WALL, WILLIAM R. M. D.

      Many years have passed since Dr. William R. Wall arrived in Iowa, and he is justly numbered among her honored pioneers and representative citizens. He has been prominently identified with her business interests as a member of the medical profession. His is an honorable record of a conscientious man, who by his upright life has won the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact. He has rounded the psalmist's span of three score years and ten and though the passing of years has whitened his hair, he has the vigor of a much younger man, and in spirit and enterprise seems yet in his prime. Old age is not necessarily a synonym of weakness or inactivity, and it need not suggest, as a matter of course, want of occupation, of helplessness. There is an old age that is a benediction to all that comes in contact with it, that gives out richness from its stores of learning and experience and grows stronger intellectually and morally as the years pass. Such is the life of Dr. Wall, an encouragement to his associates and an example worthy of emulation to the young.

      Dr. Wall was born February 28, 1826, in Knoxville, Tennessee, and is a son of William and Jane (Wolfe) Wall, the later a niece of General Wolfe, who fell at Quebec in the French and Indian war. Her father was a second cousin of George Washington and was a man of brave military spirit, who, when the country became involved in war with England, aided the colonists in their struggle for independence. He joined the American army, and the sword which he carried throughout the period of hostilities is now in the possession of Dr. Wall, of this review, and was carried by him in the Civil war. The family has always been noted for its military spirit. Through every war in which the country has been engaged it has furnished many representatives, who by their valor and loyalty have upheld the flag of the nation, battling earnestly for its principles and its rights. The grandfather was one of two brothers who settled in New York at a very early day. The maternal grandfather of the Doctor emigrated from London to South Carolina and then to Tennessee, and was there extensively engaged in mining, in which pursuit he attained wealth, becoming one of the leading and substantial citizens of his adopted state. William Wall the father of our subject resided for many years in Tennessee, his death occurring in Knoxville when he was thirty-five years of age. His widow passed away in Palestine, Indiana, at the age of eighty-four.

     Dr. Wall, whose name introduces this sketch, was reared in the Hoosier state and pursued his education in Indianapolis where he was a classmate of General Lew Wallace and a son of Governor Noble. He was a young man of twenty one years when he first became connected with military affairs. With the blood of Revolutionary ancestors in his composition, his patriotic spirit was aroused at the trouble between the United States and Mexico, and on the 12th of April, 1847, he enlisted for service in the Mexican war under Lieutenant Snyder. For two years he remained in the army and was then mustered out at Covington, Kentucky, in 1849. Again he served his country when the sectional differences between the north and the south involved the nation in civil war. Believing firmly in the cause of the Union, he resolved to aid in establishing the supremacy of the government at Washington, and therefore "donned the blue," enlisting April 17, 1861, as a member of the Eighth Indiana Infantry, with which he went to the front as a private. There his fidelity to duty, his meritorious service and the readiness with which he mastered military tactics and discipline caused his promotion. He served three months and then went home and helped to organize, in 1862, six cavalry regiments. First he was a captain then a major and lieutenant colonel and at Nashville, Tennessee, he finally was brevetted a brigadier general. He commanded the Ninth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, at Nashville, Franklin, and then brought the regiment home, and was with it mustered out at Indianapolis, at the close of the war. The Doctor is a natural soldier and commander, and it is said that when the Spanish-American war broke out he was as eager to go to the front as any of the young men. He possesses that quality of mind so necessary to a soldier of grasping a situation at a glance and deciding at once and correctly what to do.

      Dr. Wall prepared for practice as a member of the medical fraternity in Chicago and Cincinnati, and for thirty years he has resided in Mills county, Iowa. Although he is now seventy-four years of age, he is still an active representative of the profession and has attained a wide fame as a specialist in the treatment of cancer. As his financial resources have increased he has made judicious investments in real estate and is today the owner of three hundred and fifty acres of valuable land, which brings to him an excellent income. He votes the Republican ticket, having been a stalwart advocate of the party since its organization. He is in hearty sympathy with its principles of protection to American industries, of a gold standard and expansion, believing that the stars and stripes wherever they have been planted should be upheld. He is a man of kindly nature, of generous impulses, liberal in his dealings, and at all times honorable in every relation of life. Much might be said in terms of laudation, but to those who know Dr. Wall it is unnecessary. He is a man of broad general information and ripe scholarship who has labored earnestly in the paths of his profession; and, whether his work has resulted in pecuniary benefit or not, no trust reposed in him has ever been slighted. A ripe old age, crowned with the efforts of his former toil and honored with the esteem of his fellow men, this in brief is the record of William R. Wall.

     December 10, 1849, he married Miss Elvira Scott. His second wife was a Miss Allis, and his present wife was Louisa Lacey.

WASHBURN, ALBERT B.

     Among the prominent and substantial farmer citizens of Mills county, Iowa, is Albert B. Washburn, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Winneshiek county, Iowa, in 1869, a son of John P. and Ellen (Devine) Washburn, the former of whom was born in New York, came to Iowa in 1853, and is now living in Cedar Falls, this state. The mother was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Joseph and Caroline Devine, and died in Tama county, Iowa in 1885. The paternal grandfather was named Jesse Washburn and was born in Vermont although of English ancestry.

      After a thorough primary education our subject entered the Western College, at Toledo, Tama county, Iowa, and later the Upper Iowa University, a fine institution, among whose graduates are D. B. Henderson, Governor Larrabee and Senator William B. Allison. Mr. Washburn came first to Mills county eight years ago and married here, since making it his permanent home. He owns one thousand acres of rich Iowa land, located in this county, and engages in general farming and stock-raising, being one of the largest landholders in this part of the state.

      Mr. Washburn was married in 1893, to Miss Mary (Wearin) Washburn, who is a daughter of Otha Wearin, whose family history appears in this volume. Two children have been born of this marriage: Lawrence and Henry W. In politics our subject is a Republican and strongly advocates the principles of his party, taking an intelligent interest in public affairs. Both he and his estimable wife are members of the Methodist church, to which Mr. Washburn has contributed liberally. They are among the most respected residents of the county, both families having large connections and hosts of friends.

WEARIN, ADELBERT J.

     This gentleman is entitled to distinction as one of the most progressive and enterprising men of southwestern Iowa, and has for many years been identified with the interest of Mills county. Upon the commercial activity of a community depends its prosperity and the men who are recognized as leading citizens are those who control extensive business enterprises. Mr. Wearin is a man of broad capabilities who carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes.

     He was born in Porter county, Indiana, about forty-five miles southeast of Chicago, and is a son of Josiah C. and Olive Wearin, who are represented on another page of this volume. As he never left the parental roof our subject affirms that he still resides at home. He is the only son in a family of seven children, and is practically self-educated, though he attended the district schools to some extent, at the same time herding cattle on the prairie and bringing them home at night. His first business experience aside from farming was in a bank at Hastings, which he and H. B. Gray established in 1890 and conducted about five years. He then came to Malvern and opened a bank at this place, which he carried on until July 1, 1900, when he sold out. Although practically retired from business, he still looks after his large estate, landed interests, live stock, etc., and is exceedingly busy for a retired man, being like P. T. Barnum, too progressive and up-to-date to cast aside all business cares.

     On the 18th of September, 1885, Mr. Wearin was united in marriage to Miss Mary L. Foster, a native of southern Illinois, and a daughter of William W. and Ruth (Marion) Foster, the former a native of Illinois and the latter of Kentucky. The Fosters were of Scotch-Irish descent, and William W. Foster was an uncompromising Democrat. He died in Illinois in December, 1899, and his wife passed away in that state at the age of forty-two years.

     Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wearin were born two children, but one died in infancy. The living is Josiah F., a very bright young man, who was born on the 30th of September, 1887, on the old Wearin homestead in Indian Creek township, Mills county, near the village of Hastings. For the purpose of giving his son the benefit of the excellent schools of Malvern, Mr. Wearin removed to that place, and has erected there a handsome residence only three or four miles from the old homestead where his mother still lives and which he still regards as home. He is a man of strong convictions and many sterling qualities, and in short is a man among men. Since casting his first vote for Horatio Seymour in 1868 he has affiliated with the Democratic party and has done all in his power to advance its interests and insure its success. He and his family hold membership in the Presbyterian church, and occupy an enviable position in the best social circles of the community.

WEARIN, JOSIAH

      More than a century ago George Washington said that farming is the most useful and well as the most honorable occupation to which a man devotes his energies. Throughout the ages history has demonstrated the fact that it forms the basis of all business activity and that the country is most prosperous which has for the foundation of its business affairs extensive and important agricultural interests. It is agriculture which has placed Iowa in its present high position among the sister states of the nation, and one of the leading representatives of this line of work through many years was Josiah Wearin, an honored pioneer of Mills county, where he became the owner of extensive landed interests and of large herds of stock. In the control of his business he not only promoted his individual success but also added to the general prosperity by improving the grade of stock and thus increasing its market value. His life history illustrates most forcibly the power of industry and capable management and the potency of honorable dealing in the active affairs of life.

      Mr. Wearin was born in what is now West Virginia, May 2, 1824, his parents being Michael and Mary (Coe) Wearin. His father was a native of Virginia, but died in Mills county, Iowa, at the age of eighty-one years, while the mother was a native of Ohio and died in that state at the early age of thirty-seven. When our subject was a little lad of three summers he removed with his parents to Ohio and acquired his education in the primitive schools of that day. Later he became a resident of Porter county, Indiana. Thinking to better his financial condition in the far west, he left Indiana in March, 1850, upon an overland trip to California, making the journey in a wagon. He had only sixty dollars in money when he started upon what was to prove to him a prosperous trip. The first stop which he made for any length of time was at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and the second at Salt Lake City, Utah. At those places he obtained employment and when he had thus replenished his depleted exchequer he proceeded on his way, reaching the Golden state in the autumn of 1850, after many exciting incidents and many narrow escapes. On several occasions he almost lost his life. While in California he engaged in teaming, also in buying and selling live stock, which was a very profitable industry at that time, and in little more than three years he had managed to save from his earnings seven thousand dollars.

     With that sum Mr. Wearin returned to Indiana in 1854, making the journey by way of the water route. The same year, after his return, he induced his brothers to come to Mills county, Iowa, and gave them instruction where to locate land, which they secured northwest of the present town of Hastings. For a few years after their arrival, Otha Wearin made his home with his brother Josiah and his wife, and when Otha was married Josiah divided with him all his lands, stock and farming implements. While Mr. Wearin was in California his wife raised white beans and threshed them out on an old overcoat in order to sell them and thus obtain money to pay the taxes on their Indiana land, having a tax title deed for one hundred and twenty acres, a part of which was afterward redeemed. When she received letters from her husband, it was customary for the receiver to pay the postage which oftentimes amounted to forty cents. If it happened that a letter was received in the evening, as she had no candles or grease to burn in a lamp, she would whittle pine shavings, which she would light upon a hearth, and by the fire would read the much-prized missive. During his residence in California Mr. Wearin suffered from mountain fever, small pox, and the measles. The winter of 1858 was a very cold one. He rented a little one-horse water sawmill four miles distant from the place he lived. One cold morning on arriving at the mill he found that everything was frozen and in attempting to pry the drive wheel loose with a crowbar, the bar slipped and cut a hole clear through his cheek. He was then carried into a house near by, the people believing that he was dead; but soon he showed signs of life and ultimately recovered.

     In 1855 Mr. Wearin took up his abode upon a tract of land which his brothers had entered in Iowa. During the winter of 1855-56 he and his family resided in a log cabin of one room, 15 x 15 feet. When night came and it was time to retire they had to put their chairs out doors in order that they might place the trundle bed in the vacant space. There were nine persons living in the little cabin, which was located in Mud Creek Grove. In April, 1856, however, they removed to a better house upon the farm where Mrs. Wearin now resides. As the years passed the comforts and conveniences of civilization were added to their home, but when they came here everything was wild and new, few settlements having been made upon the broad prairies, the greater part of the land being still in its primitive condition. The houses were long distances apart and the pioneers had to depend almost entirely upon what they raised in order to supply the table. Many trials and hardships had to be borne, but with great fortitude these sturdy early settlers met circumstances as they were, doing everything possible to improve their environments as the years passed. During the Civil war a party of men, claiming to be Union advocates, came to the Wearin home, armed with revolvers, and took away three of their mules which they drove to St. Joseph, Missouri; but Mr. Wearin followed them alone, stood a lawsuit, pleaded his own case, and won it, and brought the three mules back with him.

      As a result of the energetic and determined labor of Mr. Wearin he was enabled to add to his property from time to time, and when called to his final rest he was the owner of seven thousand acres of land in Mills county, and since he has passed away the estate has been increased to about eight thousand acres. Mr. Wearin always followed agricultural pursuits and his life was a striking contradiction of the statement that the farmer in the business of improving his land cannot acquire a fortune. He gave his whole life to earnest labor in the line of tilling the soil and raising stock, placed his fields under a high state of cultivation and in the autumn was enabled to gather rich harvests. In his pastures he placed good grades of cattle, horses and hogs, and in his stock-raising venture he found that he had made a profitable investment of his capital. He did much to improve the grade of stock and thus his labors were of much benefit to his community. His best thought and the greater part of his time was untiringly devoted to his work and thereby he was enabled to provide handsomely for his family and leave them a very valuable estate. He was certainly a recognized leader in agricultural circles in the great state of Iowa.

      On the 3d of September, 1848, Mr. Wearin was united in marriage to Miss Olive Smith, who was born eleven miles west of Rochester, New York, in 1828, and is a daughter of James F. and Inda (Durby) Smith. Her father was a native of the Empire state, her mother of New Hampshire, and in the pioneer days of Michigan they removed to that commonwealth and thence to Indiana, also becoming pioneers of the latter state, where they both died. For many years the father conducted a tavern and was a well known and leading factor in the communities in which he conducted business in the early days. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wearin have been born seven children, of whom five are yet living, namely: Mrs. Frances M. Benton, Adelbert J., Mrs. Coloma Hyde; Inda A., now Mrs. Coffman, and Mrs. Ida M. Fickel. The two daughters who have passed away are Olive and Flora.

      Mr. Wearin was killed in a railroad accident November 8, 1881, at St. Charles, Missouri, while on his way with six carloads of cattle for the Boston market. For a number of years he had been vice president of the Mills National Bank, of Malvern, Iowa. In his political views he was a Democrat, and was a citizen of worth and reliability who withheld not his support from any measure or movement which he believed would contribute to the general good. All men recognized his worth and honored him for his fidelity to duty and to the right. He was one of the valued residents of Mills county and well deserves prominent mention in this history. Since his death the large estate has been managed by his son, Adelbert J., aided by the wise counsel of Mrs. Wearin, the mother, who is a woman of distinctive business ability, of remarkably keen discernment and reliable sagacity. They have carried on the work largely along the lines instituted by the husband and father, continuing the labors of improvement, as evidenced by the erection of a handsome residence which was built at a cost of twelve thousand dollars. Mrs. Wearin, who is now in the seventy-third year of her age, is a woman of remarkable energy and resolution. She has been a pioneer of three states, Michigan, Indiana and Iowa, and has witnessed with deep interest the progress made in the Mississippi valley, bearing her part in a quiet but no less important manner than did the pioneer husband and father. Notwithstanding her busy and active life she is still remarkably well preserved and could easily pass for a woman ten or fifteen years younger. She enjoys fancy needle work and makes many beautiful articles, her proficiency being equal to almost any one in the county along that line. She keeps well informed on the questions of general interest concerning the neighborhood and the nation, has a genial, sunny disposition and is very popular with her acquaintances. She holds membership in the Presbyterian church and contributes liberally to its support,. She is one of the wealthy women of southwestern Iowa and has ever capably controlled her extensive interests. Her history is one which contains many entertaining chapters, owing to her connection with pioneer events in three of the great commonwealths of the nation.

WEARIN, OTHA

      A prominent farmer of Indian Creek township, Mills county, Iowa, is Otha Wearin, the subject of this sketch. He was born in Harrison county, Virginia, March 22, 1826, and is a son of Michael and Mary (Coe) Wearin, the former of whom was born in 1791, in Virginia, and died in 1887 at the home of his son in Mills county. The mother of our subject was born in Ohio, and died at the age of forty, leaving a family of nine children, four of whom are still surviving. The family removed from Virginia to Athens county, Ohio, thence to La Porte, Indiana, and in 1856 to Mills county, Iowa.

      Our subject remained at home with his parents until he was twenty years old, in the fall of that year accompanying his brother Josiua to Indiana. There they worked for their uncle, P. Robbins, for two years, and in the winter seasons attending school in Michigan City. Otha Wearin left Indiana in the fall of 1854 and came to Mills county, walking most of the way, thus showing the determination to overcome obstacles which has marked his after life.

       After reaching Iowa Mr. Wearin took up government land, and the first winter chopped wood and sold it in Glenwood, thus paying his board. In the spring of 1855 he and his brother rented land and later took up three thousand acres. Until 1858 the brothers lived together, but separated at the time of our subject's marriage, December 23, 1859, to Miss Martha Workman, who was born in Indiana in 1832, and died here when about thirty years of age. She was the mother of four children: Charles O., Joseph A., William Henry and Mary V.

      After his marriage our subject located upon this place, his first residence being a little box-house, sixteen by eighteen feet in dimensions and lived there until 1882, when the present comfortable residence was built. At the age of twenty Mr. Wearin owned nothing but a saddle and bridle. He now possesses seven hundred acres of land here, and about two thousand in Nebraska.

     In politics Mr. Wearin has always voted the Democratic ticket, casting his first ballot in 1848 for Lewis Cass. However, in local issues he reserves the right to vote for the one he considers the best man for the office. About the time of his wife's death he retired from active work, but still looks after his interests in a quiet way. The family is one of the most respected in the neighborhood, and its members are attendants at church and interested in any educational movements in the community. Mr. Wearin is a man who commands the respect and esteem which he receives, on account of his high character and record of honest and dignified living.

WILKINS, WILLIAM A.

      One of the prosperous young farmers of Mills county, Iowa, is the subject of this sketch, who was born in Washington county, Iowa, November 8, 1873, and is a son of B. F. and Mary J. (Moore) Wilkins. His father was born in Roane county, Tennessee, January 6, 1847, the latter in the same county, July 6, 1852, and they were married in August, 1870. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Elisha Wilkins, who emigrated from Tennessee to Washington county, Iowa, in 1865, bringing with him his wife, six sons and three daughters. One son is now a Methodist minister in Birmingham, Iowa, another, for many years a practicing physician in Oskaloosa, this state, moving in 1893 to Colorado for his health, where he had vast interests in the sheep business. While there he was a surgeon for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad, and also elected to the legislature in 1894, returning to his old home in Washington county, Iowa, where he died in 1897. The paternal grandmother of Mr. Wilkins was Nancy Burnet, a native of Tennessee, born in 1823, hence she is nine years the junior of her husband, who bears his years as well as she does hers, both being active in mind and body. The grandfather being one of the few pensioners of the Black Hawk war.

    Our subject is the second in number in a family of six children, these being: Dwight E., a resident contractor of Council Bluffs; our subject; R. H., a civil engineer residing with his wife at the home of W. A.; Fred, an official of the Union Pacific Railroad; Claira Idell and Earl. Mr. B. F. Wilkins resides in Council Bluffs, but is a commercial traveler in the nursery business. Our subject was educated in the public schools and academies of Washington county, Iowa, and at the age of twenty left home to fight the battles of the world for himself. Going to Fremont, Nebraska, he entered the commission house of Kirschbraun & Sons, where he remained for two years, and then spent two years representing them on the road. Following this initial capacity he traveled for one and one-half years representing Edward Lytle, of Omaha, Nebraska, closing his engagement only on account of the failure of the firm. He is now engaged in farming on a tract of one hundred acres one and one-half miles from Silver City, Iowa, owned by his father-in-law, renting also fifty acres, upon all of which he carries on a general farming business, also raising fine cattle, hogs, and horses and making hogs a specialty, and he is making a success of the new venture.

     Mr. Wilkins was married, March 30, 1898, to Miss Birdie Huffaker, the beautiful and accomplished daughter of H. H. Huffaker, of Silver City, Iowa. She is the only daughter in that family and is a well-educated lady of great ability, painting in oil and proficient on the piano. She was born in Silver City, in 1880, and educated in St. Francis Academy in Council Bluffs, Iowa. One little son has come into this family, born December 26, 1898; and it is needless to say he is the idol of his grandfather. Mr. Huffaker, the father of Mrs. Wilkins, came to this county in an early day from Illinois and now possesses many broad acres of fertile land.

    In politics Mr. Wilkins is a Republican and boldly upholds the principles of the party. He has no desire for office, his business and delightful home giving him sufficient use for his time. The substantial residence of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins was erected for them by the generosity of Mr. Huffaker. They resided at the old farm nearly sixteen months and came to their place in July, 1899. A fine new barn is in course of erection, and there seems to be no reasonable doubt that prosperity will continue to smile upon this most worthy young couple.