms in the new country. He was taught to work at anything necessary for him to do, and to make himself useful around the pioneer homestead. As did other boys, young Tool attended school during the winters, and in summer assisted in clearing the land, fencing the fields and raising crops after the land was improved. Although his educational advantages were not of the best, he was a thorough student, and by close attention he mastered all the important branches. In early life he engaged in farming and trading in stock, and for a time was also engaged in merchandising.

The members of the Tool family as far back as we have any knowledge were Methodists, and our subject is no exception to the rule. In 1870 he was ordained to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and since that time has been a local preacher. In 1879 he was nominated for the Legislature, getting one hundred and nineteen votes out of one hundred and twenty-two cast, and served in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth General Assemblies. Oh the 19th of January 1854, he married Miss Jane Paul, the daughter of the Rev. Joseph Paul, Methodist Episcopal preacher. She was a native of the Hoosier State. One of her brothers, Thomas, is a Methodist Episcopal preacher at Walla Walla, Wash.

Mr. and Mrs. Tool were blessed with five children, two of whom died in infancy. Mary B., born June 22,1857, married A. C. Carwile and lives in Silver City, NM; Roscoe Paul, born December 13, 1863, married Miss Minnie Mateer April 4, 1889, and resides on a farm near Monroe, and C. E., born November 18, 1865, received his education in the college at Indianola, and is now a teacher in the public schools. The father of these children is a man of broad views, who has traveled extensively, and who is well informed. He has done much to benefit his fellow man. p. 142.

~ Andes Turck ~

The stranger who for the first time visits Jasper County and drives upon a pleasant summer morning along the smooth roads of Palo Alto Township will not fail to notice with especial admiration the pleasant homestead on section 13, the property of Mr. Turck. Fields of waving grain meet the eye on every hand, while a commodious residence and substantial farm buildings form the foreground of the pleasant scene. The place consists of three hundred and thirty-one acres, acquired by the personal efforts of the owner. This fact in itself speaks better than words could do of his thrift and energy. As a tiller of the soil he endeavored to keep abreast of the latest improvements in machinery, etc, and pays especial attention to the cereals for which his farm is best adapted.

Born in Winnebago County, IL, February 21, 1840, our subject is a son of Anthony Turck and Mary (Courtright) Turck, natives of New York, the mother being a daughter of a soldier in the War of 1812. In 1853 he migrated to Jasper County, in company with his parents and settled in Buena Vista Township, of which he was a pioneer. There his mother died, his father passing away in Kansas some years later. Andes was reared to manhood in Illinois and Iowa, and received his education in the common schools. However, the knowledge he now possesses has been gained mainly through experience and observation, as his schooling was limited.

On the 26th of March, 1864, Mr. Turck enlisted as a member of Company E, Fourth Iowa Calvary and for a time was under the command of General Sherman. In the summer of 1864 he participated in the campaign around Memphis, TN, and later followed General Price into Missouri, where he took part in many skirmishes. At Louisville he was taken ill with smallpox, which resulted in the loss of one eye. On the 27th of May 1865, he was honorably discharged, and is now in receipt of a pension of $24 per month as a partial compensation for the loss of his eyesight.

Since returning from the army, Mr. Turck has resided continuously in Jasper County. With the exception of having engaged in the mercantile business at Newton for a time, his attention has been devoted exclusively to farming, and he has made a success of his chosen calling. He and his first wife, whose maiden name was Ann M. Haskit, had one son, Lee G., now living in Des Moines, Iowa. The second union of Mr. Turck was with Miss Mary S. Murphy and resulted in the birth of two children now living, Harry and Bertram. His third wife bore the maiden name of Mary E. Ressler.

As one of the early settlers of Jasper County, Mr. Turck has been interested witness of its growth and development, and has been an important factor in its progress. He is a Republican in political belief, devoted to the success of party Principles. For two years he served as Trustee of Palo Alto Township, and filled other offices of trust and responsibility and has discharged his duties and obligations to the satisfaction of his fellow citizens. p. 178.

~ Charles C. Turner ~

Charles C. Turner, a prosperous and influential farmer, and, one of the oldest settlers in Poweshiek Township, was born in the state of Maine, August 15, 1826. His parents, Joseph and Nancy (Shaw) Turner, were born respectively in the states of Massachusetts and Maine. The Turner family came originally from England, and the records run far back beyond the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on the soil of the New World, but, like true Americans, the present representatives prefer to start with the great-grandfather of our subject, John Turner, who was a Captain in the Revolutionary War. He served with the infantry until stricken with smallpox at Saratoga, N. Y. His son Ebenezer was a native of Maine, a shoemaker by trade and a farmer by occupation; he left his native state in 1832 for the state of Illinois, and settled in Adams County, where he reared a family of five boys and two girls. Joseph was the father of our subject. Mary, now deceased, was the wife of E. Leverett. Edward died in this state. Ebenezer died in Quincy, Ill. Lewis was a great student and a man of fine education. Ann was the wife of Jonathan Bradberry. John is now residing in Adams County.

Joseph Turner, the father of our subject, was, both by inclination and education, a farmer. In 1834 he came west and settled in Adams County, Ill. He was three times married, and was the father of seven children. His first wife, the mother of our subject, gave birth to two, Catherine C., now the widow of Calip Sewell, of New York City, and Charles C. His second wife, Mary Bunker, a native of New Hampshire, brought him five children: Rufus, who is a resident of Atlanta, Idaho; Joseph F., of Quincy, Ill.; Frederick, who died in Adams County, where the family still resides; Ellen, of Quincy, Ill.; and Enoch, who died in Cherokee County, Kan., in 1889. In 1850 his second wife was taken from him, and later in life he married Mrs. Mary Turner. He died in 1883.

Charles C. Turner received his education in the common schools of Adams County, but is not a graduate of any college. In 1850 he arrived in Jasper County, Iowa, his possessions consisting of two horses, a wagon, a breaking plow, a land warrant and a very few dollars in money. With his land warrant he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, and made such a judicious selection that he soon found himself in a position to engage in the real-estate business. In 1858 he purchased one hundred and twenty acres, on which he has since built himself a beautiful home, and to which he has added eighty acres more, all under a high state of cultivation. He is a thorough farmer and is successful in every department of the business, as both his prosperous condition and the record of his crops attest. The raising of fine hogs has been a specialty with him, but in 1892 he put in his first crop of winter wheat, and demonstrated the value of the methods adopted by him by raising a crop of twenty-four bushels to the acre.

He early answered the call of President Lincoln for troops, and in 1862 enlisted as a private in the Fortieth Iowa Infantry, under Captain Cozad and Colonel Garrett, and did service in the Seventh and Sixteenth Army Corps. His first engagement was at the siege of Vicksburg, where he was stationed in the Yazoo River bottoms on guard duty against the attack of Gen. Johnson, who was hourly expected from Jackson. From Vicksburg he was ordered first to Helena, Ark., thence to Little Rock, and remained in that city from the fall of 1863 to March of 1864, when his command was ordered to Ft. Smith, Ark. Here he continued on guard duty until January 1865. He was then ordered to Ft. Gibson, in the Cherokee Nation where his company was discharged. He was mustered out of service in Davenport, Iowa, August 211865, and returned to his home after an absence of three years. His family at this time consisted of his wife and one son.

Mr. Turner was married in 1854 to Miss Ann E. Parks, a native of Indiana. They had but one child, L. C., now a leading physician of Colfax, this county. In 1856 Mr. Turner lost his first wife, and in the following year married Mary C. Pease, a daughter of Andrew and Joanna M. (Cook) Pease, early settlers in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Pease were originally from Ohio, and were the parents of eleven children, of whom six survive: Frank L.; Mary C.; Willis M.; Edith M., wife of Edward G. Fish; Hugh A. and Marion W. Andrew Pease was a member of the celebrated "Gray Beard Regiment," the Thirty-seventh Iowa Infantry, in which no man under forty-five years of age was permitted to enlist. The oldest man in Mr. Pease's company-Company I-was seventy- five years of age. Mr. Pease did guard duty with his regiment at Muscatine, Iowa, and St. Louis and Herman, Mo. His last station was at Alton, Ill., where he died February 10, 1864. He was a close friend of General Curtis, with whom he had served in the same company of militia in Ohio previous to the war. Mrs. Pease died in 1893, in her eighty-third year. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Turner, Daniel Cook, was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was stationed in the north. Her great-grandfather on her mother's side was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and served from the beginning to the end, a portion of the time as one of General Washington's lifeguards. He was captured and very severely treated by the British, but made his escape by swimming the Brandywine upon a cedar rail, which he used as a float.

The paternal grandfather, Andrew Pease, was in many of the wars with the Indians throughout Ohio, and was with the expedition at the time that Colonel Crawford was captured and burned at the stake. He succeeded in making his escape, and returned to Ft. Duquesne, near the site of the present city of Pittsburgh. The maternal grandfather, Daniel Cook, resided in Richland County, Ohio, and was one of the early agitators of the slavery question, being a radical Abolitionist.

Mr. and Mrs. Turner were the parents of three children, of whom only one survives, Edward S., who resides with his parents on the farm; the deceased are Eva and Hugh P. Mr. Turner is a member of Riverside Lodge No. 389, A. F. & A. M., a member of E. D. Duncan Post No. 53, G. A. R., and is also a Royal Arch Mason of Colfax. He was elected County Clerk in 1853, and assumed the duties of the office in January 1854, although at that time the salary would not support his family. He was one of the first County Surveyors, having been appointed to that position in 1854; he was elected again in 1859, and subsequently in 1867. He served two terms, or until 1872, and has since followed surveying as a private individual. He has filled all the township offices. He served as Secretary of the School Board, and was the first one to serve in that capacity under the new law. In 1852-53 Mr. Turner erected the third mill in the county for sawing lumber, and in the following year added a set of stones for grinding corn. This mill was located on Indian Creek, in this township, about two and one-half miles northeast of Colfax. Mr. Wiggins was associated with his at that time. Mrs. Turner in 1856 taught the first school in the township, at what is now School District No. 4. Her greatest attendance was not over twenty scholars and the average about twelve. For her services she received $12 per month and boarded among the students. Page 340.